Philly Expatriate

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Noteworthy

Nothing exciting in my personal life to note here in the blog...just keeping up with the daily routines, taking kiddo to camp, getting things ready for our upcoming vacation...

But last night I was more than excited when I tuned into PBS's coverage of the 2004 Democratic Convention. I was hyped to see our U.S. Senate candidate, Barak Obama give the keynote address, as the local media here had been touting this event for sometime, as well as witnessing and reporting the "mystique" and admiration for this young state Senator growing expoentially each week.

Well, I held my breath as he took the podium. And he hit not only a home run with his rousing and heartfelt speech, he slammed it outta the park!

PBS commentator Jim Lehrer, Mark Shale and others were as first stunned, and then began the most incredible "gushing" by political analysts. Some of the notable comments included, "A Star Is Born" "The Tiger Woods of Politics" and "The First African-American President of the United States". Jim Lehrer remarked, "Its a shame the networks weren't coverering the convention tonight because history was just made." (and I am paraphasing)

Then, for balance in coverage, I tuned to uber-conservative Fox News. The reporter on the floor, in summing up the nights events and criticizing Ted Kennedy, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and others, did concede, "Barak Obama rocked this convention."

Amused, I tuned into entertainment-news, Larry King live's coverage on CNN. Mo Rocca, know for his witty and nutty (and utterly hilarious) analysis, summed up night two's events: "It was Obama-rama!"

If nothing else comes of the convention, I do hope that word of Obama's incredible speechwriting and oratory skills spread nationwide and rouse the apathetic among us to get out and vote in November.

Posted at 10:51 am by brandy101
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004

We are the champions, my friends....

Without further delay, here are pics from the 2004 Danskin Women's Triathlon:

Me and J, at about 5:15 a.m., pre-race

"T2" - Transition 2 - from bike to run - we're almost done!

Yay!!! We have our finishers' medals.

Posted at 11:19 am by brandy101
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004

blue skies...blue jays

Not much to report but yesterday I was THRILLED to find that a gorgeous, boisterous blue jay has decided to become the reigning avian of my yard, swooping around just checking out the scenery. He is relatively new to the neighborhood and I guess he saw all of the activity and had to check it out. So he just flies aound, not stopping at the feeders or birdbath, but watches the others carefully, and of course alerts everyone when he spies the family of crows coming to roost.

On another note, yesterday I had to aid a 2-week-old cottontail baby. Apparently my neighbor accidentaly hit him while she was using the weedwacker, as he had a small laceration on his back. It looked to be healing and he seemed hearty, like his littermates (5 in total) I just picked him up carefully out of the shallow warren and brought him in, wiped the cut with a clean swab and smeared a tiny bit of neosporin in the cut. He was calm (kits usually are - sometimes lulling you into a false sense of relaxation - and then that's is when they try to leap away) and after some quiet soothing strokes, I placed him back into the nest with the others. They already have their eyes open and are getting too squashed and hot in the warren, so they are sort of sitting on top of it today (its a shallow pit the mother dug under our fence - thus an easy target for the weed wacker!) I expect by next week they will be out on their own. My neighbor is aware of them and I told her not to worry -that they'll be gone by next week so she can go back to trimming the grass then. Yes, kits (baby rabbits) can be on their own by 3-4 weeks of age. So if you see one alone, its not abandoned - its either weaned and ready to head into the world or the mother is nearby watching, planning to feed and care for them at night. She never sits with the babies for a long time, so as to not have her scent attract preadators.

And as I have noted before, based on the research I have done, if you find a baby animal or bird, just pick it up and put it back into its nest if you can - the mother WILL come back to it. And, believe it or not, wild baby rabbits ae VERY difficult to raise in capitivity (and its illegal to do so without a special permit) - I leaned that unlike other mammals, their gut is essentially sterile. So when they are ready to wean from milk to solid food, the mother has to feed them some of this special excrement from her body (kind of like poop but not exactly...) that gives them the necessay microbes to be able to digest solid food! If they aren't fed this, they will die of diarrhea from the bacteria on food (grass, leaves, etc.) I never knew a wild animal could be so "high maintenance". What a wierd evolutionary trait that is.

