I wrote the following for my MOPS group’s newsletter earlier this month. I have tweaked it some - cut some words, cut a portion of the “Mommy specific” wording, and included a link… a bloggers prerogative.
Thanksgiving is upon us once again. The first thing that pops into my head when the season “hits” is - “What am I going to cook?” I am such a “mom”. Diving head first, tasking, cleaning, planning, preparing,making lists and flipping through the cookbooks.
My daughter Lucy taught me something recently. We were waiting in a parking lot. A murder of crows gathered ’round some food item that crows like to eat - blech! I just stared and thought to myself, “Ugly birds. If they are still there when I need to leave, then I'll have to shoo them away with my car, and I would rather just,.” Well, you get the picture. Mid-murder plot thought, I heard Lucy, my 2.5 year-old squeal in joyous tones, “Oooh Wook Mama!!! Pwetty birdies! Woook at the pwetty birdies! OOOOH!”
At that moment… I wished I had the mind of a child. As I was building in frustration and anxiety, she was delighting in creation, with a truly joyful heart. I long for my mind to innately “go” to the joy, the delight…
Coming back around - Thanksgiving. Planning. Cooking. Shopping, It all still needs to get done, but I need to shift my mind just a touch. Maybe my I need to “dive heart first” into the reasons I have to be thankful. My reasons to be thankful are different than yours, but I hope my lesson can encourage a shift from the chaos of the upcoming holidays - if even for a moment,
What are the things you are thankful for? Shelter, healthy children, gas in the car, friendship, family, maybe you don't have to cook this year, or maybe it is finally YOUR turn to cook Thanksgiving dinner,
Whatever the list - think about those things when the ”to do” list gets longer than the paper… when it stretches longer than hours in the day. The numbers of things yet to do may be many, but we will never have enough paper to list all the things we are should be thankful for.
I stumbled upon Life of a Loony via NaBloPoMo Randomiser… and was delighted by her list of things she is thankful for…
No, I’m not talking about the newest candle buy on Home Shopping Network… This is MUCH more exciting than that!
Over the last 3 weeks I have run approximately 69 miles, plus a little time on the stationary bike and wee bit o’ time on the elliptical machine at the gym… The 2007 Seattle Marathon (just HALF of it for me, thank you very much) is next Sunday, and I have been pushing myself these last few weeks in preparation.
My 12-mile-run was this morning, and the end of it marked the beginning of Taper Week! WooHoo! This means I will reacquaint myself with fried foods, soda pop, pastries ease up on the training this week and stand on my feet all Thursday day to prepare Thanksgiving dinner :) Basically, the hardest part of getting ready for “the event” is done. Early the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I’ll head to Seattle, take a nice run through the city for a couple of hours (a.k.a. 13.1 miles) with Katie (maybe freeze a little) and head back home. See… that’s easy!
I was a bit anxious about today’s run. I felt a little discouraged after the 11-miler the week before. But lo and behold… today’s run was a really. nice. run. The rain started lightly falling during the last 2 miles, and started pouring as we finished stretching and hopped in the car :) The hills were long and gradual, a bit much at times, but none mean enough to drive Katie and I to walking speed. We were both surprised how quickly 2 hours passed. Of course, we are both blessed with the gift of gab, and that girl is fun-nee. You don’t even know…
What seemed to work:
- Ditching the vest made of the color not found in nature. Maybe it wasn’t the safest choice, but I was cooler and my pits were chafe-free. Katie protected us today.
- I left the long sleeve shirt on. I usually strip down to my tank even if it is 40 degrees… The vest I ditched heats me up. The problem is, I am really not sure if the chafing has been due to tank rub or vest rub…
- 2 pouches of Gu - one at 45 minutes and another at 90 minutes. Oh, and 2 electrolyte tablets at 60 minutes.
- Plain water instead of added “energy” powder. Me thinks that when the Gu and powder stuff meet they get in a bit fight over who who is the boss of my stomach.
- Running buddy. Time just slips away and those hills become a common foe to conquer.
- Oatmeal for breakfast… No coffee. I like the coffee, but there is a wee bit of caffeine in the Gu I chug… I can consume the CRACK post-race, with the added benefit of warming up…
I think that’s it. Oh yeah, did I mention… it’s taper week?!
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I have a static page that shares my growing list of pet peeves. This post is copied straight from what I wrote about my newest peeve: chains…
Chain letters, chain emails, Responding to one is like treating a rash with a Brillo pad - it just makes it all worse. Answer one, then 12 other people will think you're “into the chain thang” and then you get 12 more, and you have to send 12 more,
Stop the insanity! Just Say No To Chain Mail. If not for me, then please, just do it for the children,. Now, send this to 12 people within the next 6 hours, and if you do not - you will be stricken with halitosis and you will never again win a tickle fight.
