Tis the season...

to get crafty! As the weather turns cool, I get an itch to start working with my hands.  Yarn work isn't very much fun when the weather is hot because yarn is very warm and who wants a blanket or throw on their lap when it's 90+ degrees outside and the air is on. However, the crisp weather we've been experiencing lately is getting me in the mood to start some new projects.  I'm currently working on a baby blanket for my new niece who will be joining us in the very near future and while I need to get my butt in gear on that or it will never be finished, I decided to pick up a side project I saw on Pinterest.  My dear friend Lindsey posted a hat a while ago that she was contemplating buying for $45. It was just a crochet hat with a felt flower on it.  I thought I might be able to whip something up that was similar for a lot less money.  Boy was I right.

After about 2-3 hours of work and a whopping $7.00 (maximum) I think I came up with a hat with a very similar feel. The crochet of the hat is a bit different and the colors are not the same but I think it worked well in the end...

The original by MojoSpaStyle:

The replicate by me:

 

Migraine Mayhem!

I would like to start by saying that the fact that my primary care clinic has Saturday appointments ROCKS!  It is so much more convenient than having to schedule time off of work to go see my doctor. Way to go Ypsilanti Family Medicine!

As you might have guess by my oh so subtle title, I had a bit of migraine mayhem this week, at least I really hope it is migraine mayhem and not some other nasty lurking in the shadows. I was having a very nice, normal week.  I was eating well, getting my runs in, getting plenty of rest and with the exception of yesterday I wasn't dealing with much stress beyond the usual stress of being alive and a working adult. However, I had a very strange episode, for lack of a better word, on Thursday.

I was sitting all by myself in the EKG lab when the entire right side of my body went completely numb. I'm talking from the top on my head to the very tips of my toes.  Even my throat was numb.  I was hesitant to stand up because I wasn't sure if I was going to be dizzy or not.  After a brief moment of head spinning I was able to walk up to the clinic. I had full control of my body, I just couldn't feel anything other than an incredibly strong tingle. I felt my pulse and it was strong, steady and regular and our MA told me that she didn't see any drooping in my face. It took about 5 minutes and the tingling stopped and the numbness subsided. I felt fine other than a low grade headache, a bit of shakiness and some mild visual distortions (which I get when I have my migraines).

I honestly wasn't terribly concerned about the event and chalked it up to increasing neurological symptoms of my headaches. However, when I told my sister what happened she flipped out on me. She called me an idiot and told me that if I died in my sleep because I had a stroke or aneurysm she would never forgive me.  I wasn't quite ready to jump to all of the wrong conclusions yet so I called Tasha for a second opinion. I figured she loves me and she's a nurse so I can get a family member/medical professional opinion. While she didn't feel strongly that I should have gone to  the ED (did you know it's not the ER anymore??) she did advise me to make an appointment with my PCP.

I had my appointment this morning and the conclusion was what I thought it would be.  Because I have good blood pressure, I don't and have never smoked or used smokeless tobacco, exercise regularly and try to eat well, the odds that I had a stroke or even a transient ischemic attack, are very low. Yes, I have a strong family history in my mom but as Dr. Velez said, 'your mom is another beast,' meaning the fact that she smoked and had a severe vascular disease as a direct result of that habit doesn't really increase my risk of stroke. She didn't recommend imaging at this time but she said she'd leave it to me if I want a neurology consult.  I think for now I'll probably leave it; if the symptoms return or get worse I'll get in to see a specialist.

Damn you stomach bug!!

Happy weekend ladies.  I have to admit that as glad as I am for the weekend, I am even more excited to have finally kicked whatever stomach bug was wreaking havoc on my system all week. I was able to eat breakfast and lunch today with only minimal stomach discomfort...yay!! I'm still eating with a bit of trepidation just to be on the safe side but all seems to settling well. I have had to re-think my menu for the week as I was planning on working my way through the plethora of leftovers I have in my freezer, however, apparently everything I cook is spicy and I don't know how well spicy will sit (at least for the next few days). Oh well, I was able to come up with a few fairly mild and inexpensive replacement dishes.  I can always eat leftovers the next week.

Sadly, due to my illness, I only got one good workout in this week.  I ran on Monday, took Tuesday off because of an early morning meeting and then planned to run the rest of the week. That did not happen.  I figured excruciating stomach pain and a diet of ginger ale and saltines didn't lend itself well to hearty workouts. Even though I haven't been getting my runs in I have decided that this week won't be a total loss. I'm going to go for a nice walk this afternoon to the mailbox which is about three miles. I also hope that after eating some real food today that my legs won't be too angry if I try a nice run tomorrow. I figure at least get out for some intervals. Tomorrow is supposed to be as beautiful as today so I think I might spend a chunk of the day wandering around Gallop Park exploring the trails.

I don't really have much else to share.  I honestly spend the majority of my week lying on the couch dying, at least when I wasn't at work.  I did get a lot of sleep which was pretty amazing, I won't lie.  Sleeping from 8:30-5:30 is a pretty amazing thing.  Who knew nine hours of sleep could be so refreshing?!?
 

