I was in the kitchen, peeling garlic. I jabbed some garlic peel under my finger nail. It was not what one would call comfortable. It hurt at first, then was numb. Then it really started hurting. I said to Anthony, "This is terrible. It's getting worse."
A few moments later, Davan, who was playing keyboard in the adjoining room, comes in looking down. "Were you talking about me?"
"What do you mean?"
"When you said, 'This is terrible. It's getting worse.' Was that about my piano playing?" she asks, very depressed sounding.
"No, silly girl! I jabbed myself under the finger nail!"
"Oh," she says, very relieved.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
I've Succumbed
I've got some sort of illness. I'm not dying. I'm not even overly stuffy. I am, however, very tired, week, have a sore throat and a mildly elevated temperature.
Regardless, I still managed to go out with Anthony and Davan to run some errands yesterday. However, once, I stayed in the car and, when I did go in with them, I discovered that I couldn't keep up in the parking lot. That was kind of odd, trailing behind.
Today, they went to the library and back to Home Depot (we went there yesterday, too) and I opted to stay home. Sitting or laying at home in my sweats, a muffler, hat, a blanket or two over me and a mug of tea near by is much preferable to running errands.
Still, I'm well enough to not be miserable while hanging out quietly, which is excellent when one has the luxury of indulging a mild illness. Now if I can just convince Anthony to actually dote on me, cooking and cleaning up after, it would be a lovely day, even with the not feeling well.
It's not that he's not well intentioned. It's just that he doesn't know what to do in the kitchen, really, always needing direction, and he never really totally cleans up after himself. So, the day after I "take time off," I end up doing double duty, which sucks. So, if I can, I still get up and take care of stuff so that I'm not overwhelmed the next day. Sigh. One can't have absolutely everything in a spouse, I guess, and he sure is a great guy in a lot of other ways.
Regardless, I still managed to go out with Anthony and Davan to run some errands yesterday. However, once, I stayed in the car and, when I did go in with them, I discovered that I couldn't keep up in the parking lot. That was kind of odd, trailing behind.
Today, they went to the library and back to Home Depot (we went there yesterday, too) and I opted to stay home. Sitting or laying at home in my sweats, a muffler, hat, a blanket or two over me and a mug of tea near by is much preferable to running errands.
Still, I'm well enough to not be miserable while hanging out quietly, which is excellent when one has the luxury of indulging a mild illness. Now if I can just convince Anthony to actually dote on me, cooking and cleaning up after, it would be a lovely day, even with the not feeling well.
It's not that he's not well intentioned. It's just that he doesn't know what to do in the kitchen, really, always needing direction, and he never really totally cleans up after himself. So, the day after I "take time off," I end up doing double duty, which sucks. So, if I can, I still get up and take care of stuff so that I'm not overwhelmed the next day. Sigh. One can't have absolutely everything in a spouse, I guess, and he sure is a great guy in a lot of other ways.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Solution
I will not count the driving from home to the library to the gym as a local trip. Here's why - there is a leg of the trip that is well over 3 miles - 4 miles, to be exact - from the library to the gym. So, it's not really a local trip.
Now, if I were to go back home after dropping Davan off at the library, that part of the trip would be local and would have to be counted as such. I'd already decided, however, that if I make a local stop on the way to a non-local place, it didn't count as a local trip.
Justifying? Maybe. But, I still think I'm staying in the spirit of my resolution and I feel comfortable with the decision. Besides, so far the tally is 23.5 bike/walk to 3.5 car. That's not too shabby, me thinks.
Now, if I were to go back home after dropping Davan off at the library, that part of the trip would be local and would have to be counted as such. I'd already decided, however, that if I make a local stop on the way to a non-local place, it didn't count as a local trip.
Justifying? Maybe. But, I still think I'm staying in the spirit of my resolution and I feel comfortable with the decision. Besides, so far the tally is 23.5 bike/walk to 3.5 car. That's not too shabby, me thinks.
Quandary
This afternoon I'm taking Davan to the library for a homeschool class. Then, we'll be going straight to gymnastics. All told, the trip will be 8.9 miles. That's more, if you were to break it into there and back, than 3 miles, and yet, I never go 3 miles from home. Do I have to count that in the car tally or is it a freebie because it's more than 6 miles total?
If we were to come home in between, I'd say the trip counts as local. Is it not if I'm combining trips? I think, to be honest, that I should count it. It would sort of be like not counting driving to and from swimming because we had another person in the car. This is the sort of thing that I've planned for with the more bike/walk than drive wording, right?
But, I don't wanna count it. And it is more than 6 miles! But, never more than 3 from home. I guess I've gotta count it. Sigh.
If we were to come home in between, I'd say the trip counts as local. Is it not if I'm combining trips? I think, to be honest, that I should count it. It would sort of be like not counting driving to and from swimming because we had another person in the car. This is the sort of thing that I've planned for with the more bike/walk than drive wording, right?
But, I don't wanna count it. And it is more than 6 miles! But, never more than 3 from home. I guess I've gotta count it. Sigh.
Thank You, Thank You (Bowing)
Thanks to Ami for awarding me with the Honest Scrap award. I would like to thank all the little people who helped me get to this point. First, my parents...blah, blah, blah...and, finally, to the person who checked out my books at the library today. It's because of all you that I am where I am today.The rules are as follows:
A) First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep.
B) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.
As we're being truthful here, I think I'm going to have problems with both of these requirements.
A) I already feel like I bare my soul here, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.
B) I will try to come up with seven bloggers to pass this award onto that Ami didn't already mention. (I read a lot of the same blogs.) However, I'm not at all sure that they read my blog and I'm not a big poster, so I don't know if they'll actually receive the nomination after I make it.
All that said, here we go:
1) When I was 11, I went through a shoplifting phase, until I got caught and the shop owner pressed charges because, out of the three of us who did it together, all 10 and 11, I "looked old enough to know better." It did put an end to my shop lifting, that's for sure. Up until that point, where we were trying to take most of the Hallmark store, I'd only lifted candy here and there. What the hell was I thinking?
2) I miscarried before I got pregnant with Davan. While I like and mostly embrace the idea that the spirit of that baby hung around and became Davan, I sometimes think, when Davan is showing her "special" side, what life might have been like with B.C.
3) B.C. was the nickname for that baby I miscarried. Anthony thought it stood for "baby coming," but really, it was the nickname my friend Chris came up with when I told her that I was pretty sure we'd conceived on her bathroom counter.
4) This you probably knew, but even though I gripe about Davan here, I would choose her over any other kid in the world to come home with me every day. And, you've noticed, I haven't shipped her off to school yet, so we must be getting along okay. Truly, though, I love her deeply and mostly even enjoy her company.
5) Sometimes I want very, very badly to go out to eat on non feast days. However, when we went out to eat at Chevy's for Davan's birthday last month, I had total sticker shock. I'm glad we don't eat out much, but I still really, really want to often. Why is that?
6) Even though I'm doing pretty well with my weight - mostly staying around 125 - I still don't like the fat on my belly. And I'm not anorexic about it. It's really there. People don't believe me until I show it and then then do.
7) I will be feeding Davan soup for lunch today. It's the same soup I served to her friend yesterday which said friend took a couple of bits of and then didn't eat. Notice that I'm giving it to Davan, not myself.
