In Bed by 7...

So much time has passed since my last posting and I'm not doing very well in my resolution to write more and to write often.  A lot of it has to do with me taking a course to keep my teaching certification current. In my state, I have to take 6 credits every 5 years to keep up my certification.  Even though I'm still two years out from having my certification expiring, I feel the need to complete the credits now so I'm not scrambling last minute. I'm getting better at not waiting to do things the last minute. Not great, but better.  So I'm currently taking a 3 credit self-paced online course. Taking one class is the way to go.  I have about one solid hour of study time a day when the little kids are napping. I'm able to complete a reading, watch a video, or begin a writing assignment. I have to get better at not getting distracted when I need to write a response.  We'll see how this goes and I'll try another one in the fall. Even though I have been signed up for 2 1/2 weeks, I am STILL waiting for my textbook and DVDs to arrive. If they don't show up by the middle of the next week I'll have to call them. Ugh! Fortunately, I have links to the videos and some of the readings are online...just not the ones from the text book. I'm supposed to be reading a chapter for each session and right now I'm winging my responses based on the readings I am able to access.

What else has been going on? Oh, yeah. I've registered for my first half-marathon. Yikes! Seriously what was I thinking?  But I am so totally excited. After running in the relay with family in October's running festival, I've been hooked.  I have been training for the last 6 weeks. I'm finally over my calf and hip issues. I realize really, really need to listen to my body and not run when I'm injured. I only injure myself further when I do that.  It took weeks of spin classes and using the elliptical machines before I was better. And weeks of patience, of which I had very little and spent most of it grumbling about not being able to run.  I had planned on building a base slowly and getting stronger. But I found I had just about 12 weeks to train for the half-marathon when I was finally injury free. So I'm not starting the way I want to, and it's taken the last 6 weeks for me to build up my endurance, but I'm doing it again.  As I write this, I feel twinges in my ankle and I'm praying I don't injure it. I'm thankful that my friend J. saw the wisdom in buying me an ankle compression sock as a "just because" gift earlier this year. I have a feeling I will be using it more often. So the race is at the end of next month. It's an all female race and I've heard that it has an amazing, encouraging vibe. My overall goal: to finish and not to get swept up!!!! My realistic time goal: 3 hours 13 minutes.  My "the gods are smiling on me" goal: 3 hours. And my "Hey at least I'm out here" goal 3 hours 30 minutes. The course closes at 3 hours and 40 minutes so it gives me a little cushion. Hubby said he and the kids will be out there to cheer me on. I sure hope so.  It would rock my world if they were there for my first half-marathon.  It would rock my world if other local family and friends were there but I'd settle for a few race day texts wishing me luck and sending good vibes ;)

Let's see what else. Well Mr. Bananas had a big accident last week. He was jumping around at my mom's house and totally bit it on her very hard wood sofa arm.  Yeah. Her sofa is going to outlast all of us it's so durable. Unfortunately it left a big thumb length dent in his forehead.  I called the advice nurse and after confirming that he will probably be okay, she still scheduled an appointment with my pediatrician.  After my nephew's head injury last fall, I really didn't want to take any chances. I love our provider and they were awesome about setting up an appointment for us.  We saw the pediatrician within 45 minutes of the accident.  Hubby even left work early to join me.  When the pediatrician first saw she said, "Well he's acting like he's okay. Where's this dent we're talking about?" When I lifted Mr. B's bangs she said, "Oh, yeah, there it is. Let's go ahead and schedule an x-ray, shall we?"  She was calm but urgent.  We went down to x-ray and the x-ray tech said "Who are we seeing today? This little guy? We're doing a skull x-ray."
Me: "Yes, there is a dent in his forehead" and I lift up his bangs.
X-ray tech: "Why yes there is, let's get him in for an x-ray" and she said it in that same calm, yet urgent, voice the pediatrician used.

Fortunately, the x-ray showed that everything was intact and there weren't any fractures or fissures. Thank the Lord!  I was terrified!  The dent appeared to be in the soft tissue of his head. It took about 4 days for the dent to pop out and bruise. But it did. He seems to be fine overall. Praise God!

However, five days later he started throwing up. Now we're dealing with a stomach bug.  Buggy and I had a touch of it for about 2 days, but we're better. Mr. Bananas is still dealing with it. Fortunately, the vomiting stopped after the first day. But we're still dealing with really nasty diapers. So I've kind of quarantined us. If he's not better by tomorrow I'm going to have to cancel play dates that I have scheduled for next week. I really don't want any of my friends or their children to get sick. This is one nasty bug.

So with all of that going on, I've been in bed by 7pm or 8pm every night (from sheer exhaustion) and up around 4am to hit the gym and get runnin' or spinnin'. One of my friends asked me if I was sick when I told her I was going to bed so early. No, not sick, but exhausted. And with Mr. Bananas being sick he hasn't slept through the night in over a week and has ended up in our bed sometime in the middle of the night just about every night last week.  Which means Hubby and I haven't slept through the night in over a week. I am one tired pup. Oh, and I have mountains (yep, that's multiple) of laundry to wash, dry, and put away.  It's amazing how much laundry you have to do when someone has the stomach bug.  Yuck!

