S-L-O-W

My Mom is here visiting and while I'm glad she's here, she moves slowly... She's 85, so I can't complain, but it is challenging. She wanted to go shoe shopping today. We went. We went VERRRRRRRRRRY slowly. It's good. I only took twoK with us. twoK is my most patient and least spaz-y child. She thought Grandma was slow, but she didn't complain.

It's almost time to go cook dinner...

I've been working, in a very slow manner, on some things for work. It's nice to work in a slow relaxed manner, although, I hope I've been working enough so that I'm not totally scrambling next week. I know I will have to pick up the pace a bit more. The good news is since I'm working, I'll won't have to take as much vacation. We're supposed to take 3 days of vacation this week, but I probably won't have to take more than 1! Woo!

On a not slow note, I went to take Zumba last night. It was good. It kicked my butt though as I was very slow getting out of bed this morning.

I hope to get back here tonight to do a little reflecting on this year and discuss goals for next year. If I don't make it back, Happy New Year's Eve to everyone. Be safe....

New picture!

Just in time for the new year, a new picture....with ALL 5 of us! (MWH is walking in front.)

I think I even need to change my tag line....It used to be:

Life with 3 very little girls. They are cute, but it feels like a circus most of the time.

I'm not feeling original right now, but it could be something like:

Life with 3 girls. They are cute, and even though they are growing up, it still feels like a circus--but not as much as in the past.

Or maybe: Look, we don't even have to hold their hands all the time any more...

Maybe...
3 little girls are growing and not so little any more. (They are still cuter and more fun than a barrel of monkeys.)

Here's the old blog look.

Post Holiday

It's been BUSY around here! My niece came on Christmas day and we had a fun visit. She didn't drive me crazy and she seems like she is growing up a teeny bit. I wrote about her a while back and described how egocentric she was (3 years ago), but I didn't label her as "niece" back then because it was a fairly complain-y post. She's now 30; though she has a long way to go, I believe she is trying to grow up and figure out what she wants to do with her life.

I could write a whole blog post about her, but I'm not going to, I'll save that for another day.

Let's see.....Thanks for the comments about Santa. It was good to hear from Ruth and Alice again! That was a wonderful Christmas surprise! I don't get many comments any more--perhaps because I don't blog much any more, it seems. Anyway, I was wondering if you were still out there Alice. Ruth emails and keeps me updated, but I hadn't heard from you and I missed you, Alice!

Anyway, the girls have asked a couple times why Santa doesn't bring big presents, but both times have been in the middle of something else and I haven't gotten to discuss it with them. I wish they didn't believe, or want to believe, so fervently. Maybe it's my fault, it's always the Mom's fault, maybe I don't make things in life magical enough for them so they are clinging to this belief fiercely.

Eh, whatevs.... I'm sure I've totally screwed them up and that's what they'll tell their therapist some day.

I think I'm in an odd mood tonight. My Mom just arrived for her visit. She'll be here until 1/10/11. I am going to try to enjoy the visit and not get overwhelmed. I think it will be okay. I'll have to discuss the ways she screwed me up if I have time--heh.

Back to the story of the BIG day.... The girls were bummed that MWH and I didn't want Christmas to start before 9:00 am. I finally said we would get up and get them at 8:45. I set the alarm for 8:30 and went downstairs before 9. Two of the Three were still asleep. REALLY?????? Wowza! I was happy that I had lazy children, but I wished I hadn't set the alarm clock. Next year, I'm not setting the alarm before 9 am! (Note for posterity, oNe was the only one awake.)

The tree was overflowing with gifts. I ended up caving and buying twoK one more present on Christmas Eve... You see, she told us she thought she was going to get a new American Girl Doll. She wasn't and didn't. I told her, when she told us she thought she was getting one, that I knew she wasn't because I knew Santa wanted her to pick out her next doll to make sure she got the one she wanted. (There I go, propagating the SANTA-LIE.) twoK was okay with that, and learning that she wasn't going to get an American Girl Doll, but I could tell she'd be disappointed if she didn't get more than just American Girl Doll clothes. (That's mostly what she got from us and her relatives.)

I made a Target run on Christmas Eve, and surprisingly, the store wasn't crowded. I got twoK a trundle bed for her American Girl Dolls. I guess, I should state for the record that she has one American Girl Doll and one "knock-off." The American Girl Doll was given to her by a friend who'd had it in the late 90s and decided she wanted to pass it on to a little girl who'd play with it. It was very sweet of her. (Note to self, I need to do something as a thank you for that friend.)

So twoK was thrilled with the trundle bed; oNe and Three-a were thrilled with their toys (described in the previous post), and MWH and I are excited about the trip that we're going to take in February. He got the family a lovely week in Hawaii!

The big surprise...MWH spoiled me with a new MacBook Air... (does this post seem like it's "faster?" It's being typed on the new computer and it's DEFINITELY faster than my old computer!)

I love my new computer, but I feel guilty because we don't usually do presents for each other...but MWH is a wonderful guy. I am lucky.

What else? I made eggplant and pasta sauce, Peanut Butter Soup and we ate a lot.

The rest of the week was busy with hikes, playing with toys, cooking other good stuff, reading books, looking at stuff under the microscope, watching new videos, and getting a pedicure with my niece. I've gotten some of my Christmas Cards done, but not all... Must finish and mail tomorrow!

Now, I must go snuggle with little girls. They just came up and asked me to come to their room.

More Merry

My last post was kind of bah humbuggy. Sorry about that. It's just how I feel.

On a merrier note, I am looking forward to some members of my family coming to visit. On Christmas Day, my niece will come visit. I love her dearly... sometimes she DRIVES ME INSANE, and other times it just works. Hopefully this will be a good visit. She stays until Tuesday and then my Mom comes to visit on Wednesday.

I'm excited for the girls... oNe is getting a microscope! She's been asking for it since early fall. twoK is getting a matching outfit with her American Girl Doll and a lunch pack for her. I'm thinking I may need to run to Target and get some Barbie accessories... Oh, wait, twoK is also getting a fancy pair of shoes... Check them out..



Fancy, yet practical!

She's also getting a pair of pink striped leggings... I wish I had black leggings for oNe.... Hrmmm....I guess her birthday is soon. (Note to self, Don't Panic... You have plenty of stuff for the girls.)

Three-a is getting a Buzz Lightyear doll. (It lights up and does stuff and may even have a remote control, I can't remember. MWH got it and he seemed very excited about it. I haven't seen it yet. Maybe tonight.)

The girls got each other a present, and their aunts and uncles sent them way too much stuff, too.

The thing I'm most excited about is that MWH and I decided that we would take a REAL vacation this year, and so we will have a BIG surprise for the girls on Christmas Day. I'll tell you about it then, too.

Note, this surprise is NOT at all like this Christmas surprise 6 years ago. Read Part 2 here.

On your mark, set...

break...

(written Wednesday)
I am sort of on break. It always takes a while for the transition to occur, but I'm not going back in to the office until 1/3. I will do a little work, but not tons. This morning, I slept in, and I feel a little groggy. I'm out of my favorite tea for morning time and it's taking its toll. I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted to today, but it's okay.

I did a workout and a little bit of work and a little bit of Christmas shopping... I got frame ornaments for the girls and some for my Mom and MWH's Mom for their trees.

Here's something you don't hear very often, but I wish my 8, almost 9-year-old child didn't believe so FERVENTLY in Santa Claus. Seriously. She asks me all these questions about Santa that are difficult to answer, and I make up answers and I feel bad about it because I'm so LYING to her. She BELIEVES though. It could be that she's trying I'm sort of bah humbuggy, as you know, so it's hard for me.

(written Thursday)
I just couldn't do the post justice yesterday. I was very tired. Today, I didn't go into work and I was less groggy. Slept until nearly 9, but managed to get a lot done today.

In the done column:
Massive cleaning frenzy, zumba class, booked BIG Holiday surprise for the family, planned oNe's 9th birthday party (actually planned it a while ago, but sent the evites today).

In the To Do column: Holiday Cards, Gift wrapping, and lots more cleaning (with 3 kids, cleaning is NEVER DONE for long!)

I'm fading quickly now, but I thought I'd share some examples of the things oNe's been discussing with me...

One: So on Christmas night, can Santa pick up the toys we want to donate so he can clean them up and give them to other kids?

Me: No, he can't.

One: Why not? [friend] says he can.

Me: Well.... When I spoke to him, he said his policies had changed and he doesn't like to do that. If you call early enough to reserve space, he will try, but he can't promise.

One: Oh.

---

One: So if we can't see [friends] before Christmas, can Santa pick up the toys we have for them and take them over to them?

Me: No, Santa doesn't do that.

One: Why not? He delivers toys.

Me: He delivers the toys he brings you, but not toys other people give you.

One: He doesn't bring us BIG toys.

Me: He tends to bring bigger toys to kids when their parents can't give them a present.

One: Oh.

---

Our kids get their bigger presents from us and fun, and they get stocking stuffers and things like DVDs from Santa. That's how it was done in MWH's family (minus the DVDs because they didn't have those back then). In my family, Santa always brought one big toy for me and stocking stuffers and then I got clothes and stuff from my parents.

I don't really like continuing to propagate the lie of Santa Claus. I like the sentiment of Santa, but oNe really wants to believe in the magical creature. I am not bursting her bubble by telling her the TRUTH (you can't handle truth, oNe!), but I wish she'd get a little suspicious and stop believing. I guess, it's possible that her tough questions means she is questioning him and his existence, but she doesn't seem to want to hear anything other than that Santa is magical and can do anything. I don't give her that answer. I discuss his policies.

