When Last We Met

I have not forsaken you! Wow, what a busy summer. Everything at my job decided to happen simultaneously in the last three weeks. And, of course, I had to squeeze a week-long vacation to the beach in there. I mean, I just had to.

I've been running, too! Although not to my training schedule. When Cap and I decided to fore go the August race, my brain decided it didn't need to train hardcore for my November race. Damn, brain, always trying to tell me what to do!

I have been running 2-3 times a week, 3-4 miles each time and sometimes on the, EEK, treadmill. I've decided to take the next month easy on the whole running outside thing. Its just too dang hot. If I put too much pressure on myself, I am liable to just not run at all. So, if I need to run on the treadmill, that is what I'm going to do.

My family's adorable beach bungalow.

Its funny, but running on the treadmill is at once easier and harder than running outside. Let's discuss:

Easier:

Mentally, yes. Why the treadmill is less daunting than running outside I will never understand, but it is.

Physically, yes. I've noticed that I am MUCH better at running on the treadmill now. When I first started running back in January, I would run on the treadmill at 5 to 5.5 speed for anywhere from 2.5-4.5 miles at a time. And, it was HARD. Then, I started running outside and it was HARDER. I have been exclusively running outside since. However, with all of this rain, I thought it might be necessary to run on the treadmill on occasion. My pseudo running coach told me a few months ago that if I had to run on the "dreadmill" as he called it, to run at a 1.5-2 incline. Last week, I ran on the treadmill twice for the first time since March. I ran my 3 miles on Tuesday evening outside like a good little girl. Then, on Wednesday, on the TREADMILL, I ran 4 miles at 5.8 speed (that's a 10:20 mile) on a 1.5 incline. That is crazy compared to my previous treadmill experience. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, and was starting to struggle, but was pumped by how easy it was overall. I went back on Friday and ran 3 miles at 6 speed (10 minute mile) on a 2 incline. It felt good! My outside runs have been dreadful. They have just gotten so boring. I think I need to come up with some new routes.

Harder:

Mentally, yes. I know I just said it was easier, but it is also harder. I said that, too. Time passes much slower on the treadmill than running outside. HOWEVER, I am much more likely to run on the treadmill than outside on days that I'm feeling lethargic. As I said earlier, its less daunting.

I don't get it.

Physically. Its not harder physically, but I seem to be working harder on the treadmill. I sweat about 20 times more on the treadmill. And, my muscles are so much "warmer" afterward. I am incredibly flexible after running on the treadmill. I know there is a reason for this. It seems that treadmill running is more aerobic and running outside is more about muscles? Does this make sense? I am obviously no physicist or biologist/anatomist but it seems that I move more on the treadmill without engaging as much of my muscles. While running outside, I'm moving slower but using more muscles to propel myself.

Eh. I don't know. I'm terrible at describing the difference, but there is a definite difference.

W joined me at the beach for a few days. It was wonderful!

As for my training, I am technically maintaining my Week 3 status. I could easily run 6 miles if I wanted. My race is on November 9, so that means if I want to keep with my training schedule, I would start at Week 4 on the week of September 8-14. For the meantime, I think I am going to start running 4-5 times a week, 3-5 miles each day. I want to see what that does for my body/weight loss goals until I start back my training.

I will probably start my training back sooner than September 8. I am still terrified of never achieving that elusive 7 mile run! But, who knows! Maybe, I will get the urge to knock out those 7 miles this weekend. We will see!

I won't be coming to you once a week with my running updates until I start back with my training. Hopefully, something interesting will happen in the meantime. I mean, Cap and J now live downstairs. We have family dinners lots. Cap and I scored at an Estate Sale this weekend. Okay, interesting things are happening!

How's your running going? Are you as fickle as me? What do you think about treadmills?

-b

Dinner Planning is Not Just for 1950s Housewives

source

To be perfectly honest with you, the stereotypical image of the 1950s housewife (see above), domestic goddess, etc. makes me cringe to my very depths. I don't get it. At all. Yes, I know, it was another time and another place, but I still don't get it. Maybe, I just don't want to get it.

