Read about our trip to Decorah for Mabe’s Pizza

Over at Wallypoppers.

well piss

found out today that my hemoglobin is in the 9’s now.

Patriotism and the Olympics

So some woman just called into the radio complaining about our athletes not singing the national anthem when they win gold medals. She thought they were just so stupid they didn’t know the words.

Ok, seriously, lady.

I personally have been thrilled that I’ve not yet seen an athlete fail to put hand to heart at the anthem (something that has bothered me in years past). I don’t care if they don’t sing. You’re not required to sing.

And I have to think, if it’s me up there, getting a GOLD medal, at the Olympics, listening to MY national anthem… I’m probably not singing, either. And if I tried to sing, I’d probably forget the words. Think about the emotions. Think about all those athletes who cry listening to the anthem, or who try not to cry. Think about, when you’re trying to keep your emotions in check, what trying to speak or sing does. It’s great if they sing. But geez, I’m not going to judge them for not singing.

Plus, Kobe Bryant scores a point with me for his pro-USA comments.

True Confessions

So, here is where I fess up. Lately I have been eating convenience foods for lunch.

Yep.

It’s the summer problem. I can’t make anything in the oven, because it heats up the house unbearably. At lunch, I rarely want to cook over the stove, same reason. I mean, scrambling up some eggs quick or making noodles, fine. But actual cooking, no. (honestly, we’re more likely to make the chinese soak-in-hot-water, no-cooking-required noodles, though.)

So I have not been getting enough protein during the day.

Breakfast, I’m good. Eggs, hard-boiled eggs (made early in the day or late at night), malt-o-meal, cereal with rice or almond milk, peanut butter on toast, etc. Mid-morning snack, I’m good. cheese or yogurt with fruit.

Lunch, not so much. Unless there are leftovers that seem appetizing (in other words, not hamburgers, which are great hot off the grill, but not so great the next day), I’ve been pretty much at a loss. So I’ve resorted to Stir-Fry-In-A-Bag (cookable in the microwave, which I hate doing, but is a compromise I’ve reached with myself during the summer), organic pot pies, etc. And the usual standby sandwiches.

Wally is not so hard. He will eat grilled chicken day after day after day without complaint. Or turkey. Or ham. Add some noodles or mashed potatoes and he’s in heaven.

By dinner, we’re fine again. Either it’s cooled enough to actually fix a meal complete with veggies and protein (we eat around 8), or we cook everything on the grill, or we eat salad with cold chicken or beef if we happen to have some on hand, or it’s too hot to consider cooking and we go eat somewhere else.

But lunch has been so hard for me. I hate eating pre-made meals that I nuke, but before that, I was just skipping lunch, and then an hour later, I’d be starving, and I’d grab whatever I could find, which was usually not good. Or I’d just eat a bowl of fruit. Which is good (and I crave fresh cold fruit these days) but lacking in protein.

Why I like Shawn Johnson

She is an Iowan who is actually an Iowan.

You know, usually the Iowa press has to really really reach to find that Iowa connection. “This olympic athlete’s great grandmother once had a layover at the Des Moines airport!” You know, that kind of stuff. Or, athletes are from Iowa, but moved away at some point, whether during childhood or to pursue training.

Shawn Johnson lives here. She goes to school here. She trains here. That’s awesome. I love seeing “Hometown: West Des Moines, Iowa” under her name.

I wish like crazy that she could have won the gold in the all-around. I think she should have/could have. I think the scoring has been a little wonky on the gymnastics the whole time, but I’m hardly an expert on the subject. I hope Shawn wins a gold in the individual event competitions.

PS, no way all those Chinese athletes are 16 or older.

And, ps, we’re looking into martial arts for W for the fall. I had been planning on gymnastics, at Chow’s, and didn’t realize until recently that that was where Shawn Johnson trains. And I know full well that every little girl in town is going to be starting gymnastics there in the fall, so, well, we’ll move on to plan b…

And, while we’re talking Olympics, am I the only one who hears “Oh Canada” in the tune they play while they’re presenting medals??

Ups and Downs of owning a business

There are those days where everything is great.

There are those days when you do a few things that are stupid, but customers are gracious about it and everything’s OK.

And there are those days when everyone seems hell-bent on making your life miserable.

Today? The miserable kind.

OK, I am so old.

Seriously. Watching the olympics today.

The divers look so young. The gymnasts - holy crap, they’re babies!! And they just showed nadia comaneci, who is watching, and she’s OLD! She can’t be old!

My, God, people, what is happening here? Nadia Comaneci is getting old. Christian Bale is getting old. Harrison Ford is really old. John Cusack is getting old. Heck, even Brittney Spears is getting old.

EVERYONE IS GETTING OLD!!

This means that, clearly, I’m getting older, too.

