Powder Room, Bath Room, Rest Room

When I'm out and about I don't, "powder my nose."  I have yet to take a bath in a restaurant, and there are far better places to "rest" when you're tired than a place with toilets.  I have friend named Jon, but I don't, "go to the Jon" unless I need the latest advice on some technology issue.  Suffice it to say, the euphemisms for, "going to use the toilet" are mostly plain silly.

But when I go and need to excuse myself or let someone know where I'm going, I don't feel the need to explain what the specific need is at that point.  There's just got to be a better name for the multi-purpose room that is the "bathroom."

Isaac Asimov postulated in some of his future history novels the name, "The Personal."  It's a perfect name.  Aside from very specific cases, the vast majority of the time my needs are indeed, personal.  I'm all for a rename.  But knowing how ensconced humans are at holding on to outmoded or outdated sayings and names, that is not likely to happen.  It's not even likely that I'll be able to drop the old names, which come so readily and easily, and change to a new term.

But I just might try...

The Big Boy Update:  Basketball.  He doesn't say "mama" or "dada" regularly or in the appropriate situations.  But he is fiercely working on saying "basketball."  He says ball a lot.  He started saying "buh ball" and now is saying "bass ball."  Apparently his speaking priorities are a little different than we would have expected.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Not a baby anymore.  My husband said the other night she moved around in the bed in such a way that she looked more like a little person than a baby. Our friend last night said, "she's not a baby, she's growing up." 

Right-size Countdown:  Ding, 0.0 pounds to go.  Well, ding sort of.  That was after the morning's run and at optimal weight for the past several days as I knew the Monday weigh-in was coming.  So, two more pounds to go and I'll feel more confident I've really reached my weight loss goal.  But still, HOORAY!

Electrical Hassles and Burn-out Bothers

We've had several things burn out, or just fail to work over the last year.  After the third low-voltage under-cabinet light went bad I spoke with our builder and said we needed to look into it from an overall house electrical perspective.

I had asked him before if there was an issue, or could possibly be an issue, but he said he didn't think there could be.  He is someone who will overdo a thing instead of underdoing it.  So I don't believe he was avoiding the issue.  With twenty five years of building fine homes, he has a lot of experience and I have trusted his knowledge many times and we have a beautiful home that we're very happy with as a result.

After this last last issue, where a light was working, but burned out on the low setting only, I asked him to have the electrician come and verify everything was in order.  After speaking with him, they decided to have the power company come first and look at the main house connections and verify we were getting both appropriate power and weren't having surges.

That appears to have been the problem all along.  The main connections to the house had several spots that weren't tightened down as well as they should have been.  They could have been causing arcing power which would affect low-voltage issue more commonly than high-voltage ones.  The power company's contractor didn't do a good job when installing it.

So, now that that's fixed I've been thinking back on the past fifteen months.  We have a new house, so everything in it is new and it's expected that some things will have an issue.  But when I think through the issues we had as a whole, there was ample evidence something was amiss.

We had a low-voltage jam switch in a closet burn out twice.  Three under-cabinet lights burned out in the same way.  Three parts (one twice) had to be replaced in the in-house vacuum unit.  The jacuzzi tub control panel malfunctioned and we had four calls to the alarm system company for faulty sensors.

In each case, we were assured by the warranty or service people that these things happened in new installations and to not worry because it was under warranty.  As a whole, I think we got the overriding message a bit later than I would have liked to.  But... it's fixed now.  And we learned something.  It's always good to learn something, even if experience is expensive.

The Big Boy Update:  Is he outgrowing the nap?  Some mornings I think so.  I think there's no way he's going to nap because he's got so much energy.  And some mornings he doesn't nap.  But most days, like today, when he gets cranky and we put him in his crib, he lies down and we don't hear a sound from him for over an hour.  Nap time is good time.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Sitting up on her own...sort of.  She can sit up now.  She balances well...for a bit.  Then she falls over and investigates the floor on her stomach.   Then, she gets annoyed because she wants to be sitting.  Soon I predict she'll "tripod" and be able to hold herself in a sitting position for longer by using one hand to balance.

Right-size Countdown:  0.6 pounds to go

She Laughed at Me

Medical professionals aren't usually suppose to laugh at you when they're taking your medical history.  I had one do just that the other day.  I had to admit it was funny though, so I laughed back.

I have upcoming vision correction surgery and she had called for the pre-op medical history questionnaire.  When I took the call, she asked if I had time to to answer some questions and I said yes, if she didn't mind the noise of two small children in the background and potential, "stop that, don't maim your sister." interruptions.

When she got to the "what current medications are you on?" portion of the questionnaire I said "prenatal vitamins and birth control pills."  That's when she laughed.  She said, "aren't those two a little contradictory?"  She was right, and I got to laughing too.  I explained the prenatal vitamins had been prescribed for longer than I needed them, but I didn't want to let a good daily multivitamin go to waste.  She said, "Hey, I would use them up too."

The Big Boy Update:  He sat still for several books today.  He likes books, but mostly to flip over and roughly handle.  He's still figuring out the books have meaning.  But today he was interested in letting me read several books to him before his nap.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Smiling at strangers.  She was endearing to multiple people while we were out at the farmer's market this morning.  She's going to have the most friends in her class if she keeps up her sunny disposition.

Right-size Countdown:  1.0 pounds to go

Less Explaining, Just the Facts.

I'm a teacher.  I'm from a family of teachers.  I believe I always enjoyed what I did because I like to help people understand.  But I'm not sure that's always the best way to be in all situations. 

More and more I feel like I'm trying to explain something, because if it was me, I'd want to understand instead of being just told.  But it doesn't resonate.  I get the feeling I'm boring family members, that the friend I'm telling isn't that interested in the details, or that people I interact with regularly don't want to know whatever it is in detail. 

So I'm trying to just say what, not how or why, and let it go at that.  I'm usually working on improving lots of things about myself.  Some I'm successful with, others not so much.  I'll have to see how it goes with this.

The Big Boy Update:  Standing on the chair.  He's sitting in my father's baby chair lately.  It's a wooden rocking chair that's over seventy years old.  We have pictures of my father in it as a child.  Only he likes to stand in it... and rock.  I predict a disaster in the near future.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Teeth?  Well, something is bothering her.  She wouldn't eat her bottle for dinner because she was so uncomfortable.  After a lot of trying different bottle-based options I just gave up and fed her yogurt, which she devoured.  In the next few days hopefully the bothersome tooth (teeth?) will erupt and she'll be okay with the bottle again.

Right-size Countdown:  1.6 pounds to go.

The Perception and The Reality

The Perception:  One size fits all. The Reality:  No, it doesn't.

I weighed a lot more just before I had my daughter.  It was mostly baby weight and the weight gain associated with being pregnant.  But I also was a bit overweight before I got pregnant the first time.  I'd spent two years in pregnancy clothes, so my main clothes were in the closet lying wait for me to get un-pregnant.

Even though I weighed a lot more, significantly more even, than the size of my clothes, I didn't really think I was that different in size.  I'm not sure where I thought the extra weight was going dimensionally, but I didn't think the pounds could amount to that much physical size difference.

I found out the hard way that even though I saw myself as the same size as I had been before babies, I wasn't.  I was unexpectedly surprised that my legs were just too blooming fat to fit into my jeans.  And I didn't expect my chest to be enough difference that I wouldn't be able to button the buttons in the front.  I was wrong. 

And even now, you'd think I would have learned my lesson, but no.  I needed new shorts.  I knew I had another five pounds or so to go, but I didn't fathom they'd make enough of a difference in my waist to need a smaller size.  So now I need another new pair of shorts.

