Good

So yesterday I was at the office and someone asked how I was. "Good," I answered and cringed inwardly because I know that "I'm well, and how are you" is the grammatically correct answer. And then, of course, if I really told them how my project was going . . .

So that reminded me of Yvonne. When I was a freshman in college, I roomed (random draw, obviously) with a girl who was my total opposite. She was vivacious, cool, the life of any party and lots of fun. Yvonne was the definition of a magnetic personality. People called nonstop to hang out with her. Whenever anyone asked how she was (regardless of the real answer), she always answered "Good!" It was a good lesson for me - "How's it going?" is not a real question. People don't want to know the answer. They don't want you to say the grammatically correct "I'm well, and you?" - they want to hear "Good!"

Does that mean that I put on a smiley happy face all of the time or that Yvonne did? No, but it does mean that sometimes it is worth the effort to smile and say "Good!" because at the end of the day, most of it really is good.

In other news, I might have set a world record around the block (I'll have to search the archives to see if it is true): 2.8 miles in 23:06 - 8.25 minute miles. That last 0.2 miles up the hill after that to get to three miles really sucked, though.

Wherein I Try to Take Photos

In this post, you will notice several attempts to take a photo of Dagny and Annika smiling together. They seem to smile together regularly enough, but I cannot seem to capture it. It may be time to call in a professional.

Dagny has begun pulling up and is terribly frustrated that she can't walk yet. She is a fast crawler, though, and can cross the room in seconds. Luckily, she only wants to be where Annika is so we can contain her that way.

Annika has gotten mouthy of late and told me last week (after we left Chik-Fil-A because she threw a screaming tantrum) that if I wasn't nice to her I wouldn't get to go to tennis. At least she understands the idea that there are consequences to bad behavior - it shouldn't be too hard for me to convince her that the behavior she needs to worry about is her own . . .
We 've not been to the pool much because of Annika's many camps and my working but next week Annika has some lessons so that should be fun except that some stupid mother scheduled the lessons during Dagny's nap. Oops.

In other news, I ran 12.5 miles last week with the 6 mile run on Sunday.
It was surprisingly easy except for the tummy thing and Doug and I are enjoying logging our mileage into the computer now that we are both "wired". I was surprised to learn that it is 0.1 miles longer to go around my loop "Doug's way" than to go my way.

My running book tells me that optimum racing weight for my height is about 105-108 lbs. HA! I choose to believe that I am a mesomorph (and therefore immune to the "goal race weight") because I seriously think I would become ill if I were ever that thin. I'm hoping for a better training run tomorrow and less knee pain so that I can add a mile next week.

Race Training

So, I signed up for a race - a LONG race but not the big one. I started training this week after the Peachtree and ran 6 miles on Sunday. I thought that it would be tough and grueling but the weather was nice and cool and I didn't need extra water or anything. Doug said that he was not surprised - he knew I could do it. Gotta love that guy. I wasn't very fast but that is because I made the mistake of eating (very delicious) steak for dinner on Saturday. Steak + running far = great discomfort. And my new running book says that I should be running at 2 minutes slower than my 10K pace which works out to about 10 minute miles, which is about how fast I was, including the walking..

Dagny learned to crawl last week. She is fast! She is trying to pull up on everything and doesn't like to be confined. It's a whole new world over here. And, she can say "woof". It sounds like "ffff" but if you ask her "what does the dog say?", she says "ffff".

Are You Out?

Yesterday, as we walked to our car from our lunch outing (Annika walking and holding my hand, Dagny in the stroller), Annika remarked, "Mommy, I'm out of kisses." So, I gave her a bunch of kisses and asked if she felt better. "Yes," she replied, "but now you are out of kisses." "It's OK," I said, "Dad will give me more when he gets home." Apparently, I've not been able to convey the message of limitless kisses yet.

Anyway, we continued our walk for several minutes because I had parked very far from the door - seeking shade. Poor Annika was tired - probably I should have carried her while pushing the stroller. As I stowed the diaper bag and stroller and buckled Annika into her carseat, she suprised me with more kisses and said "now you aren't out of kisses."

Take the Dumbass Running

I ran in the Peachtree Road Race today. Thanks to Mark and Robin for the bag of ice - it was marvelous!

Even after fortuitously meeting up with Virginia to run in our time group and discussing about how I always mess up and forget to push start on my watch, I apparently had the watch in the incorrect mode when I pressed start. Therefore, here is what I think my time and splits were (with notes, because I tried to piece it together as much as possible):

Start time: 7:38am (I was in the 30,000s/time group 3 - got this number from my Uncle Mike who was in the same group. Any better info, let me know)
Mile 1: 9 minutes (approx - I completely missed this mile marker)
Mile 2: 9 minutes (approx - it was 7:56am)
Mile 3: 9.5 minutes (approx - missed this mile marker also)
Mile 4: 9.5 minues (approx - still hadn't fixed the watch issue)
Mile 5: 9:12 (actually timed this one)
Mile 6: 8:04 (same - Doug says to kick it in the last mile)
Mile 0.2: 1:42 (finished at 8:34am)
Total Time: 56 minutes

So, it is possible that I was bit dehydrated and loopy because I missed seeing mile marker one. Then, after I thought to myself "darn this is really a long first mile," I saw mile marker two and thought it was wrong. Then, I looked at my watch and it said 7:56, and thought "wow, I ran that mile way too fast". Then, about 5 minutes later, when my watch said 8:01, I realized the watch error. What a mess. I had fun though and the race was relatively painless. Our meeting spot was not there so that caused me great anxiety in the 1.5 hours that I waited for Doug and Tina (they were in time group 8). OK - maybe there was only anxiety for 1 hour because I sat in the shade and ate my Odwalla bar and tried to work out my splits (in chocolate) for the first few minutes. Luckily Doug wore his acid green shirt so I found them right as they finished. : )

Three Times a Lady

Annika and I had our hair cut on Wednesday. She had her hair washed in the sink instead of just sprayed wet in the chair. She told me ahead of time that this was the plan - she's a big girl now.

So, armed with the new haircut and styling knowledge, I blow-dried my hair for work on Thursday and Friday and again yesterday to go to the party at my parents' house. Three times? That is equal to the number of times I've blow-dried since Annika was born (in 2003). Maybe, just maybe I can make a little more effort in that department.

In running news, I did my last training run for the BIG RACE today. I was very worried about my conditioning because I hadn't made the time to do any longer runs yet - 3.3 miles was the longest. This morning, I did the loop and then ran to the house my parents are buying and back - 5.2 miles. Here are my mile times (approximate based on where I thought the miles ended): 9:23, 9:15, 8:53; 8:03; 10:43. Clearly that last mile split was incorrect - should have been more like 9:25 for each. Doug had said all along that as fast as I can do the loop, the 6 miles should be no problem but I needed to prove it. I'll be much more relaxed on Tuesday knowing that the distance is within my capability.

Band-os

So, I've not let this information slip before, but I used to be in the band. No, not a band, THE BAND - the marching band in high school. It was very illuminating and ridiculously time-consuming but also a great community. I quit after sophomore year because I thought that I would be cool instead of in-the-band. Why mess with fate? It's my destiny to be un-cool.

Anyway, Annika has displayed an interest in the marching band because they practice outside the high school in the fall and we see them when we drive by. Last year we watched a few practices and Jen and I took her to see the Battle of the Bands at the GA Dome. We had hoped that it would be the "march off" of the black college bands (like in the movie "Drumline"), but it was just a "play off". Still - it was great fun and good family entertainment. Those bands rocked the house - too bad we didn't get to stay for the finale, which was the drum-off. The trash-talking was hilarious!

My friend Lotzie called this week to say that the Drum Corps International southeastern region championships will be at the Dome next month. If it fits in the calendar, a bunch of us are going. I'm also going to be on the lookout for the black college march-off because that would be so great.

Oh, and there is a band curse. In addition to the heavy wear on the outer edge of my shoes (from the glide-stepping), I must get in step to all music - even while running. So, if you see my on my jog and I'm skipping and hopping, just know that I'm trying to get the downbeat on the right foot.

Test Your Citizenship Knowledge

Here is a link to an MSNBC quiz to test your knowledge of the questions on the citizenship exam:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13442226/

Due to some expert guessing, I got a 90.

The Emperor's New Dry Cleaner

So, I always wondered about the dry cleaners - whether they really tried to clean the clothes or not, because it seemed like they weren't actually washing my clothes. Granted, I'm a sweater, so my clothes need to be washed more than the average girl, but . . . I thought I was just going to the "wrong" cleaners because they would come back stinky.

Recently, my current cleaner (which I really like) gave me a beautifully pressed shirt that had dried baby food on the cuffs. If they WASHED it before they pressed it, wouldn't the baby food come off? I think so. I've often noticed the lack of washing with the dry-cleaned items, but I thought that the shirts (cotton, button down) and slacks were at least laundered. NOPE. What is the point of the cleaners if you have to wash your shirts before sending them so you can spend $4 ($0.98 for men) for them to iron them. Stupid.

