Family business

Rychen and I are really excited about a website we are building, at http://www.fruitpredominantdiet.com. Within a week or so we should have a basic page up and check-out process to sell my eBook entitled The Fruit Predominant Diet. The book is my attempt to bring fresh foods to the mainstream audience, incorporating raw foods into a standard American diet. The diet I recommend in the book is not vegan, so it is more or less a moderate approach, although I'm sure it may seem quite extreme for somebody to tell you to eat fruit as half your calories! The diet I recommend is new and innovative and hasn't been done before. It is basically the 80/10/10 diet including cooked meals, and while that diet serves a raw food audience, I am aiming my information at the more general American demographic and trying to avoid the catch phrase "raw food diet."

 

The website will have low-fat, whole foods meal ideas; some video demonstrations; stories and testimonies from people who improved their health with this diet; a list of books, website, blogs and other resources to guide in further nutrition research; and a page just for children's health. In a few months, a second eBook will be added, about pregnancy and childbirth on the diet.

 

It's fun that we're in this together, putting our ideas together to get a family business going. I'm the nutritionist and Rychen is the technology wizard.

Just call me psychotherapist tennis coach

I am glad to announce I am finally putting my psychology degree (and 4 years experience dealing with a crazy child) to work! One of my tennis clients asked for private lessons for her grand-daughter because she is hyperactive and easily frustrated. I told her I am a son exactly like that, I know lots of great tools to work with that personality, and I would love to give her private lessons. 

 

Today was fantastic! What a beautiful, wonderful child. These personalities are so amazing, so intense, so passionate, so driven, so stubborn, and talented. These are good traits! They just speak a different language and need a different learning approach than the usual group structure. We had a really great time together. Rychen Parker hit with us also, and I was able to do various games and activities to teach them tennis vocabulary, work on gross motor skills, ball handing, and confidence building. Not only was it good for my student, it was great for Rychen to have a friend as equally-enthusiastic as him, and it was such a great experience for me.  

Rychen's Famous Smoothie

Rychen's been making smoothies for a couple months now. Those close to him (family, coworkers, seminary students) have witnessed the incredible pitcher-full of smoothie that makes his daily breakfast (and another in the afternoon). I watch in both delight and awe (and a wee bit of amusement). But until today I have only watched.

Today I actually tasted it!

IT WAS DANG GOOD!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this is the first time I have tasted his smoothie. Laugh if you want to. I can't explain it.... I make my own food. But today my hunger and curiosity aligned, and the moment was right. I practically begged for more. As luck would have it, today is Mothers Day. So I got more...and in a hand-painted goblet too! Can Mothers Day get any better?

Now I am going to share the secret recipe.

This in itself is a big step for me. Anybody who knows me knows that I. Don't. Do. Recipes. Ever. I guess the non-conformist in me just hates written instructions--I will do it my way, thank-you-very-much. And yes, over the years, I have come to humbly acknowledge that flavors in measured, complimentary quantities actually can and do improve the flavor of a given dish. I will acknowledge that, yes, but I still have yet to ever measure anything.

STILL... Don't you think a RECIPE for a SMOOTHIE is a little silly? I thought the whole idea of a smoothie is that you get to "throw whatever in" and it comes out tasting fine.

But this is no Fine smoothie. This is a Dang Good smoothie. And so, without further ado (with me there is always plenty of ado...that's just such a cool word I had to use it twice!) I give you, the secret recipe for Rychen's Famous Smoothie.

5 oranges

1 apple

3 fresh bananas

3 frozen bananas

9 frozen strawberries

Yes, he counts his strawberries. But wait, it doesn't stop there. He says you have to put the oranges in the blender first because they are the juiciest ingredient, so you don't have to use any water at all (he says it waters it down and makes it less smoothie-like). This is crucial to the consistency (so are the frozen bananas and strawberries). Any slight deviations from the above instructions will yield sub-par results and will not produce Rychen's Famous Smoothie.

Happy Mother's Day!

Wonderful Day

I am officially a Tennis Teacher! Today was the first day of class. I had 4 students (and 4 no-shows, what the heck?) ages 6-9. We played some games to get familiar with the racket and ball, and had a fun activity to learn forehand form. I sent them home with a goal to practice racket handling over the week. It was fun! I am excited to do this every week. I need to get another class going so I should start hanging signs arond town. I am also doing a weekly private lesson with a mildly autistic girl, that should be interesting.

