Refreshed!

(Blogspot somehow posted an empty post, so you may see this post before it's complete. I have to keep going back and editing the original, empty post!)

I feel especially refreshed today. I'm not sure why. This is day 7 without decaffeinated or caffeinated beverages; I'm only drinking beverages that are naturally caffeine free. This seems to help with the headaches. I got a lot of cleaning done around the house in anticipation of having visitors tonight. It ends up one of them is sick, so they won't be coming. Since we already booked a babysitter, Roy & I are going out for tea or something similar. And one floor of the house looks great! I even vacuumed the stairwells (which are carpeted in dark blue and are a magnet for our buff & tan cocker spaniel's hair!). The other floor? Well, it still needs a lot of work, but we're getting there.

It's amazing how quickly fall has arrived. The air is crisp, and the leaves are starting to fall from the trees already.

Yesterday, I babysat for a friend who has 2 girls, ages 4.5 months and just over 3 years. Bear was there as well. We lasted the entire 75 minutes! That is a serious feat, seeing as the youngest one likes to be held all the time. Before the babysitting event, I had a buying club pickup. I bought a big vat of Nutiva Coconut Oil, among other fun & healthy things. Coconut oil generally gets a bad rap, but it's actually quite good for you:

Coconut oil is 64% medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which burn as energy quickly rather storing in the body as fat (especially belly fat) like the long-chains. MCFAs are quite rare in foods and have massive positive implications for your health, although the processed vegetable oil industry tried to malign the tropical oils years ago and many consumers have no idea what great nutrition they are missing out on. Coconut oil is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-parasite, and anti-fungal.

You can read more over at Green Smoothie Girl's Coconut Oil page; that above quote is from her. The most awesome thing is that it's finally cool enough that my coconut oil remains solid at room temperature (it's liquid above 76 degrees). So I spread it on my toast (and on Bear's toast, too) this morning as if it were butter!

Life is truly good.

Green Smoothies, Soda, Headaches & Caffeine

I've decided that I just can't seem to fit green smoothies into my weekends. I think it's partially because I often do ministry on Saturdays, and then Sundays, I often lead worship at church. And now that we're back to 2 services (we only have 1 service in the summer since we're about half college students and most of them go home), by the time we get home from church, most of the day has gone by. But I've been diligent in having them on the weekdays.

I've been off of caffeine for several weeks now. Unfortunately, about once a month, I get a killer headache that no amount of ibuprofen can chisel away at. So yesterday, I made an Americano with about 10% caffeine, hoping it would help my headache. No difference. I would have just ridden it out except I had a meeting to lead last night & I needed my brain to not be so squished. So I went to the Brazilian convenience store up the street to get a soda. I can't have corn, so I have to drink diet soda, and they have these little 8 ounce glass bottles of soda. So I got a Diet Coke & drank it. Still no relief. I drove to the meeting and went to the store to get another soda, 20 ounces this time, only I grabbed a regular Pepsi by mistake & didn't realize it until I got to the meeting. Fortunately, an awesome friend ran out to the store and got me a cherry-flavored Coke Zero. And it killed the headache. I came home, totally hopped up on caffeine, and Bear was still awake, so I fed him, praying that the caffeine wouldn't affect him too much and that he would sleep. And he slept fine!

Today, I'm back to decaf Americanos and herbal tea :) Right now, I'm drinking Yogi Tea Classic India Spice Tea. Yum :)

Blogging Slacker!

My week has been so busy that I've been a blogging slacker!

Notice that we're over 50% of the way to our fundraising goal!

I did my long run on Tuesday (5.5 miles). I have to admit; I ran slowly, but it still kicked my butt! And I did my long walk yesterday. So tomorrow or Saturday, hopefully, I'll do my short run. Then next week is Race Week!

I'm cutting caffeine out of my diet in an effort to be more healthy. I'm still drinking decaf Americanos (or Americani?), but I may cut those out as well. I've been fighting a lot of fatigue, so I'm trying to narrow down the reasons. It may simply come down to the fact that I haven't gotten a full night of sleep in over a year. I'm lucky if I get 6-7 hours of sleep, and that's never uninterrupted sleep. The joys of having a child!

I also have to say I love that the feeling of fall is in the air. Often when I run or walk, the weather is in the low 70's with a cool breeze. I just love it! Of course, that means winter is coming, which I don't love. I don't mind winter, but no one fully clears their sidewalks around here. That means no running, much less walking. I don't know how we're going to swing it! The local community center has a walking track, as well as treadmills, so I might join. Of course, the jogging stroller can't go on the treadmill & there's no running allowed on the walking track. I'll have to keep brainstorming....