The Last Tooth

Today Sarah lost her final baby tooth. I guess there's nothing "baby" about my girl, now.

Good news: the tooth fairy can take some time off. Bad news: loss of the final tooth was what the orthodontist was waiting for before beginning "treatment". Ka-ching! Ouch.

We're off!

Although he's been asking us to do it for over a year, the girls and I are just now venturing north to Alexandria, to "see where Daddy works." We're headed out this afternoon with a car full of Care Bears (Sarah will not leave them behind) to stay at the Arrowwood Lodge for a few days while Gary works.

Details to follow!

Still Growing

Sarah had an appointment with the endocrinologist today, and she's grown 3/4" in the last 3 months. He was excited because we've gotten her onto the (growth) curve. She's still 5th percentile, but she's actually on the curve now!

Her current height is 4' 8". There's a chance that she could hit 5 feet! This is a big deal, because I'd like her to eventually be tall enough to reach the microwave, the back burner of the stove, the kitchen cabinets, etc.

Anyway, I just can't tell you how proud I am of the way that she handles the whole thing. Every night we come at her with a needle, and she never says a word (except an occasional low-key "ow"). No fuss, no struggle. All she asks is that we cover the injection site with a Nemo band-aid. A small price to pay!

Jinx

I should have electronically knocked on wood when I wrote my post about not being sick much this winter. Friday the 13th I was hit with a miserable cold, and spent most of the day just laying around.

The weekend wasn't a lot better, and during Sunday night's dinner, Madilyn commented "Mom, maybe you should get rid of that story on your blog and then you won't be sick."

Too bad a jinx doesn't work that way!

Anyway, today is the first day of the kids' spring break, and whenever I try to talk I start hacking like a tuberculosis patient. Oh, it's gonna be a fun week.

Another Sick Day

All in all, we have done pretty well this winter in regard to sick days. Certainly better than my poor sister, whose family seems to have offended the Health Gods, and is under continuous attack from the viral army. But, today (Monday) Sarah sits in her chair, watching the Disney channel. She seems fine, but is complaining of a stomachache. Normally I'd dismiss it as a case of Disneyitis (a desire to stay home and watch TV), but she was up at 4 am asking to stay home today, so I cut her some slack.

It probably doesn't reflect well on my parenting to note that if we had gotten the 3 inches of snow they were predicting on Sunday, I'd have packed her off to school and gone skiing. Lucky for her, the snow failed to show.

A new song!

Ooh! Ooh! I just discovered a new treadmill worthy song... Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback. (warning - the video is really strange, but it's a cool song). I'm actually excited for 5:30 am tomorrow!!

Suggestions for tunes always welcomed...

Open to Comments

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've fixed the problem with comments on this blog. Apparently, people were trying to leave them, but I didn't choose my blog settings properly, and comments were being rejected. Sorry about that!

At my end, I just figured either no one was reading the blog... or I just wasn't interesting. Says a lot about me that that didn't stop me from putting things out there... apparently, I have a need to say things even if no one is listening! I believe that's direct from Narcissism 101...

Why Trampolines Are Not Safe in Minnesota

I received an email with the above title, and sighed. We, of course, have a trampoline. I expected horror stories, etc., etc... and lots of parental guilt.

Here's what I got.

Movin' slow

So after Tuesday's incredibly fun time xc skiing, Kate and I went again on Wednesday. It wasn't quite as much fun; in spite of a regrooming, the trail had degraded quite a bit. Lots more grass, and ice in places. Plus, even though it was warmer, the wind was WICKED. I slathered on sunscreen (SPF 70) this time, but still ended up redfaced... windburn, this time.

Side note on sunscreen: every time I use my spf 70 sunscreen, I hear my brother-in-law Ryan's voice saying "70??! Why don't you just use PAINT?" Sadly, I have just enough melanin to avoid being classified an albino, but not a single cell more. This girl don't tan. evah.

