I am not the 99%

10-28-11


I will be the first person to tell you that it is important to say something when you disagree. Whether it be at your job where you might feel like a new policy is unfair or with your spouse who has a different idea behind your budget, it is crucial as a human being with thoughts and ideas to express them. If you stand idly by as other people dictate your life, you might be alive, but you are not living.

The images of protests before I was born fill my head when I hear there is a movement taking place. I think of solidarity of people fighting for fairness and change. Stop the war in Vietnam! Let Women Vote! I have a dream! The history classes and books we had as children spoke of strong people making our country better. It was romantic and passion filled. As a child, and even now, I wish I could go back to that time just to feel the energy of one of their gatherings.

It is now 2011, and although many things are so much better than they were 45 years ago, there is still change that would make life for the majority of Americans better. Government spending is too high. Household debt is astronomical. The unemployment rate is out of control. Personal freedoms are threatened. Party lines have become almost vicious. There are a lot of things we need to do around here.

The other really big change, though, is our voice. We are not ones to allow things to happen without making sure our opinion is heard. We have more journalists since there are more publications out there that need to cover social turmoil. We have bloggers, who like me are writing about what is taking place in the world today. There is 24 hour media coverage of any event that stirs up a little controversy. We are wired all the time, and there is no moment that we can’t find out the most up to date news on any topic, and often the news we are reading is riddled with bias.

It is this collective voice that helped bring about Occupy Wall Street. A Canadian magazine called Adbusters was the first to mention OWS. Back in July 2011, they suggested a peaceful protest. This protest was picked up by several groups, including the activist group, Anonymous. These groups urged their followers via Twitter and other means to join this move for change.

By September, OWS was in full swing. Media coverage would soon follow and now we are at a point 2 months later, where the movement which could have been something grand now just comes across as a giant joke.

The signs emblazoned with, “I am the 99%” were seen everywhere from t-shirts to images on the web. People with their woes handwritten on notebooks with a solemn look on their face staring at the camera, trying to win sympathy and thought became so common place we stopped reading them. They became almost comical, and their message backfired into parody. There were signs from Luke Skywalker indicating he was the 99%, and Scrooge McDuck backing the 99% even though he was the 1%. How can anyone take this seriously?

The mockery wasn’t the only issue I took with the movement. I have a problem with the lack of a true message. Yes, you want change, but for what? And what exactly do you want changed? Do you have an idea as to how to accomplish this? Or are you simply throwing a hippie tantrum hoping that the very people you claim you do not trust will give in and fix it all?

When I approach my boss about an idea on how to improve a process, I never just go to him telling him something is broken. I will think of 3 ideas, create proposals and take all of these to him with pros and cons for each to him. This allows him to see there is a problem, and he will see he doesn’t need to actually do much accept to use a new idea as his own. The process is improved, I am happy, boss is happy and it changes.

This is obviously on a smaller scale, but how do the principals of this exercise not apply on a grander scale? My generation watched the cartoons School House Rock, right? Didn’t we all watch how a bill became a law? It took time and ideas and perseverance. In school I remember a class project where we had to come up with an idea for a bill and we went through the steps it would take to get it passed into law. We didn’t all gather in some park with signs. We wrote up an idea and used the system we have in place to make a change.

Democracy isn’t easy. This is a country filled with more opinions than we have population and truly, we all do want what we think is best for us. The only way to get to that happy medium is to come together and make a plan. OWS’s tactic is described as “people’s assembly” which is designed to “facilitate collective decision making in an open, participatory and non-binding manner”. The idea was taken from protests in the Arab World in 2010-2011 that resulted in the overthrowing of heads of state and the killings of leaders (see Gaddafi). Is this really the plan of OWS? Are we hoping to stage a massive coup? Are we planning on taking over Wall Street? Are the people on the streets staging these protests ready to be Wall Street?

I have never been patriotic, so perhaps my distrust of this movement is based in that. I would like to think that my frustration with OWS is deeper than that. It is about being the change we want to see in the world. If you feel the economy isn’t working, then take control of your own finances. Sitting with a sign doesn’t stimulate the economy. If you don’t trust your congressman, find a better candidate and get him elected. If you think you can do a better job, then come up with a detailed plan that you can present to the people who can change things. Your voice will be so much more powerful if you speak up about change instead of speaking down on the people who are not doing enough.

Perhaps I am misinformed about what is really going on in cities all over our country. This proves my point. If we all are truly the 99%, and we are supposed to have solidarity, the message needs to be retransmitted. Use your passion, protesters. Give me a reason to support your efforts. For now, I have enough childish feet stomping to deal with at home.

cold

10-27-11


My back is much better. I am a little surprised since it also felt better yesterday afternoon, which inspired me to clean up a bit, which resulted in me going to bed rather sore. LOL!

I have been shockingly comfortable sleeping on my back instead of on my side like I normally do. It helps that it has been chilly at night. I feel like a little kid in a giant bed in a movie when Ken tucks me in at night. It is quite happy making.

Today is picture day at the school. I picked out nice shirts for them to wear. Dax will be in white, Bobby in black, which is truly the wrong yin yang configuration, but that kind of makes it more fun. I may need to play with some iPhoto options.

Bobby has soccer practice today. I am considering taking Bobby and then Dax and I can go home. Since I am not walking tonight, there is no real reason to sit at the practice.

Ken is almost done with my tail, which as of last night, looked amazing! He has to adjust part of it to make sure it stands up correctly. I will have to be careful with it, since it apparently can knock over everything in its path. LOL! I should also practice with my makeup this weekend. I have not decided if I will paint my whole face white and put the nose and whiskers on, or if I will just add the nose and whiskers. I am thinking now that based on the coolness that is my costume, I will actually do my face white.

I won’t elaborate, but I am getting quite tired of all of the Occupy movements.

My hands are cold. Normally I would be disturbed, but I am happy. Perhaps my loss of blubber has made me more sensitive to cold. Woo hoo!

I want arm warmers. I found some at Hot Topic that I love. They are long, lace up and Tripp brand. I could wear them in the winter with many of my short sleeved tops. Maybe this weekend I will need to hit up Hot Topic.

I wonder how one would describe my style.

I want to find clip on bangs.

I want to practice French Braiding on Ken’s hair.

Sciatic pain. Not pleasant.

My mama in law sent me the cutest ring! It is this spider ring made out of beads. So cute!!

The boys and I are going through stuffed animals this weekend. We need to get rid of a bunch. I pointed out that all Build a Bears would stay, and ones they love, and ones that are sentimental to me. But the rest need to go to a new home so we have more room. Should be an interesting time.

Ok, time to work!

meds

10-25-11


Yay modern medicine!

My doc is awesome, and she totally understood my pain in more ways than one yesterday. She thinks that my back pain is just muscle, but was glad I got it checked out since one never knows if it is in fact some kind of disc failure or something else more extreme. She was super proud of my weight loss, and could tell I had been working hard. She felt bad telling me that I really should take it easy this week, which includes very little walking. I can do something like swimming or other low impact things. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to use those sorts of resources.

