pictures from today and more race pics

First, I took a couple of pictures on my walk today with my camera phone. It rained for half my walk, so it's really cloudy, and well, the quality and composition are just not great. But I wanted to share what I get to see on my walks. The ocean was really roaring this morning.

The first two are along the ocean, actually looking across the top of Kailua Bay. You can see the Mokes in the distance (the two tiny little humps on the left - the other big humps are part of Oahu) in the second picture; and the little island in the first picture is dubbed "bird poop island". It's usually shining white - with, well, you know. They seem really far away in these pics, but they are larger IRL.

Had I left 15 minutes earlier and were it not cloudy, there would be a spectacular sunrise. I want to get that photo.

This next picture is alongside the stinky pond I walk around. It's stinky for a few reasons. It's right next to a water treatment facility, and the flow of water in and out is limited. I hear it's very briney. I love to watch the fish jump when they are feeling frisky. The crater in the background is on the Marine Corp base. I walk along the base of that crater. That's enough hill for me without having to go straight up it!

This is team Pokemoms - the ones who attended the race who are female, that is. Disclaimer, Jenny, the tall one, is not a deranged killer. She didn't want me to post this photo, but then later gave me permission. I guess it was early and she had too much coffee. Just kidding!

This is my favorite photo. Heh, heh. Job recruiters, please don't hold it against him! I made him do it!

regrets...

I "unpublished" that last posting. When I was typing it up, I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but I just wanted to get it off my chest. I'm so totally over it. I just use this place to blow off steam, and it usually works - unfortunately, this is such a public forum, casualties are bound to happen. I really didn't want to confront you Krisanne, so that's why I didn't. I figure that the 3 readers I have don't know you and I didn't name names, so it wasn't really a big deal in my mind. Unload and move on. I'm passive-agressive I guess - big shocker there. LOL!

On an interesting side note, the school had a kids vote on Friday. My boys' votes cancelled each other out. Gary is shocked - because he was the one who explained to them the differences between Obama and McCain. He, of course, expected them to fall in line. He shouldn't be shocked, this is Obama country. Ryan said the kids in his class were making fun of McCain's age.

Meanwhile, I'm saving up a big vent about HFCS and a related article I read in the newspaper. I have a little pantry research to do first. (this whole this is a form of procrastinating my FRG duties) Exciting, I know...

more Komen photos - all pre-race

somehow, didn't get post race photos, that's all for the best I'm sure, but the lei I got was really pretty.

Komen race for the cure

This is what I did this morning ...

Excuse the gray hair and glasses, after all, it was 5:30 in the morning! This doesn't even begin to show what I looked like at the end of the race. Imagine bright pink shoelaces on my serious running shoes, and energizer bunny ears atop my bright pink cap - and a lei. Like my t-shirt? Had I known there was a t-shirt contest I would have bought another one to enter. But we know in our hearts that we won that contest. (no one was willing to strip off theirs to enter it) Ryan and I won door prizes. I won a Chevron pink car (toy), a team Chevron t-shirt and a Komen candle. Ryan won a pink Chevron car and a pink folding chair. Our team raised $390.

cryin, but not about me

I've cried out all my tears about me. That's done with. But now I'm bawling. I just finished the book "Elijah of Buxton" that I mentioned briefly before. It's a book that Jake is reading. It's a MUST READ. It's easy to read, yet hard to read. But I think it's important. I'm glad that my child is reading it, to get just a taste of the ramifications of slavery in America. I think the further and further we get away from those times, it becomes unreal - just an aside in history. That would be a shame to forget or minimize.

Jake asked me this morning, when we were walking to school, "would you rather be dead or a slave?". I couldn't answer him. Think about it. It's a hard, hard question.

I'm just so sorry that such a horrible thing as slavery existed, and even more horrible, it still exists in the world and the prejudices still linger here.

I can't help but be reminded that people are capable of anything. Usually rotten things. I'm not one of those who think people are basically good. That never flew with me. *sigh* oh how we need Jesus.

Creamy Salad Dressing recipe

I thought I'd change it up and do something fun today. A recipe!! Recipes are always fun. And this one is good and easy. I made it last night for the first time.

