Tag Archives: Insomnia

Insomniacs of the World Unite

Posted on May 6, 2013 | 2 Comments

FOOD

Dinner last night was really good.  I marinated some portabella mushroom caps in some homemade veggie broth, minced garlic, and balsamic vinegar for about a half hour.  The D threw them on the grill for me!

I served them up in a big collard leaf (instead of a burger bun) and topped with cabbage, red onion, sliced tomato, and sauerkraut.  I was going to make a quinoa salad for a side dish, but was too lazy and just ate two of my shroom burger wraps instead.

shroom burger wrap

shroom burger wrap

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I had absolutely no appetite today.  I had very little sleep, and I find that I’m either starving the next day or completely disinterested in food.  I was the latter.

I didn’t have anything for breakfast, but lunch was some reheated lentils and rice from dinner Friday night.  I don’t think I blogged about it, but it was my usual.  2 cups lentils, 1 cup brown rice, 2 tbsp. of spice (I usually go with something Middle Eastern, and this was no change – I used a Baharat spice blend).  Pop it in the rice cooker and that’s all she wrote.

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I heated up a bowl and topped it with some shredded cabbage and hot sauce.

Late afternoon I had a plain baked potato with pepper.  Boring, but I wasn’t in the mood for anything fancier.

For dinner, I ended up making a savory green smoothie.  4-5 Roma tomatoes, 1/4 yellow bell pepper, a chunk of red onion (I’d guess about 1-2 tbsp.), a celery stalk, a large carrot, and a few big handfuls of spinach.  Into the Vitamix and then into my belly.

before blending! Can you imagine sitting down to a bowl of this? Sometimes I can...but today, I blended that BAS and drank it instead! Took much less effort...

before blending! Can you imagine sitting down to a bowl of this? Sometimes I can…but today, I blended that BAS and drank it instead! Took much less effort…

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FITNESS

I knew when I woke up this morning that it’d be a rough day.  I had about 2 hours of sleep and needed to focus.  So….I went to a spinning class at the Y.  I figured I needed to get my blood pumping to wake my #$% up, and it worked.  I can’t get over how many people workout that early in the morning.  Crazy.

good burn in that class this morning!

good burn in that class this morning!

Anyway, my bum is still sore from Saturday’s class with AZ, but I threw on some padded bike shorts and muscled through it.

LIFE

I was up late working last night (until 1 am or so), and since my brain was spinning, I had no hope of actually falling asleep.  As it happens, a very good friend of mine was also unable to sleep, so we chatted for a bit in the middle of the night, which was actually really nice.  I finally dozed off sometime around 330.  I’m surprisingly awake today, so that’s good at least!

It’s a typical Monday evening, though I’m home earlier than usual (as in 7pm instead of 8 pm!).  We’re all starting to wind down and for me personally – I’m really looking forward to going to bed as soon as possible!

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A Study to See if Sarcasm Increases Due to Lack of Sleep (may take several posts to determine)

Posted on September 6, 2011 | 3 Comments

FOOD

Do you ever have those days where you get so little sleep that you either need to eat everything not nailed down in order to stay awake…or the thought of food is just unappetizing?  Today for me was the latter…

Breakfast was 2 cups of coffee, though there isn’t enough caffeine around to make me feel peppy today.  Thankfully I had a really busy day, so I was too busy being busy to notice I wanted to pass out and sleep.  Small favors I guess.

I did eat my leftover brown rice pasta/acorn squash alfredo dish at one point.  And a vanilla frosted cupcake because I’m proud of it and needed to eat one – not really because I was hungry.

I munched on a few wheat thins late in the afternoon and had a salad for dinner that I put together at the grocery when R and I went there after I picked her up.  I wasn’t hungry for that either, but figured I should eat it anyway!

I did roast my two eggplants so I could make some baba ganoush.  I’ve been wanting to make some homemade for sandwich spreads anyway, and these two were just on the edges of still being good to eat.

roasted eggplant!

FITNESS

Funny.  Breathing was fitness today.  I stayed awake.  I’m still awake.  Calorie burning machine, I’m telling ya.

LIFE

Before bed last night, I managed to make everyone’s lunches (yeah me for preparing!).  R was in bed by 830 (a total miracle), and D and I went to bed by 9.  It was awesome – we were so excited to get a really good night’s sleep.  Today was not only the kids’ first day back to school, but D’s first day back after a week off laid flat with a bad back.

