I need a weekend to recover from my weekend

I'v gotten pretty good at my new toy.
 I's a wobble board.

I had a great weekend but it was much busier than my norm. I started the weekend at the gym in my bodypump class. I was playing with the idea of going to the gym early and attempting the turbo kick class my favorite bodypump instructor teaches before pump but I woke up too late to make it on time. Maybe next week. Pump was awesome, as always. I was careful to down grade my weights a little this week, especially during the lower body sets because I had a half marathon the next day. I don't need to make those 13 miles any harder than they already are. After class I went to for a 20 minute swim. Adding swimming to my workouts has been great and I'm faster than I though I would be. Twice last week I swam for 20 minutes and I ended up swimming 700 yards both nights. The one night Jeremy and I swam together (our aqua-date) we swam for 30 minutes and 850 yards. I'm very impressed with myself.

After the gym the kids and I had a little bit of time to hang out around the house before we left for our day of running around. The kids went back and forth between playing video games and practicing their martial arts with their new bow staffs. (really big sticks) 

 

Our first stop was the store to pick up some birthday gifts. We had a very cool party to go to for my niece who just turned 8 and my nephew who just turned 2. While looking around for the kids we saw a rack of swim suits... I had to investigate... 

[back story] 

I have gained too much weight to wear the suit I bought last summer (it's very depressing) so I've been wearing the suit I had the summer before that to the gym. However, I have gained the weight back in different places and now that suit isn't fitting the way it used too. It's baggy in the butt and chest but my belly hangs out-not okay (it's a tankini). I decided I needed to suck it up and buy a one piece for swimming laps. I really didn't want to spend a small fortune on a BIGGER suit.

So to get back to my story, I found a one piece nike swim suit on sale for $20 (the retail price was $94). I was so excited about the price, I didn't even care about the size of the stupid thing. That is until now... Before I started writing this I hadn't given the size thing much thought... oh well...

 

Once we got out of the store we were on our way to the birthday party. My niece stated taking Taekwondo and that's where the party was. They had students and instructors running the kids through drills and games. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Sami still has a broken foot so she couldn't participate and Nevyn felt that he already gets all the martial arts practice he needs in the classes he goes to every week so he chose to sit out too.

 

Next we went to the roof rack shop and got a rack and SUP taxi installed on my car. I was super excited about this. Now I'm ready to get my SUP and I can take to the lake any time I want. While they did the install the kids and I walked up to Arden Fair. We spent some time in Barns & Noble, the Lego store and the Disney store. My kids like window shopping as much as I do and they're really good about not begging me to buy them stuff.

 

Our next and final stop was to pick up my race packet. Originally, I thought I was going to have to drive out to Folsom to get it but I had a friend who was already there picking up her packet so she got mine too. I drove out to her house in the land park area and got to chat with her and her family. Her son had covered his legs with band aids and  made sure I saw all of his trains and her daughter amazed me with her fancy name writing skills. We talked a little bit about the camping trip our families are going to be taking together in June and they said I should bring my paddleboard. I'm glad they mentioned that because I don't think I would have thought of it.

found a book I want, shocking, I know 

 I think it was around 6:00 when we were finally home. The kids got their stuff ready to spend the night with their grandparents and I had the house to myself. After playing around on the computer a little I went to bed. Early.      

 

Sunday was race day and I really wasn't very excited about this race. I didn't train very well and it was expected to rain. It had rained pretty hard the night before but at the starting line the sky was cloudy but dry. I was hopping it would stay that way. I used the first few of miles as a warm up and by mile three I felt like I had gotten the cobwebs worked out of my legs and I was feeling really good. The miles seemed to go by really fast and the day was beautiful. My friend, the sun, even came out. I wasn't  running for time on this one and I took the time enjoy the course. It was all on the American River Bike Trail and it was beautiful. The wild grass was a vibrant green, thanks to the over night rain and there were birds of every size and color everywhere. I think it was the prettiest course I've ever ran. I run on the bike trail on the weekends for my long runs but I've never gone as far as this course goes. It was a great way to see more of the bike trail.

