Wendy Damonte - Eat, Play and Live - a Lifestyle Blog

DENSE BREAST TISSUE ON VALENTINE’S DAY

February 7, 2014 By Wendy D 12 Comments

Whole Foods Chocolates

Valentine’s Day is a day for chocolate, champagne and red roses. Right? Yes, well sort of! This year, I would like it to be the year you give your loved one the gift of knowledge. Knowledge that could save a life. Knowledge about the dangers of dense breast tissue. On January 24th, I gave a TEDx talk at the University of Nevada. It was one of the proudest moments of my life. So for this Valentine’s Day, I’m asking you to watch my talk, send it on to those you love and help me spread the message about dense breast tissue. I was part of a day of knowledge at Microsoft Licensing in Reno recently and because of that day 2 women discovered they had breast cancer even though their mammograms showed NOTHING. Women need to know their density. Learn more by watching my talk. Ok, I’m not a total Valentine’s Day buzz killer. So here’s the deal! Whole Foods now has some amazing chocolates. They come in flavors like milk chocolate with cinnamon hazelnut cream, dark chocolate with caramel and vanilla buttercream and milk chocolate with rich caramel. An entire box of goodness is just 10 dollars! But you can win one for free!! Just watch my video and then make a comment or email me about how cancer has affected you. I will pick the comment that means the most to me ON MONDAY in time for Whole Foods to get you your box of chocolates by Valentine’s day. Good luck!! (in case you can’t see my tedx talk below, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQPLMWuTlWQ

Filed Under: My TEDx Talk, Wendy Tagged With: DENSE BREAST TISSUE, HOLIDAY, Holidays, inspirational

SUPER FUNNY VIDEO

February 6, 2014 By Wendy D 2 Comments

I’m going to take you into my bedroom last night. Hey! Watch your dirty mind! Ok, last night I got home from a friend’s awesome birthday party and crashed into bed around 10:45. That’s late for me. And really late for a Wednesday night. Anyway, I’m falling down that blissful black hole toward REM when suddenly my husband says, “Hey, you have to watch this.” “No, I’m sleeping. My arm just twitched which means I actually am asleep. So I’m sleep talking right now.” “No, seriously, Wendy. You have to watch this.” Here’s something you may not know about my husband. When he gets something in his head, there’s no stopping him. After 13 years of marriage, I now know this. So I begrudgingly rolled over and stared into his way-too-bright iPad. I started watching an old episode of Family Feud. By the time the video was over, I was laughing so hard I was crying. My pillow was soaked with laughing tears. This is so funny I had to share it with you. Of course, I couldn’t get back to sleep until after 1am so I suggest watching this with your morning coffee. It will be a great way to start your day! Enjoy!

Filed Under: Live, Wendy Tagged With: HUMOR

HOLIDAY DEPRESSION

January 9, 2014 By Wendy D 2 Comments

Pretend I’m laying on a couch and you are sitting beside me with a pencil and notepad in your hands. Yes, this is therapy. And I’m going to spill my guts all over you. I’m doing this because you probably suffer with the same thing I do. I know this because I’ve had lots of conversations lately with people all complaining about the same thing as me. Holiday depression. Ok, depression might be too strong a word. Rut might be a better choice for you. But whatever you’re feeling, you’re not alone. I’m in the trenches with you.

I feel fat. Yes, Wendy Damonte feels fat. But what’s worse, I feel unmotivated to change it. I’m eating like crap. I’m drinking more than I typically do. And all of these factors feed off each other making each individual problem worse. And at the end of the day, there’s me; a mopey, fat, unhappy slug who can’t change things.

Now… here’s what I think happens. The holidays hit… and in my house, that means October 8th. That’s my daughter’s birthday. Somehow, she parlays that one day into a two-week ordeal. Always fun, always with lots of friends, parties and typically, with my family, lots of wine. So now, it’s mid October and Halloween shows up. Again, lots of pizza because we’re out late getting costumes, adding to costumes, tweaking costumes, etc. Well hello November! Now this is where I should suck it up and be as healthy as possible for at least the first two weeks of the month. But the bad, unhealthy, fast food rut has already grabbed hold of me. A nightly glass or two of wine is killing my morning motivation to work out. And Thanksgiving is just 24 days away, so why try?? And then December hits and any chance of getting back to a normal, healthy routine flies out the window like Santa up a chimney. At this point, I’m way too busy to even fit in a 30 minute workout. My daily diet consists of grazing on the food table at work (yes, we have a food table at work that overflows with cookies, fudge, cake, See’s Candy… pretty much you name it… during December) and then eating whatever I can quickly throw together for dinner… think frozen lasagna! And now, it’s the new year and I can’t move!

