Intentions...



"Do...or do not.  There is no try."

             -Yoda

 

Resolutions invoke pressure within me.... not the promise that things will get better.  But Yoda is right - it will either happen or not, and it begins with you.  You will either follow through.... or you won't.

 

You can't make positive change if you don't know where you are coming from - so a time of quiet reflection must come first.  This year has been a difficult, yet richly rewarding period of growth.  I began with intense baby blues.  Colin turned One in early February, and - just as it happened with the other babies, they hit the one year mark and I felt sad and longed for another baby to be on the way.  It was made even worse because I knew it was no longer possible.  I think the finality hit me rather hard and I felt a little lost as to how to proceed.  It worsened throughout the spring.  Colin had hit the age that I dislike the most.  I know a lot of parents rejoice at seeing their older babies learning and doing in leaps and bounds... but for me it just takes them further and further away from that precious babyhood that I loved so much.  He was also mobile and into everything.  It is a dangerous and nerve-wracking time for me - I just felt like I was running from one fire to the next.  It was no longer fun to go anywhere because all I could do was either chase Colin or Owen around.  Isolation doesn't help when you are already feeling down.

I went into therapy at about that time - and I thought it would help if I talked through all that was bothering me.  I also began to write (blog) again, in earnest.  Guess which avenue was most therapeutic for me?  The one that doesn't require me to leave the house.  I suppose feed-back helps, but I think that writing it all out helps me sort out my feelings and figure out how to proceed, much better than someone who doesn't really know me trying to tell me what to do.

As the year has progressed, things have changed quite a bit.  Colin has managed to get through those tough months unscathed, and now it is just a matter of keeping the heavy furniture bolted to the wall, and all sharp implements locked up.  No problem.... (ahem).  We can go to the park and I know that the kiddos can roam freely and climb to their hearts content - and Colin can safely keep up.  We ditched the diapers for Owen.  We've ditched the bottle and the binky for Colin.  Colin's potty training will begin in a month or two.  Life has gotten much easier for me in a very short span of time - and I am rejoicing in my new-found freedom.  This helps to permanently kick the baby blues to the curb - I can't even fathom the upheaval a newborn would bring to the family dynamic now.   But this doesn't mean that my heart won't ache every time I see a newborn - I seriously need to just turn around and walk away because I am certain I make the parents uncomfortable with the way I just stare at their baby as I imagine how it would feel to hold that little sweet bundle.  (damn... now I am starting to cry)  You think you are cured and your issues just smack you in the face!  I am done with that stage of my life - I love my sleep too much - and I want to care for myself now. I have neglected my needs for five long years now... and my priorities need to change.  It is my intention to improve my quality of life - I have four busy children to keep up with!

It's been a year of growth for Jordan.  He eleven and testing the waters.  Not in a disrespectful way (for the most part), but he is asserting his independence in small ways.  He watches over all the kids for short bits of time and earns some spending money doing so.  It's nice to be able to run to the store for some milk and know I don't have to drag everyone with me.  Jordan makes good decisions most of the time.  He is kind, he helps his younger siblings out and he doesn't talk back.  He will argue, but most of the time he has a point.  He has even taken on a pivotal role in the potty training - he will often dump out the potty and give it a rinse.  Now, that is saying something.  Jordan has had a hard year.  An important friendship came to an abrupt end, and he is struggling to find his way.  So one intention for this coming year is help him do that.  And give a good deal of coaching on how to be a good friend.

Homeschooling is and always will be a constant challenge for us.  Not because it is hard, but because we have such a span of ages and abilities.  I will do my best to use it as a strength.  It is my intention to make nature studies, science and art the subjects of intense focus this year.  Writing will really go in hand with that.  I am taking a step back from all things political with our homeschooling group this year.  I'm tired of it.  I will keep up my friendships and support my children in their quest for quality friend time, but it won't go much beyond that.  I've fretted and stewed over many issues over this past year, and it just wasn't worth it.

