The May Seven

See The January Seven / The February Seven / The March Seven / The April Seven

Wellness
1. Reduce clutter - yes, but ongoing
2. Boardwalk bike ride every time I’m at the shore until Memorial Day - yes
3. Delete facebook app from phone - yes

Community

1. Pick up litter - yes
2. Talk about voting with people - why it’s important even in primaries of off-year elections. Voting is a habit that is good for you and your community. Twice a year, just like dental visits. - yes

Try
1. New recipes: broccoli cauliflower salad, egg roll in a bowl, crispy crockpot carnitas, frozen yogurt - no, yes, yes, no
2. Getting oven fixed - yes, there's actually another bigger problem, joy
3. Selling larger items I am not using - yes

Buy
1. Round mirror for shore bedroom - yes
2. Hooks for shore house - yes

3. Annuals - yes

Do
1. Refill gallons of water.  Help!! Does anyone have a gallon container - sealed, no spigot - they transport liquids in that is not plastic? Actually got a water cooler. 
2. Update shore house menus / house info / etc - yes
3. Refrain from using any disposable cutlery - fail, used one day at lunch
Needs to be done eventually but is clearly not getting done so need a break from it being a numbered item: 
Blog recommendations tab / shore house blog

More
Buying what I will use each week from the grocery store - about half and half

Less
Stocking up for no reason - about half and half

Thursday Thoughts - I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and I walked on a crooked crutch

1. With the office reno, I've been down the shore more during the week than on the weekend and while I haven't had a full day to kick around and do nothing down here, I can't say I hate it. It's quiet during the week. I can still sneak my dog on the beach in what is now no dog on the beach ever season which I think is absurd. And who wouldn't want to end a Wednesday like this?

2. There was also house work, of course, it being May. I actually had MFD down. He was down exactly twice in April, once on Easter weekend and once for a quick back and forth to drop something off. While I worked yesterday he cleaned up the outside shit from the shower and behind the house and cleaned and set up our porch. After work we moved the dresser up to the main floor and I put the closet back together from the painting I did last weekend. We still need to move the dresser up to the second floor and hang a mirror when I take a break for lunch today. We did little stuff in our apartment like finally hang an arm like the one we have upstairs in the house so we can hang six things up. It's the little things. I also moved some stuff around which is the story of my life.

3. There was also ice cream. This is a hard season for us. I am not one of those  everything in my relationship is perfect we go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong people. I think those people do a disservice to everyone else. Perfection does not exist and to imply it can or does is an insult to everyone else out there doing their best. Some days that best is slicing through the glittering water on a marvelous boat and some days it is swimming against the current in a river of shit.

4. It's the first time I've had all three dogs at the shore in a while instead of just Bruce, and all three of course sleep all up in my grill and MFD has plenty of room to move.

5. Nails: Rimmel 60 Seconds Red Hot Chili Pepper.

6. From the never say never file: I was all I am never instagram storying and here I am, Instagram storying.

7. Show Us Your Books is Tuesday! Super light reading month for me so I will not need a lot of time to write that one. When my brain needs a break I say here, have one.

8. We are in dangerous territory, America. Re: Kanye's recent shit. Re: Michelle Wolf/Sarah Huckabee Sanders. 

9. Reminder: There is always a choice, even when it doesn't feel like it.

10. E-card of the week: Who's with me?

What's new with you?

Linking up with Kristen

Carrot Pineapple Muffins

You know what's not been good out of this entire working from home more thing? Baking on my lunch hour. Fatassery like nobody's business.

I had a can of crushed pineapple in the pantry and needed to use it. I used half for this and half as a chicken marinade the next week. Boom.

Original recipe here.

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup apple sauce
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

Sitr together sugar, apple sauce, eggs, vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.

Add carrots and pineapple, stir well.

Place paper in muffin tin or grease muffin tin. Spoon mixture in, filling to top.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until done. I got 15 muffins out of this.

Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove to rack to finish cooling. I let them sit in the pan then flash froze them. I take them out in the morning and they're thawed by the time I get to work.

How to teach your child to love a new sport

via

Tuesday. Let us acknowledge its benign terribleness and move on.

