Glossary

A brief glossary for those who are not fluent Brooke speakers.

• Rax:  Direct translation of "relax" but generally used only in a personal form such as "I need to rax" or "I plan to rax all afternoon."  Never used as a directive "Rax man" and rarely in the context of others such as "You should take a vacation to rax."  The etymology of this term stems from my early youth and a very tense mother who would chant the mantra "I need to relax" while sitting on the couch at the end of the day.  I would sit on the same couch aping what I observed with my arms spread out, eyes closed, spouting "I need to rax, I need to rax, I need to rax."
• Appending an animal species name with "-ing", e.g. "Donkling": An indication of a wee little animal of that species, most often a baby, sometimes just a miniature species and always cute.  The cuteness does not always indicate a universal understanding of beauty.
• Appending a persons' name with "stopher", e.g. "Joanstopher": A convention stolen from my dear friend Sweet Pea and never ever applied to anyone actually named Chris or Christopher.  A convention that fell out of the dialect once THE Christopher became such a central figure.
• Baby cows:  The body parts often referred to with the extremely misleading term of "calves."
• Booby trap: The article of clothing configured to trap boobies and often called a "bra."  Does not apply to sportswear.
• Psycho kitty:  Yang version of Nenya Kitty
• Sack-o-kitty: Yin version of Nenya Kitty

• Labradoggy:  Samson the beautiful.  An incredibly sweet half Lab, half retriever by blood. Full Lab(radoggy) in spirit.
• Joggy jog:  A casual jog, run, walk or combination of the three done with the doggy dog Samson.
• Like a baby:  Clarifying instructions for most any simple physical action.  E.g. Not sure how to shake it?  Shake it like a baby.  Not sure how to leave it be?  Drop it like a baby.  Not applicable to complex or multi-step actions.  One would not cook dinner, knit or play tennis like a baby.  That just doesn't make any sense.
• Aminal:  I am an aminal!  Rawrrrrrr!!!

If there are other foreign or unclear phrases you find here at Wayward Princess please do not hesitate to inquire as to their meaning.  I often forget that people don't live inside my head.

Hangry

Hangry:  Adjective

The irrational irritation one gets when he or she is hungry.

I get hangry sometimes.  When I'm hangry things that shouldn't be a big deal or at all challenging become impossible.  The world becomes a vicious place bent on torturing me very particularly.  The dog, the husband, gravity itself throw every impediment in my way on purpose.  Despite my human mind that is capable of logic when hangry I lose all sense of perspective.

This predisposition to hanger is combined with an inability to eat much of the food that is handy and easy to find out in the world.  (Turns out I can't digest dairy plus a few other issues I won't sidetrack into.)  To preserve our marriage we keep snacks I can eat in my purse, bike bag, car, desk at work, etc. and always try to have something quick and easy to feed me when I'm melting down.  

Nenya Kitty does not fare so well.  In the spectrum of fitness that is our household we have Samson and Christopher off to the right as shimmering specimens of prowess.  I'm somewhere in the middle with nimbleness and perseverance but far less strength and quite the penchant for cake.  Nenya is pretty far off to the left.  She is a gorgeous little thing, but more in the way of voluptuous Marilyn Monroe than a modern supermodel.  She also isn't very nimble or athletic.  She literally runs into walls.

Pretty kitty posing for Aunt Chelsea
who works the camera to hid the fat!

So fatso catso is on a diet.  Which means she gets hangry a lot.  She doesn't generally have that mean, bad or vindictive kitty streak that so many cats can have.  She just gets... hangry.  She attacks our feet (with claws in), rolls around clawing things, shoots back and forth across the house like a psycho kitty. 

I took pity on her today and gave her some extra food, but when she lays out on the carpet she is reminiscent of a miniature fat juicy seal.  I guess it is better to be fat and happy than skinny and hangry.

Crap TV: Confession

I'm pretty conscious about the food I put into my body.  I also think it is pretty important to be mindful about the thoughts you fill yourself with.

