 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know, as soon as I bragged about my new health club, I started to wonder if I had rose-colored glasses on, I did. I did enjoy my first few months there and I was introduced to Zumba, but once the fall schedule came out, so little was fitting into my schedule and like last year, I think I'm going to work out while the kids are in school, but I don't. There are too many doctor appointments or volunteer opportunities and wasn't I going to get unpacking those boxes I haven't unpacked in years? Then helping in the daycare sounded like a good deal to save us money, but I don't enjoy it. I wish I enjoyed everyone else's children, but I find it quite challenging to discipline others when I'm not really their teacher. I have enough drippy noses and coughing at home to take care of without spending two hours getting all those other children's germs. I'm definitely not a baby whisperer of uncontrollable crying of children to whom I'm a stranger. The daycare part isn't licensed and isn't well run and I realized talking to another parent at Cassie's preschool, that I couldn't recommend the daycare for her one year old. Finally this, another health club is scheduled to open nearby, and some people wanted to teach classes at both places and my place made them pick. No moonlighting I guess. They actually made one woman leave in the beginning of just a general workout because she said she wouldn't quit planning to work at the other club. Anyway, it just makes me mad. I figure if you show up and do your job well, then what's the big deal. I can't imagine anyone is making a fortune being a fitness instructor. So, I'm quitting. I can't associate myself with that place any longer. I'm going to Zumba at the best teacher's new dance studio because she left back in August to open her own place. I added as a spouse to Todd's workout place which is over by ACT and Cassie's preschool. When I can go, it will be those days and I'll be closer to picking her up if I can only squeeze in a 30-minute workout. It's not too expensive to join Todd's membership, so if I don't get there as often as I like, then I don't feel too bad about the money. Now, if I could only convince myself to go to bed after Colbert instead of staying up and getting things accomplished, I'd be healthier. For two reasons, I would get more sleep especially with Cassie's late night wake ups and because I eat horribly bad at night. I have no will power and if I eat something, I eat something else, and then something else . . . Reality returns to my exercise regimen! Tags: exercise, health, volunteer
Current Location: Home (on the giant iMac)
Current Mood:  realistic
Current Music: Still the Heffalump movie
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I had this wonderful opportunity to attend a book discussion with a Pulitizer Prize Winner! The perks of living by the University of Iowa. It just happens that Marilynne Robinson attends my church. They asked her to discuss her new novel, Home. She won the Pulitizer for her novel, Gilead, which introduced the characters in her newer novel. I sat through the book discussion as someone just excited to get back into a book discussion situation even though I hadn't read her novels at all. I was taking notes and didn't say a word! Yes, it is possible for me to simply be quiet and take it all in. It was wonderful! Apparently, I am still shy around authors because I chickened out of actually speaking to her directly afterward. Also, since I hadn't read her books yet I think that made me feel a little silly, too. Was I going to pretend I was a big fan? Anyway, that day I had the chance to go to the local independent book store and her novel, Gilead, is in paperback now, so I bought that and I'll probably wait until Home is in paperback later. I'm just a little way in and it's unique and thought-provoking and I had to find my yellow highlighter!! Anybody else read it or her other novels? Tags: books, personal
Current Location: Home (on the giant iMac)
Current Mood:  excited
Current Music: Halloween Heffalump movie
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK, so August took forever and September flew by, and now it is the fourth of October. It sure feels like autumn. We have had some cool days and I finally started getting some outside yard work accomplished. Today, I have big plans before we head out to the Boy Scout event. I need to start trimming the flowers/weeds in the garden areas and plan where we are going to plant more flowers or try to start grass. We need to decide on a perimeter of the play area so next year we can put in wood chips or something. Where should the sandbox go? Big decisions today! Alex got a tiny blue spruce tree plug and I want to plant that today. I'm trying to find a good place if it grows to its potential and yet afraid it won't make it. We'll try though! Alex's marigold from kindergarten grew tall all summer and just flowered this week. I couldn't believe how many times I had to revive it from completely wilted, but it was a hardy flower! I'm trying to find a good balance between family, home, and politics. Admittedly, the next 30 days will be superbusy as I try to volunteer and stay informed on the political campaigns both nationally and locally. I don't know much about the local races and now I have to start learning about them. I am volunteering with Alex and Cassie's schools. I have the Co-op and field trips with Cassie's school and Alex's school is going to a different apple orchard in October. I'm getting to know the kids at the bus stop and we have some fun conversations. The sixth grade boy and I walked home talking