Let the Games Begin

Okay, I now have all the practice times for each kid. Looks like it's going to be a pretty full week. Hope work is slow because I'm going to be doing a lot of running around. Monday and Wednesday Riley has baseball from 7-8:30, Darby has soccer Tuesday and Thursday from 5-6:30, Awana at 6:45 for all kids except Riley on Tuesdays, Jordan has practice Wednesday and Friday 6-7, and Jillian is Wednesday only from 5:30-6:30. Oh, and did I mention that Brian has class Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

The gods must have been looking down on me because Wednesday is my big night and Brian doesn't have class. I also had to enlist the help of Darby's grandma because there is no way I would be able to make a 5:00 practice. For having so many schedules it seems things did work out nicely. No one has practice at the exact same time at two places across town from each other and no one has a practice conflict with Awanas. I always worry about those two things.

All games are on Saturday. Jordan, Darby, and Jillian's games will all be at the same location. So, Riley will have to be taken some where else, but that's just one kid, no worries there. I was sad to hear that my Monday night now has a practice, but I'll survive. It's all good and I agree with Envoy-ette. I love it. I like the running around and watching games. It's one of the funnest things for a mom.

It's Just A "Title"

It's that time of year again. Time to sign up every one for Awanas and soccer and baseball. Time to fill out form after form after form of information. I don't know how many times this month I've had to write down a child's name, address, phone number, insurance number, doctor's name and phone, and on and on and on...

It's also more complicated when you're a mixed family because there are these spots where you put the parent's name and signature and I sign for everything but in Jordan's case I put Brian as the parent and then just hope no one ever asks questions because I hate explaining the whole family dynamic. You know, "Jordan's dad and I are together, not married, we've lived together an X number of years and I'm the mom to Jordan's sister" type thing. I should just answer it's complicated, but no one ever asks. I must be sensitive to the thought of the question. It's not a big deal. I mean I sign for EVERY thing. Reading logs, permission slips, homework folders. Anything the kids need signed, I sign it. That's just what I do. And no one has asked me any questions. Ever. Not once.

And this whole "step" brother/sister/mother/father or "half" brother/sister must be an
adult-only concept because the kids don't ever use those titles when speaking about each other. Jordan's sister goes to Owyhee and Riley's brother goes to Idaho Arts Charter School and Jillian doesn't even know the meaning of half let alone a half brother or sister. Believe me, Darby is completely Jillian's sister and if anyone told Jillian otherwise she would probably freak out on them.

So, I guess I shouldn't be so self-conscious about it either. Of course, the easiest part of the form to fill out is when it asks to list siblings. I guess because it's so easy for the kids. They don't go around trying to explain the situation in complicated terms. It is what it is. That should be my philosophy from now on.

Okay, back to filling out forms. Awana registration is tonight.

Lessons Learned from Watching Supernatural

*Be careful what you wish for. Genies are not like the one in the Disney movie Aladdin. They'll give you exactly what you want, but it's all an illusion, a dream. It's not real. In reality the genie is just slowly sucking the life out of you.

*Not all bad boys are scuzzy looking. Some are clean cut and cute but they still have scumbag qualities. Stay away from bad boys.

*3 year-olds have a type. Jillian loves Sammy, who has shaggy brown hair with an innocent look to him. She also loves Prince Caspian from Narnia-same look. They are her boyfriends. Sometimes they get mad at her. I have yet to figure out why.

*You can keep demons out by putting salt around the perimeter of where ever it is you want to keep them out. I told Brian I was going to put salt packets around my cube to see if it works. If anyone asks about the salt I'll just tell them I saw it on show.

*Dick Cheney has a parking space in hell waiting for him.

*Demons usually get what's coming to them. And it usually isn't good. Or pleasant. It's actually a little gory.

Monday Morning

I went to a consultation with a personal trainer yesterday. I signed up to "win" something at the fair a couple of weeks ago and that is what I won. However, nothing is really free. It was basically a way to get me into the gym and try and sell me a membership. Which I knew and yet I still signed up and I still went in to meet the personal trainer. Just to see what he had to say. He had me do these exercises where I hold a weight and do 4 sets of 10 squats. I'm dying today. I can barely walk. Brian is going to have to carry me up and down the stairs for the next few days because my legs will probably collapse. It was a tough workout, but I don't think I'm going to be doing it.

