Bi-Polar Spring

We have had the most unusual Spring weather. SNOW.
Last week it was in the 60's, this week it is freezing cold with snow! Weird, weird, weird.

Its Spring Break week. Nothing planned at all. Well except that the girl cousin comes over every day except today, karate,soccer practice and base ball camp. Thats all. Sounds like we might have a soccer game Saturday too. So I guess it could be a busy week. And then theres work, I have 3 overtime shifts this week too. Maybe not such good planning looking back ... oops.



For the third, or is it fourth day in a row its snowing again! Weird I say, weird. I knew we weren't in the clear yet, I hadn't seen the blue jays return, but I had no idea we would actually get snow. I keep wondering what the Farmers Almanac says about this spring and summer...

A little wordy?

I have been trying to get onto Blogger for two days now and can’t seem to get signed in so I guess I will start this as a word document and then copy and paste it when I can.

Easter was …. Nice? Yeah it was. Auntie Portland was here with her 8 month old and husband. We went out to dinner with them and My Honey’s other sister and hubby on Saturday night. It was kind of funny all us kids out together. We usually sit around my MIL’s house and do our visiting there, but this time we left the kids home and went out like adults. It was fun. I enjoyed myself a lot! Uncle Portland was in rare form and made me laugh until I cried a few times, which I really needed.

Easter day was good. We got up, went to Church and then had lunch at my MIL’s house. I nearly forgot about the kids’ baskets! I had made them up, hidden them and then, when we got home on Saturday night Bubba was still awake and I couldn’t set them out. Sunday morning rolled around and I didn’t get up before the kids so I didn’t get them set out then either. I opted for the “have to run inside to get something” routine on our way to Church. THEN I forgot I had set them out. We got home from Church, putzed around the house until I finally went upstairs and then I remembered about them (because I nearly tripped on them) so I called Bubba and Miss I upstairs to see what they had gotten. They were thrilled! Miss I loved her stuffed animal, Bubba loved his comic book (I saved the Moon Sand for a treat during Spring Break). So the baskets were a success.

Monday and Tuesday there wasn’t any school (same with the rest of this week and next week too.) Monday I entertained us by going to the Y in the morning, where the kids played in the babysitting area and then Bubba had Karate that afternoon and Miss I got to spend some time with my mom. (Thanks Mom for watching her every week!!) Late Monday afternoon Bubba asked me what my “plan” was for Tuesday “what does your day look like tomorrow?” I told him I hadn’t planned anything, I had a massage in the morning and that was it. But I was thinking that some kind of adventure would be fun. He agreed that an adventure would be fun. He suggested a walk in the forest “where there aren’t any bears… or snakes.”

After my massage, lunch and naps we headed to Leavenworth to see what we could see. I had a plan of where I wanted to go, but the roads leading to Blackbird Island were all closed. You would think since I work in the dispatch center that has this information available on a daily basis I would know this, but I didn’t apply it to my plan so we ended up driving around for 15 extra minutes trying to get to where I wanted to go. Finally we ended up going to the Icicle. It’s a beautiful place, we parked where I usually park to cross country ski and walked a little on the trail. There was still a little snow, we could hear the river rushing nearby and hear lots of birds. I don’t know how far we walked, maybe 10 minutes each way, but it was nice to get out, see some nature. The kids liked it too.

Karate is going well for Bubba. He’s been in it for a couple months now and I can see a ton of improvement in his “kata’s” and his coordination. He starts soccer tomorrow and we are debating whether or not to do both at the same time. If its too much we’ll just do karate one day a week instead of two during soccer season. I also signed him up for a baseball camp, with his cousin, next week. Its going to be a busy but fun month!

In preparation for soccer and baseball camp I invested in some second-hand equipment. A new mitt and ball for baseball, a soccer ball, shin guards and cleats for soccer. (Thanks DW for the cleats!) Bubba has spent at least 10 minutes, sometimes up to 45 minutes at a time outside with his new equipment practicing. Its great! Its good for him to play outside (alone) and to be so interested in sports and to want to practice on his own. I love it. Who’d a thunk $50 would go that far! Our first practice is tomorrow at 5:30. Our coach is the dad of one of his classmates so that’s nice too. At least he will know one kid on the team.

