Playland-not-at-the-Beach

We hooked up with some friends of ours in El Cerrito on Sunday. It's always fun arranging these playdates since we are about an hour from each other so it's always a matter of "where this time?". We've done the zoo near them, the beach near us, and Malibu for Matthew's birthday. So this time when the question came up, Justin's answer was "Playland-not-at-the-Beach". I'd never heard of it but when he sent me the link, it screamed out perfect. And it did not disappoint at all.

This place is so incredible in that it's all done by volunteers over 10years to put together. It's all old style games, dioramas, and circus freak stuff from the old Playland-at-the-Beach which was in San Francisco until 1972. It's a small admission up front but then everything is set on free play so the kids can have at. And it's still being staffed entirely by volunteers! Of course, that means that everyone you run into is super nice because they all want to be there. It's not just a job to earn a buck but a passion.
It was pirate theme day when we went so the kids got prizes for having their pirate sweatshirts on (the best we could do) and they had a treasure hunt for them along with a magic show for the birthday party that was going on but they told us about so we could watch too.
The kids had such a great time that as we were leaving when they closed, Christopher announced that he wanted to have his birthday party there. I got the information and called up that night and arranged it. We are doing a pinball theme and they said they could have the soundtrack from The Who's Tommy in the jukebox which had him thrilled no end when I told him. As part of the birthday package, they make up the invitations for you and they are customized instead of the boring ones you usually get from these places. They sent me a preliminary one today via email and it was fantastic! They used a picture of an older pinball game on it to go with our theme. It's those kinds of small touches that are in evidence everywhere here. I can't say enough good things about this place and highly recommend it to everyone. It's wonderful fun for absolutely everyone!

Comedy of Errors today

It's been one of those days and I can only hope that I am not jinxing myself by writing about it now and that things are finally settling down for the day. Considering that Nico napped, I'm guessing it just won't matter and tonight will be one with much screaming and needs for great quantities of chocolate and alcohol.

The day didn't start bad. A little off but not bad. We had a meeting with our new ES this morning before leaving for all our classes for the day (Nico = zoo, Matt & Jon = Quantum Camp, and Chris = Ian's for biology lab). She was a little late and I hadn't realized that even tho we are only two weeks into our school year that she needed to do a learning record so I hadn't put that together for her. Unfortunately those two things combined led to us being about 35min late for Nico's zoo class. Thankfully those 35min contain his least favorite parts so he was cool with it (and thankfully so was the teacher). The rest of zoo class went off without a hitch. He had fun cutting out stripes for his zebra from blue construction paper and gluing them on. And of course, petting Zoe the Ferret was totally awesome!

It was after this that the day starting going sideways. We went to Taco Bell for lunch as is usual after zoo class. Nico threw a fit because we didn't have time to go inside and there were parking spaces available. I ordered a grande meal with 5 soft taco supremes and 5 bean burritos with no onions, add sour cream. Doesn't sound too hard. Apparently it was way beyond the capability of the person taking my order because after we drove away with our food because we had to be in Palo Alto in an hour, we find that our soft taco surpremes were in fact, crunchy. Now I understand that doesn't seem like a big deal except that two of those were my lunch and it is basically impossible to eat a crunchy taco while driving. They break into a million pieces and make a huge mess. Not good when trying to pay attention to the road and keep a hand on the steering wheel. No big deal, I figure I'll grab a bean burrito. Then I find out what Nico had been trying to tell me when he said there was stuff in his burrito. They had given us 5 bean burrito supremes which have lettuce and tomatoes in them. Now I understand that some people may like those but we don't. I decided since I hadn't tried them I would do so today since I was starving only to confirm that no, I really don't like them. They are gross. Great. Now we have a ton of food that no one in the car wants to eat and we don't have time to stop some place else since it's now lunch time and everywhere we might stop has a line a mile long so we each ate a little to keep us from totally starving and I promised the kids real lunch after their class. I also called Taco Bell and complained. Supposedly we should get a replacement if we go back in the next 2mos with our receipt. Here's hoping.

Despite all this, we do get to the boys Quantum class on time but it was bloody hot. I changed Nico into his shorts and rolled up my pants legs and cursed the fact that I wasn't wearing shorts myself. I was thankful that there was a great park next to their class and took him there to play. We go to pick up the boys who want to play a bit too but as everyone is thirsty, we stop by the car to grab some water bottles. That's when I realize I can't find my keys. They are not attached to my belt loop, nor are they attached to my purse or in my pocket. I flip out and start checking in my car to find that sure enough, for the first time ever, I had left my keys in the ignition and locked the doors. I NEVER do this. EVER! I'm obsessive about attaching the keys to me before locking the door so I have no idea how the heck this happened but it undeniably did. I call AAA to find out that I hadn't mailed them a check so our roadside assistance has lapsed. Thankfully, while lapsed, it wasn't canceled so by paying them it was good to go and they were able to get someone out to open the door and get my keys out. It only took 20min of talking to people on the phone to get things straightened out and then another 45min wait. The biggest consolation of the day was that not one, but two ice cream guys came by while we waited spaced perfectly so we had just finished one ice cream when the second guy came along. $10 later my children are declaring it the best day ever. I'm not sure I concur but at least they were happy and not driving me nuts.

