They Say It's Your Birthday

We have a tradition in my house: we play The Beatles' "Birthday" for everyone's birthday. We play it for me, John, Keller, Lola, and Percy. Even if you have to work or go to school on your birthday, at least you have a few minutes all about you. As it should be.

And this morning was no different. It took me a while to get moving this morning though. I'm kind of feeling a little old. I was stiff and achy, so I needed to do a little yoga to get loosened up. Then we let it loose and danced. We danced to the song twice and I think, if Keller had his way, we'd be dancing all day. But we old folks needed to rest.

I was telling John this morning that this will be the first birthday I have to work in 4 years. I've been home with Keller every year, plus the year I was pregnant with him. So, I haven't worked on my birthday since 2004! That's kind of nuts. But I'm only working a half day so it shouldn't be too bad.

So, it's my birthday, and life is good. I hope everyone has a great day!

Hit Me Baby One More Time

One of the big stories in the news today has to do with a teen from Bethesda basically plotting to kill lots of people, perhaps even POTUS (that’s the President of the US, for the non-Washingtonians).

Apparently, this teen and a friend have been testing pipe bombs, stock piling guns and ammunition, devising lists of teachers to be killed, learning about how to kill someone from 200 meters away, and obtaining and marking a map of Camp David. Interesting, huh?

The kid at the center of it all is an 18-year old, just graduated from high school. The friend is a year younger and still in high school. Those are two lives that are lost right there. I am not sure of the entire back story, but apparently the two were being investigated for bomb-making and all the rest of the goods were discovered when they searched the home of the older boy. It’s really scary.

The story made me think about my high school, good old Newfield High School, and how, while I was there, it had the reputation of being “homicide high” because of a couple of incidents that occurred. The most notable incident was the Cheryl Pierson story. Cheryl claimed she was sexually abused by her father, and was afraid he would start in on her little sister. So, she hired a classmate to kill her father. Which he did. This was big, huge news and they even made a TV movie about it. There were some other incidents that occurred regarding Newfield students doing hideous things, but since I don’t have all the specifics, I won’t mention them.

While I was writing this blog post, I was doing a little bit of research into Newfield since it’s been a while since I was a student there. Apparently, it’s now an up-and-coming school. It’s completely revamped, with new facilities and amenities. Must be nice. And, I found out that one of the finalists on the last season of Project Runway was from freaking Selden (my home town) and graduated from Newfield. How about that? And, can you believe Newfield has a Wikipedia article? That’s just crazy.

I’m a little peeved that the school got all revamped and great after I graduated. We got stuck with all the homicide, crumbling building, and resentful teachers, and the kids today get new classrooms and stuff. I bet the teachers actually want to be there too. So not fair.

Groovy Tuesday

Well, it isn't, but there aren't very many songs about Tuesdays. And that is definitely the theme of the day.

I hate Tuesdays. And this one is no different. I am currently working on the bi-annual newsletter the organization for which I'm a contractor puts out. This is a newsletter that contains all the latest and greatest news on obesity, nutrition, physical activity, diabetes, and other exciting things. I have been muddling through the statistics just recently put out by the CDC and I kind of want to cry. Not only do I want to cry because there are 24 million people living with diabetes in the US, but I also want to cry because my head is throbbing and my eyes want to pop out of my head.

I woke up with a nasty headache this morning. And I don't even have a night of drinking to blame on it. I don't know what the deal is. But I'm not the only one because many of my coworkers are complaining of headaches today. I wonder if someone is trying to kill us. There has been talk that my company is lacking in direction, but solving its problems by killing its employees? That seems a bit extreme. But if I suddenly drop dead, you'll know where to look first.

So, Keller is a genius. And I mean that in the most objective way possible. He's been learning how to spell words! John and Keller have been spelling words in the morning. I mean, they're not spelling words like "surreptitiously," it's more like "dog" and "cat." But the kid's not even three and he has an interest in spelling. I am a proud Mama. Though he was rather rude to me this morning. He and John were spelling together and sitting on the couch. I sat down and Keller, of course, told me to get up. But he said it very loudly. Because of my aching head, I asked him not to speak so loudly. He then whispered, "Get up, Mama." Nice. At least he listened to me.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up how I feel today. Happy Tuesday, people.

The Beginning of Something New

We've given our two-week notice to Peppertree (Keller's school) today. His last day there will be August 15th and he'll start his new school on the 25th.

We're taking him out early so that we can use that week before he actually starts at the new school to slowly transition him there. So, we'll take him there for a couple of hours each day for that week before he goes full-day. This way he can meet his teachers and get familiarized with the new school so that it isn't such a shock to him when he starts regularly. I also felt it would be confusing to him to visit the new school and then go back to the old school during that week. So, he's just going to end there on the 15th.

I'm having such anxiety about this. I want so badly for this to go well. I am so worried that he's going to freak out when he can't see his friends anymore. But, in all honesty, the only friend in his current class is Noah. Everyone else is fairly new and he hasn't formed those bonds yet. And we see Noah all the time outside of school, so hopefully it will be all right. But I am definitely worried. I think I may even have an ulcer.

If anyone has any advice on how we should be doing things, I'd greatly appreciate it. I think we're handling things as best as we can and I just hope it's enough. In the long run, Keller is going to get so much more out of this new school, that the bumps we'll face transitioning should be just a drop in the bucket. I hope anyway.

It's a Beautiful Day

It’s Friday!

This week has just been a big poop-fest. I have had a lot of stuff go down at work and it has just ruined the week. I will not get into it, in fact, I never will talk about work here on my blog, but let’s just say I’m not pleased, I’d like things to be different, and that’s that. But I'm still down about the race over the weekend, as well as Keller's evaluation next week, moving him to the new school, blah blah blah.

I have to say, though, that I am feeling better than I was at the beginning of the week. I just feel like, when things are not right for me, I just disconnect myself from the world. And let’s face it, things have been down right shitty for us this year. And just when I think things are looking up, WHAM! Something else comes along.

Last night my book club met to discuss the latest book read: The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro. Um, hilarious! Seriously, that was a funny book. Anyway, our book club is really just an excuse to get together and eat. We discuss the book for a short time, but for the most part, it’s just a gathering of friends. Which I’m all for.

Last night was no different. And it was greatly needed. It was at Melissa’s house, and it was just a small number of us (Mary, Holly, Melissa and myself). And the three of them are so sweet, they had a little pre-birthday celebration for me since Melissa will be out of town for my actual birthday next week (it’s the 7th for those of you that still need to shop. Get on it!). Anyway, we had cake and wine and these interesting beer margaritas that Melissa made. They were yummy. And I am fully convinced that all you need to get through a bad time is a group of great friends. We were all so frazzled and emotionally spent last night, but just sitting there talking things out and being there for one another made us realize that we’re never alone in the things we go through and we always have each other to lean on. It’s really wonderful and I’m so grateful. So, ladies, thank you for making me feel special. It was greatly needed and appreciated.

So, now it’s onto the weekend! Yay! We don’t have any plans, other than the usual training for our respective races. Maybe we will actually watch a movie or something.