New Years Eve

MC is taking me to a Winterhawks game and dinner...we may meet up with my sister's "party RV" that will be tooling around town later that evening. What I'm most looking forward to is that marvelous New Year's midnight kiss.

Weakness

I have a weakness. They are called Lindt Truffles Extra Dark. Delicious dark chocolate shell and smooth filling.

None of that Hershey chocolate nightmare. This is the real thing when it comes to chocolate. (yes...I'm a snob when it comes to chocolate treats...)

I'm addicted. its 7:28AM and I just ate the last one.

All is right in the world at this moment.

Changes...

There is nothing quite like ruminating on changing your life at 8AM on a Thursday morning.

My thought process:

I'm looking out at a gray sky and wishing that if it was going to look so cold and dark that it would at least give us a little more snow...

Snow would mean its cold, however, and I can't go running if its that cold cuz I can't breathe.

Which reminded me of how hard it was to breathe in general when I first started.

And that took me to lifestyle changes and what I'm going to do in the New Year...

So, in an effort of looking back...In the past year, I've accomplished the following:

1. Worked a lot
2. Stayed married (harder sometimes than I thought...hahaha)
3. Dejunked my house and junked up the garage
4. Finished all house projects (getting ready to sell)
5. Found two potential renters that are waiting on me
6. Lost 37 pounds and went down 6 BMI points
7. Lost custody of the kids to Cruella Deville
8. Travelled all over Oregon
9. Took up geocaching
10. Started running

Not that those are the top 10 necessarily...but those are the ones I want to spend a little time on in this blog.

1. I'm now working from home. Very convenient as I sit in my pj's typing this, BUT...I miss the water cooler. I miss being interrupted every few minutes with a question...all I do these days is put the nose to the grindstone and actually work work work. I'm at least 10% more productive at home with noone to talk to than I was at work with quick trips to the coffee shop or just hangin' out with my coworkers chatting about the weekend or the evening or details about a project or two.

2. I stayed married. I laugh, but I consider that a real accomplishment this year. This is actually all part of numbers 2, 3, 4, and 7....so, I stayed married, dejunked my house, finished all house projects and we lost the kids in the custody battle. Those last three really put a huge strain on my marriage to MC. We were both so stressed out....trying to get the house ready to sell...trying to figure out the whole custody thing...trying to understand why the law automatically thinks a woman is a better parent...just because she is a woman. (especially since Cruella Deville can be evil, mean, and just plain psycho...)

5. In the absence of selling we have two renters on the hook right now...actually one that is willing to look at a lease option to buy. We're just waiting on MC's call to duty....please let it come soon...please!

6. Ahhhh...the great weight loss saga. Those 37 pounds actually have only been gone since starting this process in July. Prior to that I probably gained 37 pounds. :) But, for the purposes of this blog...in looking back, I've made some big lifestyle changes for MC and I to help us reduce our waist sizes. I've been reading up on cholesterol and blood sugar and crying into my water jug that I'm at an age where those words are realities in my life. *sigh* You can't be young forever, I suppose. and with adding number 10 to this one...much of that loss and increase in stamina has come from running. I'm down to a 12 minute mile. Ha! Thats way better than I was when I started (17 min/mile) and I run about 6-8 miles a week...

8. Traveling...I love it. It makes me happy to jump from location to location and see cool things. I've been to every corner of Oregon this year and most of the places in between. I saw the Oregon caves, I went to the beach, I camped in the mountains, I crawled through the Crack in the Ground, I drove so far and long that my alternator gave out in LaGrande...Gaaah. Now that was an adventure. And now adding number 9 to the mix...I geocached in the high desert, through streams and marsh, in parking lots, on the side of the freeway, up in trees and behind rocks. Its been a great adventure that I will continue for many years...

So....now what do I do with this information? New Years is only a few days away and it will soon be time for me to put on paper my goals...what will I put on my list next year? What will I be striving to accomplish? How will I continue to better myself, my marriage, my life in general.

Its almost too much for 8AM on a Thursday morning.

By the way....we got snow!!!

A Christmas miracle! It suddenly started snowing big fat flakes at 11:50 on Christmas day. It snowed on and off for about 3 1/2 hours then disappeared. It was wonderful and beautiful and the perfect gift.

Merry Christmas!

A December birthday

The younger turned 8 today...

He and his dad went to WONDERLAND...a nickle-video arcade place that MC used to frequent in high school. They played all kinds of video games and won tickets to cash in for a prize. When the prize guy found out it was Chortles birthday his 12 tickets turned into 895 tickets. Thank you video game man for letting him pick out so much junk...errrr....treasure.

He got secret agent stuff from me and his father. Secret agent pens/decoder and a secret agent message launcher. I fully expect to find scraps of secret agent paper all over the house for the next week. I hope one of them says to give me a big kiss.

My mom/stepdad sent him a card with 8 dimes taped to it. He was so excited to put them in his piggy bank. $0.80 is almost enough for a dollar store trip. He can't wait until he's 10 and gets a full $1.00!

MC's parents gave him K'nex. His favorite build'em things. This set has a MOTOR in it. He can't wait to build a windmill. I checked out the how-to guide and requested a peacock. Very cool toys kids have these day.

Little miss giggle was really excited to help open the package. There was "SO MUCH PAPER" on it...they ripped and tore it and he got to use his new pocket knife.

Oh yes...8 is a coming of age and is rewarded with a first pocket knife. After a lesson on whats what he became quite the little expert in opening, closing and cutting carefully with his new sharp blade.

I think Its been a good day today.

I want snow!

Snowflakes

Out of the bosom of the Air.

Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Silent and soft and slow

Descends the snow.