Speaking of classmates, I heard from his teacher that this kid is a nice kid and his dad will do a great job coaching. We met with her last night for spring conferences. Bubba is still doing well. “He is ready for 1st grade” she tells us. “Can he start tomorrow?” I asked her. She laughed. I am not kidding. He needs a full day of activities and a little more challenge for his brain. Oh well, just a few months left, then a whole summer to forget!

Last Saturday was “Camp sign up day” at the Y. Its the first day to sign up for summer programs. Kids who sign up on camp sign up day get free t-shirts! So I signed Bubba up for a week of Adventure Club, the “going into first through fifth grades” summer day camp program. Its actually a lot of fun for the kids. They meet at the Y daily, and ride the Y bus to local parks, including a weekly trip to Slidewaters (that’s the day I want to volunteer). They are totally exhausted at the end of the day! It starts in the morning so My Honey can take him to work with him and I can work out then pick him up each day. It should work out very nicely. Not to mention what a nice break for Grandma!

Mistake?

At the time it seemed like a good idea ... throw away all the extra easter candy after I stuffed eggs. Now, a couple days later it seems like a really BAD idea. What I would give for the left over jelly beans and robins eggs right now!! I keep nibbling the kids stuff, but it will soon be gone too. Poor me.

Quiet time

Miss I is napping, Bubba is at his cousins baseball game, My Honey is playing golf and I have some quiet time.

Its been a hard, hard week. The second hardest in my marriage. The first was when My Honey had his heart attack 3 years ago. Oddly I feel the same peace and calm about our situation now as I did then. I have been gifted with faith, I guess, that will see me through. It has many times before, it will this time too.

My SIL watched the kids today so I could go Easter Bunny shopping. It was actually pretty fun. Bubba has wanted this Moon Sand stuff for a long time so I got him that and a new comic book. Miss I gets a stuffed animal and bubbles. Don't forget the candy and gum too! On my way to the Wal*Mart I was driving by the cemetery and stopped to visit a 22-year-old grave site. "Believe in your dreams" is inscribed on her headstone. I am feeling really melancholy and I wonder what are my dreams right now? Have I stopped dreaming for myself? It seems all my dreams are about or for my kids ... what about me, what about My Honey, what about us? What are our dreams?

I saw a counselor last week who suggested its time to "start working on the second half of your marriage." He couldn't be more right. Although I hope we have more than 16 years left together, I get what he is saying. We are just now starting to get into the busyness, we have to make each other a priority. Take time for us. The kids will be better for it, we will be better for it too.

Have some (cup) cake and eat it too

The house is put back together. Everyone is back to school and work, and life is normal again ... or not. Seems the time change made the kids crazy. Neither of them will go to sleep at a reasonable hour - by reasonable I mean 7:30 like they were doing. Hopefully it will be better next week. I am not sure I like this time change either, I preferred the sun earlier in the morning.

I truly think its one of the things that kept me from being really, really crabby this winter. I have seen the sunrise every day for the past 3 months or so. It seems to have made a difference. Not that I like morning mind you, not at all, but being able to watch the sunrise has been a pleasure. Thank goodness for a 3rd floor office with east-facing windows. I have seen some spectacular stuff, and some so-so stuff too. I am sure getting more than 4 hours of sleep a night is helping matters too!

Spring break is just around the corner too, and, as it turns out Bubba doesn't have school the week before spring break either due to conferences. TWO WEEKS OFF SCHOOL. What are the administrator thinking? Not only that, the two school districts in my area have different spring break weeks, so there is the "what am I going to do with my kid?" question flying around in my head. Two weeks is just too long! So... I have a plan. The first week is the week before Easter. Auntie Portland will be in town so that will be a good distraction. The second week there is a baseball camp sponsored by a local collegiate baseball team which Bubba happens to love so I am going to sign him up. Its only a few hours a day, but its something. Grandma agreed to take and pick him up on her days with him so it should work out pretty good. Plus the activity of the baseball camp will be a good segue into soccer which starts after spring break. Lucky kid, I wish I had been able to do all the stuff he gets to do! But that is a rant for another post another time.