Note: When I was in 3rd grade, I KNEW all the hiding places my parents had. I always KNEW what I was getting for Christmas. Yes, I was bad. Santa came anyway.


P.S. I don't like Christmas because it feels like everyone tries to cram in being nice to a short space in time. I think that Santa and the spirit of giving should be year-round. Maybe it's easier to just do it for one day, but that's not what I want to do.

Oh, yea...

I forgot I still needed to 1) clean, 2) wrap presents and 3) send out cards 4) do a BIG grocery shopping trip because OMG, ALL STORES CLOSE for ONE DAY.... We might starve! (Does any one else panic about the grocery stores closing on Christmas Day?)

Tonight, the girls and I straightened in their room tonight and the cleaners will come Thursday...I still have to tackle de-junking the guest room and sorting papers upstairs. (Did I mention that we're doing some remodeling things in the house? MWH has arranged for it all to happen--he is amazing! I am a slacker.)

Did I mention I got into a task for work today, too...? Game plan for tomorrow, go to work from 10-2 and then come home and clean (actually straighten). I'll leave the heavy duty cleaning to the professionals.

Did I tell you about Pilates? I do it 2x a week and it's a super good workout. I did a new exercise on Monday and it really worked. I never knew I had abs down so low, but damn, they are sore. It's good... I like it when I'm sore, it makes me feel like I'm doing good stuff for me.

I'll never be "done"

I don't know if I've told you, but one of my resolutions for 2011 is to not take on anything new for 2011. I thought it was great decision. The thing I failed to account for was that I was overbooked to start. January - March will see me REALLY busy... As soon as I get back to work in January, I'll be busy for 2 weeks, non-stop, on one project. Then I'll have to turn my attention to another project that I've been ignoring since October. The only good news is that the intensity on one project winds down a little, but not enough to offset the ramping up of that project I ignored for a while...

It's a good problem to have a job, one that is enjoyable, and to use one's mind.... I was just hoping for a little down time. The babysitter got to think of things to do with the girls today, and I didn't... I'm sad because I'd much rather be hanging with them and enjoying time with them when they are off school than working. I will get a little time in the next couple of weeks, but I have something big in January as soon as I get back so that will be hanging over my head.

In Holiday news, I think I am "done" shopping. I have done almost all the shopping online. I've had a few trips to Target, and so has MWH, and on Saturday we had to go out in search of two more gifts, but in general, it's been not too bad. Because I'm thinking it hasn't been too bad, I'm guessing I've forgotten something--probably something really big.

Whoooooosh....*

Another week went by and I managed to survive. Earlier this week, I remembered that this summer, I had thought I wasn't going to be very busy in December. I about drove off the road from laughing so hard from that memory. I am still chuckling when I think that I thought I wouldn't be busy... Oh, how I NEVER learn!

I got nearly everything done that I set out to do this week. That included reviewing data and writing up a section of report, brainstorming with a colleague and then reviewing her section of the report, going to [urban center school that is 45 minutes away] two times, flying down for my doctor appointment, and putting together a powerpoint. The powerpoint ended up being REALLY BAD, but it's okay, I can revise it 'cause it's not really due until January 3rd. (And even then, it's not REALLY due until 1/8, but I want it DONE 1/3.)

The week ended on a great note, though. MWH and I went with our friends and saw Harry Potter and then ate Indian Food! We've gone with these friends to all the HP movies. It's a tradition. Indian Food is often part of the HP tradition, too. I <3 our friends!

Today, the whole family went out and went Christmas shopping. It wasn't bad, we only had to get two gifts, really. For MWH's family, we draw names and only buy for one adult. We still have to get some gift certificates for nieces and nephews on both sides of the family, but, again, that shouldn't be too bad. I'm really not in the holiday spirit because of work... It's just ANOTHER thing I have to do. On Christmas day, my niece will come visit, and then a couple of days later my Mom will come and I am excited about that--except for all the cleaning I have to do to get ready for their visits.

Tonight, I finally got around to playing with the vegan Peanut Butter Cookie recipe I found. I wanted to take out some of the carbs as I seem to be carb-sensitive. but I still like cookies at times. (Health update--My blood sugar is doing okay but I like it to be in the perfect range. It's closer to the perfect range, but still not quite there.) Anyway, I'll record my recipe changes here in case any one else is looking for lower carb cookies...

1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Peanut Flour
3/4 Cup Ground Flax Seed
1/4 Cup Quick Oat Bran
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
1/2 mashed up Banana
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Creamy Style Organic peanut Butter

With these changes, I calculate about 6 grams of net carbohydrates per cookie. They are still yummy! I will keep making them and eating them. I haven't calculated calories, yet. Note, there's a good dose of fat in each cookie, but it's all vegetable fat, and lots of Omega -3s in the flax; my body seems to like fat a lot better than carbs. Next time, I might take out all the wheat flour and just use peanut flour. We'll see.

(Oh, just mix everything up and bake for about 8-12 minutes... Make the cookies like you would regular PB cookies... ball them up and then pat them down. They are VERY sticky during this phase, so don't expect criss-cross patterns to show on top!)

And a variation, stick some chocolate chips in the batter if you like. I prefer my cookies to be pure PB cookies, but MWH gives the cookies with chocolate chips two thumbs up!

* In 2006, I wrote a blog post with about the same title... I still love the quote... Go read for old times sake!

10 minutes

Until the end of work this year, I'm going to only give myself 10 minutes to blog.... I can have that amount of time up to 3 times a week. Yes, it's that crazy at work, and no, I am NOT happy about it. I managed to survive last week and not fall too far behind, but I have a LOT more work to do. The pace of it is starting to wear me down. (Just ask MWH how grumpy I've been the last few nights. Sorry MWH! I hope to be less grumpy tonight, but who knows. I <3 you!)

Friday was an insane day.... not all due to work. I went to kindergarten to help make gingerbread men. Super fun. After you bake the men, they "run off" and the kinders have to find them. Super cute. Also, I got my hair done and then the girls got hair trims. Actually, oNe got 8.5 inches chopped off and she's going to donate it. She's a giving child--so sweet. The fun and festive thing was my work party that evening.

Saturday afternoon, oNe and I went out to shop for her sisters and get stuff for her school craft project. I think the craft project will be her Christmas gift to the family, but I probably shouldn't know that, eh? Anyway, while it was just the two of us, she was holding my hand and being super sweet. I don't get a ton of alone time with each girl. I decided I wanted to spend more time with all of us together, but this was so nice. It made me want to build in more one-on-one time again. Maybe even just every other week, a time for me and one girl. I think I can make that work in the new year.

Sunday, we got pictures made, but the prints won't be in until Saturday at the earliest. We got a couple of nice ones of the whole family--with the exception of one little thing. I was SO UPSET when I saw it last night. I will post more about this later when I am more in-control about it. (After I see what it looks like on the prints will determine how quickly I recover.)

Okay...2 more minutes... Tomorrow I go on a plane (by myself) to see the special doctor about my weird antibodies.... (Dr. RR). I am so bummed that MWH can't go with me, but I booked the appointment without checking to see which plane we could take. It turns out that to get to the appointment I have to catch the 7 am flight. That means no one would be able to get the girls to school.

Though I don't like going by myself, it definitely will be easier to just go than to find someone to help with the girls at 6:30 in the morning. Note to self: NEXT TIME, check on the plane flights... or now that I know, don't book an appointment before 2 pm... AND make sure to put in a note to CANCEL the appointment 2 weeks in advance in my calendar in case I get crazy busy.... (I totally wish I didn't have to go tomorrow. Fortunately, I should get lots of time to do work on the plane, while waiting to see the doctor, and on the plane back.)

(Oops 5 minutes over my allotted 10 minutes... Back to work!)

Survived!

Wowza... It's been two weeks since I've been here.

I've thought about you a lot, but first, I didn't have the energy to write because MWH was having surgery. He wasn't worried, so I had to try NOT to worry. I couldn't write because, well, I might have worried out loud in the writing. Anyway, now, MWH is almost back to normal. It'll be two weeks since the surgery on Tuesday. Tomorrow (before two weeks), he's planning to go back to working out, so that's a super sign! I love you, MWH!

I took almost the entire week of Thanksgiving off and hung with the family. We didn't do much, but it was nice--except for the surgery part. Let's see, I worked Monday, Tuesday was the surgery, W-Sunday I hung with the girls and tried to keep them from bugging MWH too much. We played a lot of DDR on the Wii. On Friday, we got together with our friends for dinner. Good friends are so nice to hang with... just chill and relax. MWH didin't go, but he got to rest in quiet all day.

After the relaxing break week, I knew that I was going to be really far behind at work. I had a 3-page report to write, a training to do this week, and Zumba training this weekend. I wasn't sure how I was going to survive it all.

Friday morning, I almost lost it. Seriously. I had to do everything I could to not just sink into a heap and cry. (What triggered it? The people who clean our house were coming and I hadn't had much chance to straighten, plus I wasn't done with my 3-pager and I didn't think I would finish it in time to send it off for feedback before it was due.) Then, a miracle happened.

My Friday afternoon meeting was cancelled! I was able to sit for 2-hours completely uninterrupted, errr, well except by the cat who wanted to be next to me and purr, and work on the report. I made TREMENDOUS progress. I was able to pick up the girls, take them to gymnastics, work for about 1/2 hour while I was there and then finish it up and send it off by 6:30 pm. Truly miraculous!

