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| Monday, 6-Jun-2005 00:00 |
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Playing Catch-up
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Bumper damage on van from tire blowout.
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Windshield damage on van
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Ari (right) chasing a ball (and girl) on the soccer field.
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It's been a long time.
Memorial Day weekend Anastasia had a soccer tournament in Albuquerque, NM. I woke that Friday morning we were to leave to drive down there w/ a scratchy/achy throat. By the time I arrived down there at 10:30 p.m., I was full-fledged sick. Sat. I was downright miserable. The scratchy throat moved up to my sinuses which clogged my head, then moved down into my lungs (while still hanging out in my nose), accompanied w/ achy joints and extreme tiredness and coughing. Today, 10 days later, the crud is still hanging on.
The NM trip was sort of a bust. Anastasia's team played horribly. The weather was sort of sketchy. Luckily, Andy's mom and dad kept Andrew and Kat, so they were spared many boring hours in the scorching sun or thunderstorms (depending on the weather at the moment). I got home the afternoon of Memorial Day.
Tues (the day after Memorial Day) started soccer tryouts. And that lasted until Friday. What an exhausting week. I won't bore you w/ the mundane details. Basically, the kids made the teams they deserved to make. Arianna got my sickness the day tryouts started (she had 3 days of them, 2 hours each day). The second she told me her throat was scratchy, I ran out to the store and bought the ingredients for my homemade chicken noodle soup, which I forced her to eat tons of. Also, I forced Cold-eeze down her throat at regular intervals and had her take vitamin C and other herbs, green tea w/ honey and over the counter decongestant meds and nasal washes at least twice a day. I think all that effort cut the nasty sickness by about 50 percent!
Oh, a very big bright spot: the day we left for NM, I took my car in to get body work -- windshield replaced and the bumper fixed (remember the blowout? Or did I not chronicle that? I got a blowout going 75 mph on I-70 while taking Alix to school one morning. I veered off into the grassy median, which bumped us down into a ditch. While doing so, my front bumper more or less was torn loose on the passenger side. $1000 plus worth of damage. The tire was shredded rubber -- the whole sidewall was nowhere to be found. So that made the 4th time I had to put on the spare tire since Dec. I am getting to be quite the expert on changing tires.). My insurance allows for a rental car while the car's being worked on. The Enterprise didn't have a minivan, so they had to substitue a Yukon XL. I was just so devastated to have to drive that around . . . not! I am in total love, despite the negative gas guzzling characteristics of that giant SUV. That vehicle made the ride down to Albuquerque actually enjoyable. The kids nag me daily that we HAVE to get a new car, and that new car has to be exactly like the one we're renting!
Kid activities for the summer (which start tomorrow):
A. Track. They have practice from 7:30-9 a.m. 3-4 times/week and occasional meets on the weekends.
B. Swim team. Practice Tues. and Thurs. from 6-7 w/ meets on Fridays or Saturdays.
C. Soccer. I'm thinking about putting each girls in a week-long camp. Plus, they will sporadic practices and tournaments throughout the summer.
D. Guitar. Alix and Anastasia started guitar (acoustic and bass, respectively) briefly in the fall. This summer I plan to have them take it up again (they keep bugging me about it).
E. Academics. Going to get the kids signed up for the Denver library summer reading program and make them do math to keep (shooting for daily) so that they aren't rusty when school starts.
F. Karate??? This is a consideration.
G. Art camp for Anastasia???? This is a consideration.
H. Swimming lessons for Kat on M and W mornings.
I. Gymnastics for Kat since she isn't old enough to be on swim team or track.
I am hoping the above turns my kids into zombies. Maybe they won't be at eachother's throats and will volunteer to go to bed early!
Okay, so what's wrong w/ wishful thinking???
Yeah, well, w/ all the carting around the above schedule will require, maybe the only zombie in the house will be me.
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| Wednesday, 18-May-2005 00:00 |
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Waiting Room Intolerance
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Me of all people should have tolerance for having to wait. And usually I'm pretty okay with waiting. Often I'm actually proud of myself for having to sit in a waiting room and having to wait!
But today I had to wait waaayy too long. I had appts for Andrew and Anastasia at Comfort Dental -- a provider w/ the Army's Dental Program. The office is in Northglenn -- about 15 min. north on I-25. Well, I got there more or less on time and filled out my "new patient" information. Then I sat. And sat. And read some lame magazine and still I sat. For over an hour. And I had no warm fuzzy that we'd be seen any time soon.
So, after about an hour and fifteen min. of waiting, I had reached my tolerance limit. I strode up to the counter (and had to wait for about 5 min. until the receptionist even noticed that I was standing there -- she was off doing something) and asked her to please destroy my new patient info sheet because I had the feeling appointment times really are irrelevant there, and that I have 5 kids and that I just won't be able to wait like this every time I have to take my kids to the dentist. I think I was pretty "nice" about the whole thing and didn't let my total annoyance and frustration completely shine through my tight smile.
Thus, I wasted my entire morning. I got home in time to pick Kat up from school at noon.
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| Monday, 16-May-2005 00:00 |
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Everything on Fast Forward
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Very busy weekend.
