Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
FI-nally!!
After weeks and weeks of a big tease, it started to feel a bit like summer today. The temps got into the 80s. I can't tell you how GLAD I was, and GLAD definitely beats SAD any day!
Of course there's a downside. After dodging many meteorological bullets this spring, Central Illinois is currently under a tornado watch. Even so, all I can say is
WELCOME
WELCOME
WELCOME!!
Welcome sticky popsicle faces, that sunscreen smell, running through sprinklers, lightning bugs and needing a bath every night.
Welcome painted toe nails, that slight, tight stiffness from a little too much sun, flip-flops, flowey skirts every day, and smoothly-shaved legs.
Welcome sweet frozen drinks with umbrellas, oodles of garden produce, watermelon, salad for supper, corn stuck between your teeth, and dripping ice cream cones.
Welcome trips to the water park, family vacation, slowing down cuz it's SO hot and humid, insects droning, and watching thunderstorms on the porch.
Welcome summer! My favorite time of the year!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Update
OK. Here's what kept me out of the blog-o-sphere for so long:
The mini-muffins had their second change in child care arrangements in 2 months. Our fabulously energetic and unbelievably cheap child care provider (who just happened to live right across the street from us) decided to accept an offer to make personal training DVDs which have the potential to go nationwide via the backing of the Trump Corporation. I'm not sure why she chose that over our 2 wonderful boys....it's really a brain bender....
Anyhoo......now they are going 5 mornings a week to a NAEYC accredited child care/pre-school center. I had put their names on the waiting list over a year ago and the spots came open not long after we had hired an in-home provider for a lot more money and with much less energy than our aforementioned provider. Needless to say, I jumped at this opportunity. I figured, if I'm going to be paying through the nose, it's gotta be worth it.
So, after three weeks, we had all settled into the new routine....mostly....which was no small feat, considering the mini-muffins had been pretty insulated from the wider world until now. And I had gotten quite spoiled with lounging around in my "lounge" clothes until around 10 am 2-3 days a week.
It was pretty miserable the first couple of weeks. There was much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth -- and you should have heard the kids! Seriously, it was exhausting to manage two tantrums AND get to the office and compose myself before my first client every single morning, but I hung in there because I knew it would get better. And it did.
Then came the predictable day care induced illness fall-out. During the next 3 weeks we went through two rounds of colds, one much worse than the other. We're all STILL coughing two weeks from the onset. Again, I'm hanging in there because I'm told that the illnesses now will build stronger immunity in the future.
Brennan still asks why he has to go to school "so much," and I tell him because his dad and I have to work "so much." I'm helping him put together the idea that going to work means we have money to pay for things, like his Lightning McQueen wardrobe and chocolate milk habit. He now understands this idea so well that frequently when I pick him up he asks what I bought today. Thank you, Capitalism!!
That takes care of the little ones. Now for the big ones:
The studly muffin, being a 16 year boy, has been busy keeping us on our toes with a variety of 16 year old boy-type behavior -- most of them extremely stress producing for parents. As much as I'd LOVE to go into details, I won't. For one, it's too painful to have to tell the stuff over and over, and two, I guess I don't want to embarrass the kid too much.
ONO called this phase of parenting the "limbo phase" because you can't really do any "hands-on" parenting, but they're not old enough to send out into the world with a friendly swat (or swift kick, depending on the kid) on the butt. So you just try to continue to offer support and empathy when they fall flat on their faces, try not to take too much of it personally, and believe that they'll be ok in about 5-10 years.
Hmmmm. That sounds a little like a prison sentence.
The mini-muffins had their second change in child care arrangements in 2 months. Our fabulously energetic and unbelievably cheap child care provider (who just happened to live right across the street from us) decided to accept an offer to make personal training DVDs which have the potential to go nationwide via the backing of the Trump Corporation. I'm not sure why she chose that over our 2 wonderful boys....it's really a brain bender....
Anyhoo......now they are going 5 mornings a week to a NAEYC accredited child care/pre-school center. I had put their names on the waiting list over a year ago and the spots came open not long after we had hired an in-home provider for a lot more money and with much less energy than our aforementioned provider. Needless to say, I jumped at this opportunity. I figured, if I'm going to be paying through the nose, it's gotta be worth it.
So, after three weeks, we had all settled into the new routine....mostly....which was no small feat, considering the mini-muffins had been pretty insulated from the wider world until now. And I had gotten quite spoiled with lounging around in my "lounge" clothes until around 10 am 2-3 days a week.
