Just Do It

Okay. I'm doing it. This time its not something to contemplate or consider. It doesn't need more research, more information. I don't need to restructure the budget to join a gym. I don't need to run it past a few friends, my sisters, my mom. I don't need to organize it all first or prepare my supplies. I don't need a new set of clothes, some special equipment. An outline of events or timeline or a chart or a graph or an Excel spreadsheet or exercise journal isn't going to help.

Last night I finished my second run. I am running 3 nights a week. T-Dad and I are simultaneously participating in the Couch to 5K running program. We have the podcasts and we have each other to keep us on track. After we get the kids in bed, I'm out the door. When I return, he's out the door. We've got a system and its no nonsense. We Just Do It. And it feels good.

Meet Emjay.

Did I tell you...4 days after we came home with our Rantoul Pound rescues, we saved a cat from becoming a Rantoul rescue. Emjay's owner was preparing to drop him off at the pound, and we just couldn't let that happen. So we said we could act as a "foster" family and take care of him until we found him a new owner. Well...10 days later we still have Emjay and he is settling in. He is a big boy. He's not too fond of the girls yet, but I think they're wearing him down. Meet Emjay.

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha, new Ipana toothpaste....

So Bug and I went to the dentist yesterday. He went first...and did AWESOME! The Dental Hygienist, Tina, is really great with kids. She gave him sunglasses to wear and a squishy baseball to squeeze. And gave him lots of choices...tropical fruit paste or cherry or grape or watermelon. And then fluoride...strawberry, mint, banana, etc. And then pick a toothbrush...Diego, Shrek, Spongebob, etc. It was truly a wonderful experience and Bug was such a big boy. (Compared to his last visit 6 months ago with all kinds of screaming and crying.) Unfortunately, he does have some cavities, despite my having taken over the Bedtime Brushing EVERYNIGHT for the last six months. So we are going to have to go visit a Pediatric Dentist, his regular dentist, Dr. D, made it very clear (at that first and very traumatic appt. six months ago) that he wouldn't be taking care of his cavities, "Yes, I see some cavities forming here...But we won't take care of those here." Uh, okay. Thanks for being our family dentist. But actually, I understand that it is a better experience for kids to get dental work with a Pediatric Dentist who can give them laughing gas and make it a more pleasant experience. Dr. D is not a really "friendly" dentist. He literally makes his appearance the last 30 seconds of any dental visit and barely speaks to his hygienist, let alone the actual patient. Quite strange. I had a great dentist when I lived in Springfield, IL - Dr. Tanya DeSanto. She actually talked to me and expressed an interest in my questions and health. I totally recommend her to everyone. As for a local Pediatric Dentist, I've heard good things about Dr. Chifan Cheng. So I need to make him an appointment....hopefully, this one will go as well as yesterday's.

Parenting alone together.

Friday night we drove up North to visit my parents. T-Dad and I both left work about a half hour early, he picked up the kiddos from Daycare and I hurried home to get packing. We managed to eat a quick dinner of leftover grilled hot dogs and watermelon and were on the road by 6:30pm. Not bad. It was a (4 hr) good drive, the kids were well behaved, watched movies, played with toys etc. Then Saturday was filled with a trip to the Stride Rite store (Bug-size 12 and Mealyworm- size 9) and playing with GramH and PapaB. In the evening I surprised T-Dad with a secret Date Night. My folks babysat and we were on our own from 5pm - ? . It was great to have some couple time. We had dinner at Chili's, including an appetizer. I had gotten us tickets to see the Phantom Regiment's Show of Shows. It was my first time attending a Drum Corp International competition and it was awesome. T-Dad was totally impressed with my surprise. So the rest of the evening and then Sunday morning flew by and it was time to drive home...this is where the "What not to do as a Parent" lesson starts.
It was after lunch. I was tired. The kids were tired. T-Dad was driving. I gave the kids their respective "lovies" for nap time. We sang some favorite bedtime songs, we talked about the fun we'll have when we get home after our rest time. And I lay back and close my eyes. Not surprising, our good sleeper and 2 yr old, Mealyworm, actually falls asleep right on cue. But the Bug has different ideas. So eventually I turn on the DVD player and he watches Toy Story 2 while I continue to try to grab some desperately needed Zzzzzzzs. Then the T-Dad decides we should stop and get some gas. Great. Mealyworm wakes up and the Bug gets "rejuvenated". Let the chaos begin. Mealyworm is cranky because she only got about 45 min of sleep time compared to her usual 3 hours. Bug is jacked up on adreneline because he is actually exhausted but won't sleep, so he gets into his "17 yr old w/ an attitude problem" persona. Much crying, fighting over toys, yelling, whining, etc. ensues. And Bug has figured out my #1 pet peeve at the moment...he starts kicking my seat. His fancy dancy Britax car seat/ barchalounger is right behind mine...and he can put both feet flat on the back of the passenger seat and push...hard. or kick and watch the person's head bob...or kick repeatedly and watch mommy become irate. Good times. We pulled off the highway at one point and Bug got a swat on the behind,which had no effect. So I buckled him back into his lazy-boy car seat and threw his beloved spiderman action figure into the long grass prairie on the side of the road. (I know, really bad parenting move on my part.) Because of course the kicking of my seat and more screaming and crying continued. So I started the toy ultimatum..."every time you kick my seat I'm going to throw one of your toys away." So I go through the car toy box and eventually pull out all of Bug's toys....I find like 6 matchbox cars, 5 happy meal toys, a plastic helicopter, plastic binoculars, a beanie bear, etc. And an hour down the road with my seat being kicked the whole time...we stop at a rest stop and I throw them all into the trash (I really wanted to donate them, rather than trash them, but I thought I was making an important point at the time. Again, I know really bad parenting on my part.) HA! More kicking and screaming...blah, blah, blah. But the fresh air at the rest stop must have cleared my senses enough to help me snap out of my "Mommie Dearest" mind set. So back on the road, promises of an evening trip to the park and the playing of a Wiggles movie eventually settled the car down and we made it home. But through it all, you know what really ticked me off most...T-Dad. Where was he? Why didn't he "fix the situation"? Obviously, I was tired and not making great parenting choices. Why didn't he step in and solve the situation? In hindsight, I figured out what would have been better...move Bug's car seat to the far back seat in the mini-van. So he couldn't kick my seat anymore. Or recline my seat so that its an inch from his legs and I sit in the far back. Anything to essentially make the irritating behavior ineffective and then he would have stopped. But I was so wrapped up in the irritation to see these easy solutions...T-Dad could have. Why do I feel like I make all the parenting choices (whether they are good or bad) and he's just along for the ride? Aaargh.

Getting healthy, losing weight, yada, yada...

I know lots of bloggers use their blog as a way to stay on track when it comes to getting healthy, losing weight, training for a marathon, etc. So I'll give it a shot too, because I need all the help I can get. Just in the last 18 months I have participated in 3 sessions of Weight Management (at work, 10 wks each), 2 sessions of Weight Watchers (13 wks each) and the 20 week Healthy Eating Every Day course (at work). And I've done personal training and cardio classes (at work, twice a week for a month) off and on throughout. And I weigh 1 lb more now than I did 18 months ago. I, apparently, am not really trying or something.
But my mom tries really hard to motivate me to lose weight, so the latest proposition is....If I can lose 15-20 pounds by 8/5/08, she will give me $500. This is by far her best motivation offer yet...so I am really trying to do it, on my own. I mean I'd be an idiot to not give it my all. Because the bottom line is I want to be thinner and healthier. But I'm tired of wasting money with no results.
So, last night I went over to a Curves that is near my house and was shocked at how expensive it is. I actually did Curves about 6 yrs ago when I lived in Springfield, IL and really enjoyed it. But now it seems so expensive and you have to commit to a full year of payments, sign up fee is $150 and monthly $34 fee. I'm not afraid to commit to getting healthy, walking/exercising for a year...but committing to pay $34 a month to this Curves for a year is a little intimidating to me. I mean I have 2 awesome parks within walking distance...for free!

I love the British Speak

At work, we route around over 50 journals and magazines. One of the ones I thoroughly enjoy getting every month (mind you I just got May 2008, so its never exactly timely.) is a UK publication called Health & Fitness. It is a glossy magazine like SELF or SHAPE. But being as its published in the UK...its full of wonderful British stuff. All the articles are essentially the same as we'd have here..."Age is just a number", "Running a Triathalon", "Electronic relationships", etc. But the ads and the little things are there..."stones" instead of pounds, talking about your relationship with your "partner" not husband, crisps are potato chips etc. I mean British people are sooooo cool. Okay, that's juvenile and a total generalization, but hell, its true.

Here's some more British Speak:
Wind = passing gas
Mum = mom
Yoghurt = yogurt
diarrhoea = diarrhea
coeliac = celiac disease

Wow...meet Crystal.

I just found an awesome writer, Crystal at Boobs, Injuries & Dr. Pepper.
I am devouring her words and crying through her Crazy Chronicles.

Shades of Gray

I consider myself to be very open-minded and even forward-thinking in most regards. But something I struggle with on a daily basis is GRAY. Generally, I'm fine with cutting people some slack, seeing situations as having no right answer, allowing inconsistencies, etc. But there are specific things that trigger me into the "no gray zone". For these situations, its like there is this archaic little justice scale in my head, and when I put too many weights on either side, that side wins. Using this kind of system, there really is no "gray" or blended balance of the two. So I would like to get rid of that whole little justice scale mentality. But it is like writing with my left hand...I have to constantly remind myself that it is possible, I can't seem to just flip a switch and throw out the justice scale. It takes work, constant diligence, like reminding myself it is humanly possible to form letters and numbers with this uncoordinated stick otherwise known as my left hand. And on the same note...that it is possible that a situation can be gray, not all white or all black.

New Furry Friends

Cappaccino still holds a special place in our hearts and if she returns home, we welcome her with open arms and a nice soft bed. We've missed having a furry friend at home and started looking around at the shelters for cats that "spoke to us". There are so many sweet cats needing homes it is a heart-wrenching process. After visiting CISAR (Central Illinois Small Animal Rescue) online regularly for weeks and physically visiting the Champaign County Humane Society in person, we finally found who we were looking for at Savoy's Catsnap (Champaign Area Spay/Neuter Adoption Program). And in the end we couldn't pick just one, so we have 2 new members of the Lemonade Family. We are happy to announce the adoption of Juno and Chicago.

Juno (previously known as Buffy) - 10 month old, orange short hair, female. She was relinquished in Rantoul by her previous owner when they found out she was pregnant. So Juno had her babies (4) and they were all adopted out, but she was still waiting for her forever home...until we came along. :) She is hesitant but knows how to say thank you with lots of purrs and eye squints from a distance. I chose this name because her story reminded me of the recent movie Juno - and her cat sister Chicago has a city name, and of course Juneau is a city in Alaska (but we're going with the Juno spelling because its easier. )

Chicago (previously known as Lexie) - 10 month old, tuxedo cat, female. She was at the Rantoul Pound (apparently not a fun place for cats) and later taken in by Catsnap. She is very outgoing and people-friendly, life of the party. Bug actually picked the name Chicago, I'm not exactly where/how he came up with it, but he blurted it out and seemed pretty sure that the black and white cat would sleep on his bed and be named Shick-ha-go (his pronounication is something more like that.)

Cappaccino

As many of you know, we lost our cat about 3 months ago. I mean, literally, lost her. We put up signs in the neighborhood, knocked on doors, called the shelters, visited the Humane Society and there is still no sign of her. All we can think is she must have gotten into the garage the day before we left on a weekend trip (the kids leave the house/garage door open all the time) and then when we were packing up to leave we opened the overhead garage door and she ran out. And because we were not home for 2 whole days, she wandered off and either got welcomed at someone else's house or ...something else happened. Her name was Cappaccino, she was a 10 yr old, front paws declawed, tortoiseshell. T-Dad, in is spectacular uniqueness, had wanted a kitten as a bachelor living on his own. So 10 yrs ago (minus 8 weeks) he went to the pet store (or maybe a friend had kittens, I don't remember) in Springfield, IL and found himself a little kitty and named her Cappaccino. They had many happy years together as man and cat. Then when I entered the picture 3-4 years later and poor Cappaccino had to take the "back seat" to the man she loved. I tried to be a good friend to her but she only had eyes for T-Dad. And over the next several years everything about her life changed (you know how cats love change) ...T-Dad switched apartments, T-Dad moved to a house, T-Dad was gone a lot visiting me in Springfield, eventually I moved in permanently, then we had a baby, then another baby, then we moved to a new house, and those babies became chasers, tail-pullers, etc. and Cappaccino became more and more reclusive. She was never mean or honestly, even interested in the kids, she just stuck to herself and slept with us at night. Poor Cappaccino, I feel like I did you wrong. But I don't know what I could have done differently. May you be in peace wherever you are, pretty kitty.

truth time

okay, so i've been kind of absent in the posting department. if i weren't filled with the need to be honest, i'd lie and say i've been too, too busy to even think about posting. but honestly, i've got several post drafts sitting in the little mailbox, that i didn't feel were worth posting. this blogging thing is messing with my head. i've actually started thinking when i type instead of just typing. it makes me much more hesitant to put anything out there. aargh.

just as a little something to fill your blog-hopping time while i'm wrestling with my inner demons...T-Dad decided to join the fun and started a blog...you can check it out here: http://www.theatredad.blogspot.com/

Spiderman in a kimono