Thursday, April 30, 2009
The Lake
By the way, the test swim in the lake was fine. Not as cold as I'd feared. A little green, a little eerie, but not terrible. Aside from dodging a few floating rafts of Canadian goose poop, it was pretty fresh, too. Thanks Mary and Lucy.
Logjam!
Mike and I zipped over to Santa Cruz last Sunday for the annual Big Stick Surfing Association "Logjam". This is a really cool surf event-- all longboards and only longboards, 1970's or prior, minimum board weight 20 lbs, and no leashes allowed. It's held at Pleasure Point, which is a nice, steady break, so it seemed like everyone got some waves. Someday that'll be me. (Except that water is FREEZING.) I love the longboard style, not so shreddy, and more about enjoying as long a wave as possible than about carving it up into little bits. Plenty of women out, too.I don't know if you know this, but my grandfather used to paddle a wooden paddleboard around Capitola as a boy, and my dad used to surf here at Pleasure Point and all around Santa Cruz. Hi Dad!
Raffle prizes. Tell that guy to stop touching my board! Bummer, we didn't win the Arrow!
PS- I just know with that previous post that I've jinxed myself to have an ITB relapse and an ear infection by Sunday.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
How To Avoid Ear Infections
I've been a swimmer since I was a senior in high school. I still swim fairly regularly, and this is what I do to prevent ear infections:
First and foremost: Always be sure to let the ears dry out completely after a swim or shower. Use a hair dryer on low to make sure there's no moisture in there. Make sure wet hair isn't covering your ears if you hop out of the pool after a swim and let your hair dry naturally.
If you feel like you might have an ear infection coming on, put a little tiny bead of neosporin in your palm and roll the head of a clean cotton swab in it, so that all of the neosporin is in the swab. There should be no blobs of ointment on the swab. Roll this around in the outer ear canal only, after ears are dry.
Also, if you feel one coming on or feel dizzy, take a decongestant for a day or two. (None of this is scientifically tested, but it works for me.)
And as a last resort, if you have trouble drying out your ears on a regular basis, try a solution of 50% vinegar and 50% rubbing alcohol. Put a few drops in each ear after swimming, then tip your head from side to side to get it back out. (I think this feels icky, so I avoid it, but it was recommended by a doctor to eliminate both moisture and bacteria, for people who are especially prone to ear infections. I suppose you could put this on the cotton swab, too. I find that the alcohol stings and sometimes dries the skin of my ears out too much.)
Note: I am not a doctor or a medical professional. If you have an ear infection and it hurts, get off the internet and go see a doctor for heavens sake. Don't try any of this (except the hair dryer) on children (with supervision). Also, the cotton swab box says not to put the darn thing in your ear canal, so don't blame me if you do it anyway.
****
The other quick note I wanted to make was about my IT band issue. I saw a terrific therapist (Jacky at Saint Helena Physical Therapy), who filmed my running gait, and found that my left knee bounced in and out a little too dramatically, causing extra stress on the ITB.
After a couple of tries, she was able to find a fairly simple solution. As it turns out, my left foot was over-supinating, so she placed a couple of thin dense foam "wedges" or strips, inside the left rear of my shoe. The next few runs, I experienced a dramatic improvement. This, in combination with a set of new stretches and exercises to strengthen the lateral muscles, has pretty much eliminated the problem.
If you are experiencing pain from running of any kind, I strongly urge you to seek out a physical therapist who has experience with runner's issues so that you can run as safely and as long as possible. My insurance has a provision for "self referral"-- maybe yours does too.
(The orthopedist I saw before the therapist had said to me flatly, "You can't run three miles a day anymore, you're 42, not 22." He gave me a printout of some stretches, which included worst-case scenarios for IT band syndrome, and that was it. The first thing Jacky said when I told her was, "I don't think that's true at all. Let's take a look and see what's happening." And here I am, comfortably continuing my running routine again.)