Friday night (Friday the 13th), we had a surprise. A knock on the door at 9 p.m. We were back from Friday night soccer practice and chillin' in front of the t.v., numbing ourselves and eating salad and potatoes for dinner -- baked sweet or baked plain according to preference.
At the door was Jamie and Ben! Jamie flew in from West Point to attend Erin's graduation from her graduate program at CU. Nobody knew he was coming besides Ben. When Andrew saw Jamie, he thought it was his Daddy, which was sad. But he was very excited to see Jamie -- a pretty decent second.
Saturday I had 3 soccer games -- Andrew, Arianna, and Anastasia. Also 2 parties -- Erin's graduation party and Arianna's end-of-season party (both at the same time and about 25 min. apart). Friday night I stayed up late doing Pilates and making my baked macaroni and cheese (I needed to supply a side dish for Arianna's party).
Luckily, Bruce came through for me again (he'll be glad next week when the season will officially be over!) and took Andrew to his game. I had lots of errands to do (which you'll be thrilled to know that I'm not going to bore you with the details thereof) and the 2 games. Jamie came to Arianna's afternoon game, and EVERYONE (all the soccer parents) saw him walking up beside me and thought it was Andy home from Iraq! Jamie said that he'd be happy to pose for pictures.
I dropped Arianna off at her party and attended Erin's (about 30 min. before it was scheduled to end, which of course it didn't). I spied the bottles of wine, and I think if I had just a little less self-discipline, I would've crawled into some quiet corner of her house and downed one of them all by myself. It was that kinda day -- everything was done in double time and I didn't feel like I could relax. But of course, no alcohol for me because I had to jump into my car around 9 to pick Arianna up from her party. I ended up going to bed around 1 a.m. for some unknown reason.
SUNDAY: I woke up much too early and not feeling all that hot. Arianna had a make-up game at 8. My plan was to go to that game and hustle back to pick up the kids to make the church service. But I felt so badly and was so depressed after the game (Arianna's team lost 0-10 despite the fact that they actually played soccer (meaning, they actually passed the ball) rather than boom ball (meaning the other team blasted the team and ran for the goal). The parents on the opposing team were SO obnoxious. They roared w/ delight w/ every goal, even the one that was the result of a deflection off one of our players (that was goal 9)). I'd hope that if my kid ever played on a team which was hammering the other team, I'd be embarrassed to cheer like that and celebrate afterwards like we'd won the World Cup.
Anyway, I was v. bummed for the little girls to have had to experience that. And my West Point cadet buddy, Jenna Roberts, was playing a game at 9 with a bunch of girls she's going to go to Regionals in Seattle with the first week of June, and I've never seen Jenna play (besides once playing 3 vs 3., but that's not the same thing), so I made a plan change and opted out of church.
After that, I went home and tried to sleep for about an hour and a half. I really didn't do much but lie there w/ my eyes closed and brain buzzing and active. Then I had to take Andrew to a make-up phonics test in Aurora (about 30 min. away). Then I stopped at Buckley Air Force Base to get some food and BX stuff. Then I got home, put the stuff away, and headed up to Andy's mom and dad's house to say goodbye to Robin and Craig. I got home around 10:30 p.m.
TODAY:
I volunteered to take Jamie to the airport around 11 and also to go running w/ him in the morning around 6:45. We ran about 5 miles at a moderate pace. It was nice to have someone to run with after running for such a long time by myself -- except w/ Rowdy, the best running partner ever. Jamie told me afterwards, "That's the first time that I can remember when you haven't tried to run me into the ground." I guess I'm losing my competitive edge. Or something.
I went home after that and did my normal school drop-offs. That took me to about 9:15. The rest of the time I spent showering and schooling. I was 15 min. late picking up Jamie to take him to the airport, but it was no big deal because I made up for that lost time w/ my white-knuck driving (plus I'm pretty sure Jamie calculated a probable tardy Amy into his schedule).
I got home around 12:15 and had to get the kids set for the next couple of hours (I was going to be absent) and get dressed to go to my appt. at National Jewish. My appt time was 1:30, but they really like patients to check in a half hour prior to the appt. time. Well, I left around 12:50, so I knew I wasn't going to get there by 1. About 8 min. into my drive, I sorta looked around and noticed that I wasn't on 20th Street -- my normal route to the hospital. I was on Speer. So, I had to get off at Colfax (nicknamed "Cold Facts" because of its red light district reputation), which has TONS of stoplights. And, of course, I hit every red. I was a prime example of a road rager, I'm embarrassed to say, calling everyone ahead of me idiots and morons. Then, because I'm not accustomed to approaching National Jewish from Colfax, I missed my turn into the parking lot and found myself driving around the stupid hospital for 10 min., with all the one way streets and left turns w/ turn arrows which only allow 2 cars at a time through, etc., etc. I was def living Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" -- "A traffic jam when you're already late."