I'm going to have to make time to iron, now. Ugh.

Reciprocity

Doug is a firm believer in reciprocity (said with the same tone as Big Daddy says "mendacity!" in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). Reciprocity, karma, what comes around goes around, etc. . .

Anyway, when I worked at the law firm, we had to keep track of our hours so that our clients would be billed for the time spent on their cases. This was very difficult for me because of the many times I would interrupt work on one matter to answer the phone, answer email, talk to someone, work on another matter or look up something. I would forget to write down one of the starting or ending times and then have a hard time piecing together my day. Then, when I worked for the company, there was no billing (pshew!). Now, however, my contract says I must bill for my time every two weeks.

Reciprocity, baby.

More Fun

There is a hilarious post on Cookie Madness today. You just have to read it. So cute. : )

Since I am solo parenting this evening and Doug's sister still has Annika's book of DVD movies, I decided to take a page from Doug's book and head to Blockbuster to get some children's movies for tonight and the weekend. NOTHING was in stock so Dagny and I left disappointed. We will try another store during the after-lunch happy time. Those of you with babies understand that we can only do errands during the happy time. Anything else results in screaming. Happy time is precious.

Noodling and Running

In the last two days, I've read an article about urging me to be my "best" at everything I do and also discovered that a friend from college is a member of a secular religious order and leads pilgrimages to Italy in his spare time.

The article hacked me off because I am defensive about doing too many things and nothing terribly well, and then I just felt inadequate when I read about the religious order. Am I doing enough to be a good mother to my girls? Am I doing enough work on my non-office days? Am I supporting Doug enough in his work? Am I keeping our business and house affairs in order? Am I doing enough to be a good catholic? (probably not, since the priest remarked to the deacon after we said hello at church on Sunday, "who is that woman? I've never seen her. Does she come to church?")

I don't have the answers. It's easy for me to think that I'm doing plenty of things and doing them well enough. Then again, it's a sure bet that I could be doing more, but better . . . maybe not so much. It's easy to exhort others to do their best, but really I think it boils down to choices. There are only so many hours in the day - maybe I can make better choices on what to do with my hours.

In the non-noodling section, I made a new post-Dagny world record for around the block - 23:42 (8.46 minutes per mile). This was due to some good tunes and the fact that I had to catch up to and pass "the running lady" who was in front of me on my first big hill.

No Sugar?

So, I've been keeping up with the very cool lunches on The Vegan Lunchbox (currently out for summer break) and have learned some neat recipes and food ideas. The lady that writes the lunchbox is currently writing about her battle to kick sugar on her personal blog using the Eat to Live plan. I think my link to the personal blog might be to the comments, which is fine because I've been thinking a lot of things along the lines of what vibrantredhead said.

I've got nothing against anyone who wants to eat healthier or more nutrient-rich food; a diet is a personal thing. However, at what point does a diet cease to be about the food or the body and become a "lifestyle"? Less and less people are going to church these days and more folks are embracing alternative food strategies. Coincidence? Is it really so different to omit all sugar, salt and gluten from your diet on the advice of one doctor than to hear a sermon from a priest, minister or rabbi and then sacrifice meat/tithe/fast/etc?

I'm not saying that I eat the healthiest diet or that I even know what that would be, but it seems to me that so many people (especially those with books and/or memberships to sell) are willing to tell us that they have THE ANSWER and it has to do with complete rejection of various food types. And people buy in because we are just looking for someone to show us the way.

What Kind of Fool?

Annika has camp this week so on my non-office days, Dagny and I are on our own. Today we trekked to Sams Club for the essentials. $300 later, we will never run out of dishwasher soap, liquid dish soap, trash bags, formula, black ink for the printer or chicken breasts. Unfortunately, we were already stocked on all of the listed items except the formula and the chicken. We needed colored ink instead, but I can pick that up when I return to Sams Club for diapers and wipes next week.

Anyway, as if the ridiculously "not what we needed" shopping weren't silly enough, I discovered (after I removed the poopy diaper) that my diaper bag contained NO DIAPERS. So, Dagny rode home commando.

One day I'm going to get it together.

A Good Week

This morning Dagny's first tooth came through. You can't see it unless you peer into her mouth, which she detests, but it is there. It's hard to believe that she is old enough for teeth!

I ran three times last week - 8.4 miles not counting warm-up/cool-down walking. This week, I will abandon efforts to go faster and start to add distance so that I can finish the Big Race in three weeks. After that, a different training method may be in order.

Teach the Children Well

A friend of my youngest sister is in professional school at my alma mater. This past year someone in her class posted on her blog a diatribe about her professor - using vulgarity and generally being ugly. As Emily related her friend's description of the prof, I realized it was someone I knew and respected.

I've been thinking a lot about this incident (long past, now) but how do you teach your kids to have respect for others and behave like good citizens? Yes, lead by example, but my parents tried to do that and I was still self-absorbed, shallow, and immature. How much "life-wisdom" can you tell your kids and expect it to sink in?

Education has been a hot topic amongst the moms lately on our forum and on Dogwood Girl's blog. Seems like we have all had the crappy teacher or professor here or there, but no one ever says, "hey - I learned a lot from Dr. X or Mr. Y or Prof. Q". So, I may not have learned much of the subject at hand, but following are the names of some folks who gave of themselves and taught me something whether I wanted to learn it or not:

Bob Brussack
Paul Kurtz
Kathleen B. Adams
Heather Biola
Michael Wells
Neil Nichols
Ray Phillips
Brown Russell
Ken Simpson
Dorothy Lewis

The Glamorous Life

Some glamorous tidbits so you can share in the excitement:

1. A shopping trip might be required (SIGH - I hate shopping) when you have to touch-up your shoes with magic marker before going to work.

2. If your laptop keeps overheating and freezing up, pencils under each corner will help it stay cool. Pencils are better than pens because they have sides and don't roll around when you type.

3. Smoothies are not so hard to make and are a good way to use up the berries going bad in the fridge. Annika is not convinced.

4. When eyes are too tired for contacts and glasses are required, the sunglasses can be applied directly OVER the regular glasses.

5. Magic marker mentioned in #1 comes off if you have to chase the dog across the dew-soaked yard.

6. My parents are thinking about moving into our neighborhood. It will be good, I know it will.

Not so glamorous, but very fun news is that Dagny appears to have learned to sit up by herself. I did not see it happen, but when I went to get her out of the crib, there she was - smiling at me.

Annika has roseola so she feels crappy and we can't go anywhere where little kids might be. I know I've said it before, but I really don't mind staying home except that it is hard to get errands done. All of the rush-around pressure is gone.

Another Cool Blog

This afternoon, Doug and I watched the Pillsbury Bake-Off on the Food Network while the girls napped. The lady who won has a cookie blog where she posts recipes (and photos) of all of the goodies that she makes. How cool is that?

On the running front, only two days of running this week. That's a grand total of 5.6 miles, not counting warm-up/cool-down walking. Very disheartening. I'm getting concerned that I won't be in-shape enough for the BIG RACE that is coming up in July and the longer race that I wanted to attempt for Thanksgiving, forgetaboutit! While I wasn't running, I found a lot of cool running blogs - you can find them here. Since I'm really turning into Vera and the bake-off made me cry, I felt free to post lots of encouraging comments to the other bloggers.

Tacky

Today was my first outing alone with Annika since Dagny was born. Since the party was during Dagny's nap, I called our favorite high school sitter and off we went to a birthday party at Monkey Joes. It was great fun; we slid down every slide, went through every maze, and jumped to our hearts' content. I am whipped and will be sore tomorrow, but I think Annika had a good time and enjoyed the one on one attention.

After the party, we went by the bank for cash and then to the Loft to buy Grammie a birthday present. Our errands completed, we breezed into Learning Express to browse the toys before heading home. As Annika perused the wind-up toys by the register, I noticed large plastic bins full of toys on shelves above the counter; they were labeled with kids' names, ages and the words "wish list". No way, I thought. Since my transformation into my mother is nearly complete, I turned and asked the total strangers next to me, "are those registries for kids' birthdays?" "Yes," they replied. Unable to contain myself, I blurted, "oooohhhhh, that is TACKY."

Now, I'm not Emily Post or any kind of arbiter of style or manners, but how disgusting that people create a birthday registry for 4-6 year olds. Frankly, I'd rather not have kids obligated to bring our kids gifts to their parties at all, but a registry? Gross. It's ugly enough that we do stuff like that for weddings, but I can understand the whole "creating a new household" theory. There is no excuse for a kids birthday registry.

All the more reason to stick with our neighborhood toy store, which has all of the same toys anyway (plus the cool Melissa & Doug toys) and gives me personalized present advice instead of the "two-year-old toys" signs. And, they have snappers, which, I learned while searching for a link to describe them, are legal in Georgia. : )

I've Been Under the Desk

I've been under the desk to plug in the camera, so here are some photos from this weekend and this morning. I'm going to try to edit them as Dorothy explained last week, but don't hold your breath.


