Rash

I have to admit almost nothing can get me in more of a tizzy healthwise than an unexplained rash that pops up overnight on my body. Really? At my age? What in the world can I be reacting to? I can deal with health issues going on with my husband and kids so much betther than myself. Maybe it's the itch that causing my mind to overreact. Maybe it's the fact that I think if it is something serious, then what am I going to do? Who's going to take care of me? The simple answer is me...while I'm taking care of everyone else. True this is a sob story that every mom goes through, but I'm still going to pout about it just a minute...cause that's all the time I've got until someone needs something. Seriously, though it's a good thing I've got a Dermatologist in the family that's all I have to say. If I can just get the itching manageable, today won't be bad.

OUT OF SHAPE

I have to admit I am not in shape for my upcoming triathlon. I swam yesterday and felt pretty good, but when I woke up and went for a run, BLAH! My poor legs are not used to running outside anymore. Considering the triathlon is only a month away, I'm toast. Oh well, I wasn't really hoping to do great in it, but I really didn't want to do worse than I did last year. I guess I should have been better about training. Any good suggestions for quick training? It's just a short triathlon so I don't really need a lot of endurance, just enough to drag my carcass over the line in a respectable time. Tonight I'm riding 20 miles on the bike. We'll see how that goes. Luckily for me, my husband agreed to come with me, so if worse comes to worst (is that even how that saying goes?) I'll just draft off of him the whole time. We'll see how I feel tomorrow...

Testing Boundaries

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of my 4 year-old's boundary checks every day. How many times do the same boundaries need to be tested? Doesn't he know that I'm very serious about nap time? Hasn't he realized that toys will be taken away (just like yesterday) if he continues to throw raging fits? And privileges will disappear if I hear name calling (like you're a freaking stupid head) aimed at me or anyone else. I know every child has to go through it and that it's good for them. Of course every child needs boundaries. Otherwise all they would eat is candy, they would only sleep when sheer exhaustion made them and they would only learn respect from the university of hard knocks. I guess I never expected it to be so hard to take privileges away. I want to give my kids everything to make them happy. But paradoxically sometimes the things that make them most happy are things that leave them in tears. Sometimes the thing that is best for them is a firm "No". Sometimes I have to watch him fall for him to learn. That's hard. I've kind of digressed from Testing Boundaries, but coming full circle, the best thing I can do for my son is to let him know that there are boundaries and they are set for his benefit, not to his detriment. Now if he will only learn that...

Fairy Tales

I have to admit I love to watch or read new spins on old fairy tales. Some have been better than others, but a new take is always appreciated. They don't even have to be fairy tales. I have seen 5 or more versions of "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility" and "Emma". Recently I have watched some remakes of fairy tales and I've liked seeing all these new twists. I watched the new Red Riding Hood, which I didn't so much like. (Way too many bad computer graphics for me). Today I watched Mirror, Mirror. While I wouldn't rave about it, it was clever, fun and predictable in lots of good ways. You have the evil Queen, the Prince, Snow White, the 7 Dwarves and a magic mirror, yet it's not exactly your Disney Snow White. But isn't it fun to watch movies for the story's sake and not necessarily to see the best movie ever made? My husband would disagree. He can't stand these types of movies that aren't terrible but aren't that great either. Not to mention that I would say this one is aimed toward a much younger crowd than me and my husband. But what can I say, I'm easy to please. Plus I watched it with my 4 year-old son and I didn't have to worry about it being graphic, inappropriate or scary at all. I will say this is a good family movie.

Really?

I have to admit I just yelled loudly at one of my 2 year-olds. Imagine this scenario. I'm packing and cleaning my house so that I can go to my family reunion. As I was just finishing up in the kitchen, I heard a blood-curdling scream come from one of my little girls. As I came up the stairs I saw the other one with a cup in her hand going for the toilet. She dipped the cup into the toilet and then commenced in dumping it everywhere. Really? Apparently the one now screaming had come in, slipped on the completely wet floor and she was now covered in toilet water with a sweet bang on the back of the head. Lovely! What added to the drama was my son informing me that he hadn't flushed after the last round on the john (luckily it wasn't # 2). What a mess! I'm not proud of the decible level my shouting reached, but I do have to say I didn't swear, I didn't name-call, and it didn't last very long. I just told her, in a very LOUD voice that I was extremely upset. What a day! You'd think that after all the times I've told her no, and the swat on the bum she received for DRINKING the toilet water--yes she really did drink it--that she'd stay away from it. But no. What is the facination with it, anyway? Is it just the water? Doesn't she get enough water time with the water balloons we throw often, the swimming we do nearly every day and the baths she has all the time? Hmm... I suppose not. I just hope it never happens again. Nasty, Nasty, NASTY!!!!!

