The Garden Project: The end
It’s been awhile since I blogged about the Garden Project. What happened? Well, as I mentioned in my last post about the garden, we were getting pretty busy and not making time for it. Then, the end of August and most of September were pretty awful for us. Steven wasn’t even here most of September. I visited the garden once in September, and today was the first time we have gone back since then. It was time to clean it up and dig up the sweet potatoes!
So, here is what the garden looked like when we got there:
Yeah, I know it looks bad, but not as bad as the gardens around ours:
I am not sure if those people ever used their garden at all!
We picked as many weeds as we could felt like and hauled them to the designated weed area:
All done!
Yeah. I am kind of doubting we will get our $10 deposit back.
Enough about the stupid weeds. The fun part was the first thing we did when we got to the garden – dig up the sweet potatoes!
Remember that we started them from slips in our home? We started growing them indoors on May 8th and planted them on June 22nd.
I hope we did not dig them up too late (they only survive one frost, I think)! They look good!
I was squinting because the sun was so bright!
It was fun digging around in the dirt looking for them – like finding treasure!
And we dug up a lot of them!
I hope they taste okay. I’m not that familiar with sweet potatoes, so I am not sure what they should taste like. I’ll let you know if they turn out any good!
If we still live in the same area next year, we will probably grow a garden again, but be smarter about it. We’ll start crops earlier in our house, and only plant the things we really liked from this year – cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, peppers (if they’ll grow) and maybe sweet potatoes. We’ll probably use some sort of fertilizer and put something down (newspaper, etc.) to keep the weeds from growing.
If you could have one type of produce fresh all year round, what would you choose?
I think it would have to be green beans. I am still disappointed we didn’t yield a very big crop!
Would you be interested in seeing a break-down of the cost of the garden?
We saved all of our receipts to keep track of the cost, but I haven’t compiled it yet. I can if you guys are interested!
For fun, here are links to all of the other Garden Project posts:
Getting Started
It’s Alive (I think)
I’ll do that tomorrow
We never have to weed again, right?
It’s Edible!
Can we grow anything other than cucumber and zucchini (and sometimes green beans)?
We have tomatoes!
We specialize in miniature food!
Friday Question #136
What do you think of holiday wish lists – tacky or useful? Do you make one for anyone? For whom if so? What is on your wish list this year?
(Not my wish list – one I found online)
I find wish lists extremely useful. Sometimes, I want to give someone a gift, but have no idea what they would like, so a wish list can give me ideas, or at least get me going in the right direction.
Of course, I have that internal struggle of “Why do I want to buy someone a gift if I don’t even know what they would like or want?” Ugh. I am very much of the mindset of wanting to buy people things they want, but when I have no idea what that is AT ALL, I feel like I am kind of missing the point.
We always give a wish list to my dad’s mom, because she asks for it. In fact, last week I asked Steven to start working on his wish list, because I figured my grandma would ask for it – sure enough, she did when we saw her last weekend! Sometimes we share a list with my mom and Steven’s family. Of course, then you have to split up the list so you don’t get duplicates of things – does anyone else split their wish list?
I have a lot of running stuff and a few movies on my wish list this year.
Body fat percentage
There was a health fair at work this week, and I went to get my body fat percentage tested. It’s something I’ve always wanted to know. Unfortunately, they were using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) method, which isn’t very reliable (or so I hear – the guy doing it said it’s accurate within a range of 3%). It sends a small electric current through your body, and the faster it goes through your body, the less body fat you have (the current travels faster through water/muscle than fat). But the results can be all skewed depending on what you drink, eat, etc. Anyway –
I held this device with my arms out in front of me:
The result? 31.7% body fat. Whoa. And, I am at a “high” risk with a BMI* of 28.5. Here is what wikipedia thinks my body fat percentage should be:
| Description | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Essential fat | 10-13% | 1-3% |
| Athletes | 14–20% | 6-13% |
| Fitness | 21–24% | 14–17% |
| Average | 25–31% | 18–24% |
| Obese | 32%+ | 25%+ |
Are you calling me obese, wikipedia? Really?! Really?!?!?!!?