Top this all off with the fact that this kept us from being able to do a quick meet-up with our ES to grab some materials that she got in and it's been a pita kind of day. Thankfully the kids did have fun at their classes so that was good but I'm now ready to be totally done and Mark had some whiskey thing to do tonight so left almost as soon as I got home. Maybe the dinner fairy will visit?

104:75 The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz

I think the most interesting thing about this is that I learned it was one of his first novels, along with Servants of Twilight, and even he admits that the characters are pretty shallow with no growth whatsoever but are merely there to carry out the plot. I think that aptly describes the book. It was an okay story but there was no depth to anything, it was pretty much a straight arrow and fairly predictable. I'm glad it was one that I grabbed off Freecycle and relegated to bathroom book. That's about where it belongs. I neither recommend nor not recommend it. If it's there, go ahead and read it if your stuck in a Drs office and forgot something better but like most of his books that I've read to date, don't pay good money for it. Freecycle or used books for under $1 is best. Don't even waste a library card on them, there are much better things to be checked out at a library.

Page count: 369p/23,482p ytd

104:74 The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin

This book was recommended to me by my brother after I had read 1984 and Brave New World. In the study guide at the end, it called this one an ambiguous utopia which I found particularly fitting. There is much idealism in the Anarres, community and working together for the common good are much admired although there are no laws or government. Unfortunately, there are still common humanoid failings despite the strive to utopia. Shevak runs up against those as he tries to do purely theoretical research in the realm of physics and his theory of simultaneity. When he ends up going to the mother planet of Urras, he finds much more than he thought.

The story is told in a circular fashion which is in keeping with the main themes of the story. You see Shevak's story from present forward and then from his childhood to the present in alternating chapters. It takes a bit of getting used to but before long, it makes so much sense you can't really imagine the story being told in another way.

I found it a fascinating look at human behavior and at our own perceptions and I highly recommend it.

Page count: 400p/23,113p ytd

Taking care of me

Went to see the chiro this morning as I've been having a lot of problems with my back and neck which have then be causing headaches and dizzy spells. This has definitely made me less productive, cranky, and kept me from working out. All of which would be classified as bad things. I've known I should get in for a while, but like with everything else when it comes to taking care of me, I've put it off. It's not even a money thing like some of the other stuff since it's covered by insurance and it's not a huge time sink like many things as my chiro is local. I don't know why I put these things off. It's like the fact that I need a haircut and haven't gotten around to that yet either. I mean heck, it's only been 3yrs since my last one. That is one area I really need to make major improvements on.

Anyway, so I see the chiro and big surprise, my back and neck are all messed due to tension I'm keeping in my shoulders. The tension points were hard as a rock and I know I'll be sore tomorrow having them worked on today. I made a point of making another appointment to go back in two weeks and will do every other week for the next month or two at least to see if I can get my back in better shape. I'm also going to stop the workout routine I was doing which does a ton of stuff in plank position which is definitely aggravating my shoulder tension and try something else that works those muscles in a different way that doesn't strain them quite so much.

I think while I'm at it, I need to make an appointement to get my hair cut, an eye exam (I want contacts anyway), and talk to Mark to find a way to start getting my teeth worked on. If only his work schedule were a bit more stable these things wouldn't be nearly the scheduling feat that they end up being. *sigh*

104:73 The Good, The Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison

Ley line witches are being murdered and the only thing in common Rachel can find when they bring her in to help with the case is that they had all talked with Trent Kalamack shortly before their hideous deaths. Coincidence? Rachel doesn't think so. But how to prove it without getting herself killed?

The second book in the Hollows series. It was enjoyable although Rachel's obsession with everything having to be Trent's fault gets a little weary at times. Hopefully she can move on a bit with the next book. For some reason, the writing style slows me down a touch. Not sure why but it just doesn't grip me as hard as some other books in this genre where I can finish a book 2xs this size in half the time. I think this one was better than the first so hopefully they will continue to pick up and move a bit quicker.

Page count: 453p/22,713p ytd

So it begins

The great Tuesday craziness has begun. Right now it's easy, just Jonathan's soccer but I think in two weeks we add in bowling and the week after that Christopher's acting class will begin and things will get really fun. Like last year, I can't count on any support from Mark as he will be in SLC at least half the time and he gets home later on Tuesdays when he's home since he commutes with his dad and that's his dad's Costco day. You'd think last year was enough and that this year I would have gotten an easier soccer schedule, like one that was NOT on Tuesdays but no, that was not to be. In fact, we get Tuesdays and Thursdays so it's two days of soccer. The one nice thing is that his games are early enough he can do that and Pan Moin too which he loves. We'll be dashing from one to the other but he's willing to try and Pan Moin isn't too taxing. The good news, I know I can do it and how to make it work after last year. Some consolation, huh?

3yr old views on death

The conversation a few minutes ago:

Nico - "I big boy now and I almost dead"

Me - "How does that work? How are you almost dead?"

Nico - "I only have one life left and now I big boy and so now I almost dead! One life is almost dead! So me don't want to die because then me would never see you ever and ever again cause you go somewhere else when you die and turn invisible and me don't want to be invisible me just want to be here cause me love being here and me nice to you mom cause I love you but I not nice to Jon cause he doesn't open thins for me."

