Mike's Own Private Idaho

Mike's been gone all week on the Salmon River in Idaho with some buddies - while I hold the chaos in check here at home.

We had a rough start on Monday ...but I was feeling my stride as the week wore on, not missing him all that much because life was demanding my undivided attention. I thought I was going to make it through without a major breakdown and then the A/C stopped working yesterday afternoon (keep in mind we just paid $4000 last summer to replace the system). I cried for about half an hour, then I pulled it together & called the A/C company who installed our system last year. They gave me a relatively simple solution. (It works again!) I can't help it, I panic when the A/C quits and it's 100 degrees outside.

Overall, we managed alright this week, thanks to our families who took pity on me - I only had to cook dinner ONE night -(thanks Jacque, Mom, Beth & Kay!). That on top of giving me a breather at other times: Jacque taking each of the kids in turn to her school, Holly watching the kids so I could go to the temple one day, Howard taking us swimming at Great-Grandma Helen's on the 24th, my dad filling in again for 4H, my parents insisting on a backyard sleep out last night. I was thinking, "Mike ought to do this guy-vacation thing more often...." but then I thought better of it.

Actually, it has been a growing experience for me...and the kids. I'm grateful for that - but I'm not interested in doing this again.

Down.

Just returned from a walking the dog and kids this morning. As we came up the hill into our circle a big ol' boxer (you know those with the brown and black stripey coats that are all the rage in dogs these days) came out of nowhere from behind. Jess, behind me pushing Sully in the stroller, yelled to warn me. Before I knew it I was on the ground - banged my elbow and head on the pavement pretty hard in the process. The Space Donkey managed to come out on top and said boxer jogged away. ...My next dilemma: Jupiter on the loose (which is tricky in the best of conditions) with another dog keeping his attention. My head hurting, I followed them into the next circle where a second boxer was wandering, a car trolling along nearby (apparently the owners trying to gather the dogs up again). Jupiter tried his luck with this dog as well, and then decided his odds weren't as good - so he gave it up and came to me.

My elbow is sore.

Come to think of it - this reminds me very much of another experience with Jupiter where I ended up on the pavement - tangled in the leash while taking him for a run. I had road rash scars for a year and a half after that one.

Not to Beat a Dead Horse...

I know that I went off a while back about all of us being spoiled about food. Trust me, I'm really not obsessed about food. With that disclaimer... I've been slowly working my way through a book my mom gave me about nutrition, The China Study. Overall, I've been impressed. I say that with a few caveats. Mr. Campbell, PhD conducted long-term studies (30 years or so) to learn about the effects of nutrition on disease (specifically "western" diseases) - and was surprised to find that a host of diseases (from cancer to auto-immune diseases, macular degeneration, obesity, etc.) crop up at astonishing rates as a population consumes more meat and animal products (starting at a critical percentage of something like 10%-20%). I read the book sceptically at first, but actually found the volume of data compelling. On top of that I just found myself thinking that it was all just common sense anyway. In the end he tries to make the argument that people should be 100% vegan - which is where he looses me, especially when his data don't specifically show the benefit. He basically says, "if 10% is good then none MUST be best."

Here's my take: if you know a Mormon, or are one, read section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Eat real food/whole foods (MUCH less processed food). Eat fresh food as often as you can get it. Eat it simply. Take it easy on the sugar. Eat meat sparingly - really. Be grateful. Eat till you're full. Get out and work/play.

It was a worthwhile read.

Here's an interesting web site - with an interactive map of obesity rates in the US for adults and children. I think Utah has the lowest rate of childhood obesity, barely.

http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2009/

#5 turns 1

Happy 1st birthday to Sully this week!

Because we got back so late Saturday night from Michigan and had church and stuff on Sunday there wasn't a whole lot of time to prepare any fancy party for the big 1st birthday - which was ok (he'd already been to two shared family parties: one with Melton cousins in Michigan and one on Sunday with Sullivans). He was just stoked that he got to have pizza and cake for the first time. Unofficial guests were a couple of neighbor friends who happened to be hanging out at our house that day. I picked up one of those tube/tunnel toys at IKEA earlier in the day (he test-drove his cousins' in Michigan and loved them so much we decided he had to have one of his own). AND as a bonus...he got to hang out in his underwear all day (onesies-only are a baby privilege when it's 95 degrees outside).

It's hard to keep up with the passing of time. It can't be a year already, can it?

As Grace would say, "I'm crying in my mind...."