I am hoping that I will adjust soon and be able to stay up later and work out harder.  I was chatting with another friend at the gym and told her I was going to take a class and I happen to mention that Boogie was starting soccer and little kids were starting gymnastics. And she asked, "And you thought this was a good idea to start everything at the same time..." Well, yeah, until she said that! No, it wasn't a great idea in retrospect. But here we are.  Oh, did I mention that Hubby is coaching Boogie's soccer team? Let's just add that to the mix.  I'm so proud of Hubby for stepping up and coaching Boogie's team, especially since Boogie's last coach was awful. He would just stand on the sidelines during the games wearing sunglasses, a knit cap, folded arms, and a scowl never once provided directions or encouragement to the kids during the game.  Gah! So Hubby stepped up and offered to coach this season. Which is totally awesome, but does add to the strain of we're all going in a billion different directions and Mama's anxiety and stress is going up. At least running is my outlet. I can train for my race and let go of my stresses from the day. Running truly keeps me sane. Did I mention I heart running? I do. I really do.

So that's what I've been up to. So if you try to call me after 7pm and I don't answer, I'm probably in bed. And when I'm up and moving around, you're probably still in bed. So there you have it. I am never available and probably won't be until summer...HA! Then I'm the Flipper rep for the kids' swim team and swim team is a full-time activity...so maybe in the Fall...but no, we'll have all the kids in activities again and I'll be taking another class...Winter? Who knows????  Know that I love you and I'll try to keep up the blog so you know we're still here. I'm sorry about the lack of pictures. I'll try to do better next time. And no, I didn't take a picture of the dent. I should have. It was righteous. Ugh.

Shout out to my friend C...(Where are you?  Right here!)...

xoxo

A Mommy and Boogie Date

With my Boogie Man

Last month I had to pick up Boogie from school early to go to an opthalmology appointment.  He was able to eat a little bit of his lunch at school, but could have eaten more.

After receiving good news that Boogie's eyes were healthy I took him out for ice cream. I almost always take the kids out for ice cream after a doctor's appointment. The ice cream shop is just down the road from the doctor's office and usually the kids have been awesome as they wait and sit through a doctor's appointment, especially when it's for their sibling. But that day, it was just Boogie and me.  We went out for ice cream, ran to the dry cleaner's to drop off some clothes, and then I treated him to lunch, just the two of us. I gave him choices and he chose sushi and off we went. I also asked if he wanted to order the lunch and bring it home to eat with everyone else and he opted to have a lunch out with just Mommy. So we did.

Our lunch out was so nice. We ordered all the yummy food we both like. I bought him a can of lemonade and he asked, "Who is this for, Mommy?"  I told him it was his lemonade and he said, "Oh, man! This is all mine?"  Shows you how often the kids get their own drinks. They usually share :)  We took our time, he tried using his chopsticks the whole time. We talked, we laughed, and we had a good time just the two of us.  Afterwards he suggested we bring home any leftovers for everyone else.

I really enjoyed this one-on-one time with Boogie. Now that he is school full-time, I rarely get any one-on-one time with him and I'm glad I had this chance. It was perfect.  I need to remind myself to take time and spend time with each of the kids and give them some undivided attention. It's so hard with so many items on my to-do list, the chores that need to be done at home, the errands that need to be run, and of course giving attention to every person in my family. But, it is so, so important and I am so, so grateful I had this opportunity.

Using his chopsticks

Showing off his skills

In mid-sentence

I promise you, he loved it despite the incredulous look on his face.

Back to School!

I just registered for my first online course to keep up my teaching certification. YIKES! I'm feeling a bit very nervous about balancing the course load and family obligations.  But this is important and I should do this...but YIKES!

I'm wondering if I can handle the pressures, though it is really only one class. And I can do it in my "down" time. Down time, HA!  My certification really does not expire for another two years, but I hate doing things last minute and stressing out about it and wondering if I'll get all of my paperwork in on time.  So here I am, two years ahead of schedule taking 3 of the 6 credits needed by June 2015.  I'm hoping that if I write the state department of education that I can get an intro to writing class approved, because that would be awesome. I am a reading specialist and I think that writing is an integral part of the literacy process.  Do you know how many of our students are unable to write a cohesive paragraph? Or answer a question in writing? I used to make my students write every single day as part of their warm up, as a result, I saw their literacy skills take off. I spoke with my son's teacher from last year and I saw the literacy work he was doing with his emerging readers. Inspirational!

Anyhoo, I'm checking my email every so often to see if my coursework information has been sent to me.  They said it should be sent as early as tonight or in a few days and I can begin immediately.  I'm very excited, too. It's been so long since I've been a student and I'm looking forward to using my brain in other than "mommy mode."  Wish me luck!....YIKES!