Gotta love how video games impact his thinking. I've had to tell him that he only has one life because of the daredevil stunts he pulls thinking he has lots of lives left and so this is how he interprets it.

Perfection rearing it's ugly head

I always hear FLYLady talking about our perfectionism getting in the way of our doing things because if we aren't going to do it correctly, we figure why bother. I could look at that and think that yes, it did apply to me in certain areas but certainly not in everything and I was working on it so that counted for something.

Today it hit me hard.

I had a huge pile of laundry to fold after rewashing it yesterday due to the whole lice fiasco. It was dumped out on my bed and Mark and I slept in the living room because there was no way to get through it all yesterday. I woke up this morning and started in on it but had to stop to take care of the kids and get them to therapy, do shopping, library trip, etc. I told the housecleaners who were here today to just leave it and not worry about making the bed up and I'd deal with it and I asked them to dust the living room instead which desperately needed it. This is after Mark suggested calling Lucero to have her come over and help me fold yesterday and I told him no because, and here's that perfectionism, I hate the way she folds laundry.

There, I said it.

I wouldn't accept help because I hate the way she folds laundry. I also hate the way she loads my dishwasher so I make it a point to make sure the dishes are done before she comes.

Now I am not, proud to say, one of those women who cleans before the housecleaner comes over but there are certain things that irk me. The dishes. They never do a good job of rinsing them before loading it and so they don't come clean. Also, I can fit way more in when I load it my way than when they do it their way. On the laundry, again, the way they fold the clothes they don't fit properly in the drawers. I always end up trying a few different folds on the clothes when we get a new dresser or kids change size to figure out how best to fold that persons clothes for maximum storage in their dresser. The second thing is that they don't know whose clothes are whose so I always have to go through and sort stuff anyway and refold at least half of it so it will fit in the drawers properly.

So, and I'm sure you've figured out where this is going, I come home from my errands this morning to find that they had folded the entire mound of clothes. I was happy they weren't here as I had to take several deep breaths when I saw it and remind myself over and over again as I twitched violently before sorting and refolding that they were only trying to help me and it's not their fault that I'm totally anal about how my clothes get folded.

But yeah, I think I still have some work to do on overcoming my perfectionism.

Freaking Bugs!

Mark found a louse on his hair this morning. We started checking the kids and sure enough found that Matthew was infested with babies and the other kids had at least a few a piece. I have no freaking clue where they could have come from tho. If you go by the usual adage that whoever has the most was first infected it would have had to be Matthew but he hasn't been anywhere away from the rest of us and especially not in a situation where lice would be prevalent. It boggles the mind. Of course, I was already well behind in all the house stuff that needs to get done so having to go through and deal with this was just the icing on the cake. Since the humongous pile of laundry had all been on my bed at some time over the past week, we deemed it prudent (okay, maybe I deemed it prudent and everyone else felt I was being anal but didn't care to argue which is fine too) to rewash all of it. We ended up taking over much of the laundromat here for most of the day to get it done and I still have a few loads that I'm taking care of here. Just tons of fun. And to think I get to do this all over again next weekend too. Ugh!!!

Is there someway to say enough is enough already?! 2xs in one year when I took care of them properly the first time is just too much. And to do it right now when I'm already feeling overwhelmed and so far behind is just the icing on the cake. I spent over an hour folding clothes already tonight and barely made a dent in the pile. I have to get that finished and try to get menus planned tomorrow morning so I can do the grocery shopping while Jonathan is at therapy which is really the only time I have for it. And I still don't have our school schedules or chore charts done so that's been making things crazy as no one knows what they are supposed to be doing or when except for they know what lessons they are supposed to do each day but getting them to do when things aren't explicitly spelled out as to when they should do what is always so much fun.

I'm off to collapse now and let Mark comb through my head. He checked it earlier and I already used the Rid but we didn't have a chance to comb it all out yet. That's always so much fun too. Really. Can't you hear my excitement?

Going through my Grandmother's stuff

The stroke that robbed us of her vitality and personality years ago has now robbed us of her home. It was finally decided that it was getting too expensive to have her stay in her own home so she was moved into a nursing home in May. In some ways it's good for her as she is no longer isolated but has friends there and there are many activities that the people there can try and get her involved in. I know that on a rational level but emotionally, it's been very hard. Instead of losing her suddenly, we are losing her a piece at a time. With the ephasia, it's hard to know what is going on in her head as she no longer has the words to tell us. For a woman who was a professor of law at UCLA and later Dean of the law department there, it's a travesty and it's so hard to see her like that.

I think all that made going through the house that much harder. She and her husband designed that house and it's still gorgeous. I've always loved it and to now see everything packed up, no artwork on the walls, words just can't describe how barren and bleak it was. We did get some things to remember her by and other things that were just useful. We will be redoing our living room soon anyway so some of the artwork that once adorned her walls will now grace ours including pieces by my Uncle Rich (her son) and my Great-Uncle Albert (her brother). I like to hope that knowing that those things came here rather than being sold in a garage sale will make her happy.

Ambush!