about Shakespeare and Hamlet one day. He actually had the book open and was reading it while walking. He recited a couple of quotes, too. Cassie's school "teaches" some Spanish and I don't think they actually know Spanish or have a curriculum they are following. The teacher isn't pronouncing the words correctly and they didn't reverse the noun/adjective order as Spanish does. I can't handle seeing that, so I'm probably going to end up helping with the Spanish at her preschool. I may have to unpack my Spanish materials and empty a few more boxes! Alex has a Spanish class before school once a week and he's actually learning Spanish songs and vocabulary. I offered to sub if they needed one. It looks like a good program and maybe I can get some of their ideas for Cassie's preschool. I spent one long night unpacking the craft supplies and getting projects organized. My children are so prolific and it's hard to throw much away. It's mostly organized and more accessible now. Now the looming pile of boxes in my study is the PAST--the boxes that really haven't been unpacked for many, many years. All my teaching materials are here now and I need to decide what is actually usable again if and when I return to teaching. (Those will have to wait until after November 4!) My brain is too tired and busy for free reading. I'm packing it with so much political info that I can't relax and get lost in Jane Austen novels. I have the books on the shelf and ready to go when my brain is ready to enjoy them. Until then, I did finally start watching Days of Our Lives. I believe I'm watching shows from April! I have had some major plot points spoiled for me and I'm very selective on the storylines I'm following versus fastforwarding. It's nice to have some silly nonsense to distract me! Well, my alloted LJ update time is up for today. Hope to hear from the rest of you soon! Tags: books, family, goals, yard
Current Location: Home (on the giant iMac)
Current Mood:  awake
Current Music: Handy Manny
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's already the fifth day, too! Too much on my mind to sleep tonight. (Rambling Alert! Warning: I go on and on, jumping from topic to topic, not quite stream-of-consciousness, but definitely not well organized. I never did like outlining!) Peter, Happy Belated Birthday!! We thought of you yesterday and hope you had a wonderful day! I just about have all the schedules in place except for Core Fitness. Their new schedule comes out next week and then I can see if some of the exercise classes fit into the many schedules I will be juggling for the upcoming months. Finally, my foot is better. My horribly cheap tennis shoes created a blister on the bottom of my foot, and after weeks trying to keep exercising through the pain, it took four days off to get it healed! I'm exercising pain-free again! I can't fit in Zumba this week though and that's a little disappointing. I bought hip hop shoes to wear and that should help my feet stay healthy! Cheap shoes are fine for the elliptical and weight training. Over the past few weeks, I have decided that I do not like calling myself a "stay-at-home mom." First, I don't "stay-at-home." I'm rarely home. I've never liked "homemaker" either because I think that I should have a cleaner house and enjoy cooking more to be a "homemaker." I'm no June Cleaver. So what can I say when I get to the occupation line on all the forms I fill out? I haven't found anything I like except "volunteer" or "non-employed" which I think I'm making up, but "unemployed" sounds so negative to me. I'm a "not-for-profit" mom, but what would be a "for-profit" mom: a "working" mom? I know I'm over thinking this, but descriptions and words matter. I am still a teacher at heart, but since I'm not currently employed by a school district, should I put that? Oh, the things I decide to fret over! I'm very excited to work outside in our yard now that the rain stopped and autumn seems to be in the air. (Gustav was gentle to us and brought some very cool temperatures after the high humidity.) I'm going to a rain garden seminar on Saturday. I had a local group called "Backyard Abundance" come and give me some advice and ideas. I wish I had known about rain gardens in Asbury because that is what I should have done to the "swamp." I'm a little disappointed that the local landscaper didn't mention it when I described our drainage problems. That's not my problem anymore though. Our neighbor has one and Coralville has funding you can apply for to help construct it. The purpose is to create a basin for the rain to accumulate in with plants that thrive in wet conditions. This keeps the rain from running off into the sewer system. At least, I think this is what it does. I'll know more after Saturday! I'm wondering if I should give up on "Days of Our Lives." I still want to watch it, but I'm currently 19 weeks behind and last week I missed taping the SoapNet marathon because they had a Labor Day "Beverly Hills, 90210" marathon all day. Should I just jump back in and simply read the synopses in the Soap Opera Digests? I haven't found the time to enjoy them yet. With the Olympics and conventions over, I might have some time, but I still don't like watching it when the kids are around. I don't know if there are many new shows to watch as the new season starts. The Christian Slater show looked intriguing during the Olympics, but I hardly watch "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," or "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" now. Maybe if we get Alex and Cassie to bed earlier, I might be able to stay awake for a few shows? I don't know. Another topic I'm fretting over. All