National Crisis

From the pages of my diary Jan. 14, 1981 (age 13):

I just learned on the news that the U.S. hostages may be
released by Tuesday. I guess I better explain. Iran has had American hostages since Nov. '79. I don't know why. They just held 'em hostage.

You wonder sometimes if kids understand the relevance of major news events when the earthquake in Haiti and Jay Leno's future with NBC both seem billed as a national "crisis." I am sure I am not the only parent who hopes their child is brushing up on "current events" in class every day. But that shouldn't be their only news outlet.

Every morning when Carter calls me at work, I hear a run down of just about every sports score imaginable from the previous night. So I know for a fact, he's tuned into ESPN News while eating his Cocoa Puffs.

But I know we, as a family, don't sit down and watch the 6 o'clock news together every night. Do people still do that? Hubby and I pretty much get our news from various Web sites and some from the radio on our commute.

That's why tonight when I was talking about a chili cook-off fundraiser for Haiti that we're doing at work, I had to ask Carter if he'd even heard about the earthquake. I was relieved he had. And I thank all educators out there for keeping our children in the loop while adding some "current" value to their lessons.

Because after reading the second half of my diary entry from 19 years ago, I can see kids Carter's age may think about an international tragedy, but they're usually dealing with a crisis or two of their own....

Today we had a Pep Fest in school. It wasn't that interesting tho'. Lots of people liked my new glasses. They said they looked good on me but some boys thought they looked dumb because of the fancy bows. Good night.

Whew. Glad I survived that one!

One Step at a Time

I've come to realize in the 3 weeks I have possessed this work-issued pedometer, that it is really a challenge for a person with a desk job to get 10,000 steps in a day. In fact, today was the first time I officially reached the mark.

Last night, I went to bed 600 steps short so I've been inching closer. Just not getting there. Today, it's only 8 p.m. and I am over the mark. Yay!

I have a few strategies in place. In order to find a reason to get up from desk chair and move now and then (and now and then again), I am downing plenty of coffee and water. It's 138 steps to the bathroom, ya know!

I'm also playing that Wal-Mart card when I can. That's usually good for 1,000 steps or so. If I would park further away, that would add a few more. However, I am still hurting, thanks to my friend Jillian, so I will opt for that "distance strategy" at a later time.

Speaking of Jillian, Carter and I did get back on the beast of an exercise wagon tonight and did our daily Shred. Snap, Crackle, Pop, Owww.

Now that it's over, we feel good. Well, OK anyway. I told Carter he doesn't have to do this with me. He's heard Jillian tell us, "If this were easy, you wouldn't get results! You can't phone it in!" Still, he says he's in it for the long haul. Well, 30 days does seem like a long, long, long haul!

But just like my pedometer, we'll take it one step at a time. We'll get somewhere eventually.

No Pain, No Gain

The mighty Stratford Tigers came to town tonight for some boys hoops action at Assumption High School. This is a big deal for the Austin men because the elder set (like my father-in-law) hail from there and the younger ones (like hubby) are Assumption grads.

We went to the game knowing we'd pull for our nephew Colin in the JV game -- which we lost by a sizable margin -- and still cheer for the home team when the varsity squads hit the court. However, if that Austin kid on the orange and black team (belonging to Jim's cousin) scored, we'd be happy for him, too. It's family, after all.

As it turned out, the varsity game was pretty exciting at the end. The Royals almost came back but fell short by a mere 3 points. Too bad. But that Austin from Stratford had a good game.

I was just glad we were out of the house and I wasn't force to do my new workout DVD! Oh yes, I tried something new last night and I am paying for it dearly. Both Carter and I are.

Since my right leg has been bothering me -- usually about 3 minutes into a run or walking -- I thought I'd do a shorter workout with less cardio time. If you've ever watched The Biggest Loser, you know who Jillian Michaels is. I bought her 30 Day Shred DVD, which suggests a person could get a ripped (or "shredded") body doing her 20-minute interval workouts -- offered in 3 levels of intensity.

The key word is interval. Just 2 minutes of cardio, 2 minutes of strength, 1 minute of abs... then start over. Done in 20 minutes. Sounds easy, right?

Well, I thought so. I even convinced Carter to do it with me. We wisely started at Level 1. It didn't seem too bad at the time. In fact, I was thrilled that my leg didn't bother me because the cardio stints weren't long enough for that pain to set in.

The bad news: That pain did set in. Today.

Carter and I are both hobbling around because our thighs, mainly, are killing us! I had a hard time holding my curling iron this morning, too, but my arms aren't doing as bad as I expected after those push-ups.

The thing is -- if you want results (as pictured on the DVD case), you gotta Shred every day if possible. No pain, no gain. Well, we got the pain part down. Now we just gotta gain some momentum to get back at it. Tomorrow.

Unless there's another basketball game we just can't miss!

Highlights and Low-lights

Just got back from a nail-biter of a sixth-grade basketball game. In the scheme of things, it was much more low-key than a certain playoff game I pledged I would not mention again. However, in Carter's world, it was exciting stuff.

First the low lights. I mean, seriously, the low lights. The lighting in this church gymnasium was awful. So my pictures leave much to be desired but at least I captured a few highlights of the action.