Not quite sure how it got started but the nerf wars have been going on all day today. It started with Christopher getting out some of the nerf swords this morning and deciding he was going to challenge me. I'm really not sure what he was thinking unless this was some teenage boy thing of needing to beat on his mom. I won handily and unmercilessly. You'd think he would know better by now. Of course that quickly degenerated into Nico screaming at Matthew because he wanted the "evil sword" rather than the blue one so he could beat on Jonathan while screaming that he wanted to eat his soul.

Fast forward to this evening after dinner and Nico starts firing on me with one of the 6-shooters. We played a little and then he brought me a bunch of ammo and we started picking off his brothers while they came into my room to get their laundry. I had to go hunting Matthew who got wind of what was up and tried to keep me out of his room. Nico stood at the door calling "It's me, Nicholas Davis, let me in. I won't hurt you". Gotta love a cute decoy. I finally plowed my way through the door and Nico kept my gun safe while I pinned Matthew to the ground while he kept trying to lick my arm. I tickled him til he cried out for mercy (and pleaded the full bladder excuse). Nico and I finally retreated with both 6-shooters fully loaded...all ready for a morning ambush while the other boys are rubbing sleep from their eyes. *evil laugh*

I really need to get some nerf guns of my own and a bunch of ammo. They are so rough on theirs that they jam up quickly. I keep telling them it's all about finesse but they still haven't quite got it yet.

Follow my lead!

One of Nico's newest favorite phrases. It means he wants you to come with him but I have no idea where he cobbled it together from. But everything constantly is "Follow my lead" so he can show you something. He's so insistent about it but at the same time, generally pretty cute about it too. Good thing as it's so often. LOL

In other news today, Christopher is off at the new Viz Cinema watching the new Bleach movie with Ian and Linda. This is the 2nd movie and he got to watch the first one in the theater too. This time it involved a little more coordinating this time and unfortunately it meant driving into San Francisco during rush hour which did not agree with me at all. To top off my misery, they are going out for Japanese for dinner since they are across the street from the JapanCenter in Japantown. I told him he is going to owe me H-U-G-E for this! I'm thinking a minimum of breakfast in bed for the next week. Any other ideas? LOL

Volunteering

Ok, I'm not a saint. I have never claimed to be a one, nor the most organized person, nor brilliant, nor many other things. But the one thing I have always tried to do is volunteer my time in organizations that my kids participate in as a way of giving back. I think that is only fair. When they were little, I was on the board for the Coastside Mothers Club for 6yrs in various roles. When they were in public school, I volunteered in the classroom. For the last 2yrs, I've been on the board of the of the AYSO. The AYSO is the one I understand the least. It is a strictly volunteer organization and we have over 300 kids participating every year but we have the hardest time filling board positions or even basic things like coaches and refs. For the first 1½yrs, it was my job to make sure we had refs for all the U10 and above games. We had 5 regular refs and up to 21 slots that needed to be filled each week and one of our main refs was also a coach. We had reffing clinics, we bought lunches for the refs, we offered a gift certificate in appreciation at the end of the year but still, we are always short on refs.

Now I am doing the website. Should be simple but apparently schedules have been added into that job (should be a separate person doing those but again, lack of volunteers strikes). I should have known after being webmaster for the CMC that it would suck but I hoped for a bit more professionalism. When I helped out doing these before for our old RC (regional commissioner), I was given everything I needed and was thanked for doing them on short notice (old webmaster was out of town and I was doing it as a favor). This time, with our new RC, it's a nightmare and it's gotten to the point where I seriously doubt I will be on the board next year. I made the schedules but didn't finalize them as I had NO coach names at all. I kept asking for them so I could give him final schedules and was ignored. Then yesterday (while I'm out all day), he's emailing wanting the final schedules. I told him again once I got home that I needed the coach names. I did give him excel sheets and pdfs with no coach names so then his wife turns around and puts the coach names in and he doesn't say anything to me about why he couldn't have provided me the information. Making it look like I didn't do my job. WTF?! This is after dealing with him telling me to bug our Coach Admin to get the practice schedule filled in on the website. Um, I told the CA that I had everything ready to go and was willing to update the website daily as needed so coaches would know what time slots were available. He NEVER contacted me. When told I needed to go "liaise" with him, I told the RC that I had already done that and received no communication back. When I update the stuff on the website per the RCs request, I tell him when it's done and get no reply and then a week later, he'll ask me to update something that I already did and told him I had done. It's beyond frustrating dealing with this total ineptitude. Our season starts at the beginning of the Sept and the upper divisions still don't have a place to practice. And the game schedule he had me make may be totally wrong because we may have to change where our U10s are playing. Seriously?! He was gone for half the summer season when things for the fall season should have been getting finalized.

Seriously, what is up with volunteer organizations that this is what we end up with? People want what they provide but aren't willing to step-up to do even the smallest things for them and then we end up with people who either do not have the time or the competence to do the job in half the positions which jeopardize the whole thing. I know I do not have the time to take a more active role like RC which is why I refused to do it even those the old RC kept trying to get me to do it. She didn't have the time and was a bit of a hard-nose but she got the job done and things ran smoothly. This guy kicked her out once he took over and has refused to listen to anyone who has been on the board for years (he started as RC in Jan and was not on the board prior), taken all the AYSO classes (as opposed to him who missed the conference entirely), been RC before (instead he's pushing them out). It's just insane and for myself, I don't have the time or patience to deal with this crap. I don't ask for much when I volunteer but geez, at least give me what I need to do my job without my having to freaking harp on people (cause I do enough of that with my kids every day) and an occasional acknowledgment, just a simple thanks to let me know that you know it's been done and maybe, just maybe, checking my emails BEFORE asking me to do something that I've already done and told you that I've done. I'm not saying I'm irreplacable. I'm not saying that my time is more valuable than another person's but it is my time and it's not something I have a lot of that isn't taken up with other stuff so I get very upset when what time I can give is not appreciated in the slightest and feels like it's being wasted.

