She's a hottie

Pretty Jazzer is visiting in Southern California, having fun at Camp Pendleton!

Someone LOVES Jordan

Lol... these two just need to get serious. Seriously!

New Digs for Erik

Everything recycled from around the house but the new floor and ceiling. Magnus was so impressed he wrote a mini book with cute illustrations about it.

Magnus new room
by Magnus

I have a new room. It's cool. (rock on)
I used to share a room. I had 100 toys.
I did not want to share a room.
My Brother has a new room too.
I had a carpeted floor room.
My brother has a wood floor room.
The End.

Hours dedicated to lego'ing

Lego table in the closet

Who needs tivo

when dad has created a media server? Erik's computer center.

Very nice room

Erik's new room thanks to Jazz, Krys, mom, & dad.

Politics - Obama for President

I sincerely was for the father figure myself 6 months ago. I was for the seasoned veteran 4 months ago. what changed my mind? blathering about pork barrel spending after cashing the check for a bridge to no where that was never built. that to me is UNETHICAL. blathering about the mortgage crisis when only 2.7% of the homes are actually in foreclosure. Not a national crisis IMO. some people made bad choices, and like the current population of Helicopter Parents, no one wants to let anyone take responsibility for their mistakes.

someone got it in their head to bail out AIG and now they are having a spa day for 1/2 million while I am still staying at Motel 6 because I can get a $30 a night rate. As much as I dread returning to the "Carter" years and the "Clinton" years where the Democrats prevail with 'equalizing' the class structure of this country with "Promises" of public health care and social security and tax reform, I seriously doubt that anything will ever change because of the government. The reason that computers have changed our world is because of free enterprise not government stewardship, and I think that same free enterprise will eventually get us to change our energy from carbon based to Lithium Ion based. I truly pray for a government tax credit and low/no interest loan that SIGNIFICANTLY makes installing a solar power array on residential houses and Plug In Cars affordable so that we are able to achieve the goal in 2 years.

Ultimately, a couple of things made up my mind that I had to go with the bleedingheartliberalbedwettingdemocrats. The tax redistribution was one key point.

the other was as I was talking to Sverre last night, if I take all the kids with me to the 'mart store, and each throws in 2 or 3 items in the cart, by the time I get to the check out, we have add a couple of hundred dollars to the bill and while no one person was being 'greedy' combined they are bankrupting mom. So Mom says "no" pay for it yourself with your chore allowance. granted many of our citizens think that they all should be on an allowance. I disagree.

Pretty *ahem* Handsome Boy!

Erik Cameron born 9.29.99 at 3:29 pm weighing almost 9 lbs is now 9 years old.

Monster truck moon walk

Happy birthday to erik - 23 children with 12 parents for 8 hours of fun

two weeks after the storm

And Finally Fuel back to normal price and availability

Maggie haute couture

Stylin & high profilin. Magnus is handsome and studious!

Jazz - 23, Krys - 23, Erik - 9

Skiters

we survived Ike...

we were without power for 8 days.. took two days to clean up the yard so that it was not a hazard for the children to go back there with the down trees. still waiting for a tree service to remove the heavily damaged limbs on two trees and completely remove three others that didn't make it.

my freezers and fridge have not been this clean since we bought them new.

the kids are FINALLY back in school.. they were out for 13 days and then back in for 2 and out for 2 and now back in and I am soooo grateful..

overall we were not bored.. we have UPS's to charge the DS's and we have wooden trains and Lego's and books to keep them all very busy. once the storm was over, they rode bikes, rip sticks and roller skates in the neighborhood during the daylight hours.

we have had at least two fogging's to treat the mosquitoes. the mosquitoes we had, blew up into Missouri, the new ones that we got from Cuba are JUMANJI size and about the same voraciousness. I went out to hang up laundry at 2:30 pm, usually a safe time from skiters and I was attacked. when I went out to bring in laundry (only three towels, two hand towels, and two wash clothes) I got bite 9 times... they chased me into the house, and two dive bombed the sliding glass doors and left a blood trail down the glass, and three where drilling through the glass to get to me.