Honestly, I am not surprised. I know I have fat on me. Hello. I can grab my stomach. Check out my left arm, and the left side of my stomach in the photo below.
Buah ha ha. Jiggle jiggle! I was really hoping they would just take out one of those calipers and grab my arm or stomach. I wonder if my health insurance would cover a real body fat analysis test. I am curious to see how accurate the 31.7 number is. It’s probably pretty accurate. I am jiggly.
I would like to do this test in a year, to see if anything has changed. The optimistic person in me hopes that I can get down to a healthy weight, but the realistic person knows that the weight I am at now has kind of been my body’s setting point. I am athletic, I feel comfortable with my body… so there is no rush to lose weight. I’ll get there when I get there.
The good news is, I also had my blood pressure tested, and it was 120/80 (and that was after I found out I am at “high risk” for… something).
Have you ever had your body fat percentage tested? What was your percentage? Did the results make you want to change anything about your current lifestyle?
*I have never really taken BMI seriously.
Looks ready to run on to me
On Monday the new trail by our house looked like this:
And today, it looked like this:
They put blacktop down! I am really surprised to see blacktop on the trail, since all of the Lake County Forest Preserve Trails are crushed limestone. Maybe this is just one layer?
Either way, seeing this actually made my day! Steven and I took Data on a walk to enjoy the new trail. Data really liked it. Ha. Can you even see him against the black background?
We walked pretty far, enough to check out the entrances they added from the neighborhood (one of two new entrances):
and where the work on the trail ends at this point:
In the distance, you can see the trail continues in to the woods.
And here is the view back toward our neighborhood – they are still working on that end:
I can’t wait to show my family when they come visit next week! And I think I need to do some exploring on the trail this weekend to see what the progress is over the entire proposed 2.5 miles. It looks ready to run on to me… with a little rough terrain here and there!
Voting Questions
You’re probably all sick of hearing about the election and having people harass you to vote… but there are a few questions that popped in to my head during this election cycle that I am anxious to ask you!
Data is proud to vote. He always votes for the Gray Party. I think this year they were promising more meals in the day (don’t think it’s going to happen, Data).
When I was talking to my mom on Monday I asked her if she was going to vote. She said she would, especially since people fought so hard for the right for her to do so. I told her I was going to vote, but probably just along my party line. Then I thought about it – she was probably doing the same – but for a different party.
Question #1: Do you hold similar political views to your family members, especially your parents?
You don’t have to tell me what those views are – I just wonder if it is common or not to have different political views than your family. I know I have different political views than mine, and Steven probably does too. Luckily, politics rarely come up with my family, and if they do I just try not to discuss it.
Question #2: Should uninformed people vote?
I voted, but didn’t have much of an idea of what was going on. I don’t watch TV/the news, read the paper, or listen to the radio. I am never caught up on current events. I only know what is going on in the world if I see it on yahoo when I log out of my email, it is mentioned to me in person, or on someone’s blog. YES, it is like I live under a rock. I know. It’s not good.
Question #3: How do you stay caught up on current events? How did you decide who to vote for? Feel free to skip that last question if you want.
Steven found a good website that listed all of the candidates and he did some research for us. He filled out ballots and handed them to me when he picked me up at the train station. We discussed the candidates on the 7 minute drive to our polling place, then I went in and voted.
I could say that maybe next time I will be a more informed voter, but I don’t know if that will be the case. I am just not that interested in politics, which probably makes me a bad, bad American.
Babying your car
We went to Iowa last weekend so my brother Nick* could put new tires on my car. All week, before we got to Iowa, I kept telling Steven we had to make sure not to bump in to any curbs, as to not scratch up the new tires. You see, when we park in parking lots, we’re those people who park as far away from the store as possible, preferably next to a curb, on the right side of the vehicle**.
Yes, we baby our cars. And if I am getting new tires, I want them to look nice for as long as possible!
Chubby Tubby, showing no respect for the new tires by using them as a scratching post.
I know, I know – it’s just a car. Well, it’s NOT just a car to me. It’s the first car I bought for myself, it is expensive, and I want to take care of it. It irks me to no end how people disrespect each other’s property, especially cars. It’s inconsiderate and there’s no excuse for it.