Speed intervals and spinning class

Pretty much all summer I've been thinking that I really need to add more variety to my workouts. I really enjoy running.  I'll be honest, I don't always enjoy the early mornings and sometimes I really feel like I want to die while I'm running but I have this sense of accomplishment when I complete a run.  Even if it's not my best it's still leagues beyond what I was capable of when I first started this mission. I just think that I'm at a point where I really need to make a change to start seeing progress. I've been stagnating for far too long and I know it's because I haven't really made any changes recently.

I have no intentions of giving up running, or even making another activity my cardio go-to.  I do, however, know that I have to make changes to the way I approach running. It's no longer good enough to just jog 2-3 miles and call it good.  If that's my plan, then I might as well plan on staying where I'm at physically. As such, I have decided to really work at increasing my speed and my endurance. I tend to fall to a 5 mph pace when I do my longer runs.  I'm working hard but I can still maintain it for a 5k.  However, it's not really a challenge.  There are certainly moments when it's not easy but I never feel like I really have to dig deep to keep going.  My latest run consisted of intervals, walking alternating with running.  My running intervals were anywhere from 5mph to 7 mph.  Let me tell you, I had to dig deep to keep running 7 mph for 1:40 minutes.  I know it might not seem like much but that's a pretty fast pace for a girl like me. I'm not exactly built for 8.5 minute miles. It's funny how slow and easy a 12 minute mile feels after that :-)

I've also signed up for a spinning class this fall.  Every quarter the Ann Arbor RecEd catalog comes out.  I always look at the classes and think if only I weren't such a chicken I'd sign up for something.  Well, this fall I decided to not be a chicken and signed up for a spinning class. It's 8 weeks and meets on Friday nights from 5:45-6:30.  It ends the week before I head home for my November trip so I shouldn't have to miss any classes.  I realize that there is a really good chance that I'll get to this class and get my ass handed to me on a platter. I might end up just pedaling while everybody else is doing the real spinning stuff but I'm going to get as much out of it as I can. I'm hoping that adding some variety will not only jump start my body to get headed in the right direction, I also hope that it will give me a renewed motivation to keep making the changes I need and want to make.

Recipe: tomato pie

It's that time of year again.  Every person lucky enough to have a garden seems to have veggies coming out of their ears and they're trying desperately to foist them off onto the gardenless so all of that delicious produce doesn't go to waste. Unfortunately, I'm one of the sad gardenless; however, I am rolling in fresh, free produce courtesy of my overly-productive co-workers. I've gotten my hands on garden fresh eggplant, zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes and have enjoyed coming up with new and exciting ways to prepare them.  I recently stumbled across a tomato pie recipe on Pinterest (have I mentioned how much I LOVE pinterest.com??) and simply knew I had to try it. 

Now I realize that tomato pie might sound just a wee bit strange.  However, this is a savory pie meant to be a meal, not a sweet pie for dessert. I won't lie, there is a bit of sweetness from the cooked tomatoes and onions but it's a very nice compliment to the tart and salty yogurt-cheese topping. I won't lie, I had my doubts about how this would turn out; but the first tomatoy-cheesey bite was sheer bliss!  And bonus, it was ridiculously easy to make.

You will need:

• 1 whole Deep Dish Pie Crust, Store Bought Or Your Favorite Recipe
• 4  Tomatoes
• 1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, Grated
• 1 cup Greek-style Yogurt
• ¼ cups Fresh Basil Leaves
• ½ cups Chopped Vidalia Onion
• ½ teaspoons Salt Plus Extra For Sprinkling On The Tomatoes To Remove Moisture
• ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Put your pie crust into your deep dish pie plate. Using a fork poke holes in the bottom of your pie crust. (This is called docking.) Place into the preheated oven and allow to bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

While your pie shell is cooking slice tomatoes thinly and layer them in a colander in your sink. Sprinkle with salt and allow them to drain while your shell is cooking. You can also dab the tomatoes with a paper towel to get some of the excess water off of them. This is an important step because if you do not get most of the liquid out, the bottom of your pie will be soggy.

By now your pie crust should be removed from the oven. Allow it to cool for a little while while you make the topping.

Combine the two cheeses and yogurt in a medium bowl.

Layer the tomatoes, then the basil and then the onion into the pie shell. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread your cheese and yogurt mixture on top of the tomatoes. Put it into the oven and allow it to cook for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Garnish with more basil if desired.

When making this dish, I used two red tomatoes and two yellow heirloom tomatoes, you can use whatever you like or can get your hands on. I also used caramelized onions because I couldn't find sweet onions and figured it couldn't hurt to add a bit more flavor.  While they were a delicious addition, I think just dicing a Vidalia onion would still be quite tasty and less time consuming. I definitely cheated and used a Pillsbury pie crust. I mean, why reinvent the wheel?
 
All in all this was a very satisfying meal.  I had it with a tossed salad and it was light and refreshing. There was a bit of extra moisture from the tomatoes that I drained off of the pie once it was cut but I think really pressing the tomato slices before baking it would eliminate the need.  This is definitely going into the will make again file.