Anyways, while I would never consider myself a housewife and doubt I would ever strive to be such, I do partake in many habits that I think would make the housewifiest of the housewives smile in domestic bliss.

I have started planning out our weekly meals to make grocery shopping a little more, er, successful. I hate coming home, starving and brain-dead, with an idea for dinner firmly in place only to find I have about 3 of the needed 20 ingredients. Nothing starts the night off worse than having to scramble to the store at grocery-rush-hour to dodge carts and children with nothing better to do than camp out in the cramped aisles and then wait 10 minutes in the speedy checkout line behind the person with more than the suggested 15 item limit and coupons to boot!

I have decided that meal planning is, alas, the only way to go.

Also, I am now gluten-free. I know, out of the blue, right? Well, when you find yourself curled up in the fetal position with only one pantleg on because that's as far as you got, and you're clutching your throbbing stomach and wishing for a an entire gastrointestinal transplant, while texting your boss that you are going to be late for work because of--what, severe stomach cramps (?!?)--you are suddenly ready for drastic, life-changing decisions.

Gluten free is a major life-change for me.

Bread and pasta and I go way back. And, its deep.

So, in that moment, I decided that I just couldn't live with writhing and unpredictable insides. I had actually been considering taking the leap since Christmas and this episode was just the straw that broke, well, my gut.

Its been 5 days, and I feel incredible. TMI to follow: I no longer have cramping and bloating following meals. And, after day one of no gluten, I dropped 2.2 lbs. like snap-your-fingers fast--2.2 lbs. GONE. W says that doesn't mean anything, but I think that it was my body quietly whispering thanks for ending the gluten torture.

Anyways, a gluten-free diet paired with my busy schedule has led to meal planning, and I don't plan on going back to my haphazard, disorganized ways.

Below is my menu for Monday through Sunday with links included. I sit down Sunday night or Monday morning and plan out the entire week's menu, making my shopping list of ingredients that I don't have on hand. I will freeze meat that I plan to use at the end of the week and set it out to thaw the morning I plan to use it. If we have a lot of leftovers from a meal, we will have it again for dinner a few nights later. Then, I will have a dinner already planned for the next week! W and I also like leftovers for lunch, so I usually do not cut the recipes in half.

Here goes:

Monday night:
lentil soup recipe
cornbread recipe

Tuesday night:
slow cooker sweet and spicy chicken recipe
with rice and sauteed spinach

Wednesday night:
pork cutlets with parm and lemon recipe
with mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus

Thursday night:
salmon patties with creamy dill sauce (recipe from mom below)
(gluten-free note: use leftover cornbread from Monday night for breadcrumbs)
crunchy potatoes
sauteed zucchini and onions

Friday night:
crockpot carnitas

Saturday night:
smoked sausage
mashed potatoes
sauteed cabbage

Sunday night:
chicken tikka masala
(chef's note: limit cornstarch to 1 1/2 tablespoons or it is really, really thick)
with rice and broccoli

I used Martha Stewart's website for recipes as well as Pinterest.

**Mom's Salmon Patty with Dill Sauce Recipe

Salmon Patties
onion
celery
fresh parsley
1 can of salmon
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
bread crumbs or panko (gluten-free: cornbread)
pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Saute onion and celery. Mix salmon, egg, mustard together. Add celery, ionions, breadcrumbs and pepper and mix. Shape into patties, 2 1/2 in. thick. Brown in skillet and EVOO. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place browned patties on sheet and back for 15-20 mins.

Creamy Dill Sauce
Mix together the following ingredients:
1/4 cup of mayo
1/4 cup of yogurt
2 scallions, sliced
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
ground pepper

Do you meal plan?

Long Time No See

Thanks to Cap for keeping the blog going during the last two weeks. My apologies on being MIA. I decided that Hurricane Sandy was the best excuse yet to forego media of all kinds (blogs, facebook, twitter, internet in general, tv, cable, hulu, etc.). Sandy also knocked out the internet for four days. I spent most of Sandy and the past weekend curled up on the couch with Harry and a heating pad. I wasn't sick or hurt. I just really like laying on a heating pad. And by Harry, I mean the wizarding one. You know, Potter.

