Vegmom Moments

My Laundry Experiment

Was curious if I washed the laundry but didn't put it away, what would happen!

Here is only a part of it:

Soo, my hypothesis was correct.  I could continue to pile the clean clothes for several weeks, people would grab what they needed and no one would put it away.  

The pile would go down, and go up as more was used and more was washed, but not a single person in our house of three would attempt to put the laundry away.

OR EVEN FOLD IT!!!  

So now is the question.... Since I have proven my hypothesis to be true, do I keep living with a pile that is driving me crazy?  Or do I just keep letting it go, since no one else seems to care?

Hmmmm!!!

OK, you totally know that I will be putting these away!   Ha!   

This Week's Smile File

Because really simple things amuse me, and I have nothing exciting to blog about, I'm sharing the things that made me smile this week!

To start with, Hubs bought me this for Mother's Day:

How can you NOT smile at that???

Moving on....

My Mom lost an inch off her height and then found it again... this made me laugh!  Chemo may take hair, but it can make you an inch taller, who knew??  *wink*

I came across some old emails from an email friend of years past.  Re-reading them put a huge smile on my face!!!  

It is funny how I classify friends since the web... I have old work friends, web friends, bloggy friends, school friends (which are also web friends), Childhood friends, K-Moms friends, Email friends, Coaching friends, CrossFit Online friends and in-real-life friends.  

Before the web, we either had friends or we didn't.... Now I feel like I must classify them since the people I chat with on-line I may never meet in real life and vice/versa.  Not that it matters to label them, but remember the first part of this post:   "Really simple things amuse me"

Continuing:

Waking up in the morning to my dog sideways taking up 90% of the bed, and me tucked in to a corner 1/2 off the bed, makes me wonder how that happens while I'm sleeping.  Then pondering this thought of him scooting me over in my sleep, makes me smile.

Hearing the husband admit that I can do more push-ups than him.  Now THAT was pretty funny.

Getting a text from my Step-Dad, telling me all about his Green Smoothie adventures was AWESOME!  But I also got a text from an old friend who finally purchased a blender and was making her very own smoothies. Then asked for recipes by a Facebook friend wanting to make them too.  It was a Green Smoothie week all around and THAT makes me happy!

Stopped at a casino on our way back from Michigan to see what could happen with $5.  On his first pull, the husband thought he won $200.  Turned out he was at a penny machine..   But he did win two bucks.

Watching a CrossFit friend get a ONE HANDED HANDSTAND for the first time was incredibly awesome.

Watching my Mother-n-law's face when I did a two handed handstand in her garden against a narrow tree with cactus all around was priceless

A CrossFit friend told me of their dream that had me in it, where I was making a Kale Pizza.  If only that was real life and I knew how to make a Kale Pizza.

Got a note from someone that worked for my Uncle many many years ago but is now a Raw Foodie and works at the cancer center where my mom visits.  How cool is that?  

And totally out of the blue, I got a Facebook message from a Veggie friend I used to work with over 10 years ago that I haven't seen in about 10 years.

Needless to say, this was a week with a whole lot to smile about.  Even if I'm the only person that finds these events smile-worthy... You have to at least smile at this:

*SMILE*  C'mon you know you want to!!!  DO IT!

You are a Package

I was talking to a client the other day and we went down this road of imagining she were a gift.  Thought it would be fun to share here in case someone out there could use a pick-me-up!

Imagine that you are a gift that you are giving to someone.  Inside that wrapped package contains all your bits and pieces.   Not just looks, hair color and skin type, but also thoughts, feelings, emotions, good qualities, bad qualities, your soul and your heart.  (the list goes on)

So if you take away the looks as we age or with illness, all those other things are still a part of our package.

It is OK to own those feelings and we shouldn't ever feel bad because people don't like them.  It is who we are.  

We are who we are.  Yes we improve, we can also decline, but our heart and our soul remains through out.   If you don't like something about yourself, work on changing it.  If you don't like how you deal with situations, start dealing with them differently.  The key here is to make changes because YOU WANT to, and not change for anyone else.

