Enthusiasm and Energy - Through New Eyes

About seventeen years ago, while I was attending a baby shower, the hostess passed around some index cards on which we were each to write some parenting advice for the new mother-to-be.  I tried to think of a useful tip that she hadn't probably already read in some book or magazine, and I came up empty.  So instead, I thought about being a parent in general and what is wonderful about it.  I wrote:

"The best thing about being a mother is getting to experience everything again for the first time through your children's eyes.  May their enthusiasm for this brand new world be energizing!"

Although it's been a long time since my children were small, I still experience those moments with them.  Recently, my daughter (the "baby," at 15) and I hiked up a local mountain called Sharp Top.  I even posted about it in a blog - "You Have Reached the Top of the Mountain."  I'll link to it at the end.  This wasn't my daughter's first trip up the mountain, but every time we go, she is so excited.  It seems always we see or notice something new, and even though I've seen the magnificent view from the summit many times, sharing it with her makes it even more special.

I got to share another new experience with her last week.  My son's high school Wind Symphony was invited to play at Carnegie Hall.  I wasn't planning to go, but at the last minute - literally, the band had already left on the train hours earlier - I thought to myself, "WHY am I not in New York???"  I asked my daughter, "Would you like to go to New York?"  Well, of course her face completely lit up and she replied, "YES!"  Eighteen hours later, we were on a train heading north for her first ever trip to NYC.

As soon as we emerged from Penn Station onto 34th Street, my daughter took a selfie with the Empire State Building in the background.  Doesn't this make you smile, too?

We arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon and had a day and a half to see as much as we could of the city before my son's 8 PM performance the next evening.

She got to experience the tiny rooms of NYC.

First, we went to Rockefeller Center.

Then to the Top of the Rock!

Times Square at night.

The next morning, in a city of over 8 million people, we unexpectedly ran into my son and his band. Amazing.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.

We found our famous "Friends'" apartment building on the corner of Grove & Bedford streets.

You have to eat pizza at least once in New York.  I think this was somewhere on 8th Avenue, north of Times Square.

She got to meet my high school friend Darius, a Broadway actor, currently in the Book of Mormon.

Waiting for another train.

Carnegie Hall!!!  Although every pianist imagines what it would be like to perform here, somehow I think it was an even better feeling seeing my son performing up there in the trumpet section.

Believe it or not, that's not all we did.  We also shopped in Times Square, toured St. Patrick's Cathedral, ate 3 times in Hell's Kitchen (Thai and 2 different bakeries), watched the Today Show being filmed, went to the top of One World Observatory (World Trade Center), ate at the Dead Rabbit in the Financial District, saw the Wall Street Bull & the little defiant girl, saw the NYC Vietnam Memorial (that I didn't even know existed), walked through Central Park, and did a quick tour of the Museum of Natural History.  Whew, I think that's it.

I posted photos on Facebook every step of the way.  Native New Yorkers, including my mother, Brooklyn_Born, were impressed at how much we managed to pack in.  When I look back on it, even I kind of step back and go, "Wow, that *was* a lot," although it didn't seem tiring or rushed at all.  Part of that is probably due to the fact that I'm in good physical shape, but I think the other part of it was the enthusiasm and energy of my daughter.

The enthusiasm of a newbie is contagious, wherever we are.  We want to share it.  Meeting new friends, even if they're not newbies, is equally rejuvenating.  New people and perspectives help us all stay energized.

I think this is why SparkPeople is such a successful site.  In spite of any changes that may occur, the fact is we are all connecting with new friends and newbies every day.  You can't help but be motivated by that.  Personally, I get my "daily spark" from reading blogs, and have been really excited to see a lot of new people featured lately.  

When you find a particular blog that sparks you, please be sure to click "I liked this blog!" so it might reach a wider audience.  Enthusiasm and energy through new eyes and new friends encourages us to experience new things and achieve our dreams!

My older blog:  You Have Reached the Top of the Mountain!

Single-Serving Packaging...Do We Need It?

If you Google "increase in single-serving packaging," you'll find a number of articles from the food packing industry.  Did you know there is a "Packing Digest" publication or foodmanufacturing.com?  I never thought about it.

If you look at the price per ounce, it's much more expensive to buy single-serve bags and containers than a large size.  Yet, they are growing in popularity.  The packaging is designed to make the food or beverage easily portable.  It conveniently fits in a purse or backpack, and the container is tough enough to withstand being toted around.  The "rightsizing" of portions is especially appealing to consumers.  It makes it a lot easier to regulate one's calorie intake.  There's no measuring or guessing or... kidding ourselves that we only consumed only 100 calories when we know we really ate over half the bag.

