Sunday

We had to go downtown after church today, because Drew had a show.  I got some pictures, and it turns out they're the sum total of what I have to offer you today.  I was up at 5am, you see.  I just happened to wake up and then I couldn't fall back asleep.  Then to make matters worse I had to take Benadryl a couple different times on account of allergies, and basically it all boils down to me being ready to drop.

Saturday

Here's a picture Mike took of Zach in Leavenworth last weekend.  Isn't he handsome?  (And isn't that water scary?)

And here's a picture I snapped of Baylee reading a book for school the other day.  She spent all morning out there in the sunshine, engrossed in a novel about the apartheid in South Africa.

I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm SO happy with how I've been doing, diet-wise!  I've had a bunch of perfect days in a row!  At the rate I'm going I'll be 1/4 of the way to my goal by mid-June, I think.  I should've been there already, but I struggled with accepting that I can't do whatever I want anymore.  I went back and forth for weeks, fighting it, and then finally it all clicked together.  I told you about realizing that I only had to "be good" for a few hours in the evening, and how thinking of it that way helped a lot.  Here are a couple other things that are making a difference:

•  Mike jumped on board, which means that now I have a partner in all this!  He's using the Lose It app to count calories every day, and he's doing a great job.
• I've settled into a food routine that's working well.  I have the same sorts of things every day, and I'm really happy with them.  When I get sick of them, I'll change it up.

Friday

Drew's taking medication for something right now and it's really powerful stuff.  It's important that he remembers to take it at the right time, that he watches for side effects, etc.  Anyway, I've totally mommed out about the whole thing and made it my personal responsibility.  (I know, I know.  I'm babying him here, but listen, you have no idea how 1) strong this med is and 2) how freaking expensive it is.  The kid is gonna do this right if it kills me.)  All that to say, we had this conversation about it this morning...

Me:  Drew, did you take your pill?

Drew:  Uhh...not yet.

Me:  I'll get it.

Drew:  Hey, can you get me some water to take it with, too?  And make sure it's cold instead of warm. Maybe put some ice cubes in there.  Also, I like glass cups instead of plastic.

Me:  WHAT?!?!  Are you kidding me?!  Man, you give people something on a silver platter and they complain!  Because the platter is...umm...plastic! And...uhh...only silver-colored!

Sigh.  Sometimes analogies just don't roll off the tongue.  However, Drew's getting his own dang water from now on.

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Both Mike and Baylee said that the Streetlight Manifesto concert was a lot of fun!  In fact, Mike, who's been to many concerts in his day, said it was the most upbeat, energetic show he's ever attended.

Baylee bought herself a shirt.

 

Thursday

I'm so burned out on this school year that I'm just a pile of ash at this point.

I had a weight loss epiphany a few days ago, and so far it's helped me stay perfectly on track since then.  It's this:  I can narrow my "danger" window...that is, that time of the day when I'm most likely to say, "Forget this whole stupid thing!"...to about three hours in the evening.  It's that time when I'm totally out of calories for the day, and I can't have anything else to eat until morning.  It's the "can't" aspect that's mentally hard for me.  Here's the thing I figured out, though.  I can be good for just three hours.  For some reason if I think of it that way, as just a short amount of time, it makes it seem very do-able.

One of the shows Drew is in is Michael Jackson vs. Prince, and the director for that show is a guy named Eric.  Eric is known among the kids at the school as being very hard on advanced students.  I'm sure he has good intentions...he's trying to push the kids and hold them accountable...but sometimes it comes off as sort of mean.  In this show he's had his sights set on Drew the entire time, and I cringe every week when I open the group email from him, telling everyone what they need to work on.  Lately, though, one of the things Eric has been getting after Drew about is related to, of all things, singing.  He made Drew a back-up singer on one of the songs, and now he's saying that Drew isn't singing loudly enough.    I mean, has he heard Drew sing???  I'm normally the kind of parent that supports teachers, but Eric is on his own with this one.  I can't help.  Nobody can.

Mike is taking Baylee to a Streetlight Manifesto concert tonight!  Luckies.  Baylee and I love that group.  I would take her, but that would mean having to go downtown and find somewhere to park, and, well, you know how it is.  My driving disability is ruining my life.