We have a low-key year ahead - our main focus is continuing our path to financial freedom.  We blew our Christmas budget to smithereens... but the good news is we did not use the credit cards.  We haven't touched them since August.  The bad news is is that our Emergency Fund became the Christmas fund.  There are no vacations in the works, save the occasional Boy Scout outing and summer camp, family hiking and camping trips and a trip to OKC at some point.  The only BIG events this year are Owen's first OFFICIAL birthday on Leap Day (wahoo!), and my dad's 70th birthday in September.  It is on my list of 40 Things to hike a fourteener some time this year.  If I keep with my intention to take care of myself, that very well may be a possibility.

Now all I have to do is reconcile that intention does not equal 'try'.  It is a deliberate decision to go ahead with something... I just can't let life derail my good intentions.  So I am putting it out there to the Universe - I intend to continue to grow, heal, learn and love this year.

 

Happy New Year!



The Trifecta

Poop     Pee     Puke

On top of everything else going on around here (room rearranging) I think that Dean and I have more laundry around here than we thought humanly possible.  Starting with Dec. 17th, the day we started potty training with Owen, we have been averaging 6 loads of laundry a day.  I'm not kidding.  That's 78 loads give or take.  I'm getting a little tired of laundry.  I don't even want to think about what our utility bill is going to look like.

Owen is doing marginally well with the potty training.  He is getting it right about 80% of the time where pee is concerned.  Poop on the other hand is a completely different matter.  He hasn't quite made it to the potty yet.  At least he only goes once, maybe twice a day.  At this point he is responsible for most of what it takes to clean that up.  We have a small bucket (I call it the 'poop bucket') stationed by the potty chair that all misses go into until the washer is free.  The poop gets rinsed away before the dirty underwear goes in there, but the dirty stuff has to go someplace other than the laundry pile.  And my bathroom sink is not an option either.

Colin has some sort of stomach 'thing' lately.  He's evidently coughed during the night (several nights over the past week) and thrown up in the process, and then gone back to sleep.  Gross.  Even though the monitor is on, I never hear it - but I find it in the morning... a nice large swath of puke right by Colin's head.  So in go the sheets, blankets and pj's. 

Occasionally we do hit the jackpot and throw the whole trifecta in the wash at once.  Colin has also been throwing up on himself a couple different times during the day... along with a wonderful soupy diarrhea.

I'm sorry.....have you had breakfast yet?

So, in addition to all of the laundry that is going on - and the extra long time it takes to wash things through the 'Sanitize' cycle, we are bathing the house in Lysol, and scrubbing everywhere there is a miss or a clean-up.  The house has never been so clean.

So, you wanna come over for a visit?  You might get lucky and witness a trifecta - place your bets now!

 

The Most Wonderful Week of the Year

This is the best week of the entire year.  Seven straight days of empty white boxes on the calendar.  Bliss.  I love this week.   And, we are officially done with all things Christmas - everything was packed up yesterday (don't hate me).  I want to get back to all things homeschool next week with a serious bang.

There are numerous things to celebrate this week...

• no schoolwork, apart from reading
• a fridge full of leftovers
• tons of cookies!!!!
• there are several family games to play and puzzles to put together
• we can get caught up on chores around the house w/o guilt
• no karate lessons to drive to
• the upcoming new year creates the perfect atmosphere to sort, donate and pitch
• I get to shred all of my documents from 2004.  Hallelujah!