If I were to put all this into a cycle for you it would look like this:

We get busy… we eat like crap because we’re too busy to cook… we drink more because there are more parties… we start to feel fat… we wake up slightly hung over and that zaps all motivation to work out… we become depressed (get in a rut)… and once you’re depressed (in a rut)… this cycle repeats over and over again. And eventually, we get sick… which is what I did on January 6th… the very day I was determined to stop the cycle.

So you know what I did?? I went on a walk anyway! I was hacking and coughing and wheezing the entire hour I was in the hills. But you know what? I wasn’t going to allow myself to make an excuse. Any excuse. Even one coming from my phlegm laden lungs. I had to start somewhere. So instead of a run, I walked. Instead of going for 2 hours, I went for one. And you know what happened? My body felt worse, but my soul felt much better! I finally had an endorphin or two flowing through my body. And you know what happened next? I had a salad for lunch… and it tasted great! By the time I got off work that night, I was exhausted because I was still fighting a virus, but I didn’t feel like a bowl of pasta and a fishbowl of wine. I ate lightly and went to bed. And guess what? The next day I woke up headache free. I had motivation to fit in another quick workout (which I did on my windtrainer bike inside my house). I’m laughing more. My mood is lighter. My depression is easing… in fact, it’s disappearing. And it’s only been four days! I’m now back on track. So what’s your excuse? Early morning meeting? Go for a 10 minute walk if that’s all you can fit in. You’re sick? Reread the start of this paragraph… I don’t want to hear it! You’ve got young kids at home? Figure out quick at-home workouts you can do. (One of my favorite websites is www.marksdailyapple Search that website for quick workouts!) You’re too fat and out of shape to start? You’re never too fat or unhealthy to try to make a chance. Drink one less soda a day. Eat donuts only once a month instead of weekly. You have a leg injury? Swim. See, you can throw any excuse my way and I’ll come up with a healthy option. Start today. It doesn’t have to be huge. It has to be one step.

Filed Under: Live, Wendy Tagged With: inspirational, life

4-H AUCTION

January 8, 2014 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

What did you do this weekend? I went to a swine auction in Fallon, NV. I literally could end this post right there. That sentence alone is enough to give you a good enough laugh for the day. But you just know my San Francisco self has something more to say. And it starts with the nose. This was my first view of a swine auction. Call it a hog or pig auction if you want. It’s all the same to me.

What you don’t get from the picture above… is the smell. Oh my lord! It’s like walking into a wall of cobwebs. It literally makes you recoil at first contact. I live on a ranch. Cow and horse manure are common place in my world. Pig shit is another story! It’s like no other smell I’ve ever smelled. It literally assaults your nose. It stopped my feet in their tracks. It made my brain wonder if I could really enter this room. Fortunately, like other smells, it passed… but not 100 percent. You know how Thanksgiving dinner smells so good when you walk in the door, but after 30 minutes you can’t really smell it anymore? Well pig shit stays with you. It never completely dissipates…. but at least it did enough to get me in the door.

The day was quickly made better with these little guys.

Some were just 16 pounds… others were about 70.

Several 4-H clubs from northern Nevada attended this auction. The kids buy their pigs in a real auction type of sale.

Then the dads had the fun of putting the purchased pigs into the trailer. Oh this video makes me laugh. Keep an eye on the pigs right hind leg… priceless!

Once loaded up, the pigs were taken home and will be raised by the kids until the Nevada Junior Livestock Show in May.

Last year, our kids raised lambs. We made the jump to pigs this year because… well, I have no idea why. But for the time being, our family has now grown by 8 feet… 8 little pig feet.

Filed Under: Live, Wendy Tagged With: family, KIDS, wendy's family

WHAT FARMING IS REALLY LIKE

December 11, 2013 By Wendy D 1 Comment

When I finally find the time… I’m going to put something like this together from our ranch. But for now, enjoy this from the Peterson Farm Bros. SUPER FUNNY!

