Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Family Fun

Just a quick note to let you all know that we've been having a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa here.  

It was rainy and cold when they arrived on Thurs of last week.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday weren't much better.  But we compensated by eating out a lot!  Oh, and playing indoor games.  On Sunday everyone but me headed over to Space Center Houston for several hours.  I stayed behind to get some homework done.  They all got to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery at SCH.  I watched it on the computer.  Still impressive.  

Yesterday (Monday) was the first sunny day we've had since their arrival.  It was a beautiful day.  O wanted to go to McDonald's  to eat and play in their huge play area.  We hung out there for a couple of hours then headed back home where the adults napped and the kids watched Noggin.  The evening ended with a great dinner shared with TR, PC, AMR and LW.  What a lovely day.  I'm happy and relaxed and ready to head to class this evening.  

Today looks grey and overcast again but the weatherman says it will break up and be sunny within the next few hours.  I should get out and walk the dog before the sun breaks through and bakes us!  

We'll see what fun we can cook up for St. Patty's day.

Monday, March 9, 2009

What's going on here?

I had intended to be better at keeping up with our daily happenings.  Somehow the days just fly by and I never quite get to it!  Let's see if I can update you all on the goings on and my thoughts of the past 2 weeks....

Still no Rusty.  I'm so sad to lose him.  If he died, I hope it was quick.  If he lost his collar and someone else found him/took him into their home then I hope they get him to a vet for his flea allergies and all the complications from that.  Poor little bugger.  This morning for the first time I saw a squirrel in our back yard that had a short tail--just like Rusty's.  He was running around with another squirrel that had a normal length tail.  Weird.

O is home from school today.  He has been struggling with a bad cough for the past several days.  He started in as soon as he got up this morning.  That combined with the time change prompted me to keep him home for a couch day.  I keep having him drink tons of water and he is peeing like crazy!  I just want to get that bug out of him!  I just wish I could do more with my Oriental Medicine training.  I recognize that he really coughs hard certain times of the day and not so much during other times.  I can't wait until I can do more.  M loves having him home.  They are watching Noggin together and laughing.  

Last Friday O had to go to the school nurse twice within an hour!  We get a copy of the report whenever he sees the school nurse so we can follow up if need be.  The first incident had him getting ice and bactine for an abrasion on his shin.  He has quite the bump and bruise and I'm still not clear what happened.  The second incident roughly 30 mins later had him there for getting poked in the eye by one of his classmates.  He is fine on both counts and the little girl who accidentally poked him in they eye wrote him a note of apology.  He also had a negative report for the very first time from his teacher on Thursday.  She wrote that he did not do his best work that day.  He said that his group was messing around and one boy was sent to the office to do his work.  O was sent out to the hallway to do his work and there may have been one more person involved but I don't remember.  He told me about it the second he got off of the bus.  "I got in trouble today"  he said.  I was grateful that he fessed up before I read about it in his folder.  He also volunteered the information to his dad when he got home.  I'm going to have him write a note of apology to his teacher.

O's schedule has also been busy since he began baseball practice a few weeks ago.  They are practicing twice a week.  The whole team is doing well and many of them are the same kids he has played with for 3 years now.  It is so much fun to watch how each of them develop their skills.  Plus many of them have younger siblings so it has been fun to watch them grow up too!  He has also managed at least one play date a week for the past several weeks.  He so loves to hang out with his friends just like his mom loves hanging out with her friends!

Grandma and Grandpa will be arriving this Thursday for a spring break visit.  We are all very excited to have them here!  We have a list of things to do but nothing set in stone yet.  We aren't planning any trips out of the area or anything like that.  We always have a fun time when they are here and I'm sure this visit will be no different.  They will be here just short of 2 weeks (approx. 12 days) as we wanted them to see O at baseball practice and possible one game (we still haven't gotten a schedule but the pre-season games are scheduled for the 21st) plus M wanted them to come to her dance class.  She is excited that they will get to come watch her dance.  Both baseball and dance class are on hiatus during spring break so we are lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa come before and leave after so they can see a couple of the kids' activities.

