She can fly!

May 26, 2017 by camoozle

When I signed up for the Disney Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend months and months ago, I had big plans. The Tinkerbell Half was my first Disney race with Meri and Vic so it holds a special place in my heart. I had been promising my daughter a Disney race for awhile so back when I was feeling super motivated, I signed myself up for all three of the Tink races and signed up my girl for the 5k. I had high hopes of training and PR’s and what not, but you know how it goes. Sometimes you accidentally get pregnant.

Luckily, I was able to get a refund for the half and 10k, which, by the way, I thought was super understanding of the peeps at RunDisney. We decided to go ahead and run the 5k together. I thought a Disney race would be perfect for Sophie. Disney races are super family friendly. There’s always runners of all athletic abilities and all ages. Sophie’s a very active 11 year old, she plays soccer and runs a lot at practice so I had no doubt she could do this race. I was more worried about being able to keep up with her!

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She was so excited to have a bib with her name on it.

We stayed the night close to the park before the race so we could make the 5 am start time and so we could pick up our bibs and hit the expo the night before. We didn’t plan costumes, mostly because I couldn’t think of anything pregnant friendly that wouldn’t be suffocating. Also, the more pregnant I get the less motivation I have to do stuff. So when we got to the expo, Sophie found a Tink tee from Raw Threads that she just loved. Obviously, a girl can’t run her first Disney race without some kind of sparkle, so Sophie got a sparkle skirt and some fairy wings to go with her shirt. Because that’s how we roll!

The race started right on Main Street, which I haven’t ever experienced in a Disney race before. There aren’t Corral placements for the 5k, it’s first come, first Corral, and we ended up in Corral C. Sophie couldn’t contain her excitement. She whooped and hollered when the MC’s roused the crowd. She danced and cheered for her favorite songs. And she was mesmerized when Tinkerbell flew around Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

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Not bad for a last minute costume!

As our Corral moved toward the start line, Sophie was ready to run. We planned to meet at the finish if we got separated. I told her about pictures with characters and so she decided she would stop and get pictures and maybe I’d be able to catch up to her. However, when we finally started, she took off! I didn’t even get one picture of her running. There weren’t many characters out for the 5k, so that plan blew. The whole race I expected to see her walking or at a bathroom or something, but nope, that girl left me in her pixie dust and never looked back.

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Our only picture together!

I walked my way to the finish and looked for Sophie. She was no where to be found. I began to slightly freak out, trying to ignore every worse case scenario that popped into my head. I decided to check the post-race area before I panicked, and that’s exactly where I found her. Shoe-less and fresh out of snacks, she flagged me down with a wild wave. She finished in 38 minutes. It took me at least an hour, so she just hung out for twenty some minutes. I had no idea she was so responsible and independent! We headed back to the hotel with our medals proudly displayed. She wore that medal later that day when we visited the park until she left it in the seat pocket on Big Thunder Railroad. Luckily, a cast member found it for her and she promptly stowed it in my bag for the rest of the day.

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Best medal ever!

To be honest, I would have skipped the race if it weren’t for Sophie, but I’m so glad we did this. She made it magical and I love that I get to share this part of my life with her now. So many changes are happening in her life this year. She’s getting a new sibling, she’s going to middle school, we’re moving (again!!!), but I hope these races are something we can share for as long as we’re able. She even wants to do a Ragnar! Like she said, this can be the start of a family tradition. She already has costume plans for next year. That’s my girl!

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Cam Runs With Child

April 19, 2017 by camoozle

Two weeks ago, I ran SoCal Ragnar like I’ve never ran before…12 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy was the biggest surprise. It’s been almost a decade since my last pregnancy. After ten years of birth control, I found myself with a positive pregnancy test and half a dozen race bibs I’d already paid for, including two Ragnars and all three of the Disney Tinkerbell races. I had not planned on being pregnant for any of them.

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Now, we all know how diligent I am about training (please note sarcasm). However, I really needed to be prepared for this race. I’m over 36 which makes me a “high risk” pregnancy. Also, I’m overweight and was actually in the middle of a transform session when I found out I was pregnant. I also knew I wasn’t going to be able to run much. I hadn’t really been running prior to the pregnancy but I had been strength training so I was pretty confident I could walk my little heart out. So yeah, I walked an entire Ragnar. It was surprisingly difficult to walk while everyone around me was running. I did end up running a tiny bit when I just couldn’t take it anymore, but overall, I felt pretty proud of my 16 minute pace!

