Running Away

Last weekend we spent a lot of the weekend cleaning up and organizing. The kids room especially and the two living rooms (upstairs and downstairs). For the most part those four areas have remained picked up. This Saturday when the parents emerged, the kids had made a little mess in each of the four rooms. We asked them to pick them all up before we do fun things. (What a concept!)

Jordan decided that she hated me and she wanted to move somewhere else - with someone "nice". She convinced Aron to at least accompany her on her journey. They needed my help tying the bags they packed onto their broom sticks.

 

I made sure they picked up their rooms before they actually left (wouldn't want to ruin my reputation as the "Meanest Mommy on the planet".)

I asked where they were going. Aron said to "Gramma Judi's". She's a LOT nicer than I am. I asked how they were going to get there:

A: Take a taxi to the airport
Me: How are you going to get a taxi?
A: Stand at the end of the driveway? No, we'll walk somewhere and catch one.
Me: How are you going to pay for the taxi?
A: It'll be free.
Me: No, I don't think so.
A: We'll stop by a bank.
Me: How will you get money out of the bank? You don't have any money IN the bank!
A: The bank has money.
Me: Yes, but it isn't yours, you don't have an account.
A: What's an account?
Me: It's a place where you put your money to keep it safe and you can get it later.
A: *stumped for a minute*

Jordan decides they are going to ride their bikes. They figure out that they can't carry the broomsticks AND ride their bikes at the same time. So they take the bags off the brooms and put them on their bike handles.

They ride off.

They come back about 2 minutes later looking for a picture of Mommy, Daddy, Aron and JOrdan. We find one and they leave again. I tell them I love them and I'll miss them. Aron assures me he'll be back.

When I get downstairs I find a note.

 

"MOM"

 

"Dear Mom"

 

"Dear Mom, I can't go cleaning up. I need to go away. From Jordan."

I call Shelly.

About 10 minutes later they come back.

Me: Are you going out again?
Jordan: No, NeJai's not home.
Me: Unpack your bags please.

Notes from 7-yr-olds

Lately Aron and Jordan have begun leaving notes. This first one, I believe written by Jordan, was on the door of the downstairs guest room. Inside the room were paper, markers, scissors, colored pencils, etc.  
After we got back from our trip to Washington, Friday night, I was exhausted. Eric wasn't home yet and school had just started Thursday. I fell asleep at around 7 reading while the kids were watching TV. I woke up around 8 to find Aron taping this note to my door. He translated for me "Mom, Jordan went to Nejai's. Mom, I'm outside."  
Gotta love those 7-year-old brains.

News!

As many of you know, Eric has been in a perpetual job hunt for the past three years. He's been teaching on one-year visiting professor contracts at Notre Dame for the past two years. They allow their graduates 3 of these total. Each year has been the same up and down roller coaster of will he get an interveiw, will he be invited to campus, will he get offered the job. The span of time from application to offer is abou 5 months, so there is lots of time for stress and worry. Every year it seems I feel less invested in the "here and now" and more concerned with the "what is to come." Not at all a fun process to go through.

This year, even with the economy in the tubes and many schools cancelling their searches Eric was lucky enough to get three on-campus interviews. They were January 20th, February 12th and February 18th. The job he REALLY wanted was on the 12th. Without going into the details we had some highs and some lows and some stress throughout the past 5 weeks.

I'm happy to announce, however, that he was offered the job he REALLY wanted and he has accepted. The job is at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL (part of the Quad-Cities on the boarder of IL and IA). We are all very excited about this.

It does mean that I actually have to get the house ready to put on the market (we are targeting April 1st to put the sign in the yard). It does mean that I have to actually write all those procedures I've been planning to write to explain the various functions of my job. It does mean that I have to polish up a resume and start job hunting myself.

But all in all it's good. We will be so sad to leave the community we have been a part of for the better part of 11 years. But ultimately this is where our family needs to move for our next step. The kids will start Kindergarten in a new school, hopefully where they can stay their entire elementary school career.

I'm excited and hopeful and scared and terrified and... all rolled into one.

The Ladie's Man

This weekend Aron, Jordan, Eric and I went to the Annual Valentine's Dance put on by POP Action Committee. It's an event we've attended every year since the kids were born. We always have a really good time.