The Big Boy Update:  There are balls on my pants.  The spaceship and planet-themed pants he slept in he discovered were covered in balls this morning.  He was pulling the material all around and pointing out the balls to me.  It's all about the balls right now.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Sitting up with a pillow.  She's sitting up well with a pillow.  She's able to balance on her torso for much longer than she could last week.  She still falls forward eventually, but soon she'll be sitting up under control and she'll have a whole new world to interact with from this new perspective.

Right-size Countdown:  2.2 pounds to go

Freezing Hot

I went running today before the children were up.  There was no time the rest of the day because of existing scheduled items.  I wasn't looking forward to it though.  Well, that's not exactly true.  I do look forward to running because it gives me a sense of accomplishment and I always feel better about myself when I've done some exercising.

But it was cold.  And it was drizzling.  Forty-eight and wet isn't my idea of a fun run.  You get warm when you run, but you still don't want to be out in shorts and a t-shirt if you run like I do, which isn't for that long and is definitely not that fast. 

I am thankful though that it wasn't 88 degrees.  That would have been, no doubt worse.  So the run went fine, but in any cool weather I run into a body temperature range issue.  My trunk is hot.  I'm sweating and it's working hard.  My hands and feet are freezing.  I can't work the phone to determine how much longer I need to run, because all the blood is busy trying to grab oxygen from my lungs.

It's a strange sensation to be so hot in some areas and so cold in others.  As soon as I stop running the temperatures equalize and I'm sweaty all over.  I can tell this is going to be fun come July and August in the crazy hot summer months.  At least my hands won't be cold.  Maybe they'll be too sweaty to work the phone then?

The Big Boy Update:  I do not perform.  He has words, I swear.  And he does cute things.  All the time, really.  But if someone is around and we ask him what something is, or to wave bye bye or do the sign for "more," he is just going to stare at you like he has no clue what you're talking about.  My cousin was over yesterday and she said, "oh they never perform, get used to it."  Then, when you're not paying attention of course he starts doing all the cute things.  Typical.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Nine month clothes.  I just cleaned out her drawer and retired a round of clothes.  She's not six months yet, but most of the six month clothes are too short for her.  She's not quite nine month size yet either, but baggy is better than tight.

Right-size Countdown:  1.8 pounds to go

Fingernails

I've never had fingernails to be proud of.  For my entire juvenile and adult life I've been embarrassed by my nails.  They were chewed, they were short, they were ugly.  And the cuticles were atrocious.  I also spent lots of time with my hands in my mouth because I was chewing on either a nail that was bothering me or a piece of skin that was uncomfortable.

It was really a matter of bad habit I picked up as a child.  The cuticles of my nails grew extremely quickly because I picked at them all the time.  Even if I stopped messing with them, something almost impossible for me to do, they would grow and split very quickly.  And growing out a nail was difficult because my nails grow very slowly, but was made even more difficult because any length at all would be fiddled with and harassed until it lost all stability and I chewed it off.  I also had very low nail beds because I was perpetually digging under my nails, as far as I could manage.

A few years ago I'd had enough.  I had to fix the problem and I knew it was going to take a long time, but I didn't want to go on the way I had for so long.  The first line of attack was to put gel nails on.  This wasn't an inexpensive route, as you need to go have them done every few weeks.  But it helped me in two ways:  First, there wasn't anything to chew on because the gel covers your own nails and isn't pleasant to gnaw on.  Second, you can't pick on your cuticles because the nails are thicker and more blunt.  And third, for some reason there's less inclination to dig under the nails and push back the nail bed.

Over two years I stopped biting my nails and because I wasn't picking at the cuticles anymore, they stopped growing so aggressively.  The real test was would I revert to my old habits once the gel nails were gone?  I'd heard nails grow more quickly and are stronger while pregnant, so when I was pregnant with my son I had the gel taken off.  I did go through a period of weakened nails while fresh growth grew out and I made sure to keep them very short so there would be less possibility for tearing.

As it turned out, my nails weren't as delicate or prone to tearing as I had feared or remembered.  And the broken habit stayed broken.  I used and still use a nail strengthener, but I don't have nearly the problems I had feared.  And now, not pregnant anymore, my nails are still strong and I have even grown them long enough that I've had to use clippers.  Yes, those clippers that I had no idea how to use.

I even look forward to shortening them when they get too long.  When we got back from vacation I shortened them and put clear polish on them.  I was in the car today and I looked at my nails.  They're short, they're not fancy, but they're relatively neat and clean and I suddenly realized that for the first time in my life, I'm not embarrassed by my nails.

The Big Boy Update:  Food picky or food preference?  He is definitely stating his preferences with food.  When we're out at a restaurant I let him get away with saying he doesn't want something because I am not going to let him cause a scene and bother other diners.  He also can't communicate with words to let us know what he does want.  But I'll be darned if I'm going to have a baby who only eats grilled cheese and pasta.  Preferences are a good thing.  Excluding things just because you like something better is not an option.  The battle continues.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   Inching forward.  On a softer surface, like the bed, she will pull her knees up under her while on her stomach and push forward.  She's not pushing up off her tummy yet, but she has definite interest in forward motion.  Last week she was doing the air swim while on her stomach as well.

Right-size Countdown:  Gah, I forgot what I weighed this morning.  I think it's 2.4 pounds to go.

The Next Stop After Lowes

I live next door to Lowes.  I didn't realize it until recently, but apparently I do.

My father likes to stop in to, "look at his grandchildren," from time to time.  He's a very busy person.  He's always working on multiple projects at once.  Usually his projects involve stops at Lowes.  I think he doesn't feel like it's been a good day unless he's got his trip in to Lowes.  Until recently, he had a utility vehicle—an old Jeep—that was nicknamed "The Lowes Mobile."   This gives you some idea of how important Lowes is to my father.  If my mother is jealous of my father's love affair with Lowes, she has never let on. 

It took me a while to realize that when my father would call to see what the situation was here and if it would be a good time to stop in, we were "The next stop after Lowes."  It's important to get your priorities straight.  I'm just glad we made it on his schedule.

The Big Boy Update:  Mister mop.  Our mop broke so we had to get a new one.  He wanted to mop with the new one.  He pushed the new, dry mop around the hardwood floors for what seemed like an hour last night. We even had a nice quiet meal for once, he was so intent on mopping.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She really wants to sit up.  I propped her with pillows today and she spent a lot of time playing with things in her lap and not falling over like she's done in prior weeks.

Right-size Countdown:  2.0 pounds to go at the week nine check-in

Reality Overwriting Imagination

My husband made a birthday cake for our friend's five-year-old this weekend.  He had been talking about his birthday cake for ten months.  He had a very specific image of his cake.  His mother sent us an email with the following:  "I want a green dinosaur wif yeddow spikes (think stegosaurus) and a blueberry for his eye wif a volcano in the background even with lava!  Yeddow cake wif fwosting all awound."

My husband made a great cake that included a 3D volcano coming out of the sheet cake.  It was a big success, even with the adults.  Most importantly, Gavin really liked his cake.  But it got me thinking.  His image of the cake was very specific, was the real thing going to match his mental image? 

We do this all the time.  We read a book and have very specific ideas about how the characters look, what the locations are like and an overall feel for how the book's story is played out.  When I read some of the early Harry Potter books before the movies had been made I know I had a complete mental image of the world of Harry Potter.  But it's gone now.

When I saw the movie I remember thinking that wasn't how I had imagined things.  But those memories have been overwritten completely with the movie-versions.

It's no wonder our memories of facts can be skewed, accidentally or unintentionally over time.