She did also prescribe some muscle relaxers, Tylenol 3, and Ibuprofen. I am to take the Ibuprofen 3 times a day. That will help with the swelling. I am to take the Tylenol and muscle relaxers at night. I took them last night, and it really does put me in a coma. Yay! The problem is that I am slightly comatose in the morning. I am not sure how I got here. LOL!

I did treat myself to a cup of coffee this morning. I figured one treat is not a big deal every now and again.

I am supposed to be working on reports, but once again, they are not ready.

On Friday, Woody was lost.

We had gone to Target, and Dax has his cowboy pal with him as he has a lot lately. After shopping, and we were getting in the car, Dax realized that he did not have Woody with him. Crap! He and I ran through the store, retracing our steps. We went to the last place I remember him being with us, and looked high and low for his little cowboy boots.

Ken and Bobby also searched, but they went to the register and asked around. There was bad news.

A check out girl remembered a couple with a little girl who had a Woody doll in her possession. She was chattering on about how she had found the doll. It looked as though Woody was not just a lost toy, he had been abducted.

Dax didn’t want to give up, so I walked again through the store with the boys. I knew the search was pointless, but we kept walking. I finally had to break the news. I told Dax he was gone. Dax’s sobs were heart wrenching. I had to keep myself from crying. Not just because I hated Dax being so sad. I have my own irrational crazy about lost toys/stuffed animals. It was especially wrong with it being Woody who was lost.

Bobby was almost as sad. He was teary, being very upset at the idea of his brother losing his friend, and also at the idea that some girl would just take Woody. I was a little appalled at that as well. If my boys found something like that, we would have quickly turned it in so that another little kid wasn’t devastated.

We left the store with an incredibly depressed little boy. I told Ken we should go to the Disney store and replace him. I know, not exactly the lesson moment, but I couldn’t bare him being this sad. Plus, I felt somewhat responsible since it was usually my task to keep tabs on the boys’ traveling companions.

Although Disney didn’t have an exact replica, they did have a suitable replacement. He was happy, but even with a new Woody in hand, you could tell, Dax was still somewhat hopeful that Target would call us and tell us Woody was sitting there waiting for us.

I had dreams in which I was in some kind of fat rehab. It was odd. I remember the goody bags that has this sugar free custard in a can. It seemed gross. It was a long dream. I wish I remembered more. I have been dreaming some elaborate dreams lately.

Dammit! I forgot my ice pack again. Sigh. I may have to make my own this morning.

Time for more tea.

pain

10-24-11


Ouch. Wimper. Whine. Sob.

My back has failed me. I spent Friday night running around at Dax’s practice, feeling pretty damn good. I get up Saturday morning, excited since I would probably get to be the on the field coach for Dax’s game. I bent down to pick up something, and the next thing I know, I can hardly move.

I still managed to do part of the game, which was awesome. Coach Ed was so cool to let me do this. He told me I was a great assistant coach, so I was all glowy from the compliment. Dax did well. There were a couple of times where you could see the fire in him when he would have this awesome burst of energy.

Bobby played goalie his whole game. He didn’t seem to mind, and if anything, he seemed pretty happy about it. I would have liked to see him out on the field more, but whatever makes him happy, right? Besides, it was one of those freak games where I swear, there was an injury a minute. All freak things, too. I think Bobby being out on the field would have upped his chances of this, so I guess it is all good.

After the games, I was really hurting. We walked Dax up to his classmate, Joshua’s birthday party. We were there before other guests. In fact, no other classmates ended up showing up. It was mostly his ginormous family.

I was sitting there with Ken as Bobby and Dax bounced in the Spiderman bounce house with Joshua. I noted how incredibly painful it was to sit there. I was getting these horrible spasms in my back and down my legs. It was horrible. Finally, I gave up and I walked home, leaving Ken and the boys.

I tried a bath with the jets. It didn’t help too much. I sat on the recliner, trying to find some way to be comfortable. Ken had called Andy to see if he could help. He called me right around when Ken and the boys returned, and he told me to ice it a lot. He said to stay reclined.

I took Vicodin to sleep. I did get some rest, but I was still in pain. I spent Sunday sitting with ice on my back every hour. I didn’t get anything accomplished that I planned on doing. I am rather upset.

I have an appt scheduled for this afternoon with the doctor. I don’t know if I can wait that long. I hurt all over.

On

10-21-11


I spent much of yesterday on my couch. It was nice, but the guilt of it was tough. I have been really good about exercising every day, so a day off made me feel bad. But I know that it is ok. I took a day to rest and watch Parenthood and Drop Dead Diva.

I feel better today, but I can tell I was off yesterday. I was up last night with an upset stomach. It was awful. I feel very tired because of it. Thank goodness the first game tomorrow isn’t until 10:30. Although, now that I think about it, I think Ken has a game to ref in the morning. Sigh. Perhaps I will be getting up early.

Ok, suspicions confirmed. The yuck I was feeling was a period. It explains a lot, actually. I was hormonal, I was moody, I ached. The only thing that was not present was the sore boobs, but I suppose that could have been just a minor thing.

It also explains the 2 pound weight gain yesterday despite eating very little the last couple days.

I need to stop weighing myself every day. I was doing it as part of this check in process on the Wii. It is this body test that I was doing for two reasons. One, it tells you how old you seem, which cracks up the boys. Two, it allows you to stamp in every day you workout, and I earned a new stamp, and I was very excited. I don’t need to do this part, so I will not. Watching my weight do the up and down, even if only a pound or two, isn’t good for my esteem. I know it is normal, but still.

Crud, I got the snacks for this week for Dax’s team even though I don’t have to do them for another 2 weeks it looks like. Oh well. I am prepped for when it happens. Plus, I can always bring them as a just in case. We are doing Bobby’s game, so what the hell, right?

Because sometimes numbers are interesting, it appears that I have lost 13% of my body weight from when I was diagnosed with diabetes.

It is kind of embarrassing that my period took my ass out. Mind you, it is not the first time, nor will it be the last, but I hate being a slave to my femaleness.

I had an interesting political conversation with Ken yesterday concerning the occupy nuts. Really, I hate discussing politics, but I was pleased with myself that I didn’t get overly frustrated with the arguments and that I could hold my own when pointing out my opinion. It was cool! Yay me!

I have been teaching the boys that when you turn your life into a musical, even for just a little while, even the most mundane things are instantly turned into awesome.

Off

10-20-11


My weight loss is causing some irregular period action. I suppose this is not a bad thing. It just means that my body is just trying to adjust to all of my healthy actions. My workouts have been a bit more intense this week, so I suppose I should not be surprised.

I have done different style workouts this week. Less on steps, and more strength training. I determined that I was already walking at least 2 miles when I pick up the boys, and then various other steps I do throughout the day is getting me to my 10K step count, so why not concentrate on all areas of my body. Yesterday I did lunges, and sit-ups and other crazy rough things on my body. I am super sore. I am still also exercising at my desk every hour for a couple minutes.

