Friday, February 28, 2014

Moms on the Run


There are just about 10 weeks in this plan:

Couch to 5K Plan

Dear self: Get off your butt.


annnnnnd there are about 10 weeks until this road race: (which I am signed up for.)

Moms On the Run 2014


Run to your mom.  Run away from your mom, 
run because you are a mom or want to be one, 
or want to pretend you aren't one for 30-40 minutes.







Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Everyone's Story Matters.


Recently, our entire family has been obsessed with the book: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.  
Thank you La-la for the super cool book! 
This book is elegant in its prose and in its illustrations.  I also realized upon the 1000th time reading it that it is riddled with symbolism.  At least I felt this way when I was grasping for straws to cope with the unexpected death of my neighbor and co-worker. I felt it was a perfect allegory for death and the peacefulness of the ascension into heaven.  
                 

Normally, I GREATLY DISLIKE euphemisms. I just want to roll my eyes and yell: "Tell it like it is!  Be real! Use the correct terminology! Stop sugarcoating things!"  Well, predictably having children has softened my rigid heart of stone. 

(Since neighbor Al died, I am much more open to euphemisms because I needed to explain to Mini #1 where Al was.  I feel it has been more challenging because Al was not that old.  He was not noticeably ill and he was still out and about around the yard when the weather was nice.)


In the book, Morris Lessmore was a young man who was wandering aimlessly when he found a comfortable niche as a caretaker of books in a library.  In his free time, Morris wrote in his own book.  Each day "he wrote of his joys and sorrows, of all that he knew and everything he hoped for."

One day, Morris “wrote the last page in his book.”  The books were sad, but they understood.  It was time for Morris to move on.  
                                                                               *****

Dedicated to Al and Eddie, who wrote the last pages in their books.  May you be peacefully drifting through the sky carried along by a festive squadron of whatever makes you happy. 


Upon further investigation - this is not at all what this book was intended to be about.
However, this book brings me peace  and it's my blog... so "whatever"


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Saving Face

I come from a long line of practical- no-bs- French Canadian women....with bitchy resting faces.

Ladies, we suffer in silence no longer.


Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Precipitation: A Haiku

I dedicate this haiku to anyone and everyone affected by copious amounts of white stuff:

SNOW STORM

Piles of snow, you blow.
Snowblower, you're broken, ugh.
Thanks plow-guy Brian.



I left this in my mailbox.  Amateur drug deal? Nooooope. Monetary exchange for plowing our driveway.






Saturday, February 15, 2014

Win/Lose and Draw: Why I am SO over January and February

Here it is an airing of grievances about the months of January and February.  My hope is that after this bitchfest summarization of a post, that I can "get over myself" and get back to my regular scheduled blogging.

1.) I returned to work.  I love my co-workers, my students are nice and after 9 years of teaching, I don't have a lot of stress about school, prep or anything like that. #WIN. WIN. WIN.

2.)  It took me a month to complete any and all assorted paperwork that accumulated during the time I was out on maternity leave. #DRAW.

3.)  My neighbor died.  Neighbor Al was 58 years old.  He lived with his deaf, senile, elderly mother.  They used to argue loudly.  Now there is a bizarre silence at the house.  When we saw the body bag removed from their house, I was hoping that his mother died, because well, she was old. Not so much it was Al.  #LOSE. LOSE.

4.)  Then about a week later, my friend/co-worker died.  Ed was 48 years old.  He was literally love with work boots on.  We were scheduled to go on a yearly gambling trip together in two weeks with other co-workers.  I was really looking forward to it.  Our school community and actual community are still in shock.  Totally unexpected and craptastic.  # LOSE LOSE LOSE.

5.)  Our house caught the plague.  We tried to avoid it...but...it is basically unavoidable.  Daycare is like a petri dish.  So that was two weeks of mini-human grossness.  Whatever. #Draw

6.) We are not sleeping.  Still.  It got to the point that it was so bad, I didn't even want to talk about it, but then I felt like I had to talk about it (so to explain, my momnesia and my glazed over look.)  Finally, after process of elimination ( amber necklace, gas drops, elevated crib, sacrificing a live chicken) we determined that mini #2 had essentially a 3 week DOUBLE ear infection. #LOSE.

7.)  It takes mini #1 like hours to settle down for bed? By the time he sleeps, mini #2 is awake again.  Did I mention we are not sleeping? # LOSE.

8.)  About a week ago, the hubs and I went to Sugar Loaf mountain to hang out with friends and ski and board.  It was awesome and we both slept 8 hours in a row, two nights in a row. We also go to hang out with two other couples that make up our "Seacoast Family".  #WIN WIN.

9.)  We have an army of help.  During the ski weekend in which mini #2 was screaming every time she was put down and mini #1 had quazi decided that he wanted to be potty trained....my parentals and my in-laws manned the ship of crazy.  I am not sure what we would do without them. #WIN WIN

10.)  It won't stop snowing and our snow blower is broken and we are in a polar vortex half the time so playing outside is virtually impossible which leads to excess energy and as a result...no sleep. #LOSE.

Well if you lost interest in my list of lamo complaints, I don't blame you.  I think I lost interest too/accidentally fell asleep.

Here's to a better March.