Too bad that it doesn’t matter how good my intentions are.  If my brain doesn’t want to shut off – it won’t shut off.  I was still lying wide awake at 230 am – and my alarm went off at 510.  Ick.

I made breakfast, made sure everyone was up on time, and starting putting the lunch fixings into respective bags.

D and I have a silly thing where I always put a note in his lunch (and he leaves me little notes too – like in my luggage!).  They’re usually silly, always lovey, and he’s kept every single one of them since I started doing this about 3-4 years ago.  I think it’s neat that he pulls them out once in a while to read them.  Anyway, I was writing his note this morning when R walked into the kitchen.  She says in a very knowing tone “you’re writing my note aren’t you.  Just admit it!”.  I smiled.  Of course I wasn’t writing her a lunch note…but I sure as hell was going to!

R's lunch note (after it was in her lunchbox with all her food)

Work was intensely busy, but again that’s probably a good thing.  Pulling off this project go-live tomorrow is still in question as of this evening (two big issues to still surpass).  Send good and positive thoughts my way.  This is the most “down to the wire” anything I’ve ever worked on has gotten.  Ugh.

After picking up R, it was a quick trip to the grocery, then home for a late conf call (regarding above mentioned project).  R kicked back to read, and I got busy filling out (in triplicate) the emergency contact forms for the kids.  And lab permission slips.  And student conduct policy acknowledgements.  Really – I’m happy to design the school system a software package to allow parents to enter this information ONE TIME EVER – for all children.  For free.   If it means not having to do this in TRIPLICATE every stinking year.

R lying back on the couch in the green room reading a Magic Treehouse book

my fav shirt - especially since it's a new school year. Want to be sure all her new teachers know clearly and think to ask her about her allergies!

Anyhow…while D made dinner (yes, you read that correctly…my husband made dinner), I went to pick A up and take her and M to Target to pick up the last of their school supplies (funny thing about high school…they don’t know what they need until after the first day).

The rest of the evening has been catching up with everyone about their day, having a bloody mary, reading some blogs, and hoping to get some sleep (though until this project is done – and my big one next week – it’s not going to be too likely).  A sure bet that at least my blog posts will be fun to read as they get increasingly sarcastic and incoherent :)

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I Got to Be a Pigeon Today!

Posted on August 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

FOOD

I was up earlier than everyone else (as usual), so I had a couple of cups of coffee while first reading some more blog posts, and then while watching the last recorded episode of Hell’s Kitchen.  It was perfect timing when R came downstairs as the show ended, she could watch cartoons, and I could start making breakfast.

First up today was a smoothie.  My latest favorite of watermelon, banana, and frozen strawberries.  My bananas are turning fast, and so right now they’re only good for smoothies or baking – and barely for smoothies.

smoothie!!!

A half hour later, I had a mini bagel with tofutti cream cheese.  I wanted something a little more substantial than just the smoothie, since I was going to be gone for a few hours.

For lunch I made a creamy butternut squash soup.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do, only knowing that I had some cubed up butternut squash I picked up on sale at the grocery yesterday, and wanted to do something with that.  I’ve made a few apple and butternut squash soups in the past, but I really wanted to go for something creamier.  I decided on a butternut squash/coconut milk concoction.  It came out very tasty and I was pleased with it.  I made up a batch of savory quinoa (using vegetable broth instead of water), and put about 1/3 cup in the bottom of my bowl to make the soup a hearty meal.

squash in my micro steamer heading for the microwave

onion, garlic, and the quinoa before I rinsed it

I rarely have straight broth on hand, so I use some Penzy's vegetable base mixed with water.

my whole wheat flour

spices!

my lunch, with a little extra cinnamon on top

I’ve started using Living Cookbook 2011 to build my personal recipes (and capture the ones I read online that I love!), so now I can include nutritional calculations too!

Crissie’s Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

Eat plain, or serve over quinoa or rice for a heartier dish.  I like to use the So Delicious Vanilla flavored coconut milk if I have it on hand.  Regular coconut milk would work great too.

3 cups butternut squash chunks
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 small onion — chopped
3 cloves garlic — finely chopped
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Steam butternut squash in the microwave for 7 minutes to soften.  Could also be roasted at 450 for 20 minutes if coated lightly in olive oil first.

2. Sauté onion and garlic on medium heat in a non-stick pan or one slightly sprayed with oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

VITAMIX/HIGHPOWERED BLENDER DIRECTIONS

1. Place broth and flour in vitamix and blend, starting on low, and then on high for about 4 minutes.  This will heat up the broth.

