swap til you drop

The woman to my right had her strategy mapped out. She and both of her children had trash bags and were positioned next to the tables heaping with the clothing sizes most likely to have what they needed.

When the magic words: “Let’s swap,” rang out, they were ready to dig.

Out of the corner of my eye, I was marking a sparkly green halter top across the table and a pair of boys sweatpants that nearly exactly matched the pair my son managed to rip at school last month.

The woman to my left started searching through the pile in front of us, stuffed with the remainder of my younger son’s too-small rompers that I had brought to swap.

The Swap Phoenix Clothing Swap group is run through the meetup.com website and meets once a month at different locations around the valley to swap clothing of all sizes. The idea is simple: bring what you don’t want or use and trade it for clothing you want or need.

It was started by a woman in Phoenix with a family of 7 kids (yeah, I know). Her name is Katherine and every swap she brings her kids along as involuntary helpers to sort the clothes and help out those that come.

In the end, I wasn’t able to score the green halter top, but I did go home with a great pair of embroidered jeans.

clean and green

I'm probably the last person on earth to do this but I decided to go green with my cleaning products. Okay, I'm probably not the last person or S.C. Johnson and P&G would be making hundreds of thousands of dollars off sales of cleaning supplies every year. (Really, who DOESN'T want the Scrubbing Bubbles to do all the work for you?)

By green, I mean I went back to basics and cheap: baking soda, vinegar and water. The inspiration came from reading Jillian Michael's book "Master Your Metabolism" that explains how chemicals used for cleaning affect our endocrine system and in the end, are making us fat. Not that I consider myself fat anymore (I finally did the follow-up measurements at the gym last week, and I'm at last back in the NORMAL range for BMI and body fat!). But I don't want the chemicals in my life to bring that fat back. If you're interested in this subject, I highly suggest the book. If you can get past some of the extremism (she pretty much calls for you to empty out your pantry and start over) the underlying information and tips are great!

It's baby steps... and the first one was scrubbing and cleaning. I used vinegar water on the kitchen and bathroom surfaces and floors; baking soda on the toilets, sinks and showers; water and a cotton rag for dusting. It took a little extra elbow grease (I guess I probably burned a few extra calories doing it this way too!) and I wasn't able to get all the streaks off the mirrors (but I couldn't even do that with Windex), BUT my house is on its way to becoming clean and green. Next step, replacing my soaps (dish soap, dishwasher soap, laundry soap, etc) with the green alternatives. But I think I'll wait for my current supply of stuff to run out first.

don't sweat the little things? are computers considered little things?

I am back behind my own keyboard tonight. It's like getting to drive your own car again after going on vacation. Nice feeling of familiarity.

I was able to pick up my MacBook from the Apple Store this afternoon after a 17 day "repair" visit. What happened? My two year old decided I was paying too much attention to the computer screen and not him, so he poured a soda on the keys. Not so coincidentally, I gave up drinking soda two days later (but that's another story, for another time).

My first reaction to what he did was to freak out (someone call CPS, I yelled at my two year old using my outdoor voice!). Then I mimicked him and threw a Terrible Twos tantrum (behind the closed doors of my bedroom). Not very "adult" of me, I know. But I don't think he realized the implications of what he did. My LIFE is on this computer. Next time (if there ever is one) I'll try my best to retain my composure.

Then, I rushed both boys into the car and paraded them to two different Apple Stores on different ends of town until I found one that could get me in see a "genius" that afternoon. I admit, I was in a bad mood and told the boys pretty much to keep their mouths shut until I had taken care of the computer.

The diagnosis: DOA. I kind of figured that when the soda hit the keyboard and I heard a fizz and the whole thing shut off. The remedy: Send it into the Apple Repair Depot for repairs (read: $$$$$$). While sitting down at the genius bar discussing options, I broke down in tears. I needed to find a way to get the computer fixed and it just wasn't an optimistic situation all around.

Andrew sat next to me watching me cry. He took my hand and said, "Mom, I have an idea. I've been trying to tell you all afternoon but you keep telling me to be quiet." So I asked him what was his idea. He said, "You can call up Santa Claus and see if he'll give you a new computer for Christmas."

We did figure out a way to get the computer fixed, but I was truly touched by Andrew's suggestion. Too bad we really can't put Santa on speed dial.

to be a kid again

When you were a kid, what did you like to do the most? Do you still do it anymore? I know I loved to read and write when I was younger. I don't do either as much as I would like these days.

My six year old, Andrew, LOVES to draw, especially drawing robots and (you guessed it!) Transformers. He has been obsessed with Transformers since he was three (and that's an understatement). We have every Transformer made in the last three years... and then some. So as I was surfing the web the other day, I found that USA Today is having a contest to design your own Transformer contest. I showed it to Andrew and explained the rules. You have to create a brand new Tranformer and draw it both in robot form and it's untransformed state.

Andrew has spent the last few days roaming around the house looking for the PERFECT thing to turn into his new Transformer. He settled on a few of his brother's Matchbox cars that work like the Constructicons to form both their own individual Transformers and also one big Transformer. He only drew the one big united Transformer for the contest.



