Rock The Vote!

This weekend I was folding laundry, watching some politial show on TV while Z was bouncing around the room. One of the reporters mentioned John McCain and Z asked if McCain was going to be president.

Trying to capture a "teaching moment", I explained that we don't know yet who will be president - that Barack Obama and John McCain both want to be president but the American people will cast their vote next month to decide who will get the job.

I was curious about the gut reaction a five year old might have to either candidate. Here's the rest of the conversation:

Me: So, Z, who would you like to see become president? Barack Obama or John McCain?

Z: (After a moment of cute deliberation with her index finger perched on her chin) I think.... Barack Obama.

M: What is it about Barack Obama that makes you choose him over John McCain?

Z: His name sounds like "rock & roll" -- and I love rock & roll!

Half the Sugar, ALL the Sweetness

We made a vow that sugar would be a very rare part of Z's life. At the very least we wanted her to learn that sugar is a condiment, not a food group of its own. Some saw our decision as just a way of being difficult, weird and depriving our child of some basic pleasures. Others interpreted it as a judgement of their particular parenting choices. Believe me, at that time what someone else was doing was barely on my radar. Sometimes as a parent you have to do what you need to do for your family whether anyone understands it or approves of it. Only you know the reasons. And that is all that matters.

As for me, the battle I fight with food is one that I never want Z to fight. I felt the only way she would have half a chance was to expose her palate to almost no sugar for as long as possible. Same goes for artificial sweeteners. Not only do sweet n low/ equal/ nutra sweet/splenda train the taste buds to crave everything "sweetened", but they are chemicals, for goodness sake. Even the "made from sugar" stuff is chemically altered. If I had to choose between these scary things and sugar, I would take the sugar.

My father is diabetic, my mother was diagnosed as diabetic not too long ago. My chances appear to be slim to none. I am extremely overweight and feel I have an addiction as real as any heroin or meth user. Why would I chose to continue the pattern? I often look at myself in the mirror and think "Who the heck are you to tell anyone how or what to eat?" Then I think, who I am is EXACTLY the person to make someone else's life better (particularly my own child's) based on my own experience and my own regrets. To this day, I indulge in sweet treats (not right in front of her) that I will not give my daughter. Is it unfair? Perhaps - if looked at it from a childish point of view. But what she doesn't know is that: 1) she is a child, not a grown up. We get to do different things. 2) My weaknesses / addictions are real and very difficult to control 3)Just as I would not allow her drive a car, cross a busy street, or swim in shark infested water, I will not invite her into my world of unhealthy choices and accept it as status quo. Yes, there is a chance of everything I'm doing backfiring, but that's a chance I'm willing to take.

After five years we are doing pretty good. Very early on it was basically no sugar. Now there are occasions when it is extremely difficult to avoid - birthday parties, trick or treat, lollipops at the bank, indulgences at the grandparents house. What I hope to do now is allow her to realize there are very healthy and very yummy possibilities without going overboard with sugar.

Today we made the most absolutely yummy cookies! I used the recipe on the quaker oats box top as a "guide". Z love dumping all the things in the bowl, stirring, waiting for the cookies to bake. She was just giddy during the whole process. I explained to her that these cookies did have sugar in them, just not a LOT of sugar. Also, some of the ingredients like the pecans and the craisins are things she would be very reluctant to try if I just handed her a cookie already made with those things in it. However, because she got to participate in the process, she loved eating the end product. I don't believe she feels deprived in any way. Here's what we did:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter
1/2 c firmly packed br sugar (quaker calls for 1 c)
1/4 c reg sugar (quaker calls for 1/2 c)
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 c pumpkin puree
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour (quaker call for reg all-purpose)
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3 1/4 c old fashioned oats (quaker calls for 3 c quick or old fashioned. I added 1/4 more to compensate for the pumpkin)
3/4 c chopped pecans
1 c craisins (slightly sweetened, dried cranberries, instead of raisins)

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Beat together butter & sugars until creamy
Add eggs, vanilla & pumpkin
Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon in sep bowl and mix well. Then add to the wet mix.
Stir in oats and craisins
Using a tablespoon, drop on ungreased cookie sheet.We rolled our dough ball ever so slightly in our hands then flattened them just a little on the cookie sheet.
Bake 12 - 14 minutes.

Even with half the sugar, it can't get any sweeter!

Will You Sign My Yearbook?

If you want to have a round of good old belly laughs just go to this site!! It is extremely easy. My business partner introduced it to us at the office today and we had a blast. You can adjust the photo in the beginning and further adjust each "shot" by putting your cursor near the bottom edge of each pose.

When I got home this evening I played around with my daughter's pictures. She and I had a hoot. I don't normally post photos of my kid on this blog, but I feel pretty safe revealing the ones above. The original photo was taken during bath time when she was about 1 year old. That open mouth, toothless smile was perfect for having some fun with the yearbook site. These poses remind me of the American Girl collector dolls - that didn't quite make it to the catalog. Perhaps they sell for super discount prices at the AG outlet store. :)

I have also experimented with a photo of my husband. There are guy options too! I don't dare post any on the blog, but I may forward a shot or two (especially the Mullet pose) to his grown up children. It is priceless!

If you are stressed out or in a rut, do yourself a favor go to this site...now.

Let's Try This Again

OK, I'm having trouble with the Mac laptop. We may have to divorce (at least for blogging purposes) due to irreconcilable differences. The first "empty post" was an accident - one that I intended to delete. The second "empty post" is a mystery. I had a title, a cute story and who knows where the post actually is. Weird. Anyway....I will try to recap. It's a bit like trying to say something you are quite excited about and someone interrupts you - stealing the moment taking the wind out of your sails.