Aron is very taken with older women. He loves his babysitters very much. We knew that at least two of his babysitters would be there that night.

It took him about an hour before he was ready to dance with Margaret. And shortly after their dance ended Margaret went off to dance with a gentleman more her own age. Aron was NOT pleased "I don't want her to dance with that boy!"

He got over it, however, by moving onto other women. A total of 10 in all by the time the night was done. And I have documented proof of each and every one of them! He's such a little heartbreaker.

It's all nice and sweet right now, but I imagine it's going to be hell in a few years.

(Click to view slideshow)

2009 Valentine's Dance

January Updates

Since my last post we've had Family visit, our 14th anniversary, Christmas, more family visit, New Years, a trip to Albuquerque, more Christmas, colds and now it's mid-January already! How'd that happen?  
These are some of the pictures from our Trip to Albuquerque. There are more at the website. Also some of Christmas.

I don't really have a lot to say at the moment. Life is moving along. We are, as we have been for the past few years, in a holding pattern, waiting to see what will come of Eric's job search. It feels more inevitable that a move is coming, but I'm not holding my breath and I'm not getting worked up over it.

The kids are loving school. They had a great vacation (3 weeks off) and now are happy to be back with friends and structure.

We really enjoyed seeing both my family at Christmas and Eric's family last week. We missed seeing Dave and Jamie and hope it's not too long before we get a face to face visit with them.

I'm spending more and more time on Facebook, so if you are on there, or if you want to get on, let me know. I'll friend you!

We got a Wii for Christmas and a Wii Speak, so if you want to communicate via Wii, let me know.

Also, we have a WebCam and can talk via Skype or MSN Messenger if you are interested in that. We'd love to hear from any and all of you!

Hope your January is going well!

Love,
The Stewarts

Very Random Updates

Here we are... December 11th. How did that happen?

Well, let's see. What have we Stewart's been up to?

We had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. We were home and invited two people over. One is a cousin - or the son of a cousin - whom I had never met. It was a joy to have him for a few days. The second was a student in the MA program at Notre Dame. Also a joy to have over. I spent the day cooking. I made low-cal versions of many dishes. We all enjoyed the meal.

That night, however, Aron threw up. It was fun. We spent the whole weekend kind of lazing about. Aron didn't really start feeling better until Sunday. By Monday I was down.

Then this past Friday Aron was sent home from school with a low-grade fever. That turned into a very high-grade fever (105) over the weekend and Eric took him to the Emergency Room.

He has recovered and has a normal temperature and is back at school. I'm hoping this will end our holiday illness.

I'm starting to think about Christmas shopping. My list is surprisingly long.

My parents and one of my brothers are coming into town next Wednesday, which conicidently happens to be my 14th anniversary.

Eric and I are spending the night at a B&B on Friday.

The following Sunday I'm cantoring at both services. Monday is Eric's birthday and also dress rehersal for the Christmas concert.

Wednesday is the Christmas concert. Thursday is Christmas. Saturday my other brother and his wife will join us for a few days.

I guess this all means I'd better clean up my house.

I've reconnected with a bunch of high-school freinds this past week, that's kind of fun.

I felt like I should post, but I'm realizing I didn't really have much to say.

High School Memories

When I was in High School I lived overseas - England. I actually went to two different High Schools in England - moving between my Sophomore and Junior years.

In High School I was a geek. I ended up as a cheerleader, but I was still a geek. And a math & science whiz (apparently - at least that seems to be a theme from the comments written in my yearbook.)

I was kind of a fringe member of some groups. The fringe of the "in-crowd". My Freshman and Sophomore years I had a close knit group of geeky friends. But the school was tiny, so everyone knew everyone. (There were 300 students total K-12).

My Junior and Senior years were different, it was a slightly larger school (400 students 9-12). And I had groups I was a part of at different times throughout the two years.

I realized as I was reading my Senior yearbook last night (the end of everything) that I had decidedly pulled away from pretty much everyone, perhaps as a defensive measure because I knew I was leaving.

So there isn't anyone from High School that I'm still close to. I didn't have life long relationships with anyone there. So finding people now is going back, mentally at least, to life then. No one from that point in my life saw me grow up and grow out of being a geek.

Anyway, thinking on all these things combined with actual contact with some of these long lost people adds up to a very weird place mentally and emotionally.

