Dingoes Running in Search of Light and Warmth in December!

[Nickarolaberry]

December Thread!!!

[Plady]

Thanks for the reminder that it's a new month! 

RR: No, and it's worse than usual because I had scheduled a run with my old RP this morning and then had to bail because one dd had a fever yesterday and I just knew it would be a rough night of waking and soothing (and it was).  We'll reschedule but I was looking forward to beginning again.

NRR: Last night was the big yearly fundraiser at the theatre.  Every year there is a special need that they raise money for and this year was to start up a children's theatre program.  The artistic director thought it would be great to have some kids come out on stage with her while she made the pitch so of course my two were there and two boys from Macbeth.  The goal was $10K to have enough to get started this summer and have a bit extra to go on with into the future.  At the end of it though they raised $27K!  And throughout the rest of the night people kept stopping me to say that either they ponied up for it because they've enjoyed my last three shows so much or just because Ali G (all pumped up on Vit. I) was so cute they couldn't stand it.  I'm pretty darn proud of all my kids, all 80 or so that I've had the luck to work with since I got going here.  I can't wait to see what else we can create now that we've got such obvious support and funding to go with it!

Real - So gad you got baby time and that things are looking up for your niece.  Your poor sister, she must just feel like she's lost a few years of her life in the past couple months!
 

JayGee - Hoping for the best outcome for your van!  And that you feel better!

Jo - Wow!  Yeah , opting for more time in AD over WI is an amazing indicator or general satisfaction!  That is just the best news, my heart swells for you guys.

Sparkle - I would have been using those words and then some.  I to you and your incredibly patience!

Well, sick monkeys are calling (both feverish this morning of course).  Love to you all!

[Mel38]

race list

[Mel38]

results list

[Mel38]

Plady!!! So happy for you!!

[mommajb]

Great news plady. That is a huge show of support!

I hope the van is not $$$ jaygee.

A 6 mile run is done and I feel a bit better. I cannot explain how I dread school functions. One woman has been so rude to me it makes my jaw drop. Dh assures me to is too stupid or self involved to understand what she is saying but knowing I should just keep my mouth shut and move on ...it is hard.
Enough of the mobile app for me, more later when I get to the 'puter.

[eh bien]

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Edited by eh bien - 12/4/12 at 1:44pm

[tjsmama]

Working, sleeping, not getting much else done. Well, 6 miles yesterday, but it wasn't pretty. So very tired.

[JayGee]

Van has been towed to the Toyota store, and I am awaiting the estimate. No fever now for 24 hours, but it's been replaced by a nasty cough.

Plady - congrats on an amazing fundraiser for your theater program!

Eh bien - hope you got that smidgen of TV time!

RR - none, still too sick

NRR - see above.

[loftmama]

Plady, Great report!! That is just awesome! I'm so happy for you & your community! :twothumb

Mommjb, and you still manage to fit in a 6-mile run.

Eh bien, I know what you mean about the gloomy days. Hang in there!

Jooj, just smiling at your update. :smile

JG, what a terrible time for car problems. Hope it's not much.

RR- no run. But had a fabulous 1-hour walk with 2 of my besties (& theur dogs) from the ol' running days. Plus saw many dear friends at the party. Fodder for the soul. Great weekend in my favorite zip code. Now back to the woods...

[Shantimama]

Jooj - so glad to hear how much happier than you were this time last year. Are you getting any time to write now that you are homeschooling?

Plady - Congratulations and way to go!

mommajb - I am not big on school functions either. I did a lot when my kids first transitioned to school from homeschooling but I have little to no patience for the parenting politics that goes on. 

ehbien - those growth spurts are exhausting for mums. Hang in there!

tjsmama - try to get whatever rest you can with all the nasty viruses floating around right now. Six miles is still impressive!

JayGee - 

loftmama - so glad you had that time  

Interview this morning went well. She has a few more people to interview and I should hear something by next week. Her plans sound great, we clicked really well, she loved my work and my ideas for teaching and helping her to make the shop a destination yarn store. It is part time which would be perfect and allow me to keep studying but still get out of the house and be with other people more. Now it is just time to wait and hope she was as enthusiastic about hiring me as I am about working for her. I have a pretty heavy week ahead of me so having a little bit of hope to hold on to is helping my stress level, at least somewhat. Two of my kids are struggling significantly (one academically and one emotionally) and the other one just turned 13 and is having wild mood and attitude swings.  I am just about fried.

