Sleep. Blessed Sleep.

We are on the tail end of a lovely 4 day weekend. We all really needed it.

Twice, I was able to stay in bed until 9. It’s amazing to have kids that are old enough to get their own cereal & entertain themselves. The nicest thing about this break was that we had very little on the calendar. Soccer, church stuff, & a few dental appointments – nothing requiring huge effort on my part.

The worst part of the entire weekend has been trying to get the boys moved to their new bedrooms. E~ was most distraught about having to clean his room out so G~ could move into it. He was hoping to transfer his piles of crap from his small room to the larger room. I finally gave up & told them I didn’t mind if they never switched but I wasn’t going to spend one more minute going through his junk while he rebuilt his Lego’s. That motivated him into a little bit of action. I think their bedding has now been switched. I was joking originally when I said I might be done with this project by Thanksgiving. Looks like the joke might be on me.

At least I’m not hosting Thanksgiving this year. Otherwise the pressure would be on.

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Have I mentioned lately that my left foot & I are not getting along? My old buddy Plantar Fasciitis has been a fairly constant companion for the last year & a half & I am beyond frustrated. I’ve done 3 cortisone shots, tons or stretching, tons of ice, tons of resting & in return, I still have pain. My most comfortable shoes are these & it’s no longer sandal weather. I have a few shoes that are tolerable but none of them are good for going on a hike or a bike ride. I have now ordered 8 pairs of shoes from Zappos & am trying to decide if amputation might be my best option. Keens, Merrels, Ahnu, Brooks, & Asics, have all failed me. Tomorrow I have an appointment at a foot store to look into some geriatric shoes, although I’m hoping to find some sort of insert that will help until we can reload the flex account & I can go to physical therapy in my quest for a Medical Miracle, a successful treatment for my PF.

Now it’s time to work on another miracle – supper before 6:30.

K~

Fall Means:

• Leaves – lots & lots of leaves. The kids love Fall. And what’s not to love? We have a large tree that drops copious amounts of leaves which they then rake into piles & ride their wagons through. Last year our yard was raked on a daily basis by my 3 kids & any number of neighbor kids. This year has been no different. Well maybe a little different. The kids raked an elderly neighbor’s yard & there are plans to rake a house across the street today after school. G~ wanted to charge for their services but I think he’s having too much fun.
• Conferences – I usually enjoy these. Who doesn’t love to go listen to the teacher talk about how awesome their kids are? At least that’s how I felt until last year when we had our first rough conference. Out of the blue, one of our children became the worst student the teacher had ever seen & while this child can be somewhat ornery, what the teacher was describing was really out of character. I was really upset & worried & then found out many of the parents in the class had similar conferences. Problem solved – it’s not my kid, it’s the teacher. And it was, to a certain extent. This year, the same child is struggling. He doesn’t follow directions, he’s out of his seat; he’s the ADD Poster Child. I was hoping he had just cultivated some bad habits last year & then I watched him in class. He’s off to the dr. next week. The nice thing though, is he has a wonderful teacher. She gets him. She helps him as much as possible to stay on task & is very good with gentle reminders. She doesn’t penalize him for things that seem out of his control. G~ (yes, in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, I’m talking about G~) became rather demoralized last year with constantly being in trouble, which led to him not caring which led to some disrespectful behaviors (that didn’t last, we don’t do disrespect around here).  This year’s teacher, Ms. Fedora-Pasture, really wants G~ to feel good about himself & school & I really appreciate what she’s trying to do. It’s very refreshing after last year. T~’s conference went fine. School was designed for T~. She loves everything about it. Her reading is coming along nicely, she’s made some nice friends, & is enthusiastic every moment she’s in the building. E~’s conferences are next week. I have no idea what to expect. Some of his teachers left me feeling rather cold after the Meet The Teacher Night, but E~ doesn’t complain or really say much about any of them. He has a clear favorite; it just happens to be a teacher that gets very mixed reviews from parents. I’m trying to reserve judgement.
• Birthdays – All the kids have Fall birthdays which means I need to figure out what they want. E~ wants money for some Really Expensive Lego. I want to set fire to the Lego mess, although I bet that would smell terribly. G~ wants another Wii game for the Wii that we hardly ever use & still occasionally gives us the Black Screen of Death. T~ wants a CuddleUppet but what she’s probably going to get is a ream of printer paper so she will stop taking all of mine. I would love to get the kids each a ticket to our Alma Mater’s Homecoming game & call that their birthday gifts. Maybe it’s because they are gone all the time, but I’m feeling like gifts of time & togetherness should be higher on the list than toys & video games. There is one other birthday of note in the fall. Charlie turns 14 next week. We’re not usually into celebrating pet birthday’s, but 14 seems like a big one, so I think I’ll try to do something for her – maybe a ride to school at the end of the day so she can bask in the glow of hundreds of kids fawning over her. And a party hat. Every dog needs a party hat!
• Camping – I love fall camping. We went last weekend with G~’s Cub Scout troop. It was a nice family event & we all had a great time. J~ & G~ were busy doing scout things, E~ & T~ were busy playing with friends & I was busy sitting on a lawn chair chatting with the other parents along for the ride. The weather was perfect. Not having to cook or plan for anything was even better.
• Politics – Just kidding! I have many opinions on this subject but I’m trying to gain back readers, not drive them away!

