Change of Scenery

We walked the neighborhood the other day to try to catch a yard sale 3 blocks over and I was amazed at how much things have changed over the last few years. Many of the changes have been sad ones with friends dying or moving away.  One neighbor has been here her whole life.

When this owner was a little girl, she saw my house being built in 1952. 

Quick Quick Slow

My life is a waltz.  A Viennese Waltz. Quick, Quick, Slow.

Quick – Up. Run. Walk. Shower. Eat.  Work. Work. W-O-R-K. Ding!

Quick – Home. Dinner. Clean. Organize. Kids. Bath. Bed Time. Dammit, Jimmy time.

Slow – Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.

I am working on the slow part, the smelling the roses part, the breathing part… and I’m taking David with me.

Tagged!!

So I got tagged by Melissa to answer eleven questions... and I think I am to come up questions for others to answer. Let's go with that...

1. What has been your most favorite vacation to date? 

I would say it was the road trip to California to visit my Little Ones' birth grandparents. It was a bit painful to drive cross country and back with a car full of kids and gear, and the summer prior driving to the other coast to visit my mom was really cool too, but we totally loved the adventure and newness of the trip to Cali. The south has better beaches, beignets, boudin and Cuban sandwiches, and my mom of course, but the California trip had more meaningful new experiences and opportunities to cross things off my Living List. 

2. Do you prefer big city life, suburban life, or a life in the country? 

I prefer healthy personal space so country life for this Stress Monkey. I like what big cities have to offer, but I'd hate to be trapped living in a big city. I'm good with just visiting. Truth be told, I think I belong on a coconut plantation near the ocean. 

3. What is your favorite type/genre of food? 

I have to say "Asian" although you know me well enough to know that I love all types of food. And I may be genetically obligated to say "Asian" though, huh? Not necessarily Filipino food although I do LOVE flip food, but I salivate thinking of Thai food. I am making a chicken stir fry as soon as I finish this survey, in fact. But a close second is Mediterranean food.

4. How would you typically dress yourself for a weekend night out? 

Let's see. Weekend night out. I don't get out much but when I do, I am super casual. Last time I went out I was wearing longer baggy jean cutoffs, a plain white pocket tee and my strappy Ugg wedges. If it had been cooler, I'd probably have swapped out the cutoffs for broken in khakis (Gap has some really comfy ones) or my dark wash mom jeans.

5. Do you like to wear accessories? If yes, what are your go-to accessories? 

Yes. I have some silver ball earrings that I wear all of the time, but my go-to accessories are a cheap shiny necklace and earring set I got at Dillards a couple of years ago for a Casino Royale fundraiser and an even cheaper set I got at a boutique in Medicine Park. Sometimes, I wear Emi's turquoise earring and necklace set too.

6. How do you typically fix your hair? (Blow dry and straighten/curl? Air dry? Wash and go?) 

I put some gel and Shine Shake (smells so yummy) in my hair and blow dry the roots a little if I have time, then I air dry.  I don't straighten or curl but I do try to scrunch my hair as it's drying because I love messy natural hair. I don't color or process my hair. Not that I'm against it but I am happy with my natural color (not necessarily the texture though). Also, I can't keep up with hair maintenance...

7. What make up do you wear on a daily basis? Do you have a preferred brand of cosmetics? 

I have very sensitive oily skin that will break out with almost all products. Good times!!  

My daily products include:

• Moisturizers: SkinCeuticals Ultimate UV Defense or Clinique's Dramatically Different moisturizing gel
• Foundations/Powders/Blush: Bare Minerals powder foundation &"Lovely" blush & sometimes the bronzer; Clinique's 'even better' makeup
• Lips:  yummy lip balm from my dentist and NARS Pigalle lipstick 
• Eyes: Bare Minerals "Hottie" or "Intuition" shadow,  Korres Obsidian Black mascara
• Nighttime Moisture: Andalou Naturals Purple Carrot +C Luminous Night Cream (from Natural Grocers)

My preferred brand must be Bare Escentuals but I am open to what makes me look and feel good...within reason...

