My secret favorite tv show

At the suggestion of some of my students I hesitantly tuned in to watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter", to get a look at his apparently legendary mullet & his wife's monstrously huge breasts. Typically this is not the type of show I would watch. In fact I think that the only people who routinely select programming that features leathery looking ex cons and their bleach blonde wives reside in dwellings classified according to how many axels they have. But now I am addicted and can't stop.

Dog and his crew kept me company many nights while I sat in a hospital room at LRH nursing a tiny baby and to this day Scarlett can be lulled to sleep by Ozzy belting out the theme song. I love the action, the goofy looking beads he wears in his hair and the sleazy people he "takes down". So in spite of my tendencies to enjoy more intelligent forms of entertainment there is nothing better in the middle of a long sleepless night than spending a little time with my friendly neighborhood bounty hunter.

Go Runner Girl Go!!

Yesterday our family participated in the 2nd Music for the Soul marathon.

Since I am still building my mileage I opted to volunteer in the therapy tent. I massaged tons of runners and met some really interesting people and accomplished athletes,

Chloe ran in the 2.2km kids marathon. Over the last few months she's accumulated 40km running on her own time in order to finish her final leg of marathon running at the race. She did really well and we couldn't be more proud. She is really proud of herself too. Today she donned her race shirt and packed her medal and race number in her backpack to show her friends at school. She was so pumped that when we came home yesterday she did a four mile bike ride along side mom while I ran. Congrats Chloe, you're a star!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Lately I've been thinking about how many cool women I have the privilege of calling my friends. It amazes me how I've been able to connect with so many different women with different stories and I admire them all.

I admire my girls who are single mothers. They are gutsy and incredible.

I admire my girls who are married and dazzle me with their abilities to support their spouse and stll be unique and independent.

I admire my girls who are divorced for knowing themselves well enough to make a change and for picking up and moving on.

I admire my girls who are single and living life to the fullest on their terms.

I admire my little girls who are sunshine and rainbows and happiness. They give me a lift everyday.

To all my girls big and small I love ya and treasure what you give me!!

He's grouchy now but soon he'll be a hhm

A happy healthy monster! (or motsner as Elle would say) is what we want for our darling Bradley. He is still counting the hours until his five days of very healthy eating comes to an end, but I think some of the healthy meals and snacks are growing on him. Tonight's turkey tacos were a big hit. Even though he wasn't allowed any cheese or sour cream and the tortillas were whole wheat. Maybe just maybe some of this cuisine will creep into his regular diet a little more often. Then he can start feeling the energy he claims to have lost.

This is my husband on healthy eating...

Whine, whine, whine!! That is what my darling husband is doing on day two of his vitality eating plan. He misses his bread, his crackers, his snacks. Thankfully this plan is only five days so he will be done before he knows it. Hopefully he will be pleased with the end results. Meanwhile I am trying to placate him with lots of fruit to nibble on the forever popular soy milk & fruit smoothie!!

Vitality Day One

As day one draws to a close I am pretty proud of us for getting off to such a good start. Brad had to work extra hard at not caving in since he worked last night and then got little sleep today. My dad was down helping us work on the basement and Brad successfully turned down chips, beer and just the temptation to eat junk food to give him an artificial energy lift.

One of my main goals with this nutrition plan is to make sure we're not depriving ourselves of energy. Since we are dealing with huges demands on our energy supply whether it be at work or at home with the kids, adequate fuel is a must. So I sent Brad off to work his night shift with his baked chicken, brown rice & broccoli plus three different kinds of fruit and some probiotic yogurt to snack on.

I just finished my chicken dinner and it was YUMMY if I do say so myself. Later I will indulge in a little fresh fruit too. Alas my fruit will not be accompanied by a glass of white wine but I'll survive!!

T minus 72 hours....

