Training 11/29

I haven't updated in awhile. My blog updates did help me keep on track for quite awhile but the bake sale/thanksgiving/general ennui overcame that need for accountability. Honestly, I finally gave up. I know that I will finish the race. But I also know that I won't run the whole thing or break any kind of speed record.

We leave tomorrow. I'm not prepared. I bet that even if I had followed the whole training regime, I would still feel unprepared. Plus one benefit of taking two weeks off, my calf isn't hurting at all. Not a bit. Maybe my body knew it needed the break. A little justification can't hurt, can it?

Maybe someday I will decide to do this again. Maybe I will decide to do it for me and for the challenge instead of succumbing to peer pressure and the incentive of a trip. Then maybe I can get past that mental wall that I never broke. But then again, going 13.2 miles is just crazy. What am I thinking? I'll never do this again.

Panic

I went to run errands this morning. I get to my first stop and realize I don't have my new credit card. I start to freak, internally. I mean, I can't cry in front of the clerk at Sports Authority. So I rummage through the junk stuffed at the bottom of my purse as my heart drops to the bottom of my stomach and pray that I don't have to tell my husband that I am the irresponsible just like my mother lose everything because I stuff it in my purse instead of taking the time to put it in my wallet person he sometimes thinks I am. As I left the store, I try to calm down and start to think about when I last used the card. My first thought is the last time I used it was on Friday, Black Friday, the worst shopping day of all. I went to like a hundred (or maybe 5) stores. And the last one I was at was Walmart. The worst one of all. I then spend the next 10 minutes trying to remember what I did the rest of the weekend and did I use my card at all. But by then, the panic has gotten to me and I can't remember a single second of the rest of my weekend. I finally decide that I haven't used the card since Friday. But there is nothing I can do until I get home. I will just finish my errands and go home.

Well, after a few stops, I am finally on my way home. I then notice the annoying dash notification telling me I have 15% left on my oil life and I need to get an oil change. I push the button to make it disappear and my mileage appear instead. Then I see, my miles are only at 30.6 miles. I remember. I put gas in the car on Monday. It was cold. I had on my coat. I know where my new credit card is!!! In the pocket of my coat!!!

The panic subsided and the relief was calming. I don't have to admit I'm to my husband I lost a credit card. Life is good.

What's with the kids in J's class????

Over the weekend we baked brownies. So for a treat yesterday, I gave each of the kids a brownie in their lunch. It was suppose to be a surprise but they caught me putting them in.

Yesterday afternoon, J asked me why I didn't give him a brownie. I told him I did. He told me when he ate his lunch there was no brownie. I asked A if I accidentally put 2 brownies in her lunch, she said no, she only had one.

J's response was "I guess M took it." I asked him why he thought M would take his brownie, he responded that she does that. I told him that I would send one in his lunch today but he said he didn't want one, because M would eat it again. I told him that I would give him a brownie and talk to the teacher.

So in carpool line this morning I asked the teacher if they had problems with food in the class. She asked what M had taken. I guess this is something that has been going on for awhile. I told her that J's brownie was missing yesterday. The teacher's aide said she had caught M by the lunches but she thought she had gotten her before she had eaten anything. She was wrong. Both of the women went and talked to M and her mother when she was dropped off. M had to apologize to J and the mom said that she would bring him a treat tomorrow.

I don't get it. What is up with these kids? The teacher said that she is just like the other boy in class, very disruptive and destructive of other kids things, but at least she doesn't have the obsession with evil/murder/blood/devil. Ugh. The school year is almost halfway over. I'll be glad when it is through.

Making things

I was reading the newspaper this morning. There was a letter in one of the advice columns that caught my eye. The letter was from a daughter who said that one year, her father said that he had received enough Christmas presents in a lifetime. If someone wanted to give him a gift, they had to make him something. It could be anything. She said that he had received anything from art to magnets to an opera starring him. Now that her father has passed on, she said she realized how much his gift request had added to their holidays.