Triathlon pics coming VERY soon. They turned out GREAT!

Posted at 12:57 pm by brandy101
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Thursday, July 15, 2004

ties that bind

Yes, I realize the many meanings of the heading for this entry...and I hate to disappoint but this entry is going to be about nostalgia and maintaining relationships from youth. It is pivotal to the title of my blog, as well.

I was thrilled, because I got an email the other day from one of my buddies from high school. Before I continue, let me set the scene here:

I transferred to my local public high school my junior year after an awful experience at a private girls prep school that prepped me for nothing more than anxiety attacks and lonliness. I had the good fortune of developing some degree of poise and social skills the summer prior to the school year by working as an activities aide at a local nursing home. When you have to maintain "natural" conversation with an elderly person while at the same time they are visibly filling their catheter bag, you shift focus to smiles, lively banter, where to put your eyes...

Learning to overcome otherwise awkward situations helped me leave all fears of a new school and new classmates - this time including BOYS for the first time in my life - behind me and I began the year in a relaxed manner.

Since I knew no one, I was assigned a lab partner in Physics class. He was a slight, quiet, but obviously bright young guy (well my age, of course, but he looked much younger at the time.) He was very polite, from what I remember, and at times would even "dress up" for school with a shirt and tie. I thought this guy must have come from a prep-school background like myself. The loose necktie, the good manners, following direction in class... but for some reason, he didn't seem to have a tight group of friends. (I would come to understand years later, that he was, in fact, a classic/tragic "wrong side of the tracks" kid, a likely inspiration for that brilliant movie,"Rushmore." )

We chatted mostly during class, as I was largely focussed on being competitive in academics at the time - one of those intense teens who views her self worth solely on the precarious combo of SAT scores and personal style (as in, being the new-wave queen of 1985.)

No one else in the class - or in the school, for that matter - made much effort to introduce themselves, welcome a new kid, - but that's par for the course with teenagers, and I wasn't disappointed. I didn't have expectations of becomeing part of a power-clique; I just wanted to fit in, maintain my grades, and have some fun in the process.

As things would have it, this shy kid became something of a "teen dream" to many of the younger freshman girls the following year. He was a late bloomer and shot up that summer from 5'6" to nearly 6' tall, plus he underwent a complete style overhaul from quiet studious kid, to kingpin of the hipster skateboarding set. It didn't make my head turn but it made me happy that he was finally getting attention from girls, which I think every nice guy deserves.

I was also happy for him because I had gone through a similar metamorphosis at the end of age 14 when I traded in my Bermuda bags, pageboy haircut, and penny loafers for spiked belts, assymetric hair, and an insane collection of terminally uncomfortable "jelly" shoes. (Cut me some slack - it WAS the 80's!!!)

I think we were friends, because we were both in honors classes but weren't uptight pains-in-the-ass like many of our HYPE classmates (HYPE-kids are those gunning for addmisions to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton - or in our community, top choice was uber-liberal Brown). We were also tuned into that whole 80's punk music (and fashion) scene.

I regret that I didn't spend that precious time in school really developing deep friendships with anyone in particular. When I went away to college I became what this blog is named for: a Philly Expatriate. No ties (except family, of course) to community, friends...

So to re-establish a connection with an old friend...its cool, makes me feel like I am not such a stoic hardass when it comes to relationships outside of my family. And I am also glad to find that my pal is still bright, and creative, and ...well, genuinely interesting. We don't share many specific interests or lifestyle (except likely, a love of cheesesteaks) but that is not nearly as important as being thoughtful and engaging.
Again, to reassure anyone who may think otherwise, there is no "romantic" connection here. My husband has been teasing me with some note of jealousy in his tone about my recent e-mailings with my friend, J. It is solely a connection of nostalgia, of a shared tie to a community that I sometimes regret leaving behind me (he is an ex-pat as well, now making his home in NYC.)

I feel a tinge of jealousy when I visit my sisters and they have gaggles of friends over for parties and such: people from high school, co-workers, a friend-of-a-friend... the concept that I may be able to have an old friend from "back home" - even if its just to put on my x-mas card list - is bizarrely comforting to me.