I'm a strong, independent, business leader. I'm the mother of two kids. I'm a pretty awesome wife. I have close ties to family and a few very close friendships.

But my brain is a 16-year-old tounge-tied geeky teenager and I don't love it.

Winter Wonderland

Last Winter - or rather, this past Spring - our gas insert for our fire place gave up the ghost. We have not yet replaced it and I believe the cost would be around $400. It's not something I can afford at the moment.
 
But this weekend I believe it would serve us well. These are pictures from my drive to work this morning.
  Eric is leaving town this evening. He has his annual SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) Conference. It is held in Boston this year. It is also his annual first interview season. He has two scheduled for this weekend.
  Since he won't be around, I'm planning fun things for the kids to keep us from going stir-crazy. In preparation for Thanksgiving we have the house to clean up and food to purchase. But tomorrow I plan to take the clan sledding (assuming, of course, I can find the sleds).
  Afterward I plan to have a cup of hot cocoa - probably spiked. But the fireplace would be nice at that point, don't you think?

October 24th

I haven't blogged in a couple weeks. I had that run of blogging almost daily and then it just died, like most things in my life.

I've picked up the pace a little bit at work. But not overwhelmingly so. I'm having trouble targeting what I should be focused on. (and subsequently am suffering guilt from not having focus).

Weight loss efforts continue to produce positive results. Last week I hit my 10% loss goal (the first goal they give you in Weight Watchers). I celebrated by eating way too much over the weekend and not planning this week's meals. Which means I fell back to old standards which tend to be high in fat and calories. They sure tasted good, though.

I'm still exhausted all the time, and I don't have a reason for it. I'm going to bed well before 10. I usually get in bed shortly after 9 with my book. I don't usually get very far in my book because I fall asleep rather quickly.

Then the following day I'm just constantly trying to stay awake.

I went to a conference on Tuesday which was mostly very interesting. One breakout session, however, was a bunch of legalize and it put me too sleep (it fell, unfortunately, right after lunch). I was looking around during the break after that session for a caffeine kick. I could have had coffee - but I really don't like coffee unless it has lots of stuff in it. And the options for said stuff were pretty non-diet friendly at this conference (no Tall Skinny Cinnamon Dulce Lattes were offered). They were serving soda and happened to have Dr. Pepper. I don't like Coke or Pepsi at all, but I've always been a Dr. Pepper fan. I can usually avoid soda because Dr. Pepper (or Pibb) is rarely an option. But there was one, I needed the caffeine and I figured, what the heck. So I had a Dr. Pepper. After 5 months of not having any soda whatsoever, it didn't taste at all like I remembered. It wasn't even very appealing. Which is good in one sense, because now I really don't feel like I'm missing something by not drinking soda.

The kids have a Halloween party at church tonight. They are dressing up in the costumes from last year (Aron is Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas and Jordan is a princess - specifically Snow White from Shrek the Third - with tearaway sleeves). The biggest difference is that this year Jordan gets to wear make-up and put some purple highlights in her hair. She is VERY excited. And why I say VERY excited, I mean she's having trouble going to sleep because she's so VERY excited.

Tomorrow is Zoo Boo at our local Zoo which will provide another opportunity to wear costumes. And of course next Friday is Halloween and Eric will take them trick-or-treating while I hand out candy.

I'm glad today is Friday. I just wish I was full of energy.

Future CEO?

In my various efforts to improve myself I have started reading more. Specifically reading material that will help with my career. (Or cooking and saving money). Currently I am reading a book called The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel.

It is about the 6 transitions leaders must take moving from individual producer (worker bee) to enterprise manager (CEO). It is very enlightening. Also there are really only 4 transitions for a small company such as mine. Further - after reading the explanation of the CEO role - I'm not sure I want (or would even be good at) that job.

But it does bring to mind the question: "What the heck am I doing?" And I mean that pretty much in the literal sense. I feel I have very little direction and therefore very little motivation to DO anything. I'm trying to decide what to do about that and so far I'm coming up blank.

Heck of a Week!

Friday -

I had my weigh in and lost 1 pound. Which was surprising, as I was sure I had gained. That puts me exactly 10 pounds over my goal. I've heard the last 10 pounds are the hardest to lose.

