Book Review: Same Kind of Different As Me

5 Stars--Eye Opening

Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

If your elementary school reading list was anything like mine, you may have read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. If you're from the north, that may have been your only exposure to life in the south after slavery. I knew all about sharecropping and how it was essentially a way to make slavery legal, what I didn't realize until I read Same Kind of Different As Me was that there are still sharecroppers alive. I thought it was one of those terrible things in our history that went on long before the World Wars and modern times. It's not.

Same Kind of Different As Me chronicles the stories of Denver Moore, a sharecropper-turned-homeless man and Ron Hall, an up and coming art dealer. It is told in alternating chapters from each man's own perspective, first recounting the life events that brought them to Texas at the same time, and their ultimate meeting and friendship.

Written directly to the reader, as if you are sitting down for coffee with Ron and Denver, the story is gripping and personal. You come to know them like friends, and it's just as hard to put the book down as it would be to walk out on someone while they are talking.

Fun at the Lake

We are in Minnesota this week with my whole fam-dam-ly staying in a huge cabin on Lake Mary. We are in a really remote area, and I love it.

Triathlon training is going well- Sunday I ran almost 8 miles, yesterday my aunt and uncle took me for a nice 11 mile bike ride and today my dad took me swimming. Dad had to me swimming because it's been so windy here I can't swim distance where we are at- he took me across the lake to where the water was a bit calmer. It was still really rough, I only swam for 20 minutes and it wore me out.

I'm sitting by the fire by myself right now, the first time I've really been alone for about 5 days. Grandma is reading the kids a bedtime story, and I need to go ahead sign off before Chris starts looking for his computer.

Too much?

I think it's possible I've hit the limit to the number of balls I can have in the air without completely loosing track of things. Here's what I have going on right now (in no particular order)

1. 2 1/2 year old, 1 year old


2. Husband


3. Creatively Fit Marathon: 26 paintings in 13 weeks


4. Training for second triathlon this summer- Cedars of Lebanon on August 28


5. Training for Women's Half Marathon on September 25


6. Etsy shop (sort of...haven't sold anything yet)


7. Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance Group


8. Full time job


9. Private Pilates Lessons


10. The Pilates Lifestyle Book


11. The Book of Ruth

I think I'm a little overwhelmed. Actually, based on my shopping habits lately, I know I am. When i get overwhelmed, I shop. A lot. When I was in the hospital with gall stones last year I bought $350 worth of stuff from Gap.com. Luckily, I was able to send it all back when the pain meds wore off. My big purchases lately have been gear for the tris, new clothes, and books. I currently have over $200 worth of stuff in my shopping carts at both Athleta.com and TeamEstrogen.com. I've also got $60 worth of stuff in my Amazon cart. Chris said it's fine, as long as I don't hit the "Complete Purchase" button on any of them.

"Honey, it's okay" he said, rather reassuringly. I knew what was coming. Encouragement that if it was stuff I really needed it was okay. I was wrong. "Cute stuff will be on sale again another day. You don't need to buy it now."

Such a wise, wise man.

Latest Paintings

Here are my latest Creatively Fit Marathon paintings. Mile 11 is tomorrow, I can't wait.

The next "marathon" starts on September 3, and I highly recommend it. Get all of the details here.

The whole point of the marathon is not to make amazing works of art (you paint over them every 3-4 days anyway) it's to get in touch with your right brain- to learn to be creative so that you can find creative ways to solve your everyday problems, to "create change" in your life. It's also an amazing form of meditation. I always thought making art was hard- this has been the most relaxing part of my summer.

My weird relationship with John Mayer

Actually, I don't have a relationship at all with John Mayer. I've met him once, seen him play several concerts, and am a fan of his music. But sometimes, like today, I have a crush on his voice. He really is a great songwriter. I do have a problem with some of his, um, personal choices, shall we say, but he really does make some good music. I'm just saying.

