Snuggles for Stress Relief

Today is a big day for our family. After a year or two of promising our children that, when the family was ready, we'd consider adding cats and a dog to the family, today we made good.

My mother-in-law breeds Siamese cats and German Shepherds. One of her cats escaped into the neighborhood some months ago, and met a fella. The resulting litter of kittens are a mixed bunch, and all adorable. There were some short hairs, some long. Some striped, some solid colored. All with the characteristic Siamese large ears. Years and years ago, my wife and I had adopted two brothers of similar origin from my mother-in-law. Those cats (Jackson and Mogwai) were our companions and beloved friends for a long, long time.

Today, we brought home another pair of brothers. Here they are, snuggling together in the back of the carrier we brought them home in. I was, frankly, amazed by the ride home. I've never been on a car ride with cats that didn't have the kitties constantly meowing, stressed out by the odd motions. These two just cuddled up together, and rode it out like they'd been on the road for years. Of course, they probably just don't know any better yet...we'll see.

The little black one is Loki, named for the Norse god of mischief. He's curious and active, and we expect that, of the two of them, he'll be the one getting into trouble more. His striped brother is Thor. We played around with all kinds of names. Bert and Ernie. Wall-E and Mo. Jet-adiah (for Loki) and Malachi(te) (for Thor...he's striped, see?). But, in the end, we liked these simple names, that harkened back to our family's Viking ancestry. There are actually quite a few Thors, Olis and such in my family tree, I'm told. :-)


After a few hours huddled in their carrier, the two little guys are getting a little more comfortable here. A little. Here's Loki, cuddling with our younger daughter. Of the two, he seems to be the more comfortable around humans right now.


I'm sure Thor will get over the shock of transplantation to a new home and a new family soon. For now, though, he prefers the safety of his carrier, or the litter box. Hey, if I got to PICK the place a new kitten likes to hang out, the litter box would top the list. :-)


We're all thrilled to have these little guys join the family. I've missed the companionship of cats over the years since our previous pair of brothers passed on. I remember very fondly the feeling of a little ball of warm fur cuddled up on a cold winter night. The sense of calm they transmit when they settle down in your lap, wanting nothing but a little love and affection. My kids were too young to really remember these parts of having a cat. Mogwai and Jackson passed on when our eldest was still very young, and our middle child had just been born. We're all looking forward to getting to know these two little guys.

Much-Needed Rain

This morning, I took my younger daughter to her weekly ballet lesson, planning to go for a walk in the nearby park while I waited. I made one (of my usual two) circuits before the drizzle turned into light rain. My legs were still so sore that I couldn't get above a moderate walk without the quakes from each step shaking my quads painfully. So, I let Mother Nature and my body have their way, and sat out the second circuit. I found a bench under a balcony, and watched the rain fall.

There's a large airport near this park, and the planes fly low over the southern stretches on approach. Today, the clouds were hugging the tops of downtown's skyscrapers, and the planes left vapor trails as their lowered flaps squeezed the rain out of the air. The planes were so close than I could actually see these trails start to fall. Somewhere, right below the flight path, folks were probably getting little showers each time a plane came in to land.

Our back yard is beautiful under a sheen of water. The tips of each tall stalk of grass seed (I need to mow the lawn, badly) sparkle. The broccoli plant, somehow resisting the water, is covered in big droplets. The birds were AWOL, and I missed them, but the rain is very welcome here. We're suffering a multi-year drought. Even more rain would be a great thing.

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It was a nice weekend day around our house. We racked up a few long-standing household projects, ran some errands, and made a very nice dinner. Not bad.

I spent some quality time with our little boy today, teaching him to install cut-off valves on all of our showers. OK, not so much "teaching him" as "asking him to hand me stuff," but it was great fun.

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This evening, I engaged in a little "food therapy" again. I made a wonderful pureed asparagus soup, from a recipe by our very favorite TV chef, Jamie Oliver. Some onion, celery and leak gets sauteed, then in goes stock and the chopped stalks of a huge pile of asparagus. It boils for some time, until the asparagus is cooked nicely, then the lot gets pureed. Back into the pot, and in go the tips of all those asparagus spears. Once heated, it goes into bowls, along with a slice of toasted bread and a poached egg. Oh man. This recipe is a KEEPER. Thanks, Jamie.