Despite all of this, I had my first bout of esteem related issues last night since my new healthier lifestyle. I was feeling fat and gross and over all just not great. I suppose if periods are out of wack, hormones are also in a jumble of crazy as well. This may account for my poor body image last night. It is such a shame since I know there are results, but sometimes it occurs to me that I still have a long way to go and it scares me. I don’t want to fail.

One of my plans this weekend is to clean out my closet. I need to get rid of more stuff I have no intention of wearing, and determine what fits at this point. Plus, my closet is just a total mess. Slowly, we are organizing this house.

Netflix and multiple Apple devices and WiFi at my desk are a very dangerous combo.

Mrs. Kelly talked to me after school to ask me if there was anything going on at home that she needed to be aware of. It is the question you dread hearing because it sounds so cliché. Bobby has been even more emotional than normal in class. Specifically he seems to stress when it comes to finishing work at the same time as everyone else. He gets worried that he is too slow. He is doing the work just fine, but he is freaked out. I explained to her that he has always been like that, so this made her feel better. I talked to Bobby about it and told him that he never has to stress about finishing it on time. He just needs to do his work right. I also pointed out that Mrs. Kelly has never yelled at a student and that no one has gotten in trouble for being slightly slower. He understood. I guess the other kids have picked up on his mood swings, and they are concerned. Luckily, no one seems to be teasing as of yet, but you know that is just around the corner. Sigh. My poor sensitive Bobby.

Dax on the other hand has been behaving in class thankfully. He has stayed on green mostly this whole week. Phew. I know his little friends (and it sounds like much of the class) have been acting out a lot, but it is nice that Dax seems to understand he needs to stay out of trouble.

Picture day a week from today, which means I need to figure out the best outfit for them. Today is the Great Shakeout at school. I am sure I will get to hear lots of fun stories.

I have started a new conversation plan for afterschool. They boys are to tell me 3 good things that happened at school, and one good thing that happened to someone in their class. I will eventually get them to a bad thing, but they seem to already offer that up in these talks anyway. It is a fun way to get their memories jogging for how the day was.

I want to walk a 5K. Someday I will jog one, but for now, I think I just want to walk one.

I need some pomade.

I need to get snacks for the games this weekend.

I wonder how much a boob lift costs.

I need to go get my flu shot.

I need to go get Dax’s paperwork.

I feel nauseous.

Am I allowed to take a day off from exercise?

The Most Interesting Man in the World rocks.

Hmm..I feel off today. I am considering going home. It will be ok because I can still come in tomorrow. We shall see.

Mormons!

10-19-11


What a set of workouts! I got home from work and I did the Wii while Ken helped the boys with their homework. I did more of the strength training and yoga this time. I did some aerobics, but I mostly did a ton of the other stuff. It was no joke!

After that I did the boflex at my folks’ house. 5 sets of 20 reps of three different arm exercises. Phew!

When I got home, after we ate, I felt too energized. So I opted to go with Luna for a nice power walk. It was perfect out. It was chilly and windy and kind of dark out. I was in heaven! We walked quickly because it is so much easier to workout in the cold for me. Luna, as it turns out, is a big wuss. Every slight noise or leaf falling spooked her. The funniest part is that she is certainly on the flight end of the spectrum. Lycos was my fighter. No one was going to fuck with me when she could walk with me. Luna doesn’t even bother to look back when she is ready to bolt. Thank goodness I never felt like I needed her to kick some ass.

Apparently the Mormons have some kind of bat signal attached to the net. On Monday, when I was dinking around online signing up for freebies, I had seen one for a free Book of Mormon. I thought that would be cool to own, so I put in my info. The verification screen popped up with a notice indicating that some missionaries would be at my house shortly. Fuck! I quickly canceled my request, thinking no harm, no foul. Well, it appears that when you hit submit, the internal chip that must be imbedded in their magic underwear goes off, and they are in action.

As I was working out on the Wii, Ken announces, “Oh look, Mormons.” It dawned on me that they were there for my silly bullshit. Ken went out before I could explain. The two of them then asked for Gena. Yup, that’s right, they even got my name right. Yie! They then tell Ken that I requested a copy of the Book. Fuck. Ken laughs and asks them to hang on a second. He comes in, and I run to him and explain what happened. He chuckled and goes back out to handle it.

Yay Ken, who can think on his feet. He tells them that I had only requested it because we like to keep our house well stocked with all different religious material to allow our boys to make their own decision on what faith they choose to believe. They seemed ok with this and provided Ken with a copy of the book along with a card with their number on it. I really need to leave the Mormons alone.

I find it humorous that in my messenger bag I currently have my iPad, a Book of Mormon, 2 baggies of dinosaurs, my blood glucose meter, a parenting magazine, a camera, information on how to register Tonk’s microchip, and a monster squirt toy.

It is time to buy some more body glitter.

Stephanie turned me on to a new app to track my exercise. It has a GPS function that will be able to show exactly how far I am walking each day. It will be much more accurate than my pedometer, but I will continue to use both.

Yay! I just emailed HR regarding the Halloween contest. This year they will be doing not only a group costume, but individuals, too. Look, I am not thinking I will win, I just think that there were too many good individuals last year that got passed over because there are a couple of great group costumes. It doesn’t seem fair. I think the best way to encourage people to participate would be to ensure that everyone stands a chance. I was pleased that he was kind enough to email me back and tell me if that had not been the plan that it would be for sure. Yay!!

I wonder if I would like butternut squash.

Fall is so my favorite time of the year. I love the smell of the air. I love the new beginnings. I always associate this time as the new year. It is when school starts. It always seems to be when I start a new job. It is a rebirth. It makes me feel so energized. Holidays are approaching, weather is changing. It is full of hope and happy and friends and family. I am feeling so good right now.

That of course could also be associated with the 4 cups of green tea I had this morning. LOL!

http://www.myspace.com/video/lord-of-chaos/mormons-the-correct-answer/2373188

smells

10-18-11


I lost my primo parking spot at work. The powers that be realized that the area in which I have been parking is still needed as visitor parking. Never you mind that they painted over the ‘visitor’ writing on each spot and made a huge deal about how we could utilize this area for our parking needs. The memo came out yesterday that we are going to have auditors on site for the next 6 months. This is something that happens every year, but they forgot about this until they spoiled us for a month. Sigh. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. If anything, it gives me a longer walk each day to and from the car. I am always game for more walking. I am just tired of the politics.

My step workout was amazing yesterday. I worked so hard I had a visibly sweaty shirt. I know, this sounds gross, and odd to be proud of, but it was a great thing to see how hard I was working to get what I want, which is healthy. I also am pleased to say that I already have 117 miles clocked for my Amazing Race challenge for work. Woo hoo! This means I have already earned a t-shirt. I am just shy of half way done with the challenge. I am hoping that I am in the top ten since it does mean a possible gift certificate.

Yesterday the boys were pissy, and Ken was grouchy. This did not make for happy times in the house. Yet, at the same time, there was a lot of laughter. There also was a lot of progress on the house. We cleaned the shit out of the boys’ room. Ken got a lot done on Dax’ costume. It is adorable.