Family Reunions

I have to admit I love family reunions. While they may not have had the same appeal as a kid as they do now, I think I've always been fond of spending time around family, both immediate and extended. This week my immediate family will get together for our annual family reunion. Doing this is quite as feat as there are 11 of us kids, seven of which are married, with 24 grandkids and one on the way. That means there are over 40 people converging on one house (well some will sleep the night in a hotel nearby) to eat, play, laugh, swim, and talk, talk, TALK! One year my oldest sister, always the one with stupendous ideas, decided we needed this one time a year when we could all get together, so she hosted the first annual reunion. She planned it to the T complete with a talent show, scrumptious food (much was homemade), a kids Olympics, and an adult Olympics. Each year, many of these things have become tradition, with each family putting their own twist on things. When we went to the Pharmacist's house, one of the "Olympic" events was using an old beaker to pour water into another beaker. (I think I might have gotten 3 drops in. It definitely requires a steady hand). This year will be no different. We get to go to Southern California, and partake of the beautiful summer weather there. We will have a beach day, a sort of Hollywood day (we'll be doing other things around there, but we're all looking forward to family pics in front of the Hollywood sign) and a lazier day where we'll get to hang out at the house and swim. Like I said totally summer activities. But my personal favorite that I absolutely can't wait for is the visiting. I'm a talker and I can talk. But then, so can all my siblings and parents. The in-laws are getting better and just jumping in, but sometimes they have to take a break because we can be pretty intense. (I just have to give a shout out to any of my brothers in-law who may be reading. We'll try not to go over all the labor and delivery stories again this year. That's a tradition I know they could all do without. But with somebody pregnant each time, who can resist, right?) Anyway, I can't wait to be with my family. This week is going to be AWESOME!!!!! I'll let you know how it goes when I get back...

Bee Stings

I have to admit I hate seeing my kids get hurt. My sweet little guy got stung by a bee as we were swimming today. One second he was getting out to jump in the pool again and the next he was screaming, squashing a bee on his head. I had to pull the stinger out and it made me feel just miserable to see not only the pain he was going through, but the trauma. He just kept saying over and over, "This is my first bee sting" like it's going to happen again over and over. I just hope it doesn't. My husband is extremely allergic to bees, so I'm hoping that he didn't pass that on to our kids, otherwise we're going to have to have lots of epipens on hand, especially if the kids are as fond of the outdoors as my husband.

Delayed

I have to admit I hate delayed flights. My husband went and did a big mountain bike race in Colorado this weekend so I've been soloing it since Thursday night. It's been fine and we've been really looking forward to seeing him in about an hour. But he just called and said that his connector flight is delayed for 2 hours. This may not be a problem most of the time, but the kids are 4 and 2. There is NO WAY I'm going to let them stay up that late so we can go pick him up together. But waking them up to pick him up doesn't seem extremely appealing either... Needless to say tonight is going to be fun.