[Nickarolaberry]

Shanti, Real, and JayGee. 

Hanging in there. I had a great nearly-12 mile run yesterday so that was good. In other news...nothing much to report.

[1jooj]

Good luck, Shanti! It sounds like it would be a fun job. 

Plady, I am so pleased for you in this new role. It just sounds like things are coming together as they should for you. I hope the good spreads throughout all the corners of your life.

Thanks so much for the support, Dingoes.

I sure don't mean to say this place is growing on me; it is in a million ways just the same. We've just found a better corner to tuck ourselves into, and found a few folks we can connect with. But sometimes that's all it takes, I suppose, and I would say we were working from a baseline of crapola. I'm thinking about less time in WI for a couple reasons: summer Ramadan (no fun in WI with looooong days and not a lot of people fasting), no place of our own. As great as it was to stay with my friend, we just need our own little cave sometimes.

I'm really pleased, too, with the academic progress we've made. I am thinking high school will be our cutoff to go back to school, whether private school somewhere international or public school in US. That gives me two more years with ds, which I think will really allow him to blossom in math, science and languages. Whew.

Gaye, I thought I posted that FS arrived, but I see it didn't post. Well, he is here, and we'll spend the month or so with him before sending him back to CO. 

Dd has a cold, and I have had a headache for the past two days. Plan is to head down to the health club this afternoon for a workout and some swimming for the kids. It's cool for the pool, but that's relative. Will be good to ride the bikes and get a workout. My skin is starting to crawl from too much time in close quarters after the long weekend. Did I mention the apartment is about two rooms too small? Embarrassing but true. If I could sell two-thirds of our stuff, replace the kids' beds with lofts and line all the walls with those Expedit shelves, we'd be OK. But as it is, just looking around hurts my eyes and skin. Blech.

[tjsmama]

jaygee~I hope you're feeling better and that the van is a cheap fix!

plady~ for your fundraiser. Sounds awesome!

shanti~ for the job...sounds like you would be a great fit.

jo~Yay! I'm glad he made it. I hope you didn't have too much trouble reading DS's letter. His handwriting isn't terrible, but it isn't very good, either. I hope you and DD are both feeling better!


Today is December 3 and my Christmas cards are in the mail. I have no idea how that happened, but it is by far a new record. I would say that I'm starting to get back on top of things, but that would be stretching it a little. Or a lot. I'm trying to get Christmas shopping going, but having a hard time. DS brought home the first Captain Underpants book from the library a few weeks ago and devoured it, so I was planning on getting him the rest of the series, but it's surprisingly hard to find. I was hoping for a box set, but I can't make up my mind whether to buy the full set in paperback from a third party seller on Amazon, buy the two separate sets (first half and second half) from a proven retailer, or try to find the individual books in hardcover. I'm not sure why this is so difficult...it's an extremely popular series, yes? So why is it so hard to buy the series as a whole? Urgh. Also pondering Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but thinking DS might still be a year away from that. I also need to come up with something train-related for DS, as that and a domino game from Target are the only things he has on his Santa list. Not a specific train thing, just something in the train category. It should not be so hard to Christmas shop for a 6 year old!

rr~Spin class at the Y. With my least favorite instructor subbing. This is he of the bluegrass playlist...today included Willie Nelson. No. Just, no. Still managed to sweat a little, so I guess that's something.

[sparkletruck]

omg Gaye, you have serious self-control that you can withstand Willie Nelson in a spin class and not revolt. Willie Nelson I'm dyin'

[Runningmommy]

Hi ladies!! Trying to stay on top of the thread better is a goal of mine for December and new year. Wish me luck!! Haha

RR: still running after my last half and registered for the next half in May. Really want to do the full marathon in November but waiting to try my orthotics first to make sure my foot can with stand the mileage. If not the full then I will try to PR. For now just maintenance running that I am enjoying. I've added back my body weight work outs which are so fun and help burn those pesky calories.

NR: with the calendar reading December I am feeling the rush to finish Christmas shopping and make teacher gifts.

Gaye: you rock!! I can't even decide if I want to do Christmas cards!!

[KnitterMama]

12 weeks to my half!  Woohoo!  Let the semi-organized training plan commence.  

