Case of the Mondays: Blue Light Special

Yes, Kmart *is* a Michigan company.

Marketing done right.
Plus, I think I'm really twelve years old.

Happy Monday!

A Daughter's Love

(Update on Important Happenings:  Wednesday was our first class post-The Great Yoga Brawl of 2013. I was not disappointed.  The first ten minutes were fairly reminiscent of my middle school conversations, peppered with expressions of "No way!",  and "then I go, 'it was completely uncool of her to say that' ...", (all said in a Valley Girl like tone of voice which was weird seeing as most of us are from southeast Michigan and the closest we've been to the Valley is watching Clueless in our youth) as Natalie recapped the situation from her perspective and also let us in on the official reprimanding from the fitness center.

Here's what went down post-throwdown.  Natalie received three calls from different superiors over the weekend to address the "gross disagreement she and another instructor engaged in" and while she conceded with each call that "she totally went over her class time and so felt bad about that," it was also "completely not cool to be treated like a little kid in front of her class. Totally not cool."

In the end no one really got into any trouble, but I noticed out of the corner of my eye, as we lay in corpse pose towards the end of our class, the door slowly open and a staff member from the fitness center come in.  She stood quietly while we wrapped things up and I realized they totally sent a bouncer to handle the class transition.

In case you missed that - my yoga has security. The title remains - Best Yoga Class Ever.

The actual transition was seamless,  mainly because in true middle school fashion both Natalie and the other instructor fake smiled at each other and were overly sweet with every verbal exchange.  What a let down.)

And now onto today's regularly scheduled programming.

Ever since my double ear infections, I've been a bit wary of swimming because of the potential for water in my ear.  But because I am a super hardcore athlete, I've pushed aside that fear in order to enter the water and continue my tri training. (Which is going swimmingly, thank you.)

On Monday, however, that fear was realized and I came home from the pool in need of ear drops.  I came in the house, dropped my stuff, and told the clamoring horde of children that always bum rush the door and ask for things whenever I step inside from any kind of absence (dude, seriously, can't some other adult - like maybe the one who has been home with you for the last hour and a half - pour you some milk/change your diaper/check your math/braid your hair so I can step all the way into the house?) that I would be back in a second because I needed to fix my ear.

This is the conversation that followed with my sweet five year old.

Esther: Hey Mama, why does your ear feel funny?
Kelly: I got water in it while I was swimming.
Esther: What will happen?
Kelly: To my ear? Nothing.  I'll put some drops in it and I'll be fine.
Esther: So you won't die?

*Oh my word, is she really worried that I'll die and she'll be left without me? That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard.  I love this kid so freaking much.  I need to reassure her.*

Kelly: Nope, Mama will be just fine.  I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, kiddo.
Esther: (voice rising in both volume, speed, and excitement) Oh, because if you died Papa could get married and I could have a STEPMOM!


Totally glad she was worried about me.

A stepmom would probably let her wear this to church.

"Feel the stress of the day melt away, while breathing in the positivity of the screaming match I'm about to partake in."

Corpse pose.  How the ultra fit work out.

I use the website Dailymile.com to track my workouts.  It's a helpful tool because they keep track of total mileage and send encouraging emails every once and a while to show the trends in my fitness routine.  Dailymile also has a widget you can connect to your blog that reports your latest workout, which adds accountability for my physical activity.

However, Dailymile is only helpful if you remember to log your workouts, which I have been forgetting lately.  This was brought to my attention when I received an "It's been NINE days since your last workout - are you okay or have you fallen into an endless bag of oreo cookies?" email from them, bringing my slacker tendencies to light.

My last logged exercise was a 5.2 mile run, which for me is pretty impressive, and I'm sure on some subconscious level I didn't want to replace that publicly with some 1000 yard swim.  Then I got out of the habit of tracking through Dailymile, which prompted some concern on their part (or an automatic email, I'm not sure which) so now I am here to assure you, my dear reader, with the beautiful poetry that is Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas, that I've been "up at the gym just workin' on my fitness".

Here is one of the highlights.