By the time I had parked and sprinted into the hospital to check in, it was 1:31 p.m. Then I had to endure waiting in line while the woman in front of me had to sort out her insurance issues for over 8 min.! Ugh! Finally when I busted through the door of the clinic, the nurse ushered me into a chair to get my vital signs, and even after waiting about 5 min. so that I could settle down (she noticed what a mess I was), my "resting" heart rate was 75 and the top number of my blood pressure was 157!!! My normal resting heart rate is anywhere between 45 and 50, and I've never had a higher number than 120 on my blood pressure. An hour later when my appt was over, my heart was still hammering away in my chest. Oh, and also my temp was 100.8 -- i had been feeling kinda flush-ish and warm, but I attributed that to my rushing around and stress level. When I finally did chill out, I noticed that I was feeling achy and my throat was a little scratchy.
The afternoon/evening consisted of soccer practice for Anastasia. My mind is a blank as to what I did while she was practicing.
I'm going to bed now.
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| Thursday, 12-May-2005 00:00 |
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A few vocalizations
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I woke up not wanting to be awake. I had about 6 hours of sleep, but obviously that wasn't enough for some reason, even tho last night I didn't do Pilates like I'd planned. It had just got too late (after 11 p.m.) before I was finally done w/ "stuff" so I could get to it.
I ran 5 at a pretty decent pace w/ Rowdy this morning. The temp was about 45, so at least I wasn't battling the heat (or snow).
Before I went out to run, I told Alix to make Arianna's lunch. I'm just getting so tired of these kids fending for themselves and never peering outside of their self-absorbed goggles to find SOMETHING to do for some one other than themselves. I explained to Alix that it takes maybe 30 sec. longer to make 2 sandwiches instead of just one. Then I went out to run.
When I got in the car, I questioned Alix about the lunch making order, and I found out that she totally blew me off! So, I entered Very Annoyed Lecture Mode (which I'm sure Alix completely tuned out, thus blowing me off a second time). Then I fielded 3 calls on my cell from Arianna complaining that Andrew or Kat (depending on which call she was making at the time) was not listening to her and basically making her life intolerable. All this on a 15 min. drive.
On the way back from Alix's school there was a HUGE traffic jam on I-70, so I had to change routes and took 38th back home, making the return trip roughly twice the time (but of course much quicker than the alternative at that moment). I got Arianna to school on time, and Kat to school on time. Then I jumped in the shower, dressed and jumped into the car w/ Anastasia and Andrew so that I could be 10 min. late to my appt. at National Jewish -- this time for speech therapy to learn how to relax the vocal chords while breathing (thus having to see the speech therapist because vocal chords are involved). I spent an hour w/ the therapist where I learned that, actually, the Pilates method of breathing is completely screwed up! At least MY understanding of what the Pilates method is, that is. Great. So, now I have to learn 2 different ways to breathe -- one for my Pilates instructor when I go for my one-on-ones, and one for my speech therapist when I'm to return after practicing breathing 6-7 per day for 2 weeks. When I return, she's going to put me on the treadmill and really see if I've been practicing dutifully.
We called Ben on his cell when the appt was over so that we could get a tour of the lab (he works in the lab at National Jewish). He took us around where he works, and that was pretty neat. Then I had to zip to Kat's school and got there just in the nick of time so that she didn't have to be escorted down to the office to await my late arrival (she's been there, done that plenty of times, sad to say).
I had enough time at home to make a mocha and make lunch for the kids AND DINNER (Spaghetti sauce) (which I made over the stove but dumped into the crockpot to keep cooking while I was busy transporting kids all afternoon) before I had to rush back to Alix's school so that I could pick her up early (1:50) to go to an orthodontist appt. I was 10 min. late (got there just after 2), and she wasn't in the office waiting as planned, which made me that much later. So, we were 5 min. late to her appt., but the receptionist over there is v. sympathetic (she says she's chronically late everywhere she goes, too). While Alix was being seen, I did some phonics w/ Andrew and math w/ Anastasia (yep, I dragged along the homeschool materials in hopes that I could find an opportunity to multi-task). When Alix was done, we had to fly down to her soccer field (the 35 min. away one), then head back home to pick Arianna up from school (17 min. late) -- I had to be creative on the trip back because traffic was still messed up on I-70 heading east (same as in the morning) because of construction.
I got home at 4:10 from that and told all the kids that they'd better BE QUIET because I HAD to take a power nap -- 35 min. -- before we had to head back down to the soccer field to pick up Alix and drop off Anastasia.
That accomplished, I got Anastasia down to her field about 15 min. early (Alix had been waiting for 45 min., but was busy doing homework). While Anastasia was soccering, I took the kids to Tony's -- a gourmet boutique kinda market -- to get the free cookies they give out to kids (that's always a thrill for the kids because the cookies are really good and normally cost $6.99 a pound otherwise) -- and picked up some food, like cauliflower and bread to go w/ dinner tonight. Then I went to Gart Sports to browse.
So, at Gart, Alix opted to stay in the car to do homework, and Andrew decided to stay in the car w/ her so he could GameBoy. I entered the store w/ Arianna and Kat. We hung out in there for about 35 min. checking out the clearance racks (the only stuff they had was in Large and X-Large and happily I don't wear that size anymore, but which is really inconvenient when rifling through the clearance items -- there's nothing left in my current size!). I also did a lot of chasing Kat off of the treadmills and exercise bikes and pulling her out from under clothes racks because she refused to stay next to me. Finally, I had a couple things that I wanted Alix to try on, including a much better sports bra (because she needs something more supportive these days). I sent Arianna out to get her from the car.