C and I worked all afternoon yesterday on the yard.  He weeded and pruned while I cut back/pruned all of our crepe murdles.  Those trees just get out of control if you don't stay on top of them.  We hadn't cut them back since we moved in over 2 1/2 years ago so they really needed it.  We have flowers booming and buds on the trees--spring has sprung here in Houston!

I've had a crazy couple of weeks.  First off I decided to do the Master Cleanse that I did last fall.  Unfortunately I planned it around midterms thinking it would help to not have to worry about food.  Plus I tend to stress eat anyway.  But, I didn't think to plan it around my cycle.  Last time I waited until about a week after my cycle.  This time I started the cleanse about 3 days before my cycle.  It didn't work out as well!  When your body is already purging it isn't good to add to that!  I made it almost to the end of my 6th day (out of 10 intended days) and I couldn't do it any more!  I still lost 6 pounds and felt more clear headed but the rest of my body wasn't near as happy.  I'll for sure remember that small detail for next time:  schedule around my cycle!!

I signed up for Facebook after the holidays because I wanted to see what all of the buzz was about.  I cannot believe the number of people I've reconnected with that I knew 20+ years ago!  It is kind of strange to see how these folks turned out and to keep up with them now.  I tend to only think of them where they were and who they were all of those years ago.  Heck, sometimes in my mind I am still the person I was 20+ years ago!  It has helped me put a few things in perspective and see how far I've come.  It has cause me to be more introspective and think about what my plans were back then, how many of those goals have I achieved, what was important to me then?  I think it has been helpful for my own personal growth in a weird way.  I don't feel like I am addicted to it as some people have proclaimed about it themselves.  If I wasn't so busy I'd find time to do more on it.  But right now I'm just enjoying the glimpses I get into the lives of those old friends.

I've also read more about the FlyLady.  My sister, TV, told me about her a few years ago and I just never got into it.  Basically she helps you get motivated to get organized and clean without feeling overwhelmed.  I've started implementing her strategies into my life and have had some success.  I tend to be an "all or nothing" person with many aspects of my life.  If I'm going to plan an exercise program I plan cardio for 45 mins a day and strength training 3-4 days a week.  When I realize that I can't make that change so abruptly and I can't keep up with that then I just give up.  If I plan to clean the house then I have to clean everything top to bottom.  If I run out of steam then I have parts of the house I didn't get to that seem to mock me which depresses me.  You see where I'm going with this I'm sure.  The FlyLady advocates BABYSTEPS.  She stresses that you won't be successful if you try to do it all at once.  I know I've heard it before and it makes sense but somehow this is the first time I've actually tried it.  So, on her advice, I've slowly tried to make changes in my habits, I've broken down daily/weekly cleaning and maintenance to make it more realistic to keep up with it AND to get control of it.  She also goes beyond the housework aspect of it and has it spill over into every aspect of your life.  So, I've done better for the past few weeks.  I've been so much better at not beating up on myself when I don't get something done.  Plus I've learned to appreciate it when even the smallest task gets completed.  As with everything in life:  Everything in moderation.  I need to learn that lesson over and over again!

So, I got a bit too cocky about my Histology class.  I did well on the first quiz and all the lectures seemed to review so much of what I learned last semester in Physiology.  As a result, I barely studied for the midterm.  I got a D.  Oops.  At least it is the midterm and I have another quiz and the final to pull out of it.  I'm not worried--maybe I should be?!  But, as I mentioned above with the FlyLady, I am taking babysteps to improve my study habits and focus on school work.  I'll keep you posted.

I suppose that is just about everything in a nutshell.  Thanks for listening.  I'll try really hard to update more frequently so I don't forget anything and also so the posts aren't so long!  You should be able to read them in one sitting for crying out loud!! HA!   

