Komen Race for the Cure

I walked in the Race for the Cure today. I did it in the memory of a dear family friend, Deadra Perry who lost her battle to breast cancer in January 2010. I got dressed this morning in my pink ribbon shirt at the crack of dawn and promised myself I'd hold it together. That didn't last long. I got on the subway at exactly 7:00am and it was so jammed that I had to stand. Several ladies had on their pink "Survivor" t-shirts and I couldn't help but think why couldn't that have been Dee Dee. I shake it off and put on my headphones. Of course, the first song to play was "Higher" by Creed. I jammed my oversized sunglasses on because I felt the tears coming. So there I was, first thing in the morning, standing and crying on the subway like an idiot. I wasn't bawling uncontrollably or anything like that. But part of me wanted to pitch a full-on tantrum.

After I manage to pull myself together, I get downtown and again am overwhelmed by the number of people. It was all beautiful and sad and terrifying at the same time. As I walked to meet up with my group, I still was not myself. I had a rough time before the race even began. We finally passed under the "Walkers' Start" sign and almost instantly I felt light-headed. But I figured I'd power through. A mile later, I had to sit down. I was seeing spots and my legs felt like jelly. After some rest, a borrowed granola bar and a pep talk to myself, I rejoined my friends. Of course, 15 minutes later, my hip started to hurt. Terrific.

But we eventally finished the race even though I was out of sorts for most of it. It's amazing how much impact a person can make in someone else's life. I hadn't seen Dee Dee for almost 2 years when she passed. But there was a time in my life when I saw her and her family more than I saw my own family. I loved her and my memories of my time spent with her will always be with me. Rest in peace, Aunt Dee Dee.

Did I do that?

Going to the dermatologist today, I managed to back into a parked car. Yes, a parked car. Not one of those stupid, little Smartcars either. A Toyota Avalon. Nice, right? The second I realized it was a car I'd hit, the first thought that entered my rattled brain was, "My husband is going to kill me." And even though it was 100% my fault...was it really?

My SUV is the size of small tank. Whatever genius decided to build that thing without a rear sensor should be crowned King of the Idiots. There is a blind spot the size of....well, the size of a Toyota Avalon, I guess. I checked my mirrors. I just didn't see it. However, a sensor on that over-priced, over-sized gas-guzzler would've been a capital idea.

As for my husband's point of view, recently I've managed to acquire a few tickets thanks to D.C.'s new speed camera program. Thanks, Fenty. So me sending him a text with a picture of the damaged Avalon with a big an "oops!" and a embarrassed, red-cheeked emoticon was probably the last thing he wanted to see. (I didn't really put that in the text but once the actual text filtered through his angry brain, that's all he saw.) So this will undoubtedly increase our insurance rates even though we haven't had to file a claim in at least 13 years and I will undoubtedly have to hear about it every month when it's time to pay the bill.

Oh but I'm fine by the way....

My plan for today was to pack up all 4 kids and head over to North Capital Street to obtain a copy of my birth certificate. However, once I woke up this morning, that was the last thing I wanted to do. No, it probably won't take long but just the idea of having to drive around, find a space, feed the meter, etc. just sounds like a lot of work with 4 kids. So I need to come up with another plan.

We're heading out to the library as soon as The Nephew finishes his breakfast. Big Girl has more research to do on her paper. Then I need to stop by the pharmacy on my way back home.

Only 7 more days of school and I can't wait for it to be over. I need the break. Then I need to start planning for next year. I am definitely buying a curriculum. Doing it myself for all 3 is just getting to be insane.

Ramble later,
Enid

Today's to do list
library
pharmacy
clean bathrooms
work on article
start on summer info packet

Back on the horse

I told myself that I would try and start this blog again. If for no other reason than to write something everyday. So, since it's been too long since my last post to try and recap, I'm going to just start from here.

I woke up too late this morning so I'm all out of sorts. I need to leave in about an hour to take the kids to their last homeschool PE class of the school year. After that, I need to stop by the grocery store. I need to figure out how to get 3 dinners, 3 lunches, snacks and drinks out of $60. We are a little more than halfway thru the month and we've done well with the no eating out pact. But the 50 million trips to the grocery store is certainly something I could do without.

Both of the girls made their way into my room last night. The dead possum at my aunt's house scared the crap out of them so I can't say I was surprised to see them.

As he tells me a story I can barely understand, I'm reminded of something. I'm still waiting for the speech therapist to call back to set up regular appts with The Boy. Hopefully, I can get that finalized today.