8. What is your preferred workout? (Gym? Outdoor running? Yoga? Group classes? None? Etc...?)

I prefer yoga and walking but most days I don't get a chance to get in a real workout.  I also prefer to exercise alone or with Scott in the privacy of our home. We have a variety of videos with the Thirty Day Shred being a favorite. I want to get back into running again too. I get the occasional yardworkout in and that must count for something. I loved my yoga and zumba classes at work (when I worked with the NWS) but not at the gym. I also have a rebounder that I like to jump on to 80's music in the basement...it's covered with clothes at the moment though...

9. Where is your favorite place to shop online? 

Lately it seems to be Gap.com. Work clothes shopping...

10. Do you enjoy entertaining guests in your home or would you prefer to be a guest and leave the hostessing to someone else? 

I totally enjoy entertaining guests in my home (or backyard) and I also love to help others who are hosting a party. 

11. What quality do you really value in your significant other?

The thing I value most in Scott is his patience but a very close second is his sense of humor.

Now I'm tagging the 4 people to answer 4 questions.

What say you Jackie, Melissa, Kim,  and Carla?

1. Do you play a musical instrument? If so, what instrument?
2. What is the last thing you cooked that you loved?
3. What is your favorite (alcoholic or no) beverage and why?
4. Is there anything new you plan to do or tackle this summer?

Be sure to comment if you participate so we can share answers.

Putting a Bird on 2013

I was able to edit down the photos from last year, accept my music selections and condense last year into a 10:27 slideshow.

As usual, I enjoyed reflecting on the last year.

We started off 2013 road-tripping back from a much needed visit with friends and family in Florida. At the end of February I scored a great work trip escape to Oahu. I apparently like the sweater I bought at SFO on the way back from HI because I think I'm wearing it (black & white striped number) in every photo of me in every season except for Summer. Can you say "favorite?"

In the Spring we cleaned out the Frog Pond (and guess what, we have more bullfrogs!!!). We survived (the family was to the South of and I was NorthWest of) a very scary tornado. And instead of going on a vacation, we resurfaced the pool and converted it to a salt water system.

I wish I could say I had loads of time in the pool but between traveling, basketball and The Bronchitis from Hell, I didn't get much time in the pool. I vow to get more pool time this year!

July found me in Texas for basketball and family and then off to Virginia for work. In August it was Napa for a wine-tastic (work) trip to a place where one of my closest friends now lives (Hey Gail-San!)

One kid started middle school while another started elementary school. David started his Kindergarten Adventure and started losing teeth (I believe he's lost 3 total to date). Lots of transitions last year and this year will not be outdone with 3 kids in sports. Bring it!

For Fall Break we found a cool cabin retreat.  We made a politically-incorrect pinata for David's birthday celebration. We hosted Thanksgiving at our place and went to all of the family Christmas gatherings scheduled by everyone. I don't know exactly how except that one gathering was re-scheduled to earlier this month, and my mom was in town for my nephew's wedding.

Looking back, I see that during all of the flurry of activities that define our lives now, we still ended up with some quality time with family and friends. I think I probably need to make my kids watch this slideshow a few times just so they don't forget...

Enjoy!


Morgans in 2013 from Nolita Morgan on Vimeo.

What's Up?

Lots of stuff in our world, but nothing earth shattering (except for the May 20 tornado that hit a little too close to home). The day before the tornado hit Moore, we spent a significant amount of time hanging in our basement while the tornado sirens went off 5 different times. Those tornadoes missed our area in Norman thankfully.  I was at my office just NW of where the tornado touched down. In fact, the tornado tore up the route I took home AND the route I took IN to work.

At work, we were evacuated to the basement across the street until given the all clear. After we came back up, my husband was texting me that he got the kids and they were safe, south of the devastation and he gave me a play by play of the tornado path. At that time, I only knew that the tornado touched down while parents were trying to pick up their kids from school. I texted my sister who lives in the area to see if she was safe but I didn't hear back from her immediately. I  heard that the Warren Theater was hit hard and my sister's husband is opening a restaurant in front of the theater. I prayed that they weren't AT the restaurant when the twister hit.

A couple of hail storms and a few inches of rain later, I was on my way home the back, back way. With I-35 closed as well as I-44, I was forced to head West to Mustang and take Mustang Road all the way to Hwy 9 West. The electricity was out in Mustang so the street lights were now 4-way stops. My gas tank was on empty so I stopped and gassed up, then I made my way through Mustang and headed south. Cell phone calls were not going through at this time but texting was working so I had to keep in touch with family that way.