Hell, my sister turns 35 this year. 35!!. If she got pregnant now, she’d be considered AMA! (advanced maternal age, which is a bunch of bs, but still…)

Thoughts for today

It’s been so strange this pregnancy. This baby moves around. I mean, moves. the butt is currently near the right side of my belly button. Later, it’ll be on the left, then it’ll be waaaay to the right, etc. See, because of the car accident and my lack of chiropractic care afterwards (dumb), Wally never moved around. Literally. He never moved. He kicked and punched, but his butt was always in the same place. Always. (this was a problem in labor…)

I’m also noticing the minor complaints more this pregnancy, though I think it has more to do with my activity levels. With Wally, I was working out, and we were teaching east coast (fairly low impact) one night a week. That’s it. This time, I’m not working out (shame on me) but we’ve been rehearsing for an hour or so weekly, teaching lessons 1-2 nights a week (usually lindy, boogie woogie, or other more aerobic things), teaching privates, etc. I don’t think non-pregnant dancers, or pregnant non-dancers, can truly appreciate the effects of relaxin on the pelvic region. Turning causes me great discomfort in my pelvis, and it’s not like I can stop and rub it to make it feel better, you know? My feet usually cramp up, though the really painful foot cramps won’t for another month or so. That hurts, too. Bouncing is starting to pull on my belly. And it’s just plain so much work to haul myself, in rhythm, from one place to another. Randy’s already started commenting on how I just can’t go as fast as I used to, and he’s right. I really can’t.

I’m not meaning to complain. I find all this interesting from an academic standpoint, really. I was reading elsewhere last week, a pregnant dancer due about the same time I am, completely offended at the suggestion that it would take her a while to get back after the baby. Oh, lady. seriously. Unless you’re unlike every other pregnant woman I’ve ever known, it DOES take a while to get your groove back afterwards. The sleepiness, if nothing else, makes it really hard to jam out. Postpartum bleeding tends to cut into your dancing time, as well, lol.

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get back to dancing like I used to after this baby comes. Oddly, though, I don’t care that much. I am finally at a place where I can say, “hey, if it doesn’t happen, it’s OK.” The thought of not being able to dance much at Jive Junction, of not traveling to dance for a long number of years, etc., no longer depresses me. I’m ok with it. I think that’s a good thing.

I’m currently trying to recover from yesterday’s foray to the fair. I don’t know if it was the dancing on cement or the walking around afterwards or (more likely) both, but mid-back to knees is just a world of hurt, and there seems to be nothing I can do to make it feel better. Standing, laying, sitting, no position is comfortable. It’s making me nauseous, even. Fortunately, tomorrow is my chiro appointment.

I also discovered that I’ve definitely reached the point in pregnancy where laying flat on my back is not going to work. I was actually comfortable, laying on my back on the hardwood floor, legs up on the birth ball. Then everything started going dark and fuzzy. Yeah, that whole weight of the uterus on the vein thing.

Iowa State Fair

Today was our State Fair performance with Capitol City Swing. It was a lovely day, really, at least the morning and early afternoon were. Our performance went great, I danced more than I thought I’d be able to, but I nearly passed out afterwards (likely hunger, heat, and thirst). A rest in the shade and a lemonade perked me right up (seriously, that lemonade - cold, wet, and just the right amount of sugar), then lunch helped, as well.

We had promised Wally we’d see the animals, so we looked around the Avenue of Breeds for a while. Avoided the freakishly giant animals (giant bull, giant boar) because they’re more than a little disturbing. Headed to the Varied Industries building for our annual bucket of cookies, then left, as it was starting to get HOT.

Also avoided the Animal Learning Center this year. Last year (also pregnant), I could hardly stand to look at those poor pregnant animals in that noisy room, being stared at. Oh, poor things. That whole building just disturbs me.

So we didn’t look around much. Part of me doesn’t care, part of me misses that leisurely strolling through the food building and the ag building and the crafts and all that stuff. We used to get up early and head out for breakfast and see everything before 2, then head home for a while, and go back when it was cooler in the evening. But with a performance at noon, I didn’t want to waste my energy walking around before we had to dance.

I hauled the camera around with me all day, in the backpack, and managed to not take a single picture. Nice, eh?

After we got home, I plopped down in bed to check my email on the laptop. I haven’t gotten up since. It’s been about 3 hours. I am EXHAUSTED.

—

MamaP, friend and fellow blogger, entered some food items into the Fair this year, and I know several local CD moms were planning to make entries into the Decorated Diaper contest. I’ll tell you straight up - I always intend to enter things in the fair each year, and each year I don’t. I can’t ever remember to get that blessed book that walks you through all the various contests. And the one year I did remember, I then forgot about it until after the deadline. And I couldn’t find an appropriate category for the items I wanted to enter, anyway.

One year, I did enter a bunch of needlework and sewing, and won several ribbons (even some blue!) but few prizes. The next year, Randy and I both entered several food items (about 20) and some won, and some didn’t win. Some got disqualified because we had dropped them off at the fairgrounds FOUR days before the contest, not THREE, and they were too nervous to sample them for fear of food poisoning. (I mean, I don’t know how it works at your house, but at my house, four days in the fridge is NOTHING. If it ain’t growing stuff, we eat it.)

But it was SO much work.

Work Begins

Work began on our corner this week. Mostly, they’re working across the street, but we did watch them deliver this utility pole the other day.