10 things I'm grateful for today...
1. Programmable thermostat.
2. New family schedule that allows us to take full advantage of programming features.
3. Dishwasher (nothing fancy, your basic lower-end Whirlpool) washes all dishes with no rinsing, no matter how grody.
4. Homemade playdough keeps 2.5yo busy
5. I still love my Dyson
6. Am going to go buy myself/family large, not too expensive, Xmas present today (knock wood it doesn't get bought before we get there)
7. Have extra money for this
8. Mom's presents arriving by Fed Ex sometime today
9. Redbox is holding Harry Potter for me for this evening
10. Kitty is spending afternoon with friends tomorrow, and I'm going to go shopping for xmas eve feast and maybe see Up in the Air.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
10 things...
Things I am thankful for today
1. Theo's new job
2. That Kitty has been really cooperative in the mornings, even as we're getting her up 3 hours earlier than she is used to.
3. That I have a job where I can get K from daycare and run a pretty leisurely shopping errand and still get home right around 5pm.
4. The crockpot ensured that dinner was ready when we walked in the door
5. Kitty loves her new puffy coat
6. I found an amazingly flattering dress at Old Navy for $7
7. Laptops
8. None of the three fish we got recently has died
9. I adore several of my coworkers
10. And hate none of them!
1. Theo's new job
2. That Kitty has been really cooperative in the mornings, even as we're getting her up 3 hours earlier than she is used to.
3. That I have a job where I can get K from daycare and run a pretty leisurely shopping errand and still get home right around 5pm.
4. The crockpot ensured that dinner was ready when we walked in the door
5. Kitty loves her new puffy coat
6. I found an amazingly flattering dress at Old Navy for $7
7. Laptops
8. None of the three fish we got recently has died
9. I adore several of my coworkers
10. And hate none of them!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I've become the blogger I hate....
Only updating sporadically. But work is really kicking my ass this year, in a mostly good way. We're attempting to make a radical change this year (going from 60% of kids passing the test to 80+% and beyond), so we're doing a lot of things differently. Most of which eat into my mental downtime at work. And then at home, it's play on the farm with the Yo Gabba Gabbas with Kitty, make/eat dinner, bathtime, bedtime, veg for an hour where I don't much want to type because I'd have to sit up higher for that, and then bed. And, I get my need to share met by Facebook quite a bit these days. The longer blog posts suffer because of the ongoing oneliners there. Friend me if you haven't already.
Theo got a job! Which means that K started Montessori school today. She went off with her lunch box and monkey dress on. I took an early morning photo ("Mama, is it night or is it morning?" "Morning" "But, the sun is not out!") that I'll post this evening. Theo reported a few tears, but she was reassured that I would get her this evening. He even got to work 15 minutes early! Tomorrow I have my exercise class, so he gets to do the am stuff solo. Today went very smoothly--she woke up easily, didn't fight getting dressed, and ate oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast. This is a huge change in her life as she has always slept as long as she wanted and grazed until lunch. I hope she can stay on a steady course!
She made me a little mushy as I was buckling her in T's car when she said, "I don't want to be all by myself!" I told her that there would be two teachers to take care of her, and all the kids would be her new friends, and she won't be all alone. She seemed to buy it.
I had some major stress from an insurance issue when the drug maker recalled the only form of the drug that BCBS covered for me. As in, they paid in full for the multidose pen form, but refused to pay anything at all for the powder form. The inital compromise was either I pay an unreasonable amount more to keep taking at home, or I go into the doctor's office 2-3x a week for them to give me the shot. The shot that I can give myself in 30 seconds at home. It made me so angry. But apparently the right information trickled down (ie, IT DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE. YOU HAVE TO COVER A SUBSTITUTE) and BCBS will cover it like normal now.
We had a truly lovely holiday weekend. All quiet and zen. Just what the doctor ordered.
Here are some "almosts" from the third annual chase Kitty around with the camera for an hour to get a good holiday card photo shoot.
You can click through the photos for about a dozen more.