Is that wrong of me? Maybe. As I've said, I'm no saint. But when I look around at my house and all I have to get done for my family and then how much time I end up wasting on this, it's just not worth it to me. It's a selfish attitude and I know it. I own up to that. Our old RC didn't even have a child in the program the whole time she was RC but no one else would step up to take over and she didn't want to see the program die so she stayed on. She made sure everything got done when no one else would help. She worked full time. I look at that and I can admire that but I just don't have that in me right now to give. Maybe when my kids are older (like hers were) but not at this time. I don't need the extra frustration and if that takes my name off the list for a possible sainthood, so be it.

104:72 Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

The first in the Rachel Morgan Hollows series. I've read it before but it was years ago and didn't impress me enough to go searching out the others in the series but I've heard it gets better and better and so I decided to give it another go. In fact, decided to just buy the series and read it all (well, put it on my wishlist and ended up with Mark buying it all for me). I enjoyed this one a lot better the second time around. Not sure if it's that I just finished reading school stuff so this was a nice fluff break or what, but hey, there it is. I will admit there were a few places where it seemed to move a bit slowly and then just as I would start counting pages to see how many til I was done, it would pick up and race off again. Not a heavy read, not big on the romance angle that is so prevalent among urban fantasy these days, but still a fun universe to chill out in. I'm reading the second now and it's been much easier to get into.

Page count: 416p/22,260p ytd

We survived the first day of the 2009-2010 school year!

but only just. I was up til 1:30a cleaning, organizing, and putting together lesson plans. I still don't have our actual daily schedule put together nor have I updated the chore charts yet. *sigh* Just haven't been enough hours in my days this shortened summer vacation. To start the day off with just the right note, Nico woke up hysterical at 5:30a and refused to go back to sleep. He was cranky most of the day as a result.

But get up and get moving we did (well, not exactly, thanks to his crankiness I didn't get a chance to exercise). Christopher got off to a rocket of a start and even Matthew didn't shirk too much and got it done. We weren't sure where to start Matthew with his math since he hadn't worked on it all summer so we grabbed a test from a few lessons back and had him take that. We basically found 2 weaknesses for which he will review the lessons and then we'll move forward from there. It's about 1/2 or just over in the course so its entirely possible he'll move up to Algebra 1 before the end of the year.

Since getting up so early with very little sleep is such a great idea, what would go better with it than a trip to the grocery store with the two kids who can't be near each other without bickering? It wasn't supposed to go down like that. I had planned to do the grocery shopping with Nico while Jonathan was at OT but apparently our OT forgot that we start school this week and had agreed (or so I thought, it's been 3wks since we talked) that he would be starting back on his school year schedule this week. She wasn't there and I don't have her cell phone number. I figured I may as well not waste the trip and just get the grocery shopping done anyway. The only cost besides the groceries themselves were the two watermelons Jonathan managed to drop on the floor and my sanity. Small prices, no?

We get home and I was reminded why 8 is not an age I enjoy. It's the age of total goof off. It's the age where the brain flies out the window and getting them to settle on anything not of their own devising requires the patience of a saint and the strength of Hercules. I have neither, especially on 4hrs of sleep. Jonathan couldn't do 30min of math review in over an hour. Nor could he be bothered to pay attention when Matthew did History with him. We haven't even started half our classes yet and already today he had to miss KSW and clean the bathroom walls. It does not bode well for the school year if this is how he's starting. If necessary, I may just give up on him doing the history with Matthew. I think it would be fun but the texts are for middle school and we are covering US History of the 1800s so it's not like history will be totally ignored if he doesn't. It's an interesting approach to ancient history and when I redid the lesson with him today, he enjoyed it a lot. I'm not making him do the worksheets or tests for it, just having him write 2-3 sentences about what he learned since he'll do the real work in a few years but I thought this would be a fun thing for him to do with Matthew while I work with Nico. Unfortunately, he just can not seem to work with Matthew. Matthew was trying but Jon was just off in space. Hopefully if we do it sooner in the day it will work out better. And I only plan on having them do it 3 days a week. Here's hoping it works out better than today.

So here it is, almost 10p and all the kids are blissfully asleep while I'm still awake although barely. I'm in desperate need of chocolate and lots of sleep after today.

Wednesday wasn't good for getting things done

Nico woke up in fine fettle, which means I can't get anything done that I need to do because I'm too busy dealing with him and all the chaos he's making. The morning started with him running all over and throwing stuff during my yoga workout. Yes, I did get to it late but still, he's generally pretty good about letting me workout when he's awake these days. I sent him to his room and he then spent the rest of the workout calling for me when he wasn't spilling liquid plastic from Matthew's bug maker all over the place. Did you know that that stuff stains upon contact? He's pjs, Matthew's pants, Christopher's pillow, and the rug can all attest to this fact. Ugh! This was all before 10a. That pretty much sums up my day with him so needless to say, not much got done off my list. The biggest accomplishment was getting over to New Leaf and getting him some melatonin and then resisting the urge to give it to him at 4pm.

