who don’t know exactly what they want to be when they grow up!

Oh crap, I think I need to run.  A lot!  It is too cold outside for my California-ized lungs, but I still need to hit a treadmill or something – that is anything but the fridge.

Those were the words I heard upon my exit from the shower last week.  And really, you can insert pretty much anything in the blank and it has the same effect.  I tried to smile graciously to buy time and stammered through a vague answer about when mamas go to college and have babies and eat too many potato chips.

I stopped though.  I stopped and started over with a more straightforward approach about what is healthy and what is not-  including the fact that some fat is necessary.  I want to be clear.  I want to be straight forward and honest about health and weight as we raise these two incredible girls in a culture that worships the bodies of anorexic models.

It is difficult to answer the question “mama, why does your _____ jiggle.” (especially while trying to place the discussion into the larger context of health in general) But it is harder to sit on the couch with Meg snuggled up to me as I page through a Vanity Fair and and answer the questions like “why is that woman so skinny? why does that girl have black eye makeup and no pants? and what are those people doing?”

While I’m pretty okay with my jiggles, I expect to lose a few more of them this year as I train again for the Fox Cities US Cellular Half Marathon in September.  Long time blog readers will remember that I was working on this last year but didn’t end up running.  Kirk, Judith and I will be running together (and by together I mean we’re all going to drive to the start together and eat carbs afterward together.)  It’s a little bit of competition but mostly its encouragement.  Judith and Kirk have been more serious about training though.  Until about a week and half ago I had to qualify my “I’m training for a 1/2 marathon” statement with “and by training I mean I’m thinking really hard about going for a run.” I’ve been out three times now and starting up again this year is a whole heck of a lot easier than it was last year (when Ella was just eight months, still nursing and not sleeping well at all.)

I love to run – jiggles and all.  I’m not great at it but I do love it and I hope that Meg and Ella find some form of exercise that suits them like running suits me.  Because I want them to be healthy.  But someday… I’m going to remind Meg about my jiggles – I’m betting it will produce some giggles.

tomorrow and we’re headed for a winter storm with 5-10 inches of snow predicted.

It’s no wonder that Wisconsin is known for heavy drinking…

On Wednesday, dad and I went to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sport Show.  What a day.  As we strolled up and down the isles looking at all kinds of fun things to play with (everything from guns and bows, docks and boats, trips to Canada and Cabo San Lucas to almond carts and beer stands) we couldn’t help but dream.  They make it look so fun to do everything there.  Who wouldn’t want to drop $30,000 on a pontoon boat, or $15,000 on an African safari hunt.  Why not enter to win a gun at all 21 places that it is offered – only $1 -$20 per ticket depending on the organization.  I’m really hoping that I win the suburban or Tahoe or whatever gas guzzling behemoth I entered to win though – that fits my family perfectly!

We looked at guiding service to duck hunt and fish in Canada, and another guide to teach us to fish a lake we have lived next to for over 30 years (this seems foolish yes, but we can justify that by saying that we would be able to fish together more productively in the future really close to home.)  We were the two proverbial kids in a candy store.

I must admit though, I was proud of us – we didn’t spend very much money on a lot of junk or toys we’ll never use.  I think we did alright.  Some healthy dreaming – maybe sometime to turn into reality, but also healthy restraint.  Yeah us!