Oh Em Geeeeeee don't talk to me about the holidays I am wildly unprepared...and unmotivated.  

[Geofizz]

I'm slowly finding a routine in running without my RP.  Mostly it's been through talking up other people to join me for runs.  I found some fresh meat last night that will require a bit of C25King, but she'd be good company.

A dr friend of mine heard through the grapevine a description of what happened to the teacher that died.  The teacher, by the way, was 8 days younger than me.  Anyways, dr friend says it was likely a brain aneurysm or something similar.  Scary and tremendously sad.  It leaves me thinking, though, why did they put out all the info in the press full of euphemisms that made it sound self-inflicted?  I don't get it.

It's that time of year again -- type my last name into google news to see the press release.  It's not a sexy as bling planets, I guess, but I got email from the Bad Astronomer yesterday!!    So I expect a blog post from him soonish. 

[MelW]

Yay for Geo fame!! Did you know you can sign yourself up for google alerts? Everytime there's a new hit for your name it sends you an email update. My husband does it and has found his writing published without permission via these routes, plus is often the first notice of a new review.

Gaye, I'm impressed. I have never managed to send out Christmas cards, especially not in early December. And despite liking bluegrass, I cannot imagine spin class with Willie Nelson!

RM, good to hear that the running is going well, whether your training is for a full or a PRing half.

Shanti, fingers crossed for the job. Hugs to you and your kids.

Nic, keep hanging in there!

eh bien, you hang in there too. It's hard to run on no sleep (unless you're reallim, but she's exceptional)

Plady, congrats on the amazing fundraiser. I hope the kids are feeling better soon.

mommajb, I'm also not great a school functions. I've had to block the facebook group for our new school because the other parents drive me crazy with either their anxiety or their self-congratulatory tone for being involved in a progressive blending school/homelearning experiement, and the inevitable tension between those struggling with it and the cheerleaders explaining how they should be doing it. Blah.

JayGee, sending healthy vibes to you and your van.

real, I'm hoping your niece is better soon. I'm glad you're able to help and to cuddle the new baby!

HR (health-related): Youngest daughter didn't get better from her cold/strep throat, so she had her first ever antibiotics late last week. This was soon followed by a full body rash on Thursday night- she'd had a couple of spots when I gave her the bedtime dose and I had a strong instinct to check on her at around 9 and found her head to toe covered in rash. I gave a double dose of Benadryl and slept with her beside me and the epipen on the bedside table. The doctor the next morning said the rash looked a lot like roseola, but to stop the antibiotics just in case. So she may or may not have a penicillin allergy. Now she's healthy and back to her usual wild self.

NRR- We went to Victoria on Friday evening  for FIL's partner's memorial on Saturday. The kids did well with the service, and we seem to have survived the inevitable stresses and family politics. There are still more to come (how to deal with the new family dynamics over the holidays), but I'm leaving that one with my husband and his brothers.

I pulled a majorly airheaded moment on Saturday night when the hospital called to see where I was- I had forgotten that I'd booked a night shift. So fresh off a 3 hour drive home from Victoria I rushed out for a 12 hour night.

RR- I did get a run in over the weekend- a lovely getting lost through Victoria. There was sunrise along the waterfront, deer wandering through fancy neighbourhoods and a trail through parks and alleys that eventually got me back about an hour later. I was watch-less and map-less and it was my best run in ages. Today I had a bike ride home from the shop where my car is being serviced, but it was a miserable 30 minutes in winds and downpour. At least I can check exercise off today's to-do list :)

[sparkletruck]

MelW - indeed! How scary and hectic!

Geo - You rock! (get it ) So very sad about the teacher

Plady - how validating! and awesome of your community! Of course you and yours inspired that, you know!

RR: should, should should, bleh

NRR: just finished my power-point for my final project for one class. Need to write one more paper this week for the other class, and then done. I just cant get myself to start typing.

In other news: AAAAHHHHH I just spoke to Jesse Pinkman at Trader Joes! Seriously, I love him, and he was returning his cart as I was getting mine, and I said matter-of-factly; "I'm trying not to freak out right now", and he laughed and said "you're alright" I couldnt remember my shopping list after that. I wanted to text you Plady (married to the Saul of SJI and all ), and I just realized I DO have your number in my phone!!