I am not freaking kidding you!!!

Home Sweet Home

Nice and clean. Seriously in this unsteady economy and precarious times, it is really just a blessing to have a home that we can live in. We are very grateful for all our blessings.

All the Debris is Cleaned away

Thanks to a lot of help from our neighborhood kids, we are actually looking better than we were before the storm.

Perfectly Fine

we JUST got power on Saturday afternoon (8 days with no internet, no electricity, no air conditioning, no computer, no kidding) so it has been stressful trying to communicate. fortunately my cell phone is connected to my blog so I was able to keep that updated very regularly so people across the globe could have the latest.
http://www.wretchedheathen.com

so far the finally tally is that we lost everything in the 15 cuft deep freeze, as well as the freezer / refrigerator, all the meat and fish, two whole trees and 1/4 each of two other trees in the back yard. we lost some siding and some fascia from the house and one window is leaking like a sieve and has to be totally replaced down to the wooden framing. the entire north side of the house has pea sized holes in the siding from the debris that pelted it at 90 mph winds. we have completely cleaned up the yard, raked and stacked it by the curb to be recycled into park trail compost.

let everyone know that we are fine, and have had minimal impact, it was extremely pleasant weather the last two weeks, unseasonably cool, more like spring than summer for this area and there has been no additional rain so that people that had more extensive damage did not have insult added to injury. while there are a lot of whiners on the tv, seriously, it was like a beautiful fall camping trip here and not nearly enough reason for all the drama as you hear.. the people that were flooded, have all dried out by now, my lawn actually needs to be watered this week, and those that carry on about air conditioning really need to get a life, it has been 74-77'F and 50% humidity compared to 85'F and 85% humidity that it is normally.

:-) some people just do not know how to prepare (we were told a week in advance to get water and food so there was no reason for people to carry on like they HAD to go to a POD or starve, people that say they are TRAPPED on the ISLAND without food or water are perfectly capable of getting on a bus / train and going into town and getting food and water, no one is 'trapped' and it just drives me crazy to see people carrying on like that. we were hit in our house with a Cat 2 hurricane HEAD ON and we are fine, those that live in a wooden house on a coastal beach get exactly what they deserve and those that were COMPLETELY STUPID ENOUGH to ride it out should just stuff it. we were told not to evaculate so that they could, and then choose not to so they get exactly what they deserve and more help than they really have a right too, but that is a rant that I should probably save for another day. ;)

(my tax dollars should not go to support MORONS that do not even have home insurance on boliver pennisula and think they have a $450,000.00 house, that just frosts my cookies) we did not go to a POD, we follows the mayor / judge's recommendation, we were prepared with a tank full of gas, battery flashlights and battery radio, and a 72 hour kit if worse came to worse and we had to walk out, and we had enough food and ice in our freezer to last us for two weeks just in case, as should every single person in this county. okay, I am seriously done ranting. heehee

once again, prayers were answered and we are minimally impacted and seriously on inconvienced by the storm. it could have been a lot worse and many need to really realize and appreciate that fact.


the boys have missed 8 days of school and will return tomorrow, they just got power there yesterday. they need a day to restock the refridgerators there for lunches. I am anxious for them to return, while they were very busy here, building wooden train tracks, making star ships with legos, and reading books as well as riding bicycles and playing with friends, it worries me that they are not getting thier education. I had some work for them to do during the two weeks that they have been home, lots of spelling, language, math and reading, they miss thier friends.

my work went to a standstill, I have had my first client call in two weeks yesterday, so that is worrisome to not have any clients in weeks... especially with our economy getting worse by the week. I hope that once the boys return to school, I can get more focused on work.

the Twins's birthday is in 2 days and Erik's is in 6, they will be 23 this year and he is now 9. time has gone by extremely fast. I need to break out my baking pans and make Erik a cake.