People may like you, they may not....  But you are who you are, a wonderful little package all filled with goodness (and maybe som bad-ness)

The same goes for those around us, they are each their own package.  We can't change their "package" we may be able to Re-gift them or pass them off at a white elephant party...(Oh, just kidding)

But we CAN change who we are, if only we think it is necessary.  What others think about us, is their thoughts to own, but what we think about ourselves makes or breaks how we live.

So if you are reading this, know that you are truly special and amazing!!

Now go take care of yourself because being special comes with responsibility!

Hugs from a Vegmom!

 

Fun Weekend With Friends

A friend and her kids came to visit last weekend, only instead of staying with us, they went up to tourist-ville.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't completely cooperate but there was a lot of indoor fun to be had.

We met them two days in a row for indoor activities, tourist attractions, food and swimming.   

At the end of it all and after we left, she saw a beautiful rainbow.  I'm not sure if this is in the rule book or anything, but I think that qualifies as a perfect ending to a really nice weekend.

 

Week in Review

This was a very interesting week.   A dead pig, chemo update and special visitors all in one post.... really, it doesn't get much better than that!

Some say "Great learning opportunity"...  I say, it was horrible timing for our family, parents should have been notified, and my Vegkid should have been offered a better OPT out option.  (all children should have been offered a better opt out option)

Yes, I'm referring to the dead pig portion of the first sentence in this post.  

I picked up my very upset kid from school this week to find out that some well-meaning parent brought pig guts (with carcass) in for the kids to dissect.  The pig was killed earlier that day for sausage, and apparently this was considered a great learning opportunity for the children to cut it open.

Without too many details (because I've already put my close friends through this), I will say that the good news of how that day evolved turned in to the following:

• The boy is so grossed out now, that he has added this to his thought bank of never eating 4 legged animals.  The memories from that day will be forever stuck in his brain.
• He truly is a compassionate soul, and I am one proud Vegmom
• I'm even more proud that he tried to stand up for himself in spite of the negativity surrounding that effort
• Hubs and I were on the same page (that is always a bonus)
• The Vegkid's career choices have narrowed
• We get to spend a whole day together with no school (reads, sleeping in) while more of the pig guts get chopped to bits without his presence.

Now for the Chemo part of this discussion... NeeNee (my Mom) had her first session yesterday and it went better than she expected.  No immediate allergies or complications.  As of last night, she was in pretty good spirits.

Regarding the special visitors...  My bestest friend and her boys came through town for a couple days.  The kids played with wizards, dragons, arcade games/tickets, and swam until their little fingers were total prunes. My boy went down very large water slides for the first time ever as his water-confidence continues to improve.  And her kids were fearless the whole time.

My favorite part (shhhh, don't tell them)  I brought vegan and gluten-free cupcakes for the kids since it was one of their birthdays.  They gobbled them up with NO complaints and said they were GREAT!!!  Woohooo!! 

I also liked getting a turn at taking some yummy green goodness to a very deserving Mom.  Turned in to a pretty lovely visit.

So to that, I end this post, treasuring each good day as a good day and not taking a single one for granted!

 

 

Cloudy or Sunny

When there are some clouds but more sun, the weather person says "It is partly cloudy"

When there is some sun but more clouds, the weather person says "It is mostly cloudy"

The poor sun can't win...

What if it was partly sunny or mostly sunny with a chance of happy thrown in?  

Change your words and you can change your perception of things going on around you!

 

Earthfest 2013

One year ago in April, I saw that Earthfest was coming up and I could get a booth pretty cheap.  For years I had gone to this festival as a patron but having my own booth seemed to good to be true.

This was the first option to bring my passion to reality and the first time of putting myself out there as a business owner.   I remember talking to a friend and saying "I pushed submit, I did it"....

