Just peachy!

Today is August 8, and so far this month has proved to be alarmingly hot. I am training for a marathon, so yesterday I had to run 13 miles in this crazy heat, which pretty much did me in for the rest of the day. I was dizzy and shaky and nauseous for about four hours after the run and still didn’t feel like myself by bedtime. The fact that I opted to do last weekend’s 11 miles on a treadmill doesn’t seem quite so crazy anymore.

August is National Peach Month, and while an 85 degree, 80 % humidity, two hour run is not so peachy; this, one of my very favorite summer recipes, is…

 Stuffed Tomatoes with Peaches, Corn, Cucumbers and Basil

Here are your ingredients

Slice off tops of tomatoes (about 1/2 inch). Scoop out the seeds and ribs, and coarsely chop. Stir together chopped tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, corn, oil, 1 tablespoon lime juice, salt, and pepper. Let stand for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust for acidity, adding up to 1 tablespoon more lime juice. Stir in basil.

Season inside of tomato shells with salt and pepper. Fill tomatoes with tomato mixture, garnish with basil sprigs and serve.

This recipe is from the July 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

All this peach talk reminds me of the trips my family took every summer from North Carolina to visit relatives first in Mississippi, then in Texas, then back to Mississippi and usually finishing with a dip down to Florida to spend some time in Disney World before returning home. We passed South Carolina’s giant peach water tower every summer during these trips, so when I hear national peach month, this is the picture in my head.

What I am reading…

I ADORE a good story… all sorts of books really, but fitting daily reading into in my crazy schedule is a bit of a challenge. I have managed to get creative about squeezing a chapter or two in while … waiting in carpool, sitting in a lobby for an appointment or passing hopeless hours of insomnia in the middle of the night. I joined Audible at the beginning of this year, which has me flying through my 2011 reading list by listening to audio books while I run. I started the year with about 15 books on my reading list (I am admittedly obnoxious about lists and schedules, and yes, I even have a spreadsheet with a list of books I intend to read this year), but I recently upped it to almost twice that because I am going through them so quickly.
 

I try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction, with the non-fiction being heavy on Christian books to promote spiritual growth. I usually have two going at once because I am listening to one and reading another. I try to balance the two with one that takes some thought and focus along with another more lighthearted read.

Here is a list of books I have read, am reading now or would like to read this year. I have included some feedback on those I have completed and a notation as to whether or not I read or listened to each book.  

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee (listened) This is set in Hong Kong in the 1940s during World War II. I enjoyed the historical information, and I think it was well written, but I found it rather depressing. I like for a book to leave me feeling something…changed, hopeful, energized, motivated, even sad is okay, but this left me with none of those. To its credit, it did get me through a couple of long treadmill runs in January.

How to Hear from God by Joyce Meyer (listened) This was a good book, but I probably should have read it instead of listening to it because it is one I would have liked to take notes on as I read, and it would have been nice to have the ability to go back to some sections. I have found that many books have too much important detail to just listen to; you really need to see the print and be able to flip back for reference.

Second Chance by Jane Green (listened) Fun easy read, or listen rather.

Good to Great in God’s Eyes by Chip Ingram (read) I read this book as part of my Bible study last spring, and I learned a great deal from it. I finished it with a renewed spirit, a greater prayer life and as an added bonus… a long list of other books to read.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen (listened) This was hysterical.

She Makes it Look Easy by Marybeth Whalen (read) I wanted to read this book because the author is a regular contributor to Proverbs 31 ministries, a site I love. I was really interested in how she would weave her faith into a novel. She did a pretty good job, I felt like I learned something and it was a very quick, easy read.

Radical by David Platt (listened) This book was life changing. So compelling, it makes you want to give away all your things and focus on service. It also made me wish for a church more like his in our area. I heard an interview he did yesterday day on Focus on the Family, and it just renewed all of the feelings and the motivation to act that this book left me with…I need to get moving on doing something Radical.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (read) The language was beautiful, but overall, the subject matter was too bawdy for my taste. That said, since I have a self-imposed rule never to “quit” anything I start, I made myself finish it anyway. 

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (listened) This was a great story about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson. It has inspired me to read The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough (see bottom of this list).

The Sixty Minute Family by Rob Parsons (read) I am always looking for books about parenting and family life. My mom gave me this. It is a book you can read in a couple of hours, and it has some great ideas and insight into raising a family.

My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe (listened) While I do not recommend listening to the greater part of this novel while running 11 miles on a treadmill (long story that I will save for another post), it ended up being rather entertaining. It was fun to listen to because this book is loaded with intense characters from a multitude of backgrounds and ethnicity, and he created wonderfully real accents and personalities for each one.

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman (currently reading) So far, so good.

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

Swamplandia by Karen Russel

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

 

 

 

 

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

This Beautiful Life by Helen Shulman

Heat by Bill Buford

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

 

 

 

 

Running by Jean Echenoz

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

 

 

 

 

Humility: True Greatness by C. J. Mahaney

 

 

Main by J. Courtney Sullivan

 

 

 

 

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough

A new phase of life..

It’s official, I have entered a new phase of life.

I fought it harder than any other milestone, but alas, all three of my children are now in elementary school.

It’s funny because Georgia is younger for her class than Betts, but I was convinced that my third (and most precocious child) was just not ready for kindergarten. I had looked into a couple of transitional preschool kindergartens, talked to countless friends and spent hours in prayer when God’s answer became crystal clear…we arrived early to a final PATT meeting of the year at Thales in May to be greeted by the school’s Headmistress. Joe was playing tennis, so I had all three children with me as we walked into the school. The Headmistress greeted Gunn and Georgia and then told Betts (despite my animated charades behind her signaling NO, NO, NO) that she was thrilled that B would be joining them for kindergarten in a few months. Betts beamed, I felt sick. The kids went in and I stayed behind to talk. After about two minutes of saying “I’m just not sure she has the endurance for kindergarten, I don’t know if we are ready, she began to laugh and then said, “Liza, this is all about you. She is ready, you are not.” EXACTLY what I needed to hear, while hard to accept, it was the truth. 

So, a week and a half ago, I sent my baby to kindergarten, and she hasn’t looked back (not even the first day when she hopped out of the car as you can see from the video). I on the other hand have shed quite a few tears, but I know she is ready, and it is time for me to embrace that next phase.

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