But there is a place for TV, and crap TV in particular.  Our favorites are football, comedies like Scrubs or Arrested Development, a bit of reality TV with The Biggest Loser and the utterly terrible Grimm, which I really can't stay away from.  I was practically a fairy tale major (more on that another day) and it is filmed in Portland, so I kinda have to watch it.

I will not claim any of it has any redeeming intellectual value, not even the PBS soap opera Downton Abbey (and you know it.)  Quite the opposite is what I like about.  It has the soothing ability to completely turn my brain off and keep me sitting still after a long day at warp speed.

In addition they amuse me.  For this reason, if there was only one TV show I could watch, it would probably have to be America's Funniest Home Videos.  It is like dessert:  light, easy and totally unnecessary.  A nice little treat to have at the end of the day and probably best not to have too much of too often.

Sittin' on the couch knittin' and watchin' the AFC
championship (SF @ Seattle) in the late afternoon sunshine.

DIY

Clockwise: Pickles, forged candle holder,
museli, ceramic candle holder, knife,
bar of soap, mini-paperweight, blown glass.
New windows in the background.

Pickles.  Hats.  Knives.  Bowls.  Soap.  Glassware.  Bread.  Butter (once.)  Bikes.  Cheese.  Yogurt.  Candle holders.  Beer.  Peanut Butter.  Lots and lots of peanut butter.  These are some of the things we make for ourselves and dear ones.  And the food we eat at home is 99% scratch.  (I often use bullion cubes, vinegars and chocolate chips.)

Safe to say we have a bit of the "do it yourself" bug.  A big part of this is passion.  Passion for extremely awesome and healthy things.  And enthusiasm for figuring stuff out because seeing what we can make ourselves is downright magical at times.  And, to be honest, there is a bit of a control issue underneath it all.  We both get incredibly impatient and frustrated with expensive crap that should be better.

Now, not everything we make actually turns out to be "awesome" in a universally understood sense of the word.  Some of my pottery is pretty neat but none of it is going to be flying off the Etsy shelves anytime soon. One year we had a pretty disappointing batch of pickles.  Our stemless wine glasses do hold liquid... and look like the creation from a summer camp craft project by your favorite 7-year-old niece who has a bright future in medicine or law or athletics.

When we moved into our new house this summer it had recently been completely, gutted, remodeled and thoroughly updated.  Despite our DIY inclinations, with full time jobs and existing extracurricular activities we were A-OK with this.

The one project left needing attention was the windows.  Several of the windows in back and other less visible spots had already been replaced with highly efficient, but charmless, vinyl.  The large and characteristic windows had been repainted shut.  As we looked into new windows we wanted to keep the look and feel of the classic windows and found a local carpenter who could do modern and efficient custom wood windows.  And they were beautiful.

But windows are already pretty pricey and the cost of the custom wood windows was about double.  But they were so much nicer.  So with an extremely skilled Christopher in one hand and a double shot of DIY we went with the wood windows and made up the cost by installing them ourselves.

And that was what we did for fun in September.  I won't try to recount the hours (and hours and hours) or all steps but will share some of my fragmented impressions.

• We had 12 windows.
• We spent a lot of timing priming and painting the windows.  One evening in particular was spent priming and painting in the driveway.  It was not hot or particularly dry (I think there was mist) and it took forever for coats to dry.  I had a hair dryer blowing on the windows for many hours, was up way to late, had work in the morning and still screwed up the paint when we finally did move them.  We actually slept that night with no windows of any sort installed in the side of our house.  Friends asked if we were afraid of "predators" but we were too tired to care.
• We had no locks on the windows for several days as we first didn't have any latches or locks and then had the wrong ones.
• The inside of our house was coated in a thick layer of wood dust from the sanding and scraping that had to be done for all the windows and sills and more.  It was everywhere.  For a month.  
• I spent thousands of hours (or what felt like thousands of hours) removing tape and scraping paint, retouching the paint, re-scraping, retouching, re-scraping, retouching and so on in a sisyphean cycle of despair.  There is still paint and little bits of tape on some of the windows. 
• There was a typhoon in the middle of this project.  Truly.