I think this is a wonderful idea. I know that I would never be able to get my husband or BILs to participate in it. I read the letter to DH and his response was I can't make things, you make things. But the point is that everyone can make or do something. If you aren't a crafty or creative person, you could go repair something for someone. Just put some thought into it and you can come up with something.

I was talking via email to a friend on how to handle presents from children to parents and children to siblings. Right now I take them shopping and buy a present for them to give. Or I just buy something, wrap it and put their name on it. It kind of misses the point I think.

Since I can't get the adults to participate in making things, maybe I can start with the kids. They can make something, write a poem, draw a picture, be creative. Maybe it will stick and become a wonderful family tradition. I can hope.

A Fall Day

	This was an afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Even though it was hot outside, the leaves started to turn. It made for a lovely photo.
	I'm going for the pretty, pretty blog post. Here are my feet. Every blog post with beautiful afternoon playing in the yard pictures includes a shot of the feet. The grass was wonderful, slightly cool but the heat of the sun kept my feet from being too cold.
	Baby B wasn't so cooperative on the feet photos. He just wanted to swing on the swing. He loves to lay on his tummy on the swing and push himself. He definitely likes to do it by himself.
	This afternoon outside was needed. J had been sick over the weekend. His fever stopped on Sunday afternoon, but I still felt bad sending him to school on Monday morning. It is only preschool so I kept him home. Boy was he bored. Finally he talked Daddy into helping him build a teepee in the backyard. Here are the results. It was a great playhouse for a day or two, until the yard guy came to mow and it had to come down. Now they've built a hut in the bushes with beach mats. It doesn't have to come down when the yard guy comes and there is instant access to berries to make pretend food with.

B's Bday (and Tday too)

Here's the football cake. I cheated and used Duncan Hines creamy homestyle icing. But I thought i had a can at home so I told the DH to get one more. So, as you can see, I ran out of icing. Oh well. He's only 2, he couldn't tell the difference.

This was about as happy as he was with the whole bday cake thing. It was a bit too much to have 30 people surrounding him and singing Happy Birthday. He refused to eat cake. I was sure that he was sick and gave him tylenol. I've never seen this kid refuse a sweet. Soon after this pic, he started crying, left the kitchen to go sit and watch football with his PaPa.

He did much better opening presents. Lots of balls so he was a happy kid. We were good on the present category. Not too much stuff. Even the grandparents didn't over do it. Okay, neither of my parents brought a gift. The ILs brought two gifts, but SIL forgot/didn't realise so she took one of the presents from MIL. It is much nicer and easier on the storage when a kid only gets 6 things. At least he's two and doesn't realize he didn't get much.

My father asks what he should get B. I said diapers, Target or Pampers, I'm not a fan of huggies. Too many leaks. Anyway, I quickly changed my mind and told dad to buy a g.c. I figure if I sent him for diapers, he would just buy a small pack. If I told him to get a g.c., he'd probably spend $20-25. B at least deserves a couple dollars of diapers! Funny thing is he will probably never get around to buying either one.

And we also celebrated Thanksgiving. That went fine. It was cold, but the kids went out and played anyway. It actually snowed. Nothing that stuck. We took pics but it was so light, you can't actually see the snow. The oven broke again while cooking the cornbread dressing. I sent DH to my sister's with the dressing and I got it working again to cook the other dressing & the spinach ring. Lots and lots and lots of dish washing. Not fun but I'm anal and don't like other people washing my dishes, so I did it myself. But overall a nice day.

update on J's class

I went this morning to drop J off. I forgot my note saying that his grandparents are picking him up. I went inside to get paper & pen. The teacher & director has just had a conference. His teacher pulled me aside and told me that other parents' were raising concerns and that something is being done. A decision will be made in the next week.

I think what is going to happen is that they will let him stay until the end of the year to give him time to find a new school. But again, all of this is implied so I don't know for sure.

working

My sisters make fun of me. They ask me all the time when I actually work. Most days I have extra time on my hand. So knitting a quick something is easy for me to do.

But the past 3 days have been hard. I'm having to think a lot. I haven't had to do that in a while. We're having reporting issues. I'm comparing 3 different reports that are giving me three different numbers and trying to figure which one is correct and why. I was up past midnight last night.

