Fitness Update

Got measured today. In one month I've gained an inch in my calves, an inch and a half in my thighs, lost an inch in my waist, and an inch on my hips. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I lost six inches on my chest. According to the scale at the gym, I've lost three pounds.

9 sessions down, 27 to go.

My trainer. I don't think he's a nice person. But my calves, they look very good. The kid's are beginning to mock me though. Jake says "OW! OW! OW!" when he walks up the stairs. Maybe if I can find a place in the house that casts good shadows I can show you my magnificent calves:)

Sweet.

We were at Nanny's today getting her doors hung properly so they will close well. Jake came in and told me he wanted to show me something "touching". I said "You want me to touch something?" "No, Mom. It will touch your feelings!"
I don't remember Ray making this, but he said he did it 10 years ago when we were still dating. It's in the corner of the garden.

What I've Got

Today I had a little talk with a little old man at the grocery store. He was sent to give me perspective. He strolled up next to me in one of those ride on carts and asked if I was finding any good deals. I said I had stopped paying attention to the price when my kids had gotten so picky, as I reached for the giant elbow macaroni. He asked me how many I was feeding. I said two kids, a boy and a girl. He looked at me and said "Enjoy them. They grow up fast and leave, and you'll miss them." I told him I was planning on enjoying my children, and that I homeschool them, and work hard at having fun with them while I teach them. He told me about his kids and grandkids while I made sure we cleared a good path for the fourteen people trapped behind us. He also told me that he lost his wife last year to a brain tumor and that she died suddenly and unexpectedly. I watched his eyes mist over a bit there, and there's just about nothing sadder than watching an old man swallow down tears. He told me I should make sure and get out into the community and do volunteer work with the kids, get to know more people and try new things. He said no one should just putter around the house. I guess you can see that we talked quite a while.

The truth is that I haven't been appreciating my kids properly. You might think differently when you read my blog, but all the frustrations are weeded out and I show you the highlights. I don't regularly admit that sometimes I sit them down in front of the TV for two hours so I can mindlessly surf the web, or communicate with people that are really just stories and names and personas. And that I sometimes can't communicate with the people that I just parked in front of the TV.

It also seems that I am always running off to another room when my husband comes around. See, he makes me forget the important chore I was about to do when he disarms me with hugs or jokes or chatter about work and hobbies, and Zombie dreams. Tonight I gladly gave up half an hour and tied up store traffic to talk to an elderly stranger, and my husband who promised to love me forever got the brush off because I was afraid I would forget to clip my toenails if I stopped for a kiss.

It's all a bit more in perspective right now.

I told Ray that it was okay by me if he grew old and died first. I would never want him to be a lonely old man. I hope he knew that was my own strange way of saying I love him, and would rather suffer myself than to think he would be lost and alone. I also am reminded that the whole 'til death do us part is just about the most powerful statement of love a person could make. Our hands will be joined when one of us passes long years from now.

I love my family. And I can't make memories without really enjoying the present.

Sushi-Blogging

So here's the sushi I made tonight. It turned out pretty well. Josie ate 6 pieces. Jake will be going through the Krystal drive through. I believe he thinks this is some kind of punishment, because when I told him we would do this for him he tried to stuff more sushi into his mouth.
The thing with sushi is that it is very pretty, but very labor intensive. Not so much the filling and rolling and cutting part, but the washing up afterwards. Four serving plates, four saucers for the soy sauce, a mixing bowl for the rice, a rice spoon, a saucepan for cooking the rice, rolling mat, chopsticks, bowl for washing fingers, six bowls for the separate filling ingredients, a cutting board, and two very sharp knives. It's all coated in a sticky substance with which you could conceivably plaster a house, and expect it to last about 1000 years.

Shower Dog

I've never met a dog who loved to take showers so much. I'm glad my shower has doors because she would jump right in through a curtain. The stains in the carpet may never come out, but at least she's clean.

Soap Making

These are very happy little soaps, yes?

Leave it to Ray to turn soap-making into a morbid exercise.

So Many Things to Know

Today I learned some things from my kids that I didn't know. Other things that I was pleased to know that they noticed. And other things I didn't know they really knew and I'm not sure if they really know what they seem to know:)

Things I didn't know:

1. A chickadee has peculiar flight pattern. They sort of lift and drop as they fly, so that it looks like they undulate. Josie performed the flight of the chickadee for Jake with her hands.