Theo got a job! Which means that K started Montessori school today. She went off with her lunch box and monkey dress on. I took an early morning photo ("Mama, is it night or is it morning?" "Morning" "But, the sun is not out!") that I'll post this evening. Theo reported a few tears, but she was reassured that I would get her this evening. He even got to work 15 minutes early! Tomorrow I have my exercise class, so he gets to do the am stuff solo. Today went very smoothly--she woke up easily, didn't fight getting dressed, and ate oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast. This is a huge change in her life as she has always slept as long as she wanted and grazed until lunch. I hope she can stay on a steady course!
She made me a little mushy as I was buckling her in T's car when she said, "I don't want to be all by myself!" I told her that there would be two teachers to take care of her, and all the kids would be her new friends, and she won't be all alone. She seemed to buy it.
I had some major stress from an insurance issue when the drug maker recalled the only form of the drug that BCBS covered for me. As in, they paid in full for the multidose pen form, but refused to pay anything at all for the powder form. The inital compromise was either I pay an unreasonable amount more to keep taking at home, or I go into the doctor's office 2-3x a week for them to give me the shot. The shot that I can give myself in 30 seconds at home. It made me so angry. But apparently the right information trickled down (ie, IT DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE. YOU HAVE TO COVER A SUBSTITUTE) and BCBS will cover it like normal now.
We had a truly lovely holiday weekend. All quiet and zen. Just what the doctor ordered.
Here are some "almosts" from the third annual chase Kitty around with the camera for an hour to get a good holiday card photo shoot.
You can click through the photos for about a dozen more.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Been awhile!
We got over being sick, eventually, and had a great Canadian thanksgiving.
Since then, I've been stressing about the GREs. I took the general test October 21 and it was fine. Not as good as it COULD have been, but just fine. Since then I've been freaking out about the math subject test.
Y'all, I am so stressed about this test. I have never been more deep down upset about a test in my life. I think it's because I've never set myself up for abject failure before, and it's rubbing my psyche raw. I'm used to excelling. I like excelling. I have even developed, over the years, a really good sense of good enough because I have come to honestly know that my good enough is better than most people's really really good, so I don't have to torture myself to get my own perfect. I hope that comes across correctly and not totally full of myself.
But I am, simply, unqualified to take this test. And it's ok. Because the program I'm applying to says very clearly that while this test is required it is used for diagnostic purposes, not admissions, and I can spin myself golden in the personal statement. I'm not 100% sure I'll be admitted, but I don't think this test is going to be the make-or-break. I know this, but even so I am being physically twisted and bent by the stress of knowing, objectively, that I'm not skilled enough to take this test but I am going to do it anyway. Random nausea, headaches, emotionally labile, distracted, the whole nine yards.
I was feeling ok until Sunday night, when a curtain lifted and I realized that a whole bunch of problems that I thought were level 1 problems are actually level 3 problems written to look like level 1 problems. I'm not at level 3. I can sort of fake level 1. I got so demoralized.
I had set a goal in my head, and it's waaay low objectively, but it would have been ok for me. I got invested in that goal. Now I think it might be much too high. And I'm making myself sick over this. Literally. I dream about derivatives.
Last night at 1am I woke up sweaty with a hot steel poker running down my right optic nerve. I stumbled out of bed and took some medicine, cursing my night owl husband who had made the world's stinkiest frozen pizza. It was the foulest stench imaginable to me right then. I tried to lay very still for a while, but the pain didn't fade. I stumbled into the dark bathroom and took a timeless hot shower. I was asleep on my feet. I remember thinking over and over again that I couldn't sit down (like I usually would in a hot headache relieving shower) because I would go to sleep and drown and wouldn't that be an embarassing way to die, and poor Theo who would have to find me. So I stayed under the spray on my feet. Eventually I stumbled back to bed.
I skipped exercise class this morning, and while I know it would be good for me to go, I just wanted to stay in bed for that hour. *sigh*
Just a few more days, and then it will be out of my hands. Then I'm going to put it all away for at least a week before I start writing the application.
In happier news, there are a bunch of new photos up at picasa. Click on this amazing shot of K on Halloween to go to the album and see them all!
She LOVED ToTing. They only went to like three houses and she came back with all of six pieces of candy, but oh the frabjous joy! "MAMA, I got candy! Dis one a M+M candy. Dis one a golden candy. Dis one a ... What dis one is? ... Dis one a red skittles candy..."
Let's end with a quote that I don't think made it to facebook:
"Kitty, let's go eat dinner."