DH is giving me a hard time about this. I'm suppose to be working a parttime job. 25-30 hours a week. But I feel like this is an issue I'm assigned. There are lots of weeks when I work less that 25 hours. I can put in the extra time now to sort this problem out.

Plus, once I get a problem in my head, it haunts me until I figure it out. Even when I've slept the past few nights, I wake up thinking about the reports. I can't just let it go when I know it is a problem.

I had to tell DH to stop telling me to stop working. It wasn't helping. He didn't take it well. I was told that I'm too dedicated. I think this is the trade off for the nice benefits of my employment.

Hopefully, I'll figure it out soon.

Other updates

I finished the front of J's sweater last night. I was planning on casting on a sleeve tonight but I've got tired head. I spent the day in the office trying to figure out a problem that didn't get resolved. I'm suppose to look into it tonight but I think I'm going to bed.

I didn't sleep well last night. I knew I was going into the office and was afraid of being unprepared for the meeting. I stayed up late making sure I knew what questions I needed to ask and make sure I was prepared to answer questions from boss & saleslady.

But instead I was thrown for a loop with these report issues. I'm suppose to go back in tomorrow but I just remembered tonight that tomorrow is J's Thanksgiving feast. I'm just going to have to email and let him know that I will be available from home. Or I can come in afterwards if they need me.

Sad part about the day. I was planning on rewarding my day in the office with a visit to the LYS that is down the street. Instead I had such tired head, I just went home. I wasn't in the mood.

Another update

So today J's class was discussing thanksgiving and what each kid is thankful for. J said he was thankful for his family.

The troublesome boy said he was thankful for the Devil. J said he got in trouble and his grandmother had to come get him.

This is a 5 year old!!!! Another mother called because her son told her about it. She wanted to know what I thought of it all. I told her we already had issues with the boy. She mentioned going to talk to the teacher and the director about it. I encouraged her to go. I hope she does. If more than one parent complains, maybe they will do something. I'm planning on talking to them both in the morning.

Bake Sale goodies

Pumpkin bread in orange, banana bread in white. The pumpkin bread color improved over night, it looked much better this morning than last night when it came out of the oven

Almond-pear tart. The saran wrap covering detracts from what is a very pretty looking tart. The recipe calls it a cake, it is tarty to me!

Lemon cake. Again the saran wrap doesn't do much for the photo. I used my star bundt pan for the first time. I love bundt pans. I want to own them all. This is just a box mix and the oven screwed up while I was baking it. It does look pretty, but I wouldn't advice buying it!

Pear bread. Not wrapped up pretty yet.

I had a picture of the cookies but I don't know why it isn't here. I set 3 cookies in a silver cupcake liner, wrapped it up in saran wrap and tied with blue curly ribbon. It looked pretty.

I was nervous last night about having enough donations for the sale. But one lady dropped stuff off at my house this morning. She made 4 pans of brownies, 1 big plate of cookies and 4 tins of chocolate candy. If that trend continues, then we will be okay.

updates on J's class

So, I've spent a little time in the carpool line for the preschool. I've hung out at the classroom a little too.

I don't know exactly what they are doing but I do see some changes. First of all, as soon as the boy starts to act up, they are removing him from the situation. They take him to the gym and have him run around. They take him to the office until he is calm, but they aren't dealing with him in the classroom with all the other children around. That is better.

I ask J everyday and find out if the boy is acting out. So far, things have been okay the past 2 days.

I will continue to keep an eye on things and hopefully the situation will get better.

gifts being used!

I was in carpool line today and I saw my sister walking out of the building. She had on her calorimetry! I waved and pointed to her head. She waved back and mouthed that my nephew wore his hat too. That makes me so happy! I'm glad that they both actually like them.

Thursday

Not much to say. I've been busy trying to get ready for the church bake sale this weekend. So far I've baked 2 loaves of pear bread and made choc chip cookie dough. I scooped and froze the dough so I can bake it on Saturday. I figure they will be fresher that way. I still have to make some more cookies, some brownies, banana bread & possibly a pear tart. Notice the influx of pear things. A friend gave us a bunch of pears. I'm finding ways to use them.

