A lovely wedding

 

Danika and Savva's wedding on July 20, 2008, was beautiful. The ceremony at Promontory Point right on Lake Michigan was very thoughtfully planned and their vows were so tenderly and lovingly written and spoken. The reception, at the iconic Berghoff, was lively and lovely. Truly, a day to remember, and we wish them the best!

5 miles!

This week's cooler, low-humidity days have been great for running. It's really easy to tell the difference when it's less humid: my lungs and muscles just seem to work more smoothly and with less effort.

Last weekend, Holly suggested I not wait til next year to run in a race, but do one this year, and even had an idea for which one: the Park Ridge Run for Charity on Sept 27. She said the terrain is nice and flat for beginners. Since it's a Saturday, and there was nothing on the calendar yet, I believe I'll do it!

Adriana, one of our "coaches" at Curves, encouraged me not to limit myself to running only 3 times a week, unless I'm too exhausted afterward. Really, I'm not, so the only question is how hard it will be on my joints.

I have an appointment with my doctor Tuesday, I'll talk to her about that.

Yesterday was my first 5 mile run ever! I started out at a nice slow pace that I hoped would carry me through the whole run, and it did pretty well. It took about 60 minutes on a warm, breezy, starting-to-be-humid day at the Lakefront. And I felt so good when I finished! Today, I did another 3 miles, and though there are a few little twinges, overall, I'm feeling great!

There must be something to this endorphin thing! I'm a happy girl lately!

Friday 5: Midsummer Nights' Dream

Credit for this post goes to friday5.org
1. What are some recurring dreams you’ve had?
2. What is the significance of dreams in telling you about yourself?
3. How do you feel after you’ve had one of THOSE dreams?
4. What was the last dream you remember?
5. When did you last dream about something that later happened as you dreamt it?

and a bonus question from me:
6. If you were in a production of the play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' what part would you like to play and why?

Picture of the wrecked car

this could be a Wordless Wednesday entry too...

Wordless Wednesday: Four lined plant bug damage on Eastern Wahoo

Wordless Wednesday: Meadow Rue

Material Monday (belated): lose a car, gain a Handi-Vac

Yesterday evening, while Dan and I were out shopping for a Handi-Vac and other items for our trip, Dan took a call on his cell phone. We were in the Spudmobile; Joe had borrowed Dan's car for the day while his was being repaired. I knew the call was from Joe and I knew it wasn't good news from Dan's end of the conversation especially when he said, "Yeah, I'll want to get everything out of there." Turned out that Joe had been rear ended on I94 not too far from Baldwin. Thankfully, he walked away without any serious injuries. But the car was totaled.
Dan really liked that car and is now having to tend the whole chain of tasks something like this sets in motion, not the least of which is shopping for a new car. One thing for sure: the new car will not be a compact; just one look at the smashed Taurus and the unsmashed Joe makes one appreciate the safety of mid sized cars.
There really is no connection between the accident and the purchase of the Handi-Vac, except they both happened on the same night. And the accident drained me of any desire to stay up and blog about anything.
Another busy night tonight, so we haven't used the Hand-Vac yet. We're amused at this safety note on the Reynolds' web site:

• Do not use Vacuum Sealer on body of humans or animals.

I promise, we won't.

Shower for Conor and Theresa's Baby

 

Well, the quilt TOP was finished for the shower, at least!

It was the biggest shower I've ever been to, over 100 (very nice) people! That baby should certainly be well-supplied, I have never seen such a mound of gifts!! I counted 4 identical baby baths!

Best wishes to Conor and Theresa, and the new little one arriving a few weeks from now!

For more pictures of this felicitous event, click here:


http://picasaweb.google.com/lorraine.antieau/ShowerForConorAndTheresaSBabyJuly132008

3 1/2 miles!

On Holly's recommendation, I am going to try to do one longer run each week, so yesterday I ran 3 1/2 miles! One stop: I'm like The Princess and the Pea when it comes to anything in my shoes, and there was some microscopic grain of sand or something rattling around and bugging me, so I had to sit down and empty out the shoe. Boy, starting a second time is harder than the first. My muscles just seemed to resist getting moving again!

People have warned me about being careful of my joints, and of course, I am, but truthfully, I have LESS joint pain now than I did before I started Weight Watchers and running.

Today, when I weighed at Curves, I had gained .2 lbs (about 3.2 oz), BUT my fat percentage was down by a whole point, if I remember correctly from last week's weigh-in.

Tomorrow I have a 3-mile run planned, plus the usual marathon of too many errands and chores! A very busy weekend ahead, so I'll need all the stamina I can muster!

