Happy Halloween!

Yoga Keeps Me Healthy

My love affair with yoga started a couple of years ago when I took a class at the gym on a whim. Some people come to yoga looking to manage stress or lose weight or fix their insomnia, but I kind of fell into it. My elliptical/weights/treadmill routine was getting boring, so I took a class.

And loved it.

When the class ended, I pursued other instruction. Podcasts and online classes are incredibly helpful for a busy mom who can't always commit to being somewhere at a specific time.

Eventually, I was practicing yoga pretty much everyday, even if it was just 20 minutes before bedtime.

I was sleeping better, I had more energy, my back pain and headaches had disappeared. I started using yoga to help my kids settle down at night.

Then we went skiing and I fell down the mountain and tore up my knee. Suddenly, balance poses were too painful and even seated forward folds made the torn cartilage in my knee get stuck in the joint. If it's never happened to you, take my word for it that it hurts.

I had surgery last winter, which fixed the flap problem, but I had a lot of swelling and it was at least 6 months before I could even kneel on that knee. Still no yoga.

I've been running regularly for months now, so when the gym scheduled a twice weekly yoga class that fit neatly into my schedule, I jumped for joy. Most days, I'm the youngest person in the class. There are a lot of beginners. Nearly everyone has some sort of chronic injury. The teacher has been great about showing different ways to modify poses. It's been easy for me to ease back into yoga after so long and that amazing feeling I get from it is back.

When Johnny brought home a flyer from school about a 5K being run through my neighborhood, I decided it was time to start racing again too and signed up.

Of course, pretty much right after I signed up, Maureen started complaining of a headache. By the next day she was feverish. She threw up a couple of times and was coughing everywhere. Johnny had some upper respiratory symptoms too.

I was determined to not catch her germs, so in addition to wiping down surfaces and frequent handwashing, I also popped astragalus capsules and stood on my head a lot.

The headstand is considered the king of all yoga asanas. In general, I love inversions, but this one may be my favorite. The health benefits of the headstand are numerous--it promotes healthy lungs, relieves colds and throat problems, increases your oxygen-to-blood exchange and gives your heart a temporary break. When I'm low on energy, standing on my head for a minute or two usually makes me feel better. Plus, I just love the challenge of getting into the pose without falling over and then maintaining it unsupported.

I ran the race on Saturday. It was freezing cold and pouring rain. The field was small and the puddles were plentiful. But I ran, I achieved my goal of running the whole race and I also finished with a personal best time. After the race, it took hours to fully warm up and my shoes are still drying out.

Both kids are better. I did not catch their germs. I suppose it's possible I could have already had the particular virus they had, but I like to think that yoga had something to do with it.

October Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month: In Memory Of Tracy Santos

I'm reading a magazine and there's a photo of a running tank that costs 45 dollars. It's pink. For each sale, the company will donate two dollars to a fund for breast cancer research.

It's October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so the pink campaign is everywhere. This year, it's harder for me to face.

This photo is of my friend Tracy. She was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer at age 26. She died last June. She was 30. It's hard for me to even write those words because the loss is still so fresh. Tracy was one of the most amazing people I have ever met and I feel privileged to have known her. Up until the end, she remained positive. When I lost my job last winter, Tracy was one of my biggest cheerleaders. Her support meant so much to me, especially in the face of her own problems. She was an animal lover and top fundraiser for the Maryland SPCA. She had a big heart and she left a big hole.

Before Tracy was diagnosed, I really didn't know how cancer patients really feel about October and the pink ribbon campaign. As Tracy wrote on her blog in 2010,

The awareness campaign began in 1985 and was started by AstraZeneca, a drug company which manufactures the breast cancer drugs Arimidex and Tamoxifen. It made sense back then. In 1985 we needed awareness. It’s now 2010 and unless you live in a hobbit hole I’m pretty sure you’re well aware of breast cancer. What we need today is a real, non-toxic, tangible treatment and cure. And possibly my biggest reason for being against the pink ribbon is the sheer exploitation of my illness. Companies slap the pink ribbon on their product as a way to boost sales by playing on people’s emotions and fears. The percentage of the sale that actually goes to cancer organizations is tiny at best.