 

Since I was feeling so good I pushed myself to run 30 second splits and I did pretty well with that. I did take some extra walk breaks but I did better than I expected. I finished in about 3 hours, 15 minutes. The results aren't posted yet and I always forget to stop my watch right as I finish so I don't know what my "official" time is. My feet where pretty sore yesterday and last night from the run but they're not bad today. My thighs and hips are a tiny bit sore but nothing like I expected. I'm hopping to work out any soreness I have during either tonight's yoga class or my pool workout.

In the afternoon my sister and niece came over for a little while. Avery, my niece, is a crack-up. She brought over some toys her dad had gotten for her and made "Auntie" many different birthday cakes. She didn't seem to like the one I made though. As soon as she saw it she took it apart and looked at me with an expression that said "do I have to do everything for you???" 

How was your weekend?

Hey look, It's Friday!

Is it just me or has this been a crazy long week? There's been so much going on... I'm sure being off of work last week didn't make this week any easier but still... Anyway, here's a peek into my week.

If you read Monday's post you know that I was working on my "action plan" and trying to feel better and get my fitness back into gear. Part of my plan was drinking more water and I know I was successful with that this week. As a valentine's day gift my secret sister from church gave me one of those plastic cups with a straw that doesn't slip out of the lid. It is now my water cup and I'm drinking a lot more water. I don't know why but I drink more if I'm drinking from a straw. I don't like using open-faced glasses or cups when I'm working. I get bumped so often by kids I spill more than I actually drink (I use a travel mug for my morning coffee most of the time). Thank you secret sister, whoever you are. 

I did make it to yoga! I also was able to go for a short

 run on the treadmill before class. That was a good. 

Jeremy covered daycare for me so I could go to my bodypump class. I've had a painful time with squats (only when using the bar) and lunges. Last week I was talking to my instructor about it and she was able to give me some advise on what I might be doing wrong. She was right about everything. I'm embarrassed to say that I've been doing lungs so wrong all these years. They're still hard but not as painful. I absolutely love this instructor. I've had a few but she is by far my favorite. I like her so much, I take her Sunday morning class in Folsom too. (Of course, I'm already in Folsom on Sunday mornings for church but now I'm hanging out at the gym while the kids are in Sunday school instead of the coffee shop and stuffing my face with sugary treats.) This Saturday she'll also be subbing in my Saturday class so I'll see her three ties this week, woohoo.

In addition to bodypump, I ran for half an hour on the treadmill and them came home to watch Biggest Loser with Sami. I've been watching BL since season 7 and this is the worst season I've seen. The only reason I'm still watching it is because it's mine and Sami's date-night. All the drama that the contestants get them self into have been useful though. I'll ask Sami what she would do in a similar situation and we talk about different ways a situation could have been handled. In a few weeks they will air the show they taped in Hawaii. Bethany Hamilton will be on the show teaching the contestants how to surf. She and Jillian Michaels are Samantha's celebratory idols so she's super excited the March 20th episode.

Samantha came home and told me about the substitute she had that day. Before I list the horrifying details let me acknowledge the fact that Sami's class is made up of some of the rudest, obnoxious future thugs ever and this teacher was, no doubt, provoked and pushed to the limit but there's no excuse for Sami and her friends had to go through. 

[1]

The teacher yelled "shut-up" to my daughter's 6th grade class all day. Sami and her friend counted seven times in the last ten minutes of class alone

[2]

At one point during the day, one of the kids asked her why she was yelling at them. Her response: "oh, you think this is yelling? I'm an actress and if I was yelling, the people in the front of the school would hear me"   

[3]

One of the more quiet boys in the class was holding a handful of pencils he had taken out of his back pack. She saw him and accused him of stealing her pencils. When he denied stealing them she tried to snatch them out of his hand.

