Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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what to talk about at the holidays

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, friends! Are you reading this only because you are taking a break between pie recipes and adding one more flavor to the turkey brine? Is your apron dusted with flour and are your fingers sticky from lemon juice and Karo syrup?

Is your home filled with travelers and kids out of school, or are you home from the office and soaking up the quiet? Uh oh, are you at the grocery store right now? I’ll light a candle for you. My favorite local spot this afternoon was a bustling, happy place; but I can only imagine things will deteriorate gradually hour by hour. Ha.

However you are spending this beautiful evening, I hope you are happy and feeling loved. Truly. I am thankful for you and have love to spare because it has been heaped upon me.

fireplace-boys-c

Already late November. And in Oklahoma our weather only just cooled down, my chartreuse sweet potato vines only turned black two days ago, so the suddenness of the calendar is mixed with the weird anti-climax feeling like summer just ended, sort of, but also in a far away dream? Our autumns here are not like other autumns. They are elusive and indecisive.

pumpkins-nov-2016-c

New topic. I need to prepare for something and hope you’ll join in, maybe help me:

Is it funny-not-funny to anyone else that we are thrust into the holiday season immediately following such a pivotal and hotly contested election season? LOL. I mean, I’m not really LOL-ing, but I’m trying.

And it is definitely not that I have any disdain for the holidays. I treasure each of them. It’s the election and all the fallout that have me wound up. And at the holidays we spend time with people we don’t see very often. People we love, of course, or else why would we gather? But the relatively (no pun intended) brief gatherings can be a bit risky. We don’t necessarily have that smooth, easy, conversational rhythm set in place, you know? There is often a little rust that needs kicking off. And Thanksgiving dinner is just the beginning of about seven weeks of celebrating.

Cut to the chase: Either people agree on hot topics and can openly discuss them in safety and commiseration; or people disagree and get into fights, clinging to beliefs over bonds. God forbid either of these happens when people are wildly inebriated. I get nervous just thinking about the fallout of a political “debate” rising up like black crude in the otherwise verdant wildflower meadow of a family gathering.

To further this ridiculous metaphor, I guess it could be true that political discussions are nourishing to our families, like oil to our modern society, but MY GOSH it scares me. I vote for the meadow, ok?

Here’s the opposite extreme: I also don’t want to waste our precious time with family and friends time skirting so delicately around key topics that we only manage small talk. That’s weak.

There has to be a safe, beautiful, fruitful middle ground. There’s an ocean between these two dangerous extremes, right? Can we swim there happily, exchange some ideas and make some memories without hurting each other? I sure hope so.

I would like to tell you how sorry I am for all these mixed metaphors but really tomorrow we will start mixing foods, so oh well. Ha.

Okay, here are some possible conversation alternatives:

  • Weather lately (easy)
  • Health issues (obvious)
  • What is the weirdest thing you saw on your travels to get there?
  • What food are you most excited about? Do you know the recipe’s origin story in our family? Which recipes do you have memorized from making so long?
  • Do you know anyone who skips the holidays or eschews tradition? (Our friend Maribeth serves her family steak on Thanksgiving and they love it! And I love her.)
  • The year is almost over. Tell each other all about how your 2016 goals and resolutions are going.
  • What plans do you already have for next year? What would you do if money were no object? What would you do if you could not spend any money?
  • What stands out for you this past year? What prayers were answered? What have you learned?
  • How would you improve the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade? Carte blanche!
  • Design a new reality show casting everyone sitting at your holiday dinner table. (WAIT nope, better scratch that idea, haha. Never mind on that one. Terrible terrible idea.)
  • What reality shows would you maybe be on?
  • Thinking of the Native Americans showing the Pilgrims how to grow crops in a new land, what culture around the world would you most like to learn from? And, if not turkey and mashed potatoes, what kind of feast would you like to explore?
  • What is your favorite Thanksgiving kids craft? What is the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen?
  • Talk about charity efforts or community events or light displays.
  • Debate Black Friday ethics.
  • Talk about football.
  • Books and movies, music specials, and where to hike.
  • Specifically Christmas movies! What are the best ones? What are the worst?
  • Favorite SNL cast member or skit?
  • Talk about how much we all love Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams.
  • See who has the best story to share about a holiday kitchen failure.
  • Debate whether to let your food touch or not.