His Transformer's name is Crush Monster and it's made out of five cars named Beater Thunder, Crush, Signal and one that he couldn't come up with a name for so he called it No-Namer. He made a video explaining it as well... which I will post as soon as I can get it uploaded!

meeting the Biggest Loser blue team

I had the opportunity to go see the Biggest Loser Blue Team, Sione and Filipe, last night. The two of them put on a nutrition seminar with their personal trainer (not Bob, Ryan, their trainer here in Phoenix).

I brought a pen and paper and took some notes! So if you're interested in weight loss, here are some tips from two (really funny) guys who have been through it recently.

Five Essentials to Weight Loss from Ryan, the trainer

1. FOOD! Don't forget to eat. 60-70% of your success will come from the food you eat. You must eat at least 1000 calories a day and don't forget carbs. 50% of the carbs you eat go to your brain. Eat carbs in the morning not the evening and eat carbs 2-3 hours before working out.

2. Supplementation: some suggestions were a multivitamin, a workout recovery pill (with amino acids), glucosamine (for joint health) and an antioxidant pill.

3. Resistance Training: builds muscle, increases metabolism For women it helps maintain bone density and prevent osteoporosis.

4. Cardio: Not THE answer to weight loss, but still necessary. Do this 3-6 times a week, after your resistance training. Good for the heart, lungs and circulatory systems.

5. Professional Help (of course he's going to say this, he's a trainer!). Trainers have to undergo rigorous training to understand how the body works. They can help you get further, faster.


"Do the Opposite of Easy"

When working out -- push yourself

Sione's nutrition tips

Watch nutrition labels
-- serving sizes can be misleading
-- make sure you aren't getting more than 25% of calories from fat
-- keep sugar to less than 5% per serving

Give yourself a "cheat" meal. They were given one meal a week on the Biggest Loser ranch where they could eat an extra 1000 calories.

Oh, and Sione's "crave" foods are pizza, Doritos and ice cream.

Motivational words from Filipe

Trivia: Filipe wanted to be a motivational speaker since he was 16, when he attended a motivation speaking seminar with a friend.

Write it down -- your goals (for start) and why you want to lose weight. For him, it was his wife and kids. Then keep writing, your food intake, that is. Keeping a food journal is a proven technique for weight loss.




They will have more information on their website (which doesn't go live until Monday, so don't try it yet!) www.tongancousins.com. They are also kicking off a multi-city tour and the schedule will be on the website too.


That's all I had from my notes. They shared many experiences from the Biggest Loser ranch which were fun to hear about. I didn't realize how little we actually see when we watch the show. They ended the seminar with their Tongan dance and then a meet and greet so we could take pictures with them and ask questions. Yes, that's me in the pic with them. Sorry it's kinda blurry.

Thanks to Sione and Filipe for doing this. It was really fun to see them in person and take away some of the lessons they had learned.

Noteworthy?

Out of the mouth of my Starbuck's barista (as I purchased a tea and Biggest Loser workout book):

"You are exactly who you want to be at this exact moment in your life. When you are ready to make a change you will become someone new."

Kinda deep for a teenage girl (plus I think she stole the underlying principle from the movie The Wedding Date). But it was noteworthy enough for me to type it up on my tiny Blackberry keyboard and pass it on to you.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

you never know who you are going to meet

A couple of months ago, I was hiking with a group of moms. It was a stroller-friendly hike but the wheel of my stroller got stuck in a crevice and I was having some trouble and had fallen behind the other moms. I was approached by a nice man and his adorable dog who asked if I needed some help. He helped me free the stroller and then we started talking. It seems he was a retired local school teacher, kindergarten teacher to be exact. I told him I had a kindergartener but that he was really struggling with the work. Turns out, the man had an idea that might help (even if it was a little shameless self-promotion... it never hurt anyone, did it?). He had decided to take his kindergarten teaching experiences and put them into a series of children's books. The star of the books was his dog, Latte, who helped the children learn their alphabet and counting. A little bit skeptical, I thanked him for his advice.

Last week, walking through Target, low and behold, I found the "Latte's Counting Book" in the children's book aisle. Amused, Andrew and I sat in the aisle and read the book together. I told him that Hunter and I had actually met Latte when we were hiking, but Andrew didn't believe me. I've been doing some Internet searches to find the man, who I now know is Ron Scott. I'd love for Andrew to get to meet Latte as well. But for now, we've been hitting the trails again a little more. You never know, who you are going to meet!

digging deep, climbing high

Driving home from a hike last night (see the picture! I made it!), my radio hit the slow rock station and given my exhausted mood, I decided to take in a little bit of the Delilah show (I gave up on regularly listening to this show a few years back when I was pregnant with Hunter because it made me cry too much! ha ha). I think some one up above made me turn the radio station at that exact moment because no sooner had I turned on the show, Delilah began talking about the trials and triumphs in her own life from being fired to living in poverty to divorce and being a single mom. After talking about all these hard periods of her life she finished with some uplifting words. She said (I'm paraphrasing here) that when you are facing tough times, treat them as an adventure, find the joy in them because it is easier to move forward when you are looking forward than looking back with regrets. HOW TRUE!

Listening to her talk, I had one of those AHA! moments (with respects to Mutual of Omaha). As tired as I was from a grueling active day, I vowed to myself to post to my blog more often to write about the things I am seeing and hearing, and to find the positive in each situation. I have always struggled with this blog because I had never given it much of a focus. Now I am finally giving it one.