As a mother watching a household budget for a family of five, I don't buy many products that come in single-serving bags, but there have been a few over the years.  As a matter of convenience, I sometimes buy Lance cheese & crackers.  I buy single-serving yogurts because the kinds we like don't come in big tubs.

However, I have avoided buying single-serve containers to regulate calories... until now.  Brie cheese.  After having a little bit of cheese in Germany with my breakfast each day, I decided to incorporate it into my American breakfast routine.  I even found a big wedge of it on clearance at Kroger because the expiration date was quickly approaching.  Score!!

I got out my food scale each morning and weighed the proper amount.  The fact that I cannot remember what that amount is should tell you something about my ability to self-regulate when it comes to Brie.  I would find myself taking it out in the afternoon for a snack - I mean, hey, it's cheese... calcium, right??  Good for me, right??  I finished that wedge waaaaay sooner than I should have, and the next time I went food shopping, I bought a wheel of it.  Soon that wheel was gone.

Then I was at Fresh Market, looking around the cheese section to see what other yummy, calcium-laden goodness I could find, when I saw Ile de France Brie Bites.  At $8 for a bag of 5, they are obviously no bargain.  However, I know that 5 of these little bites are probably all I should eat in a week.  So I decided to buy it.

Wow, they are really good.  They are creamier inside than regular Brie, so they spread really well.  I don't know why it is, but I find it a lot easier to not open the next single-serve package of Brie Bites than going back to an open wheel of Brie.  I guess there is something about not opening a brand-new package that makes it easier to resist.

Since the Brie Bites are rather expensive, I don't buy them every week.  Sometimes I'll have a different cheese in the morning with my bread, and I continue to buy regular packages of cheese for that.  I don't find it hard to resist an open package of cheddar.  But Brie... mmmmmm.... Brie... I could easily eat an entire small wheel in one sitting.

The title of my blog asks "Do we need it?"  I'm sure in the case of my Brie, technically, the answer is "No."  I don't NEED to eat Brie, in the first place.  I could just leave it on the store shelf.  I am a bit bothered by the extra waste generated by these Brie Bites.  That's one reason I make coffee with reusable filters in my Keurig instead of K-cups.  Maybe one day I will buy a wheel of Brie, take it home, and see if cutting it up and putting it in individual containers helps me self-regulate better.  After Brie has been a more regular part of my diet, hopefully it will be easier to resist, like the cheddar.  But for now, at least, I think I will buy the little containers.

In case you're interested, here's a photo:

Lifting a Mother's Spirit

"A Mother Is Only as Happy as Her Unhappiest Child."  It's something my mother, Brooklyn_Born, once said years ago and I've never forgotten it.

First, let me reassure you that nothing is wrong at home.  We've got three kids, ages 15, 18, and nearly 21.  My 18-year-old had a massive amount of homework last night.  He's in an early college program, so it's quite demanding.  I look at what he does and I can't believe someone so smart came from me.  (For the record, I think I am fairly intelligent, but my son is a whole lot smarter than I'll ever be.)

Anyhow, he got up a bit late this morning, I'm guessing because he was up late finishing his work.  He didn't seem sad, exactly, but just tired and resigned to that fact.  He's 18.  I know that legally he's a young adult, but he is still my baby to me.  I hate to see him so tired.  I found myself missing the days of old, when he'd get up at age 4, bright-eyed and excited to go to preschool.  I felt a little sad that he isn't happily going out into the world to experience a new day, like he did when he was young.

I know this feeling is temporary and as soon as I get started about my business for the day, it will pass.  I am sure once my son gets to school and sees his friends, it will likely be the same for him.  That helps me feel a bit better.  However - as Brooklyn_Born and I both know - in the end, his life is his and mine is mine.  While we could try to fix things or help a person feel happier, in the end, that person's state of mind is up to them, and ours is up to us.  Sometimes we can overcome our sadness by busying ourselves with work or hobbies.  Some people pray or meditate.  Others exercise.  For some, it takes medication or therapy.  I bet most of us do these things in combination to relieve the stressful feeling of sadness.

So, off I go to work.  I will have a nice run later in the warm spring sunshine.  I will make a nice dinner.   I will give my husband and kids hugs and kisses when they return home from their day.  Just thinking about that already helps to lift my spirits.

Patience... Yeah, Yeah, I Know...

We all know patience is a virtue.  I am sitting here moping a little about this injury and not feeling very virtuous, I guess.  In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it's not all that bad.  It's not life-threatening and it should heal.  I was inspired by the patience of my friend JeanKnee, who has slowly recovered from a pelvic fracture.  I will put a link to her blog post at the end.

