- Dim Sum- September 8, 2009
- Helping in the Classroom - September 9, 2009
- What Goes Around - September 10, 2009
- Brave Run - September 11, 2009
- Wet - September 12, 2009
- Truth and Compost - September 13, 2009
- My Clothesline - September 14, 2009
- Crawdad Relocation - September 18, 2009
- Race Moxie - September 21, 2009
- Of Mice and Moms - September 22, 2009
- Driving While Intextacated - September 24, 2009
- Brave Run - Round the Outside - September 25, 2009
- Bed Hygene - September 29, 2009
Dim Sum
 Getting
off of the well-worn and beaten path is one of the ways I
get a dose of moxie. Today was one of those days.
After
an early morning and sweaty visit to the zoo near Herman
Park in Houston, we hit Chinatown off of Harwin Street for
lunch.
Dim sum, which translates as
"a bit of heart", is the name for Chinese cuisine which
involves a wide range of light dishes. It is usually served
in the mornings through lunch at Chinese restaurants. The
food is served off of carts pushed around the restaurant by
servers who generally don’t speak much English, which lends
to the fun and certainly the excitement of the whole
experience.
Enjoying a dim sum meal is a
wonderful way to encourage kids to become adventurous
eaters, because sometimes you’re just not quite sure what
exactly is in a fish ball, which I did not actually end up
ordering. We did, however, order steamed shrimp dumplings,
mystery meatballs, gai lan (Chinese broccoli), pork buns,
egg rolls and the obligatory Chinese tea. We passed up
chicken feet, shrimp stuffed squid, and the blocks of
coagulated duck blood; our adventure has a limit.
One of the best parts of the
meal came unexpectedly when I asked my 77 year old mother if
I could ask for a fork for her to use, and she politely
declined, insisting that it was time for her to try using
chop sticks since she never had. What a great example that
was, for me and my kids.
We probably won’t
try making the chicken feet at home any time soon, but we
might be up for the challenge of trying to reproduce some
simple dumplings. It was a simple meal but an adventure we
won’t soon forget. Try some dim sum if you have the chance!!
Helping in the Classroom
 Volunteering in my kids’ elementary school classrooms is something I make a point of doing throughout the school year. By the time they are in high school I don’t think I’ll have the chance to help out in the classroom setting, so I’m thinking of it as a limited opportunity engagement.
Today I got to meet several first graders and read with them individually in a hallway, and in that hour I got a big hit of daily moxie. Some of the kids could not read at all, and others were very proficient, but they were all pretty dang cute. I heard all about a little girl’s mom who left the family to go live in New York, and how she goes home every day to a babysitter who naps on the couch until her dad comes home from work. Another little boy told me all about his mom’s new twins, and how much fun they are, but how tired they make his mommy. Some of the kids were very shy, but nothing was too personal for those extroverts; I heard it all.
Spending time with other people’s kids makes me realize how fast my own kids are growing up, and how precious they are. I also see myself better through their eyes when I listen to other children talk about their own families. Wouldn’t we all be better parents (people?) if we could videotape ourselves interacting with our kids and play it back from time to time? Imagining it makes me cringe, but my volunteering experience today will help me maintain better awareness of how my mood is affecting my kids. Now I just need to keep it in check!
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What Goes Around
Today a got a g reat dose of karma as my daily moxi experience, in the form of a snake in my shower.
I keep several varieties of small plastic and rubber bugs and reptiles, which I put in my kids’ lunches from time to time, and for some reason they have been in my bathroom for several weeks. Besides the plastic roaches, lizards, mice and crickets, there is also a small rubber snake on my counter.
As I was stepping into the shower today I noticed that fake rubber snake (or so I thought) on the floor, and I figured my husband was playing a practical joke on me, leaving it in the shower to hopefully scare me and get a good laugh. Mid-step, though, I noticed this rubber snake coil back. That stopped me in my tracks. There was a live snake in the shower. 