When I finally made it home, we stayed up watching the devastation on the news and checking in with friends and family. My sister texted back that they were fine and ended up coming to our house the next day because they were without power and water. My mom called me back 3 times even after talking with my husband who told her we were all okay. She did that same thing back in May 1999 after she watched the news and the horror. Especially hard was knowing that children died at their schools... Scott had our babies home safe and sound with him and I am so grateful for that.

I took the back, back route into work the next day was was able to see the devastation from I-44 and 149th where the tornado touched down in Newcastle and crunched the metal bridge up then tore through Moore heading NE towards I-35. A lot of people were slowing down to check out the damage (mostly downed trees).

On Wednesday I was able to drive down I-35 to/from work and that devastation was very hard to stomach.  The Moore Medical center was demolished as well as many of the homes across the highway. After seeing the terror of the F5 that hit 14 years ago and then this F4, I cannot imagine building a home in the same spot. 

Things are slowly getting back to normal, a week later. People have been pulling together to help the survivors and it's a beautiful thing. I have lived in Oklahoma during some tragic times and my faith is always restored by the people and their willingness to donate time, money and things to help out those in need. 

Prayers for all those people affected by the tornado...

Saturday Night Special

Last night was Italian night at our house with my brother-in-law treating us to some delicious spaghetti with meat balls, shrimp lasagna rolls and prosciutto mozzarella appetizers. We sampled wine and porked out on the food. It was a good night and I am so happy to have close family who also loves to cook. The spaghetti was delicious again today for lunch...my brother-in-law is like my mom in that they prepare way too much food for gatherings. And in this economy, actually in any economy, we like leftovers in this household.

Today has been a dreary day. And as much as I really wanted to get out and dig and chainsaw in the backyard, the forced down time was good for us. We watched Wreck It Ralph and Here Comes the Boom with the kiddos.

David had a soccer game before the rain hit and his team won (again)! David has a pattern in which he scores the winning (or the last, depending on how high the score is) goal. He is really relishing these wins because he is on a new team. His first team in the Fall won every game and so had some reservations about playing on a new team (he was worried they were going to lose). I personally think that he needs to experience a few losses to be humbled and know that life is not all about winning. But Lord help us when that first loss happens...

The girls and I hit the mall while the guys were at the soccer fields. We had to get some pants for the Emster and socks for the Little Ones. Just in time for the warmer weather too... We also hit Natural Grocers to pick up some stuff they don't have at Homeland (ingredients to make "wheat meat" and other hippie food). I have wanted to make seitan for a while now, ever since I saw how easy it was on HHH and now I have all of the ingredients in my pantry...it's on the menu for later this week.

Making Greek Cucumber Salad

Greek Inspired Dinner (Lemon Chicken with Brown Rice and Greek Yogurt/Cucumber Salad)

My little helper also helped me make another pecan pie like we made 2 months ago using this recipe, but it didn't come out the same. It might be because I was trying to "healthy" it up a little by swapping out corn syrup with brown rice syrup. It seemed a bit soupy the first time out of the oven....and also the 2nd time out of the oven 20 minutes later.  I am sure I messed the custard up earlier, not mixing it up properly because I don't think that corn/rice syrup made the difference. I will have to test that theory out later this week.

Meanwhile, this pie works as a topping for vanilla ice cream and milk mixture.

Oahu Recap (Part 1)

Now that I've been home for a couple of days, I thought I should recap my trip before it's faded away too much. It was such a whirlwind trip with barely any sleep that it's hard to hold on to it all. Glad I took my camera so I can refresh my memory.

First off, I have to say that I think I could totally blend in there in Hawai'i. I felt surrounded by cousins and everyone was so friendly.

We landed in Honolulu right at noon on Tuesday. While my body was sleep deprived and feeling like it was 4pm (it was in Oklahoma), I felt like I should take the island in while it was daylight because the next 2 days were mostly about work.

So we got settled into our hotels and then we hit the road. My head was on a swivel checking out all of the flora (beautiful fragrant flowers!) and fauna (mostly chickens) and the beautiful blue ocean and waves. I am so glad that I didn't have to drive so I could take it all in.

After we drove around for a bit we decided to head to the Dole Plantation to check out what they grow in HI and get some pineapple samples. We walked through the gardens a little and then took a train through the bigger gardens.

