• Smelly pee and charity

    Date: 2010.08.22 | Category: miscellaneous, Uncategorized | Tags: ,

    I can rhyme, yo.

    Hope everyone is enjoying the last minutes of their Sundays … Mark and I are on a countdown until the latest True Blood and Mad Men air.

    Yesterday I attended a coaches’ training for Girls on the Run – St. Louis.  As you may know, Girls on the Run is a national organization with chapters in over 150 cities nationwide.  St. Louis has the third largest chapter in the country, with over 90 schools in the area participating.  When I showed up for training on Saturday morning, I walked into a room with hundreds of women approximately my age who all are runners looking to help and inspire others.  The energy was amazing. 

    The program itself is a 10 week program that girls between 8 to 14 can join.  The group stays small (no larger than 17 girls can participate per team) and meets twice a week for about 90 minutes.  The activities involve running, but also strive to teach the girls life lessons and build their self-esteem. 

    I did feel some regret that I had not started earlier, because the program is so right up my alley, but right now the timing is really good.  My schedule is flexible and I can work early in the day so that I can get to the after-school training. 

    If your schedule isn’t as flexible, you can always sponsor Girls on the Run by participating in their Solemates program.  The Solemates program means you help raise money for the organization when you run a race. 

    If you don’t have a chapter in your area, START ONE.  Here’s how.

    Tonight, Mark and I grilled some beef and asparagus.  The beef was shoulder filet, for those of you interested in cuts.  The beef was sold in a marinade already.  Bonus.

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    There is not much better than grilled asparagus.  I kind of burned them … I put our gas grill on high.  Oops.  Mark thought the beef was too salty but I was down with it.

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    I cleaned my plate, no problem. 

    Did you know that the ability to smell and create “asparagus pee” is genetic? 

    Only those with a certain gene can break down the chemicals inside the asparagus into their smelly components, and only those with the proper gene can smell the results of that chemical breakdown.

    Now you do. :)  

    I am missing one of the two abilities.  Now you know that, too.