Christmas is around the corner

It's interesting how much my attention span has drifted over the past several months.  I write when I feel like it, but I don't always write when I really think I should.  I'm a stress writer--a lot of the things I am feeling come out when I'm trying to get pent up stress out.   In that way, it's kind of like stress-eating, only I don't always write.  Eating, on the other hand...

Anyway, it's hard to believe that it's been nearly a year since we bought our house. Oldest is in high school, officially at the "big" school (that's where 10-12 attend) and youngest is in a new school himself.  He's had a lot going on this year...his class went to a place called Sky Ranch on a field trip for 3 days.  This was his first time away from home without his family.  It was quiet while he was gone.  His sister didn't have anyone to argue with, so that wasn't happening.  He came home in time to see her off to a football game, one of the few that I skipped this year.

Our football season is over now too, so we're getting ready to head into our concert season.  I will miss the scramble to get her off to school in the mornings.  She can now either ride the bus or I'll continue to take her in early.  I have to be at work at 7:30, so she gets dropped off just before 7:00 a.m., usually.  I'm very glad the school is open that early!  She does have music lessons on Wednesdays with her flute teacher, so that's a good thing.  

On the work front, I went in and talked to my manager about him promoting me to Supervisor.  I'm sure it won't happen, but at least I put it out on the table for him to think about.  I told him that I do enough in the department with training new people and the other administrative things.  I didn't whine, but presented my case and told him that I thought it would be a good thing.  He said he'd talk to our director.    I'm not going to let myself get discouraged about it.  It *was* unprecedented and I'm sure that he was surprised (just like I was) about the fact that I mentioned it to him.  Whether or not anything happens, I can be proud of the fact that I said something.  

Beyond that, not much else is going on.  We started decorating our house a week ago, while it was still warm.   I have a picture of my son going into the house, wearing shorts and walking bare-footed.  This weekend, it's too cold.  Last night we had our first freeze.  A bit late, but there it is.  Now it's officially sweater weather.  I guess I've broken the "rules" because I have been wearing sweaters for a couple of weeks now.  I don't care that the temps are in the 70s and 80s.  I like being warm.  At least I have a valid excuse now!  

In a nutshell, that's it.  Christmas is sneaking up on us.  Time to look ahead to shopping, wrapping and getting ready for the holiday.  I'm not going massively commercial this year.  My kids may get a couple of presents each, but hubby and I have decided that this house is our Christmas present.  We are going to enjoy our first Christmas.

Homecoming 2010

As a teenager, I never went to a single football game.  I didn't attend Homecoming or Proms.
I'm really excited that my daughter was asked to Homecoming by her boyfriend.  After our last home game, while we were waiting for the buses to come pick us up to take us back to the high school, the band director let the kids borrow the microphone to ask their girlfriends to Homecoming.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear my daughter's boyfriend ask her if she'd go to Homecoming with him.   I yelled down the stairs "yes she will!", then sent her down to find him.  She said yes (of course!).  It was too cute!

So, fast foward a few weeks.  We've been dress shopping, figured out (somewhat) what to do with her hair and if she wants to makeup.  Then, tonight, her boyfriend brought her mum over.  It is gorgeous!  He made it with his mother and sister's help.  The mum is just beautiful!!  I really like it!
This is what he brought her:

 It has their graduating year, their names on the ribbons, stars, band-related things, football related things, a ribbon or two for the school and it says "Sophomore" (they both are).  
I really like it.

I haven't been familiar with mums because I never received one, but holy WOW!!!  I can say that I am truly impressed.   This mum is nearly as big as my daughter.  I'm not joking!  It'll hang around her neck and will JUST barely avoid hitting her feet!   Tomorrow I'll get a picture of her with it on. 
I can't wait!!

The band is going to get to wear their mums at the football game since it's Homecoming.  I'll get to hold her mum while she's marching.  I can give it back when she gets off the field.

Here are the kids:

He plays the trumpet, she plays the flute.
This was taken in the band hall at our last home game.

Fly-by

Happiness is abundant in my home at present.  My hot water heater has been repaired for a week now (and there was MUCH rejoicing!!) and I'm no longer NOT enjoying showers!  I'm back to being happy about that.  Of course, hubby has turned the heat down on the shower (which I WILL turn back up later!), but still, it works!!  

We had a band competition last weekend that I worked at.  Our band performed Dvorak's New World Symphony.  The kids earned a 1 in Division, picked up fourth overall and the drumline earned first place.   That's a feat to be proud of.  The kids are off this weekend, except for the football game on Friday night, which is Homecoming.  Saturday night is the Homecoming dance, which my daughter is going to with her boyfriend.  The kids are having dinner at someone's house.  The parents are catering it.  I've been elected to bring a dessert and since I forgot to mention food to one of the girls' moms, I'll also provide salad.

Work has been hectic for me lately.  I'm on the verge of asking my manager and director to promote me to Assistant Supervisor or Supervisor since I'm now taking on a LOT more responsibility in my job.  I just need to sell myself to them.  I'm handling the dealer installations, monitoring the phone queues while my manager is out and making sure that people are at their desks on time.  I run the time sheets and make sure our service calls are dispatched accordingly.  I really think it's time to get together with my managers.
 