I was able to go to Zumba training yesterday and just enjoy myself and NOT stress about the report! Zumba training was GREAT. I really would like to teach, and the training gave me more confidence. I'll maybe talk more about this in another post (AS IF I'LL EVER HAVE TIME). I got home from the training and I had feedback from the project lead on the report and he liked it! I went through the report one last time and sent it off this morning!

Today is the start of another crazy week.... Today, we have Girl Scouts and 4H on the same day. Next week, I have to work a lot on shaping a report for another project (2 pieces of it, the feedback piece and the results piece), survive more of the implementation of a project with 6th graders, and email off a survey for people to take. I HOPE to be back here sometime this week, but who knows. Did I ever tell you how CRAZY it always gets at my work in December? It does... ALWAYS and it sucks.

Beautiful

I love the fall leaves. We don't have tons in our area because it stays green so much of the year. I think it's probably a good thing because I am so distracted by the beautiful leaves that it's sometimes hard to concentrate while I am driving.

Today was a fun day, breakfast with two wonderful friends, looking at potential kitties--twoK is going to get one soon, and then feeding the goats with oNe and 4H. We'll keep this post all light and airy and talk about my stress later in the week.

This is why I get myself in trouble...

Today, I am at work. I don't have any meetings. Today is the first time in a LONG time that I don't have any meetings. Also, I don't have any imminently looming deadlines. (This is really unheard of where I work!) I have two things I should be working on, and a third thing that I want to work on, but, today, right now, I want to breathe.

Usually, I'm so busy I don't have time to stop and think. Right now, it's not too bad, so here I am trying to get motivated, but really all I want to do is kick-back. That's why I get in trouble. I should just keep working steady and make some progress, but I don't wanna.

I am sitting on the couch in my office and trying to work on those two things, but look, now I'm blogging--oops. I've caught up on all my email and I've managed to work about 1/2 hour in the hour I've been here at work. My bestest colleague isn't here today so I can't go get lunch with her. I should go find some lunch soon. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a side of motivation at the cafeteria, too.

Yup

A colleague sent me an email and said, "Busy, isn't it? Personally, I had no idea it would keep getting busier progressively year after year but that is what it feels like, and now the holidays approach!"

Ohmygoodness, HOWISITJUSTGETTINGBUSIER each year? Is it the kids, or has everyone just gone INSANE and that's why we're always so booked?

I feel like this poor guy, all the time. (Note, this is my all time fav commercial.)

The last two days the girls have had off from school. I took vacation to manage, and I feel so far behind. Tomorrow is a sort of calm day; we only have 2 commitments. On Sunday, we have 3 commitments at roughly the same time, and I'm not sure how we'll manage. Ai-yi-yi!

I'm tired just thinking about it.

Tonight, MWH and I are stealing away for a little date. We're going to work out and maybe grab a bite to eat. Woo!

Adapting and tricks

Life without n3nny is different. Better in some ways, and busier in all ways. Here are some of the changes in the way things work around here for us.

1. I must run all errands and do grocery store trips with children along. The exception is if it's MWH or me doing a grocery store or Target run on the way home from work when the other one of us is at home with the girls. We used to do big trip during the weekend and N3nny would do one grocery store trip a week, and sometimes Target when needed. MWH used to do a trip to another grocery store after work... Not that much has changed with the shopping, but one more trip to the grocery store a week, with the girls, is SIGNIFICANT.

2. Dinner with friends can happen once a month if the girls can come and watch a video while I chat with my friends. I didn't go out to dinner very often when N3nny had the girls, and I've only gone out with the girls to meet friends one time. It worked well. The girls had a table right across from the grown up and the girls had the iPhone. The girls were happy to watch videos on the iPhone and my friends and I had a lovely dinner.

3. The girls have to put away their laundry. They can do it, and I can help and make it go quickly. N3nny used to do it with the girls, but I think I'm just as fast as she was.

4. I have to say no to more things at work. I need to say no to all things I don't love. I need to not stress about not working ALL THE TIME. I love my work, and I feel it makes me a better parent and person to work, but I need to make sure I have time to be a parent. If I end up needing to reduce my hours, I must do that and not stress about not working 1/2 time. There are always trade-offs in life; I can't be with the girls a lot and work a lot, too. I haven't cloned myself yet.

5. Having someone help clean our house is super... We were almost overrun by dust bunnies. Yay for R_____'s housecleaning!

6. I must remember I can only check blogs/facebook when the girls are in class (and I'm waiting for them) or when I am riding the exercise bike or late at night when I'm brain dead.


Sent from my iPad

Just the facts

1. This weekend was a good sleep catch-up weekend.... MWH and I slept 20/48 hours. I am imagining that we will have trouble falling asleep tonight, but I feel SO good right now! Woo!

2. oNe and Three-a did their first 4H meeting with the goats. oNe was in heaven. You can see photos at the other blog (soon).

3. Three-a has a tendency to toe-in--especially on her left foot. We FINALLY went to the doctor about this. He said it was very slight and she'll most likely out grow it. He said the ONLY thing he'd do was to encourage her to wear shoes that slightly turn the toe out to help with the left foot. On her left side she turns in slightly at the hip, the knee, and the toe. He thought she had slight, if any, hip involvement on the right, slight toe involvement, but not really knee involvement (I think I got that correct).

4. We went and bought "good" aka EXPENSIVE shoes for Three-a today. They are super cute. I'll try to get a picture of them, soon, before she wears them too much and trashes them. twoK went shoe shopping, too--remember, she LOVES shoes; we couldn't find any shoes she liked and that were comfortable. twoK is slightly picky and sensitive about her clothes and shoes. We went to Payless after the expensive shoe store and twoK got a pair of gold slip-slip on ballet shoes for the Holidays. She can't wear them to school 'cause she walks right out of them, but I figure they will look cute in Holiday pictures, and she was so good while we were shopping for Three-a that I felt like it was worth it to reward her with the gold shoes.

4b. I came home and ordered shoes for twoK and Three-a from Zappos. I had a store credit there. Hopefully they will fit.

5. I found a couple of cute sweaters at the Mall today, too. (It was a successful shopping day.)

6. I can't believe it's November.

7. I thought about doing NaNoBloPoMo, but didn't sign up nor have I had time or motivation. I really hope I can get over this hump and blog more. I have lots of things I'd like to write about when I'm driving, but by the time I get home, they've slipped away. Perhaps this is the first sign of dementia.

8. Usually, on the day we switch the clocks, either forward or backward, I find it to be a very long day. Today, was lovely. Visiting the goats helped make the day go really quickly.

9. The best part of today was when all 3 of the girls were snuggled in bed with me this morning. <3 it!

Slippery slope

Yesterday, I drank a little coffee with soy milk. I was SOOO tired. Today, I started my day with a little coffee with soy milk... My excuse? Last night was a late night; I got to bed around 1:30 am. In addition to regular work, and then doing all the kid stuff, last night, I finished a review of an article (thank goodness it was a VERY short article 'cause it still took me ~5 hours to get it done). Also, I have a long day today. I don't really want to start drinking coffee again (I've been coffee free for a year plus, but I needed my coffee today (and yesterday).)

I am also working on writing a grant for the school. The school committee person would like me to get the grant writing committee together and plan for the next grant, but geez, I don't have time. Yes, it's important to keep moving forward, but this is so much work... It's what I do at work and doing it on a committee as a volunteer is really hard.

Yea, I'm whining...

MWH also has something going on keeping him up at nights and I'm worried... (i hate to be mysterious and all, but I should probably clear it with him before I blog about it.)

If I twittered 10/29

I am pleased that we got a cleaning crew to clean our house! Of course, now I am doing way more cleaning--so I'm not embarrassed when they come over.

I want us to get our new carpet on the first floor. We've picked it out and talked with our contractor. I need to find out an approximate schedule from MWH because I'm about ready to rip the old stuff out myself. It looks so hideous to me.

I'm not sure why, but I'm sort of "meh" after the girls' Halloween celebrations at school. Maybe I'm just hungry.

I love the girls in their Halloween costumes. They each picked perfect costumes for themselves! oNe is just great as Hermione.

Last night, I got to roll her hair on rag rollers and it turned out great.

Note, last night was the FIRST TIME in oNe's entire life that I got to roll it up on rollers. You can bet I loved doing it. Even as a baby she didn't want me messing with her hair.

twoK is wearing a costume that my Mom made for me. I love it!

Three-a is a cute little bat. The name of the costume is "Cute T Bat." Perfect for Three-a. (Her real nickname is T.)

Zumba certification....

It's a rainy Sunday here. The girls are a little stir crazy, and I think I'm going to go tackle taking some of their summer clothes out of their closet. I pulled a few things for goodwill the other day, but now I need to be a little more systematic and really cull.

Here's a dilemma...okay, not really, but, I can't decide whether I save the shirts that oNe wore and twoK doesn't like but I'm guessing Three-a will, or whether I give them away because it's at least two more years until Three-a wears them. Thoughts?

I tried to go to Zumba today at the Y and the class was full. It's a pretty good class, but it's not as good as the class I go to on Tuesdays. Last week, the teacher couldn't make it on Tuesday, though, and I'm suffering from a little Zumba withdrawal. I went to Target for a few things (and bought our first pack of Silly Bandz--twoK and Three-a are now into them--except for the plastic part, I don't mind).