Saturday -

I decided to do my pre-cooking for the week. I got up and was out of the door to the Farmer's Market by 8 a.m. with my list in hand and $60 cash. I found stuff there I didn't expect to (Mozzerella cheese) but later realized that it was definietly not low-fat part-skimmed or whatever. I also purchaed a head of broccoli for $2 and found heads down a couple of stalls at $1 each. But I'm learning. It's only my second time shopping there. I didn't take the kids this time, which helped me tremendously. I was done in about 40 minutes.

Then I went to ALDI to look for anything else on my list. They have milk for less than Meijer, but they only carry Whole, 2% and Skim. I usually get 1%, but I opted for Skim this time. As long as I'm not just drinking it, it's fine.

Finally I went to Meijer for everything else I couldn't find at the first two stops. I paid $46 for all three stops and bought enough to make 4 meals.

I got home at just after 10:00 a.m. and started preparing right away. Eric helped by grating the mozzerella and Jordan helped by cutting up the scallion greens I didn't need.

I got everything cooked and in the freezer by 12:30 and then we went down to the soccer field which houses not only a ton of different games but also a large playground that the kids enjoy. On this particular occasion the playground also included a small toad which they spent a good 1/2 hour following around and touching it's back (to make it jump) and then screaming with delight.

At about 2 or so we decided to head back because we wanted the kids to have a nap and they were asking for snacks that we couldn't afford. My neighbors were hosting dinner that night so I didn't have to cook anymore, which was nice. It meant that I too would be able to sneak in a nap, and maybe a shower since I'd skipped that step in the morning.

As we were driving back Jordan opened her door enough to turn the lights on inside the car. We stopped and pulled over as soon as we could so I could reach back and close the door. As I was getting ready to close the door Jordan reached out to get the door and her hand got smashed in the door. She was silent and Eric was screaming. I opened the door, she pulled her hand out and just started screaming. I looked at it and saw read and a broken nail. We decided to go immediately to the Urgent Care at our clinic.

By the time Jordan calmed down Eric was explaining to her that she'd probably have to get an X-Ray - a picture of her bones. And he asked if he could go into the picture room with her. She said "No, Mommy!" and he said, "But Mommy did it!" and she replied, "She didn't mean to!"

It took about an hour before we saw the Dr. and then she sent us down to X-Ray. When we got down there the technition asked who had done this to her and she piped up happily, "Mommy!" Aron turned to me and patted me on the chest, "It's okay, Mommy."

Sometimes my kids are sweet!

It turns out she had a teeny tiny hairline fracture on the tip of her ring finger (and a nasty blood blister on the end of her finger). The only real thing to do is tape it to the finger next to it, to make sure it doesn't get jammed and take tylenol for the pain.

So 2 hours and no nap. FUN!

The Smiths made steak and potatoes for dinner, which was wonderful.

Sunday -

On Sunday I had to sing at the 11:00 service and then a luncheon immediately following until 3. I got the kids up and took them to Sunday School at 9:45. Eric had soccer at noon and wouldn't be done until 1. So I brought a video and some toys and coloring/drawing items for the kids to keep busy until I could run them over to meet Eric at the field to watch the ND Girls play. Also I gave them some of the lasagna that was served for our luncheon - they didn't eat anything but the brownie.

When I got home I watched TV. And did laundry. When the kids got home they went down for a nap.

I made chili for dinner - it turned out pretty good I thought. And also sweet-potato fritters.

Monday -

So my reason for doing all this pre-cooking is that we had plans every night this week. Monday night it was Curriculum night at our kids' school. Fortunately Kevin (neighbor) agreed to watch all the kids and Ashley and I went to Curriculum night. Eric came for some of it too, but then he had a board meeting. Dinner turned out pretty good. I had it all done and mostly cleaned up in time to leave.

Tuesday -

Tuesday night it was Swimming Lessons (first session). Dinner turned out well and I got the kids out the door with all their swim stuff, stuff to take showers after AND pajamas to dress into when we were done. We arrived at where I THOUGHT we were suppsed to be right at 7 - class didn't start until 7:15. I had the kids changed and in and out of the shower by 7:13. THEN I find out that we are at the totally wrong pool (who knew there were two pools on campus) and that the right pool is on the completely other side of the campus. So I took my sopping wet children back in the car and went to the other end of campus and parked and shoed them across the parking long and up the stairs until I found a door that actually opened to the building.