the "Days" tapes are starting to mock me! And when I missed last week, I just wondered if I should give up. Part of me thinks NBC is going to cancel it in 2009 anyway. But then, I think sometimes I just should watch something completely frivolous. Well, I'm hitting that point where I doubt I'll fall asleep if I try, but I sure do need some energy for today. I need to be up in three hours. Well, it's been fun posting! If you aren't logged in, you may miss my updates on alexbryce and cassiecate!! Yes, I actually updated their journals which I hope to do more frequently. I think Cassie's said it had been 76 weeks since it was last updated! Of course, her baby book is four years since "last updated!" Maybe I should work on those and the photo albums, too! Oh, the projects I have in mind! See why I'm not sleeping tonight! (In full disclosure though, it's mostly because of the Republican Convention and my deepest fear that McCain/Palin will win. Mostly, I stay optimistic, but the last two nights really negatively affected me, so I'm trying to work through it and focus on my family. It's working a little.) Well, if you made it this far, you must have some time to waste on the computer, too. I hope the rest of you start posting again soon. (Brian is excluded. Thanks for posting often!) I don't know how to "nudge" people, but I'm wondering how everyone else is doing. If you haven't tried Twitter, you should. I love it! As an English teacher, I love saying what's on my mind while keeping it under 140 words. I love a writing challenge!! Now, I'm procrastinating ending this post! I crack myself up!! It's just like my phone calls. I never want to end them and always find one more (or two or three) more topics to talk about after I initially say, "I better let you go." I better get back to putting my calendar together to make sure everyone continues to get everywhere we are supposed to be on time! Something tell me I might not be quite all together tomorrow . . . Good night! Good morning! Good afternoon! Tags: coralville, goals, home, nature, volunteer
Current Location: Home (on the giant iMac)
Current Mood:  contemplative
Current Music: crickets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I have found an excellent place to exercise here. It's a huge facility with lots of ellipticals and three kinds of PreCor ones alone. Todd was using them at his place and when we, briefly, considered buying one, I looked over their products online. They are the best that I've been on at the different places I've used ellipticals. I decided I didn't need the women's only place, but this does have a room for women only with your typical weight machines. Until I feel confident on those, I will stay in the women's only room. When I use my favorite ellipticals, I'm up on the balcony and if I turn around, I can look down on the daycare area and see what Alex and Cassie are doing and they can see me, too. When I started out, I met a mom who was also at Gym-Nest with her daughter and she was working in the daycare at Core Fitness. She told me that if I spend a two-hour shift a week in the daycare, then my membership is free and the daycare is free. It took over a week to schedule because the manager is difficult to reach, but I started yesterday. I still don't have an official pass or card or anything. It's hard to understand why the "manager" is so difficult to get a hold of and that the main desk doesn't have a copy of the schedule. Ah, well, I don't want to be in charge of it myself, I just didn't want to keep begging for Day Passes. I wanted to work for two hours. I still need to refine the shift, but she hasn't replied to my email. (Not surprising.) It's a 24-hour place with only certain daycare hours, but they are convenient daycare hours and once Alex is in school, it will just be Cassie or I'll go while she's in preschool on Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings. They have liked going so far and I did pay for them to go unlimited for one month. But that's all I've paid! Now, for the best part, and why I call it "nirvana." It has lots of different classes that I have only just begun to try. I started with Zumba. It takes Latin and other styles of dance and gives you an awesome workout while dancing!! Now, if that isn't perfect for me, I don't know what is!! I had tried a similar DVD set and liked it but wasn't good about doing it at home. This is so much better. The instructors turn the lights down, so it seems like you're in a dance club and they have a raised platform to lead us all in the dances. It's awesome!! With the best instructor so far, I've been smiling and dancing for an entire hour. I don't remembering smiling during step aerobics, etc. It's really fun and basic dances that I catch onto quickly. Zumba!!! Zumba Everybody!!!! Zumba!!!! Also, they have the typical aerobics and strengthening classes which I hope to try soon. Even a spin room, and that looks quite intimidating, but I'll try it. They have Yoga as well and I really want to try that. With the move, I have increased the problems in my left arm. Even though I can pick up boxes and move them, my nerves don't like that and my numbness is increasing again to where it was last summer before I started at the chiropractor. I need to get a chiropractor into the schedule here, and if I get more arm strengthening exercises on a regular basis, I hope it will return to its slightly odd and minimal numbness. The place is only about 10 minutes from our house and they have a second location in Iowa City and I can go there as well. Those classes might be closer to Cassie's school. They are on a summer schedule now and everyone tells me there will be even more variety once the University of Iowa is back in session. I've been doing really well getting there 3-5 times a week. I'm going again this morning--Zumba is at 10:30!! Tags: exercise, goals, health
