Photos I've been too lazy to upload

First we'll talk about running and my huge self.  I have about 2 months left and well, this is tough to say, but I think I'm walker til the end.  I could be the iron deficient thing, or the heat, or the 13lb weight gain last month but I just don't have the energy for running.  Lindee and I only made it through 3 run intervals this weekend before I konked out.  That's a whopping 9 minutes.  Oh well.  The walking tightens my ass.  The good news is that after that 13lb spike, I leveled off weighing 1 pound less at my next appointment.

Now, for your viewing pleasure is a photo collage of all the things that have been going on.

Did I show you my finished kitchen?

Or my finished pallet couch?

I've been spending some quality time in the kitchen.  These are pop tarts (made vegan).

Soccer finally ended.  I really loved her team and her coach.

With soccer over, we took the Prairie Breeze out to Lake Texoma for some camping with the family.

The very next weekend we hosted my daughter's 5th birthday garden party.  I feel a little guilty because we got some awesome plants that I'M really excited about.  Like hibiscus, a hydrangea and a lemon tree!

We fired up the ole record player.

Made our daughter eat vegetables.

Other than that, it's just been life as usual in a small town.

-Hugh Jass

The Weight of My Own Family

Did anyone watch that HBO special, The Weight of The Nation about the obesity epidemic?  I thought it was really good and very informative.  Some stuff I already knew, but overall I thought it was very beneficial to see.

I liked having affirmation that I am doing some things right.  Like we rarely have sugared drinks in the house.  When we do, it's usually leftovers from an event of some sort.  This is also because I'm too cheap to buy cases of Capri Sun when we already have water conveniently available right there in the refrigeration door.  I'm also proud that my kids don't often eat candy (unless they go to my mom's house and raid her dum dum bowl)  or cakes or cookies.  They are quite satisfied with grapes, apricots, bananas and other fruits.

One thing that really worries me is how much nutrition my daughter gets.  She is ridiculously picky, making almost every meal a head to head battle.  My son is no issue, he'll eat anything, but I need to get more creative with the girl.  I think I might hit more challenges when she starts school this fall too.  Right now she and her brother play outside almost all day everyday, but when school starts she'll be sitting in a desk most of the day. Also, the facts about the contents of a school lunch were sad and it's all because of corporate intervention.  For example, I'm sure you all heard about tomato paste being a vegetable.  When Alaurie starts school, I'll still have a new baby keeping up all night.  My intention is to make her lunch every, or almost every day, but what if I can't keep up.  What if all of a sudden she's sitting down all day and eating shitty food?

Not to sound all paranoid and scared.  These are just some things that I need to think about.  I'm going to be working pretty hard when school starts.

-Hugh Jass

High Five Friday

1) Running
I ran on Monday, kind of.  I lost steam pretty quickly, cut my course short and then walked the rest of the way.  There's a reason for that and it will be covered in the next topic.  I was supposed to run with Lindee on Wednesday but my mom wanted to keep my kids.  I'm not one to argue with a request like that, so I drove to Denison TX, a.k.a. where civilized earth drops off into the Oklahoma abyss.  When I got back, my husband had made plans to eat with some friends of ours.  We chatted with them until the restaurant closed and then until nearly midnight in the parking lot of said restaurant!  So anyway, Lindee and I didn't run on Wednesday.

2) Pregnancy
I haven't been keeping track but I'm apparently close enough to my due date that I am now going to the birthing center every other week.  Last Wednesday they drew blood and informed me again that my iron is really low.  Not really surprising.  Even when I was younger I would get turned away from blood drives because of iron issues.  However I really thought that since I eat so much better now my low iron would have somehow worked itself out.  Nope.  So I did some research online and found some bad news.  Apparently the tannin's in tea can block plant based iron absorption.  I drink tea like it won't exist tomorrow.  My great grandmother's electric tea pot is plugged in all day long.  I really hate supplements and remembering to take them, so I've cut out almost all of my tea consumption for now and bought some Swiss chard to make salads and juice up.  Hopefully I can recoup some of my energy.

3) That last post
My father in law read my last blog post (embarrassing!) and brought it up while we were camping last weekend.  Then my husband's grandmother tried to go searching for it on her iphone but luckily I talked her out of it.  That would have been awful.

4) My daughter's birthday party
Her birthday was on the 1st, but with soccer and what not we're just now able to have a party for her.  It's a garden party where I asked all of her guests to bring to a flower instead of a toy and we're going to plant them in a flower bed that will be all hers.  I'm sure she'll kill everything, but that's sooooo much better than a shit load of broken toys from China all over my house and driveway.  I hate toys.  Plus, what kid doesn't love digging around in the dirt?  I'm stressing out because I've never done this before, you know, the whole kid's bday party thing.  I think I have enough food.  I hope I have enough activities.  I'm also insecure about our house.  Other parents that I don't know very well will be over here and we don't live in a red brick subdivision.  Our house is old and small.  It's also adorable, but having two kids share a room just isn't the social norm.