We are dancing the happy

We are dancing the happy dance we finally got power 7 days after the hurricane!

Cleaning up debris

We spent the day moving the bulk of the fallen tree debris from the backyard to the curb so that waste management can collect it up for recycling they are collecting separately from household waste. I am impressed with the amount of progress we made but it is just a dent and we still have more of the trees to get with a real chainsaw (high demand here) before we are finished. but at least the kids can play safely in the back yard now. Day six and still no power. I miss cold milk, eggs, cheese and fresh ground coffee but other than that, I could go another 6 months like this heehee!

For Dinner we had spaghetti one night, BBQ Chicken with saute onions and bell peppers and for breakfast we ad oatmeal with fresh apples and cinnamon and this morning was hash browned potatoes gravy and scratch pancakes (fine even without eggs). With a good supply of aseptic milk and juice boxes we are in tall cotton.

She bop

Heehee

Great do

Erik decided to experiment with a little bit of color during his down time with no electricity. We call it the "She Bop" look (Cindi Lauper)

Still finding things to do

No school, no power, no problem playing with wooden trains.

5 days later

One down tree. What a mess to clean up. Still no power 5 days later. The kids love that there is no school since there is power.

Surviving in Houston

when it hit the house.. it was 80 mph and that was impressive.. we just got grazed during Rita, and I knew that this house was 1 year old when Alicia hit directly, we were relatively safe at a Cat 2 - 3 storm.

seriously our street has been phenomenal, Magnus is a notoriously picky eater, but the lady across the street can get him to eat at her house, so she fed him dinner last night for which I was grateful. she has a generator, and so she chilled a quart of chocolate milk that we had (antiseptic parve sealed) and I was humbled that she offered to make me coffee this morning. granted I think nothing of making cookies for all the kids in the neighborhood and giving them juice boxes, it is truly, each person gives the kids what they have and so their lives are minimally disrupted while we smile at ourselves for our resourcefulness.

it is truly a 'stone soup' story on our street and we have spent more time talking to each other this week than we have in the past 10 years. ;-) we were always friendly, but when there is no tv, no lights, we are running out of things to do inside, so we talk to each other. shocking huh? heehee

there are times that I do not want the power to come back on, I know that we will loose this idealistic atmosphere and go back to the frantic pace that we usually have with the mass exodus each morning and influx in the evenings. I am also dreading cleaning the back yard, that I know I must do today... I tried to clean my office yesterday and I should finish that project so that I can get back to work when the boys go back to school. actually I could hire someone to clean the back yard, but I can not hire someone to clean my office, so that is most likely how I will handle that. ;)

but overall... we are comfortable with 60' and mostly cloudy and very pleasant. I have only put 24 miles on the car since I topped off, so we are doing extremely well that way, not running around worrying about fuel. just staying home and enjoying the peace and humm of the generators in the neighborhood. I am resolved that we really must get a solar array on the roof as soon as possible, ;-) I firmly believe that the gas shortage and people with generators desperate to find gas is not the answer, but that a solar system would be exactly what we need to get us off the grid and self sufficient.

yesterday Erik made spaghetti by himself for dinner, opening a can of olives and tomatoes the old fashion way with a hand crank can opener, a novelty in our lives that fortunately, I had in our camping supplies, today we are going to pop popcorn on the stove top (we usually use an electric air popper) and if I can find a neighbor with an egg, I will teach the boys to make a solar oven and make a cake.

as for the power... our zip code:

77379

26200 Households

99.32% without power

Getting a Tree Service (E.F. Tree Service) is a game of Patience... (281)580-4431 did an excellent job before the storm, now we need them back out. HEB is also open but no cooler / electricity yet, running on Generators for lights and cashiering only (281)374-7727.

Driving me crazy.