Since Dean is home all this week, we have three different major projects in the works.  Finish clearing out the basement (we are a third of the way there), move the entire playroom to the basement, and move the office to what was the playroom and will now be the official school room.  I.  can't.  wait.  I have wanted this for sooooo long.  I am sad that the kids will be playing in the basement, so I don't get to hear the sounds of play in the adjoining room as I am making dinner or whatnot, but I also don't have to hear the constant fighting over toys.  I don't have to deal with the constant mess of toys strewn EVERYWHERE!  The last straw came a few weeks ago when I came down the stairs during the night, stepped on a sharp piece of Lego and went down.  I was done - the toys were going to move come hell or high water.  I do have several concerns about how to make this work. I worry about supervision.  I will have to move the baby monitor around on a daily basis, and rotate out Jordan and Rylan as we move through our lessons - which might actually be a good thing because then I can work with them one on one.  We have a big gigantic behemoth T.V. down there.  We bolted that to the wall on Monday, so I feel much better about that.  Now all I have to worry about is the china cabinet...

I wanted to get a lot of posts done this week because my mental queue is getting out of control, but the work I described above is pulling rank.  I didn't even get to post about our actual Christmas, so here it goes...It was very nice.   We had dinner at my mom's on the 23rd, and opened presents.  We went to my brother and SIL's for the large family gathering on the morning of the 24th for a brunch.  That was awesome.  I highly recommend trying that instead of a large heavy evening holiday meal.  The kids got to play out in the snow, the adults weren't stressed about how late it was getting and the kids were in fine shape.  I'm all in favor of morning things - then it doesn't interfere with naptime. 

We brought my dad home with us that afternoon and he stayed through the evening.  We got a pizza (it was too late to start the crockpot meal I had been planning to making), and had a quick dinner, then it was on to baking and frosting sugar cookies for Santa.  We hurried down to church and enjoyed a gorgeous candle light service.  Then we dropped of dad at his house, went home and put the kids to bed, and the stayed up until 3 am wrapping presents.  Good times. 

I picked dad up at 8 am, brought him home and then the kids came down and the present fest began.  We had a wonderful, low-key day.  A lazy breakfast of strawberry coffee cake, bacon and eggs, and then lots and lots of play.  My dad and I made stuffing and got the turkey into the roaster, and then we played a new game that the Oklahoma grandparents gave us.  Ever played Qwirkle?  It is awesome!! My stepmom joined us about dinner time, and we had a lovely Christmas meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies and cherry pie.

Loved spending some time with my dad.  We haven't seen him since before Thanksgiving.  We both arrived home sicker than sick from Thanksgiving vacations, and then the whole Chicken Pox debacle - he's another family member that can not afford to get Shingles.  It was really nice to have him here, and he loved the chance to do some baking with Rylan.

Here are some pics...

A few thoughts...

I tried to talk Santa out of it, but he insisted on bringing ice skates to Rylan.  So now we have the pleasure of figuring out how to work in skating, ballet and tap lessons.  Wow.

Rylan can pack a mean snowball.

The Firefly is an awesome toy to use in the dark - so cool.

Opening presents one-handed is difficult...especially when you can't put down the cookie.

Owen eats, sleeps, and breathes all things Lightening McQueen.

Sparring gear is expensive.

Rylan's dollhouse family can now go on holiday in a cool camper van or go camping in the wilderness.

We've watched Cars2 five times in the past 72 hours.  It's still good.

Jordan got 2 new Nintendo 3DS games.  We also found out that Jordan has frequently been getting up in the middle of the night to play... even more disturbing is that it was online with other people.   All handheld gaming devices are now under lock and key.



It was a lovely holiday and I am thankful for all of the wonderful gifts that our family received.  It was so nice to visit with family that we haven't seen in awhile - it's great that most of our kids are at an age now that they can run around and play with their cousins without constant supervision.  I also felt the painful absence of my grandmothers.  We spoke of memories, fixed some of their trademark recipes, and set the table with their holiday finest.

I'll leave you with my grandma Betty's mealtime blessing....

Be present at our table Lord,

Be here and everywhere adored.

These mercies bless

and grant that we,

May feast and fellowship with thee.

Amen.

Going on the go



Yesterday, Day 4 of potty training went something like this:

"Owen, tell me if you have to go!"

Repeat 467 times.