We were about 20 minutes late for a 30 minute class. Oh well, now I know. On the plus side the kids got showers and were ready for bed when we got home.

Wednesday -

Tonight is church.

Thursday -

Swimming again, but at least I'll know where we are going.

Friday -

One of our fish died and it is in a plastic bag in my car with the receipt waiting for me to go get a new one, something I haven't had the opportunity to do with the current evening schedules. I told Aron maybe I'll pick them up from school and take them to the petstore to pick out the new fish.

BUT - I'm supposed to cook dinner for the Smith's Friday night, unless I do it Saturday. Eric is going to Indy on Saturday and invited us to go along, which would be a great outing. But I really need to clean the house and cook the meals and do the laundry and....

So I don't know. It's a crazy week, I tell ya!

Go Dodgers!

So we've been Dodger fans for ever. Eric because the Albuquerque Dukes used to be their top-rated farm team and me because my dad liked the Dodgers (he's now a Mariner's fan).

Anyway, I'm not a sports nut. I don't even really like sports. I know the Dodgers play baseball and I've been to a few games in my life. Eric loves the Dodgers and was very excited that they were in the play-offs. And he was yelling around the house on Wednesday night as they were winning. I didn't even know who they were playing. But I was happy our (but mostly his) team was winning.

I live in South Bend - we have a LOT of Cubby fans. A LOT! So when I arrive to work yesterday there are people in my office commiserating about the fact that the Cubs lost. I (seriously with no malice or ill-will) piped up "But the Dodger's won!" Mostly just excited that I knew something I could contribute to the conversation.

I got a lot of dirty looks and even some vacating of my office. It took me a while to realize that we were talking about the same game. I'm slow sometimes, but loving. (tm DJ).

In other news, my blood work came back completely normal. So there is no medical explanation for my utter and complete fatigue.

Also, I threw my back out this week - by sleeping - how the heck does that happen? It's better now.

So glad it's Friday! I'm going to attempt to pre-make some meals this weekend for the crazy week we are expecting next week. It's my attempt to not spend money (or points) on eating out. We'll see how it goes. I'm not ready to spend the entire weekend cooking for the next month's meals, but I am willing to attempt three-four recipies to get me through next week.

Koi

 This is a picture of the Koi pond at our local Zoo (the Potawatomi Zoo). It's one of Aron's favorite hang-outs and he asked me to take pictures of it.

I finally went to the Dr. yesterday about my fatigue issues. I had blood work done but I'm still awaiting the results. On the one hand it would be nice if it were mono or anemia because that at least is a REASON, even though if it's mono that's gonna suck to just stick it out.

But on the other hand, if it's nothing they can tell from blood work that indicates it's mental. Either depression or just lack of focus on my part. And I'm not sure what to do about that either.

Today, being the first day of the month and the end of the quarter, kept me pretty busy. I didn't nod off once during work and my morning flew by. It is now 3:30 and I have a few things to do, but I should be able to get out of here around 4:30 and go home an change before Church tonight.

This weekend the kids and I went to the Farmer's Market in my attempt to 1) support local businesses, 2) pay less for groceries and 3) incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into our diet. We bought a whole chicken, which I roasted on Sunday and then used to make Soup for Tuesday. Note: the Farmer's Market does not carry swordfish steaks.

I also went to ALDI, which I should probably have been doing all along.

I do believe I spent less overall on groceries, but I'm still way stressed about money in general.

On Sunday we went to the Zoo. We also bought more fish. Subsequently we've lost 2 and 1/2 fish (the 1/2 is one that is really looking like it's dying, but every time I go to sweep it out it flops around). Eric took out the first fish that died - one of the swordtails. He put it in a bag for me to return (14 guarantee on fish from PetSmart). On Monday I was looking everywhere for the fish and couldn't find it. That evening Thumper was running around with something in his month. Turns out that between Eric's putting the fish in the bag and the kids' bedtime, Aron decided to put the fish in his bug vacuum container and hide it in his room somewhere. Thumper (having a 1st class sniffer) found said container and chewed it to bits.

The second fish is in my car with the receipt as we speak - I may go try to replace it this evening, except that PetSmart seemed to be pretty well out of that kind of fish (Algae Eaters) when I was there Monday.

