Friday, September 29, 2006

I found a way to fool my sweet tooth!

I have such a sweet tooth, that actually there are probably several of them in there. I crave something sweet literally after every meal. (Think I'm kidding? I finished my breakfast off this morning with a gingerbread cookie.)

I'm not one to worry too much about calories or fat intake, although goodness knows I could stand to lose a few (or 20) pounds. So I decided I should probably try to keep the desserts down to one a day. This is difficult, so I've been trying to find little ways to "fool" that sweet tooth of mine. I'll snack on Life cereal, which I have to say is tasty. After lunch, instead of breaking out the ice cream, I found these new yogurts from Yoplait. With flavors like dulce de leche, latte, and key lime pie, I may just be able to drop a pound or two before the holidays come round. (Note to self: write to Yoplait about a pumpkin pie flavored yogurt.)

Now I just need to work on a way to exercise without actually exercising, and I'll be set!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Things that bug me


Thursday, September 21, 2006

I should have something better than this to talk about...

but really I'm just so excited about the Grey's Anatomy premier tonight. Between Survivor and Grey's Anatomy I've got my Thursday nights filled for a while.

We are nicely entrenched in our daily routines now. Gabriella gave up soccer for ballet, which is a much better fit for her. She looks so sweet twirling around in her little leotard and tights.

We are enjoying autumn weather here, although we are often threatened by snow. I do like the snow, but fall is my favorite season, and I just hate it when it gets pushed aside by winter.

That's all for my update. Please resume your day now.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Alexander's quip du jour

"Go away, Mommy! I trying to pick mine nose!"

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Monday, September 11, 2006

My September 11, 2001

I lived near Seattle Washington at the time, and had a new baby girl. Gabriella was five months old, and Bubblehead worked for an airline catering company, so he was near SeaTac, and often made trips to the terminal and the planes.

I woke up that morning to the phone ringing, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:00 am. (Remember we were 3 hours behind the East Coast). It was Bubblehead. He said something to the effect that both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had been hit by planes. I believe my first reaction was "this is big". He was on his way into work, and would talk to me later. I hung up the phone and went out to the family room to turn on the TV. I didn't watch long before the North Tower fell.

I cried. I worried a little bit about Bubblehead, but I knew all the flights had been grounded, and there would be no catering of planes that day. Still there was plenty of work for him to do - he would be gone all day.

I spent the entire day in front of the TV. I don't remember now if I got myself showered and dressed. I was so thankful that Ella was only a baby, so that I could watch the coverage uncensored, and so that I wouldn't have to explain to her what had happened.

I watched with tears in my eyes as person after person showed their homemade fliers, all searching for someone they loved - someone most likely they would never see again. I remember thinking to myself that the very least I could do for them was to watch, and listen to their pleas, even though I could do nothing more.

The following Saturday Seattle had a huge makeshift memorial set up at Seattle Center, and Bubblehead and I took our baby daughter downtown and rode the monorail over to pay our condolences, and mourn with the rest of the country. I sat with Ella in the stroller and watched hundreds of people lay their flowers near Friendship Fountain, normally a large empty area where kids run around on hot days to cool off. Now the cement could hardly be seen for all the flowers. Bubblehead took pictures with the fountain centered, Ella and I (our backs turned to the camera) in the foreground, and the Space Needle watching high overhead. I wish I could share that picture with you here, but my scanner isn't working.

Over the last year or so the subject of 9/11 has come up between Ella and I when she caught me watching a documentary on it. She asked about it, and I told her simply that there were these two huge buildings in New York, and that one day they fell, and many, many people died and were hurt. She didn't have many questions, and pretty much left it at that. I figured I'd let her have more time before she learns how and why it all happened. On September 11th, 2001 my world changed. I know now that I'm not necessarily safe here in the US like I always felt before. I never felt "not safe" before that day. And even though I don't live my life in fear, it's always there in the background. It always will be. For my children, they still live their lives feeling safe - that Mommy and Daddy can protect them for absolutely everything. Once that feeling is gone, you can't get it back. I don't intend to take them from them - not right now.

To all those who lost their lives that day, and to all those who lost someone that day; to all those fighting overseas today because of what happened that day - I will never forget.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

File this under "Things That Will Never Happen"

I dropped both my kids off at their respective schools this morning, and as I walked away from the last building and down the driveway to my car, my hot Irish Breakfast tea in my favorite travel mug, breathing in the crisp morning air, finally alone for the first time in a week, a sudden wave of peace came over me. Ahhhhhh.... And I got to thinking on my short drive home about all the things I'd like to fit into my daily routine.
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I'd love to be able to get up at 6:00 ready to start my day, the rest of my family still slumbering quietly. I'd like to get up and do about an hour of yoga to get me going, followed by a hot shower before I would awake my sleeping babies. They of course would rouse with smiling faces and sparkling eyes, and do all of their morning chores without word one from me, while I made us all a nice hot breakfast.

I'd then take them off to school, where I'd get hugs and kisses and watch them skip merrily along. I'd go home and take the dog for a lovely morning walk, because I do love that cool crispness of the morning air. (He of course would never pull on his leash, or whine at the cats). Then I'd go back home for another cuppa and sit at my laptop to complete my list of "must-stops" on the information super highway. I'd tiddy the kitchen, get a few chores out of the way, and would always have time to put in that long overdue phone call to a friend.