Put A Bird On It

I finally completed our video montage for 2012. I could go back and edit/add more pictures forever so I had to force myself to finish up already, or as my family would say "Put a bird on it!".

Enjoy!

Morgans in 2012 from Nolita Morgan on Vimeo.

On Being Blessed

Most of my family was sick lately and our income was cut (again) and I'm still a few pounds over what I should be (or at least I'm configured differently than I think I should be at my current weight) but I am still feeling thankful and abundantly blessed.

We used a lot of this stuff below to get the family back to middling (and keep me from getting The Crud).

Not pictured but heavily used was fish oil and pau d'arco 

After the wonderful laid back holiday with family and friends and getting transitioned over to a new contract at work, and then with family getting sick, it was hard for me to feel motivated about anything extra - I was just trying to keep up with life. But that lasted for only a short time (Thank God). I was daydreaming about some realistic transformations I'd like to see in the back yard this year (aside from hopefully resurfacing the pool) and I kept coming back to my lavender plant. That plant has been hardy and fragrant and was such a good investment a couple of years ago that I decided to get more. I had my cart filled with a few (online shopping) when I came across an article on propagating lavender. It hadn't occurred to me to take cuttings to propagate from my lovely plant (except to make a peace wreath) but I quickly emptied my cart and clipped my plant. Keeping my fingers crossed because I know this particular plant is a keeper and I'd like to see more of it around the place.



I've been wanting to get outside and prepare the yard ahead of time (for once) and I'm planning on excavating big items from the beds, then putting down a layer of paper bags and newspaper, then a layer of peat moss and compost and leaves so that the beds can be getting ready for new growth in the near future.

I haven't done that yet but I did get out in the yard today and work in a bed by the pond. It was very hard to stay on task because the kids were trying to pick up the chickens (who kept wanting to get into the bed I was working in) and Aubri wanted me to help her pick up more pecans. I still can't get over the abundant harvest we've gotten this year (Thanking God again for this wonderful food!).

Last night I shelled 3 huge bowls of pecans to add to a gallon bag that Scott started already. That barely skimmed the first trug that we are tackling. (Not complaining! But Scott and I can probably add Pecan Shelling to our skill sets for our resumes now.)

This is about 10 pies' worth, I'm guessing...

I was able to help Aubri get her bucket filled with pecans and get busy pulling, digging, raking and bagging.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

This is just a start. I really wanted to tackle the pond today but it had to wait. I just don't want Spring to arrive until we've taken care of the things on our yard punch list first...

Rough vs. Ruff

Today I had a list of things to do but I had to scrap that because some of the Morgans are ailing. Scott has what I think is the flu (day 2) and David is a poor congested, runny nosed (how is that even possible?) little boy.  Aubri seems to be over her respiratory issues (but still has a nagging cough) and Emi is back to hale - recovered from her bronchitis. And this little pooch....she seems to be getting by taking her naps in the sun. Oh to be able to trade spots with her just for an afternoon...

Emi had another basketball tourney this past weekend and with Scott feeling under the weather, yesterday it was just me and her. It gave us an opportunity to talk girl talk. And I think I've scarred her for life talking about how boys act in middle school. (Just wait until high school, baby girl!) I'm sure the behavior I described has already been happening in elementary school, but just in case, I wanted her to be prepared.

I also had time to talk to her about how God plans things to prepare us for the next thing in our lives. I reminisced about how I was almost finished with school, when I lost my job and had to move in with my sister. I lost my hard fought independence and was forced to deliver pizzas again to get by until my first post-college job. It was a very humbling experience but it was necessary so I could focus on the real reason for such an arrangement...so I could be paired up with my soul mate.

I probably wouldn't have planned for something so humbling, but I am not The One in Control. ;.)

Hope you and yours are keeping healthy and hale this winter...

Epic Fail(s)

Recently we've had a couple of incidents that I'd like to share with you in charge of little ones (yours or others) so you don't make the same mistakes.

If you know me or our kids or have read this blog for any length of time, you know that David is a very spirited young man. He's very VERY. (You read that right.) We know he can't handle sugar like his sisters can, and that he is naturally wound up and ready to go. While that can be good, most of the time it gets him into trouble. So, we had a theory that maybe David was one of those special ones who becomes very calm with the introduction of caffeine into the system. I had discussed this with a friend of mine who suggested we try Mountain Dew because her son would not drink coffee. We thought, "What the hay?" and before Aubri's birthday party on Sunday we gave David a shot of MD. He rather enjoyed that.