Why does my office smell like ass this morning?

And so it begins! Dax has a birthday party to go to this weekend, and we have another one the following weekend. I suppose this is what goes on with having kids. LOL! I have not decided if I will stay with Dax at his party or if I will just drop him off. I figured we could walk to it and I can leave him for a bit and then walk back to get him. It will depend on the crowd, I suppose. The party next week we will all go to. It is for a kid on Bobby’s soccer team, and the coach’s son. With Ken being assistant coach, me being team mom, it makes sense for us all to go.

I am debating on whether or not to go to the diabetes group meeting on Monday. I might just go so I can see if it is something I want to do monthly. How will I know if it is worthwhile unless I check it out, right? Even though my diabetes seems to be in check, it doesn’t mean that I should not have some support groups out there with people who are going through the same things I do.

I have discovered the happy making that is sugar free pudding. Holy crap, it is numtastic. Jello brand, dark chocolate, awesome 60 calorie, very filling pudding cups. They make my chocolate cravings bearable. I also have some Dove dark chocolate squares at my desk. Also very diabetic and calorie friendly. I know that I can have whatever I want, but I am still trying to keep being good overall. Once I lose at least 100 pounds, I can be a little bad.

Does it make me odd that I don’t ever feel the need to sing in the shower?

Thankfully the smell of ass has been replaced by maple syrup.

Let's rock this week!

10-17-11


It was a good weekend all around!

Friday I ran a lot more at Dax’s practice. I even ran some of it in the beginning before coach got there, and even for a while after he was there, which made me feel all kinds of important. I also managed to take an awesome tumble. Coach was passing the ball to me and I ran to get it, and in my Shape Ups on the grass, I could feel balance failing. I went down, laughing the whole way. Dax was quite concerned, until I told him and the others I was fine, still cracking up. They thought this was awesome and seriously, nothing better than making 5 kids almost cry from laughing so much.

Friday night, Stephanie and I went out for dinner, and then to a dive bar in Torrance that we have decided now is our bar. It was filled mostly with people significantly older than us, but it was charming for that reason. There was an elderly looking couple as our live music who started off with Everly Brothers’ covers, but as the night progressed, moved on to Pink and CeeLo. The only bad time was the multiple Bon Jovi songs, but even those were ok considering how much fun we had.

Our waitress I think said she was in her 60’s, and she was adorable. She was more drunk than both of us combined, and she was definitely part of the fantastic ambiance. I look forward to going back, perhaps on a karaoke night.

The only real issue with my fun Friday night was that I was quite tired come Saturday morning.

Soccer games were much fun. Dax’s team may not have won, but he did have a breakaway goal that was AWESOME! To watch the determination on his face, and the joy that it broke into was almost tear worthy. I was so happy for him and proud and just thrilled to be a part of the morning.

Bobby was so cute in his game. The other team scored at one point, and he did this adorable droopy walk back to the kick off, and I am telling you, I have never been so happy about the other team scoring before. They did manage to win, and it was an incredible game all around with lots of close calls.

After our game, Ken had another game he was reffing, so the boys and I walked up to Y-Not to have lunch. Dax has been grouchy a bit, so he was especially pissy, but the walk and lunch was nice.

We also hit up the grocery store, which was great since there were multiple sales going on. It was a sale-tastic weekend for us. On Sunday, we hit up Joanne’s and they had just started this huge 50 to 60% off sale on just about EVERYTHING. Halloween decorations, cloth, and other random stuff. Ken got gobs of surger thread for a buck a piece. We got several fun decorations, and the fabric we needed for Dax and my costumes was on sale, which rocked!

Before Joanne’s opened, we walked from there over to the Target. It was great! I am thoroughly enjoying this walking to get everywhere habit we are developing. It is an easy way to get exercise, and we have a lot of fun with it.

We decorated the front of the house for Halloween, which tickled the boys. They get such a kick out of it. We put up several new items. Some were bought last year on clearance, and some we had picked up at Joanne’s. The place looks good!

We took our afternoon walk, and this time we even took Lycos. She was thrilled. She didn’t walk on leash, since she stays with us and the leash seemed to make it harder on her. She did well, but you could see her drunken stagger about half way into it. Ken had to carry her for a bit during a downhill portion, but she managed to not only make it home, but recovered quickly. I was so happy to see her have such a nice time with her family.

Ken and I watched the Princess Bride on Saturday night. It was really fun to see it again. It had been far too long. It holds up so well. I was so tired, yet this movie kept me awake despite having seen it hundreds of times. It was also just a nice evening chilling with the cats and dogs.

I also got to watch Tron-Legacy again with the boys. They really get a kick out of that flick, which is great because I really enjoy it.

I feel really good today. I am down to 281. Ken bought some elastic so he can modify some of my clothing. We shall see how that works.

I wonder if I could take a sewing class. There have been so many cute fabrics down at Joanne’s that I love that would be cool simple skirts. Nothing fancy, just flowy circle skirts. Slightly hippie like. Especially right now with the fun Halloween cloth. So many good ones in these deep burgundy colors that are super soft and gorgeous. I hate to have to keep having Ken be my seamstress.

It is going to be a good week!

tic toc

10-11-11


I have been more twitchy than normal. Not a big deal. Just noting it. Ken happened to listen to a podcast on Tourette’s. Man, the more and more I hear about this, the more and more I think I have a minor case of it, and Dax is well on his way, too.

It often starts as a kid clearing their throat. I used to clear my throat constantly. In fact, I remember my mom taking me to the doctor for it. He didn’t see anything horrid, and we tried to figure out what it was from. The first thought was allergy related. I stopped drinking milk for a month to see if it helped. I made sure my room was dust free. We tried several things, but eventually gave up since it didn’t seem to make my life problematic.

I still clear my throat more than I should. Dax does, too. It is almost involuntary. In fact, the other thing I have always done is to sniffle. I will do one forceful inhale through my nose, and will do this over and over. Sometimes I don’t even realize I am doing it. Sometimes I do it to the beat of a song that might be on, or just one that is in my head. I don’t even have to have a stuffy nose to do this.

In high school I noticed more tics. Facial ones, mostly. I was always twitching my face. I have an old video where I am hanging out with I think Sarah and David and you can see it so clearly. I keep scrunching my face randomly. I watched some videos of common facial tics. I could see my face in theirs.

Currently, my left hand tenses a lot. Then my left pointer finger will need to be held down tightly, either by my thumb, or sometimes even my other hand. I will often be walking, and I will notice my left thumb pressed up very tightly to my pointer finger. I won’t even notice how I have been holding it.

I have been tempted to somehow film it, but honestly, it doesn’t really do much to prevent me from my life. It is more just kind of funny. It is hard to diagnose, too, so I really don’t feel the need to go get it checked out. They also don’t have any kind of treatment, especially since mine is pretty mild.

It is a 50% chance that I will pass this gene down to my boys. Dax has already started to clear his throat. I am going to watch for tics. I will be curious. I also will be able to explain to him what is going on so that he understands it. It makes it easier to deal with.