Sophie and Dagny live it up at the pool on Saturday. I have many photos of Dagny stealing the toys from Sophie. Once upon a time, I was an opponent of bikinis for babies - now, I understand that there is a difference between a "bikini" and a "two piece" and it's WAY easier to change a diaper if you can remove only the bottom half of the outfit.

Shelley sees me and comes to the top to see if I'm going to drop any pellets into his bowl. He knows who is in charge (NOT!). Annika named him - we don't know where it came from. Probably the same odd imaginary place as "Dogarita", Dogarita's Daddy "Annie" and the two Joses, one of whom is Dogarita's baby sister.

Bettas are meat-eaters and prefer live prey. Unfortunately, poor Shelley gets Betta pellets instead of live anything; he seems to be enjoying them just the same, though.

Annika can be seen here brandishing the illegal water gun at the pool on Saturday. That's right, not only did I get busted for bringing my own water in (who doesn't bring their own water everywhere they go?), but water guns are now outlawed. Fight the power Annika.








Dagny was thrilled to be at the pool even though we weren't anywhere near getting in or even in swimming attire yet. This was her first visit to the big pool ever. She LOVED it. She rode in the inflatable boat, walked around in the baby pool, put her feet in the mushroom fountain, allowed me to throw her into the air and bounce her all over the pool. Then she napped like a champ so I could do the mountain of laundry we just created.

The Fish

No, not the bottle that Doug and Mike used to drink out of - our new pet, Shelley. Our friend Mark is selling Betta Bowls and thus now we have such a bowl and a fish who lives in it. Not that I wanted any other thing in our house whose well-being is my responsibility, but Annika loves him and so he stays. I'll post a photo this afternoon.

Anyone who thinks that fish are somehow less smart or less "animal" than other pets (I'm thinking in terms of eating them, here) is wrong. Shelley comes running to the top of his bowl when he sees me. He knows that I am the keeper of the food.

First Day Back

Today was our first day back in the neighborhood pool. It has been open for a few weeks now, but I've managed to keep that fact away from Annika. But today, there was no stopping us. After 30 minutes of prep (sunblock application, bathing suit application, food packing, toy packing, towel hunting, etc) we finally got to the pool.

Annika had a great time and even jumped off of the diving board (with Dad). Dagny enjoyed her first dip in a pool but cousin Sophie was not convinced that the pool was a good thing.

Photos later. We are all too exhausted to get the camera hooked up.

Caveat

So, I was thinking about my previous post while Annika and I were showering this morning. I don't think that I made it clear but I'm not trying to say that everyone must have children to be happy.

I'm just saying that I'm glad that I did - it has made me a better person, much like being with Doug makes me a better person. However, everyone is different and children might make some folks stressed or crazy or whatever or some just might not feel the need for them and that is perfectly OK. Everyone makes their reality with the roads they choose (or don't choose) and the important thing is to accept and enjoy the road you're on. Or, as my Grammy would say - "bloom where you're planted."

Lifestyle Change

I have some friends who are wrestling with the decision of whether or not to have children. They all love the children, but are concerned about the lifestyle change that will come with a baby.

All I can say is - the lifestyle change is huge. I never imagined that I wouldn't be able to stop at Starbucks, enjoy my newspaper, or take a jog - that the time to do these things would be a luxury. I never realized that I would miss working - the talking to adults, the feeling important and useful and the money. I didn't think that I would look back on my pre-pregancy body wistfully and couldn't fathom that pregnancy and childbirth would make parts of it not work right. I've never felt so adrift as when we were trying to figure out how to get Annika to eat or sleep - our lack of knowledge and confidence was so humbling. I didn't know that children would stress my sanity and our marriage in monumental ways.

However, now I stop at Starbucks when I feel like it and when it fits in our day. It's a treat for me and for Annika. I read some of the paper during meals or while the girls are napping and I run early in the morning or not at all. I figure that I will fit in the exercising back in soon - now that I'm getting more sleep. I'm working again, and it is fun but it is also a stress - packing the three of us up for two meals and all day is a lot of work, so I appreciate the freedom that came with not working. The intellectual stimulation and the money provide a different kind of freedom. I've resigned myself to the need for sturdy and expensive foundation garments at all times and we are still considering whether I'll get the repair surgery for my bottom. Doug and I have developed a system of days/nights "off" that works for us so that we don't resent each other. I'm doing much better at appreciating what Doug does and not wishing he would do something else and not spouting off whatever my raging hormones are making me think. Yes, things have changed here. We can't travel on a moment's notice and lately I've been cleaning up an awful lot of pee.

But I wouldn't go back to my old life now that I've met my girls. Even when they are sick or whiny or defiant, they are still a joy to be around and I'm so lucky to be able to watch them grow and learn new things. And the hugs and kisses! What I'm saying is that my life is different now, but it isn't changed in a bad way - yes, I have less free time and yes, I have more chores and expenses, but I have so much more.

Slip n' Slide

So, anyone who can tell me how to manipulate where the photos show up in the blog will be treated to free dessert. I picked the photos in order so that you could see the progression of Annika trying out the Slip N' Slide and changing focus to "here are some flowers, Mommy" but alas - you will have to take my word for it because the photos are all out of order. And, the photo of Dagny's first time in the "real" swing which I was saving for last is stuck right there in the middle. Thanks Corinne, for the beautiful purple sweater which was required by the cold snap last week.

The Slip N' Slide was on sale for $7.99 at Target last week, so I thought - AHA! Perfect toy for Annika to play with while Dagny and I watch. Little did I know that instruction in the art of Slip N' Slide was required. I told Annika how to crouch down and spring forward onto her tummy with her arms out like Superman - nothing. She kept putting her knees down. I realized that she doesn't know who Superman is so I demonstrated (fully clothed) but managed to not get soaked. No dice. I finally had her lay on her tummy on the slide and then I pulled her quickly down the slide and let her go. That worked quite well until she got water in her eyes. Then, Doug showed up and told Annika to slide down "like Superman" (we think alike). He finally picked her up and slide her body down the slide (more like a throw), which also worked great except for the water in the eyes - hence the sunglasses in the photos. They work like goggles. Next time, all goggles-all the time. In a fit of desperation, I gave Annika the full-on demonstration - in my clothes (much to the amusement of the golfers going by at the time). It was really fun, but she was not convinced and that is why there is a photo of her bringing me flowers to distract me from the stupid Slip N' Slide.

Oh, and - I think she is allergic to grass because her eczema went crazy that afternoon and even her feet broke out.

Cool Site

So, I was writing a post about the tunes on my i-pod and how those are very personal; I like my tunes and really don't care for anyone else's tunes and correspondingly, other folks think my tunes suck. Anyway, in trying to find a link to a Jay-Z site for the song that Doug has on his list (99 Problems) that I don't like, I found a site that shows the lyrics to songs and translates them from slang. FUN! It appears to be done by someone who has English as their second language because the translation is odd. Plus, even I know that "hollaback girl" means the repeaters of the song in the "call and repeat" genre. Still fun, though.

Above is a gratuitous photo of my cousin Katie and Annika at Grammy's swim meet.

24:27 today. Doug is catching up fast.

News Flash

Many ladies wear clips in their hair (to twist it up) at the office so it's not just me being a slacker because I forgot to brush my hair or find a barrette before I left this morning.

Thank goodness. . . . blow-drying is still beyond my powers. And straightening, forget about it.

Tuesday

- Gratuitous photo of Dagny, apropos of nothing. It is proof, however, that she does have a neck under there somewhere.

Today was the last day of Annika's sports class. They played a soccer game, during which Annika had at least three temper tantrums because she didn't score a goal and her attempts at dribbling the ball were thwarted by the faster and more skillful kids in her class. She doesn't understand the concept of making a goal or going to the ball.

So, while Dagny was napping this afternoon, we busted out the ball and goal and practiced our soccer skills. I thought we were doing OK until Annika told me that she would rather play "roll" than soccer. Roll is the game where we both sit on the ground and roll or bounce the ball to each other. It took me a few minutes, but I finally understood that I'm not going to teach her a whole sport in one day and that maybe she isn't ready to learn it. For now, roll is better.

That doesn't mean that we won't practice our soccer skills (or t-ball or basketball or golf or whatever), just not so much at once or with pressure. It's supposed to be fun, after all. I was just so retarded at all sports that I wanted her to learn them early so she won't feel as uncomfortable/awkward/stupid doing them as I always did.