I have other voice crushes. My biggest one is on Edwin McCain. Love that man's voice. Wow. My other major voice crush I can't divuldge, because he's now one of my husband's friends. And that's a little weird, because long before I met my husband I had much more than a voice crush on this man. Ahh....to be fourteen again :)

Man on a Wire

Somehow, it seems I've never written about Katie. I'm not sure how that's possible, because I LOVE her blog. It's amazing.

Anyway, a while back she wrote about meeting The man on the wire- the man who walked on a tight rope between the World Trade Centers towers. Chris and I are watching the documentary now, it's pretty incredible and inspiring. Talk about going for your dreams!

Dear Blog World

Hi. I've missed you. Let's not let so much time go by next time.

Race Report

I finished in just over 2:15. My goal was to beat my 2008 time of 1:58 at the race in Atlanta, but pretty much nothing went like I wanted it to. The biggest problems were: I wasn't prepared for the heat (it was 90 when we started) and I did some bike maintenance on Saturday night and forgot to tighten one bolt. Not a huge deal, except that because that bolt wasn't tightened, I wasn't able to shift up, and lost a good 10 mph going down hills. It was pretty frustrating.

All said, though, it went well. My swim time was actually better than the last tri that I did, and this was the first time I've swum in a river (other than floating when canoeing). The current was so strong that race officials were coaching us before we got in the water as many of the front (faster) people were getting pushed off course. I did okay with that, except that I couldn't actually put my face in the water, the current was too strong for me to exhale against. So I kept my head up the whole time. I told Chris that swimming in his sister's above ground 12 foot pool was actually the best training that I did, because Lily was sitting on a floating chair while I was swimming in circles (I was so dizzy!) so I had to keep my head up to make sure she didn't fall in the water.

The bike didn't go well at all. The course was essentially 6 1/2 miles up hill, turn around, then go 6 1/2 miles downhill. My bike is not a race bike, so it's just slower than most of the other racers. I knew that going in, I knew I was going to get passed a lot. For the fun of it, I tried to count the number of people who passed me, but I got to 50 in under a minute, so I stopped counting. I ran out of water at mile 5 (didn't conserve very well, but it was HOT.) which was also about half

way up the biggest hill on the course. My head hurt and I was crabby, so I pretty much decided I was going to quit, but there were no support vehicles around, I didn't have my phone with, and I didn't want to sit on the side of the road waiting for anyone. At least if I was moving there was a breeze. Once I got to the top of the hill though I got to go down it and decided to keep going. That's when I realized I could no longer up shift, so I was stuck in gears 1-8. I should have gotten up to at least 30 mph on that hill, and I think I topped out at 18. At the turn around where there were support vehicles I decided I couldn't quit since, really, I could still ride, so I finished. My bike time was 1:04, only 1 minute longer than my time 2 years ago on a much harder course, but my training time had averaged almost twice as good as it did 2 years ago so that was really disappointing.

The run couldn't have been hillier. Literally. We ran up the hill, over a block and down it, over another block back up it, then down it to the finish. But, after the first mile it was shady. I was too hot and exhausted by then to run, so I just walked. There were lots of walkers, so I just made friends with people...talking makes the time go so much faster :) I ended up catching up with the woman who was in front of me in the swim, she had passed me really early on on the bike. She wanted to quit, so I talked her into walking with me for a little while. At that point we really were only a little over a block from the top of the last hill and the last mile was all downhill to the finish. I kind of underestimated how serious she was about quitting though, it look us almost 20 minutes to walk the last mile and I was actually feeling good enough to run in by then. But, I'm glad I stuck with her, she had done 6 triathlons 4 years ago or something but had to drop out of her last one and was so upset about quitting that she just quit training. At least this time she finished. And if was nice to have someone to pass the time with.

I'm signed up for the Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon on August 28. Hoping it's a little bit cooler, and blessed to have a race bike on loan from a friend, so I'm looking forward to a much better race.

What a week!

This has been a total catch up week for me. My triathlon is on Sunday, so it's a light training week, I swam about a mile, after tomorrow I'll have run about 6, and I rode 17.