When you kind of understand what it going on, it does make it seem less freaky.

I do wonder why some days I am worse than other days. I wonder if stress comes into play.

My blood sugar seems to be having some issues. Not sure what is going on, since I have been really good about everything. I started tracking it more, and I am paying attention to all of it, so let’s see what can be done.

This will sound odd, but there was one good thing to come out of Doug’s death. Shockingly, I have become closer to his mom, Sandra. It’s funny since really I have never had a high opinion of her. Mostly because I think of her as someone who broke my dad’s heart and someone who kept Doug from his father. But now that I know more about Doug, I am starting to wonder if perhaps it wasn’t so much that she kept him from our dad. She was protecting him. She must have known that Doug had issues. And since he was a child born in 1969, bi-polar disorder wasn’t probably as well known when it was first taking over. By the time he was a young adult, his issues had already taken up a huge part of his soul. He didn’t know how to let dad be a part of his life, even though I really feel like he wanted him to be there.

Sandra lost her only son. She lost her chance at things like grandkids. She isn’t married and she spends her time with her good friend from school. They live together, which of course makes my dad assume they are more than friends, but honestly, I could totally see being in my 60’s, living with a girlfriend if Ken was gone.

I think Sandra is reaching out to me mostly because she can think of me not only as a surrogate daughter, but more specifically, she wants to be part of me and the boys since we are blood related to her son. She can love my boys, to which I am happy to have her do that. The more people in their life, the better. Plus, it means, she is presenting me with heirlooms for the boys so that Doug will always be a part of their lives. It really is such a wonderful thing in so many ways.

I only worry about my dad. My mom is way on board with it, and mostly my dad seems fine with it. I think my parents are always shocked at how I become a part of other families. I think it used to make them jealous (mom especially) but now they recognize that it is truly a great thing.

The more love out there, the better life is.

Even more energy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10-13-11


This morning I had my first breakfast consisting of egg whites instead of the whole egg. I had three egg whites since they are uber low in calories, and a slice of my lean ham. A breakfast that is less than 200 calories. Quite filling, too. I am on cup 3 of green tea. I was reading that if you can get in about 5 cups a day, you will get the most out of the benefits. It is also supposed to suppress your appetite to some degree. Cool!

I walked my ass off yesterday. I walked to the school, which is pretty normal. When I got home, I did 30 minutes on the Wii step. I did 10 minutes of super fast step, and then 20 on their highest step. I had thought you always had to follow their rhythm, but it turns out ‘free step’ is just that. Ken is going to set it up for me that I can watch a show with the step in the corner of the tv. Woo hoo!

After this, we walked up to Louis Burger to get dinner. It was cool since one of the main PTA ladies was there, and it is good for us as a family to get that kind of visibility. I had a grilled chicken sandwich. It was good, and even on a wheat bun. I think I could probably get away with only eating half next time.

Tonight is Bobby’s practice. I think Dax and I will go to Dollar Tree for our walk. I think I have time to do Wii before we have to leave, too, which is good. Papa Brenan is meeting us at the practice, and I am guessing we will go to dinner with him.

The boys have the 11th off, and I leave early on the 10th to go to my doc appt to see how my blood sugars have looked. I am considering also taking that day off. Maybe go to the Discovery Cube to see the bug exhibit. Could be fun. Or, I could just go to work and have Ken bring the boys to work so they can say hello. I will have to think about it.

I looked into ankle weights. I have decided against them. They actually may cause more harm than good when it comes to my knees and other joints. I will just need to work harder in general to keep up my pace. I am telling you, I want to be in People!

Energy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10-12-11


My dad handed me a 35 pound weight yesterday to show me how much I have lost. Can we say awesome visual?

As of yesterday, I am at 285. Woo hoo! I want to be at 275 by year end. I am telling you, if I am at less, I will not be upset.

If I can lose 3 pounds a week from here to the end of next May, I can be at 186!!! Ok, I know it isn’t that kind of easy, but I like to look at that kind of data. It is inspiring for me. I realize that every week, the weight will be harder to get off. My hopes is that things like exercise increasing because I am getting in better shape, and that it will help me stay on target.

Today I get two walks. I walk to get the boys, and then again later when we go up to Louis Burger for dinner since it is Halldale night there. I think I will do my Wii workout before we go up to the burger place, which will result in lots of workout today. Yay!

Don’t worry, I will not pig out on fries there. I am guessing there is some kind of chicken sandwich, or even a salad.

Dax is starting to figure out that his little friend, Tristen, can get him in trouble. He told us how Tristen always wants to race to the line after lunch, will get him in trouble. He said he didn’t want to do this. We told him it was ok to say no, which made him happy.

NB made a return this last weekend. He showed up Sunday night around 6:45. He had a bunch of older kids with him. When I answered the door, he was clearly not thrilled to get me. He asked if Ken was home, to which I told him, no. He asked if the ‘kids’ were home. I told him they were in the bath. He then proceeded to have the balls to ask if he and his little friends could use the wood on the side of our house. I happily told him no. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I enjoyed him looking upset with just a simple no. Maria told us later that she saw him and some other kids snooping around the side of our house. Ken doesn’t think they would steal anything. I beg to differ. I think this little shit would totally take things from our house. He has a sense of entitlement. I can assure you, even though Ken would never be on board with this, I would have NB arrested in a heartbeat if I caught him stealing or even doing something he should not on our property. Don’t fuck with me, kid. I have never trusted you, and you are not making any points with me.

Why are cashews so dammed tasty?

Hugh Jackman is pretty awesome. Just sayin.

I have a craving to watch Tron Legacy.

Is it wrong for one of my goals to be able to some day wear a bra that clasps in the front?

Ken tells me that he has to take a picture of this dead bird on the way to the school for me. Apparently the boys really wanted to show it to me. My first thought is, “Eww. Come on guys, do I really need to see this?” But then it dawns on me that their mother is obsessed with death, and they are very aware of this. Why wouldn’t they want to show me something that has died? I expressed my disgust to Ken, but assured him that I would be very enthusiastic when he presents me with the picture later.

I feel as though I have neglected my ducks in favor of skulls. Rest assured, I still adore both.

I had a dream in which I was visiting someone in the hospital. It was some kind of a field trip, though. I remember taking a lot of time putting on the cloth booties over my shoes, and putting these strange mittens on that were then covered in a similar material to that of my shoe covers. It seemed like a futile attempt to make sure all of these 5 year olds were quiet while entering the hospital, but they were silent. Almost too silent, really, and they seemed slightly Children of the Corn. I wish I had stayed asleep long enough to see who I was visiting.

It dawned on me recently that I have kept more friends from my Blockbuster days than I have at any other job. Awesome! Go BBV alumni!

I know that as a diabetic, I am not supposed to go barefoot like ever. But I can’t help it. There is a tiny hippie inside of me that wants to wear long flowing skirts and rock only a cute, beaded anklet thing on my feet and have the feel of cold, slightly damp grass on my feet. And even though I can appreciate a positively darling shoe style, I will be the first to kick on said shoes under my desk to enjoy the bumps on my foot stool and to pad around the office when no one is here with naked feet.

