We started 'cleaning' yesterday and will probably do lots more this week. took the curtains down in the kitchen and am washing them. noticed that the windows outside are filthy. new item on to do list. speaking of to do list. OMG. the fence needs to be replaced, and the gutters need to be replaced, and the termite damage in the garage / under the stairs needs to be replaced and the master bath shower needs to be regrouted, and the entire upstairs and the downstairs office carpet needs to be replaced and the popcorn on the ceiling in the downstairs,and in the master shower, and the nursery needs to be scrapped and replaced. I need to get someone in here, I know that I can not do this by myself. ;)
My visit Thanksgiving trip to Washington was really really good. I froze my tail off beyond imagination. my metabolism is such that if my blood sugar is too low from not enough carbs, I am freezing to death, if my blood sugar is too high from too many carbs I am burning up, so it is a delicate balance that no one had any idea of prior to my weight loss that I would encounter now. so I spend the day nibbling on animal crackers which are totally to fattening but help to keep my blood sugar balanced, just a few each hour combined with socks, sweaters, and sweatpants keep me doing okay. I noticed that the scale has been inching up (I was 147 lbs December 11th and 151.5 lbs today), so I am going to have to inch it back down. my parents drove over from Montana to stay with me during the holiday. they brought their camper and we visited every day for the 16 days that I was there. they are MORNING people and would get up and go for walks for 10 miles each day. picking up aluminum cans and recycling them. I am NOT a morning person, so I would hook up with them after lunch and we would visit. walk around Costco and sample the tasting tables, or something, we really need to find something more 'interesting' to do on my visits since it is deadly boring for the most part. ;) I do not like to walk, do not have the energy to walk like they do.. 10 miles is just too extreme. heehee but maybe put put golf or something. heehee
Naomi is getting pretty heavy, she is 17, about 5 ft 3in and about 165 lbs. She is still my pretty girl, but it does worry me that she is so large at such a young age, I didn't pack on the pounds until I was pregnant with her, after I had given birth to the twins. It is damn difficult to get the weight off once it is on. much easier to just not get that way to start with. but I am just the 'mommy' not the parent for her now. it is beyond my control. I did see her nearly every single day and had her over night a couple of times which is unprecedented. Just a few years ago when I really wanted to make a difference in her life, I was limited to 3 hours a day and 3 days a week. now that I can not make a difference and she has not shown a significant change in growth or maturity, I have her a significant more amount of time, like 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. This has caused me some anxiety that I can not make a positive influence since she is just not making any progress and probably has reached the limits of her ability. she can write her name, but she gets the shakes so bad that it is extremely difficult to read. she still has no concept of money. I helped her fill out a job application, just to practice. asking her the questions, and writing down her answers. she would like to work at Motel 6, and she would wash and fold the towels, and she would like to make $.45 an hour. she has unique skills, she watches tv really well and she is pretty (I guess I tell her that a lot, heehee) One day before her 17th birthday and the day that I was going to make her professional portrait, she got the scissors while I was talking to her grandpa and 'ignoring' HRH, she scalped her bangs off on one side. what a little vixen. I was going to fix it in photoshop and then decided, hell no, that is what she did, that is who she is, and I just left it. she is definitely a little spitfire.
Erik and Magnus are still in Cub Scouts and still interested in it. we have the pinewood car derby this weekend and I still have not gotten the dumb cars sanded let alone painted.there are just not enough hours in the day for me to do EVERYTHING. I really need another parent to step up and do some planning on this. ;) I am mother reader for Erik's class, once a month until the end of the school year. I am Magnus's Den Mother, three times a month for the rest of the school year. I was going to volunteer for Magnus' Mother Reader and then thought, Oh No, Not Enough Hours In the Day. back off and shut up. ;)
We had a really good Christmas... the kids got a Wii, we found one in stock just the machine, no bundle, on Friday at amazon and had free shipping, so we just paid regular price not the inflated one and had it December 24th. sweet. I got a humongous surprise.. first time in a very long time.. i got a laptop. and not just any laptop but the same power as my desktop so that i can run all the programs that run on that.. my Nikon software is just a ginormously power hog, so that is the limiting factor for my digital photography work flow. this really came in handy since I had a session on Sunday and my desktop power supply caught on fire on Tuesday and the replacement parts have not come in yet
Krystal left on the plane yesterday with baby Jordan to go to San Diego to her husbands marine corp boot camp graduation. she really doesn't know what kind of life she is getting into but she will learn. Jason will be here for 31 days leave, before he is to return to Camp Pendleton, California for Advance Infantry Training and then Military Occupation Specialty Training. AIT is 21 days, and MOS could be 6 months to 12 months, we do not know. http://www.jordanjasonmiles.com is latest pictures of the grandbaby
we are still in a quandary about moving to Norway in this house. it is simply just not a good time and I can find so many reasons to do it - but easily find so many reasons not to. for some reason I keep seeing my children with their friends and hate the idea of taking them away, even though I know that they would make new ones. Erik and Brandon have been friends for 4 years and Erik and Nick have been friends for 3 years, I only have a couple of friends that I have been friends with that long. ;)
and there is the house. I have no idea where to even start repairing it, other than renting a storage unit and moving stuff in there that I definitely want to keep. not just stuff that I do not have room for, the garage sale stuff is going in the garage. I should be ready for the big sale in 8 to 10 weeks. ;)
I have been eating pretty badly lately, way to many animal cookies and Almond Rocha and junk my family gave me as treats.. today I boiled some eggs and had one for breakfast, I promise to make better choices this year. I am also going to do better on my fluid intake each day. I noticed that I am only getting about 32 - 44 oz a day, which is really really not healthy. I am keeping my calories at 1000 and my protein at 45 grams a day, I know everyone has their own idea of what is healthy, and to each his own I say. But for me, having found out what I can and can not do and what works for my body had been a long challenging process over the last 18 months.
http://www.wretchedheathen.com is my blog.
I have been reading Voyager by Diana Gabaldon and it is the bomb. I read the first two books of the series, Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, I have Drums of Autumn and the Fiery Cross waiting to complete the story.
okay, now I have just written a short novel myself. hugs to all, I am going to have to get to work, I still have that session to proof, they will be here Friday night to look at proofs and will want to see something!