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Van 1 at the Start right after I headed out!

I’ve ran SoCal Ragnar many times, but not since they changed the course. The course used to come inland through Temecula Wine Country, which made for a very warm race at the end of April. The race now stays close to the coast, starting in Huntington Beach and ending on the Silver Strand in Coronado, starting on sand and ending in sand. The course has a virtual exchange at Exchange 12 because of Camp Pendleton. Van 2 ran into Dana Point and Van 1 ran out of Oceanside during this exchange. Usually the hand-off between vans is a big exchange with a lot of celebration. The virtual exchange kind of squashes that but luckily we had five more hand-offs to celebrate.

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Van 2 at the first major exchange.

For the first time ever, I got to start the race early Friday morning! I was really nervous to race while pregnant, mostly because I hadn’t been training as well as I should. I ran for a little while along the boardwalk of Huntington Beach, then slowed to a fast walk and finished my 2.3 miles. After this first leg, I felt confident I could finish the race.

My second leg ran along the San Luis Rey River Trail around sunset. The trail was easy and flat but the bugs were out in full force. I don’t know if they were attracted to my headlamp light or what, but by the end of my four miles, I was wiping them off my glasses. During this leg, I got to run with the famous Ernie, the 93 year old Ragnarian who just ran Del Sol in March and finished his 6th Ragnar at SoCal. Talk about inspiration! You can read more about Ernie on the Ragnar Blog.

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I finished up with 3 miles through a beach town in Encinitas that I didn’t even know existed, and I’ve lived in Southern California all my life. Once again, Ragnar, you remind me while I love you so much. It’s always to best way to see this country: from the pavement. My legs were super sore, and not in ways that I was familiar with. Walking this much and at this quick pace pulled at muscles and tendons I don’t normally strain. This part of the course was on a main street that was covered in restaurants, shops, and bars that I wanted to explore, especially the donut shop! I finished up my leg with a little jog and sighed with relief. I had finished and thanked my body for putting up with my decision to spend 36 hours in a van, walk swiftly for 9 miles after sleeping less than 2 hours on zero caffeine, all while making a human.

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Baby’s First Ragnar

Sorry body, but we’re going to do it again, in Pennsylvania this time and at 20 weeks pregnant. I’ll be walking my little heart out.

ragnar collage

Ninjas Spotted in the Aloha State

October 31, 2016 by camoozle

I suppose I should preface this post by acknowledging the obvious fact that there are easier ways to experience paradise than spending 38 hours with 12 teammates, running a 200 mile relay race through heat, humidity, wind, rain, lava rock, and hills. I’m sure most people would rather spend that time lounging on the sand and sipping sweet drinks from a coconut. Well, that’s not how ninjas take on the big island. Not initially, anyway.

Two weeks ago, my fella and I traveled to the big island with eleven other ninjas to run the inaugural Hawaii Ragnar. Hawaii!!! I had never been to Hawaii so as soon as this race was announced, I knew this was the way I wanted to see paradise: from the pavement! This race had everything: sandy beaches, palm trees, and let us not forget the humidity! Oh the humidity. I should have trained in a sauna. Let me rephrase that, I should have trained…period. Ragnar Hawaii was one of the most difficult courses I’ve ever encountered. So much so I feel my feelings can best be presented in a list entitled “Reasons Why Ragnar Hawaii Kicked My Ass.”

At the start in Hilo. It was still dark when our team headed out!

Please note: this list does not include any obvious reasons like lack of training or preparation or bug repellent. I really should have done more research.

