Football Kickoff

It's officially fall, and that means football season. Anastasia loves going to Maryland football games, and she was very excited that the day after her birthday party was the first football game of the season. Unfortunately Orlando could not join us, but we scheduled to meet our tailgating friends in advance of the game. It was a long drive to Baltimore, followed by a long walk to the right spot. Once there, Anastasia was very excited. The Martin girls set her up with face paint.



Our first game of the year was against Navy. At every game, the midshipmen march into the stadium and salute the visiting team. Then, they turn to their own team and cheer before marching into the stands to watch the game. It was great fun to watch.



When we got to our seats, we found a special sign (which thankfully doubled as a fan) waiting for us. Though the temperature that day reached only in the mid 80's in the sun, it was quite hot.



We had great seats, and the action of the game was consistently at our end. Still, we frequently had to retreat into the corridors to cool down.



With the noise in the stadium, and the heat, Anastasia wasn't really able to last longer than half of the game. That worked out well for us, we got ourselves home in time to watch the Terps win on TV with Orlando. And, Anastasia got an excellent nap on the ride home.

Her Yellow Phase

When we asked her what kind of party she wanted this year, Anastasia replied "a yellow one." So, Yellow was the official theme. Myney and I spent a good deal of looking for an appropriate yellow dress for her to wear, I finally found one on eBay, yellow gingham with pink butterflies.



Two days before the party, Orlando and I started to feel under the weather, and there were moments when I feared that the party wouldn't happen. But by Saturday evening, I was feeling better, and we were back on track. Decorations were classic balloons and streamers with pretty paper lanterns for the front porch.



I worked at incorporating the yellow theme into the food, though I'll admit not too hard, since the idea of an entirely yellow buffet wasn't super appealing to me. We had cheese puffs, and veggies with a couple different dips, including curry, chicken satay with peanut sauce and shrimp with traditional cocktail sauce. I also made a yellow fruit salad (pineapple, mango, apple, and mandarin oranges). Myney contributed the most amazing hand painted yellow butterfly cake. Somehow, the camera didn't get pulled out until all the real food was done and the cake was on the table.



The kids were very eager to have a taste of the cake.



Murphy's not real good with visitors yet, so we kept the big dogs in the back yard for the duration of the party, so there could be free access to the front yard during the day. The weather was beautiful, so there was fun with her new soccer ball on the front porch, the grown ups enjoyed the patio with a glass of wine and Anastasia stole a hug with Nate Curtis, though he was a less than willing participant.



As we've done in the past, we waited until most of the guests had said goodbye before starting to open presents. When we did open presents, Anastasia was eager to dive right into one of her new books.

Getting Fit

With 3 months left until our Carribbean vacation, Orlando and I are starting to get excited. We're both a bit... let's call it heftier than we would like to be, so we're taking decisive action. On Monday, we started an intensive 3 month training regimen coupled with a plan to change eating habits.

The Exercise Program: P90X - 90 days and it's intense. It's made up of 12 dvds, each with a single workout on it. It comes with a detailed schedule of which disk should be used on each day. Orlando is doing the standard version, I'm doing the lean version, so we're each doing a different workout every day.

Monday, Orlando and I each made it through about 1/2 of our one hour session. On day 2, we were both able to reach the end, though I'll confess, it was not easy, and I couldn't keep up. The program offers a lot of variety in the daily workouts. One day may be arms and shoulders, the next yoga followed by a workout of abs and core. I'm quickly getting the sense that sore muscles are going to be standard for both of us for the next couple months.

We'll each be tracking progress throughout the 90 days, and we've each set a personal goal for what we'd like to accomplish.

The program includes a diet program that is a little complicated but basically seems a lot like the South Beach Diet, which we both know pretty well. So we've opted to use that system instead.

The Diet: South Beach Diet - Myney and I have both done South Beach before with some success. It does require that you not eat any carbs for the first two weeks, then introducing only whole grains (so no potatoes or white bread) in moderation. The first two days have been pretty easy, salads on day 1, pork and rattatouille for dinner last night. We've got a fridge full of meat and cheese and vegetables.

The other big change for us is in what we drink. No more juice, no more sugary sodas, and alcohol is going to be limited to a few specific cheat days. With the demands of the exercise program, water really is the evening beverage of choice so far.

We've agreed that we'll be cheating on the diet a bit over the next three months but we're going to do our best to keep each other honest. Our first cheats will happen this weekend with Annie's birthday party and our first football game.

I'll make periodic progress reports as we inch toward the day we'll head to the beaches of the Carribbean. Now, I've got to get to my arms and shoulders workout.