So I tried to think of all the things I know to be true about patience.

Slow and steady wins the race.
Good things come to those who wait.
Patience is the ability to wait with a good attitude.

That was all I could think of on my own, so I turned to Google and found some more on BrainyQuotes.

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. - Tolstoy
That one made me feel kinda tuff.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.  - Rousseau
You'd think I might have heard that one before, having studied French for nine years.

How poor are they that have not patience!  What wound did ever heal but by degrees? - Shakespeare
Oh, that one spoke to me, as an injured person.  Just gotta give it time.

Hope is patience with the lamp lit.  - Tertullian
Who the heck is Tertullian?  Turns out he was a prolific early Christian writer in Carthage.  I suppose I should try to focus on hope.  I wonder if I'm not truly hopeful.  I think I'm more anxious about the uncertainty.

If I'm hopeful, then maybe the patience will come.

JeanKnee - Glorious!

They Look Like Me!

The other day, my oldest son was off from school and I found him in the middle of watching The Price Is Right.  I loved that show as a girl in the 1970s and 80s, so I sat down and started watching with him.  The doors opened to reveal what some lucky contestant could win, and within a few moments, the thing that had my attention was not the prize itself, but the models.

They didn't look like models.  They looked a lot like me.  I was surprised.  I even mentioned this to my son.  When the next prize came out, a different model presented it.  I said, "OK, that's what I'd expect a model to look like.  The others must be guests or something."

It turns out they were guests.  They were Natalie Morales and Kit Hoover from Access Hollywood.  I only know this because today I used Google and found a Facebook post from March 8th on the PIR page.  (I had to use Google to find the name of the regular PIR model, too.  It's Rachel Reynolds.)  Here are some pictures.  I tried to find pictures that show their body a bit because if you look up pictures of Rachel Reynolds for comparison, almost all the photos you will find involve bikinis.

Natalie Morales

Kit Hoover

These ladies are not 5'8".  According to Google, they're 5'3" and 5'0".  (I'm 5'4".)  They don't have huge chests and tiny waists and long legs.  I learned they are both runners (like me), as I found pictures of them at races.

Notice I did not say they look like real - or regular -women.  To be honest, though, while watching the show, that was my first thought.  "They look like regular women!"  However, aren't we all real women, regardless of our body type?  I think what many of us really mean when that thought enters our mind is:  "She looks like me" and of course, we each see ourself as a regular woman.

Health comes in a lot of shapes and sizes.  I was heavily influenced during my young life by what I perceived as the perfect female body presented in the entertainment and advertising industries, not to mention my Barbie dolls.  I never felt good about my own body, and even now, I struggle with my perception of it as it ages.  Perhaps that's why it felt so good to see someone modeling with whom I could identify.

If there are any men reading this, you might be feeling ignored right about now.  I'm sorry.  I'm sure these feelings aren't unique to women.  I would love for you to share your own perspective in the comment section.

I think it's natural for everyone to want to feel attractive and accepted.  For some reason, we measure ourselves through the images presented in advertisement and entertainment.  We know how tough those industries are.  Many are rejected due to not having the right look, so we know we'd be rejected, too.  I suppose we need to forget this narrow definition of beauty (perfection?) that we see.  Reality is a lot broader than what is presented to us, and in the end, the way we take care of ourselves and treat others is far more important than comparing our physical attributes to the images we see on our TV and computer screens.

Do Not Squander Time

For the past few days, I've been dealing with pain in my left hand.  I went to my GP today and she brought the sports doc in.  Diagnosis:  Stress fracture of the fifth metacarpal.  NOT what a concert pianist (who has an engagement to play Rhapsody in Blue in 61 days) wants to hear.

Now, the good news.  I have two pieces of good news.
1.  I should be fine fairly soon.  Hopefully pain-free in two weeks.
2.  I have already gotten Rhapsody ready and, if I were not injured, I could perform it today.

So hopefully I'll heal and two months from today, on May 16th, I'll be making people happy playing Gershwin.  However, I don't really know that for sure, and I got to thinking... what would I do if I couldn't play piano like this any more?  It's such a huge part of who I am.  This is ironic, considering how as a child, my mother (Brooklyn_Born) had to force me to practice.

I have every reason to be hopeful that this isn't a life-changing injury, but it does make me wish a little bit that I hadn't wasted so much time in my youth.  It makes me a little sorry that I spent so may years away from performing.

The next time I don't feel like going to the gym or running, I will go.  Instead of sitting around and randomly surfing the Internet out of boredom, I will do something productive.

I have to remember not to squander time.  That's all any of us have, really... and like Gandalf said in Lord of the Rings, all we can do is decide what to do with it.