Dead hot water heater

Replacing the thermo-coupling on the hot water heater, we thought, would resolve our hot water woes, but it did not.  As soon as the water stops heating, the flame goes out.  We finally broke down and contacted our home owner's warranty company.  They're sending our information to a plumber, who will call me on Monday and schedule a time to come look at the water heater.  I HOPE it doesn't involve a new water heater!!  I haven't budgeted for that (yet).  

The warranty people sent me an email and it's going to be the same guy who came out here last month to repair the hall bathroom.  He's got to be wondering what the heck happened.  We're wondering the same thing.

Hot water

For the past couple of days, we've had a few issue with our hot water heater.  I found out on Thursday that it wasn't heating up the water to full "scald your skin" hot.  Hubby got COLD water (snicker!).  The pilot light on the heater was out, so we re-lit it.
Friday morning, part two of the hot water heater saga.  Pilot light was out again.  A friend from work came over, showed me where the thermo-coupling was and re-lit the pilot light.  About two hours after he left, the pilot light was out again.   Now we're fairly sure we're going to have to replace the thermo-coupling.  Fortunately, it seems to be a fairly straight-forward fix.  We can do it ourselves.  It's just a copper tube to screw into the control on one end and put down near the burner on the other end.  Should be about a 15 minute fix.  We can hope it is, anyway!!

Martial arts change

Last week, I attended a meeting at the "Y" to hear what the fate of my present (??) martial arts school is.  The "Y" is consolidating and they don't have room for a martial arts school there any longer.  The owner is looking at other alternatives to the Y and is trying to make the transition as painless as possible for his students.  I can honestly say that I was very impressed by his manner.  He didn't blame anyone, he laid out the facts and he told people that he's not in it for the money.  He wants to share his knowledge with people.

I went, although I haven't been to a class in months.  I've felt increasingly more and more frustrated by my lack of progress, my memory lapses on forms I KNOW I know and the fact that I was told months ago that I'd never test because I was too "fat".  Someone had also conveniently told me that I should never have entered this program as a black belt because I didn't know their ways.  I was mad, sad and annoyed and I think I let it get the best of me.   I think it was a contributing factor to my leaving the school for an extended break.  I needed to work past that.


I'm not sure I'll be welcome back to my school.  I told my instructor that I was having a crisis and that my husband wasn't sure I was learning anything. That made him (my instructor) highly annoyed and he responded to me that he was very sorry that we felt I wasn't learning and that I wasn't willing to give learning a chance at his school.  He wasn't rude about it, but I felt like he was making it clear that I insulted him and the Dans.

When I attended this meeting, only 3 of the Dans spoke to me.  The instructor was busy with the "real" people in the school.  He never acknowledged that I was there and I guess that stings a little. I just wish I could have had him put himself into MY shoes for a while.   Ah well.  I'm working on it, a little at a time.

I'm presently enrolled in Tai Chi classes.  I'm going to concentrate on that for a while.  I'm learning a 64 move form that is very soothing, very interesting and best of all...I have no need to compare myself to anyone else in where I am in the form!!!!  In my TSD classes, I found myself constantly comparing my performance to the others in the class.   In Tai Chi, I am focusing within, on my breathing.  I can tune out everything except the instructor. It's nice.
I think I owe Michele, from another blog, a word of thanks for that.  Michele suggested, through a posting about keeping in touch with your instructor if you're on a hiatus, to realize that I'm being respectful.  I DO talk to at least one Dan, so that keeps me up with the school. 


Once I get my mind rearranged around my martial arts, then we'll see where the wind blows.  Who knows?  Maybe I will find an Okinawan Kenpo teacher somewhere and I'll *really* start out fresh...


 

March-a-thon, in pictures

March-a-thon is always an impressive thing to see.  It's impressive to experience in any way and is completely awe inspiring when you see how well the band directors wrangle over 700 kids and get them from point A (the high school) to point b (the last elementary school on the route).  It's a well orchestrated gathering of parent volunteers, teachers and of course, the band themselves.

Just a gathering before the actual march.

 I am fortunate that my daughter doesn't mind that her crabby old mother comes along on this journey.   I was able to share in this experience today and had a lot of fun.
We gathered, starting at 7:30 am and fed the kids (no easy feat!).  By 8:45, the band was outside the band hall and getting out, ready to march.  
They left the band hall and marched out from behind the band hall, past our practice field and on to one of the major streets in town, which they crossed.

This is a small portion of the band, crossing the street.

 

 They got to Anderson Elementary (our first stop) by 10:00 am.  There, they got drinks as it was hot already, used the rest room and then were ready to go again. 

Arriving at Anderson Elementary.

 

 

 They marched across Main Street (I bet THAT was impressive!), then arrived in our neighborhood, at the Bethany Lakes Park for lunch.  They were *very* hot by the time they got there.  We handed out water and Gatorade, plus they ate lunch.  My son came over from the house and brought his sister lunch since she forgot to pack hers.  I took him with me when we left to go off to Lowes and Tom Thumb.  I figured it would be good for him to spend a little bit of time with me.

Arriving at Green Elementary--end of the line.

The last stop after Lowes and Tom Thumb was the Twin Creeks neighborhood.  We got to the elementary school about 45 minutes before the band did.  It gave me time to rest a little, drink my coke (I'd had water in the car on the way over to the school) and wait for the band.  I don't know what the exact temperature was today--I think it was over 100 for sure.  The forecast called for it to be 104 today.  I am in awe of those kids, marching in 100+ degree heat and playing their instruments.

