GF, here I come

I have been off the health wagon since my extensive travels in November. I feel like crap. My face is puffy, my head is foggy, and I have random, annoying aches all over my body. I am cranky, and after I eat wheat, I am exhausted. This week I started with the f-ing urticaria again. I'm tired of itching. My heavy work season is over, so I am going gluten free again. And in true Posey style, it will be M-F, with some compliance on weekends. I can't go cold turkey. It's easier to do things healthy during the week because I pack my breakfast and lunch. Green smoothies will have to be a rare treat as my blender is just about dead. Hubs is not thrilled with my idea to get a vita mix, so it will have to wait until I pay off the car in March.

So what's up for this week? Last night I made quinoa with garlic, spinach and diced tomatoes. Tonight I made millet with raisins, apricots, and coconut. I broke it into some small bowls, and I have lunch for the week. I have a boatload of fruit to snack on, and I planned to have any gluten at night, so I can take advantage of how tired it makes me. I plan to roll out a plan for the kids next week. S is randomly breaking out and Trinks is having a hard time focusing on bringing her homework home. The allergist refuses to return my call, so I'll work on the the kids diet. It's free and healthy, so why not?

Trinks already has a dating standard

And she has some pretty high standards! This is the list of qualities she is looking for when she is in high school. She hates all the boys in her school, including the three who like her.

1. - doesn't drink.
2. - no bad grades
3. - must be smart
4. - must exercise
5. - cannot be weak
6. - must appreciate her interests, which are kung fu and Girl Scouts

Renewing our vows - 500th blog post

The other night I asked hubs if he would renew our vows. He reluctantly agreed. With a big smile, I showed him the cake I wanted.



Yup - the only reason I would get married again would be for this kick ass cake, posted on Cake Wrecks. Needless to say, we are not renewing our vows. We will continue to be in awe every additional year we make it work.

Good bye S, hello Trinks

We waved good bye to S this AM. He's headed down to FL for his last January trip to FL for a long time. Just spoke with him and they are in GA and will find a place to sleep soon. The three of us coped as best we could with the sudden silence.

Trinks and I hit her room with a vengeance. We got rid of more clothes, found a cover up that will fit her this summer, and threw out a bunch of crap. It's getting easier. The space is getting clearer and Trinks is doing much better. We don't have to sell her on the black market. I think she may be allowed to have her holiday gifts by Valentine's Day. So far, I am on track to get rid of half our crap this year. Next room - mine! So much crap to donate, so little time.

But it wasn't all work today. Trinks mentioned she wanted to see the Spy Next Door. We went. Hubs and I expected it to be horrible, but we both really liked it. It reminded me a lot of Uncle Buck. Then Trinks mentioned she wanted rotisserie turkey, so we went grocery shopping. Hubs made mashed potatoes while Trinks and I decluttered some more. Now Trinks and I are watching Suze Orman before I send her off to bed soon. She wants to walk the 3 mile loop at the park tomorrow, so we'll see what the weather looks like tomorrow.

We always enjoy having the kids one at a time. It really gives us a chance to see what crazy little people they are turning into. This will be a week of seafood and more interesting dinners. I will play some Super Mario Brothers without a crazed 5 year old telling me what to do every second. I am a bit sick of his Yoshi eating ME!

So this should be a good week. We'll miss S and his constant stream of comedy, but he'll be back in no time. Then it will be Trinks' turn to go away in April. I hope the kids realize how blessed they are!

I need more sleep

First indication I need more sleep is how I overreacted (SHOCKING) to Trinks' MAP scores. Keep in mind, I didn't freak over her actual scores. I was just beyond confused as to what the hell they mean. It was a page of raw data with minimal explanation. I jotted a long note to the teacher explaining I had no idea what it meant, and the - here's the complete overreaction - I SENT A NOTE TO THE COMPANY WHO CREATED THE DAMN TEST AND ASKED THEM TO DECODE THE RESULTS. I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent, but this stuff from NWEA makes no sense. After a call from the reading teacher and a detailed e-mail from tech support (both think I am a complete idiot, I'm sure), I am sure of only one thing. These tests are complete and utter bullshit. Trinks did really well, especially in math, but I don't know what to do with the scores.

The ONLY nice thing I will say about this test is it gave a lexile range. Yup - took the teacher explaining this 3 times before I realized it was a fancy name for READING LEVEL. Don't care about the level, but this website will give you book suggestions for the number you type in. Pretty cool. There are over 1,000 books in the 659-700 range. Finally, a tool I understand.

Catching up

I've been putting in a lot of hours at work for my busy season. I will be FREE after 1/26. Can't wait! I took an unprecedented step and took TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW! I am refreshed. And ready to work tomorrow on the holiday. At least I will get another day off for this time. So here's what's been going on at Posey's house.

PNO Friday- Parent's night out at kung fu was arcade night. S was in his glory. I got home around 7:30 and took over cooking duties. Hubs is a freaking perfectionist and he lectured me about how to make beef tacos (I mean really - it's beef tacos!!) until I threatened to make him cook. I was pretty much asleep when they returned at 11.