This snake was not large, but there are several varieties of poisonous snakes where we live, so I kept my distance. After calling my husband to report the snake (like he can do anything about it while he’s at work?) I decided to call some friends whom I thought would be up for the challenge of removing the snake from my shower and the house. I got dressed while they drove over, and it was all over a few minutes after they arrived; Keith took care of the whole she-bang, thank goodness. Now that’s what I call a friend.
It was fun to make a few phone calls informing people about the experience, one of which was to my mom. She happens to be mortally afraid of anything remotely serpentine, except gold chains. I decided not to tell my kids; I didn’t want them to be paranoid about getting into the shower forevermore.
My mom, however, was the first to ask my kids this evening if I had told them all about the snake in my shower. Their eyes grew to the size of saucers upon hearing the snake in the shower news story, but they actually thought it was pretty amazing and funny (unlike me). Plastic snakes, very cool, live snake in the shower, very uncool.
Now I’m going to have to rethink my snake relocation program. We’ve had several small snakes (they look like copperheads) over the last few months and I’ve been catching them and taking them to the creek across the street to release them. They must know that they are safe at my house. Maybe they need a place to stay, or just a shower to clean up? Who knows. I do believe I should perhaps rethink the fake scary stuff in the lunchboxes, though, even if by now my kids pretty much roll their eyeballs at those antics.
Brave Run
Running is one of the simplest ways that I get my dose of daily moxi. It’s a powerful antidepressant and over the years I’d say it’s become my form of prozac, not a panacea, but very effective at helping to keep the blues at bay.
If you’ve ever picked up a copy of Runner’s World magazine, you’ve probably seen a page they title ‘Rave Run’ near the front. There’s always an amazing photograph of a very fit person running in a beautiful and/or exotic location.
Around Waco we enjoy what I call ‘brave runs’. I’ll be blogging and posting photos from time to time about different brave runs around the towns where I’m able to run. Today’s brave run is one of my all time favorites; it’s a 7.5 mile loop that begins downtown and follows the Brazos River up and into Cameron Park where we turn around and return back into downtown.
There are two reasons that the Cameron Park loop qualifies as a brave run. First of all, Cameron Park has several very steep hills, so running them out and back requires a brave state of mind and a lot of discipline to get up and over them while running, or a lot of walking breaks. The second and more literal designation of Cameron Park as a brave run is because of its reputation for crime and dangerous activities, day and night. There are not many people on the streets of the park, driving or walking, and there are even fewer people utilizing the maze of well maintained and beautiful trails cris-crossing the park. Safety in the area has improved, I hear, but even the park ranger on horseback patrolling the park has warned me never to run alone there, so I always carry my pepper spray (good for stray dogs, too!) and I run with at least one other person. I suppose this is always the smartest way to run, regardless, brave run or not!
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WET
 Before hitting the hay, I try to get things cleaned up a bit to avoid waking up to yet another mess. Tonight I was feeling pretty good about how productive I had been, and the kitchen at least was free and clear of dirty dishes and piles of random papers along with stray legos or hair bobs. Strange things find their way into the kitchen somehow.
Walking into my kids’ rooms to tuck them in, I realized they were in the kitchen, so I went over to shoo them back into bed. They were getting some water to drink, and as my son moved back away from the fridge I noticed he was posting a hand made sign onto the door, which read: WET, and had an arrow pointing downward underneath the letters. He had also taken the time to draw about 30 little droplets of water in between the letters to decorate his sign.
 I felt myself begin to correct him, wanting him to just clean up after himself, but I stopped and instead thanked him for the warning. After all he was thinking of others when he walked through the puddle of water, tracking dirty footprints, to get the materials to make the sign. So even though there was not only a wet floor to dry up, but now a wet and dirty floor to clean, I was happy. We walked together to the laundry room and I showed him where we keep the rags for just such occasions. He then cleaned the mess with an old cotton diaper he used to wear as a baby; they are wonderful rags for cleaning!
If I show him enough times, because I’m pretty sure we’ve been through it before, he’ll eventually one day go and get that rag to clean up his mess. Or he’ll move out of the house and post signs around his own kitchen as an adult to remind himself about his spilled water. In the end, I suppose I’ve done my best and really, in the big scheme of things, this is the small stuff, so I’m choosing not to sweat it.