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: energetic
Current Music: DragonTales
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I always keep checking to see if anyone ELSE posted, so maybe I stop waiting until I have the perfect time to write the wonderfully insightful post that's always going in my head and just write SOMETHING! It's been over a month since we've moved in and I think all is going quite well. We've had some bumps and as school registration looms, there is probably some document that I will be unable to find, but we'll get through it. I have filled up our calendar with many (hopefully not too many) fun activities. We had a weekend vacation to Naperville, yes, sunny, beautiful Naperville. The weather was perfect for an outdoor picnic and family party with Todd's college friends. The hotel was fine and its pool was just right for Alex and Cassie and me. I could touch the bottom all the time!! I have learned how to "tweet" on twitter.com and I'm Earthaworm. If you want to "friend" me or whatever. I still don't have all the lingo down. If the election goes as I hope it will, I'm planning to become "Earthaworm" and retire "Liberalworm." We'll see on November 5 how it all turned out. Unless it's a landslide and then I'll know on November 4. A girl can dream and HOPE!! We have our first video on YouTube now. We are ATACvideo if that helps you find Cassie dancing at the DuPage County Children's Museum mirror tunnel. Todd's cell phone isn't the best for recording, but it's on YouTube. I'd give you links, but that would take time and I'm being requested to help clean up the living room. Guess who's asking. I decided maybe you should have to clean up your toys in the living room BEFORE you can computer time. It's today's strategy. I still haven't watched my NetFlex movie from May or any of my Days of Our Lives, but I have hope!! "AWWW,, MOMMY"" Gotta go!! Tags: family, goals, personal
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Mozart
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Somehow Dubuque and my parents' house south of town is doing just fine despite the rest of the state's historic flooding. It's "unbelievable" (as one young newscaster kept saying to describe the flooding). We have fairly non-stop coverage on the local channels and when I think that just a few weeks ago an EF5 tornado destroyed so many homes and took 8 lives . . . and now this. They had a Red Cross donation drive on a local channel soon after the tornado and they raised over $100,000 and now nearly the whole state is going to need a donation drive. If you thought corn prices were high because of ethanol, just wait for the price when there isn't a corn crop at all from the US Midwest. Oil is skyrocketing with no end in sight and Mother Nature is destroying any chance to replant this year's crop. Our economy is going to be even worse than it is now--that's my humble guess. We are supposed to go down to Solon for the weekend and go to see a dance group perform at the University of Iowa. They have moved the event from the art auditorium (sewer issues) to the basketball sports arena. Part of the highway we typically use to get to Solon is closed due to flooding from the Cedar River. Part of I-80 is closed between Iowa City and Davenport where it crosses the Cedar River. Do we go if we can find open roads? As of now, we are going to wait and see what tonight's storms do to the historic flooding already occurring. At this point, there is a way to Solon/Iowa City, just not the most direct way. Todd's apartment lost power for about an hour and a half a neighbor told him when he got home tonight. I'm planning to bring more flashlights and candles if we go. The thunderstorms are still rolling through tonight. I just don't see an end to the flooding. The forecast clears for a little while after tonight's storms and then more is predicted for Sunday into Monday. When will the Flood of 2008 end? (At least we don't attach some person's name to the destruction.) I remember the Flood of 1993. Years are much better than names to describe a natural disaster, in my opinion. My heart aches for all the people whose homes are destroyed and for the loss of life from the tornadoes. So far the flooding hasn't caused any deaths in Iowa and it sounds like everyone is following the evacuation orders and volunteering for sandbagging what can be saved. FEMA seems to be doing well and I'm thankful our national guard is home to help our state's devastated areas. I wish we could see an end in sight though. The newscasters and meteorologists just seem exhausted, and I can tell they wish they could tell us it is all over, but they know the forecast is not promising any good news for the foreseeable future. Alex and Cassie are sure getting cabin fever. They get on their trikes and go up and down my parents' road when we can and go into Dubuque's parks when the sky clears, but they are tired of rain and thunderstorms. Me, too. As best we can tell, our "next home" is doing well in Coralville and not near the reservoir that is overflowing on the Iowa River. Does anyone know how to build an ark? I'm starting to wonder if we just might need one again. My prayers are many tonight . . . may a calm dawn arrive this morning. Tags: family, nature
Current Location: "home"
Current Mood:  anxious
Current Music: thunder and a clock ticking
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
abookworm's journal
Previous
wondering