Dingoes Defy the February Slump: Keep Running, Mamas - Page 12

[Geofizz]

Thanks, Jennie. The rest of the family eats it, but DD won't eat beef. She's a tough kid.

I did coax her to actually ask her teacher what the expectations were for her, which is great as it points out to her teacher that DD herself wants to succeed, and it points out to her teacher that she hasn't been clear. It was a rough morning getting to school, as again, the anxiety seems to be getting in the way of functioning.

I have a lot to say about the music practicing, which I'll do when I'm not posting from the ipad.

Nice 8 miler Saturday with hills. The only problem was the 15 mph wind at 16 F.

[JayGee]

Jennie ~ I've been gently trying to suggest to DH that we order our meat from Wellness.  So far it's a no-sell.... He insists that cheap corn-fed commissary meat is just fine .  I really want to get a freezer and buy 1/2 a cow... 

Geo ~ sorry your DD is experiencing such anxiety about school .  That wind sounds brutal in combination with the temps!

Nic ~  sounds like you're having a tough day.

Sparkle ~  doggy #2!  Love it!  I often dream on PetFinder myself.  The house sounds great... well, except for the price.

mommajb ~ does your DD take voice lessons?  If so, how old was she when she started?  DD1 loves to sing and I think she'd really enjoy voice, but I don't want to start her too early and have her burn out.  For now she's just singing in the church choir.

RR ~  walked for a little over and hour this morning.  Now I'm going to look up upper body exercises I can do with the dumbbells DH gave me for Christmas that have been gathering dust in the closet.

Edited by JayGee - 2/13/12 at 3:32pm

[sparkletruck]

JG - 2 exercises, off the top of my head (besides obvious linear lifting):

1. You are in push-up position with a dumbell gripped in each hand (so, push-up position on the dumbells). I use 12-15lb each for this. Lift one elbow so that dumbell is next to your breast, i.e. do a lat pull/"lawn mower", BUT, keep your hips completely stable! Do not let your hips rock AT ALL to one side as you lift, which your body will want to do to assist. This is a killer for the core, and does something for the arms/back too

2. Same position but with ~10lb. Do a push-up on the dumbells, then reach one hand - holding a dumbell, behind and up toward the ceiling keeping the arm straight so that your arm is pointing at the ceiling. It is ok to twist your torso for this one. Then swing it back down, do another push-up and swing the other arm up...

[MelW]

sparkle, you should be a trainer. Your weight routine and suggestions are always terrific. I've tried #1 before and it kicks my abs, and #2 sounds great. And personally, I think a new dog is a bit insane if you plan to go to school in the fall. Would fostering dogs/puppies help the broody feeling? (This from a woman who has never had a pet as an adult, other than red wriggler worms in an indoor composter. I tried to convince the kids that the tree frog that lived in our garden shed last summer was a "pet", since I'm not responsible enough for a real one)

Nic, I would think that most martial arts studios/dojos would offer a trial lesson or observation before you needed to make a commitment. Your son makes good points, albeit frustrating to work around.

Geo, way to run in the windchill!

Plady, at the over-sharing kids. My very verbal oldest shocked a few teachers in daycare when she was a toddler who talked non-stop. They learned all about vaginas AND vulvas, both of which the lead teacher told me had never been said by a kid in the under-two room before.

NRR- We are getting healthier. It's a beautiful, sunny day and this afternoon the kids hula-hooped, biked, built popsicle stick structures and played with the birdhouse outside. I feel almost manic at the difference from last week.

RR- I ran! It was more of a run-walk-stop and hack up junk at the bottom of my lungs, but it was almost 5k pushing the stroller and my lungs feel so much clearer now.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by JayGee 

Jennie ~ I've been gently trying to suggest to DH that we order our meat from Wellness.  So far it's a no-sell.... He insists that cheap corn-fed commissary meat is just fine .  I really want to get a freezer and buy 1/2 a cow...

Do it. A freezer's like 100 bucks. Plus electricity. We pick berries and freeze them in summer. I just keep bags of ice cubes in there when the freezer gets low. Plus there's the spot to keep the ice cream that requires a walk outside my house (I have a detached garage and the freezer's in ther ebecause we haven't had an electrician wire an outlet for it yet in the basement).

