Bucket List

This weekend C and I went to breakfast at a place that, instead of asking for your name to call out when your order is ready, asks for your bucket list item. We had never been there and were a little taken aback – bucket list? I don’t know what’s on my bucket list! My smart ass husband didn’t know what was going on right away and turned it back on the cashier – what’s on YOUR bucket list?

Anyhow, I blurted out ITALY and so that’s what was called out when our biscuits and gravy and eggs came out. I’m not sure if Italy is on my bucket list. Would I like to go? Sure. Is it something I would feel incomplete having not done before I die? I really don’t know how to answer that. C would say that the concert that we were supposed to see this weekend which got moved to October would be a bucket list item.

Skydiving was a popular answer, and there was another Italy in the mix before we left. One person simply used “Live Well”. I think that’s an excellent answer. That’s the most lovely request out of life – to live well.

So this morning I’m back at work, so of course I’m thinking about my bucket list. I just can’t think of anything I feel like I HAVE to do in my life. Perhaps I’m being too serious about it. Maybe I should come up with things that I would like to do, that will make me happy to do. Travelling is up there – I’d like to see Europe, I’d really like to see Australia and New Zealand. I’d like to run a half marathon (no ambition at all for the full 26.2 miles). I’d love to have the money to fix up my mom’s house completely and pay off all her debt. I’d like to see more Broadway shows (since I’ve only seen one).

But the things that make me happiest, looking forward in my life, are quite simple. I want to grow old and be comfortable in life – not needing to be rich but not worrying about how to pay my next bills. I want to see my sons grow up and be happy and pursue whatever vocation makes them content. I want grandchildren and daughters (or sons, I’m not picky) in laws. I want the time to spend with my loved ones and the awareness to realize what I have and to embrace it.

I want to live well.

What’s on your bucket list?

(BTW, this is where we had breakfast, and if you are anywhere in the vicinity of Jacksonville run - don't walk - to this place. I've never had better biscuits and gravy. Ever.)

Offloaded

I am often surprised at how fast my 12.9GB of phone space goes up in smoke, and sometimes I look into why.

This is why:

Friday bits

I’ve realized that when you are trying actively to lose weight, that is pretty much all you talk about. I know I knew this, but couldn’t actually shut up about trying to figure out how many calories was in every single thing I ate and why, oh why, couldn’t restaurants give me nutrition facts so I could make an informed decision about what I was eating. I knew this, but not until my husband decided to lose weight too did I realize how exceptionally annoying it is. I try to sit and read and he sits there with the MFP app, telling me how many calories was in every single thing he ate during the day. So. I will try to keep my blogging about those things to a minimum, and I’m mum at work now. I will just quietly log my calories, thank you.

And thank you for not complaining about it.

I will say (I know, breaking my own rule already) that last night I made a meal that I knew would be fairly low in calories but I couldn’t really figure it out. I cut up cod and coated it in egg wash and Italian bread crumbs and baked it, and then I sliced up two strips of bacon and cooked a pound of brussel sprouts in that. But. When I went to tally the calories for each of our meals I realized (I tallied this several times, and wrote the recipes into MFP to confirm) the ENTIRE meal was 494 calories. That included a few strips of fish for each of the kids, two strips that were left over, and about ½ a cup of sprouts leftover. My own meal was 105 calories.

So if you are counting calories and need something low for dinner, you know what to have that’s not salad.

I had frozen yogurt for dessert.

**

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned here how hard it’s been for quite a while to leave the house in the mornings. It’s hard enough that I don’t want to leave, but Henry was crying every morning about going to daycare. I would have worried more about why except that I have asked him pointed questions with no fearful answers – he just doesn’t want to go. He wants to stay home or go to grandma’s (he goes to my IL’s once a week). Once he gets there, he’s fine – he runs straight in and gives her a hug and doesn’t look back, but the time that he’s throwing himself on the bathroom floor crying while I try to do my makeup – it’s hard.

Since it’s summer, Spencer is now back to going to daycare through the week as well. There has been significantly less complaining since that happened – still a little whimper when he can’t go to grandma’s but nothing like it was. I guess he just missed his brother during the day. Plus, they are doing way more fun things – the water park weekly, library, playground, skating, and today they are going to the aquarium. We pay extra for some of the outings but they are at a daycare discounted rates, and hey – I don’t mind paying for them to have a great time during the day even though I’m sitting at a desk. She clears the field trips ahead of time with me so I can decide if I want to pay for that, and if I don’t she does the verboten trips on the day they aren’t there. Busch Gardens – I refuse to spend the money on Busch Gardens when my kids can’t ride most of the rides. That’s a Monday trip.

And yes, she takes 6-10 kids to these places, sometimes with her sister-in-law. She’s my hero.