Don’t worry, I will watch for staples.

I have a desire to go on a nature hike with Luna and the boys. I will need better shoes for that. I also need to do some research. I would like one that is not too crazy hard for the boys. I also would like it to be not horribly crowded.

My left hand is super twitchy today. I hate that.

I wonder how badly Disneyland has lost sales on the pictures they take on some of their rides now that digital cameras can take fantastic shots of the picture when they are flashed up on the screen.

As I shove my phone back into my bra, it is no wonder that I prefer lower cut shirts. Easier access. To technology, you dirty birds!

weights

10-11-11


Doing 20 minutes of step on the Wii, with a raised platform, is not easy. It is quite the workout. I started doing that now as my beginning workout, and then 10 minutes of things like jogging or other games on there. I want to get up to doing 30 minutes of step and then doing 10 minutes of the other stuff. I may start that as soon as next week. The only issue so far is that I have noticed my legs being sore at night. They were just kind of a general sore, but enough so I noted that it was hard to get comfortable all night. This is two nights in a row. I think tonight I will need to take something like an Advil to perhaps relax them.

I have a meeting at 8:30 which should prove to be heated and long. The only good is that it will make my morning go by quickly.

I don’t get my school walk today since Ken picks up the boys on Tuesdays. I am considering going on a quick walk with Luna when I get home from my folks’. I can do the same route. It doesn’t take all that long, and it will make me feel good. I am also doing weight training today. The question-will I have time for Wii, too? I suppose I will just have to make time.

It is gratifying to be wearing the dress I have on today. When I purchased it, it was way too tight around my belly. Now, it is loose and flowy. Yay me!

All 4 of the cats were on the bed last night as I fell asleep. I was quite happy with this.

I have been having random spotting, which is slightly annoying. I have not had this issue in some time. I wonder what is causing it this time.

I want to buy some ankle weights.

Do you think this is the same cat?

Bargains

10-10-11


It was a good weekend. I got some things done and even took some time to relax, which is unheard of for me.

Friday night, we took the boys to see the Lion King. It was fun to see the flick on the big screen again. It is one of my favorite Disney films, and it is really cool to see it the same way I saw it the first time. Of course, there were some changes, including the fuddy duddys at Disney ‘correcting’ the word sex in the dust cloud Simba creates that ends up letting Raffiki know he is not dead. I was amused, but I wish they had left it in.

Ken had ref training, so the boys and I headed home after the movie. I crawled into bed soon after the boys. I was looking forward to some nice sleep.

Saturday morning I went to the farmer’s market with Brandy. I got the boys each an apple that was red and yellow. On Friday, Bobby had apple testing in class, and it was decided he liked the red apples and the yellow ones. Dax got to try some yellow ones because Mrs. Kelly was kind enough to give him some when we picked Bobby up. They both decided they were nummy. So I thought it would be funny to get them a combo apple. Dax was thrilled. I think Bobby was more thrilled at the cinnamon rolls I also got them.

Bobby’s soccer game was good. Our team is quite talented. Even with no subs, we were kicking the other team’s ass. I felt bad, but let’s face it, you can only hold back 6 to 8 year olds so much when it comes to a mercy rule. The other coach was pissed at us. I am torn on the mercy rule. I think that life isn’t fair. It sucks when you are on a team that is losing that bad. But honestly, is it good to show kids that just because they are behind that people will let up? Is it fair to make kids who have been taught to play hard no matter what to now start to slow down? Look, I am all for good sportsmanship. But that has to go two ways. You have to be a good winner and a good loser. When Dax’s team was getting tromped a couple weeks ago, I would never have suggested to the other team that they slow down. They were thrilled with themselves. I can’t in my right mind tell them that they are doing too much. Maybe when kids get a little older, mercy rules can come into play. But I also am one of those parents that doesn’t think that every kid should get a participation award. We are taking out the point of light competition, and even though it isn’t always good for kids to be competitive, they should learn at an early age that games will result in a winner and a loser.

Ken ended up reffing a game before Bobby’s game, and one after. We really are short refs in our region. I was ok with it if only because it was fun to watch all the other teams play, and it was reminiscent to my childhood where a Saturday was spent all day at the soccer field.

Saturday evening, Ken had his last training and his test for certification. This meant it was just me hanging out all evening. The boys were in bed, so I kicked back and watched several episodes of Drop Dead Diva. It was nice to just vege out.

I slept in on Sunday until almost 8. Yes, I was up at 5 when Dax came out to tell us Luna was chewing on Woody, but I managed to fall back asleep which was grand.

The day was spent running around to random discount stores. We had received an ad in the mail for this one warehouse place which turned out to be fantastic. Specifically because they had costumes, which included an Anakin one that looked enough like the base for Aang. It was only $2.50! Woo hoo! They also had cheap bottled water and other random goodies.

We also hit up Big Lots and the 99 cent store. Big Lots was having this 20% off sale, and we found some things there, along with a canopy Ken needed for work. At the 99 cent store, I found some eyeliner and pre packaged lettuce in the containers we re-use. It was a good bargain day!

We even found boots at Big Lots for Dax’s costume. I am telling you, we just were lucking out left and right!

Sunday afternoon we drained the pool. It was warm enough for them to go in for a bit, but with it becoming colder, and with us having less time each weekend, it seemed like the right time. The dogs also got to swim, which was nice. Lycos swam a bunch, chasing her tail in the water, which was super adorable. She was even able to walk pretty well after, which was nice to see.

Dax has a family collage due on Wednesday. I took some pictures for him and printed out a bunch of others, too. While I took my walk with Luna, Ken and the boys cut them out with the fun scissors. I was going to get a glue stick from work but I guess we don’t have anymore. Oh well, I will just run up to the dollar tree later.

I am down to 288. I want to get to 275 by the end of the year. Of course, if I lose more, I would be ok with that, too. LOL!

Crap. I thought Maryann was supposed to be back today but according to the calendar, she might not be back till tomorrow. Lame.

Frankie says Relax!

10-7-11


I am so happy it is Friday. I know, so very cliché, but it is what it is. I think I am just jazzed since it is a mellow weekend. I have only the one game and this means I can do a bunch of other things. I need to wash my dogs. I need to work on some other house projects. I need to go to JoAnne’s.

I get to sleep in tomorrow, too, which sounds lovely. With no morning game, I don’t have to rush to get up. When I do get up, I think I will take Luna and go on a nice long walk.

Yesterday Dax and I walked about 2 miles during Bobby’s practice. We went up to Walgreens in search of this particular lip stick that Kam had given me. I had seen online that Walgreens carries it and in a darker color, so I wanted to see what I could come up with. Although I didn’t find it there, it was a nice walk. I also picked up a couple of the peeling face masks I love so very much.

I put the pomegranate one on last night. I stood in the bathroom, smearing this pale red goo on my face, every now and again amused at the reflection of the boys’ faces in the mirror who were staring in complete horror. They didn’t understand why I was making my face all slimy red.