"Yes! Because I want to grow big and stwong and heafwy so dat I can drink wiiiiiiine!"
"Well, not until you are all grown up."
"When I'm three?"
"No, not even when you're three. When you're twenty one you can have some wine."
(Theo in the background: Wow, I was going to say ten, but 21, ok.)
"No, when I'm twenty niiiiiiiine. DEN I will get to drink wiiiine."
Since then, I've been stressing about the GREs. I took the general test October 21 and it was fine. Not as good as it COULD have been, but just fine. Since then I've been freaking out about the math subject test.
Y'all, I am so stressed about this test. I have never been more deep down upset about a test in my life. I think it's because I've never set myself up for abject failure before, and it's rubbing my psyche raw. I'm used to excelling. I like excelling. I have even developed, over the years, a really good sense of good enough because I have come to honestly know that my good enough is better than most people's really really good, so I don't have to torture myself to get my own perfect. I hope that comes across correctly and not totally full of myself.
But I am, simply, unqualified to take this test. And it's ok. Because the program I'm applying to says very clearly that while this test is required it is used for diagnostic purposes, not admissions, and I can spin myself golden in the personal statement. I'm not 100% sure I'll be admitted, but I don't think this test is going to be the make-or-break. I know this, but even so I am being physically twisted and bent by the stress of knowing, objectively, that I'm not skilled enough to take this test but I am going to do it anyway. Random nausea, headaches, emotionally labile, distracted, the whole nine yards.
I was feeling ok until Sunday night, when a curtain lifted and I realized that a whole bunch of problems that I thought were level 1 problems are actually level 3 problems written to look like level 1 problems. I'm not at level 3. I can sort of fake level 1. I got so demoralized.
I had set a goal in my head, and it's waaay low objectively, but it would have been ok for me. I got invested in that goal. Now I think it might be much too high. And I'm making myself sick over this. Literally. I dream about derivatives.
Last night at 1am I woke up sweaty with a hot steel poker running down my right optic nerve. I stumbled out of bed and took some medicine, cursing my night owl husband who had made the world's stinkiest frozen pizza. It was the foulest stench imaginable to me right then. I tried to lay very still for a while, but the pain didn't fade. I stumbled into the dark bathroom and took a timeless hot shower. I was asleep on my feet. I remember thinking over and over again that I couldn't sit down (like I usually would in a hot headache relieving shower) because I would go to sleep and drown and wouldn't that be an embarassing way to die, and poor Theo who would have to find me. So I stayed under the spray on my feet. Eventually I stumbled back to bed.
I skipped exercise class this morning, and while I know it would be good for me to go, I just wanted to stay in bed for that hour. *sigh*
Just a few more days, and then it will be out of my hands. Then I'm going to put it all away for at least a week before I start writing the application.
In happier news, there are a bunch of new photos up at picasa. Click on this amazing shot of K on Halloween to go to the album and see them all!
 |
| From Fall 09 |
She LOVED ToTing. They only went to like three houses and she came back with all of six pieces of candy, but oh the frabjous joy! "MAMA, I got candy! Dis one a M+M candy. Dis one a golden candy. Dis one a ... What dis one is? ... Dis one a red skittles candy..."
Let's end with a quote that I don't think made it to facebook:
"Kitty, let's go eat dinner."
"Yes! Because I want to grow big and stwong and heafwy so dat I can drink wiiiiiiine!"
"Well, not until you are all grown up."
"When I'm three?"
"No, not even when you're three. When you're twenty one you can have some wine."
(Theo in the background: Wow, I was going to say ten, but 21, ok.)
"No, when I'm twenty niiiiiiiine. DEN I will get to drink wiiiine."
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Ugh
Let's see...
I've had a cold all week. Thursday it turned into pink eye, but I was vindicated because it was viral and didn't need the drops my insurance wouldn't cover. (Thanks, union, for screwing up everyone's health coverage!) Friday I stay home from work due to potentially contagious pink eye, learn to take derivatives and shop for our camping trip. Camping trip cancelled because Kitty caught my cold and is running a pretty high at times fever. I'm disappointed. It goes against their written policy, but I wonder if I can find someone nice at the organization who will let me use our payment for another weekend. I was really looking forward to it!