Don't get me wrong - I have real-time friends here in the midwest. But most of them are FROM here, or at least from this region of the country, and there are some very distinct cultural differences that I have never fully assimilated into my persona. Yes, I have a love-hate relationship with...geography. I don't want to move back there, but like a car wreck, I find myself unable to look away.

Posted at 10:43 am by brandy101
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Monday, July 12, 2004

euphoria

Over the next few days, I am certain I will interject thoughts about yesterday's Danskin Triathlon - what went through my mind pre-race, women I met, feelings both emotional and physical that coursed through me all during the event.

There are so many individual moments that I'd like to capture in words, but right now many of them are jumbled together in this overall moment of elation coupled with a bit of physical exhaustion. Well, perhaps not exhaustion but I am pretty darn sore!

Best of all, J did a fantastic job in her first event, and I had a grand time racing with her. It made the whole experience much more enjoyable - racing with a buddy. I noted to her that this was the best (even though it was the longest distance) swim I ever had because, mentally, I focussed on reminding her to inhale deeply, keep kicking, "we're almost there" etc. etc. Thus, I kept up a breaststroke for the entir 1/2 mile without thought of needing to switch for resting. I never felt my heart rate go up too high, never had that feeling of panic that there was x-amount left to go while my body became weary.

Best of all, was the elation plainly evident on the faces of J's mom and dad, cheering as we emerged from the water, hands raised victoriously. It reminded me of that look on my dad's face after my first tri, which is etched in my mind. The love of a parent, that with one glance, says, "You DID IT!!!!!"

Perhaps also, it was the overall theme and intent of this particular event to be highly encouraging and nurturing to each woman's inner-athlete that made it seem "easier" and more enjoyable. It was as if all 3500 women participants plus the event staff, volunteers, and spectaotrs were cheering for EVERY participant. It wasn't a comptetition as much as a huge, sweaty ego-hug and "you go girl" fest!

I was dubious about this triathlon due to the scope of it (one of the largest sprint-distance tri's in the WORLD!) and the single-gender thang, fearing cattiness of competing against only women. As it turned out, we met so many cool women of all ages and backgrounds. I was touched by a mother and daughter racing together who had made the trek from Minnesota for the event. It was the first triathlon for both of them but they each seemed to know their weaknesses and strengths and merely had to overcome prerace jitters to make their way through the course. J spent time talking to a neat lady in her 60's who hoped to be an inspiration to her grand-nieces. While we expected an overriding "sorority girl" mentality, we found quite the opposite. Lots of teamwork, sharing, and positive energy.

I think any woman wishing to get in shape and then test herself, should consider finding out if a Danskin event is planned in her area for next year and then start training NOW for it.

Posted at 10:28 am by brandy101
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Saturday, July 10, 2004

family night

Yesterday, the weather was pretty lousy (rain, thunderstorms) so little one and I didn't have much of a chance to hang outside for any significant portion of time. She was disappointed because she was hoping our next-door neighbor, a girl about 9 years old, would play with her in the backyard - something she enjoys a great deal. She just adores "big girls" as opposed to kids her own age.

We did some activites around the house and then to liven things up, I called "daddy" to see if perhaps we wanted to all go out for dinner. My pumpkin got on the phone and told her dad, "Let's go to Old Country Buffet!" He agreed, even though its not one of his preferred epicurean delights. ;)

Believe it or not, I think it is one of MY favorite restaurants because I feel that I can eat healthfully there (think BIG plate of salad, and some yummy carved roast beef for protein and iron), and even indulge in some "no-sugar-added" dessert at the end of the meal. Its nice, too because little one actually eats a salad, some green beans, chicken, pasta, etc. No matter what other restaurant we go to, typically the only choices on the kids menu are usually something akin to chicken nuggets and french fries, or mac & cheese. This way, she gets a "complete" meal and at a very reasonable price.