Carter gets set on defense.

The Rapids team scored first and we were up 6-0 after the first quarter. The Rudolph team got hot, though, and shut us down in the second quarter so at the half, they were leading 7-6. I know you can feel the excitement...

Above, Carter (#55 for no special reason) attempts to block a shot. Surprisingly, I have seen a few players who are shorter than him.

With Rudolph expanding their lead in the third quarter, Carter and the rest of the team step up their defense. Carter had a few steals and good defensive plays. He only had one foul and was fouled twice. However, he failed to capitalize on those free throws. Dang. From the field, he missed his first 3 (or was it 4 or 5?) shots. Then...

Here he is making the first of two lay-ups. Yay, Carter! It was so nice to see him score!

Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough. They ended up losing 19-14. But I must say, it was their best-played game to date. Good thing we still have at least 3 more games left. If they get hot, they could finish at .500. If not, who cares? He's having a blast whether they win or lose.

Something I suppose we all could learn.

(But there are always exceptions, right?)

Small Victories

I am in a great mood tonight. Honestly, it has nothing to do with the playoffs or how my fantasy team did or how a certain Wisconsin team did either. Well, maybe a little. But I am biting my tongue on that one. It hurts, but I'll keep biting because I know my team could be in the same boat a week from now.

Anyway, my happiness has nothing to do with anything competitive (though I did beat hubby 2 out of 3 at cards today). It has to do with dreams and goals and that often difficult first step of action to make them a reality.

I have said for quite a while now (countless whiles now) that someday I'm going to write a book or 2 or 3... Well, it's time to let someday begin.

For the last week, I've been putting some thoughts and ideas on paper. I had an idea what direction I wanted to go with this first book, but nothing definite. For some reason, one little hair-raising incident on a slippery road today triggered an idea. Many of them, in fact. When I got home, I wrote out a plot summary, started my "cast of characters" and even wrote 2 pages!

I am thrilled that I got past the hump of just trying to get started. That's a small victory in itself! I realize there is a ton of work to do. Obviously, these things don't write themselves (or publish themselves). But I am just giddy I have concept of the story line in place. Now all I have to do is fill in the blanks. The thousands and thousands of blanks!

For the first time, though, I am not afraid.

Maybe this will be the "Year of Robyn," after all.

And my Vikings didn't lose today so that's gotta be an encouraging sign...

(C'mon, you knew I couldn't let that go.)

Playoffs and Payoffs

Since I had my energetic moment last night and de-holidayed, the payoff today was well-deserved sloth. OK, not really well-deserved, but I took advantage of a day with nothing on the calendar and shifted into low gear.

I did attempt to hit the treadmill early on. That didn't work out well. I won't go into the aches and pains of an old woman, but I've been having issues with my right leg (to the point of limping around Friday) so the treadmill stint didn't last long. Certainly not enough to get anywhere near my 10,000 steps today!

Hubby spent a frustrating and stressful day at the office so I will not whine and/or complain about anything -- even pain. I did have to bribe Carter to run errands with me. I'm just not a fan of doing that alone all the time. Plus, I needed him to pick out his own get-well card for his babysitter, who fell on the ice yesterday and broke her shoulder.

After errands, I whipped up a batch of chili to take to the invalid, er sitter, who will be out of commission a few days. Then Carter and I claimed our cushy seats and watched the movie Cool Runnings. Do you remember that one? It's about the Jamaican bobsled team? Well I told him it would get him in the mood for the neighborhood sled run and, hopefully, get him excited about the upcoming winter Olympics. It did. He's definitely psyched to watch the bobsledders -- and attempt a speed record next door. (Let's hope no more stitches this winter.)

The NFL playoffs are in full swing this afternoon and evening. Since the Vikings are guaranteed not to lose this weekend, I'm not incredibly interested. But, since I have money on the line by way of a fantasy playoff team, I am keeping an eye on it. So far, my kicker missed 2 easy field goals for Cincinnati, so I am not going to get to emotionally involved here.

I'll save that for next weekend when, hopefully, the payoff of a week off will mean a purple playoff win!

All Good Things Must Come to an End

About the only thing I don't like about the holiday season is seeing it come to an end.

We kept the tree and decorations up so the in-laws could see them. Since Jim's parents stopped by Sunday night, I knew this weekend would be time to un-deck the halls, un-trim the tree and, when that's done, unwind a bit.

The unwind part was what prompted me to start tonight. I thought, do I really want to wake up to that big project? The answer: no. So I just got going right away when we got home and just a few hours later, the house it back to its pre-Advent condition. Well, except for the remaining cookies, candy, eggnog and Schwan's Peppermint Stick ice cream. I could extend this holiday until February if I'm good!

Speaking of Valentines (and good things that must come to an end)...

In the soap opera that is Carter's love life (and that he has no clue I'm blogging about, so please don't tattle)... I asked how things were going with the gal pal with the fire-y locks. He said, "Well, not so good. I think I'm going to have to let her pass by."

Oh, such wise, sad words!

Take heart, dear son. Just like the glorious holiday season is hard to let go, it always returns eventually -- so, too, do opportunities to make new friends.

Even redheads.