But despite my bellyaching the windows are wonderful.  They look like the original 95-year-old windows we removed but actually open.  They keep the cold out, heat in, and make the house much quieter (which I wasn't expecting) and just cozier.  We did a fairly crappy job with the paint but they are still exceedingly charming.  And what we saved by doing it ourselves is worth a couple extra mortgage payments - something we literally were able to take to the bank - as well as the satisfaction of knowing we did it!

Snapshot: Why I Love Portland

I have a lot of things I would like to say.  Stories to share.  Thoughts to explore.

But tonight is not the night for this.

It's been a long week and I'm going to rax with the hubby tonight instead of trying to tackle a real post.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this photograph of goats instead of my ramblings.  It is a perfect illustration of why I love Portland.  Free concerts, amazing parks, killer summers, bikes and a place where people bring pet goats to an evening that included all of the above.

Cogitation

I can't bend a spoon with my mind.  Not even a teeny weeny spoon.  Not even a teeny weeny floppy plastic spoon.  Despite this absence of any tangible physical strength it seems our brains consume an inordinate amount of energy.  Supposedly something like 20%* - maybe even 40%.

I like to imagine this validates my prodigious appetite and implies elevated cogitation.

With respect to the family food budget I will leave you here and partake of some couch time.  Coconut Bliss and the latest episode of The Biggest Loser may or may not be in my future.  I decline to comment.

Energy saving device.  Turns off energy hogs such as brains.

*Source:  My Christopher who has an even more prodigious appetite combined with physical prowess and very elevated cogitation.  So we should believe him.  Also Scientific American. 

Half Iron

Soooooo..... somewhere along the way I got a ridiculous notion in my head that a half-ironman was a) feasible and b) a good idea.

I really can't remember where the idea came from but I think it may have been a combo of the bad influence of crazy runner friends, seeing people on The Biggest Loser go from morbidly obese to running marathons and the realization that I love swimming, bike all the time and have done a handful of half marathons mostly on trails.  That basically IS a triathlon and why not go for a big 'un?

To recap for you the basics, a half ironman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run.

In my mind this was not problematic.  The logic went something like:

• The swim will be easy and fun - a nice lil' warm up
• The bike is no sweat because I've done the 100-miler Reach the Beach almost every year for a while now
• The half marathon will be hard but I can run a flat, paved 13 miles no prob

So I signed up for the Pacific Crest Challenge in Central Oregon the last weekend of June.  My training strategy basically amounted to training for Reach the Beach in May, a bit of running on top of that and swimming twice a week.  After Reach the Beach I did a few harder, longer runs and a spin class before one or two of the runs.  

Other key aspects of my regimen included a vacation to Montana three weeks before the race, buying a new house, and moving one week before the race.  I also bought extra Body Glide.  

The race itself went...  better than I had any right to expect but was a bit rougher than I actually expected.  

The Swim

I finally faced my 10+ year old wetsuit a couple of days before the race to find that I don't have the same body I had 10 years ago (weird, I know.)  It was passable, but barely.  The morning of the race I took a fair bit of time wrestling myself into the wetsuit and neglected to anoint any bits of myself with Body Glide.  I was very glad to have the wetsuit though as the water in the high desert lake was chilly! It was definitely more than a warm-up (especially with the self inflicted detours) but I was right that it was easy, fun and invigorating.

The Bike

On the lonely desert highway, climbing up the South side of Mt. Bachelor I realized that I do very much enjoy riding my bicycle.  Riding my bicycle with friends.  And with cookies.  And breaks.  I was prepared for the mileage and even the altitude, but not for the absence of rests or companionship.  Or the dryness of the desert at the end of June.  So I was lonely.  And uncomfortable.  With a headwind.  Up a giant mountain.  Until it started going down, steeply and with cross winds.  That part freaked me out and was more stressful than the earlier slog.  