It goes without saying that for these family gatherings especially, but always, our hearts should be firmly set on gratitude. Drop expectations of each other and look for the best to shine through. It usually does. Resist the urge to compare and fish for conflict or hurt feelings. Feed the common ground you have, and it will only grow stronger. Show appreciation for each other, memorize each other’s faces, be sure your voice spreads only Love.

(I am telling myself all of this stuff, ok?)

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope your celebration is everything you and your people need it to be. Please let me know how you plan to navigate things.

My favorite SNL skit is where Paul Simon and Victoria Jackson
smelt Christmas gifts on a desert island.
And I have had so many prayers
answered this year it’s not even fair.
XOXOXOXO

friday 5 at the farm: nourished

Hi friends, happy Friday! Lots has been happening, as always, and I am remiss in sharing a thousand great stories and photos with you. Life continues to be full to bursting with beauty and surprises around every corner.

For now, for Friday, let’s pause to notice the things that have been nourishing us, the features of average daily life that keep us going day to day, task to task. Are you game? Here are five of mine, lately. I would really love to hear what has been fueling all of your grand adventure and such, too. 

1. SOUP. I am really in deep over soup right now, maybe even more so than salad, which is saying a lot. My favorite ones to make at home involve lots of chicken broth and chicken and maybe lentils, some raw kale, a squeeze of lemon, twist my arm over half an avocado why don’t you. My favorite ones at restaurants lately have been this chicken Florentine potion (So creamy! So much celery!) and one gloriously plain and satisfying cauldron filled with clam chowder. Here in Oklahoma we are barely cold enough for soup yet, really, but every chance I get it’s happening. Makes me feel so great deep in my bones.

2. NATURE, always and forever, especially views like these…

view

lily-lake

3. TIME with my people. Romantic getaways with Handsome, quick caring afternoons with girlfriends, nighttime walks and long sunshine talks with my daughter, Face-timing with my sister-in-law and newborn nephew, meaningful conversations with my best friend (Handsome again), extended cuddles with my dog. (Yeah for sure he counts as one of my people.)

hike-w-joc-bridge-lily-lake-nov-2016

4. STORIES like that of Jesse Owens. Have you seen the movie Race? Friends, it’s so great. In fact, may I strongly suggest that you watch it with your family this holiday season. We all need some balm on our hearts. Agreed? His story is told beautifully in this film. And not for nothing that it’s about running, okay?

5. THANKS and all the amazing energy that flows from the giving of it. Gratitude is a trans-formative force, lest we ever forget. I have lately been enjoying a ribbon of happiness thanks to, well, thankfulness. The more you rest your mind on your blessings, the more you show your appreciation, the more you mean it, the better. I think soup helps with this, as does spending time in nature and with your people. So do great, inspirational, true stories; they give us hope on so many levels.

Pretty great little cooperative effort we have here.

What is nourishing you these days?

“I consider that all which lives must feed itself and nourish itself
in a manner suitable to the way in which it lives.”
~Giordano Bruno
XOXOXOXO

early november saturday reading links

As I offer you these links to browse, and I hope you do so at a leisurely pace while drinking your favorite Saturday morning hot beverage, I am on a mandatory rest thanks to strep throat. After sleeping eleven hours last night I don’t feel like resting; I feel like being up doing stuff. Buy my husband insists. So at least I have more time for reading at a leisurely pace and sipping my favorite coffee and later gulping homemade soup, right?