People were told to evacuate and they didn't! The government told people to have a 72 hour kits. They didn't! FEMA was in place in less than 48hr and people whined.. grrr

Doing Just fine without power

What kids do during a black out when there is no electricity. They play with the hundreds of dollars of wooden trains that they thought that they had out grown when they convinced you they they had to have a Wii. Just plan ahead and have fresh batteries (smart mom here) and guaranteed a coulpe of days of fun.

we have been out of power since midnight Friday when the storm hit. I am running on battery right now, only a few minutes a day using our UPS from the computers.

we are totally fine. we lost a couple of trees, everything in our refrigerator and our 15 cuft freezer, some siding, some wires were ripped out of the wall when they got tangled in a tree. overall we are quite comfortable, reading books, playing with wooden trains, and legos and reading books.

we have 75 gallons of water and lots of propane so we are staying in place and not venturing out. Sverre did go to a colleagues house yesterday (the guy was out of the country during the preparation for the storm) and emptied 55 gallons of meat and rotting food.

but we are safe and sound and waiting for the rest of the idiots (people that think that they are entitled to a free hand out) to stop complaining about ice and FEMA and such. I swear, they whine after they were TOLD to leave and didn't. they WHINE when they have no power or food when they didn't prepare a 72 hour kit, and they WHINE when they do not get a free hand out. we have no generator and a full tank of gas because we followed all the instructions as they were sent out. do stock up, do not horde, do gas up, do not drive around, stay inside and off the streets, and be patient.

the city leaders have been extremely good but they are running out of patience with the complete morons that DO NOT FOLLOW the SIMPLEST of instructions. many many here think that they are a special case and are so selfish, self centered and self absorbed that it just frustrates me to no end. many have insisted that they are so hot that they must have electricity before we restore the water pumps so that we maintain the integrity of the water, and they should not even been in the evacuation zone and they are demanding that they have their 'needs' met before the rest that were ordered not to evacuate. an order that was to afford them a safe and orderly evacuation and (40% of which didn't take advantage of). just one more reason that I pray for a flushing of the gene pool.

as for all the 'reports' it is running in the 80's and 70% humidity and not terribly uncomfortable all things considered. the people that are complaining about the flooding, their houses are in known and repeated flood areas and they do not have the sense to accept the FEMA buy outs and build someplace else which is so frustrating.

but until the people that are panicking and running on the stores get stocked up, we are just continuing to enjoy our supplies and while we would like to replenish a couple of items (toilet paper and dish soap) that we were stocked up on for Gustov but ran a little low before Ike, we will just ration and get by. we did get extra baby wipes so we are fine.

I wish that I could find the 33 gallon trash bags and I regret that due to the temperature in the fridge, we no longer have eggs to cook with, I am going to figure out if I can cook with just baking soda and baking powder as leavening agents.

Initial Reaction

Sverre drove to a colleagues house to clean out the fridge and the destruction the he passed on the way really brought the storm home to him. We have been extremely fortunate in our home but house just around the corner and down the street where quit sobering it will indeed be weeks before we get power by shear blessing and years before our small community of Klein Texas will recover.

The local high school has had extensive damage and many trees have fallen on roofs and power lines. we have been blessed with a cold front and the temperatures are dropping some it was actually cooler outside than in and lower humidity so we have all the doors and windows open and will have to brave the mosquitoes tonight in order to sleep but will be quit comfortable. Our perishables supply have just about lasted our cooling supply and with no access to ice or power we will switch to staples with minimal losses.

Back Yard

What is let of the back yard. Looks like we have some work ahead of us. I Did get the front yard raked up yesterday. The hum of generators in the neighborhood is a little noisy and we have a stray dog that refuses to leave our back yard.

Sunday

okay, we can say that the worse is over... there was a terrible thunderstorm today but no further damage. I would have to say that we are in fantastic shape. no need for rescuing or for any 'help'. we have food, and while a block of ice would not go amiss, our food in our refrigerator is still holding at 50'F and we are using up our milk / eggs / cheese first and will cook up the rest of the chicken from the freezer today. the temperature has leveled out at 80'F and we are comfortable without air conditioning. the kids are learning to entertain themselves without power. going to bed at the regular time and getting up as normally. Playing with Legos and Wooden Train's as well as books to read.

