It's in Her Nature

Weather is a nutty thing. It can change on a dime when you lease expect it. I remember as a child looking outside in my front yard to see it raining, then going to the backyard window only to see the sun shining. Well, last night when I went to bed it was foggy. I woke up this morning to see it was overcast and freezing outside. Then after doing some cleaning around the house, the sun began to shine. Next, I got online to fiddle around on myspace for a bit. Suddenly I look up to see it hailing like crazy. As I type this blog only minutes later, the sun is shining again. That's your guarantee that Mother Nature is truly female (besides the maternal title of course)...we love to change our minds...:)

Keepin On

Okay, so this is always the strangest time of year to me...the period between Christmas and New Years. It just feels like time is in limbo for whatever reason. I haven't been ultra-productive this week, but I managed to get a few key things done. Ever since I was pregnant with my firstborn, I have adopted the attitude that if you get even one thing on your "to-do" list checked off, then it's been a good day. It took me a long time to truly apply it though. When my list became miles long, I had no choice but to be content with getting little things accomplished here and there or I would drive myself crazy with worry. So that is how I have approached this week. I was battling a bad sinus headache and major fatigue. I chalk it up to everything catching up with me all at once. You know when you are going all the time like the Energizer Bunny, eventually something has to give.

As lethargic as I have felt, the good news is that I have started to lose weight again. My weight had stalled over the last month and a half due to excessive snacking on holiday treats. It also doesn't help that I have a weakness for egg nog, the fattiest drink ever! Anyhow, I woke up this morning to the pleasant surprise of having lost 2 more pounds. I started out this weight-loss journey at...dare I say it...158 lbs. Yikes! That was the most I'd ever weighed in my life, except for when I was pregnant with my son (got up to 188 lbs), but I managed to lose all of it back then. I got up to 158 while I was back in school, working on my masters. Don't know why, but I just packed on the pounds. Anyway, I've been trying to lose the extra weight for a year, but it has been slow-going. It took me 8 months to lose just 5 lbs. However, once I went back to work this fall, the pounds just started coming off. My goal is to get down to somewhere between 130 - 135 lbs. I figure that is a good maintenance weight for me. Right now, I am at 144, so I have at least 10 more to lose, but I have faith that with time and effort it will happen. It feels good to finally be back to my pre-pregnancy weight though...it's been awhile. Now I would love to get down to my pre-marital weight...:) Dare I make it a New Year's resolution? I think I'll just say if at first I don't succeed, I will try, try again.

A Very Merry Christmas

I know, I know, I haven't been very good about updating these past months. So here goes the whole week in one breath. It was nutty at work right up until the last day before vacation. We had a Christmas singalong in the morning at the school, which the students loved. We got to rock out to some classic tunes and everyone threw caution to the wind in favor of having a jolly good time. They weren't too thrilled with me for cutting out early and leaving them with a sub, but I didn't wanna drive over the pass at night. I left them in good hands with some holiday treats to bribe them. So hopefully they enjoyed their afternoon activities and were good for my sub, I haven't been back to work to find out yet since we are on winter break now.

So anyhow, I got the kids rounded up and the car packed for the trip. I made the drive without hubby. He wasn't able to come, so I braved the conditions without him and was very proud of myself. I put chains on the car all by myself for the first time ever! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I went slow so that I could be sure nothing went wrong. The only problem I faced was when I tried to remove one of the chains, it temporarily got caught on something behind the wheel. It took several minutes to remove it. Once the kids and I got back on the road, all went fine...though the drive over took us 5 hours instead of the usual 3 1/2 due to the icy roads.

On Saturday morning, I went with my mom to run errands. It was a lot of fun actually to go just the two of us. She and I have had a rough go of it in recent months, so it felt really nice to check our egos at the door for a change. We truly enjoyed one another and that's what I had been missing. She even honored a strange birthday request I had made weeks earlier of her. She took me to pick out a receipe holder and promised to write down some of my childhood favorites. That really made my day that she had remembered. Later on, we made an interesting stop to pick up the food. My parents had been keeping our dinner a mystery, only mentioning that they were trying something new. We ended up going to Taco Del Mar to pick up the food, which ended up tasting pretty good. It was unusual to have it in place of our usual buffet of finger foods, but it worked out really well because everyone loved it.