Despite all of my curling up and reading, I found myself surprisingly busy as well. For instance, I just spent the last two days in a strategic planning meeting with about 15 other women (wooooo...) for the museum. I then had to attend a Junior League Board Meeting (snooooze... when you're not on the board, its not very interesting) to make my provisional requirements. I sound like I know what I'm talking about, don't I?

I spent all day Monday and Tuesday thinking that it was actually Wednesday. Today, I keep thinking its Friday. I am obviously very confused.

I have also taken on some extra-curricular work that requires hours upon hours of computer work. But at $30/hour, I am NOT complaining. Not one bit.

So needless to say, all of this combined with a water spill on my dear, beloved Mac that found him (yes, personified) resting in a box of rice for two days means that I have sadly been unable to blog! Interestingly, I have hardly contemplated clever ways of murdering W for the past two months. Progress on this whole how-to-not-murder thing!

However, I did want to murder him and his school when I found out that we won't know his days off (positively assuming he will have at least one) for Thanksgiving until the Monday of Thanksgiving week. WHAT. That is ridiculous. I am not happy.

I also wanted to murder him and the federal government when I got another call from collections because our insurance company wouldn't pay for a medical related expense, and none bothered to send us a bill. Where's my affordable healthcare, Mr. President?

Sorry. That's not really a political statement. That's frustration with all of the promises of Obamacare of which this hardworking, tax-paying woman has seen ZILCH. Not that I agreed with it in the first place, but if we are all being "helped" by it, I would like to experience this help. Just saying.

But let's go back to how W is a 3rd year medical student, who is required to have health insurance to be in school, and so has to pay for it out of pocket since his wife (me) is lame and works for a non-profit that doesn't have insurance and pays her pennies. Let's also talk about how expensive this health insurance is each and every month. Then, let's talk about how it pays for NOTHING and then doesn't alert us to not paying for the nothing.

How ironic that my medical student husband and I cannot afford "affordable healthcare".

Off soap box.

So, the issue of days off for Thanksgiving and health insurance have been the only episodes that might have threatened the well being of dear W. Fortunately, I have learned to take out my frustrations in the kitchen.

Here is what I have been dishing up lately with links to recipes:

 (from left to right: jalapeno cheddar, plain, rosemary, lemon zest and gruyere)

I have made 3 loaves of this bread and will be making a loaf to take to my Junior League recipe exchange this weekend. (I know, I hate myself a little for saying that.) I have made cheddar jalapeno and rosemary, lemon zest, and gruyere. The latter is definitely a favorite!

I made this Hoppin' Johns inspired recipe. I wish that I had used smoked sausage or ham instead of chopped up pork. Other than that, it was a hit! I love one pot meals. I used 20 minute rice and frozen black eyed peas that I cooked beforehand.

Then, on the day that Sandy hit and it SNOWED in OCTOBER, I made this homemade tomato soup. All I had in the cupboard was a can of tomato sauce/puree and half and half instead of heavy cream. It was still delicious! Just add more stock/water if you use tomato sauce/puree.

My new breakfast of choice is a smoothie, and its delicious. Ingredients: half of a frozen banana, 8 frozen or fresh strawberries, 1 large handful of spinach, 1/2 - 2/3 cup of skim milk, 1 heaping tbs. of peanut butter, 1 tsp. honey, 1 heaping tbs. of yogurt. Blend and enjoy! I just started adding plain Greek yogurt. I am NOT a yogurt fan but wanted extra protein and the good stuff that yogurt has, so I started adding what I could handle. Yogurt unfortunately triggers my gag reflex. So far though, I don't really notice it in the smoothie.

If you like mustard greens, this recipe with onions and pasta is delicious especially with a side of kielbasa!

This is one of my favorite pork loin recipes. I make variations of it all the time. The most recent was this Sunday, when I made a pork roast in my dutch oven with carrots and potatoes. I didn't have white wine, so I used chicken stock instead. I LOVE lemon with roasted veg and meat. Yum.

So, who's coming for dinner????

-b

B Travels to DC

This past weekend was a flash and in the best of ways.

I won't bore you with all of the details, so I will share my travels with you in a very orderly, Type-A-med-student-husband-approved way.

