Simple Birthday Plans

Today, Mr. B is the big three. He has been looking forward to his birthday ever since his sister's fabulous HSM birthday party back in August. Her's was replete with 21 guests, mostly new kindergarten classmates and relatively old neighborhood chums. There were crafts, karaoke and a pinata. The expectations were sure to be high for a similarly over-the-top soire for Little Bro. And true to form, we have been asked weekly "when am I having my birthday party like Meri's?"

However, exhausted parents have a little something else in mind. We plan to do a simple birthday celebration. It goes something like this, Intimate Family Party plus Sharing Cupcakes and goody bags at playgroup.

Okay, so I did invite some neighbors to share in tonight's family cake (for a total of 10 partiers). And then, I added on Mr. B's favorite neighbor friends to his playgroup party (for a total of 19 partiers, including parents and sibs) . We are making a mountain with dinosaurs cake for tonight and I enlisted a neighbor-baker to make cool John Deere cupcake-cake for playgroup. We did already open a fire truck. Have a wrapped package from Grammy waiting on the dining room table. Are expecting another gift delivery today. There is a pile of presents upstairs to be wrapped which includes a pair of cowboy boots. And we are headed out to Target to buy a bathrobe ("like Meri's").

Hmmmm....sounds like exhausted parents will remain exhausted.

We have less elaborate plans for Christmas. Really.

Family Photo Session

We have been talking for years about getting a family photo done. We have lots of photos, but like everyone, Someone must man the camera. For us Man is literal, so we have very few photos of Keith.

We scheduled our session with a friend who is a great photographer (in my opinion!). She also happens to be the mom of one of Brady's playmates. We were hoping this familiarity would keep Brady from playing shy in front of the camera.

From here the planning began. We all scheduled and got haircuts. I spent time brainstorming and then shopping for semi-coordinating outfits. The one thing we didn't plan for was the chilly weather and Brady's perpetual cough.

The session went great in spite of the chill and the fact that Brady ended the session by throwing up on both him and me (all that coughing!). That said, I didn't have too high of expectations in the outcome of our session. I can't imagine how Laura got any shots that didn't include Brady hacking and coughing or Meribel wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill.

However, Laura does seem to work miracles - really, she does! This preview shot from her blog is the proof:
http://lauraannphotos.blogspot.com/2008/10/little-preview-of-recent-family-session.html

Photo Album of Triathlon

Updated the link to a public one that should work. I blogged the race with the photos and also in my comment back to Jen:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=6987&l=59181&id=1406652603

My life on a very small towel

It's been a big 12 months for me. My pink baby turned 5 and started kindergarten. My blue baby is about to turn 3 and still loves his Mommy. I quit my job to stay home with the kids (again). Did I mention we moved to a new place (again). I began training for a triathlon (again).

Out of these things, the one that consumes most of my energy is training for this triathlon. It started back in May as a fleeting conversation with a neighbor. "I'd love to run with you, would you consider training for a triathlon?" She gamely agreed, and soon there were 4 of us training regularly together, but all told, there are about 7 of us neighbor-ladies working toward this thing. And it all culminates tomorrow.

So my recent life's work is currently on display on a very small towel. That's the amount of space you get to put whatever you might need for your race. "How much can you need?," you might ask. Well, since a picture's worth a thousand words, I have included one here. I also thought a list would help highlight what's going on my towel tomorrow morning, as well as a few items that won't quite make the towel, but will be every bit as important in helping me reach my goal.

Let's see, starting from the yellow disc front & center and moving clockwise:

1. My Champion Chip - A device used to "officially" track my finishing time in each leg. I purchased this at my first and only other triathlon to commemerate the big accomplishment. I think I have only used it 2 other times in the 6 years since I got it.


2. Cold medicine - Yes it's true, I feel the children's cold catching up with me, but I'll be damned if I am going to be stopped by a piddly little cold. I'll just medicate it away for a few hours and let the reality of the illness hit me when the sore racing muscles set in.


