Yesterday was...interesting. I mentioned that the kids had a school delay due to snow and that I had done some baking before heading out the door.
Well.
As Little One and I were on our way home from dropping off the kids, the Space Shuttle decided that going forward was just too.much.effort. Instead, it decided to stop all forward motion completely about a mile before our exit from the interstate. This caused mild panic - I did NOT want to get sideswiped by a semi or, worse yet, a house (there's a big market out here in the sticks for mobile homes and at least two drove by while we waited). Thankfully, we have AAA and in a little over half an hour a tow truck appeared with a grisly fellow who got us where we needed to go - the car dealership.
I knew it wasn't going to be good news but we had a limit as to how much we would spend before seriously considering a new vehicle. The cost to fix it was double our limit. So Little One and I car shopped while Mr. MOTH left work, picked up the kiddos from school, dropped them off at home with Aunt Jo and met us there (we got to the dealership at noon - he got there at 4:21). Before he left work he frantically did research (his specialty) so that we would know how much we should be spending and what our options were.
They met his price.
And then we decided to sleep on it and today we're paying to have the stupid, sassafrassing transmission fixed. It is absolutely the right decision - we are planning a vacation and aren't in a position to comfortably add a monthly payment for a new car.
But.
Those new ones sure were shiny...
With Four Children, The Days Are Long but The Years Are Short!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Half Marathon Training
I have just under 6 weeks before race day. My plan is to reward myself periodically for making it through the tough parts. This weekend, I tweaked my left foot. I'm not sure how or what it is/was but dang it hurt! I can run through pain (I have bursitis in my hips and that ain't no walk in the park when you're trying to run distances of double digits) but this was stop-you-in-your-tracks-and-curse pain.
So, I bought new shoes. Seemed fair. We are lucky enough to live near an outlet mall, so I hit the Nike outlet (I was running in Reebok and now I'm mad at them - when in doubt, blame the shoes, right?). I texted my runner-friend who's a coach and asked for her recommendation (which I ended up not liking). And I tried on every.single.style of shoe that Nike makes. I was willing to fork over the big bucks for a pair that felt right to me. Luckily, I didn't have to but it wasn't for lack of trying! The high end shoes were truthfully just too much shoe for me, if that makes sense. I ended up with Nike Lunarfly+ 3 in a lovely shade of gray, purple and neon pink. Number one rule of buying running shoes: Do NOT get hung up on what they look like!! This shoe is similar, but not that same color.
Today is a play day (fun workout) for my training plan (from Half Marathon - Finish It by Another Mother Runner authors), so I won't be running in my new wheels until tomorrow. Wish me luck, because if this doesn't help I might have to go see a doctor.
In other news, we are on a two-hour delay which means I baked a batch of imitation Amish friendship bread (the kind you normally have to knead the dough for 10 days before you can make the bread and then you pass it on to unsuspecting friends whohate you afterwards thank you for life). I'll link the recipe later, but now I have to style Baby Girl's hair and round up the rest of the troops. I better stop at the store for milk, bread, and toilet paper - because that's what EVERYONE does when it snows around here...
So, I bought new shoes. Seemed fair. We are lucky enough to live near an outlet mall, so I hit the Nike outlet (I was running in Reebok and now I'm mad at them - when in doubt, blame the shoes, right?). I texted my runner-friend who's a coach and asked for her recommendation (which I ended up not liking). And I tried on every.single.style of shoe that Nike makes. I was willing to fork over the big bucks for a pair that felt right to me. Luckily, I didn't have to but it wasn't for lack of trying! The high end shoes were truthfully just too much shoe for me, if that makes sense. I ended up with Nike Lunarfly+ 3 in a lovely shade of gray, purple and neon pink. Number one rule of buying running shoes: Do NOT get hung up on what they look like!! This shoe is similar, but not that same color.
