Out of our element

There were 2 different occasions last Sunday where I felt a bit "out of my element" AKA out of place. We really wanted some good Chinese food after church this past Sunday. We had seen a place close to our house and decided to check it out. There were a lot of cars outside so we figured that was a good sign. Have you ever heard of Dim Sum? Defined- Originally a Cantonese custom, dim sum is inextricably linked to the Chinese tradition of "yum cha" or drinking tea. Well, I had never heard of it until last year when Todd joined some MIT friends for "Dim Sum" in China town (Todd likes to think of himself as an "expert" after experiencing something once) ;-) HA! Well, he had a great experience that time considering he had people with him that actually knew what they were doing.

*This is the image that popped up when I googled "dim Sum" 

I just want to say- I'm NOT in anyway trying to bash this traditional brunch by any means. I'm just trying to humor anyone that may have experienced this "Out of your element" sense when it comes to food….so with that said- Dim Sum was on the menu for lunch when we showed up at this Chinese restaurant. Definitely not your "Americanized" sweet and sour chicken, miso soup, or egg rolls. I figured I'm pretty open- minded and remembered Todd talking about how great the soup and dumplings were last time, so thought we should give it a try (I'm about 98% sure we were the entertainment of that restaurant's day..) First thing I asked for- "Rice?? Do you have rice??" She repeats back something in another language and puts a steamer basket (just like pictured above) with something wrapped in sea weed. I say "Ok thank you." And start opening it to find a ball of rice filled with a meat of some sort and "little sausages" (??) Hmm…I put some soy sauce on it and started serving it to the kids when Andrew responds with- "No mommy!! That will make you sick!!" O…M….G!!!!!!! Don't kids just say the darndest things?? Next week's lesson on the agenda-TACT. Gotta work on that…

Andrew's got the "suffer through girly stuff" thing down ;) (getting his "hair dried") 

So, They came around with a cart full of dumplings and some other things (??) and I said, "Oh dumplings!" which she responds in a different language and points until she gets to the thing I like (or liked the way it looked). As I said- Todd talked about how great the dumplings were, so I figured we could give them a shot. Gooey texture, some kind of fishy fishy fishy flavor in the middle (I don't like fish by the way…), so it was a no go for me. So, next person comes around with a cart full of fried foods that looked absolutely delish, and I get very excited. I point at some little rolls and they turned out to have shrimp in them and were pretty yummy (again-I'm really not a fan of sea food, so was looking for something with chicken). I ask her- "do you have something with chicken?" and she points to another cart of food coming around. I ask that lady for some chicken, she points at a bowl of what looks a lot like sesame chicken (my favorite!) and I say, "Yes!" Here is what I got- I didn't think twice about it until Todd said, "Do you know what you just ordered??" I said- "Yea. Chicken……"

"Yea-chicken FEET!" Seriously….no way! Yep- definitely chicken feet. Considering I had just watched Food Inc 2 days prior to this experience (they show you the reality of how poorly chickens are treated when being raised in bulk), I just couldn't stomach the thought of eating Chicken feet (again NO OFFENSE to anyone that enjoys eating them…I'm just not as adventurous as I  thought when it comes to foreign food). I was done ordering after that. About 2 minutes later, a nice lady brought me over a plate of something fried. In hindsight I think it was calamari which would have been yummy…but after the chicken feet…I just couldn't trust my judgment, so I politely declined. I think it was pretty cute how they saw my reaction to the "fried food cart" and tried to please me. :) Next came a cauldron of what we thought was soup (there were spoons there and everything), Todd asks for some and it turned out to be chunky tofu with some sugary liquid to put on top. I actually liked this (even though it was more of a dessert), but Todd's face was priceless. :) Definitely NOT what the "Experienced Dim Sum" patron was expecting. hehehe! Todd gave some to Andrew- in which he promptly spit it out exclaiming "EWWW!! That's yucky," in which was our cue to get out of there as soon as possible. As we were walking out, we got some smiles (they really were very friendly), and scanned the tables to find that we really just had no idea what we were doing. The food being served was not all bad…we were just very out of our element. :)

So Sunday was also my "long run" day, and I actually didn't feel hungry after lunch (maybe it was the tofu?). I went and practiced on Heartbreak Hill for 10 miles and again- a bit out of my element. There were quite a few very experienced (FASSSTTT) runners out  there that were just killing it. It was hard for me. I've been practicing on hills but this hill is long and has a very steady climb. And from what I've heard- after all the down hill, this is going to burn pretty bad. So, I got in 10 hard miles on that hill and called it a day. My tummy was rumbling around mile 7 (and I almost stopped), but I wanted to get in a good double digit that day. My phone died the last mile so I didn't have anymore tunes to keep me motivated so I mostly blame that on stopping at 10. ;-)  The kids have been sick this week, so I couldn't go to the gym on Wednesday or Thursday. Luckily, Todd got home early last night so I got in 9 miles around Woburn.  Thank goodness for my hubs helping out. I love running in the spring and can feel that it's just around the corner. :) YAY!!!

Wednesday was one of the last meetings with my Ragnar Relay team, and I am getting really excited about that!! I am almost ready for the marathon to be over so I can focus on the fun that will bring. :) Our team name is "All that and a VAN of chicks" and these women are seriously the most creative people I've ever met. They are making feathered tutus to wear and may even have  connections to get a hummer limo that we could have at each exchange (along with a red carpet!!). I love it and am so excited. :) Tomorrow is my 20 mile run (!!!), and a lot of people are going out  to practice on the course. I guess I'm going to be one of those people so wish me luck. This will be a sure determinate of whether I'm ready for 26.2 come April 21st. Oh and here is my runner's passport!!! Look out for 28441 to be smokin' even the elites out there!! HA! ;-) Have a great weekend!!