3. Peanut butter granola bar - Breakfast (there are also some "waiting snacks off-screen" - but more on that later).


4. Cell Phone - Just in case!


5. Dry clothes - For post race.


6. Water bottle - to be filled with orange gatorade in the a.m.


7. Helmet - With requisite race number attached (yes, I am #390 out of 600 - why because I suck at swimming. You are ordered by the speed it takes you to swim 100m and I am slower than a dog. There are lots of women your grandma's age - I've seen them with my own eyes - that have numbers far lower than mine. God bless those ladies! I hope I am one of them some day. That said I will need some snacks and some warm clothes, also offscreen, to hold me over until I am allowed in the water a full 1:16 minutes after the official race start).


8. Running sneakers - With tie-less laces, love those, but I am so clumsy I am not sure they make getting my shoes on any faster!


9. Beach towel - Not usually recommended but I would like to wipe some of the water off post-pool so I don't turn into a bicycling icicle.


10. Warm shirt with race number - This is to put on over my wet bathing suit when I come out of the pool and get ready for the bike ride. I am also bringing a jacket because it is going to be a frosty 45F out tomorrow!


11. Running tights - Ditto above. Hopefully my legs will be warm enough to not cramp up.


12. Biking gloves - The cold wind combined with the narrow metal of my bike handlebars make these a necessity. I will probably even keep them on during the run to keep from getting frostbite (kidding!).


13. Ear muffs - Seriously, the girl who walked us through the race this afternoon actually recommended them. These aren't your puffy elementary school earmuffs, they are specifically for athletes. And, YES they do fit on under my bike helmet, thank you very much!


14. Bike shoes & socks - Please pray that I do not need to unclip unexpectedly or my poor little bike is going to end up with some serious scratches as I still need more practice with these torture devices of efficiency.


15. Swim Cap, Goggles & Elastic Band - I bought a funky purple leopard print swim cap so that M will know who Mommy is if she can manage to get into the pool area to see that part of the race. Swim Cap is a necessity, so I have a backup white one in case this one breaks. Yes, a broken swim cap has happened to me before and no swim cappy, no swim. I have tried but my hair makes it impossible to see or breath when it's not held back by this torture device of hair control. The cap has managed to significantly shorten much of my hair along my neckline, something I once did on purpose in high school with clippers!

And that's about it! Phew! Oh! Also not shown onscreen is my bike. The bike is highly critical as they don't let you do the cycling part without it, so it's best to bring one of these.

And that's all, the results 5 months of running, swimming and biking at the crack of dawn all rest on the items stacked on this little towel and me crawling over the finish line tomorrow, if necessary!

Bring back the beach

I miss the beach. We were all healthy then. Currently, we are working on 3 weeks of Someone not sleeping every night. I have slept in a twin bed for 3 out of 5 of the most recent nights.

It's amazing how much bigger a twin bed was in college than it is now. Remember, you and 7 of your closest friends would squeeze in to watch a movie on your 17 inch color t.v. - the one where you had to get up and turn the knob to change the channels? There was plenty of room then, why can I not co-sleep with a 3 year old in that same space?

My triathlon is on Sunday, and I am going to complete it even if I don't sleep again until Sunday directly after the race. I am going to complete it even if I get the horrible congested cough those kids have. I AM GOING TO DO IT!

That said, I miss the beach, I miss our beach vacation, I miss the good nights of sleep we got during that vacation. Back when everyone was healthy. People will dislike me for saying this, but I Hate Fall! This crazy weather-changing season is seriously cramping all of those grand Fall plans I made during that great Myrtle Beach trip (volunteering regularly at M's school, finishing in the top 50% of the triathlon, sleeping!). Bring back the beach and the beach weather, and those healthy beach-loving children! And could you do it Today? Please!!!

Labelling

Why don't children come with better labelling?

"Just a virus."
"Pneumonia."
"Common Cold."
"Hand, foot and mouth disease."
"Sore neck from fall from monkey bars. Nothing serious."
"Sore neck from fall from monkey bars masking sore muscles from other illness. Don't send me to school because that Motrin you gave me for my sore muscles is going to mask my outrageously high fever until it's too late for you to make an appointment to see my doctor."