We let him know it was a special experiment and not to tell his sisters (that was a fail too) because he knows he's got more energy than all of us put together already. So, anyway, he lost his marbles at least 3x times during the party and was totally inconsolable at the beginning of the party. I can't recall what it was that didn't go his way, but he was in his chair in the fetal position crying about it while his cousins tried to console him. It was ugly and I had compassion because it's the first time I've ever witnessed someone of the opposite sex experience full on PMS. Poor guy!

And Monday at school he was "difficult" after having a bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast.  Now, we know about diet and behavior and ADD. My family consisted of 5 kids very close in age and we were put on the Feingold Diet instead of meds in order for us all to have a chance at survival. (We were also put on cod liver oil instead of health insurance but that's a story for another day.) I still don't know how my parents got through it all but I'm sure there was some collateral damage. But we are busy parents and sometimes a bowl of cereal is better than nothing, right? We are not entirely convinced that David has a syndrome/disorder because he CAN be good after having sweets...

After the fail with Mountain Dew (seriously, what did we expect?) we decided to try coffee.  A quick shot of coffee (with milk and a tiny bit of sugar) before class to calm the nerves. This morning Scott administered the caffeine to the boy and he had a record - nay - banner day at school today. He was very good at transitioning and when things didn't go his way, he said "Ok" and went about his business. (!)

We are amazed and happy with the outcome of the 2nd experiment. I think we'll try coffee with Vanilla Coconut milk and or xylitol to get rid of the sugar altogether. We're not suggesting the boy never get sugar, but if you happen to be the one pushing the sugar (I'm looking at you, Grandma Babe!) then you will need to sit with him until he comes down from his bad trip!

The 2nd epic fail involved the baby. The night of her birthday party, about 6 hours after David lost his ever-loving "Do the Dew" mind, she claimed her tummy hurt. I had her try to poop to see if that helped and then put her to bed. Just prior, I had put her mattress pad protector on David's bed to protect his mattress (obvs) and proclaimed loudly that Aubri is a champion of her bladder, like a camel and she "never had accidents" and so her mattress was left unprotected. We watched a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead and then I checked on Aubri to make sure she wasn't choking on vomit (the things that go through a mom's mind) and she was sleeping like a baby around 11pm. 

At 1:20 am Aubri knocked on our door and then came in asking Daddy to wipe her. I thought she asked him to wipe the blood off of her (stupid zombie shows). He got up to help her in the bathroom and soon realized the horror of the situation. She had obviously suffered from the Human Brew and soiled her bed in the worst way possible. She had to be hosed down and I found it difficult to snuggle with her afterwards knowing what unholiness had occurred. We actually put her in a PullUp leftover from long ago.

The bed was a total loss. There is no way to clean up that much excrement when it's soaked in. We dropped the mattress, sheets and a couple of rugs that had likely absorbed a fair amount of pee/poop over the last year - at the dump. Oh, so funny now that I've typed it out.

We had needed to get Aubri a full sized mattress as the bottom bed where she sleeps in the bunk bed configuration is a full sized frame and she's had a twin bed. It was on the list to get and it moved way up in priority Monday morning.

We traced back the probable cause to the green onions that were in her mid-afternoon bowl of Baked Potato Soup. Big sister failed (she had her part in this too) to rinse the onions before chopping them and garnishing her little sister's bowl. Aubri had serious onion breath after that snack and still, the next morning as she snuggled up with me.

So, to recap:

• rinse off your veggies/onions (especially if you are eating them raw)
• no Mountain Dew for kids, anywhere, ever...(but it's ok for mom and dads)
• always use a pad
• never say "never"

Speaking of Sage

I was, yesterday... I found some sage advice (actually more of a cool quote) in that inflight magazine as well. It was a beautiful story about forgiveness (The Heart of Darkness) and the quote that stuck with me most was this:

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” (Nelson Mandela)


Ain't that the truth?

"Nursing a grudge means holding onto anger, and prolonged anger spikes heart rate, lowers immune response, and floods the brain with neuro-transmitters that impede problem solving and stir depression."