Better news - 24:24 around the loop this morning (good music today), that's 8.71 minute miles. : )

Team Z

This is my Grammy (in the lower lane at left) in her very first swim meet yesterday. She kicks ass. She went out too fast in her first race and got her breathing messed up (it was freestyle, which means the crawl) and then panicked and turned back but she would have finished second if she hadn't turned back. The lady who won was 89 and she was really fast. In Grammy's second race (finish shown below), she did a modified backstroke and came in second. She was quite upset about the disqualification - thinking about what she should have done differently and what she will do differently when she goes to the state meet in Warner Robins in September. She's quite a competitor, that Grammy.
She has hooked up with a great coach (Gil) who races in the 60-69 age group. He and his wife pick Grammy up and take her to the practices twice a week. Mr. and Mrs. Gil are apparently experienced senior competitors because they gave me the skinny on all of the swimmers and the shuffleboarders too. They are also encouraging Grammy to eat better and consume more protein, which is very cool. She likes to joke that she had to cut out the drinking and smoking because she's in training. When she told another swimmer this, the lady (a widow, she told me) quipped, "and sex too!"

Also in today's post are some photos of my girls from the post-dinner, dog-has-to-pee, let's-check-on-the-tomatoes tour of the yard. Doug is expanding the bed I made around the drainage ditch so that is why the grass is dead in one big place.
They were so cute out there - my little family, that I was trying to get a photo of Doug, Annika and Dagny all at once but was not able to capture them without a big blur. Apparently my hands are not so steady anymore.

In other news, I had a MUCH better run yesterday. It was still slow - 26:15 (9.375 minute miles), but I had my tunes. However, since the whole run wasn't painful and I didn't have to listen to my tortured gasping, it was a great improvement.

Slooooow Feeeeeeeet

Today I had the day off. My sitter is available on Mondays and Wednesdays, which are the days I go to the office. Since I went on the road trip on Monday, I have too many hours for this week so my boss (budget conscious, don't you know) said to take today off. Annika had her Mother's tea at school this morning. We went to that together and then I was free. Free to do what? The eye doctor, haircut and car repair appointments I needed were unavailable today so I dropped some old clothes at Goodwill, filled the car with gas, went to the dry cleaners, recycled the grocery bags and left Cole's bike helmet at his house. That took exactly 1/2 an hour so I was free to run. Unfortunately, it began to rain so I went to the clubhouse to do the treadmill.

As Natalie says, the treadmill is unsatisfying. After plodding for five minutes, I noticed that the sidewalk outside the window was not wet - HOORAY! I busted out of the building and went for a run around the block. It may have been the weather (very humid today), or my allergies, or the forgotten i-pod, or the partial muffin I ate at the tea - excuses, excuses. I'm just plain out of shape. This was the worst run I've had since before I had Dagny. There was no channeling Natalie; no runner's high. I slogged my 2.8 miles in 26:35 (9.59 minute miles).

Lessons from Abroad

OK, not really abroad, or afar - but lessons from my trip with the consultant yesterday:

1. People are easier to misunderstand and misread and misjudge on the phone or email. The consultant was perfectly nice and sucked up to all of my business folks (even the one who doesn't care for me).

2. It was a GREAT idea to have the car cleaned with my Christmas gift certificate. Two different folks came over to inspect it because they were thinking about getting one.

3. I should have removed the car seat. It was pure laziness to leave Dagny's seat in the car, but I should have known that the consultant would be taller than me and therefore unable to fold comfortably into the front seat with it so far forward.

4. My husband rocks. Not only did he take morning and evening duty with the girls and interface with the sitter (I was gone from 6am-7:45pm), he loaded the Wall Street Journal and a book onto my i-pod and charged it up so that I would have something to listen to on the road.

5. Moms and Dads who have to pack up for daycare every day are superparents. It took me all of Sunday evening to get the lunches, breakfasts and bottles made and to pack all of the bags.

6. Packing my own cooler with water, poptart and apple was genius.

7. Never forget your photos of the kids. Two separate folks (not the same as the car folks) asked to see photos and I wasn't able to log onto my computer so I couldn't show them.

8. Phone charger would have been a good addition to my bag. When you are out of range, the phone searches for a signal a lot, which wears the battery down.

9. Maalox. Nerves + stress + road food = bad.

Measuring

This morning, Annika and Doug were preparing to leave the house to go to Home Depot for some screws. Our back windows keep flexing when it is windy and bursting the locks open so Doug is going to screw them closed so that the rain stays outside. That will be fine until I fill the kitchen with smoke (again) and need to open the windows to let it out - HA!

Anyway, Doug was helping Annika unlock the door and turn the knob to leave and I noticed that Annika's head is just a bit taller than the door knob. Turn now, and look at your door knob and imagine the top of her head being just taller than the top of the knob. She is really tall - it is simply amazing to me to think that the little bundle who moved in here with us is now that big.

Tomorrow I'm going to a rural location for work (all day trip - 6am until about 8pm) with the consultant, who, when I explained that I could not make his preferred time for the Thursday meeting because I am going to see my grandmother swim in the senior olympics, said "at least you have your priorities." Damn straight, asshole.

Miscellany

This is Dagny, in mid-bounce on her exer-saucer. It isn't the best photo of her, but I posted it because she looks suspiciously similar to photos of me when I was this age. Bald, big forehead, vacant expression . . . just kidding. It's funny how you can see flashes of me or Doug or my sister or Doug's mom in our girls. But only flashes and then they are just themselves again. Dagny is a lover. She likes to give hugs and big open-mouthed "kisses". She is sleeping better now that we've moved to the bottle though some nights she wants to get up at 2 or 3.

Below, Annika is riding the police motorcycle at the City of Alpharetta "Touch a Truck" event. Imagine a zillion kids and every kind of truck all parked together for the kids to look at, touch, pretend to drive, etc. It was very fun, but Aunt Jennie and Aunt Sara and I decided that there should be a "no honking or sirens" rule. Too loud. Annika was scared of the bigger trucks in person and refused to get on them for a photo. I think they were too tall for her. If I'd not had Dagny with us I could have jumped up there with her, but not this year. Please also note that I've learned to part Annika's hair before doing her braids. No small feat, with that many curls, but it looks much cuter than the usual jumbly division between the sides.

Aunt Jennie and cousin Sophie joined us (and Sara and Eve) for touching the trucks. Jennie is not loving her hair right now, but I think it is cute. Soph was a bit overwhelmed by all of the truck mayhem (who wasn't?) and kept her smiles hidden from us. What I didn't manage to get a photo of was Jennie enticing (all it took was "wanna race?") Annika to race her on the football field. The park has a killer synthetic field. It feels like real grass, only cushier. Anyway, Jen and Annika would get on the line in the runners crouch and "on your mark, get set, go!" and Annika would run all the way to the goal line and back. Of course, sometimes Annika left before "go" and frequently she was the only one running, but it was hilarious. She is going to be our runner. I have to brag that she was the only kid in her sports class that managed to run the bases at the tee-ball demonstration (where the parents get to watch) without help from the teacher. Naturally, the teacher told me after class that she was running around like a wild woman and not staying on task during the class. Oops. There are no photos of this event because I've learned that Annika fades under the pressure of a camera or video camera. You will just have to take my word for the fact that she kicks ass.

Appreciation

It's funny how the working outside the home really makes me appreciate not working outside the home.

No Tunes or Tucking

So, our new plan is to get up early a couple of mornings a week and let me run while Doug showers. Doug conveniently wakes me up as he is leaving for his run. Today I did the loop in 26:03 (9.3 minute miles), which is not bad considering that the lights went out as I was leaving and it was too dark to see to turn on my i-pod. Funny how the music keeps you on a good pace. The neighborhood was eerily dark and quiet - electricity seems to create a hum that you don't notice when you go about your business but is quite apparent when it is missing. We had been sharing the lone remaining pair of earbuds (out of 4 known pairs) but wearing sweaty buds grossed me out so bad that Doug hasn't been using his tunes. I was able to get two prospective replacement pairs at Target today so we will see if they are OK. The sweaty reflective vest is also gross but we both still wear that so that we don't get run over.

When I dressed for work on Monday, I could not find any pants that fit well enough to tuck my shirt in. I thought that weaning would cause my remaining baby/get pregnant weight to go away - not so! The boobs are gone, but apparently they have just migrated to my waist. After trying on all possible pants in my closet, I decided to go untucked (horrors!). I steeled myself for the "oh, she's such a slob" and "hmm, not a serious employee" looks as I went into the office. Imagine my surprise upon noticing that NO ONE at the office was tucked except for one really skinny lady. Furthermore, I just noticed that the model in the shirt photo in the link above is also untucked. Maybe tucking is out.

Good Morning

Doug got up at some point during the night and went downstairs because he was afraid his coughing would keep me up. So, he was up extra early and woke me at 5:23 to say that he was going for a run and that I could go while he was showering if I wanted to.

Would I ever! It was a lovely morning - we are low in elevation so I got to run through a cloud. I didn't get to do a warm up or cool down, but I did the loop in 24:42 (that's 8.82 minute miles), exactly one second slower than on Saturday.

And, Dagny slept from 8:30-7:30 and just rolled over ALL BY HERSELF without screaming or vomiting. It's a whole new world here.