The tank is fun, and currently clear, but I can't figure out how to get the Nitrite levels down to normal.

Living with the Plan

There are consequences to every decision. Intellectually we all know that. Sometimes we forget. I know I do.

So I'm re-energized. Can't describe what happened or changed, but I'm definitely back to my "old" self.

But I'm still committed to making some serious changes in my life:

1) I'll continue to stay on the Weight Watchers plan. The consequences of this decision are some planning time that goes into every meal. I have to think about what I'm going to eat. I generally cook every night which means planning what that meal will be and making sure I have the needed ingredients for that evening.

2) I'll continue to walk every weekday morning. Today I knew Ashley wasn't going to get up to walk, having gotten home extremely late last night. I set my alarm for 5:50 with every intention of getting up and doing my Pilates video by myself. But I didn't do it. I stayed in bed until after 7. Maybe that was part of the re-energizing that happened. Getting up at 5:50 means I HAVE to go to bed by 10:30 at the latest each night. That's lights off, TV off, book down at 10:30. The consequences of this are that I cannot watch TV all night long. Everything that needs to be done in the evenings needs to be done prior to 10:30.

In addition to those things I'd already started I plan to include a few others.

1) I'm going to not watch TV on weeknights. It's too easy for me to be tempted to watch before I'm ready for bed and after I'm ready for bed it's too tempting to just watch and watch. I need to be more targeted about the television I do watch. So I've picked two shows I really enjoy each week (Heroes and House). We have DVR so I can tape them and save them for the weekend. Any other things I want to watch will have to be done on the weekends.

2) I'm signing my kids up for swim lessons. This is actually overdue as they are now 5, but I'm actually signing them up tomorrow. The class is for the next two months on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7:15. The consequence of this is that I have to plan out what those Tuesday/Thursday meals will be and have them ready to eat at 6:15. I usually get home with the kids at 5:30 so that means pre-planning and possible prep work done the night before. This all goes into planning ahead.

3) I'm going to start shopping at the farmer's market on Saturday mornings. This means I need to know what ingredients for the next week I'll need prior to Saturday morning. I've generally procrastinated on meal planning until Sunday. I'll need to do it Friday night. But, since I'm not watching TV on the weeknights, this should be doable.

4) I'm going to pick back up my "habit" of reading material relevant to my field. This is something I actually enjoy doing but haven't for the past 6 months or so (more so). If I get everything done by 9:30 or so, that gives me an hour in the evening to read. Also, it means carrying my book with me so that I can read whenever I happen to have a minute to spare.

5) I'm going to learn Spanish. I've signed up for a free-trial of an online Spanish course in which they sent me 6 lessons. I did the first one and haven't done another since. I'm going to do that.

Check back with me in a month to see how well I did on these goals. It's all about the plan. Planning ahead and not procrastinating. I think I can do it. Especially if I'm energized.

Poor Health?

I'm tired all the time. I find it difficult to stay awake during the day. Granted, my work is less than stimulating. But I also find it difficult to stay awake while I drive.

The first step is probably to go to sleep earlier. I go to bed between 9:30 and 10, but I rarely fall asleep before 11:30. It is definitely a mistake to turn on the TV in my bedroom (it's probably a mistake to have a TV in my bedroom - but contrary to my situation, Eric needs it TO fall asleep).

Every weekday morning I get up when my alarm goes off at 5:50 and at 6 I meet my neighbor for a 40 minute walk around our neighborhood. When I return, I try to stretch for 15 minutes and do some situps. Often I fall back to sleep on the floor.

I've never been a real coffee drinker and I gave up soda/pop at the beginning of the summer. I do have an occasional (max 3 x week) sugar-free non-fat latte. But I've never needed caffiene as a stimulant and I don't really want to start now.

Every evening I make dinner (and clean up after, I'm proud to say). Since I've started cooking I've increased the fruits and veggies we have at dinner and gone more toward whole grains and organic foods. Generally I take left overs and a piece of fruit and/or yogurt for lunch the next day.

Since joining weight watchers both my blood pressure and cholesterol have dropped (significantly, even.) So why I am so tired?

Is it the few processed foods I'm still eating? Is it purely a lack of sleep. Is my exercise not stimulating enough to get the oxygen flowing? Or does this possibly speak to something bigger?