After Target, since I didn't get any Zumba-class-goodness, I came home and put on a Zumbatomic video. (The Zumbatomic video was probably better dancing than the class that was full.) It helped the stir crazy girls a little, but not too much. Now I'm trying to decide, yet again, whether I get certified for Zumba or not.

The next Zumba certification class in my area is 12/4 or 12/5. Hrm. Something new to agonize over. I just emailed one of the girls in my Tuesday class who wants to get certified to see if she's interested. She is... now we're talking in FB. What am I getting myself into? It's good... I want to do this. I don't have to do anything with the certification, but I could.

Wowza... just a few minutes later and I'm signed up for Zumba certification. I think I need to go rest.

You look really tired

That's what one of our center directors told me a few days ago. Gee, thanks. I didn't think I looked that tired, but apparently I did because he felt the need to tell me I looked very tired not just once, but several times. I saw him yesterday and I had the urge to tell him, "You look very tired, and stressed," but I refrained. Sometimes, it's best to NOT say what you're thinking.

Recently, I tried to type, "I tried," but instead I typed, "I tired." Oops.

Moving on.

Things today...

These would be twitters if I tweeted.

1. 2 or 3 VERY tall men just walked by my office. I was so confused by their height that I couldn't count. Seriously.

2. After a 3.5 hour work session on one project, we made progress, but unfortunately, we need about 15 more 3 hour sessions to be "done" with that part of the project.

3. Three-a and I were supposed to have a playdate with a friend of hers from pre-k. I didn't email to confirm until this morning and the other mom didn't email back.

4. I can't decide if I was ambivalent about the playdate or just busy. Or if busy caused ambivalence. I think busy caused me to not email until today.

5. With no playdate, I am delighted to get 2-3 more hours in the office, but also sad because I know that I have WAY more work to do than that.

6. I will be working this weekend.

7. I like the new babysitter. However, she didn't use the correct "there" (should have been they're) in her last text to me.

8. She also made a grammatical mistake in twoK's homework... (She encouraged twoK to write "I could of" instead of "I could have" Granted, I could've sounds like I could of, but it's not.)

9. I know I make the occasional grammatical mistake, but I HATE it when I see it after I do it. I somehow can't see them until I push "publish" on blog posts. Then, I CRINGE, scold myself, and correct it. I'm sure there's one in this post, somewhere. Let me know and I'll fix.

10. I have a friend in facebook who uses the incorrect "patience" in her status updates. For example, she'll write, "That tried my patients."

11. I really want to correct her.

11. This week has been very busy. Three-a had the field trip this week. I think I managed to get 20 minutes of work done yesterday before 9:30 pm.

12. I am constantly wrestling with whether I want to work, how much I want to work, how much I want to grow my career, and how much I don't.

13. I don't know the answer to any of the questions.

14. Day in the office is over... now to go home and do kid stuff.

Cough, cough

Hey, it's not me coughing this time! twoK and Three-a are. Last year, on our anniversary, I was recovering from a cold. I am so glad I didn't have a cold on our anniversary this year.

I feel like I always end up with a cold right around our anniversary. This year, I got one at the beginning of September. It took me about 3 weeks to recover completely, but I've been fully recovered for a couple weeks now, so that cold is just a faint memory--the best kind. I think, that horrible cold kept me from getting on in October, so WOOT! If I get one now, it will suck, but not as bad as before the anniversary.

MWH and I had a wonderful anniversary. We saw a movie last night (The Social Network), and then went to get food (Chinese). The girls spent the night at N3nny's house. I don't think we'll send them over for another sleep over for several reasons, though. (1. It was really expensive, 2. Fs, 3. WD, 4. see below.).

N3nny was so excited to see them, and they her. She had activity after activity planned for them. They had fun, but when we picked them up today, they were exhausted. MWH and I took them out to dinner, so they could be part of our celebration, but it wasn't that much fun because they were so exhausted. I would have gone home and not bothered with going out except I didn't want to cook. It was nice to have a night alone, but when they came home so crabby, it almost didn't seem worth it.

What else... Oh, MWH and I went and finally picked out new chairs for our kitchen table. We actually picked them out last year, but never got around to going to purchase them. Are we lame, or what? Heh. We're going to buy 2 to start and see if we really like them and to see if we think 5 will fit around the kitchen table. The girls still use "kid chairs," and we're not quite ready to change that (plus we aren't sure 5 will fit). If they don't, then we'll find other chairs when the time comes to get the girls big chairs.

Wow, if you're still reading, you're amazing. This has been a pretty boring post... To summarize, MWH and I had wonderful, lazy, hanging-out anniversary, just like we like. Happy one-dozen years, MWH. Here's to dozens more dozens! xoxo.

Parent Teacher Conferences

I wrote up a short summary of the conferences so I could remember more than what I included in the last post, but then I couldn't decide which blog to post it on. On the one hand, the Grandparents would love to read the write-up, so I should post it on the other blog. On the other hand, I don't know if I want it on that blog because I don't know if I want this much detail about the girls out there when they aren't mostly anonymous. I finally decided to post it here, where we are mostly anonymous, and then probably email a version to the Grandparents.

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oNe's conference: Her teacher really likes her. She said she wished she had 20 oNe's in her room. AWWWWW! Her teacher said oNe is the most caring student she's ever seen. (Again, aw.)

oNe is doing fine in school. Her teacher wants her to gain a little confidence in herself. oNe is a little scientist, and in all things science she is confident. However, when she changes to other subjects, she sometimes shows hesitation.

oNe is doing fine in Math; the teacher says she has some students who cry when it's math time. (Their math is pretty advanced.) The other thing about oNe is that sometimes she lacks focus. When she is on she's very on, but when she is not on, she's all over the map.

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twoK's conference: She is a GREAT reader and writer. (She's reading at or above the 2nd grade level--this is beginning of first.) She is right on in Math, but doesn't like Math as much as writing. The teacher is impressed with her writing, and so am I. She has lots of friends and gets along well with her classmates. The teacher thinks she has lots of insights into things, and makes great connections, but thinks she needs a little more confidence in speaking in class; I agree. The teacher thinks she is delightful; again, I concur.

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Three-a's conference: She is cheerful, sweet, well-mannered, and confident. She has made friends and adapted very well to kindergarten. The teacher is a little concerned about her ability to write, but I am NOT at all. Three-a just turned 5 in August, so she's a young 5. Her abilities are right on target for her age--probably even well above average for her age. Three-a's never been that interested in reading and writing, but she's starting to show more interest. I think she'll be an over achiever, just like twoK, soon. Three-a has always kind of held back on things, and then when she decides to do them, she does them practically perfect. Her confidence and ability to interact with others will take her far, too.

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No time

I was going to blog more. I believe I set a goal for myself for 2 times a week. I want to blog more. I want to write about all the fun things the girls are doing and saying, but I just have NO TIME. Every week it seems there's at least one thing that is out of the ordinary. This week, there were 7 things that weren't part of the normal routine.

1. twoK had a field trip and I got to go! (Totally fun, but 4.5 hours of time I didn't have and I had to skip Zumba to do do it--you know I love my kids if I'm willing to skip Zumba for them.)

2. Volunteering in oNe's class. In third grade, the teacher doesn't want parents around that much. I finally got my turn. I'm hoping it can be a more regular occurrence, and I'm working on that. I spent 3 hours there yesterday.

3-5 were the 3 parent teacher conferences we had this week... oNe, twoK and Three-a are all doing fine and dandy. oNe's teacher is SO sweet and said super nice things about all 3 of the girls. twoK is an over achiever and doing super well. Three-a is super confident and right where she needs to be. The teacher wants us to work with her on fine-motor skills to improve her writing, but I'm not worried a bit. She just turned 5 in August and now, all of a sudden, she's wanting to do lots more writing and academic-like work.

6. A new committee at school, and their questions, resulted in a teacher having to do a presentation for them. Since it was in my area of expertise, I helped her with some of the research and editing on the presentation (about 5-7 hours on my part--a LOT MORE time on her part).

7. I have to go to the meeting tonight when she presents.

It's weeks like this that make me want to quit my job. I am so busy!

Other fun stuff this week... Three-a lost her FIRST TOOTH. She doesn't want to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy, though. It's in my room. We'll see if she'll let it go tonight.

Upcoming... MWH and I celebrate our 12th anniversary!!!!

I should get back to work for another hour before the meeting.

sad day for oNe

They had crayfish in their classroom. The one that oNe wanted to bring home went to that big crayfish pond in the sky.

oNe was so sad. She cried. Her teacher and oNe buried it in the school garden.

oNe has a different crayfish tonight, but she is still sad about the little crayfish that died. She loves animals... All creatures great and small.

Not a good start to the week

I had to go in for fasting blood work this morning. That meant EVERYTHING about this morning was WRONG and it seemed to drag through the day.

1. First, I was late to the blood draw appointment because traffic up to the lab was horrible.

2. Then, I was late to work because I was late to the appointment and it takes SO long to draw my blood because my blood draws are complex. They only took about 6 vials this time. I think I gave about 14 once--6 seemed like nothing, but I guess they have to figure out how to send it off to another lab and all that. (My blood has to be shipped out for some of the tests.)

2b. At the lab, I parked in the garage because I didn't want my food for the day to get too hot. When I was leaving the garage, I turned on my lights and then, I got to work and l left my lights on. Of course, I didn't notice for 7 hours until I wanted to go home...