Looking good

We caught Lorraine out running Monday morning when we stopped by on our way out of Chicago. She's looking mighty trim and fit lately.

Here a pic of Mose and Andrea and Grandma playing Farkel.

Hot meal for a hot day: Chinese spare ribs and Kung Pao noodles

A quick and tasty meal that doesn't heat up the kitchen. Inspired by a recipe in Everyday Food, June 2008.

Shopping list
1 watermelon
1.5 lbs boneless country style pork ribs
1 pkg Simply Asia Kung Pao noodle bowl
1 9 oz pkg Green Giant Simply Steam sugar snap peas (frozen)
5 spice powder
cayenne
hoisin sauce

Put the watermelon in the freezer when you get home from the store.

Wash and trim the pork and pat dry. The rest of this meal goes really fast, so take the time here to do a good job trimming. I didn't and ended up with pretty greasy ribs. One good way to get rid of a lot of fat is rip or cut the meat apart at the fat seams and then trim the pieces with scissors.

Mix 1 T 5 spice powder and 1/8 t cayenne (more if you like it spicy). Add salt and pepper. Rub the ribs with the mix and place in a glass pie plate.

Put the pork (uncovered) in the microwave and cook for 20 minutes. Check for doneness - pork should be opaque throughout. When done, remove from oven, slather with hoisin sauce, tent with foil and let sit.

While the pork is cooking, put the peas in a large glass bowl. While the pork is resting, microwave the peas for 3 minutes. Add the noodles, the sauce and the freeze dried vegetables, 1 T water and stir. Microwave for 3 more minutes and stir. Sprinkle with the peanut topping.

Serve the pork and the noodle dish with tamari on the side. For dessert, serve sliced watermelon (it should have cooled off pretty well).

This meal's virtues are: it's speed, it's not too expensive, one can find all ingredients at Nilssen's (except tamari and 5 spice powder), it doesn't heat up the kitchen, it's easy to clean up after. Made enough for me and Dan and Dan's lunch (a little shy on the noodle dish).

A new purse

 

Well, I love purses, bags, totes, etc. so my first Material Monday entry would logically be of that category, especially since I received a lovely new specimen from Cindy for my birthday.

This bag made its debut yesterday as I busily went from church to Conor and Theresa's baby shower. It's a little small, and I like it for exactly that reason: I can't overload it with stuff, and yet it easily accommodated all I needed for a busy day: wallet, keys, cell phone, camera, pencil/pen + tiny notebook, and of course, Carmex, lotion, Kleenex, etc. If I were taking a book, or running errands, I might need something bigger, but this is pretty enough for dress-up, and not too small to be practical.

Another plus: this bag is small enough to fit into a larger one for travel purposes and has a nice sleek profile, to make it easy to get it in and out of another bag for a quick walk to get a snack or a trip to the bathroom.

So it gets high marks all the way around! Thanks, Cindy!

Bought on

http://www.etsy.com/

Friday 5: Summer Retrospective

Well, here we are in the middle of summer already!

1. What did you love about summers when you were growing up?
2. Did you hate anything? What?
3. What "summer place" would you most like to visit from those years? Why?
4. What is your best memory of this summer so far?
5. Name 3 things you still hope to do before this summer is over.

Material Monday: Chincoteague Clam Digger

It doesn't look like much but this is my favorite tool for working up the soil. It's got two prongs that are still reasonably sharp. Work the prongs into the soil at the base of small to medium weeds, give a quick yank and no more weed.

We found this on the beach on Chincoteague Island, Virginia when we were there - was it 5 years ago? Besides being a very handy tool, it also brings back memories of a lovely day at the ocean.

Two Thumbs Up Potato Salad

This recipe gets Dan's seal of apporoval, and that means something coming from a chip off the old Spud.

Two Thumbs Up Potato Salad
8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes - scrubbed

3 HB eggs - see How to make Hard Boiled Eggs
3/4 cup mayo
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg's - the best!)
1 small jar pimentoes
1/4 - 1/2 red onion finely chopped - see Red Onions That Don't Bite
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t celery seed

Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, cover the pot and place on the stove over medium - meduim high heat, bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 20 minutes or so. While the potatoes are cooking, chop the HB eggs and mix them along with the rest of the dressing ingredients until well combined.

When the potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork, remove from heat and rinse with cold water so they're cool enough to handle but still quite warm. Don't peel. Slice into bite size cubes, put in a large mixing bowl, pour the dressing over and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Red Onions That Don't Bite

Peel and slice a red onion. Place in a storage dish (either a glass one or one you don't care if it absorbs the onion odor), cover the onion with water, put the cover on the dish and put the dish in the refrigerator. Use within a couple days. Before adding the onion to the dish, rinse it in cold water and dry off with paper towel. Delicious onion flavor without the bite.