Plans for the rest of the week:
• Attempt to get a workout in tomorrow and Friday after work, preferably outdoor run.
• Saturday night we have been invited to go to a benefit wine tasting for an organization a friend of ours directs. It should be a fun event, and a great local band is playing. I don't have any idea what to wear to a thing like this tho, any ideas?
• Sunday I would like to work some more in the yard. I started edging the front yesterday and got encouraged to do some more. I also mowed the pine tree needles and leaves up the other day so its looking really nice right now. Another use for my iPod, crank up the tunes when I mow.
• Maybe an outdoor run on Sunday.
Oh yeah and that little thing called work.

Clean up

"Clean up, clean up, everybody do their part..."
Everyone has gone home, its time to put the house back together. But first, lets start with me! I was able to go to my massage appointment today, but haven't gotten a shower in yet. Time to get that done and then tackle the house. Blankets, toys, laundry and re-arranging the bathrooms so I am ready for work tomorrow. If I am lucky I won't have to do the deep cleaning because my Girl Friday will be here this week. Lucky me.

My nephews birthday party was fun last night, pizza, which was easy, wine and dessert, the kids had cupcakes and we more mature adults had cheesecake. MMMMM. We were even graced with the presence of my little brother. I think he would really like to do more family things but we just don't think to call him. Hes 25 and seems to have finally reached a place in life where he is fun to be around and likable. He went through a decade of being a shit, and now it seems he has chilled out. I picked him up and he went to Bubba's karate class with us and then on to Moms house. It worked out pretty good and he was available on short notice so I think I will make more of an effort to invite him over once-in-awhile. Everyone needs family-time.

Alright, off to do housework.

Party

They're here. I got all the cleaning I wanted to done (well, almost, I didn't clean the upstairs bathroom, I figured why? Company wasn't going to use it!) then I mowed the lawns and I think that was it, well except for laundry. Laundry. Why does it always seem after I am all done with it theres another basket-full? And it just keeps piling up. Every time I clean a room and then come back later there's socks or pants or shorts or a towel or some-damn-thing on the floor. How does this happen? Never-ending I tell you.

We had a good time yesterday and last night. Unfortunately Miss I kept getting left out. It is amazing how much difference 9 months makes in the kids ages. Bubba and his girl-cousin are 9 months apart (she is older) and Miss I and the boy-cousin are also 9 months apart (he is older), so his speech is 100% better than hers and the big-kids will play with him a little more readily. So poor Miss I was getting left out of everything because she is the youngest. I told her to go commiserate with my youngest sister, she knew how it felt! We all had dinner here and then my youngest sister and the girl-cousin left. We will see them all again tonight at Moms - Little Brother too. It should be a fun night, pizza, wine, birthday celebrations! Yay!

Whew!

Just a few hours and my sister and nephew will be here for a few days. Unfortunately that means I need to hustle my bustle to get the house cleaned up. If I had been thinking ahead I would have arranged for my Girl Friday to come in this week, but I thought I would have the time. Which I did, I just didn't use it for cleaning! What did I use it for? I really don't remember.

I did get another outdoor run in this week on Thursday. I also did aerobics on Saturday morning. So all in all last week I got 5 workouts in! Way to go. I probably won't have that much luck this week, its my long work week plus Karate plus company, but we shall see. I am sure I can talk my sister into going to the Y with me ... or she can go visit Mom while I am working out. Either way I am definitely taking today off. I am pretty sore from the class I took yesterday. Plus I have all that cleaning to do...

