happy new year!

Gavin is playing card games on my phone, and Colin is eating Cheerios (no milk), strawberries and blueberries with chopsticks.  This is how we roll.  Happy New Year!

Colin sings

Colin loves to sing.  For a while, after every bath he insisted that we snuggle and sing songs.  We'd do the ABC's, Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and always, always we would end with You Are My Sunshine.  C likes to add an extra repeat of the final line when he sings Sunshine.  Or, you know, 7 or 8.  He's thorough.

today

Colin was upset and crying a bit this morning, and as I was helping him into the car he told me "But I miss you!"  So sweet, so sad.  (The boys are at the sitter's house T-Th this week since I have workshops.)

Tonight, as I was giving Gavin his goodnight kiss and hug, he said to me "I could hug you forever."

friday the 13th

People always talk about Friday the 13th as being an unlucky day.  The movies are scary, sure, if I remember correctly, but what is it that makes us so wary?  According to Wikipedia, there is little evidence or written record to show a superstition about the day before the 19th or 20th century.  I thought it was interesting.

Anyway ... I've decided to declare Friday the 13th my lucky day.

5/13/2011 - the first Friday the 13th I remember for its significant date - I learned that I had a brain tumor.  You would think this would forever tarnish the date or support the superstition, but I am choosing to look at it as a lucky day.  I finally learned what was wrong with me, and that it could be fixed.  And it WAS fixed.

4/13/2012 - I was terrified going to my appointment with the medical oncologist, since the last time I saw a doctor on a Friday the 13th I got some crappy news.  This time, though, my doc told me that he doesn't need to see me anymore and we can go ahead and call me CURED.  Take that, Friday the 13th!  Where's your bad luck now?

7/13/2012 - I didn't even realize there was a Friday the 13th this month until, what, yesterday?  Kelly texted and invited the boys to see the new Ice Age movie with her family today.  Since they are with her (and I am certain they are loving every minute, they have really missed Kelly and her two lovelies), I have had a day to take care of myself and errands and not drag children with me.  Plus I got to have an "adults only" lunch with Scott and eat some yummy sushi.  Oh, and I was able to go to the grocery store by myself.  You KNOW that is a celebration!

So, yeah, Friday the 13th is my day.  I will own this day.  I only remember 3 of them (and one of them is happening right now, so that's not a big triumph, but whatever) but who cares?  I will not allow myself to fear a date on the calendar.  I'll use it as a way to find a celebration reason instead.  Way more fun.

the smallest moments...

...can be the biggest joys.  They can be forgotten quickly or remembered forever.

Colin just walked up to where I was sitting and reading.  Without words, he crawled up into my lap, wrapped his arms around my neck and curled into me.  After a sweet hug, he climbed down and went about his business.

Earlier today, while I was talking to my mom on the phone, I sprawled out on the couch.  Gavin climbed up onto the couch and stretched out along me, settling himself in for a snuggle.

I have to write these things down.  I know I feel right now that I will never, ever forget the feeling I get when my boys share their sweet little boy love with me, and I know that I have already forgotten a million other sweet moments I have shared with them as they have grown.  So I record what I can here and hope that I can hold on to these smallest moments for as long as I can.

summer, summer, summertime

The journey so far:

I joined Weight Watchers in September, and I've been using their online tools to keep track of what I eat and my activity/exercise ever since.  I've lost 33 pounds so far!  I started running in November, using the RunKeeper app on my phone to keep track of my runs, time my intervals, etc. as I did a walk-to-10K program.  In March, Uncle Lindsey came in town from Ohio and ran the Capitol 10K with me in Austin.  It was a blast!  A friend has a boot camp group at school that meets 2x a week after school for an hour.  I joined that group in the spring and did 2 6-week sessions.

Scott and I went to Europe in late April/early May, and while I was there I didn't track my food or go on any runs - but we did walk everywhere.  After I got back, I saw that even with all the good food I only gained a pound!  I got back on track counting points after my trip but I was a little spotty with running as frequently as I had been before the trip.  Getting sick after I was back in town messed things up, too, plus hot weather and the crazy-town that is the end of the school year.  Also, I am very good at excuses.  The truth is, honestly, I was tired of tracking food and running, and I didn't have a goal in mind (since the 10K had passed) so it was easier to say "forget it" and just watch TV.

Now I am home for the summer.  It occurred to me, even before summer officially began, that I needed to make a schedule for myself to hold myself accountable.  I haven't reached my original goals yet (I have a specific weight goal, and it's 10-15 pounds away).  I met my goal of running a 10K but now I have a newer goal - make running a permanent part of my lifestyle, whether I'm training for a specific race or not.  I want to do strength training.  Running is fantastic cardio and is great for helping me with weight loss, but I want to be stronger.  I want muscles!  Boot camp showed me that I can make a lot of progress, noticeable progress, and I want to keep that up.  So I came up with a schedule.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'm doing the workouts from Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  You are supposed to work out every day for 30 days, doing the same level 1 workout for 10 days, then level 2 every day for 10 days, then level 3 the last 10 days (they get progressively more difficult) but I have a couple of problems with this system - 1) I can't do the same things for 10 days.  In a row.  I would get bored, and then I would quit.  2) My muscles wouldn't have time to rest/recover in between.  I think that's an important part of working out; that recovery is when muscle rebuilds and gets stronger.  I decided to alternate the workouts, so I'm going between level one and level two right now.  When I'm stronger, I will add level three into the mix.  Right now, four days into it, I've done level 1 twice and level 2 twice.  It's a good fit for me right now - I can do the workouts, they are quick and effective, and I feel awesome (and noodly, with tired arms and legs) afterwards.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I'm running.  Since I seem to do best with a prescribed program, I'm following the 8-week "run farther" program in the book Scott and I used for the walk to 10K program.  Working on slowly building myself up to run farther will get me ready to train for the half marathon I want to run in January.  At least, that's the plan.  I've been getting up early on Tuesdays and Thursdays to run before Scott has to leave for work.  Then he's home so the boys aren't alone and it's not so terribly hot outside yet, since the sun is not yet completely up.

I'm proud of myself for getting started.  That's always been the hardest part for me, getting started.  Once I get going, I can keep going.  If I stop, then I have to get started all over again - and that's hard.  So no stopping now!!

5 more days!

There are only 5 more school days left!  With kids, that is.  Then I am supposed to go back on the Tuesday after Memorial Day to finish up.  After that, school's out for summer!

Gavin graduated from Treasure Patch Kids last Tuesday.  I didn't take any pictures myself, since Scott had his big fancy camera with him and took all kinds of pictures and video, so as soon as he uploads pics and fiddles with them (as he usually does) I'll come back and post the cuteness.  He will now tell you "I'm in kindergarten now!" and he's excited to work on school-type things at home.  Today we spent time doing "math work" with manipulatives I brought home from my classroom I never use.  He got such a kick out of using the math tools!

Colin is a screamy mess these days.  Evenings are rough, especially around dinner.  He's been starting dinner with something rude ("I hate lah-sahg-nah!" was today's gem, complete with mean face and slamming his hand on the table for effect) and landing himself in time-out.  Then he'll sit in time-out crying and screaming ("I want my moommmmmmmyyyyyyyyy!") while he refuses to say he's sorry.  Then he gets up and tries to climb in my lap while crying.  Still no "I'm sorry" since he's stubbornly refusing (most likely, he's just not sorry).  I had to leave the kitchen today to get him to quit crying.  So now I'm typing here and he's coming in to report every few minutes how many bites he's finally eaten.  3 more and he can have some yogurt for dessert!