Fit School, Inc

Week 21:  Eat 1 1/2 cups cooked or baked whole grains each day this week.

Good morning. Wow, I got to sleep in today so it’s more like good early afternoon. Last night was a fun-filled night and it went by in a blink of an eye. Before I knew it I was driving home and the clock was reading 2:30 am.
Carol gave me my goal for the week which is to to increase my whole grain consumption from a cup to a cup and a half every day. Once again this should be no problem considering I already eat that much anyway. Even as I type this I’m scarfing down my oatmeal with Jif, and at work they usually have some type of whole grain rice up for grabs.
Yesterday something funny happened when Luke and I were hanging out. We were playing hide and seek wrestling (basically it’s the game of hide and seek, but when you find the person who is hiding you put wrestling moves on them and I’m not talking about TV wrestling here – I’m talking what they do in school wrestling. I wrestled one year in high school and I only wish I wrestled every season. So I figure if I can get Luke into it early, maybe he might dig it. He already has a super ankle pick, but his “pancake” needs a little work. I think that’s because I outweigh him by 200 pounds.) What the heck was I talking about?…Oh yeah, man the digression. So Luke’s hiding and to be totally honest with you he’s not the best hider in the world, but again he’s not awful for a 696 day old. We have played this game with other toddlers who have stood in the middle of the room with coats over their heads. If I’m seeking I act like I can’t see them, but Luke goes right for the two point take down. As I said, his single ankle pick is a work of art. Luke’s down fall with hiding is he always hides in the same spots. But to be fare I guess there are only so many places to hide in our home. One of his favorites hiding places is the bedroom closet, but yesterday he decided to try and cover up under some of the boxes that are in there (so he is better than I give him credit for), and he realized that the boxes are actually toy trucks. You see, I’ve been collecting Hess gasoline toy trucks since I was a child. Every year for Christmas Hess comes out with an AWESOME truck (last year it was a car for the first time in its forty years), but not only is it a truck, it lights up and has sirens. It has always been one of my favorite presents on Christmas morning. My Mom still gets me one every year and Luke also gets one now. But in my closet I have about twenty, still in the box. Trucks that I have been saving. For what? And this is the neat part that I forgot about… In case I ever had a child. Some of these trucks are worth some money, but a toy, in my opinion, should not be kept in a box when a kid is around. If I wanted them for their cash value I would have gotten two of them, one to play with and one to collect dust. Anyway. I’m counting out loud to forty-three (that’s what we count to. Luke does it in his own way, but when he gets to the end it sounds like “PROORRTY FREET!!!” which usually takes anywhere from five seconds to three minutes.) When I hear Luke scream at the top of his lungs, “DADO DADO DADO DADO!” I know he’s not hurt or scared because of his tone, so I come into the bedroom saying, “what buddy, what buddy?” He’s smiling pointing at all the boxes. I start laughing thinking to myself “Ahh, it’s about time.” “Wow man, do you want one of them?” I ask and he answers back in Russian, “Da.” I tell him to say please and he comes up to me with a super grin, grabs hold of my leg, gives it a big squeeze, looks up at me with his Frodo Baggins eyes, and says, “please Dado.” My heart melted and I told him he could have one for now. He choose the 2005 emergency truck with rescue vehicle. A GREAT year. It was like passing a torch I tell you, not one to light the way, but one to warm the heart.
I hope everybody has a great day and finds a closet full of good stuff.
Later,
Barry J