2009 Recap

Holy crap! Where'd the year go? It seems like just yesterday I was moaning and groaning about how much my body hurt, about the crazy bumps and plaques brought on by the PUPPs, and let's not forget how I couldn't wear shoes. The time really flies when you're having fun..... or not. All I can say is "whew, glad that's over!" While 2009 was a rough year in many ways, it equally fabulous in so many more. Obviously the major highlight was the arrival of our precious Brinley. She is so fabulous I don't think there are actually words to describe her. I mean, I'd been saying for months how this kid was going to come out walking and talking and peeing in the potty, and while that was completely absurd (purposefully so), she certainly did come out happy and healthy and sleeping through the night (which is all one can truly ask for with a baby). As the months have gone by we've enjoyed watching her grow and change. She's on the verge of crawling right now, and is all about "real" food and less about a bottle. My current wish is that she'd hold her own bottle, so that I could consider moving her along to a sippy cup. Nonetheless, I'm certain that will come with time.

In other news from 2009:

Joshua turned 8 and got braces (though only on his two front teeth). He graduated from the 2nd grade and is now doing well in the 3rd grade. He's cruising right along with tae kwon do and is now a brown belt. A few weeks back he started a weekly Spanish class. He struggles with it a bit, and I wish it was a couple times a week to help him retain more.
















Brad "graduated" from college! I put that in quotations because he walked in the ceremony, but is currently finishing up his final class, biology. I'm incredibly proud of him and this accomplishment. It has been a long road, and he has worked very hard to get good grades. By the end of the month he will have achieved his B.A. in Business.

Home for the holidays

It is t-1 week until Christmas. I guess I'm done with my shopping.... not that there was alot to get done in the first place. My tree is up, but still remains only partially decorated. Josh and I put a solid effort forth last night, but we bought a pretty tall tree this year and Brad is the only one tall enough to reach the top. Considering that we're flat broke - I did manage to get several nice things for Josh. Brad won a Wii and Wii Fit at his company party, but gave the Wii back for someone else to win since we already have one. He kept the Wii Fit, so that'll be a nice one under the tree from Santa. For the first time since I've been working a "9-5" job, I am taking off the week between Christmas and New Years. Our office is open, but it always a barren waste land. I can't do much work because the people I primarily work with are teachers, and they're not working. The rest of them are folks who also work with teachers, so they're not working either. I figure I've got the time to take, so why not use it to enjoy my holiday. Josh will be off of school, my babysitter is going to Venezuela, so it just makes sense for me to be home. Too bad Brad won't be able to join us. I can think of so many projects we could get done if we were all home together for several days.

On the road again

I need a "slow down" button. Life is blazing past me and I can't quite keep up. A year or so ago I used to have perpetual anxiety about making my flights. I had so many trips piled up on top of each other that I was literally dreaming about the next trip as soon as one had ended. I deduced that this was likely my brain trying to prepare for the next event, but it just made me nervous all the time. Now I'm all lackadaisical about traveling all the time, and I find myself a bit unprepared for upcoming trips. This weekend I'll be busy. Tomorrow I'm working all day at the Soccerplex (or at least I'm pretty sure I am, unless they call and tell me it's been cancelled because it's under water), and then Sunday evening I fly out to KC for four days. I haven't been away for that long since I went to convention back in March. I've been trying to keep up with stuff around the house, and Brad has actually been doing his part (for the most part), by doing the dishes and then vacuuming periodically (oh, if only he'd do the stairs). I spent a good bit of time working on laundry (cause you can't very well pack for a 4 day trip without clean clothes), and then I try to tidy up daily (which is nothing new). I still find myself panicking when I think about having to go away. Like I'm completely unprepared, but actually I am prepared. Brad and I are both taking Sunday off, and I'll have all day to do whatever needs to be done before I take off that evening. I'll be back late on Wednesday, but then have to hit the ground running again as I'm working next Saturday and Sunday at the Soccerplex as well. At least the next week is Thanksgiving. I'd like to say it'll be a nice relaxing break, but my mom is coming and by this point you should fully understand that no relaxing will happen. I'd like to focus on going to Puerto Rico in late January, but I have to get through my trip to TX and annual leadership meeting first. That is also somewhat stressful, though the meetings always go well. I can at least focus on KC BBQ for next week and Root burgers after Thanksgiving.