I was caught by that last one today. I'm not a bad parent. She WANTED to go to school. Seriously, it's not like I'm doing something so exciting during the day that I would ship her off to school so I could keep my plans. This was surely an issue when I was working full time. "I stayed home with her last week when she had that ear infection, can you please pick her up for this throwing up thing?" was quite a common exchange between my husband and I in those days.

I thought that having an able-bodied, well spoken (quite!) 5 year old would eliminate the guessing game and she could more readily tell me what the issue was. However, now there are other factors in play, like "Is today a gym day?," "Is Emma riding with us this morning?" and "We are celebrating Hallie's birthday today at school." would cause her to throw caution to the wind and go to school even if she felt her head were going to explode. Yes, cupcakes are a big draw, even if you are going to throw them up 10 minutes later.

All I know is that I have been called on 2 consecutive days to pick my daughter up from school. The first day they said her neck was sore and that she was rubbing it - my response "Could you ask her if she wants to come home?" When I got there, she was seemed okay, really just sore from a friend-assisted head-plant off the monkey bars a day earlier. She played fine, we even hit the playground, and yes, the monkey bars a little later the same day.

The next day, a call to my husband, not me...a sign that my wanting to consult my daughter on her health was not a wise parenting decision? This time I get to school and she looks like the walking dead...pasty, shivering, raspy breath...oh and a fever of 103.6. Frankly, I am surprised they even let me take her home at all considering my bad parenting. Did I mention that I sent her in with a note practically providing full disclosure on my premediated sending her to school ill (it mentioned that I had given her motrin for the "sore neck" that morning.

I am a bad, bad parent. My sick child is on the couch now, writing me love notes. Apparently she hasn't noticed my deficient parenting skills. Phew!

Who should I vote for..

Last year, before a Republican presidential nominee was clear, I said that I really hoped it would be John McCain. I said the same thing when Bush ran for his first term.

I feel McCain has strong military background, which is important to understanding and managing our position in Iraq. I feel that he has been around a long time and that is important because history repeats itself and yes, the older I get the more wise these older folks look to me (rather than just old and fogey). I also liked McCain because at the time my husband and I were both working which put our incomes into a highly taxed bracket and I felt like a Republican would do more to keep our hard earned cash in our pockets.

That said, I don't want Sarah Palin for president - I would never vote for her - she is too conservative and too inexperienced, among other things. This has put me in quite a quandry because I feel a bit like a vote for McCain is a potentially a vote for her to be president (given his age).

In an earlier post, I declared a hop for another party more "in the middle" to vote for, but since I feel like that choice ends up being a non-choice in this race, I will be spending the next few weeks really delving into the options I do have (McCain/Palin or Barrack/Biden).

So to ease into it and for fun, I took a quiz on "Who should you vote for" dot com and here are my results...


Who should you vote for?

Barack Obama				42
John McCain	-24

You expected: Barack Obama
Your recommendation: Barack Obama

Party: Democratic
Born: 1961, Honolulu, Hawaii
Family: wife and two daughters
Career: Business International Corporation; NYPIRG; attorney and constitutional law lecturer
Political career: Member of the Illinois State Senate from the 13th district, 1997-2004. Incumbent Junior Senator from Illinois since 2005
Hot topic: Universal healthcare
Did you know? He is the only African American currently serving in the US Senate

Shhh....don't tell anyone, but I think I may be getting old...

I have been known to tease my husband for all the twinges and sore spots he has to work through to do things he enjoys like playing tennis, flag football or even golf. My response...Wow, it sucks to be getting old."

I, on the other hand, am nearly 3 youthful years behind him, possibly in the best shape of my life. I am training for my second triathlon. I discovered running two years after I discovered "Happy Fat", courtesy of a nice marriage. A year after that, I discovered that weight lifting can change the whole way your body looks without having to go on a diet (yeah cookies and ice cream!). A year after that, I discovered that yes, I can swim a reasonable distance without drowning AND that it is much more fun to combine 3 activities together (swimming, biking, & running), rather than continuing to circle the neighborhood to add mileage. Isn't that all great? Well, yes it is. But, since that last discovery, I have had 2 children which has led to the beginning of the end of my body.