Filed Under: On The Ranch Tagged With: cows, HUMOR, Ranch, Ranching

TENNIS ANYONE?

November 27, 2013 By Wendy D 1 Comment

I bought a tennis skirt this weekend. That’s weird because I don’t play tennis. Yes, I’m a member of a tennis club but that’s just so my kids can swim on the swim team… not play tennis. It’s like when you go to a Mexican restaurant and the bartender throws in an extra shot of tequila into your margarita. You’re glad it’s there. But it’s not the reason you went to that restaurant. That’s tennis to my family.

So there I was at Kohl’s in the 80% off section… which I’m a sucker for… checking out the clothes that are all crammed together so tightly it’s tough to tell what’s in there. I grabbed what I thought was a running skirt. When it finally came free from it’s 80%-off-rack prison, I realized it was a tennis skirt. It was just a simple black skirt with two knee-length black tights attached to it. Perfect for cool weather tennis… if you played tennis… which I don’t. But then I started to rationalize it. Maybe someone will ask me to play tennis. And if they did, I’d be able to play because I’d have a new snazzy tennis skirt. To be totally honest, I’ve been at this club for more than a year and no one has ever asked me to play tennis. So the chance of that happening is like a bartender giving you TWO extra shots of tequila. But the skirt was only $7.80. How could I not buy it?? Yes, it’s worth two lattes which I would actually use. But still, it’s always better to be prepared for any invitation you might get, even if the invitation is as likely as getting drunk for free at a Mexican restaurant, unless the Mexican restaurant happens to be IN Mexico in which case it’s pretty likely. AAAAHHHHH, are you starting to see how my brain works?? I have these types of conversations all the time! And this one is over spending seven dollars and eighty cents! Imagine the back and forth in my head over buying a new car!! Which I haven’t done in more than 13 years and now you know why! My brain is still arguing the pros and cons with itself over that one! But last weekend, I finally threw caution to the wind and bought the damn skirt! And now there it sits. In my closet. Untouched. Which it will likely stay for the next 15 years… because I don’t play tennis.

I hope this brought a smile to your face on this Thanksgiving Day! I’m thankful for all of you who read my blog, support me in my desire to be a true blogger and for those of you who nudge me when I stop blogging! All your comments and support keep me going and for that I’m truly Thankful! Have a beautiful day!

Filed Under: Live, Wendy Tagged With: HUMOR, working out

WHAT IS A HASHTAG?

November 7, 2013 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

When I was 22, which I assume is the age of the person who came up with “hashtag”, the symbol “#” was actually called “pound.” It’s the pound sign, right?? It’s on the bottom right corner of every phone in America. Thousands of automated messages have told us for decades to hit “pound” 5 to return to the main menu. My mom used it in her hand written recipes. 1# of butter. Because “#” meant POUND! And now one whipper snapper has totally changed what we call #. Yes, I just used the word whipper snapper… and I meant it. Mr. Hashtag makes me feel old. Because, Mr Hashtag, what you’ve created is CONFUSING! And most of us 40-plus fogies, don’t really get what you’ve done with our “#” sign. You’ve totally stolen a perfectly simple symbol and given it super powers. I now understand my parent’s consternation when trying to conquer the TV remote control! But since I use social media, where this hashtag thing lives and multiplies like rabbits, I had to educate myself. I read a great article in the Reno Gazette Journal where Abbi Whitaker of The Abbi Agency explained it like this. “I think hashtags are going to become the new dot-com. They’re like the new www because it can connect everything on a particular topic.” And she thinks hashtags are the future of marketing. Here’s an example. Instead of going to Reno.com to find out about Reno, you will go to #biggestlittlecity or #thisisreno or #renofoodporn where you will find thousands of pictures, posted by regular old people like you and me, enjoying everything Reno has to offer. So where do you “enter” all these hashtags? Honestly, this is something I did for the first time for this blog! This truly is a new frontier for me! You enter the hashtag, for example #biggestlittlecity, in your search lines in Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I’m sure there are other social media platforms out there that support hashtags, but this blogger is ALREADY OVERWHELMED!!! So now, let me take you to my dinner table last night. My husband was asking me what a hashtag was, I was trying to explain, and then I took a good close look at him. His hair was brushed completely straight back. Think Dracula with a duck dynasty beard. I said, “What in the hell did you do to your hair?” His reply?? “You love your husband even when he does this.” And I said, “NOW THAT’S A HASHTAG!” We all love our husbands, but they all drive us crazy, right?! So I explained to my husband that #ilovemyhusbandevenwhenhedoesthis would be a hilarious hashtag because wives could post all these funny pictures of their husbands doing things that only we could love them for. Like this:

The cat can’t even look at him! So let’s give this a try shall we? Go to your favorite social media site and tag your favorite hubby photo with #ilovemyhusbandevenwhenhedoesthis I will check them out and pull the best ones and put them on my blog. But you have to participate! Please don’t leave my hashtag hangin’! That, Mr. Hashtag, is a term from the 80′s meaning to ignoring someone… leave your grubby paws off it!

And for an even better description of hashtags, including their history, go to The Abbi Agency blog.

Filed Under: Wendy

THE SWITCH BAG

October 27, 2013 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

You know what I hate about Halloween? No, not the candy. Really. That doesn’t bug me that much. It’s the small pieces of wrapper that drive me insane. My kids will eat a Snickers one day and even though it comes in ONE wrapper, by the time they’ve devoured the candy, the wrapper is in 16 little pieces all over my house. Even when they stand over the garbage can, tiny pieces of candy foil end up on the floor because they’ve fluttered right past the damn waste basket. I don’t get it. Kids and candy don’t mix in my house. Not because of the candy but because of the wrappers. So imagine my excitement when this came across my desk at work.

The Switch Bag is BRILLIANT! And what’s even better? Two Reno gals wrote and illustrated it. These two geniuses are both architects. When times were slow in their office, they got busy putting together a book to help save my sanity. The gist is that kids get to keep a couple of pieces of candy but the rest goes out onto the front porch in The Switch Bag. The next morning, presto, a little gift is in the place of all the candy wrapped in wrappers that would have otherwise ended up all over the floor of my house. LOVE IT! And what’s even better… it’s one day! Unlike its cousin who comes in December and stays the whole damn month, this little super hero comes just once, not to return until the following October. Did I mention these Reno gals are BRILLIANT! So hurry, get your copy here:

So come post Halloween, you can actually vacuum your house without ruining our vacuum on those tiny pieces of wrapper.

Filed Under: Live, Wendy Tagged With: family, Holidays

GREATEST HAUNTED HOUSES

October 14, 2013 By Wendy D 1 Comment

I was “that mom” this past weekend. “That mom” who walked sheepishly up to the local haunted house with her elementary school age children in tow. No, I probably shouldn’t be taking them to a haunted house called Frightmare for at least a couple more years. But truth be told, I’ve waited long enough! I love haunted houses. They scare the crap out of me and IT’S GREAT! I’ve been dying for the kids to be old enough to go with me. Well, I might have jumped that gun just a tad this year. Eva is 10. Come on! 10!! Domi is 8. Make that 8 and a half! 8 and a half!! My God, how old do they have to be now-a-days to scare the crap out of your kids?? Back when I was a kid, my Mom took us to the Walnut Creek haunted house starting at 5 and 7. Of course she’s the same woman who took me to see Jaws IN THE MOVIE THEATRE at age 3. Now that’s crazy. My parents didn’t have a child rated filter… for anything. We went everywhere with them. “Hey Honey, I want to go see Jaws tonight.” “Great idea! Throw the kids in the back of the Pinto and let’s go!” So that’s why I had no problem bringing my kids to Frightmare. Yes, I did take note they were the youngest kids there. And yes, I should have heeded the warning when a teenage girl right in front of us got out of line and left. But I really wanted to go! There, I said it. I was the one who wanted to go. Not my kids. I was the driving force behind this Saturday night activity. And I couldn’t wait!! At Frightmare, there are 4 houses you go through. We went into the Black Hole first. It was a mind tripping experience. You walked a plank while the room spins around you. We all wanted to throw up afterward. Next up… Zombie Farm. Now it gets real people. Real creepy! We entered a run down shanty and all hell broke loose. Zombies popped out from behind doors. A bloody girl zombie with extra long zombie arms played the piano… until she got up and chased after us. Something horrible and bloody happened in the bathroom and every zombie in there went after us. At one point, I lost Eva because she just flat-out started running. I couldn’t run after her because Domi was now clinging to my leg. And honestly, I was scared to death! Frightmare is a total understatement. This is living hell on Elm Street on Friday the 13th with Jason and Jaws coming after you. And what’s worse, this house was huge! We kept turning corner after corner and entering worse and worse torture chambers. It just wouldn’t end. Finally, Eva darted left, hit a black curtain and Praise Jesus, we were back in the parking lot. As we stumbled to safety, I murmured, “I nearly peed my pants.” Domi replied, “Nearly??? I did pee my pants.” Needless to say, we skipped the last two houses. Frightmare, you killed it this Halloween season! Nice job!

