Seven Things Sunday!

1. I had my first actual massage ever this week! One of the local Moms mentioned that we was going to start doing massages again after a few years "off" to take care of her little ones. The kids are all in school now, though, so since she'd kept her license up over the years, all she had to do was get her insurance back up and running. When she asked if anyone would have any interest, I pretty much jumped up and down saying "pick me!! pick me!!!" It was one of the things the doctor had recommended I do for my shoulder (which while not completely better, is much improved) that I hadn't yet done. Anyway, it was fabulous and the morning after was the first morning I've woken up in months without my shoulder aching!

2. After weeks of homeschool sucking for everyone involved, we made two big changes that have made a world of difference. At my son's request, we adjusted his meds, and at my instinct, we switched math curriculum. I sensed he needed less of me and more instruction that was easy to understand. We signed up for ALEKS and the clean pages, and immediate feed back for everything, along with helpful instructions a mere click away are making him super happy to do math. In fact, I set a timer for him to work on math each day, and on Friday when the timer went off he growled at it and begged for 10 more minutes. It's the first time THAT's ever happened with that particular child!

3. Week 2 of healthier eating is going well and continuing to yield results. And I did actually have some Doritos to satisfy that particular craving and all is now right with the world.

4. This past week we began the high school enrollment process for Nathaniel. If you'd asked me a year ago, I would have predicted that he would have dived head first into the STEM program offered at the high school, but he's much more interested in what the alternative program has to offer. We are lucky enough to live in a town that has an alternative middle school and high school. If he's accepted, he would be one of 45 students in the Freshman class which is pulled from both of the high school's in town. The types of classes offered change every semester, the teachers are called by their first names, there are no official study halls or lunch period, and kids are expected to stay on top of everything themselves. Basically, it's the hippie-commie preschool for high school kids. ;) He would still be bused over to the regular high school for language, music, and theater, but he's really looking forward to this opportunity. I hope that if it's the right thing for him, he'll get into the program.

5. There are times when familial drama makes the 1000 plus mile distance between me and our relatives seem just right, but the last couple of weeks as we've all banded together while my grandmother has experienced several hospital stays and all that go with those, that I really wish I could be closer. That being said, most of the siblings and cousins were rocking the staying in touch with one another with any technology available! Our respective parents, not so much, but they were more on the front lines of things, so I suppose that's to be forgiven. Anyway, it just makes me realize how lucky I am to be from a big, zany, loving family.

6. My youngest son wants a dog more than words can possibly express, but Todd is super allergic to dogs, and I'm not willing to take care of one more thing in this house even if he weren't. (although, I confess that if Todd weren't so allergic, I could probably be swayed. That is how much this longing in my youngest son is tugging at my heart!) Instead, we decided that we could take advantage of the fact that he's home during the day and he could advertise his services for dog playing, walking, letting out during the day for those in our neighborhood who work. I offered this via our neighborhood fb page in September and we had no takers, but my parents just got a new puppy and have been sending pictures and it was more than Caleb could take. So, I sent out the proposition again and we had a taker! Caleb and I met the family yesterday, and he is super excited to begin going to take care of them starting this week! It's just a mid-day potty break and possible walk, with some play time thrown in, but it's as if he's been handed the world!

7. I've been listening to French language CDs in the car while I driving to and from preschool each day, and I'm pretty sure that Pimsleur just taught me how to flirt, and basically do the "your place or mine?" thing. I'm sure this would be much more useful if I weren't going to France with my husband and 4 children in tow, but I suppose it might come up. ;)

Seven Things Sunday

1. All passports are in and tickets to and from Europe are booked!

2. Thanks to my French language cds that I listen to in the car and a lot of research of where to eat in Paris, I now know how to ask for directions and more importantly how order cream puffs, and croissants, and baguettes, and tartines, and macarons, and crepes. I have gastronomic plans and priorities, people! Also, no thanks to my freshman son's otherwise fantastic history teacher who knew Benjamin was going to Paris this summer and said, "Honestly, with the current political climate, I'd be more afraid of France than the Middle East right now." So, I got to talk him down off the ceiling from that idea.

3. In other news, I am super grateful for modern technology that makes it so easy to keep in touch with family far away and in the midst of a crisis.

4. I am also grateful to live in a place with fabulous hospitals and whatever kind of care I may need all within easy distance. This is not a thing that most of my relatives have.

5. Took the little miss to her first salon experience and Sweet and Sassy. If you've never been, it's like everything pink and glitter exploded in one place and left behind a staff who totally gets little girls, and pretty hair-bows. Lilyanna was pretty much in heaven. It was a little overwhelming to me, but she was super happy AND relented in letting us donate her hair. For reasons I could never get to the bottom of, she was very hesitant about hair donation.

6. Caleb started his first Spanish class this week. When asked how he knew so many basic vocabulary words already, he said, "Because my sister used to watch a LOT of that crappy show Dora the Explorer". Charming, no?

7. Week one of healthier eating is yielding results. Which is encouraging, but still hard to stick to. Especially on snow days. Snow days seem to scream for hot chocolate. And whipped cream! And Doritos. Mmmm.... Doritos....

Healthy?

Belly dance, anyone?

I'm giving you a chance to turn back now. This is one of those "personal realizations about health and body image" blog posts. They can be super tedious to read, so I give you fair warning.

Right after Christmas, I had to go to a health screening for our insurance company. My numbers were not great. Weight, I was expecting to be commented on and with good reason. But my other numbers, which are usually fabulous (seriously, I have sexy blood pressure numbers, people!), were not bad, but also not so good. More like in that warning section. The RNP doing the screening pointed out that it was a rotten thing to make everyone do the blood work during the holidays when people are generally eating, drinking, and being merry perhaps more than they might otherwise be.

That being considered, a few days later when we were sharing our resolutions and goals for the new year with one another as a family, I mentioned that my goal was to be healthier. Every single one of my boys said, "Really? But you're super healthy. Why do you need to do that?"

And for a brief moment I saw myself through their eyes. They have a Mom who takes belly dance, ballet, spinning, runs and does hateful those tabata or boot camp workouts all throughout the week. I ran 5 miles Thanksgiving morning. I trained for and ran 1.5 half marathons last year. I'm taking my kids to hike two whole states worth of the Appalachian trail this spring. They have a Mom who tries to feed them healthy food and tries to encourage good eating habits in them.

Yeah, I need to lose weight. I should eat less sugar. And I'll work on both of those things this year just like I said I would.

But I am so grateful to my children for being a better mirror than the one I look in by myself.