**

I talk a lot about how much Spencer reads, but every time he blows through a book it really blows my mind. I broke down and brought him home the last two Captain Underpants because he loves them so much and he finished #9 in two days. C made the comment that he reads faster than he does! And then he told him all about it, so he’s actually retaining the information so I’m just so impressed with him. He’s obsessed with reading – books in the car, pouting because he can’t take it into the mall with him, the whole deal. When I put off requesting those two CU books from the library because I wanted him to read some of what he already had (which he was, but he wanted those books, darn it!) he asked me every day when I picked him up if they were in from the library yet.

I thought at first he wasn’t retaining the story because he had a hard time telling me about the book, but when we asked about specific characters, he could tell us all about it. He has trouble finding a starting place to tell about the book, I think. His comprehension is there but not his retelling.

**

And lest you think Henry has no interest in reading (C thought this), Henry has started asking constantly to be read to. If he doesn’t have a book in the car, he pouts too. There’s this anthology of Disney stories we have, and he points to the picture of the story – “What’s this one? Read me this one.” He’s doing well on the Hooked On Phonics app I downloaded during teacher appreciation week, although I don’t know how much it helps. Anything that gets him excited about reading, I’m all for.

I’m excited about reading. I want my kids to be excited about reading. Even if it’s about pee and poo and boogers, apparently.

**

We decided to forgo a birthday party tomorrow to go to Disney. We don’t usually do that even though we are always at Disney, but we decided we needed a break from obligations and declined all Saturday offers. Spencer was trying to get together with a friend but we nixed that too – is that selfish? I did tell the other child’s mom that we should work out another day for it, so hopefully it’s not too mean. Sunday C and I are going out of town for a night and wouldn’t see the kids and it just … well, I guess I don’t need to make up excuses as to why we are going to Disney, but damn it we’re going to Disney. We’re even going to eat there, in a sit down restaurant, which is really unheard of for us.Hollywood Studios and Epcot, we’re coming for you.

**

I got a picture of Henry’s hair! He still hates it, but C has asked if I’ll cut his hair exactly the same so I guess it’s just Henry. (C keeps his hair short on the sides and longer up top because it’s very thin, but I think he’s finally coming to the conclusion that keeping it longer is not making him look like he has any more hair.) I’m scared to death to cut his hair though. Power through, I shall overcome.

**

And finally, you should read this. If you are reading my blog, you probably already know Emily but if not, you should – this is a great post. #gohugo has affected all of us in my little corner of the internet, and I’m so glad that good tidings for the sweet boy are reaching near and far (Kimmy Gibbler did a #gohugo picture, people!) and I wish all the best for Marianne and her family. Internet! Good!

A lot of Blah, obviously.

I felt a little like superwoman last night, because I did more than sit and read for most of the evening.  I picked up books from the library, made dinner, kept good track of exactly what we ate (since C is now keeping track too, I have to keep track of BOTH our meals. Also, I got a food scale and that thing is awesome). Cleaned the kitchen. We went on a 2 mile family walk, I cut Henry’s hair and got him to take a shower (he hates them, but apparently being allowed to bring a monster truck in makes all the difference). I read a somewhat long book to the kids, repotted my plants for the office, and walked around the house for 20 minutes to get up my step count.

And then I sat and read for the rest of the evening.

So speaking of Henry’s hair, I bought new clippers because he STILL won’t let us take him to the barber and I was sick of cutting it with C’s beard trimmer. Those new clippers are fantastic, but apparently I cut it too short for him and he hates it. Hey, it’s summer and it’ll grow back and it’s not like I scalped him or anything, but child won’t even look in the mirror. He glances and then says “I hate it, I do not like it” and ducks out. I couldn’t get a picture yet because he would have known it was all about the hair.

 There will be photos, if for no other reason than for you to agree with me that it’s cute and will grow back.

Tonight should be another busy night. I’m trying to read nightly to the kids, so tonight we start Mouse and the Motorcycle. I have a huge mound of laundry that needs folding (this is C’s least favorite chore, so I almost always do it), and I’m thinking of going through the toys to thin them out a bit. I can’t really fit all the toys in the bins, and one of our bins is completely ripped up (memo – add new bins to my shopping list). And grocery shopping. Good golly. Busy. And a little boring, reading back through this. But hey! I blogged!

Proud to be and other stories

Henry is obsessed with American flags. This child gets so worked up excited when we pass the new Burger King and it’s got FIVE! AMERICAN! FLAGS! On top! Anytime we are driving anywhere he picks out the American Flags. It’s pretty funny and darn cute. I passed the Shriners lodge the other day and they were having one of those gatherings where they all stand out on the street waving American flags, and I swear if traffic hadn’t been so wretched and I hadn’t forgotten my phone at work, I would have driven him back by after picking him up at daycare.