As you know, I accept articles on things I don't write about. Such as kids. I don't have them and I don't really write about them. This one is from Adrian, a lifelong thrill seeker and adrenaline junkie. A freelance sports writer, Adrian is passionate about health and fitness and pushing his body to limits. Whether he's rambling in the beautiful Cotswolds or bunjy jumping in New Zealand, Adrian is a fervent believer in making the most of the great outdoors. 

I, too like The Great Outdoors - the movie as well as rambling around in nature, albeit with a little less adventure to my outings. Nevertheless, sports. Kids. Teaching. Go.

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Sports are important for all children. Sports can help your child develop their social skills, self-esteem and their self-confidence. Sports can help them make new friends, it can help them stay healthy, and it can help them focus better in all other areas of their lives. Sports, and the exercise playing sports requires, are imperative for your child’s health, happiness, and their development. Getting them to love a new sport, however, can be tricky. Follow this guide to find the perfect sport for your child:

1. Let Them Try Out New Things

There are many local activities, sports, and courses to choose from. Sit down with your child and register them to the activities and sports that they show interest in. Register for taster events, so that your child can try out the sport without a huge commitment. This will allow them to try out new things and see what works for them.

2. Combine Activities

Sometimes, all it takes to get your child interested in a new sport is to show them the possibilities. For instance, showing them that they can have fun while going to school, or going over to a friend’s house with a scooter, is a great way to introduce them to greater sporting possibilities. To start, buy them a JD Bug scooter. JD Bug are one of the founding companies of the fold-up scooter, and specialise in children’s scooters. This means that you can get a scooter that can adjust to your child’s growing height, meaning there are many years of memories to be had. Through such a scooter they can not only get from A to B safely, but they can also try out new tricks that are bound to impress. For more information, see the full range of JD Bug scooter on Skates to help you choose the perfect scooter for your child.  

3. Try Out Sports with Them

One of the best moments as a parent is showing them something that you love, with the hope that they love it too. It is the hope of every parent to teach and mentor their child, and it can be very disheartening when they don’t find your sport interesting. Instead of getting disheartened, try out new sports with them. Learning together can be incredibly rewarding, for both you and your child. 

4. Keep it Fun

The most important thing to remember when encouraging your child to love a new sport is to keep it fun. By participating in a sport it keeps them healthy and happy. If they are talented in that sport, and even if they show interest in becoming a professional in that sport is no excuse to take the fun away from it. Let them push themselves, and focus instead on being supportive and knowledgeable on what their next steps need to be, if they decide to take their talents further.

Getting your child to love a new sport takes two main steps. You need to first help them find a sport or activity that they love to do, and then you need to keep it fun. Whether they play sports with friends, with you, or by themselves, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that they are active, healthy, and happy. 

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Any tips from you parents out there for other parents?

See you back here tomorrow for carrot pineapple muffins. 

TWTW - the one with the split

Nothing fires up your Friday morning like fire truck excitement - my neighbor smelled gas, but nothing came of it. Lunch was a local's special Cuban for $5.55 from Sunrise Cafe. When you work from the shore, you can be on the beach by 5:30 on Friday. And painting a closet soon after (Behr Ultra Offshore Mist). We were in bed by 8 to read. 

Saturday morning was foggy as fuck but Bruce and I were still on the beach for 45 minutes before hitting Drip N Scoop for coffee and heading back to paint the parts of the porch poles that are made unreachable by the awnings that are being re-hung this week (learned that lesson last year, staring at things that should have been painted but were not), putting a finishing coat on the closet, and finishing my book before heading home. 

Some time out in the sun with lost perros, then dinner at Dad & Carol's with my aunt, uncle, cousins, Stephen & Aubrey and the smart and sassy Lola Jean and cutest cuddliest Baby Seeeeeve. We hit Target in a down pour on the way home and I was in bed early again reading.

Sunday March for Babies for Team Eva the Diva, fruitless Marshalls trip for a mirror for the other shore bedroom, and lounging and cooking all day. 

Weekly food prep: scrambled eggs for breakfast, hummus/veggies/pita for lunch, dinner is leftover pasta with chicken and spinach + bread, and grilled chicken using a marinade I made up. 

It's nice to be able to work from the shore more with the office reno going down.

How was your weekend? Also, how is it the last day of April?