8) When Max lived with us, I worried that I would loose it and hurt him.
9) There are people I'd like to spend more time with, but I have a hard time initiating contact. What if they don't want to spend time with me?
10) While I'm morally against war, making it both funny that I was in the Army and so that I'd never recommend to Davan that she join up, I'd sort of like to do Basic Training again - at least the physical part - just to prove that I could do it better than I did the first time around, being much more able to suffer now than I could then. And I'd like to see what sort of shape I would be in at the end.
Now for the passing on portion of the festivities. I nominate the following blogs (most of whose authors probably don't read here, but never-the-less are worthy of the title Honest Scrap):
Okay, so that's only 4, but I have to admit to not reading a ton of blogs - I keep myself strictly limited to reduce computer time. (And today, with the four posts, it really looks like that's working, eh?) I do read others, but not others I felt truly qualified. I mean, does blogging about food count? I decided not, even though I enjoy several of these types of blogs, whose authors do also do sometimes share about other things. Still, those didn't seem like appropriate recipients.
So, there it is. Ami is following the rules and I'm breaking them. Of course, if you read this blog and feel like you'd like to participate, please do and then let me know about it. Maybe I'm missing out on something good.
One Week Out
It's one week post Christmas (for us) and the house doesn't look like Christmas anymore. It's been a gradual process, with the last of Anthony's gift paraphernalia being tucked away just this morning, along with the snowman table cloth being put away. It's nice to have the house back.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas and I had a really good one this year. It's just nice to go back to not so much sensory input. The snowman table cloth was getting to me with it's attention getting pattern. I'm glad not to have lights strung up anymore in the living room, play room and hall. It makes playing ball in the house so much easier. It's nice to have it all and it's nice when it goes away, too.
We've taken care of all returns and cancellations. My mom had signed me up for a Do Jump class for adults that I can't do due to timing. Sadly, I'm 5th on the wait list for the class that happens when I can go. Next term, perhaps.
The one outstanding Christmas issue is Anthony's watch. He's having a hard time deciding. He's found a couple he likes, but it's difficult because, being on the thin side, his wrist is too small for many of the massive men's watches that are out there. Plus, he isn't sure if he wants to just go cheap on the watch and the extra money for other stuff or get one he really wants. Decisions, decisions.
The new year has prompted me to look at pictures on the computer. We point our screen saver at the current year so that we see our current pictures. So, I got to thinking about replacing some of the old pictures on the walls with pictures from 2008 so that when we move on to 2009 pictures, we'll still have our favorites around. That was a large-ish project that Anthony, Davan and I finished last night. While our picture hall still looks messy, I like the new pictures and it's slightly less messy than it was before.
Talking it over with Anthony, I decided to make a favorites folder of pictures from all the years we have on digital. That's five years now. I spent bout 7 hours over the last couple of days going through all of our pictures and copying over favorites. It was mostly fun to look at all the old pictures, but also hard on my shoulders. I'm not used to sitting at a desk for long periods of time!
I had a hard time with 2007, which was the year Max was with us the whole year. I surprised myself by feeling a little sad. Mostly, I've just felt so much like we made the right decision that sad hasn't gotten in there very much. It made me think about him and wonder how he's doing again. Not that I don't anyway. And it made me feel sad for what a rough life this little boy has had. However, I'm still very, very glad we disrupted. It's still a huge relief.
We're back into swimming, gymnastics, playdates, book groups and all the rest and glad to be. Yay for holidays and yay for regular routines.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Christmas and I had a really good one this year. It's just nice to go back to not so much sensory input. The snowman table cloth was getting to me with it's attention getting pattern. I'm glad not to have lights strung up anymore in the living room, play room and hall. It makes playing ball in the house so much easier. It's nice to have it all and it's nice when it goes away, too.
We've taken care of all returns and cancellations. My mom had signed me up for a Do Jump class for adults that I can't do due to timing. Sadly, I'm 5th on the wait list for the class that happens when I can go. Next term, perhaps.
The one outstanding Christmas issue is Anthony's watch. He's having a hard time deciding. He's found a couple he likes, but it's difficult because, being on the thin side, his wrist is too small for many of the massive men's watches that are out there. Plus, he isn't sure if he wants to just go cheap on the watch and the extra money for other stuff or get one he really wants. Decisions, decisions.
The new year has prompted me to look at pictures on the computer. We point our screen saver at the current year so that we see our current pictures. So, I got to thinking about replacing some of the old pictures on the walls with pictures from 2008 so that when we move on to 2009 pictures, we'll still have our favorites around. That was a large-ish project that Anthony, Davan and I finished last night. While our picture hall still looks messy, I like the new pictures and it's slightly less messy than it was before.
Talking it over with Anthony, I decided to make a favorites folder of pictures from all the years we have on digital. That's five years now. I spent bout 7 hours over the last couple of days going through all of our pictures and copying over favorites. It was mostly fun to look at all the old pictures, but also hard on my shoulders. I'm not used to sitting at a desk for long periods of time!
I had a hard time with 2007, which was the year Max was with us the whole year. I surprised myself by feeling a little sad. Mostly, I've just felt so much like we made the right decision that sad hasn't gotten in there very much. It made me think about him and wonder how he's doing again. Not that I don't anyway. And it made me feel sad for what a rough life this little boy has had. However, I'm still very, very glad we disrupted. It's still a huge relief.
We're back into swimming, gymnastics, playdates, book groups and all the rest and glad to be. Yay for holidays and yay for regular routines.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
How Far?
I found a fun new tool. Okay, I didn't totally find it on my own. My friend, Chris, showed it to me this summer, but I remembered and searched for it, so that counts, right?
At any rate, it's a running map which you can use to chart your run/walk/ride/whatever. Not having a bike computer, this is a handy tool for me to figure out how many miles I've done by bike to keep track of my resolution.
As an aside, I did modify my resolution just a wee bit. The main thing is that going to pick Davan up from gymnastics is a freebie. It's late and dark. Perhaps in the summer I'll reevaluate that, but for now, it seems reasonable that I just get to do that in the van for both our sakes.
Also, my bike/walk vs van has to tally on a monthly basis. Okay, back to the cool tool.
There are several offerings out there. I checked out three of them. My favorite is Map my Run. It was the most intuitive to use and the fastest, once it loaded up.
I found out that I was over estimating my miles, having gotten myself up to 20.5 after yesterday, when, in fact, 19.7 is the accurate count. So, it wasn't too far off, but I did make the adjustment on my tally. So far, it's walk/bike: 19.7; van: 0. That will change today, as I'll have an extra kid going to swimming and a different extra kid coming back from swimming, so we'll be driving and that will count as a local trip, even though there is a good reason to drive.
As an aside, I'll be going to pick up extra kid #1 from her house shortly. If it were less than 3 miles away, I'd have to count that against myself, as well, but, she's just over 3 miles away, so it's all good.
I've been realizing that I could have made my limit 2.5 miles and not had any appreciable change. Every place I go nearby is 2.5 or less. If it's more than that, it's usually quite a bit more - a trip to Costco or to Do Jump or the like, all of which are more like 10 miles away. Well, Costco may only be about 7 or so. I'm really not sure and I'm feeling too lazy to look it up.