Whoa! I know it's not an easy thing to do but it's the only way to go on with your life and let the "offenders" (sometimes it's just a perceived offense where none was intended and people will take that with them to their graves) go on with their's as well.

I pray that everyone who reads this will find it in their hearts to let go of past hurts and resentment and come back to life again, becoming more optimistic and freeing yourself from that dreadful resentment.

Vehicle

On the first morning of November, I got into the car and this song was playing:

I'm your vehicle, baby
I'll take you anywhere you wanna go
I'm your vehicle, woman
But I'm not sure you know
That I love ya (love ya)
I need ya (need ya)
I want ya, got to have you, child
Great God in heaven, you know I love you
Oh, you know I do

* Vehicle by Tom Jones

I thought Beulah was speaking to me through the True Oldies Channel (99.7FM) and it was comforting.


When I was leaving the airport today guess what song was playing?

Elected

Tonight I have elected to stay in my hotel room instead of heading back to Rockefeller Place to keep up with the election results. It's way too cold out there and I'm already settled into my nice warm Angry Birds footed pajamas. It was exciting to be there last night though!

Today was a busy and fun day. After the marathon walking around the city in my heeled boots last night, I opted for my UGGs this morning as I was getting ready for class. I MAY end up leaving New York with a pair of Grey UGGs if they happen to have some on sale at the UGG store in between my hotel and my class! I know they are UGGly, but they are comfy and warm and I NEED some grey boots!

So today after our heads were getting filling up with knowledge, we took a lunch break and checked out Obika Mozzarella Bar across the street from class. Yum!

(Are you getting tired of hearing that word from me yet?)







After class we hoofed it over to Central Park to see it in the daylight.


Stacey and Stina in Central Park

We walked around a bit, snapped a few shots and hit the gift shop. I got myself a Central Park calendar for my office and a bag to hold plastic bags to recycle (something we needed to tame the plastic bags that seem to be multiplying under my kitchen sink). While I like to get souvenirs, I don't like to buy crap that will not be used or appreciated. I like to get things that are mementos of a trip but also fill a need. Thrifty? Maybe not. Rationalizing much? More likely.

I am enjoying Manhattan so far...but I wish my family and my dog were here with me. I talked to everyone, including Gracie tonight and everyone was very sweet and loving except for the dog. Scott said she heard my voice and then she sat down and showed the phone the back of her head. ;.( She's shunning me over the phone! I'm sure my compadre thinks I've abandoned her. The night I left Scott said that Gracie waited by the front window for me to show.

I guess that means I need to bring her back a nice treat too so I can win back her love...

Learned HelpFULness

10 years ago at the recommendation of a fellow Syster I added The Design of Everyday Things to my professional library (along with a few other programming and technical books). I still haven't read all the way through it but I like to flip through and read different sections from time to time and the other night I flipped to the topic of "Learned Helplessness" - this was intriguing to me as I watch my children grow and learn and do and also watch human interaction in a more professional environment.

Learned helplessness is a technical term that refers to the condition of a human or animal that has learned to behave helplessly, failing to respond even though there are opportunities for it to help itself by avoiding unpleasant circumstances or by gaining positive rewards. Learned helplessness theory is the view that clinical depression and related mental illnesses may result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation. Organisms which have been ineffective and less sensitive in determining the consequences of their behavior are defined as having acquired learned helplessness.

I am amazed at how many adults I know, especially women, who will give up so quickly at a technical task (or even just a new task) at the first sign of trouble or not understanding. I've seen it happen with young girls too so I'm a big advocate of helping my children to help themselves. Healthy struggling and then figuring things out helps kids (and adults) become smarter, independent, self-reliant and resourceful. At least that's what my dad told me when I was a kid and he'd make me look things up instead of telling me the answer direct. (Was he being lazy or teaching me to help myself? Possibly both, friends)

I want my kids to know that the journey IS the reward (much of the time, anyway). I want them to be successful in everything they do and I want them to TRY their best. I definitely don't want them living at home when they are 30 (unless they are taking care of their mama) and I want them to have confidence in themselves and their abilities and that comes from trying and succeeding, often after failing multiple times.



I think we are moving in the right direction...

