Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I've Almost Found My Ankles Again

Every Sunday I lose my ankles. I sit at church on uncomfortble benches and seats for 3 hours and the circulation to my feet goes by the wayside. It usually takes me until Monday evening or Tuesaday to find them again. This weekend was particulary harsh on the pregnant swelling issues. Saturday was the women's broadcast so I sat for a couple of hours. Sunday was regular church, where I was already hurting from the night before. Then Sunday night we had a youth fireside for another hour. Of course, it's the end of the month and I hadn't done my visiting teaching yet, so Monday I spent the better part of the morning out visiting 3 sisters.

I'm going to have to plan better next week and month. It took a lot of "work" to get the swelling and stiffness to go down this week, and I'm still not great. And by "work" I mean that I had to lay in bed and take a nap so I could elevate my feet.

"Environmentally Friendly"

I attended an event this past weekend where they served us lunch. We received instructions on how to pick up our food and then they requested that in an effort to be "environmentally friendly" we should empty our water bottles and recycle them in the designated bin. Very nice, recycling.

Then I got my lunch. In a colorful paper bag, with a contrasting color of tissue paper in it. It looked very nice. I sat down to a table with colorful paper plates that we could use for our sack lunch. Then I pulled out my lunch. One snack sized Ziploc bag with grapes in it. One snack sized Ziploc bag with veggies in it. One snack sized Ziploc bag with a croissant in it. One snack sized Ziploc bag with a tortilla roll in it. One snack sized Ziploc bag with 2 cookies and an individually wrapped chocolate in it. One snack sized Ziploc bag with some sun chips in it. One styrofoam container with some delicious chicken salad, accompanied by a plastic fork.

I folded up my tissue paper and tucked it inside the colorful bag and put it in my bag to take home. It will make a nice birthday package for someone soon. I cringed as I threw away the remains of all my plastic lunch containers in the very colorful garbage bin. It was colorful because everyone else seemed to have thrown away their birthday packaging. What a waste!

Sure am glad we recycled those water bottles!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Answer: (Bill) Struck Out Lookin'

I've never been one to play stupid, not even for a man. It's just not in me to play the helpless female role and get rescued or schooled on a subject that I already know everything about. Seriously, doesn't that just make the other person feel stupid when they find out you already know what they are talking about? I would.

Every once in a while Bill will forget that I know stuff. Stuff about baseball and nuts and bolts, and other notsowomanly stuff. It cracks me up, and I call him on it. He was more careful about it when we were dating, and sometimes I can't believe that he forgets after so many years of marriage. I'll take some of that blame though, since I do feign ignorance when I don't feel like discussing something or going to the hardware store for one of his projects.

I just can't get into baseball season without going to a live baseball game. I love it when spring training comes around, but it's been years since I've actually gone to one of those games. Not good. It's especially not good for Bill when he's such a sports fanatic and loves to follow even the lamest of home teams because they are, in fact, our home team.

The regular season of baseball is almost over now. Playoffs start in October and I had/have no idea who is contending for the World Series. Bill and I were given tickets to the Diamondbacks game Tuesday night and had a blast. So much so that I really care about this stuff now. As we were sitting down, I asked Bill, "Am I going to know any of these players?" Of course not. They've traded all the good ones and my original DBacks players are retired. Can I name some of them now? You bet! I even have a favorite, the second baseman, Rusty Ryal, from Oklahoma. Go ahead, say his name out loud, it's fun. He had an awesome game and has a Dennis Quaid kind of smirky smile. I also know the first baseman (Allen), right fielder (Upton), and center fielder (Young). I'll tell you right now I'm not impressed with Young. (Long story, I'm sure Bill will rant about it on his blog.)

Enough about that, I've probably lost half my readers by now anyway. They think this post is about baseball, but it's not. It's really about my silly husband trying to school me, forgetting that I know stuff. Stuff about baseball.

