pacific delights

Leaving for asia in just over 36 hours! Up first is hong kong, then moving on to shanghai, xi'an and beijing. Since I spent two months in hong kong a couple years ago, I'm most excited about getting back here and doing/seeing my favorite things. I'm actually giddy. This will be the part of the trip that's more laid back/less scheduled, while our stops in mainland will be accompanied by a tour guide. Typically I'm an ocd planner (as evidenced by my computer printed packing list), but as my father's more so, I haven't spent the hourly equivalent of two weeks researching each destination and the top places to see there. He has, though, so I'm not worried.

Cooper's also packing, but not for a trip to china. He'll be visiting with two different sets of friends- one with a baby and one with a dog. He's a bit nervous as he won't be able to protect me from (ie- bark at) random strangers who approach me, but is excited to have his first sleepover with a non-family member.

nightmares

I had no less than three terrifying nightmares last night and awoke from each sweaty and with a racing heart. Here's the little I remember of each...
1) In some weird house/building with a bunch of other people, trying to get away from the "evil" thing/person that was trying to kill me. It was a given in the nightmare that my life was over- there was no way I was going to win.
2) Driving my car somewhere. Every time I tried to brake, it would take significantly longer than it should have. I kept being stuck in traffic and needing to stop, but despite fully engaging the pedal, my car would very slowly slow down which always resulted in me hitting the car in front of me. At one point I was reversing, and the same thing happened- I rolled back into someone. Every time this happened, I had that prickly adrenaline feeling and felt like I was going to throw up.
3) Something to do with swimming/drowning/dying and being chased by something evil.
I'm not excited about what these may mean, especially all three in one night.

Fitness challenge update. Week one.

The first week went relatively well, though I had to squish some stuff in since I forgot the week ends on Thurs. My c25k week is Mon-Sun, so it can get a little confusing. Here's how I did with regards to my goals:

1) Minus 7.7!!!! I'm using my wii fit as the official measurement for the duration of this challenge. I didn't have time to weigh in on Friday, so my numbers will be a bit off. Plus, I don't think I actually lost that much, so hopefully it won't increase this Friday!
2a) I planned my meals and made my list on Sunday, went shopping on Monday, and did my cooking on Tues and Thurs. Tues meal was an asparagus, tomato, cottage cheese and ww tortilla bake thing. It was far better than I anticipated. Tonight I made a stir fry (lemon, asparagus, chicken, onion, garlic, broth), but didn't eat it yet. I'm bringing it to work tomorrow night since I have a packed day and won't have time to cook.
2b) This starts tomorrow.
3a) I'm right on track with this- finished week 6 day 2 today.
4) Cooper had a great week of new walk locations. We got three in! I may up my goal to 10.
Walk 1= A visit with Nora and Pax- we did a three mile loop near them which included Tufts, Davis Square, and a nice bike/walking path.
Walk 2= A wooded trail near my parents' house where I spent tons of time as a kid. Cooper balanced over narrow bridges and generally loved every minute of it.
Walk 3= Brookline reservoir. A one mile sandy/gravely loop around the water. One of my favorite places to run.
5) Class= I went to my favorite class last Friday- sports drills. I love this because we do fun stuff that changes regularly and involves more than the typical step or aerobics class.
Swimming= Laps on Weds. Will adjust my goal to specify 1/2 mile distance each swim. Totally doable.

This coming week seemed like a good one for me to try the no carbs goal, so I've stocked up on the stuff I need. I've also decided it's finally time to make myself like cottage cheese once and for all. I've tried several times before, but still am not a huge fan. By the end of this week, I'll have eaten enough of it to either like it, or never want to see it again.

fitness challenge

Our friends at the hose introduced "the hose spring fitness challenge" which began on 4/1/11 and ends on 6/30/11. All participants were invited to come up with 1-5 personal challenge items which they then work towards and share their progress throughout the time span. Woohoo! I'm all about this type of challenge, especially because it focuses on personal challenges while still offering a prize (ie- winner=competition!). Here are my 5 picks:

1) Lose 15+ lbs
2) Eating:
a) Cook at least 2 healthy meals/week which I'll plan and shop for in advance (I already make massive vats of  soup regularly which I then live off for a while, but figured I should mix it up a bit).
b) Make it through at least one week with no carbs- just protein and veggies.
3) Running:
a) Finish the couch to 5K program (I'm currently on week 5 of 9).
b) Sign up for a 5K and run (or jog) it. This is tentatively scheduled for 6/5/11.
4) Take Cooper to a minimum of 5 new long walk locations (like ponds, hiking, etc- not just a new route in the neighborhood).
5) Lap swim and take a class at least once/week.