Granted, its not full of "ambiance" and no fine wines are served with dinner, but for our "family night" purposes, the OCB was right on target. :)

After our gluttonous rampage at the "Country", we headed home and quickly changed into our swimsuits. Before you worry, that old adage "you'll get cramps if you swim after eating" is a total hoax.

We packed our towels, goggles, and change of clothes and headed to the newly opened community indoor swim center. It has a large "family pool", just right for little kids to splash around, a lap pool, and a diving well with a "drop slide" flume thing that is loads of fun.

We had such a good time and found it to be incredibly refreshing to swim, then take a hot shower and head home to bed. Ahhhhhh!

It was so nice spending that time together...I think each day our little family is growing closer and that is a wonderful feeling.

Posted at 06:28 am by brandy101
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Wednesday, July 07, 2004

pumped!!!!

I am PUMPED up for this weekend's triathlon events as I just spoke with my race buddy, J. (Thanks for callin', J!)

I think what is most exciting is I remember my first race - which took almost 2 years of planning, exercise and learning as well as some knee surgery in-between! I was SO excited, nervous, and just wanted to learn as much as I could, making sure to have all of the elements necessary to make it through the event. I felt that same excitement resonate in J's voice as she went over details of the upcoming event and all of the work she has put into training for it.

I will never forget the look on my dad's face when I crossed the finish line. He was beaming from ear to ear with a combination of pride and astonishment. You see, when I was younger, I never had any interest in sports. All I ever knew about "athletics" was field hockey, basketball, and tennis - these few options were what we had at the all-girls' school I attended. I stunk in all of those sports. When I transferred to public high school, I started finding new ways to get exercise and yet enjoy myself. The P.E. teacher allowed those of us who weren't "into" team sports to do interval walking/jogging around the track, which was fun as the little group of us that did it socialized as we "wogged". Then in winter, we were able to do the "Jane Fonda Workout" video in a little workout room. Again, it was fun and social, plus we didn't feel like outcasts because we were lousy at a given sport.

When I went to college, I was not thrilled with my roommate and found solace in taking long walks with a walkman and my favortie tapes. I did this every day, not even thinking of it as "exercise" but more as a much-needed mid-day break - after classed and before dinner and study time. I ended up shedding my "freshman 15" and then some!

The following year, I brought a second-hand 3-speed bike to campus and rode all over town and into the city. Again, without thinking about it, I maintained pretty good physical shape and great energy levels.

I think things started sliding downhill for me when, at age 22, I actually got a driver's license and a car. I still walked quite a bit but as most people know, sitting in a car burns almost NO calories. I ended up buying a Nordic Track machine to workout each day after work. 20 minutes each day, I did it and loved it and again, got into good shape.

The workouts got pushed aside when I started having long-term boyfriends - social life took over all of my time and my workouts became more and more infrequent.

Needless to say, I really packed on the pounds when I moved to the suburbs with my husband and sat at a desk all day. Ugh! I dread looking at my wedding photos. They are just embarrassing.

As I have written about in previous blog entries, once I had the baby I resolved to get back into some sort of shape. I was at my all-time high weight and dress size - a 2x!!! And I am only 5'2"!

It took years of excersise, experimenting with foods and eating habits that satisfied me yet provided optimal nutrition at minimal caloric intake, and getting medical issues resolved that hampered my fitness/weight loss endeavors (bad knee, IBS, birth control issues, etc.)

I weighed myself today and I can't believe how far I have come and how long I have been in this shape/size.

I am PUMPED for Sunday's event, and hope that I can help ease the nerves of my race buddy and of some of the many other "first timers" who will be participating.

Posted at 01:18 pm by brandy101
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Tuesday, July 06, 2004

sweatin'

Whew! Just came in the house to seek relief from the heat. I think today was the first HOT and HUMID day of the summer. I can't take that dang humidity - you just end up feeling like a damp washrag - your sweat providing no cooling antidote to the sun.

I have my fingers crossed that my husband will follow-through with a plan I devised to make time for him to go exercise. He is going to come home from work and beofre I even begin cooking dinner, he is goingt o head over to a local lake witha 2-mile walking path around it, to take a run. I am not sure if he plans to run 4 miles or just the two but whatever, its certainly better than the sedentary lifestyle he's led for quite some time now.

