Wierd week

It has been a weird week for certain. It is Spring Break here in Oregon and yet there has been snow on some of our beaches and elsewhere (not in Portland - yet).

It has been a wierd week here at our house as well. Normally Dad would be gone half the time but now he's here most of the time. We would normally have at least been going out to do more activities, but are staying closer to home boring the kids with TV and computer games while Dad submits resumes and I work part of the time.

It has been a weird week for me. I think I'm allowing myself to do all the wrong things for myself to get past feeling sorry for ME (cause isn't that who it is all about)? Just kidding - thinking like a kid there for a moment. Staying up late watching silly TV (there was a great bit about being the center of the universe on The New Adventures of Old Christine the other night), eating junk including ice cream, candy, and some BK the other night as a last splurge, not exercising AT ALL, and wine every night so far since last Friday. This too shall pass.

What are you NOT doing this week? What do you wish you were?

I wish I was in Italy (often do) having the vacation of a lifetime with great wines, pastas, cannollis and more.

Laying low

...after the husband's whole department (including him just to be clear) was laid off last Friday. Trying to figure out this new temporary reality and just what it entails. Hopefully it will end up being a good thing and hopefully a short thing too.

Random Thoughts Thursday

• Sunday can't be Easter - I'm not ready,
• I confess I'm happy University of Kansas won over Portland State,
• It's official -- my boy is a basketball nut,
• I'm watching too much TV,
• I'm exercising too little,
• I'm too tired tonight to clean anything,

AND...

• Everything stops when your child gets injured (even if it is just a fat lip - poor girl).

You ask, you get

This post is for Norma:

Flowers budding over our back fence,

A lovely egg made in art class by my son

(I love the bird's nest they made with it),

And more lovely spring flowers.

Roller Coaster Parenting

Some days when you are parenting, it all just feels like a crazy roller coaster ride. This morning things went fairly well. We've had less tantrums and we got to school on time, even a wee bit early.

Things were looking good as I headed for the Assistant Principal's office to verify she'd received my message confirming we would indeed prefer half-day kindergarten (the free kind) for our daughter next year.

BOOM -- we hit the first curve -- turns out she was headed into a school district meeting because the district wanted them to have more full-day kindergarten slots than they have room for... I pondered that for awhile in my noggin only to realize that probably meant no half-day kindergarten option anymore (although I couldn't quite allow myself to believe it yet).

Then I took the girl to school and we had a nice drop off. We were riding high again and I even managed to come home, make a grocery list, get all the groceries, meet the boy for lunch and do lunch at the girl's school too.

I decided to check my work e-mail and my personal while I was at home only to discover that in their ridiculously un-infinite wisdom, our school district officials and the teacher's union, rather than coming up with a public process and finding a true solution to their screwed up teacher hire and transfer policy, they did a behind-doors deal which one quickly realizes fixes nothing, and actually makes things worse!

Then I went to work which was nice enough. A little office time, a meeting downtown with grownups and coffee and chat. Then I came home. Still good until I once again checked my email only to find out that * Poof * (heading over the cliff) there will now be NO HALF-DAY KINDERGARTEN. We are now back to facing just over $300 a month in kindergarten fees! I'm ticked off no end by all this educational wrangling that's not so much working for me.

And how was your day?

Tantrum Tuesday (the day after)

Too long
Always emotionally draining
Never ending
Too many lately
Really really try to stay calm
Underestimating 5-year old ability to hang on
My gracious goodness I'm exhausted this morning
Sure hope these stop soon

Ix-nay on the news-ay

O.K. I'm supposed to look at the news (at least local and some national too) as part of my job in marketing for a non-profit but I got to tell you... after the past few days/weeks - I got to take a break.

I'm beginning to think everyone is crazy out there and horrible and bad. I know we're not all that way and actually most people are decent humans, but too much news consumption eats away at my brain and makes the world look big and downright ugly. Thanks news media!

Anyway... there's a million things that could be said for and against our news coverage, whether local, national or international, but this Mama needs a break. Taking CNN off my favorites list for awhile. I need to focus on the more local good things going on in school classrooms, gardens, playgrounds, in my own home and with friends.