3. My battery was DEAD--deader than a dinosaur*. The security guy couldn't get my car to start. I am not sure if he 1) had a poor set up, 2) didn't know what he was doing, or 3) if my battery was too dead for a standard jump.

4. Called a tow-truck. It cost $65 for the jump. Fortunately, my car started and it wasn't something else. Now I'm debating about whether I need AAA.

5. Due to the car issue I missed one of my workouts. BUMMED... STRESSED... Could have used the workout. I felt like I wasted 2 hours of my life getting my car jumped.

6. I got home about the same time as usual, but the girls were not as far along in their evening routine as usual, so BLEH, had to get them finished. oNe was tired so homework took longer. twoK hasn't started her homework for the week. SIGH. Already behind.

7. I'm tired and I still have tons of work to do, but I'm probably going to go to bed now and just get up early. I HOPE I CAN GO TO ZUMBA tomorrow... I MISSED MY WORKOUT TONIGHT. I NEED A GOOD WORKOUT. I'm not yet sure if I will be able to go to Zumba or not because of my new work project. I'm going to try and go to at least 1/2 of the class. I NEED IT.

Sorry to yell, but BLEH. Just imagine how grumpy I'd be if I'd missed all my Pilates workout today--I missed about 15 minutes of it.

oNe also had a horrible day at school. I told her it was a big, fat, ugly, horrible Monday. She laughed a little.

On a more positive note, MWH had a good day. He had his annual review at work and they love him. Can't say I blame them. He is awesome, smart, and cute. I'm guessing it's 'cause he's so cute that they love him.

I'm still hoping for a better day tomorrow.

*A title of a book that was on our bookshelves when I was a kid. I've never read it, but I loved that saying when I was a kid.

New week

This last week kicked my @&&! Seriously.

1. A project that I thought was due 9/30 was actually due 9/15.

2. The thing that was supposed to be on Thursdays got moved to Tuesdays.

3. We had a super fun play date this morning, but usually we're bums on Sunday mornings.

4. Thank goodness we went out to dinner F and Sat nights. I am wondering if we should go out tonight. (On F night, MWH and I got to go out alone!)

5. twoK can whistle. (This didn't contribute to the kicking.)

6. The girls decided they wanted to camp out last night. We set up a tent for them on our deck. Two of the three slept outside. Then they woke us up at the dawn's early light.

7. Mostly it was work that got me, but oNe had a lot of homework, too. She was DONE on Thursday and we forgot to study for her spelling test. One of the words was cotyledon. She's in third grade. I thought it was a biology term, but I had to look it up. Do you know what it is?

8. I'm hoping this week is less crazy.

9. I was still pretty exhausted from the cold I had... I got it two weeks ago on Thursday or Friday (so it's been over two weeks now). I'm just about feeling 100% NOW. Really... two weeks for a cold. How pathetic is that?

10. My ex-boyfriend, the EVIL one, has found me in FB and wants to friend me. HELL NO is what I want to say, but right now, I'm just ignoring him. I haven't seen him for 14 years, explain to me why should we be friends?

11. This week is MWH's half-birthday. Heh.

12. All for now... Hope you all have good weeks! Me too!

My new fav

I used to like milk chocolate. I was wrong.

So far...

So far, I've not worked this weekend. We slept late--NICE! We needed it; I'm super tired today. I ironed all of the patches on twoK's Daisy vest. twoK helped. She was super excited about the iron. They had read about ironing in Little House on the Prairie and twoK was very interested in testing to see if the iron was hot. MWH showed her how to flick little bits of water at it, rather than licking her finger and touching quickly. I showed off my ability to lick and touch. MWH scolded me for encouraging such behavior. Heh.

I then tried to recall the last time I ironed anything. The girls didn't know we had an iron! (I am proud!) I know I ironed in 1997--I ironed the gown for my Ph.D. hooding ceremony. I think I have ironed a little since then, but I can't actually think of what.

Now, we're going to go meet some friends at the park and hang for a little while. I think I can convince myself to work an hour or so tonight. Both things I need to work on are already started and should be pretty easy to work on.... Otherwise, it's gotta be 4 hours tomorrow. Tomorrow, we have a Daisy event to go to, so I hope to get off my duff and work tonight. We're going out to dinner after the park, so if I don't have to cook, I shouldn't be too tired to work.

(This is a pep talk for myself.)

Sigh....I love the fact that my work is flexible and that I can work at home, when I want to, but I dislike that it's so flexible that it feels like it's ALWAYS hanging over my head. That's my own fault. I need to set clearer parameters and have more discipline about when I work, but alas, I don't. I continue to always be insanely busy and it's MY OWN DAMN FAULT.

On another note, I was thinking about one thing today, that I need to document. oNe and Three-a are each taking two dance classes and twoK is only taking one. I was thinking about how this isn't fair, but twoK is a Daisy, so that replaces her second dance class. It's fair. All is right with the world. Whew.

Eventful

Today was BUSY. I am now busier than I thought I would be... I just took on something at work that will be about 4-5 hours a week. It's good. (PS, it's with DZ, and it's working with 6th graders! and technology!) It will be fun, but now I hope that I'm 1) not too busy, and 2) that I stay busy enough so that I don't have to take on anything else this year. I'm sure something else will happen and that I'll have to take on something new, but hopefully I'll get time to get into a routine with this new project before I get busier.

It's always a crazy game where I work. We rarely run out of work, but we often don't know what we'll be working on in a couple of months. I also have an opportunity to work on a big new proposal and I can't decide if I want to or not. Err, maybe it's more accurate to say I don't want to, but I can't decide whether I SHOULD or whether I can get away with not working on it. Always something.

And another example of "something".... This morning, I was really busy with meetings and working like mad, and guess what happened? My computer DIED. It flickered and then it crashed and then it wouldn't restart. MWH took a look at it (and he knows a LOT about computers). He pronounced it "most likely DEAD."

I was tremendously panicked because I didn't have one thing backed up and it was the ONE THING I NEEDED TO WORK ON TODAY/THIS WEEKEND. Somehow, miraculously, my computer restarted and let me get the document; then, it died again. (I'm still hoping it will start again, but two more restarts didn't work... Maybe MWH can say an incantation and make it work a little more.)

Honestly, I don't know how my computer restarted,, but I am so thankful it did and that I got my files! Now I have to finish that document (and work on that other thing too). This weekend, I pledge to work at least 4 hours--more if I can manage.

The girls had today off school. I had our new baby sitter watch the girls. She brought over little flower pots and painted them with the girls. Super cute. New babysitter needs a bloggy name here. Maybe I should call her 18 (her age), or BB (she plays basketball), or ... eh, we'll go with 18, BB sounds too much like baby. Cool?

Not much to tell you about 18; she loves the girls, is eager to please, but she doesn't pick up as much stuff as N3nnny did around the house. Despite that little flaw, she seems refreshing. After 18 left this afternoon, I took twoK and oNe to their gymnastics class. As we were getting ready to head home, oNe noticed many kids from school were at the park, so we stopped to see what was occurring. (Their gymnastics class is in a building at the park.)

Apparently, a couple of things were happening. 1) Several Moms just gathered with their kids and 2) one Mom had arranged a time for all the kids in the class to get together so familes could meet. It's always odd when you "crash" an event at the park. We've crashed a couple of birthday parties there so crashing an informal gathering seemed less awkward. It was kind of cool....

I knew some of the Moms from when oNe was in K and first grade but hadn't really talked to them for a couple of years. Running into all the moms and kids that we knew made the park feel much like the center of a little community. It was nice. We were all just chatting and catching up. It's fun to talk with the Moms who have kids older than my girls. It gives me a little glimpse of what life will be like as the girls get older.

The mom I was talking to tonight about her daughters used to really annoy me. Tonight, she only mildly annoyed me. I think that's progress.

What else... Oh, I now like EXTREMELY dark chocolate--like 85% cacoa. I used to only like milk chocolate. In about 2006, I got introduced to Swiss Dark Chocolate from Switzerland and started to like it. After that, I couldn't go back to wimpy milk chocolate. Now, I like the hard stuff. I like it because a little goes a long way. I eat about 1/10th of a serving and feel satiated.

One more random-ish kind of thing, I got my hair cut. I didn't get a lot of length taken off, but I did get it cut back into a style that I just spent the last 8 months or so growing out. What can I say other than I needed a change again? It's the same haircut I've had many times, and I kind of flip between three similar haircuts, but right now, I think I'll stick with this one for a little while and let it get a teeny bit longer. Unless, of course, I decide I need another change. Who knows, I might.

P.S. This was typed on my little iPad with keyboard. (Oh, how I love the iPad!)

Achoo!

oNe brought home the first cold of the season and, yes, I caught it. Every fall, in September or October, I get one. I was pretty miserable Saturday. I felt like I was winning the battle on Sunday, and I was. I am still getting better, but I am now at the stage of blowing my nose ever 3 minutes. Ugh. oNe was slowed down by the cold for about 3 hours--I for about 3 days. It's NOT FAIR.

Moving on, last night, I went to Whole Foods. I was STARVING. I decided to have a salad before I went shopping because shopping when hungry can be dangerous. I got a lovely, big salad from the salad bar and when I was done, I had no desire to shop. I only bought 3 things. Heh. Being hungry can be dangerous, but being full can mean no food. It's a good thing I didn't really need stuff from the store.