1. It all began with a seven hour road trip with two of my fifty-year-old board members. It was awesome. We stopped every hour to pee and ate schnitzel along the way!

2. I got to Georgetown around 5pm and checked in at the hotel all by my lonesome. I was antsy and excited, so I decided to go for a walk and explore a bit, and yeah, mother nature happened. Torrential downpour sans umbrella.

3. I ducked into a Hagen Dazs for refuge and was guilt-ed into spending $4 on a sorbet that I took three bites of before the rain temporarily let up, inducing me to chuck the sorbet and hightail it back to the hotel. I spent the remaining few hours before Marg arrived painting my nails and watching Twilight movies.....

4. 9pm - Margaret arrived. We went to Thunder Burger. OMG. My burger was so delicious. And the fries?! And the aioli for the fries!? I can't. Marg had a gin martini, dirty. I had a vodka (duh).

1. Marg thought it was a WONDERFUL idea to go see Jessica the psychic. I can attest to this being a very bad idea indeed. We walked up the narrow stairs and into the woman's living room where her eight year old granddaughter was playing on an IPad with a cat snoozing under the chair. "The Psychic" then charged Marg $10--since the $5 special had just run out..............--and proceeded to stare at the ceiling while she read Marg's palm..................................... and got EVERYTHING wrong.

2. Elizabeth got in at midnight so we called it an early evening and got up bright and early Saturday to go explore the Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. I didn't take any pictures there because I was too busy obsessing over the incredible jewelry stands! W will be getting me earrings from one stand for Christmas :). I will post those later.... After the market, we introduced Marg to the US Capitol, which she had confused with the White House. She kept saying, "Where's the big black fence that you stand in front of?????? Its so much bigger than I remember!!" Lawdy.

3. We walked through the sculpture garden on the way to the Natural History Museum.

4. Fall colors in DC on our way to the Natural History Museum and the Hope Diamond.

1. Lunch at Paul's, a favorite bakery. Marg and I split the biggest, most delicious raspberry macaroon we had ever seen. Mmmm.

2. NATIONAL ZOO. OMG. BEST IDEA EVER.

3. Flamingos! My new obsession.

4. The tiger was very agitated.

1. Dinner at Bistrot du Coin, another favorite. Cotes du Rhone was the beverage of choice.

2. WE FOUND CAP!!! Margaret, Elizabeth, Me, Cap at a rooftop bar.

3. View from the rooftop.

4. Of course, we had to stop and love on the DCPD Clydesdales.

1. Elizabeth escaped early on a plane Sunday morning. Margaret and I thought it would be a great idea to ride bikes all over Georgetown after the previous evening's antics. It actually was awesome! I was very surprised that we were able to stay upright the entire time. We had brunch on a patio by the river with Margaret's BFF, Carrie and then we parted ways. :(

2. My conference began that night at a palatial building near Dupont Circle called Anderson House. It was filled with elderly women drinking gin and scotch. The final day of the conference found me at Gunston Hall Plantation, eight miles south of Mt. Vernon. It was incredible in all of its colonial charm.

3. Napoleonic Bee necklace I purchased at the gift shop and am now obsessed with.

4. Came home to my fluffy daughters and sweet W who is another year older.

Great trip ladies! Let's do it again soon!

-b

B on the Road Again

I am off--yet again--this weekend sans the medical student. I know you all must think I am quite the absent spouse, but I am becoming more and more convinced that the old adage, "absence makes the heart grow fonder," might indeed be true as well as a necessity when it comes to NOT murdering your med student husband.

Now, I am going to shock you all when I confess that I will be leaving W for five days this Friday, which also just so happens to be his 29th birthday. Terrible, right? I should be so ashamed of myself. In fact, I totally am, yet it did not deter me from scheduling my girl's reunion in DC this weekend.

You see, dear readers, I get to hang out with two of my dearest friends in one of my favorite cities.

At Margaret's Kansas-themed going away party. I was the state insect. She was Glenda.

This is Elizabeth. We were doing what we did best, barhop in CHS, SC.

You see, I was heading to DC this weekend anyways for a work conference that starts on Sunday and ends on Tuesday. I am notorious for turning work trips into fun getaways, hence this weekend's obvious girl-time theme!