It was pretty miserable the first couple of weeks. There was much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth -- and you should have heard the kids! Seriously, it was exhausting to manage two tantrums AND get to the office and compose myself before my first client every single morning, but I hung in there because I knew it would get better. And it did.
Then came the predictable day care induced illness fall-out. During the next 3 weeks we went through two rounds of colds, one much worse than the other. We're all STILL coughing two weeks from the onset. Again, I'm hanging in there because I'm told that the illnesses now will build stronger immunity in the future.
Brennan still asks why he has to go to school "so much," and I tell him because his dad and I have to work "so much." I'm helping him put together the idea that going to work means we have money to pay for things, like his Lightning McQueen wardrobe and chocolate milk habit. He now understands this idea so well that frequently when I pick him up he asks what I bought today. Thank you, Capitalism!!
That takes care of the little ones. Now for the big ones:
The studly muffin, being a 16 year boy, has been busy keeping us on our toes with a variety of 16 year old boy-type behavior -- most of them extremely stress producing for parents. As much as I'd LOVE to go into details, I won't. For one, it's too painful to have to tell the stuff over and over, and two, I guess I don't want to embarrass the kid too much.
ONO called this phase of parenting the "limbo phase" because you can't really do any "hands-on" parenting, but they're not old enough to send out into the world with a friendly swat (or swift kick, depending on the kid) on the butt. So you just try to continue to offer support and empathy when they fall flat on their faces, try not to take too much of it personally, and believe that they'll be ok in about 5-10 years.
Hmmmm. That sounds a little like a prison sentence.
Friday, May 23, 2008
At least I tried
ONO came home early today and I took advantage by going out earlier than usual (thanks, ONO!).
I'd like to run more in general (who wouldn't???) AND vary the types of runs to improve training, especially speed and endurance. So today I decided to try a tempo run, even though I'm still hacking and wheezing like someone in a consumption sanitarium from this "cold" the mini-muffins brought home from school.
I was ok for the first 2 miles but then I got really, really tired. My legs felt very heavy and I felt like I couldn't breathe very well. That's probably because I wasn't breathing very well. For the last 4 days my chest has felt like there is a tickly, sticky web of flem and mucous, capturing every molecule of oxygen and holding it prisoner in the top part of my lungs.
So much for breathing from the belly!
I'd like to run more in general (who wouldn't???) AND vary the types of runs to improve training, especially speed and endurance. So today I decided to try a tempo run, even though I'm still hacking and wheezing like someone in a consumption sanitarium from this "cold" the mini-muffins brought home from school.
I was ok for the first 2 miles but then I got really, really tired. My legs felt very heavy and I felt like I couldn't breathe very well. That's probably because I wasn't breathing very well. For the last 4 days my chest has felt like there is a tickly, sticky web of flem and mucous, capturing every molecule of oxygen and holding it prisoner in the top part of my lungs.
So much for breathing from the belly!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Look what "sprung up" in the garden last week
I was checking on the nascent strawberries, hoping to find at least ONE red, ripe juicy one, but I found this instead:
Thinking a bird had made a nest in my garden, I started angrily yanking all the soft stuff away. But it wasn't a bird's nest. Can you tell what those are?
Let's all give a collective "Awwwww" for the cute little, baby bunnies.
Once their eyes were open I evicted them. I'm not in the 24 hour, all-you-can-eat, bunny buffet business.
Thinking a bird had made a nest in my garden, I started angrily yanking all the soft stuff away. But it wasn't a bird's nest. Can you tell what those are?
Let's all give a collective "Awwwww" for the cute little, baby bunnies.
Once their eyes were open I evicted them. I'm not in the 24 hour, all-you-can-eat, bunny buffet business.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
At the last minute....
Carter decided to go to prom.
He looks good!
She does too....I don't think they're an "item," but then I wouldn't know if they were. He keeps pretty much everything close to the vest.
Maybe he looks so happy because he's with his friends, or a pretty blond is hanging on him, OR he got to drive the car!!
He looks good!
She does too....I don't think they're an "item," but then I wouldn't know if they were. He keeps pretty much everything close to the vest.
Maybe he looks so happy because he's with his friends, or a pretty blond is hanging on him, OR he got to drive the car!!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day
Here's my Mother's Day haul:
Flowers and chocolate....what more could a woman ask for?
But really.....here are my true gifts:
Flowers and chocolate....what more could a woman ask for?
But really.....here are my true gifts:
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
