Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Get Your Mind Set

From my Table of Good Fortune, a piece I painted years ago. It's covered in bright blues and purples with a bit of green and yellow on the legs. The tabletop is lined with fortunes from long ago desserts at Chinese restaurants and embellished with bits cut from wrapping paper from a special gift.

Actually, I don't remember the gift, but it came from a new age-y, grad school carpool friend. The attached card said, "May the light of heaven shine down on you."

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Tashlich

Last week after peaceful Rosh Hashanah services, we headed off to a favorite spot along the Chicago River for Tashlich.

When the boys were young and we didn't belong to a synagogue, we'd invite our friends to these woods and celebrate the "birthday of the world" with stories, songs, talk about what we'd try to do better in the new year and of course, eat challah with apples and honey.

Tashlich (tosh-leehk) is a ritual casting away of one's sins from the past year. This quiet spot in the woods is a great place for reflecting on the past and thinking about the one ahead. And as you can see there is a lovely body of water for dropping in bread crumbs and pocket lint (symbols of our misdeeds).

The problem is that no place is quiet and pensive if my boys are around.

Given their boisterous nature, I was surprised to spot another, calmer family in the forest preserve.
This time of year, it is customary to apologize to those you hurt, or may have hurt, through words and actions. The Jewish concept of sin, is taken from the word's Hebrew meaning, which is to miss the mark.

Surely you have missed the mark in some ways this past year. I certainly have. And I ask for your forgiveness.

I had a boss who once put it quite bluntly. He'd walk around the office saying, "Sorry for being an a**hole."

I like the way my rabbi put it in this Rosh Hashanah reading:

And let us face the honest truth of our humanity:
while we harbor a terrifying capacity for destruction and violence
we never, ever forfeit the ability to choose another way:
the path of forgiveness and reconciliation
the way of Shalom.


Wishing you the path of Shalom, peace, in the year ahead.

Updates: Nearly Wordless Wednesday

This is how far behind I am. I have yet to write about:

My keynote panel at the Sweets and Snacks Expo. Look at me all mic'd up like Britney Spears! (Note the tight pants due to the 8-pound media kit full of candy and snacks I needed to try in order to cement my role as "expert panelist.")

Also this:

A thank you note from my BFF, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, regarding my efforts to help pass health care reform. I excitedly shared this note with my 12-year-old after it arrived in the mail. Apparently, he's unimpressed by a personalized note from one of the most powerful women in the United States of America. Whatever.

And then there's the wonderful Chevy Traverse we drove up to Canada and back in record time. The Traverse provided a really smooth ride, worthy of more than a photo, which BTW was taken next to a lovely U-pick strawberry patch in Warrens, Wisconsin (also home to an interesting cranberry museum).

And I haven't written about our visit to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, which took us off the interstate for about six hours, adding several hours to our road trip home. But, look, they walked across the Mighty Mississippi!

Ack! How could I leave out the fabulous Aebleskiver event with the fab women of the MN Blog
Pantry? That write-up will go up on MomImpact.
Starting on Monday, the boys will both be in camp for 5.5 overlapping hours per day, so I hope to catch up on many aspects of my life in addition to blogging!

My first 5K! I finished, not last.

I was looking for a new challenge after completing my bat mitzvah when I saw a sign for the Ricky Byrdsong Race Against Hate. I signed up at the urging of an IRL friend, but I doubt I would've done if not for hearing my blog friends go on about their new-found running habits.

I didn't formally train using Couch to 5K guidelines, just added a bit of jogging (which I do not like) to my normal fitness walks. I knew I'd approach the 5K with a walk/jog combo. I knew I'd end up with a base time, a time to beat should I decide to tackle a future 5K with greater intention. This time, I just wanted to finish. Not last.

I don't know much about pacing, but I do try to adjust myself based on the crowd. For example, at one nearby indoor track where the typical walker is about 62 years old, my goal is simply to pass whoever is ahead of me. I walk at a fast, but steady, pace.