Margaret currently lives in NYC, and when W and I were there visiting in April, she told me that she had purchased a Groupon for a round-trip bus ride to DC. Knowing that I went to DC often for work, we decided that my next work trip should coincide with her using the Groupon. We are so economical.

I haven't seen Elizabeth since a few months after my wedding, nearly 3 years ago. RIDICULOUS. So, we thought we would make it a true reunion. You see, all three of us enjoy visiting one another.

Elizabeth and I visited Margaret when she lived in Denver.

This weekend is sure to be thrilling. I have barely recovered from our whirlwind weekend in Lewisburg and the hazy late-night we spent at the Greenbrier and its cave-like casino on Saturday (geesh), but I wouldn't miss this epic girl's weekend for anything (even for W's birthday, apparently!!!!).

Coincidentally, Cap and J will also be in DC this weekend, so I have convinced Cap that she must stay with us and even stay on with me through Tuesday. J just doesn't have a say.

Can you spot Margaret and Elizabeth? Hannah from the Birmingham trip is in there, too!

Can't WAIT!

-b

On Busyness & B Travels

The setting for the story you are about to read.

 WHEW...

Let me catch my breath.

How is it already October? Did we just skip over September? I'd like it back or at least an opportunity to remember if anything actually happened during it.

Oh wait, let's see. I hosted a fundraiser, ate lots of Mexican food, had some sushi, some Indian, felt ill and got better, toured the WV mountains, and then escaped to Alabama and SC for a whirlwind four days. That was September. Ok, I feel better.

I think that Cap and I might be victims of the Law of Attraction. We needed something to do? Well, for better or worse, I think we now have our fill.

Talk about "How to Not Murder Your Med Student Husband"--who???? I have a husband??? I want to murder him? WHY.

Because you are bored and separated from friends and family because of medical school. Remember?

Oh, yeah.

I think I have achieved busyness. Successfully? I will let you decide.

Hellooooo. Oysters.

Last Wednesday, I fled (as if a pack of rabid 8 year olds were after my soul, little soul suckers) the Mountain State for the intoxicating and magical Low Country. Five and a half hours, one gas stop and bathroom break later, I found myself in Columbia, SC. Well, I was close enough to my beloved coast to effectively imagine the thick and briny fragrance of rotting marsh grass. I cuddled my 9 day old nephew for a bit, read Peter Pan to the three and half year old nephew, and ate delicious enchiladas before forcing myself to close my eyes before Hannah picked me up at 9am the following morning (Thursday).

The stars of this story in our farm chic get-ups.

I was able to take the nephew to pre-school before hitting the road with my oldest bestie at 95-99 mph, speeding to Birmingham. We gabbed and yapped and chatted and laughed and listened to really good music as we raced the clock to Alabama and our $1,000 a plate dinner at 5:30 that afternoon. We thought we would be in a major time crunch with only seconds to dab mascara and don our boots and cocktail dresses.

The long white table.

Little did we know that we would be gaining an hour at the Georgia/Bama border. Score one for us! Of course, we didn't realize this lucky phenomenon until we got up to our hotel room, took one look at the clock, sighed in appreciation for timezones, and decided to go shopping.

Toasting Bessie.

Of course, none of the 20 lbs. of garments that I had trekked from WV would do. We spotted a cute boutique near our hotel, and I found the evening's attire on super markdown. Score two!

Drinks menu at Little Donkey.

Then, we decided we needed a drink, so we went to the Little Donkey and indulged in some cocktails, veggie fundido, and chips and salsa.

This table was the best idea ever.

This is when we looked at the clock and realized that our gained hour had slipped quickly away and we were on track to miss our 5:30 rendezvous. We had a fashion show at the hotel and applied the finishing touches before grabbing a cab to an urban farm on the edge of downtown Birmingham.

As we drove up, there were string lights crisscrossing above a very, very long white table, whose sparkly crystal and china place settings glinted in the setting sunlight. There was bourbon--lots and lots of bourbon--in mason jars with simple orange peels. There were hay bales covered in burlap for easy seating. There were huge Gulf shrimp, homemade sausage (that tasted like chicken bog, which my Pee Dee folks will understand), OYSTERS (those delicious little filters of the sea), pickled radishes and celery, oh, and bourbon.