2. Add onion mixture and squash.  Blend until smooth, about 15-30 seconds.

3. Add spices and coconut milk, blend for another 15 seconds.

STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS

1. After the onion mixture is completed, add the flour to the pan and stir to combine.

2. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and slowly add the broth, stirring constantly.

3. Add the coconut milk, and stir until thick, about one minute.  Turn the heat up if you need to.  My gas stove gets touchy, and I often have to put it to high when making a white gravy – which this essentially is.

4. Add butternut squash and either blend with a hand blender, or put in batches (carefully, as it will be very hot) into a normal blender.

5. Add spices, and stir.

Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving
Calories 152.05
Total Fat 4.53g
Total Carbohydrates 26.44g
Fiber 3.72g
Sugar 3.08g
Protein 3.7g

I wasn’t very hungry for a while, and snaked on some pita chips with avocado hummus around 630pm.  I suppose that ended up being my dinner!

FITNESS

I went to the best yoga class today!  I wanted to go to a hot or warm class, as it tends to be more challenging, and I felt the heat would be great for my muscles and especially penetrate my back.

So I went to a 315pm class at my local hot yoga studio, Chesapeake Hot Yoga.  I went to their Light & Warm class – I didn’t want to push it TOO hard after all!

I spoke to the instructor just before hand and let her know about my back injury.  She asked several questions about where the pain is, what caused it, what treatments have I had, and wanted to be sure I saw a doctor.  The owner was there along with another instructor.  She gave me some tips before class started, mostly about listening to my body, not going into camel pose or anything with a deep back bend, going to child’s pose whenever I felt my back was being taxed too much, etc.  Common sense things.

Anyway, I went into the room at about 310.  I usually like to be 10-15 minutes early for a hot or warm class so I can lie down and get accustomed to the heat.

There was only one other girl in the class (hot yoga decreases in popularity around here when the temps get hot – I asked!), and she told us this was her first ever yoga class!  How cool.

Anyway, the instructor came in about 5 minutes late, but had a piece of paper with her.  As soon as class started, I knew that she had conferred with the owner and the other instructor about poses that would be good specifically for me.  The entire class was perfect.  The poses she had us doing were challenging, but none were stressful on my back.  They were mostly hip opening poses and back stretching.  Not once during that hour of class did I feel any pain whatsoever – at least not from my back.  I struggled though the balance poses – especially Warrior 3 – but I ALWAYS struggle with those!  I’ve always hated Warrior 3….

We did do my favorite ever pose though – pigeon.  It was towards the end of class when I was very warmed up and feeling limber, and I was able to get deep into it, so it felt great.

After class was over, Melanie (the instructor) went through a few poses she thought would be good for me to do at home once or twice a day.  Namely, Rabbit pose, which I’d never done before.  We also talked about injuries in general and her past history with them.  She also had injuries and found she couldn’t go back to running, though she’s currently in the best shape of her life.  She could see that I’m struggling with not running, and could relate, though I refuse to think my running days are over.  I can admit they are “suspended”, but I can’t imagine giving it up permanently.  I’m sort of in running Lent right now.  I’m giving it up for awhile in order to heal.  And to deepen my intense appreciation of having a body that CAN be physical.  It’s just acting cranky and self-absorbed right now.

LIFE

I had a mixed bag with sleep again last night.  D wasn’t feeling so well (not Crohn’s pains…just regular malaise feelings), so he went to bed around 9.  I was in the middle of a blog post (which takes me nearly an hour!) plus reading all my new ones, so I wasn’t ready quite yet.

I went to bed around 1030 and read my latest book for a bit.  I was asleep by 11.  I was smart enough to put ear plugs in as soon as I started reading so at least snoring wouldn’t wake me.  Alas…I was up by 130 anyway and tossed and turned most of the rest of the night.  I didn’t lie awake for a long time like I did the other night.  Last night I would fall right back to sleep, but I woke every 20-30 minutes, even if only for a minute.  I’ve felt okay today though, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.  Not sleeping well seems much more catastrophic at the time!

D was clearly not feeling well today.  He’s been running a low-grade fever and feeling horrible.  Again – not Crohn’s related – but if he isn’t careful about eating and taking his meds, being sick can bring on a flare up.  Thank goodness he has me to nag the crap out of him to remind him to take his meds.