From that point forward my life has been moving so fast.  My experience at Earthfest 2012 brought so many opportunities and the ability to talk with kids and moms that I wouldn't have reached otherwise.  It also gave me the opportunity to learn about more festivals, get workshops signed up and share my ideas with a local university.

Many of my classmates at the time were going on to do festival booths and thought because they didn't get any clients out of them that they weren't worth the money, a waste of time and unsuccessful.  Well, I beg to differ!  Of course success is going to mean different things for every person.

For me, the success at Earthfest 2012, was just getting there.  Having the right materials at my booth, and being able to speak with people about a topic I was passionate about.  If one person changed their lunches, or one person thought about their daily habits, than I made a difference to that one person.  And that to me was success.  

Fast forward to Earthfest 2013:

 

I was asked to do other festivals that same day, and I turned them all down.  In my mind, I had to get Back to Earthfest and see what has changed within myself in that year's time.

OH MY KALE, so much has changed.  But my absolute favorite part of going back to this festival was having people remember me from the 3 minutes they spent with me last year.  I had one person bop up to my booth with a thrilled face.  I recognized her from last year and she says "Oh my God, I'm so glad you were here, I was hoping I would find you today"  She got so much use out of my lunch tips last year, that she wanted more ideas.  Thankfully I had brought snack tips with me this time.

Another person came up to thank me for my newsletter that she receives each month.  She had signed up last year and wanted to come tell me how valuable that was to her.

I spoke with kids while their parents stood back and watched.  I spoke with parents, non-parents, school teachers and everyone in between.  Even had someone come up to me saying their grown children were diabetic and they wished they'd had these resources 30yrs ago.  They asked if they could share my info.  Why YES, please!

The stories continued all day long, my feet were sleepy by the end of standing that long on hilly grass, but my mind was so thrilled.  It was such an inspiration to see that what I was doing meant something and the changes plus memories within a year were huge.  

Discussions in 2013 were so different than 2012.  Give-aways at my booth had changed too, and I enjoyed promoting other companies that fell within my message of "food-fitness-life".

Some other coaches would ask, "Why do you have things at your booth that don't promote something you are selling, what a waste of space"...  First of all, I like to support other small businesses and second because I'm not going to be an expert in everything.  It is important to provide people resources, and by having those things at my booth in a completely no cost manner, that also means no pressure so the conversation is all about them and not what I'm trying to sell them.

Needless to say 2013 was a huge success, just like 2012.  I was so pleased with the turn out, and very glad that I signed up for this one.

As for what is next for my business, only time will tell.   I'm currently getting my articles published all over the web, teaching workshops, classes, groups and individuals.  

Spreading the Falling in Happy way to whom ever will listen and for that I am grateful.

PS. I recently found out that people are reading this blog that I didn't know were still reading it, so I took a peak at my traffic and Woah!  There are a lot of you.... If you are out there and you read this post, do something for you this week that makes you feel your best.  Whether that is adjusting your food intake, getting out for a walk, trying out a gym, or if it is just putting a smile on your face.  Know that I'm thinking of you...  

P.S.S.  Comments can be anonymous, In the past people have left me notes and asked that I don't publish them.  Those people are now awesome webby friends.  If you are out there, feel free to say HI!

Hugs to all of you and thank you for sticking with me through the most wonderful yet challenging years of my life!!  This blog/journal is always my mental reprieve, a way to connect to family and so much more.  But knowing that people are still reading my complete and total nonsense after all this time, is a pretty awesome thing!

~Hugs!!

 

 

 

 

24hrs in Pittsburgh

Seems odd to switch hats from talking about my Mom being diagnosed with cancer to all the other happenings in my life but if I let life stop, than the cancer wins.  And I'm sorry but that just isn't acceptable.  

Granted I had some moments this past weekend when life hit me square in the face but I'm back... shook it off and here we go!

---------

While going through pictures, I realized that I forgot to post about my short trip to Pittsburgh.  Why would a Vegmom go to Pittsburgh?  Because an old colleague asked if I would do a quick consulting job for their company.  