Lots of time for lots of friends

The number of kids on our loop that have been over 15 - Erik, Magnus, Nick, Caitlyn, Ryan, Nicole, Brandon, Hannah, Caleb, Joshua, Daniel, Trey, Joy, Nicholas, Sean

The worse is over

Wwe are doing very well minimal damage to the house, some siding gone, some wires ripped out. still no power

A lot of tree and siding damage

We have lost two trees in the back yard so far and the worst is still an hour or so out. one window upstairs is leaking like a sieve but all are holding well. while the photo looks like a lovely shrub.. it is actually our tree that has split in two different areas so now instead of one head, it has three and two are down, one across the fence, and one down across the pecan tree.

We are still holding steady

We are still holding steady and no power, lots of wind and rain. We are in a lull right now in the eye. I am dying for coffee!!

Power out at 2:30 am

Power out at 2:30 am Saturday. Lots of rain bands and wind. so far the house is intact and secure. We are still downstairs in the closet / hallway with no windows.

Was sleeping, we are getting

Was sleeping, we are getting wet with lots of rain, and 42 mph winds, we are doing well. the boys went to sleep at 9:30 pm.

Camping in the Closet

Boys safely installed in closet enjoying the Nintendo DS Lite's

T - 12 Hours

T-12 hours 42 mph gusts of wind

Common Sense says Stay safe

1 day before Hurricane Ike
we have laid in our supplies, 75 gallons of water, 2 weeks of food comfort food, 6 weeks of essentials like oats and wheat.
we have $cash on hand and a full tank of gas as well as camping gear and would head to Ashland Kansas if we loose the house.

Head On

A HURRICANE WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR HARRIS COUNTY



Hurricane Ike.. Tina is not here... Go Home...

Wind Map - Projected 69-74 MPH Winds - Tornado Watch in effect

Rain Map - Flood Watch

Real Time Traffic

Nearest Street Camera - Louetta at Steubner Airline

Magnus first 1k race

Magnus first 1k race

USS Texas

August 30-31, 2008 - USS Texas from Sverre Amundsen on Vimeo.
The 1st Marine Division (Jordan's Daddy) was activated aboard the battleship Texas on February 1, 1941. It is the oldest and most decorated division-sized unit in the United States Marine Corps. Since its formation, the 1st MarDiv. has been involved in many of the most famous campaigns in Marine Corps history. They fought on Guadalcanal, Pelileu and Okinawa in WWII.

Healthy

Erik is Healthy but missing home boy friends.

Magnus is healthy but REALLY missing his papa.

Momma is healthy but completely worn out from a long summer of activities. Seriously considering turning down the voluteer position of Art Historian.

Currently At 4:48PM

[ More ]

112°F

RealFeel®

114°F

Winds: N
at 4mph

Partly Sunny

Humidity: 9%
Dew Point: 37° F

Pressure: 29.64 in
Visibility: 10 Miles

Blackberries are ripe

20 Black fingers.

Clarkston Washington

Berry picking

Boys @ Home in Cottage

Sverre and Magnus hanging out

Tropical Storm Edouard hits landfall

Rain Map a little bit of flooding...

Erik's Poor Ear

Erik was in the Hospital off and on from Sunday July 27 until today, when they released him August 3.

what started out as an innocent ear infection and a trip to the ER, and then on Wednesday a second Trip to the ER with a ruptured Ear Drum, and then Thursday with a third trip to the ER with intolerable pain, and finally a Trip to the ER on Friday with the entire canal swollen shut, a trip across the state line from Washington to Idaho, where we were admitted to the regional hospital straight from the Pediatricians office and stayed for 48 hours.