My whole family came over to spend time together. I got to see my cousin's new baby, who is adorable in every sense of the word. She definitely got the best of both of her parents and is gonna be a stunner one day. We opened up presents, which is the best part for all of us. We take a slow and patient approach. Some families prefer the free-for-all, but my parents always insisted that we open each gift one at a time. The idea is so that we can enjoy watching each other's reaction and seeing what each person got. It prolongs the fun and teaches us all to practice patience. Anyhow, my mom finally got to the present I had been waiting for months to give her. She saw that I had given her a book called, Chicken Soup for the Working Mom's Soul. Her initial reaction was "oh thank you" and I could tell she wasn't sure why I'd give this particular book to her. She continued to seem confused when I insisted she read the short story that was bookmarked. My dad had accidentally found out about the book earlier in the day, so he was trying to help me to get my mom to read the story amid the many conversations taking place in the room (it was the last gift opened). She began to read the first few lines and a sudden realization set in. She looked up at me with the proudest expression I've ever seen on her face. She asked me in disbelief if this story was by me and I told her yes, while feverishly snapping photos to capture the moment. The whole idea had been my hubby's and he wanted to see her reaction. She got up and gave me a great big hug and told me how proud she was of me. That was the best present right there. Check out the play by play...

The night continued on as I visited with my family. I took my niece and another cousin to see "I Am Legend." It was incredibly scary, but a fantastic movie. The next day, we had planned to go sledding, but the weather turned really yucky. So instead, I packed up the kids and headed home a little early to beat the winter storm that was on its way. It was a a wonderful weekend with my family.

Then on Christmas Eve, hubby surprised me by calling to say he was getting off earlier than expected. I had thought I would spend another family get-together without him, thankfully we didn't have to. We drove down to Salem to spend the evening with the other side of my family. Everyone was eating when we arrived, so we dug right into the food and then opened presents. Another gread gift I was able to give was to my natural father. He had lent me a journal about 10+ years ago, but I had misplaced it. Well, about a week ago, I found it. Let's just say that my dad was VERY happy to get it back FINALLY. I also got to read aloud my short story and my family made me feel so good. They were really proud of me. One of the things I love about this annual family Christmas celebration is that we play a raucious game of Balderdash. Everyone gets really into it and it is an awesome bonding experience. Since we only get to do it once a year, most everyone plays. This year I even won, though my uncle was a very close second. I was sad to call it a night, but we had to get home.


On the way back, we drove around some neighborhoods so that the kids could look at the Christmas lights on all the houses. It's one of our family traditions. Then when we got home, the kids changed into their pajamas. They wrote a note to Santa, left out some cookies and milk, and I read aloud Twas the Night Before Christmas. The next morning, we watched the kids open all of their gifts. They loved all their presents and hubby made us a yummy breakfast. Since we were gonna celebrate this coming weekend with Kevin's family, we just spent a quiet day at home, doing very little while the kids played. All in all, it was a very merry holiday!

O'Tannenbaum

Hubby, the kids, and I went out this past weekend to Loch Lolly's Christmas Tree Farm. They are a tad on the spendy side, but you get a whole experience there. In addition to finding a great tree, we got to sip some hot chocolate, interact with the geese on their scenic pond, browse the gift shop, and take pictures with Santa himself. The kids had an absolute ball. They got to tell 'Ol St. Nick what they wanted in their stockings, so that was fun to watch. Later that night, we went over to our friends' home as usual for us. However, Rosie and I took the boys to see a Christmas concert later that night and had a wonderful time. After a couple of days, we finally got the tree up and decorated it. That finally got the house looking more festive. Even though I'd adorned the house about two weeks before, the tree really completes the look I think. It's just doesn't feel like Christmas until the tree is up and glowing with lights. Now I just have a few more things to get to finish my Christmas shopping. Can't wait to celebrate the holidays!

A Long Walk

So I as I approach another birthday, I am taking a good look at where I've been and how far I've come. I thought that my childhood was nutty and then I reached adolescence. I thought that teendom was a wild ride, that is, until I reached my roaring twenties. Just when I thought I'd grown out of the whole coming-of-age thing, I hit thirtysomething. Suffice it to say, I am finally comfortable in my own skin, but every decade seems to bring it's own set of highs and lows. It's been a long walk, to say the least. I loved the freedom that my twenties brought. It was when I had all the major milestones such as graduating from college, getting married, and having children (and not necessarily in that order).