Okay then let’s make that soup filled with chicken and kale and ginger and garlic. Because I forgot to buy more acorn squash, again. Oh! Maybe some pumpkin or lentils in the soup? Maybe. For now, this morning, perfect dark coffee. Maybe some cream. And antibiotics.

Shall we?

Over at Hither and Thither we find a succinct and elegant commentary on a New York Times Magazine article about the freedom that comes with minimalism, sort of. The author of Narrow Down Your Sense of Need draws a distinction between sailing around the world (physically) and sailing through it (spiritually). I loved this so much. Maybe it’s a lesson we all need to refresh once in a while, and of course it grooves me these days as Handsome and I strive make the farm literally less cluttered.

But it occurs to me that narrowing down one’s sense of need for external validations and affirmations could be another way to think about how to access freedom.

Somehow while sewing aprons on Thursday I stumbled onto a series of lectures by a group called Healthcare Triage. I listened to maybe twenty in a row, of varying lengths, and became smitten by their pairing of process-heavy research, casual but helpful explanations, and some pretty funny skepticism. In a world noisy with buzzwords, this information source was a breath of fresh air. Rather than point you to a specific article or video, I just want to introduce you to the whole shebang. If you are a wellness junkie like me but crave more fact-backing and less corporate sponsorship, then this might be worth your time.

The next link was brought to my attention on Facebook when a dear friend posted it and I unwittingly entered a barely heated exchange. I have been thinking of both the article and the fallout ever since and would love to hear more people’s opinions. The 30-Day Relationship Revitalization Plan. I will resist framing it too much and just let you read it for yourself. Please feel free to email me if you’d rather keep your opinions private.

The title of this Minnesota Public Radio article caught my attention, then its short content just raised more interesting questions. The statistics just made me want to read more, but more of what I already read. Not so much poetry. Literature Reading Rates Down.

You know by now that I have the biggest girl crush on Joy the Baker, and it’s not not because she lives in the most magical city ever. Really, the two just fit each other to my thinking. I am excited for her new cookbook to release, and I am really excited about her Bakehouse announcement! The interior decor here is spot on, and how amazing to open your home to students and readers. Very cool. Very cool indeed.

forever new orleans

Have you seen this documentary yet? Sugarcoated. A lot of it will feel familiar, but many of the statistics are new and get extra credit for being disturbing. (All eyes on liver disease in kids who never drink alcohol.) I am paying close attention to my sugar intake not just for fat loss but also because eating it so often makes me feel weird. My mom was diagnosed with diabetes just a few years ago, so it has my attention. I mean I still want a perfect, steaming, complicated homemade cookie now and then. Please make sure it’s oatmeal-chocolate-chip with crushed walnuts or pecans, and please bring me cold milk. Otherwise, yeah let’s pay attention to our sugar intake for many good reasons.

Speaking of sweet stuff…

At a recent beekeepers’ club meeting in Noble, OK, I heard some folks talking about the winter forecast, about how mild it promises to be, and how that’s more or less good news for our fuzzy little ladies-not-of-leisure. The Farmers’ Almanac agrees, and so far Oklahoma weather is holding steady. I just yesterday bought a few fall plants on clearance (what few they had left), and it still feels too early. This does make being outside nice, though.

30 Thoughts Runners Have at the Grocery Store. “I’m so virtuous!” Ha. Yep. Also, bring on the kale.

Side note: I had approximately nine more running article to share with you guys but decided to have mercy.

Okay, Klaus’ brother Lincoln has spent a couple of nights with us at the farm, and those two big German Shepherds plus one husband are beckoning for a cuddle. I hope you have a wonderful Saturday filled with great reading and zero strep throat germs. Send me a link or a new book title!

