Monthly Archives: March 2009

Cutest Fan Club ~ Best Shot Monday

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Look at me – in a photo – two weeks in a row!

So obviously this was not my best shot for today, but a photo that J. took just before my triathlon this weekend.

I definitely had the cutest fan club at the race!

My fan club

As far as the actual race – I had a very good race, for as little as I had trained.  Last year, since it was my first tri ever, I trained so hard because I was really worried about actually finishing. This year and my training? Well, let’s just say it was usually the very last bullet point on my ever-growing to do list.

So I finished the race in 1:21, a few minutes over last year’s time. I was kind of bummed when I saw the time. Well, I was relieved that it was over, since it seemed so much harder than last year, but I had kind of hoped to get a new personal best record, and beat my time.

But, hey! I did come in 17th place (out of 45)  in my age group. And when I started thinking about how little I have worked out in the past few months – I mean I just dusted off my bike last week, for the first time since before Christmas. And, I am usually lucky to get in three runs and one spin class a week. Plus, I haven’t done a brick workout since before my last tri…last summer. (A brick workout is when you stack two workouts together, like swim/run or bike/run, etc.) So considering all of this…I think I am just happy to have finished with the time I did manage.

And, it also provided a little bit of inspiration – now I am looking for another race that I can really train for.

Whew…

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…we made it!

It is Friday, my friends.

This week has been a long, exhausting one, starting with losing that one hour for the very antiquated notion of daylight savings. Are there really still farmers somewhere who truly benefit from the hour shift? I think now it is just a way to screw with the already fragile little bodies of our children. Can I get an “Amen” here?

Anyhow. We are all really tired and not sleeping well. When Addie isn’t in our room proclaiming “I’m hungry, is it time to go downstairs?” at 4:30am, (And explain this to me. If we didn’t have daylight savings, it would be 3:30am, what is she doing up at that un-Godly hour??) then there is Tiger meowing at the top of her tiny, little cat lungs.

She pretty much wanders around and just meows now. Loudly. I don’t know if she is looking for Smokey, worried we are going to take her to the vet, or just taking advantage of us not locking her into the back half of the house (because we feel so guilty – she would be back there by herself!) – or maybe it is a little of all three. But, I have been awakened by her at least 4 or 5 times every night for the past 4 or 5 nights.

So, tonight? She is getting locked in. (Don’t feel too badly for her – she gets the whole playroom, kitchen, bathroom and laundry room to herself. And besides, she had her chance!)

I need some sleep. I am running the Pasadena triathlon again on Saturday. I haven’t mentioned much about it because I’ve been more than a little worried that I was not going to get to do it again this year. And I don’t feel nearly as prepared as I was last year, but at any rate…that is where we will be tomorrow morning. Trying to finish the race, hoping the adrenaline kicks in.

Providing we don’t just all sleep through the alarm.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Restful ~ Theme Thursday

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I give the girls a bath every night before bed. I realize it probably isn’t ecologically sound (although I do bathe them together, so it is only one bath, not two!) and they definitely don’t need it every night (I don’t wash their hair every night!). But I mostly give them some tubby time because it calms them down. It is part of our “on the way down” routine, and also – the most restful time of the day.

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With the time change this past week, we have been having some getting to sleep and getting up problems around our house. But, on the plus side, it is light still at bathtime again. So the wonderful natural light lends to some good photography practice times. (Which is restful for Mommy!)

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The pigtails? That is how we tried to get her hair out of her way for dance class today. What you can’t see is all the hair falling out of the pigtails on the back of her head!

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Taking baths usually makes me feel like this too, Addie! For me there is nothing more relaxing or peaceful than a nice, long soak. Pure heaven. And the proof of a good soak? Some good ‘ol pruney toes.

Kickin' back

Be sure to stop over to Stacy’s to soak up some other restful photos today.

