Shock!

It's been awhile, yes, I've been reminded by several lately. It's just too easy with Facebook to give a one-liner and move on. So much has been happening. I'm forging ahead on a new career path- within the next 6 - 7 months, I am giving up the engineering world to move to a world dominated by women. Honestly, it's not a decision I came to easily or readily but I know it is the right path for me. I've had to learn a whole new language and a new way of relating to people. I've had to learn social skills that I never knew I could learn. My reasons are many- I finally feel like I am doing something that helps people, my work schedule is completely in my control, my success is a direct correlation to how hard I work and the positive feedback is unending. Probably anyone who's followed my career will not be surprised that it was not my passion.

On the family front, there are many changes as well! Little Sudsy Pumpkin Pie is 3.5 years old and an absolute character. He is easy going, fun loving and a riot who loves to make people laugh. The things that come out of his mouth....oh so funny. I love this age when the mispronounce things- he calls kiwi piwis and nectarines are submarines. It's just so cute we can't correct him. He also love to put in a dramatic ummm when we ask him a question. Like he's really pondering his answers.

Smoochie just started 3rd grade and is quite the athlete. It doesn't matter the sport- she played her first season of baseball, machine pitch last spring and quickly because the team favorite. She was one of the most consistent hitters. Throwing a football around and she can throw a perfect spiral even though no one taught her.

Bubby has had the most profound changes. While diet definitely had a positive impact in managing his ADD, we started going to therapy last year and employing what is called 'Nutured Heart'. It's basically parenting turned on it's head- pay lots of attention to the good stuff and almost none to the bad. It helped our relationship with him but still did not fix the issues in school. At the end of the school year last year we started neurotherapy. They mapped his brain and compared it to a 'normal brain' and he's working on the areas that deal with focus and auditory processing. At first the changes were very hard to detect but looking at where we started a few months ago, he's a completely different kid. He can now take in multiple instructions and actually follow them. His emotional state has leveled out and he's turning into a very responsible young man. He's just started middle school and we couldn't be prouder of how he's handling it all.

That's it- I will try not to wait this long to update again.

Another school year bites the dust

1.25 days of school left. It is hard to believe another school year has flown by so quickly. Smoochie's award ceremony was this morning and I stayed home from work since Hubby had to take Sudsy to swimming and I had neglected to inform the extended family in time. I thought it started at 9 so I was taking my sweet time this morning, took a bath, put on a robe and got on the computer for a bit. You know, since I don't spend enough time on the computer at my job. At 8:11, I had just taken my oatmeal out of the microwave when I glanced at my blackberry and saw it flashing red. I checked and that is when I found out I had 4 minutes to get to the ceremony. I threw my oatmeal in the fridge, quickly got dressed, slapped on a bit of make-up so as not to scare small children and pulled my wet mess of hair back and ran out the door. I got halfway to the auditorium and didn't see people filing in so I called home to check location. Library! Then I realized I'd have to check in at the front office so I had to run back home and grab my driver's license. I ran back out the door, waited in line to check in and made it only 10 minutes late. Then I proceeded to sweat the first 30 minutes after my jog to get their in time since we're now at about 80 degress in the mornings with 90% humidity. Lovely.

I'm fairly certain that if there were an intelligence test to have children I would not pass at this point.

Putting the pieces together

I've struggled for years to put myself and my health as a priority. There is always so much going on and it feels like anytime I gain a bit of momentum, something derails me. Fortunately I'm stubborn and haven't given up on the idea.

So, I'm finally feeling back in control of what I eat and I run into a stumbling block. We've had to put him back to the strict phase of Feingold has we've slipped in the past months and his behavior is reflecting it. Luckily, I've done this before and I've learned the fine line between feeding my family and thinking creatively to reduce the caloric content of my meals. Hamburgers? Great! I'll put mine on a salad instead of a bun.

My office opened up a little exercise room a few months ago and I started spending 30 minutes several times a week on the treadmill or the elliptical. That was until I developed plantar fasciitis and had to drop it. However, a friend mentioned that she was doing a boot camp and I jumped at the chance to join her. This morning was a bit cruel with a 4:20 am wake-up call and my foot is aching again, but I refuse to give up. I refuse to give up on the notion that I can one day get healthy and make myself a priority.

Hope and despair

One of my co-workers is like no one else I've ever met in my life. He is absolutely 100% certain of the future. He thinks he knows exactly what is going to happen and is quite frankly arrogant. Which makes him seem a little crazy. Problem is, I happen to agree to a small degree with what he says. And that irks me. One, because I don't like agreeing with people who have the know it all attitude and two because if what he says is true, the future is quite terrifying. Complete and total collapse of the dollar and society as we know it today.

Lost and found

Missing: Motivation

I am seriously struggling at work. I have a bad attitude when I drive through the front gate and it doesn't get any better through out the day. As thankful as I am to still have my job and believe me, I do know how fortunate I am, I just can't seem to shake it. It would be one thing if I could go in, do my job and do it well and go home. If only it was that simple. With the new regime in place and all the 'initiatives' underway, it seems like everything is an exercise in futility. I flounder when I feel my efforts do not benefit anyone. I either need a change of scenery or a giant kick in the butt. Maybe both.

School lunches

Since we started the Feingold program over a year ago, I've packed the kids lunches every day. I always felt guilty about letting them eat the school lunches anyways as they always looked disgusting and were loaded with fat, salt, sugar and a host of undesirable ingredients.

I stumbled across a blog today from a teacher in Illinois who is eating a school lunch every day to bring attention to this very issue. I've read through a few months worth and it appears her school lunches are more appetizing than the ones I've seen at our school, and believe me- hers do not look appetizing! Find her blog here.

I am extremely excited with both the initiatives by Michelle Obama and Jaime Oliver. It's time to stand up for our kids and protect their health!

Census

With the build up and the hype surrounding the census, I had to make a big deal out of the day it arrived in the mail. When I saw it I jumped up and down screaming "The census is here! The census is here!". The kids quickly came running half scared to death. For all the hype, it was quite the let down. I did have one question, what do people do who have more than 12 people living in their home?

Home movies

All kinds of nice viruses have made its way around our house the past few weeks. We've alternated taking turns getting sick and have spent quite a bit of time indoors watching home movies. The kids get such a kick out of seeing themselves when they're younger. Sudsy kept calling out his name while watching Bubby at his age. It's no wonder I mix up their names all the time.

I'm so thankful to have the kids on video to remind us how Bubby used to have a little lisp and how Smoochie crawled while dragging one leg behind her. It all goes by way too fast. Bubby's already heading into the tween years and gets calls from his friends (on their cell phones!!) at all hours. I don't even move when I hear the phone ring now as I know it's not for me.

Sudsy is talking up a storm and we're even able to understand most of what he says. He calls all big animals elephants. The kids are on spring break this week and hubby took them all to the zoo on Monday. We'll see if that helped clear a few things up for Sudsy.