So yeah, one of those days. So far today has been better. I've already worked some on the dining room table and cut out all the coupons. All this after spending 1½hrs at the beach shooting Jonathan at his surf class. I'll be posting those pics just as soon as I can convince my camera to upload to the computer. *sigh*

104:71 Homeschooling the Teen Years by Cafi Cohen

Great resource! A lot of the information was stuff that I already knew so I didn't glean a lot of new strategies or insight (although, I think if you are just starting out or thinking about it it would be invaluable in reassuring you that you can do it) but all the lists of resources was definitely worth a mint. Nicely laid out and very helpful.

Page count: 318p/21,844p ytd

Slowly crossing things off

This morning's updated todo list:

• Menu, Coupons, Shopping List, and Grocery Shopping*#
• Balance Checkbook, Pay Bills, and Set-up Budget*
• Update Wall Calendar (last done in April I think?!) *
• Find a Dentist for Nico *#
• Declutter and Reorganize Living Room *
• Declutter and Reorganize Dining Room *#
• Organize School Materials*
• 1st Weeks Lesson Plans for Christopher, Matthew, and Jonathan*
• Create MOTH Schedule*
• Revisit and update Chore Packs and PEG Board*
  
• Declutter and Organize Shed*
• Find Storage Locker for new dining room set and move it there*#
• Order Algebra 2 Test Book and Answer Key*
• Place Cookie Dough Order*
• Plan Preschool*
• Get School Books ordered from Library and purchase last minute school supplies*
• Plan LHS classes*
• Pick up melatonin*
• Catch up Laundry*#
  
• Have Matthew write Thank you notes from birthday#
• Have Christopher write Thank you notes from donations for camp#
• Clean-up my email#
• Clean out my car
• Clean up Christopher's bed
• Go through Christopher, Jonathan, and Nico's clothing (pull out too small stuff, see what we have that fits, pick-up whatever is needed to fill in gaps)
• AYSO Practice Schedule and put Game Schedule into pdf format
• Get K12 computer shipping labels and get it out of here (I've already tried last week to get the labels so I need to stay on top of this)#
• Clean off Breakfast Bar
• Organize Kitchen Pantry (yes, I know I did this like a month ago but it needs a quick freshen up again, go figure)
• Send out Playgroup camping photos
• Return Beach Body Vitamins
• Create House Todo Lists
• Clean Desk Area
• Put Matthew's Claymation video on YouTube

So the # indicates things that I've been actively working on. I have one storage locker set-up but we are trying to get something closer. I'll know today where we will be with that.

I called K12 again yesterday and supposedly should have return labels for that computer no later than Monday or I get to call and complain again. Funny how when I withdrew Chris they wanted it back even tho I had two other students in the program. Then when I withdrew Matt, they again tried to get it back even tho Jon was still in the program. Now that I withdrew Jon in February, I can't get them to send me a freaking label. I told them pretty soon , I will consider it my property and either fix it to use again and not return it or leave it outside for the scavengers. I'm rapidly approaching not caring any more.

I also did a ton of phone calls yesterday trying to get Nico a dentist. Kaiser is saying that because he doesn't have Kaiser dental that it's not covered unless his pediatrician says it's medically necessary and they don't have a list of dentists I can call that will do the work at a Kaiser facility. I left a message for his pediatrician to find out he's away on vacation and won't be back til next week. Lovely.

I will say that I was really happy to get the living room and Nico's toy shelves in the dining room done yesterday. It meant that I was able to sit in the living room after the kids were in bed and relax while I clipped coupons because things were picked up. It was also really wonderful to watch Nico playing with his toys instead of just being entranced with the PS2 or PS3. He made everyone a gazillion hot dogs in his play kitchen and then was racing his cars all over the house. You know, doing kid stuff like he should. Must try harder to keep this picked up and organized. Can't wait to get the dining room done today and work on the school stuff. Dusting still needs to get done but that will get done soon enough. Too bad Mark can't do it due to his allergies. He could tackle that while I get the fun of the shed this weekend.

Updated Todo List

• Menu, Coupons, Shopping List, and Grocery Shopping*
• Balance Checkbook, Pay Bills, and Set-up Budget*
• Update Wall Calendar (last done in April I think?!) *
• Find a Dentist for Nico *
• Declutter and Reorganize Living Room *
• Declutter and Reorganize Dining Room *
• Organize School Materials*
• 1st Weeks Lesson Plans for Christopher, Matthew, and Jonathan*
• Create MOTH Schedule*
• Revisit and update Chore Packs and PEG Board*
  
• Declutter and Organize Shed*
• Find Storage Locker for new dining room set and move it there*
• Order Algebra 2 Test Book and Answer Key*
• Place Cookie Dough Order*
• Plan Preschool*
• Get School Books ordered from Library and purchase last minute school supplies*
• Plan LHS classes*
• Pick up melatonin*
• Catch up Laundry*
  