Bessie.

The cocktail hour was long, ushering us into twilight and filled with bluegrass music and garden plot admiring. We plucked arugula straight from the ground and tasted its spice. We even grilled up a few peppers with permission from the plot keeper. Yum.

Then it was time for dinner and a stroll across the farm to the long, white table. It was time to toast Bessie. Bessie was the grass-fed, three-year-old cow that would become our dinner. They roasted her whole in a pit. We are very thankful for Bessie!

We sat down and were served family style. It started with grilled Red Snapper, fresh out of the Gulf the day before (OMG). Then came Bessie and field pea salad and corn relish, turnips, and okra. Finally, there was apple cake with fresh cream. It was a dreamy night under the stars, filled with delicious food and excellent company.

$250 bourbon. Yowz.

I would gladly drop everything to do it all over again. Thanks, Hannah!!

-b

The Importance of Busy-ness

I have never really considered before how good for the soul it is to maintain a state of busy-ness. I don't mean the kind of busy-ness that makes you a bad wife, friend, mother, daughter, sister, etc. Nor do I mean the kind that leads to broken commitments, tardiness, or exhaustion. I'm talking about the healthy kind of busy-ness.

If I had to define busy-ness, it would be a state of conscious presence--an active decision to participate in the now.

My bad habits are the perfect example of what not to do.

You know the scene. Its 8:30 on a Friday night. No plans. No possibility of human interaction as the husband's brain is a few hundred pages into a medical text. (And no, your cats don't count as human interaction even though you can hold a conversation with them. They are not talking to you. They are in fact very clearly talking to one another about you.) You're in sweats, or worse, a nightgown (guilty!), slumped into the creases of the couch that by now are neatly compacted to the perfect outline of your buttocks. Your eyes are watery and bloodshot from adjusting to the various colors and movements of each channel as you mindlessly click the channel up button. (I like to think that my choice to click up denotes a positive outlook on life and general steadiness of character. Discuss.) You might be drooling. Your mouth is most definitely ajar; tongue visible, resting heavily on your bottom teeth. You pause on a show about people called the Hudderites. You are strangely fascinated by their odd accent, deadpan demeanor, and love of beef jerky. Commercial break. You go into autopilot and continue to click the channels up without even realizing it. Five minutes later, you remember that you had just found something interesting to watch, but oddly can't seem to reach back into the endless depths of your short-term memory and recollect what you had been so interested in staring at. What had it been about? There were definitely people in it. Maybe, if I could just remember whether the channel number fell above or below 50, I could find it again...

DO NOT DO THIS.

Television will make you dumb. And, a little fat. But, mostly just dumb.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE television, but only when it is watched because of a conscious decision to enjoy a particular show. You should watch TV on a schedule based on the shows you enjoy. When they are over, turn the television off. Channel surfing is not really watching TV. Its a bad reflex. Clicking through the channels gives you the feeling of doing something, but there is nothing engaging about it.

Step away from the remote.

TIME OUT while I prove to you just how much I love television. I watch the Kardashians every Sunday night at 9pm and will sometimes even watch the marathon leading up to the new episode if I have fallen behind. There is no shame in having one TV vice. The Ks are mine.

I also love anything with Gordon Ramsey, because both W and I have a HUGE crush on him. I love Bones, New Girl, 30 Rock, and Castle. I enjoy my Bravo shows as well, Flipping Out and Top Chef. gossipgirl. And, the best show out there: Project Runway.

Adjusting my neck be-ard!

(source)

This is a bit embarrassing. But here I am, dear friends, exposing my soul and deepest, darkest secrets to you all. TIME IN.

How to Stay Busy 101

Busy suggestion #1: Start cooking--from scratch! This past weekend, I filled the lameness of not having a single thing to do on a hopping Friday night by making spaghetti meat sauce from scratch (Cap's recipe). There was lots of chopping, lots of sauteing, lots of dirtying of dishes. It took a solid hour to prep and finally have simmering my completed sauce. By then, I had a pile of dirty dishes that needed to be washed (alas, no dishwasher). I filled the hour while the sauce simmered away with washing dishes.

