To step in, or to not step in. That is the question.

Nanny days are awesome. She's great with the kids. They love her in return. They play. They laugh a lot. They learn quite a bit, including some spanish words which I consider a bonus. Everyone comes out a winner, especially me. I get shit done while she's here.

Today while up in my office doing important things, like Facebooking, I heard BB scream at the nanny to "knock off", "that's what you tink", "I'll do it if I want toooo", and finally "KNOCK OFF". I have faith in her abilities to handle any situation but what do I do when I hear my child being a complete brat? He knows better than to talk to anyone this way. We all know he knows better. So, do I go downstairs and tread on the nanny's ground. Or do I let her handle it?

You be the judge

From Bug's Preschool Teacher:

Week 1:

Upon entering the classroom with his bucket in my hand: "BB needs to carry his own bucket".

FYI- His preschool requires kids to bring buckets. Not the cute little buckets you're thinking of. Big a** mop buckets. Think 10 gallon. They get to decorate them but they are expected to carry them from the car into the school.

Week 2:

During pickup, I was pulled aside and informed that Bug and another boy wouldn't line up after the whistle was blown. They weren't immediately punished therefore they did it again during the next playground time. I was told that if it happened again they would spend playground time in the office. I completely agreed with this punishment. We use the same philosophy at home.

Week 3: I arrived early to preschool for pickup. BB was hanging out alone on the playground looking extremely sad. When the whistle was blown, he lined up but slower than the other kids. I watched the teacher take the shoulder area of his coat and jerk him into line. Not cool in my book.

During the ride home, he said he got in trouble 3 times for not using 'pretzel legs' (Indian style seating).

Week 4: Upon dropping BB off at class, we were running behind but not late. I carried his bucket inside because I didn't want him to fall with that darn bucket weighing him down. His teacher did not say Good Morning instead said "BB, you need to carry your bucket'.

Yes, we get it. The boy should carry his bucket. Couldn't you say good morning before lecturing? Not cool again in my book.

Obviously I'm keeping a list. I'm so tempted to talk to the director because I feel we're treated differently. I hate to say it's because we aren't members of the church where BB attends preschool. It's been a month and I keep thinking his teacher is having a bad day... every Tuesday and Thursday it seems. My plan is to watch the other kids and see if she treats them differently also. Then I'm taking my list and making an appointment with the director. Aren't all kids, hyper or calm viewed the same in the eyes of God? Thought so.

Let's hear it for the birds........

While walking from the car to the house, a bird shat on me. It landed right on my front pants pocket. How does that even happen? I was wearing a jacket. Totally missed my head, glasses, nose, jacket and landed right on my front pocket. I can only venture to guess that it happened this way because I've lost weight.

Yes! CrossFit is the BEST workout ever. It's worth the money. It's worth the industrial looking warehouse turned gym. It's worth suffering through summers with no A/C. It's even worth the pre-workout diarrhea days dreading the intense, damn difficult WOD. I'm so glad I got off that stupid elliptical trainer and joined my CrossFit gym because I am finally getting the results I deserve. And tomorrow is Fight Gone Bad day. I'm so nervous about that workout, the pre-workout diarrhea has already begun.

Lemons

It's been how long? Where the hell have I been? And what have I been doing? June 7th was my last post and it's August 24th. Well friends, I've been contemplating life. When life throws you lemons what do you do?

Most important contemplation and the biggest lemon...Al was (mostly) diagnosed with neurofibromatosis. Back up, when she was one month old she started getting cafe au lait spots all over her body. (Cafe au lait spots = similar to birth marks the color of coffee with cream.) More than six or seven large ones are usually enough for a diagnosis of neurofibromatosis (NF1). She has 9 large ones at last count and many smaller ones. She's had 2 MRI's, a CT scan, an EEG and several other fun medical tests. All of which were clear. One would normally breathe a huge sigh of relief. Well, NF1 is a waiting game. She could develop more symptoms over time or live her life with just cafe au lait spots. For now, we wait. I took one whole day to wallow. Now we're proactive and dealing with whatever comes our way. This month it's low muscle tone and no weight gain. Are they related to NF1? Maybe. No one really knows for sure which is why Al is in the NF1 research study. I know I could've used more positive information on this disease. For fun, just google NF1 and take a look at the photos that come up. I sound bitter but I'm not. I never was. Just worried about my girl. Dealing with something like this will change your perspective on life. It's made me a better person. I worry a lot less about the little things and more about the important stuff.

We took our first family vacation this summer. We packed up and drove 3 hours to Philadelphia for Sesame Place. Great time! The kids experienced water slides, roller coasters, cotton candy, super long twisty suckers, and lots of tomfoolery!

Bug learned lots of new words while on vacation. He has mastered the use of sh**, da*n it, and fu**. He really gets a lot of variety out of the f-word. There's 'f-in' and insert any type of toy you can imagine. Sometimes he throws out a plain ole 'fu**' if something doesn't go his way. On occasion he's insisted his sister hurry up and get in the 'f-in' car. It's just great. I've tried explaining that it's a horrible word but that didn't work. Now I'm trying to ignore it or take away treats. Did I mention he starts a Methodist preschool in a few weeks? We could get kicked out before he has a chance to catch the flu.

It doesn't seem like I've done much with my summer but if you checked any of my three calendars you would notice that we don't have much down time. I cherish the mornings we don't have to be anywhere. It's rare for us to head out to Target just to have something to do. So to answer my own question, what to do when life throws lemons at you? Turn them around a few times to find the pretty side and then display the f***ers on your blog. And remember, if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.

