No homework this week because of Thanksgiving! I know I am supposed to be supportive of the public education system and all, but homework in kindergarten seems a bit over the top. Anyhow, we were glad. So we watched Toy Story and played computer before dinner. After dinner we played games, including Candy Land.
We MUST do this more often! The saddest thing ever was getting it set up, Anna choosing a card, then saying, “What do I do? I can’t remember!” I should have known we were in trouble when it turned out to only have 2 game pieces (Mom–is that the game from my childhood?). So Paul got a couple more. I was the green man, Anna was the red man, Tyler was a Transformer from McDonald’s named “S” (no one can remember the real name and it has an S on it). Paul was the Emperor from Star Wars, complete w electricity coming from his finger tips. Awesome. I won once, Anna won the 2nd time. There was also the small side game of Paul running around the board as the Emperor electrocuting people.
Then I read some of A Light in the Attic to them. They now think Wild Strawberries are real (with shark teeth and feet and a tail). Then they borrowed a couple books of mine. [my parents brought me a couple boxes of them last year--VERY cool and a HUGE hit w the kids] Tyler got in bed then called me back wanting to know, in a very distressed voice, who colored in that book. He was shocked into silence when I told him it was me. Could’ve knocked him over w a feather….
Not much to report lately, which is kind of nice really. We have been getting a few requests to update the blog so here are the highlights:
SICK
I stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday of last week (9/28 and 29). At first I thought it was flu, which means automatic 7 days out of work. Luckily (?) it was only a sinus infection. I am finally feeling back to normal today (10/6) 1 week later. It has indeed thrown a wrench in my training and weight loss progress (more later). But as of tonight (great run!) I am back on track. Paul and the kids had gotten the respiratory funk a couple times in earlier weeks. I think we all are on the mend. I got my flu shot and the H1N1 flu vaccine will be at our site in a few weeks at the latest. Because I am a high risk person (asthma) in a high risk job (healthcare), I am near the top of the list. Which I feel mixed about since they are still looking at long term side affects. I did also get a pneumonia vaccine free at work b/c of the high risk thing and the fact that the H1N1 tends to affect respiratory system and turn to pneumonia.
HEALTHY
So Paul and I have been in a weight loss contest of sorts w each other for a couple months now. My goal is 11 pounds, Paul’s is 7 (I think). So we weigh in every Wed morning and if we have dropped weight we get a certain amount of money we chose put towards the kayaks that we want (but cannot afford). If we did not lose, but we did our workouts for the week (training for the 1/2 marathon in Dec), we put 1/2 the money back. So far I have lost about 6 1/2 pounds. This means that I am under the cut off for what our life insurance company thinks is high risk. So once I can stay there, I will get re-tested and save us some money!
KIDS
Tyler had a hard time w getting used to school and its routine/restriction/discipline, but he has been doing much better recently. He lost his 2nd tooth yesterday. I woke up in the middle of the night (ok, 10:30) and heard him rolling around, then nothing, then…”yessss!!!!” He had found his quarter from the tooth fairy.
Tyler's first lost tooth
Anna is kicking butt in school. She has her dad’s spelling prowess so we have been working on that, but she has aced her test each of the last 2 weeks. She is very much into mermaids right now.
Both kids love riding their bikes, Tyler prefers trails and Anna the road. Tyler wants to play hoops this winter. Anna changes her mind daily, but did decide she wanted to do a craft from a book she got from Miss Sallie, one of the triathletes I coached through Team in Training this season. Sallie works at Edward McKay, a local used bookstore we LOVE LOVE LOVE. Anna got to go a couple weeks ago and pick some books ($3 worth) b/c she got to 10 on her reward chart (for following the rules at school and home).
FUN
Paul read one of my books about Michael Jordan–its about his retirement and (first) comeback. I recently read 2 books my mom brought me: Never Change (Elizabeth Berg) and Garden Spells (Sarah Addison Allen). Now I am reading Seven Summits–it is about the first 2 guys who climbed the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents. Next comes 2 books I got in Wilmington at one of my favorite little shops, Two Sisters Bookery. My choices are Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work (Jason Brown) or Breakfast with Buddha (Roland Merullo). The weekend of Sept 20th (our anniversary!!) Paul and I went to Wilmington for the race that my TNT peeps did.
L to R: Tom, Sallie, Kathy, me
The weekend after that my parents came down and we had lots of fun, especially at the zoo w Paul’s mom, sis and her kids.
Mom, Dad, Susan, Paul at lunch at Fishbones
Tyler stylin' in my cap while he fixes my hair (at the zoo).
Girl time at the zoo!
