Healthy Life Lessons

I'll admit I get irritated easily by things, so I have a lot of pet peeves. Here are some of them (in no particular order): 1. The stickers they put on produce 2. Overheated spaces (I HATE being hot, it gets me very agitated...I don't even like summer, it's too damn hot!) 3. Strangers on the street who give you parenting advice 4. Traffic - I am sure there are a lot of cities that have worse traffic, but the traffic here in Toronto drives me nuts. I hate sitting in the car going nowhere. 5. People who keep me waiting (Whether it's doctors or friends, I hate it when people are late) 6. Insect bites - I am extremely allergic to mosquitos so I swell up and get extremely itchy and miserable. Consequently, you won't ever catch me camping! 7. People who never ask you anything about yourself - I frequently meet people who will happily answer all of my questions about them and talk about themselves at great length but fail to ever ask anything about anyone else. 8. Trans...

P1: I was working on my 20 page paper for the Theories of Personality course today and something struck me: I've actually really ENJOYED writing all of the papers for this course. Like I actually look forward to sitting down and working. Now, I've always loved being a student but I am not sure I loved doing the assignments, it was more the class discussion that I liked. This time around I don't have true class discussions, since it's all online, but I have been really enjoying writing the papers. It's kind of cool! P2: We had an uncharacteristically amazing weekend. Both girls were so well behaved, we just had a lot of fun. Saturday morning I took the girls to the Wychwood Barns farmer's market while Adam was at the gym. When we got home I put Little A down for her nap and Big A played quietly while I worked on my paper. When Adam got home we took them to Costco so we could purchase mass quantities of stuff. That place is addictive, but kind of disgusting at the...

P1: I can't seem to get started on my 20 page paper for school. Procrastinating is very unlike me. I guess I'm not really procrastinating as I have been doing the background research but now I'm dreading getting it started. So I know I should just get it over with and start already! My next term starts in May after this class is over, and by then, Sherma will be coming 4 days a week to watch Little A and life will be so much easier! P2: I am really getting sick of Little A throwing food on the floor and eating so poorly. So yesterday, I finally decided to start her meals with the food already on the floor. I just plopped her on the floor beside the food (on a plastic mat we had under the highchair to keep the floor clean) and...voila, she eats voraciously! What a weird baby! I now want to feed her all her meals on the floor but Adam doesn't seem so thrilled with this idea. It certainly is messy...even moreso than when she was throwing everything...but she's eating s...

P1: I finally feel like this course is under control. I've submitted my first 10 page paper and have completed a first draft of the second. I've got two more weekly quizzes and I now have to start wrapping my head around the 20 page paper. But I actually feel like it's all going to get done somehow. Yay! P2: Big A has been pretty good lately and we've been having fun. Yesterday, she told me her best friend Grace had her nails painted and she wanted hers done. OMG, she's not even 4 yet! I told her I would paint her nails for her birthday (and clean them off the next day!!!). I can't believe how early this stuff starts. Little A is still driving me crazy with her inconsistent food intake. One day she eats well, the next she simply throws everything on the floor. This morning's breakfast was a bad one. She only wanted to eat banana and blueberries. In fact, fish and fruit are really the only thing she will consistently eat. Sounds healthy, but a ba...

I had to take a break from my school work today to devote a whole post to the topic of apples. I LOVE apples, they are by far my favorite snack. Baby carrots come second. I am not a "snack food" eater as I believe most of it is garbage and is not even very tasty. I am a firm believer that you need nothing more than fruits and veggies to snack on, assuming you are eating hearty, well balanced meals. Anyways, back to apples. As a kid I only knew of 4 kinds of apples: Mcintosh, Red delicious, Yellow delicious and Granny Smiths, none of which I particularly like. But as an adult, the whole world of apples opened up to me. And wow, what a world it is! Honey Crisp apples are definitely the "it" apple du jour. I agree, they are fantabulous, but they are not my favorite. I also like Jona Golds and Fujis, but my absolute favorite, by far, are Mutsus. They are also called Crispins sometimes. They are large, pale green apples that have the perfect balance of tartnes...

