När jag för ett par timmar sedan var ute på veckans andra (och sista, lite för mycket annat i helgen) morgonjogg filosoferade jag lite över vikt kontra löpning. Jag väger mig väldigt sällan i vanliga fall och så även nu när jag är gravid, vilket ju känns som ett ganska sunt beteende. Sålänge man inte känner att man går upp elle ner jättemycket på kort tid ser jag liksom ingen mening med att fokusera på en siffra som egentligen inte säger särsklt mycket om hur du ser ut. 20 veckor in i graviditeten var det dock dags för en liten vägning och jag måste säga att det känns rätt häftigt att jag på så kort tid gått upp 7kg! Det mesta är ju såklart, extra vatten och blod, moderkaka, livmoder och mycket större bröst, men det är klart att jag inte kunnat undgå att se att hela kroppen har omgivits av ett extra lager fluff. (Det är ju mysigt med lite extra isolering nu när det blir kallt!) Det känns tryggt att kroppen fungerar som den ska och gör det den behöver för att klara av graviditet, förlossning och amning. Jag äter i princip som vanligt (möjligtvis ännu lite mera godis än vanligt, men det går i perioder precis som annars). Jag tränar ju visserligen mindre och även på en lägre intensitet, men det betyder ju också att jag äter färre återhämtningsmål och i kombination med den lilla extra energi som bäbisen kräver tycker jag att det hela borde gå rätt jämnt upp. Men ändå gör kroppen det den behöver och samlar på sig ett extralager till kommande prestationer. Coolt!
Men hur som helst; det jag reflekterade över var att det faktiskt inte känns så himla stor skillnad med 7kg mer på kroppen. Såklart att det inte känns som vanligt när jag springer (eller tränar för övrigt) men det har ju inte bara med själva viktuppgången att göra utan kanske ännu mera med övriga förändringar i kroppen. Men jag tycker inte att det känns så mycket tyngre som man kanske tänker att det ska göra. Det ska bli spännande att se hur det kommer kännas när det är dags att börja springa igen efter förlossning och "ihopläkningsperiod" när amningen antagligen har gjort så att många av kilona försvunnit. I och för sig så lär jag ju ha fler än 7kg plus den dagen det är dags att föda, men ni fattar vad jag menar. Intressant!
(Om (sorglig och tragisk) vikthets i samband med graviditet och postgraviditet kommer jag inom kort att ta upp på hardcore chicks-bloggen. Tills dess kan du läsa mitt inlägg om "tjejlopp".)
Spring has well and truly sprung. I swear this sunshine has renewed and invigorated me and my little clan. The holidays are a mix of lazy mornings, followed by frenetic afternoons of packing and shifting things around. I could get frazzled about the mess and chaos surrounding me, but I choose not to. Do you hear that brain?
Instead, let's look at my current list of FAVOURITE THINGS.
1. Sparkling elderflower cider. How did I not know about this before? This stuff is nectar. As someone who doesn't really like to drink this gives me a drink that looks "grown up" and tastes, well, like Spring.
2. I'm a sucker for a beautifully wrapped parcel. So really they had me at the soft tissue paper and the beautiful green ribbon. But when a PR company asked me to trial the new Dettol handwash dispenser I said: "YES please!" Partly because I'm a wee bit hygiene obsessed and who hasn't seen the adverts for them on TV? I blame them for unleashing Mr. Small's latent OCD tendencies. He happily washes his hands at every opportunity, entranced by the seemingly magical way the dispenser "senses" his presence and just gives him soap. It's really quite marvellous.
I'm hoping the builders descending upon us shortly will feel exactly the same way.
3. Sparkly sandals. I don't need to explain these to you do I?
4. Felicia. Now Felicia is not a thing, but she is definitely one of my favourite people. She staggers up my driveway clutching samples, tiles and fabrics that positively swamp her tiny frame. She is unfailingly patient with mine and Husband's delicious little idiosyncrasies.
She has really encouraged me to stamp my personality on this project and not to be shy in saying when I like or dislike something. Guess which one is harder for me?
She has warned me that this is the fun part and that when the building work starts I may find it stressful. I sit and smile at her and repeat the same thing every time. "Yes, BUT I can phone you and know you'll sort it out." And I have great faith that she will.
*sigh* If only everyone had a Felicia, life would run much more smoothly.
