this and that

Spring is here, summer is near. I know this because last night, after a hard workout at the Y, I ate a salad on my porch while Jake played catch with himself throwing a green Nerf ball high into the air. Nori was impressed. It seems like our whole neighborhood is alive again and suddenly there are people to talk to and little kids wiping out on scooters in our front yard. Can't wait until the ice cream truck rolls on by at 4:55 p.m., just before dinnertime.

At daycare the little kids only have one more unit left before they abandon their curriculum for the swingset. So far this year they have studied the following units: Rainforest Explorer, Treehouse Club, Transportation Station, Suitcase Senses, Dinosaur Dig, Fury Friends, Going on Safari, Cowboys, Dunes and Deserts and next month is Food & Fitness. And I have the art projects to prove it. My favorite was when she came home with a camel who "humped" around instead of walking, as in "the camel, hump hump". Just wait until she hits the public schools!

I am feeling better, more energized and positive. International travel and time changes kicked my butt but hopefully I am getting back on track. On the home front, we did look at some houses which was thought-provoking! Our current mood does not have us moving soon as looking mainly served to remind us what we love about our home and neighborhood (mainly the frozen pipes and half-woodies in the driveway next door). But, if the right opportunity came along, you never know. We did the terrible thing of making a budget for ourselves (which I do not recommend). This little exercise allowed us to create different scenarios and gave us insight into changes we could make to have a better work/life balance. Being a working mom is not easy and I am entitled to a freak out now and again. Luckily, I have a supportive husband who doesn't let my crazy phase him...

Mr. SoS

Home sweet home!

unpacking!

After 3 glorious nights at the exclusive Hotel Ho, I can only say I am now addicted to the K-Cup coffee maker. The accommodations were luxurious, I give it 5 stars. A major thanks to Missy and family for having us there and letting us eat your food. Hugs to Kona, the chocolate lab, who had her ACL surgery on Friday... may you run free again one day after weeks of intensive canine physical therapy.

This is how we do it...

Gramps & Nor

Our travels then brought us south to Winona to reclaim our beloved pooch, Dorothy, who spent some quality time with her grandparents. Again, we ate others' food and drank their coffee. I must say the pork rib eyes here are not to be missed!

Char thinks Nori could be chick magnet if he took out to the park

Finally, home again in our own (full-size) bed. This has come up quite a bit recently and I will admit, we have a full-size bed. Yes, Jake is 6'2 and his ski-like feet hang off the end but if he curls up in a ball, he is fine. It's a pillow top I got in college and I love it. It is the secret to our 8 year marriage, as it ensures cuddling! Anyway, our floors are redone and furniture moved back. We had major dust cleaning to do but we back in business on Laurel Avenue. We missed you, house.

Finally, Happy 58th Birthday Dad! Happy 9th Birthday Mekensie! Happy 2nd Birthday Liam! Hope you each had an age-appropriate time!

Happy Earth Day!

Getting to Know You Wednesday

I borrowed this post idea from my pal Sabrina who borrowed it from someone named Michelle . Although she does a Getting to Know You Tuesday and she does a Getting to Know You Sunday. And it's Wednesday now.

1. Mens chests..hair or hairless?

As long as the butt is not hairy, I don't care.

2. How often do you run red lights?

Only when I drive down University Avenue most days.

3. If you could raid any celebrity's closet..whose would you raid?

Blossom!

4. Would you rather have more followers on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog?

I would have to say in real life and then when they are following me I would try to lose them by running red lights.

5. What makes you feel sexy?

Cookie dough

6. I get excited when...........?

I have day off, a clean house, and time with my family. Also, it is very fun to eat dessert on the couch and work our way through the DV-R queue. After reading classics, of course. Ooh, and vacations!

7. Are you the "outdoorsy" type or more "indoorsy"?

I like to look at nature through double-pained windows.

8. Would you rather have your dream home or a million dollars?

I would take the cash, quit my job and see where "the current" takes me. My mom always used to say"If I won a million dollars, I would just live off the interest", but we now all know that's because she would be shopping away the principle.

One of my students!

Nick Alms Feature Story - Feature Stories - CCE News - College of Continuing Education

Skip to my Lou

sing along

Little Deuce Coupe (misheard lyrics)

HEARD AS: "Little blue scoop..."
HEARD AS: "Little loose screw..."
HEARD AS: "Little poop scoop..."