I have to go into work at some point this weekend to make copies and do some paperwork because we're having a big giant inspection on Monday and it would look bad to be winging it when the team came through. Hopefully today, but the nail in the coffin on the camping trip (even if we were thinking of taking K sick, which we weren't) is that T woke up with a migraine.
But, I bought a turkey to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, which is Monday. I've invited a few friends over for a turkey dinner. I figure more than a month before Thanksgiving is an ok timing in terms of people getting tired of turkey. I'll try and get a little prep done before. I'm not going too crazy--roast turkey, cornbread stuffing (from the Pepperidge Farms mix), glazed carrots, cranberry sauce, and either mashed or scalloped potatos, and gravy. I keep thinking of things I COULD add, but let's just not. Though I am excited about putting the leaf in the dining room table.
Some Kitty vignettes:
Kitty has been a little fragile lately too. She got honestly upset and cried when a dried leaf that she had given T like three times in the last day got crushed.
And then she had a moment the other day when she wanted gummy fruit snacks, and it was too close to dinner. She asked T and he said No, and she came and asked me. I asked her what her daddy said, and she tried so hard not to lie.
"What did daddy say?"
"Yoouuuu can get them!"
"I could, but what did daddy say?"
"But I would reawwy wike some fruit gummy snacks!"
"I know, sweetie."
"Pweeeeeease can I have fruit gummy snacks?"
"I know you asked your daddy. What did he say?"
Then she got mad and stomped her foot and said, "HE SAID YES!"
And then she got a little talk about how if daddy said no, mama agrees, and telling lies doesn't make mama and daddy happy. I don't know if I set her up improperly with the sort of Socratic questioning, but it was very interesting to watch her mind work. Her body language even changed and she faced away from me and was fiddling with things while she was trying to convince me.
The other night Kitty was giving us lessons in sleeping.
"Fust you put da blankie on tight. I will tuck you in! Den you cwose your eyes. Den da fwum!"
"What do you do with your thumb?"
"You suck it in! Suck it in, Mama! Now we go to sweep! Dweam a dweam."
"What are you going to dream about?"
"Animulls. I am going to dweam about animulls. What are you going to dweam about, Mama?"
"Flowers."
"Ooohhh, dat's cooool! Goo night, mama!"
...
"Now it is not sweeping time. Open da eyes. Now I will tuck you NOT in."
I took some more photos of our pumpkin plants, but I'm too tired to deal with the camera now. I'll do it later.
Last...So the living room floor was getting a bit manky, so I got all industrious and spot cleaned all the popsicle drips and random spots and um, the giant red wine spill that instigated the whole cleaning episode. Then I used the carpet cleaner and cleaned the whole floor.
What do I get for my efforts? You guessed it--the spot cleaned spots are much cleaner and stand out like funny not-shadows. *sigh* I should just not even try.
I've had a cold all week. Thursday it turned into pink eye, but I was vindicated because it was viral and didn't need the drops my insurance wouldn't cover. (Thanks, union, for screwing up everyone's health coverage!) Friday I stay home from work due to potentially contagious pink eye, learn to take derivatives and shop for our camping trip. Camping trip cancelled because Kitty caught my cold and is running a pretty high at times fever. I'm disappointed. It goes against their written policy, but I wonder if I can find someone nice at the organization who will let me use our payment for another weekend. I was really looking forward to it!
I have to go into work at some point this weekend to make copies and do some paperwork because we're having a big giant inspection on Monday and it would look bad to be winging it when the team came through. Hopefully today, but the nail in the coffin on the camping trip (even if we were thinking of taking K sick, which we weren't) is that T woke up with a migraine.
But, I bought a turkey to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, which is Monday. I've invited a few friends over for a turkey dinner. I figure more than a month before Thanksgiving is an ok timing in terms of people getting tired of turkey. I'll try and get a little prep done before. I'm not going too crazy--roast turkey, cornbread stuffing (from the Pepperidge Farms mix), glazed carrots, cranberry sauce, and either mashed or scalloped potatos, and gravy. I keep thinking of things I COULD add, but let's just not. Though I am excited about putting the leaf in the dining room table.
Some Kitty vignettes:
Kitty has been a little fragile lately too. She got honestly upset and cried when a dried leaf that she had given T like three times in the last day got crushed.