5. Chocolate cake in a cup. Thank you Kidspot Social for this genius idea.
6. Dinner out with husband tomorrow night. Minus our delightful offspring.
7. Saw a preview for this movie. Kind of scary and gripping at the same time. While I love my girl movies and husband is a sci fi buff, this is where we find our common ground. And I usually grip his hand tightly throughout. Perfect for a date night!
Now what are your favourite things this spring?
A foolish Upper Austrian angered by moles digging up his garden has lost two fingers when a bizarre DIY stunt to kill them went disastrously wrong.The 34-year-old Aspach resident taped a pipe to the exhaust of his petrol-guzzling lawnmower and rammed the other end into the alley under a molehill to gas the animals. When the infuriated hobby gardener noticed that one of the moles tried to escape through the gap between the ground and the mower, he tried to grab it – and had two fingers chopped off his right hand by the rotating blades.
The Austrians never case to amaze me.
Northwest:
--Well known and respected climber, guide book author, and all-around stand up guy is missing and presumed dead after a fall in the Pleiades Saturday afternoon. Dallas Kloke, 71, was part of a 5 person team and was nearing the summit of one of the peaks when he grabbed a rock that moved and pulled off. He and the rock tumbled down a near vertical face before disappearing below. His climbing partners descended 300 feet and found articles of his equipment, however no Kloke. To read more about this tragedy, click here or here.
--Volunteers got together back in early September to clean up a rock climbing area in Northern Idaho as part of the seventh annual Adopt-A-Crag series put on by the Access Fund. New climbing areas were cleaned and rock walls were sand-blasted of graffiti at the Q'emilin Park. To read more, click here.
Sierra:
--Yosemite National Park was designated by an Act of Congress on October 1, 1890, making it the third national park in the United States, after Yellowstone (1872) and Sequoia (1890). Friday, October 1, 2010 marks the 120th birthday of the park. Although the park is celebrating its 120th birthday, Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias have been preserved since 1864. Congress passed a bill, which was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864 that set aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove, that stated the lands be held “…for public use, resort, and recreation…inalienable for all time.” This was truly the birth of the national park concept, since this was the first time in history that land was set aside purely for preservation and recreation for all people. The Grant was administered by the State of California until 1906, when Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias were ceded to the federal government and included in Yosemite National Park. To read more, click here.
--Last Monday, Steve Wampler became the first man to climb El Cap with Cerebral Palsy, in attempt to raise money for his foundation which pays for disabled children to attend specialized wilderness camps. Despite dehydration, hallucination, fatigue, and many other challenges, Wampler persevered and accomplished his goal. To visit his foundation's web page, click here, and to read about his climb, click here.
--A great story surrounding booty in Yosemite has been written about in Colorado's dailycamera. While this may sound off base, they are talking about stuck gear that is cleaned, or "bootied" off of climbing routes. To read a strangely heart warming story revolving found gear, click here.
Desert Southwest:
--A Utah man fell nearly eighty feet in a climbing fall in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Sunday. The 22-year old man was climbing near a group of students when he apparently became disconnected by the rope somehow. He was able to keep the rope in his hands, and as such suffered severely burned hands - however amazingly he had no lower body injuries. To read more, click here.
Himalaya:
--The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) has been accepted as a member of the global body governing mountaineering. This gives the HMI voting rights, meaning it can now play a role in deciding international rules and policies regarding climbing. Additionally, the basic and advanced certification courses the HMI offers will now be recognized by the Union Internationale Des Association D'alpinisme (UIAA). This is a big deal for the HMI, and to read more you can click here.
--Climbers in Nepal have gone missing after an avalanche on Dhaulagiri, a mountain considered one of the most difficult and dangerous in the world. Three Japanese climbers and their guide were caught in the avalanche, while others were able to escape. Multiple climbers and Sherpa were evacuated by air off the Himalayan peak, the seventh tallest in the world. The missing four however, are still being searched for. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--56 year old climbing legend Kurt Albert died on the 29th after failing to recover from serious injuries related to a fall on a Via Ferrata route in Germany. Exact details of how the fall occurred are unknown, however the fall was reported to be 18 meters. Albert is the man who coined the term "redpoint," for sport climbers back in 1975, and pioneered climbing around the world. To read more, click here.
Yeah baby!