REAL LYRIC: "Well, I'm not braggin, babe..."
HEARD AS: "Well, I'm not pregnant, babe..."

REAL LYRIC: "If I had a set of wings, man, I know she could fly."
HEARD AS: "...man, an ocean could fly."
HEARD AS: "If I had a set of winged men I know that would fly."

REAL LYRIC: "She's my little deuce coupe. You don't know what I got."
HEARD AS: "Oh, you're my little loose tooth. You don't know what I got."
HEARD AS: "Little two scoop, you don't know that I'm gone"
HEARD AS: "Little bit scoop, Mr. Know-What-I-Got..."
HEARD AS: "Little douche poop, vinegar in my eye..."
HEARD AS: "My little moose-coop..."
HEARD AS: "She's my little bit of skirt..."

REAL: "And she purrs like a kitten 'til the lake pipes roar."
HEARD AS: And she purrs like a kitten 'til the lake bites roar."
HEARD AS: "And She Purrs Like A Kitten 'Til The Late Bikes Read"
HEARD AS: "And She Purrs Like A Kitten 'Til The Late Night Roars"

REAL LYRIC: "I get pushed outta shape..."
HEARD AS: "I get goose-down shade..."

Help me, Rhonda!

We are family!

Bu-sy weekend! The briefest of recaps goes like this. Thursday night we spoke at LSS on our adoption experience and open birth family relationship before heading over to our first LifeGroup with 4 other couples from Bloom. It was really fun, we got the good group! We talked about our spiritual journeys (or lack there of) and ate cheese. On Friday, I cleaned my ENTIRE 3 story house all by myself. It took me ALL DAY but our realtor liked my efforts. I did manage to squeeze in my mom's oncologist appointment where we heard the good news that her scan was still clear! On Saturday, I did my once weekly workout, BodyPump, then we had more relatives at my house including Jake's family who came for the baseball game. That night, we headed over to Mc's to celebrate Liam's second birthday with a yummy backyard BBQ. This morning we manned (no Seltz'ed) the Welcome Team at church before crashing into a heap of nap.

Riding Ollie, my toy from 79!

A shout out to all the family & friends we got to see this weekend, in order: Holly, Harley, Tasha, Cindy, Pastor Danny & Stephanie, Joel & Rachael, Marie & Josh, Lizzie & Micah, Aunt Jill, Dr. Dudek, Aunt Emmy, Brenda the BodyPump instructor, Papa Michael, Uncle Sam, Steve & Liz, Ellen, Jack, Andy, Lo Lo, KennaBear, Liam, Pat & Ang, Casey, Aunt Tracy and Bertha, the lady we drive to church who sleeps the whole time..

So popular!

Speaking of exhausted, we are burning out at the pace of life and thinking of making some major changes. As in sex changes, Jake wants to become a lady. Or maybe a move? But only if we can at least break even on our house. We love our home and neighborhood so this is not an easy decision. Please pray for us as we try to make some decisions to keep our family first and create more quality time in our lives. It may not happen but I think we are going to try and see what new opportunities may come our way.

clean, dry and even, gasp, warm?

Finally, remember the freeze/flood of 2010? Well, the kitchen floor was repaired and exterior walls insulated while we were in Mexico, but the rest of the downstairs gets the royal treatment next week so if you need us, we will be at Ho's for the best slumber party ever. Too bad it's not pool weather yet! Dorothy is on vacay in Winona where she has already found and eaten a dozen cupcakes intended for a bridal shower. Oopsies!

Wouldn't you just love...

to live here?

Groupon

Click this link to see great group discounts on lots of good, local stuff. I did.

How It Works

1. Each day we feature something cool to do at an unbeatable price.
2. You only get it if enough people join that day… so invite your friends!
3. Check back the next day for another awesome Groupon!

Still have questions? Check out the FAQ

Where's my current?

Free lunchtime yoga no more. My colleague /yoga instructor is quiting and here is her reply when I emailed her about her plans (I need to be more like this):

I plan to volunteer A LOT, get some more classes going, learn about Native
Americans, and basically just see where the current takes me!  It will also
be a time of reflection so I can figure out where to head to next.
It's truly been great to work with everyone! 