Reasons Why Ragnar Hawaii Kicked My Ass

#1 – Time Zones

Did you know that Hawaii is 3 hours behind California? I didn’t until I got there. At first I thought, awesome, it’s like I’ve gone back in time, I get three extra hours today. Sure, it helped when I had to get up at 2:30 am to be at a start line by 5:30 am. It felt just like any other day, but by 6:00 pm, I wanted to sleep. This doesn’t fare well when you have thirty more hours of running ahead of you. In past Ragnars, Van 2 (my van) usually starts by mid afternoon. I didn’t start running until almost 5:00 pm! This meant night gear for my very first leg of the race as it starts getting dark around 6:00 pm. That’s technically 9:00 pm California time aka Cam’s bedtime. So yeah, this threw me off my game a bit. I was fighting sleepiness the whole race. Luckily, my van threw a dance party every time we stopped to support our runners, who frequently sported unicorn heads and rainbow legwarmers. This rave-like atmosphere put a little pep in my step, but time zones, you really know how to mess with a girl’s head.

#2 – Weather

So I mentioned humidity earlier, but that’s pretty expected. I also expected the 80-90 degree temperatures during the day. I planned for this, brought my sunscreen and my tank tops. I did not expected the temperatures to drop and the winds to howl. Apparently the big island has two sides, the wet side of the island and the hot side of the island. Well, this course took us from Hilo to Kona so we got to experience ALL of it. Biting winds, warm rain, muggy heat…I almost didn’t even bring a jacket. I had no idea this one island could be so diverse. Hilo was a lush jungle with tall shady trees and green vines everywhere. Kona was a lava field, black rock all the way to the ocean. I really should have done more research.

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My SECOND sunrise in Hawaii!

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Fields of Lava Rock

#3 – Hills

Yeah, so about that research I should have done, specifically volcanoes and how to run near them. It shouldn’t have been a surprise really, they put the course maps out months in advance, but still seeing those inclines on paper and then experiencing them in real life when you’re jet lagged and melting is a whole other beast. I was lucky, my legs were relatively flat. However it seems like every other runner had the worse hills ever! Especially runner 5, who had to run uphill for 11.8 miles. This run was so difficult, it warranted an extra medal, the Big Kahuna, just for this one leg of the race!

The best thing you’ll ever see at Ragnar.

#4 – It’s Effing Hawaii

We ran through so much beautiful scenery, it was hard to stay focused on the end game. Hawaii is such a laid-back, relaxing atmosphere and I wanted to savor every minute of my surroundings, both during and after my runs. I was awestruck by the geology of the place, how tufts of grass grew out of the hardened lava rock and how cliffs seem to just thrust up out of the sea. I had to stop and take pictures of the sun rising over the fields of lava rock, while in the distance the ocean gleamed to life. Even in the darkness of night, the island held a peaceful murmur that was hard not to be captivated by. This is the reason I run Ragnar, so I get to experience this part, the part that’s far from the vacation. The part I’d never see if I had just come to Hawaii with a bunch of friends.
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#5 – I had to leave

The biggest regret of this whole experience is that I left right after the race. I wish I would have set aside more time to explore this island. The rest of the ninjas stayed and took in all the splendors Hawaii had to offer and I watched from Facebook in envy, wishing that I too had a sweet drink in a coconut. My advice, take the time to make this one a real runcation. Bring a jacket and bug spray. Get there a day early and leave many days later. And do some research. Who knew they had snow in Hawaii?

Selfish Girl

July 15, 2016 by camoozle

Hello friends! Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Cam and I am a Master! For the last two years, grad school has been my life. I’m a natural learner. I love school so much that I’ve made it my career, and I’m really good at school!

I had no idea how hard grad school was going to be. All other facets of my life have taken a hit. My kids, my partner, my job, my home…they’ve all been branded by the demands of my choice to go to grad school. There’s been a lot of guilt involved. I’ve had to be incredibly selfish these last two years, and in my experience selfish is not a thing you want to be.

I feel like society has many expectations for women. Women should be sexy yet demure. Women should be confident yet humble. Women should be independent yet the push for marriage and motherhood is so prevalent in the media that it has its own movie genre. Women should give of themselves, should be classy and kind and appropriate in all situations. Women should kick ass and be strong and fight. But don’t get hit in the face because a woman can’t be ugly. And don’t get me started on what a woman’s body should look like. I don’t know how to be all of these things at one time. The perfectionist in me wants to, but the more I strive to be this woman, the more I realize it’s effing impossible.