His dad flew up today and was with us the last few hours until discharge, he is still in delicate health, and we are continuing to watch him very closely as his ear canal is still 90% closed with lots of sticky drainage. we hope that he continues to improve this coming week.

More Trouble with the Ears

first they tried Cephalexin.. two days later
then they tried Augmentin.. two days later
now they are trying Zithromax and Cipro
and he is still crying his eyes out from the pain. poor mutt.

Finally, after 5 days, a trip from the ER to the third floor pediatrics for a full admission.

Erik - Ruptured Ear Drum

Swimming lessons in a new pool last week, and by Sunday he had a horrendous ear infection, trip to Now Care and a Rx for antibiotics, by Today his ear drum burst and while he did get relief from the pain, the blood all over the pillow case was pretty scary. Two months projected to heal. No swimming for at least 10 days. That is not going to be fun!

'Holy Prostitutes'

A man is driving down a deserted stretch of highway when he notices a sign out of the corner of his eye....It reads:

SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION
10 MILES

He thinks this is a figment of his imagination and drives on without second thought....

Soon he sees another sign which reads:

SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION
5 MILES

Suddenly he begins to realize that these signs are for real and drives past a third sign saying:

SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION
NEXT RIGHT

His curiosity gets the best of him and he pulls into the drive. On the far side of the parking lot is a stone building with a small sign next to the door reading:

SISTERS O F ST. FRANCIS

He climbs the steps and rings the bell. The door is answered by a nun in a long black habit who asks, 'What may we do for you ! my son? '

He answers, 'I saw your signs along the highway and was interested in possibly doing business....'

'Very well my son. Please follow me.' He is led through many winding passages and is soon quite disoriented. The nun stops at a closed door and tells the man, 'Please knock on this door.'

He does so and another nun in a long habit, holding a tin cup answers the door... This nun instructs, 'Please place $100 in the cup then go through the large wooden door at the end of the hallway.'

He puts $100 in the cup, eagerly trots down the hall and slips through the door pulling it shut behind him.

The door locks, and he finds himself back in the parking lot facing another sign:

GO IN PEACE.
YOU HAVE JUST BEEN SCREWED BY THE SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS.
SERVES YOU RIGHT, YOU SINNER

Driving through the Night

Sunday... a day for rest or for division of property.. we opted for property.
Jasmine needed us to resolve the property in Albertson. G'ma and G'pa's Dodge and Mom's Ford to gather and store bed, recliner, entertainment stand, and grill and whatnot.

Got out of Missoula at 4 pm, got the Ford loaded back up in Lolo at 6 pm, had BBQ sandwiches for dinner and then made it 1 mile out of town before remembering Erik's Baby Blanket, turned around and fetched it, and back on the road. Took a lot of photos with "precious" along Highway 12, went on some different paths including following the Lewis & Clark route off the main highway.

2 hours and Exhaustion set in near Peter King Road (Mile Marker 1000, just shy of Lowell, Idaho. folded down the back seats, moved the gear to the front passenger seat and spread out the sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. the Elevation was 1500 feet above sea level and it was very toasty and no blankets were really needed, just padding for under us. Slept for 4 hours to take the edge off the headache.

Stopped in Kamiah, Idaho and secured some Motrin and water, made it 6o miles before the Migraine made driving shear torture. Stopped near Pardee, Idaho County, Mile (Marker 60), and slept another 2 hours and then the sun came up around 4:40 am... absolutely unreasonable of it to do that.

Made it the last hour easily, only a little brush with the 'law' on the reservation, was 'warned' for going 57 in a 55 (have to watch my P's and Q's) but all was well. Learned about Lewis & Clark (200 years ago) and the Nez Pierce Run and the Ant and the Yellowjacket.

