Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone

It’s just too damn cold around here.  I’m used to saying that 6 months of the year.  Winter is way too long.  The cold sucks your soul dry and the clouds will drive you to depression. 

But the reward for sticking out yet another miserable Michigan winter is the promise of a warm and sunny summer.  The heat and humidity of June, July and August is about the last thread I cling to when February’s melancholy refuses to abate.  It’s that contract with Mother Nature that keeps me sustained.  I cleave to it and count the months until my promise is fulfilled.

This year, Mother Nature

Fin to

Alas, the school year is nearly done.  Today is Emma’s last day and jam packed with all kinds of fun things.  A field trip to the park, a funny guest speaker… all of these events need my presence.  While I’m always delighted at the chance to work at Em’s school or do a field trip with them, I’m a little overwhelmed right now.  The B family vacation to Ludington starts Saturday and there’s much work to be done.

It’s a little exhausting getting ready to leave.  So much preperation.  There’s not only your regular duties you need to fufull but then life likes to throw you some curve balls at the last second.  Four extra

Getting my groove back

I can’t believe it’s really been 2wks since my last post.  How does it go by so fast?  Life is so busy.  I like it that way but sometimes, it’s nice to have a moment to breathe.  I feel like we tend to pack our lives full of obligations that we have to do and forget to take time to do the things we want to do.  We forget to play games with our kids, take a walk or spend time talking to our husband.  Exercise and taking care of ourselves takes a backseat until we stop to ask ourselves where the time has gone and how we ended up here?

I’ve fallen off the wagon.  I feel like I haven’t run in forever.  If I tried to run, I think it might hurt and I’ll be starting at zero again.  Such a loss considering what I had accomplished 7months ago and where my training had brought me back to a couple months ago.  But life will happen whether you plan for it or not and my failure to plan working out has left me feeling like a slug.

Luckily,

Cat… I’m a kitty Cash

The most resent dilemma in our lives has been our cat, Cash.  From the time that we got him 13yrs ago as a tiny kitten to now, he’s been more temperamental than Quigley.  He  standard of cat box cleanliness is much higher than hers and his tolerance for change is minimal to put it mildly.   When he was angered punishment often came in the form of something getting peed on.

When we adopted Bailey, Cash

The hopeful cynic

For a person who believes strongly in the power of change, I find myself doubting people’s ability to do so.  Maybe deep inside I’m really a skeptic.  Maybe I’ve just seen too many people fail. 

I know that people can change if they really want to… but what I doubt is their desire to do it.  Is it that they’re too complacent?  Do they not have the know how to do it?  Or do they think that they have when in reality, they did  for a minute but have returned to their former selves? 

Obviously, people are unique and different and it’s unfair to lump them all together in one failing bunch.  I try to keep believing that people can change their ways, give them the benefit of the doubt.  But I suppose that somewhere in my brain I’m thinking they probably won’t.  I hope they will, I hope I’m wrong but so many times, I’m not.

I wonder if it makes me a cynic or a realist?  I do honestly believe that every one of us has the power to change ourselves… I don’t know why they don’t.

Run On

About a month ago, I registered for my next long distance run, The 5/3 Riverbank Run.  This one would be a 25k (15 miles) and would take place in May.  It’s a huge race here and I had heard great things about the energy and participation.  I was excited to train for a race and execute it without injuries this time.  How well could I do if I was able to train without an injury every month and a tiny bit of experience behind me?

I started training about 2 weeks ago.  An actual training schedule for a 25k  is harder to locate than you’d think so I just decided to go with the half marathon schedule but add in a couple weeks.  I figured out what days and times I’d be able to get my run in before the extra kids come or after and wrapped my brain around training for this thing almost entirely on a treadmill!  Big difference to me.

Then last Wednesday, I took Emma to register for her spring session of cheerleading.  I asked the coach if she knew their regional competition date and she gave me the sheet with all the dates.  Awesome…

The Return of the Mighty B

Saturday was the Michigan State Cheerleading competition in Kalamazoo.  Emma’s competition started at 8am and she had to be to her coach by 7:30am.  Having lived in Michigan long enough to know

Med centers, ER’s & Dr’s offices

Dan- It started about a month ago… our string of random oddities that has left us seeking the council of a physician.  Dan had been working on a dealership and had a terrible reaction to the epoxy grout.  When I say terrible, imagine sores all over his arms, legs and his face.  They itched, were very painful and looked horrible.  Dan used every over the counter product available but nothing worked.  Finally, 2 days before Christmas, he noticed that his knee was swollen, looked red and felt hot.  I had just started us with a local doctor for situations like this, trying to avoid the high cost of med centers/ER’s since we basically have no insurance to pay for it.  I figured we would rather pay a Dr’s office than a hospital bill.  I call the new