Thank You!

My brother-in-law is recovering wonderfully and everything looks good (even the HUGE scar!). Thank you all for your prayers and kind thoughts.

Fav. Foto Friday

This is Elle riding her water horse (Uncle Eddie) this summer in Texas.
Please keep him in your prayers today - he's undergoing surgery this morning.

A Little Teary Today

It's Veteran's Day - a day of many and mixed emotions for me. I come from a family of strong military service, especially during wartime. My grandfather served as a fighter pilot in WWII. My dad was an Army Airborne Ranger infantryman in Vietnam - I can't even begin to fathom what his two tours (two years) were like there. My younger sister was an Army chemical/biological/nuclear warfare officer during the Gulf War - I remember not even being able to catch a glimpse of the news playing on TV without bawling. My own love of country and desire to serve the glorious principles that this great nation embodies moved me to join the Air Force.

Last week, I stumbled upon an amazing show on PBS - Medal of Honor, stories and reflections from several living (definitely a minority) award recipients. It left me with tear-stained cheeks and the burning desire to know WHEN will we stop sending the best of our youth/citizenry off to suffer the emotional and physical and spiritual ravages of war.

This is offered for all those who have served and are serving and will serve...

"Briefly, I have traveled this long distance, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to this western continent in the desire and hope that the strongest bond of unity may be established between America and Persia [Iran]. I know this to be your wish and purpose also and am sure of your cooperation. We shall, therefore, offer supplication in the divine threshold that a great love may take possession of the hearts of men and unite the nations of the world. We will pray that the ensign of international peace may be uplifted and that the oneness of the world of humanity may be realized and accomplished. All this is made possible and practicable through your efforts. May this American democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the universality of mankind. May it be the first to upraise the standard of the Most Great Peace, and through this nation of democracy may these philanthropic intentions and institutions be spread throughout the world. Truly, this is a great and revered nation. Here liberty has reached its highest degree. The intentions of its people are most praiseworthy. They are, indeed, worthy of being the first to build the Tabernacle of the Most Great Peace and proclaim the oneness of mankind. I will supplicate God for assistance and confirmation in your behalf."
'Abdu'l-Bahá, 1912

Fav. Foto Friday

See that adorable young girl on the bottom left?!Tomorrow, we're going to her wedding. How do 13 years fly by so quickly?!!

Fav. Foto Friday

When I arrived home from visiting my sister in Texas, my kitchen looked like this:
Which was pretty thrilling considering I left it looking something like this:
Much love to my incredibly wonderful stepkids, Vahid and Leyla, and my loving husband for the best gift EVER!!

Fav. Foto Friday - belated

Having so much fun here in Texas... went to Sea World!!

Extra! Extra!

Guess who I'm visiting right now?!!!

Haven't changed much... have we?!! (Well, except for position)

I Ran 10 Laps!!! (2.5 miles)

As promised, here's the story:
I have always hated running. I was always athletic (played soccer, softball, field hockey, swimming, track, cheerleading, power lifting, water polo, AND lacrosse), but never had that super-fit athletic drive that would have propelled me to being more than simply good at any of these sports, and

I hated running.
My side hurt, I had trouble breathing, and my mind wasn't into it
(I hated it!)

After graduating from high school, I had one month to build up some strength and endurance for entering Air Force Basic Training (read: the ultimate full-body workout program!). Enter "running" - more specifically, my father, sister and I trained to run the Peachtree 10K Road Race in Atlanta. We ran it, more importantly, we finished it! The next day I entered the Air Force.

So here I sit, not doing much of anything. In fact, I haven't done anything athletically strenuous since college (19 years ago). I'm not out of shape, per se - I mean, I have carried babies, chased kids, played games, gone camping, etc., but I can get winded if I have to go up more than one flight of stairs.

Last month, my husband proposed a running program for himself and the older girls, and BOY was I thankful to be left out of that little family project. The girls were excited about it, but returned home from the first day at the track in "high whine" mode. The high drama persisted so long, that that once-upon-a-time athlete in me started getting a little perturbed. All my pep-talking was met with, "You just don't know how hard it was!! (whine, whine, cry, cry)" So, the next day I put on the ol' running shoes, so I could show them I DO now how it feels, and if I can do it, so can they (all the while CRYING inside because - I hate running!!) I ran slowly jogged-walked 3 laps, and it just about did me in. But I didn't give up! I decided to stick with it, mostly because I'm tired of not recognizing the person in the mirror when I catch a "profile" shot.