I figured I'd write an update at the end of each week (which will be Friday-Thursday) to keep me (and anyone who cares) on top of it. You're all welcome to join us as well- just add your goals in the comment section and get cracking!

Cooper!

Almost 4 weeks ago, Andrea and I drove to PA to pick up my new friend, Cooper! Here he is in his new favorite clamshell bed-

He's awesome. Follows me around at home and is always excited to see me when I come home from work!
Cooper likes: playing fetch with small tennis balls, going outside for walks/jogs, curling up in soft places, and head scratches.
Cooper doesn't like: chewing on anything (tennis ball = only exception), having his paws touched, baths, and going to the vet.
He used to wake up between 6 and 6:30 which was too early for me. Luckily, spring forward resulted in him sleeping until 8:10! And today (after being neutered yesterday) he chilled out until 9:30am! I'm guessing this is because he's still a little drugged up/tired/sore, but I like to think it will be his new routine!

Sheet work

I work in a pediatric emergency department and spend most of my time hanging out with the kids. For the most part they're pretty cool, so I like to give them stuff to do while they're stuck in a room. One of my favorite things to give the above 4 crowd is a pack of washable markers and permission to color on the bed sheets. You'd think I just told them they could run loose in a candy factory from the looks of disbelief and excitement I get. I've seen some pretty creative and involved drawings, and have decided to start taking some pictures and posting them here. Tonight's design by a 6yr old boy and his parents took the cake. This is the most creative I've seen so far.

treats

I had lots of And time this weekend. First we met up downtown after her workout and my haircut for a trip to the movies...double movies. We saw the king's speech followed by true grit. I liked and recommend them both. Tonight we had a dinner date after work (for me). We went to canary square in jp which I also liked and recommend. To finish the meal off (like we weren't stuffed enough already), we split some dessert. What dessert? Why the deep fried twinkies, of course, and they were better than any of us could have imagined.

moosejaw. love the madness

It all started when my sister asked for a specific bike carrier for Christmas. I googled the model, and found the best price on moosejaw.com. I'd never bought anything from this site before, and assumed it was just like any other sports/gear/equipment/clothing site out there. Engh, wrong. It's so much more. My first clue was the automated receipt that was sent to my email account. It was truly entertaining.

Here's part of it:

Your order has been placed. Way to go. You've won the best email receipt we've sent out all day. We recommend either printing this receipt and framing it in your foyer or using it as a screen saver. It would probably also be nice for you to forward it around to a couple friends and maybe even an enemy or two. 

If you're bored, check us out on Facebook or Twitter. Our CFO said he doesn't understand why anyone would use Twitter. He also thinks that a narwhal is a made-up animal. Please don't tell anyone about it. 

(Omitted stuff about tracking the package.) 

No chance you're still reading this but if you are, we're posting pictures of folks using the products on the product pages at Moosejaw.com. If you fall in the folks category please email a photo of your gear in action to pictureman@moosejaw.com and we'll add your picture to Moosejaw.com and add 100 Moosejaw Reward points to your account. If you have Moosejaw in your picture we'll double the points. Oh, we only give points on one photo per product and you need to buy the product from us. A customer tried getting a million points when he sent us his wedding album so we had to write this.

So entertaining. Now that I'm on their list, I get occasional emails from them, all of which are just as, but often more, entertaining than this. I actually get excited when I see their name in the sender column of my inbox. Here are a few more of my favorites:

Subject: Moosejaw's New Year's Eve Frenching Service

Everyone knows that celebrating New Year's Eve is only about one thing: Frenching. When the Romans invented the modern calendar, it was because the lunar calendar didn't have any important occasions to use as an excuse to lock lips with other people.


In modern times, if you don't kiss a hottie on New Year's, you pretty much don't even get to be part of that year. That's why, this year, Moosejaw has set up a service to increase the Frenching rate of our customers.


The Frenching Service is super simple. If you have someone you want to French when the ball drops, but you're afraid to ask them, just email seveninheaven@moosejaw.com and we’ll do our best to hook it up for you.


Here are the things we'll need from you:

• The person's first name you want to French, and their phone number.
• Where you plan to have everything go down.
• 5 characteristics that make you want to French that person.
• 3 things that make you totally Frenchable.

We're only offering this to the first 100 people. Sorry.