Yesterday I chose to ride to book group (4.8 miles round trip) and to take Davan to gymnastics (4.5 miles round trip) even though the weather wasn't wonderful. It wasn't truly horrendous, either, but it was windy and drizzling. However, I knew I was going to be driving today and I also wanted to keep my options open for being able to drive another day if the weather was truly nasty - heavy rain, for example. So, the resolution is working for getting me on the bike and out of the car so far.
Of course, it's working for getting Davan on the bike, too, like it or not. Yesterday she commented that this resolution really effected her, too, ya know. I said, "Sure, but in a good way, honey," and smiled.
Right now, I'm not sure she agrees. Other times, though, she's told me we should never take the car, but it is hard in the winter. She'll adjust, though. We haven't been late anywhere yet and, as that's one of her anxiety points, the more we're not late, the more she'll probably relax about taking the bike.
How are your resolutions coming, if you've made any?
At any rate, it's a running map which you can use to chart your run/walk/ride/whatever. Not having a bike computer, this is a handy tool for me to figure out how many miles I've done by bike to keep track of my resolution.
As an aside, I did modify my resolution just a wee bit. The main thing is that going to pick Davan up from gymnastics is a freebie. It's late and dark. Perhaps in the summer I'll reevaluate that, but for now, it seems reasonable that I just get to do that in the van for both our sakes.
Also, my bike/walk vs van has to tally on a monthly basis. Okay, back to the cool tool.
There are several offerings out there. I checked out three of them. My favorite is Map my Run. It was the most intuitive to use and the fastest, once it loaded up.
I found out that I was over estimating my miles, having gotten myself up to 20.5 after yesterday, when, in fact, 19.7 is the accurate count. So, it wasn't too far off, but I did make the adjustment on my tally. So far, it's walk/bike: 19.7; van: 0. That will change today, as I'll have an extra kid going to swimming and a different extra kid coming back from swimming, so we'll be driving and that will count as a local trip, even though there is a good reason to drive.
As an aside, I'll be going to pick up extra kid #1 from her house shortly. If it were less than 3 miles away, I'd have to count that against myself, as well, but, she's just over 3 miles away, so it's all good.
I've been realizing that I could have made my limit 2.5 miles and not had any appreciable change. Every place I go nearby is 2.5 or less. If it's more than that, it's usually quite a bit more - a trip to Costco or to Do Jump or the like, all of which are more like 10 miles away. Well, Costco may only be about 7 or so. I'm really not sure and I'm feeling too lazy to look it up.
Yesterday I chose to ride to book group (4.8 miles round trip) and to take Davan to gymnastics (4.5 miles round trip) even though the weather wasn't wonderful. It wasn't truly horrendous, either, but it was windy and drizzling. However, I knew I was going to be driving today and I also wanted to keep my options open for being able to drive another day if the weather was truly nasty - heavy rain, for example. So, the resolution is working for getting me on the bike and out of the car so far.
Of course, it's working for getting Davan on the bike, too, like it or not. Yesterday she commented that this resolution really effected her, too, ya know. I said, "Sure, but in a good way, honey," and smiled.
Right now, I'm not sure she agrees. Other times, though, she's told me we should never take the car, but it is hard in the winter. She'll adjust, though. We haven't been late anywhere yet and, as that's one of her anxiety points, the more we're not late, the more she'll probably relax about taking the bike.
How are your resolutions coming, if you've made any?
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Resolutions
My post yesterday got me to thinking about resolutions in general. Not for the first time, mind you, but there it is, floating around in my mind, so I thought I'd share. Aren't you lucky?
I know there are those who are against resolutions. Reasons vary. Some say that resolutions never stick anyway, so why bother? To this, I say, is it better to never try to improve yourself or to at least give it some consideration and try it out, even if it's only for a few months/weeks/days? How are you going to improve yourself if you're not willing to ever even think about it? A small step may take at some point, leading to bigger steps.
Some people say that you should lead a considered life all year, not just at New Year's when everyone else is. Sure. Yeah. That's true. However, what's wrong with having a time of year that you give it extra thought? A time of year that you specifically are going to think about if there are any changes you need to make and what those may be? I dunno. Seems like that is a good plan, even if you also think about changes at other times, as the need arises.
So, I'm a fan of resolutions. Even if they kind of suck, i.e. "I will eat better." I mean, what does that mean? But, at least the person is thinking about it and recognizing a change should be made. That's a step, so, even if they don't follow through, it's still positive.
What makes a good resolution? It should be definable with goals to be met and it should be public. Otherwise, there's no one to know if you just give it up. That helps you to be accountable. Rather than, "I will eat better," one might say, "I will follow the Weight Watcher's plan for this whole year," (I think the core plan is a reasonably well thought out plan, personally, although I also see room for improvement.) "I will eat at least one fruit every day," "I will read Eat to Live and follow the six week plan outlined," "I will not order french fries with my daily double cheeseburger."
You know, whatever works for you. Where ever along the continuum you are. Whatever your goal it. State it clearly and tell people about it. If you have kids, they will do their best to keep you in line. "Mom! You can't eat those fries!!!!"
This works for anything, not just food. Think about where you can make a positive change, but don't try to do too many. One to three (smaller) goals is enough. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time sticking to all of them.
Are you lonely? Try volunteering. Your library/animal shelter/school needs you and you'll meet people.
Need to exercise? Commit to a 10 minute walk a day 5 days a week all year. It's a small do-able step.
Have you been yelling at your kids a lot? Plan to read one parenting book every two months to help get tools for coping. Join a support group. Swear that at least once a day you'll count to 10 before you speak when you're mad.
Of course, all of this is just my humble opinion on the subject. Take what you can use and forget the rest. I'm certainly not perfect. Try as I might, I never was able to get a handle on Max. I do try, though, and once a year, I truly consider resolution and decide if there is a step I should take. I think that's a good thing.
I know there are those who are against resolutions. Reasons vary. Some say that resolutions never stick anyway, so why bother? To this, I say, is it better to never try to improve yourself or to at least give it some consideration and try it out, even if it's only for a few months/weeks/days? How are you going to improve yourself if you're not willing to ever even think about it? A small step may take at some point, leading to bigger steps.
Some people say that you should lead a considered life all year, not just at New Year's when everyone else is. Sure. Yeah. That's true. However, what's wrong with having a time of year that you give it extra thought? A time of year that you specifically are going to think about if there are any changes you need to make and what those may be? I dunno. Seems like that is a good plan, even if you also think about changes at other times, as the need arises.
So, I'm a fan of resolutions. Even if they kind of suck, i.e. "I will eat better." I mean, what does that mean? But, at least the person is thinking about it and recognizing a change should be made. That's a step, so, even if they don't follow through, it's still positive.
What makes a good resolution? It should be definable with goals to be met and it should be public. Otherwise, there's no one to know if you just give it up. That helps you to be accountable. Rather than, "I will eat better," one might say, "I will follow the Weight Watcher's plan for this whole year," (I think the core plan is a reasonably well thought out plan, personally, although I also see room for improvement.) "I will eat at least one fruit every day," "I will read Eat to Live and follow the six week plan outlined," "I will not order french fries with my daily double cheeseburger."
