May Day

I might finally have it in gear to plow through the cleansing of said household. But please don't hold your proverbial breath because it is going to take me a LONG time, still progress is being made.

Em called last night to hire my child sitting services for next week so that she can go see Marty play his fine drum compositions in Julius Caesar as no one in the show is capable of this task. So Marty is now in the show as well as composer for the show. And not only is he in the show, he is in every scene.

In our conversation Em mentioned that the new princess dress that I made for Lydia is not quite making it. It needs, after all my pains to make it not so, a zipper or button for entry and exit. So while in our local blue light special store today to get boxes for the great reorganization, I snapped up an on sale tank top set to make L a second dress until I can get the first one adjusted.

Home, I yanked a tulle under layer off of one of E's old prom dresses and stitched it onto the top. Voila! Princess dress to go. It's in the mail. And, no, Martin did not get left out. He gets Ebay Lego figures for his collection. In the last box, he was so excited to see a Tuskan Raider that he immediately yelped with glee, "I need to write a thank-you note." I may be paraphrasing but I'm close.

I almost split my side (really) laughing at Quinn's blog today. I have been in that spot so many times myself. You are blathering on, the poor recipient of your diatribe is struggling to look interested, the clearer headed part of you is grabbing the blathering part by the collar to rescue you from yourself. But blathergirl is not to be stopped. She slaps collar girl, hard, and keeps right on a talking. Oh it is not a pretty sight at all.

I actually do not think that men have this genetic disposition. It is unique to us gals. And anyway, as we all know, men have a far smaller daily supply of words so they would barely get started before being cut off. I'm thinking that D would probably give the QC Report entry that tickled my funny bone a cursory glance, try to get into it, but the more he read the less he would understand the humor, and finally throw up his basketball (it would be his hands but the basketball, an extension of said hands, is almost always in one or the other) in a, what's so funny about that, gesture.

Happy May Day everyone!

Blog On Blog On blog On

I don't think I quite realized how really TIRED I was after my crazy marathon schedule. Starting in September 2006 and stopping in November 2007 (but not completely, just for awhile) I ran 7 full marathons and 6 half marathons. My time was slow but it was consistent and that included the finale when I ran two marathons on consecutive Sunday's.

At that it took a tear in my plantar facia to slow me down because I am still in training for the next interesting looking event. The body does know best. After the tear in which I ended up hobbling, I dropped all workouts including yoga because it hurt to stand for any length of time and simply slept in as my workouts are on a morning clock.

It was wonderful. I missed seeing my gal pals but the sleep was delicious. I am now back in class but taking it slow. I go with option #1, the easy choice, in Cathie's step class.

A gardening friend gave me a huge hollyhock Friday and I am striving to help it through the transplant shock. We have a nasty looking channel marker we planted beside the driveway years ago after Donny swam it home. It is showing the test of time and needed to go but would not be pulled up even with help from machinery so I am thinking that the hollyhock will be a good way to conceal it.

Stephen's birthday party was really nice. We all (to include the McKays) hung out and visited while eating tasty hamburgers and hot dogs the men cooked and just plain relaxed. Donny and the guys put together the new portable basketball system which now boosts an oval rim as I stepped off of the base too soon and the whole thing toppled over. Luckily no one was in range. Would you call that a self christening?

Hop!

Wellington has a new friend. (That's the series I'm writing on the True Story of the Easter Bunny).

Dr Dowty and his wife Debbie stopped by yesterday to give Henry and Huey had their annual check-up and shots. I asked Debbie how their own pets were doing and she got a sheepish look on her face as she pointed to a cardboard box on the floor of their mobile clinic. I peeked inside to see the tiniest bunny I have seen in a LONG time. I say that because my first cat, Poo aka as Christine, brought home two baby bunnies once years ago and we tried to save them but they died after a few days.

Debbie's bunny was just as tiny. They found him on the farm and he was so tiny his eyes were not even open. They could not find the litter or the mom. Probably victim's to a fox they reasoned. Don told Debbie the baby would probably die but they could try to save him. She bottle fed him every few hours for the first few days and kept him by her side all the time.

After they left, I lamented not getting a picture of him/her (too early to tell) and so this morning I called her to see if they could stop by Friday on their next trip in from the farm. She called back a bit later to say they were in town today for their clinic inspection and if I wanted I could come over and get some photos today.

I dashed over and to my amazement the little guy (until we know differently, we are calling him a he) has already grown! He posed more or less for his portrait and I even got to hold him.