I have to give credit where credit is due, I get recipes sent to my email by Dr. Andrew Weil. I think I got hooked up with these emails by poking around Jillian's (from the Biggest Loser) website. He's got good recipes if you are wanting healthy ones.

Creamy Salad Dressing

8 servings This delicious and easy soy-based dressing can stand head to head with everyone's favorite – ranch dressing. Look for silken tofu in shelf-stable cardboard containers. It has a different texture than regular tofu and is good for dressings and desserts. This dressing is good on a tossed green salad (remember to pick dark green salad greens), but equally at home on a baked potato or as a dip for raw vegetables. Add a bit of fragrant bleu cheese if you like.

Ingredients:
6 ounces silken tofu (or soft tofu, drained)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend until well mixed.

Nutritional Information:
Per serving:
33 calories
3 g total fat (0 g sat)
0 mg cholesterol
1 g carbohydrate
2 g protein
0 g fiber
134 mg sodium

another wednesday - WW vent

Yeah, lame title. Just a little of this and a little of that.

Weight Watchers is driving me nuts. They did something to the planner so now it's not working properly for us on the Core plan. It's been this way for a WEEK!! With no message or notice to those of us on the plan. Finally, 2 days ago, customer service posted a message on the core board telling us of a workaround. Pretty lame workaround if you ask me. If you can believe what you read on the message boards, the responses people have been getting when they call WW is pretty unbelievable. From not knowing there is a problem, to saying it'll be fixed in a few hours. Heh, heh. Last week. Oh, and my personal favorite "well you know what foods are core, so it shouldn't be a problem, just roll with it". And then, you have the people on the core board who don't use the planner, so they are sick of us posting about it and they are being ugly. It's only a few, but enough to irritate. People like that like to post often and everywhere.

Corbies already feel like the red-headed stepchild. There are already a few bugs with the planner that we've been living with. But this new problem renders the whole planner useless. If you can't eat a banana without using points, you may as well be on the Flex plan.

So I sent a message to customer service. It took two days, but I heard back - I'm getting credited a week. I guess if this problem persists, I'll have to periodically send messages to get credit or just cancel. The planner is everything to me. I need to keep a journal to keep me honest and mindful of how much I'm eating. And this planner is fast and easy. I've tried other free food journals online and they are so slow and/or not flexible. Plus, I like the core plan. Remember how good it is for my cholesterol?
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I picked up the race packets for my Komen team - Pokemoms. Yahoo! Our little team has earned $365 already. I need to distribute, but they didn't include the race instructions and maps for everyone so I'm trying to make copies. My printer is flaking out on me.
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This morning I went on my 3 mile walk. I've been feeling cocky about my jogging (I jogged 2.8 sunday night), so I thought I'd jog a couple of miles. Bonk! My shins were hurting so bad and I was just not feeling good in general. Couldn't do it. I maybe made a mile. In spurts. The rest I walked. But it's all good. Today is just supposed to be a 3 mile walk on my schedule. The reason my shins are sore is because I did 2 minute fast walk intervals on my 4.4 mile walk yesterday. I need to stretch them out good. The vog is here again. Kona winds. That doesn't help one bit.
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The house is a mess and I need to shower before school lets out. Another Good News Club today - pray that the children are calmer. I'm hoping the fall break gave them some stress relief and now they are ready to behave. Wishful thinking...
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We got the boys their halloween costumes this weekend. Jake is going to be a gangster and Ryan is going to be a crime scene investigator.
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The boys got their latest book order in yesterday. They both have already read 1 book each. Ryan read a Goosebumps book, and Jake has read that new 39 Clues book. I'm eager to read that one myself. They've done a lot of reading lately. Ryan is working on finishing The City of Ember. As soon as he's done, we're going to see the movie. Jake and I have already read the book. I've read the movie review and see that they changed the story a bit. That sort of thing ticks me off, because it's a good book - ready to be made a movie if you ask me. But screen writers seem to think they haven't done their job if they haven't changed the story. It was like that for Spiderwick Chronicles - oh and countless others. I remember when the first Harry Potter came out and the kids were raving about how it was just like the book and the critics were criticizing because it was just like the book. Now that just doesn't make sense to me. I figure the author spent years writing and planning a book and a screen writer spends maybe a few weeks or so (if even). They usually miss the big picture vision and the nuances that are charming in the books.
I'm still trying to read the books that the boys bring home to read. It's hard to keep up, since Jake is such a fast reader and the books are bigger. Jake is reading Elijah of Buxton and I'm just charmed by it (there's that word again) and hope I can finish it before he has to leave it at school. I'm tempted to tell him to leave it home for a whole day so I can get more time in.
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I'm working on trying out more whole grain recipes. I did one the other day that was barley in the rice cooker. Gary liked it. I didn't. Too strong. It tasted like Spanish rice, of which I'm not a fan. When I find some good ones, I'll post them. It's fascinating though, the recipes out there that you can make in the rice cooker. Google "rice cooker recipes".

