The Cowtown Half Marathon

Mayerson Family Post-Race

Last night I threw on my cowgirl boots and we drove over to Ft. Worth to do a little Cowtown running. We stayed a block from the finish line (two blocks from the start) down on Sundance square. We had a lovely evening walking around downtown Ft. Worth and had dinner at a Thai restaurant. After Grace went to bed, her Yia Yia hung out with her while Jeff and I went to the old Texas Hotel for a drink.

This morning was the half marathon. A cool morning with no wind, we headed down to the start line for the 7:30 start. I love races and it is hard to choose my favorite part, but that pre-race anticipation is pretty great. 20,000 people around us all excited and eager to start.

The race went great and running felt good. I was not running for time this race, but just for the fun of running. I finished with energy to spare and no clue if I had run it in 2:10 or 2:05. I was pretty sure I did not come in under 2. Well, I was pretty frustrated about 7 hours later when they posted the official times. I came in at 2:00:18. Yep, 2 hours and 18 seconds. 18 seconds I could have easily shaved off on the final stretch or any other time in the race. Oh well. Will be running for fun again next time, but I have a feeling that I will set a time goal as that 18 seconds is just taunting me.

Grace and Georgia were waiting for us at the finish line. We got our medals, hit the beer line --- never a better tasting beer than that one right after a long run --- and got our finishers' t-shirts. Great race and great little weekend trip. Looking forward to the next race.

Investing in My Country Sure Feels Patriotic

Perhaps I am wrong, but it sure does feel patriotic to invest in my country. I have to admit, it feels pretty nice making sure we have a well-maintained, easy-to-navigate, safe interstate road system so I can go on road trips. I also like that products on my local store shelves can get here in a timely fashion on those interstate roads. And boy, I sure do like the sense of order and security in my daily life. It feels pretty nice knowing that I am secure because of the salaries I help pay of our men and women in the military, police, and judicial system. Oh, and while I see there is room for improvement, I really, really like that I help fund the FDA and the CPSC so the food I buy does not poison my family and the products we buy do not injure my family or me.

Oh, and did I forget to mention, I really appreciate that the people around me have a right to an education. It is nice to know that if we and our neighbors can send our children to get an education. Wow, investing in that feels really good.

Don't get me wrong, there are things I don't like investing in. I would be happy to do away with those subsidies for beef and poultry and every other form of slaughter. And I am not sure I am a fan of some of those public programs. For example, I am not sure how I feel about that socialized medicine program called Medicare. But, when I think about senior citizen friends and family having to live without medical care, I think I am probably even in favor of Medicare, the socialized medicine program. It seems to work pretty well.

Despite not liking some parts of my investment, I really like that patriotic sense that I am helping invest in the present and future of my wonderful nation. Despite our flaws, I still think this is the best country in the world. It saddens me greatly that so many of my peers spew such a hatred for this country I love. I could play into the us and them, calling those spewing hatred of investment in my country "those people," but they are my fellow Americans and will continue to be as long as they live here, benefitting from this wonderful nation with all of its freedoms, security, and social responsibility.

My fellow countrymen and women who are so hateful of our system and investment in our country have options. I would imagine they would not have to pay taxes in many places. Somalia is tax free I would imagine --- no government you need to invest in there (not where I would want to move, but I also love my country and am ok investing in it). I am sure there are many other places you don't need to invest in as well.

But rather than do something rash, I suggest to my peers that perhaps it would be better to embrace your country and take pride in the patriotic act of investing in it. If you don't like where your investment is going, let your representatives you elected to represent you know. And if they don't listen, fire them and vote someone new in. That is the beauty of democracy. Its success is predicated on an educated, involved population of voters. I think we can rise to the occasion.

To get back to my primary point, I love living in the United States of America. I love our order and security and the ease with which I live due to all the services my town, my county, my state, and my federal government provide. Paying my taxes for those services is a wonderful investment for me and the people around me. It sure does feel patriotic.