But I made it through and around mile 54 was very much looking forward to getting off my bike.  Mile 55 I got a bit suspicious as the transition area did not seem to be coming up.  Mile 56 I wanted to cry.  It was at that point I realized this race was not an official half ironman and that the bike was actually 58 miles.  The last two miles were awful.  

But I got to the transition area where my doggie and my hubby were cheering for me and I took my sweet ass time getting ready for the run.  I think I had the second or third longest transition time of the entire pack.  I ate a snack (sadly still no cookies), drank some water, raxed in the sun, stretched a bit, changed my clothes and forgot again to apply Body Glide.

The Run

The first mile of the run was amazing.  It was glorious to be off the bike,  the sun was filtered by a little cloud cover and I felt remarkably energetic.  Water stops were every mile which meant I had zero need to carry anything with me.  But like the last two miles of the bike, the first two miles of the run were full of treacherous disappointment and failure to meet expectations.  There were indeed water stations every mile... starting at mile 2.something.  The course was indeed flat, after hills at the beginning.

But the course did flatten out and water stations started to appear.  My fellow racers, who in the beginning had been extremely nervous, grouchy and uptight, by now were mostly people just out there to try and finish and were much more supportive and friendly.  The volunteers at the aid stations were amazing and all sorts of nice people were on the course making sure we didn't get run down by cars.

And I rocked it!  For about 6 or 7 miles.  Then I was doing a remarkable job considering the circumstances for another mile or two.  Then I was holding on.  Then I was melting down.  With each mile my pace dropped dramatically.  I started having trouble drinking any water, then started having trouble even sucking on ice, then got very cold despite the sumer afternoon in the desert (hint, it was not actually cold.)


The Finish

But I finished!  Family and friends were at the finish line cheering for me and I made my best approximation of a sprint for the last few yards.  In setting my foot on a crate to remove the timing chip my leg started shaking uncontrollably.  I then went into the rinse shower at the end to clear off the biggest bits of gunk and my right neck/should/back/eye/face seized up.  I then dissolved into tears.  Tears of... Exhaustion?  Relief?  Overwhelm-ed-ness?

I don't think I can honestly say I enjoyed the race and I'm certainly not doing another, but it was a huge accomplishment and literally the hardest single experience of physical exertion I have ever gone through.

Just after I'd stopped sobbing.

The Aftermath

It took quite a while to collect myself and then collect my gear and get to my parents hotel room for a shower and rest before dinner.  When I finally did step into the shower I yowled as the hot water helped me discover astonishing chaff marks in many many places.  There were tiny but deep spots of chaffing all along the seams of my bike and run clothes, the underarms were chaffed from the wet suit and despite a history of TMI I won't describe the chaffing in certain other parts.  I had some oozy sores for several days and I have one little scar on my chest that emerges when I'm flushed from a hot shower or exertion.

It took several hours before I was able to eat or drink anything, several days before I was up for anything more strenuous than easy swimming and several months before I had any enthusiasm for recreational riding.

That all said, I feel pretty proud of what I did.

Haiku

A blog post a day

For a 21 day "cleanse"

'Tis unrelenting

Lentil "Surprise"

Horses eat hay.  Squirrels eat nuts.  Ducks eat bugs, frogs and water plants.  Grizzly bears, in my experience, eat salmon when they can get it and lots and lots and lots of blueberries the rest of the summer.

But what does the Brookie Monster eat?

Many things.  Chocolate is generally safe, as well as most green smoothies.  Even chocolate green smoothies (truly.)  Anything from Sarah Britton will more than adequately feed her.  As well as many things from Joy Wilson or Deb Perelman.

But what is the single food best suited for this particular creature?

The answer:  Lentil "Surprise."  

And here, my amici, is a short tutorial for you, written as the mind and kitchen of a Brookie Monster work.

Step one:  Lentils.  What kind?  SURPRISE!  Any kind that you have in the pantry and that calls out to you.  Red are ideal if you have failed to plan ahead as they require no soaking.  Yellow is super tasty.  Split pea, french green, beluga black and even plain ol' brown lentils are also more than sufficient.