He has imprinted on Debbie so well that she had to put her shirt in his box to settle him down yesterday evening. But that was not for the night. No, at night he sleeps right beside her.

You need a pouch for daytime I suggested. She grinned and agreed.

His name is Hop and he will be in the Wellington books. He'll just hop right into the story line.

Happy Day, Earth

The blooms on this red tip wanna be a tree bush in our yard could almost pass for white lilacs, one of my favorite spring flowers. On my walks from school in Ohio I would pass a small yard with purple lilac trees blooming in full glory, their branches truly laden almost to the ground with sweet scented lavender blossoms. They lined the street side boundary of this modest yard and I would pick an armful of the fragrant flowers to take home to Mom. The owner might mind you doing this it was suggested and so I refrained from the picking but never the admiring.

We do have that promised rain today but it is rather pleasant and maybe an end to the drought.

Today being Earth Day the newspaper is full of articles on the subject. One features the pros and cons of different types of diapers. I don't know that any one out weighs the other as the conservation winner. Statistics are not much help for, as someone once pointed out to us, that number game can be spun to favor any point of view.

Raising five babies, we actually went through the entire litany of diaper choices. With Emily we used cloth which we washed and sun dried. (Donny needs to blog about the one that got away and clogged the septic system in a most unfortunate spot for recovery.) For Donald we switched to paper. Then with Stephen & Andrew we tried cloth via diaper service. And finally for Lewis a wool snap diaper holder that did not need to be washed with every use. It had a cloth liner that could be replaced, so there was less daily washing involved. The seemingly inevitable rashes happened with every single system, therefore my real choice in the summer time when we were home was au natural.

The best we can do is what works for us without forgetting our planet. So perhaps today we can make an Earth Day pledge to make good choices for all types of consumption for ourselves and for our first mother, Earth!

Budding Talent

Friend Anna Lee won 3rd place in her school's art competition. There were a lot of quality entries in all sorts of media. She's got her grandpa's, fellow RPI art school graduate, talent.

Our weather forcast for the next THREE days is rain, rain, rain. I am reminded of my second year at RPI when one spring it rained endless Tuesdays in a row. I was considering changing majors from art to aquatics.

I lifted the following YouTube link from Dooce. It's not new but it sure is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

We have sequestered the two black cats to be ready for their vet visit tomorrow. It's shot day. And Huey will not be touched by human hands so cleverness is required to catch him. We lured him inside (they live outside on our covered non-screened in porch as we choose not to deal with a litter box and also Sarah breaths better without cat dander around) with promises of tuna (delivered) and brought Henry along too as he often neglects to show up for meals choosing to dine out instead.

So we put them in the downstairs new room with their needed amenities and thought no more until I heard the door that separates the downstairs from the upstairs jiggle. In all my nakedness as I am about to hop in the bath and am finishing up a phone conversation with Emily, I scream for Donny to see who is at the door.

Everything is locked below he replies still coming to my aid from his upstairs office and then notices the door is slightly open. The pull down handle has been wrangled by (beat) the cats.

Oh so smart they are.

Showering

Stephen & Sarah
Originally uploaded by wellingtonrabbit

Pat, Laurie and Jenn gave Stephen & Sarah a baby shower last Saturday and it was well attended by family and friends of all ages.

The weather which threatened all day off and on was perfect and the cookout part by Orren a yummy success.

S&S got lots of really nice gifts from baby clothes to furniture. Lydia even gave Baby Ball one of her favorite personal baby toys.

After the party Em, the kids, AJ, Donny & myself went to S&S's house to see the new bamboo floors and the ready and waiting nursery complete with comfy glider chair.

We visited a while and then it was time to go to AJ's for sleeping.

"You are dragging us from house to house to house," moaned Martin, our family member that lacks a transition gene. But he survived and even got a chance to school Andrew on Lego Stars Wars the next morning. Schooling Andrew on anything is a coup, the wealth of knowledge that he is.

Baby Ball #1 is due in about six weeks!!

Stephen is already planning the first basketball game.

500 miles

Lydia's after school enrichment class held a small performance this week and it could not be missed.

The time was 1PM, not bad unless you dawdled too much leaving home and then got stuck in a traffic snarl.

So by the time I got to Richmond I had 1 hour and fifteen minutes to finish up the trip to northern Virginia. Be late I told myself or go for it. The go self won.