There we are, about halfway through the game, just enjoying idle chit chat. That's the best part about attending a live baseball game...nothing to do but relax, enjoy the game, and enjoy the company of the person next to you. I really enjoy hanging out with Bill this way and we don't get to do it enough. Baseball takes a while so we have plenty of time to remember things we haven't had a chance to talk about, and he has plenty of time to stick his foot in his mouth. Like this incident after one of our guys strikes out at the plate...

Bill: Ooo, backwards 'k', not good.
Me: Nope.
Bill: That means he struck out looking.
Me: Really?
Bill: Yeah.
Me: Seriously? If you don't swing it's worse than if you do?
Bill: Yeah. You have to protect the plate when you have 2 strikes on you.
Me: Really? (the sarcasm gets a little thicker now)
Bill: Oh. (feeling a little sheepish)
Me: Yeah. (it finally dawned on him)
(we both laugh)
Me: Did you forget that we met playing softball?
Bill: Yeah.

Alright, the conversation probably wasn't THAT bad, but he was busted none the less. I further questioned him if it sucked that he couldn't teach me this stuff. You know, like would he prefer to have some ditsy blond next to him that he could explain baseball to and impress with his infinite wisdom on the subject? Fortunately he said, "no", and said he preferred to be able to talk intelligently with someone that knew what they were saying. We laughed that he had to get out the rule books while we were dating so he wouldn't look stupid when we watched our first World Series together. Awe, how sweet, huh?!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Monday, September 7, 2009

The School/Vacation Cycle

As school is ending we are thrilled that we won't have to pack lunches anymore, drive to and from school daily, deal with the social drama and homework, end of the year parties, teacher gifts and hoopla. Yada, yada. School is over for the summer, what a relief. If we're smart we have planned at a least a class or trip for the kids to look forward to and for us to get some relief.

About halfway through the summer we start thinking to ourselves, "Is this almost over? Are the kids ever going to stop bugging me?"

A few weeks later we're talking with other moms, "Is this almost over? Are the kids ever going to stop bugging us?"

A few weeks after that the kids are asking us, "Is this almost over? Are you ever going to stop bugging us?"

Then we have the chaos of getting ready for school to actually begin. Some years it is easier than others. Most years you have to go through the wardrobe, tossing clothes that are too small and inappropriate for school., dividing play clothes from school clothes. Establishing a routine again. (Because, let's face it...even though we say we'll keep a routine, it's nice to be the mom that doesn't really care that your child stayed up too late because WE wanted to have fun with OUR friends, right?!) I gave up buying new backpacks and lunchboxes a few years ago, but some people still do that. Pencils, binders, and notebooks of some kind are usually a given. And, because we live in a desert, a new water bottle (to replace the one used all summer) is in order.

Then school starts and we're happy, the kids are happy, there is time for everyone to have their own space. A few weeks, and now closer to a month, goes by and we have Labor Day. The first 3 day holiday of the school year. 3 DAYS! Really that's only one extra day off, but it sounds cool in writing and feels great when your spouse has the day off as well. It's one more day of goofing off. One more day that you don't have to get in bed right on time because you have to get up in the morning. One more day...

But what happened?! Wasn't it just a month ago that we were wishing that school would start right away? What happened to the bliss of having our own time? It's almost midnight and I should be in bed so that I can wake up happily and get the kids to school. But no, I'm wishing that tomorrow was another holiday and that the weekend was longer. What happened to me?

So now I'm thinking that I'm very grateful our charter school does not take a Fall break for a week. That would really throw my groove off. If one extra day does this to me, then what would a week do?! Geez, I better get sleepin'.

$1 Burrito for Diabetes Research

And, in case you need to know where the mi amigo's locations are, try this link:
and scroll down to the bottom. Tempe folks, it appears that Southern and Gilbert is our closest location. I'm thinking I might go for an early lunch (11/11:30ish), before Tasha gets out of school. It's a sit down and order kind of joint, I believe. Call me if you are interested in joining me!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009