As a rational woman, I know that I don’t have to believe in those expectations, but it’s so hard to escape such a deeply ingrained concept of what a woman is. The struggle is real, yo! It seems that while I work on one aspect of myself, other aspects suffer. For example, while I was in grad school, I gained 64 pounds. SIXTY FOUR POUNDS.

Yep, grad school makes you fat.

I mean, I guess it could be the fast food two nights a week or the sour licorice straws that provided the sugar rush that got me through reading academic journal articles. I guess it could be my choice of sleep over running and how I broke up with the gym. In addition to neglecting my partner and my children and my laundry, I neglected my “self”.

And I’m pissed.

I’m pissed I have to lose weight to begin with. I’m pissed that I’m not one of those people in love with my fat self. I want to blame societal influence and expectations. Why can’t being fat be a sign of wealth and prosperity again? Why can’t I just be heavy now? Why can’t I just love my body the way it is and be happy and drink beer and eat fries? Well, because it hurts. I don’t love my fat body because my body hurts. My back, my feet, my gut, it all hurts and I suspect it’s not healthy. I’m not in a position to take these risks with my health because I need to be a good example for my children. I need to be alive for my children.

I’m pissed I have to leave my kids to spend more time on me. I’ve already been doing that and I just got that time back! Hold on kids, Mommy needs more time to herself. But they’re watching me. I want them to know that taking care of yourself is important. I feel so much better when I exercise. It’s necessary for my mental health. So I bought a treadmill. I can run while my kids play. And they can run too. Unintentional benefit!

I’m pissed I let myself get like this. I’ve struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. This time two years ago, my body was strong. I could run and jump and do head stands. My clothes fit and I felt really, really good about the progress I had made. And now I have to start all over again.

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This is my “Omg, that’s what I look like now?” picture.

Mostly, I’m even pissed that I feel pissed about all of this. I went to grad school and it was awesome. I’m now a more informed educator and parent with regards to education and how kids learn. My children got to watch me graduate with my Masters in Math and Science Education. They cheered and waved and they were proud of me. I feared they would resent me for leaving them two nights a week for two years. Instead, they celebrated.

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Waiting for me to graduate. Apparently Sophie yelled, “That’s my mom!” when they called my name.

My hope is that they understand that taking care of yourself, following your dreams, and reaching your potential isn’t selfish. It’s pride. It’s self-love. It’s necessary.

So I’m back at it. I have races to run and I’m looking forward to feeling better. I have friends to talk to and children to play with and a very neglected boyfriend to go on well-deserved dates with. I have a school year to plan and blog posts to write. And I’m going to selfishly enjoy all of it.

Baby Got Wasatch Back

June 24, 2015 by camoozle

Best team name ever.

Yes, those are ninja stars.

Now that that’s out of the way, let the race recap begin! I’m still recovering from the epic experience that was Ragnar Wasatch Back. Utah brought all the extremes…heat, cold, elevation gain and loss: this race was no joke. I’m a bit of a Ragnar Veteran, so I thought this weekend would be just another Ragnar. I was prepared for the lack of sleep and the shenanigans. I had hydration under control thanks to the NUUN station at the start line. I had my new Skora Tempo and my Core…just in case. I had brought my biofreeze and compression socks and my DoTerra Blue Rub.

Most of all, I was so very excited to see my friends!

Ninjas, Ninjas, Ninjas!!!

I was not, however, ready for the elevation. Altitude is a real thing, people.

My Ragnar weekend started on Thursday with a 12 hour road trip to Salt Lake City, Utah from Riverside, CA with my fella and teammate, Ian. Yes, it took us 12 hours. Mostly because of the Electric Daisy Carnival happening in Las Vegas. Stop and go from Baker to Vegas surrounded by kids with drugs in 115 degree heat. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but we had a race to get to!

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The 15 freeway is a really, really long freeway.

Once we got into Utah, though, the 80 mph speed limit sure brightened things up. All the ninjas had already gathered at our fearless leader, Eric’s, parent’s house, who so graciously let 13 runners take over their house. We didn’t arrive until around 2 am and our wake-up call (or rather violent shake) was scheduled for 4:30 am so that we could get to the start line in Logan, UT by our 8 am start time. And so it begins…

Ninjas at the Start!