Book Recommendation

A couple days ago I ran across an online interview with a woman who, over the course of about 3 years, lost 252 pounds just by steadfastly counting calories and exercising.  The interview intrigued me enough to buy the book the woman wrote about her experience, called Back From Obesity.  I spent most of the last two days reading it, and, wow, it's really good!  In fact, I could hardly tear myself away from it long enough to get any work done around here, which is why I was still housecleaning at 11pm last night.  lol The book is funny and interesting, in some places heartbreaking, and most of all inspiring.  If you're interested, this is a self-published story (I usually stay away from those, because they're almost always chock full of grammar and punctuation errors, but this one isn't.  The woman who wrote it, Jan Bono, used to be an English teacher.) and you can find it here.

Confession

Today Baylee and I were in the car and our conversation came around to the different ways people handle stress.  Baylee mentioned how someone we know (a mom) seems to deal with it just by getting quiet.  I thought about that for a second, then said, "Well, we both know that's the opposite of how I am."

"Yeah," Baylee laughed.

"Don't laugh too hard, because it's the opposite of how you are, too."

Sigh.  It's true that I'm never going to be that wife and mom, the one who's always lovely and calm and peaceful.  Honestly, sometimes I get mad, and when I do I let the people who live in this house know about it...since usually it's on account of them!  Sometimes I really wish I were more...I don't know...nurturing?  Gentle?  Something like that.

Monday

I didn't mention this before, but a few days ago Mike, Zach, and Baylee went to Leavenworth to help our friends Todd and Kellie put on a family Bible conference at the church where Todd's the pastor.  Mike and Zach cleaned the church bathrooms every day after the sessions, and Baylee helped by working in the nursery.  Drew and I had to stay home because Drew had house band gigs and a rehearsal.  It was a bummer to miss seeing our friends, but the two of us have had nice time here...for the most part*. 

Yesterday I worked in the 4's and 5's at church, but right before that I stopped in at Starbucks for some liquid energy (i.e. a tall mocha).  A few people ahead of me in line there was a dad with his 10 or 11 year old son.  On the dad's back was one of those "Hello, my name is" stickers, but instead of a name it had "Kick Me" written on it.  I smiled, considered telling him, but then decided that I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.

I just got a phone call.  The rest of the fam is on their way home right now.  Yay!  Time to do some laundry and clean the joint up.


*We had our first "late for curfew" moment on Saturday night.  (Seriously.  The very first.  I'm realizing now what an easy teen Zach was.) 

Sunday

Well, the house band gig yesterday went fine, but, just as I feared, finding a place to park was HORRIBLE.  Really, there's only one thing left that makes me cry, "I hate living here!!!" and that's when I have to do anything that involves driving, especially if I have to go downtown.  I finally found a park-and-pay lot that wasn't totally full, and then we had to walk for blocks and blocks to get to where we needed to be.  Luckily, the place we were going was near the Space Needle, so I was able to use that as a landmark.  The other thing that made it all so challenging was that this festival, called Folklife, was...well...let's just say there were about 3 million kooks in attendance.  It was wall-to-wall weirdos.  You could barely walk around.  And the worst part?  I thought this was the last gig of the season, but then the kids were asked to come back to Folklife on Monday.  So I have to do it all again!  [wracking sobs]

(It's hard to see, but Drew's on the far right in the video.)

Saturday

Pet Peeves:

• Clowns.  Some people think they're scary, but I just think they're creepy.  To be fair, I hate all mascot-y type things.  Going to Chuck-E-Cheese makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.

• People who say, "Methinks thou dost protest too much!" Really?  Somebody's trying to tell you that they're not the one who passed gas and suddenly you're Shakespeare? 

• The last half inch of any can or bottle of pop.  You know that's all backwash.

• People who are actually talking to and about you, but they're including themselves, too. Like awhile back I had to take one of the kids to the doctor...oh, it was when I thought Baylee's stitches might be getting infected...and the doctor acted like she (the doctor) had cut herself on a can of green beans, too.  She said, "Well, we're going to need to be more careful of our stitches, because we don't want to have to take antibiotics, do we?"