Wheelhouse

Back in February when we were in the midst of "build season" at work (a special time period when software builds are requested in quick succession for testing and eventually fielding), my new co-worker and I were discussing work tasks and skillsets and she mentioned that the task we were discussing was a good one to have in the "wheelhouse". My mind automatically translated "wheelhouse" into "toolbox" or "arsenal" and I agreed (although I cannot recall which specific task/skill we were discussing). I posted a draft blog entry with the subject line and never looked back.

6 months later and I can see so many skills that are nice to have in the old wheelhouse, and I have luckily acquired (or am in the process of acquiring) many of them.

wheelhouse  - n. an English language idiom derived from baseball jargon meaning "area of knowledge".

Scott reminded me that we'd been in an actual wheelhouse a few years back when we stayed on the Queen Mary.

The wheelhouse on the Queen Mary, April 2008

Another View

Funny how there are no pictures of me in the wheelhouse but there is one of Scott.

Now, that was a great trip! Here's to many more trips like that and also, adding things to the wheelhouse!

Community Involvement

I was looking through a box in our office today and found (along with my framed college diploma) a couple of guides from way back. One guide was for a Community Producer program (anyone remember Multimedia Cablevision?) that Scott and I joined to gain some experience in producing television shows. If you were of legal age and a resident of Norman and you completed the workshop, you too could have free access to the studio and air time and have your own show back then.

I can't recall the name of the show (something political) that we worked on for public access but I do recall learning how to pan and truck and switching between camera 1 and camera 2 and working on lighting. That was back around 1997-98. I wish I'd kept anything more than this guide as a memento.

The studio store room had a picture inside of the way things were supposed to look when properly put away after a show. I remember thinking how neat and helpful I thought that was. Maybe it's time to employ that simple idea here at home?

The other guide was from our old church, for updating the church website. We were so involved in that church back then. We took turns hosting/leading or being in a small home study group,  did photography for special events/website/brochures, worked in the Community Care ministry (this was cool as our church hosted a room at the local homeless shelter) and helped keep up the website. I gained a lot of good experience, friends and networking back then.

Of course that was before Emi came along. During that time of busy-ness we were busy with work and extra stuff and we were also going through IVF and Frozen Embryo Transfer trying to start our family. After the last lost following our FET back in 1999, we gave it completely over to God and 2.5 years later, Emi joined the family.

With the mommy duties, my extra community involvement was sidelined for a bit until I contacted our old high school reunion person about the 20 year reunion and updating my contact information. That was when Emi was 2. I got roped (willingly obviously) into organizing our reunion that followed 2 years after that phone call. THAT was an amazing experience.

I loved the technical work of setting up our alumni website and contact database; I loved meeting with the other committee members to design the signs and t-shirts and doing the fundraising thing. I especially loved hunting down the rest of my high school class to invite them to reconnect online and at the reunion.  I was definitely very involved in that effort.  Of course when the 25 year mark came along, I was not quite as interested in helping....maybe for the 30? (I am truly grateful for the friends I made and reunited with for my high school reunion and so glad we still keep in touch.)

[Other books found in that box:  Business Statistics (sadistics), Organizational Behavior Readings (Fall 1994) and Problems & Models in Operative Management (from a MGMT class I took in 1993).]

I am still involved with the community but not at the same depth as I was before (and will be again).

We have a little neighborhood watch (so we know our little community) and we are thickly networked in our children's activities/lives....and that's enough...for now.

That Family

Today we jumped off a cliff and became "that family". That family that has to be in multiple places at the same time because of kiddo activities. We've coasted by for the past couple of years as Emi's extra-curriculars changed up because the Little Ones were too young for team sports. Now our worlds have been rocked because the energy-packed David finally has his own soccer team!

Soccer or Kick Boxing? Who cares? As long as these boys have some sort of outlet, right?

I'm so happy for the little guy too because he has needed his own thing. He is smart and coordinated and strong and energetic; and those characteristics need to be channeled into something good (vice hanging out on the Devil's Playground). I asked his coach to run him ragged and I think he succeeded because during dinner last night, David told Daddy that was was tired. What? I have NEVER (in 2.5 years) heard that boy admit that he's tired.

So this week officially begins the roller coaster ride of getting each kid to their corresponding activity/event/game/party/practice. Can you imagine how CRAZY it will be next year when Aubri starts up with soccer and Emi is in middle school? I'm trying not to panic about it too much in advance.