Filed Under: Live, Wendy Tagged With: family, Holidays, HUMOR, KIDS

THE WORLD’S BEST COACHES

October 7, 2013 By Wendy D 1 Comment

This past weekend, with the kids in tow, I drove down an unfamiliar ladder of switch-backs that ended in a shooting range in Carson City, Nevada. I was meeting a man I hadn’t seen in 30 years… and I was terrified of him.

The year was 1981. After church, my mom took Jer and me to sign up for the St. Mary’s CYO basketball teams. Jer signed up for the 5th grade team. I looked around for a 3rd grade team. There was only one. The all boys team. I looked up at my mom and shook my head. She looked down at me, shrugged her shoulders and said, “Give it a shot, Wendy.” So I did. I was 9 years old and to be honest, I looked like a boy. At Macy’s, whenever I asked a sales person where the bathroom was, I always got directed to the boys bathroom. So quite honestly, I figured maybe no one would notice I was a girl and I would fit right in. That was until day one of practice. The coach’s name was Bill Picton. He was an ex-marine and we were his new recruits. If you’ve ever seen the movie Great Santini, Coach Picton was our Great Santini. I was terrified of him from that first practice. He had these steel blue eyes that pierced through you with intensity. He yelled and slapped his hands until they were red when we didn’t set the right screen. He made us run endless lines as punishment for not making free throws. Once, when I didn’t block out boldly enough, he blocked me out so hard I flew off my feet. I was a girl playing in a way too tough boys world. But my parents wouldn’t let me quit. Bill Picton coached with the same passion he lived his life. With 100 percent of his being, he believed in integrity, hard work, dedication and fundamentals. And if you practiced the way you wanted to live, then you would be successful no matter what. And successful we were. I don’t remember exactly how many wins and losses we had, because those aren’t the things that stick with you later in life. It’s the moral lessons that do. And without warning, Coach Picton instilled in all of us 3rd graders life lessons we still carry with us today. One went on to be a NBA great. Another formed his own company to recruit the best corporate leaders in America. Another had the strength to survive the passing of his beloved dad at a young age and grew up to be an amazing father to 2 beautiful daughters. Sometimes your hardest experiences in life are the ones that teach you the most. Those were our days together on the basketball court.

And last weekend, I was just moments away from seeing Coach Picton.

I pulled up to the shooting range and, even though he was wearing dark glasses, I could tell it was his same steel blue eyes looking back at me. I got out of the car and was enveloped by a warm hug from a man I rarely touched in the three years I played basketball for him. Age had done amazing things for him. Although he still wore a Marines hat, his tone had softened. He was still a coach, helping my son and daughter shoot everything from a A-R 15 to a 40 caliber handgun. But he was a softer, more patient coach. And I got to sit and watch and observe a man who taught me so many lessons at age 10, teach my 9-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son new lessons. It was a beautiful circle completed.

Coach Picton told me one of our other teammates had found him online and sent him a message years ago. It said something like, “I’ve just watched a special on John Wooden’s teams and how special they were. It reminded me of our team. Thanks coach for making us the people we are today.” Coach Picton told me this story as he quietly held back tears. They were tears of pride someone can only feel from knowing they truly helped others in this world. Bill Picton’s “others” was a group of 10 year old boys and one girl who had no idea of the treasure who was coaching them. In the words of John Wooden, “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Thanks in part to Coach Bill Picton, we all became that… the best we were capable of becoming. And that’s what defines the world’s best coaches.

Filed Under: Live, Play, Wendy Tagged With: inspirational, life, sports