Over the next half an hour, the boys could not look me in the eye when they spoke to me. They were constantly staring at the foreign substance glistening on my face. When it started to dry and peel up on its own, you could see their displeasure.

I sat on the couch and started to peel it myself, and they were horrified. I offered to let them touch it, but they backed up quickly to get away from it lest it jump out and grab them. Bobby even grabbed his stomach and said he felt sick. I was quite pleased at this whole role reversal. Normally it was them grossing me out.

I finally managed to get them to touch the substance I had pulled from my face. Dax pointed out it felt like Hal’s skin, which Hal had recently shed. They were still leery of the whole process. I have to admit, I am looking forward to using the other one, now.

I discovered that I can fit into a pair of jeans I had in my closet that I have been unable to fit into for some time. Woo hoo!

I want to go to Big Lots, too. I want to see what kind of couches Ken and I seem to like.

Steps

10-6-11


I have lost another 4 pounds. I have busted out of my plateau. Some of it was period related. I gained like 4 pounds during those 2 days, but then lost a total of 8 afterwards, quite quickly. Stupid water weight. I also went back to salad lunches, and making sure I work out. Last night I did 20 minutes of steps on a raised balance board. I then did some other vigorous things on the Wii, which was awesome. I also did my walk to the school. Oh, and Ken gave me a nice workout later. Sorry, tmi.

Tonight I am hoping to get a long walk in again what with it being Bobby’s practice. Not sure where Dax and I will go. I am thinking of walking the other direction towards what I believe is a CVS as I wanted to look for some hair ties.

Dax got a red card yesterday in class. He, and several other kids, were running and sliding on the puddles in the hallway at lunch. The lunch aides were PISSED. So everyone involved had to turn their card. Dax was already on yellow. On the way home, Bobby said he stayed on green. Dax then says, “Mom, don’t be upset, but I was on red.” He didn’t know why, so we walked back to the school to talk to Mrs. Fasheh. She and Mrs. Lee were lovely and explained the whole thing to me. No one was mad. Then Mrs. Fasheh confirmed what Ken and I had suspected, which was that Dax’s little friend, Tristen, was a bad influence. Dax only gets in trouble when they hang out. They don’t hang out in the classroom, but on the playground and at lunch, they do. I talked to Dax about it, and he said Tristan was fine. I told him that I don’t blame Tristan. I told Dax that if he cannot behave that I will have to tell him he cannot play with Tristan. He seemed to understand. I told him if he doesn’t turn his card at all for 2 weeks that we would go to Chuck E Cheese. He was thrilled.

I am enjoying how cold it is. Sadly it will not last. On Saturday, it will be close to 80 degrees. Oh well, I know that winter is in route.

I think Ken has the AYSO board meeting tonight. It just means that I think once the boys go to bed, I will do a full 30 minutes of steps, if not more.

spirits

10-5-11


My living room is growing on me. I still need a new couch since it truly is the one thing that stands out as wrong, but the configuration is significantly better. Perhaps I am just thrilled at how clean it looks. LOL!

Back to School night and the PTA info was good. I got some good information there. I really like Bobby’s teacher. She is very nice and genuine, plus, I know she gets it since she also has a 6 year old at home. I like that she had no problem with questions from us parents and that she really seems to care about our kids.

I met with the current PTA president, someone I have spoken to before but had not realized her involvement. She is awesome. She knows Ken and I already, and loves my boys. She suggested that before I take over the school (both her kids are no longer at the school so she is only staying on as president for a little while longer), I should yes, become an officer, but take a year to watch the process before I take on president. I like this idea, since this way I don’t get overwhelmed too quickly. Plus, I can learn from the likes of her who has been doing this for 8 years. They did love how much Ken and I want to be involved.

I am falling deeply in love with Tonks. She is such a doll. Monarch is not thrilled with this, but I have made sure to give him extra loving. Tonks is actually becoming pretty used to the dogs, too. She will hang with me in the kitchen while both L dogs are wandering around. She doesn’t cozy up to them, but she doesn’t sprint away. My animals are all so awesome.

The net has provided me with a lot of distraction this morning. Multiple articles have caught my eye and I have been reading up on everything from school things to capital punishment to inclusion of “under god” in the pledge. I know I have said this before, but I will say it again; thank goodness I didn’t have the net when I was younger. I would have gotten NOTHING done.

My plan is to walk in the rain to get the boys. I have no idea how they will feel about this, but dammit, I need my walking.

I want to go to JoAnne’s tonight.

K&B are talking to a medium right now who says spirits talk to her. They are taking calls and she said that she really needed someone to call who recently lost their brother since she has one coming through strongly wanting to let it known that he is at peace. I have never felt so many chills. I tried calling, but the lines are busy. I emailed Bean. I am truly spooked.

Ok, someone else got through. He seemed to think it was his brother. I have so many questions. I hate that I get so interested in this.

PTA

10-4-11


Stupid muscle spasm. Last night, as I was settling in to sleep, my right shoulder blade flipped out. It hurt, and Ken noted a knot in my back. It was even hard to breathe in deeply. It was awful. I took some Tylenol and it helped after a while, but it was an unrestful sleep across the board due to the whole event.

I did do some Wii before bed, and I wonder if that triggered it. It was an awesome set, though. I was beating old records on time and scores and I felt very satisfied afterwards. I clocked over 10K in steps yesterday. Woo hoo!

Some of my steps included re-doing the living room. While Dax worked on some homework (Ken and Bobby had run down to check out a broken water main), I started pulling out the couch to sweep. I decided we needed a change. I switched the position of the couch and recliners. I am happy with the recliners’ new position, but the couch is making me frustrated. The style of our couch is very boxy, and when it isn’t up against a wall, it looks odd. It is also looking pretty rough over all. I took to the net and noted some decent couches at Big Lots for about $300. We don’t have the funds to do this as of yet, but perhaps in the next couple months we can save up. I get a couple of bonus checks next week, so who knows.

Once the tournament Lego is out of my house, I will feel even better. It clutters up , my entry way and even part of the living room, and it drives me nuts. It is supposed to be gone today, so I am crossing my fingers.

Tonight should be interesting. I am going to my first attempt to start taking over the school. Ken has already infiltrated the perimeter and has laid some great ground work by getting on one of the counsels and being pretty active at budget meetings. Now it is my turn to take over the PTA since it is making its return this year after being gone since that one lady embezzled gobs of cash from our school. There are only 2 members of the PTA right now, and one is the principal, who is more than thrilled to have a Brenan take part. Fingers crossed, I will be president before the year is done.

I have crap loads of statements to handle today. I am not thrilled about it, but it will at least make the day go by quickly. Sigh. Here we go.

RIP IO

10-3-11


It has been quite the last week. I have been so overwhelmed, I have not taken time to write until this morning.

On Monday night, IO started acting odd. It was around 10 at night that he started wandering the house, yelling out and throwing up, both with a lot of sadness and force behind them. It was tough to know what was going on. He had been losing weight over the last couple weeks, and now his back legs seemed shaky. Our IO was dying.