K~

Fall Bike Ride

Did I ever mention that the Skikes didn’t work? I sent them back after the rental period & bought a recumbent bike instead. I’ve been having some nice rides this fall. We have a trail not far from our house & loads of trails close by. My longest ride has been maybe 12 miles.

Today, my friend R~ & I hit the trail. I wanted to find my way through downtown & down to the southern reaches of Metropolis. She knew the trail well so we watched the weather & set a date.

Today was gorgeous. 70’s & sunny. The leaves are changing; it was the perfect day to go 24 miles.

The only part of me that feels is it, of course, my backside. I don’t usually sit that long.

It was well worth it though!

I hope I still feel that way tomorrow when my thighs make their displeasure known…
K~

Bringing Back the Blog

I have been stinking it up here on the blog. I was okay with that until I read this lovely post & realized, she is totally right. Facebook is where I tell one liner stories about life, the blog was where I wordily told stories about my life.

I miss my blog. I miss being able to plunk out a post & reading the comments that sometimes followed. I miss not having to censor myself (as much) when I blog. I miss being able to organize my thoughts & having a ‘safe’ place to put them out there. So I’m back in. I’m recommitting myself to my blog.

That cheering you hear? That’s the Hubs. The blog is where he gets the family news 😉

My goal is to do better than once a month, I want to do once a week!

Who else is in?

K~

Craziness

Still alive here. T~’s room now has a mattress on the floor, a dresser, & some toys. The door has one side painted, but I’ve kind of stalled out on painting.

I’m hopping from one thing to another & I probably need to get better about prioritizing & making To-Do Lists.

All I can say is, what would you do on a sunny day in Sept. when it’s 80 out? Go on a bike ride or prepare for the evening’s Small Group?

That’s what I thought.

I went on a bike ride.

The kids are doing well. E~ applied for Lego League, G~ is playing lots of Soccer, & T~ is loving dance. We’re a solid month into the school year & both boys are fairly settled. T~ still struggles with her mood after school. It’s quite an experience to walk her home from school. One day recently, she was shouting at the sun because it was making her sweat. We are entertainment for the whole neighborhood!

Today’s agenda includes listening to Book Talks at E~’s school followed by a field trip with T~’s class followed by a playdate with G~’s friend. I need to get supper in the crockpot & vacuum too. And I haven’t talked to my sister this entire week.

Better get too it. It’ll be 3 before I know it!

K~

“What Are You Going To Do Now?” Part 2

The Never-Ending Painting Project.

Many moons ago, I decided we needed to paint the trim in our house. Logically, I knew it would take years but I thought it would be worth it. I still hope I’ll feel that way when I’m done. I’m going to set a unachievable goal of painting the hallway & my closet for this school year.

Since early August I’ve been working on T~’s room. I had been trying to steer her towards my color choice & she was reluctantly okay with it, but neither of us could make the final decision. I took her paint chip shopping & she kept gravitating to the pinks & greens so I painted her room like this:

Back wall

Window Wall

Closet Wall (eventually there will be doors)

Pink/Green transition

I am immensely pleased with how it turned out. I didn’t have high hopes. Our walls are lightly textured & I know stripes can turn out pretty ugly with any sort of texture. I found this helpful hint on Pinterest & it worked! It was a lot of work though. My dad brought down his laser level & I used that to set up the stripes. That took almost a whole weekend. Laser levels aren’t as easy as you’d think they should be. But all the work paid off. T~ is so very excited to move into her room. I put her mattress in today. My next project is to take over the garage & paint the doors & the bunk bed. T~ is taking the bunk bed with her to her new room & since her room looks so nice, I didn’t want to put the bunk bed in there with it’s ’80’s stain color & myriad of stickers.

These projects are never-ending…

K~

This Is Getting Ridiculous

I cannot keep up. I’m in the midst of a number of projects, appointments, & school commitments. All I really wanted to do after the kids started back to school was take one afternoon & take a nap.

It hasn’t happened yet.

I promise I’m slowly working on my ‘staying at home with no children’ posts. More pressing though, is getting the green stripes up on T~’s walls so she can move into her new bedroom & I won’t have to listen to her & G~ fight over who gets to change in their room while the other one is relegated to the bathroom anymore.

It’ll be glorious.

So this is just a checking in post. I’m still alive.

Oh & I did have a chat with LOA. It went well. I touched on my disappointment, trust, & boundaries. She was a tad argumentative but overall, took the conversation well. As far as I know, we haven’t had any more issues.

K~

What Would You Do?

I need some advice for my Bloggy Peeps.

This past weekend we went camping. We had a great time & little sleep. But that’s not the point.

