Being healthy during the week

Eleanor is a little over 10.5 months now, and she is just a delight.  She has the brightest, most fun personality, and is always reminding me and John to smile more (and it's hard not to in her presence).  During the week, I like to maximize my time with her as much as possible, and thus do not dedicate the amount of time to working out and other self-improvements as I did previously. 

When I really think about it, though, I'm not doing too bad:

• I will be getting a standing desk very soon at work, so will not be sitting nearly as much.
• I walk for about 40 minutes each day carrying a bunch of stuff, and stand for the remainder of my commute.
• I continue to stand and be active at home - playing with Eleanor, cooking a dinner with whole foods, and doing the dishes.
• I try to drink 2 liters of water each day (or the equivalent).
• I drink an average of less than 1 alcoholic drink per day.
• I breastfeed, which I guess I count as exercise!
• I read and do "brain training" to keep my mind sharp!(ish)
• Cardio dance party

There are certainly additional behaviors I could incorporate here to improve - the standing desk will help A LOT.  Try to move around more during the day.  Do yoga twice a week (online streaming).  Do squats, pushups, sit-ups often.  Stop eating "second dinner".

And, get more sleep...but I don't think I'm going to make too much progress on that one for a while.

Fall beverages - a continually updated list

Every year, at the end of August, I start to see seasonal fall beers and ciders appear on the shelves, which gets me very excited for the change in seasons!  I love all of that pumpkin shit, Oktoberfest, apple, spice, all that shit.

I decided that I should keep track of the ones that I have sampled, so I have a record to consult next year.

Pumpkick - New Belgium - lovely and refreshing - lighter than most, hoppier than most.  Slight pumpkin and cranberry flavors.  Very drinkable and flavorful.

Pumpking - Southern Tier - intense. Not exactly "drinkable" at 8.6 ABV.  But big pumpkin flavor - the pumpkiniest of pumpkin beers.  Graham cracker, malty, pumpkin bread, spice. A small glass is very nice to sip, although this year's batch seemed overly spiced.

Oktoberfest - Great Lakes - a seasonal favorite, very flavorful, rich but drinkable.  Hops and malt, slight, pleasant sweetness.

Ace Pumpkin Cider - California Cider Company - surprisingly tasty! Didn't know what to expect, but I could drink about 5 of these easy. Cidery sweet, but nice tartness and pumpkin flavor, rounded out with the allspice.  A perfect fall sip, not too complex, so drinkable.

Oktoberfest - Sam Adams - I would definitely order this over any other mass-produced beer at a bar, by a LONG shot.  'Tis more than acceptable - tasty and refreshing and that's all I remember about it.

Jacques au Lanterne - Evolution Brewing Company - A nicely spiced, not-too-pumpkiny Saison style beer.  So very tasty.  Big foamy head, lovely amber color, slightly sweet, hoppy.  Delicious!  Had it on tap at a Belgian restaurant.

Special Harvest Ale - Southern Tier - A good beer, nothing really incredibly "special" about it.  It's hoppy like a pale ale, but also malty/roasty.  Complex, and good, but I probably wouldn't buy it again because it just wasn't very exciting.

Emily's bridal shower

One stressor in my life has been conquered:  Emily's bridal shower was a great success!  We celebrated at Blue Duck Tavern around a long, beautiful table.  The food was all delicious, and everyone had lots of fun.  Food highlights included:  pickled watermelon arugula salad, heirloom tomato goat cheese salad, crab cakes, spare rib hash, cantaloupe sorbet, dense MFing chocolate cake.

A rare picture of John and I together was also captured at this event (see above).

This made me want to go back to BDT ASAP!!  We will bring Eleanor along for some duck fat fries and hashes.

For dinner that evening, I met up with Emily and three of her college roommates at Birch and Barley.  We had a lovely (small, on account of brunch) dinner to prepare Emily for a rough night of drankin'.  Afterwards, I went home to Eleanor and my mom, who was graciously babysitting, and looked forward to crazy pictures of Emily's bachelorette night the next day.