I won’t have it forever, and yes, it’s just a physical possession, but while it’s mine, I want to keep it in good condition. And that is how I feel about all of my possessions – I earn money to pay for them, and I want to keep them in good change.
Do you baby your car (if you have one) or do you think “it’s just a car”?
I repaid him for an hour of labor with cookies and by paying for his race entry to the 5K – that counts, right?
**If you park with the curb on the left side of your vehicle, there is a greater chance that someone will park next to you, on your right, and open up their driver’s door and scratch your car. If you park with the curb on the right side of your vehicle, there is a chance that the person parking next to you may not have a passenger, decreasing the chance of scratches. I know, I know, this all assumes people park how they are supposed to in parking lots, which doesn’t always happen.
Why I should avoid vague posts
I closed comments on my post from earlier today because I had three family members ask me if it was about them or another member of the family. No, it’s not. That is why I should not write crap like that! Sorry to transfer my stress to you all! I had a wonderful time with my family this weekend, like I usually do.
This whole situation (writing the blog post and taking it down) makes me think about what sort of presence I want to have online. Now that I am on twitter (kind of), I have noticed way more snarky content than I ever care to see, and I am noticing it in some blogs I read too. I don’t need those negative vibes in my life, because I have them in person already! And I don’t want to contribute to that online. So I’ll try to avoid those vague, whiney posts.
Worn down
I’ve written this before, but here it is again – I am sick of trying to figure out people’s fluctuating moods and how to react to them. Seriously. We are each responsible for our own individual happiness. Make the best of things. Deal with it. I cannot stand the emotional roller coaster of trying to read and react to someone else’s mood as to not upset them.
Sorry to be vague, but someone in my life has been treating me crappy lately, because of their own stress, and I am just feeling worn down. I’ve already been kind of bummed out, and nervous about the upcoming holidays (when I am normally ecstatic) and being treated like crap doesn’t make me feel any better.
And I’m not looking for advice – just venting about it.
Here is what I want to do today – Data’s got the right idea.
Comments closed.
Training Week 54
This is the week of the Run Rock Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K. My next race is the Clear Water Outdoor’s 6th Annual Turkey Trot: 10K on November 20.
Day 372 | October 25, 2010: 5 m tempo run + strength
It’s dark now when I get home from work (6:00), which means I have to run around my neighborhood because the forest preserves are closed. Wah.
Safety first though! I make sure to wear a reflective belt. And I always only listen to music in one ear when I am running (if I bring my MP3 player at all).
So reflective!
It had actually been awhile since I ran around our neighborhood, and it was kind of fun that it was dark, because I got to see everyone’s lit-up Halloween decorations! The people in our neighborhood are pretty festive. I liked these cat eyes the best:
See the cat eyes in the second story windows?
This run turned in to a tempo run. I started out fast (for me) and kept it up for four miles, then ran a slow recovery mile. The air was a nice temperature with a slight breeze and I felt really good. I did have to play a little mental game to keep myself pushing it, but it worked.
I always forget though – when I run “fast” my stomach is sometimes unhappy afterward. I had a weird stomach cramp most of the night.
And does anyone else feel really weird when they stop running fast to do the recovery mile? During that last mile, I felt like my legs weren’t moving at all. It kind of makes me wonder if I should have been running faster all summer. Probably not. I bet that would just have resulted in another injury!
And one more thing – I like the dark weather means I cannot see the garmin! I locked the bezel and just ran.
Distance: 5.0 | Start Temp: 68° | End Temp: 65° | Time: 48:05 | Avg Pace: 9:36 | 1: 9:27 | 2: 9:11 | 3: 8:59 | 4: 8:57 | 5: 11:27
Strength + Stretch (done during my lunch break):
| 1 Rope Pushdowns 3 x 15 @ 30 lb | 5 Arm Curl: 3 x 15 @ 25 lb |
| 2 Shoulder Press 3 x 15 @ 20 lb | 6 Biangular Lat Row: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb |
| 3 Lat Pulldowns: 15 @ 45 lb, 2 x 15 @ 60 lb | 7 Leg Curl: 15 @ 30 lb, 15 @ 40 lb, 15 @ 20 lb |
| 4 Pectoral Fly: 2 x 15 @ 45 lb, 15 @ 60 lb | 8 Seated Leg Press: 15 @ 90 lb, 15 @ 110 lb, 15 @ 130 lb |
Like I mentioned on Monday, I was in such good spirits during my lunch workout that it felt super easy! Maybe I should up the weights!