Here's even more inspirational to me:

Mandi at the end of 10 miles!

March-a-thon

Today is March-a-thon, which is the fundraiser for the high school band.  My daughter is marching 10 miles, after which, she's going to a pool party.  I'm going to help set up and distribute water to our kids.
It will be enormous fun!!

I won't be taking very many pictures because I'll be ahead of the crowd, but I'll try to get one or two.

Adventures in grilling

We bought this crazy looking thing a week ago and brought it home on Saturday.  This is our "Big Green Egg", which is a combination smoker/grill.  It is made of ceramic.  The inspiration is from a Japanese cooker called a "kamado".  This is a new version of that type of cooker.  It uses charcoal in a fire ring, which is at the base of the egg.  See the metal plate at the base?  That's a vent and where you clear out the ash.  The charcoal is about at the top of that ring, about 1/4 way up.  Then you have a ring, then you have the grate.  There's also something called a "plate setter", which is ceramic as well.  You can put it in, feet down, which allows you to put things on top of it and do things like pizza, breads, etc.  If you put the plate setter in feet up, you can then put your grill on top of that, then put a drip pan underneath.  That prevents flare ups from the fire getting drippings in it AND it keeps the grill a bit cleaner.

We started out small--we made hamburgers and hot dogs in it on Saturday. I also made some chicken legs for lunches for this week. Those will last all of tomorrow as my son and daughter will likely eat 2 of them and the hubby and I are taking them for lunches.  Today, we made a roast and baked potatoes.  I don't think we'll be making potatoes any other way now.  These were just too good!  We put them on the grill for about an hour, then we wrapped them in foil and finished them baking.  The roast was incredibly juicy and not at all dry.

I am going to try my hand at roasting vegetables too.  We have an eggplant in the refrigerator which was supposed to be for ratatouille, but as we do not have bell peppers, we will just try grilling the eggplant.


Next weekend I'm going to make several things that can be cooked easily on Monday and for the rest of the week.  I'm already planning for next week. 

I'm going to

Eye surgery (again)

I had Lasik in January of 2009.   As of June, 2010, we found that my vision had deteriorated.   I went in for a follow up and they said that most likely I'd need a touch up. They had me wait a month, then come back in again.  They wanted to make sure it wasn't changing radically. It didn't change between last month and this, so I am now scheduled for a repeat surgery on the 9th of August.  Let's hope that this one is good.  I don't want to go back to glasses yet.   I lived with them for 33 years. Being without them for the past year has been so wonderful!  I love not having to fight with glasses to see distances. Plus, in martial arts, it's hard to keep them from sliding down my nose!! 

As I said, I had my follow up today.  We scheduled the surgery for the 9th. I can't go to work that day and am wondering about the following day.  They assured me that I'll be able to drive--I will have my left eye still.  I will have a contact lens in the right eye that will stay there for about a week.  I see the doctor on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  I should have asked Dr. Boothe if I could go to Tai Chi on Monday.  I think I will go anyway--it's non impact and I don't lean over at all during the movements.   For Tang Soo Do, that's a question mark.  I am not sure if I want to go or not.  It will be "Pirate Tang Soo Do" if I do go...I'll have to talk to Master G about it.

Tai Chi wisdom

Tonight, my Tai Chi instructor said something that resonated with me.  She said that all the ideas of perfection we have are to be left behind because there is no perfection.  Her suggestion was to do the technique and if it brings you happiness, if you're smiling inside, then you did it right.   It's thought-worthy, especially in light of my determination to be 'perfect'.  I got something out of class tonight that I would never have thought I'd pick up.

In class, we did "Move around the world to the left". It is a neat technique.   When done slowly (note to self...MOVE...SLOWLY...), it is very pretty.  Some of the Forms Class students came in and worked with one of the other instructors.  They were working on the "Four Corners".  It was beautiful.   I'm glad I'm taking the time to slow down and learn the Tai Chi.  I needed to re-think and re-focus.  
I was thinking on the way home from work tonight that I needed the break I've taken from martial arts.  I'm getting re-balanced in Tai Chi.  It's about balance.  

Burn out

I'm suffering from burnout.  I have been seriously burned out from my normal martial arts classes because I have had problems with remembering my forms and I get very frustrated because I'm a perfectionist.  I demand nothing but perfection because I have this silly idea that I HAVE to be top notch.  However, you cannot be top notch if you don't practice.  If you don't practice, you can't achieve the silly ideal of perfectionism you may be carrying around in your head.  
This describes me.  I get aggravated because I don't know the Korean for my techniques.  I don't work on learning it.  I get aggravated because forms I know I should know, I forget.  I get mad at myself because I think that I "should" do something perfectly because I'm a black belt.  Then I get caught into a nasty cycle of beating myself up and yelling at myself for doing things wrong.

This led to a lot of thinking (my best friend says I live in my head too much!).  I've sent stupid emails to my instructors, telling them that I'm having issues.  I've met with the owner of the school.  He finally laid it out-I need to make a serious decision to get it together and decide what really want.  I've got a yes or no question to answer for him.   I just haven't decided what that answer will really be.   Is it in my heart to put in the hours and hours of training and beat myself up to get into top shape and attempt to work toward my second Dan?

