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Camping with Pigs in a Blanket

Run DMT — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:38:33 +0000

For this week’s Friday Food Fight, I’m flinging my breakfast from Hillsborough River State Park campgrounds.

Since we’re tent camping, it’s not 5-star accommodations or dining, but the food is served hot and thanks to our portable heater, the tent is cozy warm.

One of our usual camping breakfast meals are pancakes from the box. *gasp* Shocking, I know, since Iron Chef Allan enjoys his from-scratch pancakes best, but it’s all about convenience and ease when you’re camping and box pancakes fit that bill.

This is the first time we tried Quaker Oats Oatmeal Pancakes and I was pleasantly surprised. The whole grain batter offered a lovely mealy texture and you certainly need a hearty meal when you’re hiking trails, canoeing or in my case, chasing a rambunctious toddler around the campground.

My camping pancakes are always served with a side of Al Fresco Breakfast Chicken Sausage. I’ll wrap a hot off the griddle pancake around the sausage, pig in a blanket style. No forks necessary, just a dish to dip your pig in some syrupy mud.

Pigs in a blanket are the perfect breakfast on a cool camping morning!

Now link up and see what Karen of If I Could Escape and Kirsten of Gone Banans are servinng.

All for a Happy Halloween

Run DMT — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:42:01 +0000

If you have young school aged-children still at home, then you can probably relate to the madness of a day that I will be facing today. There’s a costume parade at the school followed by two class parties where Monster Mama Run DMT is expected to DJ dance music for said parties and then another party after school before we set off to trick-or treat with our friends.

That’s some serious Halloween hoopla, my friends!

But we do it all for the kids, right?

Rest assured, I’ll be ~~funneling a few beers~~ tearing into some treats of my own around 5:00 p.m. Then, I’ll be feeling good in the ‘hood.

And with the help of some liquid courage, maybe I’ll sing some Halloween carols to ~~really piss off my neighbors~~ keep my spirits high and smooth things over when Little Lion Man tries to enter each home we visit for trick-or-treating tonight.

Here’s to a safe and Happy Halloween to you and yours!

For the next four Music Mondays, I’ll be counting my blessings through song. Each week in November, I will be singing my praises and giving thanks by sharing a song that symbolizes one of the many blessings in my life. Come count your blessings with me and link up while you’re here. What a blessing that would be!

Visit Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

The Sound of Silence

Run DMT — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:14:19 +0000

I wanted to write a 911 post to express my admiration of the people of New York City, the FDNY, NYPD, President Bush at our country’s most horrific hero. (Yes, I said admiration of President Bush.) “I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings will hear all of us soon!”

I wanted to share how ten years ago I was 7 months pregnant teaching reading skills to my second grade students when the principal came into my classroom and quietly told me that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.

I wanted to share how numb I felt he rest of the day and I believe I was in shock to protect my unborn child. I honestly do not remember much of the rest of that day, except for being glued to CNN for days and weeks that followed.

I wanted to share that every year I watch documentaries that retell that events of that day and I cry like I should have cried 10 years ago.

I also wanted to express my feelings of admiration towards the tastefully done, very beautiful and symbolic memorial at Ground Zero.

But I could find a poignant way to write any of those feelings.

And then, I watched the tenth anniversary memorial yesterday and Paul Simon’s performance of Sound of Silence reflected all my emotion, feelings and memories of September 11 in song.

And once again, I cried like I should have ten years ago.

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools”, said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls”
And whispered in the sounds of silence.

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Summer Breeze for Mother’s Day

Run DMT — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:49:12 +0000

On Mother’s Day Eve, the Taylor clan enjoyed a sunset potluck picnic at the beach. This has become a Mother’s Day Eve tradition for us, which we were thrilled to share with Allan’s sister and his mum.

Pine Island, a small sleepy little beach in Hernando County, was the perfect spot for a family picnic.

A light breeze kept us cool while we watched the cousins play along the shore and build a fort as the sun set.

Mum enjoyed the evening so much she wants to make a regular event. I couldn’t agree more.