Arianna returned w/ Andrew only. Alix told her to "go away." Hmm. I told Arianna to get back out there and tell Alix to come into the store NOW. Arianna returned, again, and without Alix. "Mommy! She made an "L" w/ her thumb and finger and told me no, she was doing her math." Oh, really? So, I sent Arianna out a third time w/ a strong message for Alix. Arianna returned a third time with no Alix. I decided it was time to drag her out of the car by her hair myself.
When I got to the entrance/exit, Alix was walking into the store, an innocent and almost eager expression on her face. "Mom?"
Oh. I don't think any of you would want to have been Alix right then. And she had the audacity to not cower, but to maintain that Arianna was lying about her! Oh, right. Three separate times.
I returned to Anastasia's field at 7:50 p.m. (practice was to end at 7:45), but she wasn't finished yet. She didn't trot down to the parking lot until 8:20. I guess her worthless coaches decided to try and make-up for past shortcomings or something. Nice idea, but this put me over 30 min. behind schedule. I hammered home and screeched to a halt in front of my house at 8:50; I'd made good time. Then I started throwing dinner together.
Dinner consisted of: Spaghetti over whole wheat spaghetti noodles (surprisingly good), steamed cauliflower, bread, and salad. And even strawberries w/ vanilla ice cream for dessert, but most of the kids opted out of the ice cream. I'm v. proud of the fact that I actually cooked dinner, but eating at 9:20 p.m. isn't exactly ideal.
Then I had a mess in the kitchen to clean up. I told Ari to go to bed and not rinse dishes (that's supposedly her job) and I told Anastasia to do the rinsing instead. She whined and complained. "But I was going to take a bath," she said, clutching her Harry Potter tome. "Plus, I need gloves; I can't touch water w/out gloves."
Oh, really. Very interesting. So how is it that you can take a bath sans gloves then? And btw, I'd really like to take a bath and soak and read. But . . . hmmm . . . I can't remember the last time I've done that. Way way before Daddy left for Iraq.
Anastasia continued her argument about her need for gloves. Then she went to the bathroom to get some gloves I use for toilet scrubbing. Um, no way. And that began another barrage of complaints and it's not fairs.
And then I just lost it. I don't think any of you would've wanted to be standing in Anastasia's soccer socks right then.
But unlike stoic, stubborn Alix, Anastasia relented immediately, knocking herself together, and started rinsing frantically . . . and without gloves somehow.
Reflecting upon the past hours, I don't think my speech therapist would've approved of this day's use (or abuse) of my vocal chords.
Oh, and did I mention that this morning, I awoke to my "monthly friend?" I'm sure that contributed nicely to my vocal chords' health as well.
It's now 23:23 (11:23 p.m.) -- a nice and symmetrical time to end this day.
Hasta.
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| Tuesday, 10-May-2005 00:00 |
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Treadmill Testiness
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Today I took my treadmill test at National Jewish.
What a total disappointment!
I was under the impression that the whole goal of this test was to induce me into an asthma attack (exercise induced). And that to get me to that point, I'd be run into the ground.
I should've gotten a clue when, after the tech guy stuck all these EKG tab thingies on my chest and then connected wires to them so that they can monitor my heart rate while they torture me, I had to snap this belt around my waist, and the circumference of that belt was roughly 3 times the circumference of my waist. "Wow," the tech guy said, "the person before you must've really been big!" Ya think?
So, the tech guy tells me that the target heart rate he's going to shoot for is 85% of my max for my age, which ended up being 158 beats per min. While he was taking the spirometer readings of my breathing, he was bragging about how he was going to work me, etc. (He was a very nice guy, btw, and I had fun joking around w/ him. He told me that he's asthmatic but doesn't take his meds very consistently and that being the old codge that he was, he's old enough now to wish he'd taken better care of himself earlier.)
Then the intern doc comes by so that he can observe me while I'm being tested. The tech guy cranks up the treadmill . . . and I start walking. Walking! For 2 min. to warm-up. Then he starts increasing the speed, slowly. He's watching my heart rate intently. Oh, did I mention that in addition to the EKG thingies and wires and belt around my waist holding it all on, I also had a pulse thing clipped to my index finger of my left hand (the tech kept nagging me to keep my finger straight), and in my right hand, I had to hold this breathing thing to my mouth that was shooting out freezing cold air into my lungs and that I had a pair of nose clips squeezing my nostrils together? This all kinda made me pretty psyched for an Xtreme experience. Not.
Anyway, so I'm walking. Then jogging. Then running moderately. The cold air was making it yucky to breath, and i really wanted to pull the thing out of my mouth because my tongue was very cold and dry and I couldn't swallow my cold, thick spit very well, and I was sorta slobbering llike a Saint Bernard dog, but the pace wasn't all that different than my moderate pace I train at. Like, prob around the pace I ran last week when I ran 6.5 miles averaging a 7:45 min./mile pace. My heart rate got to 162, which was sort of distressing the tech, even tho I indicated to him (when he asked) that out of a scale from 1 to 10, I was feeling I was at about a 4.5 or 5. I was sure he'd push me to a 8 or at least a 7, but at the 10 min. mark, he just had me stop! I was like, "Hey! You didn't even make me sprint! Can't I at least sprint?" Because I knew that I hadn't had an asthmatic reaction at all, and that I'd have to be pushed pretty hard to get one. And I thought this was the whole point, seeing as I run ALL THE TIME and I thought it would be helpful to see at which point I'm stressing my lungs out. I felt that data would be helpful so that I could better manage my own asthma. As it was, it was a complete waste of time.