Anyway, I digress. We still had a good time, and I didn't taste the trail even once! We only did about 2 miles, but it turns out that was enough... I think I literally creaked out of bed this morning. I'm movin' a little slow. Nothing specific, just very, very tired. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, we've got another trip planned for Friday - heading north for some better snow. Temps here are scheduled to be above freezing for the rest of the week, so our local snow days are numbered. For the first time in .... well, ever.... that actually makes me sad!

Louis CK on Conan

I happened on this viral video today, and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc

"Can you give it a second? It's going to SPACE."
"You're sitting in a chair, in the SKY."

Granted, it's a little crude in places, and I definitely don't agree with Louis CK's larger body of work, but in this clip, he made me laugh.

ok, that's a surprise...

I woke up this morning, fully expecting to pay the price for yesterday's xc skiing trip. The surprise? The most painful part of my body is... my face.

I forgot to put on sunscreen! So, today I am red-faced, both literally and figuratively. The rest of me isn't so bad, actually...

XC skiing... finally!

After (probably more than) 13 years, I finally put the skis on and hit the trails with my friend Kate. She loaned me some snowpants - I don't even remember what happened to mine - and was patient with me as we slowly shuffled off.

I was surprised at how quickly it came back to me; I guess it's like bike riding (which I plan to start again when the snow melts). Anyway, the trails that we used were at a park directly across the street from the girls' school... which, of course, is less than a mile from my house. I officially have no more excuses for not getting out (except maybe lack of snow... but where we live, that's not normally a problem).

It's so much more fun to exercise with a friend, and I'm glad that I let Kate talk me into going. We had a great time! Turns out, we have a lot in common. She's even a fellow Saab owner, and hey, how many of those are there? She trumps me on the coolness factor though, 'cause a convertible is loads cooler than a station wagon.

I only fell once, but Kate captured it for posterity, so I'm including it in the interest of full disclosure. We actually skiied over 4 miles, which was probably too much for the first time out...tomorrow I'll probably pay the price. But for now, just happy memories and a feeling of accomplishment.

All OVER the place

With my parents in town, lots of things happened in the past week or so... and I haven't had time to post much. So, try not to get whiplash reading my blog as I post things sequentially. Just because you've already read the top post doesn't mean that there's not new stuff... just work forward from Feb 14th.

Thank you to everyone for the kind wishes and gifts on my birthday and on Sarah's - we're working on the thank you notes, but they're slow coming.

A New Month, A New Beginning

Many people are aware of my ongoing (lifelong? never ending?) quest to lose a few pounds. Frankly, I'm tired of the Wii telling me "that's overweight!" in its chipper little voice every single #?!#@ morning. Anyway, after ending up in the hospital with chest pains last March (stress, not heart attack as feared) I have been working hard to get into shape. My treadmill and I have bonded... we have a sweatfest every morning at 5:45 am. Mostly, the results have been good. But, for the past two months, I haven't lost a pound.

I'm blaming February. Consider the evidence:

Valentine's day - chocolate bliss
My birthday - lots of treats
My parents visit - eating out
Girl Scout cookie delivery - Tagalongs=PB & chocolate=heaven
Sarah's birthday - cake and treats

Add short days, not much sunshine, poor produce selection, and you just have a prescription for weight gain. To my credit, I haven't really gained any weight, either.

The real frustration? Somewhere along the line, I got my husband to agree that when I reached my goal weight (ie - when the Wii says "that's normal") I could finally get the macbook that I have longed for. My initial projections (hey, I am still an engineer at heart) showed me hitting my target in May/June, but I've strayed from the course, so I'm going to have to recalculate. I thought that if I went public on my blog, I'd have a little more accountability and therefore motivation.

'Cause seriously, those of you who know Gary know that he's just the tiniest bit conflicted in encouraging my weight loss when he knows it's going to cost him a big chunk of money. To his credit, though, he hasn't been tempting me with donuts and other evils. He's just Switzerland.

Here's to a new month, March! Let it be filled with healthier choices! (although, for the record, I will NOT give up my daily chocolate. That's medicinal. Seriously.)