Life in Words.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I measure myself - how we, especially as women, measure ourselves. Let's be honest, part of our genetic make-up as the feminine species insists that we constantly compare ourselves to those around us and, most likely, consider ourselves inferior at all times. Some of it is inate insecurity and some of it is inate humility. Imagine sitting down to lunch with a group of women, your super model neighbor walking in, and saying to your friends (who are undoubtedly admiring her put-together self), "What? I'm way prettier than her." Then your friends' dilemma would be who to hate more, the super model neighbor or you, right? I guess the conclusion I have come to is that comparing myself to other people is inevitable. I just have to make sure I do it in a healthy way. If you're saying to yourself, "I don't compare myself to other people," I am calling you out right now. I would put that in the same category a...

The date: January 3, 2011. That date means that it is, once again, time for New Year's resolutions. This is obviously a hot topic at this time of the year which has me thinking about a couple things so here comes a blog entry. The big question is, why when we talk about resolutions is there always a tone of implied failure? On the spectrum of resolutions the zero would fall with those who don't even bother to set a resolution because they know they will fail. I was recently talking to someone who said, "Why even bother with resolutions? January 1 is just another day." I see the point here, but in my opinion, there is an essence of perceived failure here. Why set myself up for another failure? In the 10 spot on the spectrum are those who set the goal of climbing Mount Everest and never hesitate for a minute in achieving their goal. Its that amazing quality that allows so many crazy people I know to do Ironman (all shall remain nameless). These are the people I look at ...

I'll bet that got your attention, huh? Don't worry, there is nothing crazy going on here. In fact, I am not even thinking morbid here. I was talking with my mom the other day about how when your parents die (or hers in this case), suddenly there is no "buffer" between you and the inevitable. This brought up the topic that runs through my head multiple times a day... YOU ONLY HAVE SO MANY DAYS ON THIS EARTH...YOU BETTER MAKE THE MOST OF THEM. So today I was sitting at my desk doing my job that is worlds away from helping children in Haiti, and I thought, if I die when I am 90, how many days does that give me? 20857...that's how many days I have left if I live until I'm 90. Then I started wondering if I should count the days I may spend with dementia toward the end of my life (my grandma had it). I decided that even if I don't know where or who I am I may still be making someone happy so I'm going to count them. As always, I digress... I know this s...

These are a few of my favorite things and they have absolutely nothing to do with schnitzel and warm apple strudels (or however that goes). I've decided that tonight's blog is going to be a shameless plug for my favorite products. The products that now line my pantry and frig replacing the big chocolate chip cookies (mouth watering), fat meat (mouth not watering), and justified indulgences that used to be there. I encourage you to comment on my blog post with your favorite products as well...unless you live blocks from some super great grocery store like Whole Foods or Central Market...because that's just bragging. Let me just don my Julie Andrews wig and a ruffled apron and away we go... Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a dietitian , nor do I play one on TV. In fact, according to the spell check I apparently don't even know how to spell dietitian. I am not in any way saying that any of these products taste better than a warm chocolate cookie. I am not trying to c...

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. After a wee bit of a pause in my writing I am back and I'd like to thank yoga for that. But before we get to yoga, we have a bit of catching up to do. So let's back up a few weeks... First, I am happy to report that I hit a PB (personal best) last weekend with a 7.5 mile run! We got up on Saturday morning and Jake took the kiddos out to run some errands so it was just me, my treadmill, and HGTV . There is something to be said for how nicely your brain operates when there is no one saying, "mommy, mommy, mommy..." So here's a really loud shout-out to my husband for being so supportive and helpful. Running has become a love...a real love...not a one night stand like it was in the past. I am attributing that to the time we have taken to get to know each other. No seriously though, there is so much to be said for running slowly (in my case at about a 12 minute mile pace). I can breathe and talk and when I'm done I don't fee...

"You want to build your body? Its going to hurt. Its going to suck." That is a quote straight from my friend/spinning instructor extrordinaire from Friday's class. Awesome. The thing is, its the kind of "suck" that is so damn exciting! Just had to share that quote. Thanks Willa...love it. I was thinking of a few things I feel like I need to spell out as I get started on this post. First, I am going to use the word "fat" in this blog. I am also going to use the word "skinny." When I say fat I am talking about MY fat. In other words, my extra weight that I am trying to lose. I'm not trying to be offensive and I am not even saying that I am really fat. I'm talking fluffy fat...chubby fat...the kind of fat that keeps my jeans from fitting. Your fat is something different and its however you want to define it. I don't care if you are a super model (well, I do...if you're a super model that's cool), there are days you f...

So cliche but I did it. I made a New Years resolution to lose weight, get in shape, and run a half marathon. I would laugh at myself too but I am the person who is actually going to do it so I don't have to feel stupid about it. My reason for blogging about my training is twofold. First, peer pressure. A lovely high school friend of mine told me that if I blogged she would follow. So this is for you Kila. Hopefully I will have more than one follower and hopefully you will get some kind of stimulation or inspiration from reading it. My other hope is that, by writing about my journey, I will FIND inspiration when I need it. Like having a shrink, right? I call it a New Years resolution, but in all reality this half marathon thing has been in my head for a while. In fact, 9 years ago I was training for a half marathon when we moved to England. When we got there I kept running but, if you've been to England you know that there aren't really city blocks. The streets wind all over...