This is appointment week for us again.  Which was an entirely stupid thing to do the week leading up to Christmas.  Note to self: No doctor appointments during December - so nobody better get sick next year!

Day 4 of potty training meant that we needed to take the potty with us.  This was Owen's first foray out into the world (besides seeing Santa) in just underwear.  So, armed with 3 pairs of pants, 10 pairs of underwear, a towel, a roll of paper towels, disinfectant spray, wipes, and a water bottle, we set out.

First stop was Jordan's pair of appointments that are set back-to-back in a nice little clinic in Loveland.  I went in first to speak with the doctor, while Jordan stayed in the car with the kids and they watched Santa Clause.  Owen sat on his potty chair, which was situated on the floor, between the seats.  I was inside for about 8 minutes.  I came out, and switched with Jordan.  He went in and I checked on Owen.  No pee!

Add in three more stops and a trip into Kohl's  He did pee in the potty twice. I dumped it (discreetly) into the bushes in the parking lot, and gave it a rinse with a squirt from the water bottle.  Easy!  He also went once on the big potty in the bathroom at Kohl's.  That was *fun*.  I did not have enough hands to prop him up and keep Colin from touching every yucky surface imaginable in that bathroom.  I wanted to bathe them and myself with Lysol after it was all over.

It is probably not the best idea to incorporate errands into the potty-training schedule, but sometimes it can't be helped.

For the next few weeks the potty and extra supplies will be constant companions every time we leave the house.  Oh how I look forward to the days when the diaper bag and the potty chair and so on and so forth are a thing of the past.  And then, when I reach those days, I will miss this age.  You can never win.

All things bright and beautiful

This holiday season didn't start out like we thought it would.  Dean and I were both sick.  In fact, we still sort of are.  Three weeks of this, and it is tough to shake.  We didn't get the Christmas lights up on the house.  It was too cold and snowy the first two weekends of the month, and well, we were sick.  I did get one, lonely little wreath up by the front door.  We did get most of the inside decorations up, though, in record time for us.  I unloaded all of the bookshelves that hold our school stuff, and I filled them in with my Santa collection (26)  and my Nativity collection (5).  We placed our small tree up in the front window, on a little table.  It is the designated Santa tree - it has all of the Santa ornaments.  Then we put up the main tree in our open living room/kitchen, which is a new thing for us this year.  We usually put it up in the big picture window in the play room (which I suppose would really be considered a dining room).  But that always encouraged kids to mess with it, drape it with toys and Jordan would suspend his marble track from it.  So we moved it this year, and I just love the new location.  We can see it at all times, I can chase kitty out of it before she strangles herself on a light string, and I can chase down Colin each time he runs away with an ornament.  It may not be visible to the street anymore, but our little tree is, and that is enough.

I swore a long time ago that this was to be the month of 'No'.  I only wanted to do things that really meant something special to us.  I was not going to pressure myself to do every little thing that came along.  We made up a wish list of Holiday Must-have's during our trip to OKC over Thanksgiving.

• Get the Christmas lights up on the house (next year - BEFORE Thanksgiving)
• Put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving
• Do the advent calendars
• Drive around and look at Christmas Light displays - sometime the week before Christmas
• Go to the Nutcracker
• Attend the Christmas Eve Candlelight service
• Plan several different nights of popcorn and Holiday movie
• Putting together the Christmas -themed puzzles
• Make cookies.  Lots of them.  Deliver them to friends.
• Put up the Santa Collection/Nativity scenes
• Make a tree ornament/do crafts
• Visit Santa
• Write out Christmas lists/complete a letter to Santa
• Go to the Hall of Trees at the Lincoln Center
• Build a gingerbread house
• Read multiple Christmas books, every day (we have about 60...)
• Take a family picture

This year brought a few surprises when attempting to stick to the list.  Most of the items involve just us or close family.  I love that.  No programs, group events, gift exchanges... all of those events incur a lot of stress - principally on me.  This has been the least- stressful holiday season on record.