You know, whatever works for you. Where ever along the continuum you are. Whatever your goal it. State it clearly and tell people about it. If you have kids, they will do their best to keep you in line. "Mom! You can't eat those fries!!!!"
This works for anything, not just food. Think about where you can make a positive change, but don't try to do too many. One to three (smaller) goals is enough. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time sticking to all of them.
Are you lonely? Try volunteering. Your library/animal shelter/school needs you and you'll meet people.
Need to exercise? Commit to a 10 minute walk a day 5 days a week all year. It's a small do-able step.
Have you been yelling at your kids a lot? Plan to read one parenting book every two months to help get tools for coping. Join a support group. Swear that at least once a day you'll count to 10 before you speak when you're mad.
Of course, all of this is just my humble opinion on the subject. Take what you can use and forget the rest. I'm certainly not perfect. Try as I might, I never was able to get a handle on Max. I do try, though, and once a year, I truly consider resolution and decide if there is a step I should take. I think that's a good thing.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Yay Me!
I did yoga this morning. It was a gentle sort of yoga, rather than power yoga, but still, yoga was done. I rode my bike a grand total of about 11 miles. I swam for an hour. I definitely got in my exercise today.
Better yet? I didn't take the car out until I went to pick Davan up from gymnastics this evening. At times in the past, I have been good about riding my bike rather than getting in the car. However, it's a habit that is hard to get back into. I do well from time to time, but there has been nothing sustained. It felt good to run errands, go to swimming and take Davan to gymnastics all on bike. I'd very much like to keep it up.
I've gotta be honest, though. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. I'm thinking we'll be going to book group in the van. How do I juggle giving Davan and I a break from riding in miserable conditions and still keep up the bike habit? I don't know. It's something to work on, though.
That brings me to the topic of New Year's resolutions. What with Christmas being celebrated on New Year's here, New Year's kind of got bypassed. We did, briefly, discuss if we wanted to do New Year's resolutions, but didn't really go anywhere with it.
Anthony would like to have a weight lifting goal. Davan didn't really have anything she was thinking about. Me? Well, at the time, I mostly just said I was trying to think of something non-food related, as we're already doing a year long challenge of eating "on plan" with the exception of our feast days.
It's been marinating for a few days and I've got some ideas floating around. I'd like to bike or walk more than auto for trips of less than three miles one way. (Wording it that way just popped into my head. Writing things down really does help!) Or I'd like to bike all the time for those same trips, except when the conditions make it truly unpleasant. That seems too vague, though, leaving too much room for just hopping in the van. So, maybe the first. I'd have to keep track, though, of miles in the car vs miles on the bike/feet so I'd know if I were meeting my goal. It's not undoable. It might work.
Also floating around has been some sort of yoga at least five days a week resolution. I'm pretty good about that already, though, so I don't think I need the resolution for it.
Getting up at a certain time of day during the week has run through my mind, as well. As I've mentioned here before, a lot of times I pretty much feel tired no mater if I've slept 8 hours or 10, so why sleep the extra 2 hours? Plus, studies show that people who sleep between 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 hours a night are healthier than those that sleep less or more. So, seeing as how I turn the light out around 10:30 usually and not after 11:00 almost always, getting up at 7:30 seems more than reasonable, even if it takes a while to actually fall asleep. I do enjoy laying in bed for a while before getting up in the morning, so I'm thinking my soft radio alarm clock can go off at 7:15 and I can get up by 7:30. I've usually woken up several times by then, so the alarm clock is really more of a reminder to not go back to sleep. I'd enjoy the extra time to make sure my yoga gets done before Davan's up and we're off to chores.
So, maybe two resolutions:
I will ride or walk more local miles than drive. Local is defined as 3 miles or less away.
I will get out of bed by 7:30 every weekday morning, being truly sick earns an exception.
Those seem do-able. Now I just have to share them with my family for accountability and hop to.
Better yet? I didn't take the car out until I went to pick Davan up from gymnastics this evening. At times in the past, I have been good about riding my bike rather than getting in the car. However, it's a habit that is hard to get back into. I do well from time to time, but there has been nothing sustained. It felt good to run errands, go to swimming and take Davan to gymnastics all on bike. I'd very much like to keep it up.
I've gotta be honest, though. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. I'm thinking we'll be going to book group in the van. How do I juggle giving Davan and I a break from riding in miserable conditions and still keep up the bike habit? I don't know. It's something to work on, though.
That brings me to the topic of New Year's resolutions. What with Christmas being celebrated on New Year's here, New Year's kind of got bypassed. We did, briefly, discuss if we wanted to do New Year's resolutions, but didn't really go anywhere with it.
Anthony would like to have a weight lifting goal. Davan didn't really have anything she was thinking about. Me? Well, at the time, I mostly just said I was trying to think of something non-food related, as we're already doing a year long challenge of eating "on plan" with the exception of our feast days.
It's been marinating for a few days and I've got some ideas floating around. I'd like to bike or walk more than auto for trips of less than three miles one way. (Wording it that way just popped into my head. Writing things down really does help!) Or I'd like to bike all the time for those same trips, except when the conditions make it truly unpleasant. That seems too vague, though, leaving too much room for just hopping in the van. So, maybe the first. I'd have to keep track, though, of miles in the car vs miles on the bike/feet so I'd know if I were meeting my goal. It's not undoable. It might work.
Also floating around has been some sort of yoga at least five days a week resolution. I'm pretty good about that already, though, so I don't think I need the resolution for it.
Getting up at a certain time of day during the week has run through my mind, as well. As I've mentioned here before, a lot of times I pretty much feel tired no mater if I've slept 8 hours or 10, so why sleep the extra 2 hours? Plus, studies show that people who sleep between 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 hours a night are healthier than those that sleep less or more. So, seeing as how I turn the light out around 10:30 usually and not after 11:00 almost always, getting up at 7:30 seems more than reasonable, even if it takes a while to actually fall asleep. I do enjoy laying in bed for a while before getting up in the morning, so I'm thinking my soft radio alarm clock can go off at 7:15 and I can get up by 7:30. I've usually woken up several times by then, so the alarm clock is really more of a reminder to not go back to sleep. I'd enjoy the extra time to make sure my yoga gets done before Davan's up and we're off to chores.
So, maybe two resolutions:
I will ride or walk more local miles than drive. Local is defined as 3 miles or less away.
I will get out of bed by 7:30 every weekday morning, being truly sick earns an exception.
Those seem do-able. Now I just have to share them with my family for accountability and hop to.
Of Course I Love Her
But, right now, I don't think that Davan believes that I do. For the second time today, she's in tears, thinking that I'm mad at her. And she's right. I am. Some. I'm not so angry that I've yelled or anything, though. I've just stated consequences - natural or logical - and she's ended up in tears.
As far as she's concerned, that means that I should be stepping in, cuddling her and letting her know that I still love her. And I do. Still love her. I just think that she should be able to suffer the consequence without having to go through all that every time.
This morning, she dawdled again at chores. Now, for a while, at least, we're going to have separate chore lists. If she wants to dawdle at chores, fine, but she still has her share to do. She freaked out, begging for another chance. Well, we've been over this a few times in the last couple of months, so I'm not feeling like another chance is a good idea. Lots of tears.