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Truth and Compost
 Back to school is both sweet and sorrowful. This time of year brings the return of busy schedules and hectic mornings getting out of the house on time. It’s an adjustment for everyone, even the dogs.
My son realized this week he had forgotten to do his homework, and he was very anxious about what his consequence at school would be. He was certain that he would at the very least have to miss recess and worse yet be humiliated in front of his classmates.
His anxiety turned into anger as he frantically made a final sweep of his room and then the whole house to look for his math worksheet. I gave the marching orders when I realized it was futile and we’d be late, which further aggravated him. With his anger came hateful words, spewing out of his little mouth in an uncontrolled tirade, directed at the source of all injustice – me. Once in the car, he jammed his feet jammed into the back of my driver’s seat, and I remained calm, despite my escalating blood pressure. Fighting fire with fire has never worked for me.
 Arriving at school I helped him cross the street to get into the school building, and informed him along the way that he would be given a consequence for his behavior. He demanded to know what it would be and I told him I’d be thinking about it during the day and would let him know after school. He seemed unfazed by this news but when I picked him up seven hours later he was offering sincere contrition and seemed nervous.
It turns out his consequence at school was inconsequential; his teacher gave him another copy of the missing worksheet and he was able to finish it during class time, so he did not even miss recess. At home, however, his consequence was 90 minutes of hard work in the yard on a hot afternoon, before homework.
I stayed outside to get the compost into the wheelbarrow and make sure it went  where it was supposed to go. Ultimately it turned into a lesson about both respect the value of education. Rene was being productive and physical, and that always helps him mellow a bit, as it does for most people, I think. I’m now making it a point to give my kids more meaningful responsibility around the house, and the truth is that most kids are capable of more than we give them the opportunity to do.
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My Clothes Line
 I grew up hanging clothes out to dry, and I never liked it much. As far as I knew we were the only people with our wet underwear flying in the backyard breeze, and it embarrassed me greatly. I am the product of what you might call very old school parents, literally and figuratively speaking. Of course my grandparents hung their laundry to dry; they had no alternative. In North Dakota my dad’s mom had to pile snow into a large tub, carry it inside and melt the snow to scrub her laundry clean by hand, and then hang the wet clothes outside to freeze dry before bringing them back in to defrost and redry! That makes my laundry work look like a vacation, really.
About ten years ago I got over my aversion to the clothesline, and I’m pretty sure it was when I was washing my kids’ cotton diapers. It made no sense to me wasting fuel and money to dry the things; they are thick and take a long time to dry in the dryer, and there was always a large pile to clean. That was when I got my first clothesline, and I have always had one since.
The air is very dry here in central Texas, so mostly the first of the pile of wet laundry I hang is dry before I finish hang ing the last of that load. It’s really a beautiful thing, and very relaxing. I get into a sort of meditative state while hanging laundry, unless I accidentally step in dog poop or a pile of fire ants – both hazards of wandering into the great outdoors of my backyard.
Lately we’ve suffered a three-year drought, so rainstorms have been few and far between, until this week, that is. The day I hung my last load of laundry up to dry, the sky broke open and the rain is still coming four days later. I kept thinking it would stop and the clothes would dry out, but today I finally brought them in to rewash and dry in the dryer. I expected some mildew but found none, thank goodness.
If you have a hankering for an easy and gratifying way to change your carbon footprint, consider buying and putting up a clothesline. They are way cheaper than a dryer and your clothes will thank you. I even put up a collapsible rack where my kids can hang out their own things to dry and fold. Start ‘em young – they can do it! You’ll make your grandma proud.
Crawdad Relocation
 A friend and I were out on an early morning run in a light rain the other day, and as we passed a ditch with fast flowing water some movement caught my eye. I glanced over my friend’s shoulder and told her I thought I had seen a claw coming up and out of the ditch. Sure enough the water was teaming with crawdads of all shapes and sizes.
I returned home and asked my kids, who were still in their jammies, if they wanted to check out some mudbugs. They were very enthusiastic about wanting to go that very moment, so they pulled on some rubber boots and their raincoats and we drove over to the ditch.