• We didn't get the lights up.  Being sick and bad weather were the principal reason.  I feel bad about that, but on the bright side, there will be no stress of take-down, and no boost to the electric bill either.
• We did get the tree up.  It took an extra week to get the lights on it because it was hard to get Dean motivated. ;)
• We are doing the advent calendars, and I even made a new one.
• We will be driving around looking at lights with my mom tomorrow night.
• Rylan and I went to the Nutcracker last weekend with mom.  It was wonderful!
• We will be going to the Christmas Eve service with my Dad, brother, SIL and nephews, and listen as my mom plays the organ.  Should be very nice.   Owen and Colin will most likely be in the nursery - which they just love after spending so much time in there all during the fall while we were in Financial Peace University.
• We did the bulk of the holiday movies the first few days of December, in order to allow Jordan as much popcorn as humanly possible before he got braces on the 6th.
• Puzzles are going out today - per Jordan's request.
• So far we have made one batch of Christmas cookies- plenty more to come this week.
• Put up Santas and Nativities.  Accomplished by Dec 4th  Yay me.
• Make a tree ornament.  Sometime this week.
• Visit Santa.  We did this last night.  We went to our local community garden/education center, and it was just beautiful - I loved every minute of it.  The light displays were all garden-themed.  Plants, insects... there was even an imaginary Koi pond with lighted fish moving across.  Santa sat under an outdoor shelter and visited a long time with each and every kiddo that came along.  There wasn't a very long line (it was cold), and the kids thought it was just amazing and magical.  Santa even visited with Jordan, who stood at a respectful distance.  Jordan's magic was abruptly cut short a couple years ago.  Santa was very cool with it all, and gave Jordan some wise words of wisdom: Keep the magic alive in your heart.  Amen.
• Each kid wrote out wish lists by cutting out pictures and pasting.  Rylan managed to write out a letter to Santa last week - it will go in the Christmas scrapbook.
• The Hall of Trees was something of a mystery.  The performance hall was closed last year for renovation, so we were eagerly anticipating it this year.  In the years past (mom and I have made this our tradition for over ten years), thirty to forty merchants would decorate a tree with a theme and create an entire display with gifts, decorations, etc...  It took a half an hour to stroll past all of the displays that ran the length of the entire complex.  This year the kids and I met mom on the first day of the tree display (it was advertised in the paper and on the web) and there were no trees.  At least not like we were expecting.  There were 15-20 'mini-trees' on display in the art gallery room.  They were decorated rather simply, and were part of a silent auction.  That was it.  We were there 10 minutes.  What a huge disappointment.  We weren't the only ones baffled - there were a lot of confused patrons wandering around as well.  I hope they get back in the game next year.
• Build a gingerbread house.  The kids and I did this this past Friday.  A lot of work but it was pretty fun, actually.  I've never made one before, so I am adding it to my list of 40 Things (this will be #2) I suck at frosting anything but Jordan swore I did a really good job.  The cat, of all things, has been nibbling away at the roof all weekend.
• We have been reading Christmas stories all month.  We still have more than half of the books to go... I think I need to pare down our collection.
• Take a family picture.  We tried this yesterday.  The kids cooperated, but we were outside, looking partially into the sun and at least one family member in every picture is doing something they shouldn't be doing.  We are going to try again tonight... with a picture of all of us in our Christmas pj's....we'll see.
• There was a cookie-exchange party that I was invited to just this past weekend.  I really really wanted to go, but we already had family plans and then the chicken pox fiasco just wrenched everything.  I feel that it is important to avoid anyone and everyone until 14 days have passed,  which is, thankfully, Dec. 23rd.  Otherwise we would miss the family Christmas Eve brunch and I would be mad as hell.
• There was also my bookclub ornament exchange/party this past Saturday, but I already knew I was going to be missing that weeks ago because Jordan and Dean were going to be snowshoeing in RMNP with the scout troop and my mom couldn't watch the kids.
• We went to see White Christmas at our local dinner theater last Sunday with my brother and SIL.  My mom graciously gave the four of us tickets to the matinee and $20 each couple to spend on any extras like drinks or dessert.  She said to think of it as a gift from my late grandma Betty.. which makes me want to cry and smile at the same time.  Mom also offered to babysit all seven grand kids (at our house) while we were at the show.  My 15 yr old nephew manned the first hour on his own, until my mom arrived at our house after finishing up the last service at church.  He did a terrific job.  He even rocked Colin to sleep and placed him in his bed.  We had an awesome time at the show.  I can't remember the last time the four of us went out... it's literally been years.  The show was very good (I've never seen it before) and it makes me want to learn how to tap dance.