D and Bumble spent most of the day on the couch (though Bumble doesn't look like she could possibly be comfortable)

speaking of Bumble...she puts her toys in her food dish. And then roots around them to get to her food. Silly kitty. And pay no heed to the bad banana - its destined for some bread tomorrow.

After breakfast, I took R to gymnastics, and then we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond in search of a doughnut pan.  I didn’t find them.  My original intent was to make an upside down dinner tonight (when we have breakfast for dinner) replete with vegan doughnuts (Oh She Glows kept writing about them, and now I need some).  The biggest reason I didn’t is because D loves those big breakfast meals so much – and he’s too sick to enjoy them.  So it’s going to wait until tomorrow.

she's the one crouched down just getting on the beam. They practiced walking backwards and sideways and my normally silly girl was oh so serious

I brought my laptop to gymnastics so I could finally catch up on the blog reading.  It was D’s idea and absolutely brilliant.

The afternoon was spent making soup, and then getting some work done.  Then it was off to yoga and then to the Apple store!  I am now the proud owner of an iPad 2!!!  D and I were talking today about what a pain in the butt it would be to drag my laptop to the vegan bloggers conference next week, and discussed what a brilliant idea an iPad would be.  So…I got my birthday gift 2 months early.  And it’s cool.  I’m still playing with it, but it seems (as by evidenced by my last mini-post), that I can use it for all my blogging adventures while away next week.  It’s also fully integrated at work, so that’s a huge bonus for me.

After I got home it was really all about playing with the new toy…which is probably why I didn’t actually make myself any dinner :)

And now…I’m going to go play some more!

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Today’s Wardrobe Malfunction: Swim Caps and Conditioner Don’t Mix

Posted on August 19, 2011 | 4 Comments

FOOD

Breakfast this morning was two cups of coffee and a whole wheat bagel with Tofutti’s Better than Cream Cheese.  Always a good standby when I actually feel like eating breakfast foods in the morning – something I’ve gotten over in the past couple of years.

For lunch, I met up with D at The Cutting Edge cafe between meetings.  We realized our calendars were both good to allow us to eat together, and my only requirement was “nothing junky”.  This fit the bill nicely!  I had the medi veggie panini (no feta) on the sourdough bread (their wheatberry bread isn’t vegan), and the couscous side.  Both dishes were fabulous.  D had his favorite club sandwich with a side of fruit, which he said was just awesome.  They use a lot of local ingredients, and D commented on how amazing the cantaloupe was.  He’s a fan, but the one’s in the grocery just don’t retain that sweetness that a fresh picked one will.  He was thrilled.

D took my camera and took a picture of his "appetizer". These are just the meds he has to take at lunchtime to manage his Crohn's. Imagine this times 3, and that's what he deals with every day.

I noticed that my couscous had walnuts in it.  While not an issue for me, I’ve blogged many times about R’s severe nut allergies, and commented to D about how it would be nice if they put a disclaimer on their menu regarding nuts in dishes.  On our way out, D spoke to the co-owner to mention it may be of value.  Apparently a new menu will be printed soon (their offerings are nicely seasonal), and is going to look into putting something on the new menu.  I don’t think people realize how devastating a food allergy or sensitivity can be unless they’re personally affected by it.  I certainly didn’t until R was diagnosed when she was 4.

My mid afternoon/pre workout snack was a magical banana.  Guaranteed to power you for a good hour or two.

For dinner I made another BAS.  I think I’m going to start a BAS movement.  Maybe even a separate page on the blog (gasp) and my addiction to the Big Ass Salad continues to grow.  There are worse addictions, I’m sure.  Today’s was romaine lettuce, purple cabbage, onion, tomato, celery, and avocado.  I ate this just after my workout around 545pm, and while it wasn’t my intention for it to become my dinner (I really planned to make a cold avocado soup and maybe something with butternut squash), but I was so full after the salad, that it ended up being my dinner after all.  I suppose…I ate an entire head of lettuce.  That’s pretty filling!

today's BAS

FITNESS

I hit up the YMCA after work for a very long overdue swim workout.  I was giddy by the time I pulled into the parking lot.  At last!  A workout my body can handle without killing my back.  Woo hoo!

