Stressed

I woke up this morning, after yet another funky dream, feeling nauseous, hot, cold, sore throat, headache, and just all around crappy.

I don't want to go into too much details, but I've found myself in the position to need to defend the preschool program I've taught for the past 8 years.

So, these feelings of mine all revolved around speaking in front of a school board, as well as a room full of community members. Some who clearly support what I would be saying and others who are just there to make sure their taxes don't go up any more than they need to (and trust me I don't blame them.).

I did my research and was armed with 2 full pages of notes. All proving that most districts are offering more in regards to providing preschool - not less.

Still, even with a very well written "speech" I was nervous. Speaking in front of parents? I love it! Speaking in front of a school board? And community of tax payers? Not so much.

But I did it. And it felt good to be over with.

And all those feelings I woke up with are gone.

Except now, my back and shoulders hurt. I totally blame the stress of it all.

I'm glad all the extra budget board meetings are over with. I've been away from my boys too many nights attending meetings, taking notes, and talking with community members. I've skipped too many nice running days because of this.

With all this stress, though, I am happy to report the things I am craving the most: running, yoga, and kickboxing. It used to be I would crave ice cream or bread - but something has happened to me in the past, oh I don't know how many, maybe five? years.

Now that I've done pretty much all I could, I'm really hoping these funky dreams, or rather, nightmares, are over with. They only started after the first budget meeting when I decided I would need to speak.

There are people who have much more stressful jobs than I do. Much more stressful lives. And I really do feel for them. Seriously, how do you all handle your stress?

Now excuse me, a very long child's pose is calling my name...

How to throw a baby shower for someone who hates pink.

And is having a baby girl.

You throw her an all pink baby shower, of course.

Request the guests to wear pink. Wrap their gifts in pink. And offer pink cookies as favors (thanks to Taste of Stepford).

Of course, there are pictures...

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Probably the best part of the day was the "Guess the poop" game - in which you prepare several diapers each with a different mini-melted-chocolate candy bar and the guests guess what kind of candy is in each diaper. As one guest said, "That game was seriously grotesque, but fun."

I love it...

The nights that Liam actually rests his head on my chest and relaxes while I sing and rock him before laying him down for the night seem to have become the exception, not the norm. Lately, he's been kneeling on my lap, looking at me, and singing along. Usually to "Elmo's World." You'd crack up if you saw how much "gusto" he puts into the last line, "elmo's Woooorrrrllllldddd" and his arms go out to the side and his head shakes and his voice, oh his voice, so loud and excited. It's all I can do to not just burst out laughing.

Anyway, last night was one of the exceptions to the new norm. Liam actually laid his head on my chest and relaxed as I was singing "Baby on a treetop" (as he calls it). After a few verses he looks up at me, grabs my hand, and puts it on his back, "mama, pet me." That's right - he asked me to pet him. Once I started "petting" him, he looked up and smiled, "like that mama, like that."

Then, last night as I was tucking Quinn in I asked what song he'd like. And you know what he said?

The song about cars for kids.

You know it. "One, eight, seven, seven, cars for kids. K - A - R - S cars for kids. One, eight, seven, seven, cars for kids. Donate your car today."

Right. And so I sang it.

These guys crack me up sometimes.

Weekly Winners - Halloween Fun Edition

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Growing Up...

Our first Halloween as a family of four - I gave our costumes a lot of thought. Quinn wanted to be Buzz Lightyear - so I had that to work with. We figured it out. Since we had a family Halloween party to go to - we all needed something. I went as Little Bo Peep, Liam was a Sheep, Mike was Woody, and Quinn was Buzz. It was absolutely the most perfect family dress-up ever. I worked on finding our costumes in August!




And then there was last year. Quinn wanted to be a firefighter. And what firefighter is complete without his dalmation? So, Liam was a dalmation. It was great. I worked on finding their costumes in September. (I was just a witch, since "slutty firefighter" is really the only option for women.)