Emi's on 2 sports teams and in chorus (of course!) and she also wants to be in Science Club and Robotics Club. Luckily she can fit it all in but there may be days where things overlap. I am so proud of my little girl who has all of the confidence in the world. She is loving being a 5th grader and frequently talks about college. I am not sure I even knew what college WAS when I was in the 5th grade (although I spent a lot of time at OU computer labs playing with the card readers back then).

David is on the cusp of reading, if he could just focus. Aubri may be reading before him because she CAN focus. I can relate to David because my mind races too, but I enjoy the opportunity to plop down with a good book. He likes to ask us for made up words in the hopes that he might accidentally spell something sweet or fun.  Can I have an A-O-O-F? Nope, fresh out, buddy!

On a related note: in an effort to help the Little Ones learn more words we've posted lots of words in upper and lower case letters on every day objects. It's working!

Recognizing words... not so much their messes...

I guess with 2 in soccer now I can't escape becoming a "Soccer Mom" now, huh?

Mulligan

Last night started off so promising. I was beat from 4 very busy days at work and all I wanted to do was get to bed. I made dinner for the family and after we got the kids to bed, I took a nice, long, relaxing bath and then I read a couple of chapters of Hunger Games. (Emi and I are both reading the book but she's about 40 pages ahead of me.) Emi had a friend sleeping over so Scott and I decided to watch an episode of Mad Men in the bedroom (we're on season 3). I could barely keep my eyes open for the whole episode so I didn't even try to....

After I dropped off that first time, I was awakened around 1am. Emi and her friend were still awake making noise in the living room, so I got up and told them it was time to go to sleep...then I went back to sleep for another hour...

At 2:20am there was a little hand knocking on our door. It was David and when Daddy got up to see what the problem was, I could hear David stage whispering that he'd had an accident.  [Note: He didn't wet the bed but we'd had a reminder talk earlier in the evening about telling us when he has waited too long to get to the toilet instead of letting us find out on our own or lying about it, so he was really emphatic about letting us know so he wouldn't be in trouble...at 2:20am!]

So we got back to bed and I managed to get back to sleep for an hour and a half! This time it's Aubri beside my bed telling me she's had a bad dream. She's grabbing my hand and when I asked her why her hands were wet, she said it was because she just washed them after she went to the bathroom. At that point I knew that she really hadn't had a bad dream, she was just trying to scam her way into our bed. I walked her to our door and she stood on the left side grabbing at the door. When I asked her what she was doing, she said "Trying to open the door" (while pulling Daddy's robe and towel off the door).  The handle's on the right side of the door...right where it's always been. Did I ever mention that sometimes Aubri reminds me of a little drunkard?

When we got to her room, she said she couldn't get her covers back on her bed. I asked her what they were doing on the floor and she said she fell down.... okee... After I got her tucked back into bed I had about 45 minutes of glorious undisturbed sleep...

Ahhh... TGIF!

Overheard

Thank goodness for texting so that I can recall some of the memorable moments in my life that get tamped down into oblivion with work and life and etc. I like to scroll down my text messages to see some nuggets shared with family and friends about happenings in my family.

We've had some real gems lately...to wit:

In California, the Little Ones' grandpa was saying that he had a Sucker Tree in the backyard and you could pick suckers right off of it. David said "PaPa, you're lying!" and Aubri said " Yeah PaPa, you don't have a backyard!"

Big sister Emi, in an effort to dis David, said that he was "soooo undervocabularied".  I didn't bother checking on the this word as I did in the past.

While in a restroom in Flagstaff, I told Aubri that I wanted to pee in the nice clean restaurant instead of on the road and she said "That would be weird". (Yes, I guess that would be. )

After we returned from California, Aubri told us that her Grandpa Brian gave her an "adult book". When I asked her for more details, she said she'd have to show me. Upon further investigation, she could not find the alleged "adult book". (Not even under her mattress...We think he was trying to give her a grownup book...at least we hope!)

The other night Aubri was giggling and and said something about her GoGo's boobies. I asked her "What about her boobies?" and Aubri said they jiggle. I asked her when she noticed this and she said that they jiggled when GoGo was in the shower. (Apparently she noticed this when getting a new bandaid put on...)

Last night when Scott's parents were over to swim, David looked at his granddad and said "Your nipples are HUGE!"


Hah! They are so innocent in their expressions but it cracks us up!