Just Another Manic Monday

Manic Monday!

Manic Monday Failure and other stuff

I fully intended to start doing the Manic Monday photag posting starting with this last Monday because I'm on vacation, and there was a lot to be done: I had a doc appointment, went to the tearoom with my mom and my brother. It would have been awesome, but I forgot to take pictures. I had my good camera with me and everything. Bah. Maybe I can get it done this Monday. I'm at work, so it's not going to be terribly exciting...but there is always the afterschool hours, right?

Alexander is getting bigger and bigger. I'm sad to say that he's definitely a toddler now, complete with "no more!" and "go!" Very fun to play with, but where is my little baby? Ah, life, it's a kick in the pants.

March, already?

Thanks to those of you who came by and read...and double thanks to those who commented. That last post was a smaller pity party, but it was a bit of a pity party all the same. Thanks for bearing with me.



As many of us did, we got a huge snow at the end of last week. The snow was too tall for Alexander to make fresh footprints in, which is his new favorite thing to do, but he did discover that puddles are a great time.

On an exercise note, I think now that the weather is getting warmer (ha, right!) I have to dig out some things to go running in. That'll be a huge help in reaching my current goal: Losing 5 pounds before my annual check up with the obgyn. I still won't be at my pre-pregnancy weight, but at least I'll be 5 pounds closer than I am now. My appointment is at the end of this month, so I've got time and I am feeling more motivated than I have in a long time.

Crickets

Just a few randowm things to share today:

I'm guess that no one really comes around anymore...and that's okay. My last post was a sad sack pity party, but I needed to get it out.

I've decided that for the next 6 months or so, I am going to work diligently on getting 22 more graduate credits so my pay will get bumped up to the highest step on our pay scale. There are rumors of the credit related steps being removed from our contract during our next contractual negotiations which begin in 18 months. I'm taking a mixture of online classes and double weekend classes so that I can get it all done quickly.

I haven't actively tried to lose weight in quite some time, but now that spring is right around the corner (yeah, right, it's snowing here as I type this) and Alexander is all about being outside and walking around and around the perimeter of the house in his special skull and crossbones boots, I think it's time to approach the subject again and perhaps getting out some of my running gear? Shocking, I know!

Sad

Sept 1, 1999- January 25, 2010

Sorry I haven't been here lately.  We had a devestating event here in the Amazon home.  Poor, sweet Reuben passed on January 25th.  He had a huge mass in his abdomen, and our options were surgery, let it go, or put him down.  The surgery would have cost upwards of 5K and recovery would have been long and painful and it only would have extended his life for about 6 months.  Letting it go would have meant watching him every second of the day for the mass to rupture resulting in massive internal bleeding and he would die a painful death.  We decided that it would be most human to let him go while he was still feeling pretty good.  We miss our boy.

No Resolutions Here

Sorry, folks.  I didn't mean for so much time to go by without posting, but sometimes life gets in the way.  Eh, it happens.

I decided that this year there would be no resolutions with the new year.  Instead, I decided to make habits. I'm figuring if i can start and maintain a new habit every 2 or 3 weeks my health will improve and I'll probably loose weight without tryting really hard.  Right now, I'm working on drinking a lot of water.  Pretty easy to do at work.  Not so easy on the weekends, but I'm really working on it, and it's getting easier. 

My next habit will be to plan out dinners for the week; healthy dinners, that it.  This habit will help me to be sure to get in more veggies at dinner, and it will help me budget food money better and will help to use leftovers more effectively.  Roast chicken yesterday?  Okay, faux chicken pot pie today.

On another note, things at work are getting weird.  The weirdo that I had such issues with a few years ago is pregnant again.  I'm very happy for her.  She and I had to have a meeting recently and we were talking about our sons. (She has twin boys about a month older than Xander).  The baby she is carrying is a girl, so we were talking about baby names.  I told her that if Chris and I were blessed with a girl the next time around we'd have trouble naming her because I love really ethnic Irish names and he doesn't.  To this, she replied, " I really don't think you're ever going to have a baby girl."  Wah?  Who says that kind of thing?  Especially to someone you're not friends with?  I dunno.  She's just a tad strange.

