a peek inside the fishbowl

Click the doodad below to hear our bedtime interview. (In other news, poor Sarah cried her face off and wouldn’t even cross the threshold without her mumma today. *sigh*)

[audio:http://www.quietfish.com/notebook/voice/emma-grade3.mp3]

Emma’s hamming about CBC still cracks me up.

Minor musings/small updates just for me:
(scroll down for original post):

September 23 – I wasn’t able to avoid crab salad sandwiches like I would have liked …it was the mayo. But what can I do when they’re handed directly to me? I don’t want to be one of those people who (seemingly) turns their nose up and asks “is there mayo in that?” before declining. Good news: I didn’t eat any Tim Horton’s products on our weekend roadtrip. For some reason I just wasn’t tempted.

September 16 - Amazingly, I avoided factory-made pizza and nacho chips, but I couldn’t be rude and decline a slice of birthday cake. The gym membership has been purchased. Now I’m just waiting for my orientation. Yay!

September 13 – Has my stomach shrunk because of recent illness? I’m not sure, but I haven’t felt like eating much these days. And I’m finding it easier to resist things like the CHERRY PIE that my dear husband bought the other night. I have been eating lots of veggies, but will I be able to say no to Kraft dinner?

September 8 - I haven’t been feeling that great lately. Is it residual from the cold I had, or something else? Foodwise I’ve been doing well, that is, other than that small handful of M & M’s that was pressed into my hand on Sunday! That gym membership has been officially purchased. Let’s see how that goes.

September 7 – It’s amazing what I can find to eat without cooking anything. Today’s lunch: apple and cheddar, boiled egg and bit of toast. Alas, the birthday cake will be unavoidable.

September 6 – I think I ramped up my veggie intake a little too quickly. Worst. Bloat. Ever. I won’t even mention the stomach-ripping gas pain. Dinner: tacos without the taco. I’ve decided to keep salsa on my list of “can eats.”

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My recent bout with the common cold made me realize (again!) that colds are a little too common with me. In fact, I tend to catch every cold I come into contact with. I’m sick of it (no pun intended)!

It is time to get healthy again. I mean really healthy. I am considering it my personal HEALTH CHALLENGE. (Funny, isn’t it, how I can’t seem to do big things without calling it a CHALLENGE and posting about it here.)

Note the counter in the right hand sidebar. It’s highlighted in yellow. That’s the virtual string around my finger… the reminder to be mindful.

1) I have cut out processed foods. Mind you, I’ve never been the kind of person who scarfs down a box of Ritz Bits Sandwiches with Cheese, but I have been cutting out some extras and trying to increase the amount of fruit and veggies I consume. This is not a diet, but it is, of sorts. It’s an old-fashioned/whole-foods diet because I’m avoiding anything factory-made or packaged on an assembly line. I am shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. I will be eating meat, fruit, veg, cheese, milk (and butter), coffee, and bakery-baked goods. I am making an allowance for my granola and (ahem) Bran Buds because they rock my socks and keep it all (ahem) moving along. I will not be eating: chips, crackers, store-bought salad dressings, mayo, margarine, canned/powdered soups, processed meats or factory-made cookies. I think this will eliminate a lot of extra sodium, sugars, corn syrup, and fats. We’ll see.

2) I’ve started taking multivitamins again. I’ve done some experimenting, and have decided it’s best taken at nighttime. On October 1st I’m going to supplement the supplement by taking an additional boost of Vitamin D (have you read the news?) and will be restarting my time in front of the Litebook.

3) I am going to try to get to bed at a decent hour. I think I let myself get run down, and it’s partly why my body lets the bugs in.

4) I am signing up for the gym – today! – and develop a routine around it.

I started the whole foods diet before we went camping, and promptly abandoned my healthy eating plan while we were there. (Camping would not be camping without hotdogs and marshmallows!)

But we went to the Parkdale Market yesterday afternoon and stocked up on all kinds of great fruits and veggies, then swung by Saslove’s for some Dijon-marinated salmon (two thumbs up) and chicken sausage for the girls (two more thumbs up), and bought a fantastic rock salt sourdough baguette from Harvest Loaf… which I could have eaten in its entirety.

Speaking of health, Emma has been taking Greens+ for Kids for the past couple of days. A review of that is forthcoming. :)

 

I was teaching the girls how to play 7-Up (rules to follow) and it occurred to me that these games are (a) fun (b) a part of our culture and (c) in danger of being forgotten.

I have decided that I’m going to try to archive the outdoorsy games that I used to play as a little kid.

Regular readers probably know how I feel about unstructured outdoor play. I truly believe it is a critical part of growing up. Kids are increasingly overscheduled and are spending way too much time in front of the screen. They are getting less and less time just to play and be kids.

Anyway, this is the beginning of my virtual collection of playground games. I’m hoping that it spurs some good memories, some good ideas, and that the parents and caregivers out there, (not to mention grandparents and aunts and uncles!) decide to give some of these a try.

If you have anything to add, let me know and I will happily create a new post for each game.

Here’s the first. It was a regular game of ours on the street where I grew up.

7-up

Equipment needed: a ball. We always used an Indian rubber ball. It does increases the injury factor, but that’s up to you.
Players: any number

One “first” player secretly assigns all the players a number, including him/herself. So if there are 8 players, the lead player will use all the numbers between 1 and 8.

All of the players stand around the first player. Holding the ball, the first player throws it vertically, up in the air as hard as physically possible and calls out a number (from 1 to 8) at the same time.

The other players scatter and run off in all directions, but the player whose number was called has to catch the ball. Once the ball is caught, the catcher of the ball yells “FREEZE” and everyone has to stop running. The player who caught the ball chooses the closest person, takes seven giant steps towards him/her, and throws the ball. If the player hits that person (who, if they’re smart, are crouched down on the ground in a fetal position), that person is now “it” and it becomes their turn to throw the ball up in the air and call a number.