On Sunday afternoon, after all was unpacked, the kids went to play with the neighbors. At suppertime J~ & I went across the street to our neighbors the H~’s to get the kids. Mr. H~ informed us that on Saturday, he was mowing his yard & noticed Little Orphan Abbie & a friend casing our house. LOA started with ringing the doorbell & progressed to trying the door, walking around the house, & other sketchy behavior. Mr. H~ watched her while mowing & didn’t say much; he wanted to see how far she would go. There is no love lost between LOA & Mr. H~, so I think he may have been hoping to have to call the cops 😉  Anyway, eventually LOA settled herself on our front stoop & shoveled dirt out of a planter. When she started that Mr. H~ told her to scram & after some backtalk, she did. That was concerning especially since earlier in the week I had caught LOA coming out of our garage. I didn’t say anything because I thought maybe she had been in the house to see the kids, but she hadn’t been. It was weird & I’d been keeping an eye on her but hadn’t seen anything else, but I was suspicious.

I know I need to talk to LOA & I plan on doing so. My problem is when I am upset (& even when I’m not) I can be very verbose. I love to give a good lecture but this calls for a more short & to the point statement.

J~ is suggesting something like “I heard what was going on around our house this weekend. Please don’t do anything that will not allow me to trust you.”

What would you say?

Her parents may or may not care. It’s hard to tell. At this point I can’t tell if they are both living at the house. But that’s neither here nor there. The other kids in their house haven’t turned out so great & we’ve seen very little parenting happening over there over the years so my guess is they are not disciplinarians.

I’m saddened by the whole thing. LOA used to play over here often. In the last year, she’s not been around much. She’d only come over if there was no one else to play with. When E~ figured that out, he was hurt, but moved on pretty quickly. I had hopes that maybe she might turn out okay. Maybe she’d not follow in the footsteps of her older siblings. I won’t give up hope yet, but I certainly won’t have her over to my house.

It’s just so disconcerting. What is she after? She’s been all over my house over the years, she knows we don’t have much for electronics or anything else of value to an 11yo. Who can fathom the mind of an 11yo? It seems personal, & brazen, which is scary.

So what would you do if it was your neighbor kid?

K~

What Are You Going To Do Now?

I get the above question all the time now that all 3 kids are in school full time. Most people are genuinely interested in how I’m going to fill my ‘free time’. Others find it odd that I’m not going straight into a job now that my ‘job’ has gone to school. Being a SAHM is an always evolving calling & I’m just entering a new phase.

Part 1

Exercise

I have fallen off the fitness bandwagon. I like to blame my plantar fasciitis & it is a big part of why I’ve stopped working out, but running is not the only physical activity I am capable of. I’ve had issues with my shoulder this year so biking has been uncomfortable. I’ve always loved Cross Country skiing but that’s only good for a few months (if that) each year.

I decided to try roller skiing.

I’ve seen roller skis around but they are only usable on paved surfaces. That’d be fine if I wanted to just roll around the neighborhood. Otherwise I’d always be driving to a paved trail. I happened upon a hybrid roller ski & roller blade called Skikes. Then I came across a place in Vermont that rents them for 2 weeks. Since I am not terribly coordinated, renting seemed like a good idea. The Skikes came on Monday & on my first outing & managed to fall & land butt-to-Skike.

Oh, the bruise. It hurts. I’ll be sitting carefully for at least a week.

Anyway, I was not deterred. I moved inside & practiced in the basement where no one would see me fall. I thought I was getting the hang of things.

Wednesday I headed out to a very flat, paved bike path. I strapped on the Skikes, grabbed my poles & pushed off. About a minute later, I was sliding down into a ditch. It seemed anytime there was a place to fall off the trail, the Skikes led me there. It was a little frustrating. It seemed if I found a rhythm, I would over-think it & have to dig myself out of the weeds. I only lasted 20 minutes but I came home with no broken bones & only a scrapped up calf. And, I think I might be getting Turf Toe.

My feet don’t like me much. And I buy them such cute shoes too…

If the Skike thing doesn’t work, I’ll start researching recumbent bikes. Or maybe Nordic Walking…

K~

Speech Issue

I had an appointment with my podiatrist today. I’ve been hobbled yet again by my old foe, Plantar Fasciitis. I’ve spent the better part of the summer with some pain in my foot but now the pain is fairly constant so it was time for the cortisone shot.

Not my favorite thing but it worked like a  charm last time.

It may surprise you, but I have many opinions on many things, one being that podiatry is a bit of a dodgy profession. Mostly this stems from my reading the book Born to Run & falling in love with my Vibram’s.

The last time I saw the Podiatrist, he mentioned custom orthotics as the cure for my PF. For this visit I was prepared with a little speech about how high arches are not a design flaw but a variation. It was going to be a great speech complete with anatomy highlights & medically words. He was going to renounce his ways & for hence forth, only prescribe stretching & Vibram Five Fingers for his clients.

Only I never got the chance. He didn’t even ask about orthotics. Just told me to lay off the flip flops & do more stretching & icing.

I felt cheated.

And sore.

Getting a shot in the foot hurts!

K~