Step one-point-five: Secret step!  Peruse the fridge, pantry, basement or garden for vegetables.  Keep in mind what you have, what you like and what you think might go with what kind of lentils and spices.  

The Brookie Monster
On the hunt for ingredients

Step two:  Soak lentils (unless they are the wee little red ones.)  How long?  SURPRISE!  How long do you have?  Did you soak them Saturday morning intending to cook them Saturday night and then get distracted and not get to them until Sunday night?  That's cool.  Do you have only 30 minutes to pre-soak, that's okay too.  I'd recommend at least one cup of lentils but two would be better.

Step three:  Once you are gearing up to eat, get a large-ish pot, melt some coconut oil and saute some onion in that oil.  Or olive, sunflower, canola, walnut, avocado, whatever oil.  I'd recommend coconut.  How much onion?  SURPRISE!  However much onion you feel like.  I'd recommend something like one small onion or half a big one or maybe more if you are feeling onion-y or have a lot of lentils soaking.

Step four:  Once the onion is soft add some minced garlic and minced fresh ginger.  Maybe even a fresh serano chili. I usually add a lot of garlic and ginger, but I'm frisky.  You add as much as you like and let it cook on lowish heat for a minute or so.

Step five:  Add some Indian-ish spices and maybe a bit more oil or splash of water if things are too dry for you.  Stir around so the spices get warm and coat the onion stuff.  What kind of spices?  (C'mon, you know the answer by now.)  SURPRISE!  It depends on what you like, what you have, how you feel and what else you have going.  Good contenders:

• Cumin powder
• Cumin seed
• Cumin again... always add more cumin
• Coriander seed powder
• Ground cardamon (my secret weapon)
• Fennel seed
• Turmeric - always, the bare minimum
• Galangal 
• Ground ginger if you are feeling particularly ginger-y
• Nutmeg, all spice and cinnamon are nice and warming and occasionally make an appearance
• Smoked paprika
• Regular paprika
• Chili powder
• Cayenne
• Black pepper

Step six:  Pour a can of coconut milk over the spices and such.  Drain the lentils, give 'em a rinse and add to the pot.  Add some water so that the concoction is covered.  Add some salt and pepper too.  Bring to a gentle simmer.  

Step seven - optional but recommended:  Grab some vegetables.  What kind?  The kind you have laying around.  (Got you there didn't I?  You thought I was going to say "SURPRISE"!)  Chop the vegetables and add them to the pot.  Add them at the point in time that will yield both lentils and vegetables that are neither undercooked nor overcooked.  I wish I could give you more timing advice but it very much depends on the type of lentil, how much you soaked it, how hot you are cooking the lentils, what you define as perfectly cooked and more.  You will have to experiment.  Some of my favorite veggies for this:

• Yams
• Hard winter squash (butternut, acorn, etc)
• Carrots
• Chard, kale and other tough winter greens
• Zucchini if doing split green peas with turmeric

Step eight:  Keep cooking until done to your preference.  Add more water if it starts to dry out or if you like it soupy.  I like this type of dish to have semi-mushy lentils and a stew-like texture.

Step nine:  Add however much spinach you can get your hands on.  Salt to taste.  The more greens you add the more salt you will want to add.  Sprinkle a pinch of garam masala over the whole sh-bang, maybe a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to brighten things up.

Serve with:

• Some sort of grain or carb like brown rice, white rice, black rice, quinoa, buckwheat, pita, etc.  You could even give polenta (aka grits) a try.  Let me know if you do.
• A fried or poached egg.
• Fresh cilantro.
• Hot sauce.
• Love.

Mr. Right

I* lived with Mr. Right-Now for more than five years and I always felt bad that I thought of him as Mr. Right-Now.  He really was, and still is, great.  So good to me, beautiful, easy to live with.  We had a lot of fun times and great experiences.  I was lucky, really had nothing to complain about and maybe should have been content with that.

But we both knew when we moved in that he wasn't Mr. Right and we were not likely to be together-forever.  It was timing and finances and, like I said before, he was really great and we were good together.