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Lost Companion


I'm bummed.  Rusty went outside Friday evening about 8 pm.  I saw him sitting on the table in the back yard around 10 pm.  He didn't want to come in at that time and I haven't seen him since.  He has missed 4 meals.  He always comes home for breakfast.  I can only imagine that if he could come home then he would.  I would put signs up around the neighborhood except that there are several cats running around that look like him so it would just be confusing.  I just hope he isn't/wasn't in any pain or discomfort.  I still have hope that he might show up at the back door like he always does.  But with each passing day I'm beginning to believe that he is gone.  The kids were not really close to him so no trauma there.  Craig feels badly that we don't know where he is or what happened to him.  I really miss my little buddy.  I hope you are happy wherever you are Rustola.  I love you.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

This morning's excitement and misc. stuff

After brushing his teeth this morning O came to me all excited with his front tooth in his hand.  His front two teeth have been loose for a good week or so with the one that fell out more loose than the other.  I'm sure the second one is soon to follow and we can start all of the "toofless" jokes.  He'll be in heaven as he has waited for his teeth to fall out for so long.  His bottom two, as you can see, are growing in nicely after falling out last fall.  So, a visit from the tooth fairy is in order.


M received a very cool painting kit from Big Gram M for Christmas.  She has been bugging me to paint for some time and we finally had time last week.  The kit came with brushes, paints and 2 canvas pre-drawn pictures to paint.  They were circus themed pictures but you wouldn't know it to look at them now!  She had so much fun and really enjoys arts and crafts.  Too bad she got me as a mom--one of the least artsy craftsy people on the planet!  I try.  And, thank goodness, family and friends contribute as well.



M was helping me take a few photos for a poster I am doing as part of a group project at school.  After taking the photos that I posed for she wanted to pose too.  This photo was too cute not to share.
In other misc. news, O had a stomach bug over the weekend.  He couldn't keep anything down beginning mid-afternoon on Saturday.  He was much better on Sunday and wanted chips, salsa and sour cream (his favorite meal/snack/food) for lunch which didn't upset him at all.  It was very quick to come on and very quick to leave.  C had the same thing yesterday and stayed home from work.  He did really well laying in bed with his work clothes on (to keep him in the right frame of mind!), talking on his Blackberry, typing on the computer, all with a trash can nearby.  Very functional office if you ask me.  So far M and I have been spared the fun bug.  I'm sure it will hit me tomorrow as I have on my schedule a presentation and a midterm.

I am on day five of a Master Cleanse.  It is the same cleanse I did last October.  This time I timed it for midterms week so I wouldn't stress eat.  However, last time I timed it for the END of my cycle.  This time my cycle started 2 days into it.  I am always starving when I start.  It has been a bit tougher this time around dealing with the hunger.  I only fell off the wagon once on Sunday night.  I ate 7 saltine crackers.  That was what was left in the box so I finished them off.  I've been better since then but still more hungry than I remember last time.  I'll have to definitely keep my cycle in mind next time I do the cleanse. 

Sunday, February 15, 2009

February Birthdays

We celebrated February birthdays this evening.  Smoked pork chops, asparagus, quinoa with mixed veggies and a fudge marble cake with chocolate frosting.  Pictures are of O & M before blowing out the candles then the smoke after blowing out the candles!

February birthday people we remembered this evening:

Dad-dad/Tami's dad
Grandma Wake
Uncle Bob Parker (2/12/47-3/1/08)
BFF/Auntie Deidre
Cousin Gavyn
Aunt Charlene
Cousin Kevin
Cousin Justin
Good Friends:
Brent
Paivi 
Chris

Happy Birthday to all and much love on your special day.




Friday, February 13, 2009

M the Photographer

I let M use the camera the other day to take photos around the house.  She had a really fun time with it and C & I enjoy seeing the house from her perspective.  She took about 35 photos--some of them are blurry or overexposed.  She also has the tendency to put her finger in front of the flash which creates some interesting shadows!  Anyway, here are 14 of my favorites.  So, photographers of the family-- Aunt CF, Uncle TP (French brother)-- what do you think?  Does she have a talent or what?!!















Friday, February 6, 2009

Kids

Part 1:  O

The following is a real conversation between O and I just last night.

Setting:  we are walking from our car to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  The parking lot is always full, crazy and dangerous.  I hold on tight to my kids as we make our way to the door.

Me:  (grabbing O's hand) Wow, O, your hands sure are getting big.
O: Yeah, they are.  So is my butt.


Part 2:  M

She was using her drill this morning while dressed in a dance costume.  She posed for some photos.  Every girl has gotta look pretty when she is fixing things, right?!