“Rest and be thankful.”
~William Wadsworth
XOXOXO

 

 

 

friday 5 at the farm: random updates

Hello, and happy November! We are on the verge of the first weekend of a brand new month. How are you spending it? Around here we have been waist deep in another round of farm improvements ranging from interior paint and clutter management to relocated fences and garden editing. The to-do list seems to regenerate overnight, growing longer and more urgent all the time, but so do the rewards. The fruits of our two-person labor are more luscious and nourishing all the time. The Lazy W feels more and more like ours every season.  

moody-sky-novemebr-2016

How about a quick and random update before the sun comes up?

  1. Shoulder Chicken is growing her feathers again. I am so happy about this, because she has a beautiful soul and deserves to have the outer beauty to match. Also, one day this week she bolted out of the chicken coop to sit calmly next to Klaus, who (much to my absolute shock) sat calmly next to her. They both just looked at me, him giant and hulking, terrified of gazing downward, and her microscopic next to that big dog, yet afraid of nothing. I scolded her gently, to which she cocked her pretty head and scampered back inside the coop yard. Silly chicken. Klaus was visibly relieved to have the temptation removed and also overly proud of himself for not accidentally murdering anyone in that moment.
  2. We are due for a winter stock up of hay for the horses, and they are letting me know. Last night Chanta nibbled my ponytail until he fell asleep on the back of my neck. Should I take this as a comment on the abundance of my split ends?
    chanta-ponytail-bites
  3. Moody interiors are my favorite lately. I have been organizing books and rearranging artwork downstairs and kind of groove the interim feel of everything propped against the walls or stacked in cozy piles on the couch. The vibe is definitely “mysterious elegant French Quarter book store.” It begs you to brew some dark coffee, sit among the pillows, and write. 
  4. The gardens are cleaned up and ready for fall plants, but it just does not feel like fall yet. So I have waited not just all of September but also all of October and not added so much as a single pansy to our dirt. What remains is still fluffy and colorful (all hail lantana!!); but I do crave some autumnal details. One of my tasks today is to buy some little treasures to go with my one container of ornamental cabbages, a hostess gift from our friend Ashley. 
  5. The Apartment is once again serving well as the sewing room! I have my sewing and embroidery machines dusted off and humming, and a pile of fabric is washed and pressed and ready to be transformed into fun new garments or aprons. If you try hard enough you can find a “shop” page here on this blog, but it’s vacant so far. As I finish more products not spoken for I will work on making that easier to navigate and let you know. These textiles make really nice gifts!
    apron

Lots more is happening, including plenty of interesting stuff at the Commish and in the beekeeping world, also I might have strep throat?? but those things deserve their own posts. And anyway the sun is up now, time to get going. I wish you the most beautiful Friday and a happy, productive, or restful first weekend of the new month… Whatever you most need it to be!

“It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.”
~Henry James
XOXOXO

 

 

marathon monday: october recap

Whew, October was PACKED. With lots of great things, brimming with joy, a nice mix of work and play, but WOW. We have stayed busy every day of every week.

Oh of course, Happy Halloween! We have already been seizing every chance to celebrate, so around here today feels more like a calm, creepy finale than the sugar-coated crescendo. We have been dressing up repeatedly all month, crawling through haunted forests, attending fabulous parties, watching scary movies alone and with friends (particularly once outside here at the farm), you name it. Around here, Halloween is a month long event, just how we like it!

stabby

Okay, fitness and wellness. What’s up!

  • I got new shoes! Two pairs of Brooks arrived in the mail as gifts from my husband, one gently used pair intended for trails (Pure Flow 2) and one brand spanking new pair designated for road running (Pure Flow 3). I am in shoe heaven.
  • I have gradually picked up both my “easy” pace and my “hard effort” pace, which means that my heart and lungs are getting stronger. I have been reading tons about running efficiency so this makes me happy. My capillaries are brilliant little rocks stars, ok?
  • ALSO! I have enjoyed several fast runs that totally surprised me. Several sprints (400 meters) faster than 7 minutes, plus one day a five mile run at just slightly slower than that. This kind of progress is even more exciting than weight loss!

