Monday, March 21, 2011

What a week!

Last week was filled with sickies and also achievements!
  • We got news that Katie has been invited to take the 4th year mid-year test for Math...big news as she is a 3rd grader!
  • Katie then proceded to vomit all Tuesday night, be sick still on Wednesday, went to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep throat on Thursday, missed school on Friday!
  • Emma took 2nd place for Starry Starry Night at the district Science Olympiad...and helped her team to take 4th overall with good performances in her other two events.
  • When we got home, we found her Math Placement letter for next year...she is skipping two levels for next year, and will be placed in 7/8 math (Pre-Algebra) as a 6th grader!
  • She then proceded to vomit all over Somerset Mall after a shopping trip and visit to California Pizza Kitchen with her Dad (she's a very very messy vomitter.)
  • Nathan learned to ride a two-wheeler!  His first attempt didn't go well, as he threw his helmet, Bill kicked it, he yelled at Bill, Bill yelled back, he stormed in the house crying...but he did well with his loving mother the next day!  (Mom is not necessarily more patient than Dad...but we make a very awesome parenting team.  When one of us utterly loses it, the other one is ready to perform the patient parent act!)
  • I have recently taken up spinning at our gym (mid-January) and yesterday joined some fundraiser for Team in Training.  I rode 80+ miles yesterday in one sitting!  So funny that I used to absolutely hate biking and now I can do it for 3 hours and 80+ miles after a couple of months.  I don't look it yet, though!
  • Biggest Pam accomplishment - my lenten resolution.  I decided to give up candies, cookies, cakes, ice creams, mochas from Starbucks, and Diet Coke - all things that crawled into my diet as I became miserable and suffering with each subsequent death.  I thought I wouldn't last a day...but I have!  Pretty good for someone who felt she absolutely couldn't do it...and considering 1/3 of my daily calories was probably made up of this garbage.  I do give myself Sundays off (switched it for Saturday this week as Science Olympiad tired me out and I had a coffee at Tim Hortons...and then delicious dessert made by my aunt that night).  That is NOT to say that I don't have many bad habits still...but I am gradually learning that maybe I will be able to control myself one day.  It is an accomplishment for me to eat regular food instead of all of that sugar daily.  Now I have to undo some of the damage I did with all of that disordered grieving/eating...but all in good time.  It's horrible that you can cause so much damage in a day...and then many many days...but the reversal process is probably 5-6 times as long as it took to cause that damage!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Chicken owner for one whole year!!!!!!!!

On March 14th, I celebrated my first anniversary of being a chicken owner!  The girls (Margaret, Annie Lennox, Annabelle, Alan Trammell, and Princess Snow White - my favorite) and I celebrated with a long day outside in the warming weather.  Yesterday I spruced up their coop - cleaned and swept it, aired it out, took out a few of the things I had used to winterize it.  And last night was the first night they had no heat lamp on in a LONG LONG TIME.  Bill wanted to try a new watering contraption he created after dark, but when I went back to open up the coop they were so snoozy and cozy without the light I only got the teeniest cooing back at my voice.  I implored him to leave them alone to their first totally dark and cozy sleep in awhile.  What a nice anniversary week they are having!

I feel compelled to exclaim to the world that I am firmly in love with my chickens.  I don't see an end to my chicken-ownership...ever.  They are adorable, useful, friendly, sweet, amusing pets.  Off to water them!!!!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Resolutions?

I don't ever need a New Year to spout off a resolution or two...seems like I am always grasping at new ideas that will help me be more productive, a better parent, to feel more fulfilled, to lose those extra 10 lbs, to make a difference in the world.  When the New Year rolls around and the stores, and magazines, and newspapers, and the whole internet are filled with ways to inspire people to change their lives for the better, it just about sets me over the edge.  It's too much!  I'm ready to change all things at once ANYWAY, and then to have all of this inspiration around me just makes me schizophrenic with wants and needs to do better, be better, etc.

Well, except for the fact that about 75% of the time I'm miserable because I lost my little precious shadow and can't be inspired to even feel a glimmer of hope about things...but it feels too maudlin to go over and over how much I miss my precious pooch here.  The stupid writers of all of those dog books have already done it - what makes my grief over my dog any better or more poignant than theirs?  It should suffice for me to say that I am miserable and that I am doing my best (yet again) to function despite an annoyingly large amount of grief.

I suppose the state of Grief is a good state for me to be in, as a parent, because it numbs all of my desires to do more, to prove myself, to be better and to be accomplished.  I "wasted" our entire Christmas break watching movies and playing computer games with my children.  I'm not at all interested in changing the world or helping other people these days - I'd rather play hide and seek with my kids, or do craft projects with them, or cuddle up with them.  Did I sign up to help with that?  Oh, sorry, I have a commitment that evening (read: shopping with my daughter and making up voices for the stuffed animal I bought her).

Alas, other than wondering if it is even worth it to try to be enthusiastic about life and all of it's possibilities this year, I'll be lucky if I accomplish ANYTHING in 2011 (except for missing all the dead people and animals, and also really missing that feeling when we all were young and enthusiastic about life).   What a funny resolution that would be - I resolve to not accomplish anything in 2011!