Being in Van 2 has its advantages. Once we kicked off the start with Van 1, we were able to grab some food and prepare aka screw around before our actual legs, which didn’t start until around 1 pm. So we hit up the IHOP and ate all the pancakes, then followed some of the runners of Van 1 to check out their course.

Shattered glass at breakfast: bad omen or bad ass?

Ragnaring like a boss…in business casual attire complete with phone and belt clip.

Around this time we also learned that a fellow Ragnarian had collapsed on the course. A 46 year old man from Park City, Utah, Tyler “Ty” Rasch, collapsed and later passed away (more information here). While the cause of death is still unknown, this was frightening news. I didn’t train in the altitude or heat at all and here this guy, who was used to this climate, had just died during this race. It was a very sombering reality check. I take this race stuff for granted. My heart goes out to his family and friends, who were with him during this race and had to watch all this go down. Just terrible.

We met up with Van 1 at exchange 6. El Capitan Eric took over as runner 7 and our van headed out to kick some serious miles. Around this time the temperature was reaching into the 90’s and our elevation was up in the 5000’s. This sea level SoCal girl was definitely feeling the altitude.

When Vans Collide

The handoff! Go, Eric, go!

I was runner 8, the second runner in our van, which means I got to run and be done. Seriously, having to wait around to run when your van is “on” is torture. My first leg was 7.1 miles of what seems like perfectly nice, flat land.

Looks nice, right???

The first few miles felt like I was drowning. I could not get a hold of my breathing. Once I got into a nice steady breathing pattern, that’s when I realized I was melting. I could not drink enough water. I had my NUUN on hand but my Van had to stop twice to refill my bottle.

The rest of the van had very similar legs, with lots of heat, lots of hills and lots of miles. By the time we handed off to Van 2 for the night runs, we were desperate for rest. Luckily, Eric’s folks were close and we were able to get some food from an actual kitchen, take a shower and use a real toilet, and actually get a little rest in a real bed before our projected early, early morning runs.

The hills are alive! With red ants and selfies within selfies within selfies…

The second leg of our race started at 1 am and we had some pretty quick runs with elevations in the 6000’s and temps in the 50’s. My second leg was super short and super cold!

There wasn’t a mile marker on this run, though, so the only way I knew it was over, was the mile long back up of vans at the exchange. This race had about 1000 teams! That’s a lot of vans, man. I came into the exchange looking to hand off to Tim, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I stood there about 10 minutes before we found each other. Turns out, he’d been standing out there the whole time. Doh! Things you miss at 2:30 am.

I was feeling pretty good after my run, so I took on the role of driver. The head honcho, Eric, needed to rest as he was gearing up for the gnarly run up Ragnar Hill in the morning. Traffic was pretty heavy at every exchange and by the time we arrived to handoff to Van 1, I was suffering from severe nap-jerks. Runner 12, Jana, came in around 7 am, and then it was time to fuel! We headed to this really cool diner that seriously had the best breakfast food I’ve ever had.

I’m not quite sure what happened after this. All I know is I was eating and then I was asleep and then it was time to run again. But first we had to support the big cheese, Eric, on this baby:

Ragnar Hill

Yes, that is a 2000 ft. elevation gain over 10.3 miles in 90 degree heat on a few hours of sleep and after already completing 2 grueling legs. This is the shit that legends are made of.

Waiting to support Eric on this monster. That’s a ski lodge. A SKI LODGE!

I was up next, so I got to watch these runners come into the exchange after this run. It was the most inspiring thing. I was in awe after watching them grind up this mountain and then cry when they passed on to their next runner. Seriously, the most breathtaking view of the whole course was the determination and then elation on these runners faces. And they got a special medal!

Oh, Captain, my Captain

So Eric ran up this mountain, and it was up to me and Tim to run down. This was my last leg. The downhill was really freaking hard on my feet. I hadn’t had any issues at all thanks to my new Skora Tempo, ProCompression socks, biofreeze, and KT Tape (this is my recipe for success, btw), but on this leg, the back of the shoe starting cutting into my achilles and all I could think was PAIN. I also developed big huge blisters on my arches from this leg.

But the view was spectacular!

I was done! Time to relax and take some pictures. Here’s a wrap up of the rest of Van 2’s legs and bringing it home to the finish line. That’s probably the best thing about being Van 2…you’re done at the finish line.