Through the girls’ eyes

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My friend Christina did this little meme with her cutie last week and I was very curious as to what kind of answers I would get from my two hooligans. So here is what my girls think of me…

(I interviewed Addie earlier today before Em got home, but I did Em while Addie was running around, intermittently yelling out what she had answered and I think she might have influenced a few of Em’s answers, like the first one especially.)

1.What is something I always say to you?
Ad: Please don’t chase the cats.
Em: Be nice to the cats.

2. What makes me happy?
Ad: Not chasing the cats
Em: Cleaning up

(Although I do love a clean house, the actual “cleaning up”  –  does not make me happy by any means.)

3. What makes me sad?
Ad: Crying
Em: When you went on vacation and daddy, Addie and I had to stay home

(Riiiiiggght. So very sad. I cried the whole weekend.)

4. How do I make you laugh?
Ad: With tickles
Em: Make funny faces at us

5. What do you think I was like as a child?
Ad: You were in a crib
Em: Just like me?

(I dunno? Nana? Papa? Was I “just like Emma” when I was little?)

6. How old am I?
Ad: Um. Bigger than us.
Em: 36

7. How tall am I?
Ad: Taller than Smokey and Tiger
Em: 8 feet?

(Addie might be a little closer on this one!)

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
Ad: Play Bingo with a zingo
Em: Have carrot cake with us

(While I do love Addie’s favorite game and carrot cake, they might have missed the mark on this one.)

9. What do I do when you’re not around?
Ad: Go to work
Em: Go to Starbucks

(Both very true. Sometimes I do both at the same time!)

10. If I become famous, what will it be for?
Ad: Having Addie
Em: Us (pointing at her and Addie)

(Apparently I am going to have very famous children?)

11. What am I really good at?
Ad: Work
Em: Taking care of us

(Ooh, point for Emma!)

12. What am I not really good at?
Ad: Gymnastics
Em: Whistling

(Both VERY true.)

13. What is my job?
Ad: Work on your computer
Em: To work on the computer

14. What is my favorite food?
Ad: olives
Em: carrots

(While I like both olives and carrots – I would not ever say either is my favorite food! Right now, I’d say my fave food is avocados/guacamole.)

15. What makes you proud of me?
Ad: When you help me
Em: Taking good care of us

(Oh, yeah. That makes it all very much worth it.)

16. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be?
 Ad: a mom one, named Carrie
Em: Junie B. Jones

17. What do you and I do together?
Ad: Play
Em: Go out on Mommy dates and to the movies

18. How are we the same?
Ad: I don’t know
Em: Our hair

(Addie kinda lost interest at this point…)

19. How are you and I different?
Ad: I don’t know
Em: our clothes

(See?)

20. How do you know that I love you?
Ad: You tell me & then you kiss me a lot
Em: Because you are always with me

21. Where is my favorite place to go?
Ad: Disney
Em: Old Navy

22. What is one thing you wish you could change about your mom?
Ad: Being a big kid
Em: To be nicer sometimes, when you get mad

23. What would your mom do with a million dollars?
Ad: I don’t know
Em: Go shopping

24. What do you wish you could go and do with your mom?
Ad: Play
Em: Have a girly date at Islands

The girls may get their wishes since it looks like in April the projects are going to be pretty much non-existent. So much less work, and much more time for play. Although it will also mean less money (so I cannot spend as much time shopping!) – I think it is a very worthwhile tradeoff! Now I’m going to go work on “being nicer” when I get mad…

The girls

Crafty Tuesday (Or how about we just talk Disney?)

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Yeah, I pretty much have a bunch of excuses this week. Again. I guess I am in a serious crafty slump. I have pieces of bags all over, but none of them complete. I have all kinds of ideas for the photos I have printed out, but not one page has been scrapbooked. And I haven’t even been able to bake in a couple of weeks. So, no photos of pretty cookies or treats, either.

We decided to give up cookies for Lent. I figured that is one thing that would be a sacrifice in our house. I also kind of threw in brownies, baked sweets, etc. I know myself pretty well…I could just see my gears clicking and the justifications flowing, “Brownies are not technically cookies, right?”

