some random snippets from my day:

• a few weeks ago i found an ariel jigsaw puzzle at world thrift.  harper’s finished it, with my help, about 6 times.  every time we do it she gets faster.  the other night i decided to just take random pieces out of the completed puzzle and have her put them back in.  it was ridiculous how fast she could get 10 or 15 pieces back into the 70 piece puzzle.  so, i decided she needed  a new one.  got a 24 piece at target today.  it said 3+ on the side, so when i opened the box, i decided to give her no help at all and just see how far she could get.  she had the thing totally finished in about 10 minutes.  i was so proud.  i’m gonna let her do it a few more times and then video it and see how fast she can do it.  it is SO much fun watching her figure new things out and to see the sense of accomplishment she enjoys afterward.
• we visited harper’s school for about 15 minutes this morning.  just picked up a calendar and her supply list and talked with the director about drop-off procedure and what-not.  harper is SO excited….wait, i’m pretty excited, too, actually!  hopefully when tuesday comes around she’ll be pushing me out of the way at the door to get in like she was today.
• layne climbed up into the chick-fil-a playground again today, but this time around there were A TON of kids in there.  i heard a blood-curdling scream and had to climb up into the stinking thing.  some brat had pushed her down (at least that’s what another little girl told me).  we did not hang around much longer…had to get to target to buy school supplies!  (us, and every other family within a 10 mile radius)
• i had sweet tea at lunch today and i just LOVE how much energy that caffeine gives me at the gym.  i’m not normally a caffeine person, but i ran 3 miles pretty easily today and i haven’t done that in a few months.  (plus the tea just tastes SO darn good.)
• keep forgetting to report this: my excema is back in full force.  i’m a little relieved that i’m not allergic to sonic, but super annoyed because i really thought i had figured out what was causing it (although i have eaten other fast food and am wondering if maybe it’s just that in general…maybe i need to nix fast food for 6 months…hmmm….i don’t know if i could do that!).
• layne was walking around today the most i’ve ever seen her.  she still just takes about 10 steps at a time, but she’s doing it totally on her own more now than i’ve ever seen….confidence is growing, i guess.  won’t be long until she’s keeping up with harper!  (scary!!!)
• got a call tonight from my sweet sister-in-law julie yesterday and a confirmation call tonight.  they are flying me (and harper) out to springfield (MO) at the end of september to take pictures at her brother’s wedding reception (he got married a few months ago).  i’m so excited!  i’ll make a little money and get to hang out with family that we hardly ever see…and have some fun time with harper!  thanks again for thinking of me, julie!
• i’ve been plugging away on the website for about a week now.  it is so frustrating that i don’t ever get more than 2 hours or so in a day to work on it.  still, it’s slowly coming together and i’m really pleased with it so far….feels very much a few steps above the old one.

futbol.

i, probably like many other people out there, don’t have too many memories from elementary PE class.  if i thought really hard, or was reminded by a classmate, i’m sure i could think of more, but right now this is what i got:

there was a large area in the schoolyard that was made up of all sand with railroad ties stacked on every side.  it was a pretty large area…maybe the size of 2 basketball courts.  i’m playing soccer.  i’ve never played it before and don’t know what i’m doing really, but i am loving it.  i don’t think about it being hot or about being tired or sweaty or even about the fact that i’m wearing a skirt.  all i think about is kicking the ball and running with it and outrunning people while i’m doing it.  the teacher (coach shifflett) blows the whistle.  a friend looks down at my leg and says, “EW!  there’s blood all over your leg.”  i look down, and she’s right.  i’d been kicked hard in the shin and blood had trickled down into my sock.  (this is a weird thing to remember, but i swear this is true) i remember thinking that i must’ve been having so much fun i didn’t notice any pain or any blood.  and all i wanted to do was get out there and play some more, but then the coach said class was over.

that was the last time i played soccer until i was a junior in college.

the first time i ever watched a soccer game (on TV or otherwise) was when i went away to college.  when ryan and i started dating, i tried to learn as much as i could about it.  i was insanely jealous of anyone on the girls’ soccer team or anyone i knew who’d played in high school.  i guess i thought ryan would like me better if i knew the game or something.  stupid.  it didn’t make a difference to him.  after we’d dated for a year or two, i had a few people talk to me thinking that obviously i must be on the girls’ team (not sure why except that i have an athletic build and my boyfriend was on the guys’ team).  i would get a huge smile on my face and tell them, “no, i run cross-country [but i really really wish i played soccer instead].”

i eventually played a little on some intramural teams, to the dismay of the other team members, i’m sure.

played some with my students when i taught PE, althought i pretty much let them teach the sport for me, since they knew more than i did.  (it was alot of fun to play with them, though…seriously…even the 6th graders.)