Drama

Last night we went to see our favorite high school freshman's last home lacrosse match. No one (including the other folks in the stands, who presumably would have been to more games than us) understood the rules of the game, but we cheered for Megan and Roswell won so all was good . . .

until we got home after dinner and realized that Dogarita (shown at left) was missing. Doug jumped back in the car and drove back to the school to see if she was in the bleachers, but was foiled by the locked gates and the security guard shooing everyone away because of the thunder and lightning.

So, this morning, we loaded up the car and went to search. No Dogarita in the bleachers. The ladies in the office didn't laugh at us, but we had to sit and wait for a custodian to show up. This made me nervous because Dagny was asleep in the car (yes, I know, call DFCS - but it was overcast and the windows and roof were cracked and she was fast asleep until we got back in the car) but eventually a nice woman came and trekked back to the field with us to check inside the concession stand. No Dogarita.

Defeated, we thanked her profusely and copied down the website of the lacrosse boosters to see if anyone found her and took her home. Then, as we were nearly back to the car (passing a place we had passed twice on our visits to the field and concession stand), Annika said "there she is!" and there she was, wet and bedraggled but still wearing her pink pajamas. She has had her bath now (in pillowcase with the white clothes) and is asleep with her mommy, safe and sound.

The End of the Boob As We Know It

Before Dagny was born, I said that I would breastfeed for six months since that is how long Annika did it before she decided she was done. That was always the plan. I really was looking forward to having my boobs back and stopping the weird menopausal symptoms that occur when I am breastfeeding. Doug was also looking forward to the end for obvious reasons and also because there is only so much of me whipping it out in public that anyone wants to see. Dagny didn't really care - once she learned to drink from a bottle, as long as the food comes, she does not care about the delivery method or contents.

So, last week Dagny was six months and since I was starting the job, I started weaning. Granted, the hormone shift when ceasing breastfeeding is huge, but it's really upsetting me. I know that my milk production is not a measure of my worth as a mother, and that Dagny would be stopping in the near future anyway as she learned to drink from a cup, but MAN - this is hard. It doesn't help that the stopping coincides with the beginning of working or that the ladies on my moms board gave me disapproval about it (I am hypersensitive, obviously). I thought I would just postpone getting rid of the nighttime and morning feedings because I really like that time with Dagny. It's hard not to be filled with love for her when she is cradled in my arms and I'm filling her full of the good stuff. Well, apparently, my body had other plans and there wasn't enough supply to keep Dagny asleep all night last night so we were up several times to feed and then to make a bottle. It sucked.

Too bad I didn't take more time to appreciate the joy of being able to do the feeding while it was happening. I'm bad about that - rushing though everything to get to the next thing. Doug always says that I should stop and enjoy stuff - I wish I would just listen to him sometimes.

Happy Easter

Dagny and Papa enjoying the pretty day. Dagny loves Papa's beard - she stares at any man with a beard as if she expects him to play with her.







Annika and Dagny playing on the swing. It's hard to catch both of them looking at the camera at the same time - forget about smiling.







Dagny and cousin Sophie watching the Masters with their moms last weekend. You can tell from the blurs that it is hard to catch them both while they aren't moving.




Annika in her Easter dress and headband that Nana bought her. In the background, from the left are Papa Fogle, Grampa Bachman, Grammie Bachman and Dad's torso. Dagny was trying to nap at this point, so she isn't in the photo.

Share the Load

So, I know that every stupid chain email in the world says this, (but I'm hormonal - what with the weaning and all) and I'm really thankful for my girlfriends (and friends who are not girls) today. Several of my friends are going through rough patches right now and it made me sad to hear of it. OK, it made me cry, but I'm hormonal.

Anyway, whenever I have a crappy day or something bad happens, I know that I can call a friend, or my sisters, or my Mom, or Doug and they will help me feel better about it. Sometimes men are more interested in "solving" than in the "talking me down" but sometimes that perspective is just as necessary - at least to me. And, if I just need the talking, I call a girlfriend and that works. They help me see the bright side and sympathize with me on the bad stuff.

So, anyway, my point is that I'm glad to share the load, whatever it is. You guys are valuable to me and whatever comes up, I'll do what I can to help out.

Shopping Hell

Since I start the new job tomorrow and haven't bought any professional clothes since 2001 or 2002, I went to several stores yesterday. It SUCKED. I'm just no good at shopping.

As I put on the clothes and tried to make mental notes of which sizes fit and which necklines were too revealing, I thought to myself, "this shouldn't be so hard - plenty of folks love to shop and would trade places with me in a heartbeat." My body is not an unusual size and I wasn't going anywhere pricey, so why couldn't I find anything to buy? I think that some people are gifted with the ability to shop and pick outfits, but I'm not - it was much easier when I wore a dark suit to work every day and simply rotated the blouse or shirt underneath and the jaunty scarf (it was the late 90s). A suit is like a uniform - takes all of the guesswork out of the equation. However, now that the world is business casual (and all blouses are slutty-looking), fashion retards like me are adrift.

I fell back on the old standby of khakis + button down shirt or sweater set , but I did get one skirt. We will see how much that gets worn. My friend Tina said that I could wear open-toed shoes with a skirt, but I'm still not sure. I'm the girl who wore camisoles under her blouses until 2000.

She Rolls!

Dagny rolled over (back to front) on Sunday! Hooray!

Penance

Today was Palm Sunday and in keeping with my Lenten promise to make it to Mass each week, I took both girls and went to Mass. Doug missed golf yesterday, so he was playing today and didn't get to join us. We missed the 9am Mass because Annika slept until 8:30, so you'd think I would have had plenty of time to make it to the 10:45 one. I would have had this time if I hadn't stopped at the ATM to get money for the second collection, because the cash I thought I had in my purse was missing (turns out I gave it to the babysitter on Friday).

Anyway, we made it to the church with about 5 minutes to spare. This is ordinarily plenty of time, but there were lots of Palm Sunday activities, so today was not an ordinary day. Dagny had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the church, so I thought she would sleep for a good part of the Mass and might wake about communion time. Since she was asleep, I thought we could sit in the sanctuary so that Annika could hear the music and see what was going on (and because it's a free-for-all of unrestrained screaming children in the cry room). A very nice and well-meaning usher sat us in the middle of a back row after the millions of folks who had been outside for the parade and palm demonstration came back in and filed past us. "Whew", I said to myself as we settled in, "we did it". The church was packed and there were people standing behind us and also against the wall behind them. It is at this point that if my life were a movie, an audience would have screamed "NO - Get Out of There!" or the evil stepmother would have cackled "FOOLS! Now I've got you! Ha, Ha, Ha!"

Annika could not sit still, but she was quiet so I thought we were OK. Then, midway through the first reading I noticed that Dagny was awake. Gulp. I let her relax in the carseat and concentrated on Annika because she was getting rowdy. Finally, I was able to occupy Annika with a pen and my notebook (for writing the things I'm supposed to remember) out of my purse, but Dagny was angry. So, I figured that I could just hold her - she is heavy, but Mass is only an hour. That worked for most of the second reading, but then she was hungry. Of course she was hungry - we follow the "Eat, Activity, Sleep, You" schedule from Babywise, so after Sleeping (even if it is only 15 minutes), there must be Eating. Knowing that my hooter-hider was not in the diaper bag, I whipped out the boob and tried to cover myself with Dagny's blanket. Dagny doesn't like to be covered while she eats, but I did the best I could with the blanket and my hand. Yes, my boobs are so small that I can cover most of them with the hand, so that worked reasonably well until it was time for the congregation to kneel.

In case you didn't know, in Christianity, Palm Sunday is the day you talk about the Passion (crucifixion) of Jesus. Accordingly, the reading of the Gospel on this day is a BIG DEAL. The one our priest chose to read called for the congregation to read parts out loud, while kneeling. This is a very moving way to read this particular passage from the Bible, and it would have been marvelous, except that kneeling individuals are approximately as tall as the back of the chair in front of them, affording them a bird's eye view of anything going on in any such chair, including breast-feeding, which is what I was attempting to do, discreetly, during this time. I tried to relax enough to allow the milk to flow and fed both sides until Dagny twisted away from the feeding. On a usual day, a period of "happy time" would have ensued. After eating, Dagny is usually chatty and pleasant for about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, today was not a usual day and she might not have eaten enough and she was hot (because of the million folks in church), so Dagny was ANGRY. Midway through the (very short) homily, she started to yell. I tried to bounce and shush her, but eventually gave up - put my huge diaper bag and carseat on our chairs and began to shove out of the row, intending to come back and retrieve the bag and seat from the chairs on the way towards the door. The same nice usher came to help escort us out (bless him) and we spent the rest of the Mass in the narthex (lobby). I had to discipline Annika while we were in the lobby, but Dagny was much happier in my arms out there and Mass went fine. I occupied Annika with returning to the sanctuary for both collections and communion and looking at the cool stuff in the narthex and the bag of cereal I keep for emergencies.