Love the Madness,

Moosejaw

**They actually did this too. If you want to see a video, click here.

Subject: Our biggest Ski and Snowboard Sale. Also, I got no response from my love song.

There are some great deals on Ski and Snow apparel going on at Moosejaw right now. Even if you don't ski or snowboard, I recommend getting a new jacket or pants, and putting some cool lift tickets on it to impress everyone down at the local deli.

I sent that girl I'm in love with a love song last week, and I still haven't heard back from her. Email for sure must not be working. Can you please let me know if you got this email. Emailsam@moosejaw.com and I'll throw 100 points your way. If you actually listen to the love song I wrote I'll make it 200.

Or completely ignore me and go here to check out the sale.

Love the Madness,
Sam
Moosejaw

Subject: Free $10 Coupon for Answering Some Questions

We needed a quick story to go along with this survey, and everyone asked if I had one already written. I panicked and said yes, but now I don’t have anything to send them. I was going to just do a list of new slang terms we could start using for pants, but it ended up being the worst thing ever. Instead, please just pretend I gave you a quick rundown on how to throw together a last minute magic show to impress the neighborhood association with.

Scroll down for some tiny boring details about the $10 coupon thing or click here to take the survey.

Love the Madness,
Moosejaw

If you're bored, you can also spend time perusing their website for many more fun facts including; "a diagram showing the best way to butter toast", "dating girl" (an "ask amy" type feature), or "in case you're bored". Along with the free entertainment, they have great prices on great gear, so from now on, this will be my first stop for any item that they might carry. Well done moosejaw, well done.

where i'm at

good work

I had a great two days at work this past weekend. As a child life specialist, the general goal of my job is to minimize the stress children and families experience during hospitalization (or visits to the hospital), and this can be done in many different ways. Since I'm a concrete person, I tend to view what I do in two general categories: 

1. preparation/distraction for a specific procedure (surgery, ED stuff, IVs, stitches, sedation, etc)

2. more open-ended support (inpatient stuff, medical play, normalization activities, etc)

Again, since I'm a concrete (or impatient) person, I typically prefer the procedural support since I have a specific goal that can be attained in a fairly short time frame. This is why the Pedi ED is my favorite area. Currently I'm working in a pediatric burn hospital, so I do a lot of both, but working on the weekends typically means it's quieter and there's a lot more down time. This past weekend was perfect- not too busy, but with a few kids who were off precautions and up for hanging out. I spent a lot of both days with a 20mth old and her family, and loved it. With this family I managed to utilize a huge amount of what I learned throughout grad school- medical play, sibling support, OR prep, parental support, etc, etc. It was so satisfying to be able to do all of what I was trained to do, and to see (and hear) what a difference it made. 

As I was leaving the parking garage on Sunday, I noticed this tiny snowman (which might be hard to see without enlarging) someone made on the corner of the wall. Since I was already stopped (and no one was behind me), I had to roll my window down and take a picture. It was a perfect end to a great weekend!

welcome to my life, 2011

I've never been a huge new year's eve party fan, so when asked if i would work on new year's day, i was happy to do so. Instead of paying an obscene amount to go out in boston or be the designated driver at a friend's party, i spent the evening at my parents' house 40 minutes outside of boston. While i was happy to spend time with my family, my main motivation was getting some dog snuggles from my dog-nephew Rupert, before he and my sister flew back to california this morning. I'm now seriously considering considering getting a dog (and no, no typo there).

Today i remembered being a kid and running around the block on new year's day with old fashioned noisemakers. I'm not sure where my mom got them, but my brother and i always looked forward to it. So while today did not consist of making a ruckus in my old neighborhood, i did realize what i have to look forward to in the new year:
2011 will be the year one of my longest and best-est friends gets married. It's quite possible i am just as excited about this as she is. Being part of the wedding party means i will also (hopefully) have the motivation to take off what i put on during grad school, along with some extra just for kicks. I will get a "real" job, hopefully full time, which means i'll no longer have to pay my own health insurance (just in time too, since the healthcare reform (as much as i like it) means i'm now paying a crapload more to offset everyone else). I will move somewhere else and will be happy with it. I will spend time with my family and friends, and play with new babies yet to be born. I will take trips: to miami, to vermont, to hong kong again, and china (beijing, xi'an and shanghai) for the first real time. I will try to be better at writing and calling people, but probably won't. I will keep up with swimming and will do a mile in under 32 minutes. I will shoot for a triathlon. And i will (maybe) get a dog.