But, I need a better phrase than "food therapy." I need something that blends one part organic fresh vegetables, one part making quality food for my family, and one part mind-calming knifework. "Vegi-tation" (Veggie + Meditation) would be good...if it weren't already a word. Come on, Drakonis...you're the verbal gymnast and punster extraordinaire...lend me a hand here. :-)

Food log:

Breakfast: a piece of French toast with strawberry jam instead of syrup. Strawberries.

Lunch: Half a Oro Blanco grapefruit (yum!). A carrot, cut into sticks, with some roasted red pepper hummus. A slice of whole grain toast with butter.

Dinner: asparagus soup, with toasted bread and a poached egg laid into the bowl right before serving. YUM.

Snacks: split a small bag of trail mix with my daughter. One Tagalong Girl Scout cookie.

Learning from my body, the hard way

I went to bed last night already feeling a little sore, after the workout of yesterday morning. When I woke up, the stiffness and painful muscles were in full effect. But, I figured a nice warming walk would help loosen me up. So, off I went for a thirty-minute rapid walk through the neighborhood. Hindi chants on the iPod. Birds chirping. Wind blowing the feather-light drizzle around. Very nice. And by the time I got home, this old body of mine was humming, and limber-ish.

Fast-forward to just before lunch. I was hobbling. Shuffling. Moving slowly on purpose, to nurse my sore muscles and trying to avoid pulling a muscle. But Yoga class was calling.

I almost didn't go. I thought it through. I worried about the possibility of hurting myself if I didn't take it easy. But...I figured...what the heck. I'll go. I'll take it slow. I'll stop if I start feeling any pain.

And for most of the class, it felt like I'd made the right call. I warmed up, I stretched, I kept up with the quickening intensity of our practice. Feeling' no pain.

But it wasn't the pain I should have been noticing. It was my energy level. By about forty minutes in, I was spent. Not in my mind. Not sleepy. My quads weren't burning. They weren't hurting. They were exhausted. I couldn't make my legs move they way I wanted them too anymore. They felt like almost dead weight. Yes, I pulled back. I slowed down. But it was too late already.

I left early from work today, heading for a couple of end-of-the-school-year events. My eldest daughter had a recorder recital (in which she played beautifully...she's REALLY coming along). My little son had a graduation ceremony (part of which was a talent show, during which he and his sisters sang a song they made up...so proud of them). But before I could even get to these, I needed pain killers. I made it through. I enjoyed the festivities very much.

The little dose of Ibuprofin helped, but it's getting on toward bedtime, and it's going to be a sore, stiff night.

My father tried to warn me (thanks Dad). This whole exercise thing is still very new to me. I'm learning what my body can take, and what it can't. Unfortunately, I ignored the wisdom of my elders and had to let trial-and-error whip my butt.

I'm supposed to go for another walk tomorrow morning. We'll see. Right now, I feel like I've been run over. Twice. Right now, I'd rather BE run over than exercise more.

There is, however, a very shiny, very cool, silver lining to this stormy story. I weighed myself this morning. 222.6lbs. Which, my friends, is my lowest weight since...well, I don't know when. Lowest in years and years. Like, since college. Or possibly high school. I'm very, very proud of myself for this. I'm very, very motivated to keep this up and get down to a healthy weight. My body is sore, but I feel GREAT!

Food log:

Breakfast: half a bagel with cream cheese, fresh melon from our CSA box, blueberries from the farmer's market, and a glass of milk.

Lunch: leftover stir-fried tofu, bok choy, water chestnuts and rice. A dozen cherries.

Dinner: was had at the pot luck at my son's graduation ceremony: salad, a little hummus with carrots, some tuna and white bean salad (our contribution), two little meatballs and a very small slice of pizza. Also a chocolate-chip cookie and a meringue cookie. What can I say...it was a good night to indulge a little.