The workout I printed out was longer than I did.  I only swam 1000 yds, even though I felt like I could have easily doubled that (thank you banana).  I was worried about overdoing it though and putting myself (and my back) back to square one.  So…I swam 1000 yds and then hit the hot tub for 10 minutes followed by a little shavasana (corpse pose – charming name, I know, but you really just lie down in the most relaxing position there is) in the sauna for another 15.

I did have a wardrobe malfunction in the pool though.  I have long hair, and I always tie it into a loose bun before putting my swim cap on.  No biggie, right?  I also happen to have curly hair, and as such, I only use shampoo about once a week.  Otherwise, I just use conditioner daily.  As I was swimming, I noticed that my swim cap kept sliding off my head, and I’d have to slow down and try to push it back into place.  This, of course, made my goggles get moved around, and I’d get water in my eyes.  Finally half way through, my swim cap came off altogether.  I tried to put it back on, but it wouldn’t work.  It was slippery on the inside and wouldn’t “stick” to my melon.  I finally realized it was because in the shower today I only used conditioner, and then wore my hair up.  When it got wet under the cap, it got slippery and nothing was going to stick to it.  I ended up tying my hair back in a tighter bun, and went from there, with the cap lying on the edge of the pool.  Lesson for Crissie – rinse hair VERY well before putting on cap and swimming.

LIFE

I finally slept a little better than normal last night.  Not stellar, but not awful either.  I fell asleep before D (as I should and prefer), but woke up an hour or two later from his snoring.  I popped in some ear plugs, pushed him onto his side, and went back to sleep more or less for the rest of the night.  I’m a terribly light sleeper, so even though he can’t control that he has allergies and will snore on his back (and it’s really NOT that loud…but it is enough), it still wakes me right up.  I’m also theorizing that the reduced activity has affected my quality of sleep.  Roll with me on this, because my increased swimming and yoga should cure me.  I hope.

I had some site visits this morning (touching base with my users), and then a workgroup meeting that went well as always.  We have a great workgroup with my VP and we always have a good time.  Certainly never boring and always open and informative…and funny.  My VP is a hoot and her stories generally have us laughing so hard, we forget we’re working.

After lunch was another meeting and then catching up on emails.  I’m now down to only THIRTEEN unread emails in my inbox!  That’s incredible considering I had almost 900 two weeks ago.

As much as work is going very well and I’m very happy…the thing I’m happiest about right now is the upcoming Vida Vegan Con bloggers conference in Portland, OR next week!!!  I leave next Wednesday…only 5 more days!!!  I’m spending a couple of days in Seattle before and after to visit with CM and his wife and re-visit the city I lived in over 12 years ago.  And miss terribly.

I get to go!!!! Sold out, first ever, vegan bloggers conference.

D made me a tote bag for the conference, and I just love it.  He’s so sweet and thoughtful, it kills me.

how perfect, right?

Speaking of D being absolutely amazing….(nice segue, right?)

He did something today that yet again warms my heart and makes me realize every day how incredible he is.  We had a tragedy locally last week.  A couple was in a car accident, the husband was killed, and the wife very critically injured.  She is too injured to attend her husband’s funeral tomorrow.  So what did my husband do?  He arranged with the funeral home to have the funeral streamed online so his wife could “attend” from her bed.  And then he hand delivered a laptop to the nurses with detailed instructions on how to open the page so this woman could say goodbye.  And then he left his cell number in case there’s a problem tomorrow so he could go there personally and make it work.  He’s such a good man.  And now my eyes are getting teary, so I’m going to stop gushing.

After dinner and watching the latest episode of Leverage, it was all about the conference next week.  They created a link that lets us subscribe to everyone’s blog, and currently there are 72 that I don’t already follow!  After reading about 20 posts, I stopped and took a picture of my screen.  I’ll be reading most of the night!

On a slightly funny note…I saw an article in Time magazine online today about the top 10 most promiscuous cities in the United States.  Aside from providing a list of where my children will NOT attend college…the top two happen to be where I’m traveling next week.  Portland and Seattle.  Cheeky monkeys.

I’ve also been batting around the idea for the past year (skip this Dad) of getting a new tattoo.  While I was training for the Chicago marathon, I thought about getting a tattoo to commemorate the achievement once I finished.  And then after the Tri, I thought about it again.  So is it a sign that a VEGAN tattoo parlor in Portland is offering a 15% discount to conference attendees?  I’m thinking it may be….stay tuned.

So I’m going to go back to reading my new blogging friends’ posts, since it’s a Friday night and I don’t have to get up TOO early tomorrow morning!

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