after i had harper, i heard about an over-25 league near us.  i decided that i was in good shape, and i was athletic (catch onto new sports fairly fast), so i’d try it.  that first game was the most fun i think i’d had in at least a year.  i was HOOKED.

this is my 5th “season”.  i cannot say enough how much i love playing in this league.  for me, right now in my life, soccer is an escape from EVERYTHING else going on in my life.  i literally think about nothing else during the games and that is the only time that ever happens.  it’s also great motivation to run/work-out at the gym in between games.  it is encouraging because there are women out there playing next to me who are literally 20 years older than me and they can keep up with me (and in a rare case, BEAT ME).  that is so fun to experience. 

i also really enjoy the league because it is a large group of very different women, from very different walks and stages of life, all enjoying the same thing at the same time.  i’ve formed relationships with women that i never would’ve met had it not been for soccer (we’re not best friends or anything, but still).

that’s all.  i just love it.

ps. my team won the league tonight!

god is great, beer is good, and PEOPLE ARE CRAZY

i guess i’m in a country music mood lately. 

anyway, LISTEN TO THIS:

when signing the kids into the kidzone at the gym the other day, i noticed that they’d put up a new sign and changed the check-in sheet because they were starting a new policy.  the sign said that there is now a 1 1/2 hour limit to the free child care.  after 1 1/2 hours, it will cost $2 per half-hour.  i glanced at the sign and thought, “oh i’m definitely not affected by that…the most my kids are ever in here is like an hour and 3 minutes.”  but then i thought, “wait, who the heck does leave their kids in her longer than 90 minutes?!”  i asked the girls who were working at the time why they needed to change the policy…were that many people really leaving their kids in there for that long?  they answered me toegether, “oh my word, YES!”  these girls proceeded to tell me that there are women in my gym who will leave their kids in the kidzone for THREE HOURS.  they leave and go to starbucks, publix, whatever.  one long wall of the kidzone room is a floor to ceiling window.  these moms will leave the gym, walk by the window, stop and knock and mouth to their kid: “mommy will be right back.”  SERIOUSLY!?  who does this?  one of the big reasons i’m motivated to go to the gym is just to get a break from the kids, so i’d be lying if i hadn’t thought about how nice it would be if i could just leave the kids in there and go somewhere, but who would actually DO IT?!    

we leave for NC tomorrow, so i’m not planning on setting any posting records next week.  don’t hate me for it.  (however, they do have internet, so i’m sure i’ll be back before too long…)

why must every post have a title?

we’ve been going to the gym in the afternoons, but went first thing today…got to the 8:00 step class at 8:20.  ha.  guess it was a great thing that there were only 4 other girls in there…which was weird, it’s usually packed.  headed straight to publix after the gym, then home to put laynie down for a nap.  while she napped, i put a movie on for harper and i did some work on the computer.  when layne woke up, i fixed lunch and we ate on the porch (well, they ate on the porch…the enormous bowl of cereal i had when we got home from the grocery store was still letting me feel really full).  after lunch, harper wanted to play outside for a little while.  poor layne.  she is so happy when she’s 3 feet away from her sister, but it’s so hard for her to be on the porch…the concrete tears up her knees.  i sat her down and thought she’d figure out pretty quick that that’s how she should stay, but she was so bent on getting around…she was on all fours (hands and FEET) the whole time.  i felt so bad for her i went and got some cheap soccer socks and tied them around her knees to make kneepads.  i forced her knees to the ground to show her that she had padding, but she still refused to crawl.  oh well.  a few more months and she’ll be walking anyway.  here’s a picture of the poor girl trying to get around.

put both girls down for naps at 2:00 and actually got some things done.  no exaggeration: our bathroom had not been properly cleaned in probably 6 weeks.  a clorox wipe here or there, but nothing else.  it was DISGUSTING.  i always say that you never appreciate how good a place looks clean until you see it dirty.  seriously, it was so dirty harper could have cleaned it and you’d be able to tell a before and after difference.  so, it felt good to get that done.

ryan came home a little early so i was able to get to my SoFly meeting.  i got there late, but it was still a great time.  we’ve met several times now so we’re all starting to get to know each other better and it’s always a time of encouragement, laughter, and information.  i left feeling very energized and…well, happy.

and, here i sit.  it’s almost 11:00 and i have to get up fairly early so i need to get off the dadgum computer.  HARPER HAS HER FIRST DENTIST VISIT TOMORROW!  i can’t wait…i think mostly i’m just curious as to how she’ll act and if she’ll be shy or not.  i’ll try to post pictures tomorrow if i have time.  she is so excited about it.  she’s told me at least 3 times that i have to stay in the waiting room.  ha!  we’ve been reading all these books about the dentist so i can only imagine what she thinks will happen. 

nighty-night.

discovery.