Missoula Farmers Market

We went downtown and we saw lots of interesting people and items at the Farmers Market

one thing that was the most noteworthy was all the bicycles. There were many bicycle racks to attach bikes too and they were all full. the racks are pretty kewl

This is important to us as a family since we want a community that is bike / pedestrian priority. While the Alternative Transportation - Mountain Line is a nice idea, it doesnt extend past the 'urban area' of Missoula. Like Lolo, Montana. We have investigated Missoula Ravalli Transportation Management but we really would like to see a commutor train that utilizes the rails already in place from Darby Montana to Missoula Montana could even ad through to Kalispell, Montana. We got excited about Missoula in Motion, but it sadly appears to be a long way from fruition.

Lewiston Idaho

Nestled between the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, Lewiston and Clarkston boast a rich history and diversity for even the most discriminating outdoor or cultural enthusiast.

The celebrated Lewis and Clark Expedition brought Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Clearwater Valley in 1805. Lewis and Clark embarked on a search for a trade route through the Northwest. They followed the Clearwater River from the Bitterroot Mountains to its merger with the Snake River, the site of the present-day twin cities of Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington.

Finding things to do for 7 / 8 year old boys is a little difficult. All signs downtown say
NO SKATEBOARDS.
NO ROLLERSKATES
NO BICYCLES
NO SCOOTERS
NO FUN!!!

we are searching for a more kid friendly area.

Packing... Texas Style

Unpacked:

Packed:
so Preparing to go camping means different things to different people. some it is considered roughing it in a 3 star hotel. we are a little more rustic.

What we consider as essentials:

one Honda Civic Hybrid
Thule Bike rack
one 9x13 tent
one 9x13 tarp
one Ozark trail two burner stove
one Coleman Florescent lantern
four Therm-A-Rest self inflating Foam Pads
four -0F Sleeping bags
four pillows
one gallon of water
four pool noodles
two bottles of propane
propane lighter
one electrical cooler with car adapter
four marshmallow roasting sticks
a collection of CD's
two cell phones
a laptop computer
a portable DVD Player
DVD Collection
Nikon Digital SLR Camera
bag of clothes for each person, with 5 changes of clothes
two Nintendo DS Lites and Games
one 26" Trek
one 26" Specialized
two 20" Trek
two booster car seats

TWO ADULTS
TWO KIDS
TWO MONTHS
TEN THOUSAND MILES

When I put ME first

each day I wake up and wonder, what will I eat today.

I look at the eggs and think *augh* not again.

I know that cereal doesn't agree with me, I just do not know what is worse - not eating, or dumping when I do eat. I can eat Cheetos or some other junk and be just fine.. no dumping.. I am pretty good with protein bars, they tend to hold me steady but my dh gives me the look that they are not 'food'.

and that sets the precedent for the day. coffee to smooth away the headache from not enough sleep which seems to be an ongoing battle lately.

by lunch, I am so busy and on the go that anything is better than nothing, and I usually get to 'anything' by 2 or 3 pm... could be a protein bar, a bowl of soup, or some chicken. I continue to keep the portions small. I still eat off a saucer.. by evening I am able to eat anything and not dump which is a much more pleasant experience, but then I tend to get a couple of times which is why I am still getting in way too many calories each day and my weight is inching up.

that and dehydration... holy cow. that is a serious problem here in the heat (90's each day) and while I am getting better about picking up propel in the gas stations and fixing water bottles with propel. but overall... I just feel so sucked back into the 'mommy zone'

dd#1 wont wake up to drive on her self chosen cross country trek, dd#2 wants to know what to do.



dd#2 can't get her dh to get the military move to proceed in an orderly manner, could I figure out the phone number of the office on the base that she is moving to so that she can make arrangements.

dh wakes me up on his way out to work because while he HATES to work, he hates that I want to 'sleep in' totally ignoring that I was at dd#1 house until 3 am helping her pack and move and so have only been asleep for 4.5 hours.

dh calls to let me know that the postage went up several months ago and I need to travel 6 miles to pick up $.01 stamps so that his REBATE letter goes out okay. screw that, I will slap another $.41 stamp on it and call it good.