Ultimately, I think it all boils down to that.  I had this plan when I first got my Dan that I'd be a first Dan, then two years later, I'd be a second Dan, then three years after THAT I'd earn my third Dan...so, if I was "on track" on the old "plan", I'd be a second Dan, pushing to earn my third in another year.  Well, things don't always work out the way we plan.   I'm still at first Dan.  I haven't taken my training seriously.    I blow it off more than anyone  I know.

I'm working on figuring out what I want to do.  To try to work toward that end, I enrolled in an "Introduction to Tai Chi" class through the Parks and Recreation department. I had my first class last week (7/12).  I enjoyed that class and went back last night.   I enjoyed that one as well.   I truly feel that it is helping me.  So far, I've only attended two classes, but I learned a little bit about the history of the art, plus I have learned how to "turn the ball" and "wave hands like clouds".  I am practicing the things I've learned thus far, which is a far cry from what I've been doing with my TSD.  I don't think I'm going to give up the TSD yet, but I'm thinking that for now, my concentration is going to be on healing myself (my leg still isn't right after that kick *months* ago!) and getting my mind together.  Then I can pull it together, go into class without any expectations and I'll be able to concentrate on training with out putting any stupid burdens on myself.

I love my chiropractor!!

I have been under the care of a chiropractor for many years and after much searching, and recommendations from friends, have found one who is absolutely the BEST!  He has taken care of my shoulder/neck when I was in all that pain last year and then again this year.  He has had the care of my back for over a year now. 

I went to see my chiropractor tonight since I was in so much pain, I was having issues with sitting up straight.  I needed to see my doctor for sure.  
My back was so tense, he had a hard time adjusting my spine.  I had to put my hands on my chest as I was laying face down on the table in order for him to get my spine to move.  It felt WONDERFUL!!  We talked about how to prevent the "lock up" from happening again. A lot of it involves trying to avoid stress (hahaha!!) at work.  

I'm glad I was able to get in to see my chiropractor tonight.  I'm now resting a little easier. 

Soon to be end of school

School is winding down for the kids and I've been wondering about what the summer will bring for them.  My daughter is about to be a sophomore in high school.  It just doesn't seem like she's that old!  I know she is though, because I have the DVD to prove it.  As a Band Booster, I got a DVD of the football/band season.  It is a great thing!!  I've watched it from start to finish at least once.

My son's about to head for a new school too as he starts the fifth grade.  I was worried about the state mandated testing that both kids had to undergo, but was told by his teacher that I'll get the results on Tuesday (and school is officially out on Friday!!).  He obviously didn't fail because they didn't make him go back for further testing.  I believe my daughter was the same way.

I've got the little guy signed up for football the week after school gets out.  It'll be his first taste of football.  He has been telling us that he's going to be a running back for the University of Texas Longhorns (ummm, he better earn a scholarship!!) so this will give him a small taste of the game.  If he likes it, I'll sign him up for flag football and then move him into a regular football league.  

It's hard to think that in just 5 short days (literally as my daughter will be home early every day!), school is out.  Time to figure out what the summer is going to bring for us.

Gardening fun

Yesterday we spent most of the day in the back flower beds.  We pulled out the pansies, which were on their last legs and replanted the beds with salvias and celosia.  I also got a couple of Asiatic Lilies and planted them.  There's one already in the flower bed, so the two we bought just compliment that.  We also got some peppers and some basil, along with a tomato.  I'm happy to have my garden in.  I've really missed getting my hands dirty!

This is what the flower bed looked like before we installed the plants and the mulch I went out and picked up.  I got Cedar mulch because it has "bug conrolling properties" and it smells pretty.  That, and it'll help improve the soil from everything I've heard.  

While digging toward the back of this bed (where the light green bush is at the back of the picture, toward the grass), I found some sort of volunteer plant.  It looks like it's some sot of bulb grown plant.  We'll see what it springs up into.   I decided not to pull it out.  I'll see if it grows anything wonderful when it sprouts.

We also planted a couple of pepper plants and a dill plant in this flower bed.  The dill is over by the house, near the golden plant at the back of the bed.  I hope it'll do well.  We planted it because we like to eat salmon with dill and it's nice to have that fresh dill in the garden.  I'm also going to plant some basil and enjoy that.  The tomato is in a pot by itself.  I hope that I get some good tomatoes from it.  I bought the plant based on what the container said, that it can grow well in a container.

I

This evening's walk

Back to training!!

I am sooo excited!!  After over a month off, I'm going to be back into my martial arts training as of tomorrow!  I'm going to the dojang to practice with one of the head instructors.  This is making me VERY happy and very excited because I'll be able to get back into working out and getting my mind wrapped around the idea of being a martial artist seriously.  I'm literally jumping up and down for joy.  I'm happier than I have been about almost anything.  There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, I'm thrilled as anything to be able to get back into martial arts!!!  

I am a little apprehensive as well, but I don't think I'll let it bother me much.  The one leg I have been having problems with since I was kicked is a bit sore, but I need to make sure I get myself using it.  I'm going to start stretching tonight so that I can start working on building muscle strength.