The best part of the week for me was definitely yoga.  I love this particular class because it's taught by the "young" instructor (Natalie) and she uses the Twilight soundtrack as her background music.  I think she thinks no one knows this, but um, I'm kinda a fan of Twilight.  Her music choice is perfect because there are a few go-to's in my arsenal of stress-relief.  Yoga is one, and eating handfuls of doritos while watching Twilight is another.  So yoga and Twilight are like the best stress-relief combination ever.  After a yoga session backed by Twilight I'm like Crush from Finding Nemo.  "Whatever, Dude." Nothin' phases me.  I'm super chilled out.

I kid you not, I tried this.
I failed miserably.  But I tried.

This particular class was no different. (Except Natalie introduced a new position where you get into a squat, put your hands on the floor in front of you, brace your elbows against your knees, and then balance your entire body weight on your freaking hands.)(It totally didn't happen for me.)(But I did try.)(Unlike all the other people that said, "Yeah, right," in disbelief.)(I mean, they remained upright while I crashed to a heap on the floor with an audible, "Ooomph," but I tried.)



This particular class had all the calming effects I've come to love about yoga.  I spent a whole hour working out all my "I'm about to start my period and I'm a cranky ball of tight muscles and irrational emotion," feelings of the day.  We were ending yoga with corpse pose, and Natalie was saying soothing things that I tune out because it's just not my thing.  I was in a perfectly sleepy state because not only we were in corpse pose, but there was a thunderstorm outside and it was a little warm inside our class.  I was daydreaming about what I could go eat after class (because that's what everyone does as they are leaving the fitness center, right?)(I totally chose Cheerios, if you were wondering) when all of a sudden my eyes flew open at the jarring sound of a loud verbal spat.  Natalie, in the midst of her Zen-like murmurings, was interrupted by the instructor for the next class, who burst in the room and yelled, "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT FIVE MINUTES AGO."

Because our entire class was so relaxed, centered, and generally at peace with the universe, three different woman responded (from the floor, still in corpse pose) "WHAT THE HELL?" "THAT IS SO RUDE!" "IT'S NOT NATALIE'S FAULT WE ARE LATE!" (Now, I love Natalie, but it totally was Natalie's fault we ran over.)(In the interest of fairness.)

Natalie replied with, "EVERYBODY CALM DOWN." The other instructor informed us that her "ENTIRE CLASS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN STANDING IN THE HALLWAY FOR FIVE MINUTES FOR A CLASS THEY PAID FOR," implying it's superiority to our general admission yoga that merely requires one shell out the yearly $400 fee to be able to attend.  Natalie rolled her eyes (oh yes she did) and apologized sort of with, "I'M SORRY BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE RUDE ABOUT IT."

At this point I knew I was clearly at the best yoga class I would ever attend, because who expects yoga to turn into a fight?  It was awesome.  I was waiting for it to escalate further (my money was on Natalie not only because she's young and super buff, but also because she looks like she might be the kind of person that resorts to hair-pulling and ear biting)(like Mike Tyson)(but only as a twenty-something white girl from the 'burbs) but what really happened was that our class started packing up, mostly tense about the situation, and the other class trickled in, looking oddly embarrassed to be there.  Once we saw their embarrassment we played it up and managed to look wounded at the abrupt ending of our yoga time, because apparently we were all raised Catholic and/or by Jewish grandmothers and know a lot about manipulation through guilt.

Thanks to the fight, I left feeling exhilarated.  I felt energized and full of life.  It was an amazing feeling.  I'm going to petition that the makers of yoga look into officially replacing corpse pose with some kind of surprise exciting event (probably not always a fight because that would get stale fast)(but maybe something like a fake fire that triggers the sprinkers)(or you know that machine at the eye doctor's that blows air at your eyeball? That would work as well)(that thing always scares the bejeebers out of me), because that was my favorite yoga class ever.

Case of the Mondays: Dudes

If you've seen the Dove beauty ads floating around the internet, you know the point is being made that women often view themselves as less attractive than they are. (*shocker*) The answer to this is to think like a dude.

Happy Monday!

Whisper Sweet Nothings

Brian took this picture of me before a 5k.  True love is = taking a picture like this and keeping it on the
camera so it accidently gets uploaded to the computer and randomly used as a desktop photo. Thank you, honey.