Baylee has an Instagram account that's used mostly to show pictures of Cooper.  She's kind of a 13-year-old version of a crazy cat lady, but at least her pictures are good!  lol

This afternoon Drew and I are going to his last house band gig.  (He decided not to try-out for summer house band.  He needs a break.)  It's downtown at something called the Northwest Folklife Festival.  The only problem is that...well...there are two problems.  One:  I'm doing this on my own, and I'm really nervous that I won't be able to find anywhere to park.  That's a real, honest-to-goodness thing to worry about in Seattle.  Two:  Drew fell while skateboarding yesterday.  He gashed his palm and sprained his wrist, and he can barely play.  I told him to take Ibuprofen and suck it up, because unless he's broken or lost a limb, he has to be there.  It's too late to back out now.  Calgon.

Brother and Sister

Baylee:  [talks to Drew for a long time about something that happened to her at the SoR]

Drew:  What?

Baylee:  You weren't listening?!

Drew:  I heard most of it.  I just wasn't listening at the beginning.

Baylee:  Well, forget it!  I'm not repeating it!

Drew:  Come on.  I'm interested now.

Baylee:  Nope.

Drew:  I want to know!

Baylee:  No way.

Drew:  Pleeeeease! It's like having the meat and skin of the story just flopping around with no skeleton!

Baylee:  That's what you get.

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Their conversation reminds me of the time I was around 13 and my brother was 10 or so, and we were doing dishes together.  (Do you remember having to do dishes with a sibling back in the olden days?  I was always the washer and Eric was always the dryer.)  Anyway, Eric told me something, but I didn't hear him, so I said, "What?"

Deciding to be a bratty brother, he replied, "I don't repeat myself."

"What?" I asked again.

"I don't repeat myself!"

*snicker*

Might Be Time to Open a Window

Drew:  Our house smells like our widowed aunt's house.

Me:  You don't have a widowed aunt.

Drew:  Well, if I did, this is what her house would smell like.  I can just picture her.  She's got a 70's TV in the living room that you can't really see because there's such a bad glare, but it doesn't even matter, because she only gets three channels.  And she makes goulash every time we come over.

Me:  ...

A Picture and a TV Show

This picture perfectly sums up Baylee's experience at the SoR so far.

She absolutely loves it there and she's made a ton of friends, but they're all middle school boys!  There are two other girls in the show she's in, but they're both much older than she is (they're around Drew's age) and so don't really give her the time of day.  And Baylee is fine with that.  She's got these goofy boys to hang out with, and together they have a great time.

I ran across a weird reality show the other day called The Principal's Office.  It's about what happens inside principal's offices in different high schools around the United States.  In watching several episodes, I've noticed that kids who get sent to the principal's office (How many times can I say "principal's office" in one paragraph?  A lot apparently!)  for breaking rules almost all have two things in common:

1. They're knuckleheads.
2. Their first instinct, which they go with pretty much every time, is to lie.

It's both cringe-worthy and a little bit funny to watch them try to squirm out of trouble.  I want to shake them and say, "Look.  You're caught.  There's only one option now:  Tell the truth without any embellishments, don't make excuses, and apologize sincerely.  You'll save yourself a lot of pain in the long run."

Hmm.

Sometimes I wonder when I'm going to decide that the blog has run its course.  I mean, I've been writing this thing for [stops to check] 9 years!  Wow, that surprises even me!  Maybe when Baylee has graduated high school I'll finally say, "Well, that was fun, but now all the kids are grown and I'm done." 

Or maybe that's when things will start to get really exciting.  lol  

Tuesday

I like this kid. She took me out for coffee today.

Looking at her with her braces reminds me:  Zach had an ortho appointment this morning and they told him that in two weeks he'll be finished with the invisaligns!  Yay!  He's got a beautiful smile now.  I'll be sure to get an "after" photo when the time comes.

Earlier today Baylee opened the back door of the car...the one that swings upward...and somehow it hit Drew right in the forehead pretty hard.  It was one of those times when you absolutely know that you should NOT laugh, because the person is in pain and it's not funny, but Satan takes over and you can't help yourself.  Both Baylee and I laughed so hard (all the while trying desperately to stop) that I cried.  It got to the point where I had a headache from laughing so hard.  I didn't feel like I should complain about it, though, considering.

PS:  Drew was annoyed with us, but in the end he couldn't help laughing just a little, too.   