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What on earth is a NaBloPoMo? Apparently November is National Blog Posting Month… I had seen this NaBloPoMo word around the interweb of the united world (a.k.a WWW), but for some reason I mixed it up with NaNoWriMo - which means National Novel Writing Month. Since I am not writing a novel… anywho.
Alright, so yesterday was November 15th, that is kinda really well into November. But I says to me, “What the heck, I’ve posted all but 6 days this month, and I bet they won’t toss me in the slammer…” So I signed up just because, well… I want to fit in! Now I can coolly say, “Yeah, I did NaBloPoMo - back in ‘07.” It’s all about being part of something, isn’t it?
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“99 loads of laundry on the bed, 99 loads of laundry… fold one up and put it away… 100 loads of laundry on the bed. 100 loads of laundry on the bed, 100 loads of laundry… fold one up and put it away… 101 loads of laundry on the bed. 101 loads of laundry on the bed, 101 loads of laundry… fold one up and put it away… 102 loads of laundry on the bed…”
I give. I’m gonna “sing” a different song…
“99 glasses of Vodka Tonic on my counter, 99 glasses of Vodka Tonic… pick one up and throw it back… 98 glasses of Vodka Tonic on my counter, 98 glasses of Vodka Tonic… pick one up and throw it back… who cares about the stinkin’ laundry…”
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HI, MY NAME IS RYAN AND I HAVE AUTISM… I’VE BEEN BUSY TRYING TO RAISE MONEY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON IN MY HEAD!!! MY FAMILY AND I ARE ALSO PARTICIPATING IN THIS YEAR’S ORANGE COUNTY WALK FOR AUTISM…
This wicked-cute fella is the son of Ricardo and Amanda… Ricardo and I tore it up at ‘ol CBU as “responsible” RA’s… I know, huh… (that was for you Billy Bob)…
Anywho… they have put a shout out to their blogging homies to pimp their cause and link to their fundraising page. I am a little slow, and the event is only 2 days away, but there is still time…. and time is money! Now go… check it out… there is even a great video - with music!
Good luck Gomez family!!!
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At lunch today I asked Olivia, “Did you tell your teacher you lost your tooth?”
Olivia said, “Yeah, she went like this…” Livi opened wide her toothy mouth, sans 1, and mimicked her teacher’s look of surprise. Indeed.
Livi added, “Except (chew, chew, chew)… Mom (chew, chew, chew)… I didn’t really LOSE my tooth. Dad PULLED it out.”
I stand corrected.
ran 11 miles yesterday. So, the Tooth Fairy was very tired come nightfall. The co-Tooth Fairy was out of town for the night, so the Tooth Fairy could not call for “back-up”. Since it was a First Tooth, the Tooth Fairy could not disappoint the very excited Olivia. Did I mention the Tooth Fairy ran 11 miles - seemingly all uphill - and She was V to the E R Y tired?
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock… Go to sleep children. Sleep deeply… ALL of the children must be asleep or this cruel game of deception will end. You are getting sleepy, verrrrrry sleepy… Maybe I should have spiked their milk with Benadryl…
The Tooth Fairy struggles to keep her eyelids afloat. The delay drives her to eat a container of Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch. Drats. Only B & J could keep the Tooth Fairy awake. Consequently, what took 1 hour and 47 minutes to burn earlier that morning - took 20 minutes to utterly, shamefully, and indulgently undo.
At last… relief, and a great big sigh of the aforementioned emotion. The children are OUT… so the Tooth Fairy moves in, like a Stealth Bomber only with a 1-Spot to drop. The Tooth Fairy is a very big spender. The Tooth Fairy swaps the bloodstained, tiniest tooth ever, for a crisp dollar bill… She then creeps up the stairs, enters her chamber of sleep, throws her hands up in a V for Victory (she was a cheerleader in her youth, you know), tucks away the First Tooth, strips off her fairy wings, and falls fast, fast asleep.
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< whining >
“Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh………………………………………………………” I insanely rambled, cried, wept, whinnied, whined and groaned…
Translation: “Who are these little people?… Why are they calling me Mom?… Don’t they ever stop?… Will my ears burst?… Will my mind explode?… My head is going to explode… My head is going to explode… MORE dishes?… MORE laundry?… No more snacks… No more snacks!… No more chocolate milk!… No!No!No!… Put those shoes away… Pick up those toys… Where is that sippy cup???… I can’t breathe… What. Have. I. Done???!!!”
I suppose one may say this has been a challenging week with my spawn children. For some reason, they seem to be trying to break the World Record for how many words a person can cram into one day - all 3 of them - AT. THE. SAME. TIME.
After one particularly intense “interrogation”, I told Paul I felt as if I were a carcass being fed upon by a school of sharks. Paul said, “At least you were dead.” Heh.
I shared this story with a group of moms and one mom used the example of being pecked to death by ducks. Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, pick…
At least I’m not alone :)
< / whining >
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