Jana ran us into the Finish Line in Park City after about 30+ hours. Time to celebrate!

And the coolest bling in the race game! All 12 of our medals connect to form one super badass medal. Mine is the one that says “eries”.

Ragnar Wasatch Back was the very first race in the Ragnar series. It is definitely the most difficult Ragnar I’ve ever participated in. What an honor to be among these fine adventurers! I’ve been out of the Ragnar game for a year but the bug is back! I’m thinking Vegas? There’s a double medal series for Utah and Vegas…Saints and Sinners, anyone?

Dinosaur Food and New (Old) Shoes

May 5, 2015 by camoozle

We all know I have a sordid past with various shoe brands: Newton, Brooks, Altra, New Balance, Saucony…I got around. After the AC Half, I chucked my Brooks. I’m sorry, Brooks. I gave you the good old college try. I left them in New Jersey to be donated to someone who will hopefully be a better fit.

I’ve decided I’m going to go with what works. I hopped online and chatted with Kyle from Skora, who also has flat feet. He sent me some excellent ankle and strengthening exercises and this article which put things in perspective. I am no longer going to battle my flat feet. Instead, we’re joining forces! I’m embracing my overpronation! I will revel in my foot flatness! And I will do this with the help of my Skora. Because they’re comfortable. They accept my feet, just as they are. Skora, you complete me a la Jerry Maguire. I’m sorry I doubted you, but you must have known you’ve been my sole mate all along.

Who needs an arch, anyway? Suck it, insoles. I’m free-ballin’.

In addition to my new, old shoes, I’ve adopted a new, old diet. In researching methods for controlling ADHD, I ran into this book, “Eat Like a Dinosaur” and it turned me on to Paleo for families. Basically, it eliminates all processed flours and sugars. If it comes in a bag or a box, it’s not allowed. I recently read this book, Go Wild, which suggests that the demand and stress of modern civilization have created a breeding ground for disease; mental illness, ADHD, obesity, cancer, depression, anxiety…and so on.

The book claims one solution is to get back to basics: fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, real fat, and wild caught animal protein. Sounds logical to me! So I made the switch. And so did my children, involuntarily. They’re pretty pissed about it and I still can’t get them to drink almond milk. I started making one meal a day that was completely paleo, usually dinner. I’m having some difficulty coming up with creative lunchbox solutions, but our pantry is quickly thinning out. Sites like paleoparents.com and cookeatpaleo.com help immensely. A lot of the recipes use cauliflower, coconut oil and flour, and almond flour. There’s a recipe for granola that uses coconut instead of oats and it is da bomb. That’s right, D-A-Bomb. And even though I love cake, it hasn’t been hard to give up the sugar and starch. It’s been a month and my gut feels happy. I even signed up with Farm Fresh to You, a produce delivery service. Unfortunately, alcohol is a no-no. But I just can’t. Confession: I still drink wine. Don’t tell the paleo police.

Almond flour cranberry muffins. My kids gobbled these up.

I don’t know if all the claims are true, but it can’t hurt, right? And if nothing else, we are getting to try some new and interesting veggies. I didn’t even know you could eat celery root!

I Need a Disclaimer

April 10, 2015 by camoozle

Warning: This post includes gratuitous use of “bad”, or as I like to call it, “expressive” language.

Hi, I’m Cam, I have ADD. I’m not being rude, I swear. It’s just really, really hard for me to pay attention to you. You will probably have to repeat yourself and I will probably not make eye contact for very long. But I promise, I’m not an asshole.

What do you think? I know, it’s a bit rough. I’m still working on it.

As I continue on in this epically disorganized and frantic life I’ve created, I notice ADD poking its nose into my business at the weirdest times. Like when I miss out on important information because I’ve “tuned out.” My lack of focus and impulsive decision-making causes like 90% of all arguments with my gentleman caller, and my mom can’t stand that I wait until the last minute to do things. And my friends, they probably think I’m tied up in the trunk of a car because I’m constantly forgetting to text them back. Living with someone with adult ADD is a challenge. It’s a big cluster of miscommunication and misread signals. So much so, I’ve compiled a list to help my friends and family understand my behavior: Things people with ADD do that aren’t assholish in intention, I promise.

