Disney!

We recently went to Disneyworld again, this time with the kids. Since I'm training for a 1/2 marathon and have to log a certain amount of miles, I wanted to find out just how much I walked in a day.

Day in question was Thursday, first full day at DW. I started my GARMIN 450cx watch at 10am, after we had walked to the boat launch (from the Wilderness Lodge), taken a boat then a monorail to the Grand Floridian for an early morning breakfast. Monorail ride back to the Magic Kingdom, then the watch was started.

I didn't turn it off on 2 trips on Splash Mountain (.49 miles each) and 2 trips on Big Thunder Mountain RR (.53 miles each). I also did not turn it off inside, winding thru lines when there was no GPS signal. At the end of our time at MK, we took a monorail to the transportation center and I turned it off there.

The total distance between 10am and 5pm was almost 12 miles. Subtract the rides (about 2 miles) and the monorail ride (about a mile) and you get 9 miles of walking, just for the first 7 hours. We then went to Epcot and walked for another 4 hours (my GPS was out of battery by then, so no data).

The moral of the story: wear comfortable shoes. For those of you who need further clarification, that means NO flip flops.

Sleep, part deux

So today I had my visit with the cognitive behavioral specialist. It was really quite interesting. We talked a bit about sleep hygiene, a subject I was already familiar with. We also talked about the role my husband, the reflux sufferer, is playing in this dilemma.

The most interesting part, and probably the most helpful, was to put my problem in perspective. So what happens if I can't sleep? I'm tired the next day but I can function. I usually can sleep the next night, a fairly full night. I guess removing the anxiety of worrying about the lack of sleep goes a long way to being able to fall asleep.

I learned some relaxation techniques also, but that one pearl will probably be the most helpful.

Sleep!

As some of you may know, I’m a bit of an insomniac. I generally don’t have trouble staying asleep, but falling asleep is a different story. It drives me crazy these days, as it’s gotten a little out of control.
My natural biorhythms dictate that I stay up late and wake up late. I remember vividly in my childhood being sent to bed at 7:30 every night until about 4th grade. Guess what? At 7:30 I just wasn’t tired. Oh, the games I used to invent in my room late at night, waiting to get tired.
As an adult, I often would like to go to bed early but know it only means more time waiting to fall asleep. On a good day, I am awake for 20-30 minutes before I’m out. My husband, conversely, falls asleep in 20-30 seconds. No kidding. Drives me nuts. Recently I had two nights almost completely without sleep.
In a recent Journal of the American Medical Association, it was suggested that people with insomnia see a cognitive behavioral specialist. I happen to know a really good one. I made an appointment for later this week to see what suggestions he has to offer. Stay tuned!

Things you get to do when your kids are at sleepaway camp...

1. Watch The Forty Year Old Virgin at 7pm.
2. Play Green Day as loud as you want, any time you want.
3. Sleep until the very last minute before you have to get up and go to work.
4. Eat dinner sitting on the couch, watching TV.
5. Have control of the remote. What a concept.
6. Avoid all episodes of Hannah Montana and The Suite Life on Deck
7. Exercise, out of the house, at the same time as your spouse.
8. Date night. Enough said.
9. Enjoy the odd silence that is a lack of bickering between siblings.
10. Miss them, just a little. OK, a lot.

Loco for Locopops!

There's a great place for a neat treat in Chapel Hill (and Durham) called Locopops. They offer a fabulous variety of Mexican-style popsicles, in such flavors as chocolate brownie, cookies and cream, mojito, cherry lime, strawberry-kiwi, pomegranate tangerine, etc. (One time Alan tried Avocado flavor. Hmmm. It tasted exactly like a nice, ripe avocado. That unfortunately does NOT translate to frozen dessert, btw.) I highly recommend visiting one of the several locations and trying them out.


When we were there tonight with my niece and nephew, my nephew started telling us about the history of Popsicles. Apparently in 1905, an 11 year old boy named Frank Epperson mixed soda with a stick and accidentally left it out overnight. His creation was originally called the Epsicle. 18 years later he started the Popsicle company. It's summer in North Carolina and all I can say is Yea for Frank!

So here's a thought...

A few years back, I did a television gig in New York. During the prep in the wee hours of the morning, a professional makeup artist was applying my makeup. She was amazing, she camouflaged my deep set eyes and made my skin look flawless. She truly was an artist. When I asked her if she had always wanted to do this, she told me when she was 5 years old she used to steal her mother's makeup and bury it in the back yard so she could play with it later.

That started me thinking about my childhood, and I recalled practicing surgery on my stuffed animals at age 6, often pretending I just completed a grueling 6 hour operation on the lucky (to have me) creature (OK, so I admit the operations were not on their feet but who could guess that?). My friend down the street, Nancy, used to organize kickball, soccer and ghost in the graveyard games for the whole neighborhood. She is now a very enthusiastic recreational therapist.

I therefore started wondering, what are my kids doing now that might be a window to their future? My oldest plays with animal figures all the time, coming up with different adventures. There were never dolls, only animals with her. She used to say she wanted to be a veterinarian, but now she says zoologist. Interesting.

As for my younger daughter, I'm very curious as to how this will turn out because of an incident at school last semester. A few of my friends let me know their kids were asking for money because my daughter was selling things at school: lollipops, pencils, erasers, etc. She often participates in bake sales (items baked by the older one who apparently is going to not only be an animal expert but baker and bartender one day too) and makes some significant cash for a kid. Sales? Perhaps. We nipped the selling in school in the bud, of course...and she was asked to stop at her afterschool program...

Some people love her entrepreneurial spirit. I personally do, but also wonder about how much she pushes the envelope. Time will tell, of course. Check back with me in about 15 years and I'll clue you in as to just how close I was.

The Best Dog in the World

Today we lost our dog, Maggie. Maggie was a shepherd sheepdog mix of some sort, a beautiful dog with long black hair, a white chest and beard. She was quite certainly the best dog in the world.

Maggie was born April 1st, 1994 and she was my first dog. She lived to be 15 years old, not too shabby for a large dog. We adopted her in June of '94 from the Santa Clara Humane Society in San Jose, CA. We were both residents at Stanford at the time, and although taking care of a puppy was a lot of work, Mags made it all worthwhile.

She adapted well throughout the years to our lives, hiking and running with us, playing with her neighbor dogs, and playing well with the kids when they came on the scene. She quickly grew out of jumping on people and she never much chewed things. She knew exactly how much to bark, how to look scary to strangers at the door, but was friendly to anyone we accepted into our home.

Those of you who knew her may have been lucky enough to see her awesome tricks...sit, down, speak (of course) but she could also balance a cookie on her nose while shaking your hand and flip it up and catch it in her mouth. She would often talk to us, especially as she got older, and would not let you ignore her if she really needed something. She could even say "I Love You". I swear. It was awesome.

Of course there were the intangibles...the things you just can't describe with words about a true member of your family. But ponder this- people used to tell us they were reluctant to get a dog because they knew it wouldn't be a great as Maggie.

So, I hope you can see she was the best dog ever. I am thankful we had her, and that she's again chasing squirrels like she used to do so well in her early years.

RIP Maggie Bocko 4/1/1994 - 7/11/2009