tada! the reveal...

This is the long-awaited design. Cute, isn't it? I hope you can see it. I will tweak the size if it doesn't show up large enough. The little words on the bottom say "early detection saves lives". I will take a picture of the team and post it after the race. I can't wait until the shirts get here. We all ordered tank tops. Crossing fingers that they are decent quality and not too tight!

First post here

This is going to be one of those loser throwaway posts. I just want something to show up. It's gonna be a fun holiday season figuring this business out. I promise, my next post will be that awesome t-shirt I designed for my Pokemom's Komen team.

toodles!

t-shirt design

I've got a good design in the works!  My teammates approve - actually they encourage me to make it BIGGER.  I guess when it comes to all things chest, the bigger the better...  LOL!  I had gone out and bought some software - did a bonehead thing and bought something that wasn't Vista, I thought it was.  Looked online and they have a patch to make it compatible - so I got to work right away.  The girls want to do a screenprint - which makes it limiting in colors.  We want to keep it down to 3 colors.  I don't know if that would look better than an iron on.  Considered cafe press, but it would be pricey, and the selection of shirts are limited and I doubt it would be delivered in time although I bet they would have the best results.

To answer your question Trish, they gave me a couple of options.  There are two other plastic surgeons for me to choose from, but one is my next door neighbor - so it's a 'no' on him.  The other guy I will meet in two weeks - I have an appointment to meet him and he'll administer the shots I'm getting in my scar to help reduce it. (keloid)  My PS is said to be coming back a couple of days a week starting in November to finish up some of his current patients - I fall in this category.  At this point, I think it's too late to do any surgery, no matter how minor, until the marathon.  So I'm looking at mid-December regardless who I choose.  Plus I'm not sure how follow-up care would work.  What if something goes wrong?  It's just one procedure though - supposedly a simple one.  I don't want to break in a new surgeon!!  Ugh.  I hate this situation.  So unless this new guy is a real moron, I'll probably go with him.  I briefly met him - he was one of the crowd at my last appointment.  He didn't say a word.  He seemed a bit homorless - which would be polar opposite of my current guy.  I guess that doesn't matter if he's good.

my doctor flew the coop!

I'm so upset.  My plastic surgeon is on terminal leave, as of Monday.  Terminal leave means he's getting out of the service.  Rumor has it he's leaving plastic surgery too.  I can either see him to finish up (supposedly he'll be coming in a couple of days a week starting in November to finish up some of his patients) or get a new doctor.  I'm so confused on what to do.

yes, I'm still here...

I had forgotten I had a private journal, so I just finished saving all that stuff on my pc.  It was kind of a fun trip back in time.  It started in August of 05.  I was complaining about gas being $2.53, and saw a week later it jumped up to $3.  So funny because today it's $4.04 and I'm happy about that, because that is way down from this summer!!  Meanwhile, my parents are on a trip and say that there is a gas shortage in NC, and my brother in IL says they are practically giving gas away for something like $3.75.

Thankfully the entries were short and few.  It would have taken all day to copy over, but this went fairly quickly.

I just ran out and bought some cheap design software.  Not the fancy Photoshop stuff, not photo software, but just some stuff that lets you mess around with fonts and clipart and pictures.  hopefully I can figure it out quickly (if I can find time) and design that t-shirt.  Times a-wastin'!