Now I am home and have fed us all, Annika is at the park with Doug, Dagny is asleep and I'm exhausted. I guess I could look at this morning in two ways. One way, I made a lot of stupid mistakes and should have gone to the cry room from the beginning. The other way - payback for forgetting it was Friday and having Steak Taco Paco at Mexican last week.

In other news, I did the 2.8 mile loop this morning (pre-dawn) in 25.02 minutes - 8.9 minute miles. I thought that I was running super-fast because I was channeling Natalie and good music kept coming up on my i-pod, but the time was not so great. Next week I'll do better.

Slow Day

Both girls are sleeping at the same time, so I have time to upload some photos. The first is Annika speeding around the cul-de-sac at Tara's house on the scooter. She and Charla (the blonde on the left) were fighting HARD over that scooter. As you can see, Annika thinks she won and is doing her Gene Simmons impression. Her new favorite hairstyle is braids and her hair is so curly that the braids themselves actually curl up at the bottom - a little bit like Pippi Longstocking.


In the past two weeks, Dagny has learned to sit in the high chair/booster seat and begun to eat solid food. Her current menu is rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, squash, sweet potatoes and bananas. The peas were too fibrous, so we've had to put them in the back of the cabinet for later. Maybe they would be OK if I mixed them with the bananas, which have an opposite effect, if you know what I mean. Dagny is thrilled to eat the solids and seems to like the chair. A water bottle is also great fun.











I swear that this photo was not sideways when I uploaded it. Anyway, it is Annika and she is saying "not me" to my question about who woke the baby. You may notice that she is standing in the doorway of the room that connects with Dagny's room. "Not me" - yeah, right.











After Annika's second haircut, we paused for a moment on the bench. Annika savored her mint and Dagny laughed at me.











Dagny wakes up happy. My photo composition and lighting are not awesome, but at least I've captured her mood.

Last night, Dagny slept from 9pm to 7am. As if that were not gift enough, she was babbling quietly in her crib at 7, so I snuck into the bathroom for a quick shower. When I emerged, she was back asleep and stayed that way until nearly 9am. HOLY COW! She could have been sleeping 12 hours a night for months now if I'd only have let her! Not really, because we have to get up and moving before 8 most mornings anyway so she would have been awakened (see above) regardless, but imagine the possibilities.

In other news, I am employed, temporarily and part-time. It will be interesting to see how we weather the change. I'm sure it will bring new appreciation for my current position. It's funny how moms who work outside the home can't wait to get home to see their kids and moms who don't work outside the home can't wait for time away. Maybe we should all be a little more thankful for the time we share with those kids. They sure are fun.

Not So Fast

On Monday, Doug's mom took Annika for lunch and decided to keep her all afternoon. It was found time for me! Dagny and I went for a run around the loop - 28.01 minutes (10 minute miles). We didn't set any speed records, but it was a lovely day and we got to wave to lots of neighbors who were also out enjoying the sunshine.

Yesterday, playgroup at Tara's house - you can see photos here and here. It's amazing how chaotic a group of toddlers can be!

In other news, the dog is sick again and I was up at 3:30am cleaning #1 and #2 out of the hallway.

Camera Rescue

Annika is three - ta daa! This is our birthday morning portrait.

I rescued the camera from Doug's car this morning when I went in there to get the earbuds for my i-pod. Why can't he put the earbuds back in the beautiful blue tins that I put on the kitchen counter to corral cords and earbuds and junk like that? Who knows.

The next photo is Dagny wearing Birthday Barbie's crown. Thanks to Annie, Todd, Rollie and Matilda for the Birthday Barbie. The crown was supposed to fit Annika, but works better on Dagny. She is already quite the princess.

The next photo is one I took when Annika said "Mommy, take my picture, pleeeese!"

It Starts Early Over Here

Top 10 good things about running at a ridiculous hour of the morning:

1. You get to run
2. No cars - not even the paper guy
3. It's too dark to see the sky, so you have no idea what the weather might do
4. Further the #3, no excuse not to run because rain is coming.
5. You get to see Dale and his dog.
6. 24 minutes, 29 seconds for the 2.8 mile loop (8.75 minute miles)
7. Plenty of time to eat breakfast and drink coffee without kids because they are still asleep.
8. No modesty problem with removing wet clothing/shoes on porch because it's still dark out.
9. No need to add an additional shower to the day.
10. You get to RUN.

In other news, there is a new running store in our area: Spike. It is on Alpharetta Highway in the shopping center where the El Mexica Gourmet, the Bally's and the Applebees are. They have crocs, lots of track shoes (flats and spikes), a huge selection of trail shoes and (best of all) they stock wides. I will be back there - AND, you get a free shirt just for walking in the door. They plan to have group runs on Tues and Thurs (not that I could ever manage to do such a thing).

Liars

All of the doctors and books say that solid food has no effect on your child's sleeping. "Introducing the rice cereal early won't help," they say. Fools! Old wives know better!

Dagny has been eating cereal for about two weeks. The sleeping, it goes from 8-9pm to 4-6am. I'm a new woman and Dagny is just as big a chunk as ever. Can you believe that? Someone called one of my children a chunk yesterday. She is a chunk and I'm basking in the joy of not worrying about whether she is getting enough calories.

Damn, Damn, Damn

Doug was home this morning so he could take Annika to "Donuts with Dad" at school, so I was going to get to run (in the middle of the week!). But, Doug said he was going to work out so I didn't get up early and Dagny didn't wake up at 4am like she usually does so when Doug and I finally rose at 6am, the boobs were NOT having any running. Since I had to feed Dagny and get Annika beautiful for the special day, I settled for Plan B (to run with Dagny in the stroller after Annika was at school). Dagny decided to nap at 9, so Plan B was scrapped. Plan C was to bathe the dog and take Dagny out after the next feed. Unfortunately, diaper rash and a poop woke Dagny early so by the time I fed her, changed her sheets and cleaned up the dog-washing mess, it was 11am. I was faced with a dilemma - move to Plan D and run at 11 and try to eat and shower fast enough to go get Annika on time or just give up on the running for today.

I gave up. Maybe this weekend will be better. It's too bad because today is so beautiful.

Fight the Power

Yesterday was Saturday, which is one of the days that I have time to run because Doug is home in the morning. Unfortunately, I was so crabby when I got up (and it was wickedly cold) that I couldn't make myself go. It was only after Doug left and I spent 45 minutes with my DVD pal Billy that I felt good enough to consider going outside - and then I was jealous of all of the other folks that got to run. HARUMPH.

I've got to learn something to fight the inertia of not working out/running/doing. It's so easy for me to rationalize why I CAN'T do it (not enough sleep, too busy, got up too late, don't want to shower again) when I know that I will feel so much better if I just do it. My whole day is better if I start with an activity, mentally and physically, but it's just so hard to take that first step.

Benevolent Despot

Yesterday I was paying bills on the computer while Dagny played in her exersaucer and Annika played with toys and entertained Dagny. Then, Annika snuck up next to me and grabbed Doug's scale (ruler) and ran away with it. When I made her put it back, she screamed: "I want to RULE!"

Don't we all.

Ridiculous!

I read an editorial in the Wall Street Journal today which said that Federal Income Tax receipts are actually increasing and have been doing so since the Bush tax cuts. Further to my friend Colin's post here, it just makes you wonder why our elected officials choose to spend our money on more shit to help them get re-elected instead of paying off the debt or making social security solvent. GRRRR!

Back in the Saddle Again

We've returned from the belated anniversary weekend AWAY. I planned the trip back in September when I was too pregnant and we didn't have time to go away for the weekend. So, Doug and I dropped the girls off with my folks on Sunday and went to Lake Oconee for two days. It was lovely. We played two rounds of golf, swam in the pool, worked out in the gym, walked around and had decadent meals with wine and lots of dessert. I played my best golf ever - 128 for 18 holes, which is sucky for the rest of the world but FABULOUS for me, especially since I haven't swung a club in six months and we got to experience two really nice courses. Thank you to my friend Debi for suggesting the getaway.

Annika seems to be recovered from the pox, but now might have a sinus infection. Luckily she has a doctor appointment tomorrow so we will get her checked out before sending her back to school. Dagny was angry for all of Sunday afternoon, but warmed up to Nana and Papa by the evening and was happy as a clam when we arrived to pick her up today (WHEW!). It's funny, though, how much I missed these little kiddos. We were driving home from my folks' house and Doug said "well, you're back at work" and I don't mind a bit.

I do want to point out, however, that I am actually sore from playing the golf. It's clearly not a cardio workout, unless you walk, but my forearms and triceps would be really buff if I played regularly - of course, then I probably wouldn't hit so many times per round so who knows.

Surprisingly Relaxing

You would think that the chicken pox quarantine would be horrible, but so far it has been remarkably relaxing. We've done a lot of laundry, coloring and playing outside. It's amazing how much stress I apparently put on us in our daily routines to go to "school", activities, the store, etc. To know that I will make something (anything) out of the freezer for dinner and that we won't be going anywhere is surprisingly liberating.

