Summer Vaca: Touring Duluth

While we were home visiting our family in Superior, we spent a perfect sunny summer day wandering Duluth.  We strolled the Lake Walk, Rose Garden, and Canal Park; just lovely.

Canal Park, Duluth MN

Canal Park Arial Lift Bridge, sail boats coming through

Leif Erikson Park & Rose Garden... W's "Bucket" Face

Leinenkugels :)

Lunch at Sir Benedict's Tavern on the lake

Superior Man Triathlon: Duluth, MN

While we were on vacation last month, Mike completed in the Superior Man 70.3 Triathlon.  He did awesome and finished with a time of 5:33.  Usually when Mike races, it's just Warren & me cheering him on.  This time we were back home with the family and took full advantage of having our own cheering section!  Here are some pictures of the event.

Yes, we had matching t-shirts made (and yes, I know how cool we are).
Team Burkholder
seventy point freaking three
TRI to Keep Up!

Summer Vaca

We've been on vacation since last week.  We are living it up back home in Wisconsin with our family.  Mike competed in the Superior Man triathlon on Sunday, August 26th, and finished with his best time ever (5hrs 33mins).  We had some special "Team Burkholder" t-shirts made just for the occasion.  It was a great day and the weather was beautiful.  I'll post some pics when we get home.

Urine: Search and Destroy!

Perhaps you have a dog that isn't quite housebroken or a potty training toddler.  Or maybe, like my mother, you have a 15 year old cat who decided to urinate on your brand new $2500 rug!  What ever the case may be, one thing is sure, urine stinks!  And particularly cat urine... it's a special punch-you-in-the-nose kind of stink.

So how the heck do you get the smell out?  And how the heck do you find the urine spot when you weren't even there to witness the infraction?  The answer: black light.  Turn off all the lights, close the blinds, pull the drapes and turn on a black light.  Unless you have a professional light, you will probably have to get on your hands and knees and shine the light close to the floor, but it will be obvious when you find the spot!  And perhaps (like me) you will find several spots that you were blissfully unaware of.  Resist the urge to punch your pet in the snout. 

Now that you have found the urine spots, you will have to work on eliminating the oder.  I am a firm believer in using more natural remedies rather than buying weird chemical cleaners with ingredients I can't pronounce from a store.  This is what I do:
Saturate the spot in white vinegar (I have a spray bottle filled with vinegar for easy application)
Let the vinegar soak in for a minute or two
Blot (do not rub) the vinegar with a towel (stand on top of the towel)
Cover the spot with baking soda and rub it into the slightly damp spot until it balls up and get crumby
Sprinkle a little more baking soda over the spot to cover it completely and let it dry
Vacuum up the baking soda and wallah!

If after this process you still have an oder, try mixing 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide (color test first) with 1tsp of liquid dish soap.  Work this solution into the carpet with a scrub brush.  Blot up and use a little water to dilute the cleanser and blot again until you feel you have gotten the soap out of the carpet.

Good luck and I hope this helps!

The Rookie

Do you ever feel like a first time mom who doesn't know what the hell she's doing?  Yep, me too.  Two years into motherhood and I still feel that way.  Just this past weekend Warren morphed into a terrible two year old.  He now has tantrums over anything and everything.  His favorite words are "mine" and "no"; and not just an average "no", a loud, drawn out, emphatic "nnnooooohhhh".

On Saturday we ran into Babies R Us and they had one of those little kiddie rides in the front door (You can see where this is going right?) and Warren was gazing up at it with a twinkle in his eye.  He had never been on one before and I was excited to see his reaction, so I put him on it.  Rookie mistake!  When it was time to get off he had a fit; a loud shrieking, kicking and hitting fit.  I somehow didn't see this one coming.  My husband laughed at me.  I forgot that we can no longer do anything fun without him totally flipping out when it's time to go.  I hate this! 

This morning he had a nuclear meltdown because I didn't let him take his snack trap into daycare with him.  Oh, and last night when I picked him up from daycare he totally assed-out about getting into his car seat.  I had to wrestle him into the seat and practically pin him down to get him buckled in while he screamed "no, no, NOOOOHHHHH!".  Yep, I'm that mom.  The one you walk by in the parking lot with your silent judgement secretly critiquing and making mental notes of everything I'm doing wrong and how I could have avoided the situation.  Little help here?  Can any of you seasoned professional moms out there share your wisdom with the rest of us?

The Haps

In case you were wondering (and let's face it, you weren't),  here's what I'm obsessed with lately:

Hudson Jeans
Sweet Jesus!  I tried a pair of these babies on last week and I'm SOLD... only I'm not quite sold on the price tag and couldn't bring myself to drop the $200 before dropping another 10lbs.  We'll see how that goes.

Panda Express lunches
Weird, I know.  I'm oddly obsessed with this place for lunch.  I usually order a 2 entree plate like this: steamed mixed veggie side, string bean chicken & kung pao chicken (470 calories and low-ish carb)

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer
I always have a tube of this on me.  My favorite shade is peony, but occasionally I'll wear strawberry.  I have about 7 tubes; one in every purse and one in my desk drawer at work.

Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector Beauty Balm
Everyday.  Love!

Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash, Pink Grapefruit
Ok, so when I'm running outside in the summer heat I sweat like a beast... which could lead to nasty bacne, yuck!  When I get home from a run I jump in the shower and suds myself up with this stuff.  It smells like heaven and nips the bacne in the bud.

The Vampire Diaries
I recently started watching this teeny-bopper TV series via netflix and now I'm totally hooked. The new season starts October 11th.  Can't wait!

The Poor Man's Cinnamon Roll

In the Burkholder house, we have a fast and easy cheat for when we would really love to have a cinnamon roll for breakfast (or dinner for that matter), but wouldn't love to eat all those calories or spend the time baking. Here it is, our Burkholder "Poor Man's Cinnamon Roll":

Toast a slice of bread (we use Kirkland whole wheat 80 calories per slice)
Spread some butter
Sprinkle some cinnamon & sugar
Top with whipped cream cheese frosting (we use Betty Crocker, 2 TBS = 100 calories... & you don't need 2TBS!)

It comes out hot and gooey and satisfies the craving without derailing all your hard work (training) and good behavior (nutrition). 

*Tip: if you have a toaster oven use that instead of the toaster, then you get a nice baked goods smell too