And just for fun, a picture of the baby for no reason. 

Monkey

Uh, yeah, so Alexander can now climb almost anything.  I say "almost" because he hasn't tried to climb out of his crib yet (he likes it in there, believe it or not) and he really hasn't put a lot of effort into seriously trying to climb over the baby gates.  It's only time...

He's also starting to throw mini-tantrums.  I feel so bad for him, but seriously, I cannot condone climbing the swivel chair that's in front of the computer.  It's just not safe and he's far too young to understand that.  Oh well.

Too big for his britches

Alexander has gotten so big in such a short period of time.  It's unbelieveable.  He is now on the cusp of being a little boy.  It's amazing. 

It snowed here yestereday, so I took him out for a little bit and he really loved it.  He usually wants to touch all the trees, bushes, flowers, and cars when we're outside...except in the snow, all he wanted to do was catch the snowflakes.  Very cool.  Plus, he loves his new skull and crossbones boots that my mother bought him.

He is also desperately trying to figure out how to undress himself.  This is how I found him recently after an afternoon nap.  I guess he was trying to devise a way to get the shirt off and gave up and went to sleep.    Note the unhappy face.     He also has figure out how to get around the child safety thing on our entertainment cabinet. Unbelieveable.  and this isn't all, folks.  He's discoverd that he can pull himself up onto our dining room chairs and has figured out how to turn aroud and sit on it like a big kid.

He has also learned the joys of drawing.  God bless the Crayola people and their ingenious marketing ways.  I love the first crayons that I got him.  Granted it says 18+ months on the package, but he's 16 months and I don't leave him unattended with the crayons.   I think my mom probably had me using regular jumbo crayons at 16 months, and I turned out fine.  No wax issues what-so-ever.

Life has been just a litte crazy...

Well, my title might be a tad mis leading...not so much crazy as just busy, busy, busy now that Alexander is hell bent on running.  He is trying to be as active as possible, which is fine by me because he sleeps like a champ.  Hardly a peep out of him once I put him in his crib (after milk, brushing teeth, at least 2 books, and some rocking and singing) and show him who's waiting for him (one of the puppy brothers, a stuffed bear, and a blankie).  In fact, he's in there now listening to his fisherprice musicbox/aquarium thing.

If you look at the water in the bath shot, you can see it's moving quite a bit.  He's active in the tub, too, trying to splash and kick as much as he can.  It's pretty dang entertaining.

As for me, things are a-okay.  Even though we have tons of leftover Halloween candy, and I've been helping myself to some everyday, I'm still slowly, ever so slowly, losing weight.  And that's fine.  Since I stopped WW, I've actually been thinking less about food, and I think as a result, less goes into my mouth.  I'm eating things that I would "indulge" in when I was on plan, and I would go overboard, but now I just have a little..I suppose because it's really not "bad" anymore.  It's just food.  Eh, who knows.  I'm just going to try to be aware, in a general kind of way, of what I'm eating and how often.  We'll see where is leads me. 

And while I'm here, maybe someone could tell me where the spellcheck button went?  It's making me just a little bit insane.

What?

Okay, what happened to the blogger I was familiar with?  I feel like I using a spell-check-free doppelganger.  Weird.

Overdue update here

Things around here have been a tad hectic.  Alexander had a terrible couple of weeks.  First he had a virus that gave him 5 days of horrible diarrhea, followed by about 3 days of being well, only to get another stomach virus that was all about barfing.  This one only lasted 3 days, but he cut his last front tooth and 4 molars during those 3 days.  It was heinus.  Mark my words.  Heinus.  He's fine now, thank God. 

Aside from the teeth, Alexander has been learning to do some really cool things.  He can stack 3 and 4 blocks.  He can say "Touch", "touch that", "again", "dog", "cat", "uh-oh", "this", "that", "dada".  He can also sign for "more" and "please"  Of course, he doesn't say "moma".  Boo!  It'll come in time.