How to make Hard Boiled Eggs

These eggs really aren't boiled. Or not for long.

Take 6 eggs and place in pot deep enough to cover them with an inch of water of cold water. Put the open pot on the stove and bring to a boil slowly - heat set at medium to medium high. When water is bubbling, but before it really starts to roll, turn the heat off, cover the pan and let the eggs sit for 14 minutes.

Prepare a sink or large container dish of cold water and ice cubes. Once the 14 minutes are up, place the eggs in the ice water and let sit until cooled off completely. Peel right away or refrigerate until needed. Should yield tender easy to peel eggs without the gray ring around the yolk.

The plants I didn't buy

As we drove home from Hudson yesterday, with a yellow flowering currant wedged between my feet and a Royal Star magnolia teetering in the jump seat, both purchased at Fleet Farm's plant clearance, Dan looked over at me and said, 'I notice we always come home with plants'. His saying this without any irony whatsoever once again galvanized my love and deep devotion for him.

And so I sighed, but it was not a completely happy sigh. Having the nicest husband in the world and a growing collection of shrubs and trees was not enough to erase the memory of two plants still languishing on the half off rack. This post is a memorial to them,

the precious Miss Canada Lilac







and the luminous Limelight Hydrangea












I keep telling myself I did the right thing, that it was best to leave them for a gardener who had the perfect place for them. But still the sadness lingers as I think about the plants I left behind.

This week in review

1. Last Saturday we attended, well sort of, the Family Picnic at the Baldwin Care Center. It started pouring just as we (Dan, Abe & I) were leaving the house and we knew we'd have to wait in the food line outside, so we just stayed put until the rain stopped. When we arrived, we found Don and Doreen (Dan's brother and sister-in-law) sitting with Ruth, looking at photos from a recent BWCA trip. We enjoyed our visit with them and Ruth and Brian who stopped by later and with Dean and LouAnn (Dan's other brother and sister-in-law) who arrived even later from Clear Lake, Iowa. Dean told about battling the recent floods at Metalcraft, in Mason City, where he holds down a day job. See story titled 'Businesses are struggling to recover, too'.
In the afternoon, Mose and I caught the last bit of an 50th anniversary open house for some friends from church, Lloyd and JoAnn Doornink. By then the weather was just lovely - bright and summery but cool.

2. Sunday must have been a quiet day...I don't remember it much, though I'm sure it included a nap (for me) and a long bike ride (for Dan).

3. Monday was a typical work day...rode the van too and fro then walked to Sentimental Journey practice at the Senior Center. Only four ladies were able to be there - 3 singers and the pianist.
4. Tuesday, I started my week on call and had a pretty bad first evening. Went to bed in a very bad mood.
5. Wednesday at work was about the same as Monday. The boys returned home in the morning so I had their company in the evening.
6. Thursday was a good day. I drove in on my own and left early for lunch with Chris at India Palace, followed with shopping at Borders, under duress as usual :) After lunch I picked up a citrus juicer at Bed, Bath and Beyond then headed to Hudson for a haircut. I decided a couple months ago that my hair needed more styling than I was getting at the barbershop (very nice cuts but my graying hair needs something more than just scissors). I stumbled upon a very nice salon, called, most unfortunately, El Shaddai House and had my first appointment there on my 50th birthday. Am just as pleased with my second cut.
7. Dan had the day off on the 4th so we slept in a bit and then did yard work. The boys went to a shooting match near Eau Claire. Dan and I cleaned up and went to Hudson to get more Zip Edge and materials for a compost bin (our freezer is overflowing with the kitchen scraps I've been hoarding). I made steak for supper but it wasn't that good. Mose was supposed to work until 11 but got off early because business was slow. Lots of neighbors were shooting fireworks, but Baldwin didn't have a sanctioned display, so the boys (mainly Abe) and I watched a movie instead: Honeydripper. Abe liked it a lot. I thought it was too predictable and too low key...everyone seemed to be sleepwalking except for the young woman who played China Doll.
8. Dan and I worked in the yard all day yesterday, planting shrubs and zip stripping and weeding and watering. It was a lovely sunny day, quite windy. Mose worked 8 hours - his longest shift yet - but it went fast because his 5 (present and former) school buddies were working too. I made a pretty good supper including potato salad' always a hit with Dan. After supper, Abe and I toured the yard and walked out in the country. When we returned, we enjoyed shortcake, topped with the berries Carol dropped off yesterday, while watching my favorite Andy Griffith episode of all time "Barney's First Car". It was Lorraine's birthday and though I thought of her often, the fact that it was her birthday didn't register until this morning.
9. My first thought on waking up was: Oh my, I forgot to call Lorraine yesterday! Sigh. There wasn't much I could do about my oversight at that point and it sounds like she had a great day, anyway.
Usually I walk with Trudy on Sunday morning, but she is out of town, so I had time to give a little TLC to the Wahoo plant, suffering from a Four Lined Plant Bug infestation. I sprayed it with Safer's soap, which I have great faith in.
It was a really nice morning so the boys and I walked to church. Since then it has turned sticky and hot. We've got the A/C on for the first time this year.

