Back to Normal

Mike went back to work, the kids went back to school, Mom returned to VA and I went back to all of my usual activities this week.    I was dreading it all, but in the end it was all just fine.  I'm not overly enthused that I still have 4 months of Spanish to teach, but even that will work itself out.

In other news it is ridiculously cold and we might see a stray snowflake or two over the next few days.  I didn't organize my priorities right so we are in this incredibly cold house with a beautiful wood burning fireplace and no firewood.  Oops.

I lost my wedding ring yesterday.  Gave me quite a start to look down at the start of my Spanish lesson and realize it wasn't there, to further realize that I had no idea when I last had it.  I searched the school and the house and the walk in between, over and over.  Made me very sad all day not to have it. I crawled into bed (which had been searched several times) and low and behold there it was smack in the middle, in between all the sheets and blankets.  That was my very happy moment for the day.

And that is the exciting update of the day.

Happiness

These guys, my world, my life, my happiness...

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from TX!  It seems that for many people 2014 was anything less than stellar.  Happily, I can say that is not true for us.  The calendar change always makes me look back and think about the year, good things and bad.  There have been so many rough years for us lately I was pleasantly surprised to realize that 2014 was not one of them. For the first time in 4 years we had a GOOD year, a very happy year, from start to finish.  I wasn't sad to see the year change, instead hopeful that 2015 will be a continuation of the good.  

So my quick look back at 2014 and we have so many things to remember... ice storms from January through March that got us several days off school and introduced us to sideways icicles, several trips to the zoo in Waco, our annual outing for pictures in the bluebonnets, a long weekend at the beach in May, an amazing trip to Oregon over the summer, the boys learned how to ride their bikes on two wheels and swim, a new car, nearly continuous dogsitting from March through November, strawberry picking in the spring and peach picking in the summer, giving up Nyla but gaining Arthur and Sherman the hermit crab, visits from family in September and December, I discovered edx & coursera (several courses under my belt, more to come), birthdays and pumpkin picking and rainbows and art contests, and surely so much more that I have forgotten. 

And so I leave you with this thought...  

"May your coming year be filled with magic & dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to makes some art - write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself". - Neil Gaiman

Dec. 2014

What to say when 3 years has gone by without a post? Mike says to stick with current events. So that would be Christmas and my first stab at installing tile.

Christmas was great. We had the proper amount of chaos with two little boys, 3 dogs, 1 cat, and a grandma running around. Christmas is always slow in making an appearance here. It's no secret that it's not my favorite time of year. I love December for Ben's birthday and I pretty much refuse to acknowledge Christmas until after the 17th, so that doesn't leave us lots of time to plan. At any rate, thanks to Grandma Rita's visit, mom and dad got a chance to go out together and play Santa Claus. Spending quality time with my husband spoiling our kids - THAT is fun and reason enough to get into the holiday spirit.

We put off getting a tree until just a few days before Santa's visit. When we finally did head out to get a tree, Lowe's was cleaned out, not even a stray needle left around. The sales clerks were kind enough to suggest we try the local nursery. Yeah, at a sale price of "$what the heck are you smoking" we opted to cruise on over to the grocery store for a tree. Score, great tree for a pittance. Perhaps we shall make it a tradition - grab a mystery tree (they are all wrapped up so you just don't know what they will look like) from the grocery store at the last minute.

Anyway, the tree went up, Grandma made a pile of cookies, presents were wrapped and we finally got to bid farewell to that d*** elf on the shelf. All in all we had zero to do except play Santa Christmas Eve, first time ever I think! We watched the traditional "Bad Santa", said goodnight and were off to bed. 

The boys, well, they slept in until 7:30! What???!!! Presents and then breakfast, lots of playing, baked some bread for Christmas dinner and off we headed for round two with Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Michael. More presents, more food, games, fun day all around.

Oh yeah, and we wished our sweet little Arthur pup a happy first birthday. Apparently he's a Christmas babe!

Now for the tiling. Long story short, our shower needed to be recaulked. As most home improvement projects go, one thing led to another and next thing you know we are tiling around the shower. Alex, dear boy, spent over an hour picking out tile with his ol' ma. Quite a boring project for an 8 year old kid, but he was a trooper. It's always a little disconcerting starting something new. Fingers crossed that I actually knew what I was doing. Tile went up on the wall, we shut the door and went to bed. Morning comes, happily it's all still on the wall. More goes up, more drying, grout goes in, and that's where we are. Today I caulk, and what we set out to do 4 days ago will finally get done. It only took 4 trips to Lowe's, 4 days longer, and cost 4 times as much as originally planned. But it looks great, and apparently I did it right, because it hasn't fallen off the wall yet.

I am a Triathlete!

Yep, that's right, I AM A TRIATHLETE! (and just a little bit proud.)

I set a goal, I trained hard, I succeeded.

Sunday, Oct. 2, I competed in (and I think finished rather well) my first sprint distance triathlon: 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. Toatl time: 2 hours 19 minutes.

Technically this was my 2nd triathlon, I did a mini-tri a couple of weeks ago. That was only a 300 meter swim, 2 mile bike, 1 mile run. It was so small and short I didn't really count it as a race, but it was.

Long story short, I loved it all and can't wait to do it again.

Things I learned along the way:

1. It's REALLY hard to get up and ride/run for nearly 2 hours at 5:30 in the morning on Saturdays :-)
2. I love to swim!
3. Baby powder is a triathlete's best friend on race day.
4. Open water swimming is WAY more fun than laps in a pool (and a whole lot easier too)
5. Pace Bend park has LOTS of hills.
6. I am a triathlete

I might come back to this post and add a few pics. In the mean time google Trek Women's Triathlon - Austin for the details of the race.

Yes, I am proud of myself :-)

Just Because...

I haven't posted a picture of the boys in ages, so here ya go. Here is a picture that Grandma Rita took of the kids in January. It was so hard for them to be anything other than silly and I just love it! Who needs a posed picture anyway???

Drip...drip...drip...

So goes the kitchen sink. It's been a job trying to get the drip fixed. Today a plumber came out for the 4th time! Looks like an end might be in sight though. Cross your fingers that the manufacturer of my faucet is true to their word about warranties and will replace my faucet for free. Then the plumber can come out and install said faucet (again for free) and there will be no more drip...drip...drip...