Someone's Gotta Be Last!

I ran a unique kind of race on March 11th.  It's a Predict-Your-Time 4-miler.  You guess what how time it will take you to walk or run it, and the race director writes your name on a big chart.  The race clock starts ticking DOWN starting at 70 minutes.  When your time rolls around, off you go.  You can't wear a watch or timing device.  The idea is that if everyone ran a perfect race, we'd all finish at exactly the same time... 0:00.

Turnout was quite low this year, probably because of the weather - cold and windy.  Only 12 people showed up to run.  They give prizes to the top 10 people who finish closest to 0:00.  They were giving away high school cross country shirts this year that I thought were quite cool.  So my chances were pretty darn good to get one.

Since it was so cold and the wind cut right through my tights, I stayed in the church social hall until it was my turn.  I talked with some of the mothers of the cross country kids.  Suddenly the former race director came in and said, "Jeannie!  What are you doing?  Trying to give everyone a 20 minute head start?"

"What??" I exclaimed.  "Did I miss my start time??"

"Um, yeah!!! By quite a lot!"

I looked at the clock and it was at 29 minutes!  I should have left 10 minutes earlier.

Even in my fittest days, I could not have run this hilly 4-miler course in 29 minutes.  So I decided I would just run normally and see how close I'd finish to +10:00, which would mean a perfectly predicted pace for me.

I wound up running faster than I thought and finished at +8:25.  So that was good news to me, that I did better than I thought I could.  But it still put me in absolutely last place, by quite a bit, being off by over 8 minutes.

If you ever visit running forums or boards and read race reports, you might see the acronym "DFL."  I was DFL.  The D stands for "dead" and the L stands for "last."  I think you can figure out what the F stands for.  Obviously, whoever coined that term didn't like being last.

So I was DFL.  So I didn't get a T-shirt.  But you know what?  I was absolutely fine finishing last.  Somebody's got to be last.  There's nothing wrong with it.  I had a wonderful run and it was a beautiful day.  I was thankful that I was physically able to be out there.  I think we need to put a positive spin on the runners' acronym.  How about: "Delightedly, Fabulously Last!"

Setting Daily Goals to Curb Hunger

A few days ago, I wrote about how filling a German breakfast is and how it stuck with me through the day while touring Munich.  One Sparker suggested part of that might be because I was distracted by my new surroundings and activities.  While I still believe a large part of it is due to the different foods I consumed, I think she may have a point.

I have noticed that when I'm very busy, I don't think about food.  I don't feel hungry.  This happens when I'm practicing piano for hours on end.  It happens when I've got a lot of things I need to accomplish at church.  It happens when I'm doing home improvement projects.  It happened while touring Munich.

When I've got some specific goal that I want to achieve that day, I don't seem to think about food as much.  Not even in Germany - where we were surrounded by biergartens, backereis, and delicious smells everywhere we went.

We know that boredom often leads people to the refrigerator.  So perhaps having goals for the day has the opposite effect.

I still plan to keep eating my German breakfast of meat, bread, and cheese.  I think I will also try planning some goals each day, and see what happens.

This Weisswurst Is Making Me Thirsty - Have You Drunk Your Water Today?

The title of my blog today is a reference to a Seinfeld episode.
"These pretzels are making me thirsty!"

We discovered weisswurst in Munich.  We liked it so much that my husband ordered it three times.  I ate it twice.  Of course, everywhere you eat in Munich, you have to drink their beer.  I mean, it's Germany.  You just *have* to drink their beer!  I am not much of a beer drinker, but even I liked it a lot.  We especially liked their Munchen Dunkel.  I ordered a liter at the Hofbrauhaus.

But now let me sing a specific praise of America.  Water.  I never realize how much water I drink daily until I go to Europe.  In American restaurants, the first thing the server does is bring everyone a glass of water.  Even if you're drinking something else, you can ask for water, and they keep refilling it during the course of your meal.

Not so in Europe.  And while their beverages are all very fine and delicious, what invariably happens shortly after my meal is I feel thirsty.  VERY thirsty.  Even after drinking a lot of beer.  I suppose being so used to water, beer and other beverages just don't quench my thirst.  

So on this trip, we each bought a big bottle of still water at the grocery store.  (In Europe most water you find in the grocery store is carbonated "with gas" and that doesn't quench my thirst, either.)  Every time we went back to the hotel, we drank water.  It still wasn't nearly as much as we drink on a daily basis here, but it helped.

Back home now, I realize how easy it is to get those 8 glasses per day that are so good for our health.  Have you had your water today?