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Throwing Some Good Fortune Your Way

Run DMT — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:05:17 +0000

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

It’s Chinese New Year and in the Run DMT house, we celebrate with some homemade Chinese food. This year, Allan made his famous veggie fried rice and then I attempted Steamy Kitchen’s Chinese Pot Stickers for the occasion.

Unfortunately, the ground chicken I bought went bad so Allan saved the day by running out and buying pot stickers from the neighborhood Chinese takeout. Oh well. Better luck fu next time!

We finished the meal with fortune cookies, but with new and improved kid-friendly yellow dye free fortune cookies which I discovered in the Asian section at Target. Upon my discovery, I wondered what makes fortune cookies kid-friendly. I hoped for at least silly jokes, like the ones you find inside Christmas crackers or Laffy Taffy, but the fortunes were just as corny as the ones from the Chinese restaurant, minus the lucky numbers and how to speak Chinese lessons.

And funny enough, much like the ones from the Chinese restaurant, you could read each one and follow it up with the expression “in bed”. So not-so-kid-friendly, but funny as hell Diyu!

My fortune was very encouraging…

…in bed.

Of course, fortune cookies have nothing to do with Chinese New Year or even China for that matter, but for my family and me, no Chinese meal is complete without them.

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

*Also submitted to*

Random Thoughts about Some Pricks, a Strong Wind and the Runs

Run DMT — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:47:27 +0000

For me, running has always melted the pounds away, but I honestly I had no earthly idea that it would melt so quickly in such a short amount of time. I realize that most diet plans recommend only losing 1-2 pounds a week, so I hope that I’m not losing weight too quickly. But I ain’t gonna lie. It also feels really freaking good to be losing all this baby weight so quickly and to be squeezing into smaller dress sizes every week. With each pound, I’ve double my wardrobe by fitting into some of my old clothes.

Each Saturday, I weigh myself after I return from my long run. I only expected to have lost about a pound this week, so you can imagine my delight when my scale said I dropped another 4.5 pounds for a grand total of….drum roll…16 pounds!!! INCREDIBLE!

On Sunday, the ladies competing in my mom’s group Weight Loss Challenge (WLC) met at the gym where @jellisfl measured and calculated our loss for the first month. I couldn’t be more thrilled with my progress! I honestly don’t care if I win the WLC, because I’ve already won in my mind! Here’s what @jellisfl calculated for me:

Inches lost- 18.7
Weight lost- 10.2
Body Fat % down 3
Fat mass down 9lbs

Last week, I went for my third round in three years of allergy testing to learn that I’m not allergic to oak any more but I’m allergy to some funky weed that doesn’t even grow in Florida. WTF? Whatever. I’m not buying it or those dumb desensitizing drops for a year and pay a $35 co-pay every visit. I’ll just stick with Zyrtec. Thank you. It seems to do the trick when my allergies flare up.

Because of that stupid skin prick test, I wasn’t allowed to run Thursday morning before the test. So, Wednesday morning was the last morning I ran. I had hoped to run on Friday morning but I had to complete a late phase of the skin prick test. In other words, I had to walk around with rows of lovely bumps on my left arm and watch how the lesions developed in a 24 hour period. Um…yeah…they developed into larger lesions and I looked like I had some bizarre fleshing eating disease. So in 24 hours, I learned that I’m still allergic to EVERYTHING?! Oh, except oak. Duh!

Ironically from all the blood work I had done over the past few weeks, I’ve also learned that I have a Vitamin D deficiency which is so strange for such a sun goddess like myself. I guess I need to scale back on the SPF 50 sunblock, eat more oily fish and eggs, and drink more milk.

Speaking of eggs…for the past week, the winds have been ridiculously strong as a result of all the arctic cold fronts making their way down south. Have I mentioned how much I hate running in the wind? Despite the wind, I still did pretty good.

