Rays From Heaven....Shine...On...Me

Salutations for a Soldier's Sacrifice

I would rather look a brave soldier in the face and thank him for his service, than watch a processional drive by and thank him after the fact.

A childhood friend of mine is transferring army bases this summer. She is spending the summer at "home" before she, and 4 children trek to the other side of the country to settle. Her husband is currently on active duty status in Afghanistan. I'm not sure how much longer he will be there before he gets to join his family on a more permanent basis.

I have numerous family members who have served in the military. I was never fortunate enough to have any of them fly into town for R&R. I wish I would put into words the atmosphere while we were waiting. The level of anticipation was thick. It was like Christmas Eve on crack!

True enough, I am turning into nothing less than a sap as I age. But to witness airport terminal personelle shaking a soldiers hand as he approached the waiting area. To see every fiber of his children and relatives wound tight ready to unleash their affection on him. And to see the relief on his wife's face to know he was back safely and in good health.

He sent her a text message to say that the plane landed

I can describe these events to you. But I am unable to effectively articulate how it FELT to be in the midst of it. This is why my camera is a treasured asset to me. Politics aside, you can agree or disagree with America's statuses on wars in various regions. That's a different topic for a different day. I honor and pray for all of the men and women who sacrifice so much to do what so few of us want or are willing to do. God bless and keep them.

Final lap

My attempt at finishing strong recorded. Now my left foot hurts. I think I performed a bit for potential listeners ha ha ha! I hope it's feeling better in time for tomorrow's butt crack of dawn workout.

Final lap

Me and My Shadow

I took my phone with me on my morning workout. I usually have so many thoughts coursing through my head. I wanted to voice record random thoughts as they came to mind and use them to audio blog, or help me write a poem. I became much more intrigued with my workout partner this morning. She was pretty good company ;)

Star Crossed Lovers Brainstorm

This audio clip is self explainatory. Perhaps I will be writing more about it in the future. 

P.S. I hate my voice -_- 

 Brainstorming my thoughts on star-crossed love

Are You Going To Eat That?

I had an opportunity to watch a documentary this weekend titled Forks Over Knives. It was produced last year and I had heard nothing about it. It is an in-depth look at diet, nutrition, and the science behind how food effects our bodies.

I like to think I am a fairly health conscious person. I really make an effort to eat and feed my family healthy meals. I live with athletes. Although I don't consider myself an athletic person, I am an active person who exercises regularly to maintain my boyish figure ;) I even completed my first marathon last month, and hope to participate in another one at the end of this month.

Homemade stir fry. A very typical meal at my house.

To very broadly summarize Forks Over Knives, it states that a whole grain plant based diet is superior to any other eating arrangement. I was initially unfazed by this point of view. I have heard it before. Meat is not good for you vs. Not eating meat can leave you protein deficient. Lean meats and low fat dairy is ideal vs. Vegetables and grains can give you what's needed for optimal health.



I have been raised to believe that lean meats and low fat dairy coupled with whole grains and plenty of produce is the best route to a healthy lifestyle. That's what I have always done, and it has been very effective thus far. This documentary totally disrupted my entire view of what optimal health looks like, and made me question if I am doing enough. I now wonder if I am even doing it right!

Smooth with fat free milk, all natural yogurt, frozen fruit, ground flax, no sugar added

The scientific data behind the facts presented were overwhelming and it is forcing me to do further research. I watched multiple people in various stages of poor health completely reverse chronic conditions simply by eating grains and vegetables. I won't attempt to break down the specific findings. Sufficed to say that every rhetorical question that was asked, I answered like a typical health conscious eater. Then, said answers were refuted with quantitative findings.

Here is one of my main problems. Although the documentary didn't specifically use the term "vegetarian", for all intents and purposes that's what this lifestyle seems to amount to. And if I may have you permission to be brutally honest. I have always thought "those people" were just a little bit weird. I group them with other strange crowds that tend to get cultish and annoying about what they do. You know... like Apple/Mac users...and runners. Herein lies my other problem. You see I am a Mac user, and as I previously mentioned, I have started participating in marathons. I just don't know if I can wind up in every assemblage that I have already prejudged as strange, and not end up being a total weirdo! I am feeling very nervous about losing myself. Yet, I know that we all must change as we go through life. It's a very strange juxtaposition, but I will inch forward until I am comfortable making strides with confidence.

I think I do a fairly good job of not throwing the coolness of my technology, or the number of miles I racked up today in other people's faces. And so here is a promise that I will make to those of you who occasionally drop by to read my posts: If I become some type of vegan disciple, I will start a whole different blog for like minded people. I may end up being a high tech, trail blazing, buckwheat pancake with blueberry compote eating maniac. But you'll never know it. When I log onto this blog, I'll keep standing on my soapbox sounding off on the mundane issues of life that I am known and loved (or hated) for.

