Cooking with my sons

I've cooked with my two teenage sons since they were little. We've made hundreds of cookies and whipped up countless batches of jello and pudding (the jello cookbook was a HUGE hit when they were younger). My younger son loves to bake desserts, and will often surprise us with brownies or scones.

But recently I decided they needed to learn how to cook a real dinner, not just snacks or dessert. They each help me prepare dinner one night during the week, and there's been far less complaining than I expected. In fact, I think they enjoy it! I usually plan the meal, but they've given me suggestions on which fruit or vegetable to serve, whether to have potato or rice, and even on how to cook the noodles one night (served with garlic olive oil instead of a tomato sauce).

Many people I work with don't really cook any more, they "heat" or "reheat". I want my guys to know how to prepare a meal from scratch. Plus, it gives us some time together to talk about our days and stay in touch. We routinely eat dinner together most nights of the week, but I think I can safely say that all of us are now also looking forward to cooking together as well.

Lynn

Running with my sister

My sister and I ran the Philadelphia marathon on Sunday, November 19th. This was our 5th marathon together. We started in Chicago in 1999 (we grew up outside Chicago, and our parents came to watch), then ran NYC in 2001 (2 months after 9-11; this was a very emotional run), the inaugural Rock n Roll Phoenix marathon in 2004 (wicked hot, but a great course), and the Marine Corps in 2004 (who couldn't love a marathon filled with history?). We threw in the Runner's World 1/2 Marathon last April just for fun.

We run about the same pace, and our goal is to stick together throughout the race. It's so much more fun to run with my sister than alone. When I'm hurting, she cheers me up. We talk about lives, our work, our kids. The miles fly past, and we always run across the finish line together.

The Philly course is beautiful; it starts in the older part of the city, then heads out to Fairmount park, and finishes along the river. The weather even cooperated, with temperatures in the 40's and partly cloudy skies.

But the best part of running a marathon with my sister is just that: being with my sister. We have fun at the race expo and pasta dinner before the marathon, then support each other during the race. Afterwards we celebrate with a good dinner, and often a movie (this year the DaVinci Code), and of course some wine. She lives in Houston, and I'm in Vermont. We both lead busy lives, and even though we stay in touch via email and phone, it's wonderful to spend an entire weekend together. We motivate each other through the months of training, and share our water bottles and Gu.

Now our youngest sister, who lives near Detroit, started thinking about walking the Disney 1/2 marathon, or even the full marathon. We can't wait for all three of us to do this together!