Sunday, August 30, 2009

Happy September

I've declared this Happy September Week, and this week I'll be sharing all the things that are making me happy lately. (Because isn't that a lot better than listening to all the things I want to whine about?)

Co-op Break! We're five weeks in, and our homeschool co-op has gotten off to a great start this year. The co-op is quite a bit smaller than it's been in several years, but that has turned out to be a blessing: we're all enjoying the low-key, stress-free schedule that we keep now. Even so, there has been so much craziness with all the other stuff on our calendar that I'm glad to have a week to catch up and maybe feel a little more together when we begin again next week.

Running-- who woulda thunk?? But it's true: for the first time in my life, I have a cardio activity that I actually enjoy. A couple of years ago, it occurred to me that I ought to be able to run around the block; it seemed like one of those life skills that might come in handy at some point. Alas, I could barely run to the stop sign at the end of the street! Besides, I was miserable every time I attempted to run, so I figured I was just one of those people that was not meant to run. But back in June, I received this book from my paperbackswap wishlist, and it was exactly what I needed. A book for real beginners, a book that assumed you could not run to the stop sign at the end of the street. I read it... and began to run. I run three days a week and cross-train or rest on the in-between days. I do run-walk-run intervals, and that's probably why I enjoy it so much. It makes the time go really fast, and I don't get worn out. When I first began, I had already been exercising on the elliptical machine and walking for several months, so I was ready to begin running two minutes and walking three (at that point, I actually could have run to the stop sign at the end of the street- but not a lot farther!) Now I'm up to running eight minutes and walking one, and I'm training to run a local 5K at the end of September. I know! And I'm totally sold on run-walk intervals. If you want to know more, you can read about them at Jeff Galloway's site.

Homemade bread! This cookbook has revolutionized (and added many calories) to my life. I now make homemade bread at least 3 times a week, and you know how much I hate to cook! But 5-minute bread? Even I can handle that-- and boy, is it good! You can see a demonstration of just how easy it is here:


And I just discovered that they have a new cookbook coming out in October: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients. It will definitely be on my Christmas list!

So what are you happy about this week?

2 comments:

Sara said...

Cool! I'm going to be looking into all of that. Thanks for sharing!

OUR FAMILY... said...

I am happy (gratefull) for the break and this great weather!