While eating my salad, a lovely, little two year old girl was trying to engage me in conversation. I wanted to sit and read on my iPhone. She was cute as a button, but I was at Whole Foods while I had a baby sitter and I didn't want to engage with children. I missed my own. Does this make me a bad person? I hope not. She was super cute. After the two year old left, I felt like I should have apologized and explained my actions to her mom, but alas, I didn't get a chance. I feel a little bad about it.

Did I tell you MWH got a new car? He did. Yippeee! His old car was very old, 15 years; it still ran well, but we were waiting for it to have a big, expensive problem. He's donating it today. I hope the organization can get some more good months out of it and then sell it for money for parts.

Okay, this is a pretty boring post, but it happens. Sorry about that. The girls are good, and we're settling into a routine. We have a new babysitter helping 2 afternoons a week. I miss N3nny a little, but not as much as I thought I would. I like doing homework with the girls. I like hanging with them more. It's good! I knew it would be. We do have so much laundry!! We're working on a system there. I like washing the clothes, but I dislike putting them away. We have a couple of full laundry baskets down in the girls' room. Maybe we'll get to it tonight.

Well, now, I think I just succeeded in making this post EVEN MORE boring. That's pretty impressive, eh? I should stop NOW.

I'd rather be...

not working, but I have about 4 hours of stuff I should get done today. The good news is I have about 4.5 hours in which to do it. The other good news, it's a 3-day weekend and if I get it all done, I might be able to get a little ahead for next week! If I don't get it all done, I could still get time to work this weekend... Or to clean my house! We have a couple of fun things planned. We may go bowing and on Monday we're planning on a last summer swim fling with our wonderful friends.

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On another note, Three-a got "lost" today at school. Not really, but she was scared.

The story... I was dropping twoK off and I ran into her classroom to check with the teacher about one thing. The door shut as I ran in--I didn't realize it--and it took longer than 2 seconds to find out the answer because someone else was there asking a question before me.

I had left Three-a happily playing right outside the door to twoK's room, but I hadn't told her I was running in to ask a question. My mistake, I should have. (You know, it was only going to take two seconds, but that's what you ALWAYS think and that's why accidents happen.)

So Three-a was playing and some parents saw her by herself; they knew who she was and so they asked her where she was supposed to be. Note, the parents knew her, but she didn't really know them. When they asked her where she was supposed to be, she got worried that something was wrong. If they hadn't have asked, she wouldn't have even noticed I was gone and that I or she was "lost." But, alas, when they asked,* she started crying. (So sad!)

But the good news is that she 1) wouldn't go with them--they were offering to take her to the office and 2) that she told them "Call my Mom, her phone number is 4_ _ - _ _ _ _. Smart girl. They called and I walked outside. It was horrible that she cried, but it was a SUPER test of how she'd do under pressure of being lost for real. She did all the right things. I am so proud of her.

I hugged her and told her she was super smart and she clung to me for a while and then all was better. She went to morning care and told a little boy she'd teach him how to play chess. (Heh.) (She is trying to learn herself... I'd love to see what she knows when she teaches someone else; it would be priceless.)




*I don't fault them for asking, I would have done the same thing if I'd seen a kid I knew playing outside by him or herself. I'm glad they asked! If something had been wrong, it's nice to have folks looking out for your kid!

How green can you go?*

Super Yum! Kale, spirulina, blueberries, banana, almond milk, flax, and ice made this green powerhouse. I am SO green.



*Bonus points if you can name the song that inspired the title. If you don't listen to rap/hip hop you may not get it.

Right now

Right now, I'm learning how to be at work less and with the girls more. It's GREAT! Errrr, it's great to spend more time with the girls, bu I'm feeling a little stressed about working less, but I'll adjust. I'm trying to figure out if I'll be able to work 20 hours a week, or if I'll need to work less, but I am lucky to have options at work and it'll all be okay.

Right now, oNe is LOVING school. She gets homework M-Th nights and it takes her about an hour to do it all, but she says she loves it. She says she doesn't understand why some kids don't like homework. Super! My little girl.

Right now, twoK is reading the Little House on the Prairie books. Actually, we are reading them aloud to her, but she loves them. It's so fun to revisit childhood with them.

Right now, Three-a is impressing me with how responsible and organized she is. I thought twoK was good, but Three-a is just as good! Whew! Makes up for oNe who would lose her head if it weren't firmly attached to her shoulders.* Three-a got her new tote bag for school yesterday and remembered to take it today. I am not sure if daddy helped or not, but I didn't.


And right now, at this very moment, all 3 are in a dance class. oNe in tap, and twoK and Three-a in ballet, tap, and jazz.

*I say that with love as oNe is JUST like me in that regard.... I can't keep track of stuff--I've gotten better over the years, but I'm NOT naturally good at it.

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This post was created on my new 3G iPad.

Recording

On Sunday, I launched a cleaning mission.

I went into the girls room to change the sheets, but before I could do that, they had to pick up the 200 toys on their bedroom floor. Then oNe and twoK had to take the 40+ stuffed animals off their beds. They weren't happy--in fact, I made oNe and twoK cry. I told them they could no longer sleep with that many stuffed animals. Three-a sleeps with 5 or so toys/animals. Five seems like a LOT to me, but it's a lot less than 40 (and I am not exaggerating here), so she didn't have to give up anything. Three-a thought it was a good day as now she gets more room in her bed (she and twoK share a double bed)*.

I'm sorry, call me cold and heartless, but I'm not going to feel bad when you are crying because you can't sleep with all 40 of your favorite stuffed animals. Nor will I give in if you cry for 15 minutes. Your father, smart MWH, grabbed the camera and recorded the antics as I'm sure that video will come in handy for blackmailing you in the future--I'm looking at you, oNe.

I should have never let it get so crazy with so many animals in bed, but sometimes, it's easier to choose your battles and how many stuffed animals were in bed with the girls didn't seem like a big deal**. Now, it does.

Talk to me, am I cruel and cold hearted?


*Here's a picture of the girls' bed. Three-a and twoK have the double on the bottom and oNe has the twin bunk on top.

**I should have put my foot down when oNe had the quote of the day saying, "It gets a little crazy in my bed, sometimes."

boring...

After looking through old posts yesterday, I decided to blog more because I loved reading about what our life used to be like, but as we went through today, it didn't seem like we had any "blog worthy" moments. I'm sure there will be days when things are just happening but today seemed a little light on things I should record for posterity.

Today
First, the girls played a lot on their own this morning. They started playing the moment they got up, around 8 am. I heard them get up and then I rolled over to snuggle with MWH. I thought I'd only dozed a little, but the next thing I knew, it was 9:25. Ahhhhh, lovely sleep! The girls were totally playing well this morning and they didn't have any sisterly screaming until past 11 am--more than three hours of playing without screaming is shocking, in fact, I have to reconsider, that is pretty blog worthy.

(Tonight, on the other hand, non-stop sisterly screaming from 7-8 pm....oNe was hungry and when she's hungry, she is angry. She gets so hungry that she won't eat; she says she's not hungry and I tell her she's just past the point of hunger and that she needs to eat. It's just no fun at all when she's like that. She gets very grumpy and yell-y. When she's like that, I have to yell to get her to eat. UGH. Seriously, she isn't rational, but as soon as I yell, she eats--what's a Mom to do?)

This afternoon, we went to a birthday party. It was for a little girl in twoK's class, but all 3 went to the place since the party was held at a public (well, you pay to get in) indoor playground. After that party, we went to our neighborhood block party. Okay, YAWN.....

A little less boring
One thing, kind of fun, oNe has decided she and her sisters should have a secret club with secret nicknames. They whispered in the back of the car and came up with secret names--no one but they could know. Within about five minutes of being home, oNe told me hers. I will share it here because, someday, she may read the blog and she may have forgotten about her secret name. Her secret name is Hermione. (She's a big Harry Potter fan. She made it through the first 4 books this summer and then I kind of wanted her to wait to read book 5.)

Three-a's secret name is either Lanie or Dandelion, they won't tell me for sure, although I'm sure I could get it out of oNe if I asked. twoK won't tell her secret name. She's a pretty good secret keeper; oNe really isn't. The secrets burst forth from oNe pretty easily. Heh.

What else... I'm not feeling the writing mood right now. I think I'm going to have to practice blogging more about them again. I'll try again tomorrow. We're planning on cleaning the house and doing Three-a's homework*. The fun NEVER ends around here.


*Yes, kindergartners get homework after the first full week of school. Our school is a little intense.

Holy Mackerel

I missed my 5th blogoversary! I just realized it.

I was going back through posts to find one I knew I'd written; as I was doing so I was thinking about how much has changed since starting to blog 5 years ago, and I realized just how happy I am that I took the time to write this blog. I've been blogging less and less as the girls get older, but taking this trip down memory lane has inspired me to blog a bit more again.

I found this post about T aka Three-a and her nose; I had completely forgotten about this. I am so glad I wrote it--priceless. Even if NO ONE ELSE ever reads this blog, it's served its purpose.

In reflection style, I want to (someday) talk about how different my life is now, 5 years later, than it was then.

Totally different
Nutrition
Exercise
Bad Back
No babies any more

Of course, some things are...

Still the same
My stress it's always self-inflicted
My ability to research something (not always write about it)
My absopolutely bestest colleague, ever... I wish our former boss were still here too.
My wonderful husband

And then, of course, over the years, I've...

Learned a lot
About having little girls
About teaching
Nutrition
Being a tiny bit more zen in my approach to motherhood (thanks a lot to Nino, my role model.)