The Big Boy Update:  Too big for his britches.  He's getting taller.  His sleeper clothes are getting much too short.  Today we went and got him some 24-month "night night" clothes.  He doesn't try to itch his ankles much anymore so we don't have to put him in footie suits every night.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Rolling back over.  She knows how to roll over from her back to her stomach.  She does it all the time.  She's not as good going from her stomach to her back.  This usually involves some level of anger and can also invoke crying.  If you leave her for long enough, she falls asleep.  But usually my ears aren't up for letting her work through it that long.

Right-size Countdown:  1.4 pounds to go

Scale Upgrade

While on vacation I learned some digital scales, say ones not fourteen-years-old like mine, don't need to "zero out" before you step on them each time.  I discovered this after tapping and waiting for the one there to turn on and zero out several times to no avail.   Wait a minute, it only stays on when I put consistent pressure on it.  Could it be newer models don't need a three-second zero calibration period?...!  I am so going to need an upgrade.

After looking on the internet for a thin, sleek-looking one like the one I'd been using on vacation, I discovered that not only are they quite reasonable in price, they have new cool features like profile management for more than one person, they measure body percentages for body fat, hydration, muscle and bone mass.  Very nice.

I was particularly interested in the hydration percentage.  Some mornings I weigh unexpectedly more and I don't know why.  Other mornings, like this morning, I weighed less than expected.  Am I more hydrated some mornings than others?  Now I'll have a baseline I can compare to from day to day. 

On the accuracy front, the old scale and the new scale weighed me at the sane weight, to the tenth of a pound.  So I've moved over.

I was expecting to be under-hydrated today because I was weighing lower than I had expected.  But the percentage was fairly high.  More research as I move forward. 

At this rate, I'll reach my weight goal in a week or two.  But I'm going to keep on for just a little longer.  Mostly because your ideal weight in the morning, after all eliminations and anything else you can think of to get a lower weight isn't a real weight.  It's an optimal twenty-four hour weight.  I'd like my target weight to be the average weight I am during the day. 

It's also important to consider that the minute you stop dieting, you're sure to bounce back a little bit.  My hope is to both make my weight goal and keep my weight goal.

The Big Boy Update:  Operation Cohabitation is going very well.  He is quite interested in her music mobile at night, but he sleeps well and isn't overly disturbed by her crying when she wakes up or gets in an uncomfortable position.  He was so interested in her mobile that I gave him the remote so he could turn it on and off from across the room.  He had a great time pushing the single button on the remote.  I had to laugh though.  His mobile is the same brand and every time he turned her mobile on his went off.  He had a good time toggling them before I took the remote away so he'd go to sleep.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Operation Cohabitation, eh?  She has no idea she's been moved or that she has a roommate.  She's the same good sleeper she was in the other room and doesn't seem to be bothered by him at all.  As I type this I realize tonight may be an entirely different story, but so far, so good.

Right-size Countdown:  1.0 pounds to go.

The File and The Clippers (A story of deficits)

Babies have very sharp fingernails.  They can feel like little razor blades sometimes.  It makes you feel like a bad parent when you get your child out of the crib in the morning to discover they've scratched their face during the night.

When my son was first born, I wasn't worried about changing his clothes or dealing with dirty diapers.  That came rather naturally.  But a few weeks later his longer nails were scratching me, his father, him and anyone who held him.  I had these little infant nail clippers I was suppose to use.  But they looked scary.  His hands didn't hold very still and I had no idea if I was about to clip off a portion of his finger.  Suffice it to say, I was too afraid to trim them.

What I did know how to do was file nails.  I went to a beauty supply place and got some fine-grit buffing blocks and a gentle file.  I filed his nails until almost a year.   When my daughter was born, I did the same thing. 

At a point, it was obvious his nails were bigger, harder and in the case of his big toes, plain dangerous to anyone in his fast-moving way.  My husband suggested we clip them.   I held him still and he clipped his nails—not because he wouldn't sit still, but because I didn't know how to use nail clippers. 

When my husband was done, I said "you should file them with this buffer so they're nice and smooth."  He said, "you're going to have to do that because I don't know how to file nails."

This is exactly what it sounds like.  My husband is a guy.  Guys don't file their nails.  He didn't know how to file, in what direction, how hard to press, etc.  I chewed my nails until just a few years ago.  While I do get my nails trimmed, I have the nice ladies at the nail parlor do it.  So I had no idea how to trim nails.

I've got more experience now and I can trim the tiniest of baby nails without too much worry of lopping off a finger or toe.  I even trimmed my own nails the other day, a wholly unique experience for someone who chewed their nails all their life.  I don't think my husband is going to start buffing their nails anytime soon though.

The Big Boy Update:  Little duster.  He wanted to help with the dusting today.  He took the feather duster and tried to emulate the dusting process.  After tearing out multiple feathers accidentally after stepping on the ends, his dusting for the day was over. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She participated in a study to help understand how children learn sounds.  I held her in my lap while bird sounds were played as graphics moved around on a computer screen.  She was very interested in what was happening.  She was also very happy and smiled at Maria, the administrator of the test, every time she saw her.  After the test we went to Target and she sat in a cart for the first time.  She wasn't really old enough to hold herself up, but I was able to strap her in and she enjoyed looking around for the trip.

Right-size Countdown:  2.4 pounds to go

Organizational Tip: Visual Drawers

Have you ever gone through a drawer in your dresser to free up some space and been surprised at what you found at the bottom of the drawer?  "Hey, I forgot all about this shirt" or, "I wish I'd remembered this shirt when it was still summer" or maybe there were things you could have gotten rid of that had been taking up space in a crammed drawer for a long time.

Years ago I got tired of losing and re-finding my things at the bottom of drawers.  I decided there had to be a way to see all of your things at once.  I figured out if you stack your shirts (or shorts, or socks, etc.) on their sides standing up, you can still see each item, and you know exactly what's in the drawer.

For example, shirts are the easiest to do this with.  Here's an example of my t-shirt drawer:

Not only can you see all the t-shirts, but you can have a rotation system to let you know what you haven't worn in a while.  For example, after I wear a shirt, I fold it and put it back on the left.  That means the shirts more towards the right side of the drawer haven't been worn in as long.  That's also a nice way to decide when you're cleaning out a drawer what you don't want anymore.  The items on the right would be the ones most likely to be given away or donated. 

There are some factors in making this work.  First, you have to have a drawer that's tall enough for what you want to store vertically.  Socks and underwear can go in shallow drawers.  Shorts and shirts need taller drawers.  Secondly, this isn't going to work for you if you have to do something complicated to make it happen.  If you have to do a special folding process the clothes are more likely to stay in the hamper rather than get into the drawer.  And last, you need to have enough items for a drawer so they will be able to stand up without falling over.  If you're like me, it's usually not too little clothes that's the problem.

For folding shirts, I use a standard shirt fold and then fold it in half one more time like this:

I still remember the boyfriend in college who taught me how to fold shirts by grabbing the shirt a certain way and then doing a single motion ending on the folding surface.  I was amazed how quickly and neatly he was folding shirts.  To this day, I think of him often when I'm folding laundry.

The Big Boy Update:  Shapes and sorting.  He was putting the square into the square hole and the triangle in the triangle hole today.  He's making more logical associations now than he was just a few weeks ago.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Platinum or Blonde?  Her hair is growing.  I can't tell if she's getting a little pigmentation in her hair or if it's just more noticeable because it's getting longer.  Initially when her head got wet her hair completely disappeared and it looked like she was completely bald.  Now you can see just a bit of something there when she's getting a bath.