School play

The fourth graders put on a play tonight called The Empty Pot.  It was a really neat play.  The kids acted it out, narrated, and played music, along with singing.  It was really a cute play.  I read a review of the book at Amazon.
The music teacher said that the kids read the book in the third grade and that they wanted to put it to music.  It was a lot of fun.
The little guy was one of the "Proclamation readers" along with our real estate agent's daughter.  That was kind of neat.  She's really tall and he's still short, so it was an adorable mix.  I kept hearing a couple of kids behind us talking about my little guy and the young lady.  What's really funny is that the young lady doesn't really talk to the little guy at school and yet they did this play together.  
I didn't get very many pictures that were any good because we were in the bleachers and I didn't have my camera with a good range with me.  The little camera I had does the trick for close up and bright light shots, but not for distance and low light.  I'll see what I can salvage later...like tomorrow.

 

Duck Wrangler

Our new house is in an awesome neighborhood.  There is a park across the street and there are lakes in that park.  There is a huge profusion of ducks in the area.  We always see them in someone's yard as I'm taking my daughter to school.
This morning we were treated to a fun sight and giggles.  As we turned onto the street, we had to slow down because there was a lady in the street, trying desperately to shoo a pair of ducks out of the road.  The ducks had taken possession of the street and weren't budging whatsoever.  This lady had left her car idling on a side street and was trying to shoo them to the curb.  They were determined that they were ducks and as such, they owned the street.  We sat in the car until she'd gotten both of them up on the curb.  It made for a fun morning because we got a good laugh at the thought of our neighbors being "duck wranglers".   The street the ducks were on faces the park and the lakes, so there are *always* ducks out in the grass and in the yards facing the lakes.  Everyone has to slow down and we do have a "duck crossing" sign on the side of the street to warn people that there are ducks there.  
Amanda and I giggled and laughed all the way to her school.  We were laughing so hard, in fact, that I drove off after dropping her off and let her forget her backpack in the car.  I had to turn around and take it back to her--I was halfway to work when she texted me "MY BACKPACK!!  YOU HAVE IT!!"  
It's a good thing we have cell phones, I guarantee!

I'm still smiling at the thought of the people wrangling ducks.  It's too funny and made for a lovely way to start my day.

Killing time

I'm at lunch, at work, killing time.  By this time tomorrow, I'll have the Internet back at my house, if all goes well.  I'm not going to spend all day online though, because I'm still unpacking.  The master bedroom is loaded with boxes, the living room, where the piano is, is loaded with books on the floor.  I haven't finished finding the kids' rooms.  I've managed to misplace a set of keys belonging to my daughter.  I have to look for those.  That's on the list.
Lots of things "on the list".  LOL.

I should be able to slot some time to upload pictures tomorrow night and will share them with people.  I'm really enjoying the "toss" and "keep" options of organizing.  Makes me appreciate people who organize things for a living!!

I haven't disappeared!!

We don't have internet at home and I refuse to go to Starbucks for another session with the wireless.  I need to spend time getting my house in order.

Pictures will be forthcoming.

The great outdoors

We took our first walk tonight in the new neighborhood.  Our daughter had a friend over (they painted her room, including the blinds and the window sill!!), so while they were taking a break from the painting, we went out and took a walk.  There's a park across the street (to the west of us), so we walked over there.  They're in the process of putting in a Veteran's Memorial in this park.  It's really neat.  I have to get some pictures of it and post them.  The memorial has 5 marble pillars, one for each branch of the Armed Services.  Behind each pillar is a wall that has bricks inset into it with the names of servicemen who have either passed away or are still living.  There were a couple of them that were involved in both World Wars.  To me, that's incredible!  One of them had been in the Army in WW1 and joined the Navy for WW2.  

The weather was perfect for walking.  It was cool, but not too cool.  I loved it!  I can easily make my mile a day without any issues.  (That's a doctor prescribed thing that I'll mention later.)

We're still moving things and packing.  The oldest has to go through her closet, I'm tossing books out to the half priced book store and the cat is confused.  All in all, we've had a highly productive week.

Wish list

Since we haven't had a house to live in for many years, I'd forgotten all the FUN one can have in making it a home!

I've starting a wish list for the house:

Lawnmower (electric only, no gas)
Edger (electric)
Weed whacker (same, only electric)
Extension cord to handle the electric weed whacker (the guy at Lowes told us what we need)
A million dollars (in my dreams!!)
A lawn service (that would be ME)
To be moved in NOW...(We're doing it slowly to do it right)
Cleaning service (oh yeah, me again)
A new shower enclosure (the door is kaput on the one we've got...but my bathtub is a whirlpool bathtub with a jet!  WOOO HOOO!!)
A fully seeded and green lawn (we have to plant the seed sometime soon)
Unlimited funds for landscaping
A pickup truck for the hubby (this is because his stupid car bit the dust last week! AGAIN!!!!  Alternator this time and it was pricey!!!)

Here it is....

Introducing....

 My new house.  This picture was taken last Sunday, after it had snowed on the first day of Spring.  I think it's actually kind of neat...the owners put the house on the market and got a picture of it on a snow day in February, we saw it the Monday after it went on market, offered on it by Thursday and...now we're getting ready to move in.  I'm so happy about this!!

Closing!!

I am now a homeowner!!  Woo hoo!!!  I'm so happy and excited!  I'm extremely giddy with excitement!! We signed all the papers at 1:00 and by 4:30, they'd funded the loan, so it's official!  I own a house!!

I'm so happy to be able to get out of this apartment!!  I've had more than enough of strange things here.  This apartment has charged me for an "allocated water" bill, which meant that whenever someone moves out, the rest of the community gets hit with the water they didn't pay for or use.  I'm actually looking forward to finding out what my "normal" water consumption will be now that we have a house. We have a sprinkler system, but may not run it that often.  I know that is a huge water use. 