(i know this post was supposed to contain pictures, but i haven’t found the camera yet since we got home…give me a few days.)

i’ve made several discoveries in recent days:

• Expresso: i’ve only tried it once, but i see a great future ahead with this machine.  it’s a bike at the gym with virtual reality.  the handlebars move and it has a screen that makes it look like you’re riding your bike somewhere exotic (or just on a plain ol’ road).  it’s harder to peddle when you go up a hill.  you create a username and they keep track of all your stats and you can race your p.r.’s.  it’s very much like the running part of wii fit if you’ve ever seen that.  so fun!  i haven’t gotten sick of the gym yet, but when i do, i’m sure that’ll be one of things i lean on for motivation.
• chick-fil-a sauce is amazingly good on pretty much everything that place sells.  i just figured out that it is fantastic on fries.  everytime i eat that sauce my mind races to think about what else i can dip in it.  i need to stockpile it at home and make a dinner with it.
•  [warning: what you are about to read will cause shock and possibly despair.]  I’M THINK I’M ALLERGIC TO SONIC.  no, i am so not kidding.  seriously, would i joke about something like that?  here’s the story:  for about a year now, i’ve been getting really bad excema on my thumbs.  it is really painful and disgusting and, well, annoying.  i went to the dermatologist just after layne was born and she (the dermotologist, not laynie) told me that there was no way to tell where it came from and there is no cure.  i was very frustrated.  anyway,  the girls and i ate there about two weeks ago and i hadn’t been since new years’.  the excema popped up 2 days later after not having an outbreak in three months.  i don’t know when/where it hit me, but i all-of-a-sudden realized one day that sonic is the only factor that has changed in my life since i started getting this junk on my finger.  talk about being between a rock and a hard place!  i want so badly to know the cause of the problem, but i also want so badly to continue eating/drinking sonic!  i’m going on a 6-month sonic fast to see if that really is the source of the allergy.  pray for me.
• today i discovered our george foreman grill on the porch.  it had been sitting there since the last time we grilled hamburgers.  TWO WEEKS AGO.  ew.

i guess while i’m discovering things i need to figure out how to get up and clean my house!  love you all.  night night.

ps.  i had a photo session tonight and one of the first things the mom said to me was that she liked my green nailpolish.  🙂  haha

i’m feeling good…

…i just got back from the gym AND i got a full night’s sleep. 

layne slept 11 hours last night.  oh man.  let me type that again: LAYNE SLEPT 11 HOURS LAST NIGHT!!!!!

we tried formula again two nights ago and for some reason, after many rejections, that time she decided it was okay.  she took an ounce of it then slept for 8 hours straight – her personal record.  last night she chugged 4 ounces at 7:30.  then she slept until 6:30!  i nursed her and changed her and she went back to sleep for another hour.  cue singing angels.  if this means that she’ll want to wean, i’ll be sad, but honestly it’s worth it if i’m getting a full night’s rest.  we’ve had harper in our room the past 4 nights, so we’ll probably do that for one or two more nights, just in case.

i’m so excited about the gym!  this morning i had a microfit evaluation.  i get a free one every 3 months.  so, i’m going to post my results on my blog so that i can monitor my progress.  if you read this and then see me in person, please don’t mention anything containing the words “body fat” or “sit-ups”.  i’m in the 30-39 age range, so i’m thinking that most of the things i scored “excellent” on are just because i’m “young”.

• weight: 130.6  (i think before i got pregnant i was 128…my goal would probably be 125, but if that means i have to get rid of my nightly bowl of ice cream, than i’m okay at 128.  i haven’t weighed less than that since junior year in college when i was running 6 miles a day.)
• body fat % : 21, ideal
• triceps pinch: 14.8
• side pinch: 16.1
• thigh pinch: 26.2
• blood pressure: 92/59, excellent
• resting heart rate: 50, excellent
• biceps strength: 67, excellent (i guess lifting the two kiddos all day is good for something!)
• back flexibility: 40, needs work (sit & reach…this was so embarrassing…my fingertips were even with my heels)
• push-ups (bent knee): 34, excellent (this is measured by how many you can do in a minute)
• sit-ups: 5, needs work (to say the least…this is also how many in a minute.  that is not a typo…it really says FIVE.  i was humiliated!)

i am SO excited about the gym.  i don’t really want to leave the kids in the “kidzone” for longer than an hour, so today i only got 20 minutes on the elliptical after my evaluation, but i can’t wait to get a routine going and try some of the classes and stuff (especially spin!).