The Welshman's Wisdom

I used to work with a crazy guy from Wales.

My first ever grown up job was teaching English at a small alternative school in Southern Appalachia. What's an alternative school you may ask? Well, they are all a little different, but my school served about 100 students from Kindergarten to 12th grade who were either diagnosed with some form of Autism/Aspberger's Syndrome, or who had demonstrated bad behavior in a traditional high school. I worked with high school students, about 50 all told, and I taught each grade level (9-12) as I was the only English teacher at the school. Our school was made up of a strange amalgamation of students (whom I loved and who cracked me up all the time) and an even stranger mix of teachers. It takes a special person to work in that environment, that's for sure. Our talented woodshop teacher, Henderson, was formerly an actor in New York City; our horticulture teacher, Mr. Blanton, who was pushing 80 years old, was born on Blanton Branch, about a quarter-mile from the school and spent his life farming and preaching. Our math teacher, Kia, was a dreadlocked, militant Christian who didn't go to church, rode her motorcycle too fast, and smoked like a chimney.

Then there was Tom, the resident Welshman - law school drop out, world class kayaker who moved to the States chasing a girl he met in India, who would later become his wife. Tom was our history teacher, our American History teacher, who hated America and Americans and only taught so he could "colonize the natives." Tom was a phenomenal teacher, but he's a busker at heart - he now spends all of his free time performing magic tricks and tying balloon animals on sidewalks all across the South.

After hundreds of conversations at breakfast, during lunch and after school, there's one phrase that's lodged in my brain, and I always, always hear it with a Welsh accent:

"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes." 


I've never felt much like a 'blind squirrel' (though I've met a few in my day, if you know what I'm talking about), but I do understand the idea of getting lucky, or being blessed. I sat down to start this post as a tribute to my awesome husband, but I think I'll save that for another day and give that subject the attention it deserves. For now, I'll think back to my first days of 'the real world,' my first job and my wonderful, memorable coworkers and I'll take a moment to be grateful for the good 'nut' that I found!

Chicken Cordon Bleu. . .Light!

On Saturday, I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying my 79 year old grandpa to Sam's Club. We've had this Sam's Club visit in the works for a few weeks now, and we were both looking forward to it. Let me tell you, that man is the source of my amusement no matter where we are, and our trip to Sam's did not disappoint. Highlight of the trip, in the shampoo aisle:

Grandpa: "Where's the shampoo?"
Me: "Over here. What do you like, Head and Shoulders?"
Grandpa: "Nah, I don't like that."
Me: "How about some Pert Plus? It's two in one!"
Grandpa: "That looks okay." [Pause] "What's that (pointing to a bottle of Crew)?"
Me: "Oh, that's Crew. It's like the trendy men's shampoo. Makes you smell really. . .masculine."
Grandpa: "Give me that." *Puts jumbo sized bottle of Crew in the cart*

It was a doozy. Aside from the entertainment, Sam's was also good for some nice cuts of pretty cheap meat. I bought a scoop of boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.97/lb. It was a 15 pound scoop and it had eight breasts - can you do that math? These were the biggest chicken breasts I've ever seen. We took a few of them over the my brother and sister-in-law's place on Saturday to grill out (fabulous!). Today I thawed out one (that's right - one) breast so that I could make a nice dinner for Craig and I tonight. We had a delicious lightened version of Chicken Cordon Bleu, thanks to Taste of Home. For the full recipe, please see Light Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe at Taste of Home. I followed the recipe closely, making a few changes in seasoning based on our taste, and subbing buttermilk and Special K for plain milk and Corn Flakes, because that's what I had on hand. We both really enjoyed our dinner - it felt decadent, but it didn't break the 'calorie bank.' Score!

(Photo taken from www.tasteofhome.com)

My Fitness Pal

About a month ago, I got connected with a fancy pants personal trainer (FPPT hereafter) in hopes of improving my health and boosting my fitness level. FPPT and I have been meeting once a week, going over nutrition and strength training. Overall, it's been a good experience, but I'm ready to branch out on my own and save my money. At the end of the day, FPPT isn't giving me anything I can't get for free. I did already cut a check for another month, but after this month, I'll be cutting ties and going it alone.

Sometime in the past year, everyone in my family got turned on to a great web site - My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal is essentially a calorie counter, but it has lots of other cool features, too. When you first sign up for your FREE account, you can fill in information such as your age, current weight, height and activity level and receive a daily calorie goal in order to lose weight. The database of foods is seemingly endless; I almost never have trouble finding the item I'm looking for. Best of all, they have an awesome mobile app so I can quickly log my foods all throughout the day. The mobile app even has the ability to scan barcodes. How cool is that?! I love opening the fridge, pulling out an item and scanning it with my phone. Talk about simple.

Aside from being a food tracker, the program can also track your exercise and show you the calories you've burned. It will even give you credit for the calories you've burned in your daily calorie allowance - reminds me of bonus points in the old Weight Watchers program. For optimal weight loss, you would ideally work out and not eat any of these bonus calories, but now and then it's nice to have a little wiggle room to indulge in something you really want.

One other aspect that I like is that My Fitness Pal also functions as a social networking site. You can 'friend' people you know, follow their progress (such as pounds lots, exercises complete) and then you can cheer them on by leaving a comment. I'm only friends with my parents, my aunt and my cousin, but maybe I'll soon be friends with you, too. The site also boasts lots of message boards and personal fitness blogs which are always helpful for extra motivation or just new recipe ideas.

If you haven't checked it out before, head over to My Fitness Pal and sign up for your free account!

*Tap, Tap* Is This Thing On?!

After nearly three months, I've decided to return to my blog. Since I'm no longer living in Colorado cooking in the world's tiniest kitchen, and since cooking for two months straight did nothing good for my waistline, I've decided to revamp the blog. New name, new look, new focus.

I hope you'll check in with me as I post about every number of things from heath and fitness, to home decor, to gardening (maybe!) to random musings. I'm looking forward to a new season of life, how about you?