First and foremost: Always be sure to let the ears dry out completely after a swim or shower. Use a hair dryer on low to make sure there's no moisture in there. Make sure wet hair isn't covering your ears if you hop out of the pool after a swim and let your hair dry naturally.
If you feel like you might have an ear infection coming on, put a little tiny bead of neosporin in your palm and roll the head of a clean cotton swab in it, so that all of the neosporin is in the swab. There should be no blobs of ointment on the swab. Roll this around in the outer ear canal only, after ears are dry.
Also, if you feel one coming on or feel dizzy, take a decongestant for a day or two. (None of this is scientifically tested, but it works for me.)
And as a last resort, if you have trouble drying out your ears on a regular basis, try a solution of 50% vinegar and 50% rubbing alcohol. Put a few drops in each ear after swimming, then tip your head from side to side to get it back out. (I think this feels icky, so I avoid it, but it was recommended by a doctor to eliminate both moisture and bacteria, for people who are especially prone to ear infections. I suppose you could put this on the cotton swab, too. I find that the alcohol stings and sometimes dries the skin of my ears out too much.)
Note: I am not a doctor or a medical professional. If you have an ear infection and it hurts, get off the internet and go see a doctor for heavens sake. Don't try any of this (except the hair dryer) on children (with supervision). Also, the cotton swab box says not to put the darn thing in your ear canal, so don't blame me if you do it anyway.
****
The other quick note I wanted to make was about my IT band issue. I saw a terrific therapist (Jacky at Saint Helena Physical Therapy), who filmed my running gait, and found that my left knee bounced in and out a little too dramatically, causing extra stress on the ITB.
After a couple of tries, she was able to find a fairly simple solution. As it turns out, my left foot was over-supinating, so she placed a couple of thin dense foam "wedges" or strips, inside the left rear of my shoe. The next few runs, I experienced a dramatic improvement. This, in combination with a set of new stretches and exercises to strengthen the lateral muscles, has pretty much eliminated the problem.
If you are experiencing pain from running of any kind, I strongly urge you to seek out a physical therapist who has experience with runner's issues so that you can run as safely and as long as possible. My insurance has a provision for "self referral"-- maybe yours does too.
(The orthopedist I saw before the therapist had said to me flatly, "You can't run three miles a day anymore, you're 42, not 22." He gave me a printout of some stretches, which included worst-case scenarios for IT band syndrome, and that was it. The first thing Jacky said when I told her was, "I don't think that's true at all. Let's take a look and see what's happening." And here I am, comfortably continuing my running routine again.)
Tamarasicle
It's 38 degrees this morning. The frost fans came on some time in the pre-dawn hours. Once you're used to them, they don't rouse you from a sound sleep, but if you're on the edge, their droning tends to supplement the alarm clock. Any other day, I'd roll over and snuggle deeper into the covers, knowing that Mike is going to be up shortly to let the dogs out and feed them when they wake up. But this morning, all I could think about was the lake.
In a little over three days, I'll be swimming in that lake. The lake temperatures "hover in the 70s," according to the triathlon web site, but I'm thinking they are going to be hovering closer to the mid-50s or 60s this weekend. So I got up and made a Dutch Baby with strawberries and blueberries, and let Mike sleep in.
*****
By the way, here is the simplest possible recipe for a Dutch Baby:
Preheat oven to 425
Melt 1/2 stick butter in cast iron pan
Vigorously whisk together 4 eggs, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 c flour
Swirl butter around pan edges
Pour in batter gently
Place in oven
Set timer for 20 minutes
Remove when golden, sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar
*****
A friend, who is also doing the event, and I are going out to swim it this afternoon, in full gear: rashguard, tri-shorts, cap, goggles, wetsuits, maybe even earplugs to keep the icy water from swishing in and out of our ear canals. (Doesn't that just give you the shivers?) She's done it once and said it was cold, cold, cold. That was last week when it was 90 degrees. Why can't it be 90 degrees this week?
