....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16759130/wid/11915773/

I cannot bear the thought of not being around to see Maddy grow up.

Indeed, it is my biggest fear. I would be ashamed to admit how often the thought crosses my mind. I would seem obsessive.

This woman is so brave. I cannot fathom what she is going through.

Progress Reports

Today was a teacher work day. Report cards. I also thought teacher work days were simply an excuse for teachers to sit around and talk smack about their students. Turns out I was right.

Maddy also got a progress report. According to daycare, she regularly does things like recognize her name, demonstrates increased independence, and follows directions (really? since when?) She never "participates in role playing" (i.e. animal sounds) or tries to play on playground equipment by herself. She "sometimes" does everything else. She likes flashcards, songs, books, and circle time (sounds pagan). She can say "clean up" "goodbye," "outside," and "bubble" (really? haven't heard those last three).

Hmm. Well then.

We have heard her say "Mommy" and "Daddy" of course. This weekend she learned "ball." She demonstrated this by picking up a ball, throwing it across the room and yelling "Ball!" I should probably discourage her, but its just so darn cute.

Lately she has developed a fondness for blackberries. Yum.

Now for my progress report. I'm tired and was sick all last week. I have too few students and too much planning time. In other words, I'm kinda bored. Which means I dread going to school. I wake up and hope its a snow day. I take a shower, hoping a sudden blizzard will strike my localized area. I drive to school, hoping for snow and early dismissal. I go through the day, hope diminishing as the clock ticks away. I cheer up only during lunch and when I am actually teaching. I drive home and go to work at my other job or to class. Brief break for dinner, then back to work. Put Maddy to bed, brush teeth, say a prayer for snow, go to sleep and wake up to start the day again.



12 more weeks.

The Dreaded Day Has Come

Not only has Maddy learned to say "No," but she truly knows what it means too.

Egad.

Ego Trippin'

Maddy eats practically everything. She rarely turns down food. I have made her mashed sweet potatoes, thick with garlic and spicy steak seasoning, lentils with feta and onion, and spicy Chinese dishes with tons of red hot pepper flakes. She eats it all.

I have been very proud of my kid and my cooking. Was beginning to think that my food tasted so good, Maddy quickly overcame whatever natural aversions kids have to foods. Was proud that my child's refined palate led her to appreciate my fine cooking early on.

Today I watched her dump water into her tray and dip her leftover hamburger in it, as though it were a fine sauce. She then gleefully began chomping on the soggy meat.

Ew.

There goes my ego. I could make her a cat food and berry smoothie and she would probably be just as happy.

:(

What a heart-wrenching game.

Oh and by the way, Peyton Manning-is there a reason you feel you must whore yourself out to every corporation with a wad of cash in their hands? I do believe I saw your mug on more commercials than I did during the actual football game. Bitch.

Little Pink Sock

 

It snowed!

 

Movie Reviews

Children of Men-possibly one of the best movies I have ever seen. Many of the shots are amazing, the cinematography is gorgeous, and I got to look at Clive Owen for 2 hours. And Julianne Moore didn't irritate me like she normally does. But I actually got very emotionally involved in this one-even cried out loud at one point when I thought something bad was going to happen. I highly recommend it.

Idiocracy-Not Office Space. Not even close. When we finished it, I declared it was not worth watching a second time. However, as I have proceeded through this week and encountered many idiots, I have gained more appreciation for it. Still not sure I would recommend it though.

The Descent-I was so not interested in seeing this movie, I decided to catch up on some sewing while watching it. And after the first few minutes, it starts to feel like a crappy horror film but once the action gets going, the feeling changes dramatically. Luckily for me, the filmmakers successfully avoided some of the more damaging horror movie cliches (there are some still in there-you can pretty much figure out who is gonna make it after the first 10 minutes. Admittedly though, the all-female cast helps avoid most of the cliches) and not only was I very entertained but very tense and high-strung at the end of it-to the point that it bothered me a great deal that we had our blinds up and it was VERY black outside. We both had to watch something funny to shake it off. In short, it was Kill Bill meets Alien. Certainly not one of the best horror films ever, but certainly one of the better new/original ones I have seen in a very long time. Word of Warning-only get the British version. The endings are only slightly different, but it makes all the difference in the world between a crappy horror movie and a thougtful one.

How is it exactly?

...that yesterday Dulles hit a record high of 69 degrees and today we had snow flurries?

To-mor-row! To-mor-ow!

So tomorrow this will be me (well, approximately)



I will be student teaching for the next 8 weeks in an elementary school.

eep!

eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!eep!

Stats

Monday update. Haven't updated in a while because Mike kept forgetting to weigh himself in the morning.

Me: 144.8 (7 lbs lost)
Mike: 202 (1.2 lbs lost)

Total 8.2 lbs lost

Now I weigh myself every day. Yesterday I was at 147. I know I did not lose that much weight in 24 hours. I assume some of that is water weight and I will stabilize around 146something.

Best. Movie. EVER.