And here we are this year. I thought I'd have one more year to dress the family. I thought for sure Quinn would choose either a pirate or a superhero. Pirate - we'd all dress like pirates. Superheros - we'd all pick a superhero (of course, there's that "slutty" problem again. Anyone ever see a decent Wonderwoman costume?) But guess what? Liam can talk now. Really well. And he insisted on being batman and Quinn insisted on being a pirate. After looking for a batman costume, I couldn't settle on any of them. I brought home a Curious George costume and a pirate costume for Liam to choose from. And he picked Curious George.

And so we have - a pirate and a monkey. They go hand in hand - don't they? (And is that saying hand in hand or hand and hand?) Oh and me? I'm going to be a clown. I super cute clown, if you ask me! And Mike - has no plans of dressing up this year - party pooper - that's what he'll be!


Except - guess what? We pulled down the bin of old costumes. Quinn tried on his old Buzz costume and Liam tried on his doggy costume. Looks like we might have a Buzz (I can't believe it still fits him - barely.) and a doggy on Halloween this year! At least they got one morning of use out of their new costumes for Quinn's school party!

I must say. I'm pretty proud of myself for letting this go. What? You may be asking. You see part of me really wants them to coordinate - for us to coordinate as a family. But you know what, we really don't need to. And if these boys of mine decide to wear their old costumes Saturday - that's alright with me too.

Weekly Winners - I still take pictures edition.

So... it's been awhile. Almost three months, I think. Anyway - I do still take pictures. Here's some from the past two weeks...

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34 Minutes and some seconds...

Today wasn't how I imagined it. I imagined blue skies, beautiful leaves on the trees, my family there to see me start and finish, and then spending some time after the race doing some of the fun stuff they would have set up for the kiddos. It wasn't like that.

A cold, dreary, and rainy morning greeted me as I headed to my first 5K. I told Mike if he thought it was too cold and wet to take the boys, that's okay. Only crazy people go out in this weather by choice. And so I went...

I worked hard to get to this point. I did everything I needed to do to be ready. There were two things I couldn't control - the weather and the course.

As I drove to the starting location I actually found myself following the signs for the runners, for me, and noticed there were some hills - not huge hills, but more hills than I'm used to.

After registering, waiting, and checking out people's costumes (I did not dress up) - we were off.

As we finished the first mile - the girl at the water table was reading out times. 9:30something (I couldn't remember exactly). I looked at my brother-in-law, "I do NOT run a 10 minute mile." He told me we could slow down. (If anyone needs someone to run with them for their first race - I would nominate him. He did a great job - stayed by me but I never felt like he was pushing me to go faster.)

I don't remember what time the girl at the second mile water table said, but I remember thinking, "That's like an eleven minute mile. I do NOT run eleven minute miles."

I think it was between the 2nd and 3rd mile when it really started raining. Not a mist - but a rain. A cold, wet, rain. My shoes were wet and I couldn't decide if I should leave my sweatshirt on, zipped, opened, or off. I kept switching - on and zipped, unzipped, and then off and around my waist, back on, zipped up again, and then repeat. Well, only two or three times, but it was getting on my nerves. I've got to find something better to wear for my next one. I've also got to work on my pace. More running outside should help with that - it's easy to keep a nice and steady pace on a treadmill.

That's right. I'm already planning on running a 5K with my brother on Thanksgiving morning - want to join us?

And I may or may not have agreed to run a 10K with my brother-in-law in the very distant future.

Anyway...

As we crossed the finish line I could not believe that the clock said 34 minutes and some seconds (gosh my memory is great!). I have run 3 miles many times at the gym - and never under 36 minutes and usually between 37 and 39 minutes.

So - I grabbed a bagel, thanked my brother-in-law for planting the seed in my head to run a 5K and then for helping me follow through, and drove home.

Mike and the boys made a huge sign for me - "Good Job Mom!" and hung it on the front door - it's still there. Quinn wanted to know who won. How many people were in front of me. And how many people were behind me. Luckily, I can honestly say I wasn't first and I wasn't last. I think I have to wait a few days for them to post the results.