We've started packing and purging.  My kids are learning how to pack and purge.  My daughter went through a bunch of her things, tossed out things she knew she wasn't interested in anymore and is a lot happier.  My son is just annoyed because we packed up the video games and he won't get to play them for a week or more.  (OOPS!!)


Sunday the 28th is the start of our move.  I'll take my vacuum over to the house and clean, then get busy and tape off the teenager's room and get it ready to paint on Monday.  I also have someone coming out to measure windows for replacement on Monday.  On Tuesday, we get the washer, dryer and refrigerator.  Things are moving along!!

Countdown to closing

One of the hardest things about this house buying journey is over--the loan process is complete.  Now it's on to the packing, cleaning, purging that goes with getting rid of 7 years of living in this apartment.  I have so much stuff to throw out, I'm surprised I haven't filled a thousand trash bags yet.  We have started, but haven't made much of a dent in the packing.  My husband wants to wait until mid-April to move in, but...I'm impatient and want to start moving in NOW.  If i had my way, I'd go ahead and close early, then move in tomorrow.   I have to wait another two weeks though.  Oh well.

This will give me a chance to weed through my books.   I am book collector.  I love to read, and don't visit any libraries except my own these days.  I will probably end up with 5 or 6 boxes full of books.  I think that will be my packing project for today.  If I can get my books packed up, I feel like I will have accomplished something. 

I also have to pack up the contents of my closet---I have all the belts I earned at my old martial arts school in the closet.  When we get to the house, I'm going to design a belt holder (or buy one if I'm too lazy to build it myself) and put my belts out somewhere on display.  I think I have something along the lines of 9-10 belts, not including my black belt.  In my old school, the belt rankings started with white (every school does, I believe), then went to yellow, yellow with a black stripe, orange, orange/black stripe, green, green/black stripe, brown, brown/black stripe, red, red/black stripe, blue, blue with a white stripe, blue with a black stripe, half black/half blue and finally, black.  I'm presently using my blue belt at BTK because our Dan belts are navy blue. 

 

Everything is coming together

We've now had the house inspected and all the bickering little details back and forth from each side--Side A says "fix this, this, this, this and this."  Side B says "No, we'll either fix this OR we'll fix this, this, this and this and leave out this."  Side A says "You fix this, this, this, this, this and we'll go half on this."  Side B thinks a bit, then says, "Okay, we're good with this."  So now the frenetic packing and cleaning is on.  I told a good friend that buying a house is much like gambling.  Nothing is 100% guaranteed.

Here are a few pictures of the inside of the house:

 

The dining room 

 
 

This is currently the playroom for the present homeowners.

 

The front door

 
 

The family room

 

The present homeowners are still in residence, so this is their stuff.  The walls are painted a sage green.  The kids' bedrooms are pink and white striped and blue.  We have had a "request" (demand??) to paint the pink and white room purple with yellow.  NOT *my* first thought of nice, but who am I?  I'm just a crabby old lady who doesn't want to change it.  Since we're talking about painting that room, the young man wants HIS room painted in the colors of the University of Texas.  I'm sorry, but orange is not an ideal color for a bedroom, so he gets stuck with it being blue.  I got the idea to get some cammoflauge netting like hunters use and tack it up to the walls.  That way it would stay blue, but would be slightly more masculine.  I guess we'll see.  I'm not ready to paint two rooms.  It's already going to push our move in date back to mid-April.  I'm a bit annoyed with that too, but I'll deal with it.  I want to move in as soon as I possibly can.  Unfortunately, it's not always possible to do what I want to do, as I'm very well aware of.

This house purchase is a huge step and one that I HOPE will let me finally rest the demons that have been plaguing my martial arts training.  I have taken a month off to not think martial arts, to just BE, not to train.  I am trying to put aside the hurt I felt from a friend who told me that I was really too heavy to do the things I was talking about doing (running).  I have to learn to like myself and one of the things I'm finding cathartic about moving is that I can try to purge all of my feelings of discontent that have plagued me for over a year.  I've let little comments from my loved ones ("Mommy you're 'phat'.  Not "fat" but 'phat', which is a good thing!") ("Honey, you KNOW you have to work out more and eat less to lose weight.") get to me.  
I've had a lot of self doubt, which has lingered.  I finally wound up writing my instructor an email to tell him why I wasn't showing up for class.  He pointed out that I'm not letting myself have fun (hyper critical me knows this but needs to fix it). He said I need to let go and have some fun.  I'm going to work on that.

I think the house is impetus to get my stuff together and decide what I want to do for the rest of my life.  I can either sit and be critical of myself and "boo-hoo" about how I'm not going anywhere (which is what someone else said to me recently), or I can DO something about it.  The choice is mine.  

House

I have pictures of the interior of the house posted up at Picasa.  If you want to see them, please let me know.  I'm really excited about it.  We have it under contract, paid the title company, paid our earnest monies and are on our way to having it inspected.  The next step in this process is an appraisal for the value and then we're on to closing.  We don't close until the end of March, but still, it's happening.  I'm a bit apprehensive, especially in light of finding out that there's MORE expense involved, but the hubby tells me that's my nature and I'm never going to change (gee, thanks dear!!).  I'm a natural born worrier, I guess.  I just don't want anything to go wrong!!

