Fat Biscuit

Spotting Hummers at the Farmers' Market

We're two weeks into summer break, and I'm already exhausted. It's tiring staying busy and entertained with a 6-year-old boy. That said, I wouldn't trade it for the 9-5 for anything.

It's funny how you can try something once, and it will not work out; then you try it a second time, under different conditions or a new mindset, and suddenly it all falls into place. That's been my recent experience with running. I started running outside a couple of months ago and have been loving it. Don't know if it's the fully healed back sprain, the new, fancy sneaks, or the great outdoors, but it is so much more gratifying than the treadmill ever was. In the last two months, I've run two short races and hope to run another one in the fall. I feel healthier and obsess less about all the squishy parts of my body. 

The last race we did had a 1-mile race for kids with parents, so I cajoled Tay and Owen into participating. We were so proud of Owen for participating in a RACE, or COMPETITION, because these things usually terrify him. He ran the entire mile and wore his race shirt and medal for the next two days straight.

This summer Owen and I are staying busier than usual, thanks to Owen's increased maturity and my decreased anxiety. Here's a list of the typical activities:

• swim lessons (where we spotted a Mitt Romney for President tee shirt)
• farmers' market (where we often spot the aforementioned hummers) 
• library time (I still need to do my weekly volunteer stint)
• free movies  
• Pirates' Cove (Pohick Bay)
• Great Waves Water Park (Cameron Run) 

We've also got visits planned with Nana and Am and Baba, as well as our traditional beach week at Ocean City. We also HAVE to see Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees at Fridays After Five on August 28 in C'ville. Owen will love that. 

  

Immune System of a Thirty-Three-Year Old

That cold tried to wrestle me to the ground, but I fought back (or at least my body did), so I was not still ill on my Birthday. Yeah, body! 

I'm tapping this on my MacBook from my little kitchen: I've got fish sticks in the oven, Heinz beans (British style) ready, and salads prepped. Most importantly, I've got my Magic Hat #9. Owen just interrupted me to ask for something to eat; he typically does this 20 minutes before dinner. Perhaps an indication that I should make dinner earlier?

This Saturday was the best Birthday I've had in ages. Mum and Tay's parents were here, I had a cake with my name on it, and I went out for dinner with Tay, K, and L. Dinner here was fabulous, even though we had to wait 40 minutes for a table, forcing us to have drinks at the bar beforehand.

Today Taylor did a lot of yardwork and I did a lot of Owen tending. Specifically, I played many rounds of hide-and-seek with Owen and his neighbour friend, R, and then played grunt to Owen's general in a highly strategic, potato-gun-enhanced Army battle. 

Owen climbed many trees and had another biking session, again with R. He has a happy life; only 20 more years before he appreciates it.

Soap Nuts

Don't worry. You can't die from Soap Nuts. These little guys are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree and can be used as a natural laundry soap. I was given a box of Maggie's Soap Nuts for Christmas from LB, and I just got around to trying them out ($9.99 for 16-20 loads 4.5 oz box). The suds were minimal, which I guess is a good thing, and my clothes came out odor-free, which would appeal to my spouse, the fragrance Nazi Fascist. Although I would love every load of clean clothes to absolutely reek of scenty scentness (don't look those words up in the dictionary), Taylor seems to have a problem with a perfumed wardrobe and has requested that our detergent be as mild as possible. So, bring on the soap nuts! 

Using this uber-hippy product requires that you throw a couple "nuts" into the included cotton sack and drop it in with the laundry. There was no mention on the package about whether these can be used as successfully with front-loading high-efficiency machines, but I don't see why not. Of course, I can barely wrap my mind around where the food scraps go after being shredded by the sink disposal, so perhaps I'm not the one to ask.