Compliments to the Chef

Soon after having children of my own old enough to eat regular food, I realized you have to have a solid, positive self-esteem to cook for a family. I have certainly heard more than my share of eewwws and yucks through the years, but Wendy's comment of last week takes the cake. I tried a new recipe, pacific pork kebabs with pineapple rice. After the prayer was said, Wendy tasted a few bites with her face all distorted into disgusting expressions, and said, "Wow Mom, where did you get all this gross food?" As if it was preposterous that there could be so much gross food in the same place a the same time. Needless to say, James scolded her for being rude and I burst out laughing. You can't win them all.

How old am I?

Lately I have been pondering my return to college. As I was driving past campus on my way to the grocery store today, there were students everywhere. I was thinking about how much I will stand out because of my age. Then I decided that it won't be that bad because I am only five years older than most of them...then the cold, hard fact hit me like a ton of bricks, I am more like 15 years older than them! Holy cow, when did that happen? I guess it's promising that I only feel 5 years older.

Highlights of my 5-mile run in 25+mph winds

• Hurdling tumbleweeds


• Drool flying out the side of my mouth. I am slightly congested, so I had to breathe through my mouth. The wind dried out my mouth signaling the production of more saliva...


• At the right angle, the force of the wind on my eyelashes would press my eyes wide open.


• If I played Enya on my ipod and closed my eyes, I could almost pretend the roaring sound was the ocean.


• The permanent damage to my eyes from blowing dust.


• The downhill part of my run also happened to be downwind, so I felt really fast, which is rare for me.


• The best part of all was my hair after I finished.