Also, making lists is a strategy I use for organization. I love making lists.

Adult ADDers might exhibit the following symptoms:

1. They make lists for everything. But inevitably they misplace said list or forget the list existed in the first place. This may lead to a second list, or even third list, contributing to a never-ending cycle of lost and found incoherent notes scribbled on used envelopes and napkins.

They may buy more rainbow socks because they forgot they already had rainbow socks.

2. They’re obsessive about organization. They may spend hours and hours meticulously organizing cabinets only to be thwarted by the desire to now, at this very moment, organize the dish towels. This is often accompanied by the irrational fear of “If I don’t do this now, I will never have another chance, ever.”

Warning: They may be hoarders. Who needs that many socks?

Which leads to..

3. They may have a skewed sense of priorities. Everything is the most important task in that moment. This is a hard one for loved ones or colleagues and typically leads to the assholish labeling.

4. Speaking of labeling, they generally say things that are “inappropriate” or as I like to call them, “true.”

5. They frequently… I don’t remember what I was going to write here, honestly. I got sidetracked by my chick Jenn, here at the airport!

It keeps putting us sideways, I don’t know why.

6. And lastly, they just might write their blog post on a tablet in the airport because they were up all night making costumes for their race on Sunday. No minute like the last minute!

How do you stay focused and organized, internet world?

How I spent my Spring (non)Break

March 27, 2015 by camoozle

The orange blossoms are blooming. The bees are buzzing. The noses are sneezing. It can only mean one thing, Spring has sprung. Now, here in Socal, spring is no big thing. Really, it’s just like winter, but with more allergies. We do, however, still get to celebrate spring break and let me tell you, I need this break like no other. I’ve wrapped up my second quarter of grad school and my fifth graders are suffering from the hormonal imbalance I (and Thumper) like to call, twitterpation. I very much do not want to see the inside of a classroom for a good long while. Or at least a week. Which is exactly how much Spring Breaking I get to do.

Beside prepping to see my gals in Atlantic City next month, I am going to be spending this week not working out. That’s right, I’m banning myself from the gym. Except for kickboxing. Because shit gets crazy when I have to carry around all that pent-up aggression. Trust me, it’s for the good of everyone that I get to kick and hit things twice a week. But other than that, I’m taking my fitness to the streets, Step Up style. I’ve even compiled a list.

10 Ways I Will Kind of Not Workout This Week (a la Letterman)

10. Bowling – Serious arm workout, son. I plan on using a heavy (well, heavier than the normal 7 pounder I throw) ball and switch arms with every throw. Luckily I care not about my score!

9. Roller Skating – The skating rink in my town is offering a discount in honor of spring break and I plan to take advantage. I’m seriously looking into becoming a Derby girl, I just have to see if I still got the skillz. Couples skate, anyone?

8. Hiking – I want to do a one-nighter, overnight hiking trip this week. In preparation of the Muir trail, of course. And to try out my portable potty.

7. Body Boarding – Yes, I plan to get my booty in that cold Pacific and ride some waves.

6. Moving Furniture – I love rearranging furniture. When my stuffs in one spot for too long, it kind of makes me crazy. I’ll be mixing things up this week.

5. Zoo/Disneyland – San Diego Wild Animal Park and Disneyland are on the docket for kid entertainment. We have passes that are sitting at the bottom of my purse so it’s time to put them to good use. Must resist the Churro cart.

4. Backyard Wrestling – This may or may not include alcohol. I love to wrestle. I know, it’s weird.

3. Trampolining – We’ll be frequenting the local Sky Zone as soon as my kids start bouncing off the walls at home. Trampoline dodgeball is also a possibility.

2. Bike Riding – I don’t even own a bike, but I really want to start family bike riding excursions. I live very close to shops and the fact I get in my car and drive the mile down the street to the grocery store is super sad. Time to get me a dope ride with sick shocks, yo.

1. Rock Climbing – This week I want to go to high places and I want it to be hard to get there. No gym required.

Do You Supplement?