Monday

Have you ever felt vaguely upset or uneasy, but you can't think why?  And then it hits you that it's because of [fill in the blank] that you read/saw/heard earlier?  It's like you went on to other things and even sort of forgot whatever it was, but a little part of your brain was still worrying over it.  That happened to me today with an email I got.  Blah stuff.

Sometimes, as my friend Craig says, "The people are the best part."  Other times, though, the people are just annoying gits.

Sunday

Yesterday I read an article called  "We Can't Just Send Our Kids Outside Anymore," because somebody linked to it on Facebook.  It didn't sit well with me, but it wasn't until I thought about it for awhile that I realized why:  It's just not true.  Everywhere we've ever lived we've sent our kids outside to play, and guess what?  Other kids in the neighborhood always join them!  In fact, in the neighborhood we're in now there are about 13 or 14 kids from ages 4 to 14, and they all play outside together.  I've seen them organize themselves into games of 4-square, sardines, capture-the-flag, and soccer.  And it takes exactly zero parent involvement.  The woman who wrote that article (By the way, she lives in Seattle.  Surprise, surprise.) needs to relax.  Kids will be kids.  You just have to let them.

Okay, I've got the scoop on JT.  He's stationed on a carrier ship.  He said he just spent a month off the coast of California, but soon he'll be sent to the other side of the world for 9 months.  Again, he's a really nice kid.  He's learning how to be a professional chef while he's in the Navy, and this morning he made us all breakfast.  It was AWESOME.  I told him he could stay at our house anytime.  lol    

Like Modern Day Pen Pals

The internet is a weird and wonderful thing, because you can reconnect with people from your past (like your friends from high school and college) and you can even make new friends.  Imagine that.  You can become friends...sometimes really good friends...with someone you've never met, who lives in a different part of the country or even a different part of the world!  Here's an example:

A long time ago, like when he was 14 or 15 years old, Zach met a kid on XBox Live named JT.  They were about the same age and they liked playing the same sorts of video games, and so they hit it off.  That friendship went on for years, even though they'd only met a couple times in real life, and then they both graduated from high school.  Zach started working full-time at the gear shop as you know, and JT joined the Navy.  Even through those life changes they still managed to maintain their friendship.   Now whenever JT is in the Seattle area and he has leave time, he visits.  He's over right now as a matter of fact.  He's a nice guy.  When he first walked in I apologized for the messy state of the house, and he said, "This isn't messy!  This is great!  You have carpet!"  LOL  (I'm not sure if he's on a ship or a submarine.  I'll have to ask.)

Anyway, I just think that's neat.  It's something that would've been hard to imagine even 15 or 20 years ago.

Kids These Days

This evening Zach was in the TV room eating dinner and watching My 600 Pound Life, when I walked through with some laundry.  The show looked interesting, plus I hadn't seen my boy all day, so I sat down next to him.  We watched together and chatted, and after awhile a commercial came on which showed a very beautiful young woman staring earnestly into the camera. After a couple beats she started talking all about how yeast infections itch and burn and make you want to hide under the covers.

I looked at Zach.  "Huh.  I wasn't expecting that."

"Well, this is TLC."

I laughed, then said, "Anyway, she made a bigger deal out of it than it is.  The truth is that yeast infections are really no problem...at least nowadays.  Back when I was younger..."

"Oh, dear," Zach interrupted.

"What?  I was just going to say that they didn't used to have over-the-counter medication for it.  You used to have to go see a doctor."

"Oh.  Okay."

 Sheesh.  What did he think I was going to say??



PS:  Hey!  It occurred to me that I just told my first "You kids have it easy these days!" story.  Let's see here.  How does it go?

When I was a kid, I...

• walked to and from school
• several miles
• uphill both ways
• in the snow
• wearing a dress
• without Monistat 7

Wednesday

Today during our lunch break Baylee and I went to the library.  (I'm listening to a series called The Prydain Chronicles, and it's great!  I recommend it, especially if you can get it on audiobook.) On the way there Baylee told me about a conversation that happened during a neighborhood game of Sardines...

Baylee [walking up to a porta potty in a neighbor's yard]:  I know you guys are in there!  Really?  "Occupied?"  You guys locked yourselves in?
One of the neighborhood kids:  Go away!  I'm not kids!  I'm an old Asian man!
Baylee:  I can see one of your bikes parked right over there.
One of the neighborhood kids:  That's not mine!
Baylee:  If you don't come out right now I'm tipping this thing over.