I said Yes and that is how I ended up in Pittsburgh!

A Vegmom travel story is not complete without the following... 

Transportation:

I traveled by Air, which was fun.  Especially when the person to my right fell asleep snoring inside my space bubble, person to my left pukes before landing, and someone in the middle was coughing all over me.  Add to that the delays, almost missing connecting flight and an awesome Jamba Juice in the airport, it turned out to be a good experience.  I mean really, wheat grass shots at the airport makes for a perfect day.  Right?  *smile*

Hotel:

The hotel was very nice in the heart of the University (I think), that particular chain did NOT use down pillows and there was a Starbucks within walking distance.  I was happy!

Food:

Well..... I was told that salads in Pittsburgh came with french fries and cheese on top.  Fortunately I only ended up with potato chips on top of mine, but it was still an experience.  One meal was at a German place and another at a New Orleans style restaurant.  Let's just say, neither had the most amount of veg menu choices, but the salads were quite accommodating.

As for the weather.. it was rainy, then sunny, then windy, then sunny..  

There are some pretty cool buildings in Pittsburgh:

I played tourist in the morning before my ride came to get me.

And this was the view from the conference room I was in.. A building that looked like a chain link fence.  It was so cool:

Of course there was way more, but I only had 24hrs in the town...

Forgot to say my morning tourist excursion was really to find that Starbucks that was within walking distance of the hotel.  It was raining, but I was on a mission:

Who needs an umbrella anyway:

Wearing my Red Friday shirt, I took off in the wild rain yonder and turned in to a totally wet mess.

But I got my chocolate covered coffee and booked it back to the room before I had to meet my ride.

Silly me, changed in to my fancy work clothes and then realized, I had all this wet stuff to pack back in my carry on bag.  Whoops!!!  Hair Dryer wasn't cutting it so I grabbed the laundry bag.

Turned out to be a really great trip.  I think the day full of meetings was successful (at least I hope).  The teams I worked with were so accommodating and getting to visit with people I hadn't seen in a couple years was definitely a treat.

Wellness educating is my passion, but consulting with a little flair of coaching was very rewarding too.

Now, if I ever have to go back, I wonder if I can request a row of seats all by myself on that plane thing!

 

 

That Call

I put the CrossFit post update on here first as I was purposely trying to think happy thoughts while waiting to hear back from my Mom's doctors appt.

That call where we would find out the severity of her diagnosis and the treatment options.   In my heart, I knew what the words were going to say and yet when I heard them, it sounded so different than I had prepared myself for...  "Inoperable, both lungs, chemo starts next week" 

Well OK, chemo starts next week... lets get this thing goin!!  

But then it hit me... Chemo starts next week...my brain is going a mile a minute.  I want to go for a run.  Not to run away from problems but to run towards my thoughts.  Like if I go run as fast as possible, I will find clear thinking on the other side and the positive outlook that I plan to keep.  

It is dark, running isn't an option, and so crying sounded like a good alternative.   I had a moment... a short moment of just going within, good memories running through my brain.  All the things that she can do "naturally" to help shrink this bugger.  How I can help, what I should do, what I should say.....  And then I remember that this is HER journey.  

Can't change her past, can't make different past decisions, what she decides from this point forward is for her, and I will support what ever that decision is.  Do I fill her head with green food?   Or do I fill her head with loving thoughts?  Do I send her stuff?  Or just leave her be?

If my thoughts are racing, I imagine what hers are doing and that makes me sad for her.  In general, I'm staying positive, with every challenge there are blessings and I'm looking toward the blessings.

Like conversations with my family members and the humbling experience of 100's of complete strangers from my health coach training sending my mom good words.   Phone calls, email and facebook messages from people we haven't heard from in years.  I'm thankful she got the flu, or we wouldn't have this time to be talking about chemo.  And things like my little man playing tunes on his recorder then deciding to give me a hug just because.  