We were invited out to dinner last night. We went to a resort-y kind of place with a nice restaurant. It was called Tendrils. It was ... alright. I don't think we will go out there for dinner again, it was a long drive (an hour) and then it was, you know, a "dining experience" so everything was little servings of fancy things. The food was pretty good, the service marginal and the price pretty high because it was a Resort. The restaurant was tiny, I think I counted 15 tables. The resort only has 30 rooms but we couldn't see them because it was dark. There is also a winery and a spa out there, but again we couldn't see anything because it was dark. I imagine its very pretty in the daylight, and I might drive there for a spa day, but probably not for dinner again.

Accomplishments

• It was a 2 mile run, I drove it today. Way to go!
• I worked out yesterday and today too!
• I got most of the laundry done - washed, folded AND put away.
(My Honey gets kudos for laundry this week too, he did a ton over the weekend while I worked my A off.)
• I got grocery shopping for the rest of the week done. It's been a couple weeks since I planned meals ahead, and it's causing me too much stress. Time to get back on the ball!
• I managed extra kids twice this week and got everyone where they were supposed to go. We were a tad bit late to Bubba's karate class, but it worked out just fine.
• All I could think this morning as I drove the kids to school was how much like a "soccer mom" I felt. My two kids plus an extra on board...
• My sister and nephew are coming to stay with us Sunday through Tuesday. Fun stuff! It's family birthday celebration time. My mom, two sisters and nephew all have birthdays in the first 15 days of March. We are planning a family dinner on Monday night at moms’ house for everyone.

I saw a long-time-ago friend yesterday and today at the Y, “N’heisel”. He was working out at the same time as I was. Today as I was picking up Miss I he was leaving so we stopped to chat for a few minutes. The last I heard he was the Headmaster at a private school in town and I think his kids are all grown and out of the house now.

We looked into his school last year for Bubba. Seeing and talking to him for a few minutes today got me thinking about Bubba’s schooling again. I hear more often than not how he misses his old school. He is pretty impartial to his school right now and I worry about it. It could just be that Kindergarten isn’t challenging enough. All he brings home is copy-work of letters that he already knows, pictures he has colored (which he despises doing) and books that they “read” that are mostly pictures. So I got to wondering about the private school again. Would it be a good choice for Bubba? Will public school work out just fine? Anyway, just a few thoughts.

Welcome back Me

I was too tired to write last week, if you can believe that. I took the kids to my dads house the weekend before last and it took me a full week to recuperate emotionally which was exhausting physically. You know how that goes? It was a good trip, the kids did really well, it was just an emotional time. Without getting into to much I just wonder where I belong in their lives right now and how to help. So I am kind of carrying a heavy burden.

Speaking of burdens:
"911 what is the address of your emergency?"
Silence
"Hello? 911"
"Yeah, I am in Your Town"
"Okay, where are you?"
"At the big park downtown"
(deep breath) "Are you at Walla Walla, Riverfront or Confluence park?"
"Um, the one with the tennis and basket ball court"
"Okay, what’s going on there?"
"There’s a blue vehicle in the parking lot and I am on the other side of the bridge that goes out to the peninsula."
"Okay, what’s…" click … Dial tone.
I figured out which park, one of my partners sent law enforcement, but not soon enough. Our officers found him and a 12 gauge right where he said he would be.

I was the last one to talk to him alive. He must have had his mind made up, he didn't even give me a chance to say anything. He used a phone that couldn't receive calls so I wasn't even able call back to figure out what was going on.

That was Sunday, after work I went to work out. I ended up running outside since it was so dang nice (high 50's). I started at the boat launch and ended up at the place he called from. For some reason I had to see it. There wasn't anything to see though, the water had risen as they removed him and any trace of anything except some tire tracks on the grass was gone. I ran the whole way. Good music, nice weather, and a lot on my mind.

It was probably at least a 2 mile run. And I am hurting from it today! My shins - wooo. But I went into the Y and tried to get in another run today. Barely made it a mile. Then I was going to do some weights, but I just couldn't. It was busy and I just didn't have it in me. Maybe tomorrow morning.