We get most of our meat from a grassfed farm. (1/2 of a cow). My dh was more excited at the idea of having hamburger meat in the freezer than the grassfed bit. But it doesn't hurt to talk about the cow wandering around the farm and seeing them the week before they are butchered. It lets my kids know what "beef" really is.  Plus the flavor and texture is seriously that much better.

I'm the opposite to geofizz's dd. Beef is the reason I can never be vegetarian. I crave red meat like nobody's business, which I think is because (TMI) my periods are super heavy.

[kerc]

serial posting but thought you might LOL at me:

(frantically looking at the tv listings to find out what time the tupperware show* is on).

dang it, must have missed it.

was it at 7?

how do I find out what was on at 7?

find out.

no. not even on today. on tomorrow. because tomorrow is tuesday.

*Tupperware show being the American Experience  show about the Tupperware company and the whole home sales thing.

[bec]

Fly by posting to actually give some RR!!!  Tri class today, and even though I felt like zombie, I put on my big girl panties (well not really, cause I run commando ) and went.  It was an endurance run, and I ended up with around 5.5 miles by the end of the evening.  It was comfortably hard until the last half mile, and then the tank just hit empty, and I could not go further (otherwise, I would have had 6).  Considering the lack of sleep last night, the crazy schedule, and still fighting of this stupid virus (I really thought I was getting sick after last night's work!), I feel pretty good about it. 

[Plady]

Originally Posted by MelW 

Plady, at the over-sharing kids. My very verbal oldest shocked a few teachers in daycare when she was a toddler who talked non-stop. They learned all about vaginas AND vulvas, both of which the lead teacher told me had never been said by a kid in the under-two room before.

I think we've got two like-minded individuals here!  (although Ali G switches butt for vagina a lot and has caused additional awkward moments for her teachers that way too).

I missed something big here!

Zubeldia!!!!  Sending lots of vibes.  You are in my prayers mama.

We have a freezer with a lot of grass-fed cow in it.  I could take it or leave it to be honest, I love chicken, turkey's okay, love duck, LOVE pork.  But, I do feel better about the beef when I know where it's from.

JG - I was a singer throughout hs and college.  I started taking lessons with an opera singer when I was about 15.  She was adamant about not starting me too young.  These days I think about that while listening to Miley Cyrus and cohort.  But back then she had me convinced that I'd break myself if I tried to be serious about singing too young.  Don't know what it's worth, but am a little curious if you hear anything like that.

MelW - So glad you're getting back to normal!  You deserve sunshine and perky kids!

Bec - Nice work getting out there.  I hope the oncoming sickness detours.

RR: Did weights for legs and abs.  It was fine if slightly rushed.

[1jooj]

JayGee, I had the same thought as kerc, right away. A freezer is totally inexpensive in the big picture, and they are cheap to run if you get a chest freezer. We froze tons of stuff from the garden, too. Obviously, on the farm we had two of them, because we'd slaughter chickens or a pair of lambs, and we also split beef with friends. Green beans, peas, sweet corn, tomatoes, strawberries were all in there. I also would bake bread for a week or two and freeze that right away. We have a small chest freezer here, but I think dh wants to get rid of it to move to an apartment. I want to keep it, because I can keep a lot of frozen vegetables and fruits on hand (smoothies), and a spare loaf of bread for kids' lunches. 

Also, I spent some time looking at that Whole 30 site and had quite a conversation with myself over it. An honest conversation, apparently, because I was like, Ohh, I want to. And then I looked at my cup of coffee and really thought about it.  Future, yes, but I'd need to mentally prepare for about two weeks.

Shanti, I am reading your description and thinking, what can I do to prepare? How can I stop that train? Because I don't know what I can do, but I can see my dd going there. My ds, maybe more slowly.

Dinner @boss went fine. It was pretty clear that dh has more or less communicated in some way an expectation that I am going back and forth about not staying. Which is not the case, I gave him my ideas about how I can deal with it and stay. But for whatever reason, he has presented the picture to the work people as "my wife hates it and wants to leave." OK, when it's 110F here, yes, I feel that way. And yes, I need to see my friends sometimes. But I am not proposing splitting us up. So, sigh. Anyway, it was nice to socialize with someone outside our own house, and the kids did OK.