My doc showed up just as I was stepping off the treadmill (and while I was arguing w/ the tech that he hadn't pushed me enough) to stick a scope down my nose and into my throat to see if I was experiencing Vocal Chord Dysfunction, which of course I wasn't. My doc also seemed a little annoyed that I hadn't been pushed harder. He asked if they have some sort of protocol or something that dictates how hard they can push a patient. And even if that patient is in really good shape?
I'm thinking that they are just so used to really sick and/or overweight and out of shape patients that they are just not used to someone exceeding the prescribed heart rate and being totally fine and ready to push much harder. Kinda very frustrating.
So, I just went home and ran 4 miles in 80 degree heat at the pace I should've been able to run at National Jewish. I didn't have anyone to collect data on me, but, hey, it was the principle of the thing that drove me to it! Plus, I needed to get a workout in.
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| Monday, 9-May-2005 00:00 |
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Pilates Studio 101
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Today I went to a REAL Pilates studio. It's about a half-mile from my house, and it opened about 9 months ago. I heard from Andrea (who owns the coffee shop next door to it) that the owner of the Pilates studio (Jessica) gives out free 30 min. introductory sessions, so I decided to give it a try. You know, just to see how I stack up and all.
Well, what I learned is this: I'm not breathing exactly right. Okay, well, I already KNEW that I'm SUPPOSED to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. But I'm sorry, the nose just isn't conducive for sucking in large amts. of air, so I just sorta ignored that (that earned me a critical head shake from instructor Jessica). But also, there's this technique basic to Pilates called "scooping" that I just haven't been doing. It's breathing while doing the exercises while also having your abs flat and "scooped" as if you're putting on a tight pair of jeans. Basically, your tummy isn't supposed to pooch out at all, but be more hollow, both while inhaling and exhaling. Great. That's what you get by learning via DVDs. On the plus side, with DVDs, you learn the exercises in the privacy of your home (rather than flopping around like some uncoordinated fish out of water in full public view) and thereby uphold your sense of dignity. But on the minus side, you end up like me, strutting into a Pilates studio thinking you're "all that" and that you're going to get the owner of the studio begging you to come work for her so that you can divuge your exceptional expertise (and prowess) to other less learned devotees of the Pilates "method" and then . . . slam back to reality. . . "Um, hon, you are very strong and your abs are very pliable, but. . . you just aren't breathing right." The result? You slink out of the studio with your shoulders slumped only after having pulled out the plastic and signing up (prepaid, of course) for some individual sessions at an exorbitant price per pop. Then climbing into your car and wishing that you'd remained in the blissfully ignorant "non-scooping whilst breathing" state in which you lived while listening to the annoying intonations of Mari Winsor, Pilates guru extraordinaire, via DVD.
However, not all was gloomy. I actually got to try some of the contraptions that Joseph Pilates created while interned in a camp during WW1 (I learned from the instructor that Pilates was a German living in England at the time). Kinda cool, but I think I'd rather concentrate on the mat work because once I learn the "correct way" to do Pilates, I can do it at home for free again!
Oh, and lest you think I'm a total moron and have wasted 14 months of my life doing Pilates the complete wrong way, my abs are still very strong. Even doing Pilates incorrectly (or somewhat incorrectly) is still good! The instructor said that using the proper breathing technique supports the back better and strengths the core muscles from the deepest inner tissue, rather than just building from the outer levels. Okay, whatever. Isn't the outer "six pack abs" what we're all after, anyway? Who cares about what the inner tissue looks like when you've got that six pack working for you? But I suppose this argument isn't holding up w/ me because I tossed money at her . . .
One other piece of info from the instructor. She actually worked out of Denver Athletic Club down in Cherry Hills -- the place where the rich and famous of Denver-metro sweat to be seen (and pay huge bucks while they do it). She moved to NW Denver (aka "el barrio") I'm not sure why, but 95% of her clientelle trek up here to my 'hood in their Hummers and BMW's and Mercedes to practice their Pilates w/ Jessica (the instructor). They zip into the studio (prob wearing body armor) and then get the heck outta here. She said they are very concerned about how safe their cars are going to be in this neck in the woods.
That info thrilled me to my core, even if it's not exactly Joseph Pilates approved . . . yet.
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| Sunday, 8-May-2005 00:00 |
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Mother's Day (and the day before)
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Mother's Day cake. Andy ordered it from Iraq.
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Today I woke up to bacon cooking.
But I stayed "asleep" until the kids came up to "wake me up." They made pancakes and French toast, sausage (not bacon; I'd been wrong), a fried egg, and coffee.