He finally stopped his cries at around 3 in the morning, when he managed to dig his way under the bed. He has been faithfully at our side, whether in the living room on the couch, or in the bed with us, so this move was odd. It seemed so cliché, but there was concern he was finding a place to be alone so he could die in peace.

We spent Tuesday allowing him to try and perhaps come out of whatever was ailing him. He did come out on his own and drink a lot of water. Unfortunately, he would not eat. I tried to force some kitten food into him, which he took like a trooper, but he just didn’t want anything. We had him stay in the bathroom so that he could be undisturbed, and hopefully he would eat some of the tasty food we set out for him. When I got up in the morning, he had not moved.

When I petted him, he did perk up and purr, which should have made me smile, but it only made it harder to make the obvious decision.

Ken called me to ask if the litter pan with him had been used while I was getting ready for work. My first answer was to ignore the pee since it was only Monarch being a punk ass. Ken said this wasn’t what he was talking about. Apparently, there was a ton of dark liquid in there. It consisted of mainly blood.

Ken called Manhattan Beach Animal Hospital. Dr. Steinam wasn’t there, but both Ken and I agreed, we should not make IO wait another day just so we could see our favorite doctor. Dr. Wang was thankfully there, so I told Ken to see when we could go in and I would meet him there.

Ken took IO down to the school so the boys could say goodbye. I am glad I wasn’t there, but it sounds like the Brenan men were stoic. I met Ken at the house and we took IO down to MB.

Dr. Wang looked at his charts and checked him out. We noted before she had even come in that IO had jaundice, which was not good. She said that it looked as though his liver was failing. She said that yes, we could put him through extensive testing and hospitalization, but really, there was no guarantee that it would help, and at his age, it might not be the best call. We had already known this, but it was nice to hear a doctor confirm that our decision was not hasty.

IO was a doll. He purred the whole time, air kneading and looking actually rather content for the first time in the last 48 hours. It was as though he was trying to make all of this easier on us.

Ken took it hard. This was in fact a kitty he had adopted so long ago. IO was always clearly Ken’s cat. As I watched my normally stone faced man crumple with his cat limp in his arms, I am not sure if I was crying more for my loss or for Ken’s.

The rest of the day was quiet. Ken went to class. I stayed at home and cleaned a bit, and exercised a lot. I even carried the two large bags of books we were donating to the school while I went up to get the boys.

Since it was a Wednesday, I had my diabetes class. I didn’t get home until about 9, which makes for a really long and draining day for me. I was thankful I was not going to work on Thursday.

I don’t know what was going on with me that morning, though. The sleep I had hoped to take advantage of eluded me. I had the ick all morning long, and it was as though my excuse to work about not feeling well was in fact the real reason I would not be coming in to work.

I felt ill much of the day. We did end up going to Disneyland for a couple of hours. It seemed as though much of Los Angeles thought our idea was brilliant, so the park was exceptionally crowded for a Thursday during September. We did manage to see the Haunted Mansion all dolled up for Jack Skellington, which was the main reason for our visit.

Because of Disneyland and walking during practice, I did a lot of exercise on Thursday. We also climbed the tree house at Disneyland, which resulted in incredibly sore thighs on Friday and Saturday. I was not happy about this.

The weekend brought tons of activity. Saturday morning, we had back to back games. Dax’s team was beaten for the first time. The Dinosaurs looked sluggish in general. They all did good, but there was something missing. Perhaps it was just the heat. Dax did good, but even he seemed a bit off. Miss Lira came to watch his game, which did make him quite happy.

Bobby’s team was short players, which meant there were no subs. Thankfully, they were on fire, which I think fueled them for the whole game. Bobby played goal for a whole half. I think if he had his choice, he would be there the whole game. He has some good placement at times and it is possible with some additional training, we could get him to be a pretty decent goalie.

Ken was the ref for Bobby’s game until one of the parents from the other team complained. Never you mind that Ken was being harder on our own team, but it was clear that the coach and parents on the other side were all assholes overall. The commissioner, when approached by the parent, pointed out that it wasn’t like any parents from their team were stepping up to ref. He also pointed out that Ken didn’t have to stop, and if he wasn’t willing to switch with the ref of the game on the field next to us, that their team would half to forfeit. This shut them up quickly, but Ken had already agreed to switch. Sadly this meant he missed the second half of Bobby’s game.

When soccer time was over, we headed over to Long Beach where my company was having our picnic. It was not super packed, which meant we could eat and kind of chill for a bit. The boys played on the bouncer and played some games. Ken was chosen at random to go up to the stage with some other guys to do a sexy legs contest, where they all wore bags on their heads and danced. Ken easily won, even beating out the company president, who was awesome about the whole thing. I was just impressed that he knew who I was when Ken said he was married to me.

Bobby and I did a game, too, where a parent and kid team had to dress the kid in over sized sweat pants and a sweatshirt and fill these clothing with filled balloons. We kicked balloon ass, but since it was kids, there was no champion. Oh well. We had fun.

We got home around 3:30. The boys went swimming and I decided to go in, too. I didn’t swim since it was FREEZING! I did, however, do my exercise in there. I walked about 30 minutes in circles in the water, occasionally changing direction to go against the whirlpool. Talk about a great workout! Plus, I think it helped make my thighs less sore for the first time in two days.

Miss Tonks has decided I am good people. I am quite pleased about this. She now hangs out with us in the evenings, and even tolerates the chaos of the dogs who also feel the need to be at my side. I even held her for a while and she purred and got all comfy, which was super sweet. She will come to me when I call her at night. In the mornings, she follows me around, and she is uber affectionate. She seems quite happy to call our house home.

Sunday was less busy. We did go to the Hometown Fair, but we really were not there too long. The boys rode the horses and went in the two bounce houses they could. They played a couple games. It was mellow. I was amused at how many new clubs pop up at my alma mater each year. Who knew we had a Baja Club and a Ping Pong Club?

The boys and I left Ken at Aaron’s house and we went to Target to get a few things. We knew we would be picking up Ken at some point, so the boys and I mostly dinked around, spending some time at the 99 cent store and even visiting with my folks.

The broad that has been working in our office a good 6 months longer than she was supposed to (our parent company is the same, and she is here during their transition from CA to TX) is finally leaving. Unfortunately, this does mean she keeps coming down to my area because her printer and her empty boxes are stored in the cube next to me. Ok, well, the boxes WERE here, until last week when Esther got rid of them. Look, I didn’t mind one bit. They were empty and strewn about making it look messy. I didn’t mess with them since I had no authority. I only stacked them nicely, which apparently Esther felt looked worse, so she had them tossed, pointing out we have plenty of empty boxes around for her when she finally will need them. This is true, except since Esther isn’t in yet, this chick keeps coming and chatting with me. I don’t like her, and I really don’t want to have to make small talk. Sigh.

This week looks to only have one super busy day. Tuesday is Back to School Night. There is a PTA meeting and two classes to attend. It will be cool, but busy. Yay, though, that I have no diabetes meeting on Wednesday, and even though I don’t agree with it, Dax may not have practice since he has no game this weekend.

Ok, to work I go!