Other than that, we are rocking and rolling around here.  I'm trying to get ahead on bills, like paying off my car a little early, and clearing up the house renovation stuff on my credit card (at 1.9% interest).  I think that I'm going to have to cut 2 things out of my life that I haven't been committed to:  Curves and Weight Watchers.  I haven't had the time to go to Curves since the summer.  That's $49 bucks a month.  As for WW, I haven't been working the program, I haven't been attending meetings.  My head just isn't in it.  Strangely, I've been losing a bit of weight on my own, so I think I'm going to quit that at least for a little while.  That's $39.95 a month.  So, that's 88.95 I could be putting towards the principal on my car.

October 1st Update

Ah, back to the blog. It's so comfy and nice here. I'm on break at work, so I'm allowed to be doing this, but I don't have much time so I'm going bullet style:

• I decided not to be upset by the "when are you due" question. I review what I was wearing and to be honest I was wearing a frumpy sweater that is starting to lose it's shape around the middle. I did wear it while I was pregnant with Alexander, so the stomach is a tad stretched out.
• Alexander, although is fine now, had a stomach virus for a week. That's lots of diarrhea, folks. The poor little guy. We were in and out of the doctor's office. He's as good as new now.
• Alexander has a newish game he likes to play. We call it doggie diving. Chris and I discourage it. I do have it on video and will have to post it later on when I have more time and I have my at home computer to post it with. It's basically played by Alexander walking (waddling?) up to a relaxed Reuben, crawls up one side of Reuben's back and rolls down the other. It's pretty funny, and Reuben doesn't seem to mind, but it's not fair tot he dog to let the little guy do it, so we're trying to get Alexander to use pillows and large stuffed animals instead.
• I've been knitting and knitting and knitting. I've become addicted to knitting socks. I love it! And then I have socks to wear when I'm done. Greatest hobby ever...except for my old sock monkey obsession...which reminds me, I have to set up my sewing machine...

That's it for now! I'm off to read blogs while I still have a little lunch time left.

Yeah, so....

Um, so I got my first 5 pound star at WW this weekend, and then someone at work asked me when I was due. What a let down.

Eh, I'm fine. I'll be back soon!

New school, new faces

I'm digging being back at my old campus. It's a little bit closer to home. It's a little bit closer to Alexander's sitter's house. I have other reading people as neighbors, which is nice. My office is in the school library, which is ever so conveinient.

The downside of being on the main campus is that there is the lunchroom. It's catered by the student chefs, and right now the food is okay, but in another month when they learn how to make chicken cordon bleu and it's delicious and it's super cheap it's hard to stick to a diet. I think I will have to look over the menu and choose one lunch a week to buy in there because otherwise I am dead.

In other news, look what I did to poor Alexander's hair. (The pic is from my phone, so excuse the poor quality)

The kid looks shocked, right? Stunned, even. When I was doing the deed, he started to wriggle and I panicked and made the cut above the fingers holding the hair instead of below. I don't think I will be making that mistake again. Yikes!

Update on Me!

I know I put in the title that this is an update about me, but I couldn't resist putting a picture of Alexander walking. You see, I am having a bit of a problem separating my identity from my son's. I'm not sure if this is a new mom thing, because he's been so dependant on me until recently, or if I'm just in need of mental help, but I digress.

Work has started up once again, and as some of you remember, I had to pack up my office of 3 years and move to another campus. I spent the 2 conference days unpacking whenever I had a free moment. I'm not quite done yet, as I need a working filing cabinet. I was left with one that is in terrible condition. When you open the drawers, you hear tinkling metal, as if there are small metal mice scampering into little metal nests in the back of the cabinet. I've put in a request, and we'll see if it gets met. Otherwise, my files are staying inside the boxes I packed them in.