We don't do music lessons, at least not yet. Just got ds's report card, and his top marks are music, art, social studies and PE. Interestingly, I've found that most of his lacking marks (B to low B/ high C) come down to issues with effort, focus and organization. No, I do not think he has ADHD or anything like it. But now, living in a house with dh (remember he was always gone?) and his TV habit without regard for the kids doing homework (trying to) in the same room (open concept)...ds is having a really hard time resisting the pull of the great, glowing screen. Ds has three big projects over the next couple weeks--science fair project, self-published nonfiction book, and book report. It is going to be all about time management and organization. I helped him break the book-writing down into logical steps (not the same steps as the teacher is using, but I have some familiarity with the editing/publishing process ) and he hugged me and thanked me for "setting him straight." I think he's just so overwhelmed as one of 26 in the class, and since he's above-average he doesn't really need the attention in order to do well enough to not be a problem. So his need for interaction and feedback means he ends up not meeting his potential because he's flying under the radar. Seeing more and more reasons to get him out of the classroom.

Dd was home with a cold yesterday, which meant basically a rest day. I misplaced my phone on an early morning run for bread for dh's breakfast, so I did bike to the store to ask after it, and then dd and I walked to the store in the afternoon for a Valentine treat for her class, and I also took two short strolls to the beach over the course of the day. So, not what I'd call RR, effort-wise, but at least some mileage. And I swept, vacuumed and mopped the full square footage of the house, so the floors were clean for about thirty minutes.

sparkle, even I have been on Petfinder lately. I have three cats and live in Dubai.  That said, it does sound like it could be kind of crazy with school. Don't know. Guess it depends on how involved dh and kids are on that kind of project.

Kids have early release today and ds's class is meeting at a beach down the road a piece. So we will ride our bikes there. 

[tjsmama]

I've been reading along, but since I worked the whole stinking weekend, haven't had much time to post.

I would love to start DS on piano lessons. I started when I was 4-ish, and took lessons until I graduated from high school. I really miss it. My hang-up right now is where I would put a keyboard (because unfortunately, we do NOT have room for any kind of real piano) and where we would find the time to practice.

I would also love to get a freezer to put in the garage. I've looked on occasion, but I insist on an upright and I just can't afford it right now. Maybe by the summer, or if I get lucky on Craigslist...

Tomorrow is my LAST day on my unit as an ACP. As much as I really do like my job, I am SO excited not to be a CNA anymore. I'm kind of over my whole job entailing helping people bathe and go to the bathroom, ya know? I'm really going to miss my coworkers, though. I baked banana bars for the unit and picked up a gift for my manager. Thank you cards written for the unit and my manager. I'm hoping I didn't forget anything! I also was trying to get DS's valentines all set. They turned out pretty good, actually, considering my level of craftiness.

rr~I am such a wimp. It was actually kind of warm today, but I couldn't bring myself to run outside. Half the sidewalks are still snow-covered, and my normal running route from home is totally snowpacked, rutted, and icy. So, off to the Y. I don't know what it is, but the treadmill has felt kind of easy lately. Weird. Well, besides the boredom factor, but with a little HGTV, it's all good except for commercial breaks! 45 minutes, resulting in about 4.25 miles.

[MelW]

Fly by question: how does the "secret" part of secret sprinter work? If I was really clever I would send a package off with someone traveling and have them mail it anonymously from a far-away location. But in reality, it probably needs to go through customs and I'm pretty sure that parcels can't cross the border without a name on it. So is the secret just not glaring too hard at the return address and not telling online until the final reveal? And the secret surprise of when packages arrive and what they are?

[Realrellim]

sparkle--hate when those perfect houses have a not-so-perfect price. I know someone who owns a house like that, in a neighborhood filled with houses like that. If I was going to spend that much on a house (and had the $ to begin with), it would be on acreage at least.

Ralston Creek Half Marathon race report!

It was cold. It was supposed to have warmed up to 20 before the start, but it hadn't. My car thermometer said it was more like 15. At least it was sunny. There was a huge line for the portapotties (all 6 of them ) because we all pretty much hung out in our cars until 10 minutes before the race. So when the race started, I was just heading into a portapotty. The race was chip timed and there were limited portapotties on the course (which is to say, one) so that was a necessity. This is only important because it bumped me on age group placement. A woman had a slower chip time by about 15 seconds but a faster gun time.

