Thursday, January 31, 2008

It's raining, it's pouring...

Well, it's been proven again that yes, when it rains, it pours.

This week I:

1. Anxiously awaited bloodwork for Jake
2. Learned that Bart will be losing his job the end of next month
3. Took Francesca to the doctor - she has an ear infection and chest cold
4. Had shingles blown off of our roof
5. Faced the hospitalization and surgery to remove an infected, fused gall bladder from my dad
6. Pulled something in my back while picking up 2 weeks worth of recycling out of the field behind my house from our recycling bin blowing over on Tuesday

Now... the good news is as follows:

1. Jake's bloodwork is good - just a tad anemic - quite frankly this news made all the other "bad things" just lose their sting. We're very happy.
2. Bart has had one offer and hopefully will get a second today with at least 10 other jobs being presented to him as well
3. Francesca is on antibiotics but she's still not a happy camper
4. There's nothing good about the stupid shingles
5. My dad came through the surgery okay but will still take a while to recover - has a drain still due to all the infection
6. Back is getting better

Ah yes, fun times around here.

I believe it will all work out just fine.

Camille

Friday, January 25, 2008

A Place I Want to See: Białowieża Primeval Forest in Poland

I am currently reading Alan Weisman's The World Without Us. It is a writing about what would become of the world we leave behind should we cease to exist. I find it very interesting. In one chapter Weisman describes the Bialowieza Primeval Forest. I was captivated. So, it's been added to my "places I want to go before I die" list. Anyone up for a trip to Poland? Anyone have some cash? (Image from http://againess.wikidot.com/xoo )

Saturday, January 19, 2008

A little less me, I'm old, etc.

Well, I'm down 3.4 lbs from last week. It's a start!

Morgan is in Vail and I'm happy to report is neither frostbitten nor broken after braving the slopes (including some black slopes) after 2 days. Today is her last day on the slopes and then she will fly home on Sunday. Will be so glad to have her back. With temps being as low as -14 up there this week, I was more than worried.

I got a letter in the mail from her future high school regarding the registration/schedule card and parent info night coming up next month. Man. My child is going into high school. MY child is going into high school. I have a kid that will be in high school. Are you hearing me? I'm not coping well.

Stacia and I got to hang out Thursday. I was so happy to get her for about 8 hours. Yay! As her blog indicated, we have lots of cool things to discuss these days. It was nice to get my "fix". Hopefully she'll post a new pic of us soon.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Just a little motivational snack...

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."- John Wooden

"Everyone who got to where they are had to begin where they were." - Richard Paul Evans

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Productive

So I still haven't made it to the gym. Imagine that. Maybe next week. I did however, get a lot done so far this week. I hung a cabinet in the water (toilet) closet. Did it the right way with power tools, level, anchors, etc. Very impressive. Also patched up the dings and dents in the walls and have painted many of them. Put a glaze over the paint in a niche in the stairwell wall. Decided to try same glaze on the scratched up stair railing. Did the trick. Did about 6 loads of laundry, cleaned the play room (aka the un-dining room). Deep cleaned Francesca's room. Guess that's it so far.

Well, I'm off to start dinner. Thinking I'll make a rosemary garlic pork roast, sweet potatoes, and asparagus.

Tummy growling...
Camille

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Fat Arse

Well, okay, maybe not totally. But dang.... didn't know how much damage I did over the holidays until I went and weighed in today at WW. First time I have had to pay in years. I am 3.6 lbs over my goal weight. Doesn't sound bad right? Except my goal weight is 7 lbs over my IDEAL weight. Which means I have 10.6 lbs to lose. Sigh. So, today I'm going to get serious about it. I've been eating pretty well but have yet to actually do any exercise at all. We just joined our new fancy shmancy rec center and I have no excuse. Actually, I have dozens of excuses, just no good ones. Here they are:

I have nothing to wear
I need new tennis shoes
I don't know how easy it will be to make a reservation for Francesca's childcare
I don't know if I will be able to get a reservation for her during the classes I am interested in doing
I have never done water aerobics but would like to
I don't know what class to take

See, they all stink don't they? Anyways, I don't have Francesca on Mondays so I will
go on Monday first and then make a reservation for her while I'm there for Wednesday.

Today at WW I saw a dear friend of mine, MG, from my career days. We've lost touch this past year. It was hilarious. We walked out to my car because I had to return a baking dish to LO, another friend of mine. MG says "oh my God, are you ok? you're driving a minivan and returning a baking dish. want to go to a bar and have a drink?" Ha!

Not that we really did the bar thing before but she sure knows that I was not any kind of domestic before - I was all business. So, I suppose I am a different evolution of myself now. Sigh. But you know, I'm actually kind of proud of that.

Well, I'm off to the store to buy some healthy crap.

Camille

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Lookie what I got for Christmas!

Look at me and my great big hug.... This beautiful hug, I mean afghan, was made for me by Stacia. Can you believe how talented she is? This was the best Christmas present! Thank you Stac! I love you and I love my blanket!!! This picture was taken about 5:30am on Christmas morning so if I look like death warmed over...well, who cares, just look at the blanket!


"The Present is Pregnant with the Future" - Voltaire

I love that quote. When I was pregnant with my children it was beautiful and awful and traumatic and serene. A wild chaos of emotions and change. All the expectations, dreams, fears, plans... it was amazing. I would ponder what my child would be like, what their birth would be like, what my evolved life would be like. I was never right. The children, they were always more fascinating, beautiful, funny, silly, stubborn, brilliant than I could have imagined. Every bit of my life harder but an important developmental milestone. Every turn in the road reveals another stretch that I never expected - a different view, a scary precipice, a gorgeous expanse.

So, if the present is pregnant with the future... Well, I expect more of the same. Unpredictable craziness and unbelievable wonder. I say, "Bring it on". I'm never ready and yet, ready as I will ever be.

The known factors of 2008 are as follows:

It will mark the end of middle school for Morgan and the beginning of high school
I will continue in my pursuit of my seemingly evasive degree
Jacob will finish 3rd grade and will start 4th grade
Francesca will turn 3 years old
Bart will either continue as a contractor at his current place of employment, be offered a permanent position, or will find another position
My best friend will most likely get pregnant and have her first child by birth
Bart and I will both turn 34
We will either move or not depending largely on whether the housing market improves for sellers
We will vote for and bring a new president into office

The rest is unknown. Guess we have to wait for the "birth".

A happy new year to you and yours.

Onward,
Camille