Boy does time go by quickly!

Bummer we didn't have digital before 2002, so Jake's early life is a bit sparse in the computer archived photographs. How did Jason get so much gray in just 6 years? Kids maybe? And yes, I know, scary newborn picture of Jake, but it was just so funny.... Enjoy the slide show!

Gross British Yeast Stuff

This is the nasty British Yeast spread we fought about the other day. I just had to blog about really how horrible this is. Why do the Brits eat this? And why is it selling for 19$ on Jollygrub.com, a website devoted to British food. Is that why they travelled far and wide, conquering different cultures? To search for good food? I mean it's not like anyone asks where a good British restaurant is.

I love him again

OK, he apologized, he's stressed at work and realized that he took it out on me last night (apparently snapped at his sister too, missed that) so he's feeling horrible, overwhelmed etc....and now I just want to take care of him. So I made him a nice lunch. The kids are going over to his sister's house (she must either not have taken whatever he said seriously, or he recovered nicely) and he can get some work done, sans the "cheerful" noises of some very active boys. And I will hide at Starbucks and read about microbes...test next Thursday. All is back to normal, which is really not normal in say Leave it to Beaver perfect house fashion, but normal for us....

No, I don't Beat My Children

Okay, looks worse in person.....

Zac is one walking injury. I'm hoping it's his age and not some weird undiagnosed balance problem. We were in the ER twice last summer, stitches and MRI. A couple days ago he just fell off his seat at McDonald's and hit his head on the seat behind him. He wasn't even wiggling (that much) HOW DO YOU JUST FALL OFF YOUR CHAIR? Last night, he wanted to fly (cape and all). Jumped off the couch and landed cheek to corner of coffee table. Eight adult witnesses. So THIS time neighbor, who probably doesn't even know she did this, can't make subtle innuendos that I may be harming my very clumsy, adorable, and some what drama queenish child!

Oh, and now to my husband....because I'm just that mad, and thankfully he only reads my blog when I mention there maybe something funny on it, so I am safe to complain! He left his card in the ATM a while back and just realized it yesterday. Calls the company, they 'knew' he had done that and will reissue him a card. He nicely apologizes, I graciously say 'no big deal it can happen to anyone' (btw, never has happened to me, has happened to him twice in the last couple of years). We're having our dinner group and he finds out I had thrown out this bizarre British yeast extract stuff he bought from Cost Plus and we all tried it and it was GROSS. He snaps at me in front of our guests. So I snap back and mention, sheesh, couldn't I get the same "grace" I gave him. (And frankly, gross yeast extract--- ATM card, not equal, his was WORSE). And he says, it's totally different because my throwing away perfectly good food is a BEHAVIORAL PATTERN...yes, I threw away a half eaten pastry left on the counter the other day....I SHOULD have known not to because it was carefully wrapped and I threw away the gross British yeast spread....hmmmm

snowmobiling

And this is why we live in Colorado. Where else can you really feel on top of the World?

The Navigator---Jose, following in your footsteps?

In their slippers and drinking up some hot cocoa, what a way to finish off the day.

Jason and Jake had a blast snowmobiling!

Blah

Trying to ward off the migraine I woke up with this morning with Excedrin Migraine, coffee and oreos (for the hormonal component, really I'm eventually going to be a nurse, I KNOW things). Jake and Jason got up at 4ish this AM to go SNOWMOBILING. Jake is UBER excited, when I checked in on him last night he was GRINNING in his sleep (adorable). I had my house finally cleaned and somewhat organized and three nights away (two for school and one for bunco) it's like I live in some crack house and my kids will soon be taken away from me. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? So today, in between heading over to my sisters, anti-date night (my turn to host babysitting co-op) and homework (have to finish reading 4 chapters on Microbes, and my lab for next week). I need to clean the house! BIG SIGH. Oh my, I feel the throbbing, must have more oreos and a hot shower, things'll look up after that!

Just can't get that tune out of my head....

The assignment---There are some songs that take you back to specific events, places and times. Choose one song (or a few!) that do that for you, and tell us about it.