Right-size Countdown:  3.1 pounds to go

Moving Day

My daughter is five months old now.  She sleeps through the night, and isn't bothered by noises around her while sleeping. So, we implemented"Operation Co-habitation" today.  She has now moved in with her brother.

I thought he had lots of baby stuff while she only had a little closet and a few drawers of things.  I was wrong.  His clothes were spread out on a longer rung of hangers.  Her clothes were squeezed in tight in a shorter space.  And the stuffed animals of pink!  She got so many adorable stuffed animals that she'll love when she gets just a bit older.  I had to rearrange two shelves in his closet just to fit them all.

My son loved the whole moving in process.  He helped with the hex wrench to tighten and loosen the bolts on her bed as I disassembled and reassembled it.

They're going to have fun together in their shared room in the future.  We're going to find out if it's more work or less work having them together.  How will nap times coordinate?  If one wakes up, will it wake the other one?  If one has a bad night, will the other?  Hopefully not.  Probably so.

So no more, "his room" or, "her room."  We now have "The baby room."  Should be interesting to say the least.


The Big Boy Update:  Wires and plugs, oh my.  He likes wires.  He likes plugs.  Today he positively would not leave them be.  He'd run from one to another.  He knew he wasn't suppose to mess with them, but he was being hard-headed.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Talking or crying?  She likes to talk to herself.  She talks for a good bit sometimes happily.  Then the tone changes.  It sounds like she's unhappy, whining, or just plain mad.  But when you go over to look at her, she smiles at you and goes back to playing with the toy or item.  Maybe she'll be able to explain what was happening when she gets some words.

Right-size Countdown:  3.6 pounds to go

The Dreaded Drive

The car is packed,
The kids are fed,
They're loaded up,
Cars seats for beds.

Now as you leave,
And drive away,
Remember why,
You chose this way.

For through the dark,
And through the night,
Babies will sleep,
'till morning's light.

It's early on,
The time flies by,
The sun has set,
The night is nigh.

No traffic jams,
During the night,
But empty roads,
Are boring sights.

So stay awake,
Don't close your eyes,
If you get tired,
Car jazzercise.

The ride, while long,
Is never fun,
The hours drag on,
Until it's done.

And when you think,
You're at your end,
You vow, you swear,
Never again.

Then suddenly,
A lovely sight,
The darkness fades,
Into sunlight.

The trip is done,
You have arrived,
You made it through,
The dreaded drive.

- Inspired by our overnight drives this Easter holiday.

Things That Are Hard Not To Do

There are some things that are just hard not to do.  I find most of these things come from an outside influence, but we're so ingrained to do a certain behavior, it's hard to follow instructions.

For example, when the doctor tells you to breathe normally so he can listen to your lungs, the one thing you're sure to not do is breathe normally.  Or what about when the doctor tells you to relax, this won't hurt a bit, right before giving you an injection.  Bring on the tense.

What about not flushing the toilet?  Someone's in the shower and you don't want to hot spike them.  Ten seconds later, you've forgotten and you flush the toilet from long-standing habit.

Or have you returned a rental car, and taken the keys with you?  You can even be chanting to yourself right before you get out of the rental car, "leave the keys, leave the keys" but your hand knows it's suppose to grab the keys before leaving the car. 

And the best way to mess someone up when they're about to do something difficult in sports is to tell them not to think about how they swing the golf club or breathe when bowling a ball.  Mean.  But fun.

Today at the eye doctor they did an ultrasound on my eyes.  Your eyes are numbed and the technician puts a suction cup directly on your eye.  She moves it around for what seems like an hour taking measurements with a machine that goes "bing" every few seconds.  She said, "Just relax."  I tried.  It never happened.

The Big Boy Update:  Ducky.  One of the first sounds he made regularly was, "duck."  It wasn't directed at anything really, but it was funny when he would walk around chanting it.  Today he said, "ducky" and pointed at the dog.  Has he been saying, "doggie" all along and I'm just picking up on it?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Hungry.  She's eating more food more regularly.  We kept a journal for our son for six months and then felt confident enough that he was consuming enough that we didn't need to track it any longer.  The vacation and erratic schedule with multiple people feeding my daughter has helped us decide five months is long enough to track her.  The little baby log is now stored in the memories drawer for the future.

Right-size Countdown:  4.6 pounds to go.  I swear, some days my body just holds on to water weight to make me question how much I really ate the day before, even if I know I didn't overeat.

Trash Reminders

Every Monday I try and remind my husband that he has the exciting task, nay privilege, okay, not fun job of taking out the trash before going to bed.  It started as a little piece of paper with the words "Trash Day Tomorrow" on it.  Then I started getting creative.

Each week I'd come up with a movie quote modified to include something related to trash or I'd add a twist to a common phrase to make it trashy.  My mother saw the notes while over helping with the babies and she got into the game too.  She wrote a limerick for him the other week that was great.

So, now the bar has been raised.  A little square of paper saying, "Bring out yer trash!" isn't going to cut it anymore.   Normally trash doesn't inspire me, but here's his poem for taking out the trash tonight.

Already? Again? Has it been a whole week?

How the time it does fly,

For the garbage upkeep.

All the bins are now full,

With our refuse and ort.

Oh, and don’t dare forget,

There’s recycling to sort.

So no slacking, get cracking,

Start cardboard box stacking,

Pile it up; take it all to the street.

Then when you’ve done your best,

Take a well-deserved rest,

Or that is, until this time next week.

The Big Boy Update:  Go Car Go.  Speaking of trash, my mother-in-law found this great plastic car by the curb in her neighbor's trash last week.   It has a nice push handle and he loves to sit in it and push the horn.  We brought it home from vacation and he's now gone around the block in it today.  He is very fond of his trash mobile. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Un-tan.  We made it all vacation without getting the palest baby on the east-coast burned.  She is pleasantly pale and happily a baby.

Right-size Countdown:  2.8 pounds to go at week eight weigh-in.

Vice Requires Constant Practice

I've never liked coffee much.  I love the smell of coffee.   With lots of whole milk, or better  half-and-half, or best, cream and a little sugar, coffee's not bad.  But I've never needed coffee in the morning or much wanted it at other times of the day.

I remember as a child helping my father in the summer when he taught science workshops to other science teachers at a local college.  He'd ask me if I could go get him a cup of coffee when we arrived each morning.  This wasn't like today, there were no coffee machines in kitchenettes, there was no Starbucks on campus.  There were also no large cups, not even medium-sized cups.  And there were no lids.  No lids? Yes, this was back in the dark ages of coffee consumption.

So, in order to get my father some coffee—a task I was thrilled to perform for him—I would trek buildings away across campus.  I would get the only size styrofoam coffee cup available, fill it with coffee as full as I could and then head back towards the building in which he was teaching.  Young children move quickly and don't have a lot of paitence.  "Hyper-active" was a term adults regularly used to describing me. 

Also, coffee sloshes.  I tried to walk as slowly as quickly as I could.  I would imagine ladies carrying pots on their head and I would try to have poise and float across the quadrangle.  His coffee usually arrived only two-thirds full and my hands would be red from the hot coffee spilling on them.  He was always very gracious and never seemed to mind there was coffee spilled down the sides.  I was happy for being able to be a help.

Recently, I thought I'd try to acquire a taste for coffee.  On this vacation, a large pot of coffee was made for anyone interested each morning.  They had some smooth blend and it turns out I I liked it quite a lot.  I looked forward to coffee each morning.  In part, I was drinking coffee in place of the hot tea I usually drink, but I have to admit I looked forward to the coffee when I woke up.

