Making It Up As I Go Along (from my fat blog)

Last night, I didn't know what to make for dinner. So I poked around in my kitchen and found that I had a spagetti squash, bits of various vegetables, some frozen scallops. Surely I could make something edible out of all of this!

I cooked the spagetti squash in the microwave oven while I sauteed onion and a somewhat wilted red bell pepper in olive oil. That red pepper had appparently been around a while because it was starting to grow itself a new body when I cut it open!

I cut up the two zucchini I had leftover along with two small yellow squash and some broccoli. After I pulled the spagetti squash out, I microwaved those all together for about 5 minutes. The scallops had been defrosting in a bowl of water in the sink all this time.

So now what? I had all these veggies and those scallops - and I needed something to tie it all together. Sauce! Honey, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, a dash of ginger and hmmm... it needs a little something else. A quick perusal of the refriderator door yielded the perfect thing - mahaw jelly! Two tablespoons of that, mix it all up and throw it in the pan. I did think about a thickener, but decided against it. I sauteed the scallops in the sauce, then added the microwaved vegetables and let it all simmer for a couple of minutes while cut open the spagetti squash and shredded it into bowls. Spooned the sauced up veggies and scallops on top and viola!!! It was REALLY good - and even my son went back for seconds!

I don't know about a calorie count, but really, it was all veggies, a few scallops and that sauce - of which the honey was probably the most caloric (I'm guessing a 1/4 cut of that). Next time, I'll keep the camera handy so I can show you what it was.

FITNESS FAIR!
Z and I got up this morning, and after a veggie omelet, we went to the Fitness Fair at the Civic Center. There were booths for health food stores and gyms and Jenny Craig and H2O and lots of other health-related businesses and clubs. It was a lot of fun, but there were two things there that really caught my eye and held my attention.

First was the booth for the Gulf Winds Track Club. This group has been around for a long time. The hold group runs, races and various practice activities. While there, I picked up a race calendar and talked to the people manning the booth about training. There's a training group just starting now for the Springtime Tallahassee 10K/5K/1M, which will be held March 27th (2 days after I turn 48!). The only requirement? Wear running shoes and reflective clothing and be prepared to jog 2 miles at your own pace the first day(!). That's a lot of running for me. However, I may join their training group in mid-February (once I can jog!). They also told me about the Tallahassee Marathon/Half-Marathon in February. Obviously I can't do that NOW, but they said I should aim for the half next February. Yay! Local support!!!!

The other thing was that the Army had set up a rock-climbing wall. Z spotted it as soon as we walked in and decided he wanted to try it.

This is a pretty cool set up. The Army guys put you into a harness and make it nice an snug. Then you get hooked up to a steel cable that will allow you to fall slowly if you come off the wall (or rappel down when you get to the top). ZBoy was still a little unsure of it all, but determined to give it a go.



He got a little more than halfway up before deciding he didn't want to go any higher. Looking down was his first mistake (he's a little afraid of heights), and hanging out in one position that wasn't a rest position for too long blew up his arms. When I told him that, he said that if I knew so much, why didn't I give it a go?

I told him that if their harness would fit around me, I would do just that!



Well, what do you know? It did reach! The guy pulled it tight, attached me to the cable and away I went.


It's been a LONG time since I climbed (stopped when I got pregnant with Z). I'm a big girl, I'm out of shape, and I haven't used those muscles in a long, long time - but I discovered that there are some things your body doesn't forget how to do. Even if it's a lot more work now than it was back then.



I did it. I made it to the top!!! ZBoy was stunned. I guess he wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. He was reinspired, and made a couple more attempts at it, but his nervousness about being so high off the ground never let him get much more than half way.

He and I are ridiculously proud of these. After we got off the wall, we were directed to the Army Tent where we got our dogtags - Z's said he was HARD CORE. And mine says that I am ARMY STRONG.

Afterwards, we had lunch - turkey sandwich and water for me, fruit salad and a brownie for Z. We'd been doing a little sampling of cooking demonstrations around the fair, and Z really went for the chili from the natural food store - he went back twice AND finished mine!

I find the pictures above rather depressing, but it does give me a real idea of what I look like. It's not good. But I know where I'm starting! And I know where I want to end up.