Day 373 | October 26, 2010: cross
Recumbent Bike Time: 40:00 | Distance: 6.40 | Average Speed: 9.6 mph | Set on “Forest Ride”
Day 374 | October 27, 2010: 2 m run
The forecast for Wednesday’s run – windy, with a chance of windy:
Yay. Chicago had a little windstorm this week. Winds at 30-40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph. Fun times. It was especially fun when it was combined with rain and it was coming at me from all directions as I walked to work.
Anyway. On Tuesday I found out my brother wanted to run a 5K with me on Saturday, so I decided to shorten this planned four mile run to two. Steven and I ran together, and did our best not to get blown all over the sidewalk.
Beside the wind, this was an easy run. One strange thing though – the temperature dropped about 5 degrees in a span of 20 minutes. I think that is a sign that cold weather is on its way!
Distance: 2.0 | Start Temp: 55° | End Temp: 50° | Time: 20:24 | Avg Pace: 10:11 | 1: 10:13 | 2: 10:08
Day 375 | October 28, 2010: rest
Day 376 | October 29, 2010: 12 m run
When I woke up to go running on Friday morning it was only 22°F outside! I was having a hard time remembering what to wear when it was that chilly, so I went through my “Running + Training” archive – guess the blog is actually good for something! I ended up wearing tights, shorts, an Under Armour long-sleeved Cold Gear top, a zip up hoodie, gloves and a headband. It was perfect. I didn’t take my gloves off until the eleventh mile, and never got too hot (even though the temperature rose to 35°F).
As the temperatures change, do you sort of “forget” how to dress for running?
I was in Cedar Falls, Iowa for this run, so I decided to check out the Cedar Prairie Trail (a paved trail). Sad fact – I lived in that area of Iowa for 18 years and didn’t realize there were so many trails there. Apparently now there are 80 miles of trails. Guess I have a lot of exploring to do.
The Cedar Prairie Trail is 17.1 miles long – I just explored 6 miles of it. The area where I started my run went right by the highway and was quite open, but eventually it went in to a more wooded area. I really liked that part of the trail. And it was fun to run on it, because I actually went by a lot of areas I knew, like a soccer field I used to play on in high school.
There was no one on the trail though! I was the only one except for one guy who happened to be standing on the trail by Target doing some surveying. I thought it was weird that the trail was empty – they never are in Chicago!
I really enjoyed this 12-miler. The weather was nice and chilly, and I just zoned out to my podcasts. I did feel like I was losing energy a bit at mile 8 when I got hungry, hit a big hill, and felt a twinge in my left knee – but it went away!
Run stats: I wore the Asics Cumulus 12s. I drank about 14 ounces of water during the run and had a Lemon Sublime GU at mile 6. I stopped to take a few pictures, and to cross a few streets.
Distance: 12.0 | Start Temp: 22° | End Temp: 35° | Time: 2:02:43 | Avg Pace: 10:13 | 1: 10:21 | 2: 10:21 | 3: 10:15 | 4: 10:11 | 5: 10:27 | 6: 10:25 | 7: 10:16 | 8: 10:12 | 9: 10:22 | 10: 10:19 | 11: 10:07 | 12: 9:19
Day 377 | October 30, 2010: 2.9 m run
I ran the Run Walk and Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K with my brother Nick.
Day 378 | October 31, 2010: rest
Week Summary: 21.9 miles
This was a fun week, running-wise… but I kind of slacked one everything else. Never-ending story, right? Maybe I need to go back to pre-writing out my workouts each week, to hold myself accountable. Because as much as I find yoga boring, it really does help keep me flexible. I tried to touch my feet this morning and it didn’t happen! My legs were too tight.