Hello my friend, hello

Go ahead and use your very best Neil Diamond voice, I dare you.

Facebook claims way too much of my blogger time. It's ridiculous. Well, no more. Now school will claim all of my free time.

Surprise, Surprise...I was offered a Fellowship Grant through Drexel's online school. The grant gives 30% off all classes as long as I am a part-time student. With two kids, I'd have to be superwoman to take more than two classes at a time and do well in them. The kicker just happens to require that I begin this summer. Just thinking about starting so soon gives me IBS. My brain is not ready. But my life is ready. Luckily, we found our nanny early and she 'fits' in our home quite nicely. Bug has been enrolled in preschool two days a week beginning in September. Combine that with two nanny days and we're set. In theory, I should have plenty of uninterrupted time to devote to school.

What has the child been up to? Thanks to him, I'm almost never embarrassed anymore. Anyone ever have days where you leave the house and check to make sure your pants are on? I do. I thought it would be really embarrassing to look down and lack pants. Turns out, after life with Bug that wouldn't be so embarrassing after all. Now we've entered the tooting stage. He can toot on demand and he does. In elevators, on benches while some poor random soul is inserting the child's foot in a pair of shoes, in Ikea while a sweet little lady is commenting on his cuteness, and during any other time where tooting would be inappropriate.

Random Bug comments:

Walking through an orchard after picking strawberries:

Bug: Mom, you have a big ole wien in your butt.

Me: (Looking stricken and very pale all of a sudden.)

Bug: I'm just kiddin', it's your camera.

Me: (Technically, the camera was in my back pocket.)

Jas yelling at Bug to go to his room because he was tormenting his sister.

Bug: I'm not scared of you. (As he sprints to his room.)

In the grocery store an older women is checking out produce:

Bug: Hey! Have you seen our baby? Isn't she cute?

At the diner after being seated:

Bug: See our baby? Hey, did you see our baby???!!!!

Talking to my mom (his momo) on the phone:

Bug: See our baby? She's so cute.

Thank goodness he loves his sister.

After knocking Alice to the floor and stealing her toy causing her to scream bloody murder...

Me: Go To Your Room.

Bug: How bout I kiss Alice and say sorry 3 times?

Me: Try it.

Alice: (Immediately soothed.)

On our way to a short errand Bug packed his backpack full of toys.

Alice: (Begins screaming in the car)

Bug: (Opens his bag of goodies and passes her a toy) Here you go Allie. Don't pie (cry).

Me: Did you bring any toys for you?

Bug: Nope. I didn't want her to pie in the car.

Me = melting heart.

Life is good.

Conquering Fears

Resolutions made this year:

Focus on me.

How I've accomplished this so far:

Hired a nanny.

Dedicated at least three mornings a week to the gym.

Hired a personal trainer.

Applied to a master's program; got accepted; will start in September.

Next steps:

Conquering my fears. 

My fears:

Running - Shin splints, side splitting pain, slamming my feet on pavement. 

Murky water where I can't see the bottom or the big nasty fish lurking beneath the surface.

Scuba diving

Travelling new places alone with children in tow.

How I'm taking control:

This week starting to sprint on the treadmill. If I like it, who knows I might become a runner over time.

I decided to learn to scuba this week. Jas wants to windsurf together but that doesn't interest me in the least. After looking into scuba lessons I found most of the shops do beginner dives in quarries. FEAR QUARRIES!!! My chest closed up just reading about it. I think this fear will take more time to overcome because I'm not jumping into a quarry. Anyone seen 'Gone Baby Gone'? I quarrel with myself on whether or not I'd jump into a quarry to save someone else's child. I'd do it for my own in a heartbeat but I'd have to talk myself into doing it for someone else. 

I'm seriously considering taking the kids on the Metro tomorrow to pick up my sis from the airport. That should count for travelling to new places alone with kids in tow. I hope no one needs a bathroom.

I've been doing some thinking. (Run!!! Get out now!!!!) Jas and I are not happy in our rental house. 

It's older than we initially thought.

If one too many things are plugged in to various outlets, a fuse blows. And blows. And blows. It doesn't even matter if you unplug that one thing. It will blow four to five times resulting in me scurrying down two flights of stairs to reset the fuse box. Anger always ensues. Not to mention the possibility of a FIRE. We hired an electrician to take a look and of course the whole house needs to be rewired. FYI- if you build on to a house, make sure the electrical stuff can handle the add-ons.

We have a pool but will have to pay for a pool fence in order to make it kid safe. Hint: this cost about $2000 in Florida and I'm sure the price is inflated some here in DC. The owners will not pay for this but we can take it with us when we leave. Oh, it will only benefit us if we have a pool again. Otherwise we'll have a random pool fence in the garage.

Carpets are old and need to be replaced. Obviously the owners aren't going to do that. It's a rental. 

So I keep thinking that if we're going to be here for 4 years it makes sense to be happy in your house. Right? We have considered (seriously) looking for a foreclosure home to buy, fix up a bit and then possibly sell or rent when we leave here. There are some great deals out there. -I've been looking nonstop for two days at houses online. I just feel bad for taking advantage of someone else's misfortune. Is that crazy? It's a great time to buy. And I'm a sucker for a great deal. I usually buy shoes or bags but I can make exceptions for houses too.