I'm doing something I've always want to do. I need to find a pace I can maintain and enjoy the ride. I'm doing something I've always want to do. I need to find a pace I can maintain and enjoy the ride. I'm doing something I've always want to do. I need to find a pace I can maintain and enjoy the ride. That's my mantra. Gotta suit up and go for a run now; the natives are getting restless. Wish me luck!
PS- The baby birdies hatched! They are tiny and fuzzy and so vulnerable in this cold weather. We are trying to spend minimum time in the backyard so that mama bird can stay on the nest and keep them warm as much as possible. I couldn't resist a quick peek, though. Yesterday I saw one yawn, and his little yellow mouth was no bigger than my pinkie nail when it was wide open. When they are bigger and the weather is warmer, I'll try (carefully) to get a picture.
In a little over three days, I'll be swimming in that lake. The lake temperatures "hover in the 70s," according to the triathlon web site, but I'm thinking they are going to be hovering closer to the mid-50s or 60s this weekend. So I got up and made a Dutch Baby with strawberries and blueberries, and let Mike sleep in.
*****
By the way, here is the simplest possible recipe for a Dutch Baby:
Preheat oven to 425
Melt 1/2 stick butter in cast iron pan
Vigorously whisk together 4 eggs, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 c flour
Swirl butter around pan edges
Pour in batter gently
Place in oven
Set timer for 20 minutes
Remove when golden, sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar
*****
A friend, who is also doing the event, and I are going out to swim it this afternoon, in full gear: rashguard, tri-shorts, cap, goggles, wetsuits, maybe even earplugs to keep the icy water from swishing in and out of our ear canals. (Doesn't that just give you the shivers?) She's done it once and said it was cold, cold, cold. That was last week when it was 90 degrees. Why can't it be 90 degrees this week?
I'm doing something I've always want to do. I need to find a pace I can maintain and enjoy the ride. I'm doing something I've always want to do. I need to find a pace I can maintain and enjoy the ride. I'm doing something I've always want to do. I need to find a pace I can maintain and enjoy the ride. That's my mantra. Gotta suit up and go for a run now; the natives are getting restless. Wish me luck!
PS- The baby birdies hatched! They are tiny and fuzzy and so vulnerable in this cold weather. We are trying to spend minimum time in the backyard so that mama bird can stay on the nest and keep them warm as much as possible. I couldn't resist a quick peek, though. Yesterday I saw one yawn, and his little yellow mouth was no bigger than my pinkie nail when it was wide open. When they are bigger and the weather is warmer, I'll try (carefully) to get a picture.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Good Cookies
My friend Angela needed cookies donated for a school bake sale, so I volunteered to make some. I felt like making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. A chef I know had recently recommended the Smitten Kitchen site to me, so I did a search on the site and found Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies.Yum! This is an almost-perfect oatmeal cookie, both crispy and chewy. I loaded them up with a little too much sweet, using both chocolate chips and currants, and I had to skip the pecans, because I didn't have them on hand and didn't feel like another trip to the store. I would recommend ditching the currants, definitely using either pecans, or possibly walnuts, to counteract the sweetness, and if you do decide to use the orange zest, halve that quantity. I made a double recipe with half the orange zest. It added a nice fragrant lift, but wasn't overwhelming.(These would be AWESOME with chocolate chips, coconut AND nuts...)
Because I had to make a lot of them, I made logs of the dough the first night and rolled it in parchment. Then I cut and baked the cookies the second night. It made fairly easy work of the sticky dough to slice it with a sharp knife, but I found that I liked the chewiness and thickness of the cookies better when I rolled each slice into a ball before baking, thus back into the stickiness.
I always find it makes things less sweaty and hectic, and that I'm less likely to burn the last batch, if I make the dough one night and bake it the next. These cookies, especially as I made them, are intense, so make sure you have an ice-cold glass of milk or soymilk handy.