5 miles

Time 58:55

Ave Pace 11:47

Max Pace 9:09

Saturday, I ran 10 lonely miles by myself because Tiffany flaked due to her foot giving her some trouble. The solitude must have made me run a better pace, because at 9 miles, I beat my 9 mile time (1:50:07) from the previous week (1:58:32).

10 Miles

Time 2:01:37

Ave Pace 12:10

Max Pace 9:27

Calories Burned 1010 :-)

The weather was so damp and yucky on Monday and I missed the Mom’s Mid-Morning Run at Suncoast Running. Bad mommy! Or am I a good mommy because I didn’t take my baby out it that icky weather? Either way, I’m a total slacker runner because I missed my Monday run and I’ve not done any yoga or Boot Camp stuff in weeks. My BFF Sharon Mann is totally going to make me suffer when I see her next.

This morning, I fit 4 miles in even though the wind made me want to stay in bed.

4 miles

Time 44:37

Ave Pace 11:09

Max Pace 8:21

***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***

Run DMT 2010 in Review

Run DMT — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:48:30 +0000

I received this in an e-mail from WP this morning. I thought it was pretty interesting and simply had to share it.

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 44,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 198 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 604 posts. There were 605 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 547mb. That’s about 2 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was May 5th with 1,182 views. The most popular post that day was I Speak for the Seas.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were myspace.com, blogger.com, wordpress.com, facebook.com, and twitter.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for run dmt, rizzo, rizzo grease, leprechaun traps, and rizzo from grease.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

I Speak for the Seas May 2010
37 comments

Grease is the Word! August 2008
8 comments

Why Run DMT? July 2008
28 comments

No Luck with Leprechauns March 2009
9 comments

Mom on the Run July 2009
2 comments

Happy Holidays

Run DMT — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:07:51 +0000

Today we crack open the first door of our Advent Calendar. The girls are so excited to begin our holiday fun.

Before Emmalynn left for school yesterday, she scolded me for not filling the boxes yet.

So while the girls were at school, a sneaky little elf filled our Advent calendar with candy and activities.

Music Monday: Seasons of Love

Run DMT — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:09:10 +0000

First off, I want to thank everyone who linked up and played along for Music Monday last week. It was great to see some old friends and some new ones join in the fun. As promised, one lucky participant will win a $15 iTunes card and that winner is…

Congratulations Thom!

Now moving along to this week’s Music Monday selection and link-up…

Friday evening, my aunt passed away. Since she deserves more than simply a footnote in a blog post, I will give her a proper memorial in another post, however I wanted recognize her passing in song with one of my favorite songs. She slipped away surrounded by loved ones and only one song seems fitting to celebrate her life.

Growing Green Girls

Run DMT — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:05:22 +0000

When my kitchen counter became too cluttered with recyclables, I cleverly devised a plan to encourage my children to help me clean up.

Like many northern states, New York’s Returnable Container Act charges consumers five cents for bottled beverages. Although Florida doesn’t currently charge its consumers for bottles, I thought I could institute a five cent deposit policy in our home by paying my girls five cents for every recyclable container they tossed into our recycling bin.

However, before implementing our recycling program, the girls needed a quick lesson in how to determine which items to recycle. I began by showing them the #1 and #2 triangle recycle symbols on the bottom of the plastic containers. Other number plastics were tossed into the trash or we found find other ways to reuse them, but all glass containers and aluminum cans could be recycled with the #1 and #2 plastics.

Each time they tossed an item in the recycling bin, the girls would mark a tally on our recycling chart. Each tally would represent five cents and therefore, five tallies would equal a quarter.

When my eight year old would have four sets of five tally marks, I would pay her a dollar, an idea she suggested. My four year old loved the idea of getting a big shiny quarter for a set of five tally marks. In turn, I would be teaching my oldest to skip count by twenty-five and my youngest would be learning to skip count by fives. Plus, for all their efforts, the girls would receive a small lesson in earning and saving money.

I implemented this task and teaching tool about six months ago and our recycling program is still going strong.

In fact, we recently finished one side and had to start a new chart on the back. After all, I had to demonstrate another type of recycling.