We're travelling home tonight.  I'm not in need of coffee every morning—that's a vice I'd have to work harder on to make permanent.  Especially, since this morning after three cups, I was dancing outside in my bathing suit at the side of the pool.   So maybe a bit too much coffee, yeah.

The Big Boy Update:  Uh oh.  He is very clearly saying "uh oh" and using it in the proper situations.  Mostly when he drops something.  And on the going outside front, he still loves bring outdoors.  My father-in-law is a good source of information, as he had four children.  He agreed he loves being outside more than most kids. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Pale as snow.  She is so pale.  She would blend in with a bag of marshmallows.  When she goes out in the sun on vacation here, we put this water babies sunscreen on her that's white.  When it's first put on, she looks positively ghost-like with her white hair and light skin.

Right-size Countdown:  3.0 pounds to go

The Next Pound Decade

When you diet, it's nice to celebrate milestones.  And I don't mean celebrating by eating a double cheeseburger.  But marking, in some way, that you're still making progress towards your goal.

When you start dieting, the first pounds drop quickly, you're full of commitment and enthusiam.  And usually, you're part-way to one milestone already.  Say, for instance, you weighed 184 pounds.  When you get into the 170's it's a great feeling.  You've made it into the next "pound decade."

Crazy phrase, "pound decade,"  right?  What do you call it?  Normally, I don't look up things on the internet prior to writing a post here.  It's nice to just muddle something out without having the answers given to you via the web.  But in this case, I did look up possible terms.  Only I was stumped.  What search string do you enter?  "What is the term for losing weight into the next ten-pound range?" 

At any rate, I didn't find an alternate term, so I made one up.  For marking time, each ten years is called a decade.  And when you're dieting, it feels like a decade until you lose that next ten pounds.  So, it seemed like a resonable term. 

Lots of times, like in the example above, the first pound decade is easy.  It's early on, and you only have part-way to go to get to the next marker.  Then, you have a full ten pounds to make the next pound decade,  That one is harder, and usually takes a good bit longer.

Yesterday, I made it into the last pound decade before I reach my goal.  I didn't have that much to lose in comparison to lots of dieters, but it has been a lot of effort both physically and mentally to get here.  I have tremendous respect and empathy for those that are trying to lose five, six, even more pound decades.

The Big Boy Update:  No hats, shoes please.  He hates wearing hats.  Or sunglasses, or anything in the head region.  But he likes shoes.  Some babies delight in taking both shoes and socks off, despite their parent's desperate need to have them wear them.  My son likes to wear shoes, likes when you put them on and even tries to help.  He also likes to put your shoes on.  Only he's confused at the order things happen.  He tries to pull your foot to the shoe, even if that means you have to rotate your foot into an untenable position.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Who's that girl?  She is growing so fast.  My sister-in-law went on a short trip and came back three days later.  She said she looks physically larger and even more mature in just three days.  I swear, this morning she looks like she's changed again overnight.  Her face looks more little girl-like and less baby-like than yesterday.

Right-size Countdown:  3.6 pounds to go

The Body Amazing

The body is an amazing thing.  Over eat and it stores the excess as fat.  Under eat and those fat stores are called up and converted to energy.  And the body does this without us thinking about it or even asking it to.  Especially the storing of fat.  The body excels at storing excess calories as fat, especially when we don't want it to.  Right?

Aside from the stomach, which is one of the biggest complainers in the entire body, "Feed me.  I'm hungry again.  I need more food.  Is it dinner time yet?" The rest of our systems do their jobs without much of a fuss. 

Lately, I've been impressed at the body's ability to convert stored fat into accessible calories for use.  I know I'm not giving my body enough food each day for the amount of calories I'm buring.  So my body pulls from my food stores.  The speed at which it does this is impressive. 

I've been doing a lot of exercising in the morning.  I'm burning hundreds of calories by running, walking or biking.  The last time I've usually eaten is the night before at dinner.  And yet I don't feel faint, I have all the energy available to exercise and not feel drained afterwards. 

The body seems to be able to pull from fat stores quickly.  You'd think, being fat cells, they'd be slow.  We got them by overeating and most likely sitting around being lazy if you got them the way I did.  But instead of having to wait for card catalog, run to the stacks to find the book kind of slow, they're solid-state hard drive data access fast.  Ask for the energy and there it is, no waiting, no fuss.

The body seems to trust you too.  It doesn't complain when you want those calories, stat.  It doesn't put up a protest by making you feel unduly tired.  It does't try to stop you from using the fat in the hopes you'll save the reserves for a systemic doomsday scenario in which you might have to go without food in the future. 

The body is impressive.  In so many ways.

The Big Boy Update:  Chase and laugh.  He likes being chased.  It seems like he's mad sometimes.  He runs away as though what you want to do or where you want him to go is just awful.  Tantrum-ish.  But when you catch him, he laughs when you pick him up.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  The Tooth is Out There.  She must be getting close to cutting some teeth.  She has started gnawing on anything hard and plastic she can get into her mouth. 

Right-size Countdown:  2.8 pounds to go

Narrowly Defining

Did you know what you wanted to find in a partner when you were younger?  Did you have a list of all the things he or she had to be to be your perfect mate? I never had a list. I didn't even know where to begin to make a list.

In school people would talk about how they wanted a tall guy, or how the girl had to love sports. I couldn't come up with anything that I felt was a requirement. Each person I had dated was different in their own way. The things that made that person someone I was attracted to wasnt something I could put down in a list. You can't take a random collection of ingredients and cook up the perfect guy. So I never made a list.

It didn't hinder me in any way in finding the perfect guy for me.

Recently I was with my mother and Jamie Lee Curtis was being interviewed. She said she always told her girlfriends they needed to figure out their "top three". If you figure out what your top three things are, you can use them to your advantage. Her top three were her high-energy level, her figure and her long neck.

The next day my mother asked me what I picked for my top three. It reminded me of the days back in school. I just didn't know. I could list positive features I had, but I just didn't know what made one asset more important than another. Is being organized one of my most valuable assets, or is that more annoying than of value? Is my exuberance for international cuisine a good thing or frustrating to someone who likes American food?

It seems to my that any asset can also be a hindrance. A man who is in good shape is a good thing, but what if to stay in shape he's off mountain climbing and running marathons all the time? Things can be both good and bad at the same time. To say something is on the important or top list seems to narrowly define something. I suppose I like options more than constraints.

The Big Boy Update: Hoses.  He loves hoses.  Anything hosey, he is interested in.  The pool cleaning hose, the garden hose, the vacuum cleaner hose. He ca be entertained for longer than you'd expect a sisteen-month-old to be entertained when it comes to hoses.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: No thank you, I don't need a nap.  Yes you do.  No, I don't.  Blast.  She's a touchy one.  She naps, but not for long.  She sometimes won't nap at all.  But we get paid back by her sleeping very well all night long, no help needed.

Right-size Countdown: 3.8 pounds to go

Downhill...Both Ways...In The Dark

I haven't ridden a bike in a long time.  So long, that I have no idea when I last rode one.  Not a clue.  Last night my husband suggested we go for a bike ride.  Why not. You don't forget how to ride one, right?  And it's true, it all came back.

I was a bit cautious overall as I could easily overcorrect while I got used to the bike.  We weren't racing, but we weren't out for a stroll.  This was for exercise.  We stayed on larger paved paths and ended up going  about 7.5 miles.

I'd been doing a lot of walking and some running, but I wasn't ready for just how fast you make progress on a bike.  Woosh, a mile goes by in no time.  You're working as hard as you would running or walking that same mile, but talk about fun.   Except for the seat.  Today I'm sore in the bike seat areas.