The Casserole Stage of Life

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

In the past I have not been a huge fan of making casseroles. This translated into I have never actually made a casserole of any sort since back in my girl scout days. I liked eating them, but never made them as an adult. My reasoning was that casseroles were not practical for our lifestyle. It was much easier to just cook something fresh that did not leave us with days of leftovers.

Well, last week Jeff made a Super Bowl pastitsio. This definitely falls in the casserole category. It was so delicious. Grace, Jeff, and I enjoyed the initial serving and we all enjoyed the leftovers at later meals.

I started to reconsider my view of casseroles. These days our time is often better spent playing, reading, or doing something other than cooking over the stove. Gracie really likes to help cook and with a casserole she can be much more involved than with time-sensitive (and unsafe for little people) sauteing and searing that is required with some other types of cooking. Casserole provides the easy, safe, healthy meal. This casserole thing was starting to have some appeal.

So, I had an epiphany. We are in the casserole stage of life. Not that I won't still enjoy my standard forms of cooking, but it was time to embrace the casserole and recognize its value. With my new realization, I tried a new recipe from the January edition of Vegetarian Times last night: Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie.

I chose this as a trial because it sounded good, it was pretty easy to make, and I was pleased with the seasonally-friendly and healthy ingredients it used. And really, what could be more quintessentially "casserole" than a Shepherd's Pie?

It turned out great. The thyme and rosemary flavors show up nicely without overpowering. Jeff and Grace really liked it as well. And it feels like a very hearty, winter casserole that leaves one satisfied, but not unpleasantly heavy.

I would definitely recommend this recipe (even to those of you that are anti-turnip --- that's you mom!) We will be making it again before we are out of this cold weather season. And I leave this little cooking trial committed to the goodness of the casserole.

Entering the Wonderful World of Pretend

Giving Her Lemur a Drink

Gracie chose a lemur to take home yesterday. Gracie's lemur apparently likes to get hugs, kisses, and likes to ride in the basket of the shopping cart with Grace. She also likes to hop around on our living room furniture and crawl along the ottoman. And, when Grace's lemur gets thirsty, Grace gives her water. I don't think Grace's lemur likes being carried around in Emma's mouth, but that is just a guess. This is what I learned yesterday from watching Grace with her lemur in that wonderful world of pretend. Here is how Grace's lemur came to join us.

Looking Around at the DWA

Yesterday was cold and cloudy. Instead of the zoo or hiking, Jeff, Grace, and I decided to take Mayerson family funday indoors to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was our first time there. We all had a great time. We saw manatees, a sloth, incredible stingrays, gorgeous birds, and many kinds of sharks. There were fish that looked like they were from another world. They had exhibits that could be appreciated at both Grace's eye level and ours. It is an aquarium/zoo where you feel like you are a part of the exhibit, not just staring at animals behind bars.

Studying Stingrays

After seeing many of the exhibits, we took a snack break and went through the gift shop. Grace chose out a little lemur stuffed animal for herself. After we left the DWA, she carried her lemur in the car, hugging it and kissing it and talking to it. We stopped at Whole Foods for shopping and lunch and Grace brought the lemur with us. At lunch, I asked the lemur if she liked tofu and pretended to feed her some. Well, when we got in the car, Grace grabbed her cup and held it up to the lemur's mouth, and made the cutest little clicking/drinking sound with her mouth. I guess the lemur was thirsty after all that activity and lunch. It was really sweet and, to me, marked a new era of play for Grace. I suppose Grace plays pretend a lot of the time already, but I think this movement of giving her lemur water was in some way a different level of pretend play for Grace.

Jeff and I were both huge pretenders as kiddos. It is such a wonderful, fun form of play. I am really excited for Grace that she gets to make up entire worlds, rules, and characters and position herself where she wants to be in those creations. I am so looking forward to being invited to enter her made up worlds of play.

Relishing Rachmaninoff with van Zweden

Saturday night brought us to the DSO. While I love going to the symphony, I was dragging a bit and felt a bit fatigued. But we had the tickets, Grace's sitter was scheduled, and I was looking forward to spending time with Jeff. So I dressed up and we headed to the Meyerson. And wow, am I glad we did.