The oldest child wants to paint her room purple with yellow XO's on the walls.  I'm not pleased about that combination.  I don't want her to go Goth.  I guess that's one of those "get over it" things.  I'll just pick my battles and deal with it later. Right now, I've got to start collecting boxes and cleaning.  I decided that I was going to clean as I pack.  That way I don't have any issues with anything and will know what I've got to do.

HONEY I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!

Details later.  We offered, they countered slightly, we accepted, we're waiting for them to say "cool, good, inspect."
Now to worry about packing!!

Intermittently around

I'm here...just haven't been in a writing mood lately.  Facebook has sucked me into a void with silly games.  We're still hunting for houses.  We found another nice one...it's just that I'm having issues with the thought of moving my son from his school and his very good teachers.  I know that I'll find other good teachers, but...I don't want to move him!!

There are other things going on too...some "me" issues I'm dealing with.  It's affected my mindset so I've not gone to karate for a while.  I'm letting other things happen.

If  I can get online for a short time (and not be distracted by the Olympics!), I'll write and update things.

Food for thought

We have been looking at houses lately.  We started out just out of curiosity, then poked around a little more and found a few we liked.  We found one on the other side of town that's an older house.   It wasn't too bad--from the outside.  We couldn't stand the interior of the one house...it was shades of the 1970s.  We're talking sunken living room here!  That was not our idea of a nice house.  It was even worse that we found that the floor was slanted, as if there was a huge foundation issue.  It was quickly marked off our list of potentials.

The one house we found that we really like is more than our budget can afford.  We've been pre-approved for x amount.  That's really a good thing, all things considered.  We had a few problems in the past, which might reflect poorly on our record.  Hopefully we're rebounding from that.  

I've been sick since Monday and wasn't able to go with the hubby to look at a house we couldn't get into on Saturday (the lock was jammed) and another house he was shown.  I want to see the second house.  The house with the jammed lock was okay, he says.  The second house is a little bigger than our apartment.  It seems nice from the pictures.  I want to walk through it and see what it looks like.  It's in McKinney, but is in the Allen ISD, which is good.  I don't really want to pull my daughter out of her current school.  She's happy and doesn't need to be uprooted.  Neither, for that matter, does my son.  


Spending time at home has given me time to think. I keep thinking about whether or not we want to buy a house now or wait until next year.  It's just something that's running through my mind. 

The MRI, take two

I finally went and had my MRI done on Friday.  My regular doctor prescribed a sedative for me, so I was able to sleep through the procedure.  I don't remember more than small snippets of the actual procedure. This is a very good thing, although I now know that sedatives make me totally loopy and not worth anything after taking it!  I slept quite a bit on Friday.  I was moving very slowly when I was awake, which was unusual for me.  Even my chiropractor noticed that I was sluggish when I went in to talk to him.

They got the results of the MRI the same day.  There wasn't any visible damage to nerves or muscles to attribute to the pain I've had in my shoulder/neck area.  The nerves all look great.  Now we get to talk to an orthopedic doctor and see what he thinks is going on.  In the meantime, I'm restricted from pushups (although I'm going to test the boundaries on some things), planks, running, etc.  He did say I could use an elliptical machine, so that may be in the works for this afternoon.  I can go swimming as long as I don't push it.  Nothing that will affect my shoulder.  

I'm going to the Natatorium today.  If I can't do any other workouts, the least I can do is work on getting my overall fitness up.  I WILL be healthier this year!  My goal for the month of February is to lose 5 pounds (and I'm only setting it at 5 because I don't want to discourage myself).  My goal is February 24th.  It was recommended to set a goal that is attainable and that is not unreachable, so there it is.  Now it's out in writing too, so I can't pull it back.

Not today

Went to my appointment tonight, only to find myself unable to have the actual procedure.  I panicked when they put me under the magnetic thing.  I hadn't realized that I was claustrophobic until they slid me up under that thing.

The MRI machine is an "open MRI", which just means it isn't the loud tunnel thing you always see on television.  This one was a table that slide over one magnet thing and under another.  You have to lay face up, very, very still, and they turn on the thing to take the pictures.  

I was fine when I got up on the table.  I was talking with the lady who was going to do the procedure.  We  chatted about a few things, including how long it was going to take (4 of the pictures were 3 minutes, one was 5 minutes).  She put a thing over my face that was there to keep me still and keep me from bouncing around (my head), and that was just the beginning.   Again, I was fine until she slid me under the machine and made adjustments.  At that point, I got very uncomfortable and asked to stop.  They hadn't even taken pictures!  I wasn't happy with the thing being up in my face.  We stopped the test at that point.  I rescheduled, then went home, called my doctor's office and asked for some sort of sedative.  If the doctor will sedate me, I can have the procedure done on Saturday..  We will see what happens.  I am going to be getting a phone call tomorrow with either the news that I'm getting a prescription for 1 or 2 pills (probably going to be $50.00!) or they'll send me to a "standing MRI" where you're not lying flat.  We shall see what happens.

Testing...testing...testing...