2. Josie showed me the bottom half of the constellation Libra. She likes constellations.

3. If a month starts on a Sunday, there will be a Friday the 13th in that month. (Josie again).

Things I was pleased to know they noticed:

1. While we were out to dinner tonight at a local Japanese restaurant, I was telling them about Indonesia and how many dishes are eaten with your fingers there. Josie replied "Well, that's definitely unsanitary." Jake suggested that if we ever go there we will have to bring the Purell hand sanitizer. I said that was a good idea, but I wonder if that would be considered rude.

2. While we were in the car, I was trying to listen to talk radio over them playing in the back of the car. I don't know why I do this, it's incredibly frustrating trying to make out the words on the radio over all the babble. A little ways into the drive, Josie said to Jake "Hey Jake, maybe we should stop playing for a while, we might be annoying Mama." Wow, that's very observant for someone who has a poor history with being considerate of others.

3. Jake likes how Japanese girls wear flowers in their hair. I didn't want to be a realist and tell him that they only look that way in the paintings. It's nice to think he has that pretty image in his head.

4. Jake decided it was high time something was done about the scrap wood out by the trashcan.
So he got on his safety glasses and found the hammer and some nails and set out to make some kind of weapon. He was hammering outside for quite a long time. He didn't ask me for help even once. He just took the job on.

5. Josie noticed that we passed two Firestone tire shops on the way from Farragut to Bridgewater Rd. And in both of the "O's" in the signs there were birds' nests. She told me yesterday that if she was a bird she wouldn't want to live in an "O" because she would rather have a house with two stories like a capitol "B". She would be more of a Border's bird I guess.

Now, do they really know this? And how far have their little minds taken this? And would they be stunned if they knew people did this, or would they just treat it scientifically the way they do everything else?............

Jake: " Here's the girl chickadee Josie. She's mating with the boy chickadee."

Josie: "No Jake, the girl doesn't go on top. The boy does."

Jake: "Why?"

Josie: "Cause he needs to use the force of gravity so the sperm can trickle down."

Ice Skating

We went ice skating today. The kids had a lot of fun. We'll probably be doing this every Tuesday and/or Thursday. I bought my own set of skates. The rentals made me slide all over the place. Sliding is bad, it's not the same as skating. It makes you do that whoop whoop maneuver, usually accompanied by that whoop whoop sound. Or at least it is in my case. I'll take some pictures next week.

Tomorrow I go hiking with the ladies. Leaving the kids in the hands of Dad. Whoop whoop!

Oink.

Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie from Chili's: 1600 calories, 72 grams of fat. It tasted good, but geez, it wasn't that good! ( Makes me wonder how many times I've indulged in a dessert at a restaurant and consumed more than my daily allowance of calories in less than 10 minutes.) We split it four ways ( except I ate Dharma's ice cream, cause she didn't want much, and I ate Jake's portion of the pie cause he didn't like the nuts, and Josie didn't want any so I had some of hers too). But we split it four ways. Oink.

Jake has an Inspiration!

So I'm downstairs painting some scenery for a friend, and I hear my kids fighting upstairs over a video game. They had been playing video games all day except for when we went to work out. I was really beginning to think that this "unschooling" idea might not work for us because Jake just doesn't seem to be interested or curious about anything but Dragonball Z. He can regale me all day about Goku and Broly, and Vegeta, and who fused and who's a super sayan, and it makes as little sense to me as it does to you. He rarely writes, he only colors or draws if I ask him to, and then it looks like chicken scratches. He reads really well though, and loves to read to me. At night he stays up late reading (Dragonball series of course). But anyway, he just never seems to want to do anything else unless asked. My philosophy was just to let him Dragonball until he was sick of it and moved on. Josie as well with her gaming. My patience was just about out today, and I was really thinking that unschooling is nice for the ideal unschooling child, but it just wasn't going to work for us. So they're fighting and I yell upstairs that they have to turn off the game, and because Jake was especially whiny, he should sit down and read a library book.

Fifteen minutes later, Jake comes downstairs and tells me "I have to paint a sky!" He has a book in his hand about an Indian boy who painted the sky. He was really inspired. I went and got him a canvas, and he picked out the paint colors. He wanted me to set up the easel outside, so we put it out under the basketball goal. First he painted the blue on top, then he painted yellow and orange. He said wanted a sky "You know, when it first starts getting dark." He later added grass and dirt, and told Josie it was a Kansas sky. I sat and watched them both paint pictures.

Later I took pictures of him jumping off the swing, and playing with the dog. They also had fun letting a daddy long legs crawl all over them, even their faces. At that point I got the heebies and went in, but I did love seeing them just get out of their rut and do something interesting, without me having to force anything. And my boy has decided he is a great artist.