So I am not baking, at least not sweets for our house, until Easter/Em’s birthday.  And I realized during last week’s very long week…I apparently bake when I am stressed out. All I wanted to do was crack open my chocolate chips and make something.

So, instead? J. and I decided to take the girls on a little mini-vacation. (Thanks again for the help, Uncle Jeff!) And we went to “the Happiest place on Earth!” And, you know what? It totally worked. We came home Sunday night all refreshed and happy.

Maybe it was because it was a much needed stress release, or the fact that we now know some good “tricks” for getting around the park and it was hardly even crowded, but I think this weekend was the best time I’ve ever had at the park.

Last time we went, Em and J. decided to make it our mission to go on every attraction at the park. Em was in charge of the map and deciding what we were going to do this weekend.

Studying the map

She did a great job, too. I think we made it into the single digits after this weekend. So we have less than ten rides on our list (out of 80!) that we haven’t been on. AND, I found a new favorite ride. I had never been on Peter Pan’s Flight…I think the line is always long and I assumed it was like the Mr. Toad and Snow White ride, so I never really pushed to ride it, but holy cow! It rocks. I think all of us loved it just a little. We also did the Pirate’s Liar (used to be Tom Sawyer’s Island), and it too – really cool. We also saw the HillBillies show at the Golden Horseshoe, which I also loved! Disney knows how to put on a good show.

Combined with some good ‘ol family time, it was a great weekend.

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We did have to sprinkle in a few of our favorites as well, like Pirates and Small World and Addie actually talked Em into “being brave” and going back into The Haunted Mansion. While we were waiting in line, look who joined us…

Nuns. At Disney. Going into the Haunted Mansion?

No, that isn’t kids dressed up for Halloween – that is an actual order of nuns that were at Disney, making their way into see the haunts. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes – I was holding Addie when I spotted the nuns, and J. was quick and grabbed my camera that I had over my shoulder and just held it up and shot. We saw them several times throughout the day and they seemed to be really enjoying themselves. I guess everyone really does love Disney!

And I’ll end with my favorite photo over the weekend, just because I can. And I can never get enough of these two together.

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I just love these sweet girls.

What was everyone else up to this weekend? Any craftiness? Or maybe just some fun diversions that kept you from crafting?

An Addie report

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So I don’t want to leave my last post up all weekend – that is kinda a bit of a downer trip. And J. and I decided that we need a little diversion and are heading out of town for the weekend.

Plus, I have to brag a little about Addison since it feels like I do an awful lot of complaining about her and her astoundingly stubborn, excuse me, her independent streak. We had her parent-teacher conferences yesterday, and apparently Addie is quite the little angel at school. Her teachers had nothing but great stuff to say, we are talking – gushing here. Granted it is only preschool and I don’t think her teachers have a bad thing to say about anyone, ever. But still, she got almost all “fully mastered”s in her development skills and her teachers wrote this about her:

“Addison is a happy, self-confident girl who truly enjoys all aspects of her day at school. She is open, curious and interested in all activities and experiences offered to her. She is a fun and creative friend, making her a very sought after friend. She is kind and inclusive, but never gives herself away. She is bright an aware of all that is happening around her. We appreciate all she brings to class and are so happy she is here.”

Awwww…thatta girl!

So funny...

It is amazing to see her emerging as her own little self. She surprises me daily with something she knows or says. And even if what she says isn’t always correct, she manages to keep us laughing.

This morning at breakfast Em was being silly and eating her hard-boiled eggs like a puppy (at least I think that is what she was trying to do) and she bit into an egg and kind of did a “grrrr” sound, like she was ripping the flesh right off of the egg. Addie shrieked with laughter and said –

A: “Emma, you’re a cannibal!”
(J. and I both looked at each other in shock. How did she know that word? And she was using it almost in the right context, too!)
M: “Ad where did you hear that word? How do you know it?”
A: (grinning from ear to ear) “I don’t know.”
E: “Oh, I think I know! From our pirate book. They talk about cannonballs in it.”

