Good morning Spartan!

This is the email my sister sent me yesterday morning. It made me laugh so hard that I nearly spit out my morning protein smoothie.

"Good morning Spartan! Are you in full training mode? Only 1 week til race day is it?

How many sit-ups or pull-ups or whatever do you do every day? Do you have to run every day too?"

The funny part here is that I was laughing at the perception she had of me as this fitness person who trains like crazy. I'm not that nuts! Then I look at the smoothie in my hand... then I look at my sticker reward calendar... then I realize I have worked out hard for the last 7 days in a row. Who knew? I have turned into a fitness person! Cool. Yay for me!

Only 4 more sleeps until my first Spartan race. I am so excited!!!! The past 15 weeks have been spent preparing for this weekend. I learned how to run 5km, do more than 5 push-ups and conquered my fear of the dreaded burpee. I was not so secretly hoping to grow a pair of sick pythons and tree-trunk solid thighs and buns of steel, the six pack would have been nice too. I'm not there yet. What I have accomplished in the last few months is still definitely something to be proud of. Because I am extra proud of doing this as a mom of two active boys and one baby girl, I will forgive myself of the current lack of visible buffness. It's what's under the hood that counts on the field anyways.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this goal with kind words and encouragement. I could fill many buckets with the positive energy you have given me. There were probably only a couple of people who looked at me like I was doomed to fail. I don't even remember who they were. Although, there was one lady who looked at me like I was 15 year old glitter-puppy and said "you know what that race is don't you"? I just shot her a big grin and replied with "yup! looks like fun!".

Wish me luck! As a past coach of mine used to say on behalf of any team mate stepping into the ring: "Say a pray, send positive vibes, raise a drink, whatever fits your beliefs".
I will be racing at the Rideau Carleton Raceway at noon on Saturday.

If you don't know what the Spartan Race is  take a peek! http://www.spartanrace.com/ottawa-obstacle-racing-spartan-sprint-2012.html

My Dirty Dirty Habit

I developed a little habit a decade or so ago. It has grown to be a bigger and more elaborate habit. I know it can be a problem if I let it get out of control but I don't want to stop or slow down.

I buy a lot of dirt.

Sometimes the dirt comes with stuff growing in it, usually not. I buy containers for the dirt and throw in some seeds of this and that. I grow some flowers to pretty up the front yard but it's edibles that really fuel my fire. I didn't have enough space to start many seeds last year so I bought this little greenhouse. It was on sale, it has four shelves and keeps the seedlings warm and reduces the need to water.


This year I encountered a little problem. Stuff is growing too fast. I want to grow more. I want a bigger greenhouse that I can put outside and won't get blown over by a strong wind! (it happened last year...tragic) I am not bothered by the fact that I have more plants than I have room to put them.

My mind races like that of an addict. I want, I need. I can easily justify my collection. I can plan many ways to get my hands on it. The kids don't need shoes that fit do they? They have a roof over their heads and will have an abundance of vegetables to eat all summer long. I just want to grow things!

Is there anyone out there with a cool head who can help me??? I need more space to grow things and I need more dirt. Don't get me started on compost, mulch, manure. It's sick to want to go buy bags and bags of shit. Who does that? I have a dirty dirty habit...



If there are any enablers out there who would like to pay me to grow anything for them, let me know. Specific edible or flower. No illegals, sorry. If anyone is particularly handy and can design or help build a greenhouse on a tiny budget that will fit in my yard, I will grow you many many wonderful things. 

Eating My Words and Their Health Benefits

For the past couple of years our community streets have seen a rising infestation of runners. These people in their funny little reflective jackets and water bottle-belts. They are EVERYWHERE! I blame The Running Room. That store has been encouraging people to go out and walk/jog/run all over town. The thing that really chaps my ass is that every Wednesday night they take over this one particular street that I drive down when taking my kids to their weekly visit at my dad's house. They run up the hill and down the hill. Sometimes 20+ people. They flank out side by side because it's more social that way. They feel their run is sooo important that they don't have to look both ways or even pause before crossing the street. Cars lose their traffic rights. Stupid Runners!

Next thing you know, I am finding out that most of my new friends run. (thanks nursery school moms!) They show up looking all energized in their little yoga pants and ponytails. I (big and pregnant at the time) just shook my head. They told me how much fun it is. (Whatever.) They get quiet time to themselves when they run. (Hide in the bathroom like normal people.) Look at how their butts are shrinking.(Get a life.)  Stupid Runners.

So along came winter. No more pregnant belly. Tired with 3 beautiful genius children (sort of). Pants that don't fit. Blahs beating me down. Sigh. I did it. I reached out to my friends who run, the ones I mocked openly, and asked for instructions.

Today I am finishing week five of my nine-week running program. I have snazzy new shoes, an arm band to hold my phone, reflective arm bands for running at night and a cute little hand-held water bottle thingy. I like to run alone but will occasionally enjoy the company of my peppy, athletic little sister. For the record, we do not run on Wednesday nights and if we are on 'that street' or, any other street, we slide into single file. Smart Runners!