And then this last spring I met The Mr. Right.  Mr. Right is far from perfect.  On paper the side-by-side stats between the two actually baffle some.  They sort of get it when I try to explain, but fundamentally don't see what I see.  I am aware of Mr. Right's issues, but Mr. Right is just so... right for me.

We met last spring and June through September were pretty consumed by this new thing and is part of how Wayward Princess got so neglected.  It still feels pretty new but is definitely feeling more settled and normal now.  We are looking forward to many many years together!

Mr. Right-Now, still in our lives as a rental!

Mr. Right!

Part of what makes Mr. Right Mr. Right!  Smaller square footage overall, less bathrooms but a way more rockin' kitchen!

* The first person "I" and "me" throughout this story is really "me and my Christopher" and "us" but the story doesn't work if I tell it that way!

Say Yes

You have to say yes.  To invitations, opportunities, adventures, challenges.

When a friend invites you to tea that afternoon you say "Yes."  You don't consider what you have on your to do list or agenda or whether that is most what you want to do with your afternoon.  The laundry can wait.  Even if it means it sits wet in the washer too long and you have to do another rinse cycle.  Someone reached out and wants to connect with you!

You say yes to emails from people you haven't heard from for a while.  You say yes by writing back.  Even if it is "OMG I haven't heard from you for so long, I am so glad you wrote.  I ate toast for breakfast and it had tasty avocado on it which I know you hate but I loved it so much.  What good books have you read recently?"  That took ten seconds of stream of consciousness.  Could you have written a better and more meaningful email?  Of course you could have!  But you probably won't unless the timing is just right.  So babble something back when someone reaches out.  What you say doesn't matter, it is the connection.

Unfortunately saying yes includes saying yes to the alarm clock.  No scowling, sighing, denying or greeting the day with any other such resistance.  Get up, walk the dog, stare the day in the face and say yes to it all.

Abstaining & Doing

For this 21-day cleanse thing I've eliminated a few things that take a toll on me and added a few things that will make me stronger. I didn't put a whole lot of thought into any of the five as they were all habits I have known will be good for me and that I've been trying to wrangle myself into.

Here on day eight I'm surprised to find abstaining has been relatively easy while doing the new things are hard.  Perhaps having had to give up permanently (no cheating, not by choice) some foods I really loved make three weeks without something no biggie.  The new things to do each day though require I go out and do them, that I add another thing to my busy days.

Christopher's bday cake

Half chocolate mint

Half chocolate peanut butter

This is definitely off the table for now!

Running a mile or more each day, for example, takes actual physical effort.  For me that is about 80 calories and 10 minutes.  That is the equivalent of half a rice crispy treat and maybe half a minute of chewing.

Saying no to the homemade rice crispy treats is absolutely an act of willpower, but so is getting outta bed to jog in the dark at 5:30am and after exerting that willpower I then have to go for a run.  Every day.

Unfortunately, as I've thought on this matter I realize the doing has a stronger and more direct affect on how I feel.  Saying no to the crispy treaty does improve my overall health, blood sugar and even seasonal depression, but it is subtle and takes a while for the impact to build up.  It is mostly felt by the absence of the sugar headache, the absence of the energy crash.  But immediately after banging out even the littlest run I feel I've accomplished something.  My blood is also pumping and almost always my mood is up.

How about you?  Is it easier for you to pick up and add healthy new habits or break out of ingrained bad ones?

What else can change?

I started up winter pottery classes again.  It is a lovely creative outlet I cherish in these dark days of winter.  It is a "wheel" class and I mostly make a lot of mugs and bowls.  I also make mug-like and bowl-ish creations.

Nothing I make is going to be showing in a gallery or raking in any bucks for me but it is fun and the things that emerge are very characteristic.  It is also nice to have people in mind when playing with the mud and try to shape that mud into something that I think they might like.  Kids are the best audience because as long as you put their names on it they will LOVE it.