did I mention that ds#1 is screaming for me to help him with HIS chore that he must do to earn HIS Nintendo DS and is pitching a fit because he doesn't think that he can, that the job is too much. (move rocks that I can pick up with one hand, he is almost 9 years old) and is pitching a fit that I wont help him.

ds#2 is actually doing really well, just had to go out at 8 am, and ring the doorbell to his own house today for some evil twisted reason while I was sleeping.

so I have 5 monsters, this is self inflicted torture and I do not eat well. I do not eat right. I do not like the feelings I get all day. I do not like the dumping on healthy food I do not like the belly that I have acquired in the last 9 months (started in November 2007 - 18 months post op).

WHAT to DO, what TO do?

really think about what I am doing to myself and is it really worth it?

and time to be much more SELFISH. so today, instead of sleeping, which I should be doing, I am typing. instead of eating a protein bar, I am waiting for my coffee to cool. I can hear the Cheetos groanin and growling down my intestines and they are making a horrible racket.

I have sent ds#1 up to get me the protein bar, and I am going to cancel the trip downtown today. we are going to just have a 'down day', for whatever that means - it is more like a finish up a hundred chores on the house before we leave for the summer. but it will be prudent for me to do this rather than try to get in a trip to the museum AND all these chores.

the garage needs to be cleaned out.. augh!!! see.. there I go again.. I simply can not just REST...

but I have eaten the protein bar at 10:25 am while typing this, that my 8 year old found for me, so the shakes should not be too bad this morning. I have given the 8 year old the chore of watering the front yard. I must get better at delegating and taking care of me.

Just for Fun

Butterfly

Crazy Town Butterfly

Triathlon #2...

50 M Swim
1 Mile Ride
400 M Run

Erik placed 8 out of 12.... Time: 00:12:14

Kids Triathlons

June 28, 2008 - Triathlon from Sverre Amundsen on Vimeo.


Region: South Midwest (Houston)
Region: Pacific Northwest (Missoula and Lewiston and Spokane)

http://www.usatriathlon.org

Erik Totally Rocks and Loves participating...

Swim*Bike*Run
Personal Best Time: 00:09:10

End of Swim Season

Cha Cha Slide

Erik Summer

My 9/99 baby has been BUSY!!

he completed his second year of Chess Club!! he has advanced to Bishop Rank (intermediate level on master course)

he completed his first year of cub scouts and has advanced to rank of Bear.

he has completed his first year of Swim Team and is ranked 21 out of 35 in NorthWest Aquatic League C1 Division with 25M Freestyle at 00:29:03 and 25M Backstroke at 00:30:07. (practice is 5 days a week, meets are on saturdays)

He is entering the Kiwanis Triathalon on Saturdays
http://www.kiwanishoustonsunrise.org/index.cfm/MenuItemID/171.htm

so we have four activities which is plenty. in addition to biking, ripsticking, and computer games (Nintendo DS Lite and Wii).

It is EXHAUSTING keeping up with him. ;)

Erik Chess Results

beginner

intermediate

advanced

expert

master

You obtained 6 points out of 15, in 19 minutes, 27 seconds
Your level is: intermediate

Our recommendation:
Complete Chess Training Program »

Erik Swim Results

Erik Swim Times

|-----Date-----|-- 25 M Free style --|----25 M Backstroke----|

|-05/10/08 -|-----01:11.79 -------|-01:45.74-----Seed-------|
|-05/17/08 -|-------52.26 --------|- 01:08.33--100% Gain --|
|-05/24/08 -|-------47.06 --------|-00:56.31--100% Gain --|
|-05/31/08 -|-------40.26 --------|-00:39.02--100% Gain --|
|-06/07/08 -|-------38.72 --------|-00:44.07--- 50% Gain --|
|-06/23/08 -|-------35.32 --------|-00:39.45-- 100% Gain --|

boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom