Not a happy man

He pulled up in his shiny black sports car. Strode into the building and took a seat in the small, crowded room. He was wearing five hundred dollar shoes. Little voices chattered as his eyes met ours. He was not smiling. A scowl on his face, his voice abrasive, he said the obligatory hello. Then John hid behind his cup of coffee.

We were soon ushered to another room where we exchanged a few words and signed a few documents. John's countenance did not change. His words were clipped, his eyes dull, his face sullen and dark. This was just one on a list of deals for him today. We were well aware that he works long and hard at being difficult--we've seen it first hand. After the business was done, he swaggered away without a word.

"What an unpleasant person!" said D as we sat in the car afterward. "Do you think he tries to make things difficult for all the people in our situation?" I responded, "He is not a happy man. Unhappy people don't try to be kind or considerate." That man had everything, yet he had nothing. I looked down at my thrift store shoes and garage sale coat. I listened to the little chattering voices coming from the back seat, sitting in car seats donated to us by generous friends and strangers. I felt rich. I felt blessed. I felt happy. I looked at D and said, "Thank you for being a happy man!" We smiled. We know that happiness isn't something that can be purchased or sold.

We are grateful that our days of interacting with that unhappy man are over!

You know you're not getting enough sleep when...

I awoke around 3 a.m. because my cute little baby was crying. I went to her pack-n-play and picked her up. Carried her to bed with me to feed her because, my friends, there is no way I'm sitting up to breastfeed at that hour. I snuggled up next to her and she started feeding. I woke up again--she was still crying. D said, "Do you want me to go get her?" I thought, "What's he talking about? She's right here..." Then I realized that I had only dreamed about bringing her to bed. And such a vivid dream, too!

D&T Challenge: How did we do?

I am grateful for our December Challenge. It made me think more and do more. "A little more of this, a little less of this."

Our team lost 12 pounds--that's 10 for D and 2 for T! I was SO PLEASED to finally say goodbye to those last two very stubborn pregnancy pounds. Whoopee!

Tera's Tri

 SWIM, BIKE, RUN--I love it!!

Back in the day, my annual fitness activities included a marathon, a triathlon (olympic distance), half a dozen 5K's, and a few 10K's and half marathons, plus all the training. Easily 10-20 hours per week of training and racing every year for about five years. That was then.

This is now. 2010, at the beginning of the year, I decided on my fitness goal for the year: An olympic distance triathlon. That's it. Doesn't sound like a big thing when you consider what I did "back then" but folks, I was barely in maintenance mode when I set that goal. My dear friend Sharon ran my birthday 10K with me in February (I wasn't ready for another Birthday Half Marathon yet). I was doing itty bitty runs and trudging along through the winter months, but I had not been on the bike for about two years. Nor had I been swimming.

D fixed up my bike and I finally started going on rides--it felt spectacular! I kept thinking, "Why have I stayed away so long??" (Oh, yeah, I can't just jump on my road bike and leave my three kids to watch themselves...Details!). I needed to choose a race. I decided it had to be before D started residency because of that small detail about my kids not being able to watch themselves. I went back and forth between one in Daybreak (45 minutes away from our house) and one in Hyrum (30 minutes from D's parent's house).

Ugh, the agony of trying to juggle in my mind the details of traveling to and from the race with all my gear, managing sleeping arrangements (for me and my crew), finding someone to take care of my kids, and, of course, my cute little baby who I was still exclusively breastfeeding and who could not be separated from her Mami for more than an hour or two without some serious drama. Plus, those races are so expensive! And they start so early!!

And then I learned about Tera's Tri--the exclusive race that started right at my front door on the date and time I chose. Transition area at my house. Being able to use my own bathroom. What a dream race! I chose June 1, my sister's birthday. And I was off!

1 mile swim
        25 mile bike
                   10K run




Jonny did part of the swim with me, I was on my own for the bike, and D did the run with me (while wonderful Karen watched our munchkins). Ah, the glory! To everyone's amazement, I ended up taking FIRST PLACE!! Melissa and Jonny met us at the end. What a race!

 
 That's me holding my "Teraflex" keychain, ha ha.

I have also purchased myself some matching running clothes since Tera's Tri. Yay, me!

Good News Minute!

I've had some great moments this week!

• Squeak and Pip learned all the words to "Jesus en Pesebre" (that's my favorite Christmas hymn--"Away in a Manger")
• Squeak and Pip have really been enjoying preparing and wrapping gifts for others (we're trying to help the kids focus on others instead of themselves at Christmas)
• Squeak threw up four times on Thursday. All the barf made it into the bucket except for the first batch, which landed neatly in two piles on the side of her bed. Vomit clean-up is getting easier all the time!
• I went for a run on the ice/snow in my awesome winterized running shoes (made for me by my sweetie pie) and felt GREAT!
• Found a sewing machine and a Christmas tree in somebody's trash pile--saved them from the landfill!
• I now feel better prepared for the Michigan winter after acquiring a wonderful, warm, cozy, new-to-me knee-length down coat. Delicious!
• When somebody asks either Squeak or Pip if they're excited about Santa, they just get a blank look on their faces. We downplay Santa at our house--he brings the gifts and treats for the stockings, but  all the other gifts are from family/friends.
• Squirt's first word after "mama" and "dada"--"uva"--she's crazy about them!
• I've started the P90X program--LOVE it!!!
• The bank FINALLY (after our fourth try) accepted our offer on this house!!!!!! I see some stability in our future!

Volume

After much observation and pontification, I've come to the following conclusion:
LOUD MOM = LOUD KIDS
Along with that, of course is:
quiet mom = quiet kids
I earned the nickname "Volume" during my freshman year of college because I "just can't keep it down." My kids have the same ability. (Let's not call it a "disability!")

This past week has been interesting. D worked graves all week, so he'd roll in between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and hit the hay. Right about the time our little crew wakes up. Our house is very small--864 square feet, plus a basement. There is no way to "go to the other side of the house" to keep the noise from traveling. In a space this size, you can hear everything. When D worked graves earlier in the year, I'd take the kids running with me and then back outside to play and eat, but now that the weather has turned cold, that isn't really an option. I've mostly tried to find things to do elsewhere, like the library or a friend's house or even errands. But sometimes we can't just get right up and into the car, which is where the volume becomes a problem. Volume around here is always either full-blast or turned off. Turned off only happens when the kids are asleep. I tell them dozens and hundreds of times to whisper "porque Dada esta dormido" but my requests fall on deaf ears. And I find that in order for myself to be heard, I have to raise my own volume (and we all know that I'm capable!)--I have to yell at my kids to keep them from yelling! It just ain't right!

So I was thinking of all the moms I know and thinking of their kids (this is when I was reaching the conclusion above) and I thought that there must be an exception. Who do I know who's an exception?? I thought and thought and thought...and then I realized--my mother is the exception! My mom is anything but loud. She is so polite, so proper, so reserved, so demure. And her eight kids? ALL LOUD!! I mean, there are those who are less loud, but "less loud" is still "loud." Wow, what an experience it must have been for her to raise us! Lucky gal!

 Here's my mom with four of her loud kids, three loud grandchildren, and one not-so-loud granddaughter (hey, another exception!?)

 My mom and dad supporting their loud kids at the Spudman 2006

 Six of the eight of us at the Spudman 2007. I couldn't find any photos with all eight of us.

Join Us!

Did you know that in this country adults gain an average of 10 pounds during the holiday season? WHY?? After pondering that little tidbit, I thought that not only do I NOT want to be part of that crew, but I also want to go against the odds and lose weight over the holidays. So D and I are going to lose 10 pounds this month (that's 5 pounds each).

Wouldn't you love to join the D&T Challenge? This challenge doesn't mean that we are saying no to every delicious thing, but it does mean that we will make healthier food choices, exercise more, and eat smaller portions of those tempting morsels. Join us and rejoice in a healthier body at the end of the month!

Dia de Accion de Gracias

Some things are just said better in Spanish. Like Thanksgiving Day. In English, if we dissect the words, it means "day of giving thanks." But the Spanish word for the holiday, "Dia de Accion de Gracias" has, in my opinion, a better meaning, "accion" meaning "action," or "Day of showing thanks." Cute Pip asked me this morning, "Que quiere decir Dia de Accion de Gracias?" and I was able to talk with my kids about all the blessings we have and how we can show that we are grateful.

Last night we attended a multi-denominational Thanksgiving worship service. I felt so uplifted hearing many religions testify about gratitude. And it made me realize that there are many blessings that we take for granted. Here's a little list:

pure water
electricity
health
safety
education
shelter
the ability and the opportunity to work
clothing and shoes
transportation
our beautiful Earth

This morning I celebrated Thanksgiving and good health by doing a Fartlek. It felt great! I was missing the International Thanksgiving 4-miler that I've done half a dozen times with my family, but not too much since the temp in Provo was in the teens this morning.

Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias!!

Resurrecting summer

Yesterday I went running in shorts. Outside. In Detroit. At the end of November! The kids loved it. I loved it. It felt like heaven!


We are coming off over a month of being sick. Squeak brought a severe cough/sore throat home from school. She shared that with most of us. I kept her home for a few weeks and sent her back for two days. Then she brought home pink eye. She also shared that with us. And a cold. As a result of the chest/nasal congestion, we all got ear infections (me too!)--except for D. He has not been sick at all. I've been doing these great affirmations for him during hypnosis--along the lines of, "Your body is strong and resistant to disease." This is the guy who used to catch everything. Well, not anymore! It was the least I could do to repay him for the fantastic hypnosis he did for all three of our babies' births. If you have not tried hypnosis before, you should. We are believers over here at our house!


I've started a "Moving Dos and Don'ts" post in my head. I would love to finish it, but I can't until our move is over. And we are still in limbo. During the moments when I feel really frustrated, I have to keep reminding myself that although this is hard, there are many, many challenges that would be more difficult, so chin up!! We had to go to court for the eviction hearing. The attorney for the bank was really nice and actually was kind of on our side, and the judge ended up ruling to postpone the hearing for 90 days. Then they dismissed the case because we are trying to buy this house. The seller's agent for the bank is a thorn in our side (if we could cut him out of the picture, things would be so easy!), but everyone else has been very helpful. We are hoping to have some stability soon!

That old, familiar thrill is back

Back in the old days when I had plenty of income for me, myself, and I, as well as Bruno, Mountain Bike, Road Bike, Subaru Dream Car, Vacations Galore, Unlimited Marathons and Triathlons, Retirement Accounts, and Just About Anything I Wanted, I LOVED winning ebay auctions. That thrill of winning at the last second was so exciting!! I would watch the auction for days and then swoop in at the last second and win, much to the other bidders' surprise. A glorious victory! Even after Marriage and Medical School Applications came on the scene, I still enjoyed my little ebay victories. But Medical School kind of squelched all that, because that's when the income went away. And the student loans began piling up.

Four years. That's how long I went without buying myself a single pair of new shoes. Even running shoes. I had fortunately found a few pairs on clearance right before D started school, and thanks to REALLY decreasing my mileage during school (and the hand of the Lord), the shoes lasted all the way through--what a miracle! But the last pair was worn all the way through the tread, and if you know anything about joints and running shoes, you know that it's a lot cheaper (and better) to replace your shoes than your joints. I thought I might find some new shoes on clearance at a sports store around here. My searching proved fruitless. I thought about ordering from my favorite online running store, Roadrunner Sports. Too expensive! Then I remembered my old friend. So I hopped on ebay and found multiple pairs of my favorite shoe (Nike Pegasus) for about half of retail price."I'm in!" I thought.

D sat there and watched me as the auction came to a close. My heart was racing. I had my watch timer ticking so I knew exactly how many seconds were left. I put in my bid, clicked once. Just one more click to "confirm bid." But I waited. And waited. Just three seconds left. I clicked to confirm my bid. "You are the current high bidder." And then, "Auction has ended." And I was the winner!!!! I had won the auction by eight cents. Ah, that glorious, sweet victory! I felt like a hero!

Then D looked through the bidding history and noticed that the other high bidder's last bid had been placed eight hours before. "A hollow victory!" he proclaimed. Nobody else was sitting on the edge of their seat to witness my victory. A slight let-down. But, hey, I still got the shoes!