Monday I went for a bike ride on my lunch break because I was afraid it was going to storm before I got home. Of course it didn't, and I ended up getting back just a few minutes before I was supposed to lead a meeting. As I was changing out of my bike clothes I realized that I had a bunch of dead bugs on my face. I was a human windshield! I got all cleaned up and the meeting went well though. When I got home I played outside with the kids and picked some vegetables out of my garden. Monday night Chris and I painted, and he did my favorite painting yet. The theme was "Cup of Coffee" so he painted the Starbucks Strawberries and Cream he gets whenever we go there in the morning.

Tuesday my promotion at work was finally announced, and so my work day is now officially all about meetings. After work I finished the first pass at my novel that I started last November. It's modernizing the story of Ruth from the Bible, and for now I'm going to just leave it and move on. I'm no longer passionate about it, I just needed to get it out. I may eventually pick it back up and add a parallel story line (the fact that I already have the idea makes it seem like I'm probably going to do it at some point). I also worked an extra 3 hours after the kids got to bed and finally felt caught up enough to get a good night's sleep. I did a short bike ride on Tuesday morning so that my butt would have time to rest before the ride on Sunday.

Wednesday was an early morning with a fabulous client, then after work I made dinner and we took the kids to the newly cleaned pool. A single roll of thunder sent us home, but after the kids were in bed we did another painting.

This morning I did my last swim before the race, and tonight I did my final painting to get caught up. Lily colored while I painted, and now I'm all ready for the assignment tomorrow morning. I told Lily should could paint with me tomorrow, that should be interesting (and messy!)

I hope to cross one final thing off my to-do list tonight- finish The Night Counter: A Novel. I picked this book at the library because I liked the cover, and it has been just an amazing book. I highly recommend it.

First fruits...or vegetables

My garden is bearing fruit! I mean vegetables! (Bearing vegetables just doesn't have the same ring to it.)



Besides this zucchini and squash, I also have tomatoes. I'm pretty proud of myself and my tiny little growing machine.

Catching Up

I got a bit behind in my creativity marathon training over the last few weeks. Actually, I did really good for the first two paintings, and then fell behind. But I got caught up this week. In the last 7 days, I have done four paintings:


It amazes me how little time it takes, how relaxing it is, and how fun it is. I highly recommend this exercise. I think I'm going to do it every summer.

Product Review: Ageless Pilates

As a Pilates Method Alliance Certified Pilates Instructor, I've literally spent hours learning about how amazing the Pilates system is as we grow older. I have worked with clients ranging in age from 9 to 70 and have seen improvements in bone density, injuries healed and prevented, and movement patterns corrected. Unfortunately, I've also seen what happens when Pilates is used without knowledge or care, either by someone trying to follow along a video that is too advanced for her or learn from a book that does not adequately explain the exercises.

Neither of these are concerns with Ageless Pilates. The book is structured in a serious of "lessons" and "workouts." Exercises are explained clearly and completely, with Anchor Points, Body Geometry and Comfort Options for each series. The introduction clearly and concisely covers what Pilates is, who it's good for and why, and where in the book to find information for issues such as Arthritis, Low Back Pain and Osteopenia.

The name "Ageless Pilates" immediately makes me think of the older crowd, who this book would be amazing for, but it is really good for anyone wanting to really learn the basics of Pilates, regardless of age (hence "ageless"). Personally, I will be giving a copy of this book to my mother, who so badly wants to learn Pilates but keeps injuring her back trying to keep up with videos. She lives too far away for me to teach her, I'm excited there is finally an option I feel confident in giving her.

Creatively Fit Marathon Mile 2

My bodiless head grew a body when I had left over paint. It reminds me very much of a collage I made in 10th grade with scraps of paper that we died in art class.

I'm really happy with how these are turning out so far. I've decided that I'm going to "design" each letter in my kids' names for their wall. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to paint or use my oil crayons.