[4]

She told the class that they are all awful kids (this is after her morning speech about how she doesn't believe there are any "bad kids") and if she ever came face-to-face with any of their parents she would let them know how bad they are as parents.

[5]

When one of the boys was visibly angry at something she said she dared him to punch her. She was quoted by Sami and my neighbor's son as saying "take a shot, come on, are you too scared?!" Are you frickin kidding me?!?!?!?!

Jeremy got home shortly after Samantha did and then the two of them went up to the school and talked to the VP. We were told that she would not be invited back to our school and we told Sami that if she is in a situation like that again has permission to gather her things and go to the principals office. There's no reason for her to be verbally assaulted by anyone! (Other than me, of course) 

The bright side of Wednesday, I got my iPhone! Very exciting. As if I needed to a stronger addiction to my phone...

    It was just a day. Nothing super awesome, nothing super tragic. I had to go to the red cross to update my first aid certification. The class was scheduled 6:00-10:00 but it was  really small class and it went by fast. We go out at 8:00. 

By the way: I passed with 100% Yep, I'm bragging about a first aid test.

Today! I balanced out checkbook (I had been putting that off) and I found out that I have enough cash to get a new pair of running shoes. I'm so excited about that, it's a little sad. As soon as the last daycare kid leaves I'll be on my way to Fleet Feet for some new running shoes. I mean real running shoes, not what ever I can find on sale at where ever I happen to be getting stuff for the kids. My feet are going to be so happy with me.

About an hour and a half after school started today we got a phone call from the school. Turns out Nevyn's teacher wasn't there for a few hours in he morning and they had a sub-the same sub Samantha's class had on Wednesday! Nevyn waited until they were walking out to the playground for P.E. then slipped out of line and went to the office to call us. Jeremy (he has Thursdays and Fridays off from work) went to the school to pick him up. We told him, in the future, he needs to tell the teacher before he leaves (she got a little freaked out when she was short a kid) but overall we were very proud of his actions. He did exactly what we have told both kids to do if they are ever uncomfortable with an adult in in their classroom.  

I have a seven mile run planned in the morning followed by a bodypump class then lunch with a friend. Jeremy's working so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my kids during all of that but I'll figure it out. 

I hop you all have a great weekend!

Not Just Another Wednesday

I'm on vacation this week and I really needed it. It's been a mellow week so far. Jeremy and I have been staying up late watching episodes of Bones and sleeping in (me more than him). I've been running everyday except today and I went to body pump last night before my Biggest Loser date with Samantha. This afternoon Sami and I sat out front in the sun for about half an hour. That was great. Sami actually went inside because she got over heated! I had my yearly eye exam and my eyes have gotten better over the last three years. I have better than 20/20 vision and, according to my doctor, wont need reading glasses till I'm about 45. I can deal with that.

Jeremy got a new computer today (yay) and then got a little frustrated when he needed an adapter, then was told they didn't make them anymore, then was told they do make then but the store doesn't stock them... Let's just say it got ugly and Jeremy ended up throwing a full blown Cullifer tantrum. So... the kids and I got in the car and went to visit my dad and I left Jeremy's brother to deal with ... that... When we got to my dad's house he was on his computer trying to switch form one printer to the other so he could print out some pictures for a job.  It wasn't working but he put it away until after our visit. (Thank goodness. I was not prepared to deal with another adult tantrum and I was running out of places to go.)

I love hanging out with my dad. We can talk about anything from history, to politics, to baseball, to kids, whatever. Just being in the same room as him makes me happy. However, my son doesn't really like going anywhere that doesn't have video games available to him. So, after being at my dad's for about fifteen minutes he started asking when we could leave. Yes, he had his Nintendo DS, his phone and a book with him but didn't touch any of them. He felt his time was better spent driving me crazy. Our whole visit was about 45 minutes.