The nice thing about starting in the back is that I got to pass people. I like to pass people. I very much dislike being passed. The race had started in two waves, with the slower finishers (2:15 and longer) starting 45 minutes earlier so we'd all finish closer to the same time, which meant I got to pass a lot more people toward the end. That was also a bit disconcerting, because you don't expect to find people who are running considerably slower than you at the end of a half, yk? I was holding around an 8:45 pace and coming up on people doing a 10 or 11 minute pace, at which point I'd think maybe I was pushing too fast and then remember they were wave 2.

The course itself is steadily though gradually uphill until mile 6, with a steeper uphill between miles 5 and 6 up to the Arvada Reservoir. Then there was a dip downward, probably toward whatever creek feeds the reservoir. After that, it was sharply uphill for about a mile through a series of switchbacks. That wasn't as hard as it looked. I was tired looking at them when I was still mostly headed downhill, but pleased to see that my legs were able to pull it off. From mile 8 it was almost all downhill so I tried to push as much as possible to make up some time. That's my usual strategy out here: do tons of hill repeats so I'm ready for the hills, and then fly on the downhill sections when all I have to do is keep my legs moving quickly.

Finally, we headed off the path and down toward the finish. I was picking a number of people off (wave 2 people, I'm sure) and tried to focus on just passing one after another. One woman (a wave 1 person who must have been somewhere behind me) made a surge and tried to pass me through the final stretch, but I thought "no dice" and surged myself. And then prayed I'd be able to hang on to it because the finish line wasn't as close as I would have liked.

And then it was done: 2:00:43. It's about 20 seconds slower than the last one I did, but considering that it was freezing and that the path was icy and snowpacked in parts, it's not too shabby. Also, I ran one part badly: between miles 6 and 7, just after the first big hill to the reservoir, I slowed to a more relaxed pace on the downhill without realizing it. Once I did, I sped up but I'm sure that cost me at least 30 seconds. And I stopped at a couple of water stations too, which I never do. It was dry out and I needed more water than usual, plus I didn't want to spill it on myself because it was so cold.

It was freezing at the finish line, so I hung out long enough to make sure there were plenty of F35-39 women that had finished ahead of me (yep), grabbed food and headed back to the car. By then it was about 25 degrees, but overcast so it felt as cold as it did when it was 15, except now my clothes were sweaty too.

F 35-39: 11/84 (by gun time; 10 by chip time)
Females: 68/228
Overall: 198/421
Elev gain: 536

Splits
1 - 8:37
2 - 9:23
3 - 9:33
4 - 9:23
5 - 9:29
6 - 9:54 (long hill up 64th Ave)
7 - 9:26 ((this was mostly downhill and where I should have sped up sooner)
8 - 9:59 (long hill up reservoir)
9 - 8:22
10 - 8:47
11 - 8:46
12 - 8:52
13 - 8:44
.1 - 8:21

Sorry I'm missing more personals. I started this around lunch and didn't get back to it 'til now.

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by Realrellim 

And then it was done: 2:00:43. It's about 20 seconds slower than the last one I did, but considering that it was freezing and that the path was icy and snowpacked in parts, it's not too shabby.

I'll say! Congrats on a great race! 

Thanks for the great report, too. I hardly ever get to run races, because of where I live, so I get vicarious kicks from reading about other people's experiences.

Miranda

[1jooj]

MelW, you got it. We basically agree not to look too closely, and then everyone reveals more or less on an agreed-upon week. It's mostly about the fun of thinking of what might make a Dingo's day.  Wish I were participating this year!

Real, great splits--enviable splits! And a great finish, and awesome performance in tough conditions! Here's to passing lots of people.  I hope you didn't get too chilled.

RR: For better or worse, about 6 miles walked this morning, running errands via the metro. I had to dress for public viewing, and had to carry my purse and big water bottle, so running was out. And next up, biking to the beach with two kids in tow. It's not even 4 miles round trip, I think, but that's enough in Beach Road traffic. And it could be more, since there are several public beaches on this stretch and I need to find this one. On the walk back from the metro station, I saw this woman doing laps around the park and I remembered when I was in that kind of shape--when my arms were defined and I was light enough to run at least a lot faster than now. Good motivational moment for me.

