Slow and Easy Sunday and Mother Badger's Musing

Mother Badger, circa 1930

Mother Badger was e-mailing her heart out to me on Friday as the Limes Appreciation Day Circus rolled on. In addition to other things, she had this to say: "I have been thinking about blogs. Pepys diary written centuries ago is still part of literature because it so reflected what was what in those days. I am wondering if blogs aren't going to be in the future (if saved archivally) be history as well. I like reading early diaries and how people lived and thought in earlier days." What does anyone think? Are we doing a baby boomers' written time capsule? Will someone read our words some day and laugh at how quaint we were with our communication devices and our 2009 sensibilities?

And that's as energetic as my head is going to get today. It's a lovely, rather lazy Sunday. The wind screams on and it will be very warm, but still not triple digits. I have enjoyed grinding the coffee beans after the walk and just generally putzing around my home in which I do not spend enough time. Today is "hair" day - every 4-5 weeks I go for the best razor cut in the valley, "half way across town", but a much shorter distance than I will walk on December 6th with TeamPrevention.

I eat oddly. There is every reason for this, and it will be blogged about sometime, but I don't eat like most people eat and I don't eat very much food at all. I have a lot of trouble getting in one quarter of the protein I need, and especially now that I'll be training. (Well, I guess I am training.) There's a recipe from Prevention that I read and thought would be interesting. Tried it out on the Badger who declared it amazingly good. I'd made it for him many, many times before I ever took even a nibble. Amazingly good doesn't even begin to describe it! This is likely what I will serve at the imaginary dinner party referred to in my blog's masthead.

Mustard-and-Brown-Sugar-Rubbed Salmon

2 tablespoons organic dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground sea salt or kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Salmon fillets, skin removed
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Press the side of the salmon that had the skin on it into the sugar mixture, coating it evenly. Heat the olive oil in non-stick cookware over medium flame. Cook until the rub dissolves and slightly darkens - don't let it burn! This usually takes about 4 minutes. Flip the fish and cook for about 1 minute more. The brown sugar caramelizes and turns into a shiny glaze. The taste is amazing and it's amazingly simple to make. Think "candy on salmon".

I think we're havin' the salmon today. I'm thinking I'll have some, too.

In my ears right now: Dwight Yoakam, "I Sang Dixie"

Why I like it: I like anyone who gets that crack, almost crying, in their singing voice. Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline, Lucinda Williams, Roy Orbison . . . Dwight . .

Something that charmed me today: Christine was cutting my hair and I was chattering about the marathon. No look of disbelief crossed her face at all. She clearly thought my doing that was within the realm of possibility. She said, "I'll come to the finish line, find your guys and wait for you."

Something else that charmed me today: Sometimes Mother Badger gets busy or doesn't feel like e-mailing, or maybe she just has nothing to say. But we've been e-mailing a lot for a couple of days and she began some discussion about some venerable things and some of her travels and reading. She posed a trivia question to me. She had to provide a hint before I could grasp onto a pretty logical answer. She is 82 (and sharper in some ways than I am). She is so bright and creative and so full of life. She has (still) a good, curious mind. She is a card sharp who plays against others online and likes to find a poker table from time to time. Her mother lived to the age of 102. Mother Badger is probably looking to do better!

Cloud of Negative Energy

I had a bit of a bad spell during the 24 hours I call a weekend. Down on myself thoughts. A pity party of one. Besides beating myself up for hours about the marathon and all the reasons I won't succeed at that, I finally landed on how ugly I am and that's when I knew the party was over. The only remaining thing to land on in a snit was "I'm fat."I snarled at the cats, struck out at a friend who didn't deserve it, and generally behaved badly.

Finally, deciding sleep was a good idea, I died out and woke up more myself this morning. Not that "myself" is all that wonderful, but you understand . . .

My friend says that fear or anxiety are symptoms of not having enough information. The tips from TeamPrevention are helpful, but I feel like I don't have a knowledge base about marathons that is either deep enough or wide enough. But I know how to Google and I know how to buy books, so a stop this evening at Barnes & Noble is in order. I've found a couple of likely books and I intend to own them today.

I wonder if any of you who have trained for an event - maybe even a marathon, who knows? - would ring in on this: before I arrive at the Start Village on December 6th, should I have already walked a marathon at least once? Or do I simply train, going farther, faster, harder and go that morning whether or not I've actually ever done 26.2 miles?

In my ears right now: the lovely voice of David, Jr. David has the most wonderful son - he's out of school at U.C.Irvine and has come for his first visit this summer.

Something that charmed me today: David, Jr.'s head popping up from the stairway. I got hugged, too!

Harbingers and Omens (or silly little coincidences)

Pretty funny, as I sign on with TeamPrevention and make a commitment to do something challenging and new (and, therefore, a little scary), all manner of little "signs" are showing themselves to me.

There's a newscast I like each morning when I come in at dawn between walking and work. There's a 50-year-old woman meteorologist who is a hoot, and the (younger) anchors are pretty fun. When one of the roving reporters recently booked a carpet cleaning job (she has an unusual first name and I recognized her voice) I asked, "Do you come into my home each morning over coffee?" She laughed and said "Yes, I am she." There are lots of spots on this newscast about events going on in Las Vegas and it gives me the tiniest sense of community, which is otherwise lacking here - at least for me.