 

Anyhow, the other reason it was a great day was because Rychen P. and I went on a date to the Dallas Aquatic Center to play in the water. He is getting so much more confident now! It's wonderful for me to watch him enjoy himself like the other kids, without needing me close-by. Yep, he ventured out on his own! Even riding an inner tube by himself...while I sat in the hot tub. Nice! And I must admit I had a bit of fun myself, diving and doing down the slide (there is this great slide, just like a water-park slide... fast, really long with a few turns, etc.).

 

Good news aside, I must now humbly admit that I ran too much too soon (or, too fast too soon, to be more precise) and have injured right knee. I was getting too excited to play with my new Nike Plus band and watching my pace, and I foolishly ran too fast down a lot of hills. This was after my knee was already a bit weak, so that pretty much sealed the deal. Yes I am a genious, thank you very much. I have now gone 1 full week without any runing. I did a few upper-body workouts, and after 4 days my leg felt great so I went for a swim workout....and then it wasn't so great again. So I will be taking it easy, doing simple workouts (mostly upper body) and some therapy exercises in the pool. I should be running next Saturday... I don't expect to be fully healed by then, but at least this way I can continue running once a week, take a few days with minimal exertion, and prepare to do it again the next week. I gotta keep running at least once a week.... at least that is the idea I have now. But if you know me at all, my plans always change. For example, remember that nice cross-training schedule I wrote up? Yeah, the biking and swimming is pretty much out the window for the time being. Running is my priority. I gotta do all I can to be ready for this race June 26th. I am not giving up yet.

Spacial skill and lack thereof

When I transfered Rychen's leftovers into this tupperware, I selected it carefully. We have this same tupperware in half-size but I thought that was surely too small. I honestly expected his food to fill at least half of this container.

 

In reality, It is about 1/4 full.

 

I do this quite often and yes it is embarassing. Sometimes I feel stupid putting a mostly-empty container into the fridge, so I will change it out into another clean one and clean out the first. Every now and then I need a third chance.

This horrible trait of mine also curses me in the reverse. I take leftovers out of the fridge thinking "that's not enough to feed us all," so I make a little bit more. Then it turns out we have enough food to feed ten people! (If you've ever received a random meal from me, this is probably why.)

Lead in Garden Hoses

Be careful in your yard this summer! Did you know it's normal for garden hoses to be made with lead? There are warning labels in the packaging of hoses saying don't drink from the hose. But also, don't fill your pool up with a lead hose either! We just found this out yesterday and it makes us frustrated with all the contamination going around. No wonder autism and ADHD rates are so high, with heavy metals so readily available to be absorbed, in so many ways! Yes, heavy metals are directly related to neurological problems, did you know that? This irritates me personally because we have taken food allergens out and eat a high-raw diet and have greatly reduced Rychen's Aspergers symptoms - his anxiety is gone, but he is still very hyperactive. If only we lived in a clean world, but alas, there is just too much corruption.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart!

It is true, love grows with time. I love Rychen today more than I ever have. It seems funny to say you get married because you love somebody--you hardly know them, you have little experience with them, nothing has bonded you together yet. Perhaps what we felt was a foreshadowing, or a potential yet to be realized.

I married this man not because I had burning hot chemistry with him, but because he was my best friend and I wanted to continue spending every day with him. Our favorite thing to do together during our courtship was to go for a walk and talk, and that is still our special activity that nurtures our close feelings.

As we've had difficult experiences together, we've become even closer. As we have gone through times of frustration with each other, our friendship is renewed and strengthened. And as we set and achieve goals together, we are truly united as one.

Rychen is my best friend. I would rather spend an hour with him than anybody else. Watching him nurture our children is the #1 thing that makes me fall in love with him more, every time. I have always said "He is my rock," meaning basically he is the stable one in our relationship! :) He is so selfless and hardworking. And over the years he has grown more and more understanding of me and sensitive to my needs.

To his parents: Rest assured, you raised him well. You raised a wonderful person, and I appreciate him very much. My life would be nothing without him!

Bug Crayons

Check it out, how awesome is this?! These are CRAYONS!! home-made :-) You put all your old, paper-less broken crayon peices in a baking dish (silicone helps, but regular works too) and bake it for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees. Let it cool for a while until it hardens.

ps. This is a bug silicone muffin pan from AVON that I used.