No Red Meat Update

About two weeks ago my husband and I decided to kick red meat for a bit. There was no real reason other than just kind of being sick of it. Tomorrow marks the two week point and in that time we have consumed no red meat. We have consumed chicken twice and ground turkey once; other than that most meals have been primarily vegetarian. This leads me to make a few observations about how it is going.

1. I don't miss red meat at all. More importantly, my husband doesn't miss it and he was a huge red meat eater (Loves him some steaks). That doesn't mean I won't at some point, but for now I have had no cravings.
2. In two weeks I have lost 6 1/2 pounds. In all fairness I have also been exercising 5-6 times a week. However, I was doing that prior to this little experiment and my weight loss was not that rapid while exercising, watching what I was eating, but still consuming red meat.
3. For the first 2 or 3 days I felt a bit sluggish. However, in the days since I actually feel like I have more energy and I don't feel so "heavy", if that makes sense.
4. My daughter has never eaten meat and so I have always had to make a vegetarian meal for her if we were going to eat meat for dinner. Since doing this, meal preparations have been a lot easier. (I still had to make alternatives for the nights we consumed chicken and ground turkey).
5 My grocery bill has gone down significantly. I never really realized how much buying hamburger, steaks, and roasts added to our grocery bill. I usually shop once a week to buy fresh produce, milk, eggs, and ingredients needed for a week's worth of dinners. For the past two weeks we have spent less each time by simply eliminating meat, while still buying more fruits and vegetables.

I can't say that we will forever forgo red meat. Like I said previously, I go through phases with food. However, for us, for now it seems to be working and I actually feel healthier. I acknowledge that much of that could be entirely mental, but either way I feel good.

** My husband requested that I mention he has lost 5 pounds in these past two weeks. And I will mention that he does not work out.

Family Tree

My mom has been working on tracing our family roots for the past couple of years. Not long ago she started doing the same with my husband's family. (We have a complicated and fairly estranged relationship with them and they have been unwilling to give us any information about their origins). She has managed to trace both sides of his family back to the 1600's, which is pretty amazing and very interesting. He has learned things about his ancestors that he never knew and which his family still may not know. He was raised believing he was German and on his mom's side he is. While too long and complicated to get into here they were actually Germans living in Russia and migrated to the US to escape religious persecution. We recently learned his father's side is Irish. His great-great grandfather was born and raised there, so it's a pretty recent connection. He had no idea. He also had no idea that part of his father's side were Canadian who later became US citizens. Needless to say, we have discovered quite a bit and it's a fascinating history from which he hails.

This week we were contacted by a great-great-great granddaughter of the sister of my husband's great-great-great grandmother (still with me?). She, too, has been working on her family tree and discovered the connection and was actually able to fill in many of the blanks about my husband's great-great-great grandmother.

It's just really strange to have these connections to people that can be traced so far back. I guess it puts into perspective how truly connected and intertwined all of our lives are to each other. I mean who would have thought that hundreds of years later, descendants of Irish and Canadian immigrants would cross paths in America? It boggles the mind.

The Truth About Feminism

The world is filled with all types of women with all types of different interests. There are those who live and breathe a career, there are those who dream of staying home and raising a family, there are those who do both, and those who do something in between. The point is I, probably much like you, had a choice and I had a choice because of what women did before me. I had a choice because other women fought to be able to give future generations of women that choice. For that I can truly only be thankful.

Many people connote the term "feminist" with something negative. As if someone who is a feminist couldn't possibly still raise a family. As if a feminist can't still believe in a traditional family dynamic. As if a feminist is something to be shunned and frowned upon. When I hear the term "feminist" I think of many things and sure some of the things that sometimes come to mind are the stereotypes. However, the first thing I think about is brave, strong, incredible women making huge sacrifices so that their daughters and granddaughters would get to choose whether or not they wanted to work. They fought so that if a woman wanted to stay home, she could choose to do so and not be told to do so. Really, words can't adequately express how thankful I am that this is the case.

When I look at my daughter I see a future full of possibility. I see her having the choice of whether she wants to get married, have children, work full-time or part-time, or even from home. I see her having the choice and making the sacrifice to be a stay-at-home mom as I chose to do (the key word being "chose"). The possibilities are endless and regardless of what she chooses I will be proud because it is a choice she made, not one someone made for her. So, I guess if that makes me a feminist I'll proudly accept the compliment. I hope my daughter is one too.

Pearl Jam's Ten and Other Stuff

The summer before my freshman year of high school I was invited by the high school basketball coach to try out for a summer league team. I ended up making the Varsity, which meant that I was significantly younger than most of my teammates. Coming from the small, parochial school that I did I had not been introduced to what is now some of my favorite music.