Then, I was getting our stuff together for swimming and I asked her to go get her water bottle. It's missing. It's either in the van or at the gym. If the latter is true, it could well be gone. I stated that fact. She is now crying and looking at me like I've been torturing her. Can you say overreaction? Or, at least, be upset about the bottle. What have I done here? Is it too much to think she should be able to cope with this stuff? It's not she'll go thirsty, even. I did give her a not so wonderful water bottle to use (it's not the first one lost).
She's upset because I've told her what the consequence is. Not about the consequence itself. She's upset because she thinks I love her less. I don't. But, do I have to show her that every time? I am a little mad about these things, yes. And I should be able to be a little without it having an adverse effect on our relationship, I believe. I'm not yelling. I'm not name calling. I'm just a little bit curt. A little bit. Sigh.
As far as she's concerned, that means that I should be stepping in, cuddling her and letting her know that I still love her. And I do. Still love her. I just think that she should be able to suffer the consequence without having to go through all that every time.
This morning, she dawdled again at chores. Now, for a while, at least, we're going to have separate chore lists. If she wants to dawdle at chores, fine, but she still has her share to do. She freaked out, begging for another chance. Well, we've been over this a few times in the last couple of months, so I'm not feeling like another chance is a good idea. Lots of tears.
Then, I was getting our stuff together for swimming and I asked her to go get her water bottle. It's missing. It's either in the van or at the gym. If the latter is true, it could well be gone. I stated that fact. She is now crying and looking at me like I've been torturing her. Can you say overreaction? Or, at least, be upset about the bottle. What have I done here? Is it too much to think she should be able to cope with this stuff? It's not she'll go thirsty, even. I did give her a not so wonderful water bottle to use (it's not the first one lost).
She's upset because I've told her what the consequence is. Not about the consequence itself. She's upset because she thinks I love her less. I don't. But, do I have to show her that every time? I am a little mad about these things, yes. And I should be able to be a little without it having an adverse effect on our relationship, I believe. I'm not yelling. I'm not name calling. I'm just a little bit curt. A little bit. Sigh.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Wonderful Christmas - Now Back to Reality
We had an awesome Christmas, celebrated on New Year's Eve, though it was. Dinner at my MIL's was nice and not too late. We came home, Davan opened her way too big PJs, but as they are the next size up from her too small ones, she's opted to live with them, then Davan went to bed.
My mom and I did stockings and put out gifts that weren't already out - Santa gifts and their gifts. They had bags and bags of gifts. So much for keeping it simple. :P
After a good, broken up 4 hours of sleep or so, I finally gave up. Anthony was awake, too, so we talked and snuggled and did other stuff. :) We got up around 7:30 to get coffee and tea going. Then Davan was up and the day moved on.
The day had a great pace with lots of pausing for enjoying gifts as they came, talking and eating of lots of food. The gifts were all very thoughtful and some were tear jerkers. My parents spent until after an early dinner with us. After they left, Davan, Anthony and I listened to Trickster's Queen and played with the new pattern blocks while eating even more....I ate a lot, but I actually did fairly well at stopping early enough not to go to bed with a sore tummy.
The very next day, Davan had her first meet. She was very, very nervous, so much so that she couldn't enjoy it and was totally drained afterward. She didn't want to go to practice that night, even. However, even with all that, she did very well. She scored between 8.5 and 8.8 on all four events, placing 5th overall out of 14 girls, 5 of whom have competed in whole seasons as level 5's before. I was proud to see all her hard work showing, but disappointed that she was so unable to enjoy herself. I hope the other meets go better. By Saturday, she was feeling good that she'd been in a meet and done so well.
Anthony, indeed, didn't like his present - a watch. He decided to return it and get a different one. He's been spending a lot of time on that for the last couple of days - researching and trying on. He still hasn't decided. I told him from now on, I wasn't going to actually give him any gifts. I'd tell him what he was getting and give him a rough price to work within. He loves the shopping around part, unless it's clothes.
Tomorrow, it's all back to regular life. I'm having a hard time facing the fact that our feast days are over for a long while. I did put on a couple of pounds and now I'm having to detox again. Is it worth it? I don't know, but I'll do it again, given the opportunity.
Anthony is back to work and Davan and I are back to swimming. Davan has told me several times today that she's nervous about swimming. I'm kind of pissed about that. Does that make me a bad mom? I just really feel like it's because she isn't the fastest anymore, although she's still near the top, and because it's much harder work in this class. I'm tired of everything being stressful for her and, thus, me, too. Her anxiety is getting to the point that I feel like we maybe need to go see a therapist. She's pretty resistant to that idea, though. I guess, at least, that I need to read up on anxiety issues and get some ideas on how to deal.
My mom and I did stockings and put out gifts that weren't already out - Santa gifts and their gifts. They had bags and bags of gifts. So much for keeping it simple. :P
After a good, broken up 4 hours of sleep or so, I finally gave up. Anthony was awake, too, so we talked and snuggled and did other stuff. :) We got up around 7:30 to get coffee and tea going. Then Davan was up and the day moved on.
The day had a great pace with lots of pausing for enjoying gifts as they came, talking and eating of lots of food. The gifts were all very thoughtful and some were tear jerkers. My parents spent until after an early dinner with us. After they left, Davan, Anthony and I listened to Trickster's Queen and played with the new pattern blocks while eating even more....I ate a lot, but I actually did fairly well at stopping early enough not to go to bed with a sore tummy.
The very next day, Davan had her first meet. She was very, very nervous, so much so that she couldn't enjoy it and was totally drained afterward. She didn't want to go to practice that night, even. However, even with all that, she did very well. She scored between 8.5 and 8.8 on all four events, placing 5th overall out of 14 girls, 5 of whom have competed in whole seasons as level 5's before. I was proud to see all her hard work showing, but disappointed that she was so unable to enjoy herself. I hope the other meets go better. By Saturday, she was feeling good that she'd been in a meet and done so well.
Anthony, indeed, didn't like his present - a watch. He decided to return it and get a different one. He's been spending a lot of time on that for the last couple of days - researching and trying on. He still hasn't decided. I told him from now on, I wasn't going to actually give him any gifts. I'd tell him what he was getting and give him a rough price to work within. He loves the shopping around part, unless it's clothes.
Tomorrow, it's all back to regular life. I'm having a hard time facing the fact that our feast days are over for a long while. I did put on a couple of pounds and now I'm having to detox again. Is it worth it? I don't know, but I'll do it again, given the opportunity.
Anthony is back to work and Davan and I are back to swimming. Davan has told me several times today that she's nervous about swimming. I'm kind of pissed about that. Does that make me a bad mom? I just really feel like it's because she isn't the fastest anymore, although she's still near the top, and because it's much harder work in this class. I'm tired of everything being stressful for her and, thus, me, too. Her anxiety is getting to the point that I feel like we maybe need to go see a therapist. She's pretty resistant to that idea, though. I guess, at least, that I need to read up on anxiety issues and get some ideas on how to deal.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
It's Working
I have a robust immune system! I'm not 100%, but I'm doing pretty well and even mostly enjoying the last of the Christmas prep. I've been cooking and baking and wrapping and food shopping and Davan surprise planning for the last two days and keeping up just fine, thanks.