Sami, Nevyn, dad, me & my sister

This is what happens when you
ask him to smile for a solo shot

Once we got home we had a little family meeting concerning the behavior of our children. (Jeremy was Jeremy again by this point. Thank you, Daniel for handling that situation.) I wont bore you (embarrassing myself) with the details of the kids' behavior that was discussed but the end result was banishment to the bedrooms until dinner was ready. As an unrelated side note, I finally purchased an American River Parkway parking pass! I'm very excited about this. Now we can go down to the river when ever we want.

I don't know what the parking pass
actually looks like but no fear.
Y'all find out almost as soon as I do
.It's coming in the mail.

I realized that I never updated my loyal readers on the gifts Jeremy and I exchanged for Valentine's Day. My sweet and thoughtful husband got me the over priced backpack I saw at the gym a while back! I'm so excited to use it on my next hike. I got him a double walled Starbucks travel mug (he needed a new one and really wanted one) and a, get ready for it, nose hair trimmer! I know it doesn't sound like the best of gifts but it was on his wishlist and he was really happy about getting them. I know these aren't he most romantic gifts we could give each other, and there where no flowers or chocolates, but they were things we really wanted. We were both very happy and surprised. (That's now two things off my wish list!)

Dinner is now ready so I'm ending this blog. The kids have emerged from their rooms and everyone seems happy and pleasant. Thank Goodness! Hopefully all will be well and we'll end the night with a family game night and we'll all be one happy family again.

As you can see, Sadie was less than
impressed. 

Nevyn was very happy about family
game night.And a little frighting.

Haha, Winning!  Seriously, I won :o)

Seriously! Follow me... Pleeeease!

Happy Valentine's Day

There are things I really like about Valentine's Day. I like all the pink, red and white hearts and polka-a-dots everywhere. I love greeting cards no matter the occasion and some of them are pretty funny. I love those sweetheart candies and I'm never against flowers and gifts. However, I don't want to feel like I have to get Jeremy a gift, I do it because I truly care and love him. I never expect him to get me something because I don't want him to feel like has to. I don't think either of us are interested on receiving some little corny decoration just because it's Valentine's Day. I would rather 1) get Jeremy something he truly would like to get or 2) just take the time to find a sweet card.

Earlier in our marriage we would go out to dinner on Valentine's Day but, to be honest, I would rather stay home and just spend some time together. Maybe order a pizza and watch movies or friends reruns. We show each other how much we care all the time. Today is a day is for young couples. A chance to act like it's your anniversary before you're even had one yet. We've had twelve anniversaries and they have all been better than any Valentine's Day.

When I was a kid I loved Valentine's Day. Going to the store to pick out what kind of cards I was going to pass out in class was a big to-do. Then the day before "the day" we would get class time to decorate the little paper bags the teacher handed out to collect all of our cards and candy in. Back then we were allowed to bring home baked goodies to pass out too. Now the kids have to bring goodies that are packaged from the store so the teachers can inspect the label for the kids who have allergies.

My kids aren't as into Valentine's Day as I was. Of course school isn't as much fun as it was when I was kid either. Sami's class got their party taken away because of their behavior yesterday. I doubt this bothered the kids much. They are used to getting the extras taken away. They've missed pizza parties and more recces than I can count. Sami's not one of "those kids" but she's in the class so her fun stuff gets canceled too. She thinks it's more annoying than anything else.      

Nevyn, being a boy, doesn't care about Valentine's at all. All he's looking forward to is the candy. The box of cards we got this year was full of those mini nerds boxes with little valentine cards to go with them. He didn't even open the package. He has no intention of handing out the cards. He said it's a wast of time since everyone just wants the candy anyway. He's probably right but it would have been nice to at least see what they look like.

From Jeremy to me

From me to Jeremy

When Jeremy gets home from work today we're going to exchange gifts. I'm pretty excited. I know he's going to like what I got him and what he got me is in a huge box and all he said was that I was going to love it. If you know Jeremy, then you know that can mean a few different things but I'm getting my hopes up for something similar to what was on my wish list list from a few blogs ago. I can't tell you what his gift is yet because he'll read this before he gets home. But take my word for it, he'll be happy.