Ok, so Motherhood has definitely hardened me up abit. Nothing really phases me these days. Come to think of it, there is only one thing that sparks fear in my cold, black heart ... and that is the word 'Holiday'.
Now that Madge has babes of her own, I wonder if she shudders when she thinks about those ridiculously perky 'Holiday. Celebrate' lyrics of hers? Then again I doubt she's really experienced the joys of going on holidays with your
Whatever.
I don't do holidays with children. Yes yes, I know that makes me a mean Mummy but there is a theory behind my nastiness I can assure you!
Wanderlust and dirty nappies. They just don't compliment each other.
Travelling with children suck. Point blank. They hate long car rides, they squeal and try to squirm off your lap on flights, they don't want to sleep in strange beds and forget camping - I'm not down for a dingo stealing my baby.
A friend suggested to me a little while back that we should invest in a caravan. Apparently the kids will sleep better in a familiar surrounding. Apparently it's a good thing. All I got from that suggestion was apparently my friend thinks that I'm the perfect candidate for Queen of the trailer park.
Mess with me, you mess with the whole trailer park?
Hell fucking no!
A girlfriend of mine has 2 boys, similar in age to my two and they are already seasoned world travellers. Yes, holidaying with babes is bliss for her. They have hit Italy, France, Greece, Dubai, England ... all in style, sanity firmly intact. Yes, I think my girlfriend is a bitch.
We took my daughter on a plane once, she was about 10 months old. A 90 minute flight from Sydney to Melbourne. I don't know who felt abused afterwards? The bottle of vodka I punished, or the woman sitting next to us who copped an earload of squealing the whole flight.
From then on, I pretty much vowed I wouldn't get on another flight with my children until they're 10. At least
Don't fret for me and my 'no holiday' stance though my friends, for I have a dream. A dream of the ideal holiday. Perfect for the tired, overworked Mama. No cleaning, no cooking and no babe wrangling.
Let me set the scene;
Swim up bar.
Beautiful beaches.
Bikini bodies will look like this. Awesome, right?
A never ending stream of Cocktails, which equates to be being pissed 24/7. You never wake up in a pool of your own vomit and arise from slumber, as fresh as a daisy! Unrealistic but whatevs.
I'm pretty keen on a poolside waiter in a thong as well … erm, unless he looks like this. That shit is just naaasty!
Sleep - Whenever and wherever you desire. Without having to first rock, pat or sing to sleep an overtired, sleep dodging little child.
You will eat dessert. In peace. Without sharing.
You will get a chance to throw yourself into a raging, passionate affair with good books. That don't contain words like "Spot", "Dora" or "That Sam I Am". That don't contain lift-it tabs. That don't contain less than 5 words a page. Bliss!
You will be able to wee in peace. Without a little person coming in and asking "What you doin' there Mum?"
and finally, the icing on this fantastic cake -
Fabulous, I know!
The moral of the story here darlings?
Wanderlust and dirty nappies do not equal a good time - so get your ass organising a babysitter and a babe free holiday, a la Mrs Woog. Girlfriend leads by an excellent example, yes?
Hope you're having a cocktail or 10 for me Mrs W ♥
Oh Miss Holly, I am having several.
For more parenting and holiday tips from Holly Homemaker, check out http://www.goodgollyholly.com
That children don't give a shit about trawling wineries and gourmet food regions. In fact, they will hate your guts forever for not taking them to Movie World. What may seem like a whimsical and romantic trip through Mudgee, ultimately means 6 hours in the back of the car with your parents who hate each other, sister who vomits a lot and an older brother that thinks it's hilarious to roll up the windows and unleash a barrage of farts on you, the minute your parents exit the car to grab a Kit Kat and a hot cuppa at a Stop, Revive, Survive spot.
That when your mother tells you that your father was really a lazy good for nothing, she was right. Because every year he would plan a family holiday in the middle of winter that would always involve at least 6 hours of driving to some shitty caravan park, where you would stay in a caravan with no heating and plastic sheets on the mattresses. It was all made better by the fact that 1 day prior to the holiday, he would put the family wagon in to be serviced (it's first in over 12 months) which would always result in the mechanic revealing that hundreds of dollars worth of work needed to be done to the car to ensure we would reach our destination without becoming road kill. There goes the holiday "entertainment fund."