Unfortunately, I only had wheat flour (who knows why I had that?!) since I'd depleted my stores of flour Friday night (see end of post for an explanation), so the pancakes were pretty hefty (and more or less inedible -- but shhh, I didn't say that!). Also unhelpful was that the girls had used a recipe Arianna got in health class. I looked at it later, and I'm pretty sure that whomever handed out that recipe is NOT a cook of any sort. That was THE WORST recipe I've ever seen for pancakes. My kids were totally set up for failure!!!
I got gifts, too. A really hip wallet and a bottle of nail polish and a vanilla scented candle. I'd given Arianna and Alexandra some money on Sat.afternoon while we were at the PX, so that's where the presents came from.
After breakfast, we all had to bust butt to get to church on time (we were about 30 min. late for Sunday school, and I was teaching! Oops.) My co-teacher had called while I was breakfasting to tell me that her dog was sick and that she wasn't going to be able to teach. So, not only was I late, but I was also unprepared. Talk about a set-up for failure. However, I think I sort kinda averted disaster (or embarrassment for being so lame as to not be prepared) by grabbing some construction paper and markers on the way out of the house. We talked about the mothers mentioned in the Bible while making Mother's Day cards. Luckily, none of the kids, including mine, had made cards for their moms yet, so it turned out to be a success after all. Whew!
At 3 p.m., Alix had a soccer game, a make-up from earlier in the month when the weather was bad. Of course, what would Mother's Day be for me without soccer? I don't think I'd feel settled if not for that soccer game. Alix's team won. We got home, I made some tuna fish casserole (to the groans of some of the kids and cheers of the remaining), spaghetti squash, salad, and turnip greens. Oh, and Andy had ordered me a cake at a floo frue bakery in town, a French one (can't spell it off the top of my head, so I won't even attempt). I'd picked it up on Friday afternoon. He had called from Iraq to the store to order it for me (they didn't believe that he was really in Iraq until he got cut off and had to call back again. Hey, did I already write this in an earlier post? If so, sorry.) Oh, but we ate part of the cake on Sat.
SATURDAY:
This was the work day at the house! Bruce had arranged the whole thing, and it actually turned out really well -- people actually showed up! I, however, wasn't around. I had 4 soccer games to attend (or at least delegate soccer duty for): two at 10:30 (in complete opposite locations -- one in Arvada (north of Denver), and one in Lakewood (south) -- and two at noon (one in Littleton (further south of Lakewood) and the other in Aurora or Centennial or whatever it's called. Further south still and east). Needless to say, I needed some help just with getting the kids to where they had to be. Bruce took Anastasia to her 10:30 game, Ben took Andrew to his noon game, I had to drop Arianna off to a teammate's house so that she'd be able to make her warm-up (hers was the farthest south and east one), and I watched Alix's game, then headed to Arianna's afterwards.
Alix's team lost 1-2, tho they played really well, and the 2 opposing goals were from fouls, which is always kinda tough. Things are even worse when one of those foul's was your kid's. In this case, the first goal was due to a foul Alix caused. She went up for a header and used the opposing player's shoulders as a sort of boost (and the ref caught it). That earned the other team an indirect kick not too far from the goal. The score came from a rebound off that indirect kick. The second goal was made off a penalty kick from a trip in the box (Alix says it wasn't a trip; her teammate was just slide tackling the ball, and the opposing player tripped over her.)
After Alix's game, I had to hammer my way down I-25 to Arianna's game. On I-25 we met a massive traffic jam, a non-moving one. Yep, more like a parking lot. So, by the time I got to Arianna's game, only about 7 minutes were left of the game. I stepped onto the sideline just as Ari was scoring the one and only goal her team made. Then about 20 sec before the end of the game, she just about scored again; the ball was just a teensy bit too far ahead of her, and the keeper snatched it up.
Her team lost 1-2 also, and, coincidentally, to a team in the same club that had just played Alix's team.
By the time I got home from soccering, my house was completely cleared of workers. I had left in the morning just as the first helper got there, and I got home when they were gone! (around 3:30, after making a quick stop at the BX at Buckley Air Force Base). What greeted me when I got home was a mowed lawn, mulch (spelled?) under all the trees (the neighbor across the street had 2 giant, ancient trees chopped down and turned to mulch earlier in the week, and he was giving the mulch away free, so I guess the workers took full advantage). Also, the lights in the kitchen now work! Now I can actually see what dishes I'm washing in the sink and what food I'm cooking (when I do cook these days) instead of guessing in the shadows. And the electricity in the garage is now up and running (Curtis, the guy who worked on the garage said that he was pretty amazed that the whole thing hadn't already burned to the ground as the wires had been chewed by something (prob a rodent) and were surrounded by insulation which is highly flammable (I don't know if I'm even communicating this correctly; it's my limited understanding of what he said)). And the soap dish is now back on the shower wall. So, lots got done! I felt a little like the shoemaker must have felt upon waking up in the morning and seeing his leather transformed into shoes. But in my case, the only effort I'd put out toward all the projects was the night before I made 2 kinds of coffee cake and banana bread and put out yogurt and juice and coffee and Gatorade and soda, etc.
Later, we drove down to REI and parked. We walked along Cherry Creek to Tattered Cover Book Store, and I read picture books to the littlest two for about an hour. Then we walked back to the car (about a mile or so). We had to run through Confluence Park in the dark, which thrilled the kids (and also terrified Arianna, whose sisters took every opportunity to jump out from behind shrubs to scare her).