could-not-do

  • Strength training is stuff I do alone here at the farm using 15-20 pound hexagon weights, and I am convinced it all is helping me run better. My stomach and arms feel really tight but also bendy and comfortable, which helps a lot. Oh, have you heard that a strong posterior can make you better at sprinting? Haha, yes. It’s true.
  • Continuing to take multivitamins and high-potency, slow-release iron makes a big difference in how I feel day to day. 
  • Very little dieting anymore! I love knowing how I am going to feel after eating certain meals, and I love knowing calmly how to put carbs, proteins, and all kinds of other foods to good use. Not at all in a punishment kind of way, just as a way of looking within myself (mind and body) and understanding what’s going on.

Training Log:

Oct 3-9: 39 miles total. That week’s highlight was no longer being quite sick like the week before, haha, and also focusing on lots of farm work. I felt revitalized!

Oct 10-16: 26 miles total, including more aggressive speed workouts, also twice as many strength sessions and lots of evening foam rolling. That week Miss Velvet (Klaus’ mom) was visiting the farm, so I avoided leaving the dogs alone too long. 

Oct 17-23: 36.5 miles total. My big happy event that week was running 12 miles at an 8:08 pace. That would lead to a pretty decent half marathon for me, close to an hour and 45 minutes! I continued running that day to finish with 18.5 miles total (latter miles slower = positive splits), but those first 12 were at a pace that was quick for me, without really trying.! I was on a high for several hours. It felt like my body was wrapped in twinkle lights.

Oct 24-30: 44 miles total. I switched up the training plan weeks a couple of times and somehow landed with the perfect amount of miles at the perfect time for my body. It was magical. After spending last Monday through Wednesday on longer speed workouts (9, 5 plus strength, 10) and one decent rest day, I went out for my Friday morning long run feeling strong. I was also down about 8 pounds, which was unexpected but helped me feel light and comfortable. The plan that morning was 20. I started slowly on purpose, thinking of how cool it would be to get negative splits finally. My body needed a break (hello Shark Week) at 15 miles (which were finished at a 9:40 pace) so I drove home and ate a snack then finished some housework and animals chores. I laced up again and wrapped up the day with 5 more miles, this time at a 7:12 pace which is REALLY good for me! It felt like flight! I could not wipe the smile off of my sweaty, sand-crusted face. I was so so so happy. Running double workouts is not my ideal plan, but life and female health can be complicated, and sometimes this just works out beautifully.

October Total: 145.5 miles 

party-kids

I am so happy with how October went! After a successful but challenging September I briefly considered halting marathon training in favor of some more aggressive weight loss efforts but decided that running makes me way too happy, and it had already brought me so far in that goal, anyway. I will stick this out a few more weeks (on the downhill slope!) despite not being registered for any races in November. Speaking of November, here are some thoughts and plans:

Looking Ahead to November:

I have a step back week started already (six today plus strength), during which I will also try to kick a couple of naughty eating habits. It’s good timing, because lots of miles often means a crazy appetite. Running less this week should immediately cool my cravings a bit. Gina at Fitnessista is hosting a quick and easy 7-day focus group, and I like it. Nothing drastic, just healthful encouragement and a big focus on what she calls “eating like a PRO,” which is including both PRO-duce and PRO-tein in each meal. I am also excited to try a few new workout ideas with her.

Next, November is the traditional month for Monica at Run Eat Repeat to host Pile on the Miles, so if you are jonesing for a fun and measurable way to aim for higher mileage before the holiday gluttony, check it out. 

After this step back week and a taper week during which we will be traveling, I plan to see how I feel then arrange a 26.2 run around a local lake. Friends! Run with me! If you do I will invite to the farm for a recovery meal and party.

Okay! Happy Halloween friends, take care of yourself and carpe all those beautiful diems!

Run fast for your mother run fast for your father
Run for your children for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind you
Can’t carry it with you if you want to survive
~Florence and the Machine
XOXOXOXO