The other day we were in the turn lane, and the SUV next to us was decked out in one of those paint wrapping advertisements, and it was a flag. The boys were beside themselves. “Look at THAT!”

Then Spencer: “He must really love America.”

Folks, it was an a/c business. Apparently the marketing kitsch works, at least on the under-seven crowd.

**

My fitbit decided to poop out on me. It took four in six month to get one that consistently worked (this is not generally an issue, from what I can tell, just my own bad luck). This one lasted a full six months, and I don’t know why it stopped holding a charge but it’s grating on my nerves. Thankfully they do have excellent customer service, so once they go through all the troubleshooting emails with me (I know all the troubleshooting tricks and try to let them know, but that’s what help desks are for – confirming people are trying everything first) I should be able to get a replacement. In the meantime I’m dealing with it.

**

And speaking of Fitbits, C has decided to get one too, and also to sign up for My Fitness Pal so he too can track his food. This is great! But also annoying, because then he makes all these arbitrary rules on himself, like staying under 100 for carbs, but yet I’m the one cooking all the meals so now I’m going to have to abide by his arbitrary rules. Last night I made pizza pockets from the TJs garlic and herb pizza dough and filled them with veggies and a little feta and they were delicious and fairly low calorie, but they were made from pizza dough so obviously the carbs were high.

Now that C is tracking his steps too, he has started us on family walks. Family exercise! Important! We went on a walk last night and it was great except the kids complained a lot and there was a lot of forcing them to stop and look for cars and all of that. Pointing out American flags on the houses. Maybe we can hike sometimes soon.

**

I have this hacking cough that I get mostly at night, but it’s pretty distracting. I can’t be on the south side of the house when the kids are falling asleep because it keeps them up. I have trouble reading to Henry without croaking out the last 2/3 of the book. Water, honey, cough syrup – none of it really makes much of a dent. 21 days, right? I think that’s what the common length of a cough is with or without medicine. Thankfully it doesn’t keep me awake so sometimes I just feel like I need to go to sleep to get relief from it. Anyhow, earlier this week I was coughing in the office while C messed around on Reddit, and this exchange happened:

C: Please don’t die, I need you.

…

…

…

I can’t cook for shit.

So there’s that.

**

We were going to see Paul McCartney at the end of the month, but he rescheduled all of his June dates, so now we’re just going 3 hours north to stay in a hotel that we can’t get reimbursed and have an overnight date night. Anyone know anything we can do in Jacksonville, or a good restaurant we should try while we’re there?

**

I was looking through my phone for a specific picture, and found this:

Why on earth did my husband take a picture of his foot with my phone?

Love/Hate on Monday

I am working on an actual post or six, but for this Monday morning I am nursing a sore throat (for the love of God please do not turn into another sinus infection) and a little bit of a tummyache (possibly anxiety about the sore throat becoming  sinus infection) and I feel a round of K’s Love/Hate is in order.

Love: my son is obsessed with reading. Obsessed. Every night he stops whatever he’s doing, playing his kindle, watching tv, to read. We rarely have to limit things. As soon as he wakes up, he runs in to ask if he can turn on the light to read. I’m so excited for him to be excited by the written word. This is me. This is my kid. We read side by side on the couch.

Hate: He has also hit this “rage” part of being six. Everything is a melodramatic stomping, fist clenched growling issue. He took a Styrofoam sword to a motorcycle rocking toy and beat the royal crap out of it because he was upset because his brother wasn’t playing baseball correctly. Thankfully he is channeling his rage without hitting any people or destroying actual things (the beating didn’t destroy anything, although if I hadn’t stopped him, the sword would have been toast).  I tried to get him to take some time to his bed to calm down and chill. He made this sign: 

but it’s been hit or miss (ha) that he remembers. Hopefully we can work through this with no injuries.

Love: We are still having the best time at Disney. Who would have thought when we got annual passes 16 months ago that we could go nearly every weekend and still have a grand time. Saturday we did Epcot and a little at Hollywood Studios (which was crazy busy for Star Wars weekend. Mark Hammel was there.) Sunday I had plans and C took the boys out to Magic Kingdom and Blizzard Beach (although they got rained out at the water park). It’s just so FUN. And easy. And we don’t really have to think about what we are doing for the weekend. Do we have other plans? Sounds good. No plans? Disney it is.

Hate: I wanted to go to Blizzard Beach on Saturday but C didn’t feel like it, so we didn’t go. And then he decided to go on Sunday when I wasn’t there. Bum.

Love: I got to spend a good chunk of Sunday with Becky at the Rays game, which was just so much fun. She is so much fun. And I got a foul ball which I gave to Spencer and he thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Hate: Our closer choked and we lost. Bah.