That summer, and actually for the next year into the following summer, we travelled all over playing in different tournaments, which meant we spent a lot of time in vans listening to a host of artists, popping one tape out of the deck (yes, a tape deck) and replacing it with the next. The album that probably got the most play was Pearl Jam's Ten, rivaled by Nirvana' Nevermind. I fell in love with it instantly. I listened to it so much that I wore it out and had to buy a new one. When CD's were the latest rage, Ten, was one of the first purchases I made.

Needless to say when I heard Pearl Jam was coming out with a remastered version of Ten I was very excited. I got to listen to it tonight(and subsequently ordered it) and was duly impressed. Somewhere during the first song all these memories from those days 17 years ago came flashing back. I remember listening to it on my walkman, standing in an elevator, in Vegas with a few of my teammates. I remember sitting with a few of my teammates listening to "Jeremy" over and over again in our hotel room alternating its play with Nirvana's album. I remembered rooming, in California, with our most "wild" of teammates who every morning would blast "Money" by Pink Floyd as she showered and got dressed. To this day I cannot hear the "Cha-Ching" of the intro without thinking of her....and fondly so. I remembered listening to Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog over and over again, and being introduced to Phish by the eldest member of our team, someone I looked up to and respected greatly. Seriously sweet memories of some of my all-time favorite people.

It's amazing how just hearing songs can take you back to a different time, a different place, and provoke all these memories of a time since passed. I loved those days, love those people, and love the music I love today because of many of them. I simply cannot wait to listen to Ten again so many years later.

A Few Tunes For the Weekend

Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Private Practice, and Grey's Anatomy are a few of my favorite shows. One of the reasons they are amongst my favorite is because they always play great music by artists that, prior to their music being played on these shows, aren't well known. Lately I have heard four songs that I really can't get enough of.

This song is by Gomez entitled Little Pieces and I love the beginning.

This song is Rise Up by Ben Lee.

This is Maybe Maybe by Nico Stai.

And this is Hodges with My Side of The Story

Hope you enjoy. Have a terrific weekend!

Can't I Just Go Naked?

Before my husband was my husband and we used to shop for clothes together I always thought my husband's guidelines for picking out clothes were a little weird. Before he would even consider trying them on he'd go up and rub the material between his fingers. Then he'd walk away with it either in hand and head for the dressing room or an emphatic no and move on. Apparently, since he was a small child he had a thing about the material and how it felt against his skin. I can understand that, although I found his constant fondling of clothes a bit odd.

In all truth though, I have come to realize that I am the strange one when it comes to picking out, trying on, purchasing, and then actually wearing clothes. You see, I have this need...an obsessive one really....to find clothes (shoes included) that when on basically feel as if they are not. I hate clothes that are too tight or snug, too short, too long or loose, cap sleeved, and the list goes on. As far as shoes go...they need to feel as if they are not encapsulating my foot. My biggest problem is with tennis shoes, which I need to exercise.

Which brings me to my latest obsession. I bought a pair of tennis shoes almost three years ago that I have been using with regularity. I love them. They are perfectly broken in, they don't rub any part of my foot, and I tie them just enough to keep them on without putting any pressure across the top part of my feet. Well, I have worn them into the ground with all this exercising and so I set out to find the perfect shoe. No small feat (pun intended). I found a pair of New Balance that I loved, but were $140. In the realm of things that is not bad, but I hate to spend money, especially on myself. So, I kept looking. I found two pairs of New Balance that I really liked and bought them both (for a grand total of 80 bucks). But now the break in begins and it is driving me nuts. I have to work out in them in order to break them in but all I really want to do is put on my old, falling apart, certainly not supportive tennis shoes from the days of yore. I know once they are broken in I will love them. In the meantime I am going crazy.

Next up...to find a pair or two of gym shorts that are the perfect length (mid-thigh), the right type of mesh (ones that don't include the ultra-static prone lining), and a reasonable price.

Baby's First Haircut

My son has, or I should say had, shaggy, curly hair. I loved it. However, it seemed to stop growing. So, my husband and I decided we would have it all cut off in the hopes it would grow back faster, longer, and curlier (fingers crossed).

So, today he got his first haircut. He did a great job, sat in the chair, followed the hairdresser's directions, and came away looking like a little man. He is very proud of his haircut as he walks around saying, "Like daddy."

As she was using the trimmers I was furiously picking up every curly lock that fell to the ground. I didn't realize just how much hair he really had because it never really looked like he had much (I think because it is so blonde).

Anyway, I am pleased, he loves it and as I type this we are awaiting my husband's arrival for the final seal of approval.