I don't want a donut today.

So I have this doctor who's sort of a pioneer around here. The mission in her office is not just to treat illness, but to make sure her patients are as healthy as they can be. So I go into her office three weeks ago and get a blood test and some other strange tests I've never heard of, and found out that I have deficiencies and issues that I didn't suspect. To make a long story short (kind of) I've been instructed to remedy my health situation by taking about 7 different supplements, and making sure that I get my fruits and vegetables. I have also joined a gym and gotten a personal trainer. Exercise will be a new hobby for me. It's the first time I've decided to exercise because I want to be healthy, and not because I'm oozing out of my tankini. Fortunately, exercising for my health will also help me in the swimsuit department.

So it's been about a week since I've started eating really healthy and taking all of my supplements (28 pills a day!), and I feel GREAT! Seriously, I looked at my clean face in the mirror last night and I looked like I had blush on and had some pink in my lips. My eyes seemed greener. I know it sounds wierd, but I can see it. And it also helps that I feel so good about myself because I'm actually doing it right.

I especially am interested in how the Omega 3's are working on me. I got some for the kids in liquid form, but it tastes terrible, so I think I will try to find a good supplement for them in pill form and make sure they take their vitamins every day as well. I've heard that Omega 3's are very helpful for kids who are a bit attention deficit, because it works on you neurologically. Probably explains why asian kids are so focused. It's their parents and maybe all the fish.

Day One of Personal Fitness Challenge

I'm headed out the door to meet a personal trainer named Abel. He's going to challenge me, apparently. Got my Primatene Mist, yo.

Update: Basically, met my trainer who measured me. Learned some interesting things, like I have the calves of a long-distance runner, yay, but the abs of someone who runs to Dunkin Donuts a bit too often, boo.

There Goes My Diet

Oh no. Now I hear I'm supposed to support Dunkin Donuts, because they have a strict policy against hiring illegals. Please don't give me a political reason to eat their chocolate frosted doughnuts. It's like all the patriotic Americans have me vulnerable in a bomb shelter, scooting real close and whispering dreamily: "We may never have the chance again baby. C'mon do it for your country!" Funny how that little scenario would lead to a expanding waistline and years of regret. Just like giving me free rein to eat doughnuts for America. And don't tell me "Well, just get the coffee. Or the bran muffin." Puh-leeez! Who goes into Dunkin' Donuts for the freakin' bran muffins?! Really. Me ordering a bran muffin in Dunkin Donuts is like sending a man into a brothel for a haircut. They're just there for show anyway. If you asked for one, they would probably look at you funny while they dusted it off.

On the other side of the coin, I'm really not fond of Applebee's. And I'm supposed to support them for the same reason. I'm sorry but I'll support them hiring real Americans when they start serving real food. What's up with those riblet things? It's just itty bitty meat that's messy and full of gelatinous fat. It's the stuff I normally cut off, and they charge me for it. Plus, I've never gotten good service at an Applebee's. My sister disagrees and tells me that there was once a really exceptional waiter there who was a magician and could make a cigarette levitate over the table. Magic is all about distraction by the way. She forgot how dreadful those riblets taste, and gave him a big tip I'm sure.

Buffalo Skin Books

Here's our "Buffalo Skin". It's really goat rawhide. He was an Afghani buffalo I guess. We're going to make two books out of it. It's in the bathtub because we had to dampen it and lay it flat. Originally we were going to burn pictographs into it to tell a story, but the lady at Leatherworks said it would be more authentic to use vegetable dyes and paint the story that way. We got a hole punch and lacing so they can sew it up when they're done, and we'll use beet juice and strong coffee for the paint.

Getting Off My Butt Again

Last month started out well school-wise. I had small packets of schoolwork for them to do every morning. They had to be finished with it in order to have their free time. It worked out pretty well, but still learning seemed like a boring chore. I sort of fell off around the 20th and we puttered around the rest of the month. I'll have to sit down and itemize September just like I did August. We still got things accomplished, just not as in-depth as I would have wished.

This month is going to be more fun. We'll have the regular math, reading, and writing, but I'm starting in on American history. Our history book touches on early Americans, including the really mysterious ones like the Anasazi and the Mound People (or Hopewells). I'm also going to get some Indian folktales, and movies like Brother Bear and Pocahantas, and maybe Indian in the Cupboard to read to them at bedtime. I guess I will have to divide the book into seven parts so that we will get through it in a week. I'm also going to search for some art ideas that go along with the Native American theme.