North Carolina, the 9th biggest state in the country with 9.2 million residents, is unusual because even if you live in one of its urban centers — Charlotte, the Triad, the Triangle, Asheville, Wilmington — there’s likely a wooded area within walking distance. Maybe not a national forest or a state park, but at least a corridor of wild that for any number of reasons has eluded development. For instance, we live in the heart of Cary (we call it Historic Cary because the houses date all the way back to the 1970s) between two malls (Cary Town Centre and Crossroads Plaza), yet we can walk out the end of our cul-de-sac along a storm drainage easement and within minutes be at the headwaters of Walnut Creek. This proximity to the wild comes in handy when you have a houseful of kids on winter break.
Recommended reading over leftover salad
Feeling guilty about all those holiday leftovers?
Then turn ‘em into a salad!
For lunch yesterday, Marcy took leftover turkey, cut it into bite-size pieces, tossed it in with some arugula, walnuts and blue cheese crumbles. She added a dollop of cranberry sauce and topped it with dressing, which we pretended were croutons. Save perhaps for the dressing-as-croutons, it was a healthier use of leftovers than, say, putting a couple slabs of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy between two pieces of white bread and calling it a sandwich. It was also mighty tasty, and if you’re into point counting I’m guessing it had about a third the calories of a leftover sandwich.
Wii Fit: Simple fun or actual fitness?
I’m weak, I could stand to lose 22 pounds and I have the agility of an 80-year-old (I’m 53).
I paid $324 for this?
On Christmas Day, the Wii Fit entered our home, storming in with the attitude of a boot camp sergeant none-too-happy with its new recruits. It told the 11-year-old she was teetering on being overweight (she’s nowhere near: she eats better than any kid I know and is twice as active). It told the 15-year-old he was weak (he won the high school division of a local mountain bike race series this summer). And in addition to telling me I’m weak, a bit heavy and old, suggested I’m “unbalanced” as well.
Holiday stress: It’s only temporary
If you have to deal with mall drivers one more time, if you’ve got a houseful of I’m-bored-already kids, if you hold your breath and cross your fingers every time you fork over your credit card, if — OK, enough with the “ifs.” I’m getting sweaty, my heart is racing, my chest is tight and I can’t help but feel that a sabertooth tiger is tracking me. Which is exactly why I — and possibly you — need to remember Dr. Jonathan Abramowitz’s “Five Tips for Surviving the Holidays.”
Vacationing kids got you climbing the walls? Get them to do the same
I miss the old Raleigh Rock Yard, a classic neighborhood climbing gym on the east side of town that closed a couple years back. I miss it in part because it was a great place to climb. But what I really miss is the staff. Courteous, helpful, exceedingly polite. And I’ll bet not one of them was over 16.