Run Walk and Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K Race Report
Every time I travel, I check to see if there are any races that would fit in to my schedule while I am at the travel destination. It makes me exercise while traveling and it’s just plain fun to run in races. Tell me I am not the only one who looks to see if there are any races going on at their travel destination?
We came to Iowa this weekend so my older brother, Nick, could put new tires on my car (my younger brother, Anthony, ordered them for me – they work at a car dealership with a service shop in the back – score for having mechanic brothers (and dad)). I saw that there was a cheap race called “Run Walk and Roll for a Drug Free Community 5K” on Saturday, but figured I would not be able to participate because it was during the same time Nick wanted to put the tires on my car.
Well, it turns out that Nick was interested in running the 5K with me! Hells yeah! We re-arranged the tire appointment to Friday night so we could make it all work.
Nick and me
I should mention two things. The first is that I have read countless race reports of people running with their parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, kids, and so on (you get the idea) – and have always thought “I wish I could run with a family member!” So when I heard Nick was remotely interested, I pounced on the idea.
The second thing I want to mention is that Nick is not a runner and he did not train for this race*. He just decided to run it for fun. I know that is a big “no no” and I should have been a responsible runner and told him not to try to run it, but honestly, I knew he would be able to run most of it, and we could walk if we had to, which we did. I think Nick is naturally athletic, and could actually be a decent runner, especially with training!
The race was pretty small – maybe 200 or so runners. We started at Pathways Behavioral Services (the host of the race – a counseling center for people with drug and alcohol problems), ran through their parking lot, then on some grass, over some dry clumpy dirt, and got on to a local trail. We ran out and back on the trail.
You’ll notice I am wearing a pumpkin costume. The race was the day before Halloween so I figured people would dress up. Not so much. Only me. I didn’t care though. My mom kept saying “If we were in Chicago, there would be so many people dressed up! People dress up for random races there!” Very true.
I did get a lot of funny comments. At the end of the race some guy yelled “Looking good pumpkin!” then said to Nick “Don’t worry, I’ll never call her that again.” I said “Don’t worry, that’s just my brother!” And after the race was over, some guy told me “I saw you and thought ‘I can’t let the pumpkin beat me!’ ” I told him about the Eiffel Tower at the marathon and how I thought the same thing.
Oops, this is getting long. The race itself went well. We ran the first mile and a half at a decent pace, then walked a bit in the middle. We ran until we got to this huge hill, then ran some of it and walked the rest. In the last mile of the race we did a run/walk pattern.
Here we are coming in to the finish!
Our final clock time was 28:34 (here are the Garmin stats) but the course was only 2.9 miles (what is it with me running short 5Ks lately?). I do think we could have finished in 30 minutes if it would have been a full 5K.
Nick had a lot of fun (and of course I did) but got a bit out of breath toward the middle of the race, so he relaxed a bit after we finished. I am so proud he did this 5K!
A photo with our spectators – me, Steven, Nick’s son Thomas, dad, mom, Nick’s wife Courtney, Nick
After the race we headed down to the basement of the building for food and door prizes. They had homemade goodies for food and a bucket full of Halloween knickknacks for kids. That’s where I found these eyeballs:
I ended up winning a door prize – a free wing party at Buffalo Wild Wings (50 free wings). I gave that to my mom (she compensated me by buying me some soap and lotion later in the afternoon).
Overall, I thought this was a nicely organized run, and had a lot of fun (and the weather was perfect – mid 40s)! If I am in town next year, I will do it again, hopefully, with Nick!
Have you ever run a race with a family member? Or in costume?
What did you do/are you doing for Halloween?
I went out with my siblings, their significant others, my mom, and another friend to the local bars on Main Street last night. I didn’t drink because I was getting over a headache, but had a great time with everyone, especially just people watching at the bars!
(Brother) Nick and (wife) Courtney, (boyfriend) Will and (sister) Christina, Mom, (brother) Anthony and (fiancee) Amber, (friend) CJ, me and Steven
Doesn’t my mom look much better as a pumpkin than I do?
*Nick bought his shoes and outfit for the 5K the night before, and had a granola bar and can of soda for breakfast. I don’t want to make light of the fact that he did not train… but that I should mention those things because they make me laugh.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