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| Thursday, 5-May-2005 00:00 |
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Dead Tire(d)
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I was off to pick Alix up from school a little after 3 p.m. I had just come off a 6 plus mile run in almost 80 degree heat, dragging my lazy dog more than half of the run. Rowdy, because she has so much black and because she's a hound, really doesn't tolerate heat very well. She'd much rather lie under the porch with her tongue dragging on the ground. When I stood at the front gate today and called her to me, all she did was stand back by the garage and look at me with a "You've gotta be kidding me" look on her long, houndy face. I had to call her about 10 times until she finally -- reluctantly -- trotted over to me so we could get running.
Anyway, I wasn't used to the heat, either, coming off of a couple of weeks of rain, snow, wind and cold. So, when I got home, I guzzled water, showered, collapsed on my bed for about 5 min., and then headed out to pick up Alix.
My planned schedule for the day was: Pick Alix up from school somewhere around 3. Drive her down to her practice field (35 min. from home in decent traffic), then haul back up to pick Arianna up from school, usually 15 min. late. Pick Anastasia and the other monsters up at home and drop Anastasia off at Manning Middle School (Alix's school) to take a math placement test for next year. Then wait until she finished, then bring her down to the field that Alix was practicing on so she (Anastasia) could practice from 6:15-7:45. Alix would've had to wait at the field after her practice for about 30 min., I estimated.
Well, as life is sometimes, things just didn't turn out that way.
I turned the corner of 39th and Shoshone, heading toward I-70 when I felt the car not driving normally, which really isn't all that great most of the time anyway. But the steering wheel was shaking, and that got my attention. I pulled the car over and looked at the tires. Yep -- once again the passenger side front tire was FLAT! With a screw sticking out of its side. Um, I think this is the FOURTH time since Dec. that I've gotten either a flat tire or a bent rim, all on the passenger side! So, I had to zip around the block and park the car in front of my house so I could begin another "putting on the spare tire" routine.
I first called Alix's school so that she'd know why I wasn't going to be there to pick her up (the secretary said she could hang out w/ her. I was supposed to be there by 4:15 to deliver Anastasia to her math placement test anyway) and to call her coach and tell him that she was going to have to miss practice because of the tire issue. Then I set to work.
Let me tell you, it ain't all that fun to change a tire in the heat of the day (when it's the kind of heat you're unaccustomed to) after running 6 plus miles and haven't yet rehydrated yourself. And I just couldn't get those lug nuts off. I even put the jack handle in a 30 degree position and jumped on it, and still they didn't loosen! Finally my neighbor (whom I haven't really ever spoken to besides nodding hi in the mornings. Oh, and lest I sound like a total rude person or a recluse, this is a neighbor who moved in about 3 months ago.) took pity on me and got the flat tire off for me. He got that tire off before I even could get the spare out! With his help, the whole tire changing ordeal took 20 min. rather than the 45 min. plus it took me last time to do it alone.
So, I was only 15 min. late picking Arianna up from school and made it to Manning Middle School only about 5 min. after the test started. And also let me tell you how difficult it was for me to keep my speeds around 50 mph when I'm used to flying down I-70 healthily over the speed limit.
After Anastasia's test, I took her to her practice, which ended at 8 p.m. Then we ate din din at Souper Salads (its sorta becoming a Thursday night ritual, when the weather cooperates).
We got home a little before ten, and all the kids scurried for their beds, leaving a pit for me to straighten before I head to bed, too.
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| Wednesday, 4-May-2005 00:00 |
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Good news!
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I was going west on 6th Ave. to Addenbrooke fields for the second time today when I got a call on my cell from an area code I didn't recognize: 314. When I answered, it was a sergeant from the exemption/delay board for the U.S. Army Reserves. He said that he had a letter that he needed to read to me, and so he began. To tell you the truth, I don't think I actually breathed again until I heard the words "your exemption request has been approved." Then he went on to say that as a result of the exemption, I will also be discharged from the reserves. I'll be getting orders in the mail revoking the orders calling me to active duty on May 29th in about a week, and within 6 weeks, I should be getting my discharge papers in the mail. I was a little sad hearing that I'm going to be discharged, but that's the way it has to be, I guess.
Interestingly, I didn't even feel this huge sense of relief or that a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders or anything as I kind of expected. I guess I pretty much guessed things would turn out this way. But when I emailed Andy later on, he was ecstatic, giving me the necessary reality check. Anastasia did too; when she heard, she clapped her hands together two times and grinned, then proceeded to hug me over and over (she was sitting in the passenger seat beside me, so what she actually hugged over and over was my right forearm.)
Just earlier today, Andrew brought up the subject of "when you go to Iraq, Mommy," and I told him that I just didn't think that I was going to have to go. So when he heard the news, sitting on the second bench in the minivan, he reminded me that we had just talked about it earlier. "You were right, Mommy!"
It's great to be right sometimes. Keeps up the credibility factor w/ the kids.