It's amazing that even with how simple we try to keep Christmas present-wise, how much wrapping and such there is to do. Now, though, the wrapping is all done. Most of the food is made. It's all bought.
We're going to my MIL's this evening with more or less a whole meal. Davan is a strict vegetarian, mostly vegan, these days and, thus, doesn't eat most of what will be served there. I'm not far behind her and am not excited about most of what is served there. So, I've made two different types of dinner rolls, brownies (it is a feast day for us), and am working on unstuffed squash and a veggie tray with peanut peanut dip. Yum.
As we're getting well into our Christmas stuff, I hope you all are enjoying your New Year's!
It's amazing that even with how simple we try to keep Christmas present-wise, how much wrapping and such there is to do. Now, though, the wrapping is all done. Most of the food is made. It's all bought.
We're going to my MIL's this evening with more or less a whole meal. Davan is a strict vegetarian, mostly vegan, these days and, thus, doesn't eat most of what will be served there. I'm not far behind her and am not excited about most of what is served there. So, I've made two different types of dinner rolls, brownies (it is a feast day for us), and am working on unstuffed squash and a veggie tray with peanut peanut dip. Yum.
As we're getting well into our Christmas stuff, I hope you all are enjoying your New Year's!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
I am NOT Getting Sick
I have a robust immune system. I have a robust immune system. I have a robust immune system. This is my mantra.
I am definitely fighting something. Yesterday, in the afternoon, I started sneezing, feeling a bit of a sore throat and feeling run down. My mom is still recovering from her nasty flu-type illness. I spent a good deal of time with her on Saturday. Of course, on Saturday, I also spent a good deal of time climbing around inside Safari Sam's, which, I'm sure, is a brewing house for illness.
Here's the thing, though. I'm not getting sick. This, right now, is as bad as it's getting. Because, say it with me, "I have a robust immune system." I do, really. I eat healthy foods. I exercise. I'm pretty happy with my life. I'm not under undo stress. I have a robust immune system. I will fight this off.
I've been sick on Christmas day - like really sick - four out of the last five years. And last year, I was really sick just before and recovering on Christmas day. On the real Christmas this year, I was right as rain - totally healthy. I will not succumb to being sick on the day we're doing our traditional Christmas. I will not because I have a robust immune system.
I will not pass this on to Davan to have it interfere with her meet on Friday. Not only will I fight it off with my robust immune system, but Davan has a robust immune system, too, and will not even get mildly sick. Yup. Robust immune systems around here.
I am definitely fighting something. Yesterday, in the afternoon, I started sneezing, feeling a bit of a sore throat and feeling run down. My mom is still recovering from her nasty flu-type illness. I spent a good deal of time with her on Saturday. Of course, on Saturday, I also spent a good deal of time climbing around inside Safari Sam's, which, I'm sure, is a brewing house for illness.
Here's the thing, though. I'm not getting sick. This, right now, is as bad as it's getting. Because, say it with me, "I have a robust immune system." I do, really. I eat healthy foods. I exercise. I'm pretty happy with my life. I'm not under undo stress. I have a robust immune system. I will fight this off.
I've been sick on Christmas day - like really sick - four out of the last five years. And last year, I was really sick just before and recovering on Christmas day. On the real Christmas this year, I was right as rain - totally healthy. I will not succumb to being sick on the day we're doing our traditional Christmas. I will not because I have a robust immune system.
I will not pass this on to Davan to have it interfere with her meet on Friday. Not only will I fight it off with my robust immune system, but Davan has a robust immune system, too, and will not even get mildly sick. Yup. Robust immune systems around here.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday!?!?!
Davan's first meet has been scheduled for Friday at 10:30 am. It's an intersquad meet and doesn't really count for anything but practice, but it'll still be her first meet and she's been nervous about it.
As of 6 hours ago, it hadn't been scheduled at all and, in fact, the only thing we knew was that it was not going to be this Saturday. Davan was pretty happy about that, wanting more time to practice.
Then the email came. It's this Friday. Davan got teary when I told her. She's worried that she won't do well without having practiced much lately. The gym has basically been closed for two weeks now and we were out of town the week before that. Yikes!
I talked her down some, telling her that it just really doesn't matter what scores she gets. If they are really low, she'll have no where to go but up. All these scores will tell is what kind of numbers she can get after three weeks off, never having competed before.
She's been practicing some this evening....she's kept somewhat in shape other than this evening, but it's been rather hit or miss. Ah well. A little more notice would have been nice, though.
As of 6 hours ago, it hadn't been scheduled at all and, in fact, the only thing we knew was that it was not going to be this Saturday. Davan was pretty happy about that, wanting more time to practice.
Then the email came. It's this Friday. Davan got teary when I told her. She's worried that she won't do well without having practiced much lately. The gym has basically been closed for two weeks now and we were out of town the week before that. Yikes!
I talked her down some, telling her that it just really doesn't matter what scores she gets. If they are really low, she'll have no where to go but up. All these scores will tell is what kind of numbers she can get after three weeks off, never having competed before.
She's been practicing some this evening....she's kept somewhat in shape other than this evening, but it's been rather hit or miss. Ah well. A little more notice would have been nice, though.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Shopping Sucks
I spent 2 hours at Old Navy and Target this afternoon. I had a few things on my Christmas list still - Anthony's present, Davan's Christmas Eve new pjs, an active family gift, a shirt for a young cousin that we see on Christmas Eve, and Christmas stuff for the cats - in addition to just a few things we needed like conditioner and toothpaste. I came home totally whipped and rather grumpy.
I spent far too much time wandering around each store. The only thing I needed at Old Navy was the shirt. At one point, I had four things I was carrying around, thinking about buying. I did manage to leave with only two things, but that was one too many. Double what I'd gone in for, in fact. Yes, the second item was an extraordinarily good deal, but it wasn't on my list. The shirt I'd gone in for? I got, but I'm not overly thrilled with it. Sigh. I hope the young cousin likes it alright.
Then I went to Target. A list that should have taken maybe a half an hour took me well over an hour. I picked up so many thing and dithered over them. Things that weren't on my list. I did leave with the conditioner, a present for Anthony, super glue that Anthony called to ask me to pick up, toys and special wet food for the cats for their Christmas presents, the pjs (the very last pair of footies, which she still loves to wear in winter, in her size) and the family gift. In addition, I had four packs of Christmas chocolates that were on sale to give as gifts to the families we see on Christmas Eve and a pack of undies for Anthony. Those were the only extras I left with, so that wasn't too bad, considering how many other things I dithered about.
However, I also left in near tears over the stress of it all. So many people. So loud. So much money spent. Did I get the right things? Will people be happy? There is always returning, but that's not as fun as getting a gift you really want wrapped and under the tree.
All-in-all, shopping, particularly at Christmas, is difficult and I'm glad it's done for another year. Next year, we're seriously talking about not buying for cousins anymore. I'd be good with that. Although, sometimes stuff like that makes me feel like a complete cheapskate. Why can't it just be easy?
