Love, Don't Love + a Giveaway for Nicole's GF Pancake Mix

It’s been a crazy week. I believe I mentioned that last Monday my Mom had heart surgery. We knew she was going to have to have it done, but it’s never easy, especially when you don’t know what to expect. What was even more shocking was the paitent next to my Mom who was spitting, screaming and vomiting. I realize he was not doing well, but the last thing you want to here when you are trying to recover from major surgery is someone loosing their mind with only an ugly light blue curtain to divide you…. God bless healthcare workers.

Our “Awesome” Valentine’s Getaway

After spending a few days with my Mom recovering at home, my family and I headed up the coast to visit my Dad near Pismo Beach (the California Central Coast). It’s about a three hour drive from here. We stopped in Santa Barbara at a Walgreen’s to let the kids use the bathroom. The store was empty, so when we went to use the bathroom, I took all of the kids with me not wanting to risk sending my boys in alone for fear of perv’s hiding in the stalls. An employee stopped us and said it was Walgreen’s policy that if you are 7 or older the boys needed to go by themselves. I calmly said that since there was no in the store and there had recently been an incident at a Dollar Store nearby, I thought it would be wise to have my boys stay with me (there was no one in the women’s room). He stood there with his arms crossed and said, “NO.” I was on fire at this point, so I said I would watch my son at the men’s room door. As I was walking over to the men’s room, my little one got his finger stuck in the door. I got it out but the tip of his finger was already black and blue. By this time, I was beginning to lose it on this employee and, as my crying son was holding up his black and blue finger, this employee headed for the back room and never showed his face again. After a discussion with the manager, we loaded back up in the car and finished our trip up to Pismo.

The next morning, our car broke down, so we spent Saturday morning getting it fixed. Then, on Sunday one of my kids spiked a fever of 104. Oh, and I failed to mention that on Valentine’s Day we went to an Italian restaurant in a college town. Don’t ever do that. This place had a chef and two servers call in “sick.” We waited an hour and 15 minutes to be seated and an hour to be served… maybe more. All I know is it was a lot of bread sticks and Shirley Temples.

To top of the romantic getaway, my husband and I slept in different locations. It was right out of a Will Ferell movie, so, yeah, we laughed quite a bit this weekend. Happy Valentine’s to us!

The good news is, we were able to see my Dad and his wife and the location and weather was dreamy. It was a quick two night excursion, but I was anxious to get my sick child home and see my Mom.

Turns out my son had Strep Throat, so more school absences and… interuptions in my marathon training. I know that sounds kind of selfish to even bring it up, but I want to manage my expectations about what kind of race I’m going to have come April 20. I have had so many forced breaks in my training, there is no way that I will run to my full potential come Patriots Day.

Some pictures from our weekend

Now onto more exciting things… my first edition of Love, Don’t Love. Along with my list of favorite things, I also list things I don’t care for right now. Marcia Healthy Slice does this in a way only Marcia can do, her posts leave you laughing and wanting to try new things, so I am linking up with her today.

Love/Don’t Love

Love– Men close your eyes, but right now I am greatly appreciating the Diva Cup. I will spare my male readers the pictures– ladies you can click on the link, but basically, it’s a reusable cup made of surgical grade plastic that replaces the dreaded and disgusting tampon. You can ignore the Diva Cup for up to 12 hours before having to clean it. I love that you can run a marathon with no discomfort, and no worry, that it’s environmentaly friendly, and less expensive than tampons. It takes a little time to get used to it, and clean up isn’t the most pleasant job in the world, but after using it for over a year now, tampons seem completely old fashion and horrible to me. Once you use one ladies, you’ll never go back.

Don’t Love– A car breaking down while on vacation. It’s bad enough when your home, but at least you’ll get out of work or school. Breaking down on vacation is a cruel disruption to an already tired mother’s time.

Love– Leaf and Love Lemonade– Leaf and Love sent me a 12 pack of their product to try, and my kids and I love it. It’s the only palitable sugar free ( they use Stevia) juice boxes we’ve ever tried. We don’t drink too much juice because of the high sugar content, but these make my kids and I happy for school lunches and outings.

Don’t Love– That my kids have been so sick this year. First we had the flu and now strep. I feel so bad that they are missing so much school, and that they are feeling so crummy.

Love– Nutshell by Prezi– A new app that my husband told me about, where you take three pictures that will capture a story- take a look.

Don’t Love– Having to change from a Mac to PC. I can’t even write about how much I dislike it, but here I am typing this post on dang PC. I really do not like you computer.

Love– Hulu Plus– We don’t have regular cable TV, only Apple, so basically we get Netflix and Hulu Plus. Right now Hulu has the most awesome shows. I have marathoned my way through these TV series- The Cafe, The Book Group, Gavin and Stacey, and Stella. All BBC-it is so difficult to go back to watching American TV after seeing how superior the Brits are in this department. I love how real and relatable their actors are. They don’t cast perfect model looking women and men. They have a variety of real people, and the acting is flawless. Do yourself a favor and watch these shows.

Don’t Love– Seeing my Mom vulnerable and having to go through so much pain. She is a very strong and busy person, so I know being down and having to heal must be difficult for her.

Love– Farm Fresh to You– similar to CSA, Farm Fresh to you delivers local, in season organic, non gmo, fruits and vegetables to your front door. I have come to look forward to the mornings when mine arrives. You get items that you normally wouldn’t buy in the grocery, so I make new things and we are eating much more vegetables than we ever have in the past without the service.

Don’t Love– When I see a small business owner struggling to keep her restaurant afloat on a busy Saturday night because college kids thought going to frat party sounded more fun. Most likely something I would done when I was 20, but I felt so bad for the owner.

Love– FitBit– At first I thought, “why would I need an activity tracker when I have GPS?” but the Fitbit is different. It tracks steps and sleep. It was eye opening to see how little sleep I get, and how few steps I take if I’m not running. It really motivates me to move and sleep better. Here is a nice review by Fit ‘n’ Cookies.

Don’t Love– That my marathon training is so up and down. I was never really attached to running a certain time at Boston, but between the flu, getaways, and strep throat, my training is very inconsistent. I may be walking the last 5 miles, but being a mom comes first.

Love– Healthy Bites– I have been experimenting and making more and more of Lindsay’s recipes- they make the best snack when you are craving something sweet.

Don’t love– That I looked in the mirror the other day to pluck a chin hair and saw the likeness of Bruce Jenner looking back at me. I screamed. This can’t be happening.

Love– Nicole’s Gluten Free Pancake and Waffle Mix– I was sent a container of Nicoles’s Pancake Mix and it hands down the best GF Mix I’ve ever tried. This mix is wheat, dairy and soy free, plus it only has 1 gram of sugar. The founder was raised in North Carolina and was known for her pancakes and waffles, then in 2002 she developed a gluten intolerance and developed a GF recipe that secretly replaced her original recipe without anyone noticing. After revealing her secret, her husband encouraged her to sell her product… Nicole’s Natural’s was born. These pancakes were full of texture, flavor and weren’t all rubbery or hard like some I’ve tried. These I’ll eat again and again.

Nicole’s Natural’s can be found on Amazon or NicolesNaturals.com for $8.99 for 22 oz. container.