Scene:  I have just gotten out of the shower and am drying off in front of the mirror.  I'm flipping back and forth between being super proud of my shoulders (thank you, swimming) and horrified at my former baby condo.  I am also simultaneously thinking about watching Sixteen Candles and eating Lay's Dill Pickle potato chips.  Brian walks in and I blurt out:

"Honey, I love you so much.  You are such a good dad.  You are a great husband.  I am sooooooo lucky to have you."

Brian assesses me and takes note of my verge-of-tears tone of voice.  He responds,

"I can't wait for you to start your period."

Wordless* Wednesday

*if you don't count the intro or any captions or disclaimers I may add.

I feel like I've been a bit absent lately.  I didn't post last Friday, and I haven't been able to keep up with/ comment on any of my favorite blogs.  I'm hoping this week settles the heck down.  Seriously.

Here are some pics to update you on all the exciting things going on.  I'll start with the basement.  (Which flooded Thursday.)(Again.)(I know.) I took these pictures back in November when I was motivated to clean and have a triumphant "Before/After = Look At How Amazing I Am At Cleaning" post.

Before

Just remember, however you judge me Jesus is gonna judge you. Think about it, son.

Don't hate.  You know you wish you had Mickey and pals on your basement walls.

For those of you who are questioning my self-proclaimed organization prowess, please note there are paths.

Then, a sort of utopian middle ground, taken Friday night.  Should I call this "During"?

"Kelly, whaaa?  Dang, gurl, where's all your crap?"
Please note the fans, mop, and bucket.  

Aaaand After:

"Um, wow.  You think maybe you took that cleaning thing a little too far? I mean, I think the walls are supposed to stay." Normally I'd agree with you.  Generally I like to keep the walls up when I clean.  I make exceptions for the BLACK MOLD we uncover when we discover the root of years of leaking. Don't worry, at this point we are bringing in the professionals.  But Mickey is sadly evicted. 

So that was Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday.

This is a picture of me.

This is me sitting in my car.  

On Saturday.  

At around 8:30 a.m. 

This is about the same time I should have been conquering mile three of my 10k.

In another city.

Miles away.

"Kel, what the heck happened?"

Double ear infections.

Damp weather.

Cooooold.

(Also, I finally started treating my double ear infections.  Apparently I've only seen amoxicillin given to infants because when I went to pick up my prescription I was all, "Where's my pink liquid?!")


This is a picture of the spider that attacked my face late Sunday night.

Do you see it on my kitchen window sill?  Imagine that it is 11:00 p.m. and you are shutting the house down for the night.  All the lights are off except for the light over the stove which is illuminating this spider that is brazenly parked in your kitchen.  Your hubby, who is formally charged with killing things like this, is already in bed, so the task falls to you, oh Brave One, to save your family from this arachnid.  You reach for a paper that is sitting on the "needs to go to the recycle bin" pile and use it to whack the creature with all your might.  The creature ricochets off the paper and hits you in the face and you scream like a little girl but not too loud because all the kids are asleep and Dear God, don't let anyone wake up.
Upon closer inspection, you see that the spider is really this:

I think it's pretty rude, Random Screw Being Kept on the Window Sill By My Husband Just in Case We Need it for Something Someday, to pretend to be a spider.  Also, because I am a responsible adult, I keep band aids in my purse for when I scrape my hand on a chair at Bible study.  Because I am a mom, that is why it is a Dora band aid.  Also, the screw is balancing on my hand in the weirdest position possible because Hosanna was my art director for this shot and this is how she posed me (so we could include the band aid.)(You try to fight an eight year old with artistic vision.)

And finally, to end on a sweet note:

Vegan Strawberry Cobbler, yo.

On Friday night our friends Asako and Derek dropped by to give me ice cream sandwiches, a pineapple, and two pounds of strawberries because they knew I've been sick.  How awesome is that?!  It made me feel soooo loved, and it was all delicious. (I love me some pineapple.) Everyone in my house was super excited to put the strawberries to use in some cobbler. (Because of Hosanna's allergies she can't have fresh strawberries but she can have them cooked.  She is also allergic to milk and eggs so everything we bake is vegan.) I hope you appreciate this picture, because at this point all that's left of that cobbler is the sweet memory.