I love the running. I am amazed that my body is holding up to the challenge. I am getting stronger, faster and my endurance is improving every week. I feel energetic, less stressed and happy. The post-run high beats booze, hands down!  If anyone is interested in starting up, I highly recommend the Run Double app. The C25K program takes couch potatoes from nothing to running 5km in 9 weeks. There is a free two week trial that you can download and then a big investment of $1.60 for the complete program. It is a gentle and gradual progression. You can play music while you run. The nice lady's voice tells me when it is time to speed up to a comfortable jog and when to slow down to a brisk walk. She even tells me how fast and how far I have gone after each interval. The GPS  gives me a colour coded map of my route and I can see my stats at the end. The competitor in me really likes statistics that I can try to beat each time out.


PS: the nice people at the Running Room were very nice and helpful when I picked up my reflective bands and stick of body glide. That glide is good stuff!

Experiment: How to be a human Tiki Torch! (..or ear candling)

I have been sitting on the results of this experiment for at least a month now. Finally writing it up.
Ear candling. What is it? Basically, you stick a special hollow candle in your ear and light the sucker on fire! Why would you want to do that? It is supposed to be beneficial for removing excess ear wax and other impurities from the ear and sinuses. I have read that it is supposed to be good for: drying up water in the ear, vertigo, improving hearing, general ear pluggyness and something about bacteria. Seemed exciting so I had to give it a go.

I was volunteering at the Kanata Wellness Expo and there was a booth there by Naturally You. They were offering a free trial where they would do one ear. I found the process to be very relaxing. Their staff were friendly and very informative.

The controversy.... I did some reading about ear candling and found that there were many claims that it was a hoax. That it did not actually remove any ear wax. Lucky for me right beside Naturally You happened to be an audiologist. She had a camera that viewed into the ear and showed the image on a tv screen. It was gross to see that one of my ears had a blackish wall of wax blocking the view to the back of my ear. EWWWW! Anyways, the proof is in the pudding or the candle tube in this case. After the 15 minute session as a human tiki, I went back to the audiologist's chair and we saw that the black wall of gross was gone. So there you go, it does in fact remove ear wax. There is a bunch of white powder residue left in the candle as well. I was told that it was impurities removed from my sinuses. I have not found any information to prove or disprove that statement.

My husband kept a close eye to make sure I didn't catch fire. Actually, I had to convince him that I would be safe holding the candle long enough for him to take a photo.
( We like to do hot things on our weekly date nights. hahaha! )

Being a curious experimental type of lady, I purchased a pack of candles over the internet so that I could try it out on myself again and on a couple of other people. What I learned: Fire is dangerous! Cover hair with a towel to protect it from rare but possible stray ashes. You also want to do this with someone you trust with your life. Seriously, you are in a vulnerable position as a candle holder.

My conclusion: Relaxing because of the warmth and laying still for a full 15-20 minutes per ear. Cool to see what kind of junk gets sucked out of your ear. I didn't feel much of a difference in my ear as far as feeling plugged up or hearing ability went. Fun because I like experiments and fire. There is so much controversy over this procedure. Safety concerns around fire and things possible dripping back into the ear, effectiveness of the procedure, quality of wax and candle. On the other side, we want to use less drugs/pharmaceuticals and help our bodies heal naturally, as they are designed to do.

I will probably do it again but won't make a habit of it.

I love to get new ideas for fun things to try and learn about. Please feel welcome to send me any suggestions.

These are our candles cut open afterwards to reveal ear wax and the mystery powder.
It was interesting to see how each ear on each person was different. 

 Alternate titles for this post: "Common baby light my fire", "Wanna see my earwax", "An inside look at ear candling" and last but not least, "You want to stick what in my ear?"

Why exercise should be fun

Want to know why I haven't done ANY workouts this month even though I resolved in a non New Year's Resolution kind of way to bump up my fitness? Because I would rather do something fun than follow some toned bodied, rosey cheeked, long luxurious haired instructor smiling as she tells me to do more squats. Squats aren't fun!!!! Besides, looking at fit people makes me feel bad that I don't look like that anymore. Three babies or not, I want to look like a superstar. So there! I happen to know that I can look like a super star. I did once, I can again.

So I spent some time thinking. I actually spent all of one minute thinking. It was more of an idea that flashed into my head as I cut another tiny piece of the brownies I'm pretending are good for me since I don't like coffee. (It made sense while I was doing it). Why aren't I working out? I have these three kids to raise... blah blah blah... They keep me busy. I also have this house to try to keep clean. There is no time to work out!

I had time to hang out on Facebook, bake the brownies, watch a TV show and check out some demo games that my Mr. downloaded for the Xbox thingy that has no controllers. Wait a minute, those things were fun! I had time to do that stuff. The game demos were a Zumba game and some other fitness game. I had fun doing them. I laughed as I did the squats that an animated army guy ordered me to do. Holy Crap! I exercised for a good half hour without intending to. Good for me! I wonder, if I buy the game, will I use it? I'll let you know.

With the Kanata Wellness Expo happening tomorrow, I feel a shift in the air. Tomorrow is a new day, new ideas, new knowledge and new goals. I will be there pretty much all day, come check me out. I don't have a booth or anything. I'm just helping out. Rumor has it that I get a radio and my handle is Big Mama. SAWEET!I hope to see you all there!

Bell Sensplex 9am-4pm. Admission is $5, benefiting the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program for kids.


My friend Marta asked me to come up with some new beauty recipe for hair to write about and I promised her it would be my next entry. Sorry Marta. I was very busy with the kids, brownies and watching TV. Feeling like an ass. I will do one for you at some point. Soon I hope.