This school year also promises to be an interesting one. The place I work for had major budget cuts, as did our component districts, resulting in everyone getting shaken up and switching programs. We have teachers who have worked with emotionally disturbed kids for 8 years who will now be working with the multiply handicapped kids or autistic kids. Granted, they are trained and certified to work with those populations, it's just a major mental adjustment. All these changes are indirectly affecting me. I'm still teaching and consulting in the field of reading, but the people I thought I would be working with are in different departments. So even the "worst case scenario" I had in my head is out the window. The person I get to work with is more heinous than my worst case fears. I'm a professional, I'll get over it. Plus, I get to work on a special project with a woman who hates me more than any other person in the world, including her pervy brother-in-law. I'm that special. Like, I said, it's going to be an interesting year...on the upside, I am employed full time, in a job that doesn't make me want to harf on most days. And historically, most days are good days.

I also have to toot my horn a little bit and let ya'll know that I hit by first 5 pound star. Yeah, it only took a year...my theory is that because I was constantly hungry from nursing and pumping; I ate too much. Now that I'm not doing those things, I'm not so hungry and I'm losing weight slowly. So, if you want to get technical, I lost 5 pounds last month. Go me!

A day of food in pictures

I have been slacking in the Amy's Weightloss Challenge for about 3 weeks, so I decided that I had to participate this week no matter what. Well, Friday rolled around and I still hadn't posted my food for a day. Friday *had* to be the day, despite the fact that it wasn't going to be a great day for diety kinds of food...but hey, at least I got 'er done.

Breakfast: 1 cup of Banana Nut Cheerios

Lunch: Silver Tips Tea room- My mom, Alexander and I had Afternoon Tea for 2: 2 sandwiches (Mediterranean and Balzac) and 2 scones with creme fresche and jam.
And we split samosas. Yum!

Can't forget the iced chai tea.

Alexander looks at the menu, but always orders the same thing...pieces of my sandwich and scone.

Snack: Banana

Friday night is take out night in my house...we don't usually get Greek, but Chris really wanted it, so I opted for mushroom barley soup and stuffed grape leaves. So yummy!

Alexander is One!

I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get another post out here in blogland. I was incredibly busy with Alexander's birthday party and then the aftermath of gift opening and thank you cards. It takes time. Plus, with the 12 month mark comes new fun things, like really taking an interest in walking and eating things you find on the ground. Things that an adult would never notice in a million years.

Here is my big boy. I cannot believe that it's been a year since he was born. Amazing how time flies!

I'll be back to post about other things like work coming up, and other amazing Alexander stunts. See you then!

Almost a Year

Can you believe that Alexander will be a year old on Tuesday? I sure as hell can't. Holy smoke!
He's huge! And funny! And beautiful!

Reuben even has a new appreciation for Alexander, as Alexander now feeds Reuben from his highchair whenever possible (usually behind our backs). Reuben is so gentle and sweet when removing tiny bits of food from Alexander's hand, which makes him giggle in the cutest way.

As for me, I'm fine. We're not nursing at all any more (I'm not sure if I mentioned that in an earlier post) which makes me a little sad, but he's a big guy now and will be starting on cow's milk in a few days. I'm doing okay on Amy's challenge...I'm losing weight, albeit slowly, but that's fine.

Week Five challenge!

Hey all-

I'm still hanging in there with Amy's 15 week challenge. It's fin to have a little something to focus on for myself during those few odd fleeting moments I have to myself during the day.

Anywho...this week's main challenge was to create a dish using a whole grain. I immediately thought "Quinoa!" which is a grain that goes all the way back to the Incas. How cool is that? I made Quinoa, Black Bean, and Mango salad.

1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water- simmer until all the water is gone (or follow the direction on your quinoa package!)

1 can black beans, drained

2 mango, diced

3 chopped green onions (or 1/4th-1/2 red onion)

1 diced pepper (color of your choice)

juice of 1 lime

salt to taste.

This dish is incredibly easy to make, after the quinoa is done you just combine all the ingredients. I love this dish, it's easy, it's loved by my vegetarian and meat eating friends alike, and it's fairly balanced as quinoa has a lot of protein!