Today was the end of a week full of waiting, thoughts and discussions preparing myself with happy visions and knowing that she was living with this thing before we knew about it, she will live with this thing now that we know about it.  

Then after the little moment of tears and knowing there will be more of those moments when I just have to collect myself, it dawned on me....  SHE IS HERE NOW, what are you fretting about?????

My Mom is here on this day and is every bit as awesome as the day I first remember running to her arms as a child.  And even if she lives to be 100 then passes on, she will still be here in my heart.  Every memory, every thought, every stroke of my hair... Even the time she tried to brush my hair while I was in labor.  Yeah, that didn't go over so well. 

The time she first held my son, and the times we went on trips together.  The time she slept in the tub because she was snoring so loud, or when she hopped on a plane because I broke my foot. And all the moments she got on the floor with her grandkids.  This thing growing in her lungs does not take any of that away, nor does it change who she is inside. 

She is My Mom, my Brother's Mom, and our kid's grandma (aka NEENEE) she is the person that I want to talk to when ever something great happens, she is the person I email/call when things not so great happen.  She has been my biggest fan and one of only two people in this world that have ever understood me.   

I have written a lot about her on this blog and if you have been around for a while, you know that I started this blog for her.  I keep it updated for her or she calls in a panic.

So to that I say, she is here now and every bit a part of my life as she was before I knew about chemo or the reason for it.  And each day on this earth is a new blessing.  

Today was a great day, I got to talk to my Mom!

We never know what each day brings or if each new day will happen, so share with those you love.  

No matter what the result for my Mom in the future, she is here today and for that I am blessed!

 

CrossFit Update

Lots of updates coming this weekend... some good, some challenging, but lots to say, and so I shall!

First I will start with a fun update... CrossFit.. yeah, I'm doing that again.  Ignore if you must!

A couple weeks ago, I hurt my back at home trying something new on our pull-up bar.  BAD idea!! (for another post) which wrapped around to my ribs.  I took a few days off of CF to let it heal and came back on Sunday with my first head to head competition.

I promised myself, friends, family and coaches that I would stop if anything hurt in my back or chest, but ended up having a lot of strength and was ready to roll after several days being off.  The competition was double elimination.

First round, was jumping pull-ups and squats... I lost that one and went to the losers bracket.

Another was hanging from a bar and not being the first to let go, later was rowing machine and burpees, and another round was running, then lifting weight over head as fast as possible.

All of those, got me to the next round...  It turned in to a long day, I went through 4 bottles of water, a banana, smoothie and veggie sushi!!  

Watching the competition was INTENSE... The RX athlete workouts were crazy, it was so fun to watch.  As the day went on, I met more people got to visit with friends from my box and really see what CrossFit is about. 

The workout is one thing, but the people... oh my, the PEOPLE are amazing.   Cheering for the last person, people staying even after they were eliminated just to help push others through their round.  It was seriously the best experience.

On my final round where I met my fate of elimination, the workout was jump rope and push presses.  My chest at that point was saying NO MORE!  And I listened... Just did what I could do, and finished strong but not with the highest number.  

That was the last step before the championship, so I had made my way out of the losers bracket.  Although, I didn't really understand the bracket stuff, people had to keep telling me where to go.  But next time I think I'll have it down. 

This week, I was back at the Box for 4 days, went light on weight but otherwise completed every workout.  Next week, I'll start adding weight again and see how my body reacts.  

Last time I gave a CrossFit update, I mentioned that size 4 pants were within my reach.  Well this time I can say, after seven months, I'm officially in a Size 4.   (even bought a pair, shhhhhh!)

Real work, with real results.  Even with my little chest/back ouch, I'm feeling plant strong and love the way that feels.   

7 Month pictures....

Someone told me the other day that my strength from CrossFit has moved to other areas in my life and I would have to agree.  

What a transition this year has been and I love every bit.  Even the challenges create blessings. 

To that I say, find something that makes you feel strong inside and something you love.  Exercise shouldn't be dreaded, it should be awesome!  

Find your awesome!  *smile*