They did not disappoint. 

PS - isn't John's beard majestic?

Reading list for the fall

There are a good number of books that I'd like to read this fall, and if I don't write them all down, I am going to forget them!

First off, books that I've read recently -

Tenth of December, George Saunders - recommend. Smart satire, political/cultural commentary, some really beautiful imagery and wordsmithing. Witty.  A lot of the stories start to seem the same, but they are all good.  Did I mention this is a book of short stories.  Well it is.

The Lost:  The Search for Six in Six Million, Daniel Mendelsohn - wouldn't recommend to everyone. Long and wordy, but interesting.  I kind of feel like I just have to finish it now that I have made it as far as I have.  Did I mention it is really fucking long and dense. YASS, it is.
  

TO READ:

Subtle Bodies, Norman Rush
Bleeding Edge, Thomas Pynchon
Year Zero, Ian Buruma
The Circle, Dave Eggers
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
A Naked Singularity, Sergio De La Pava
The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer
Skippy Dies, Paul Murray

I will have to send this list to my mom to see what she thinks!  I've started Skippy Dies, so I really should start with that one...but the new ones are calling to me.  I think I might start with Subtle Bodies.

Update:  My mom is in favor of all of these, except for the Thomas Pynchon.  She said "I cannot do Pynchon".  WELL THEN!  I will have to procure that one for myself!

The cicadas are coming!

When I wrote the title for this post back in...March or something...everyone was talking about how a gigantic swarm of cicadas was coming to take over Virginia and Washington, DC.  People were up in arms about this - they were going to ruin weddings, graduations, sleep. But I was so excited for Eleanor's first cicadas and my third batch!  This was a momentous occasion for us.

I am here today to give you the update that I have not seen a SINGLE cicada since the DMV started freaking out.  Not a one.  And I think they've gone back underground now.  So, just like any major weather event in DC, the cicada emergence was all hype.  We will be returning to Illinois in about 11 years, though, for the reappearance of "my" brood :).

More updates:

Eleanor is 9 months old, with three teeth!  She loves yelling, throwing her head back and screaming, giving raspberries, making duckface and flaring her nostrils, and slapping.  She also loves pulling herself up to stand in her Pack N' Play + the coffee table, messing with everyone's electronics (iPads are the favorite), watching TV, remote controls, and resisting diaper changes.  Her favorite foods are salmon, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, cheerios, yogurt, and green beans.  She also loves spicy foods and lime popsicles.  Her hair is getting very curly, and is growing mostly from the bottom along the sides (below her ears) and right at the very top of her head. 

Now, after announcing how much I loooove guacamole, I have discovered that I have an avocado allergy.  Depending on the dose of avocados, you might find me at best writhing in pain on the ground, and at worst puking. So, no more avocados for me!  So sad :(

I've been trying to bake more regularly, and have made a number of delicious things:

black-bottom cupcakes
oatmeal chocolate chip cake with cream cheese frosting
flourless peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
yellow birthday cake with chocolate fudge frosting (double layer!)
roasted strawberry summer cake

Current stressor:  my sister Emily's bridal shower on September 7th!  And then her wedding!  At which I need to give a speech!  And find a dress!  Errrmagerd.

Eating (LOTS!!!) for breastfeeding

I think I could probably lose some weight easily while breastfeeding, but I have decided to enjoy this time of feasting while I can. AND EAT EVERYTHING.

I'm pretty much eating everything these days, and that is OK. I have a desire to bake and try new foods, and foods that are like new because I didn't have them for 9 months!  This has included lots of turkey sandwiches made at home, and other deli sandwiches from Taylor Gourmet.  Aside from ordering off of the hospital menu, which was very fun and novel (oh, and the horrible pasta from Lost Dog Cafe I had at 11pm on November 15th), my first meal was a big sub from Taylor.  Roast beef, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and gorgonzola - two forbidden foods in one delicious meal!  Prior to any of this eating, I really enjoyed the hospital jello throughout labor.