Even as our cloudy fancies take

Suddenly shape in some divine expression,

Even as the troubled heart doth make

In the white countenance confession,

The troubled sky reveals

The grief it feels



This is the poem of the air,

Slowly in silent syllables recorded;

This is the secret of despair,

Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,

Now whispered and revealed

To wood and field.



Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Half full...

Here it is just after 5pm and I am now home from a long day at work. Started early today and had to host a conference at the NIKE campus.

Now its just after 5pm (I think I said that already...) and its dark outside and I've got to eat some dinner before Mr. C and I rush off to Gag's choir concert then take her out afterward for a b-day dessert.

I would rather go running right now.

So I'm feeling a little frustrated about that...but because I'm trying really hard to be a glass half full kind of girl I thought about all the people in this world that are in my position but have a dog to take care of too...then I thought about people with a dog and a cat...then a dog and a cat and a kid...then a dog and a cat and 6 kids...

...and a hamster.

And suddenly my little grump about not being able to go running right now seems much less grumpable than it did a few minutes ago.

I just can't believe there are women and men in this world that can juggle job, animals, spouse, kid(s) and still manage to exercise.

I'm humbled and impressed.

Teach me o' wise ones...I sit at your feet...

Secret Agent

I'm working from home right now. And YES, I was actually working. This blog is a much needed break right before I get dressed to go running at the HS track. So, anyway...

I've been playing secret agent trying to figure out what is going on in our culdesaq with the water guys. I know I could probably walk out there and just ask, but how do you think these men would react to frumpy "housewife" still in pjs at 11AM? Good grief - I'm still in my slippers and you should see the state of my hair. Fortunately, I don't mind that much as I consider pjs and nightmare hair as one of those perks of working at home.

Little do they know that my work is superbly important to the universe. I am saving the world by saving energy just a little at a time...of course, all they would see is my huggy kissy pj bottoms and old slippers. Their minds would be immediately made up that I am not someone to be reckoned with. I'd hate to have to come up with some kind of revenge tactic like letting the air out of their truck tires or some other juvenile act.

So, in secret agent mode I check out the gigantic hole they cut in the street and watch the water spilling out. unfortunately for all you...the photo doesn't do it justice because its also garbage day and that darn trash can from my neighbor is in the way.

I must say...they don't exactly look hard at work do they?

The secret agent has left the building.

PS...does that picture make my ankles look fat?

*****Edited at 11:29AM*****
Waiting has ended. They came to me. "Ma'am, (still can't get over the fact that I'm old enough to be called ma'am) we need to shut your water off from 1-2pm." With my superb skills as interrogator I learn that the pipe did not break, but rusted through. Will most likely be done with repairs today, but he doesn't know how long it will take for them to fill the hole and asphalt over the top. My work here is done.

I wonder if they came to me because they saw me peeking out the windows?...

Attack of the Sugar Cookies...

They look innocent enough don't they...all red and green and white with stars and dots and candies here and there.

They look so cute and friendly..."Come here...eat me!," they say. Innocent girl peers at them with innocent eyes. "Oh, how cute those sweet cookies are," she says.

Without a word they attack her...

And the only way to survive was to EAT THEM ALL!

No, the poor innocent girl didn't wake up from a dream. This really happened. I know because it happened to ME.

Sorry for the scary Christmas story, but I want to make sure everyone knows the truth about sugar cookies.

Run far...run fast...they are coming...

DUM DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....

Flooded!

Being the lowpoint of the neighborhood definitely has its disadvantages. In the four years I've lived in this house I've had a few pooled water incidents, but nothing like the flood of 2007. And now...after what we just finished going through there is a Tualatin Valley Water District guy outside inspecting what we believe is a broken mainline pipe under the street...a broken 6 INCH mainline pipe under the culdesaq. Water is bubbling up through the concrete...a river of water flowing into the storm drain...and he tells us to just wait until they can get a crew out there...oh yeah...and by the way..if it starts to bubble up in your yard or if you lose water pressure call us and we'll come running quicker.

Uhm...why are we waiting for the disaster before we fix the potential disaster?

Two weeks ago I spent 24 hours on flood watch with John - we filled 12 sandbags and stopped up our garage and built a riverbed for the water to flow past our house and out into the greenspace behind it.

It was amazing. The culdesaq was under at least 18 inches of water. It made a lake out of our yard and front stoop...if I'd been 12 again I would have been out playing in it. Now that I'm much more grown up and responsible (Ahem...yes I am ... no you're not...YES I AM!) I can see why my parents never joined us in frolicking around in the water when we were kids.

Of course, dare I complain with so many places in the world going without water at all? I'd be happy to share...I'm sure the whole Oregon Coast would have been happy to share...that flood of 2007 was a real disaster for some areas. I suppose we got off easy with a wet crawlspace, a $90 sump pump purchase and achy backs from digging. OK...it was really only Mr. Chucklehead's back that was achy...I offered, but he demanded on being the manly man.

So here I sit now checking off my checklist...shower...CHECK...(a girls got priorities when there is a possiblity of no water for 24 hours as they rip up the culdesaq to locate the pipe break...waterproof boots...CHECK, filled up all my water jugs...CHECK...and put them in the fridge...CHECK...and I would just like to say that its days like this that I love my mother for teaching me the value of a years worth of food supply. I don't have nearly a year's worth (getting ready for the move and all), but we'll definitely survive for the 24 hours.

The moral of my story? Don't buy the house in the low point of your neighborhood and just a little preparation can really bring peace of mind and next time I'm going to go out and play in it. If the water guy doesn't care...maybe I need to learn the glass is half full side of a flood?