Clean up Saturday. After watching Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (yes even hubs watched it and didn't hate it), we played a little Super Mario Brothers and then split up to clean and run errands. Trinks and I challenged each other to complete tasks on our lists and then joined forces in her room to clean out under her bed. We threw out an entire black trash bag of crap and have a box of summer clothes to send to Haiti. Even after donating about 10 pair of shorts and 25 shirts, we still have 20 pair of shorts, 15 of which will definitely fit her next year, and 30 summer T-shirts. We need NOTHING for summer. I will buy her a cover up and sport sandals, but that is ALL she needs. I am sending 6 pair of jeans to Ivy, but we have about 5 more pair. It feels good to get our overabundance out of the house and allow others to use it since we cannot. Trinks room looks great, but we have a ways to go. Baby steps!

Sunday is fun day! We started out with some Mario Brothers, then headed out to the bowling alley. I bowl WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better on Wii, but it is fun to bowl in real lief (with bumpers) every once in a while. I broke 100 both games, and beat hubs on the second game. Then Trinks and I headed over to hibachi to dine with the Girl Scouts to kick off the cookie season!

Tonight I pulled the kids into food prep. It made hubs nervous watching S cut the asparagus, but S was pretty good with our sharpest knife. I LOVE his outfit. Trinks wanted garlic sauteed spinach, so she got to cook it. I did the chicken and rice. Dinner is way more fun to cook with helpers.

My son's wedding cake

Now all we need is the bride. If you haven't wandered over to Cake Wrecks, why the heck not???

Tackle body, tackle body, tackle body

We are back in the swing of things. School is back in session, kung fu reopened, and Monday night is library night. S and I hit the library and he wanted Kidz Bop 80s. Fine. We got the rest of our books and headed out to get gas and pick Trinks up. S was amazed I knew all the songs on the cd, then banned me from singing because it was annoying. Grrr. Once Trinks got in the car, S excitedly told her he was listening to Tackle body. When I could breathe again, I let him know it was Funkytown (talk about it, talk about it, talk about it)

My men

The house was a little too quiet...

Hubs was under the weather today so I took the kids to the grocery store. Without hubs' eagle eye on the budget, I strayed slightly. I did buy all organic meats and organic milk, but only came up $8 over what we normally spend. The afternoon was quiet. The kids disappeared while I made my lunches and breakfast for the week. I just downloaded the Longwood Gardens pictures and found the below images, plus others.

Christmas

I need Christmas to be on a Friday every year. I mean if it really is Christ's birth we are celebrating, it should be in August, but that's besides the point. I just want a long weekend. It was nice to be able to relax and talk to family instead of rushing out the door to make sure we get to work the next day.

But I think Elmo and Patsy summed up the holiday best - "it's not Christmas without Grandma." We suffered three big losses this year - Grandmom, Aunt Charlotte, and my cousin's grandmother. These three ladies we very special and the loss is a gaping hole in our families. We remembered them with stories, songs, laughter and tears.

I think the funniest thing was the talent show that my sister coordinated. M-cat played his broken trumpet and wowed us with his magician skills, the Divine Ms Em paired up with Trinks for dancing and singing, S stepped out of his shyness to leave us rolling on the floor with his dance styling - the robot with break dancing. I quoted Ananbel Lee, my father - the Jabberwakky and my sister did The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. Then my mom and sisters recreated their Grange acts - the Chipmunks's Christmas song (Pop Pop was Dave), Oh you beautiful Doll, Sugar in the morning, before my mom cracked open her accordian. My grandfather surprised us with a short poem about a billy goat. It was good fun.

I spent yesterday downloading several thousand pictures for my mother. I also set up her iPod to play in the car. Her car is really old, so I bought her an adapter to go in the cigarette lighter LAST YEAR for Christmas. But at least it works now. Mom wanted S to stay for her birthday on Monday, and she threw in a ride ALL the way to DE, so hubs and I are alone. I already sorted through S' toys and have a big bag to go to Goodwill. Trinks' room is a week long project since we don't her back until Wednesday. I can't walk into the room again, so this time I am not trying to work things out with her. Things are just disappearing. Her holiday presents will be held hostage until I see progress. Her clothes are also going. I cut her down to 5 pair of jeans. Apparently that was too many, so she now has 2. I have to find the magic number where she actually takes care of something. By the end of January, the kids rooms will have possessions reduced by 1/2, so then I can move on to the next room. If I focus on a room a month, I can meet my goal of getting rid of 1/2 of everything we have. You can't organize clutter, it all has to go.

Santa arrived!

My street, 5 days after it stopped snowing

It's sad when our driveway is cleaner than the street.


No wonder there was no school.

Mommy - guess what???

I peed in a cup.

Why would S pee in a cup? And why would he announce it at Christmas Eve dinner? Apparently Trinks was taking a milisecond too long to pee, and the cup dispenser was so handy. And he managed to fill the Dixie cup, dump it, and fill it again. My first thought was, if the toilet was free to dump the first cup, why couldn't he have finished peeing in the toilet? I guess it was too much fun. He seemed especially proud of himself.