By the time we got there it was pouring down rain, but it did no t stop my son from splashing around in the ditch to capture three crawdads. He wanted to know if we could boil and eat them at home. I told him they wouldn’t make much of a meal and suggested he release them into the creek by our house, and that perhaps they might reproduce so that we could catch enough of them one day in the very distant future to have a crawfish boil. He seemed satisfied with this answer and made his way down to bid farewell to the crawdads from the ditch.
Next time you're surfing the internet, check out this website: http://www.nochildleftinside.org/ for more ideas about getting outside with your kids. No Child Left Inside is dedicated to helping kids re-connect with life outside, and getting out there is an easy way for YOU to get that dose of daily moxie.
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Race Moxie
 There is nothing like running a footrace to get your weekend morning off to an excellent start, especially after a long evening the night before entertaining family visiting from out of town.
Last night we stayed up late with some great wine and played a rousing game of Apples to Apples (fun game!!) with my husband’s family. It was close to 1 a.m. when we got to bed, and not quite 6 a.m. when the alarm sounded this morning. Our friends were waiting in the driveway to take us to the race at 6:30 a.m. Thank goodness it was only a 5 kilometer race!
We left everyone sleeping in the house while my husband and I slipped out for the first of our fall footraces. After a long summer of travel and not much consistent running, there’s nothing like a quick race to determine your fitness level. Finishing in just over 20 minutes was good enough for me today. I felt pretty strong and fit considering the heat and humidity, along with the sleep deprivation.
The 5K distance (3.1 miles) is a wonderful way to begin getting involved with recreational running, whether you are racing or walking the course. The final finishers in our race today walked across the finish line wearing kilts and blowing on bagpipes! Either way, we were all out there regaining our moxie, one step at a time.
Check out the new entry under the Moxi Favorites tab to read about a cool and easy way to stretch; it’s titled “Green Strap Thingy”. Enjoy, and sign up for a local 5K near you! A great way to make sure you’ll show up is to arrange for a friend to either pick you up (thanks Andy and Lisa!!), or meet you at the race.
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Of Mice and Moms
We’ve had a lot of rain lately, and that make for critters looking for shelter in our garage and house, like the snake in my shower, for example. I opened our outdoor grill the other day and the cutest little brown mouse was tucked up on the broiler tray, staring out at me. There was another mouse peeking out from our shoe rack in the garage, and I knew that it was time to get down to the dreadful business of mouse extermination. My husband grudgingly set the traps in our garage, nervous about having them slap down on his fingers while trying to set them.
The problem with killing the mice is that I kind of like them. Brown field mice are really very cute, and we’ve even named the mouse that lives in our compost pile in the corner of our backyard. The line, though, between like and dislike, is drawn when the mice encroach the food pantry in our garage or take up residence in our backyard grill.
 So this week we killed a cute little mouse in a slap trap, and my ten year old daughter happened to catch a glimpse of it, and what ensued was nothing short of a telenovella inspired dramatic meltdown. She cried for over an hour, literally, and I should explain here that she was actually sobbing for the family of the poor slain mouse. How were they to carry on without the dead mouse now? Who would take care of the babies? Didn’t I know that he/she/it had a family? I tried briefly to talk with her about diseases like the plague, carried by mice, but she would have none of it. Only after a proper burial were the tears slowed to a drip, and then a stop. I had made the grievous error of throwing the mouse and trap into an empty dog food bag into the trash can outside and was hastily reprimanded for my  thoughtlessness.
We have now agreed to only use live traps in the future, so that we can catch and release the mice when they wander into our garage or grill. And that actually makes me very happy, as does seeing how compassionate my daughter really is.
Driving While InTextacated
 I heard a frightening statistic today regarding texting while driving, and that is that 45% of drivers under the age of 30 are actively sending and reading text messages while driving their cars. Combine those numbers with drivers eating, reading, and talking on the phone while driving and it gets downright scary to think about. I didn’t even mention sleepy or intoxicated drivers, either; it’s hard to say what’s worse.