On the outdoor track at my children's school, I walk counterclockwise, while most of the crowd walks clockwise (yes, there's likely a large metaphor at play here). I try and keep track of where I do or should cross paths with certain people based on whether they are out for a pleasant morning walk or there for exercise.

For this race, there were three main folks who helped me pace myself. I'm not proud to admit this, but one of my pacers was a flat footed young girl with an awkward gate. Like me, she alternated between jogging and walking, only she was sandwiched between her parents, holding their hands. Her father weaved a charming yarn to entertain her that lasted the entire route. It was tempting to stay within listening distance, and yet, I was not going to let her finish before me.

So with the developmentally challenged child in my dust (I am pitiful), I had my eye on two old men. Old being later 50s or early 60s. We took turns outpacing each other, but over time, their jog:walk ratio was higher than mine and I fell behind.

There were a couple of others that I gleefully passed only to have them pass me up in the end.

But as I came into the final stretch, it was "Back Fat" who gave me a run for my money. Now, as an ample woman over the age of 40, I've got a little somethin-somethin bulging out of my bra (on the backside), but I keep it covered up. This gal had her shirt tucked up into her bra exposing, well, you get the nickname.

Back Fat was also a run/walker. We alternated a lead on each other for over a mile. She was ahead of me in the homestretch until I zoomed (ha) past her, but then in the last two blocks, she blasted ahead of me.

I did not finish last! Indeed, I was 1151 out of 1265 runners, and 84 out of 96 for women my age.
A new habit or a supposedly fun thing I'll never do again? Who knows? What exciting new challenges are you taking on these days?

Speechless after my speech on Capitol Hill

The tiny head sticking out to Speaker Pelosi's right belongs to me. It's an odd perspective as she's rather petite. I mean, so am I, but I'm not that short.

What a day! The Consumer's Union folks did a great job of prepping us for this big event. I'll be back later with a Whrrl story, including a shot from the Speaker's balcony at the capitol.

Lego then, Lego now

This is the kind of thing a very organized blogger would have posted, say, in November, before her readers squandered their hard-earned money on trendy toys that won't last into the new year. Behold the lasting power of Legos!

Over winter break we busted out some of DH's old Legos. Not only did my mother-in-law save them (to be clear, they were passed off to us as soon as we had a house of our own), but for the most part, the old kits were intact. God willing I have grandchildren, they may one day enjoy the giant bin of Legos bricks and bodies that my children enjoy. Let creativity reign, I say.

At any rate, take a look at a circa 1975 Lego helicopter and the one my son got for Chanukah 2009.



They've come a long way, baby.

What are your favorite timeless toys? Are you saving any of your children's toys for your theoretical grandchildren?

Ugh. I've got "yacht hair."

You know that feeling when you navigate your yacht back into the slip and now that you're no longer sailing in the breeze you realize your hair is a complete mess? Me neither. Until last week.

You see, Lands' End brought me, Dawn from Because I Said So and Lisa from Lisa's Thoughts and Ramblings out for a sail on a yacht on Lake Michigan to give us a taste of the Race to Mackinac. Lands' End is the title sponsor of this 260-boat race across the lake.

It was a lovely afternoon and I really meant to post on it before last weekend's big race, but as of this writing, there's still no winner from the race that began last weekend. Check here for up-to-the-minute details.

Amanda from Lands' End PR gave us a water bottle and a Land's End bag branded with the Race logo. I laughed when I took a good look at the bag and realized it's not just their standard bucket bag, but a zip top version. I had to laugh, because I carried one of these around for years!

When my boys where about 3 and 5 and I became serious about writing, I carried a large journal with me everywhere, and this was my sturdy go-to bag. I think this new version is going to be my "BlogHer and beyond bag."
Photo credit: Dawn Meehan. She's on the left, Lisa is in the center. I'm the one on the right looking like an old lady and our fearless Captain Randy is in the rear.