LESSON THREE
Further to lesson two, upon arriving at Mudgee caravan park destination at midnight, mother discovers purse missing and instantly blames good-for-nothing father who must have either a) left it on the hood of the car after visiting service station for petrol and a Chokito or b) left it on the dashboard and driven away only to have it fall out the window. Mother and Father have row of mammoth proportions. No one in dinky, white trash caravan park batts an eyelid.
LESSON FOUR
As an adult you will try to do better than your parents did and vow never to take your children on a shitty caravan park holiday to Mudgee, Orange or the Hunter. You decide to drop an entire tax return on a family holiday to LA and San Fran that includes your 2 year old son and 10 year old stepson, which you will ultimately regard it as the biggest waste of funds ever.
AND FINALLY
Establish that children are only worthy of caravan park holidays and at a very big stretch a week on the Gold Coast or a shabby P&O Cruise. But never, ever LA and San Francisco.
A brief marriage, an amicable divorce, and a ...snack?
I have been keeping an adult female mantid in a screened "butterfly cage" on my back patio. This morning, I found a male perched on the outside of her cage, apparently attracted by her pheromones.
Sometimes these big limbata ladies will literally eat their way through multiple would-be suitors before they ever get a chance to mate. But I threw caution to the wind and threw him in there with her. He was clearly interested, and he crept closer and closer to her until, with one smooth little hop, mounted her, and she did not put up a struggle or reach back to grab him.
Then I thought to take a picture.
I took this photo through the top of the screen cage. I couldn't focus too well. I didn't want to spook her. Still she looks up at me, and says, "Must you?"
This afternoon I saw that they had finished mating, and the male was just behind her, I got him out of the cage. He flew onto a box of stuff on my patio table. I gave him a spritz of water, which I think he appreciated. He smiled and allowed me to take his picture, and then he flew up into the tree.
There he is in the tree. Goodbye, Mr. Mantis.
The female still inside the cage. I caught her doing something that, it turns out, some female insects will do after mating.
Juan Samuel, 1991 Score
Where were you during the Great Juan Samuel Experiment?
The great experiment of making a center fielder out of Juan finally ended in mid-May ’90, when the Dodgers moved him back to second base, his original position.
I was finishing sixth grade during the Great Experiment. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was difficult for me to focus on my studies, obviously, what with Juan Samuel across the country, trying to adjust to a new position. I only wished I could have helped, somehow.
Every day I would watch the evening news intently, waiting for some indication that Juan Samuel was achieving at least minimal success as a center fielder. But Len Berman never thought to mention Juan Samuel -– he was the Dodgers’ problem now, Len Berman said with his silence -- and for me, no news was bad news.
Was he hitting the cutoff man accurately? How is his range? He needs to be a quarterback out there! These were the thoughts that occupied my mind, while my peers foolishly obsessed over girls and skateboards.
In my heart, I knew what the outcome would be. And so when I heard that the Dodgers had moved Juan Samuel back to second base, after a month-and-a-half of fly balls lost in the sun, and collisions with right and left fielders, and that time his pants fell down out of nowhere, I was saddened, yes, but also relieved. Second basemen, after all, play second base. Still, I wondered how this would affect Juan Samuel, a pawn in the game of the Great Experiment:
For Juan, it had been a humbling experience as his production dropped off dramatically.
Who can blame him? How can a man hit when he is being forced to play defense in an unfamiliar grassy area that defies his natural instincts? Who would blame me for being a poor husband were I ever forced to work on a Saturday? No one. That’s who. If only some happiness could have arisen out of the ashes of this misery…
Happily, Juan didn’t lose any of the skills on the bases.
Amazing. Juan Samuel –- held hostage by an organizational philosophy to mismatch players to positions –- somehow, someway, maintained his ability to run fast. I don’t like to throw the word hero around often, but…
When I think back and reflect upon the Great Experiment, I often wonder what, exactly, sustained Juan Samuel throughout. Was it his toughness? Sure. You have to be tough to catch fly balls instead of ground balls. Was it his aggressive, free-swinging ways and carte blanche attitude? Maybe. Although that probably didn’t help him break out of his offensive rut.
I think, in the end, what most sustained Juan Samuel during the harsh process of inevitable failure was something that defined him as a person: his courtly manners.
Juan, an aggressive free swinger, with courtly manners, was one of the league’s toughest hitters.