Today is a play day (fun workout) for my training plan (from Half Marathon - Finish It by Another Mother Runner authors), so I won't be running in my new wheels until tomorrow. Wish me luck, because if this doesn't help I might have to go see a doctor.
In other news, we are on a two-hour delay which means I baked a batch of imitation Amish friendship bread (the kind you normally have to knead the dough for 10 days before you can make the bread and then you pass it on to unsuspecting friends who
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Snow Day
Today the kids had a snow day from school. The kicker? We don't have any snow. When we got up this morning, we had a dusting. That was it. No messages on our phones (cell or home) saying there was any type of weather-related delay or cancellation. Mr. MOTH drives an hour south for work, so I just happened to put on the "local" news to see what the conditions down there were like, not expecting much.
And everything was cancelled.
See ya tomorrow.
And still nothing from the school. The TV told me before the e-mails even came in.
I got a phone call @ 8:34 - over half an hour after I would normally leave to drop them off.
I double-checked my cell and there was a text @ 8:05. I would've already been on the interstate.
Communcation: FAIL.
The good news is that we hadn't opened (meaning "unpackaged") all of the kids' Christmas toys. First up were the remote control cars from Aunt Jo. Lemme tell ya: Best 20 batteries worth of fun, EVAH! They're still going strong and it's been well over an hour. The only problem is that there are 4 cars...and 2 remote frequencies. I say "problem" but apparently it's only a problem if you know what the heck you're doing. The kids find this whole thing absolutely hysterical! Oldest Boy and Little One have the same frequency so that's a no-brainer - Little One doesn't really get it. But the middle two have figured it out. It's probably going to get interesting really soon, but right now it's hilarious.
And everything was cancelled.
See ya tomorrow.
And still nothing from the school. The TV told me before the e-mails even came in.
I got a phone call @ 8:34 - over half an hour after I would normally leave to drop them off.
I double-checked my cell and there was a text @ 8:05. I would've already been on the interstate.
Communcation: FAIL.
The good news is that we hadn't opened (meaning "unpackaged") all of the kids' Christmas toys. First up were the remote control cars from Aunt Jo. Lemme tell ya: Best 20 batteries worth of fun, EVAH! They're still going strong and it's been well over an hour. The only problem is that there are 4 cars...and 2 remote frequencies. I say "problem" but apparently it's only a problem if you know what the heck you're doing. The kids find this whole thing absolutely hysterical! Oldest Boy and Little One have the same frequency so that's a no-brainer - Little One doesn't really get it. But the middle two have figured it out. It's probably going to get interesting really soon, but right now it's hilarious.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
March Is Here!
This is going to be a pretty random catch-all type of post.
In January (the 7th, to be exact) I signed up for a half marathon. That same day (like, 5 minutes later) I got some blood test results back that weren't exactly encouraging. Nothing to slow me down...yet. We'll see. I get retested in July.
Oldest Boy is at the tail end of basketball season. I love basketball but watching 3rd and 4th grade boys play is stressful, especially when your son is not exactly a star player. I'm proud that he sticks with it and doesn't seem to get down when he doesn't get to play when it matters (read: when they actually keep score, like in the season-end tournaments). When your coach asks you, "Do you want to play or do you want to win?" and you just go with the "win", that takes character. My boy has that. Me? I want to smack the coach upside the head and say, "Who says that to a 10-year-old?!?!" They lost the first tournament game, in which our son only played 5 minutes, max. Frankly, I think they lost because they only played their better players. Hear me out. I don't mean that the bench-warmer types would have upped the score, I mean that those star players are used to getting breaks when they follow the rules and play everyone equal time (or at least close). Those boys were tired and that made them make mistakes and miss easy shots. Serves the coaches right - they didn't follow the rules and they lost. C'est la vie.
We gave our nursery furniture away. My brother and his wife are expecting Baby #2 in April and since Baby V is only going to be 19 months old at the time they needed a second crib. Our furniture was a gift from my Mother-in-law and we debated what to do with it. Mr. MOTH is glad it will be used by family. I'm glad, too. But, man, that room just isn't the same. We've had a nursery in this house since the day we moved in - November 2002. Sigh. Sniff.