My husband designed the program:
* on M, W, F we go to the high school track and run laps (we started with 4 and each week we add a lap - right now we're up to 8 laps) and stretch afterwards [the 10 laps was a special "push yourself to see if you can do it" exercise about 3 weeks in]
* on T, Th, Sa we walk a brisk 2 miles (with the dogs) around the neighborhood, and come home to do sit-ups (YEAH!!)
* My husband and I have to wait one hour after exercising before eating (let's our bodies "snack"on themselves for faster weight loss)
* everybody has to eat one serving of raw fruit before breakfast and one serving of raw vegetables before lunch and dinner
* we drink PLENTY of water throughout the day
* we're getting to bed earlier/on-time and taking a half hour nap in the afternoon

It's pretty simple actually, but the effects have been dramatic!! First of all, in the four+ short weeks we've been doing this, my energy level has more than doubled. I'm cleaning, getting things done, multi-tasking more effectively, and just feeling better. Instead of wanting to sit and just watch TV from 8:00pm on, because I feel exhausted (even though I haven't done much); I actually have energy (and time) to be creative, think and read (the fun, fun stuff of life!). It reminded me of something I had learned in one of my many previous lives - ordering the bulk foods for a health food store.

There are two different meanings to feeling tired, and it's important to distinguish between them, becuase they have two VERY different remedies. Being physically tired comes from, duh, exerting yourself physically - solution: rest. BUT, being mentally tired, from the stress and strain of life, requires physical activity to remedy. Resting, doing nothing, increases your feelings of exhaustion, if it's mental. So next time you feel tired, ask yourself if there's a physical reason you SHOULD be tired, and if not, strap on your shoes and meet me at the track!

This Just In...

So, two weeks ago, my computer melted - actually, just one of the USB port cables did, but the whole computer "died". Luckily, one of my friends loaned me an old laptop, say "Hi!"

so I could at least get on-line to order some new computer parts and check a few blogs. But for some reason, this snarky little computer wouldn't even let me view my blog, much less post to it. I have my "new" old computer back finally, so I thought I'd catch you up on what you missed during the down time.

We were visited by royalty (happens frequently), this time by the Queen of (and I kid you not) "Chenaeiouyrda" [that's pronounced chi-na-ra, sort of]
Went to the local Rescue Squad open house and got to pretend we had broken our leg at a football game!
Got dressed up to go worship and eat a fantastic meal
at the local Hindu temple.
Celebrated a birthday - OMG Faith is 12!!(and, yes, that IS a chemistry set she's so excited to receive;
apparently my "nerd gene" is dominant - YES!!!!!)

Had a homemade brownie & lemonade stand
...and ate some profits
...and donated a snack to the renovation efforts at a
neighborhood arts camp.
FINALLY cleaned some space in the garage to unleash our creative spirit.
I missed Mrs. G's open house (boo hoo), though I did bake some bread for the event (actually cheated and bought "par-baked" bread from Whole Foods and just gave it the last 12 minutes of baking for crispiness).
Had a great time eating watermelon at the Race Unity Picnic.
Went to an AMAZING gospel choir concert and got spiritually refreshed (I'm still floating!)
Had a momenatry lapse of sanity and adopted two guinea pigs - whaaaa!!

Hope you're having a fantastic summer too!!

Happy Fathers' Day!

Ahhhh... it doesn't get any better than a best friend,
an ice cold O'Douls, and a soccer game.Unless, of course, it's followed by a couch snuggle with ALL your children.AND an amazing dinner with the "adopted" family members too.

Fav. Foto Friday

The girls and I had a great time in DC last weekend,
visiting my cousin and his family.

Rhetorical Question - Memorial Day Edition

What lengths would YOU go to
to retrieve a 35¢ balsa airplane off your sister's roof?

And how LONG would you spend contemplating it?

A Wonderful Afternoon

Today we made one of my favorite foods of all time, because it combines two of the best things there are: bananas and bread.

Zohreh's Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 325º. In a mixing bowl, place three very ripe bananas and mash them well. To the bananas, add the following:

1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Stir by hand only until completely combined. Pour into loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour 15 min. (until a toothpick comes out clean)
We find this is especially good served with fresh squeezed lemonade,

and homework and friends on the deck.

p.s. should you ever feel moved to thank me for sharing this recipe with you, simply bake me a loaf and bring it on over! [OK - time for a road trip of your own (educational homeschooling field trip - a massive one!); Mrs. G - a homecoming?; foolery - because you're just crazy enough to do it for no reason at all]

Fav. Foto Friday

We had a lovely hike and picnic today

right next to this
with this view
Wish you could have joined us!

Extra. Extra.

Do you think the Girl Scouts had fun this weekend on their ALL-day-trip to the Aurora Fossil Museum and the Estuarium?

Stuff of Life

Yesterday was THE perfect day
for sittin' outside and gigglin' with your girlfriends.