PhotoHunt 228: Framed

This week's PhotoHunt theme is framed. I chose this picture I took in Prague on our honeymoon. I had to have Atom stand in this doorway to show how immense in size it was. I think the photo succeeded in showing how large the door is, as well as making my husband look like he was hit with a shrink-ray.

Another Waste of Money

Have you seen the commercials for the Lysol Hands-Free Soap Dispenser?

Looks like a brilliant idea right? WRONG. Here is what Lysol is saying to sell this product:
"Hands may come into contact with millions of germs every day. Hand washing is one of the most important steps to help stay healthy. But have you ever thought about those germs ending up on your soap pump?
Fact: Your soap pump can harbor a lot of bacteria.
Introducing the LYSOL® No-Touch Hand Soap System, it automatically senses your hands and dispenses just the right amount of soap that kills 99.9% of bacteria.
For use in the kitchen or bathroom, the antibacterial hand soap is enriched with moisturizing ingredients and comes in three great scents!
Never touch a germy soap pump again."

OMG! I totally need this! Oh wait...no I don't. Yes, there may be a lot of bacteria on my soap pump. However, every time I touch my soap pump, 99% of the time I am doing so to wash my hands. If I'm washing my hands after I touch the soap pump, guess what, I just washed all those germs off! DUH.

And dude, Lysol, you just told me that there are a lot of germs on my soap pump in my kitchen and bathroom. Way to freak everyone out and make them even more germophobic! Especially all those people who now take their toothbrush out of the bathroom because they received that one email about poo particles floating in the air and reaching their toothbrush.

But wait....this is part of your marketing plan isn't it. Freak everyone out about germs. Push your antibacterial soap, sprays and gels until there are no more germs to be killed! Guess what people, we need germs. We need bacteria. In fact, a lot of schools are taking antibacterial gel out of their classrooms because of over use. It's just not good for your skin or your health to over-wash with anti-bacteria soap. Do I have anti-bacterial gel in the diaper bag? Of course. Sometimes you can't get to water and soap. But if I can, I have no problem touching the soap dispenser :)

PhotoHunt 227: Numerical

These are the cushioned bleachers at the new Nationals Stadium in DC. The ball park is not fancy by any means, but it is a huge improvement to see baseball here than at RFK. For a game that you sit down for such a long time, cushioned seats should be mandatory at all stadiums :)

PhotoHunt 225: Colorful

I think I'm going to start playing PhotoHunt again. It's fun to be challenged. This week's theme is colorful.

This picture was taken at the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island in June. It doesn't get much colorful than that, literally and figuratively. I didn't get to take very many pictures because it was over crowded and I was pushing a stroller. I like this candid shot though.

C25K Graduate

I started the Couch to 5K program at the beginning of May. It is a 9 week program designed to get you off the couch and running. I have told people in the past that I absolutely hate running. And I did. I really did. I did not think that I could ever become a regular runner. I have always been a swimmer. Even when I was in tip-top shape, I hated incorporating running into my fitness routine.

(This lack of love goes all the way back to middle school. The only way I could get out of having to join the track team was to join the golf team. I chose golf. I'm not knocking golf, but it wasn't the most popular sport in middle school. )

Back to present day, I had no desire to do any exercise until about 9 months after Fletch was born. I started going for walks with him in the stroller and suddenly I had the urge to run. I just went with it and decided to try the C25K running plan. I had heard a lot of successful stories about the plan, so I bought the app from Itunes and hit the pavement. I cannot stress how helpful it is to have the app on my Ipod. It lets you know when to walk/run, your midpoint and remaining time. You get to choose a playlist of music to motivate you, and you can also enter notes about each run that are saved in your log.

I finished the program on July 9th, while we were in Georgia. When I started out, I never thought I would ever be able to run for 30 minutes straight. There was never a week on the program that I could not push through. Once it started getting a little harder, I was still amazed that it wasn't really that hard at all. Especially once I finished the work out. I had planned on possibly running a 5K to celebrate graduating, but another opportunity came up.

A group of friends and I will be running the Dogfish Dash in September. It is a 5K/10K. I signed up for the 10K. OMG...I KNOW! The same people who created the C25K app also created the Bridge to 10K. I just started this program yesterday.  The B210K is only 6 weeks, so I will be finished a week before the race on September 26th. Just in time! The best part about this race is that there is FREE BEER at the end. Good beer! This will actually be my first weekend leaving Fletch with Daddy. Who knew I would ever be excited to run 10K? Certainly not me!