After we got back from all the practices (remember, Wed. is my day from the pit of hell, at least where soccer is concerned. And the weather was beautiful, so I had my full docket of practices, which is four in four different locations), and had stopped at Chipotle to grap dinner to go, Bruce and 2 others from community group at church (Ann and Curtis) dropped by to take stock of what will need to get done this weekend when they -- and others -- come over to work. Upon hearing the news that people were going to come look at my bathrooms in particular, I scurried around and cleaned one of the more offending ones and barked orders at the kids to get all their stuff picked up so that the place doesn't look like the chaotic pigsty it usually appears to be. It actually looked decent, and it really didn't take very long to get it that way.
So, on Saturday, these are the things I'm having the group attempt to do:
1) Fix the soap dish issue in the second floor bathroom (remember how it fell out of the wall a week after my sister sealed the tub while she was visiting?) and maybe even seal all the grout for the tile in all the bathrooms.
2) Fix a light fixture in the kitchen which is faulty. Curtis determined that the prob with the bad lighting in the kitchen is not that the circuit is overloaded, but the "short" symptoms is actually a bad light fixture. A quick 30 buck fix, he said.
3) Curtis is going to try to figure out the issue with the lack of electricity in the detached garage. Also, part of that is to get the motion detector lights in the alley up and working again.
4) Fix the closet door in Andrew's room. That has been an issue since the painter -- from last summer, or was it the summer before that? -- took the closet door down and lost some of the pieces to put it back together, so he just left it that way! The closet door has been propped up in the closet ever since.
5) Mow the lawn.
6) Stain/seal the back deck.
7) Help me with shuttling kids to soccer games -- I have lots of conflicts coming up this weekend -- if nobody (outside of the Community Group workers) is able to help me out.
8 ) Maybe pull the toilet in the second floor bathroom to see if it can be determined why the toilet in that bathroom flushes hot water. An issue since we moved in almost 4 years ago!
Hey, I've done good, huh? I actually came up w/ prob more work than can get done on Sat! This goes to show that if I get the right kind and amt. of pressure applied, even I can figure out how to delegate tasks!
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| Saturday, 30-Apr-2005 00:00 |
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Soccer, Snow, and Shopping on a Saturday
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Rain and snow . . . again! My eyes popped open at 6:24 this morning, and I immediately reached for the phone and punched in the soccer club's field closure line. The fields were closed! Translation: Andrew and Arianna's games were cancelled! But Anastasia was playing a team down in the Springs, so I had to wait to hear the word that that game was actually cancelled.
Well it wasn't. So around 10:15, I loaded the kids into the van and headed south on I-25.
Watching the game was pretty miserable. The wind was very cold, and I was saturated w/ it by the time the game was over. It took me over an hour to warm-up, even w/ the heat in the car blasting me in the face. But the team won, so it was all good.
On the way home, we stopped at our fav restaurant in the Springs -- Red Top. It's a hamburger place, a local chain of 3 restaurants -- one in Pueblo and 2 in the Springs. The beef is free range and butchered in a place that's "good." What I mean is, the book FAST FOOD NATION recommends this restaurant among only a handful of others in the country that actually does things the "right way." So, we get good food there and feel good about eating it, too!
Then north toward Denver we journeyed (is that the correct spelling? Too lazy to look it up in my dictionario) and I couldn't pass up Castle Rock outlets. Well, first I HAD to get a Starbucks. I mean, I actually left the house and survived the morning and early afternoon w/out java. And it wasn't a "normal" morning and early afternoon where I often survive w/out my fix. This morning, I had to drive for over an hour, shiver in the cold for over 1 1/2 hours while keeping one eye on the soccer field and the other on my 4 kids who weren't playing. So, by 2 pm, I was really needing that caffeine!
In a generous mood, I splurged and bought everyone a Starbucks something. Then we meandered across the interstate to the NikeTown outlet and Gap. When we left the Gap Outlet, big fluffy tufts of snow were falling from the sky. We all had to stop and try to catch some of those flakes on our tongues. Anastasia commented that looking up directly into the falling snow looked like an Imax film. A dizzying experience.
After spending lots of time and some money and taking a few min. to enjoy the pretty snow, we meandered back across the interstate to go to Kohl's, which we had earlier spotted near the Starbucks.
Summer clothes. For everyone. Five kids.
I won't freak Andy out and actually tell how much I spent, but I will say that most of it was on sale and a pretty good deal.
By that time, it was 7 p.m., so, still snowing, we finished the rest of the trip back home.
Now, we were supposed to see a Rapids game (MLS soccer, Denver's team) at 7 tonight; I had bought some tickets earlier in the week (it was a "mandatory" activity in our soccer club). But the cold temps, snow and rain, and the fact that Andrew wasn't feeling very good, and I was exhausted, but mostly it was the vision of my five kids whining and snivelling and begging to go home (or pleading for copious amts. of food and hot beverages) as we sat cold and wet in Mile High Stadium that caused me to get a reality check very quickly, and I axed the idea.
We got home around 8, I made some tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and salad (hey, I cooked!), and we watched CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN as we ate. Cute movie, but way too close to home in a very literal way.
Anastasia has a make-up game scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but I just called the team line, and due to wet field and weather conditions, it's CANCELLED! Yay! Now we can stay after church for the monthly catered lunch. No cooking again!
Nighty night!
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