When I got on the bike, I didn't see the gear changers.  I knew it was a multi-speed bike but I didn't see the gear-changing handles I remembered.  It turns out I'm decades behind the times.  You twist part of the handle on each side to change gears.  So smooth, so cool.  So high-tech. 

My high-tech bike had a basket on the front too.  And a little bell.  The kind of bell you remember from kids bikes that go bling-bling-bling.  Very "quaint" as my husband said.  It felt so modern and old-timey at the same time.

We used the bells a lot as we went through a windy path lit only by path lights.  We didn't want to bowl walkers over; and I was still looking for the brakes.  It sounded almost horror-movieish with the bike bells going off in the dark on the path in the marsh.

I discovered it was uncomfortable for me to ride a bike.  The angle I needed to hold my head at in order to see forward is the perfectly wrong angle for my neck.  Pain.  Then, I realized if I took my glasses off, I could adjust the angle and everything would be fine.  I worried for the rest of the ride that my glasses would fly off my head and I'd lose them.  But they made it saftely home.  Next ride, no glasses.

The most unusual thing of all was the incline.  We rode downhill on a very minor slope for a long long time at first.  Wait, we're almost at sea level.  I've been monitoring the elevation with the app I use on walks.  We couldn't be going downhill for that long.   It was a strange, nighttime, haven't biked in twenty years, optical ilusion,  Thankfully, we didn't have to bike uphill all the way home.  As it turns out, going back was all downhill too.

The Big Boy Update:  We specialize in fat feet.  That's what the lady said at the Crocs store today, which is good, because that's why I took him there.  He has three pair of new shoes, one of them sandals, that look fantastic on him, and most importantly, he's got shoes that fit his fat feet.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  White or Blonde?  Her hair is growing now.  She is the utmost pale and has the whitest of white hair.  But she's out in the sun now (with sunscreen, of course) but is her hair coming in a wee bit blonde?  It could be the sunscreen caked on her hair that I haven't gotten all out.  It could be that her scalp is getting a little color.  Or she could be growing in blonde.  Time will tell.

Right-size Countdown:  3.6 Pounds to go

The Stars Look Painful

 I've been walking a lot lately.  Since food is such a temptation away from home on vacation, getting more exercise has helped.  Last night, I didn't get a chance to walk until the children were in bed.  It was dark outside, and delightful weather.

I discovered I can walk lots longer and farther if there's something occupying my mind.  I brought my phone, which was logging statistics about the walk, and had it play an audiobook while I walked.  The time went very quickly.

The streets I was walking in had a collection of street lamps out on one side that was beside a large culvert.  I looked up to see a crisp clear sky with lots of stars.  I love looking at the stars, but at this point in my life, they look uncomfortable.

I've had cervical spinal fusion that makes leaning my head back and looking up something I'd rather not do.  It's not painful per se, but it's the kind of thing your mind tells your body you'd better move along and find another activity quickly.  Looking at the stars is nice, but I can't look for long. 

Maybe I'll lie out on one of the pool-side chairs one night and see the stars in a more comfortable setting.

The Big Boy Update:  High Speed.  He's getting better at running.  He likes to run around, be chased and run away.  He is more stable and I don't worry he's going to maim his face every time he takes off.  He still doesn't like to have his hand held and led anywhere.  He hates that.  But he likes holding your hand and running around.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Size Three Diapers.  She still wears size two diapers, but a few times overnight she's wet through them in the back because they were so low.  Last night, I put her in a size three of her brother's.  The diaper went up very high, but she stayed dry.

Right-size Countdown:  4.6 pounds to go.

Boat Ride or Celebrity Cruise?

We were going on a boat ride today.  We had heard about it for a while, it was on the inter-costal waterway a half-hour away in Juipter, Florida.  I thought my son would enjoy looking at the sights and being on a bigger boat.  He did have a good time, although the ride was longer than anticipated and he didn't have any place to nap.  He fell asleep on the ride home, and although it's dinner time, we were able to transition him to the crib for a well-needed nap.

The "boat ride" wasn't what I expected though.  I don't know this area well, or at all even outside the neighborhood I've been walking and running around in for the past several days.  When the boat driver/tour guide started the tour, he told us about the famous lighthouse and it's special glass lenses.  It was looking up to be an interesting tour about the indian natives and local flora and fauna.

The he started talking about the large, beautiful houses on Jupiter Island.  He was listing the names of owners, how much they paid for the houses, their estimated current value, how much their boats cost, crazy things they'd done with their homes, etc.

I was thinking this guy sure was obsessed with his neighbors—wealthy, extravagant neighbors.   As the "boat ride" went on, I realized it wasn't a boat ride at all.  We were on a celebrity cruise, looking at the homes of the rich and famous.  This man was supposed to be obsessed with other people's homes and lives and financial endeavors. 

Still, it was a lovely boat ride.  My son enjoyed looking over the railing and my daughter had a nice nap under the awning.  I found out houses can be much more expensive than I hadever imagined.

The Big Boy Update:  Planes.  He loves them.  He has no clue what they are, but they make noise in the sky.  He points and we say, "Plane!" Then he watches them until they're out of sight.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  GAAARRRR.  It is her new word.  She sounds like she's a growling monster.  It cones out suddenly, when you least expect it and we're not sure what it means.  It usually doesn't mean she's unhappy, so I'm thinking she's going to be a wookie when she grows up.

Right-size Countdown:  4.2 pounds to go at the week seven weigh-in.

Flowers & Horses, Nibbles & Bits

Flowers are nice.  I like flowers, but I don't love flowers.  I can appreciate them, but I've never cared about getting a bouquet and I don't feel "happier" just because there are flowers around.  Many people love flowers, I guess I'm just not one of them.  Candy... now that's a different story.

There's one exception to my flower rule.  I adore gardenias.  The bush isn't that pretty and the flowers are sort of limpy.  But the smell.  I love the smell.  I could just stand aound a gardenia bush and inhale deeply for a good part of the day.  There's a bush in the front yard here.  I've picked some flowers and have them on the bedside table so I can enjoy them all night.  Such a fragrant flower.

Horses are about the same as flowers for me.  They're impressive animals, they can be friendly and excellent companions.  But I've never been a horse person.  I didn't want to ride them, never cared about brushing them, and most definitely didn't want to own one.  Dogs.  Dogs are my thing.

I'm naming yesterday "Nibbles and Bits" day.  I fell prey to the "I'll just try one bite of that" fallacy.  I was unexpectedly hungry all day.  I had a hard time not eating the entire basket of chips at Mexican dinner.  Overall, not my best day as there were so many great looking and smelling foods around.  Today is Easter and we have a nice meal planned with the family.  I'm saving up so I can enjoy it fully.  No nibbling, no having, "just a bit." all through the day.

The Big Boy Update:  Off schedule.  He gets up at 9AM.  He doesn't get to get up early in our house.  He must play in his crib if he wakes up early until it's time to get up.  On vacation he's staying in the room with my in-laws and he's getting to get up much earlier.  I think he's enjoying it.  I hope he adjusts to his regular schedule when we get back home without too much fuss.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Easter dress.  She's got a little easter dress she's never worn for today. She and my son got easter baskets and an easter bunny that was hidden.  She had a nice time walking around the block while holding on to her easter bunny. 

Right-size countdown:  4.6 pounds to go

Potholes Cause Cancer

I think of this strange phrase often when I eat at McDonalds.   Okay, let's get real here, who actually eats at McDonalds?  It's more like when I drive through and get McDonalds and eat it in the car.  That's when the, "Potholes can cause cancer" phrase pops into my head.