Each weekend has been a true delight.  Not too busy, but with just enough activities to keep things special and magical in their own right.  Having a slow month meant that I could schedule a focus weekend to get potty training underway which is my Christmas present to myself.  It's a little chilly for Owen to be running around in just a shirt and underwear, but it's working.  The two times that we left the house (for pictures and to see Santa) he wore pants as well, and each time by the end of the event he was wet, but we were prepared with extra underwear and pants in the car.  At least he didn't pee on Santa.  :)  We did that first thing.

Here is a picture diary...

Happy Holidays!

Boot Camp



This is potty-training weekend.  It's been on the calendar since mid-November and I have been looking forward to it just about as much as you would with a tooth canal.

On Thursday, I took Owen and Colin to Kohl's while Jordan and Rylan were in their karate class and we picked out new underwear.  Cars, Toy Story and Spider Man were just up Owen's alley - 24 pairs in all.  We, of course, (THANK YOU F***ING KOHL'S) had to navigate our way around a HUGE display of Thomas toys to get to the underwear, so Owen grabbed up a box because he was certain we would be purchasing that too.  We weren't.  Meltdown ensues...  To make matters worse, the next day, Friday, we were in Target and I made the huge mistake of walking by the toy section on our way out.  Thomas was on the endcap.  Meltdown #2.  So yesterday morning I showed Owen his potty sticker chart - with 30 spots to fill in - and told him that when he filled it, he would go to the store with me and we would pick out what Thomas toy he wanted.  That little bugger earned 16 stars yesterday!  Looks like I am shopping way earlier than I planned - which is a very, very good thing.

We are using the 3Day Potty Training method.  I am pretty pleased so far.  I am finding it rather difficult to be exactly by Owen's side every second, and that means that there have been plenty of accidents, but Owen is doing a terrific job of starting to pee, telling me that he's peed, and then getting to potty and finishing the job.  By last evening, he was announcing that he needed to go, which is a huge step.  He stayed dry during his nap yesterday afternoon, and we'll see about this morning.  I am about to go wake him up and get him on the potty.

I've found that keeping all of the tools right next to the potty has lessen the frustration.  I have a bucket to deposit the dirty underwear into, and the bin of clean underwear ready to go.  (Which Colin likes to dump into the dirty bucket.  Nice.  Nothing like doing the sniff test or the wet test to sort out the clean from the dirty again.  I think we went through about 20 pairs yesterday, between Colin and Owen.  Oh yes, Colin was a recruit too, for about three hours.  Then I just gave up and concentrated on Owen.  It felt like I was dealing with a puppy.  I also keep the carpet spray and disinfectant spray and a roll of paper towels handy as well.  See?  Puppy.

Today's goal is to get a #2 accomplished.  That has never happened yet, in all of the months that we have been trying to get Owen interested in the potty.  Tomorrow's goal is to get him on an actual potty, and to stand.  Now that will be interesting....



Candygram...

It's package delivery season again.  I absolutely dread this time of year.  I think I am finally on good terms with UPS again.  It's been a few years now, and I am hoping that enough personnel rotation has happened that they no longer pass around the story about the time a very pregnant crazy lady stood in the middle of the street, in front of the oncoming UPS delivery truck.

