DAY TWENTY - FOUR - In The Most Shocking Rose Ceremony EVER...

 Alternate Title: Staying Awake is Hard To Do

I had a very good night’s sleep and this time I was ready for the day. While I appear to still be invincible, my poor 8-year old, Vivi, is not. But she’s a social butterfly and therefore was determined to go back to school yesterday, so I went against my better judgement and let her.

When I picked her up, she looked a little out of it - and when we got home she wanted to get right to work on all of her homework. After about ten minutes I found her like this:

And the Parent of the Year award goes to... 

(not me)

It’s also putting my, “most dilligent barre3 participant ever” award at risk too because I’ve had to skip my brisk walks to take care of my sick little girl.  This saddens me deeply.

In an effort to make up brownie points with the “awards committee,” I walked as fast as I could around my house while doing all of my chores and jobs. Violet finds this very funny and and copies me and often crashes into to me and walls and furniture. It makes life that much more exciting.

This week Sadie gave us a little article on meditation. You can read it here: I liked it and I liked hearing about her inner voices. And I’m REALLY happy she watches The Bachelor. It’s just another thread of kindredness between us.

Speaking of The Bachelor, did I ever tell you guys that my brother was once asked to be on The Bachelorette? It was like a dream come true for me. I was very excited. But he made it clear that it was a no-go from the very beginning. He said, and I quote: “Uh, there is no way in (BLEEP) that I am ever going on that (BLEEPING) show”. I even told him how great he would be, that he didn't even have to like the girl, he could just go be his funny self and become "America's favorite bachelor ever".  He was like "Uh... no, I would be the guy talking into the camera after getting sent home the first night, in the limo... "my sister said I wouldn’t fall in love..." (hysterical sobbing) "She said I woudn't fall in loooooove!" He lunges for the camera-man, "turn that *&^# camera off!!"

Anyway, I am a fan of meditating, only I like to meditate on scriptures from the Bible. Like if my mind is running wild when I’m trying to go to sleep, I just try to clear my mind and slowly recite Psalm 23. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s the one about God being our shepherd and making us lie down in beautiful pastures by still waters. It’s very soothing.

My problem when I’m meditating, is not keeping my mind still. It’s really more about staying awake. In fact for the sake of the challenge, I tried meditating several times today. I fell asleep at the dining room table, in my car waiting to pick up Ava from soccer practice and ahem, in the bathroom...  They need to write a book called, “Meditating for a mother with three unruly prisoners.”

Food was pretty usual.

7:00am - Coffee (I thought about not having coffee just for this last week, but then I slapped myself and came to my senses).

9:30am - Poached eggs over spinach with Avocado on the side

1:30pm - Greek yogurt, pomegranate seeds, and coconut chips

For dinner I made ginger broiled fish:

GINGER BROILED FISH
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil (but the coconut oil is really amazing!)
1/4 cup hot water
4 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon umeboshi plum vinegar or rice wine vinegar
2 (6-ounce) halibut or cod fillets
PREPARATION:
1. Make marinade by combining oil, water, ginger and vinegar.
2. Place fish in a shallow baking dish, cover with marinade, and let sit for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat broiler and set rack about 3 inches from broiler.
4. Broil fish for 10-12 minutes—the rule of thumb is to cook each inch of fish for 10 minutes, but be sure to keep an eye on your oven as the broiler can quickly burn the top of fish.
5. Baste with remaining marinade once or twice while broiling.
6. Use any remaining marinade as a sauce and serve.

Thanks to Julia Sarver who contributed the recipe to Replenish PDX for the program.

It was very delicious. See you tomorrow!!

xoxoxox
Missy