The classes go for 8 weeks and I have been doing one or two winter sessions most winters for the last few years.  I think I'm on class five or six and I learn a lot with each class but there are some fundamentals of a Wayward P creation that tend to persist.  For example, during the initial "throwing" I tend to slog away at a single pot being oh-so-ever-fastidious-and-careful not to mess it up.  It means that I often take ~30 minutes just to throw something when it takes the instructor about two minutes and my classmates about five.  I also end up with very solid pots.  VERY SOLID at times.  On the flip side I almost never have a "flopped pot" - a pot that has gotten uneven or thin or overstretched or too wet or structurally unsound in some way such that it "flops."

Flopped pot

Until tonight.  Tonight I came outta the gate with back-to-back-to-back flopped pots falling apart in mere minutes.  The instructor, classmates and my Christopher all gave me reassurances that it happens sometimes, it was the clay, I'll get it back.

I'm not actually upset about it though.  The clay and wheel seemed very... different tonight.  I'm pretty sure they were exactly the same though.  Which makes me think it is me that was different and that is an interesting reminder. If my perception and experience of this simple bit of reality could be so very different what else can change?

So much about my physical experience that seemed unquestionably permanent has actually changed for me in the last year or two.  I didn't think I could be a runner, I thought migraines, allergies, asthma were just something I had to deal with, I had incurable insomnia.

This bucket of flopped pots tonight reminded me that things are always evolving.  And maybe my neck/back thing, impatience/perfectionism, eczema or winter blues are things that can also change when I least expect it.

Time to Make the Donuts

I have a job.  This is GOOD.  I have a job that suits my abilities, challenges me, contributes to a larger good and I get to work with some pretty wonderful people.

I am lucky.

Despite this, work is still.... work.  There is a reason they pay me.  I have to get up and go there most days and spend most of my time and energy there even when I really would rather do so many other things.

And it isn't all hugs and puppies.  Some days I have to deal with annoying garbage, stay late or be there early.  Too often it is all three.

But sometimes I get killer sunrises.

7:06am

7:16am

7:32am

7:41am

7:47am

8:14am

Getting to work early today was totally worth it.

Odd, tasty & good for me

I've had Wayward Princess a long time.  Since blogs were babies in the cyberworld and since then how we relate to the interweb has changed.  A lot.  I'd like to update this here template but I'm VERY attached to WaywardP and don't want to muck about with my REAL blog.

Thus is born Sardines and Squash, another blog for me to totally mess around with.  If you happen to visit it let me know how/if you like it.  But maybe take a screen capture at the time as I'm messing around with all aspects of it pretty constantly.

Why Sardines & Squash you say?  Ummm.... 'cause that is what I ate for breakfast.  Odd, I know.  But tasty and good for me.  Fiber, protein, no sugar.  I also had some green tea in a mug that I made so included that above.

Odd, tasty & good for me.  There is a motto in there I think.

Walking in Sunshine

Today was nice.  Simple and nice.  Slept in a wee bit, did a fav yoga class, puttered around the house, tea & talk with a friend, a walk in the sunshine with my hubby.  A favorite easy dinner of red lentils, coconut milk, some veggies, spices and rice.  Football for dessert.

Photo from a hike in the Gorge, Labor Day 2013 as we don't have one from today.  That was also a nice and simple day.  Less sunshine but warmer!  And Christopher had more hair.

2013 was very exciting.  Many big and great things happened.  MANY.  BIG.  And they were great.  It was just a bit too much in some respects.  I'm looking forward to a 2014 that is less noteworthy.

Architect of Peace

Gratitude journals have been shown to increase your overall happiness.  Thinking about and writing down things you are grateful for fosters a mental habit of being on the lookout for positive things.  Your brain starts to be more aware of, focused on and connected with the happy-making bits in your life.

My regular yoga practice is similar for me.  I'm not talking about the studio class once a month or even once a week.  I mean the daily-ish kind at home in my living room.  Often (almost always!) this is a 10-20 minute online class first thing in the morning or right before bed.  I do enjoy the longer classes and community that come from a physical studio but the daily practice is what trains me to think, respond, BE more... yoga-ly.