When I was very young, McDonalds came out with Chicken McNuggets.  My best friend and I loved them.  They were perfectly suited to children.  We loved the sweet and sour sauce too.  My father, ever the skeptic, questioned the probable preservatives and overall healthiness of anything McDonalds.  He warned us that we'd better be careful of what we ate because we might show up with cancer someday.

As young children, we knew of cancer, but we weren't the slightest bit worried about it.  We didn't believe him.  We began to question him about other foods.  He is a knowledgeable guy, he explained how so many things, in the wrong quantities, could be very harmful.  When we came up with more and more crazy ideas we even found out you could die from drinking too much water.  This is the kind of helpful dad I have.

We finally stumped him though.  We came up with something that he couldn't tie to cancer or health as we drove home and went over a big pothole.  "Potholes don't cause cancer!" we both yelled from the back seat.

To this day, when I eat chicken McNuggets with sweet and sour sauce, I remember our triumphant cry when we realized we'd stumped him.

The Big Boy Update:  No socks.  His feet have itched him for as long as I can remember.  We've been hesitant to let him go without socks because the last several times we have, he's scratched his feet raw in spots.  But over the last two days, we've done some tests and not only is he not scratching his legs in shorts, he's not trying to tear up his ankles.  Just in time for spring and shorts weather too. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Eating her feet.  She likes to play with her feet.  She is most exuberant about her feet when she's on the changing table.  Lately, she's even been trying to eat her right foot.  She's so happy about it, I almost hate for changing time to be over.

Right-size Countdown:  4.2 pounds to go

Vacation

We survived the drive.
We arrived alive.

It was a tough night.  We departed shortly after the babies had supper, around 8:30 PM.  It's about an eleven-hour drive to my in-laws in Florida.  I don't think we expected to be as tired as we were.  We had to swap off driving more than we anticipated.  But more swapping is better than a driver that's too sleepy at the wheel. 

At one stop, I went in and looked for that five-hour energy stuff.  I'd never drank one before and I really didn't want to, but I knew it would help.  For some reason, this convienence store had none of the quick energy drink options.  Or they had them hidden.  I decided that was message enough that I shouldn't have one, so I got a bottle of water and we moved on.

Once we got here we had a wonderful day.  My son is having fun with his cousins, aunt, uncle and grand parents.  He's got different toys here, and he is having fun running around checking out the house.  We expected him to love the pool, but he took a good bit of warming up to it.  Sure enough, once he was out of the pool, he decided he wanted to get back in.  

His sister had a great day, was serenely happy in her pool floaty and smiled at everyone who held her.  We had dinner on the patio and went to a great park to cap off the day before baby bedtime.   Now, my husband and I are completley beat as we each only got a few hours of uncomfortable car-sleep last night.  How did the babies do in the car, you ask?  Like little dreams.  They slept the whole way, hooray.

The Big Boy Update:  Bad diaper rash, still.  We're done with the antibiotic but he's still got repurcussions from the medicine.  In the past, our indicator that he'd messed his pants up was always smell.  It was easily, clealrly, smell that told us he needed his diaper changed.  This medicine has made it not smell and he doesn't know to tell us he's gone, something we're correcting tomorrow by teaching him the sign for a dirty diaper.   We're also going to diligently check him to make sure he doesn't sit in a messy diaper for any length of time. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She had a lot of fun today with her cousinm Nicole.  She was fed by Nicole, played with Nicole and even fell asleep on Nicole.  She said thank you by smiling lots at Nicole.

Right-size countdown:  4.6 pounds to go.  Note that I'm using a different scale and have no idea how close the weights are, but since we'll be here for several days, I'm just going to report what it says, good or bad 

Changing Tastes

Since being on this diet, my tastes have changed.  This isn't anything surprising, it's common for tastes to change when you adjust your diet.  I am just pleasantly surprised it's happened.

Aside from the obvious broccoli addiction, I like vegetables and less heavy foods.  Last night, I went out to a "girls night" dinner I do with my friends from time to time.  I checked the Ruby Tuesday's menu online before hand because sometimes a perfectly low-calorie dish is, in fact, not even remotely close to low-calorie.  Just because it's a salad, it does not mean it's healthy or low-calorie.

I decided on grilled salmon with sides of asparagus and zucchini.  My friend got a cheese-laden pasta with grilled chicken smothered on the top.  She offered me a bite.  I told her that had she not offered me a bite, I was going to take one anyway when she looked away.  It was cheesy (I love cheesy) and it was delicious.  But it tasted so heavy.  I was really much happier with my fish and vegetables. 

We all looked over the pictures of dessert options.  They did, in fact, look delicious.  But I really didn't want dessert.  I still like sweets.  But I have much less cravings for something sweet now.  I have always been a prime candidate for a twelve-step candy-a-holics anonymous program.  But not now.

I'm sure in the future I'm going to like sweets lots more, crave desserts and not be able to go more than a day without a large infusion of cheese, but for now, I'm happy I'm enjoying eating less and eating more healthily.


The Big Boy Update:  There's a firetruck upstairs.  When he's uncomfortable at night he makes this slow windup/wind down wailing sound that sounds just like a firetruck turning into a nearby street.  Last night he had to be "blanketed" several times and eventually we gave him Benadryl because we surmised he still must be uncomfortable as he recovers.  His skin is looking much better and we're getting on top of the eczema now too.  But for now, "smooth as a baby's bottom," most definitely does not apply to him.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Stomach sleeping. She can roll over, but usually she doesn't at night.  Last night we rolled her back on her back multiple times but she insisted that she wanted to sleep on her stomach.  I wonder if she'll sleep with her butt in the air when she gets older, like her brother does?

Right-size Countdown:  3.7 pounds to go.  (Heading on vacation today.  I'll be away from the scale we have at home, so I'm going to have to guess where I fit in for the next several days.  Vacation is usually paired with going out to eat and lots of good food.  Here's hoping I keep my resolve while we're travelling.)

Mouth Shingles

I have no idea if there is such a thing as mouth shingles. Since there's no hope or help for me at this point, It won't hurt to make up a name. Speaking of hurt, I don't know how it could hurt more than it already does. I'll explain...

The children are mostly over their Chicken Pox. The sores are healing well and most of their scabs are even gone. They just have some red dots to remind us they were a mess last week. I, on the other hand, am still healing.

A week ago, my throat started hurting.  It wasn't that bad, so I didn't pay much attention to it.  Then, several days later, it got drastically worse.  With a flashlight it was clear there were a lot of red areas in the back of my mouth.  Strep throat?  I hadn't had that since I had my tonsils removed at eighteen. But I could hardly swallow and there was just not going to be any eating for a while if the pain didn't subside.

Sunday morning at 9AM I went to an urgent care.  They took a strep culture and it was clean.  The doctor looked into my throat and said, "Wow, you have a lot of chancre sores in the back of your throat.  It's a whole cluster of them."

I've had chancre sores from time to time for as long as I can remember.  Once, while on business in Brazil, I had one in the back of my throat that was so painful thought I was going to not be able to go in to work. That was just one, albeit a large one.  But a whole cluster?

I explained to the doctor about the Chicken Pox.  I explained that while I had the antigen in my body, I had never had the Chicken Pox.  She agrees that something was compromising my immune system.  Something was letting the virus get a foothold in the back of my throat. Was it the exposure to the children's Chicken Pox? We don't know. But I was going to just wait it out.

I'd like to say Sunday morning was the worst, but it wasn't.  The sores got bigger.  Some merged and became a nickel-sized grey hole in the back of my mouth.  They appeared in my cheeks and even tiny ones on my tongue.  My definition of "ow" just got cranked up a notch.