I see what she meant. The next time I need a new running tank, I'll buy the cheap one at Target and then I'll send a donation straight to a those who can really use it.

Rather than buying pink yogurt or overpriced so-called breast cancer merchandise, consider donating to one of the following organizations instead.

The Pink Daisy Project was started by breast cancer survivor Debbie Cantwell. Donated funds help breast cancer patients with everyday costs, such as groceries and housecleaning and prescription costs, things healthy people often take for granted.

The Young Survival Coalition is dedicated to women under 40 fighting breast cancer. The YSC has a forum to help patients find resources and get support.

The YSC was the very first resource I found as a newly diagnosed patient and it has been an invaluable tool in guiding me through this journey. I have conversed with countless women through the YSC forum, all of whom I consider to be friends, though we’ve never met. We share something that only women with breast cancer can understand and I wouldn’t be the informed and well adjusted person that I am today without their support.

Finally, Moveable Feast provides free meals to people in Maryland living with AIDS, cancer and other life challenging conditions.

Tracy had a profound impact on everyone who ever met her. I'll never forget her. This October, take a moment to think about breast cancer and the people it impacts and consider donating to one of the organizations above.

Just The Essentials

I have lots of purses and bags. I'm a sucker for a cute and/or fashionable purse. (I took two purses to NYC earlier this month. Along with 4 pairs of shoes. My husband does not understand.) My ideal bag would be large enough to carry my laptop and related gadgets, along with my wallet and lipstick and phone and stuff without killing my shoulder. I'm been looking for a long time.

Maureen has apparently inherited the purse gene (which I suspect I got from my mom). Lately, we can't leave the house without her bringing a bag along.

Her current fave is this pink backpack, which she got from my mom, embellished with a blue cat.

But what, you may ask, does a 4-year-old need to carry a purse for? She doesn't have keys. Or a wallet. Or cosmetics beyond cherry chapstick.

So let's take a look.

In this bag, I find:

2 decorate-your-own Princess mirrors
Bella the stuffed cat
2 journals (spiral bound notebooks from AC Moore with princesses on the cover)
3 markers
2 pens
a pink My Little Pony
2 brushes for the pony's hair
1 ghost bear beanie baby
1 Elmo phone
2 playing cards from a "Squiggly Worms" game
a plastic book that came with the pony
1 plastic yellow hat for Bella the stuffed cat to wear in the rain
an index card with the names of her classmates written on it
1 hat from a Zhu Zhu pet
1 doll bottle
1 superhero figure (and it says 1984 on the back, so I think it was mine)
1 plastic parrot
1 smushed looking bear/monkey/cat Happy Meal toy

There you have it, people.

Just the essentials.

Snap Judgement

Soccer is kind of a big deal in my husband's family. A couple of his uncles even played at the professional level.

So when we found out the man responsible for the softball league Johnny plays in was looking to pull together some teams for soccer this fall, I signed up both kids.

Being community soccer, the benefits are many. One, the coaches are all parents volunteering their time. Two, the time commitment is short. They had two practices a week for about a month, and are now playing two games a week. Three, the field is right around the corner from our house. And four, it costs just ten dollars per kid, so if they decide they hate it, it's not a huge loss.

Both kids love it, by the way. John is coaching Maureen's team and Johnny is on a team with kids his own age. I'm loving the closeness of the field, as well as having both kids in the same activity. Not so thrilled about the sweaty shinguards and muddy shoes, but if it means tired kids at bedtime, I'll take it.