Anniversary

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the day I never thought would happen. I still can't believe Karen has been gone for two years. I've finally stopped dialing her number halfway through just to remember she won't be there. I still hear her laugh and sometimes I see her everywhere I go. I especially miss her around Christmas. I miss taking Christmas Eve off to meet her for breakfast with the kids. I miss running around doing useless last minute shopping because we have nothing better to do. It still takes my breath away at how quickly we lost her. And then I see her girls and it hurts even more. More than anything else, Karen wanted to be a mother. She suffered through miscarriages until she got her girls. And then she couldn't stay to raise them. I am still not over the unfairness of it all. So tomorrow while I will be sad and cranky, I will try to do something to honor the memory of a truly great friend.


Gonna hold who needs holdin'
Mend what needs mendin'
Walk what needs walkin'
Though it means an extra mile
Pray what needs prayin'
Say what needs sayin'
Cause we're only here for a little while

Today I stood singin' songs and sayin' Amen
Saying goodbye to an old friend who seemed so young
He spent his life workin' hard to chase a dollar
Putting off until tomorrow the things he should have done
Made me start thinking "What's the hurry, why the runnin'?
I don't like what I'm becoming, gonna change my style
Take my time and I take it all for granted "
Cause we're only here for a little while

Gonna hold who needs holdin'
Mend what needs mendin'
Walk what needs walkin'
Though it means an extra mile
Pray what needs prayin'
Say what needs sayin'
Cause we're only here for a little while

Let me love like I'll never see tomorrow
Treat each day as though it's borrowed
Like it's precious as a child
Whoa, take my hand
Let us reach out to each other
Cause we're only here for a little while

Gonna hold who needs holdin'
Mend what needs mendin'
Walk what needs walkin'
Though it means an extra mile
Pray what needs prayin'
Say what needs sayin'
Cause we're only here for a little while

Gonna hold who needs holdin'
Mend what needs mendin'
Walk what needs walkin'
Though it means an extra mile
Pray what needs prayin'
Say what needs sayin'
Cause we're only here for a little while

Little Drummer Boy

S came home on Friday talking about the two movies he watched: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Little Drummer Boy. He decided to tell us all about the movies on the way to pick Trinks up. He nailed the story of Rudolph, but came up a little short on the Drummer Boy. According to S, the drummer boy played for baby Santa. Then Santa grew up and got his suit. Hubs could barely breathe by the end of the explanation. I think have a little 'splainin' to do.

Starbucks - WTF?????

I went to Starbucks yesterday because I had a coupon for a free 12 oz cup of coffee. Imagine my surprise when THEY DIDN'T HAVE STARBUCKS COFFEE!!! Apparently they only brew the crappy Pike's Place shit in the afternoon. Why do I want to go to Starbucks for weak coffee? If it's not bold and bitter, it's just not worth it. I guess it's good I don't live right near a Starbucks, not do I buy coffee often. At least it was free and there was enough cinnamon, chocolate powder, vanilla and nutmeg to hide the lack of boldness.

Life's a piece of shit....

Nope - not another anti holiday rant. I'm trying not to blog cranky. Hence the silence. I am still hating the holidays, especially when Amazon refuses to leave my packages on my doorstep and makes me fetch them at the post office. If I wanted to do that, I WOULD HAVE GONE TO A STORE!!! And then another online store messed up my order and I may not have the best present available for the Hanukah party on Sunday.

But this isn't a holiday rant. S and I kind of had a special day yesterday. I picked him up to go to kung fu last night. Once again we sat on the side lines while he quaked in fear. We ran home, made sandwiches and got back in the car to eat them on the way to Brownies. We dropped Trinks off and had a great talk in the car. He let me know his favorite song is Always Look on the Bright Side of Life from Spamalot. And the reason for this is the line, "Life's a piece of shit, when you look at it". I did warn him not to sing it at school and giggled along with him. Then we got to the library and picked up the elusive #7 Magic Treehouse Sunset of the Sabertooth. We finished #6 last week, and S owns #8, but #7 was not at the library so I had to order it. I think it was the best school night he's had in a while. I will miss these days when the little things make him happy.

Idiots on Facebook

And no, Mets Fan, I'm not referring to you. I have three Facebook friends from college. One I knew well, one I knew who he was, and the third I have no fucking clue who she is. Apparently the last two are getting married, but going through hell of some sort. And the first seems to be going through a crisis - perhaps divorce and/or foreclosure. I truly feel badly for them as all three seem to be going through hell. I just strenuously object to the horrifically vague crap they post on Facebook. They post dire messages asking for sympathy, prayers, etc, but they don't have any details. I really don't need to know, but the stuff they post just begs for questions, which people ask, but go unanswered. Very strange.

The last of the NYC pics

Holy legos, Batman! We spent a little time at FAO.



Chewie and the kids.


Sourdough bread from Amy's Bread.