Now I have settled into a good routine of eating, which includes:

SALMON twice a week, and a fish oil capsule on the other days
EGGS (4) 3-4 times a week, and a choline capsule on the other days
WHOLE MILK YOGURT about 5 times a week
DECAF coffee (up to three) daily
lots of PROTEIN each day, and way more fresh fruits and veggies than before
...CHOCOLATE, like a half of a big bar each day, have tried most of the ones in the store
PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SAMMICH, often
SWEET POTATOES
WATER - two liters a day
GUACAMOLEEEEE -

Guacamole is my new thing.  I'm buying pounds of avocados and assuring myself that they are VERY healthy. My recipe, confirmed by my office mate and confidante, is simply:

3 avocados, roughly smashed
4 of the good sweet capri tomatoes, chopped
1/4 red onion finely chopped
1 large jalapeno finely chopped
juice from large lime (if not sufficient, then use more lime)
salt - don't be shy

It is the ish.

I'm also doing things like eating 3 rice puddings in about 2 minutes, full bags of "Food Should Taste Good" chips, and spoonfuls of pb from the jar.  This is racking up the calories nicely.

UPDATE - just ate sleeve of Thin Mints

As far as alcohol is concerned, I've had a few drinks.  Timing them with the feeding is obstacle enough for me to not drink that much at all.  The past few times I've gotten a beer out of the fridge, I have a few sips and have no desire to finish it.  They haven't tasted great, and I immediately think "is this worth it?". It really hasn't been at all!  The two exceptions have been a glass of sparkling pink champagne with Emily at Pearl Dive, and a bottle of Orval Trappist Ale.  So, it has to be the really good stuff I guess!

A need to record and not rust

I have been thinking recently about the fact that I don't write nearly enough on a daily basis.  (I also do not read nearly enough, but that is a separate issue that I will amend elsewhere).  I used to do both things so often, efficiently and well.  Hunkering down to write has been intimidating me more and more lately.  I need to embrace writing, not only to improve my rusty writing skills, but also for my poor rusty brain that wants to remember these days of my early LATE twenties.

My current situation:

I've just reentered society after taking a lovely sojourn into hermitude* with my beloved baby girl.  I realized that I could be pretty happy just living simply, day to day, in a small contained environment.  Does that sound weird?  It sounds weird to me, but I think I could make do in a wide range of situations and find happiness.   I liked that one in particular, though.  Maybe I was just happy because I needed to adjust to the (admittedly partly self-inflicted) isolation of having a newborn.  I did enjoy it and am very thankful for that time.  So much time just me and Eleanor, just looking at her and feeding her and resting.  Learning about her and establishing a routine. 

Now I am back in the office and on public transportation, going for walks and to the grocery store.  I can't control things exactly any longer, and I am learning to get over that (this was something I knew I needed to do, but put off). INTERLUDE (must break for the breast pump).  Yes, now there is a new routine:

0600 - wake up (snooze once)
0615 - make coffee
0620 - put together bottles and pump parts
0630 - start skin/eye/teeth regimin
0645 - change Ellie's diaper because she's been mooing!
0650 - get snacks/lunch ready and pick out clothes
0700 - do hair
0710 - feed Eleanor
0730 - burp Eleanor
0735 - get dressed, make up, and run around doing last minute things to prep for nanny
0750 - depart for work
0830 - workin' workin'
0945 - PUMP!
1300 - PUMP!
1530 - PUMP!
1700 - head home
1740 - settle in
1755 - feed Eleanor
1815 - burp Eleanor
1820 - cook dinner
1900 - eat dinner
1915 - feed Eleanor, bedtime routine
1945 - finish eating dinner
2000 - relax time
2100 - clean pump parts and prep for next day
2200 - get ready for bed as fast as possible and go to sleep

I am really liking this routine so far, especially at 1740 when I get home! I love breastfeeding and hope to do it for as long as possible.  So anyway, it's spring now, and that's what's up!

THE END OF FIRST POST (of this iteration of the blog).

*Did I make up this word? Should be real.