Whatever it is, I hope I figure it out soon and get over it. Because, frankly, falling asleep at the wheel is so not a good thing.

A Yummy Delicious Snack

Who knows where famous cooks get their inspiration? Who knows when the bug for creating new meals starts? This weekend, while I was trying to nap I heard some goings-on in the kitchen. Jordan came in to my room and asked me to open for her the Sugar-Free Raspberry Preserves. I asked Jordan what she was doing. "I'm making a yummy, delicious snack!" Okay.

I didn't actually watch her make this snack, but based on what I cleaned up this is what I assume is in it:

1 Whole Wheat Tortilla
4 or 5 slices (what ever was left) of Deli Sliced Turkey
1/2 c. Raspberry Preserves (1/2 sugar free, 1/2 regular)
1/2 c. Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 ripe banana
1/4 cup margarine spread (divided)

Place turkey and perhaps some Raspberry Preserves on the tortilla and roll it up. Leave empty turkey package on the floor. Cut tortilla in half (with a knife that 5-year-olds should not touch). Mix together Raspberry Preserves and Parmesan Cheese in a bowl... loudly. Spread over the top of the tortilla. Put the knife back in the preserves jar and leave on counter. Crumble the banana on top of that. Leave banana peel on different counter. Add dollops of margarine. Leave margarine tub out on stove top. Serve to brother as a picnic along with yogurt drinks.

Later I asked if they ate the snack and Jordan informed me that "Aron didn't like it." I don't know if any of it was eaten.

Ah, life with 5-year-olds.

Weighing In

This has been an interesting (and kind of long) week. Here I'm weighing in on a number of topics.

The Tree - realized that I have a $1,000 deductible on my home insurance. So, yes, it's covered, but only after I fork over $1,000 first. Ugh. That's a budget buster. [Note to self: work on that emergency fund]

The Market - yep, the economy sucks.

The Kids - they had their school physicals this week and it was time for their immunizations. Oh boy howdy was that fun! In previous years I think Eric has mostly been in charge of taking the kids in to the doctor. At least that's true for check-ups. Anyway, they asked as soon as I picked them up for school if they were going to have to get shots. I honestly didn't know for sure, and I told them that. There were nervous but we talked about how, if they did need shots, they would be brave, etc.

When we got to the Doctor's office and found out that shots would indeed be part of the visit we talked a little more about being brave and that shots keep us healthy. Aron wanted Jordan to go first, Jordan wanted Aron to go first.

Aron ended up going first and Jordan told him, "Aron, you'll be fine, they just go *chick* and then it's done!" The nurse didn't want Jordan watching. Didn't want Aron watching either. So Jordan left the room for stickers and a second nurse came in to hold Aron's legs and I held Aron's hands. He really just wanted to watch, so he was pretty tense, fighting to sit up and look. But he didn't cry. He whined a little but then he got three suckers (one for each shot.)

Jordan "you'll be fine" Stewart was next up. Aron was lead out of the room for his stickers. Jordan started out brave, she sat down and asked about the shot block thing the nurse was going to put on her leg surrounding the area of the shot. But I started to push her down and hold her hands and she just lost it. Each shot was more hysterics. Afterward, though she did take her three suckers, she complained that "It hurt very bad, Mom!" and that she couldn't really walk, or at least not fast. It took a while to get back to the car.

[When the doctor asked Jordan if she would get into a car with a stranger if offered candy, my daughter laughed and said, "yes." Note to self: teach children the dangers of strangers.]

The Election - is it over yet?

The Personal Health - lost two more pounds this week, so that feels good. Also had a screening today and my cholesterol and blood pressure are down considerably since July. A whole lot. I'm assuming that's the change in diet since joining Weight Watchers?

This and That

The tree is gone. They efficiently came yesterday morning while all of us were gone and took it away. I went home at lunch to check on them and the only remains were sawdust in the yard. I'm impressed with the speed and efficiency. [They even cleaned off the dog doo from the deck!] Now we are just waiting for the insurance adjuster to make contact so they can assess the damage. It really isn't much, surprisingly. There are a couple holes in the siding. One of the gutters is kind of smashed. The fence is broken. All in all quite a bit less than it could have been (or is for those who were in the direct path of Ike.)
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I steer clear of politics in this blog for a number of reasons. I will however share that this clip from SNL this weekend was humorous and enjoyable to watch. No matter your party affiliation or voting plans, this is funny.
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In other news my Weight Watchers plans are going well. Last night I made fish. This is something I've steered clear of. I know fish is healthy and when my father was living near/with us he made fish regularly (at least once a week). But I'm afraid of it because it's so easy to screw up, I think.