That's when 5 kids poured out.

(We told her to leave the porta potty alone from now on.)

Ack

Over the course of a few hours today I got a series of text messages from somebody I don't know.

"Hi."

"R u enjoying your day.  Yes?"

"Call me after u leave work."

I ignored them, hoping they'd just stop on their own, but they didn't.  The guy sent another one.

"Bring the nail clippers if u got em."

That's when I finally let him know that he had the wrong number, and he responded with, "My bad." Now I'm left wondering:  What the heck was his plan with the clippers???  

 

Fun

It's that time of year again.  It's warm enough that all the neighborhood kids are coming out of the woodwork, playing outdoor games together.  This evening it was Sardines.  The kids in the picture were waiting in our front yard while another kid was out hiding. 

(Do you know Sardines?  One person hides and everyone seeks.  Then when you find that person, you hide with him.  Eventually everyone is all crowded together like sardines in a can, trying to hide, while one poor person is left seeking, and that person is the loser.)

Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!  I found this picture of my mom and me from the early '70's.  At least I think that's me.

 

Wasn't my mom cute?  She had the most beautiful red hair, but the only one of us she passed it on to was my brother.  His hair was strawberry blonde.  (I won't mention that I used to torment him when we were kids by calling him "orange-y.")

Today was good.  I went to church and ended up going to Starbucks during the Sunday school hour with a couple of my girlfriends.  It was nice to catch up with them.  Then during the church hour Baylee and I taught the 4's and 5's.  There were only 6 of them this time and they all happened to be well-behaved.  After church we went out to eat as a family, and then I took a nap.  All in all, a nice Mother's Day.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike didn't get to go to church, because he had to take Drew to an early morning house band event.  They played at a 5K race called "Run Like a Mother."  One of the parents thought to get pictures, which I'm glad of because the season is wrapping up.  The kids will do their last gig together at the end of this month.

This is all but one, I think, of the kids in house band this year.  (The woman in the wig is the coordinator of the event.)

A Few Pictures from Today

Drew did a good job playing the "Star Spangled Banner" today.  He got to be way up high on a platform, and he played for a bunch of teams at the same time.

The little guys in red are the School of Rock sponsored team.

He was laughing about something with the SoR music director, Lori, beforehand.

In other news, it's a beautiful day, and Baylee and the dog looked cute sitting out in it.

And Mike got me these pretty, bright flowers for Mother's Day.

Friday

Yesterday's conversation about the Phantom of the Opera...

Me:  The way Christine was when she saw the phantom's face was a big over-reaction.  He wasn't that bad looking!  I mean, sure, he had some tufty hair and his face was wrinkly and strange on one side, but that's it.

Mike:  ...

Me:  When I was a kid my grandpa had a friend named Roger.  I'll tell you right now, Roger was a lot weirder looking than the phantom.

Mike:  ...

Me:  I mean, the phantom was odd, but there's no way he escaped from a circus sideshow, like the storyline says!  It just doesn't follow!

Mike:  ...


(I'm glad we had that little talk.)

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Last night in the TV room I was climbing on the couch, trying to get back behind Baylee's drumset so I could straighten things up back there, when I cracked my head on a piece of wood.  The wood is part of a thing to hang clothes on, as the last people who lived here used that room as a bedroom.  Here, maybe I can find a picture of it.

There it is above Baylee's head.  I smashed my head into the side of it, and the pain was awful. I kind of fell back onto the couch, where Mike was sitting, and then I held my aching skull and actually cried.  Poor Mike was like, "Oh my gosh, what happened???  Are you okay!  Speak to me!"  It's funny now, but holy cow, that was the worst I've felt in a very long time.

Practicing

The SoR got a request from the local little league organization to send a guitar player out to a game to do the "Star Spangled Banner."  They said they wanted it "shreddy."  (That means they want a lot of crazy flair.)  The school asked Drew yesterday if he would volunteer, he agreed, and now he's spending most of today playing the song over and over, trying this and that, attempting to figure out a rock version of our well-known, well-respected national anthem.  I'll be honest with you.  This is either going to be cool, or it's going to be a Rosanne Barr situation.  I'm nervous.   PS:  This is happening on Saturday.