Precious
Some little birdies tried to build a nest in a basket in the breezeway, where the dogs sometimes sleep during the day, so we moved it around the corner to another wall, in the hopes of discouraging them from finishing the nest and laying their eggs.
A day or so later, I went out the back door and caught a flutter out of the corner of my eye as a bird vacated the basket we'd hung above the original one with the exposed nest still in it. I carefully peeked inside the basket, and look what I saw:
Four precious little eggs in their brand-new stick and grass nest. Not as cushy as the first nest, but I guess it will do. We are very careful now not to disturb the mama bird or linger outside during the cool morning and evening hours, so that she doesn't stay away from the nest when the eggs might catch a chill. The nest is above the concrete patio, so I'm thinking I might have to put some kind of pillow or padding below the nest before they start peeping, just in case somebody falls out.
The Race is Long, and in the End, It's Only with Yourself
My first triathlon is a little more than a week away now. I must be in a philosophical mood, because similarities between the race and life keep appearing. Every time I coach myself through an element of potential anxiety about the race, what I hear is advice about life. Such as, "Don't worry about how fast you're going, just find a strong pace that you can maintain," or "It doesn't matter what other people are doing, or if you win a prize, it matters that you finish, and that you have a good time doing it." See? Also, "If you say 'wheeeeeeeeee' when you're going really fast down a hill after a long climb, you might swallow a bug." I don't know how this one applies to life, exactly, but I can tell you from personal experience that it's true. I rode my bike home from work in Napa the other day and had several close bug encounters.
The triathlon, like life, is made up of mini-races, mini-obstacles, and each must be approached afresh, with determination and optimism. It may be a fifteen-minute swim, an hour bike and a half-hour run. Or it may be three five-minute swims, two thirty-minute rides and three one-mile runs in my mind. I can drag myself through the swim, for example, moaning internally about the icky lake water and the elbows in my face, or I can try to congratulate myself every minute for finally, after all this time, doing it. The swim itself is just part of the race, and before I know it, it will be over, and I'll be on to the next phase, then the next. I'll never be in exactly the same place again. See? It's just one big giant metaphor.
The triathlon, like life, is made up of mini-races, mini-obstacles, and each must be approached afresh, with determination and optimism. It may be a fifteen-minute swim, an hour bike and a half-hour run. Or it may be three five-minute swims, two thirty-minute rides and three one-mile runs in my mind. I can drag myself through the swim, for example, moaning internally about the icky lake water and the elbows in my face, or I can try to congratulate myself every minute for finally, after all this time, doing it. The swim itself is just part of the race, and before I know it, it will be over, and I'll be on to the next phase, then the next. I'll never be in exactly the same place again. See? It's just one big giant metaphor.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Since You Asked
Here's my arm today:
The scar looks kind of like a little telephone pole from this vantage point. I think it'll hold. Not bad for having a metal spike and a fleece sweatshirt shoved into it four weeks ago yesterday.
The scar looks kind of like a little telephone pole from this vantage point. I think it'll hold. Not bad for having a metal spike and a fleece sweatshirt shoved into it four weeks ago yesterday.
Happy Easter!
I took some pictures around the garden late yesterday afternoon that I thought you all might enjoy on this Easter holiday. Rode out to Lake Hennessey this morning-- it was beautiful.May your day be a hoppy one.
(Hi Grandpa!)
Not a Three Dollar Cupcake
These were the delicious giant pink cupcakes from my niece's baby shower.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Pondering the Three Dollar Cupcake
I had a craving for a cupcake today, so I popped over to this cute little shop that just opened in a shopping center near the winery. My frosted treat was adorable, but it set me back $3.25. (Yikes!) It did come in a cute little box with a sticker and a little window in it, nestled in a specially-designed cardboard holder. And it had a tiny white-chocolate bunny on top. It was packaged for me by an adorable little blond teenager wearing a pink retro waitress blouse. All very cute.
The shop, Gigi's, might be a franchise location of this Gigi's in Nashville, TN. I chose their franchise page to link to, because it says that they are ""Passionate"" (Yes, that's italicized, quoted AND capitalized. They really mean it. I love decorative punctuation.) about "using the freshest ingredients to make the best cupcakes you can find anywhere". I have to say, it was a damn good cupcake. (Seems like the Napa store is better at making the icing not look like fat coils of goo, as on their cupcake menu page, so maybe they aren't related.)
The first time I walked into the little pink cupcake shop in Napa, the thing that struck me was how cute it was. Just precious. Pink and scalloped and lacy everywhere. However, the woman behind the register, who appeared to be the owner, looked like she'd just received a life sentence. Someone who wears pink and sells cupcakes for a living should be perky, right? (Like this person, maybe?) Cupcakes are fun. Totally and completely trendy right now, but still fun. I bought three different flavors, one for each person at dinner that night. I gushed about the pinkness and the cuteness of everything. I would have been fondant in their hands.
So the precious little pre-folded, cellophane-windowed box with the pink sticker that holds the cupcakes has four holes. If you were a cupcake seller, would you not at least suggest that the purchaser might like to pick one more, since the box holds four? Ok, yeah, they are $3.25 a pop, but if you're in there with an almost full box anyway, you're already on the Adorable Pink Cupcake Love Boat and you're not going to quibble with Isaac about one more cocktail. I don't think I got a single smile during the whole process, even after I reconsidered and walked back in to purchase the fourth cupcake.
Today, by contrast, a sweet fair-haired teenager in a prim pink blouse was at the counter. Ok, good job owner, recognize what you don't do well and don't do it. The girl was as nice as could be, and even offered to sell me a milk with my vanilla cupcake.
Afterwards, I walked around the corner to the grocery store to buy myself a milk and passed by the 4H bake sale, where they were selling beautiful homemade cakes and cookies. I thought about the fancy cupcake in my car, which was starting to seem a little small. How can the three-dollar-cupcake business model work in Brown's Valley? They have to be the greatest, most delicious cupcakes ever, and someone has to work very hard to promote them. They should have an email sign up so that I can be advised of the cupcake of the week, or of office birthday specials, and of course they should have a cupcake stamp card (buy 11, get one free?). They should be selling their little cupcake hearts out.
Cupcake cupcake cupcake cuplaj;sdlfasd;afdsfadlfadsfasdfljasd;fjdflvcnxvznvm,czxn.,%^$^$^
I just said cupcake too many times and my sugar-laced brain short-circuited.
So that's the thing. I'm complaining about how expensive this thing was, but I'm still thinking about it. It was delicious. In the end, I was glad it wasn't any bigger, because I had to eat it in big bites while washing it down with a carton of milk as people started to arrive. But was it worth three dollars and twenty-five cents? And will expensive cupcakes really fly in the proudly non-fancy Brown's Valley area of Napa? We shall see.
The shop, Gigi's, might be a franchise location of this Gigi's in Nashville, TN. I chose their franchise page to link to, because it says that they are ""Passionate"" (Yes, that's italicized, quoted AND capitalized. They really mean it. I love decorative punctuation.) about "using the freshest ingredients to make the best cupcakes you can find anywhere". I have to say, it was a damn good cupcake. (Seems like the Napa store is better at making the icing not look like fat coils of goo, as on their cupcake menu page, so maybe they aren't related.)
The first time I walked into the little pink cupcake shop in Napa, the thing that struck me was how cute it was. Just precious. Pink and scalloped and lacy everywhere. However, the woman behind the register, who appeared to be the owner, looked like she'd just received a life sentence. Someone who wears pink and sells cupcakes for a living should be perky, right? (Like this person, maybe?) Cupcakes are fun. Totally and completely trendy right now, but still fun. I bought three different flavors, one for each person at dinner that night. I gushed about the pinkness and the cuteness of everything. I would have been fondant in their hands.