Every time Z would be around while the olympics were on she would ask, "Are you watching The Connectles"? I would furrow my brow, try to fathom what she was talking about, and I would reply, "No, I'm watching the olympics". She would snap right back, "No that's The Connectles". I assumed she was imagining some superhero type thing. At five, the lines of reality and fantasy are often times blurry, to say the least.

Finally, near the last day of the games, she looked at the TV screen and pointed to the Bejing 2008 logo in the corner of the screen and said, "There's the connectles"! I did one of those slow burns that you often see in cheesey comedy shows, where Lucy or Ralph Kramden finally "get it". In the corner of the screen, just under the logo were the colorful olympic rings....CONNECTED to each other. The Connectles!

Well, it's kind of silly, and perhaps only interesting to me, but I do believe our family now has a unique word that will be used for years to come. And we will pass the torch to the next generation.

Any specially coined word your family uses that would puzzle those outside your circle?

So...That's What You Mean!

So...That's What You Mean!

Gold Medal in Geography

Today while doing LOTS of laundry I was also watching the Olympics, of course. Z wanted to watch also. She had lots of questions about, well, everything. One thing that was mentioned often was the country each competitor was from.

Suddenly I remembered a huge map of the world and another huge map of the USA I had picked up at Target while shopping for school supplies. They were still in the package because I had no idea where I wanted to put them. I found the push pins and now the maps are on the wall beside the TV and behind the sofa. It was really fun to point out and talk about the various countries of the competitors and the place where the games are being held. Z doesn't have a perspective about how near or far away these places are, but she does LOVE both maps.

As for myself, I have always felt quite geographically challenged. It was nice to reacquaint myself with the world and US maps and give my little gal more of a jump start on geography, other cultures, etc than I ever had.

I'm looking forward to all the opportunities during the Olympics - and for years to come - to consult the maps and learn, learn, learn.

The Olympics Are Killing Me!

Why would the mother of an active five year old NOT go to bed when she has the chance? Bed time for kiddo has been getting later and later, which means my time to chill and breathe deeply and do nothing has gotten even later. When she finally crashes - sometimes after 10:30 - I'm a heaping mess of tired. And I still have the fall out from supper dishes, laundry and dust bunnies to contend with. Enough of that! The pride and reputation of my country is at stake.

You would think I would kiss it all good night and nestle gratefully into the arms of Morpheus, but no! Michael Phelps could win another gold and I would miss it. The emaciated Chinese "women" gymnastics team (12 years old at the most) might make more obvious mistakes and not get points deducted for it. I think the judges must be feeling some sort of guilt. They know if the Chinese girls don't get great scores that those poor little souls will not receive their bread and water for supper. Or...or .. or the US men's volley ball team could be, you know, volleying! Not only am I amazed at the physical skill, organization and teamwork, I'm just amazed that grown men (or women) have honed their volley ball playing skills to such a degree that thay are competing for an Olympic medal.

Isn't this what we used to do at church camp or a picnic and then limp for the next week because we "used muscles we didn't know we had"? All these people are SERIOUS about volleyball, beach volleyball, and badminton -to name a few. They have taken what most families do on vacation and made it their life! Don't misunderstand me. I have nothing but admiration and respect for them. Who knows, maybe I'll pick up some tips to use at next summer's reunion. I'll ask Uncle Dave to play an innocent game of badminten and because I'm such a dedicated Olympic fan he'll have to have that shuttlecock surgically removed! Every gold medal winner started with a dream, didn't they? I digress.

So instead of resting as I should, I watch, and watch, and watch as if my staying awake is the key to the US Olympic Teams success or failure. What patriotic pressure this is for an overweight, out of shape tired mother! But I do my duty to God and country.

And I must mention the physical toll. The calf muscles I've strained helping Shawn Johnson stick the landing off the vault - the arches of my feet cramping up helping Nastia keep her balance on the beam - the shoulder stiffness from reaching, reaching reaching for the poolside as I assisted Michael Phelps break several world records. It's a cross I'm willing to bear. You know, there is no "I" in team!

Well, soon the games will be over. I will reunite with my daughter and my husband. Kindergarten will start and bedtime/wake-up time will be EARLY for all of us. The kitchen will be cleaner again. And Morpheus will be my BFF! In the meantime - GO USA!

I'm Wireless

Today I got the mac laptop set up to be wireless. As Z would say proudly - ALL BY MYSELF! I still can't believe I'm typing on my sofa. ANd the wireless set up at my house finally worked today. After I had tried it a zillion times before it just came together all made sense today. Maybe it was the easy to understand configuration diagram in the MAC wireless adapter I got. Anyway, it worked. Praise the Lord.

My toolbar for posting blog messages has really disappeared. When I go to the post section of blogspot I get a place to put a title and the text. That's it. No buttons for inserting a pic, bolding, underlining etc. That is my next conquest - the case of the missing toolbar!

I must begin to put some food on the table. Z and I went to a birthday party at Pump Up the Fun this afternoon. I hope she jumped herself right into an early bedtime tonight. We've been very bad with late bedtimes lately. Kindergarten starts on the 26th and our late nights and late mornings are going to be history soon. The nightowl in me is in for a jolt.

Goodbye for now, internets.

Apple Girl

I'm posting this using a MAC! We have a laptop at the office that was abandoned an employee who was studying graphic design and quit. No one else knew what do do with it. I have been studying, and I'm getting the hang of it. The screen size sucks - 12.5 inches. Near middle-aged eyes get tired! I'm determined to get the wireless card installed. It looks easy, but we'll see. One thing at a time. Of all the people I know, Doug will be the most proud of me.

Now I'm confused!? Where are all my tools that let me make things bold, italics, underline, insert a photo, different fonts? I really am confused! I better study some more.