Anyway, one of my husband's aunts mentioned to some of her coworkers that she was going to see her great-niece and great-nephew play soccer one evening, and they immediately reacted negatively. Not to the idea of soccer, but to the idea of a 5 year old and a 7 year old playing team sports. I guess the idea of "organized sports" means something different.

I was insulted for about five seconds and then I just had to laugh because if they has actually SEEN the kids playing soccer, they would realize how silly it sounded.

For starters, the league is the same everybody-wins-and-nobody-loses-we're-just-here-to-have-fun-and-maybe-learn-a-little-about-soccer kind of thing that softball was. Plus, have you ever seen little kids play soccer? Maureen, at nearly five, is one of the older kids in her age group. Some of the children are as young as three. At any given point in the game, one or both of the goalies may have abandoned their post in search of water or butterflies or the bathroom. At least one kid is rolling around in the grass and/or tackling a kid on his own team. Last week, one child scored at least three goals in the wrong net. Another had a meltdown because she wanted to score a goal and the opposing goalie kept blocking her shots. You get the point.

On Johnny's team, the skills are a little better, but the kids are not as open to instruction. They think they know everything already. They all want to be the star. The ball handling is not as awkward, but passing the ball with control and working together is still a work in progress. And although plenty of kids signed up, most of the time not enough kids show up to field a whole team. Must be that ten dollar thing I mentioned.

It's very clearly a no pressure sort of situation, and that makes me wonder what kind of organized sports these people have experienced to make them think it's a bad thing to have a 4 year old and a 7 year old playing soccer. At the very least, geez, get a few more details before making such a snap judgement. What's so bad about kids running around in the fresh air and learning to work as a team?

Tell me: has anyone ever made a snap judgement about you or your family and been completely offbase?

Menu Plan: Get It Done

So this past weekend, I was stressing out a little because my list of things to do is getting really long. My husband suggested that I maybe cut back on my commitments.

He's a funny guy, my hubby.

He's also a little bit right, but that's not do-able right now, so it's easy dinners to the rescue. In translation, that means using shortcut ingredients, few ingredients or my crockpot.

Here's what we're eating this week.

**Lemon Feta Chicken--This recipe qualifies as few ingredients, because everything in it is in the title. Chicken. Lemon juice. Feta. Bam. Plus, I have feta in the fridge that I need to use up and I think the fam is getting tired of spanakopita. (Seriously, what's wrong with them?) Steamed veggies with it and maybe some kind of grain. Couscous?
**Pot Roast with Root Veggies--Maureen went on a field trip to a pick-your-own farm last week. It was a rough summer for farmers, so we came home with a lighter load that usual, but plenty of herbs. I'm pickling the beets for the H, but the carrots and white turnips and string beans will go into the crockpot with the meat and potatoes. I'll also use up some of the dill and parsley.
**Pork Stirfry with Veggies--Over the summer, one of my shipments of goodies from ShopRite had a ton of marinades and sauces, and we still have several partial bottles in the fridge. I'll use microwave steam vegetables and one of the Asian sauces to make this stirfry fast and easy. We also have black rice in the pantry, which I love, but I don't know if the kids will go for it.
**Chicken Potpie with Puff Pastry Crust--Crockpot again. This recipe is from the most recent issue of Woman's Day magazine. It also looks pretty easy to change according to what I have in the freezer, but I'm betting the kids will love the puff pastry crust.
**Sloppy Joes--In an effort to not serve chicken everyday, I'll use ground beef to make homemade sloppy joes, also using up some of those sauces. Or maybe I'll make it a sauce buffet and everyone can decide which one they want.
**Burgers on the Grill--My kids are burger monsters, especially Johnny, hence the photo above. That was his birthday cake this year. After seeing a photo in Food Network Magazine, he wanted it for his party. Anyway, pretty much every time we eat out, they want to get burgers and fries. Although, last time Maureen did get crazy and order spaghetti and meatballs instead! Plus, the H likes to grill, so this gives him a chance to cook like a man over an open fire.

What are you eating these days?