This weekend was van Zweden's first concert of 2010 back with the DSO. It was a reminder of how fortunate I am to have him as the conductor of our hometown symphony. The first piece was Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F#-minor, Op. 1. While the piece was not my favorite, I was really impressed by the guest pianist, Simon Trpceski. I would actively seek out the opportunity to see him play again. He was a great musician and had an excellent performance presence.

After intermission, the second piece of the evening was Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27. It is a 59 minute piece and the program made a point that while it is sometimes abridged, both van Zweden and Rachmaninoff felt very strongly that it should be played in its entirety as it was originally intended. The piece was stunning, but more than that, was the way the DSO played it. Some music evokes a certain emotion or allows you to drift into your memories. I love sitting in the dark and letting music lead me along through a feeling, emotion, or memory. I often refer to pieces that I am not that impressed with as unmoving. It was interesting because Rachmaninoff's No. 2 kept me right in the music, but I was very taken with it. I did not follow it to some emotion or other place, but remained right there, on the edge of my seat, with the music enjoying every note.

I think some of this was the way van Zweden conducted it and the DSO played it. I was entranced by it. There was an artful flourish to every move he made, but it was without gratuitous exaggeration. With the exception of a couple parts, it was as if he and the orchestra were completely one in a way I have not seen before. It was incredible to watch almost independently of the beautiful sound they were making. I really enjoyed it. I am curious to listen to this symphony on iTunes. Watching it played was such a experience in itself, I wonder how differently I will hear it with just the music alone.

I left the Meyerson feeling recharged and invigorated. I guess a date night with Jeff, listening to and watching little Rachmaninoff was just what I needed.

Snow Day in Texas

We went to bed with a chance of snow. At 6 this morning, foster Lucky woke me up to go out and I walked down to a quiet world blanketed in a beautiful, thick coat of snow. And it was still snowing. And it hasn't stopped since. We are currently at 8" and it is still going.

After our morning routine, I headed out to my day class. While I enjoyed class, there was something so enchanting about looking out the window and seeing the snow pouring down. I worked hard to focus on our professor. He is my favorite professor and the class is really interesting, but thoughts of ski trips and getting snowed in at Duke kept popping in my mind as the snow kept falling.

Class released and I came home to where I really wanted to be. We sat and watched out the window as the snow fell. Then, when Grace got up from her afternoon nap, we headed out for a snow-filled walk. At the end of our walk, we played in the snow in the front yard. We finally came in and got her changed and warmed up in her little velvet bear outfit.

Making Snow Day Soup

After watching the snow out the window some more, Grace started puttering around the kitchen and telling me in every way she knew how that she wanted to cook something. A new favorite activity of hers is cooking together. So I decided we would make broccoli cheese soup from scratch. It sounded like a good snow day thing to cook. Grace helped me get the ingredients together, grate the cheese, tear off the broccoli florets, and measure and whisk the ingredients. She took a supervisory role for things involving the stove --- she watches from a chair she stands on to reach the counter. The whole time we listened to some blues and watched the snow fall down. We took breaks to dance while the soup simmered and had to take a few tasting breaks as well.

After Grace went to bed, I stepped out for a little walk in the snow. The sky looks bright, almost like day, from the reflective lights on the thick white sky. There is that unique snowy silence. And it just keeps falling. Just beautiful and the word serenity takes over my mind as I walked around taking in my temporarily transformed daily landscape. I have no desire (or very little at least) to live in a snowy place, but this North Texas snow day with my family was a pretty awesome treat.

The Process and the Playground

Despite the cold temperatures today, Grace and I headed to the playground. Bundled up, she charged out and climbed the jungle gym and slid down the slide a few times. After she had released the initial burst of energy and sufficiently explored every piece of playground equipment, Grace started one of her projects.