"Twist Out Doubt & Negativity" is a morning class I go to again and again.  I have literally done this 20-minute practice 37 times in the last two years.  It is the same routine, same instruction, same moment after moment class on the screen.  Each day I breathe in and out and in and out and in and each day, each breath is different.  Things sink in after hearing them once and then different things sink in after hearing them ten times, still different things after two dozen times.  And then sometimes things start to sink in differently.  Possibly because of who and where I am with that particular day or breath but also maybe because it took hearing it 36 times and two years before really hearing the 37th time around.

The class closes with a meditation and excerpt of a poem.

School Prayer

Diane Ackerman

In the name of the daybreak

and the eyelids of morning

and the wayfaring moon

and the night when it appears,

I swear I will not dishonor 

my soul with hatred,

but offer myself humbly 

as a guardian of nature,

as a healer of misery,

as a messenger of wonder,

and as an architect of peace.

During this season of cleanses and resolutions I hope you are able to cultivate a habit that fosters for you happiness, peace, joy and wonder.

Chillin' with the redwoods trees and redhead doggie

Off to a good start

January is the time for "cleanses."  Runner* friend Megan challenged a group of buddies to a 21-day January cleanse.  This cleanse has a bit of the standard food focus but is presented with a wider lens and is really very simple:  Pick five things to eliminate or add.  Eliminate things that take a toll on you and add things that will make you smarter, stronger, better.

I like that it isn't preaching what is "good" or "bad" and is very personal.  I might add a daily salad but maybe you don't do so well with cold or raw foods in the winter.  On the flip side you might eliminate gluten but gluten is peachy fine by me.

I didn't pick anything earth shattering.  I didn't pick things that I want or need to commit to for more than a few weeks.  I picked things that I know have a better chance of setting me up to feel good, especially as we climb out of the darkest days of the year.

Columbia Gorge hike Spring of 2013.
Looking at this picture also makes me feel good.

What I chose for my 'cleanse':

• No wheat (other gluten OK)
• No refined white sugar
• No alcohol
• Run/walk/jog more than 1 mile every day
• Blog post every day!

Feeling good at the start of the year seems an excellent way to start out.

*"Runner friend" Megan could be "football friend" or "beer drinking friend" or "positive friend" but we first met running, do tend to do that together and she is pretty into running!

2013 Reading

In no particular order, this is what I read in 2013.  Or rather, what I remember reading.  I know there were others but this is what I can remember.

Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese - Lovely
Wolf Hall, Hillary Mantel - Worth the hype
Bring Up the Bodies, Hillary Mantel - Lyrical and great as an audio book
The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult - Classic Jodi Picoult
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris - Classic David Sedaris
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern - Super awesome with an ending that fell short but still worth it.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman - Awesome awesome awesome
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero - Lives on my bedside table for a reason
Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward - Read it read it read it
Double Cross, James Patterson - Trash.  Fun trash.
Lets Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny Lawson - Fun, not trash
Wild, Cheryl Strayed - Inspiring.  And annoying.
Swamplandia, Karen Russel - Terrifying but well done
Hansons Marathon Method, Luke Humphrey - Informative
Wildwood, Colin Meloy - Loved it but I'm a fairy tale buff and love Forest Park dearly
Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker - Started it but didn't like it and stopped
The Black Echo, Michael Connelly - Trash but excellent.
The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly - Also excellent trash.
Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert - WONDERFUL
The Happiness Advantage, Sean Achor - Read it
May I Be Happy; A Memoir of Love, Yoga and Changing My Mind, Cyndi Lee - Nice message but actually left me cold
Your Brain at Work, David Rock - Super interesting
Manager's Guide to Employee Engagement, Scott Carbonara - Very good professional homework
The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin - Part of what helps me make choices that make me happy
Getting Things Done, David Allen - Errr... have not quite gotten reading this done yet.

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell.  I can't believe I almost forgot this one as it was the best book I read all year and best book I've read in a while!