Because I’m out on the streets running most days, I’m watching drivers on a daily basis who are doing all of the above mentioned tasks while driving, sometimes simultaneously. It has made me not only a defensive driver, but a much more cautious runner. Running against traffic is the only way to maintain any ability to avoid being hit by distracted drivers. It gives me the illusion of personal security, along with my pepper spray, of course. If you see me or other runners out there waving at drivers going by, we’re not just being friendly; we are looking for confirmation that you can see us and acknowledge as much with a wave of your hand in return.
National Public Radio aired a piece today about a company called Safe Driving Systems. They are manufacturing a flagship wireless product called Key2SafeDriving (K2SD), which is a profile-driven system for limiting cell phone usage while driving. K2SD reroutes calls directly to voice mail and sends automated text message responses saying that the driver will respond when they have safely reached their destination. Their website is www.safedrivingsystems.com if you’d like to check it out for yourselves.
If this K2SD device makes driving and running on the roads safer I’m all for it. When I looked at the company website I found out that next week there will be a National Distracted Driver summit in Washington, D.C. – who knew that such things existed? Not me, obviously, but I’m glad someone is bringing the problem to light. All of our lives depend on it.
Brave Run – Round the Outside
 Some days the running comes easy, and some days….it just doesn’t. The trick seems to be getting out the door for those first few steps when you’d really rather do just about anything else. Having a group to whom you are accountable is a great way to make sure you get out the door on such days.
Today’s brave run is a classic: it is a timed 5 kilometer route that is exactly 2.5 loops around the outer parking lot of the Richland Mall here in Waco. Have you ever driven through a mall parking lot at 8:45 a.m. on a weekday? There is very little traffic. We don’t have to worry about crossing through intersections, waiting for stoplights, or dogs jumping over fences to hunt us down. Our group met up at the YMCA and jogged the one mile route to warm up on our way to the mall for our timed 5K run this morning.
This is not a particu larly pretty run, mind you, and the drivers that are in this parking lot are usually in a hurry to get somewhere and are not really paying much attention. It’s not often you come across a herd of runners in the mall parking lot, so I’m sure we take drivers by surprise. As this photo was taken we watched a driver cruise right on through the stop sign; he was craning his neck to figure out why we were gathered up in front of Sears before 9 a.m., I’m sure. The last time we met to run here Lisa left her cooler full of post-run drinks under a tree and it was stolen in less than 10 minutes.
We can’t totally escape the drawbacks of street running by coming to the mall, but we do get to do something different, enjoy a change of pace, and as eminem says, go round the outside. And that’s why the mall run is another brave run in Waco.
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September 29, 2009
Bed Hygiene
 Getting ready for sleep is a science at our house, and we call this having good ‘bed hygiene’. The routine before bed involves the usual brushing and flossing of teeth, showering if necessary, and reading for at least fifteen minutes before lights are turned off.
The other night my son was reading to me before bed and I was laying next to him, trying not to fall off the edge of his twin mattress. We nodded off to sleep together before he was finished, and when I woke up ten minutes later and got up out of his bed he popped up and asked me why scientists came up with the big bang theory to explain the formation of the universe. Wow.
This question is the opposite of good bed hygiene, and besides that, I really don’t know the answer to that question. Any other time I’m happy to engage in a scientific conversation, though. Let’s talk tomorrow, and I’ll spend the rest of my evening reading up about that before then. And no, I will not stay in your room to discuss this right now.
Which brings me to my point. There is a band called They Might Be Giants, and they’ve got a couple of kids’ albums out. The l atest album is called Here Comes Science, and these are the song titles: Science Is Real, Meet The Elements, I Am A Paleontologist, The Bloodmobile, Electric Car, My Brother The Ape, What Is A Shooting Star?, How Many Planets?, Why Does The Sun Shine?, Why Does The Sun Really Shine?, Roy G. Biv, Put It To The Test, Photosynthesis, Cells, Speed And Velocity, Computer Assisted Design, Solid Liquid Gas, Here Comes Science, The Ballad Of Davy Crockett (In Outer Space).
The music is great and the songs are educational; I’m excited to add this to our music collection. Gotta hand it to the band for expanding into the edutainment industry.
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