One of the amazing perks my company offers is Flexible Fridays during the summer- basically, we have to check our email and voicemail twice a day, but all non-emergancies can wait until Monday. So I get to spend all day tomorrow with the kids! I'm excited, it's been a long week.

I have a brick workout in the morning, bike ride and a run. Hoping to get up and get it done before the kids are fully up and going, but I haven't been sleeping all that well, so we'll see what time I fall asleep. We get Mile 3 sometime tomorrow to paint, I got finger paints for the kids and really hoping that we can all paint together. If you know of any good edible finger paint recipes please let me know!

Product Review: DVD Read and Share Bible: Life and Miracles

2 Stars

The pro: it kept my 2 year old's attention for most of the video; nothing offensive/contentious, all denominations should be fine with it.

The cons: I was checking my watch less than 10 minutes in. It wasn't cohesive- it jumped around a lot. I get that they wanted to fit a lot of information (Jesus' entire life) into a short amount of time, but perhaps that was just too tall an order. There may be a reason why most cartoons break up His life into segments and you have to watch several to get the whole story. Probably won't be watching it again in my house.

Product Review: Jennifer Gianni's Fusion Pilates Four DVD Pregnancy Series

Check out my review of Jennifer Gianni's Pregnancy Series on my examiner site- and go pick up a copy for anyone you know who is or is thinking about getting pregnant!

Organization Day!

I had two big organization projects today:

1) I hung all of my earrings on this window screen.








2) I went to Home Depot, bought some pegboard, and got all of my necklaces hung up.









Now my hallway looks like an accessory store...which may encourage me to "shop" at home more often!








BONUS: I finally updated my iPhone and found out that even my "old" 3G will support the App Folders! I got my phone all organized too!

Art Journaling

Have you heard of "Art Journaling?" I've heard of it on and off over the years and always dismissed it as glorified collaging. But this podcast has me intrigued...and wanting to rush to the craft store and buy some pretty paper, markers, and fun scissors. The photo is from one of Hope Wallace Karney's Ringed Journals. Who doesn't want to make something that incredible?

Do you do any art journaling? What do you draw/write? What are your favorite supplies?

Creatively Fit Marathon: Mile One

Remember when I signed up for the marathon? Well, the race has begun. Mile one is under my belt. It's more Picasso than Monet, but as someone who tends to paint unintentionally dark paintings, I'm pretty happy with the Sunset in the Enchanted Forest.

Chris is doing it with me (starting out anyway). He's sleeping right now so I can't ask permission to post his painting. It was much better quality time than sitting and watching endless episodes of Arrested Development though. We each had a glass of wine and an hour later we had paintings. Tomorrow, or sometime this week, we will paint a new picture over top. I'll keep you posted.

Flat tires

Flat tires flat tires are no fun
Flat tires flat tires can hurt someone


Luckily, nothing was hurt but my pride. Up at 5:15, rode out for what was to be a 18-20 mile ride. 5 miles in, I couldn't figure out why it was so hard to go downhill. Then I started the big climb.
Then I heard the terrible noise. I stopped, looked all over the bike for the piece of plastic that was preventing my tire from turning and couldn't find anything. So I started to get back on to go again, and as I looked down to clip my foot in I saw it. My front tire. Completely flat.

Not sure what I hit or how it happened, but my 90 minute ride was cut short by 60 minutes, and Chris and the kids had to pick me up.

Oh well...I'll try again on Sunday. Or maybe tomorrow. Or tonight if I get my tire fixed...

Had I made it up the hill, this is what I would have seen:





Photo by Robin S. from here

New Lunch Break Routine

On my lunch break today I went did yoga. This was the beautiful place where I unrolled my mat:

Somehow, I never knew this park was here, despite the fact that on the other side of the lake, and the other side of the dam, I routinely have taken walks, and even did my little brother's graduation pictures there! I used to do Pilates and Yoga in the conference room at my office, but the room is now much more used and I like to get out of the building. I'm so excited to go back, it's so pretty I didn't even mind the fact that it was 100 degrees! Hot yoga right?