So the precious little pre-folded, cellophane-windowed box with the pink sticker that holds the cupcakes has four holes. If you were a cupcake seller, would you not at least suggest that the purchaser might like to pick one more, since the box holds four? Ok, yeah, they are $3.25 a pop, but if you're in there with an almost full box anyway, you're already on the Adorable Pink Cupcake Love Boat and you're not going to quibble with Isaac about one more cocktail. I don't think I got a single smile during the whole process, even after I reconsidered and walked back in to purchase the fourth cupcake.
Today, by contrast, a sweet fair-haired teenager in a prim pink blouse was at the counter. Ok, good job owner, recognize what you don't do well and don't do it. The girl was as nice as could be, and even offered to sell me a milk with my vanilla cupcake.
Afterwards, I walked around the corner to the grocery store to buy myself a milk and passed by the 4H bake sale, where they were selling beautiful homemade cakes and cookies. I thought about the fancy cupcake in my car, which was starting to seem a little small. How can the three-dollar-cupcake business model work in Brown's Valley? They have to be the greatest, most delicious cupcakes ever, and someone has to work very hard to promote them. They should have an email sign up so that I can be advised of the cupcake of the week, or of office birthday specials, and of course they should have a cupcake stamp card (buy 11, get one free?). They should be selling their little cupcake hearts out.
Cupcake cupcake cupcake cuplaj;sdlfasd;afdsfadlfadsfasdfljasd;fjdflvcnxvznvm,czxn.,%^$^$^
I just said cupcake too many times and my sugar-laced brain short-circuited.
So that's the thing. I'm complaining about how expensive this thing was, but I'm still thinking about it. It was delicious. In the end, I was glad it wasn't any bigger, because I had to eat it in big bites while washing it down with a carton of milk as people started to arrive. But was it worth three dollars and twenty-five cents? And will expensive cupcakes really fly in the proudly non-fancy Brown's Valley area of Napa? We shall see.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Countdown
Ok, so yeah, I wrote this ambitious post a few weeks ago about how I was (am) doing a triathlon in May. And then some things happened that sort of got in the way of that gradual but efficient training period, and it rained a lot, and I got really busy with design work (thankfully), and now it's a mere THREE WEEKS away.
I freaked out a little bit at that. And then I found a training plan that I had downloaded back in January (from here), and I looked at where I should be preparation-wise. I'm actually doing ok, I think. Today I did my first "brick" which is two segments of the triathlon together. I rode 11 miles and ran 3. And I did it. No problem.
Next week, I am going to pop in to the pool a few times and make sure my arm isn't going to come apart, and go from there. I know I can do the distances. I'm trying to look at it as three short races, just strung together. I keep telling myself that all I have to do is put them together, not fall down or break down (I am virtually clueless about flat tires or any other mechanical difficulty at this point) and not get tangled up in my own clothes during the transitions. And try to have a sense of humor about it if at all possible.
I freaked out a little bit at that. And then I found a training plan that I had downloaded back in January (from here), and I looked at where I should be preparation-wise. I'm actually doing ok, I think. Today I did my first "brick" which is two segments of the triathlon together. I rode 11 miles and ran 3. And I did it. No problem.
Next week, I am going to pop in to the pool a few times and make sure my arm isn't going to come apart, and go from there. I know I can do the distances. I'm trying to look at it as three short races, just strung together. I keep telling myself that all I have to do is put them together, not fall down or break down (I am virtually clueless about flat tires or any other mechanical difficulty at this point) and not get tangled up in my own clothes during the transitions. And try to have a sense of humor about it if at all possible.
My Name is Tamara, and I'm a Dutch-Baby-A-Holic
4 eggs, 1/2 c milk, 1/2 c flour 425 oven, 4 tblspoons butter melted in a cast iron pan, cook for 20 minutes that's it. How can you not? Thanks, Grandma, for having the obsession, and Karen for giving the lesson.
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