Snacks: a carrot, with some roasted red pepper hummus. A cracker, and a small handful of raisins.

Leisure

I came across this today, in the latest issue of Yoga Monthly:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
Not time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich the smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

"Leisure" by William Henry Davies

This captures, beautifully I think, one of the three pillars on which I'm building this healthier lifestyle. Exercise is one. Eating well is another. And calming the mind, taking time to notice the beauty of nature and life around me, learning to step outside the stress of the moment, to get beyond the panicked and heated response to a place where I can manage my mind's reactions, is the third.

I've always craved silence. I've always felt most alive in nature, where the world around me demands my attention and draws me away from the cares and concerns of the day. Since I was a child, certainly, but probably always.

I'm learning, slowly, to do that on purpose. To attend more closely to the pleasures of the moment, and to put anxiety in perspective by doing so.

Training in Tranquility

I went into the gym this morning feeling grumpy. The economy is on my mind, and it's the season for annual performance evaluations at work. The budget is tight, and small differences in my evaluation could make big differences in the amount of money my family has on hand next year. But things are hard everywhere. I tried to remind myself that I was lucky to have a good job. That others have it much, much worse. Intellectually, I know this. Emotionally, though, I was tense and stressed and worried.

Exercise really, really, can help one's state of mind. When I finished my ten minute warm up on the treadmill, the thoughts were still with me. I started working out on the bench with dumbbells, doing reps much faster than normal. Angry, impatient lifts. Then something happened.

I'm not sure when. I don't remember a transition. I just realized, as I was finishing my third set and heading for the quiet of a side room to stretch, that my mind was at ease. I couldn't summon up the angst of an hour before at all. Not that I wanted to, really, but I tried, as an experiment. Couldn't do it. My mind and body were warm and quiet.

I almost skipped the gym this morning. I almost slept in, but got up early anyway and came in. Once at work, I almost went straight to the showers to seek solace in hot water and seclusion. But "Do a little more..." ran through my head and I got changed and started up the treadmill.

I'm so glad I did.

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While looking through friends' galleries on Facebook today, I found an image someone had created using an online tool at BeFunky. The site provides all kinds of tools to goof with an image. Some of the results are pretty fun.  This one looks like some of my favorite comic book art.

And this one? I wish I knew how to make ink drawings that looked this good.

I kept looking for the effect that would show me what I'll look like after I lose forty-five grapefruit, but couldn't find it.

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Food log:

Breakfast: Waldorf salad of berries, melon and walnuts dressed in yogurt, and about a cup of pineapple.

Lunch: A big salad, half a leftover breakfast sausage from our local grass-fed butcher shop, a few strawberries and blueberries.

Dinner: tofu, bok choy and water chestnut stir fry, with brown rice. A glass of nice merlot. Yummy.

Snacks: a dozen Rainier cherries

Around the horn again

Last night I spent an hour or so doing "food therapy." I sauteed up some onions that we'd tried to grill up with some shishkebobs last week. The grilling didn't really caramelize them, so into the pan they went. I made up a nice big batch of roasted red pepper hummus, toasting the peppers over the flames of our gas range. I love making great food that's good for me.

No exercise today, I'm afraid. It's a crazy season at work and, despite my commitment to make exercise the priority, I spent my lunch hour at my desk, catching up on work. Tomorrow morning I'm hitting the gym. Time to start the end-of-the-week cycle of more intense exercise. Gym tomorrow, Yoga Friday, walks in the mornings of the next few days, and probably some intense compost shoveling this weekend. Aaaah.

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Food log:

Breakfast: granola with lots of strawberries

Lunch: sauteed onions, celery sticks with roasted red pepper hummus, leftover (lightly) breaded tilapia with peach-and-cilantro salsa.

Dinner: leftover chili, salad and half a piece of corn bread. A glass of milk.

Snacks: a snack sized Hershey's chocolate bar

Weight Watchers, 70's style

Weight Watchers, you've come a long way, baby (warning: the language is NOT appropriate for little ones, in places).

Go ahead, page through 'em all. I'll wait.

Sick. Funny, but sick. :-)