I am tired.
I know, I know. I act like I am the only mom with a million things to do, making me the most special of all the special snowflakes. No, I am not. But while there are plenty of other hockey/football/working moms in the world, there probably aren’t a whole lot of them who also do this in their spare time:
That, my friends, is the result of processing (blanching, peeling, coring, chopping, freezing) 300 pounds of tomatoes. No, that is not a typo. I really did go through that many tomatoes, but what’s more impressive is that I’ve done it all in the course of 11 days–while doing a bunch of other stuff!
Included in those other tasks were, unfortunately, attending two funerals. 🙁 I already mentioned in my last post that one of my coworkers passed away early last week. Unfortunately, while I was at the funeral, I received word that someone else I knew and cared about also passed away. It was my former horse trainer, from when I was younger. She lost her lengthy battle with breast cancer, which is so very sad. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of me with her, but that’s because she was always working hard behind the scenes, and was not one to be front and center most of the time. Instead, here’s a picture of me, driving my horse to my one and only blue ribbon showing in seven years of competing.
Miss Ann was an integral part of that win. The reality is, I wasn’t a very good equestrian, because I just didn’t possess the natural talent. Miss Ann never made me feel inferior, however, and she worked tirelessly to help me in all aspects of my horse show career. She was amazing and wonderful, and she will be missed by her many, many students.
On the bright side, another event I attended was my cousin’s wedding. I even ended up acting as an impromptu official photographer. Don’t get excited about my photography skills, though. It was a very informal wedding with a Hawaiian theme, and the only reason I was the official photographer was because they didn’t have one. My photos weren’t spectacular, but the bride and groom were appreciative, at least!
Aren’t they cute?
One thing I discovered in attending these somewhat more formal events was that my “fancier” clothes don’t fit the way they used to. :/ My dress slacks and cute Hawaiian-style Capri pants were tight, and that was very frustrating. Being about 6 or 7 pounds overweight was definitely noticeable this past week, at least to me.
Besides the funerals and the wedding, I also attended a football game, the season opener for Jamie’s JV team. And guess what? <she said, barely able to contain her glee.> After jumping through a few hoops, I was granted permission to go on the field to take pictures! <insert big cheesy grin> Because this was a major opportunity, I decided to rent a lens, possibly with the intent to buy. I rented a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8, which is the “off-brand” version of the level 1 Canon lens I rented last year for Jamie’s middle school team’s appearance at Ford Field in Detroit. There isn’t an option to buy that level 1 version anymore, and I just knew I couldn’t afford the level 2 (newer) version, so I decided to try out the off-brand version to see how it would work. It was definitely better than what I’ve been using, but I still have a lot to learn when it comes to these more high-powered lenses. Still, just being on the field was a tremendous improvement.
I splurged on a monopod when I was at the store, and it definitely made a difference. Those fancy lenses are damn heavy!
When it was all said and done, I still wasn’t sure what to do. Shooting in the sunlight with that great lens was pretty awesome, but I struggled towards the end of the game, when the sun was setting. And then there was just a general question of whether I should buy off-brand or name-brand. I went back-and-forth, back-and-forth discussing it with my husband, my photographer friend, people at work… it was pretty intense for several days. :p And then, finally, my husband just looked at me and said, “Just go buy the lens. You have eight years of football and hockey photography ahead of you. It’s expensive, but it’s also an investment.”
And who am I to argue with that? 😉
I’m so excited about my new toy. A little panicked it having to spend the money on it, but really excited about using it. Tonight will be my first football game with the lens, and I’m eager to see what I can do with it. I’m pretty certain I’ll need to take some actual photography classes, though, whether they be workshops or online. I tried it out a little at JJ’s football practice on the day I got it, and this thing is…intense. 😮
So, now you’re up to speed on what’s been keeping me occupied in addition to the tomatoes. Oh, did I mention that I also ran 10 miles Saturday morning?
That’s my second time running 10 miles during this training cycle, and I’m happy to say that I was actually a little faster this time around. Even with the humid conditions and the 10- to 15-mile an hour winds straight into my face for the last mile and a half. :/ I was really hopeful that my awesome calorie burn (900+) would reflect on the scale come Monday, but I wasn’t quite so lucky.
Yes, down a tiny bit, but I really was hoping to get down below 125 before my “big weekend.” What big weekend, you ask?
Some people have cheat meals, some people have cheat days; me, I have a cheat weekend. It’s the one weekend out of the entire year that I allow myself to just eat and not stress about the ramifications on the scale. For those who have been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know what it is: canning weekend! I do it every year over Labor Day weekend (see here, here, and here for past results), and although it is a ton of work, it really is my favorite weekend of the year. All the chopping and boiling and prepping and canning is a tremendous amount of work, but it is so rewarding when I’m done.
This year, I am especially excited, because it’s the first time I’ve ever been so prepared for the weekend. My typical tomato total is about 400 pounds when all the salsa and spaghetti sauce is complete, and this is the first time I’ve ever had so much of it processed before the weekend even started. I have three quarters of the tomatoes ready to be defrosted and dumped into the pot…that is a first! Processing the tomatoes is truly the hardest part of the weekend, and by Sunday night, I’m usually ready to kill someone if I see one more tomato, but maybe this year, I won’t be quite so cranky. 😉
Of course, in addition to all the canning work, I do have to run 10 miles on Saturday, so there’s that. :p
At any rate, because it is so much work, I allow myself to just relax my normally strict eating habits. This weekend, we will enjoy lots of meals that make use of all the fresh salsa, spaghetti sauce, raspberry and blackberry jam, like quesadillas, spaghetti with my husband’s famous meatballs, bruschetta caprese, homemade biscuits, and probably just a lot of chips and salsa. Oh, and wine, of course. 😉 I will probably gain a few pounds this weekend, but I will enjoy every minute of it!
I hope you all have a great holiday weekend, and I will catch you next week…with pictures of my finished product, and hopefully some great football pictures, too!
Thanks for reading!