I am just waiting for the by mail speeding ticket. I thanked Donny a hundred times for putting the V6 engine in my Rav4. At that I could not keep up with a new SUV Saturn that was figuratively and almost literally flying.

No directions please, I told Emily after the show as we were headed to the house to unwind for a bit before I headed home. I mostly know how to get there but a few turns are fuzzy. I will follow you I said. I used up my directions allowance on getting to the school, into the school, and to the right classroom on time.

But back to the show. A hit! They sang and performed from the heart. Fifteen minutes and it was over but every one of the 500 total driving miles was worth seeing those precious minutes. And THE SMILE with,"Grandma!!" that greeted me as I walked in the door beating the start of the performance by about 10 minutes.

Lydia told her teacher that I was coming to see the show. The same grandma that made your Mary dress she was asked. "Yes, my dress for the Mary & Joseph show," came the reply.

There's definitely theater in that gal.

Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My

I think the problem is fixed now. Sorry about that faithful readers. I refer to the ability to comment or lack thereof. Guess my settings were a bit unsettled. But anyway it's mended so keep those cards and letters coming folks, we bloggers LOVE comments.

Patiently Waiting

In my sorting travels I came across this card among the History of Andrew papers and pictures. It was still in the original envelope and I guess that is what warranted a look see as I was not being that thorough in my sorting the wheat from the chafe.

There inside a Christmas card from Granddaddy & Beatrice (this automatically dates the card to it least 15 years ago as Granddaddy, now deceased, went through 2 more wives) waiting to be acknowledged was this snappy $20 bill.

I'm figuring the patient bill was never used because there was a thank-you note involved that most likely never got written. And Andrew (twenty-something) ,was really good at writing a great thank-you note too, as were the rest. The Mom policy in those formative years was you can have your money after you write the note.

I think the collective, all five now adults, is probably glad they are beyond the reach of that policy now.

Weekend

Our weather changed from balmy to bad over the weekend but it made for good reading time. I continue to make progress in the BIG clean-up and out. For me it takes time to think it through.

Some things which seem useless are worth a second chance. For example we have this wooden elephant that has sat on the upstairs lamp stand for years. It has round discs that you stack in some type of game format on the elephant's back but they have only been used as shims to keep the attic access closed tightly for who knows how long. Gotta go I reasoned, we have a new attic access now, no need for the shim substitutes and how do you play the game anyway? But before tossing it in the thrift store pile, I decided to check on line and actually found the rules to the game on this all things elephant website. You roll dice to determine how many discs get stacked until someone topples the stack. It will be fun to play with M & L since it is basically a counting game and by using two (or more) dice instead of the suggested one, the stack should tumble quickly. Another bonus, a short game!

A very cute read is Flush by Carl Hiassen. It's a kids book but don't let that stop you. It is his usual fast pace and snappy to read type plot.

Cute Overload is a favorite website to check in with and today was no exception. There is an artist in all of us.

Threads

Right self: Throw more stuff away!

Left self: Why?

RS: It's dusty clutter.

LS: Well, if you threw everything away you would not have that tiny little notebook you found today that was Andrew's when he was seven.

RS: You mean the one where he wrote that Emily is his best friend? And they play Life together. And the 700 Club is his least favorite TV show?

LS: That's the one.

RS: It's just a dingy notebook.

LS: And look, here he writes in his scrawly seven year old printing, that what he likes most about Emily is that she lets him have a dip in her prize bag. And that math is his favorite class. And that he likes to root against E-Z For U. And that his favorite team is UNC.

RS: I'm never going to get anything thrown away. Let me see that notebook...

Elite Eight

Looking good Carolina. And I guess I get to watch the games because the point spread gets even better once I settle in. Unlike Em who cannot watch because things begin to fall apart every time she does. When she was here, we had the game on the radio going to the aquarium and we would turn up the volume occasionally to catch the score and then turn it back down again. Taking NO chances.

My heel seems to be healing. Yeah!! Like Donny says, now it is hard to believe it ever hurt so badly. But it did, definitely. I broke down Monday and bought some Crocs because Cathie said her doc told her they were very good for plantar fascia and/or heel spurs. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the shoe store to discover there were Crocs that I actually liked. New styles way beyond the old regular style which did not fit me anyway. I got two pairs. My favorite is a pair of Carolina blue fur lined (that can be popped out for washing) slip ons. I wore them to yoga today.

When I got up I thought my heel was not ready even for yoga but then I decided that some yoga was better than none and since it was pillow day I went. But I am letting that count for MEE30 as I am still limping a bit.

