Editions of Me

I've been off Paleo for a while now, ever since I had that gallstone attack.At first it was because I needed to stick to the bland BRAT diet while my body tried to right itself, but then it was mostly because I was too tired to even think about planning, prepping, and cooking. So now that I'm all better, it's time to go back. Since I've now been off Paleo approximately as long as I was on it, I figure a second round of Whole30 is in order, to fully reset my system. My dealbreaker has always been the "thinking about it" part. When I get too tired to think about it, that's when my commitment wanes. And lately, all I've BEEN is tired. Paleo can be pretty exhausting because you're (well, I'M) constantly prepping and cooking, and then cleaning. I don't have time to sit staring slack-jawed at my computer screen! And it's fine after a while, because being on Paleo gives you your energy back, but when you're first starting out... it...

Jolie has, as of late, had a special interest in cooking, to the point that her grandparents have purchased a play kitchen and a microwave that lights up! The first thing she asks for in the morning is her "cooking," and I can rarely ever wander into the kitchen to heat up a Hot Pocket without her asking to help. "JOLIE DO IT!" she yells. So today, we decided to make cupcakes with her, and let her help out as much as possible. Jolie proved to be a very good assistant in the kitchen! Here she is spooning batter into the cupcake liners. This did end up being a bit of a mess, between the two of us, and she has picked up my bad habit of licking the batter from my fingers (or in her case, her elbow....?). But she did really well - I'd say we equally dripped batter on the countertop. While the cupcakes were in the oven, Jolie refused to leave her perch atop the counter, because she was RIDICULOUSLY excited about the container of sprinkles. Even when I did ge...

My ultimate derby hero. DEMANDA FREAKING RIOT. *squees like a fangirl* My day has been made. Can't wait until her class at Rollercon!

All photos shown here by Winnie Tong I am DARN proud to announce that the Psychopathogens have taken yet another victory over the Damas de los Muertos, in the second home bout of the season for the Peninsula Roller Girls! I won't say it was the best I've ever played. Truth be told, I felt a bit sloppy. I still only got two majors, but I was falling a lot bigger. On the other hand, I guess you could say I was playing more aggressively and going in for big hits that I usually don't go for - and more often than not, it paid off. So there's that. Whatever. I wasn't super happy with my lack of accuracy in my hits and my still-struggling level of stamina, but I survived it, and I like to think that I contributed to our win. At the very least, I gave the audience a good show, because I could hear the collective "OHHHHHH!" from the crowd a few times when I took someone down. I'd like to think that the people who just came to see girls get knocked on thei...

Bout day. I am ready. This time, I'm not so nervous. It's not that I'm super confident that we'll win this - on the contrary, I expect it to be a much harder fight than the first bout - but now, I know what to expect and what we're capable of. We're the small but mighty team. We're not the ones who strut our stuff or trash-talk others; instead, we bring our swagger to the jammer line and we let our game speak for itself. We might win. We might not. But we've shown that we are The Little Team That Could. In fact, we are The Little Team That DID. And we could be The Little Team That Can Again.

LIKE A BOSS. Today's race was a PR for me. I know 40:28 isn't impressive for a lot of people, but for me, it was the fastest and strongest I've ever gone. It was also important for my friend Becca, as this race last year was her very first race ever, and she's come a really long way since then too. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the temperature was just right for a run, although I did end up having to hold my jacket in my hand after the first mile. I don't think I've ever had a 5k go so quickly in my life. I was consistently keeping a faster pace than I ever used to, AND I barely stopped. I felt so proud of myself. We talked to a woman in line who is this, like, SUPER athlete, though she's in her 50's or 60's, and I think we just got talked into doing the SJR sprint triathlon. In 2013, I mean. Yeah, that's next on our list after a full marathon.