There are only three days left until Brad and I begin our week long nutrition program. I'm preparing by writing grocery lists and budgeting time on the weekend for making soup and doing other food prep. Brad sees Monday approaching with some sort of impending doom and is in some ways gorging himself on his favorite comfort foods that he is not allowed during our week of high octane nutrition. Last night he requested I bring home deli style potatoe salad for him. YUCK!! As I sat there and watched him ingest patatoes coated in mayonaise I silently willed Monday to get here faster.

Here's the Soup Recipe

2 cans stewed tomatoes

3 green onions

1 can fat free beef broth

1 bunch celery

2 cans green beans

2 lb carrots

2 green peppers

Chop veggies and place in pot with beef broth and tomatoes. Cover with water. Bring to a fast boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Season with worchestershire sauce, garlic or pepper.

The Vitality Eating Plan

In the spirit of Spring Cleaning, I have challenged my husband to do five days of healthy eating with me. This is NOT a diet but rather a commitment to eat only healthy foods at every meal and snack for five days. I have borrowed recipes and ideas from other eating plans (I despise the word diet) and designed something that I think is feasible for us to maintain.

Here's the plan:

Breakfast: Activia yogurt with bran buds and fruit (any fruit you like)

Lunch: The sacred heart soup (stay tuned for the recipe) and a whole wheat roll (no butter)

Dinner: Day 1 - baked chicken & brown rice, Day 2 - baked potato (plain), broiled peppers & mushrooms, steamed broccoli, Day 3 - grilled portabello mushroom caps, steamed asparagus, brown rice, Day 4 - broiled mushrooms & peppers, brown rice, Greek salad (no feta), Day 5 - baked potato, grilled chicken, steamed broccoli

Authorized snacks: smoothies (made with fruit & soy milk), dried apricots & unsalted almonds, yogurt, fresh fruit, veggies sticks

Authorized beverages: water, unsweetened fruit juice, skim milk, soy milk, skim chocolate milk, V8 juice, plain tea

The purpose of this diet is not for weight loss, it's just to improve our energy and make us feel more alive!

We start next Monday check in to see how we're doing!

Fitness Thoughts for Today

1. Treadmills might be boring but they add much needed cushioning when you've been running on the pavement too long.

2. Chocolate milk is the best post work out treat... EVER!!

3. When it comes to training quality is much better than quantity so don't feel guilty about only getting in 3 intense workouts each week.

4. Flying a kite with kids is a great way to get extra intervals in and makes you laugh until your sides hurt.

5. Sharing your passion with someone pays off when they call you on the phone to tell you they've just completed their first 10km run. (Congratulations Heather!!)

6. Making a life long commitment to fitness and activity is one of the best decisions I've made in my entire life.

Be Young at Heart, Train Smart!

My daughters are learning to skip and I'm really having fun teaching them how. It's amazing how much I remember when it comes to this sport. In reality I haven't skipped since I was in elementary school so it was a pleasant surprise to find out my nervous system hasn't forgotten what to do. I can even do the "tricks" I worked so hard to master back in grade three. I remember that in elementary school we used to participate in a program called "Jump Rope for Heart". We had monthly skipathons in which we raised money for heart research and reaped the benefits of a healthy cardiorespiratory system. I wish they still had this program running in schools but alas there is much less focus on physical fitness in schools today as I am learning as Chloe journeys through the first grade. But I'm still glad that I can share this fun sport with my girls. I even turned my sorority's original cheer from 1904 into a skipping game for them and they love it! As an adult I'm enjoying the immense fitness benefits of skipping. Just ten minutes of skipping burns between 70 & 110 calories and builds fast twitch muscle fibre in the legs. This will totally enhance my running and my relationship with my bestest buddies Chloe and Elle!

I'm worth a lot

I just read a cool article on the financial worth of a mother. According to an article on www.msn.com if a woman were paid for all of her duties as a mother she would earn $138 000 each year. The article also said that moms do over half of their work week in overtime.

Out of all the jobs I've done being a mother is the most difficult and certainly the most rewarding. At times having 3 little girls is exhausting and thankless work. But even though the big salary would be nice I would settle for snuggles and hugs from my girls any time.