When asked several years ago during an interview with Time Magazine about the Great Experiment, Juan Samuel gently placed his salad fork on the outside of his silverware, took a bow, and said politely, “I’d rather not talk about it.”
Thank you for taking the time to enter the Lunch Punch giveaway and also for giving me some yummy lunch filling ideas!
And the winner is:
Random Integer Generator
6
When one of my readers asked for an Asian themed GC, it was all I could think about. I was doing some research on Asian cheeses and didn't really find a whole lot because I was thinking that the sammie had be Southeast Asian. But alas, I found a loophole. It's still considered Asian even if it's Indian themed(in my geographically challenged mind, at least) so I decided to use the one and only Indian cheese i knew. Paneer. Oh and by the way I officially have no idea how to cook Indian food. I really like it, but for one reason or another I've never really tried to make anything outside the realm of curry. So here's my take...
And here's what I used!
- 2 pieces of garlic flavored naan
- 1/2 tbs garlic salt
- 2 pads real butter
- 6 slices of paneer
-1 tbs yellow curry sauce
-3 tbs marinated veggies
(finely chop 2 carrots, 1 small cucumber,1 half medium red onion, and combine with 4 tbs ricewine vinegar,1 tbs fresh mint, 1 ts fresh cilantro, 1 ts ground cumin, and 1 ts salt. let sit for 30 minutes)
After you've got your salad marinating, go ahead and slice the cheese so it will fit onto the naan.
Next, smear on the curry sauce. The only reason I used yellow curry was because it was already in my fridge! I'm sure that it would be delicious with any type of curry and I really wished I had some peanut curry sauce hanging around in there. oh well.
Time for those marinated veggies!
Then another layer of the paneer.
Almost done! put the top piece of naan on top.
Now butter me up and call me a
Now crank up the stove to a high heat. Why a high heat you ask?! Well let me explain! Paneer doesn't melt. Because paneer is never aged it doesn't have the opportunity for the fat structure and proteins to change which is why it never melts! I had to google this because I was a little concerned about how this was going to work. Anyways, if you just blast the heat on this sucker, it will brown the bread and also heat up the cheese so it's nice and warm. There's no need to let it sit for a while because no matter how long it sits on your stove, it ain't meltin'.
After about a minute the naan should get crispy and golden, like this:
Once it's like that on both sides, take it off and eat it immediately!
So although this cheese isn't melty and gorgeous like the other sandwiches, I guarantee you that there are a lot of delicious flavors going on in here AND my roomies thought it was $$$. And i hope you will too!
xoxo,
GCS
Follow my blog with bloglovin
I didn't make my granola bars super thick. For a big thick bar double the recipe and cook 10 minutes longer. If you make these comment below on what fruit and nut combo you've used.
Granola Bars
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients
75g rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
20g ground almonds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried apricot
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup almond butter (available at Holland & Barrett)
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs melted butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tbs golden syrup (or corn syrup)
1/2 tbs water
1. Preheat the oven to 350 C/180 F. Line a brownie pan with parchment paper with the sides sticking out over the pan. Grease bottom and sides (I used a non stick spray but Crisco would have worked better I think).
2. Stir together the oats, ground almonds, chocolate chips, dried apricot and chopped almonds.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the almond butter, vanilla, melted butter, honey, golden syrup and water.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until the mixture is crumbly. Spread into the pan, using the back of a spoon to mold the shape of the pan.
6. Cut the bars into squares and wrap in cling film individually. Bars can be kept in the refrigerator or airtight container.
Jag tror bestämt det är en busig bäbis som bor i magen. När vi var på ultraljud så rörde den på sig så mycket att barnmorskan hade svårt att mäta det som skulle mätas, och idag när vi skulle lyssna på hjärtat så gömde den sig allra längst ner i magen. Det tog en bra stund innan vi äntligen kunde höra det lilla hjärtat picka på. 150, en helt normal puls på en sådan liten krabat.
Jag funderar också på om den ville retas lite under kvällens armyklass. Det är tur för mig att jag är instruktör och bestämmer helt själv hur aktiv jag ska vara under klassen. För idag var det minsan väldigt jobbigt att göra pushups. Det mesta var jobbigt om jag ska vara ärlig. Kanske gjorde bäbisen sig extra tung där inne? :) Tur att jag har så grymma deltagare, då gör det inte så mycket att jag själv får ta det lugnt och mest peppa till stordåd.