I spent far too much time wandering around each store. The only thing I needed at Old Navy was the shirt. At one point, I had four things I was carrying around, thinking about buying. I did manage to leave with only two things, but that was one too many. Double what I'd gone in for, in fact. Yes, the second item was an extraordinarily good deal, but it wasn't on my list. The shirt I'd gone in for? I got, but I'm not overly thrilled with it. Sigh. I hope the young cousin likes it alright.
Then I went to Target. A list that should have taken maybe a half an hour took me well over an hour. I picked up so many thing and dithered over them. Things that weren't on my list. I did leave with the conditioner, a present for Anthony, super glue that Anthony called to ask me to pick up, toys and special wet food for the cats for their Christmas presents, the pjs (the very last pair of footies, which she still loves to wear in winter, in her size) and the family gift. In addition, I had four packs of Christmas chocolates that were on sale to give as gifts to the families we see on Christmas Eve and a pack of undies for Anthony. Those were the only extras I left with, so that wasn't too bad, considering how many other things I dithered about.
However, I also left in near tears over the stress of it all. So many people. So loud. So much money spent. Did I get the right things? Will people be happy? There is always returning, but that's not as fun as getting a gift you really want wrapped and under the tree.
All-in-all, shopping, particularly at Christmas, is difficult and I'm glad it's done for another year. Next year, we're seriously talking about not buying for cousins anymore. I'd be good with that. Although, sometimes stuff like that makes me feel like a complete cheapskate. Why can't it just be easy?
Another Reminder of Life With Max
On Christmas Eve, Anthony was talking to his mom on the phone when something off about the vent in the dinning room caught his eye. He got a flashlight and removed the grill to find....a rotten, black, shriveled banana. Nice, eh?
The crazy thing is that we didn't notice before. I mean, at some point were we wandering around going, "Hmm, something smells a little off, I wonder what it is..."
When the heat came on, was there a banana smell that we were all just ignoring?
It wasn't the only time Max ditched food he wasn't interested in eating. We found stuff behind the cat food dishes, in his room, under other things in the trash. It's not that he didn't like bananas. He did. They were his favorite fruit, which wasn't saying much, really, but he did like them. There were times he told me that eating bananas was a treat for him. Not so much of a treat that they didn't get stashed all over the place, though, I guess.
Now it's easy to laugh it off. I wasn't capable of that when I had to live with it. Good times.
The crazy thing is that we didn't notice before. I mean, at some point were we wandering around going, "Hmm, something smells a little off, I wonder what it is..."
When the heat came on, was there a banana smell that we were all just ignoring?
It wasn't the only time Max ditched food he wasn't interested in eating. We found stuff behind the cat food dishes, in his room, under other things in the trash. It's not that he didn't like bananas. He did. They were his favorite fruit, which wasn't saying much, really, but he did like them. There were times he told me that eating bananas was a treat for him. Not so much of a treat that they didn't get stashed all over the place, though, I guess.
Now it's easy to laugh it off. I wasn't capable of that when I had to live with it. Good times.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
And With That, We're Done With Birthdays For a Whil
We made it to Safari Sam's today, one week late. We spent five hours there, playing. I probably played for about four of those five hours with Davan and I have the bumps and bruises to prove it. It was a good deal of fun, though.
Anthony played some, but is super sore from an abdominal work out a few days ago and had a hard time climbing about.
My parents joined us for the last two hours, but didn't climb about at all, as they are both recovering from colds - my mom from a more flu like illness, really.
The five of us went to Chevy's for dinner after where Davan opened presents and ordered off the adult menu - yikes! That's expensive! Just more good reason not to eat out often.
Davan's gifts were mostly gymnastics-y. The grips we ordered last Saturday came yesterday, so we wrapped them for her to open just for fun. My parents got her wrist guards to go with the grips and gymnastics shorts. She got a gift card to Micheal's from Aunt Chris and a new Hanna Anderson sweater also from my parents. She was pleased.
And we're done with birthdays for a while. At least family birthdays. Of course our second Christmas is in just a few days. That snow storm really stretched things out.
Anthony played some, but is super sore from an abdominal work out a few days ago and had a hard time climbing about.
My parents joined us for the last two hours, but didn't climb about at all, as they are both recovering from colds - my mom from a more flu like illness, really.
The five of us went to Chevy's for dinner after where Davan opened presents and ordered off the adult menu - yikes! That's expensive! Just more good reason not to eat out often.
Davan's gifts were mostly gymnastics-y. The grips we ordered last Saturday came yesterday, so we wrapped them for her to open just for fun. My parents got her wrist guards to go with the grips and gymnastics shorts. She got a gift card to Micheal's from Aunt Chris and a new Hanna Anderson sweater also from my parents. She was pleased.
And we're done with birthdays for a while. At least family birthdays. Of course our second Christmas is in just a few days. That snow storm really stretched things out.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Davan Has a Blog!
Davan has been asking me to help her set up a blog for a while now. She had one several years back that she abandoned and opted not to start up again.
She just started tonight and has her first entry. She's planning on doing some remodeling as she goes.
She'd love it if you were to go over there, check it out and leave a comment. She's named it Once Upon a Blog.
She just started tonight and has her first entry. She's planning on doing some remodeling as she goes.
She'd love it if you were to go over there, check it out and leave a comment. She's named it Once Upon a Blog.
Relaxing and Recovering
It's the day after. It's not that we open presents and have a ton of stuff laying around or anything like that. However, we did have a holidayish period of time. We have some recovering and relaxing to do.
No one slept much on Christmas Eve, which was odd because it wasn't like we were full of anticipation. Davan just had one of her difficult nights of falling asleep, which meant that we all didn't sleep a lot. We did "sleep in" but not a lot of sleep was involved. It was more of a "relax in". So, this morning both Davan and I slept way in - 8:45 for us. Anthony woke up at 5:00 and couldn't get back to sleep, so got up. That's probably part of why I slept in so nicely, as much as I enjoy the morning cuddles, I don't sleep as well when Anthony is still in bed, too.
We're also in recovery from sugar overdose. I made smoothies this morning - a regular blueberry for Davan and a quit green one for Anthony and I of just oranges, frozen blueberries and lots of spinach. It totally hit the spot.
I called both my best friend and my mom to catch up and talk about how Christmas was.
We've been having all of these family days and, while this may be too much information, haven't showered in a while. So, we're each working our way through the shower today.
We've walked and sledded and such, but I haven't done any serious exercise for a couple of days and that's on my to-do list.
We have a few chores that need attention. Litter boxes, laundry, that sort of thing.
None of this is overly taxing and a lot of it is chilling out time, so a relax and recovery day is in store.
Tomorrow we'll actually drive someplace for the first time in over a week. We'll be off to Safari Sam's and out to dinner for Davan's final birthday celebration with my parents. We're looking forward to getting out of the house (other than for the snow) and spending time with other people, too.
No one slept much on Christmas Eve, which was odd because it wasn't like we were full of anticipation. Davan just had one of her difficult nights of falling asleep, which meant that we all didn't sleep a lot. We did "sleep in" but not a lot of sleep was involved. It was more of a "relax in". So, this morning both Davan and I slept way in - 8:45 for us. Anthony woke up at 5:00 and couldn't get back to sleep, so got up. That's probably part of why I slept in so nicely, as much as I enjoy the morning cuddles, I don't sleep as well when Anthony is still in bed, too.