• Have Matthew write Thank you notes from birthday
• Have Christopher write Thank you notes from donations for camp
• Clean-up my email
• Clean out my car
• Clean up Christopher's bed
• Go through Christopher, Jonathan, and Nico's clothing (pull out too small stuff, see what we have that fits, pick-up whatever is needed to fill in gaps)
• AYSO Practice Schedule and put Game Schedule into pdf format
• Get K12 computer shipping labels and get it out of here (I've already tried last week to get the labels so I need to stay on top of this)
• Clean off Breakfast Bar
• Organize Kitchen Pantry (yes, I know I did this like a month ago but it needs a quick freshen up again, go figure)
• Send out Playgroup camping photos
• Return Beach Body Vitamins
• Create House Todo Lists
• Clean Desk Area
• Put Matthew's Claymation video on YouTube

As you can see, it's grown from yesterday just as I said it would. In addition to what got crossed off, I also have started looking into getting a storage locker with one reserved but trying to get a closer one and I've got some calls out to find a dentist for Nico. Not bad for the first day tho there is still a lot to do. I managed to wo

Publish Post

rkout yesterday and today as well so that's got to count for something too. Sore muscles at the least. LOL

Here's hoping today is even more productive!

This is GOING to be a productive week!

I don't have a choice. With how crazy this summer ended up being and how sick I kept getting, things just did not get done around here and now we have the start of school one week away and I feel woefully unorganized for it. So here's what I need to get done (those marked with a star are ones that absolutely MUST get done)

• Menu, Coupons, Shopping List, and Grocery Shopping*
• Balance Checkbook, Pay Bills, and Set-up Budget*
• Update Wall Calendar (last done in April I think?!) *
• Find a Dentist for Nico *
• Declutter and Reorganize Living Room *
• Declutter and Reorganize Dining Room *
• Organize School Materials*
• 1st Weeks Lesson Plans for Christopher, Matthew, and Jonathan*
• Create MOTH Schedule*
• Revisit and update Chore Packs and PEG Board*
  
• Declutter and Organize Shed*
• Find Storage Locker for new dining room set and move it there*
• Order Algebra 2 Test Book and Answer Key*
• Place Cookie Dough Order*
• Plan Preschool*
• Get School Books ordered from Library and purchase last minute school supplies*
• Plan LHS classes*
• Pick up melatonin*
• Catch up Laundry*
  
• Have Matthew write Thank you notes from birthday
• Have Christopher write Thank you notes from donations for camp
• Clean-up my email
• Clean out my car
• Clean up Christopher's bed
• Go through Christopher, Jonathan, and Nico's clothing (pull out too small stuff, see what we have that fits, pick-up whatever is needed to fill in gaps)
• AYSO Practice Schedule and put Game Schedule into pdf format
• Get K12 computer shipping labels and get it out of here (I've already tried last week to get the labels so I need to stay on top of this)
• Clean off Breakfast Bar
• Organize Kitchen Pantry (yes, I know I did this like a month ago but it needs a quick freshen up again, go figure)
• Send out Playgroup camping photos

I'm sure while I'm not looking the list will start spontaneously adding new items to it but that's what it looks like this morning. Mark is, of course, in SLC Mon-Wed this week but is trying to take Thurs and Fri off to help out. Jonathan has surf camp this week from 10-2 every day plus all the kids have KSW Mon-Thurs, Jonathan still has speech on Mon & Wed, Matthew and Nico have swim on Thurs morning, and Nico has zoo class on Friday so I have to make sure they all get where they need to be as well plus keeping up on that pesky laundry, cooking, and dishes.

Anyone know where I can get a time turner or some other way to add a few more hours into my days?

Review - Sam's Chowder House

So we pass this place all the time and the parking lot is ALWAYS full. I mean, always. It's been open for a few years and Mark decided he wanted to go there for his birthday so we called and made reservations on our way home from camping.

It was okay.

The bad - The clam chowder (note the name) had hardly any clams in it. Mark's lobster roll (they claim to have been voted one of the top 5 American sandwiches by NBC) was rubbery and dry. The artichoke appetizer was overcooked and dry. The kids mac'n'cheese was bland and tasteless. This can be said for the bulk of the food at the table. The service was slow. Seriously, 5+min to get a bottled soda. The total bill. They charge as if the food was really good.

The good - The view is gorgeous. That's what you are really paying for but since you can easily walk to get to that view, it's not worth it. The Poke was good and the crab cakes were okay.

Honestly, I'm not impressed. Yes, the view is gorgeous but the food just isn't worth it. I don't know if we went on a particularly bad night or if people just keep going there for the view and they are primarily tourists. Maybe locals just go for drinks and appetizers and the view. Not sure but I doubt we'll go back. The view just isn't worth the price imo.

Back from Playgroup Camping

We just returned home from our annual Playgroup Camping Trip to Elkus Ranch. We've been camping together for about 8-9yrs now and going to Elkus for the last 4 or 5 of those years. It's always a blast to get as many of us together and let the kids run wild while the adults kick back. Over the years the group has grown a bit as a few other family friends have had kids and join in the yearly festivities. And of course, our playgroup has grown quite a bit as many of us had kids after our 1998 babies too.