[Shantimama]

I did walk around the block yesterday and came home ready for a nap. Time to break out the hot lemon water and honey for a few days to kick start my immune system. Enough is enough.

dd1 was sweet when she came home, had a good day back at school and fell asleep at 5 without eating. She had some homemade pretzel buns (I loaded the dough with extra eggs, quinoa flour and malt powder but they were still only bread) and some juice for lunch and as far as I know, that is all she ate all day. She woke up at 2 a.m. wanting to start her homework and take a shower. Seeing as how she had just slept for 9 hours I said okay as long as she took a nap if she got sleepy before morning. I fell asleep again and at 4 she came in again saying she hadn't taken a shower and had no homework done and felt dizzy. I made a comment about how she needs something to eat and she stormed off in tears and went back to sleep. In another hour or so I will have to rouse her and get her to take a shower, eat breakfast and deal with her panic at not completing her homework. dh leaves early for work so I get to do this alone. That will probably make it easier except that I am on the verge of burnout with sleep and food issues with this child. I adore her but it has been like this with her pretty much since birth. At least she went back to sleep and won't start the school day having already been up for 7 hours. I just have to get her through that door again.

dd2 on the other hand has turned the corner. She still has no energy and is experiencing a lot of discomfort but the fever has gone and she isn't crying every hour or so any more. Last night she made up a funny song about toes and potatoes and sang it over and over again and could not stop laughing. That did my heart good. She hasn't wanted anyone to touch her for days (this is the child I am sure is part puppy) and last night she asked me to try hugging her very gently. I am not sure which one of us enjoyed it more! We agreed to no TV today and I think I will warp the small loom for her and see if I can find an audiobook she has not listened to yet and get her set up with those things for the day.The change of pace might kick start her healing too.

ds is in a great mood, thank goodness. He loves his classes this semester and I think he is quite happy about it being Valentine's day - he told me he sent a rose to someone and he can't wait to see her face. He was bouncing around last night and a pure joy to be with. I hope he still feels that way tonight! dh and I had a talk about how this is the semester to let him find more of his own footing with homework and studying (he is in grade 10). He is a strong student but dh tends to be very directive about study habits and ds is rebelling and resisting more and more. I suggested that if his marks dip below 80 we tell him we will step in but other than that it is up to him. He has a solid foundation from homeschooling and from the years he has been in school but he needs to internalize the skills and motivation. If he is going to drop the ball I would rather it be this year so he can figure it out and get his act together by grade 12. Sure, we can work hard at making sure his marks stay up all through high school but if we have to make it happen then doesn't that set him up to be one of those bright kids who falls apart once they go off to university? He knows we are here for him and he and I work well together when he gets stuck. I heard somewhere that a mother's (and teacher's) job is to work themselves out of a job by the time a child is supposed to move on. Obviously there are many ways that a mother's job just changes but I am thinking that ds leaves home in 2.5 years. What he will be able to do at that pojnt depends largely on his marks his last year of high school. He has big dreams (wants to be a surgeon) and he needs to have the skills to make them happen. How can he hone those skills if mum and dad are in charge too much? We'll see what happens. I think he will be fine, dh worries that without the external discipline being enforced he won't work but I think just the opposite will happen - it just might take a few months for it to work itself out. Any thoughts from those of you who parent or work with teens and young adults?

[Nickarolaberry]

Hi all!

Sparkle, somehow I missed the house thing. You love a house but it is too pricey? Was that it? Ugh, that's hard, and I know you've been looking a very long time. 

Real, awesome race! Woot! Great job in the cold!

Funny we are talking about beef...I just got a notice that up in Amherst the 'hippy' rabbi's family (this is a long story...a while ago a bunch of Orthodox families all moved up to the Amherst area to start a commune/kibbutz type thing. It never worked out but some of the families stayed...) has just arranged for the kosher slaughter of a grass-fed cow and some lambs, so there is meat to be had. However it is very expensive at $11 /lb. I don't know what to do about this...it would be nice to have some meat, and I will not any longer buy non-grass-fed/humanely raised etc. beef (even though it's kosher the origins are the same as standard cattle if it's not specifically sourced as grass-fed/humanely raised etc.). But that is expensive! Whew. We do, at long last, have a dedicated freezer. Not sure what to do yet.