He said something about reducing the amount of time you have to work out and getting the most intensity and blah, blah, blah. But I think I do okay. I'm losing weight which is what I wanted. Even when I'm bad and I eat and drink bad things I've still been losing weight. And I would rather it take a little longer than try and kill myself doing something I don't want to do. So, instead of doing 40 of the most painful exercises I've ever done in my life I'll continue to do weights, my run/walks, and some yoga thrown in. I think I mix it up enough that it's still effective. And I can increase my run speed. So, there you have it. I'm a big wimp.

Besides, I think he completely down played the whole yoga thing saying it was good for flexibility and stress relief and whatever but he must not do yoga because I did a routine the other day that kicked my butt and I was completely sore and out of breath by the time I finished. And that was only 20 minutes.

I decided that since my legs are sore and it's Monday and Darby was throwing up all night long that I should probably take a half day. I'm certain this is the best thing I could do. I'm very happy with this decision. Have a great Monday!

BeerFest 2009

Brian and I went to the Beerfest this weekend with his parents and we had so much fun. What could be better than standing around in 80 degree weather, with a breeze, sun out, trying different beers and eating junk food? I don't think much tops that. For $20 we received a beer mug and 17 tokens. Each token buys you a 4 oz sample of beer. I used 15 tokens throughout the day and Brian used 19. So, you can do the math on our consumption. We were there for several hours, but that's still a lot of sampling.

After we left the Beerfest we went to Dairy Queen where I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. This after eating something called a Pork Lollipop and a pretzel and part of a jumbo cookie. Needless to say I didn't really enjoy the ride home and was ready to take a nap on the couch and do nothing the rest of the evening. Unfortunately, we made plans to go to Brian's brother's house for some fights or something on TV. And though I enjoy hanging out with his sis-in-law, I made it to the couch and I was not leaving the couch. I skipped the fights. I couldn't believe that Brian was still able to go. He took the girls and left the boys.

I don't know what those boys did all night. I'm pretty sure they were upstairs playing XBox Live. I don't even think they ate anything. However, I don't feel entirely guilty because they're old enough to get something to eat themselves or at the very least, let me know they're hungry. And they didn't. Of course, I can't say that I would have made them anything to eat but I would certainly point them in the direction of the cereal.

In other news Jordan started school today. This is the first year he hasn't had a backpack with a cartoon character on it. It's just a regular backpack, like big kids have. So it's official. He's a big kid. Riley told me he wanted a game backpack. Like with Halo or something. I'm not sure if that's reverting back or what that's all about but I have not seen any backpacks with the games he likes, so I don't know what I'm going to do there.

Jordan also chose to ride the bus over having his dad take him directly to school even though his backpack probably weighs 500 lbs from all of the school supplies. Weird! I thought that was pretty funny. "No, I'll just ride the bus" he said.

Oh yes, and at the Beerfest someone had a French Bulldog. If you have never seen a French Bulldog they are the cutest, funniest looking dogs you will ever see. And I need one. Desperately. However, at around $800-$1000 a pup, I doubt I'll be getting one anytime soon. Bummer!

And BSU football is coming upon us. Can't wait. The first game is 9-3-09 against the Oregon Ducks. And Jillian is an Oregon Ducks fan. Or as I like to call her, a traitor! Brian ordered her an Oregon Ducks T-shirt last week so she can wear it for the big game. I can't wait. I'm going to take a picture of all of us with our BSU gear on and her with her Ducks T-shirt. It will be so cute.

Our refrigerator has always been a point of contention at our house. Brian complains that it's too cluttered. He doesn't want anything on it, covering it up. He wants it clean. In the past few years we have accumulated a Boise Bronco magnet that is meant for cars (but of course he won't put it on the car), new magnets from the Rachel Ray magazine, a pen holder, phone numbers written down on sticky notes and Jillian has discovered that her art work is suppose to be displayed on the fridge for eternity. Or so she thinks. Take it down and she has a complete meltdown and makes you feel guilty. Recently Darby put up circle shaped sticky notes. They're yellow and orange and they look like the sun. Darby was very proud that she contributed the notes to our fridge. Until Jillian found them. And now our fridge has round, yellow and orange sticky notes covering it. I think Brian has given up.