Then last weekend Paul and I went to see B.B. King in Myrtle Beach’s House of Blues. It was SO KICK ASS! I will let him tell the rest. No new real house projects in progress. Saturday will be an easy weekend at home so we will have chore day (shhh–Paul and the kids don’t know yet).
I am also almost finished reading Eric Clapton’s autobiography. This is also a really good book if you are a music fan. It is amazing that he is still alive with all the drugs and drinking he did. Once he got clean he opened a rehab center and in a effort to raise money for it he auctioned off a lot of his guitars. He got $959,500 for his famous “blackie” guitar and after hearing that Susan says that we are going to auction my guitars. I keep telling her that I am not famous and we will never get that much for them (not to mention I’m not getting rid of them) but she remains optimistic.
I should not have bragged about the great book I had read. I have not had a hit since. I have a list of books I want to read, but the library has them all checked out. So I went to Amazon last time from the library’s computers and searched for the books I wanted. You know how Amazon then says, “People who liked THAT also liked THIS.” Well, I then searched the library system for THAT book. And so on until they actually had one. It is palatable, but not exciting. Bummer since we are driving forever to Myrtle this weekend. Elli sent me her book club list so I can search that at the ‘brary, not sure I will have time before the trip though. If you have any book suggestions I would love to hear them–although nothing with the words dark, death, evil, murder, etc in the title (I get scared easily). My friend Erin linked me to a website that recommends books and then you post what you are reading, but I cannot find the link now.
I want to start to keep you updated on good books I am reading/have read.
Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells is excellent! It is a memoir so although I found it in the non-fiction section, it may very well fall in the category of Million Little Pieces (autobiographical fiction). It was recommended to me by my boss, Lisa Pennington. It is about her family growing up in various places, although her “formative years” were in WVa. It makes crazy look like Beaver Cleaver’s family. But as you will read on the reviews, you can tell as you read the story that she loves her parents and knows they did their best—even at their worst.
Great theme for me as I work on my step-mother skills, which some days seems like all out of a Cinderella fairy tale. Is there a fairy tale where the step mother is NOT wicked? THAT is the book I need to read.
“schinderei” by Isar-Bella. “Schinderei”, by the way, means “drudgery” in German. To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here. […]
Ever wanted to take your bike’s custom look that little bit further than the guy sat next to you with full Shimano Yumeya gold accessories? If so, check out some of the custom saddle designs Seventies staffer ‘Joe Tek’ has created by special request to a few paying customers in the UK. To see some more of Joe’s [...] […]
Update: That Raleigh bikes sneak peek we showed yesterday morning is indeed belt drive, and here’s the word from their U.S. marketing guy Brian: “The bolts are to separate the frame so a belt drive can be used on it. We really like the idea of using Belts for urban bikes and will be expanding our [...] […]
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NON WORD-SMITHED SUMMARY: Buy this solid looking jersey and support BikePure, a group that’s helping promote and support dope-free racing. PRESS RELEASE: The 2010 Bike Pure cycling team clothing will be produced by Onimpex UK/Bio Racer, one of the world’s leading cycling garment manufacturers. Bio Racer have a long history within cyclesport and supply severa […]
Jonathan Dorey was last seen walking his mountain bike (pictured) from his Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) dorm on March 2, 2010. The bike is also missing…it’s black with a red stripe down the center of the saddle. If you see either, call the number in the photo. More info is in this Facebook Group and [...] […]
Perhaps his F*%kin’ Twitter signoff was a bit premature. Floyd Landis, who was most recently in discussions with Rock Racing’s Michael Ball until the UCI decided it wasn’t going to let them play, has signed on with the Bahati Foundation Pro Cycle Team for the 2010 season. “Cycling has given me so many opportunities that I wouldn’t [...] […]
NAHBS 2010 - Ever wonder what a man who builds frames and components would build and ride himself? Pictured here is Chris King’s personal road bike, and it’s pretty sweet. Sure Cielo makes fairly straightforward frames with few if any frills, but the devil’s in the details, and the closer you look, the sweeter this [...] […]
Defgrip has announced they’re teaming up with the Bicycle Film Festival and will choose all the BMX shorts for this year’s international touring programme. They’ve also put out a call for submissions, so if you have any BMX-related short films (less than 10 minutes long), then they’d like to hear from you. Deadline’s 27 March, but [...] […]
Sure, Rock Racing’s made some interesting talent-acquisition decisions and is currently relegated to being the fastest amateur team in the world, but when it comes to business, it’s succeeded in getting and keeping attention, which is no small feat. And let’s be honest, their new road bikes are pretty bad ass looking. Now, Rock & Republic [...] […]