Love: Mondays mean I get a little bit of time to myself without any kids or husband or obligations. I often take that time to do laundry or clean but sometimes I sit on my butt and do nothing, and no one says a word. Yesterday I did all the laundry, so today might be a sit on my butt sort of day.

Hate: Sherlock is just all over the place this season. I watched the first two episodes of three (Britian is on crack with the way they space their tv) and it so very disjointed. I’ll watch the last episode tonight during my me-time but I’m not thrilled with it so far.

Love: I am finally in my “permanent” desk and all set up after a week of displacement while they moved us. I love my new desk and have a new happy wall. I love my happy wall.

Hate: I’ve moved my desk 12 times in nine years.

Love: There was a Living Social deal for La Nouba tickets this weekend, so we decided to go for it – will be going at the end of the month. Still expensive yet less expensive than if we bought tickets outright. Terrible seats, but I don’t think it will matter, and I’m hoping the kids love it.

Hate: It’s good that I think I’ve run out of things to hate, right? Oh, H fell asleep on the way home from Orlando last night and didn’t pee before bed. You see where this is going, right? And I cracked my head on the bunk beds changing sheets in the middle of the night.

Love: I’ve moved the kiddo bedtime back to 8:30 for the summer since the light outside was driving them crazy when they went to bed (and me by extension). So with the extra 45 minutes I’m hoping to start reading to them. I just requested Mouse and the Motorcycle and that will be the first, I think.

Hate: It’s embarrassing to admit, but I really hate reading aloud.

Love: I’ve been tracking calories for 3 weeks, and I’ve lost 6.6lbs. It’s not much, but it’s going steadily down, and it makes me think about what I’m eating instead of mindlessly stuffing my mouth, which is good. I had a second bowl of ice cream last night (THIS) which put me slightly over my calorie allotment but it was worth it. I’ve also been drinking less (last week I had 1 bottle of wine over 3 days, and one gin and soda at a sports bar on Sunday). It’s a learning and growing experience, but I’m happy with how things are going.

Hate: I really should start working out again soon, right? It’s 90 degrees at 7:30pm, and I’m pretty sure that’s a bad time to start running again.

Love: This.

 

Up and Around

Getting back into the swing of things after an illness is always a challenge. I was cut down by a sinus infection last week and holy moses, that was an eye opener for me. I have been plagued by allergies my whole life, and with that has been a barrage of related health issues. Somehow I escaped nearly 34 years without a sinus infection (to my recollection) but now, I can tell you, I know. I know. It was terrible, and I still have lingering sinus issues but today is my sixth day on antibiotics and possibly the second day I feel human. I slept and whined for several days while my husband had to handle pretty much everything child related.

But now things are better. We tried to go on with our weekend despite my face having been hit by a truck. Mostly, we managed. We hit Disney on Saturday, mainly because the Seven Dwarfs ride just opened and we had hard-to-get fast passes. I powered through until a little before dinnertime when my Sudafed stopped working but it was a long time until I could take more and I just had to insist we leave. The ride was good! The line is nutso – I don’t think I would do it without a fastpass for a while although there are supposed to be fun games to play while in the standby line.

Sunday we took the boys to see Maleficient. I was not sure about taking them because it is PG-13, but the parent websites said it was mainly rated that way for darkness and fighting, which my kids are fine with. They’ve seen all the Harry Potters. Dare I say, I think Henry enjoyed it the most – he never got scared and he laughed a lot, particularly when Aurora is a baby. I thought it was excellent. So - if your kids aren't easily scared by fighting and large animals (wolf, dragon, ent-like tree things), I whole heartedly recommend for any age.

Books I read: May

reread:

32. Days of Blood & Starlight - Laini Taylor

33. Cold Magic - Kate Elliott

34. Cold Fire - Kate Elliott

35. Delirium - Lauren Oliver

new:

25. Kingdom Keepers 1, Disney After Dark - Ridley Pearson I was very disappointed in this, and I don’t think I’ll keep going with the series. I wanted to try, because you know, Disney, but meh. It was all over the place and didn’t really ground the fantasy/mystery in anything at all.

26. The Wordy Shipmates - Sarah Vowell I didn’t like this that much – it was boring, and that’s hard for Sarah. I wanted Take the Cannoli.

27. Cold Steel - Kate Elliott I really disliked the focus on Drake, but otherwise I really liked how this ended, and I love Cat and Vai.

28. Dreams of Gods & Monsters - Laini Taylor I was worried when this added so many extra storylines for the last book in the series that it would be all over the place, but it was so so good. Tight.

29. Into the Still Blue - Veronica Rossi Meh. The first one was fantastic. The second, very good. This one – not my favorite.

30. Pandemonium - Lauren Oliver I was confused in the beginning and the end (last page) was super predictable, but I liked it overall. It moved the plot forward and I hope the third does the series justice.