Talk later


Today's to-do list
PE class
grocery store
Zumba class
put away at least 1 load of laundry
wash at least 1 load of laundry
write an article for newsletter

The search is on

So tonight, I have spent an ungodly amount of time online trying to find motorcycle party supplies. My son will be five in October and is completely obsessed with motorcycles. All I could find were American Chopper themed supplies. He doesn't watch the show so I wasn't going to get that. After looking at about a million sites, I saw "screw it" and decided to go ahead with the American Chopper theme. As I was looking through the list of the supplies available and filling my online shopping cart, my son walked into my room. He saw the choppers on my screen and said, "Yuck. I hate those ugly motorcycles." So back to square one...

Ramble later,
Enid

Wipeout

Before having my own children, I would hear stuff on the news about kids doing something stupid and saying they did it because they saw it on television. I always wondered what was wrong with the parents. What kind of example were they setting for these easily-influenced, moronic, young minds? Were they too busy clinging to their guns and religion, babbling away on some meaningless blog or playing online Mah-Jong to spend time talking with their children? Fast-forward to today, I now feel like I owe these people an apology, especially since I now sit here with one of these crazy monkey-see-monkey-do kids.


Tuesday night, I found myself waiting for something to watch. "Eureka" and "Reaper" both didn't come on until 9, which meant I couldn't even really start watching tv until about 9:20 (in order to fast forward through the commercials). So I turned on "Wipeout" just to see what the show was about. I mean, I'd seen previews but I'd never actually watched an episode. I found myself laughing hysterically and uncontrolably as I watched these grown folks try to jump on these "Big Balls." It was really quite entertaining. Since I obviously enjoying myself, this was of course a call to the wild. All three of my kids decided to join me. It held their attention and kept them quiet so kudos to ABC on that production.


Not 10 minutes after the conclusion of the show, I hear a loud thud and an even louder scream. I run to my son's bedroom to find him lying flat on his back with a bloody head. It was a tiny cut on top of a tiny knot but it was still just enough for me to know that I would be spending my entire night on Coma Watch. I was creative enough to keep him awake until 1:30. From that point on, I'd set my alarm to go off every 15 minutes and do a quick vitals check on him.


When it was time to actually get up at 8:30 yesterday morning, I felt much like I did Sunday morning. I was completely disoriented. All I wanted to do was crawl back under the sheets and slip into my own coma.


But this was not first time I've had to nurse the wounds my 4yo son has inherited from watching television. There was the free-jumping incident (courtesy of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition") and the hip-hop dance debacle of "Step Up 2." And I can't be sure which cartoon inspired him to slide down the stairs zipped up in a sleeping bag.

So basically, I'm here to apologize to all of you parents that I've prejudged and labeled as incompent, slack-assed, self-obsessed, negligent and just plain dumb. I didn't have kids...I didn't understand.

Ramble later,
Enid

No, I'm not 20

This past weekend, I attended the Mid-Atlantic Mocha Moms regional conference. I had an absolute ball. Or maybe I didn't. Maybe the fact that I was away from the kids made it so wonderful. Either way, I made the best of my 30 hours away from home. Which includes hanging out all night Friday and not falling asleep until 7am. I did all of this knowing that I needed to be up at 9, 9:30 at the latest. But yet, I did it anyway.

Even with only 2 hours of sleep, I was fine. I enjoyed my breakout sessions, had a good lunch, listened to the keynote speaker without nodding off or anything. I hung out the rest of the day, chilled by the pool for a while before arriving back home at midnight.

I didn't really feel the effects of my all-nighter until my alarm went off for me to get up and get to church on Sunday morning. I felt like I'd been beat up. Stuff ached, my eyes hurt and it felt like Snoop Dogg and Amy Winehouse slept in my mouth. My head was throbbing and I had an incredible case of heartburn. I felt like I'd been drinking for a week. Which is significant because I am not a drinker. I was miserable at church. I run a children's ministry during morning service. I couldn't even get myself together to rustle up a lesson. "Okay, kids. It's free play today. Do what you want to do, just let me sit here on the couch and die. Thanks. And don't eat the crayons."

Really, what was I thinking? In 2008, anyone who's ever seen an episode of "Square Pegs" or "The Renegades" shouldn't be pulling all nighters. It's just a fact of life. That being said, I'm headed to my bedroom to watch tonight's "The Closer" and then I'm going to bed. Many hours before the sun comes up.

Ramble later,
Enid