I hope you all have a nice Valentine's Day. If you have someone to share it with, that's nice. If not, that's okay too.  It's just another day only with a lot more candy on sale. If you happen to be in a store selling them, pick me up a box of sweethearts, okay? Thanks!

Work

I run a day care out of my home. I've been doing this for about five years now and it's been a true blessing to be home when my kids get home from school, to be able to get dinner started at a decent hour, to get little things done around the house before I'm completely exhausted and to get the kids' homework done at an early hour. Having my day care also lets me work with young children, be there to facilitate their learning and to be apart if their lives and families. (I've been working in field of Early Childhood Education for the last 20 years)

Like everything, day care has it's downside too. I work 60 hour weeks,  don't go anywhere that we (me and five kids) can't walk to, my grocery bill is a little insane, I feel guilty when anyone gets sick, and I have very limited adult interactions and conversations through most days. But overall, it's the best job for me and it's about as close to being a stay-at-home-mom and I'm going to get. I wish I could be more involved with my kids' school and go to events that happen during the day or take Samantha to ballet but this wonder job just doesn't allow for that. At least while I have a small sedan.

I think if I could change anything about my job it would be to be able to afford an assistant who could come in and cover for me for and hour or  two a day. I could go to my kids' school and volunteer in the classroom, go for a daytime run, go to the doctor's office, go out to lunch with my husband, to just have some free time. However, to do that, I would have to raise my rates and trust another person with the health and safety of my day care angles and my livelihood. I don't think I could do that and it's not worth a couple hours of freedom.

I have had one opening in my day care for a long, long time. I've had ads out for months on craigslist and I'm on a referral list for a local agency but I get very few calls. A couple of days ago I got a call from a woman who was looking for a child care for her son who is 21 or 22 months old. She said she saw my ad online and wanted to know how firm I am on the age of the child. (The spot I have open is for a child between two and five years of age.) I told her that the child had to be at least two years old. Licensing allows me to have two children under the age of two and those spots are already full. Then she said, "it'll be okay because he's really big and looks like he's two". I explained that it was a California State regulation and when licensing comes in every year for my "unannounced visit", they go through my files and check by hand to make sure I'm in compliance. I apologized (I don't know why) and said told her to check back with me after he turned two if she still needed care. I really hope she doesn't' call me back. She seems like one of those people who feel that the rules don't apply to them. I don't want to work with someone like that if I can avoid it.

I meet a lot of... interesting people in my line of work. Years ago I had family who felt day care was a waste of money if they didn't use my services to the full extent. This family would drop their kids off as soon as my door opened in the morning and wouldn't pick those kids up till exactly closing time. Even if they had the day off their kids would be with me from opening to closing.

When I first got licensed I had a family that was made up of a single mom, her two daughters and the father. The girls would see their dad on the weekends but if he was mad at the mother for whatever reason he would intentionally pick the girls up late. On a Friday. I'm not sure how that was was going to teach the mother a lesson, he was the one who was charged the late fee.

For me, the worst part of having an opening (other than the money that's not going into my bank account) is the interview process. I really don't like strangers in my house and a lot of the people I meet are not people I wish to ever see again but they know where I live. I've never had any problems so I guess I'm just paranoid. What can I say, I watch a lot of Law & Order. On the other hand, I've had to tell people over he phone that I will not enroll a child until they come in and meet me face-to-face before hand. Those people scare me. They don't know me, have never seen my house and they're ready to just hand their kid off to me. Those are the kind of parents you hear about running away out of town and no one knows till it's closing time and their kids are still at day care.

I have really lucked out when it comes to the families I've had. With only a few exceptions, I would say I have, both now and in the past, a group of world class parents. To make it even better, they truly appreciate me and what I do. I feel spoiled. I swear, I'm not kissing ass either. I don't even know if they read my blog. That's how I truly fee.




If your kids go to some sort of day care let the provider(s) know how much you appreciate them. It's not an easy job.