Here is the recipe I made on Wednesday, which turned out nicely. I'll call it, "Mediterranean Vegetable Stew". I served it over brown rice. 1 tsp olive oil 4-6 small zucchini, sliced into thin circles (the really small ones are most tender) 1 red onion, diced 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained, or 6-8 roma tomatoes, diced 1 can chickpeas 2 cloves garlic, minced Splash of red wine vinegar chili flakes (optional) salt and pepper, to taste Sauce 1 cup plain yogurt Juice and zest of 1 lemon 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp ground cumin Couple handfuls fresh mint leaves, chopped 2 tbls spicy mint chutney (optional) Saute zucchini over medium heat in large skillet or frying pan until golden. Add onion and saute until softened. Add garlic, chickpeas, tomatoes, vinegar and chili flakes, if using. Continue to saute until tomatoes are cooked. Season to taste. To make sauce, simply stir everything together until smooth, then drizzle over veggie mixture. This n...

It's been such a good week! P1: I am feeling so good about my professional future right now. The one exception is I'm not sure I'm going to do brilliantly in my current course at school. I am finding it very interesting, but challenging and time consuming and I don't know if I can devote enough attention to it right now to do my best. On the bright side, I got the job at the Toronto Athletic Club!! So end of April I will be teaching a Brazilian Butt Lift class on Thursdays, ha ha! As you can probably guess, it's a lower body strength training class which is perfect. I didn't really want to take on another cardio class as I prefer to do my own cardio at home first thing in the morning and aside from Sundays before my spinning class, I don't do much lower body work simply due to lack of time. I also met with the infertility counsellor who works with my sister-in-law. She was so helpful and encouraging and provided me with some really great career advice....

P1: Audition today at Toronto Athletic Club!! I am so swamped with this new course, but the material is really interesting. Tomorrow is my meeting with the miscarriage/infertility counsellor to seek career advice and chat with her about the course she teaches through continuing education at UofT. P2: This week has started off MUCH better than last week. I've had 2 great mornings with Big A. She is such a delight when she is behaving, I just wish it happened more often. Little A has also been great, she is at such a good age. But I am getting sick of how picky she is with food and how much food she throws on the floor. Every day she changes her mind about what she wants to eat, with the exception of kiwi fruit and fish, which seem to be her favorites. F1: I'm making a new recipe tomorrow and if it works, I'll post it. It's got chick peas, zucchini, red onion and tomato in a yogurt based sauce flavoured with garlic, lemon and mint. F2: I'm consistently up to ...

P1: I called my "phone pal" today for the first time. Well...it's not really what I would call counselling, but I think it will probably still be a worthwhile volunteer job. The woman is from Jamaica and has 3 daughters: one in Montreal, one in New York and one here in Toronto. She didn't mention a husband. I don't think she entirely understands my role because she wanted to know if I would drop by sometime, which I don't believe is allowed with this particular program. It was difficult to understand her and, unfortunately, she was unwilling to turn off the "Dr. Oz Show" blaring on the television in the background. Oh well, if just shooting the shit is helpful to her and makes her feel less socially isolated, that's good enough for me. On Wednesday I met with the CEO of the corporate fitness company. It looks like we will be collaborating on a seminar about fitness in June. But the big news that day was Sherma came to watch Little A and s...

P1: My new course is overwhelming! I may not have time to update as much for the next few weeks. Hours of lecture to listen to, readings, a weekly quiz, two 10 page papers and a 20 page paper crammed into a 5 week course! Yikes! P2: Big A no longer complains about a sore throat or any other physical ailments so I am no longer worried something is seriously wrong. She had a great day today while Little A had a bad one. She was grumpy grumpy grumpy. And threw all her food on the floor at all 3 meals. Who knows what's up? Yesterday Big A asked me why Adam doesn't carry a purse. I love the odd, random questions she often asks me. I didn't know how to respond without reinforcing gender stereotypes. I told her men don't carry purses and she asked why. I said I didn't know but they generally preferred back packs and brief cases. There is already a gender divide at daycare. At 2, most of her friends there were boys and she had a major crush on a 5 year old. N...