A new goal is to write in detail about each topic, but I don't know when that will happen, but I will make sure to blog more. Wish me a happy blogoversary if you still read, I used to have a few commenters, but I haven't heard from them over the years. I did really enjoy your thoughts and comments.

Thanks! xoxo.

Groove

The beginning of school always makes me feel as if I am totally incompetent. This year has been no exception. I have already whined about how overwhelmed I am because of deciding to not have our nanny any more. (It's such a good thing though.) I am thankful that I have found someone to help a little, but I've already documented all that. I also told you about my brother's two-week visit. While it was fun, it was also overwhelming and I'm still reeling from it.

Today, I worked at home and didn't go to volunteer at the girls' school or do Zumba*. I sat and focused on one project for most of the day (by the time kid-drop offs were done I only ended up with ~5 hours). It was good, I think. I made good progress on the writing and I feel a little more like a half-way competent person.

I now need to spend an hour on another project and tomorrow, I need to devote a LARGE CHUNK OF TIME (~4 hours) to thinking about the SB Workshop.

On another subject entirely, I need to get to T*rget and get notebooks for storing the girls' worksheets and art for the year. If I start now, perhaps I won't end up with a HUGE PILE of papers in a month to go through. I also need to buy cards to welcome the new babies in our family! (Yes, that's right, we have two new babies in our family and I am so excited. We'll probably see them at Thanksgiving.)


*Yes, I need to write about why I skipped Zumba today, and why I'll be taking a different Zumba class tonight.

No nanny

I don't have a nanny any more. Woo!

N3nny was super, but I was so ready to not pay all of my net salary, plus some more, to have child care. I could have had fewer nanny hours last year, but N3nny needed a certain number of hours to keep working for us, so we paid. We thought N3nny was worth it.

She was, but by the end, I was just tired of paying so much. I was also tired of some of the little things N3nny did that drove me CRAZY. I could list them, but I won't here. I tried sharing N3nny with another family, but the woman I shared with didn't always need N3nny at the same time I did so consequently, the sharing didn't reduce my costs that much (and it made it a BIG pain sometimes). So anyway, moving on...

Do I miss having a nanny? Not yet.

I'm still very much enjoying hanging with the girls, taking them to dance, doing homework while cooking dinner, and being more around. It's only been a week though--ask me again in 3 months. I'm sure I'll still enjoy it, but I may be more stressed. Right now, we're still in the honeymoon phase.

I did find someone to help on Mondays and Thursday afternoons. I will have 9 hours of nanny time a week (maybe not every week), and Three-a goes to before school care 6 hours a week. I think the cost for these two things keeps daycare less than 1/4 of the cost each week. The girls are now taking dance lessons and that adds up a bit, but adding in dance lessons for the girls only makes the total cost ~30% of what it used to be.

One thing, I'm going to be doing lots more kid-laundry. N3nny used to almost all of it. I didn't necessarily love how she did it, but I didn't complain (much), because, hey, someone was doing the laundry and it wasn't me. Clothes got stained and she'd dry things that weren't supposed to be dried.... I'd leave explicit instructions and they wouldn't get followed... (Okay, enough complaining.) It sounds silly to say, but I am excited to do their laundry (MY WAY!). I don't like putting laundry away, but the new person who will help with the girls after school will do some of the putting away, so yippee!

The one thing I'm not sure about is if I'm going to get enough hours at work with this new schedule. I'm probably going to have to either work an hour or two a night or some on the weekends to keep up. I may change my WHOLE schedule and do Zumba with a different teacher at a different time, but that's a subject for another post.... (Yea, it's shocking that I'm considering changing teachers!)

On the list

Teaching the girls more about money has been on our "list of things to do" for a while. I just read this post and really liked it. I'll also paste it below in case the web changes and it disappears. (All credit is given to the author and the web site originally publishing it. (Thanks Mamapedia and Erin Lozano http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/paying-your-child-here-are-six-ways-to-do-it)


How do you pay your child allowance? Do you have a system? Do you make the kid work? It’s time to start teaching my five year old about how money works, so the inquiry is in many of my conversations. I’ve heard good ideas and crazy ideas, and those that are well meaning but that propagate the very credit mess the world is in now. Here are a few tips I’ve compiled from the journey. If you have your own, please add them to the comments!

1. Free Money Sets Up Future Disaster
A friend of mine has a generous allowance system for her six year-old: he does chores that add up to certain sums, and at the end of the week, she matches what he earned dollar for dollar. Rewarding system, yes. But that method alarms me. Young kids are “wanters.” They want, mommy and daddy provide, want fulfilled. If children learn from the start that “earned income” equals “work” plus “free money,” they develop the credit card experience: “I want” plus “I can get free money for not doing anything,” and then, “Oh look, I used my credit card, so they are giving me even more money now to do and get what I want.”

2. Chores Pay
When you tie the allowance to chores, your child gets to experience the reward of working for something and getting it. Rather than offering a set amount per week, make a list of which chores earn what amount–i.e., sweep the porch = $1, wash mom’s car = $5, etc. This will help them to develop a financial goal and work toward it. If they want a new toy or to save vacation money for souvenirs for friends, they can calculate how many chores, and which ones, they can complete to meet their goal.

3. Income Covers Expenses
My parents have a letter I wrote them when I was “13-and-three-quarters years-old.” It was a pitch titled “Erin’s Expenses and Life Story.” I wanted $52 a month, an increase in my allowance at the time, because my parents system included me paying for my own expenses–things like clothing, shampoo and conditioner, teenage incidentals. I had to learn to balance my own income and outflow. If I wanted a new sweater, I wouldn’t be able to buy the shampoo and conditioner I liked. At 13 & 3/4, I discerned that I needed more to handle my expenses and itemized my proof. This method is great for older children. An incrementally increasing responsibility can be a really great element to add to a child’s allowance as he or she gets older, and begins to get a sense of what the world costs to live in it.

4. Saving Is Cool
Six to ten year-olds are not going to be buying their own shampoo. But they can learn to save the moment they start earning allowance. Teach them the practice of putting ten cents of every dollar they earn every week into a piggy bank. When they do, they get to see what is left over of their earnings (subtly training their early experience to income after expenses). They also get the joy of watching their savings grow, and to begin to understand the association of money to income isn’t solely: “I want,” thus, “I get money,” then, “I spend money.” But, rather, they learn, “I work, so I get money for trade, and part of the system is putting money into my savings account.”

5. Money Is Outside Me
Allowance can teach about so much more than just money. It can offer children the opportunity to evolve their “I-want” into a community experience. If your children are too young to work around the house to earn an allowance, consider the jar system to teach the flow of money. Label them as “Savings,” “Fun,” “Gifts for friends + Charity.” Two of these jars are directing their money outside themselves. Rather than receiving money and spending it all on their immediate desires, kids get to see how their money affects their community. Let a child choose the amount he or she puts in each jar each week, and watch the amounts shift over time, as her awareness expands.

6. Charity Feels Good
Teach your kids the intrinsic joy of what it feels like to give money away. When their charity jar is full, take them to a local mission and let them hand it to their recipient. Let them experience that moment, and ask them about it. Do they say, “I loved giving that money to a homeless family. Next time I want to give even more”? Do they find other charity interests that started from the experience of the first one? Getting kids actively saving for charity teaches them concepts of sharing, community, and lets them feel the impact their generosity–and their earning power–has on those around them.

Erin Lozano is co-founder and COO of GreenSherpa and is dedicated to inspiring women to live and spend authentically.

Transitions

twoK is screaming a lot. She LOVES first grade, but apparently it's causing her a great deal of difficulty in adjusting. She's fine at school, but the last two nights and all morning today she's been very banshee-like and really difficult. I'm guessing all will be better in another week or two, but we all have to survive it. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything I can do except let her sort it out internally. If you have any ideas, let me know.

oNe is being rougher with her sisters and yelling lots; Three-a is very tired. This morning, they woke us up at 8 am as they were wanting to go to school. I wish I could have sent them off for the day. On the positive side of things, 8 am is later than 7:30. We're heading out to visit a museum in a little bit. Hopefully that will keep them occupied enough.

How's the start of school for any one else experiencing it? Any screaming with your kids? Misery loves company. :-)

Potential

I just met with the potential new babysitter for the girls for afterschool just one day a week. She's young and sweet! Yippee. We'll do a trial day on Monday. I'll be with the kids and her, but working (in my room) on Monday afternoon. If it works out okay, then I'll be able to let her pick them up one day a week. This will be SUPER helpful.

If it all works, I'll tell you the story of how I met her and tell you why social capital is oh so important!

Fingers are crossed.

Lacking

I'm lacking a good title here.

I'm also lacking time; since I have no time, I figured I should blog--that'll help.

I should be working, but I have three things I need to be working on and I'm not sure which one to start with today.

1. TI:RN (Need to spend about 3 hours on it this weekend--preferably in large chunks of time--feeling behind on this one)

2. AS* (Need about 3 hours on it, but am not behind on it yet, but we just had a phone call so it's fresh in my mind)

3. SB* Workshop (Just need to spend another couple of hours on this to feel all caught up)

Seriously, I can't decide which one to work on.

Did I tell you my brother is visiting? He's been here for about 2 weeks. He's very easy to have around, but it is one more thing. It's always just one little thing... Just a teeny thing... But they add up.