Thanks for being such a wonderful spirit :D

Not PG-13

Do you wonder about all the stuff I don't write about because it's not kosher? Like how my Papa was ALL about getting Viagra until he found out a prescription costs $50. How do I know this, you ask? Well, he told me and asked me to blog about it in case anyone reading was interested in a date. Or how my Aunt Jill calls me to describe in detail the pee-oh-are-en videos she sees on her Blackberry when attempting to look at this blog? And then she keeps looking at them, even showing them to innocent, church-going, voice of an angel , Cousin Abby! Or how my Aunt Wendy's status updates on Facebook, include adjectives like "beefy" and "skinny granny ass" and vivid descriptions like this one, "I just sneezed a carrot out of my nose about 20 feet .... the only thing that could have made it better was if one of my cats had caught it in their mouth!"?

Surely, you start to wonder how I turned out so proper and dignified. I wonder that, too.

yes, we still have a dog

Dorothy

is not

a vegan

Awesome ride on the Harley hog today, just love wearing my black leather in the hot sun while I go deaf from the noise pollution. Yeah right. BTB, it is so easy to totally brainwash your children, I now have mine yelling "too loud" whenever a motorcycle goes by.

Chocoholic

Devastatingly, the weekend has come to a conclusion. My life is too busy, I want to hide. If I must get up and go to work everyday, then I insist on enjoying some down time before I crack. When? I do not know. Jake is back in Charlotte, NC tomorrow, I have to work late this week and have non-stop student appointments, on Thursday we speak on a panel at LSS and start our Bloom Lifegroup, and then next Friday poor Hol has her annual nerve-wrackingCT scan. Thinking of moving to a shack in the woods to subsist off of wild berries and Zone bars.

Cousin Mekensie comes through with the hand-me-down toys!

Notice the "hair" on the handle bars

Now we just need a helmet...

Happy Birthday to Tasha!

We sent her flowers and left her a message. She does not read this blog but I wanted you to think of her today as she is a wonderful person and we so blessed to know her. Here is a link to some touching videos done by birth mothers about their adoptions.

Work/Life Unbalance

Life - Work

Ever since I got back from my trip, I have been struggling to feel normal again. Maybe it is jet lag? Or culture shock? Or spring fever? Generally, I am feeling tired, overwhelmed, and very emotional about my daughter growing up so fast. I feel like I want to quit to my job right this minute and stay home with her, suffocating her with love while capturing every second of her precious childhood on video. Is that healthy?

I hesitate to even mention this because I don't think I felt this way before my trip and I might not feel this way next week, but it's how I feel lately. Working away from home is demanding, especially when the tied-for-first-place-very-best-thing-that-has-ever-happened-to-you is only miles away and would LOVE to play outside with you and then cuddle up for nap. What to do? Probably toughen up and let it pass, but it's not easy. Being a responsible grown-up is hard!

True story

This morning I was ironing a shirt so Nori was with me in the laundry room, pushing buttons on the washer. Then, I hear her singing this as she clicked the buttons:

"Click-clock. On the clock an' the party don't stop. Whoa-oh-oh"

I asked her where she learned THAT song and she said "I love that song on the computer!". I can only think of one person who plays her music on the computer. At least she didn't ask to brush her teef with a bottle of Jack.

Happy Easter!!

Too many muffins...

Blueberry for breakfast and corn for supper. Plus, I had corn salad for lunch and corn-on-the cob for supper. Something is not balanced over here.

I did however have a great Thursday night with my Winona girlfriends, Susie, Ann, Stacey, Jill and Katie over at preggo Ann's house enjoying yummy homemade pizza, salad and such. There may have been much talk about breastfeeding and deflatedness, of which I know nothing about -perky boobs forever. Or as my coworker Teresa called them, "sport boobs, perfect for jogging".

Today Lo, Kenna & Missy joined Gramise, Nori & I for a playdate and the debut of my indie film, Cancun 2010. It's narrated by Jimmy Buffet (rumor has it I might be up for a statue, it's that amazing).

That's all I got right now, riveted?

World Autism Awareness Day

\
Is today! The acronym is WAAD (really?) which is terrible but the cause is not! Learn more here...

Easter

If you are looking for a church and want to join us at Bloom this Easter, we would be happy to have you! We are starting a new series called Finding Meaning. Jake & I are on the Welcome Team so we have the honor of greeting people and handing out stuff. Makes us feel important.