Camping on a working ranch that's primary function is to teach children about animals and what it takes to manage a farm has a lot of perks. There's learning how to sit a saddle....Access to all the arts and crafts...

Learning to help around the farm by


And of course, since we are feeding them we get the perk of petting them too...



The hilight of the weekend was the spectacular fire show that two of the dads put on using water bottles, non-dairy creamer, a hand air pump, and the campfire. Priceless! Or why we love camping with these guys! Til next year...

104:70 Your Three-Year-Old: Friend or Enemy by Louise Bates Ames, Ph. D

Generally I like this series as it tends less towards parenting advice and more towards the deeper understanding of why the child is behaving the way they are, not dealing with the specific behaviors but the more underlying issues that the child may not even be aware of or have the ability to express and helping you as the parent to guide and support the child through those issues. Unfortunately, this book had some of that but I frankly found the fact that every time they mentioned 3½ it was here's the behavior and our advice is give the child to daycare/nanny/sitter/anyone but mom to deal with him. WTF?! Seriously?! That's how we deal with an age of independence AND one of emotional insecurity, hand him off. Cause we all know that if they are feeling emotionally vulnerable, give him to someone who wont' care if he gets dressed because then he'll listen. I'm sorry but that strikes me as a load of bullsh*t. Yes, maybe handing him off would be easier on the mom but it didn't sound from everything else that it was in the best interest of the child. I was also offended by their saying that almost all children will benefit from nursery school of some form for all the opportunities afforded there that the home can not provide. WTF again?! There are no nursery schools around here that will take him to the zoo every week or to museums and places of cultural significance. Other than getting to play with more kids his own age as opposed to kids of all ages, there really isn't anything there that I can't do here. Oh, except not care whether or not he does what he's supposed to.

In all, this book was a huge disappointment to me in many ways. As I said, I generally find their books to be informative without offering strict dos and don'ts of parenting but this one really deviated from that and not in a good way.

Page count: 151p/21,526p ytd

I can't be that old!!!

Seriously, how in the world did I get to be old enough to have a son taking college courses?! I spent about 2hrs today filling out the application and other necessary paperwork for Christopher to enroll in a class at our local Jr. College. He'll just be doing one class this semester, Creative Writing (I know, big surprise), but this will hopefully be the beginning of starting to switch more of his education to the college level. I'd love to see him take 2 classes in the spring but again, we'll see how this first one goes before getting too caught up. I'm thrilled that we have this option both in that the school is very open to homeschoolars doing concurrent enrollment and also that we have a satellite for the JC just 5mi from us so we can get him there easily and even hopefully get him taking the bus and increasing his independence.

But still, how in the world can my baby be taking college classes?! *sniff sniff*

Out and About Day

The day started at 4am when Mark's dad called to wake him up. Normally I wake just before the phone call (psychic apparently) and then fall back asleep right after Mark gets out of bed and continue in blissful slumber until my alarm goes off at 6am. Not this morning tho. I couldn't fall back asleep and kept tossing and turning. And then Nico came into bed (I'm guessing about 4:30a) and he tossed and turned for another hour which led to more tossing and turning for me as well. I think I dosed from 5:30-6a when my alarm went off which then went off every 5min until I surrendered and got out of bed at 6:30a.

That's when the day really got started. I managed to get a few more little things crossed off my todo list and then we headed out. Drove down to Capitola for lunch with my mom and grandma (my grandma's birthday was yesterday) where I have to say the boys were fairly well behaved. Stopped at the post office and Safeway on the way home where we finally returned around 5:15p. Got dinner in the oven and managed to eat it in time to be only 10min late to my 7pm AYSO board meeting. Got home in time to sit at the computer playing stupid FB games and putting Nico to sleep.

Now I'm crashing. If Nico is up at 4am, I'm dosing him with melatonin again. I don't care what the Drs say.

Crossing Things Off ...

the ever expanding ToDo List. Last week I thought I had a mild list but since several of the items on it had a fairly expansive scoop (clean boys room is not a quick nor easy task for example) I figured that was fine and set about trying to get things done. Then I got sick. Again. (Did I mention how frustrated this continual sickness thing has gotten me?!) Amazingly, my ToDo list did not get shorter out of courtesy to my illness but rather decided to go out and procreate, adding tons more onto my list, including reviving some tasks that I had killed off last week. How unfair is that, I ask you?! But despite being daunted by a list that had more than doubled in length and still recovering from my illness, I got dressed and decided to see what I could tackle and was amazed that I was able to cross off about 1/3 of the list including finishing up the boys room and cleaning off my desk (neither of which are small tasks) and a little headway was made on a few others. Tomorrow is a busy day but hopefully I can at least get a few smaller items crossed off....that is if it doesn't multiply overnight on me.

104:69 Kitty Raises Hell by Carrie Vaughn

What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas as Kitty learns to her dismay. The cult that she pissed off in the previous book is out for vengeance and has unleashed a powerful in order to accomplish that end. How can Kitty fight what she can only smell but not see or touch, especially when she doesn't even know what it is? And how does Roman fit into all of this, the mysterious vampire that shows up out of the blue claiming that he and he alone can save her and her pack from this invisible creature?

Another fast moving book, lots of action, lots of investigating this and investigating that. I continue to enjoy these and look forward to the next one.

Page count: 312p/21,375p ytd