Sad part about this that I can't write reviews of the new recipes I'm trying unless I buy them. I doubt I'll buy them. I'll just hope that they taste good.

I'm probably overcompensating with my baking. I'm suppose to be co-chair of the bake sale and I don't feel like I've done enough. There have been lots of emails between the other chair & the president. They are friends and down the street neighbors. I have been slow to respond, mostly because they correspond at night and I'm generally off the computer at night. Too much sitting at the computer in the daytime. Anyway, I did reserve the room for collecting the baked goods. I will be there Saturday afternoon to collect the goods. I'm going to be there Sunday morning for set up. But I still feel like I'm not doing enough. So more baking for me.

Kids are still the kids. No soccer today so we're back to an almost relaxed Thursday night. Funny thing, I spent the day working and baking, so I didn't cook dinner. We ended up at McD at the last minute. Not my favorite but it did in a pinch. I thought for sure my Thursday night fast food dinners would be over. At least I know I won't be eaten it next Thursday.

Good part of the evening. One of the LYS had there anniversary party tonight. 25% off yarn, so I went. I found yarn for my scarf at 40% off plus yarn for my sister's present and my gloves at 25% off. So it was a good night. But it was crowded and I didn't know anyone. Everyone else seemed to know each other. I felt out of place but that wasn't going to stop me from getting a good deal on yarn. Besides, I know that I am never going to spend enough money on yarn to get to the point of feeling like one of the locals in my LYS.

Hopefully I'll have more FO soon.

FO: Calorimetry

I had extra yarn. I had never done short rows. Work was slow. So here's my calorimetry.

 

Here J was feeling left out because A always gets to model Mommy's knitted things. So he took a turn.
 

updates on J's class

I had another discussion with the teacher this morning. It sounds like they are in the process of removing C from the school. It was one of those conversations where someone implies what they can't say. She said the school counselor has been in observing the class and he is repeatedly defiant, disobedient more so that any other child she has ever seen. The teacher said they are meeting with the grandmother again today to see what she is doing to help with the situation, what she is doing to deal with C. I feel bad for the teacher. She is at her wits end.

The teacher said that she is not equipped to handle this situation and something has to be done.

So I'll wait and see what happens. I do know that I am going to start reporting anything that J says that C does. I'll be a squeaky wheel. I think the situation needs one.

Training 11/9

Running schedule Nov 4

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Friday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Nov 11

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 12 miles

Worried

J came home with a picture in his bag. It was someone stabbing 2 other people, bloody knife and dripping blood. In the corner was written, 'he sliced them into pieces until they were gone because he did not know good.' It was obviously written by an adult.

I immediately asked J where he got the picture. A boy at school, C, gave it to him. I told him that I was going to have to return the picture to his teacher. He wasn't happy with me at all. I told him I liked pretty pictures of people being good. If C drew him a picture like that, then he could keep it.

I took the picture in and gave it back to the teacher today. She pulled me into the hallway and explained. I guess they have the boy in counseling with the school counselor. They are working on getting him into a professional therapist. They are bringing in some special ed assistance to help with him. He says that he is bad inside and he cannot be good. He draw pictures of stabbing and choking and killing all the time. They are having him explain his pictures so they can give them to the counselor and therapist. She didn't know that he had taken the picture out of his notebook and given it to J. He says that he is the black spiderman and he is bad. The teacher had to go figure out who the black spiderman was. I guess it is a spiderman 3 reference? I never saw the movie. Why would a 4 year old have seen that movie? Anyway, she has started calling him Peter Parker in class. That is spiderman's good alter ego. It is her attempt to show him how to be good. I don't think that he has a good family history. I know he lives with his grandmother now.

I'm scared and worried for this little boy. Obviously something is wrong with him. He is defiant and mean. But I'm also scared for J. He's in class with this kid. I have seen him be physical with J before. He walked up and shoved him hard so that John lost his balance and fell down. Not really terrible but still mean and it could get worse. Stuff like that goes among kids, but, coming from C, it upset me and J. I know J is doing fine in school, but it can't be a good atmosphere in that classroom.