Not that I wouldn't give my right arm for a run or a frosty beverage or adult conversation, but given the circumstances, we aren't doing too badly (and Doug and I ARE going to spend two nights away very soon). The only tough part is keeping the girls in separate rooms - no one likes to be left alone. Luckily, I am so talented that I can read stories from the doorway of Annika's bedroom so that Dagny can see me from her spot on the bed too.

A Pox on Our House

That's right folks, Annika has the chicken pox.

The red bumps she got yesterday (not so unusual with her skin) grew little yellow hats overnight. That, plus itching equals 7-10 days of quarantine at our house. Luckily, we don't think she was contagious at her birthday party on Saturday (stay tuned for the birthday post later in the week). Doubly lucky that her friend Whitney has not had the pox or the vaccination so she is coming over to play and get exposed tomorrow. As ordered by the doc, we are keeping the girls in separate rooms at all times (which sucks!) and washing hands like surgeons.

I Don't Like You

Annika told me today, "I don't like you anymore, Mom."

This barb had surprisingly little impact on me, and thinking quickly (not a strong suit), I responded: "it's not nice to say mean things like that to Mommy. If you say it again, you are going to time-out." End of discussion. I still marvel at the fact that time-out is such an effective punishment, at least for now.

Another good punishment we've discovered is "denying the goodies". Annika pitched a fit when I said that Dogarita couldn't go outside, so Dagny and I went to the mailbox to get the mail without Annika (who remained in the kitchen, screaming). You would have thought I cut off the kid's leg. She was much nicer after all of those nasty screams were released, though.

Crazy Women

Ok - I'm the only crazy woman.

Was it Virginia Woolf who wrote about women/mothers trapped in their homes who slowly went crazy? I think I know one of the reasons - no adult conversations lasting longer than five minutes.

It's 3:54pm and I've not had a meaningful adult conversation all day. Yes, I did speak with my sister on the phone this morning but we talked while I held one child and brushed the teeth of the other one and helped her dress. Yes, I did speak with my sister-in-law while I held one kid and tried to keep the other one from running screaming down the hall at her dance class. Yes, I did have some perfunctory exchanges with the other moms at dance class and I did speak with the customer service lady at the bank to explain my transaction, but I don't think those count (though they do help and I'd miss them if I hadn't left the house).

Some days, especially when it's not so pretty outside, despite the overwhelming love for both kids (who have been angels all day), it's hard to do this job.

In Which We Do Not Kick Ass

To celebrate the stroller being fixed and the beautiful day, Dagny and I went to the park today while Annika was at school. I thought that if I fed Dagny before beginning the jog she would be happy or asleep for the 30 minutes. Not so!

I had to stop many times to attempt to distract Dagny or make her happy. Nothing doing. She screamed most of the time and we did the 5K loop in 30 mins, 25 sec. Not a great time but it was still a nice day. Maybe next time she will like the walk better or I will bring her better toys to play with. Wow, it is a test, though, to think pleasant thoughts about folks when they give you dirty looks on the trail as you jog by with the screaming baby. Some moms and grandfolks gave me the "been there" eyes or just smiled, but I got some nasties today! Maybe those folks thought that I couldn't hear Dagny with my i-pod on - HA!

Dagny Rides Again

Today, my favorite bike shop fixed my jogging stroller, for free, in less than ten minutes! They also identified the problem with my bike pump - a missing part, which is hopefully in the garage somewhere.

So, my pump is not irretrievably broken and my stroller is all pumped up and ready for action. HOT DOG! Beautiful park, here we come.

Endorphins are my friend

After a rough morning in which the girls and I went to the post office and then to Sams Club and I nursed a grudge against Doug because he was golfing and I was not and he had "encouraged" me to NOT run this morning, I had a great run this afternoon. Annika took a nap and Doug took care of Dagny. The sun was warm, the breeze was stiff and I ran around the block in 24:48 (8.86 minute miles!). I was feeling so good that I tacked on an extra 0.3 miles instead of doing my cool down. My knee will be complaining tomorrow, but it was worth it. I feel so much better now.

What a beautiful day - all of the creeping phlox and daffodils are blooming, someone's daphne smells awesome and Doug is making ribs for dinner (the in-laws are coming over).

It's funny how a lack of endorphins (and probably some hormones) can make me feel so crappy and mean and nasty and petty. You'd think I would be able to ignore or get past it - especially during Lent, but no.

Weirdness

We were at a birthday party last week and I snuck away to feed Dagny but could overhear the discussion in the next room. I know that eavesdropping is rude, but listen to this:

The other moms were talking about Mother Goose rhymes and how they won't read them to their kids because they are too mean and they don't want to explain why Jack Spratt's wife was fat and what that means and about Peter Pumpkin eater's wife in the pumpkin shell. Then, the discussion turned to "G - U - N - S". Yes folks, the word gun is too horrible to utter so you have to spell it. Apparently no one wants their kids to even own a toy gun.

Just for the record: (1) Mother Goose will now be read in my house (despite the fact that the stories are too short but the book is too long for before-bed reading) just to be contrary (Mary, Mary), (2) a discussion of the Mother Goose rhymes might be a good thing, thought-provoking, etc, (3) same thing with guns - knowledge and safety rules seem like a better thing than ignorance to me, and (4) all kids coming to Annika's birthday party are getting water guns in their goody pails.

The Dancing Queen

Yesterday, Annika told me:

"I can't be a star!" (we were discussing the "superstar" on her jammies)

and when I asked why not:

"because stars are big and I want to stay little so I can concentrate"

concentrate on what?

"I want to stay little so I can concentrate on my dancing" (said while twirling around the kitchen in the aforementioned jammies)

Errata

I screwed up on the Fair Tax post. Thanks to Anne and Colin for letting me know.

Read about the Fair Tax at http://www.fairtax.org/

Dagny Kicks Ass

Not really, but we did manage to do the 5K loop at the park in 30 minutes - except for that 20 minute break after mile one to breastfeed, go potty and dress Dagny in my sweatshirt (she was cold). We will try again later. Imagine how great we could do if we weren't hungry or cold!

Note to joggers: even if your stroller wheel is out of round and goes glide . . . bump, glide . . . bump on pavement, the bump is not noticeable on the park's trail. : ) This will allow me to put off my stroller repair for another week.

My Girls

Here are my girls, in their party clothes (courtesy of Nana) after one change due to spit-up. Since they were both dressed at once and I was a few minutes ahead of time (WONDERS!), I thought a portrait was in order. Too bad you can't see the whole beautiful red skirt - next time.

Here Comes the Rain Again

The rain came in this morning, but not fast enough to prevent me from getting my run in. Dagny was up from 2-4am (eating and then we had booger issues) so I was dragging this morning but I got her up at 6:40 (she was grumbling, but not fully awake yet), fed her and put her back down. Doug held down the fort while I sallied forth into the drizzle.

Luckily, we went to the mall yesterday to meet Camille so I managed to FINALLY get a new battery for my watch. Hooray! I timed the run today and did my 2.8 mile loop in 27 minutes (approximately - because I forgot to push start until I was on my way up the hill). Ten minute miles - not bad for a woman who has not exercised regularly in 6/7 months. I don't know if running once or twice a week this past month counts or not. Regardless, today is the first day of getting back into better shape. : ) My world record for the 2.8 mile loop is 22 minutes, 25 minutes for the 3.2 mile one so I've got a long way to go, but under 10 minute miles is a huge victory.

The light rain was not unpleasant and it was warm enough that I didn't freeze. Amazing what good the humidity will do for a stuffy nose/head. Natalie said that she finds good stuff on her runs, but I found only a bolt and a screw and a smashed battery. The nut and screw went into the storm drains because I couldn't carry them and I didn't want anyone to cut a tire, but I left the battery.

Wow, I've missed my runs. Those endorphins really make the rest of the day easier. I was able to prepare and schlep both girls to two birthday parties today without losing my temper once.

Food for Thought

Maybe you have noticed the sudden appearance of "dinner places" at which one can purchase a meal or meals in which most of the preparation is already done. We've tried a couple of them and here are my thoughts:

Whatz for Dinner is a store near us (they also have an in-town location) which is owned by a former chef. He and his wife do all of the prep work so that customers may order meals to pick up ready for cooking. The menus are interesting and varied and the food was very good. The instructions were sometimes lacking, but someone who is a frequent cook would not have a hard time winging it. An example of one meal we had was stuffed pork chops: You put the butter/oil mixture into your pan and heat it up, then add the chops, onions and garlic, once the chops are browned on one side, you flip them, add the sauce and mushrooms and put the whole pan into the oven. Sweet potatoes were ready for boiling with butter/seasoning to add at the end after mashing. Vegetables were cut, seasoned and buttered, ready for the microwave. If associating the meals from this store with a Food Network show, I'd say that Emeril is the closest. The cost: $7-20 per meal. Fish and holiday meals are fancier and cost more than the pork/beef/chicken stuff.

