Yummy Stuff

I made cinnamon rolls with Mazzy today. Such a yummy and easy thing to make! Fortunately, I can be a good girl and eat just one.

This is what I would call a typical breakfast for me. The orange juice is optional, but I almost always have eggs of some sort for breakfast. This is the best omelette I have made for awhile, and that was simply because I remembered that I had broccoli in the freezer (and I love broccoli!) Typically, I use one whole egg and two egg whites for my omelettes, and I keep the extra yolks for pudding or something.

Time for a Change

So, what's new with me? Well, I got bored with myself, stopped taking pictures, stayed in a rut and got bored with that too. So this is what I want to do. I need to lose weight. I need to get in better shape. I believe that discussing my weight loss attempts is about the most boring subject on the planet, but I don't have anything better to talk about. I'll be 40 in 18 days. I don't mind so much, but I'm not happy with myself either. On the other hand, I'm not willing to give up all the yummy stuff life has to offer, so I'm going to attempt to lose weight without the diet rules everyone says I have to follow. I don't want to give up real food which means I need to conquer this adversity to regular exercise that I have. I'm hoping to enter my 40s with some big changes. At best, I'll prove that you don't have to torture yourself to change your life and reclaim your health. At worst, I'll have eaten some yummy food and maybe tried some new activities.

Wildfire

I've neglected this blog a lot, but mostly I think it's for good reason. One of the major reasons I began this blog was to start finding me again, to give me back some sorely lacking self-confidence, and to make sure I'm not barrelling towards my forties all stagnant and absent from my own life. As I've been posting less and less, I've been feeling like myself more and more. So I suppose it might be time for a blog shift again, although I don't think I'll ever be fully done with the self-portrait project.

One of my goals this summer was to do things I wanted to do, but were "too afraid" to do them. A few years ago I started hoopdancing, and was very into it for awhile. I had one friend who would come over and hoop with me, but eventually that died out. And I was unable to find anyone around here that was interested. In July, I heard of a gathering about an hour from here called Hoopla!. We went, and my love for my hoops was reborn and I guess, in a way, validated. Finally I had found a group of people who loved hooping even more than I do, and they were so good and so inspirational. I didn't want to leave that night without building some connections, so I asked one of the ladies that ran the workshops if she knew any other events like this one coming up. She said the only one she could think of was the Wildfire Retreat. When I got home, I looked it up and found out that it was basically a training camp for the fire arts. www.wildfireretreat.com There would be hooping, poi, staff, fire breathing, and so much more, and we could go! We could have a whole weekend just learning more and more stuff with other people that like the same thing! After finding out about that, I did even more research and found a local group that met by the river every Tuesday for a local spin jam. How did I miss all of this before?

So we've been going to that, and we went to Wildfire. The photo above is from this past weekend at Wildfire. I took several hoop classes along with fire fans, belly dancing, and fire breathing. It was really an amazing experience and will have a lasting impact on me. I won't say I was one of those people that go and find the family they never knew they had. I was probably too nervous for that. What I did find is a place where I feel free to learn and fail, a place where competition doesn't exist and everyone wants everyone else to experience their personal best. I was shy, as I often am, and didn't make the kind of connections with people that I hoped I would, but everyone I have met has been so open and willing to embrace me anyway, and I feel more than welcome to pursue this passion as a new path in my life

This last photo is my first attempt at fire breathing. It's arguably the most dangerous of the fire arts, but in that environment and with that group of people, I felt educated enough and safe enough to try it. It was a hell of a lot of fun!

Run

I started running again last week. I'm not officially "cleared" to run again until July, but I started anyway. Right now I'm just running a little bit on my treadmill (which makes this outside picture a bit of a fake. But hey, I did go right back inside and run!), and I'll wait until July to move outside. That's a fair compromise, right? Anyway, I like running. I'm terribly slow, and I blame a good part of that on my terribly short legs. My "running" pace is 4mph. Yep, that's a 15 minute mile! That's o.k. though, as long as I can keep going. I signed up for my very first 5K for the end of August, so hopefully I can keep up the motivation and continue to improve. I'd love to be able to run the whole thing, but as I've never been much of an outside runner, I just don't know...

At Work

It's wedding season and I've been busy! Here's just a quick shot of me at a wedding last weekend. That's one crazy cheesy smile! (and one very nice wedding aside from the unexpected pitcher of "water" that turned out to be gin. oops! (not that I didn't notice at the first taste, but I already poured a glass!))

Memorial Day Weekend

We had our first camping weekend, and for the most part, it was our best one yet. Beautiful weather (most of the time), no rain (just a few sprinkles), and incredibly relaxing. Mazzy got eaten alive by mosquitos and swelled up like crazy, so it certainly wasn't her favorite trip, but Jack had a blast and wanted to live there "plus TV". Dax didn't catch any fish, and I'd prefer a little more sunshine, but it was a good weekend and at times, blissfully perfect.

May Day

What a fabulous first day of May! We took the kids to the park; Dax worked with Jack at riding his bike. Maz biked around and lounged in the grass with me. Kenny ran around chasing sticks. Perfect.