However, I think that my thirties have been my favorite time overall, and I don't say that just because it is my present-day existence. I've had some intense struggles in the last few years, but have also made incredible strides on a personal level. I feel as though I truly know myself at long last. Also, I possess a confidence that was missing for years. That doesn't mean I can always put myself out there, but the fact that I am a teacher is an amazing feat for me. To be 'on' everyday, all day, is very taxing. The biggest milestones I've hit in my thirties have been graduating with my masters and becoming a teacher. These are goals that were always on the horizon, but never really thought I'd achieve them.

I started out in life with the hope of becoming a Japanese interpreter, an author, or a social worker in either child welfare or adoption. After being an exchange student and studying Japanese, I realized that I loved the culture and the language. Yet I didn't feel confident that I could make a career out of it. It was halfway through school that I suddenly felt that social services was my calling. After ten years in that field, I burned out on every level. That field can take such an emotional toll after awhile. Then I discovered that I was a pretty damn good teacher and thought, why not? So here I am today...teaching. It's not the craziest job I've ever had (that title belongs to my days working in residential treatment). However, teaching is right up there with all the good, the bad, and the ugly. Education has an underbelly, or rather a dark side, but the pure joy of imparting wisdom to children can't be beat.

In my personal life, I have to say that though I've made been on a rollercoaster of a relationships. Some have been heaven-sent, while others have been complete disasters. My hubby and kids make me laugh, smile, and cry like it's nobody's business...which is part of the package we call family. All in all, I think things have turned out alright for the first 34 years of my life. It's a bit crazy sometimes, but I have faith that everything happens for a reason. I know that sounds so cliche, but it's so true. Okay, enough reflection! Mirrors are overrated anyway...:)

A Myriad of Things

Well, it's been so long since my last post that I just don't even know where to begin. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, report cards, and a host of other things have come and gone. We spent a weekend with my family in Bend to celebrate an early Thanksgiving. That was an interesting time. I love my family and had fun with them, but sometimes one relative in particular can be a bitter pill to swallow whenever I am around this person. I love 'em with all my heart and have learned to deal, but sometimes this person pushes one two many buttons...so I temporarily pull back from them until I have had time to process everything and move past it. This is a big deal for me as I am NOT a grudgeholder, but this person can be. However, I am hopeful that time can heal this particular wound as it hurts. I don't want to say who they are, I just wanted to vent a little bit.

On a brighter note, we spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family and stuffed ourselves silly with wonderful food. As abrasive as my SIL can be, she makes a mean spinach dip that I couldn't get enough of. Then to work off the feast, I took my son Christmas shopping with me on Black Friday. He was all gung ho to hit the stores, even at the blurry hour of 4:30 in the morning. We were both tired, but terribly alert for this expedition. We started out with Kohl's big sale and thought we were the early birds. Turns out that everybody and their mom had the same idea. The parking lot was completely packed and the checkout line wrapped around the entire store! I couldn't believe how insane it was out there. I couldn't really find anything that I wanted to buy so badly that I would waste an hour or more waiting in line. So Nicky and I went to shop to Fred Meyer's and found quite a bit. We followed up several other stops, including a little break at Starbucks for hot chocolate. I had taken Kirsten to a baby shower the weekend before, so it was so nice to spend the day with Nicky. I was so proud of how well he held up during that loooooong day of shopping. We put in at least 6-7 hours and I still have more to get!

I also made it through my first trimester of teaching school and even breezed through report cards. They weren't nearly as hard as I had feared they would be. I am still learning tons and constantly tweaking my lessons for the better. It feels like turning the pages of the book, just when you think you've finished, there's more. Anyhow, I feel better going into this trimester and got a good evaluation from my principal, so woohoo on both counts.

On a completely separate note, I watched an episode of Dancing with the Stars awhile back and heard a great song that I wanted to share. It has become one of my favorites and is called "Get Ready, Set, Don't Go." It is a duet between Billy Ray Cyrus (whom I've been having strange dreams about lately) and his daughter Miley. I am amazed that this is the same person who once sang the cheesy "Achy Breaky Heart." He has come a long way since his mullet days, I'll say that much. I think Miley definitely has a bright future in showbiz too. Check out this video clip from Youtube and enjoy! The dancers do a beautiful job also!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBJcc0LcYos