Of course it doesn't take an hour to wash dishes (unless you do like I used to do and use TV as a distraction: I would wash during the commercial breaks. That is probably not healthy...). So I did what any normal 25 year-old professional would with nothing else to do on a Friday night. I dusted off Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and fled to Hogwarts. Indeed, I was tempted to turn on the television, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione are much more fulfilling companions.

Busy suggestion #2: Watch television. Wait--what?! I know. I am a big, fat liar. Not. It is OK to watch TV. Friday night, after dinner was consumed and cleaned up, the whole evening stretched before me, dark and empty, mocking my solitude. I made a conscious decision to turn on the television and search for a movie to watch. I gave myself a time limit--30 minutes to find something engaging and enjoyable. If I didn't find it, I was to turn it off and read, clean, or weep. I found My Sister's Keeper, which I had never seen. It was definitely not enjoyable, but considering that the front of my t-shirt was soaked with tears, my eyes were nearly swollen shut, and I was as blotchy as a newborn fresh from the womb, it can be deduced that it was engaging.

Busy suggestion #3: Read/Research. Expand your mind and read! Whether its the newest best seller or an old favorite like HP, escaping to a literary world is much healthier than zombie-posing in front of the TV. Research. Want to re-do some furniture or rework your living room? Want to start cooking healthy? How about a new workout regime? There are thousands of blogs out there with really creative people behind them. Start following a few and get inspired. Facebook stalking does NOT count as research. Don't let scrolling through the interweb become your tongue-lolling downfall like TV. It is just as dangerous, unsatisfactory, and counter-productive.

Busy suggestion #4: Study breaks. Force the medical student to take a study break. They will most likely need it and might just thank you later (if, of course, you poke and prod and explain to them how much better they feel for leaving the desk and books for some fresh air). On Sunday, I made W go to the farmer's market, also known as Heaven. I love to stick my face in the mound of peppers and breath deeply. (I've never really considered how that might look until now...) W is very disappointed in me when I do this. He reminds me that the sweet pepper I am clutching to my appreciative nose will be purchased by someone (who is not me, since I already have a bag full) and that I probably shouldn't be rubbing it all over my face. If you learn anything from this blog, let it be this: Wash your produce, people.

Busy suggestion #5: LEAVE. Just get out of the house. Go for a walk. Run (yeah, right). Get in the car. Drive. Just move and eventually you will figure out what to do.
Sidenote: When I do this, I tend to find myself in the parking lot of some type of shopping establishment: antique shop, Gabriel Brother's (dear God, save me), TJMAXX, Home Goods, Target. Before I know it, I'm at the checkout counter. It is then, after the card has been swiped, that I awake from the nightmare that is retail addiction and mentally retrace my steps to figure out where it was that it all went horribly wrong. THIS is NOT healthy. However, it is distracting and for me, as far from punishment as you can get. I am one of those unfortunate people who never have buyer's remorse and is really good at justifying everything. I daily curse my exceptional rationalizing skills. I should have been a lawyer! (When I am ready to admit to myself just how unhealthy this habit is without spiraling into a nervous breakdown or questioning my very existence, I will do a post on my abusive tendencies towards my submissive bank account.)

Busy suggestion #6: Clean. It is exercise (sort of) and does have the ability to make you feel good all under. There really is no better feeling than a clean house. I mean, have you ever spent three hours hardcore scrubbing, vacuuming, mopping, etc. and regretted it? I didn't think so. Could you say the same about channel surfing or interwebbing? My point exactly.

Busy suggestion #7: Get a job. A job means 40 hours a week that you know will not be spent in zombie land, doing something that is not fulfilling and that you will most likely regret later.

Busy suggestion #8: Have a baby.

Busy suggestion #7: Join a club. Cap and I will be testing this one out on Thursday when we attend out first ever Junior League meeting. I already play Bunko once a month with a bunch of women who know how to have a good time. Its sad when the 60 year olds (who have been filling your glass all night) have to drive you home..... I also am trying to talk myself into taking an adult ballet class for beginners. We will keep you posted!

What do you do to stay busy?

-b