Sunday, January 30, 2011

lapse

I lapsed. I meant to keep writing all week, but I had a busy week at work--soul sucking, even.

We have this client and they are certifiable; maybe, psycho is a better word. Anyway, we had to deal with their crap and it took a lot of time. It's funny, I have the greatest colleagues you could imagine, but, right now, the worst clients. I guess you can't have EVERYTHING. Moving on.

I also went on a field trip with oNe's class. That's always fun, but it takes time. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it's another reason I had no time. I'll write about the field trip on the other blog.

(Completely random: Three-a's getting good with cartwheels!)

Finally, we did get a kitty!!!! He's wonderful. He's the one we met last week. He's an amazingly sweet and gentle cat. I <3 him! twoK is delighted. (Note, I have to write more about the stuff we've been going through with twoK for the last couple of months, I'm hopeful that the kitty will help with twoK, but right now, I have to finish bedtime with them. And then fall asleep, too!)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

4 in a row

Whoa. I must be really feeling chatty, eh?

We did go look at kitties yesterday; twoK knows she's getting a cat. We've looked a couple of other times. Also, a LONG TIME AGO, we told the girls when they turned 6 they could have a cat. (At the time it sounded like forever, but now it's here and I wish I'd said 8 or 9 or something like that.) twoK is closing in on 7 so we're slow and hopefully we can keep Three-a from getting a cat until she's closer to 7, too!

Surprisingly, twoK been very patient and understanding about why we were waiting. I wasn't wanting to find a cat, necessarily, but we found a cat we all really liked yesterday at the Cat fair. twoK wasn't quite ready to make a commitment of such magnitude. (I explained how this was going to be for the kitty's WHOLE life and freaked her out.)

It turned out, she was getting sick. She had a headache and I was hopeful it would all just be a quick little feeling "bleh" and then better. Well, last night, she threw up. Tonight, as she's felt better, she's decided she probably wants to get the cat from yesterday.

The cat yesterday... He's all black (teeny bit of white on his chest and belly). He's big and ~9 months old. He reminds me a lot of MWH's cat in looks. He's a friendly boy and the foster mom says he has a lot of character. The funniest thing, his name is B_____. oNe's kitty is named B_____. We all started laughing when they told us his name. They thought we were insane until we explained.

The kitty seemed to really like twoK. He tried to climb out of his cage into her arms. When he got out, I held him. He let all of us pet him a lot. I'm thinking if he handled all the girls molesting him as well as he did at the cat fair, he'll be able to handle the girls and lots of attention when he's settled in our home. If twoK decides this is the cat for her, the final test will be to see what oNe's kitty thinks of him. I think it'll work out.

What else.... Other stuff occurred this weekend, but I'll end here for now and save something for this week.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

3 in a row...

Posts, that is....! Look at me!

This one is so short I don't know if it counts, but here it is...

We're getting a new cat this year! We could have at any point after last May, but I've been dragging my feet. Now, I feel mostly ready. twoK will be getting her kitty as soon as we find the purrrrrrfect cat for her and to go with our current kitty. Adding a cat to the household can be tricky. I'm excited about getting a new cat, in theory, but not in reality, but I am ready. Deep breath. I'll keep you posted!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Maybe I'll get back into a groove...

But, probably not. I've been trying to get back into a habit of posting at least twice a week for a LONG time... Enjoy the posts while they are flowing, though!

Hrmmm... so much for flowing... I had about 4 things I wanted to talk about when I clicked on the "New Post" button and now they are all gone..... Let's see...

1. Restasis (um, boring dry eye stuff....I'm yawning just thinking about the post. I do want to write about it, but not today!)

2. Zumba! Or teaching dance in the first-grade classroom! It's so much fun. I'm getting a little better at it, but I still have a way to go before I want to teach grown ups. I choreographed a new song to Shake it up by The Cars. It's super fun. I wish I could get video of the kids dancing it and post it here, but probably not as that would blow my secret identity and violate all kinds of school policies all in one feel swoop.

Who knows if I'll try to teach Zumba. I don't try to make plans, I just kind of wait to see what evolves. I tried making plans and every time I do, something changes DRASTICALLY at work thus RUINING all my plans. My bestest colleague and supervisor knows exactly what I'm talking about (:waves to PS). I'm accepting my fate and just embracing the moment. (Heh.... for now. You'll hear me agonize later, I'm sure!)

On a related note, a good friend, our aerobics teacher, is getting ready to stop teaching. I love her and her class. I haven't been able to go to her class as much this year because of my schedule. I don't have as much nanny help this year (by choice) and her class is in the evening. MWH goes to her class and he's completely faithful to it. I don't know what he's going to do with out her class. He's been taking it for a LONG TIME.

3. Work... It's good at the moment. I got a BIG Thing accomplished the first two weeks of the year and now I have steady work on at least two projects for the next month. I can't ask for more. (See above for the fact that I'm giving up PLANNING for work!)

4. Um... running out of steam over here... I'll write more later. In the meantime, enjoy a very fun video from a very talented tap dancer. (Tap is my favorite!) (OH! I do have to tell you how I decided to do the dance show at our studio this year. Wow, call me crazy! I'll share more later.) Here's the video! Enjoy!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

A continuing theme...