Shanti, glad to hear your younger girl is on the mend and older girl is getting back into the swing of things. I have one with weird rhythms too although they're not day/night related so much anymore. But it is a struggle to give her room to find her own pace and also keep her functional in the world. Sigh. As for your boy....I think your plan to give him more space to plan his schoolwork is a good one. Perhaps you can ask him if he'd be willing to meet with you and dh once a week or every couple of weeks to go over how things are going? Scheduling projects, keeping up to date, etc.? It gives him more autonomy but keeps you in the loop. 

Secret Sprinter...I've got to get on that. I did get my match, thanks! My gifts won't be too elaborate this year as funds are a bit low but they will be well-meant so I apologize in advance to my sprintee for the lack of fanciness....but I still love you! 

Jo, miss you! Seriously, are you going to be stateside this summer? I'll have 3 weeks with only one kid home and I"m thinking it would be a good time to travel to meet some dingos....

RR: 6 miles on the mill this morning next to the weird dude who always comes over to my treadmill, looks at my readout, and laughs. He gave me the willies but I cranked up my tunes loudly and ignored him and eventually he tired out and went away.

So...happy valentine's day, Dingos! It might be a romance-oriented day (although we don't do it actually) but I think the love of good friends is more than worth being acknowledged and appreciated! So

 and   Ladies!

[Mel38]

Real: awesome race report, and fantastic splits!!
 

Originally Posted by 1jooj 
apparently, because I was like, Ohh, I want to. And then I looked at my cup of coffee and really thought about it.  Future, yes, but I'd need to mentally prepare for about two weeks.

I had that same moment, but I was looking at my glass of red wine and thinking, oh no.

Originally Posted by tjsmama 

 My hang-up right now is where I would put a keyboard (because unfortunately, we do NOT have room for any kind of real piano) and where we would find the time to practice.

We bought a fairly cheap but still decent keyboard while we were in the apt in Germany, and it stays stashed in a corner behind a bookcase when not in use. The sound is fine, and - as someone here already stated - it has a volume knob which comes in handy! As for the time issue - maybe that will be easier once your XH is back in the area? Anyway, he could at least help with taking your DS to lessons.

Gaye - you are so on top of things with the banana bars and thank you cards and all that.

Shanti: your kids all sound sooo sweet, and how you describe them is just so nice to read. I agree with you on the self-direction at your DS's age.

Originally Posted by Nickarolaberry 
 It might be a romance-oriented day (although we don't do it actually) but I think the love of good friends is more than worth being acknowledged and appreciated!

So true! I am going to email my RP today, too, to wish her a happy Valentine's, because she's been a great friend lately. This is a good opportunity to acknowledge that!

RR: ran with my RP yesterday, which I really needed. Swam this a.m.

[sparkletruck]

Real - Amazing splits, awesome fortitude

Nic - wow, $11 is a lot! Is that b/c it's kosher? Are there any other sources of kosher grass-fed meat online, perhaps through eatwild or something? I dont think I could spend that much, unless that's the going rate, and then I think stocking up with a big purchase in a freezer is always a good idea.

Shanti - I agree that he needs to do it on his own. I assume, b/c you are awesome, that he has the organizational "tools" to make it happen, but that he's just relying on you and you dh b/c you continue to be the push he needs? There is a term called "learned helplessness", wherein helping is actually doing the opposite, which you mentioned. I'd say, as long as you are being explicit with him about your concerns and expectations, and he knows you are there to help with structural/organizational support, he will be fine, and yeah, it will probably be bumpy for a bit as he adjusts

NRR: Re: dog. Im not so worried about school, as I figure this new dog will just be added to all the activities we do with dog #1 anyway. I have about 6 mos. to get dog #2 up to speed with training (this will be an older, rescue dog, so will have had some training already). I'm thinking more about what tic this new dog will have that I dont want to deal with in the real world (as opposed to my fantasy world). We got really lucky with dog #1 (a rescue at ~8 mos old) in that she is so docile, affectionate, and eager to please. Her only tic is digging, which she doesnt do much of. But no chewing, no barking, no biting, no jumping, etc. I dont want a dog that chews up my Danskos

Re: the house. We are looking at it today, so I dont know if I will like it. It is not in a neighborhood of similar houses. Most of the area I live in is really a hodge podge, from student apartments to professors' and doctors bigger houses, some nice , some dumpy. It's more that we are so sick of looking, and/or getting a little tired of our sort of small current house (1100 sq ft).