I had to run last night with my friends.  I didn't want to say anything about my mouth so I just toughed it out.  I was in so much pain when we were done from breathing more quickly through my mouth.  Tomorrow I have to run again, and this time it's by myself.  I don't know if I'll make it without other people there to urge me on.  No, no, I will make it.  There.  Now it's in writing. 

I hope they're clearing up now.  I think I'm past the half-way mark of pain.  That, or I'm just getting use to it.  I don't know what to call it, but since an adult can get shingles from Chicken Pox exposure, I'm just naming this the mouth shingles.  Shingles are very painful on the nerves.  There are a lot of nerves in the back of your mouth. 

The Big Boy Update:  Sinus infection?  I was ready to swear he had a sinus infection.  When you have so much drainage overnight that the dried remnants completely block your nose, something is going on.  We have no definite diagnosis, but since getting on antibiotics last Friday, his nose is drastically better. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Sprouting!  Her hair is growing.  Yesterday, my mother said it looked like it was sprouting.  Sure enough, that's exactly what it looks like.  She's got cute sprouts of white hair all over her head.

Right-size Countdown:  4.8 pounds to go

Closet Full of Clothes

After shopping to get a few new things, I started going through all the clothes in my closet.  I'm at a weight now where I should be able to fit into things again.  I didn't expect to find a whole closet full of clothes though.

That sounds strange, and indeed, it was.  But it's something we all do every year.  When it's winter and cold outside, we mentally exclude from our wardrobe all the clothes we have that are inappropriate for the time of year.  Shorts, t-shirts and flip flops are out, sweaters and fleece jackets are in.  When the weather changes come spring time, you mentally shift back to to the summer wear.

What happened to me was I mentally walled off the entire closet, aside from pregnancy clothes, to a "not appropriate at this time" category.  I started by trying on a shirt or two, and being surprised because they fit.  Then I tried on several more, and I realized the entire shelf of clothes not only fit, but could be worn in the current weather.  I sort of stood in the closet dumbfounded as I looked all around and realized I could wear everything in there now.

I had just bought several new shirts and a few shorts, but when I had gotten done putting them up, I felt like I had a hundred new shirts and all new pants to wear.  I'm going on a family vacation later this week.  Now I have to decide what to pack.  Normally, I'd pack without thinking too much, but now I get to pick from clothes I love that I haven't been able to wear in several years.   I may end up over packing.

The Big Boy Update:  Diaper rash.  He rarely gets diaper rash, but his antibiotic is giving him diarrhea and he's going all the time.  It doesn't smell as much and we don't realize he's gone until it's made his diaper rash even worse.  He has taken to screaming and fighting us on the changing table.  This morning, I hope it's healed some.  He really needs a break from skin issues.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Smiles are back.  She must be feeling better, because she's smiling again.  She seems more chipper and she's been very hungry as well.  Her skin is looking so much better.  She's almost back to her normal, baby self.

Right-size Countdown:  6.4 pounds to go

You Can't Cheat the Calories

Today is the six week mark since my husband and I started our diets and the good news is... we haven't given up.  We haven't given up, we haven't given in and we're still going.  I'm almost 3/4ths the way to my target goal, which is better than I thought I'd be doing at this point.

I'm even in what I'd call "the diet groove" now.  I'm not pining away for a slice of cheesecake.  Ice cream isn't calling my name from the kitchen, and I can drink lots of water with a smaller meal and be full.  I have so much more confidence I'm going to make my goal than I had at the start.

There are lots of ways to diet, but bottom line, you can't cheat the calories.  You can eat poorly and eat unhealthy calories, but if you overeat the amount of calories you need, you body is going to be kind and store those extra calories as fat for when you might need them in the future.  Try as I might, I haven't been able to find the setting to turn this metabolic option off.

When I diet, I don't like to eat fake foods.  By that I mean I don't want the fat free cream cheese.  Yuck.  I'd rather either not have the cream cheese, or have a much smaller portion,  And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's fake butter, or "futter," as I like to call it.  The number one reason I'm enjoying broccoli so much is the small amount of butter my husband puts on it.  Those butter calories are valuable because they make the remainder of the calories that are more healthy taste delicious so I can enjoy them with gusto.

I'm also exercising more every day.  I'm more exciting about this than I thought I would be.  This morning, my husband and I walked briskly around our neighborhood for a total of three miles.  I got a nice little app for the phone that tracks the route via GPS, calories burned, distance, pace and lots of other interesting statistics.  Running with my friend three days each week in addition to the walking my husband and I are doing is also helping with the weight loss too.

Lastly, a big thank you to my sister-in-law, Adrienne, for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award.  I was inspired to start this blog from reading Adrienne's blog.  She gave me the confidence that not only did I have something to say, but writing a blog wasn't that hard.  I'm suppose to pass on the Liebster Blog award to other blogs that inspire me, but I'm going to have to add this to my "to do" list to nominate other blogs.  I think I might be a leaf at the end of the branch on the blog tree.  I only know about the blog closest to me, my sister-in-law's.  Thank you again Adrienne, for the honor.

The Big Boy Update:  Eczema strikes back. He's got some eczema spots that are appearing, and rapidly growing because of all the skin-drying medicine we've been putting on him.  We're cautiously putting on the hydro-cortisone cream in the spots we know aren't chicken pox related.  I'd like him to clear all his skin issues soon so he'll feel better.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Disappearing scabs.  I am astounded with her healing ability.  The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad sores on her ankles have not only scabbed, but the scabs are flaking off and there is healthy, pink skin underneath.  If she keeps this rate of healing up, no one's going to believe she was sick when we see family in a few days.

Right-size Countdown:  5.4 pounds to go (Week six check in)

The Hub of the House

We've lived in our current house for over a year now.  I know the best ways to maximize my time as I move around the house and get one thing done after another.  But I didn't realize until last night that there's one little spot, one small area of countertop, that's the true hub of the house.

It's on the edge of the kitchen in the center of the house that's right by the stairs to the basement.  It's closest to the master, and in a direct line to the garage.  It's large enough that we can put "right now" or, "don't forget" or, "this is important" types of things there and when we walk by it twenty times each day, we're sure to see it and take action as necessary.

My children are currently sick.  There is a collection of medicines for them we've got there.  There are two notepads, one for each child to mark down what they took and when.  That's our current stack for the House Hub. 

At different times, different things are there.  When we don't have anything pressing, visitors tend to place their purses or bags there because they'll see them on the way out.  It's a corner of the kitchen that's not permanently dedicated to anything, because it's purpose changes over time. 

I instinctively knew this one spot was the hub of the house, but it became more apparent the other night when the under-cabinet lighting malfunctioned there.  We keep it on most of the time, but now it was malfunctioning.  That's when I realized it was the hub of the house.  Sometimes it takes a change to make you realize how important something is.

The Big Boy Update:  Battle of the Skin.  He has baby eczema.  That means he needs to be moisturized.  It also means we need to put hydro-cortisone on areas that get bad.  But chicken pox sores need to be dried out.  They are fed, and get worse, with hydro-cortisone.   So we're in a battle of the skin right now.  We're backing off on the Caladryl to dry him, but we're not yet able to hydro-cortisone him.  Also, he's got diarrhea from the antibiotic which has given him terrible diaper rash.  He won't get in the tub with a rash.  Or he will, but he'll climb out screaming.  Tomorrow will hopefully be a better skin day.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I miss her smile.  She smiles so much.  She smiles and laughs at you.  She giggles.  But not lately.  She's been feeling badly.  We get smiles, but not as many and not that often.  I'll be happy when she feels better.

Right-size Countdown:  4.8 pounds to go