I continue to feel guilty for not posting here very often. It's because I don't have a lot going on that I NEED to blog about that I can't blog about on "the other blog" and because I don't have very much time.

Let's see here's something that isn't appropriate for the other blog but that I don't want to forget.

oNe asked so many questions that I finally broke down and gave her "THE TALK." I started worrying about this moment back in 2006 you can read about my first thoughts about it here. Since I've been thinking about it for so long, I had plenty of time to decide on my approach. Mostly, I figured I'd go in open and let her ask me ANYTHING and that no matter what, I wouldn't be embarrassed.

I made this choice because of talking to my OB/GYN. She has to talk to grown-ups about sex and personal issues all day long. She's never embarrassed. It's just part of her job. I decided that talking with the girls and helping them to understand the world around the is my job. This decision made it easier to talk with oNe. With that said, I have to give oNe credit... She asked some questions that almost made me blush. She's pretty insightful for only being 9.

I can give you details about the talk and how it went if you want--but email me or leave me a comment. I don't want to post it all here on the blog.

When she and I were done with the talk I explained how you don't tell your friends or little sisters about this. You let their Moms tell them when they are ready. I told her I'd tell her sisters probably when they were about 9, too. I also let her know if her friends tell her stuff that she should check with me to see if it is true or not. I told her a lot of times kids hear stuff from other kids that isn't quite true and I want to make sure she has all the right information.

I'm hopeful she'll always come to me. I think the talk went as well as it could. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. One funny thing, she was in utter disbelief about the process. Heh. Blew her little mind!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Soy Happy

About this new research! I eliminated Soy when I became a vegan... Boy, that was HARD, but I wasn't sure soy was good for me. There's a lot of conflicting research.

Now, Messina's research (see the web site linked above in the first sentence for a link to Messina's work) points to it not being bad, and as having some benefits. Given this new research, I'm adding soy back to my diet. Though I am not vegan anymore, I prefer not to eat animals and I need more protein in my diet. I never thought it felt "bad" for me to eat soy--I never had any adverse reactions. I'll write more about eating soy, but mostly I am thrilled to have soy back. I am going to try to keep my consumption of soy protein to less than 30 grams a day. I'll probably try to do Soy-free days, too, but right now, I'm going to go eat a bowl of cereal with soy milk! YUM! Iced decaf coffee with unsweetened soy milk will be a lovely treat in the summer, too!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

List-y

1. oNe is nine! It wasn't quite as traumatic as turning 8, but it was still dramatic. She refused to say she was 9 until the time of her birth (8:44 pm) had passed on her birthday. When she turned 8, she worried about it for a couple of weeks before her birthday and kept saying HOW MUCH SHE DIDN'T WANT TO TURN 8. We had a little of "not wanting to turn 9," but nothing awful.

2. twoK has been very, um, cry-y the last week. She's very emotional and sensitive. I'm not sure what's up... It could be that oNe was having a birthday and getting a party, gifts and lots of attention and twoK was jealous, or it could be something entirely different. I have no idea. All I know is that there is hardly ever a time when all 3 girls are in a good mood. Usually one of them has something going on. I'm sure this phenomenon will get worse as we enter puberty--heaven help me!

3. My Mom left. We had a pretty good visit. I was VERY BUSY. She was a little sad that I was so busy. I felt guilty; it was typical. It always happens that I get busy when people are visiting. ALWAYS. I am usually busy, so this isn't surprising. I can't just take off every time we have a visitor. I wish I could, but I can't. If I didn't work (as much), then I could, but then I'd be unhappy with not working most of the year. Visits are pretty short, but, Murphy's law of visits, they always occur when I am VERY BUSY.

For the record, this year, I wasn't nearly as busy as I was in 2008 when my parents visited.

4. I've decided to try to take a photo a week on the iPhone. I'm posting on "the other blog."

5. oNe's party was good. We had fun. Her teacher came. I think I messed up on the invitations and I didn't get everyone invited, but I'm not supposed to stress about it--MWH's orders. I tried to invite the whole class. That's all I can say. I tried, but I work too much and do too many things and I think I messed up and now I feel guilty. (Story of my life.)

Oh... Yikes....Time for Zumba! Must run! (See, I do too much!)

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Arbitrary markers

It's January 4th, 2011... OMG, 2011. oNe is turning 9 in a few days...Again, OMG! My first born is almost 9. That means it's almost been a decade of motherhood for me. Wow. I am sure I will reflect more on this, soon.

I haven't done my "resolutions" yet, or reviewed my goals from last year, but I will. Who knows when though, it may be another week and 1/2 before I get to them, though. You see, I set a deadline for a work project for January 8 and January 15. I am KICKING myself for setting the deadline so close to the beginning of the year, but on January 15th at 12, noon, I will be THRILLED because I'll be DONE for a while.

Anyway, that's the reason why I am scarce right now. So far, I've stuck to my "NO NEW PROJECTS" for 2011, but I have to finish up the old stuff I agreed to, first. I will be VERY BUSY through January 15 and then, hopefully just comfortably busy through March.