Monsoons

I have to admit there is nothing more wonderful than monsoon season. When it started getting way too warm in April, I worried if I would positively melt before July when monsoon season hits. But I made the most of it and spent every afternoon in my pool with the kids to ease the heat a bit. Imagine my surprise when I didn't have to wait for the end of July to roll around before we got our monsoons. Now to those who haven't experienced these magical rainstorms, let me try to describe them. Most of them begin with a very sunny morning, maybe a few clouds in the sky, but it looks more like a wonderful day that will be wonderfully hot in the afternoon. Around noon or one, you can look south and start to see more clouds coming your way. And that's when I get excited. For about an hour before the rains hit, you can hear the distant rumblings of thunder getting louder and louder. If you take a peek every 20 minutes like I do, it's amazing to see the deep, dark gray of the clouds as they get nearer and nearer. Once they are overhead, you will hear about 20 seconds of the soft pitter-patter of rain, then it becomes a torrent. It's amazing that you can hear the size of the raindrops getting bigger and bigger as they fall with greater force on the roof. The downpour usually only lasts for about 20 minutes, but you can hear the rain coming off the roof for about another 5 minutes, almost like it couldn't quite keep up with the rain. These short cloud bursts can come once an afternoon or several times, but each time it's amazing! Two nights ago we had our worst storm that I've ever lived through here. It rained torrentially for about 2 hours, complete with a brilliant lightening show accompanied by the symphony of thunder and rain. At times the flashes were so close I knew I should be hearing thunder, but couldn't because of the drumming of the rain on the roof. Spectacular, that's the only word for it.

I do have to put one little side-note about monsoons, when the clouds roll in, but they don't release the rain, don't stand next to me because I'll be the sweatiest, stinkiest person. But those days are few and far between. Usually they dump the much-needed rain, creating an artistic feast for every sense I have.

Late Night Serenade

I have to admit I've never wanted to put an animal out of its misery more than I did last night. We have been having some lovely monsoons but they usually keep themselves to late afternoon-early evening. However, last night we had a DOWNPOUR that lasted several hours. After falling into a fitfull sleep because of all the lightening and thunder, I woke up at 1:30 to the most obnoxious, loud sound. I wasn't even quite sure what it was that was making the sound because it was so rhythmic that I figured it must be a machine. But it sounded like it was in my backyard, so how could it be a machine? After looking out the windows and seeing nothing to confirm the machine idea, I decided I needed to investigate further. Keep in mind, it's pouring rain and there is NO WAY I'm going out there to see if it's an animal. It could have been a bobcat, a mountain lion (remote, but still a possibility) a javelina, or even just an extremely loud frog. (The rain pounding on the roof and the thunder were making it hard to actually place the sound. All I know is it was LOUD!!!) As I searched for a powerful enough flashlight to shine out in the backyard, I saw two of my neighbor's lights go on, so I knew that this poor creature was keeping more than just myself awake. Anyway, long story short, I shined the light out in the backyard and the noise stopped. I didn't see anything, but whatever it was saw me because it stopped...bawling? Would that be the right word to describe the sound. When I turned the light off, it started it all up again. We played this cat and mouse game a couple of times and then I decided that shining my flashlight really wasn't doing anything and that I'd better just go back to bed because I certainly wasn't going to venture out in the rain at 1:30 in the morning when it could be any number of creatures. I ended up listening to it for about an hour until the rain let up a little and it stopped making noise...or moved to another place to make noise...or I just finally was so extremely exhausted that my body just let me sleep through it. I love to see the wildlife around here, but seriously, I hope that whatever that was NEVER comes back.

Ragnar Relay

I have to admit I didn't want to do another Ragnar after I did my first one. I was exhausted. I ran more miles than I'd ever run in a 36 hour period. I felt slow. I felt lame for walking part of the last leg. I wanted my husband and kids. There was nothing that was going to persuade me to do it again. Fast forward 3 weeks ( yes it was only three weeks) and I decided that maybe it would be fun to do it again with my family. There are 11 of us siblings and I figured between us and our spouses we could come up with 12 daring folks who would be willing to give up some sleep and a weekend to do something crazy with me. So far, we've talked about it and I've gotten committments from 8 people. I think that's pretty good, but I've got to get the salewoman in me to get 4 more poor shmucks to join us. Really I'm excited at the prospect. There is definitely a sense of accomplishment when you're done, realizing that 12 people just ran 200 miles. It definitely gets you closer to those with whom you ride. (I'm sure the girls I rode with last year became privy to things about me that they didn't need to, but such is the experience, right?). Anyway, this post is to put it out there that I'm going to do the Ragnar again so that I can't chicken out. Here goes nothing...