Laughing, but perplexed

I'm grappling with the fact that people I know are at a stage in their life where they have kids who need to maintain a certain GPA in order to play school sponsored sports. Compound that with the additional fact that at least one of these people has decided that it is more important for their kid to play sports than to do well in school. Yep, that's right. I honestly thought that ridiculous idea went out of fashion (sadly, I had athletes in the high school where I worked a few years back who had similar parents). I just cannot wrap my brain around the idea that somehow it is ok to bash the school for requiring kids to maintain a certain GPA in order to participate in sports. I also cannot fathom how these folks seem to think it's ok to put sport participation over doing well in school. Please, someone, tell me where the train derailed here? Now, I will say that my life has been considerably different that this particular person's life. Nonetheless, she wasn't an athlete of any sort. She wasn't in to the arts. Hell, she wasn't in to anything extracurricular as far as I could tell. This perplexes me even more. I guess somewhere, I could maybe comprehend a bit of this sort of sentiment from someone who'd been a 3 sport athlete and had gone to college on scholarship. Maybe, just maybe, an argument could be made by THAT person. But, she's not that person. I have to laugh because I pointed out to this person that the school wasn't in the wrong. In fact, the school is struggling, struggling hard in recent years, just to get a half decent education to these kids. To my amazement, it seems they've started offering foreign language to kids at the middle school level. I think this is fabulous, because it's a huge step forward from what was previously offered. Sadly, the person I speak of thinks it's an aberration. She literally made the argument that the only reason Spanish was offered was because of the diversity in this country. Seriously? I couldn't help but put in my two cents on the issue. This only led to more laughs because others actually chimed in to support the crazy ideas she was spewing. Alas, I am now one less "friend" on FB, which makes me laugh even harder. Oh well, no more redneck entertainment for me.

Saving the planet and still more crazy people

So, Josh's school has an artist in residence this week - Dan Dancer. Information about Dan, and the school encompassing art project he would execute while in residence was sent out a few weeks ago, and I was excited for Josh when I got this information. The kids are all wearing black and white and together will create the image of a huge panda on the school soccer field. A photo of this will be taken from above thus creating the art. A reminder of this event was emailed to parents earlier today (on my mobile address), but there were a couple of interesting side bars which made me question why such verbiage would be necessary. Basically they noted that some parents don't believe in global warming (laughable, I know), and that we should all use this opportunity to discuss with our kids the impact we have on the planet. The website for Dan (linked to above) was included, so I took a look. I was truly moved by all the great things this guy has done with art to enlighten folks to the state of our environmental demise. I was even more perplexed, after viewing the website, about why the school sent such an odd email. Once I got home and checked my home email I saw the reasoning. A parent, one who I believe I've met (her kid came to Josh's birthday party last year), emailed every parent whose email she had (at least that's what I'm guessing - she may have emailed the entire school like a true psychopath) complaining about how this isn't an art project after all, and instead calling it "propaganda." Now, the only thing I can take away from her short email is that she doesn't "believe" in global warming, or the fact that we as a planet are dealing with serious environmental issues. I sat and I thought, and I thought some more, and employing every fiber of my "let it go" being, I did not email her back and tell her how excited I was that my child was going to be part of something that heightened awareness to the environmental issues facing today's generation and most certainly tomorrows. Why on earth would this lady think that she was somehow of the majority in her thinking? That her opinion would be that of the whole school, or even of the other parents in her kid's grade? I can't imagine emailing people, encouraging them to hop on board my band wagon if I was to disagree with something overwhelmingly positive that the students at my kids school were taking part in. Now, if the US Nazi party was stopping by for a chat, I'd certainly have beef with it, but I really can't see how FCPS would in any way shape or form think that was positive for the kids. She ended about how mortified she was that the picture the students create (a panda) would be posted on the 350 website. That made me even more excited! Dan's website is nice and all, but it's nowhere near the publicity that the 350 site has. I even went and became a fan of 350 on Facebook. I think this project, and notoriety on both websites, is something Josh will be able to reference and look back on for the rest of his life. We do what we can to help the environment. We recycle, we use energy saving appliances and electronics, we use cf light bulbs, and we buy from the farmers market all summer. I hope that these things and more stay with Josh (and Brinley) throughout his life. I hope that learning about the environment and what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint early on will help him to continue to learn about what he as an individual can do to make a change. He is VERY interested in biology, so who knows, perhaps he'll be our next environmental champion.

Parking lot interaction with a psycho

Yesterday was our "free" day. Nobody had to go to work (shocker), there wasn't anything on the agenda for the day. We were free to do whatever we wanted. If Brad had his way we never would've seen the outside of the front door. I, however, had other plans. Josh needed a haircut, plus, he only had like 3 long sleeve shirts, so I wanted to shop around for a few more of those for him to wear.

We headed out for the Hair Cuttery in Old Town Fairfax, where I generally like the ladies and they have yet to botch Josh's haircut. We didn't even make it in the door when drama ensued. Apparently, sometime between when Brad got out of the car, and when he walked to the curb, he spit on the ground. I don't know if he got rain in his mouth as it splashed off a car, or if a bug flew in, or any number of other reasons one might feel the need to spit, but he did it nonetheless. It was not a lugie, nor was it gum or some other form of litter, just plain old spit.

Why, you may be asking, are you blogging about spit? Well, it's not in my normal repertoire, but this pissed me off, so here's the reason.

