Matt starts fourth grade in a few days, and it’s a big transition.  After much thought, we had him put into the GATE class.  I’m still not 100% convinced it’s the right decision, but I’m going to try it.  We can always pull him out of the program next year.  Anything would be better than his experience last year with the woman who didn’t “get” boys. 

The thing is, Matt’s teacher is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time world record holder in swimming. 

I thought the fact his surgeon climbed Mt. Everest was impressive. 

I’m going back to languishing in mediocrity. 

Hunh.

Something strange happened to me tonight.  I think I hit what people talk about when they say they “hit the zone” in exercise.  That’s happened about as often as I’ve made out with Matt Damon, which is...uh, never.  I’ve been to David Hasselhoff’s house, and that’s usually how working out makes me feel.  Awkward and kind of nauseous. 

But tonight was the fifteenth day in three weeks that I have walked at least 30 minutes.  My motivation is that each fifth consecutive day, I get to drink Coke, thereby meeting two huge goals: cutting back on soda AND forcing me to exercise consistently.  Fifteen days since July 22nd feels like an achievement for the girl who always came in last during our monthly mile.  It helps that I have a TV by the treadmill in the garage, so I watch all sorts of weird TV shows and pray to make it through.  Not that it’s hard to walk fast.  It just seems like a long time.

I know I haven’t really lost weight yet, despite the large quantities of veggies, fruits, and whole grains I’m using to replace loads of processed junk.  But in the past few days, I’ve noticed a weird shift in the way I carry myself.  My back seems a bit stronger, and I can feel muscle forming under the jelly belly.  It’s not a lot, but it gives me a sense of hope that I might eventually be a truly healthy person. 

Tonight I watched the Opening Ceremonies while walking, and although I’d increased my pace for the workout, I felt as if I were moving with complete ease.  It was effortless, and my torso felt oddly stable.  I wasn’t flailing.  It just seemed natural.  The 30 minutes just eased by.  At each commercial, I’d increase the incline to 11%, and I didn’t fall off the belt.

My goal in starting this summer was to establish the habit before the school year swept me away and gave me excuses.  Right now, I’m very grateful to have experienced “The Zone”, but I would consider trading it in for that session with Matt Damon if you’ve got an in.  We could film a P.S.A. under the guise of “acting”, and it wouldn’t be cheating, right? 

The more you know.

I don’t know why, but I love it when little kids appropriate phrases.

Today, my husband asked Matt how his swim lessons were. 

The general answer was, “GREAT!”

And then hubby made the mistake of asking about his classmates.  How many others are with him?

There was a dramatic eye roll and then, “Three.” He looked very irritated.

It appears there are two girls he doesn’t like, which is bizarre, because one thing you could say about Matt is that he loves people.  I think I hear him complain about once a quarter, and it’s very mild.

Today, it appears, the girls got a little too close for his comfort.

“They have NO idea about personal space.  They kept swimming right up against me when I was sitting on the wall.  They...they...[insert indignant near-shudder] popped my personal bubble.”

I am not a person who changes habits easily.  Mostly, I blame lack of time, and there’s a lot of truth to it, but sometimes it comes down to simply making the time.  And that, dear friend, is not something I do well. 

End of a long day?  Couch.

And all my days are long, even in my “summer vacation”. 

I had a wake-up call early this summer in the form of a cholesterol test.  Both my parents are on Statins, and my father had angioplasty a few years ago for minor blockages.  This didn’t make hearing my cholesterol results any easier, so I decided it was time to change.  The reasons for exercise and dietary changes are so mind-blowingly obvious, but that doesn’t make it easier. 

So I set out some goals to improve my quality of life.  They’re all small, to be honest, but require a daily effort.  Effort I don’t “have time” to make.  But screw it, I’m never going to have more time.  Just look at my so-called retired parents who had almost daily committee meetings while Ryan and I visited them.  Life never gets so uncluttered that you have hours to just fritter away each day.  Even on vacations. 

The goals include taking my vitamins, eating 4 servings of veggies and just as many fruits (which are way easier for me than veggies), replacing soda with unsweetened iced tea (high in antioxidents), walking 2 miles a day in a little over 30 minutes, fish twice a week, flossing, eating several high fiber items a day, and eating breakfast.

Small things, but not a small effort, I suppose.

In order to help me, I set up an account at Joe’s Goals, which is a free way to choose personal goals and check progress.  You can assign points values, and also establish points deductions for negative consequences.  I weight the hardest important goals with more points, so for me, that’s eating veggies, walking 30 minutes, and flossing. 

So far, I’m about 3 weeks into solid effort, and I’m feeling pretty good.  And I have one “cheating goal”.  Since giving up soda is one thing I combat daily, I have used it as a treat.  If I walk 5 days in a row (CONSECUTIVELY is key; I want a habit to form), I get to have a 20-oz. Coke.