It's not what you think. You see, I am faster, stronger and can swim further than when I started...but I also get hurt more often. Every three or four weeks, these horrible knots in my shoulder and neck appear - making it impossible to look over my right shoulder (or left depending on which side hurts this week). When I try to push my kids in the double jogger, I end up with a really sore lower back for days and days (even if I am just walking). Now, in my younger days, I've gotten sore from a workout, but the next day you wake up and it feels much better. No longer, it appears I have crossed the threshold to OLD.

No matter, I plan on using this body for all it's worth, until it breaks down entirely. Just don't let my husband know that I have admitted to getting old. I have told him that I need those massages because I am just "training hard."

Remember, it's our secret.

Who do you like?

That's my P.C. way of asking...who are you voting for? I ask this question a lot - to people I know very well, people I admire and think may share my same views, people I know are no match whatsover to me ...this is mostly because I'm not sure who I like, or more likely who I feel is the more viable candidate. Looking at it more closely, I am trying to whittle it down to Who is the "best fit" for what our country needs now.

I know I am supposed to vote, that it is our right and duty - and I do. But truthfully, at times, I feel unqualified to do so. I just don't feel plugged into all of the issues (read: I think that we don't even know what many of the issues are, someone's not sharing all their info, because they can't or because they won't or because I wouldn't understand it anyway?).

Life seems to only get more complicated as I get older. Your eyes get opened over and over again to all of the intricate layers that are out there and soon the web is so thick, you don't know which way to look for the sun. Isn't there someone more qualified than me? Someone who does know the issues, who is educated about them, involved and "in the know." Ah, yes, I guess that's why I am supposed to vote, to choose that person. And so the vicious circle continues.

That said, my complaint is that there is no one person who is out there who is an exact match for my view of what is needed. Someone is always just a bit off on one thing or another. If I vote for someone who's really close, they are usually not in a "national party" and then my vote turns out to be a vote for nobody, or taking a vote away from someone who was closer to my wants than that that other guy.

I wish we had run-off voting (is that what it's called?). That way I could make my symbolic vote for the candidate I REALLY want and then also cast a vote for that other candidate who doesn't quite match but is with a national party (and therefore can garner enough votes to actually win), that way I am not in essence voting for that third candidate who I never really wanted at all.
Where do I go to vote to get something like that put in place?

Is it Friday yet?

Yesterday, the first words out of my mouth were...what day is it? This morning it was...is it Friday yet? What could drive me to hope day in and day out for the weekend? Now I know a lot of folks hanker for the weekend because they need a break from the daily grind.

But my desire for Friday is a bit of laziness and selfishness. Laziness, because my daughter's best friend is tracked out (they are in year round school), so right now I have to drive both ways in the carpool. 

Now, I know I could put her on the bus, but there are 5th graders on that bus and I don't want my sweet kindergartner to come home with any 5th grader rubbed off on her! (I have slowly weaned her off of High School Musical, because even as a "sweet" Disney movie, I don't need to live with a Sharpay OR Gabriella mimic). 

Back to Friday though, I am selfishly in need of Friday. Friday means that if I want to cuddle up on the couch with my little sweatpea and watch Mary Poppins, I don't have to worry about getting a grumpy kindergartener up and out the door the next day - she can just sleep in. 

Something both of us love! Now if only her darling little brother would get the "sleep in" memo.

It's Not About Me Anymore

Or at least not entirely. Prior to the last, let's say 6 years, it was all about me (mostly). Actually, let's even call it the last 5, since technically, she was still part of Me during that 6th year. I have always been selfish, I liked to think of it as self-preservation.

But, let's face it, once you get to a point when you are clearly out of the woods - preserved so to speak, from there onward it's just called selfishness. My challenge is then to be more selfless, taking care of my children doesn't count, because aren't they part of me (at least for a bit longer). But of course, here I am blogging, and what do you think I'll be talking about, ah...yes, me.