Thursday

Weight Watcher Victories:

• My scale victory is that next time I go to a weigh-in I should reach and pass the 10 pounds lost mark.
• My non-scale victory is that yesterday when I got a pair of jeans out of the dryer and put them on, it was easy.  (It's been a bit of an...umm...wrestling match lately.)

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The Phantom of the Opera was really good!  The set was amazing, especially.  It's hard to even describe it, except to say that it was huge, it revolved, and it was 2-stories high.  Another really cool thing was that there was a giant chandelier that hung over the audience.  At one point the phantom shoots it with fire and it starts to come crashing down.  Actually, there was a lot of fire in this show, as it was a favorite weapon of the phantom's.  All in all, it was very fun and exciting!

I took this on our way.  We left at about 4:30, while the sun was still shining, because we had to take traffic into account.  Plus we had dinner downtown at the Cheesecake Factory.  That was a treat.

 And this was right before we went into the show.

Wednesday

I'm pretty tall (5'11"), so there are very few times in life when I come across someone who's so much taller than me that I feel towered over.  In fact, off the top of my head (haha) I can only think of two people who I've had to look way up at.

One of them is named Bill Rigg.  He's a friend of my mom's side of the family from when my mom and aunts were teens, plus he went to college with my mom (I think).  Then he went into ministry, and he'd often preach at the chapel service where I went to camp.  That man is a giant.  He's the kind of guy who, when you shake his hand, makes you feel like you're in the grip of a kindly bear.  Your hand feels tiny and your head is cranked way back.

Another guy who's huge is Zeke from the SoR.  I see him from afar so often that I forget, but then once in awhile I'm standing right in front of him, and it strikes me all over again how gargantuan he is.  Not only that, but he has long red hair and a beard.  The students say that when he's mad, it's like you just ran afoul of a Viking.

All that to say, I think I'm finally coming across a third person who's way up there, and that's Drew.  Of course I see him all the time, so it's easy to kind of forget his height, but sometimes, like when I give him a hug, I realize that he's a crazy amount taller than all of us.  He's 6'4" or 6'5" now, and I don't think he's done growing.  The only thing is that, unlike the other two guys, Drew is a beanpole.  Hopefully he'll fill out.

----------------------------------------------------

In other news, I'm really excited because tonight Mike, Baylee, and I are going to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Paramount Theater in Seattle!  It's gonna be amazing!  Here's a YouTube video about it...

Goodbye, Paul

Today was my last day teaching Paul.  It was challenging (because he's veeeeeeeery fidgety), but so much fun.  He's the most loving, big-hearted kid you could ever hope to know.

This morning he (and his mom) had gifts when he came.  Let's see...there were flowers and chocolate and muffins and a card.

We had a fun last day.  He got to turn a 2-d figure into one that was 3-d for math (plus do some problems in the textbook), and then we took turns reading pages of a Magic Treehouse book.

 Monday and Tuesday mornings are sure going to feel emptier without my little buddy.  He's come a long way this school year, and it's been awesome to watch his growth.

Season Preview Show

Yesterday was the season preview show for the SoR, and it was really fun!  First of all, it was at a cool circus-themed venue called Hale's Palladium.

Second, tons of people showed up.

And third, the kids did an outstanding job.  Honestly, I was so proud of Drew after this particular moment that I got choked up...

Fun little sidenote:  Drew told us on the way home that the crowd was so crazy through the ending of that song that he could hardly hear himself.

I Could Be Wrong

I've seen so many memes, articles, and videos posted on FB about the mom who found her teenaged son looting in Baltimore and did something about it.  Every one of those stories says basically the same thing, which is that the mom "disciplined" her son.

Here's my thing.  I'm not at all against corporal punishment.  I'm also not against that mom doing something about her son.  I commend her for that!  But come on.  She didn't "discipline" him.  That's not the right word.  Discipline is more thoughtful than that.  It's more planned and in control.  She didn't even really "beat" or "whoop" him, as the articles also sometimes say.  What she did is smack him upside the head a few times and scream profanity as she tried to pull him away.  I don't want to lessen her bravery, but let's call it what it really was:  a mom getting her freak on in the moment.

Am I wrong?