The computer room is 90% finished. We need to hang up Mr. MOTH's patents (4 and counting) and get a small console table but those are such small details, I'm not worrying about it. I have moved on to the next project.
The girls' room got a closet system. See, everything hinges on the next project, or, uh, I guess the previous project. I had to empty the changing table in the nursery so my brother could take it but I needed a place for the clothes. So Mr. MOTH, in his never-ending need to organize, went with an Easy Closet System. Those things aren't cheap but they are SOOO worth it. It was up in less than a day. Now, we need to get Little One a bed because right now she's sleeping with Baby Girl. It has actually been working pretty well and our plan is to put their beds back-to-back when we get hers. Soon.
We started planning our next Disney vacation. I can't wait. I know I said I would never go in August again, but, hey, live and learn, right? At least the weather is predictable then. It will be H-O-T. Less clothes to pack!
I got my hair cut. Short. Not you-can-see-my-ears short but well above shoulder-length. Mr. MOTH is not happy. I am. The jury is out on who I will make happy in the long run but going to Florida at the hottest time of the year does not tempt me to grow my hair out. Sigh.
In January (the 7th, to be exact) I signed up for a half marathon. That same day (like, 5 minutes later) I got some blood test results back that weren't exactly encouraging. Nothing to slow me down...yet. We'll see. I get retested in July.
Oldest Boy is at the tail end of basketball season. I love basketball but watching 3rd and 4th grade boys play is stressful, especially when your son is not exactly a star player. I'm proud that he sticks with it and doesn't seem to get down when he doesn't get to play when it matters (read: when they actually keep score, like in the season-end tournaments). When your coach asks you, "Do you want to play or do you want to win?" and you just go with the "win", that takes character. My boy has that. Me? I want to smack the coach upside the head and say, "Who says that to a 10-year-old?!?!" They lost the first tournament game, in which our son only played 5 minutes, max. Frankly, I think they lost because they only played their better players. Hear me out. I don't mean that the bench-warmer types would have upped the score, I mean that those star players are used to getting breaks when they follow the rules and play everyone equal time (or at least close). Those boys were tired and that made them make mistakes and miss easy shots. Serves the coaches right - they didn't follow the rules and they lost. C'est la vie.
We gave our nursery furniture away. My brother and his wife are expecting Baby #2 in April and since Baby V is only going to be 19 months old at the time they needed a second crib. Our furniture was a gift from my Mother-in-law and we debated what to do with it. Mr. MOTH is glad it will be used by family. I'm glad, too. But, man, that room just isn't the same. We've had a nursery in this house since the day we moved in - November 2002. Sigh. Sniff.
The computer room is 90% finished. We need to hang up Mr. MOTH's patents (4 and counting) and get a small console table but those are such small details, I'm not worrying about it. I have moved on to the next project.
The girls' room got a closet system. See, everything hinges on the next project, or, uh, I guess the previous project. I had to empty the changing table in the nursery so my brother could take it but I needed a place for the clothes. So Mr. MOTH, in his never-ending need to organize, went with an Easy Closet System. Those things aren't cheap but they are SOOO worth it. It was up in less than a day. Now, we need to get Little One a bed because right now she's sleeping with Baby Girl. It has actually been working pretty well and our plan is to put their beds back-to-back when we get hers. Soon.
We started planning our next Disney vacation. I can't wait. I know I said I would never go in August again, but, hey, live and learn, right? At least the weather is predictable then. It will be H-O-T. Less clothes to pack!
I got my hair cut. Short. Not you-can-see-my-ears short but well above shoulder-length. Mr. MOTH is not happy. I am. The jury is out on who I will make happy in the long run but going to Florida at the hottest time of the year does not tempt me to grow my hair out. Sigh.
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