Tomorrow I'm going to have an MRI after work.  I've been fighting with pain in my neck and upper back, between my shoulder blade and the spine, plus some odd pain down my left side and in the front of my collarbone.  It's all isolated to the left side, which I found odd.  I visited my regular doctor, who found nothing wrong.  I visited my chiropractor, and he diagnosed a pinched nerve, but it didn't get much better.  I can lift my left arm now, which wasn't possible a few months ago.  Unfortunately, the pain hasn't really gone completely away, which has my chiropractor wondering why.  He's tried to avoid this but finally came down to "we're going to do an MRI".  I'm going in tomorrow after work.  We shall see in a few weeks what's going on.  In the meantime, I don't get to "play" at karate and have to be cautious about what I do with my arm.  One of the guys at work told me it was my poor posture at my desk which is probably contributing to my shoulder issue.   They all have theories about what's causing the problem.  I carry a laptop to work, but that's on my right shoulder and I haven't had any problems on the right side.   Ah well.  I'll find out what the problem is and we can address the issue from there.
I want to get back to karate.  I want to start working on the things I need to work on, like forms and sparring.  I want to get back into weight lifting, so that I can kill off the "bat wings" on my arms.  I guess I need to learn patience.  I just don't want that patience.  I want it NOW.  

 

The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

For Christmas, I gave the family a membership to the Rodenbaugh Natatorium.  I believe I mentioned that we went swimming yesterday.  Today, after I got home from work, recovered from my day and changed, we went to the Natatorium again.  This time, we used the fitness facilities.  I rode an exercise bike for 35 minutes.   I didn't fall off this time, nor did I run myself over.  (major miracle there!)

I've accomplished one small goal...I went to the Natatorium twice in one week.  My ultimate goal is to make it out there at least three times a week.  It will go a long way toward my goal of improving my fitness.  I can improve that by working out more often, as in 3-4 times a week. I plan on working out at least three times a week.  I need to get my MP3 player fired up and get my headphones back into working order so that I can use it when I'm there.

My next step is to see about the spinning class that runs Mondays and Wednesdays.  Maybe not this week, but nest week I'll work on it.

First Sunday of 2010

Time flies when you're having fun.  It's hard to believe a new decade has started already!!


Yesterday we concentrated on doing some minor house cleaning and getting Tony some new glasses.  I had to go along for him because the doctor dilated his eyes.  At one point, I joked that I was his "seeing eye wife".  I had to drive for him, which was fine.  We puttered around and walked around a couple of places, then came home to spend the rest of the day doing very little.

I was on a quest to get Miss A a new flute since she walked into the bus in August and bent her existing flute.  I found one her teacher had recommended, but nobody rents it as it's a "professional grade" flute.  We found one down at the local music store in Allen and rented that.  If her teacher says it's not acceptable, then I'll take it back.  The flute is a Yamaha YFL281.   It's a very pretty flute, but the one I wanted to get her was a Yamaha YFL461 or the YFL481.  (Yes, I know it's a lot of babbling about a flute!!)

Today we went to the Don Rodenbaugh Natatorium and went swimming.  I like to go and not splash overly much.  I'm not a good swimmer.  I never took official lessons as a kid.  I "learned" to swim by being tossed off a dock into Lake Washington in Seattle.  It was not a good thing because I panicked and to this day, I can't deal with water up to my neck or over my head.  I do best if I'm sitting at the side of the pool, or in a hot tub.  So, today, we packed everyone up and went to the pool and played.   Mr. A decided to hit up this really huge slide that was very twisty and went down a number of times.  He loves it!  I went up one time--decided that I'd TRY it.  Mr. A went down, then Miss A went down, then Tony went and finally, I decided that I'd try it.  Oh. My.  GOSH!!!  Nobody warned me that it was going to make my go really FAST!!!

I literally FLEW down that slide!  There is a downfall to being large--the more the mass, the higher the velocity, I think is what Tony said! 
I was not quite panicking, but wasn't too comfortable with the "whoosh!" feeling I had as I went toward the bottom.  That slide had twists and turns and finally, I flew out to the pool at the bottom.  I wasn't prepared to pinch my nose closed and as a result, I breathed in water.  I had a hard time finding my feet at the bottom too.  I don't understand how my son can fly down that thing and pops up on his feet in no time flat!  This is another "What was I thinking?!" moment.  I got to meet my daughter's boyfriend's sister, as she was the lifeguard who was trying to help me get up and not choke!  Not a dignified way to meet someone.  OOPS!!  LOL! 

 We spent about an hour there.  My favorite part of the Natatorium, aside from the hot tub, which I spent a lot of time in, was the "Lazy River".  THAT is fun!  The kids and I played "tag" of sorts in there.  It was fun.  We had to be careful not to run over other people since the current would just take us and drive us around on its own.  

We have since spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing very little.  Tony and the little guy have watched a football game, I've been alternating between reading and playing on the computer.  Of course, there's also the ubiquitous laundry, which never ends. 

I'm making plans to go back to the Natatorium tomorrow.  I'm going to make use of my membership and start using the facilities and working out a bit more.  I gave the family a year's membership to the place and I fully intend to take advantage of it myself.  I have already eyed a spinning class that I want to look into.  Who knows, maybe I'll run myself over again here as well!   Should be fun! 


Tuesday is karate.  I'm looking forward to that!!  Time to get back into a "normal" schedule.  I have let the leader of my son's Scout Pack know that I absolutely can NOT go get the bags at Roundtable for Scouting for Food.  I'm not giving up karate anymore.  I have an agenda--to stay with what I like to do and work hard at it. 

Happy New Year

2010.  Happy New Year.  Happy New Decade!