Em called today looking for a colonial costume for Jessica, Chrissy's 9 year old. I dug in the costume closet which has not been purged yet and found the costumes I made for all of us for the 400th celebration. A bit of washing and dying brought new life to Em's costume which should fit Jessica with only a bit of altering.

Tuesday was Jenn's birthday and we tried to sing happy birthday to her but called after she had already gone to bed. That's a new mom for you! Retiring early.

Well tonight I am retiring later than usual but that is because I have gotten lots of extra sleep and no tiring workouts because of said heel.

Just got a text from a friend who is in LA visiting the grands. She wants a cranial when she gets back to town. It will be good to see her again. Her oldest daughter and Donald went to the 8th grade dance together. Just a fun piece of trivia.

Ciao!!

Oh Heel

In an attempt to keep up with myself I have decided to do more posting here and so we'll see how this goes. My glorious running schedule hit an annoying snag yesterday in the form of a heel flare up. My right heel has been acting poorly off and on for about a month now, but nothing I could not work through.

Then in interval class yesterday it started hurting so badly that I had to literally stop running, which we were doing at the time, and just walk. Suzanne got me some ice although nothing was visibly swelling. And then on the next interval, after I had rested for a moment, I tried to catch up. We were doing a routine on the step and the heel hurt but was managing when boom I fell over the step not hurting anything but my pride. So I hung up my workout for the day. We were almost finished with interval anyway but I skipped yoga, which would have been good to do, because I wanted to go home and lick my wounds.

Today the heel is better. Donny put me right into my Heel That Pain soles which I always wear to class but at home I run around barefooted. He suggested I put the shoes on all day and so I did and today I am only limping a bit. Still no running or walking, so I am down a day on MEE30 but so it goes.

Donald called last night. They had just finished snorkeling with a huge turtle and were really stoked about that. They were off to dine in Waikiki a bit later.

D and I went to see Spiderwick Chronicles in Manteo tonight. It was a nice made for TV movie. On the way there we heard a piece on NPR about an experiment these guys did to put folks in a better mood. All you had to do was find and click on the smiling face on each page of the game. Surprisingly people's work success etc was far more productive and better after playing the game for x number of times, not that much but I forget the details. So if you want to pump yourself up an easy way go to MindHabits and play. It's very short.

Putting the heel to bed now.

Just One More

We had an Easter egg hunt with the grands last week and Em and I labeled the eggs so both M&L would have equal bounty. But we forgot to count how many even though we had a fair idea.

Once the hunt was finished and the eggs were being emptied, I started matching up eggs and counting them because we had also used equal amounts of blue eggs. pink eggs, shiny eggs etc. It seemed we were off by a few but Em reminded me that the color match up was not exact so I agreed with her that none were left behind.

Later when we went outside to jump on the trampoline we discovered an M egg in the play refrigerator. Opps! And today I found its partner L egg in the white swan. No great loss, there was plenty of M&M's and jelly beans in the original pile, even at two per egg. Just thought everyone would get a chuckle out of 'just one more.'

Martin is 7

Martin
Originally uploaded by wellingtonrabbit

The birthday boy was quite taken with his loot. Legos? Tranformers? Some of both! Sure why not, it's a Grand prerogative.

The Grands

A recent stop over for a visit with the grands. As always it was fun albeit TOO brief. M shows off part of his Christmas loot, L takes Lucy for a ride in her new sled. We had about 15 minutes for play time as L & I slept in too long. We cooked french toast and then ventured outside for a test run of the sled which worked very well. Lucy loves it!!

Racing the Deer

It was too tempting. A deer roost just waiting for the marathonettes to check it out. And so we did. Kinda fun sitting in a tree. 

Mini Marathon

Perks for the Marathonettes. We ran together. We finished together. It was AWESOME!!

Welcome to Virginia

Confession: We actually did not run, walk or even jog this far but we did drive the 11 miles of sand road in our trusty Blazer and back again to the land of paved highways.

We'll be running in Virginia soon enough. Big race coming up. 

Another Mascot

We set out to explore the northern beaches and found a herd of wild horses. We hung with them for a good while until time ran out on us.

We'll be back, we promised the young ones some carrots and we need to check out our new friend's foal about to arrive. So pregnant she didn't deign to move but a few feet, she instead posed for our celebrity shot.

To top off our adventure day we saw a Segway tour and a wild turkey chowing down on road kill.

8 miles of exploring, getting ready for the R'nR.