It's a great story.  Not.

It was four years ago and we were expecting several packages during the week before Christmas - to the tune of 1 -2 a day, all week.  Most of the packages were coming from either family in Oklahoma or retailers.  One of the packages was some electronic equipment.  It escapes me now, what it was, but it was expensive and fragile - and we were anxious to receive it. 

I was 32 weeks pregnant, and Rylan was 18 months old and an afternoon napper.  UPS always shows up in the afternoon, which meant that I had to dash to the door each day before they made their customary banging on the door - no matter what kind of signage I left to please not use the bell or knock.  One day I threw open the door and crossed the front porch to meet the deliver guy at the front walkway.  I was not but three feet from him, but he chose to just toss the box down in front of my feet despite my cheerful "How are you?  I'll take that from you!".  Ass.  He didn't even look back.

So I made a phone call.  It was the fragile package we were anticipating and I was pretty angry that he just tossed it onto the pavement, in front of me.  Nothing was broken... but I was not about to let this little incident go. 

So, the next day, when delivery time came around again, this time there was a loud knock at the door.  I was back in the kitchen, and I had heard the familiar gear-shifting of the UPS truck, so I was already waddling my very pregnant self toward the door when he knocked.  I wasn't but 2 seconds behind, but he was already leaping into the truck when I opened the door and noticed my package left on a table next to my front door.  I brought the box in.  I got out a knife to start opening the box.  I placed a hand on top of the box to hold it as I started cutting, and when I pulled it away, 'something' was sticking too it.

Snot.

A lot of it.

That f**king delivery man hocked a disgustingly large loogie onto the top of my package in retribution for the earful he most likely got from his supervisor when he got in the night before.  And then the chickenshit ran to the truck.  Well.  No no no no no. This was going to stop.  Now.

So I rinsed my hand, grabbed a jacket, called Dean, and headed outside.  I got Dean on the line and explained what was happening.  I live on a large cul-de-sac, and I am the first stop on their route.  They would have to drive back by my house.  And when they did... we would have a 'chat'.

They started barreling towards my house to make their exit, and I walked into the middle of the street and held up my hand.  The driver (not the spitter) stopped.  I walked over to the door and let loose a tirade that would make sailor blush.  I did not appreciate his little 'present', and I told him so.  I walked away and made some more phone calls and took pictures to send to his supervisor as well.  And then washed my hands about 20 times and went through half a bottle of hand sanitizer. (and then lived in fear for a couple of weeks that he was going to come back and toss a brick through our front window...)

Needless to say, the driver personally made the package drop the next day.  Along with a new guy. 

My work was done. 

Word to the wise: Don't mess with a crazy pregnant lady.  Not ever.



A pox on thy pox parties...



By virtue of being a homeschooler, we run in the social circles that are passionate about freedom of education, food choices, and immunizations.  It seems that every few months, someone else on facebook is announcing another Chicken Pox exposure party.

I've got to get some rather intense feelings off my chest - right now, because the situation has become toxic.  There will be ruffled feathers, and hurt feelings of close friends, but I want to scream at the world, and implore to the sensibilities of the parents out there that intentionally expose their children to potentially dangerous diseases.  It may be all fun and games for you to circle up your children and pass around a lollipop and then wait in gleeful anticipation for the spots to appear - but what about all the other people you will come into contact with for the next three weeks.  Did you think about them?

I'm the daughter of an immunologist.  You now know which side of the fence I stand on.  I don't engage in discussion about the merits of immunizations with others, I don't push my opinions on facebook (until now) or at Park Day, I just keep it to myself.  But when I have unknowingly exposed my children to a child that has been knowingly exposed, that is when I get livid about the insanity of it all.