How do you find the balance or do you read it/watch it all? Do you limit your TV news or absorb the local newspaper? What works for you to keep it all in perspective?

Thank goodness

For the Oregon Coast.

Thinking about birthdays!

I was at the grocery store the other day and thought about picking up a birthday card for my little brother (soon to be 30-something) but then thought to myself that I should surely make him one of my photo cards instead. And I will... problem is that that takes time and well I'm gonna be late. I'd better get to work. I've got my brother, my best friend, my twin nieces (turning 1) and my son (turning 8) all birthdaying it up this March.

For the boy (who finally got to attend his first ever pro-basketball game this week -- THANK YOU UNCLES CRAIG & MATT!!!), he is looking forward to a family basketball birthday.

With all this thinking about birthdays and age, I'm realizing my own mortality. Now it isn't necessarily as bad as that sounds. Given that these days, my limited years could be 20 something or 40 something (more likely) or even more than that. But all this middle age stuff has gotten me to thinking about what I want my kids to see in me and in my life. Of course a calm parent (still working on that), lots of love and unconditional pride and joy in them (I think I've got this one pretty well covered) and well... I'd like to give them the gift which is not only my time but an inspired reinvigorated Mama - one who is enthusiastic about life (not just theirs) and going after goals, doing something she is passionate about. Sounds good. But now I've got to grapple with just what that may be and how do I get there (likely school is involved which I have no problem with but it requires $$$ and time). I was going to take a "What is your life's mission" kind of a workshop this weekend but then we got a free weekend away handed to us... gotta take that. So now I'm looking for alternate paths to figuring out my latter life future. Suggestions welcome. I've done the what color is your parachute and all that ages ago and still have those books (or the updated versions of them anyway).

Well... I've got to take a break from trying to figure out my future to make my boy his lunch and finish getting dressed and ready to head to 2nd grade where I'm planning on doing a couple of volunteer hours. Bless my boy he says I should get a job at his school "cause well you are good with kids AND because I want you to be there with me." I think it is mostly the latter (which I'll happily take cause I know that ain't gonna last forever). Who feels inspired or knows someone who is in their latter life? If you know an inspiring story - share.

Basketball anyone?

As we enter farm ball season (yes the boy has moved up from t-ball), I am suddenly struck by the fact that despite being small for his age and low muscle tone... well even so... he's all boy in some ways. Of course the first clue to his boyishness came when he turned straws and popsicle sticks into weapons to my disgust. I have learned, stretched and grown in that area, trying to seperate out my feelings from his actual play scenarios and goals. I was turned on to a terrific article on this topic not long ago that totally changed my thinking and I could pass it on to you if requested (and if I haven't lost it completely under something or another in our house).

But these days it is all about sports! He enjoyed soccer when he was 6 and t-ball when he was 7 and this month he turns 8. We are now in the basketball revolution. I am probably asked 20 to 30 or more times a day (as is my spouse and daughter) who is our favorite NBA player, what is our least favorite East Conference team, what is the away team uniform color of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who would win between the NY Knicks and the New York Rangers (yes we all know the Rangers play hockey). Ay, yi, yi as they say. Although I must say we are all handling it fairly well.

For the most part, we all manage to listen and try to come up with some semblance of an answer although every once in a while it's a big "I don't know." And I even noticed my daughter and one of her best friends playing "Portland Blazers" the other day as part of their preschool day.

Funny part is, even as a non-sports type ultimately (I hid in the outfield in softball and attempted to get out of the way of any balls headed my direction), I had my sports moments. I once played a really good game of tennis (once). I once played an almost perfect game of bowling (again just once). I actually lettered in golf in High School (don't laugh - it's true, although I think my mother may have given my letter to my brother by accident or sold it in a garage sale so I can't produce it as evidence). Ask me and maybe I will tell you sometime just what earned me that letter.

So I'm no stranger to sports really... And I used to know every player, their number, their stats, their penalty minutes and probably lots of other things about every single St. Louis Blues hockey player far too long ago to give it a date. And yes... I wasn't overly popular in High School so I had plenty of time to think about these things.

But now it's all about the basketball.

So... who do YOU like better, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Brandon Roy or Yao Ming? I'll tell you my answer if you tell me yours (and at this point, I can also tell you what team they play for too).