I'd pick up Little Man and we'd go straight to the park, where he would happily play on one section of the playground, so I could sit on a bench and watch him, rather than following him around from one corner of the earth to another every two and a half minutes. Then we'd go home and I'd make us lunch, which of course he would love and eat every bit of. Then we'd cuddle up to read several stories, and he'd never interrupt, listening to every word and waiting until the appropriate times to comment nicely on the illustrations. I'd lay him in bed with a hug and a kiss, and he'd drift off quietly for a good 2 hour nap. This would give me time to watch my brain-cell destroying show (but in this version let's say it's stimulating and enlightening, shall we?), and still have time to reply to emails, and work on some writing.

He'd wake up just in time to go get Ella from school. She would prance out happy to see me, and not at all tired or cranky. Perhaps we'd go get ice cream, or run a quick errand. We'd get home and the kids would play nicely together, taking turns on the computer, or playing outside. Then we'd do some sort of activity together in which no messes were made and no tears were shed, and no yelling was done on anyone's part.

They'd clean up their toys, never trying to argue their way out of it, because they know how easy and fast it really is, and then maybe watch an educational program on TV while I made a gourmet dinner from scratch. When Bubblehead walked in the door we'd all sit down to dinner, and have a lovely conversation, getting all the details of the kids' day at school, no Veggie Tales vignettes played out with the green beans, and nobody would have any complaints about the meal. Bubblehead would bathe the kids while I quickly cleaned up from dinner and set out our clothes for the next day. We'd all play a game together, which would not drag on and on for what seems like hours. I'd read to Ella from Little House on the Prairie, and she would hang on my every word, genuinely interested in just how Pa got that door hung without the use of hinges or nails, and she would never interrupt me mid-sentence to comment on random things we talked about three days ago.

I'd kiss and hug both of them, and they'd fall off to sleep, and I would enjoy a relaxing evening with Bubblehead, consisting of a highly sweet, non-fattening dessert and still more tea, and a good movie, with no programming containing more than just one or two "f&%@ this" or "f&*# that". My home clean and tiddy, I'd go to bed at a reasonable hour and have time enough to do a little reading before drifting off, knowing that I would get uninterrupted sleep until morning.
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You know, it is truly amazing how similar this is to my typical day, and yet how very far off it is at the same time. Time to go though - I have to scramble to get the kitchen clean, go to bed where I will lay awake staring at the TV for at least an hour, and then finally fall asleep, knowing that both the kids will be trying to squeeze into our very small bed around midnight. That's okay - at least I don't have to get up at 6:00 to do yoga! :)

Monday, September 04, 2006

My Personal Assistant (digital, that is)

I have techno-joy. I think I may have mentioned it before. Not that I'm a technical know-it-all, but I really love computers, and I'm not at all afraid of them, like some people can be. I have confidence in myself that if the problem isn't hardware, I can usually figure it out. (Hardware, I don't go there.)

Back when we lived in Seattle and the Palm Pilot was fairly new to the market, Bubblehead's employer purchased one for him, and I sat on the couch one night playing with it - marveling at it's then high-tech two-toned screen, with the three or four games it had built in. How amazing is this?! And you can keep your appointments and contacts in it! I was in love.

A year or so later, they upgraded his Palm, and I was allowed his hand-me-down, and I was in heaven! Look at my little computer - I can carry it with me everywhere I go! I can play Freecell while I wait at the doctor's office! I'll never have to memorize my brother's phone number again! My life is so much easier because of this beautiful pocket-sized doo-hicky!

You can imagine my envy when Bubblehead came home with a Palm that boasted a COLOR SCREEN! Isn't technology amazing! Every time he upgraded, I got his cast-offs. And with each one I had a little bit more memory to fill, usually with games I rarely played, but felt so satisfied that they were there just incase I got tired of playing Freecell.

Eventually I learned to utilize these mini-computers for more than just card games. I now own my second very own, brand-new-to-me Pocket PC. (Palm was cast aside a while back.) Color screen, two memory card slots, built-in wireless. I can surf the information super highway from the toilet if I so desire. I keep a multitude of lists on it (and anyone who knows me knows I love to makes lists), I keep my ever-growing schedule of appointments on it, complete with little icons and color-coded catagories. It's the only place I have a complete list of addresses and phone numbers. I get my weather forecasts uploaded daily. I have a small library on one memory card, pictures of my family, an audio book, and a program that tracks all my books. (My titanic collection has gotten big enough I now have to consult my handheld on whether or not I own a particular book.) I can convert and watch movies and TV shows on my little friend, read entire novels and how-to books, I have a dictionary and three foreign language to English dictionaries, which I use (or have used) while reading certain books. I can listen to music - I can even blog right from the palm of my hand.

And while I've moved on from Freecell, I have a really nice collection of games, which I can play while listening to an audio book or watching TV, or while waiting in the doctor's office. Because some things will never change.



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Name: Christine
Location: Wyoming, United States
I'm the Mom of two. They drive me crazy. I love them dearly. I want one more. I'm not insane, yet. My hubby says I'm a snob with an inferiority complex. There is more to me than being a mother. I just don't remember any of it.

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