This morning I nearly toppled the coffee cup when I heard - between shower and blow drying, and just after buying the pink slippers - about the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon to be held on December 6th. Hey, that's my event! The promoter was talking, and I learned I'll be joining some 29,999 other souls that day. The focus was on the runners, and probably should be - a marathon runner is a marvelous athlete. But as the Badger pointed out in his comments to a previous post, the walkers would be taking on a nearly 7 hour non-stop walk, and that is probably deserving of a nod.

Later in the morning, Yahoo Messenger announced an e-mail sent by the Badger's mother. Subject line: "You'll Love This!" It was a cute little forward with all kinds of tongue-in-cheek comments about walking, which I'll attempt to duplicate at some point on the blog. I hadn't yet told her about my decision to do the walk, so I popped back an e-mail to say "Mother Badger, please go read my last couple of posts to learn some news." Remember, she provides the subscription to Prevention! She's also been heard to comment that the Badger and I spend inordinate amounts of time working on fitness, but we'll see her reaction. I think she'll be supportive because she likes girls who kick butt. She is one!

Last little funny thing. Our IT engineer went to an electronics expo and, being an octopus, he came back with bags and bags and bags of give-aways. Water bottles, pens, little oddities. He was down to one item nobody wanted. "Limes, do you want a book?" "Hmmmmm, I don't know, what kind of book?" Well, it's not a book, it's a bound journal with a pen attached, elastic closure. Embossed on the cover (you'll know who the vendor was): "Sprint", which is close enough to "walk". It will be my training journal!

I've been noodling around on the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon website. There's a new course this year. They're calling it "flat and fast". This being Las Vegas, there are some interesting little things going on like "run through weddings". Huge party, food, music and beer (what?) at the finish line at the Mandalay Bay. Course time limit? 7 hours. For the walkers!

Tunes in my head right now (I don't really own these, so they're not actually playing and being picked up in my ears): Walk Away, Renee; Walk Like a Man (uh-uh, no way); These (pink) Boots Were Made for Walkin'; Walk on By; Walkin' on Sunshine; Walk Like an Egyptian; I'm Walkin'; I Walk the Line; Walk this Way

Something that charmed me today: A sneaker in development that would allow walking while posting to one's blog ~ ~ if that's what one wanted to do

Friends in Need and Prevention

The Badger was , indeed, a friend in need. Despite two races in two days, the horrors of the oilfields and a very long drive home, he appeared at my door with a computer under his arm! We made a deal: I'd fix dinner, he'd get me up and running again. He did. I did. My hands were trembling as I reached for the keyboard. After leaving work Saturday, I'd gone without for about 24 hours! I blogged around on the BlackBerry, but I could only look, not post comments or write my own post. It was difficult!

However, lack of a computer forced me to have a different kind of day yesterday. I read more than I typically read. I finally put the multi-disc changer on the Bose. It has remained in the shipping box for a year. I washed off the patio furniture. I cleaned windows. I put all the DVDs and videos into the piece of furniture meant to contain them. Do you think I spend too much time in front of the monitor? I pride myself on never having been a TV addict, but . . . . .

The Badger's mother gives me subscriptions to Prevention magazine and I am also addicted to that. I'm not sure why every bit of it grabs me every time, but it does. On the day that Prevention arrives, I sit down and read it cover to cover. There's always something interesting about pet health care, and the best workouts on the planet. There is always an article that makes one think about choices in life - the way we make our way. Makeup artist Bobbi Brown always has good tips for where not to apply the mascara and what colors not to use if you're over 22 years old. The cooking section always draws my attention and I've learned some of my favorite tricks there (you should taste the brown sugar/mustard rub I make for salmon ~ the brown sugar caramelizes on the fish . . but that's another post). There are sections about vitamin supplements, what new products do and do not live up to their claims. And the last page presents the Reflections of an older, habitually happy and grateful woman (Chief Inspiration Officer of the publishing company) that contain a good deal of corn and I like them anyway.

Often there appears a page that intrigues me. It is about a Prevention event, but it's never anywhere near Las Vegas. It goes like this:

Join Team Prevention Walk It!

Get fit, meet other readers, and achieve a substantial fitness goal. Signing up ensures you an automatic spot at the event of your choice, step-by-step trianing and tips from Prevention's editors and experts, online training tools, a TeamPrevention race shirt, and much more!

We'll be there to help you every step of the way!

Well, that sounds a lot like something I'd like to do. Meet other walkers and Prevention readers (who, like me, would really just be other people interested in a variety of things), visit their 2 day expo and walk either a marathon or half marathon. There are frequently articles about Susie from Maryland or Tillie from Delaware who joined up, were not even fit at the beginning, were not walkers at all, and who were older (sometimes they're even as old as I am) . . . . who followed the progam and walked a half marathon. So . . . . I've got a leg up on Susie and Tillie ~ I've walked for miles every day for years. I burn through good shoes every 4-5 weeks.

I signed up this morning. I'm in! December 4th or 5th I'll visit the expo. Sunday, December 6th, I'm doin' the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon.

In my ears right now: Dwight Yoakam's Best, with a tip of the hat to Bakersfield

Something that charmed me today: Hitting the "Submit" button when I joined TeamPrevention