5) Gettin political
My opinions are mine and yours are yours.  Don't get mad at me and I won't get mad at you.  Gay marriage has been all over the news especially after North Carolina's very disappointing passing of amendment 1.  Maybe a lot of it was hormone fueled but I was really bummed out this week.  I grew up a Christian in a really small town (Pop 811).  Pretty much as soon I stepped out of the county my world views began to change.  It is now difficult to accept that my religion is the reason for hate filled legislation.  Most of the same people who oppose gay marriage will say in the next breath that the government should stay out of our lives (mostly referring to guns and taxes).  But it's ok for government to dictate which unions between loving, consensual couples are legal?  And if we're really going to protect the biblical sanctity of marriage, why is divorce still legal?  It all just seems so senseless to me.  Taking rights away from gay couples won't stop them or future generations from being gay.  It just gets me down that humanity can be so stubborn and cruel.

-Hugh Jass

Sh@# Women Don't Like To Hear But Already Know

My husband and I have been together for almost 12 years now (started dating on May 13, 2000).  We began our courtship when I was 17 and he was 19.  I would say that we have a pretty sturdy marriage but it didn't come without tons of dysfunction in the beginning.  I mean, come one, we were teenagers.  The fact that our relationship survived our early 20's is nothing short of miraculous.  I should note that we did break up twice in the early years.

Look at those two skinny kids.  And that time stamp is way off because I graduated in 2001.

So these are the things that I've learned over the years that have helped maintain a relationship/marriage that BOTH of us enjoy.  At least I think he enjoys it.

1) Don't be a raging, nagging bitch all time.

I've definitely gone through phases where I just didn't have anything good to say.  I still go through those phases, only these days I don't go all bipolar and start throwing things.  It's also important to pick your battles.  Like, lately it's really been irking me that Brad takes his belt off and puts it on the kitchen counter of all places.  I mean of all places to put your damn belt, why the fu#@ on the kitchen counter that I just cleared?!  But I don't pick that battle.  A) It's way too easy to just move the belt myself and B) if you bitch about everything, then the really big issues won't get the attention that they deserve.  Brad will call me out these days, "Are you gonna be a bitch about everything all day today?"  Some women may think that's really offensive, but if it's true it's true.  And if it's not true, well then I'll bitch about that.  Plus, after going to work all day and being blamed for everything (at least that's how it works in retail) the last thing anyone want's is to come home and be blamed for everything.

2) When was the last time he got shitfaced with the guys?

Sometimes Brad becomes a bitch.  That's when I know he needs a night out.  Or he needs to get laid.  Either way, his estrogen levels need to come down and the testosterone needs to go up.  Maybe they aren't with the kids all day (or they are) but they're dealing with assholes at work all day and really, which one is worse?  Ladies, don't even try to say that having a girls night doesn't involve bitching about your husband.  Your husband deserves a night to bitch about you.  Be prepared to be the one to nurse his hangover the next day and try not to be a nag about it.

3) Fix yourself up a little.

Oh, does that upset you?  Tough shit.  Remember these are things you don't like hearing.  In the dating phase you go out of your way to look cute and impress your guy.  Why does this no longer matter once you're married?  It's a traditional way of thinking to get dressed up for something important like church, or Red Lobster.  Show him he's important by trying to look nice once in a while.  This also helps you.  After our daughter, who was our first child, was born I went into a major downward spiral in terms of appearance.  None of my clothes fit and bathing wasn't even a high priority.  I was also a little depressed and extremely lazy.  Just putting on real clothes, even if you're not going anywhere, can spruce up your day and make you feel more accomplished.  This was probably a bigger issue for me because I stay at home and there really is no need to dress up... ever.

4) Get freaky.

I'm terrible at this.  Really, really terrible at this.  I don't even have advice for this except grab a bottle of wine, a 12 pack of beer, a bunch of margaritas and don't share any of it.  I don't know why I'm so paranoid about being a dirty tramp with the person I'm MARRIED to!  If you have advice for this, feel free to share.  I'm a loser prude.  But anyway, when he gets laid, the dishes get done and not by me.  Quid pro quo. 

5) Don't say awful things.

This point might go back to point #1 but saying something awful in a fit of rage can do lots of damage on it's own.  Don't use phrases like "You always" or "You never" or accuse them of basically not being a good husband, or worse, father.   If you'r going to make accusations like that, then you better be 100% perfect at everything you do every day.  Brad gets a little peeved at me because I generally go silent when we're in the middle of a heated argument.  It's only because all the thoughts rolling through my hot head are really bad ones that would only make the situation worse.  Better for me to just sit and be quiet until I have a better grasp on reality.

6) Stop bringing up that whore he dated before you.  

Who gives a shit?  Really?  Do you think he never dated anyone until your magic vagina shown it's miraculous light?  In the early years, during our on again off again phase we dated other people (maybe even cheated on each other with other people) and when we finally got back together for good there were lots of snide comments about who the other was with.  It got so bad that we actually made a verbal agreement to never bring that stuff up again.  A great way to cause lifelong resentment is constantly digging up old bones at every opportunity.

7) Your friends HATE being forced to bear witness to your ridiculous petty fight.

I am proud to say that we haven't done this in a very long time.  Once upon a time we would have full on screaming matches in front of our friends.  The only thing that might make that sad fact acceptable is that we were hammered and so was everyone else.  Now days it's my biggest pet peeve among couples.  Watching friends have a stupid bitchfest at the dinner table makes me want to start punching both of them.  Of course Brad and I still piss each other off when in public, but we are damn good at putting on a "you'll pay for that comment later" smile and hashing it out when we get home.  We're also really good at recognizing each others "WTF did you just say?!" eyes.  

Do you have anything to add?  Put it in the comments!

-Hugh Jass