That really helps me make it out of bed at 5:30 A.M.  It’s so wrong, but since I have decreased from 1-2 sodas a day to once a week, I can live with that.  Especially since I’m also walking. 

My motive for starting three weeks ago was school-driven.  I want the habits starting to be, well, HABITS when the school year hits.  That’s a rough time, and it’s easy to drop the ball, so I’m really hoping I’ll do better with five weeks of consistency under my belt.  I’m tempted to add more goals, like strength training, but I’m going to hold off until I’m a few more weeks into the routines.

Hubby got his dream job today.  He’s going to be the technology coordinator for his school district, which will involve staff development in technology and more!  It has been something he’s wanted to do since his Master’s program, and the opportunity finally came through. 

The funny (read: frustrating part) is that everyone in the district knows, and it was announced that the board approved the promotion during a management meeting, but since we’re out of town, the woman who needs to officially inform Ryan about his new job has not spoken with him about the job.  He has, however, been talking to his principal and other people who are in management for the district.  So we’re not sure when the job starts...Monday, maybe?  Or where his office will be located, as his district merged with 3 other large districts, making the office space new and uncharted territory.

Meanwhile, we’re at my parents’ house, and I’m starting to transition mentally to the end of summer.  Ryan and I have started each morning walking two miles on the track at the local junior college, which is in a beautiful stadium surrounded by redwood trees.  If only I had live-in support like this all year round, I might actually have been working out earlier.

Ryan and I are thrilled about his new position, and I can’t wait to see him in the job he’s been working toward for the past 3-4 years.  It’s very cool when the people you love have good things happen to them. 

I arrived home from visiting my parents, and on the drive, I passed one of the base camps for the firefighters working on California’s wildfires.  A field filled with tents.  At the McDonalds in Willits (fine roadside fare at the halfway point), a few California Department of Forestry men arrived at the same time we did.

We’ve been spared, other than horrible air quality, so I’m not going to get overly dramatic.  Life is normal in our neck of the woods, but within an hour or two of us, fine folks are having a long, tough go of it.  And I am amazed at the skill and dedication of the crazy band of people from all over the world who have come to help out. 

80% of the country’s firefighting resources? 

More than 25,000 firefighters have arrived from 41 states plus Canada, Greece, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, he said. So far, FEMA has obligated more than $154 million to California to pay for firefighting, evacuations, shelter, traffic control, equipment and supplies, Paulison said. Nearly 150 helicopters and more than 1,000 fire engines are involved.

--- Deb Rieschmann, AP Writer

Bush made it to Redding today to survey some of the damage from the more than 2,000 fires sparked by lightning nearly a month ago.  He spoke to some of the fire jumpers, which reminds me of my friend Nina’s son, who I’m sure is quite busy.

But mostly, I just want to echo the sentiments of the banner I saw hanging on the chain link fence outside the base camp entrance: “Thank you, firefighters!”

This link, via Parent Hacks, offers a simple suggestion that could save a child’s life.

My sister-in-law opts for the Post-It that says “Lili” right in the middle of her steering wheel, but I like this one, too. 

Since the California wildfires and heat have meant we’ve been holed up inside for over a week now, and things are not predicted to improve, I’ve decided to take Maddie on an impromptu trip to see my parents.  They live near the coast, and temperatures will be about 30 degrees (!) less than we’re experiencing here. 

Matt has a very awesome indoor camp next week (computer cartooning), so he’ll be staying behind, but things have been getting ridiculous.  The Air Quality Index yesterday was 201, “Very Unhealthy”.  We’ve been downgraded to a mere “Unhealthy”, but they’re making recommendations on the news like, “Even indoor exercise is not healthy with this level of particulate matter.  Today’s a great day to be a couch potato.”

Time to get out of dodge. Cough. Cough.

My desire to work on my personal blog has been, shall we say, less than inspired.  I have been devoting time to my teaching resource site, and it’s been phenomenal.  Rewarding. 

Once I stopped caring about blogging as a personal outlet, I ended up at BlogHer.

On accident.

A few months ago, my sister-in-law asked if I wanted to do another “girl’s weekend” in San Francisco.  Her favorite hotel is the Westin St. Francis, and we met there in April.  After that trip, we decided this is a good way to get away from it all.  Since she’s up for a marketing conference (or some other thing I’m not remotely interested in...) next week week, she extended her stay.

Which means I am now going to BlogHer.  Not the actual conference, but still…

Cracks me up.

I can’t wait to see my sister-in-law’s face when she realizes her oasis has been taken over by a blogging conference. 

Via Mir at Cornered Office:

The Way to Get People to Snack on Fruits and Veggies

I recently flunked my cholesterol test (damn you, cheese addiction), so I’ve been working on ways to make healthy options more convenient.

This is it, I think.  Thank goodness for Amazon.