The Last Hurrah

Goodbye Summer. Goodbye to sleeping in, to summer camps at Little Gym, to lazy afternoons and late evenings on Lynnhaven with neighborhood friends. So sad to see you go.

We officially bid farewell to summer last night at our neighbor's annual "Bringing down the Fence" BBQ.

Here's a few highlights:

She would've eaten the entire thing - rhine and all - if I had let her!

My water-logged youngest son taking a Capri Sun break with Daddy (AKA... Momma. Love that he calls us both by the same name.)

And my sweet Kindergartner and his best, best pal hanging out in a wagon that truly fails to fit them both comfortably. (But they don't seem to care! Love that...)

Right now the cicadas are chirping their end-of-summer song, Luke and Lucy just went night-night and Jack is tucked comfortably into bed. Here's to the next chapter.

Yay for being published!

Yay! I'm so excited! I just received an email that Scrapbook Trends would like to publish one of my layouts in their January '09 issue. Finally! My hard work is starting to pay off.  Hope to keep this ball rolling!

Patience young Skywalker

I spent the last week just reconnecting with everything around me. And practicing patience. 

I'm back on the weight-loss wagon and have been concentrating on eating. Just eating. I tend to forget to do that. Consequently, the weight is coming off again. I think it helped me yesterday at boot camp. I ran a new personal best time on the mile coming in at 8:06. Soon I'll be in the 7 minute range. My ultimate mile run time goal is 6:30. 

Jack starts school Monday, so we've been enjoying the last few days of sleeping in. Next week will suck. Not the school part. The getting up part. Everyone in our home has a huge adjustment period lurking in the midst.

Mark and I are working on a budget and scaling back. We've dropped quite a few "extras" and are working on improving our ability to harness delayed gratification. Well - I'm working on that (Mark's just so ... well.. good at that sort of thing!). I'm terrible when I don't get what I want when I want it. But I'm learning. And trying to focus on what's best for our family, what's best for me and what we can truly do without. 

Balance. Balance. Balance. If it were easy I'd be living the perfect life with perfect kids and the perfect budget. But it's not - so I continue to strive and hope for the best while working towards the goal.

My new favorite layout

There's just something about this one that chokes me up. It's my new personal favorite. I love how sweet Jack is with his brother and sister. He always checks up on them at the drop-in childcare facility we use (the babies go to the "school" side of the building.) He'll lay down on the floor at home and let the babies romp all over him. He always shares whatever goodie he's enjoying and even manages his temper when Lucy turns off the tv in the middle of WII Lego Star Wars - as she's been doing lately to get his attention. {She must have some of her momma in her....}

Love my kids... 

Summers "off"

August. Already. Nearly mid-August now - and I have not dropped a single pound since - umm (thinking...) - June. I've remained steadfast in my activity and have even ramped up my workouts. I just broke a new personal record for my mile run coming in at 8:11, and I think I would've broken that if I hadn't started screwing around with my ipod 1/2 way through the run. Today I placed 10th in my age group at the Balance 5K at 29:45 (two seconds off of my personal best...) But I have not lost weight. 

I haven't been trying - necessarily. On average, I burn over 1000 calories in a 1.5 hour workout. That's alotta calories. I often fail to replenish myself with the right foods. I know what I'm doing wrong. I know what I need to do to get back on the weight loss track. But there is little motivation. I think I'm comfortable. And that's a wee bit depressing. Dropping just 10 more pounds would increase my running times. It would put less pressure on my joints, make my muscles more efficient, further lower my blood pressure and yadda yadda yadda. See? I know. I just need to - do it.

But how? I've done Weight Watchers in the past. Had monster success by counting 'points', but now I'm lazy. I don't want to count anymore. I need a good plan with lots of fruit and veggies and the right mix of carbs and protein for my body. But oh - such work to find this combination. I just don't have it in me to do the research today. Maybe tomorrow... ?

Gadget Girl

I admit it. I have a problem. Apple in it's infinite appeal keeps me coming back for more. Pictured here is one newly activated iphone G3, one 16GB living room ipod (gone are the days of the family stereo), one 2004 ipod mini (pinkie pod), one 2005 ipod, one craft room ipod nano (which I will start using to track my running mileage), one Nike Plus kit that hooks up to aforementioned nano, and one adorable little ipod clip-on running pod.** Not pictured here: my beloved imac, Mark's itouch and ipod(s), jack's ipod mini and one very old (circa 2001) imac covered in a flowered plastic case.

I'd like to think that I'm a shopper savvy kind-of girl. I don't buy the latest of anything - unless Apple attaches their name to it. Then I'm sucked into their corporate tractor beam - lured by their minimalist designs and sleek interfaces. They represent all that I want my life to be - simple, sweet, to the point but waayyyyy cool and totally fun.

Do I need all of these devices? Heavens, no! But I do need a phone... and my contract expired with T-Mobile right when the new iphone G3 was introduced. Why by another phone when I can have a computer and a phone all in one little unit? My little clip-on ipod keeps me going on quick runs. My new Nike Plus system will track my running mileage and my pace. It'll be my own personal coach. 

Well, crap. Is there a 12 step program for Apple addicts? If there is, keep it to yourself. This is one addiction I'll happily indulge.

What's your poison? Do you have an addiction that grabs you at every turn? Please share. It would be nice to know that I'm not alone.

Birth Story

Sweet Luke and Lucy's birth story is described above. Makes me want to re-do Jack's baby book. His Creative Memories sticker-slap-dash-a-rama looks nothing like what I've tried to do for his brother and sister. What's done is done though. If I went back and re-did it, I would never move forward.

But I digress... I think it's important to pass along to the children their birth story. I'd love to know mine, but my mother passed away before I could really press her for the important medical details. I do know that she was up late the night/early morning I was born with indigestion (probably early labor) watching a hockey game, went into solid labor and couldn't wake my dad and nearly had me in the car on the way to the hospital. She did tell me that they didn't have time to "prepare" her. Guess that's 70's lingo for "put mom entirely under." But I don't know if she ever retained water. I don't know if she had high blood pressure. I don't know what her pregnancies were like. I would've loved to have this info so that my own pregnancies weren't such shockers.

So my fellow scrappers - I challenge you to scrap your child's/children's birth stories. Post a link to your creation in the comments section below or send me an email (no bigger than 175k) with your creations by August 31st and I'll send the 'winner' a scrappy little prize. Do I have any takers?