We're also in recovery from sugar overdose. I made smoothies this morning - a regular blueberry for Davan and a quit green one for Anthony and I of just oranges, frozen blueberries and lots of spinach. It totally hit the spot.
I called both my best friend and my mom to catch up and talk about how Christmas was.
We've been having all of these family days and, while this may be too much information, haven't showered in a while. So, we're each working our way through the shower today.
We've walked and sledded and such, but I haven't done any serious exercise for a couple of days and that's on my to-do list.
We have a few chores that need attention. Litter boxes, laundry, that sort of thing.
None of this is overly taxing and a lot of it is chilling out time, so a relax and recovery day is in store.
Tomorrow we'll actually drive someplace for the first time in over a week. We'll be off to Safari Sam's and out to dinner for Davan's final birthday celebration with my parents. We're looking forward to getting out of the house (other than for the snow) and spending time with other people, too.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas, Sort Of
We did mostly cancel Christmas. We're doing dinner at my MIL's on New Year's Eve, including our present exchange. My parents didn't come spend the night, so we also chose not to do presents this morning because it's more fun to do it all together. My mom is still sick, but on the mend. She had a nasty flu. She says now it more just feels like a cold.
I have more time to procure presents. Whew. Davan is a little disappointed off and on, but mostly doing well with it. She said, when I first told her we were postponing, "Well, that way Christmas will last longer. We can leave the decorations up longer. I think that most of the fun of stuff is anticipating it anyway."
Still, she sometimes has pangs of wishing we were doing real Christmas today. Anthony keeps saying, "The way the weather turned out, we could have done it." It's pretty drippy around here today. Our road is mostly slushy now.
I, though, am actually quite glad that we postponed. And I didn't even push for it. I'm glad for more time. I, like Davan, am enjoying the advent days (we backed up on the advent calendar). And we're having a kick-ass sort of Christmas.
We were still able to go to coffee with friends of ours yesterday and we all walked together in the snow. We spent a lot of time sipping coffee and chit-chatting while our girls played cards together. It's a Christmas Eve tradition that we all look forward to.
When we walked home, our older across the street neighbor was shoveling a walkway for his kids who were coming for Christmas Eve. The plow that came through our street created a good ridge of snow in front of his driveway. He wasn't trying to dig out, just to make a walkway for people. We helped him, then cleaned up our driveway, shoveling out to the packed snow in the street in case we needed to go anywhere. Davan, meanwhile, worked on her snow fort.
This picture is from the night before, but it still gives you an idea of it. She dug it out so she can totally lay down inside and sit up in there, too. It's pretty cool.
We came in for a light lunch - it was, to our surprise, already 3:00! Then we watched The Ultimate Gift. We liked the message, but found it kind of preachy. We also thought that the kit, while a good idea, was a little silly for a family that already did stuff together. A big deal was made of the kit and how it could help you build a better family with the gifts that were introduced in the movie. Check out the website for more information on that, if you're interested.
After the movie, we walked over to Safeway to return it to the box there. It was a lovely evening walk in the snow with Christmas lights all along the way. We opted to grab the sleds and do a little after dark sledding before coming in for a late dinner - a feast meal for us, topped off with brownies. Yum. Then it was bed time for Davan. It was a really great Christmas Eve.
We snuggled and slept in this morning, all three of us, as Davan joined us for snuggling in the morning. Then we made monkey bread together and ate that along with hashbrowns and garden sausages for breakfast.
We did a round of family rotational fun that included more sledding (although that wasn't so great because of it being mostly slush), building a snowman, making an ornament and playing games before starting some gingerbread dough for cut out cookies.
The dough is in the fridge, waiting. Lentil soup is burbling on the stove top and dough is rising for flat bread to go with it. The flat bread is a treat because we try to avoid using too much flour, for one, and for two, there is much more olive oil in it than we usually use. Lentil soup just goes nicely with the flat bread.
Of course, after snacking on baby carrots, sugar snap peas, left over brownies and caramel popcorn given to us by friends, I don't know how hungry everyone is. Ah well, the lentil soup will still be good tomorrow.
We've had a nice day of being together, playing in the snow and eating special foods. I totally feel like I'm getting two Christmases this year.
I have more time to procure presents. Whew. Davan is a little disappointed off and on, but mostly doing well with it. She said, when I first told her we were postponing, "Well, that way Christmas will last longer. We can leave the decorations up longer. I think that most of the fun of stuff is anticipating it anyway."
Still, she sometimes has pangs of wishing we were doing real Christmas today. Anthony keeps saying, "The way the weather turned out, we could have done it." It's pretty drippy around here today. Our road is mostly slushy now.
I, though, am actually quite glad that we postponed. And I didn't even push for it. I'm glad for more time. I, like Davan, am enjoying the advent days (we backed up on the advent calendar). And we're having a kick-ass sort of Christmas.
We were still able to go to coffee with friends of ours yesterday and we all walked together in the snow. We spent a lot of time sipping coffee and chit-chatting while our girls played cards together. It's a Christmas Eve tradition that we all look forward to.
When we walked home, our older across the street neighbor was shoveling a walkway for his kids who were coming for Christmas Eve. The plow that came through our street created a good ridge of snow in front of his driveway. He wasn't trying to dig out, just to make a walkway for people. We helped him, then cleaned up our driveway, shoveling out to the packed snow in the street in case we needed to go anywhere. Davan, meanwhile, worked on her snow fort.
This picture is from the night before, but it still gives you an idea of it. She dug it out so she can totally lay down inside and sit up in there, too. It's pretty cool.
We came in for a light lunch - it was, to our surprise, already 3:00! Then we watched The Ultimate Gift. We liked the message, but found it kind of preachy. We also thought that the kit, while a good idea, was a little silly for a family that already did stuff together. A big deal was made of the kit and how it could help you build a better family with the gifts that were introduced in the movie. Check out the website for more information on that, if you're interested.
After the movie, we walked over to Safeway to return it to the box there. It was a lovely evening walk in the snow with Christmas lights all along the way. We opted to grab the sleds and do a little after dark sledding before coming in for a late dinner - a feast meal for us, topped off with brownies. Yum. Then it was bed time for Davan. It was a really great Christmas Eve.
We snuggled and slept in this morning, all three of us, as Davan joined us for snuggling in the morning. Then we made monkey bread together and ate that along with hashbrowns and garden sausages for breakfast.
We did a round of family rotational fun that included more sledding (although that wasn't so great because of it being mostly slush), building a snowman, making an ornament and playing games before starting some gingerbread dough for cut out cookies.
The dough is in the fridge, waiting. Lentil soup is burbling on the stove top and dough is rising for flat bread to go with it. The flat bread is a treat because we try to avoid using too much flour, for one, and for two, there is much more olive oil in it than we usually use. Lentil soup just goes nicely with the flat bread.
Of course, after snacking on baby carrots, sugar snap peas, left over brownies and caramel popcorn given to us by friends, I don't know how hungry everyone is. Ah well, the lentil soup will still be good tomorrow.
We've had a nice day of being together, playing in the snow and eating special foods. I totally feel like I'm getting two Christmases this year.
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