February 23, 2015 by camoozle

I’ve been struggling to get back into my workout and diet routine. The aftermath of the holiday free for all wreaked havoc on my routines. Then I went back to work and immediately got sick. Two months and one antibiotic later, I’m finally getting back to the gym. Everything is heavier and I’m so much more fatigued during my workouts. It seems like my muscles are taking longer to get back to normal and I’m just plain tired. Additionally, I’ve felt pretty weighed down from my consistent diet of chips and salsa and margaritas. So I went online to look for some stuff. It’s overwhelming how many pills and adaptogen complex powders there are out there in supplement land. I’ve used DoTerra products before and I’m assuming they’re pretty natural so this is what I chose:

This is a ridiculous amount of pills and I’m taking them all day long. And, well, they tend to get things moving, if you know what I mean. And by get things moving, I mean bowel moving. They’re definitely are cleaning me out. But I don’t have any more energy and they’re so darn expensive. There is a huge market for people like me who don’t really like things that are hard like eating vegetables and exercise. I worry about the nutrients my body isn’t getting from my diet. I try to keep it balanced, but let’s get real. I have a job, grad school, kids…I don’t always have time for good choices. And there is no way I can eat half my weight in protein every day. Are supplements a legitimate way to get what I need? Web MD had this interesting article. And then there was this:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/new-york-attorney-general-targets-supplements-at-major-retailers/

This is scary stuff, man. I tend to live on the natural side of life. But I have purchased every type of vitamin, drop, serum, powder, etc…there is trying to balance my desire for health with my desire for things like sleep and macaroni and cheese.

I have friends who swear by their supplements. They have this perfectly orchestrated concoction. I just haven’t had that moment, I guess, where me and my supplements truly understand each other and become one with the universe. What are your thoughts, scootadooters? Are you and your supplements in a committed relationship? Or is it all bologna?

Warning: This post has nothing to do with scooting my doot.

February 13, 2015 by camoozle

So both Meri and Kyle posted this pic today on facebook.

I’m off work today (four day weekend, thank you Mr. Presidents) and I have no children this weekend. I saw this and I thought, man, I need a Galentine’s day, but a lot of my gals live in places that are far from me. I thought, hey, I’ll digitally stalk them instead. That was way too much work and not nearly as satisfying. If I were with them, we’d be talking about stupid things that we absolutely love (and hate) or things that we love to hate or things that we love that make fun of the things we hate. Aside from a super duper skype sesh, that’s not going to happen. Instead I’m going to share the things that I am absolutely loving right now.

(Family and friends not included. This is a completely self-indulgent post)

1. I am absolutely loving Southern California right now.

Guys, this is the view from my backyard.

We here in SoCal don’t believe in seasons. We only get one. At least it’s one of the good ones. I’m wearing shorts today.

2. I am absolutely loving ModCloth.com right now, and probably forever and ever.

Mainly because of this picture:

But also because of these shoes.

There’s a part of me that actually tried to rationalize buying these. “You could wear them with everything,” I said in my head. “Skinny jeans, shorts, skirts…”

“Yes, Cam, you could. But you wouldn’t,” I argued with myself. Ugh, I hate it when I’m so logical. Someone out there buy these! And then send me pics of you wearing them so I can live vicariously through you.

3. I am absolutely loving kickboxing right now.

My kids practice karate. They hate it. At first. Once we get there, they love it. So in order to increase their motivation to practice, I too have signed up at their dojo. They absolutely LOVE this. I’ve been taking a fitness kickboxing class with this badass lady who, despite being tiny and probably in her sixties, could totally take me down. I love punching things. I love kicking things. It’s my new favorite stress release.

4. I am absolutely loving Harry Potter. Again.

My boyfriend and my very own brother recently informed me that they had never seen the Harry Potter movies OR read the books. I was astounded. How did this happen? How did my brother, who grew up in the same house as me, NEVER see these movies? And my poor boyfriend! How did he live through his middle adulthood without the wisdom of Dumbledore? Well, this needed to be rectified. A rewatch was immediately enacted.

5. (And, according to facebook, this one stirs up a bit of emotion) I am absolutely loving this review of the movie that shall not be named.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/rogue/fifty-shades-of-grey-review-rosie-waterland/

I’m just going to leave this here.

Scootadoot

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Author Archives: camoozle