Ahhhhh! Cannonball. Of course. J. always calls Addie “cannonball” when she is barreling through the house and acting all rough and tumbly, too. That makes sense, although “cannibal” certainly could have worked as well.

Lessons from kids and cats

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Thank you all for your love, support and kind words about our sweet Smokey. We are all doing okay, but I am sort of hazing through today. Hmmm…I may have just made up a new use for the word “hazing.” You know how you are kind of going through the motions, but feeling a lot like you are in a haze? That is me today – hazing through.

I wish I could channel the amazing resiliency, innocence and naivety of my kids. Last week Addie’s teacher’s mom passed away. We (the parents) were organizing a gift for Miss C., but I hadn’t said anything to Addie, I just wasn’t sure if they were going to say something to the kids in the class or not, so I kind of (mercifully) avoided the subject. But Addie came home from school and just sort of matter-of-factly blurted out –

A: Miss C’s mommy died.
M: Uh…um. I heard that. Yes. Did Miss M. tell you that in school today?
A: Yep. Miss C. is probably going to be a little sad for awhiles, but that’s okay – her mommy is in heaven.

And she just walked away and continued on with her play.

Now, I know that she just doesn’t understand the permanence of someone passing, the not being able to ever see or talk to them again. But to just be so certain, and have that faith that yes it happened, it happened for a reason, and that the person is someplace better. I wish that I could have that.

We have spent a lot of time the past two days talking about all the funny stuff we remember about Smokey. The girls like talking about the other animals that we think are up in animal heaven with Smokey; their fish, Tuck – Em’s turtle, Nana & Papa’s puppy.  I told them of my cat and dog I had when I was growing up. We had a big old tomcat who was all white and named Casper (after the friendly ghost, naturally!). I think he had many more than nine lives, and used every last one of them up.

After, when I thought we were on a completely different subject, Addie just piped up with “Mama? Do you think Smokey is playing with your ghost cat in heaven?” After we laughed, we all agreed that Smokey and Casper probably were having quite a frolicking time up in a big meadow filled with all-you-can-eat tuna and whipped cream. But Tuck and the various fish probably have their own safe pond to swim around in.

The talking about it all seems to be what the girls need right now. Several times today Addie would just sigh and say “I miss Smokey.” But no tears, again just sending a little offering up. And Emma was determined to “share” Smokey with her class for share day today. So I found a bunch of photos and she went in and talked about what had happened. That, too! I can barely write about it, let alone get up in front of a bunch of my friends and talk about it. Kids are just amazing creatures and I think I have gained much more strength from them, than I have offered to them.

As for me, I just feel sad. And I keep telling myself that she was just a cat, but I know she wasn’t just a cat. She really was a part of our life. And of course, that leads to a panic with the thought of losing someone really close to me. I’ve lost older aunts and uncles and grandparents, of course. But they all seemed a little bit “circle of life-ish.” I grieved, but was able to get through it and now just remember them fondly. But…ugh, I can’t even type it. You all know those fears, and it is just too dangerous to even say aloud.

And besides the sadness, I have been feeling so very guilty. How many times did I say to J. – “Smokey is just so skinny.” Why didn’t I take her in sooner than her yearly checkup? Would it have mattered? And how many times did I curse the cats while I was cleaning up one of their “misses” near the litterbox? Or push her away as she is lying on my arm as I’m trying to work?

Another life lesson learned. Well, I guess it wasn’t really learned – I certainly know that life is not certain, and you can’t take anything or anyone for granted. We just don’t know how much time we have here. We need to make every moment count, because I want to make sure when I am looking back and remembering – I am looking back and remembering way more good stuff than bad. No regrets or “what ifs.”

It is sad that it took this to remind me and make me truly start living like I know it.