A Breakfast Revelation in Germany

My husband and I ate breakfast four times in Germany.  On the afternoon of the second day, as we were walking around the city centre, I remarked to my husband, "It's already 11:00 and I'm not hungry at all."  He said he wasn't, either.

We ate a very European breakfast each day.  Cold cuts, an egg, cheese (camembert), brown bread (very dense), jam, yogurt, fruit, and coffee.  This is very different from what we normally eat at home.  Normally, DH eats a bowl of toasted oat cereal (they look like Cheerios.)  He gets no protein at all, and by 9 AM, he's really hungry.  I do a little better in terms of protein - I usually have an English muffin with peanut butter and blackberry jam.  Even so, I'm usually hungry by mid-morning.

So today I decided to eat a German breakfast.  I keep cold cuts and hard boiled eggs in the fridge all the time for lunches, so I had everything.

2 slices of ham, 1 slice of turkey.  A piece of wheat bread (toasted) with some butter and jam, yogurt, and coffee.  So far it's 12:30 AM and I'm not hungry.

I need to go to the grocery store today, so I think I will pick up some brie or camembert, and some dense brown bread.  Every time I've ever come back from Europe, we swear we're going to continue eating like they do, but we always fall back into our American habits.  This time, I'm really going to try to make it stick.  I think it's just a matter of not buying cereal and remembering to buy dense bread.  I've got everything else.  As long as I don't have to cook & clean up anything in the morning, it should be easy, right?  We will see.

(I should also say I greatly enjoy American hot breakfast food as well, but when a person works, it's really not convenient to get up early and cook, and then have to clean up.  So when we have pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, etc. it's usually "breakfast for supper.")

Munich Piano Marathon

Home, sweet Home!

We're back after spending four full days in Munich.  We went because I was invited to play a piano recital at the Gasteig in Munich.  It's a huge cultural venue, much like the Kennedy Center in D.C.  So of course I jumped at the chance and accepted!

I played the first of eleven recitals over the course of 3 evenings.  It was billed as a "Pianomarathon."  Here I am in the subway after my recital with fellow pianists Deirbhile Brennan (from Ireland) and Jorge Zamora (from Mexico.)  Those pink posters on the wall are promoting our Pianomarathon event.

We played in the Kleiner Konzertsaal, which literally means "small concert hall."  It seats 200 people.  I couldn't believe I played to a full audience - that there were 200 people in this city across the world who were interested to hear me play.  Every seat was filled.  You just don't find that in America.  The people who couldn't get in had to listen in the lobby on closed-circuit television.  Before my final piece, I spoke and thanked them for coming.  I talked about what it's like to re-enter the world of performing after being away for so long and having a job and family.  I told them sometimes my children come in the room while I'm practicing and ask for help with homework or how to cook dinner.  It's almost easier for me to play while talking at the same time.  I said if they wanted to get up and dance during the Hungarian Rhapsody like my kids did when they were little, to go right ahead!  I'd feel right at home.

Here's what a sell-out crowd looks like from the performer's point of view.  I took this from the backstage door after Jorge finished his recital.  The audiences were SO enthusiastic.  They clapped forever for every performer!  I don't know how many times I bowed.  Even between pieces.  I've never experienced anything like it.

After every recital, we performers congregated in the lobby area, and were greeted by those in attendance.  Here is Matthias Fischer of Germany after his performance.  At the right of the picture, you can sort of see the queue to get into the hall for the next recital (Julien Kurtz of France).

This was the fifth year of the Pianomarathon, and apparently the biggest success to date.  The organzier, Eberhard, seemed especially enthusiastic about my performance, so I hope he invites me back.  It was wonderful to see so many Cliburn competitors again.  Here we all are at a reception after the second night of performances.

In case anyone is interested to know who we are, from left to right:

Michael Slavin (USA), Sean Sutherland (St. Vincent/Grenadines), Xavier Aymonod (France), Julien Kurtz (France), Eberhard Zagrosek (Germany, concert organizer), Deirbhile Brennan (Ireland), Matthias Fischer (Germany), Jeanne Backofen Craig (USA), Gregory Knight (USA), Ken Iisaka (Japan/Canada), Carl Di Casoli (USA), Jorge Zamora (Mexico)

Up next... in May, I will play Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with my kids' high school Wind Symphony, which is a very fine group.  I am so excited that I can hardly wait for May 16th to get here.  Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres who won a silver medal at the age of 40 said, "Never put an age limit on your dreams."  If you know The Lord of the Rings, you've heard Gandalf say all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.  After 25 years away from performance, I don't want to waste a minute.  I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to continue to learn and grow, with the added bonus of making others happy.