He's not overweight. But my reasons to encourage him in a fitness routine are :

to set an example of fitness = fun and good health for our child
to get healthy, himself - raise energy, strength, mood, cardiovascular endurance (and none of these for sexual reasons! LOL...)
to learn to appreciate the importance of exercise - and thus respect my time that I take to pursure exercise and other active endeavors (triathlons, 5k's etc.)
to have something that he and I can share as an interest and do together - swimmng, family bike rides, walks, hikes, etc.

Maybe someday I can even get him to join me in a yoga routine...I think that's definately a "phase two" of this exercise regimen, though!

My sister and I have our fingers crossed that he will join us as part of a relay team for a triathlon on the east coast in August. We shall see if that transpires...

Posted at 04:03 pm by brandy101
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Sunday, July 04, 2004

under the weather

Ugh, last night I developed a really sore throat and, lo and behold, hubby took a peek with a flashlight and confirmed that I had some sort of infection, like strep or whatever. I had a fever, too. So I gulped down 4 advil (ibuprofen) and that seemed to help and allow me to get to sleep. Unfortunatley my sleep was short-lived, as I awoke about 5 hours later in pain again. More advil and back to bed.

Today I have been chugging hot tea, juice, ice water, etc. Actually the hot tea seems to be soothing, perhaps slightly cauterizing the infection. And now my nose is running so I think this is just gonna be a typical upper respiratory infection - although strange that I'd get it in Summer.

If my fever doesn't go away by Tuesday, then I'll take a trip to the doc to get some antibiotics, but since its a holiday weekend, I think my only option is tea and advil.

I am bummed about this because next Sunday I am supposed to be in a women's triathlon - I just hope I don't have a stuffy/runny nose for that! I mean, if I feel lousy, then I'll have to blow off the event, but I'd rather not.

Since I don't want to spread germs, I cancelled my 4th of July get-together with a friend and my father-in-law - or at least we postponed things until tomorrow, to see if I feel better by then. But since I have to "save" the fodd I bought for dinner tonight I have no idea what we'll be having; perhaps just some soup. I think I have a few cans in the pantry.

We had a wild storm yesterday, and my neighbor lost a tree. He's been chopping it up with a chainsaw all morning. Thus, I eschewed any birdwatching for today since it's just to noisy outside to attract any interesting vistiors, I suspect.

Posted at 01:34 pm by brandy101
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Thursday, July 01, 2004

stability

Last night I found out that my husband's department at work is being dismantled -and at a very rapid pace. Some massive firings are happening, but it looks like he will be spared - and might turn this into a promotion for himself by moving to another department that has been "recruiting" him.

I am most certainly not going to count on ANYTHING money-wise or take his apparent value to the company for granted. You can be the shining star at a given company and still someday could end up on the wrong side of a pink slip. That's just how it goes. However, in his case, I think he is excited to go to work for some VP's who really have their act together, people he respects and who also have high regard for him. I hope it all works out.

What's new with me? Hmmm, I have been really behid in my errands and chores, it seems - likely because this week I was the "swim mom" volunteer at my kiddo's day camp.

Our town has its annual canival/festival all this weekend. Usually they have some great "oldies" (typically some 60's pop group) musical acts but nothing on the bill thrilled me too much this year.

My dad-in-law is coming over to visit on Sunday- we have missed him. Without going into too much detail, he hasn't been over for awhile, due to some issues he is dealing with. I hope everything goes well with his visit and he can get things back together in his life so that we can be a family again.

I feel like I have fallen behind in my workout training, even though the combine cardio and strength training is still at least 5 days a week. I haven't run for a few weeks - rather, most of my cardio has been swimming or biking, which are skills I needed to really work on for triathloning. I might do a 4-mile walk/hike today, pushing kiddo in the jogging stroller. That adds a challenge - pushing a 50 lb kid along a hilly 4-mile trail!

Oh, and since I haven't added anything salacious here - I'll reveal that I was awakened this morning with a 165 lb man on top of me! lol...

Yet another "sneak"...

Posted at 09:25 am by brandy101
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