A Sight For Sore Eyes

The older I get the longer winter seems. I'm sure it's about the same length as it was when I was a child, but for some reason I get less tolerant of snow, cold, bitter winds, and the lack of anything pretty to look at out the window. Sure, I'll grant you that snow is pretty while it's falling down. But give it a couple hours and it'll be brown from the dirt it hits.

About 11 years ago in the cold winter of January we moved into our current home. I looked forward to spring to see what might come out of the earth....to see what the former owners may have planted. Boy, was I disappointed. Not one tulip nor daffidil. Nuthin'. So that fall I bought 4 tulip bulbs and a handful of crocus bulbs from a local nursery, stuck them in the ground near our entry way out the front, and hoped for the best. I was very pleased the following spring with what came out of the ground....and every spring since. The crocus are the first to burst out of the ground, but unfortunately this year they flopped over after the single digit evening temps and being pummeled with a couple of snow falls. So I turned my attention to the tulips.

I was a little worried they might not make it. Last year we pretty much ripped out almost all the bushes from the front of our house, including the boxwood (which were half dead) near the entry way. I had planted those tulips and crocus in between the bushes, so I lifted them out last summer before Mike dug out the stumps and moved the bulbs to my garden out back. I was hoping they would survive. What a pleasant surprise to see that they did.

I'm not sure what it is about these tulips in particular that I really like. Maybe their vibrant color, their unique shape.....or maybe it's just they were the first thing I ever planted after we moved into our home. All I know is that I was very happy to see them bloom again.

That's Not Very Reassuring

Today the school sent home a "Dear Parents" note to let us know how in-tune they are with parental concern over all the school violence going on over the past several years. They wanted to make sure parents know that they're on top of things, that they "continually review and revise safety and emergency procedures carefully. [They] have developed lockdown procedures in conjunction with the [local] Police Department......" The note goes on to say they'll have a drill later this week prior to the children coming to school and to not be alarmed by police cars in the parking lot.

I know they want to reassure me as a parent that the school where I send my child for most of his day is a safe place. But I think they missed the point. I don't find the need for lockdown drill's in my child's elementary school very reassuring at all.

Word of the Year

Did you know the powers that be at the American Dialect Society vote on a Word of the Year (WOTY)? How did I miss this? Some of them are pretty good! Take 2006, for instance. Plutoed is the WOTY (demoted or devalued, as happened to the former planet Pluto). Loads of people are getting plutoed due to our economy! WOTY for 1990 was bushlips (insincere political rhetoric.)

Can you believe the WOTY in 1996 was mom? What's up with that? No one ever hear the word before this? There's no surprise with 1999's WOTY: Y2K (didn't you just want to scream by the end of of 1999 if you heard that word one more time?!) It's also no surprise that 2008's WOTY was bailout.

Some words in the past that didn't make the cut: Blook (a blog turned into a book); Ego Surfing (searching the web for your own name); Happy Kwanhanamas! (Kwanzaa + Hanukkah + Christmas); whale tail (the appearance of thong or g-string underwear above the waistband of pants, shorts, or a skirt); muffin top (the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans); partner reduction (divorce).....just to name a few.

Looks like we'll be waiting to find out what 2009's WOTY till early next year. I don't think they take nominations for WOTY till December so we all have some time to come up with something. However, the American Dialect Society is currently taking suggestions for their Word of the Decade (2000-2009). If interested, you can read all about that here.

A Good Day

This whole weekend was great and a reminder of what an awesome God we have! After a powerful Good Friday service, our whole family served together in the Kindergarten and First Grade room for the next service. Mike was the teacher, since that's where he normally serves, and I was small group leader for Kindergarten boys (oy vay!) We went to Easter service early on Saturday (over Easter and Christmas, our church does multiple holiday services over a period of a couple days since there are so many folks that come.) Sunday I was able to cook for my family, and we were joined by my Dad and Candace. It was a wonderful time of food, relaxing, talking and just enjoying the awesome day!

Here are a few photos of the kids:

Oh, how my girl loves shoes.....

Eric is off and running to find eggs

Both kids seemed to be in a hurry to find all the eggs!