As we step up on the curb to head in to the store, a lady across the parking lot starts yelling something we can't quite understand. Everyone on the sidewalk stops and looks at her, and then turns back to what they were doing. This doesn't faze her and she continues to yell - now saying "you, hey you, yes you." I still don't get that she's talking to us, but as she comes close she starts speaking words that make some sense. "You can't just spit on the ground like that!" I said "what?" She goes on with "he just spit on the ground - that's how tuberculosis is spread you know!" I nearly laughed out loud. Not because I didn't believe her, but because she chose a random individual in a parking lot to yell at about the spread of disease because he spit on the ground for reasons she didn't know. She continues to lecture with "this isn't' a 3rd world country you know, you can't just go around spitting on the ground." I had to interject before I smacked her right upside her ridiculous head. "That's all fine and dandy, but this isn't a 3rd world country, and nobody here is spreading tuberculosis." She says "well how do you know." Again, I almost laughed in her face. "Well, he is my husband, and I'm acutely aware of the status of his health." She continues on with some nonsense about how she's a physician (beware of this crazy lady - very short brown hair, with no style to it whatsoever) and is certain that people are getting tuberculosis from spit on pavement all across the US. I noted that I was also a health care professional and that I was not the least bit worried about people spitting on pavement (good lord, what would she do if she ever set foot in WV where folks are spitting their chew on the pavement - or lack thereof - left and right). Brad, at this point, is sensing that I'm on the verge of doing something he might regret, so he goes for the diplomatic approach with, "ok, you've made your point - move on." (this to her, in an attempt to get us both to shut up undoubtedly).

We ended up leaving the Hair Cuttery immediately because it was apparent that there was a significant wait, and frankly I could not stomach the thought of having to sit there in the store with that crazy lady another second. We went to Old Navy (which sometimes makes me think I'm in a 3rd world country), then to California Tortilla (where I was disappointed, yet again, with my meal), and then back to Hair Cuttery (where we were the only people in the store and it was quiet and pleasant).

Life comes at you..... fast

So, I just noticed that the last time I posted a blog was nearly 3 months ago. WTF? Where on earth did the time go? Alot has happened since August 6th, so here's a recap.


August
Katie & Bekir left to go back to Turkey at the end of the month, and Brinley started full time daycare with our neighbor (and Venezuelan goddess of childcare) Martiza. This is a fantabulous set up with her being only one block over, the best deal going (cost wise), and a very kind, trustworthy person who truly seems to love Brinley and children in general. I started working part time at Gallaudet for a three week stint while Jonathan went off to Taipei (I'm only slightly bitter). Brad got a second job at Golf Galaxy to help pay for childcare (and get a discount on golf equipment and clothing).

September

The Gallaudet gig got pretty taxing. I was working mornings at my regular job (trying to cram 8 hours worth of work in to 4 hours was nonsense), and then afternoons/evenings/weekends at Gally. It was fun for the most part, but exhausting as well. I was really glad when that ended. Couple that with trying to balance my schedule with Brad's schedule and it was a bit of a circus. At my regular job I ended up doing all of the content loading for my two websites. This came as quite a surprise, as I thought I wouldn't have to do all of that. Nonetheless, I got it done (4 hours a day for 3 weeks) and was glad to have the experience and ability to make changes where necessary. It's up and running now, but still needs more work from my perspective. You should be grateful that I had no time to blog while that was going on. I had mad blog fodder, but it's one of those things that needed to be written in the moment.... and the moment has passed.


October
Let the travel begin! Ok, so I've cut back ALOT from travel in years past. First, I don't have the crazy whack budget I had before. Second, Brad would undoubtedly divorce me if I was on a plane once every two weeks for a 3 day trip. Nonetheless, some trips are necessary. I was off to Seattle on the first for my fall committee meeting. Things went relatively well, and I got the chance to bum around town a bit after the meeting finished up on Friday. Had a nice time with a few committee members. On Sunday, Brad had his graduation ceremony for UOP. He's still got a few loose ends to tie up, but there's a bright light at the end of the tunnel now.


This has pretty much caught us up to where I am now. Brad is working many evenings a week, and usually one weekend day, and that really sucks for the most part. He doesn't get much down time, and I am single parenting on the regular. I can handle it, I just don't enjoy it and I miss him being here in the evenings.


Brinley has taken to rolling back and forth. She doesn't roll over and over (so it's not a mode of transportation as of yet), but she does roll over and can flip back over if she wants to. She doesn't do this much cause she's not much for tummy time, but we're working on it.














Josh will test for his purple belt at Tae Kwon Do tomorrow. I feel like we JUST had a test, but I guess it's been a couple of months now. This time next year he'll be testing for his black belt (and hopefully we'll be able to afford for him to do so). At the last test he got a trophy for most outstanding test. This makes me happy because he works pretty hard at it, so he deserves to be recognized for his efforts.



In a couple of weeks I'll be heading out to Colorado Springs for the one state convention I'll be attending this year. I've never been to Colorado, so I'm looking forward to it (though not all the snow they've got). A former coworker lives there now, so I'm looking forward to seeing her and checking out her new job at the OTC. Also looking forward to working with some AHA pals, and imbibing some Fat Tire (yay Fat Tire!).