Super Suppers is a meal preparation store at which one may purchase 6 or 12 entrees to take home and freeze. The store will prepare the meals for you or you can go in and assemble them yourself. The lure here is that you can have "meal parties" with friends or family. I'd associate this store with Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee because the food is all pre-done and customers just assemble it. Some meals that I made at our playgroup party were chicken en croute (pot pie), stuffed green peppers and pasta fagiole soup. The food is also very good, but either their portion size is way small or Doug and I eat like lumberjacks. Cost per entree: $3-4 (their portions) or $6-8 (our portions).

Please note that neither of these places are for vegetarians, though they do offer some vegetarian things. Doug and I guessed that the cost to purchase them (rather than make them at home) would be too high to make vegetarian meals a good value. For some cool vegetarian ideas, check out this blog - the vegan lunchbox.

Anyway, the nutshell is - both of these places (and the billion other ones cropping up everywhere) are interesting and I will be surprised to see which operational model ends up being most successful. They do save time (how much time is debatable) but they cost more than cooking from scratch so they will likely remain a nice treat for us instead of a regular plan.

Civic Duty

I've just finished writing my elected officials to thank them for their support or urge their support of the Flat Tax. After reading The Flat Tax Book (by Rep. John Linder and talk show host Neal Boortz) and finally finishing the voluminous paperwork necessary to send 1099s to our sub-contractors and send our tax information to our accountant (so he can actually do the tax returns), I am more in favor of tax reform than ever.

Doug and I have discussed the possible downsides and unintended consequences of a flat tax, but I still think it has to be better than the incomprehensible mess we have now. Rather than taxing income and legislating "breaks" to encourage certain behaviors, tax consumption across the board with a credit (prebate) for the tax which would be paid on the necessities. That way any increase in taxes would be transparent and won't turn into a "tax the other guy" scenario.

You, read up on this issue and write your elected officials to tell them what you think! It matters that our representatives hear from us - whether you agree with me or not.

Outside the Range

This is my dad holding our niece, Sophie. She is a darling girl.

So I joined up at myspace so that I could see my sister Emily's page and because my friend Anne suggested that it was fun to find folks from the past. Well, clearly I am too old for myspace. I posted the poncho photo of me and Dagny but very little else. When I looked in my high school, there were no people older than 31. It was very neat to see all of the photos of Annika, Sophie and Dagny on Emily's page, though. In the midst of all of this blast-from-the-pasting, I found an old boyfriend via Google (he was quoted in a newspaper article). Apparently, the man I dated before Doug (we affectionately called him Butthead) is now married and has a baby daughter. He was a pilot, but quit that because of Delta's troubles and now sells real estate. Interesting.

Camera Mastery

After the old camera died (just after the poncho photo), we got a new one. Fortunately, the new camera is better in quality and easier to use but unfortunately my computer/printer/thing that you plug into are not. So, after much trial and error, I have mastered the art of downloading photos from this camera - it requires direct connection to the computer (which means crawling under the desk), but it works!

Here is the promised baptism photo (Uncle Robbie and Aunt Jennie are on the outside with me, Father Frank, Dagny and Doug in the center) and a photo of my girls that was taken yesterday. Annika loves to have her picture taken, but it is difficult to get a genuine smile. Dagny just does her own thing - she has a beautiful gummy smile and I've made her laugh (finally) but it's hard to catch on "film". Please take note of the beautiful baptism gown that my Aunt Debra made.

Three Hours!

Last night was Dagny's first meal with Dad. Doug has always been good about taking care of Annika on tennis nights so I could go out with the ladies, but Dagny wasn't ready to drink from the bottle yet so I've been staying home since she was born.

So, after last week's Herculean efforts to introduce the bottle, yesterday Doug told me not to come home early, gave both girls (and himself) dinner, bathed Annika and put everyone to bed. I, on the other hand, went to tennis practice with my girlfriends and then out for a glass of wine and some food. It was lovely. I played like crap (what do you expect with 4 months of no practice?), but it was still fun.

Stupid Stupid Stupid

Last night, I thought it would be a good idea to leave Annika's valentines to take to school to finish this morning. Then, when he left at 6:30 this morning, Doug said "you should sleep in" because Dagny was up a lot last night, so I did - until 7:10. STUPID.

We were very late for school this morning. Annika ripped the "circles" off of the bottom of all of her cards so they would not close. Then, she forgot how to use stickers to keep the valentines cards from "bouncing open" though she manages to do it to every single birthday card we send though we've discussed repeatedly how I'd like her not to do so. I managed a shower by locking the screaming baby and the dog in the bathroom with me while Annika ate her breakfast and (allegedly) colored her valentines cards. Lunch got made while Dagny gave us more screaming and Annika tried very hard to finish her valentines. Curses on the woman who did all of her valentines early and attached the candy to the cards and brought presents for both teachers.

I had to stop for a coffee and scone just to make myself feel better.

Payback

On Friday, after Mexican, I put Dagny down in her car-carrier while I took care of some business. She hates the carrier and immediately began getting agitated and searching for something with her eyes. She moved her head and eyes from side to side - sweeping the room, until she found me and smiled.

It completely made up for the fact that she woke every 2 hrs to eat during the night.

In other news, she had bottles (with no fussing at all) on Thursday and Friday. One was formula and one was breastmilk, but they were both very warm so maybe that was the difference. You'd think we would have figured this crap out by now, but apparently not.

Torture

So, we are working on getting Dagny to take a bottle. She had a few at the hospital when she was born, I tried once the week she came home, and my mom has given her three (3) bottles at various times so I could go to the doctor or work, but other than that, she has been all-boob-all-the-time.

It's totally selfish, but I need some down-time so we are trying to give her a bottle every day to get her used to it. Monday, she ate 3-4 ounces of (gasp) formula during an hour of screaming. Tuesday, 2 ounces of breastmilk with more screaming, but she was wearing most of it. Wednesday, 1.5 ounces of formula during the wailing hour. Do you see a pattern? Bottle-feeding is torture for everyone - even the dog.

Doug's sister may try to help me today or tomorrow. She is the one who taught Annika to take a bottle so maybe she is the magic we need. If our schedules don't mesh or if Dagny refuses the bottle again today, I may go insane. On one hand, it's very complimentary that Dagny likes the boob so much - she is quite a bruiser and it's all because of me! On the other hand, though, I would really love to do something (anything) by myself or with just Annika. Four months of 24/7 responsibility is a long damn time - how I'd like to disappear for just an hour.

Inspiration

I'm not a good runner. I love to run and it makes me mentally and physically better, but I'm not fast and not pretty. Think about a fast-moving upright turtle - that's me.

My friend Natalie, however, is both fast and beautiful to watch. She runs like a little kid - even when pushing her kid uphill in the stroller. Anyway, Natalie can run a marathon and she generally kicks ass. Whenever I am trying to go faster or run better, I think to myself "run like Natalie". You can read Natalie's blog here.

So Darn Angry

Doug and I have discussed this issue before, so when I read the article on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on Friday about the federal budget wrangling, it was not a surprise. What was surprising was the depth of anger the article caused. Maybe I was just stressed out, but I've simmered all weekend and I'm still angry this morning. Here is the nutshell - 85% of the federal budget goes to three (yes, 3) things which no politician of either party will touch with a ten foot pole: national defense, social security, and medicaid/medicare. So all of the BS posturing that we see when the budget is discussed each year is over just 15% of the total budget. The talking heads discuss, opine, argue and finger-point about items in the budget and the press dutifully reports it all, but nobody ever discusses or tries to "fix" the real problem - it's just not politically advantageous (more like suicidal). Meanwhile, we edge closer to disaster every day.

Some folks, who are retired or close to retirement age, don't want to "fix" (by "fix", I mean make solvent) social security because that would mean that their benefits would be cut. They are operating under the assumption that the money that they paid into the system was held in trust by the government and will be repaid to them according to the plan when in fact, the money they paid in was paid out the same year to other beneficiaries. Nobody banked any money, so the current beneficiaries are living off of the money paid by the current workers. So, you ask, when the number of beneficiaries increases and the number of workers decreases, won't there be a problem? DUH . . . yes. But no one wants to fix the problem. Medicaid/Medicare has a similar problem, but will be insolvent much more quickly - it won't be our children's problem, it will be our problem. Has anyone posed any reasonable solution(s)?

No. Bush posed a half-assed solution to the social security problem last year which came to nothing. Neal Boortz and John Linder have allegedly proposed a solution in their Fair Tax book. I'm still reading that book so I don't know if their proposal is reasonable, but my gosh, how could we (voters), our parents (retirees or almost-retirees) or our elected representatives have allowed this mess to occur and why isn't anyone trying to fix it?

It's beyond ridiculous.

Don't Inhale

When refilling the dog's self-feeding bowl, do not inhale unless you want to be breathing and tasting dog food all day long. Even the dog food that costs more than steak still tastes like dog food.