 

 

I just have to question this fine line between one parent's agenda and another's.  If your agenda is to intentionally get your child sick so that they build a natural life-time immunity to the chicken pox, I can respect that.  I am thankful that I went though the disease myself and that I no longer have to worry about it.  But in the pursuit of your agenda, did you consider that everywhere you go for the next 21 days, you are potentially putting some one else at risk?  Yes - I know it is not intentional, but no one is using common sense here!!  I know you mean well for your children, but the ramifications of intentionally exposing your family to disease seems to get lost in the translation here


We didn't have a choice in this happening.  Where is the fairness in that?  I'm not trying to point fingers and ridicule others for their lifestyle choice.  I will, however, call attention to - hell, even scream it from the mountain tops (in other words put it on my blog) when an action puts my family unknowingly at risk.  So please, please, to all of you non-immunizers out there... please understand that your choice to expose your kids is not as personal as you think.  Apologies aren't necessary here - what's done is done - but awareness within our community will make all the difference in the future.

I'll see you all next Spring when it is safe to come out.  (and they say we aren't socialized...pshaw)

The Nutcracker



Of all of the different activities to do during Christmas time, going to see the Nutcracker is my all-time favorite.  It just doesn't 'feel' like Christmas to me without it.

Ever since I held my baby girl, Rylan, in my arms, I've been anticipating the moment that she would see her first performance of this beautiful ballet.  It's the ideal mother-daughter event, and I can recall the multiple times I went to see it with my mom.  This is the year, since Rylan had reached the age (5) where she could manage to sit through the entire show.

Mom purchased tickets for the three of us and we went to yesterday's Matinee in holiday style.  Tons of other little girls and their moms were there as well - so many beautiful little ones in gorgeous holiday dresses - I just love, love, love this time of year!

We had seats in the center Mezzanine, and I brought binoculars in case Rylan wanted to see anything close-up.  A few nights ago I read the story of the Nutcracker to Rylan so she would have an idea of what the ballet was about.  Unfortunately, I forgot to leave out a few details - things that adults just take for granted.  The performers don't talk or sing...they just dance.  That there is an intermission - that doesn't mean it is over.

When the show started, Rylan was smitten with the fancy hair and dresses of the little girl dancers.  She got very excited when she saw the mice because she knew that a friend of hers was one of the mice (although she wasn't performing in this particular show - they trade off).  She was very satisfied when the Mouse King met his end.  And then the Nutcracker's head piece was removed and he began to dance with Clara.  First, she asked grandma if they were going to kiss.  (She was hoping they weren't).  Then she asked why they weren't talking to each other.  She was surprised by the snow falling on the dancers as they swished around the stage. 

 The snowflake dancers are my favorite part of the whole show, but I'm always afraid that they will slip and fall.  Then we sat through intermission and Rylan colored in her little Hello Kitty coloring book that grandma gave her just before the show started.

Rylan was antsy through the second-half.  I love all of the different dancers - and my favorite in this show was the Arabian dancers.  They used a large rectangular parachute and the visual effects were sooo neat.  The rest of the show was a little more unremarkable, but the Sugarplum Fairy was very, very good.  Strangely though, she did not perform her little solo dance where the Celeste plays in the background.  The quintessential Nutcracker element was missing.  ???? Very strange.

After the show we wandered around the upstairs Mezzanine and took some pictures.  They just completed a major years-long renovation of the performance center, and so this whole section was all new to us. 

I felt teary-eyed through much of the beginning of the show, as I watched Rylan watching the performance.  She loved it.  I can remember going to evening performances with my mom and brother, and just being taken in by the grandeur of it all.  I don't know if this will set off a desire for Rylan to do ballet (is it horrible if I say that I hope not??), but we shall see.  I did it for a number of years, and I loved it.... but it is expensive (and it ...ahem... didn't make me any more graceful)

As we were leaving, I purchased a dancing Clara tree ornament for Rylan - as her ornament for this year.  We decorated the tree later in the evening, and as I was unpacking my childhood ornaments, Rylan saw my Clara ornament that my mom gave me.   They are now hanging side-by-side on the tree.