I found this recipe in Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook for "Herb Crusted Red Snapper." When I went grocery shopping on Sunday I couldn't find Red Snapper so I opted for Orange Roughy because I know Eric likes it.

I have to say, it turned out pretty well! Orange Roughy is a very mild white fish. The Herb topping was fantastic. It is served with steamed carrots and zucchini. The thing that took the longest was chopping up the veggies. (Very thinly sliced).

Tonight I'm making another recipe from that book - Stir Fry Chicken of some sort. I'm looking forward to it. I'm finding that I really enjoy cooking. Also, a great site to follow is Hungry Girl. She does Weight Watchers, but she also tests tons of food and gives substitute recipes for high-fat favorites.

Obviously there was no point to this post.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!

Saturday morning was a rather lazy one. Jordan woke up sometime around 7 or so (as she usually does). She wanted breakfast and a program (read: Spongebob Squarepants or The Fairly OddParents). I set her up out in the living room.

Aron was sleeping in our room and Eric and I were kind of sleeping or at least still in bed.

All of the sudden we heard a mighty crash. My first gut instinct was that the fish tank had fallen over. Eric and I scrambled out of bed and Jordan was pretty upset. I asked her what happened and she said "That fell down!" "That" turned out to be a wrought iron picture that fell off the mantle. I held her and calmed her down.

Aron came out and shouted "OH... MY.... GOD!!!!!! DADDY LOOK!!!!!" and I looked and it took a second for me to register that there were tree leaves resting against my back door. And then it took another second to realize that those tree leaves were also at the windows. And it took even longer to realize that it wasn't a branch that had fallen on our house, but rather a tree... that fell against our house.

Fortunately nothing was damaged. It was monsoon weather all weekend and we had no leaks. No water coming into our house. But we most definitely had a tree up against our house.

What a weird weekend.

Laying on the roof... and across the deck... the biggest casualty was our fence. and possibly the chimney.

Woohoo - nearly 10 lbs!

Friday noon is my Weight Watcher's meeting. I weigh in about 11:45 each Friday. This week I lost 2.4 lbs, the largest loss since the first week. That puts me at a total of 9.4 lost since August 1st.

Every Thursday the neighbors and we eat dinner together, alternating houses. Last night was their turn and she cooked this awesome meat for taco salad. I ate 22 points worth of food last night alone (my daily allotment is 21). Now I had the points to use (you get 35 extra each week to use however you wish). So I didn't go over budget or anything. But I ate the majority of them last night. So I find it baffling that I lost that much weight. Not that I'm complaining.

Another thing. For dinner one night this week I made Garlic Red Potatoes. This is 8 or 9 red potatoes, 8 or 9 whole cloves of garlic and a stick of butter. Throw it all in a saucepan, cover and let cook for about 30 minutes (stirring occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom.) This is not a low-fat snack. It's 4 points per serving (3 from the butter). It's heaven. I've had it for lunch leftovers twice this week.

And then there's other dilemmas with the whole watching what I'm eating. First - I like to take leftovers for lunch because then I'm not tempted to go out and buy fast food. Also, it's good to use up leftovers and not waste food. But generally dinners are a higher point count, so lunch should probably be a lighter meal (a salad would be good).

Second - I hate leftover salad. I also don't really like making salads. I'm okay with eating them... sometimes. I'm having a hard time getting in my 5 fruits/vegetables each day. Also having a hard time getting in my 6 cups of water.

Third - Weight Watchers sells 1 point yogurt, which is great for a snack and counts for a milk product (1 of two needed each day.) All sorts of yummy flavors, too. But each little thing of yogurt produces the waste of the lid and the cup - which I've generally been throwing away, so will show up in a landfill. It'd be cheaper and less package waste to buy a big 2 lb thing of yogurt and just dish out a portion to myself each day. But then it's just plain or vanilla and also more points.

Okay, so I'm not really complaining about my diet, I'm just contemplating how I can live a little greener, save a little more money and still lose weight without wasting food.