In her survey of the playground, Grace had noticed that there were some displaced pebbles --- pebbles on the slide, pebbles on the pavilion next to the playground, and pebbles on the jungle gym platform. For the remainder of our relatively long visit to the playground, one-by-one, Grace carefully picked up the pebbles and returned them to the ground underneath the jungle gyms. Periodically she would stop to survey her progress and then clap for herself (which I absolutely love and find so delightful). She would then continue her project to restore order. It was very serious work, but she seemed to find it quite rewarding.

It is funny because my first inclination was to assist her. But I stopped myself. This was her project and while some things are together projects, I sensed she needed to "own" this one. Niggling impatience of "I could do this faster and help" flitted at the edge of my consciousness, but I just stood by and watched. After a bit, I was thoroughly relaxed, entranced by her system of approaching the seemingly infinite number of pebbles still to be relocated. It was about the process, not the end goal. A good reminder to me and one that I am trying to keep at the forefront of my thoughts, although I am sure I will forget again as I often tend to do.

Book Review: The Keys to the Golden Firebird

The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I picked this up from our local library after reading about it on YAnnabe, a friend's blog about young adult fiction. She had put it on a list of best "unsung" young adult books. With all of my heavy school reading, I thought I could use something a little lighter and intended for a young adult audience. This enjoyable read fit the bill.

It is a refreshingly not-fairy-tale look at a family of three teenage girls and their mom coping with grief after the father unexpectedly dies of a heart attack. While there are some serious topics here, the story includes a real-life mix of the full-spectrum of experiences and emotions. I really enjoyed Johnson's writing and, at times, she had me giggling out loud. Also, with my recent family-of-origin work in school, this book really captures what it is to have an "assigned" role within the context of your family (so many places I look, I see a little Murray Bowen going on). May, the main character, shows what it is to better differentiate yourself from your family and help your family shift in a positive direction in the process.

I will definitely be checking out Maureen Johnson's other books as I really liked her writing. I would recommend this book to any woman who enjoys young adult fiction and who is looking to revisit the ups and downs and trials of the teen years. Also, I recommend it to anyone who can appreciate a reminder of how we sometimes unconsciously surrender our agency and transform to some "other" in the context of family.

Grace's Animal Sounds

A conversation that has taken place a several times in the last couple of days:

Liesl: What does a cow say?
Grace: Moo
Liesl: What does a duck say?
Grace: Back Back [her version of Quack Quack]
Liesl: What does the cat say?
Grace: Mao Mao [her version of Meow Meow]
Liesl: What does the dog say?
Grace: Hi.

So Grace has been surrounded by dogs since the beginning. She hears them bark and we talk about them barking. We also talk a lot about them barking as one of their ways of communicating. When we are in kennels, shelters, or at our house, "Oh, is that dog saying hi?" "Those dogs are telling us hi." "Do you hear those dogs saying hi?" I guess she did. Cracks me up.

Book Review: Love's Executioner

Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy by Irvin D. Yalom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a must-read for any therapist, but beyond that, it is just a really powerful look at the human condition and what it is to be open, empathetic and supportive enough to help people become their best selves. Yalom's writing is approachable and entertaining.

The title refers to the therapist's role having to sometimes "kill" the irrational fancy of some loves. However, it also refers to love inevitably being executed by the human condition. In the end, our life experience is our own to be experienced alone (even if we are experiencing life hand-in-hand with another person). While this may sound grim, it actually is a positive --- it is the real connections that we make with each other which infuses life with meaning. And the richness of unique experiences that are our own make it an incredible trip.

The other thing I love about reading Yalom is that I learn so many new words. Many are words I have heard before, but in the context of SAT study cards or while reading the dictionary [yeah, I have been known to do that for fun]. He has such a mastery of our beautiful language that he pushes the boundaries of vocabulary to access the less commonly used words that perfectly capture the meaning of the story he is telling. It is just beautiful.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever been in therapy, considered therapy, or anyone that has ever pondered human relations and the human condition (there we go, I think that covers just about everyone [smile:].) I have a feeling that this will be on my to-give gift list as I just loved it. Such a wonderful, good read.

New words: capriciousness, insouciant, extirpated, insouciant, labile, leitmotif, perspicacious, sagacious, salubrious, sophistry