Birthday Pleasures

Being blessed with a summer birthday and not having to work on it this year, I planned a day full of ordinary treats. Here is what I did:

1. Slept in a little bit, followed by -
2. My usual morning routine of Prayer, Gratitude Journal and the Tribune Daily Sudoku.
3. A 3-mile run in lovely cool weather, which ended at Tony's, where I went in and bought a loaf of my favorite French toast bread.
4. After a long shower and bit of pampering, I emerged dressed for gardening, but first made and consumed with pleasure the aforementioned French toast.
5. I then spent 2+ hours attacking the violet infestation that has sneaked into my garden, and planning what I will put in to keep them at bay.
6. After a quick clean-up, Stephen took us to Garcia's for my favorite chips and salsa and steak burrito.
7. A nap and then back into the yard, this time to sit in my comfy chair with books and journal -- and a piece of cherry pie, thank-you, Cindy!
8. Flannery O'Connor is on tap for July's book discussion the 14th, but after 2 stories, I decided she was too depressing for my birthday, so I looked into the books Dave gave me, which look excellent.
9. My beloved trowel had gone missing in the morning's clean-up, so I said a prayer to find it quickly (and without too much mess!) and began digging through the blue bags of yard waste, finding it on my first real delving into the most likely bag!
10. One more clean-up and Dave and I set off for a party at Dan Kopanke's and Kathy Flenz's new place: great Chicago view, excellent food, good company and conversation.
11. Got encouragement in my running from Holly Hart Porter and Danika Kopanke (soon to be Amusin, on July 20!) Also enjoyed throughout the day: birthday cards and calls, the glorious mild and sunny weather, looking at the quilt top for Conor and Theresa's baby, which is now finished and ready to be put together, writing a blog, eating small handfuls of sun-warmed raspberries right off the bush . . .
12. Ended the day as it began, with prayer and journaling and gratitude!

St. Mary's 5K, 2009, here I come

Some of you know that I started running back in March. Really, I wasn't sure if I would continue; for one thing, some who love me were not thrilled, being concerned about the toll running would take on my aging, overweight body. For another, when the weather got hot and humid, I figured I might lose interest. Well, so far, I've persisted, NOT with the intent of competing, but just for the joy and exercise of it. I broke down and bought running shoes a few weeks ago, and had gradually increased my distance to 2 1/2 miles 2 or 3 times per week.

So last Sunday, Dad called with the news that he had won his age group at St. Mary's in the 5k, an annual event in Saginaw, MI, that he has run for many years. He claims he was the only one in his group, but as in so many arenas in life, showing up is half the challenge! At any rate, he talked to Dave first, who told him I've been running, so when I spoke to him, he asked how far I run, and I said 2 1/2 miles is what I'm doing and all I aspired to and he slyly remarked: "If you increased to 3 miles, you could start running in some races."

Well, I can say "no" to almost anything but a direct challenge, so I immediately responded: "All other things being equal, I'll run the St. Mary's 5K with you next year!"

So now I'm in training! This week, I ran 3 miles 3 times. I am slow as mud. I find it hard to time myself, but it looks like the first mile is about 10 minutes, the 2nd is 11 and the 3rd is 12. So now that I know I CAN run 3 miles without stopping, my goal is to whittle several minutes off my time, and get so that I can put in 3 miles in 27 minutes. Still slow, but something to aim for.

Thankfully, I have a year to get ready!

Friday 5: Summer Sensations

I probably should fashion a patriotic Friday 5 since today is the 4th of July, but I don't feel like working that hard. Instead, let's talk about what makes summer, summer.
1) what sight says 'summer' to you?
2) what taste says 'summer' to you?
3) what sound says 'summer' to you?
4) what smell says 'summer' to you?
5) what sensation says 'summer' to you?