Personal Assistant

I have to admit (just once in my marriage) sometimes I feel like a personal assistant instead of a wife. I'm not angry complaining, just exhausted complaining I guess. It's understandable that I get to run errands because I'm at home all day and he's at work all day. But sometimes, just sometimes I want to not have to get the oil changed, fax off this, that and the other, call so-and-so, pick up such-and-such, deliver the thingamajig, fix that doohickey, and don't forget the watcha-ma-callit. There, I've said it. I've had my rant and it's over. I've got to call someone now and then go run an errand or two. :)

Potty Training...Again

I have to admit I'm REALLY discouraged about potty training. After another tough day trying to get my girls to go potty, I called my mom hoping that somehow all the times I've talked with her about it she'd forgotten to tell me some amazing thing that's sure to get your child to go. Unfortunately after potty-training 11 kids, she still couldn't help with my dilemma. Although I did realize that maybe I'm just pushing it too early for these girls. Or maybe it's not too early, maybe there is this strange almost black hole of time in a toddlers life that if you try to potty train them during that time the black hole just sucks days and months out of your life with nothing to show but dry potties and wet eyes. Just kidding it's not quite that bad...most days. But really how hard it is to relax and let gravity and nature take its course? Obviously extremely hard for two little girls. I do have to say that it helps to melt a little bit of the stress when one of them looks at me in her most adorable way and says, "You're cute" to me. She must know when I need a pick-me-up.

Independence Day

I have to admit I'm rather patriotic. What can I say, I love America and being an American. I love to sing patriotic songs. I love the stars and stripes. I love the fireworks. I love the history. As some of you know, I graduated with a Bachelor's in history. I loved almost every class I took. There is a wealth of knowledge out there about our past and I loved soaking it in. Going through those classes, I obviously heard and read about things that made me less than proud to be an American. But as I studied more of the good men and women who serve in this country, both as officials and just as neighbors and in their communities, I was and am reminded about why I'm proud to be an American. I don't agree with everything that goes on in our government, but isn't it great that I can make that opinion known without the thought of repercussions to myself and family? I see much that isn't working in our country and many people who would want to give their freedoms away and others who would gladly take them. But I still stand strong in the belief that we have been given a great gift by the founding fathers who, through blood, sweat and tears, gave us the foundation of a great country. The idea that any man and any woman can make of themselves who they want to be. How powerful is that? We need not be hampered. We can reach out and grasp that dream. Many people may feel that they cannot reach their dreams because of poverty, abuse and neglect and that's when the coming together of the communities and nation comes in. When things started to get bad, the colonists pulled together. Did they have all the exact same goals and desires for their new country? No! (The Constitutional Convention that took place after the Revolution amply shows that). But in the end, they knew for America to work that there had to be compromise, support of one another and unity. Just because the United States was established didn't mean that things ran smoothly even for a little bit. There has always been turmoil when it comes to what is best for the nation. But the most successful parts of American history boil down to the unity in the idea that America can offer each person freedom. This is really what it means to me to be an American. The idea isn't just freedom for me and my family, but for you and your family as well. We succeed as a people when we seek to preserve not only our own freedoms, but for those around us as well. When this isn't the case, people set themselves above one another, freedoms are squashed and domination abounds. But when we seek not only for ourselves, but true freedom for all, it is the unselfish that comes out; tt is the "what can I do for you" not "what's in it for me" that is forefront in our thoughts. To me, it's like marriage (or any other relationship really). For it to work, we have to think about all the other people involved. We have to work--HARD. There will be times when we feel we're giving everything and not getting much in return. But then when you come out the other side, you realize that it's even better now than it was before. I think after all these ramblings I'm able to put what being an American is to me. It's working hard, taking responsibility for my own personal choices and actions, serving those around me in my neighborhood, community and nation and seeking what is best for me, my family and the nation as a whole. That's the American I want to be.

Snickerdoodles

I have to admit that I have another weakness besides brownies; it's snickerdoodles. I'll be honest, pretty much anything that has the sugar/cinnamon combo is going to be a favorite of mine. But snickerdoodles, I'm sure it's the aforementioned combo plus an ample amount of butter that make these cookies impossible to resist. Every time I make them for my husband, I tell myself that I'm going to eat just one and then I find myself wolfing down a second, third and fourth. Yes, I ate four cookies and then decided I'd better stop...until after dinner. This is where my will-power does come in. It's mind over matter to keep myself from indulging in just one more before dinner. I guess I can be happy and applaud even the smallest success, right?