And then she had a moment the other day when she wanted gummy fruit snacks, and it was too close to dinner. She asked T and he said No, and she came and asked me. I asked her what her daddy said, and she tried so hard not to lie.
"What did daddy say?"
"Yoouuuu can get them!"
"I could, but what did daddy say?"
"But I would reawwy wike some fruit gummy snacks!"
"I know, sweetie."
"Pweeeeeease can I have fruit gummy snacks?"
"I know you asked your daddy. What did he say?"
Then she got mad and stomped her foot and said, "HE SAID YES!"
And then she got a little talk about how if daddy said no, mama agrees, and telling lies doesn't make mama and daddy happy. I don't know if I set her up improperly with the sort of Socratic questioning, but it was very interesting to watch her mind work. Her body language even changed and she faced away from me and was fiddling with things while she was trying to convince me.
The other night Kitty was giving us lessons in sleeping.
"Fust you put da blankie on tight. I will tuck you in! Den you cwose your eyes. Den da fwum!"
"What do you do with your thumb?"
"You suck it in! Suck it in, Mama! Now we go to sweep! Dweam a dweam."
"What are you going to dream about?"
"Animulls. I am going to dweam about animulls. What are you going to dweam about, Mama?"
"Flowers."
"Ooohhh, dat's cooool! Goo night, mama!"
...
"Now it is not sweeping time. Open da eyes. Now I will tuck you NOT in."
I took some more photos of our pumpkin plants, but I'm too tired to deal with the camera now. I'll do it later.
Last...So the living room floor was getting a bit manky, so I got all industrious and spot cleaned all the popsicle drips and random spots and um, the giant red wine spill that instigated the whole cleaning episode. Then I used the carpet cleaner and cleaned the whole floor.
What do I get for my efforts? You guessed it--the spot cleaned spots are much cleaner and stand out like funny not-shadows. *sigh* I should just not even try.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Weekend
Saturday I went to a soup swap. Everyone brings 6 (plus or minus) quarts of one kind of soup. Then you drink wine, chat, hang out, eventually draw numbers, describe your soup, and then grab what you want in number order. I ate an entire quart of tom kha myself for dinner that night. Yum. It was a lot of fun and we may host one at our house sometime soon.
Kitty did an amazing job in church yesterday! For the first time ever, we sat in the santuary the whole service. We bailed to the narthex for announcements after she finally got too bored and bolted up the side aisle giggling, making lots of people laugh.
What changed? #1, she learned how to whisper reliably. We've been practicing in the library when we go about once a week. #2, I brought a couple sheets of stickers and a small pad of paper with to keep her occupied. #3, I realized how enamored she is of her rosary that usually hangs on the corner of a picture frame in her room. I told her she can wear it at church as long as she whispers only and cooperated. It worked!
And then I laughed and laughed. We have a beautiful holy water fountain in the narthex. Two fonts for dipping and a mosaic stepped pool. Yesterday, there was a matchbox car at the bottom.
This Saturday is the blessing of the pets (outdoors). We don't have a pet who would cooperate, but I think I'm going to bring K and her lovey (specifically mentioned as welcome). I think she would get a kick out of it.
Kitty did an amazing job in church yesterday! For the first time ever, we sat in the santuary the whole service. We bailed to the narthex for announcements after she finally got too bored and bolted up the side aisle giggling, making lots of people laugh.
What changed? #1, she learned how to whisper reliably. We've been practicing in the library when we go about once a week. #2, I brought a couple sheets of stickers and a small pad of paper with to keep her occupied. #3, I realized how enamored she is of her rosary that usually hangs on the corner of a picture frame in her room. I told her she can wear it at church as long as she whispers only and cooperated. It worked!
And then I laughed and laughed. We have a beautiful holy water fountain in the narthex. Two fonts for dipping and a mosaic stepped pool. Yesterday, there was a matchbox car at the bottom.
This Saturday is the blessing of the pets (outdoors). We don't have a pet who would cooperate, but I think I'm going to bring K and her lovey (specifically mentioned as welcome). I think she would get a kick out of it.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
We dyed yarn!
Kitty picked the colors and helped color the yarn, which is good because it's destined to be a winter blankie for her.
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