"I get knocked down, but I get up again"

This song suddenly popped into my head as I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself. As a general rule, I try not to dwell on the negatives going on in my life. I fare better if I sort of block them out and don't deal with them on a minute-by-minute basis. That's not to say I live in fantasy land. I do "deal" with the bad stuff, but when there's too much of it, my coping mechanism is to file it all away in a remote, yet accessible, place rather than constantly think and talk about it. There's a lot of crappy stuff going on all around me.....some stuff I'm "livin' it", but mostly the bad stuff is happening to people I love. I feel helpless; my heart aches....unbelievably aches. I can't do much but pray. Even that strikes me as pointless when it seems every good thing that happens is promptly followed up with something bad. Lately I've been wondering why bother. I know I have many things I'm thankful for, but at times those wonderful things get overshadowed by the tremendous emotional roller coaster and stress I'm under right now. You could say this is a really difficult season of life, and at times (like today) I know it's not me "hanging on", but God holding me in the palm of His hand lest I slip away.


"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." ~ Lamentations 3:19-23

Worst Food Ever

I'm back on my diet and exercise regimen after falling off the wagon last October. Sadly I've gained back the few pounds I lost last spring, and if I don't get busy being healthy again I will have to buy a new summer wardrobe in a larger size. No thanks.

I do think 25 years of on and off smoking whacked out my metabolism, so combined with my age, this equates to very little food for me and daily exercise just to lose a pound or two a week. Fortunately I don't smoke anymore, but all the weight I gained after I quit over 2 years ago remains a stubborn problem area for me. I get so tired of trying to come up with healthy and tasty food. They should be a package deal in my opinion. I'm tired of "grilled this or that" with a salad or steamed broccoli....again. I need some fresh ideas. Unfortunately I won't find them here:


Sonic Minute Maid Cranberry Juice Slush (“Route 44”–extra large)
616 calories
165 g sugars


Taco Bell Grilled Stuffed Beef Burrito
680 calories
30 g fat (10 g saturated fat)
2,120 mg sodium

McDonald's Large Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake
1,160 calories
27 g fat (16 g saturated fat)
168 g sugar
510 mg sodium


P.F. Changs Wonton Soup Bowl
693 calories
24 g fat (3 g saturated)
5,328 mg sodium
49 g carbs


Red Lobster Seafood Shrimp Trio
1,030 calories
58 g fat (13 g saturated)
3,490 mg sodium


IHOP Garden Omelet
1,150 calories


Ruby Tuesday Avocado Turkey Burger
1,088 calories
63 g fat
62 g carbs


Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll
813 calories
32 g fat (5 g trans fat)
117 g carbs


Dairy Queen Large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard
990 calories
39 g fat (24 g saturated fat)
114 g sugars


Dunkin' Donuts Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin
450 Calories


Macaroni Grill Spaghetti & Meatballs with Tomato Basil Sauce
1,500 Calories



Coldstone Creamery Small Shakes (all)
Min. 1,000 Calories
Min 92 grams of sugar
1.5 grams of transfat
Large shakes have nearly double the calories.

LegoLand

Eric is big-time into all things Lego. Since it's spring break, we decided to go visit LegoLand yesterday with the kids. Having a couple freebie kid passes made the trip less traumatic for me. I can't say I'd ever go back there (unless someone else was paying, lol), even though the Lego creations were really cool. For the $40 it cost for all of us to get in there, our kids each got one free white Lego brick with the entrance fee. What a deal! Well OK, we got to go on a dragon ride and see a short 4-D movie....plus go to the over-run play area.

I'm hard to please with my high standards. I think for $19 per adult, we should get something more than a walk-through of some Lego creations. I had hoped we could attend one of the workshops with a Lego master builder, but that was at 10:50 a.m. and that appeared to be it. Guess I dropped the ball by not asking when we got there, seeing as there were no signs anywhere about it and the cashier didn't even hand us so much as a site map (maybe he dislikes coupon users who bring their own cameras.) If I weren't trying to stop acronym cyber swearing, I'd be typing WTyouknowwhat, ya know?! In this case, entrance fees do not in any way equate to the value of the venue.

On the plus side, Eric has switched career paths. Gone are the dreams to be a carpenter. He plans to be a master builder of Legos. Sounds like a fun job, actually!

Hippo in the "jungle land" area

The kids with Batman

Indiana Jones

Eric was randomly chosen to push a button in the pretend Lego "factory"

Hagrid

Anakin Skywalker gone bad

Young Jedi Warrior

One guess who feels at home in front of the camera