There ya go.  I think my Wordless Wednesday totally lived up to it's name. Now I'm off to read some blogs.  Have a wonderful day!

In Memory: Gavin David Leong

The blog community is so weird.  When you check in with someone everyday through their blog you feel as if you know them.  You feel invested in their lives.  You care about how they are doing.  They become a part of your life without even meeting them.

One of my favorite blogs is called Chasing Rainbows.  It is written by a woman named Kate Leong, and chronicles her daily joys and struggles concerning her life as she raises two boys. Gavin is a five year old "Superhero Child" who fights every day of his life just to be able to live as normally as possible.  Against odds this kid has learned to eat pureed foods, sit up, grasp small objects, and recently has been able to walk holding his parent's hands. Brian is her miracle baby born about a year and a half after Gavin.  He is a smiley little boy who loves his brother and (like a kid after my own heart) had a long phase pointing out street signs whenever he was out walking.

Kate will tell you time and again that Gavin, not her, is the inspiring one.  That he is the one conquering impossible goals and never giving up.  And Gavin is inspiring.  There are times I've struggled on my runs and thought, "Gavin worked harder than this just to grab a marker for spin art.  Suck it up, Buttercup." But as a mom, Kate has transformed the way I look at parenting.  She is a woman who celebrates everything.  Nothing is too small for a homemade sign and a victory dance.  She is a woman who attacks life through a never ending well of positivity. She deals with every situation with grace.  But mostly she has taught me that in a world where success is often measured by outcome, the way to truly succeed at parenting is to love on your babies like there's no tomorrow.   

It's with a very heavy heart that I share that Gavin died yesterday.  It was Kate's birthday.  He had a series of very unexpected seizures and went into cardiac arrest last week.  He held on in the hospital for several days before more seizures caused  permanent brain damage.  Kate and Ed spent a long time cuddling, singing, and talking to their little boy after he was pronounced officially with brain death.  Gavin is on life support as they wait for the transplant teams to come from around the country to harvest his organs to give the gift of life to other people.  Lives will be saved through Gavin's death.  This is a gift of epic proportions.  

Yesterday Kate posted this on her Facebook page:

Ed and I will be announcing our choices for "in lieu of flowers" donations to honor Gavin in a few days, but today is my birthday and this is all about me. I've come up with a special, totally FREE way to honor my sweet son who could inspire the most profound emotion without ever saying a word. I'm asking you to help someone... document it with words and or a photo... and place it on the Chasing Rainbows Facebook Page. Then be sure to check the page often to get inspired by the outpouring of love. Here are some great ideas for you... Find a special needs classroom in your community. These are usually low funded and always looking for donations. Perhaps you have toys your kids don't play with anymore that could be used in the classroom or during therapy. Random crayons that are laying around. I know we always needed rug gripper to place under Gavin's behind when he sat - that's a good need. Do you know a special needs Mom in your neighborhood? Church? School? Tell her you'd like to make dinner for her family. What night would work? Then tell her the only requirement is they have to give a "cheers toast" to Gavin during dinner. Help someone struggling to unload groceries into their car in the rain. Donate clothes to a women's shelter. Check with your local children's hospital for volunteer opportunities - even if it's just for two hours of your life. Save all of your magazines and bring a big stash to your local hospital. You have no idea how helpful that is to parents who spend days, weeks or months (as I did when Gavin was a baby) sitting in their child's hospital room. These are just some ideas... be creative! And think of Gavin when you do it. Share his story with the person you are blessing. Tell them that Gavin Leong changed the world with little acts of courage, determination and a sweet smile... without ever saying a word. And then ask them to pay it forward to honor his legacy. This would be the best birthday gift you could give me. There is no time frame - you could post something today or a year from now or five years from now. Thank you for helping me to honor my amazing little boy. And feel free to share this anywhere you want!

My heart is breaking for Kate and Ed.  They have been a joy and an inspiration to "know" in the blogosphere.  Today I celebrate the life of Gavin David Leong.

In memory.