I've been figuring out afterschool and before school care for the girls and it's almost settled. For the final decision, I'm trying to decide if I look for someone to help me by picking up the girls and watching them at home one night a week or if I want to do the afterschool program 1 night a week. With three kids, it's less expensive to have someone pick the girls up than to use the VERY reasonably priced afterschool program. It's CRAZY to me that it is cheaper to have one's own employee, but it is. I am interviewing someone this afternoon. If she doesn't work out, I'll probably just go with the afterschool program, at least for now.

Next up, sometime after next week, figuring out Thanksgiving vacation. (I think we'll go back and visit my family. We haven't done this at holiday time since having children. We don't like to travel. We really don't like to at holidays, but EVERYONE, including two new babies, could be there and I think it might be time to go. Also, the girls get the whole week off at Thanksgiving, so we could travel on non-peak days.

Okay.... Enough of this for now. I think I'll go wok on AS* since it is fresh in my mind. I'll catch up on the other two later.

Not in Zumba

I am not in Zumba; it is currently class time, but last night, twoK (accidentally) kicked me in the head while she was doing a handstand. It was one of those accidents that really shouldn't have happened. She should have known better than to do a handstand when I was sitting on the floor right next to her; I should have known better than sit on the floor when I was talking to N3nny and sort of distracted while the girls were around and spazzing out.

But alas, the accident occurred, and now my head REALLY hurts. I didn't go to the doctor, it could be mild concussion, but I don't think it really warranted a doctor visit...but damn, it hurt. A colleague of mine asked if twoK felt bad enough for injuring me and my very prompt response was NO. The colleague said, "Oh, it was that bad, eh?"

Anyway, that is why I'm not in Zumba. It sounds like I can't go back until the headache is gone, at minimum. Bleh.

Instead, I'm trying to make a schedule for me and the girls for this fall that will 1) accommodate my needs for working out, 2) give me enough time to get work done and 3) keep us from going stir crazy.

Oh, yea, today is N3nny's last official day with us. She will do weekends occasionally, and I know we'll miss her, but right now I am ready to not have a nanny. I'll post more about that later, not know.

Without N3nny, I'll be giving up 2 workouts a week, however the possibilities for making these two workouts are actually pretty good. If I don't like any of the new possibilities, I could potentially find someone to help me out with the girls at those class times, but right now, the idea of finding someone new isn't high on my list of things I want to do.

Here's some things I have to keep in mind for the next two weeks.... I KNOW IT WILL BE CRAZY busy and MAJOR BIG ADJUSTMENT and that I will want to cry for some of the times, but it will be okay... It will get better.

Here's what I need to keep in mind as we go into this new adventure...

1) I don't want a nanny anymore
2) I get to spend more time with the girls and I get to take them to dance classes!
3) They are super fun, and at dance class time, I'll have one-on-one time with the girl not in class. Bonus.
4) I can always temporarily change my status at work to work less if need be
5) There is afterschool care at school, but the way I've scheduled things (dance classes and gymnastics), the only afternoons for it are Monday and Thursday. I am guessing I'll need to use Mondays for sure.
6) I will actually make money at work. For the last few years, I've not made as much as my nanny for my net pay. My gross was more, but not net. While I knew I was investing in myself, it was still frustrating to not make as much net as I paid out.

Okay, the end for now. My head hurts.

I didn't forget you

Oh, blog, I didn't forget you. It's been BUSY this week.

1. N3nny was on 3 days of vacation.

2. The girls had gymnastics camp. We love it now. We didn't love it so much when we started doing it, but now they are organized and the girls are older and it works! We can't wait until next year.

All three girls did really well. twoK did SUPER. She's usually hesitant to perform, but they did a little show to share what they learned that week. She smiled and did everything GREAT. I was so proud. oNe did really well too, but she has a lot more desire to perform and be in front of an audience in her than twoK.

Three-a is looking forward to being in elementary camp, like her sisters, instead of preschool camp. She definitely is ready to be BIG like them... MY BABY!!!!! YIKES!

3. I had to engage in a cleaning and organizing frenzy.

4. My brother arrived. He'll be visiting for 2-3 weeks. I had to dig out the guest room. (When the girls outgrow clothes and when I clean my closet it all goes there and sits until I get my act together.) Approximately 11 shopping bags full were taken to Goodwill.

5. N3nny is in her last couple of weeks with us. I have several posts started to discuss her leaving (it's my doing); I can't quite get my feelings to come out right so I wait to write the post to explain things. (Not knowing how to say what I want to say is part of what's been keeping me from posting.)

5b. With N3nny leaving, I have to figure out my whole schedule for work, the girls, and workouts. I'm throwing everything up in the air and hoping I can make it all work. The girls may go to the afterschool care program 1 or 2 days a week. We'll see what happens.

6. I've made some progress on the cleaning and organizing front, but I still need to work on the upstairs area so we can start to use it someday. It is still full of boxes. MWH wants to get a dumpster, but I want to go through it all, recycle what should be recycled and organize what I want to save. It'll be a huge project. Dumpster or organize, you vote.

7. Remind me to tell you about what NOT to include in a birth announcement... Okay, I'll tell you now. Granted, it was only an email birth announcement, but PLEASE DO NOT tell us how you got zero stretch marks, or how you only gained 25 pounds. Um, YEA. (If someone wants to know about your stretch marks, they will ask. Wait for it.)

8. I am figuring out eating so my blood sugar stays good. Woo. It involves less carbs and more protein (and I do have to eat eggs and salmon). (Getting older SUCKS!)

Okay... I'll try to post at least twice this week. We'll see if I can make it happen.

Wild

Hang on, this is going to be a really random post because I haven't posted all week.

1. Last night was rough. twoK did NOT want to sleep without her Mommy or Daddy. It was after midnight when I resorted to yelling and threatening her. MWH was still being "good cop," but I was done. DONE. She's 6, is it too much to expect that she falls asleep in her own bed? I had stayed and snuggled with the girls for an hour and I thought twoK was asleep.

Tonight, I'm giving them 1/2 hour of snuggle time and then I go.

2. I am typing this on my iPad. I have a dock for it and I never use it. Tonight, I dug it out to use. It is nice. I think I could really write something with the dock. Pretty cool! I have a new project starting up next week, it involves writing a small article. Maybe, I'll try to do it on the iPad with the dock.... That could be fun! I can at least start it that way. Ooooh, fun!

3. My knee is so much better with PT. I'm thinking of going back for a "tune-up" for my back. I think, now that I"m stronger and very healed, the PT and me can make more progress on my knee. I'm hoping for the same with my back. My back feels soooo much better than last year, but if it can feel any better, shouldn't I try?

4. Three-a has now outgrown most of her clothes if they are sized "5" or XS. My Baby! She's growing! I can't believe she's starting kindergarten soon. We go for an orientation on 8/10. YIKES!

5. I've been taking the girls to the park on Friday afternoons. It's a great way to start the weekend.

6. I'm still troubled by my blood sugar. I'm going to start cutting carbs. I eat a lot of carbs, and they are all HEALTHY, unrefined carbs, but apparently, they are still a carb and my body can't handle them very well. My fasting blood sugar has been above the magic number of 100 more often than I like, so I am going to cut some carbs.

I eat about 200-250 grams of carbs a day normally, accounting for about 40-50% of my calories. I usually eat quite a bit of fat, 40% or higher and I usually eat about 10-15% protein. I'm going to see how low I have to make my carb intake get my blood sugar to behave itself. I'm testing my blood sugar after every meal and doing way too much obsessive behavior, but that is what I do. I don't want my blood sugar to negatively affect my health. I think that I've eaten between 48 and 68, today, but i haven't had enough food yet I'm still HUNGRY. I ate nearly a whole avocado, and 2 eggs today, but I still need to eat something else I think.

It's going to be hard to make this switch because I want to stay as vegetarian as possible. I'm not going to be able to be vegan I don't think. I need more protein in my diet and I don't want to do it with just adding soy. There are debates about how good soy is for you (I'll link some other day.) So, my plan for now is to add 1) a little soy and 2) salmon, other fatty fish, and eggs. I'm troubled by this because I'd like to stay vegan.

However, I went vegan because I thought it would be healthier for me. My ANA (did come down) and I was pleased, but now my blood sugar is bad. I don't want my blood sugar high, so it may not work for me to be all the way vegan. SIGH. I'll try this new soy, eggs and salmon (plus so many veggies it makes your head spin) diet until October and then I'll have my ANA re-tested. We'll see if it negatively affects my ANA. I hope it doesn't. (GETTING OLD SUCKS!)

(Salmon salad from the cafeteria where I work. The chef swore it was wild salmon. I sure hope so! It was YUM! It is in a paper to-go container. Classy, eh? I ate it in my office.)

7. As we were driving to the park, the 3 little girls were telling me that I was NOT old. That I looked great and that I didn't look at all old. I love them! :-) It was super nice to hear this after all the thinking I've been doing about blood sugar and feeling like I'm 80 years old because of it.

I guess, there are lots of Moms at the school who are my age, a few younger, but I guess, I'm sort of average to them. Plus, I do run around quite a bit with them. That probably helps me seem younger. My Mom didn't really run around, ever. Tonight, Three-a round her scooter around the park and made me "race her." I had to run. She thought it was the greatest game EVER. It was fun.

8. I have very soft fuzzy socks on--KH gave them to me years ago... LOVE THEM! Thanks! xoxo! The girls just asked if they could have them when I outgrow them. Heh.

And now, to end this VERY RANDOM post.

Good night!

(p.s. are you impressed that I did this post on the iPad with dock???)