The one house we really wanted was a short sale that the owner decided not to sell after he got our offer. But, he may likely put it back on the market if/when the bank rejects his refinance plan yet again. We have sort of had in mind that we will wait and then bid again, but there are a lot of what if's to that plan, and in the meantime, EVERYTHING we see looks like it was either designed by the Prison Industrial Complex or decorated by Carmela Soprano (...of the show the Soprano's - that faux italian, housewives of new jersey kind of style). Bleh. We are NOT half-mil type of people, but we're looking anyway...

...and as for buying land with all that $, that was a whole other long discussion somewhere in this 3 year+ process. We're pretty sure we dont want to manage a plot of land...

RR: None. Still coughing enough that I dont want to hack my way through a bike ride, although I probably *should*

[mommajb]

JayGee, She started voice while taking piano from the high school show choir teacher summer before 4th grade I think. The woman was awesome as far as teaching her to control her voice like an instrument but did not push her past her abilities. She even limited her practice rather than encouraging too much so she did discuss 'too much, too early". Her IU music degree in performance and education didn't hurt my confidence in her. At the time dd was miserable at piano and we made the swap for enjoyment reasons. She learned so much about how to speak and present herself it was obvious when her class presented their big history project in the auditorium. Now at 13.5 she can see where it is headed (recreationally speaking).

At this point I would need more than a couple of weeks to prepare to do Whole 30. I have looked at it and I would need my household to get on board. Color me impressed.

As someone living with just a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer... If it hadn't been for the years in Germany with a dorm size refrigerator and no freezer I would be much more upset. I don't know how I do it. The kids think it is normal to store food in the snow/garage/cooler. Dd2's comment about her birthday yesterday? I guess no ice cream cake this year since there is no snow in San Diego.

MelW, I am glad to hear you are all on the mend!

kerc was watching tv?

Plady, I bet dd's word swap causes awkward moments. It is good you didn't have too many of those at dinner, jo.

Plenty of perfect house problems here plus the old one still needs to sell. What a mess in that town. I have been check property transfers and the only action in the county seems to be divorce related.

nice race report real.

Shanti, I read what you have about work/sleep/eat habits and I feel your pain. My latest method has been to talk to dd about how her body is 'brittle' and if she doesn't stay in control chaos ensues. We have some friends that are very brittle diabetics and when they are not on top of everything it goes very bad, very quickly. When dd doesn't eat well, sleep well, plan well and live the plan her train derails. It affects her physically and emotionally. One bad morning and she could struggle for 3 days to get back on track and caught up. It also wears me out and lately doesn't leave me with enough reserves for the other 4 children in the house.

RR: 3 miles in the WIND. We woke up fiftenn minutes late and it had stormed all night which is somewhat odd here. The wind was so strong my perceived effort was about double what the garmin was reporting. There is a new runner on the path with a young baby and I felt for her. Dh and I said that if we had time we would wait for her to turn around so that we could all take turns pushing the jogger uphill into the wind. I hope she had extra time this morning because I am sure she needed it.

This post has taken hours to write (yet doesn't say anything) so I am sure I cross posted with somebody.

[JayGee]

I told DH what I want for my birthday this year..... a freezer and 1/2 a grassfed cow!!!!  I think he's going to go for it!!!!

mommajb ~ ugh that your house in IN is still on the market.  Sounds awful there right now.  Thanks for telling me what your DD did in terms of singing.  I think we'll stick with choir, and maybe a summer musical if she's interested.  She does have a lovely, albeit untrained, voice.  So funny about storing food outside!  I used to use our screened in porch as an auxilliary "fridge" in Bloomington during the winter months.

Nic ~ whoa!  $11/lb!!!  I'm afraid I couldn't do that....

RE:  Whole 30.  I'm drinking my coffee black, and honestly, it's not bad.  I'm still getting lots of healthy carbs from sweet potato and squash.  I figure I can do anything for 30 days of my life, and if it dampens my horrendous sugar cravings, I'm willing to give it a shot.  Lunch today is marinated flank steak under the broiler and a big, giant salad .

RR ~ I went to cardio circuit this morning and it felt good.  I'm having Nerve Conduction Testing tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure it will be negative since all the numbness seems to have subsided for the time being.  If that test is negative, I get referred to the orthopedic surgeon for a scope of my knee.