I think I'm in Heaven....

http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=638&item=0

A Very Goopy Christmas...

A sickly Maddy learns to open presents...






She is uncertain about the dog. As we all are.


 

How to Raise A Child

It is of the utmost importance, when raising a child, to constrain the child's mobility as much as possible to prevent mischief and retain parental sanity. After almost 18 months of arduous labor, I have devised the perfect restraining device (see Figure A below).

Figure A.


There are three components of this device:

1) Jacket-As you can see, the "puffy" jacket, made of space-age polymer materials, restricts arm movement, thus preventing such actions such as attempting to operate the microwave and strangulation of feline specimens. The child is also unable to "wriggle" as strongly as usual and tends to eventually emit a loud sigh and relent to parental whims.
2) Mittens-Preventing use of the digits has proven to be quite effective. Without dexterity, child is unable to grasp sharp objects such as forks (often used to jab parents), steal dangerous liquids (such as hot coffee), and, generally, engage in general mischief, as children are naturally inclined to do. See Figure B below for an example.
3) Hat-this is done simply for parental enjoyment. It angers the child yet, due to the "mitten" component, child is unable to do anything about it. The parent is delighted as child sits, angry but helpless and unable to remove the hat. Researchers participating in this subject were overjoyed to uncover this hidden benefit.

Figure B.

As one can see from Figure B, child is attempting to escape parental control but is unable to do so due to a lack of dexterity.

Conclusions:
Parental sanity can be retained with a few simple precautions; however, be aware that the restraining device should only be used throughout the winter months. Researchers participating in this study warn of the dangers of global warming and are currently researching a design for the spring and summer seasons.

Faux Pas

My old boss, who I absolutely adore, has been out of the office since before Christmas, seemingly on vacation. She came in today, and I greeted her cheerfully!

Me: Yo! What's up, slacker?
Ex-boss: (with funny look) Hi, Jamee
Me: How was your holiday?
Ex-boss: You don't know, do you?
Me: Um, I guess not.
Ex-boss: My mother died. That's why I have been out.
Me: (no sound-except for me sucking in air quickly.)

I just came out of the hole I had sequestered myself in just to tell that story. I will retreat to my hole to continue my self-flagellation.

!

People Will Buy Anything If You Wear a Nice Suit

Middle-aged Long Island lady thumbing through magazine: Look, there's Stephen Colbert.
Husband: Who's that?
Middle-aged Long Island lady: He's a terrific Republican reporter on TV. You should watch him. He's really great. Puts the liberals in their place.

--JFK

Overheard by: djeremy

via Overheard in New York, Jan 5, 2007

Justification

According to this, I'm pretty hip.

YAY Me!

I did good today!

I decide to track my improvement in running by running on a treadmill on a "flat course" as fast as possible for 1 mile. Last week, my time was 10:13. Tonight it was 9:22. Yay me!

RESOLVE

I don't quite believe in resolutions anymore so I am not going to bother with them this year. In the past, I have. Now I just have a continuous resolution to better myself in any way I can think of, regardless of what the day is.

Man, 2006 went by fast. Really sucks. I feel like Thanksgiving should just be around the corner and yet it January 1 2007 already. In fact, last night before going to sleep, I was gripped by a sudden fear that I would wake up and find myself 60 years older, wondering where the days went. That's how concerned I am that time is passing too quickly.

And it's all very depressing. I will be 27 this year, 3 years shy of 30. No, I don't consider 30 old, but it seems strange that I am closer to that age than 21. I will have a 2 year old this year. Been married for 6 years, have a house (and mortgage), and will (hopefully)(finally) finish my master's degree. Not complaining, it just seems strange to me that I fit that description. Where did the time go?

Zen Question of the Day: If you were to die today, would you be satisfied with your life thus far?
Bonus Question: If the answer is "no," is that a bad thing? Is the ultimate goal contentment or should we always be pursuing something to keep ourselves occupied? How do you define a "successful" life?

On to other matters:

Weight-loss challenge update:

Me: 146.4 (down 4.9lbs)
Mike: 201 (down 2.2 lbs)
Total loss: 7.1 lbs (that's a baby!)

Not bad considering we have past the major holidays for now (including my sister-in-law's delicious lemon cookies-who'd have thought lemon cake mix + tub o' cool whip + confectioners sugar = yummy? Man, I love food math.)

So I am content with our progress thus far, but know we need to buckle down to meet the April 1st deadline. I am sure the Y is going to be swamped this month, but am equally sure that will change in February. I am ultra-excited about the Y because I was set up on their weight lifting computer program. I have not lifted weights seriously since doing track & field in high school when I enjoyed it a great deal. Unfortunately, word on the C & O canal (i.e. conversing with my sister during our 4-5 mile runs) is that Kev is getting in shape for Aussie Rules, meaning he will probably kick our butts. Oh well.

I do have updated baby Christmas pics which I will post as soon as I find my camera.

Anyways, Happy New Year's to you all!