Love me or hate me. I gotta be me :)

My Life

Sometimes it's hard to believe that people actually pay us to have so much fun. I have the privilege of taking my entire family with me when I go to work. I guess I won't question it. I will simply count my blessings and keep playing!

Yes! I understand what you mean!!! ...Too bad you're crazy.

I have embarked upon the task of reading a compilation of Edgar Allan Poe's writings. Never have I been exposed to such gothic, dare I say morbid literature. In this zombie apocalypse/ vampire age era, I suppose it would not be shocking to the average person. I do think it's cool that Poe's writing is a precursor to the artistic impressions we are seeing today. It is quite clear that much of his artistry was derived from either lunacy or drug fueled thoughts free of common inhibitions. That being said, his meticulous righting style still falls together perfectly and is very well thought out.

Here's the thing that kind of shocks me about his writing. I get it! It surprises me and quite frankly concerns me. However, I am looking at the map, and Mr. Poe and I are defiantly standing on the same red dot. Now this revelation leads me to one of two conclusions. Either this Psych degree I obtained, and the years of study on mental dysfunction simply make this man's portrayals relatable. Or I am on some level stark raving mad. (I hope and pray it's the former not the latter!)

I am no literary scholar, so I won't sit and attempt to break down and critique his body of work. I am quite sure there are courses of study that examine his writings in collegiate institutions. I just wanted to pass along my personal impressions. I'll leave with you a passage from the story Ligeia. This is a love story if ever I have read one. I so completely could relate to this description of his adoration. It left me sitting and thinking and re-reading this particular portion many times over. I wonder if it will resonate with you the way it did with me. Enjoy...

There is no point, among the many incomprehensible anomalies of the science of mind, more thrillingly exciting than the fact --never, I believe, noticed in the schools --that, in our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember. And thus how frequently, in my intense scrutiny of Ligeia's eyes, have I felt approaching the full knowledge of their expression --felt it approaching --yet not quite be mine --and so at length entirely depart! And (strange, oh strangest mystery of all!) I found, in the commonest objects of the universe, a circle of analogies to theat expression. I mean to say that, subsequently to the period when Ligeia's beauty passed into my spirit, there dwelling as in a shrine, I derived, from many existences in the material world, a sentiment such as I felt always aroused within me by her large and luminous orbs. Yet not the more could I define that sentiment, or analyze, or even steadily view it. I recognized it, let me repeat, sometimes in the survey of a rapidly-growing vine --in the contemplation of a moth, a butterfly, a chrysalis, a stream of running water. I have felt it in the ocean; in the falling of a meteor. I have felt it in the glances of unusually aged people. And there are one or two stars in heaven --(one especially, a star of the sixth magnitude, double and changeable, to be found near the large star in Lyra) in a telescopic scrutiny of which I have been made aware of the feeling. I have been filled with it by certain sounds from stringed instruments, and not unfrequently by passages from books. Among innumerable other instances, I well remember something in a volume of Joseph Glanvill, which (perhaps merely from its quaintness --who shall say?) never failed to inspire me with the sentiment; --"And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will." 

Soapboxing.... (What I do best)

To Whom It May Concern:

I would just like to let you know that I am TREMENDOUSLY disappointed with the fact that there are trans fats in you uncured beef and angus hot dogs.

I was at my local grocer, and they were out of the uncured turkey dogs that I normally get. I decided to grab a pack of angus and noticed they contained trans fats. I then moved on to the uncured beef dogs. They also contained trans fats.

People do not pay additional money for "natural" products and go through the additional effort of selecting nitrite/nitrate free processed meats only to accept they they contain trans fats. Nutritionists advise that there is NO SAFE level of trans fats. I think it amounts to false advertisements that you include them in your product and not readily label it as a notice. Putting it in the nutrition facts label is a requirement and the bare minimum that one can expect. For anyone who trusts your product they would naturally assume that it contained no such poison.

I feel let down as a faithful consumer. The trust has been broken and I will look for alternative products with healthier ingredients in the future.

Signed,

I'm Going Down

There is so much focus on upward mobility in life.
I often hear words like elevation and going to another level.
People forget the higher you go, the hotter it gets.
It is possible to blinded by the light.
Sometimes I want to go downward, where it's cooler and quieter.
If you let outside influences set the agenda of your life, you just might burn up or burn out...

I'm going down...

And the award for hot mama at the pool goes to:

Never mind the fact I was in the mid 30's, mothers to multiple children category. Never mind I totally lose to any chick in the same category that kept her boobs after she finished breastfeeding. Never mind....... The Bottom Line: I had a great day at the pool with my crew!

Poolside fun 

My crazy clan and their wet shenanigans