There's that song about 'tearing down paradise and putting up a parking lot' I have no idea what the name of it is, but it was popular when I lived in Kansas City (Kansas) for a year. Every 6 weeks or so the boys and I would make the 11 hour car trip back and forth to stay connected to our Colorado family and friends. That song would come on frequently and Jake, then 3/4 loved it and I would sing it at the top of my lungs and he would laugh. It was the only song he would 'let' me sing. He sometimes even now asks if we can hear the 'parking lot' song. (If any of you know the name of that, let me know)

Jason and I just saw 'Children of Men' and it took place in 2027. There was a 60-70 year old character who listened to Beatles music and I said to Jason, really, that's going to be OUR age in 2027 and if we were gonna get all nostalgic about music it would be 'Flock of Seagulls' NOT the Beatles (even though I love the Beatles, it's not the defining music of OUR generation). Which brings me to the Wedding Singer. That movie was so much fun because of the music, brought me back to high school. There was no particular moment and high school wasn't really that much fun, but there were days where I would spend the day just listening and dancing to Duran Duran, Thompson Twins and OMD. And then there was Phil Collins, and this may be TMI but he was usually playing during Jason's and my high school 'make out' sessions (yes, sickening but we were high school sweethearts with very little adult supervision.) When I listen to the music it really seems like the Eighties were a pretty naive time.

Greensleeves was the song I WANTED to walk down the aisle to at our wedding but our weird DJ forgot it. We did get to dance our first dance to Unforgettable, by Natalie King Cole. And our wedding was unforgettable but mostly for the things that went wrong, whole other Oprah! and yes, almost 15 years later I can laugh about it! While looking for our prom picture and wedding picture I realized we haven't 'scanned' many of those in yet..ooops AND man I wish I hadn't obsessed about how 'fat' I was in that size 12 (gasp) dress because I would kill right now to be a size 12. Where are my rice cakes? I feel like a nibble.

Stressed

I'm reading a book called, How to Survive and Maybe Even Love Nursing School, and it's so stressing me out. And I'm still just taking my prerequisites. I now think I'm Co-dependent. There's a whole list in there and I swear I have like 15 of the 10 behaviors (yes, I typed it that way intentionaly, I'm going for humor). I've been running around trying to get the house in some organized pristine condition so that this semester can go smoothly. Jason was supposed to get here at 5 Tues and Thurs of last week and this week as a trial run so that I knew he could do it (he has a slight be-on-time phobia) and I could have enough time to get to my class without worrying that he'd be putting friend Colleen out (she's watching the boys from 3-5 so I can build in some study time). Oh, back to finishing my thought earlier, and he hasn't been able to get here at 5. I just bought my text book, flipped through it and OH MY GOSH. So I bought a biology refresher book, flipped through that and even though I've taken biology I don't remember most of what I'm reviewing.
Deep Breath
All of this aside. I'm just plain afraid I'm not smart enough.
I mean when got my BA, who cared, really, if I didn't quite understand Walt Whitman's whole hug a tree mentality, it wasn't going to kill anyone. I think If I don't understand EVERYTHING (and realistcially who out there can) I may kill someone. That's a little freaky!
Deep Breath
Glad I'm journaling this and reading this book. Because, I do think most people going into this field are afraid of that, and most of us going into this field do have co-dependent tendancies...come on, NURSING, TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE.
Whew.
Ok, the house doesn't have to be perfect! As long as the shirts go in the shirt drawer, it's ok if they're not perfectly folded....oh wait, have to do some more deep breathing.....yes, it's OK that they're not perfect!
A B is still and okay grade
And I haven't even taken the class yet, so no need to get stressed til my first test...

all better now!
Wow, it's so not evident I actually DID a yoga tape this morning.

Our new addition...

Meet Jake's new pet, Lucky. He's a Betta fish. He's actually much more handsome, but it's hard to catch him still enough to take a good shot.

snow AGAIN

Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're getting snow again and it's more than just a couple of inches. Now, I know that people may think, sheesh Tracey you LIVE in Colorado, what's the big deal. But I live on the front range, the snow usually just accumulates in the mountains. It's strange here to have snow on the ground more that a couple of days, and it's usually melted before the next snow storm...sheesh. But this all segues into this great quote I read in this book called THE LEXICON OF STUPIDITY. by: Ross and Kathryn Petras

"We should abolish January and February. If we then divide the fifty-nine extra days between July and August, we will cut our energy needs by about one-third through eliminating the coldest days of the year. Cold is largely a psychological matter. If people look at the calendar and see that it is July, they will be quite happy to turn the heat down." Ohio State Rep. John Galbraith.