This just isn't the thing you want to be dealing with in preschool. So prayers for C and prayers for his family and prayers for J and prayers for the teacher. I hope it all turns out okay.

OMG again

They just sent the 3 year old sister down to our house to play too. By herself! Alone. Geez. I still can't believe it. I just wouldn't, couldn't do that.

I can't believe the neighbors

I was shocked the first time it happened, but it still shocks me. They keep letting their four year old walk down the street alone so she can play with A (who is seven, not four.) I know our neighborhood is safe, not much traffic. But still there are people who drive too fast and she's only 4!!!!

I have learned not to open the door too wide because she will just walk right in the house. I've been making excuses because she comes over at bad times. 5:15 just when I'm trying to get dinner ready. We eat early. Luckily the last two times, A hasn't been home.

Today I told her that A couldn't play because she had to do her homework and sent her home. Then once A was done, I sent the kids out to play and called her mom and invited Z over to play. Maybe the neighbor will get the message. That is the way it should be done.

Next project

I bound off and blocked the dream swatch today. I'm having issues getting pictures into blogger today. I'll have to upload them later.

I'm down to 2 projects on my list, J's sweater & touring wrap. I should work on J's sweater. It is just a bunch of st st and shouldn't be too hard to finish up.

But I really want to try calorimetry. I have the leftover camo yarn from the hat I could try it in.

I will not start something new. I will not start something new. I will not start something new.

Someday these mantras will work.

Training 11/7

I did it. I got up and ran yesterday morning. I was cold (temps dropped into the 50s) but I wore a hat so my ears weren't bad. I finished without too much pain. Especially since it had been a whole week since I've run.

I'm back with renewed enthusiasm for training for this race. Okay, not really, but maybe if I keep saying it, it will come true.

Running schedule Nov 4

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Nov 11

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 12 miles

Bathtime

C did it again. He gave the boys a bath. It's the first bath since the last bath incident. Not that they haven't had baths for weeks, but I've been giving them showers instead.

I could hear C talking to them as he put them in the tub.

"Okay, B. No pooping. Do you understand?? You cannot poop in the tub!"

Then I heard A in the background. "Are you sure you want to do this? Don't you remember what happened the last time? Mommy isn't going to clean up a poopy tub, you know."

At least everyone know where I stand on the subject.

C was lucky tonight. We were "Baby Ruth" free.

Banana Cake recipe

Pillsbury Bake Sale cookbook.

Last Friday was parent teacher conferences. Kids had the day off. A got to go to a movie but J did not. He was not a happy camper. I offered to bake brownies. J wanted to make a cake. We pulled out this cookbook and paged through cakes until we found the one he wanted. Lucky boy, I had all the ingredients on hand.

Results: This was a good cake. A lighter, softer banana bread. It has a recipe for frosting which I made. Only to discover that my shortening had been sitting for way too long. Who knew that shortening could go bad? One fingertip of the disgusting stuff made me shudder.

Quick trip to the grocery store for a can of frosting and it was much better. Everyone like it.

Training 11/5

So I'm way behind now. The coughing up a lung thing turned into coughing up a green lung. The headache turned into a vise grip of death, give me an ice pick so I can release the pressure headache. A trip to Primacare followed. One very expensive z-pak later, I am much better. Not 100 % but much better. I skipped last week. I'm starting fresh this week on the regular schedule. Hopefully I can do this.

Running schedule Nov 4

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 3 miles
• Sunday - 6 miles

Running schedule Nov 11

• Tuesday - 4 miles
• Thursday - 5 miles
• Saturday - 2 miles
• Sunday - 12 miles

FO: Camo Hat

A is not a happy camper because I'm making her model a boy's hat. I told her that no one would ever see her in these photos. Well, at least no one important to her would see these photos. The hat turned out well and the nephew was actually kind of happy about it. Even BIL seemed to like it. Oh well, I can't have everything.