Like most people these days, we have made an effort to reduce our "carbon footprint" and to, generally, find healthier ways to live. We buy organic food as much as we can (i.e. what we can afford) and use the car as seldom as possible. We replaced our toilets with water efficient ones, we got a tankless hotwater heater, we got a digital thermostat, we use canvas shopping bags and non-toxic cleaning products. I am totally in favour of all of these changes but I will admit there are a few things I really miss. One is my favorite perfume that I wore religiously for years: Angel by Thierry Mugler. I love, love, love the scent but was getting increasingly uneasy wondering what kind of crap was actually in it. According to info I found through a Google search, some very, very bad crap. That, in addition to the fact that it is now politically incorrect to wear heavy scents thanks to all the (annoying) people who have sensitivities, finally convinced me to give it up. The crys...

P1: I am very excited to report that it sounds like I will get to do some volunteering at the hospital in the spring. Dr. M. suggested I write up a proposal about what my role will be. I am proposing that, since I am not yet a certified counsellor, I simply provide patients who are going through miscarriage with moral support, as someone who has been through it, and access to information and further support resources. I also got my "phone pal" from Circle of Care. She is a 61 year old woman who is apparently lonely and socially isolated. She is legally blind and needs dialysis. I am going to call her next week to kick off our relationship. Supposedly she is very excited to have someone to talk to. I used to do a lot of volunteer work when I was younger - I had wanted to be a social worker or counsellor - and I am beginning to remember just how rewarding it can be. This coming Wednesday I have a meeting with the CEO of the corporate fitness company to discuss doing lunch and l...

Big A and I often make cereal squares. She loves them and they are very easy to make. I make them a bit healthier by using organic puffed brown rice or other puffed grains, instead of traditional Rice Krispies. We often add peanut butter and/or chocolate to them too and they are always a big hit. Unfortunately, they caused chaos with Big A this time. I made some peanut butter and chocolate ones last week because I was hosting my mom's group on Thursday. Big A saw the leftovers Thursday night and asked if she could have one in the morning. I said she could have one in the stroller on the way to daycare if she behaved all morning (mornings are so stressful I'm willing to do anything to encourage cooperation!). She was very well behaved Friday morning so I told her she could have a square once we got out of the house. She asked for two. I agreed, and cut one square into two (I can still outsmart her...sometimes!). She ate one on the way and gave me the other when we got ...

Something is definitely going on with Big A, but I really can't figure out what. I worry she is not well, only because she occasionally STILL is complaining about a sore throat and after seeming to be through the worst with her tantrums, we have had a relapse. But there are also signs that she is faking the sore throat. When she mentioned it yesterday morning, I offered her a Tic Tac, explaining that it is the new medicine we have for sore throats, warning her it was "minty". She declined the offer - this is the only time she has refused medicine - It's a mixed blessing that they make kids medicines taste like candy, I tell you! However, after munching on her favorite organic chocolate dipped brown rice cakes in the stroller on the way to daycare (another ploy I was using to determine if the sore throat was real), she claimed they had made her sore throat all better. So I'm thinking she's faking the sore throat. But something IS going on. She was great ...

P1: I spoke with the director of volunteer services at Mount Sinai today and it looks like I may be able to start some volunteer counselling with patients starting in the spring. I am very excited! I will have to go for an orientation session and provide a reference, which is not at all a problem. The bigger issue is defining exactly what I am going to be doing. I will have to discuss this with my ob/gyn, Dr. M. She sees a number of high risk patient groups so it will be interesting to see how she can use my help. She sees pregnant women with cancer and obese pregnant women, among other groups. The director of group fitness for the Toronto Athletic Club also asked me to move my audition up a few weeks. So it's now booked for March 16th. I am very nervous about this, not only because I haven't taught anything but spinning in a few years, but also because Sherma is going to come and watch Little A that day and I will have to leave before she wakes up from her nap. It wil...

P1: I was not offered the job at the gym where I teach spinning that I spoke to the director about a few weeks ago. Even though I would have turned it down anyways, it still seems absurd that I can't even get a job I am ridiculously overqualified for. But she wanted someone to start on March 1st (today!) and I think it would require too much of a time commitment, given all the other things I want to do. As much as I bitch about being home with Little A, I have to admit, the thought of leaving her right now freaks me out, I would never have been prepared to start a new job today. I finally heard from my ob/gyn, who apologized about not being able to connect with me, and she said she was going to speak with the head of volunteer services at Mount Sinai to see what restrictions there may be at the hospital in terms of patient contact. Even if I can't start volunteering there now, I really want to do my practicum placement there so I hope that is a possibility. P2: Something is...