Let's fast forward a bit

i just read through all my old posts and realized for any faithful readers, you might need an update or two.
I've finished my training completely and have a real job.... For the past two years.
We have two children.
Kath is at home with them.
We moved out of Providence and bought a home with a yard.
Puck died.:(

What hasn't changed with all of those major life events?

I still have my chip baby and fight a never ending battle with the chips.
And I'm still studying.... Currently for my subspecialty board exam in one week.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Trying to put a spring in my step.

It's the first day of spring, but it sure doesn't feel like it.  Snow is in the forecast for tonight.  I'm sick, Kath is sick, and the boys are climbing the walls.  I was on call this weekend, while still trying to get over this virus.  I dare say being on call is more relaxing and good for a cold than wrangling toddlers at home!
Spring is a season of renewal.... A time of love..... A time of cute fuzzy little animals.... Rebirth.

I need all of this right now.

So, I decided the best thing to do is dust off this old blog and get back at it.  I seem to recall a time when I was able to capture amusing little snippets of our life to preserve and reread with a chuckle.

So, this was my chuckle for the day.... Our wild outing to get out of the house for a short time involved a drive to see our future home and then a Target run for cold supplies.

Teenagers having unprotected sex should read this.... This is your future.  Be forewarned.

To listen or not to listen....

I hate voicemail.
I'm not sure how it started, bit I don't like messages.  Not the leaving of them so much, but the listening to them.  I never know what it's going to be..... And my mind always jumps to bad news.  So, rather than deal with the anxiety of wondering what the message is, I often will call whoever left it back to hear it directly from them.
I sometimes feel bad when someone has left a particularly detailed message, but then I rationalize it with the thought that they will get to talk to me in person, so isn't that better?!
Poor Katherine has to deal with this on an almost daily basis.  Whenever she leaves me a message I call her back and say, "I saw you left me a message... What's up?"  And then she makes some comment about how she doesn't know why she bothered to leave the message..... And I'll learn why she called.  I'm guessing that often it takes much longer my way.....  And yet she still continues to leave messages even after 12 years of this....

Yesterday, she had left me a message that was quite long... About 3 min... And for some reason I decided to listen to it.  I then called her back to say that I had gotten the message And listened so she didn't need to rehash it.  She couldn't believe it.  She left me another message 30 min later as I was driving home, telling me that I needed to park on the street.  I listened to that one, too.  When I came in the house, she asked me if I had parked appropriately.  "Yes, I listened to your message!"

"What?  You listened to two messages within 30 min!  I can't believe it!"

Ahhh.. Marriage.  It's always good to surprise one's spouse now and then.  It's just interesting what form the "surprises" take in the 12th year of a relationship compared to the first year.

Thyroid or....

Kath and I went out for dinner on Monday.  We were eating our pieces of bread, and I went to take a second piece when I noticed that Kath had only used half of her pat of butter, whereas I had used my whole pat on my first small piece.
I told her that maybe my butter usage is the culprit behind my inability to lose weight, rather than my "under active thyroid", which I like to blame.
Thinking about it, I just may be on to something....
Butter
Chips
Wine
Not working out
Eating out
...........

No, I still blame my thyroid.

Rain, rain, go away

Well, not really.  I don't mind the rain so much.  It's one of those gray, rainy mornings, and after I woke up at 7am to feed the kitties, I curled up in bed again and drifted back to sleep because when it's raining on the weekend, I feel like I just don't need to get up quite so early. 
I have some laundry going.  Puck is sleeping next to me on the couch, and I'm half-way into my first cup of coffee.
We stayed up past our bedtime last night watching basketball, so I'm a bit slow and sluggish this morning.  I'll need that second cup of coffee because I need to get up the energy to scour the floors.  We found a dead, skinned, partially-eaten mouse on the carpet when we came home last night.  Although I've killed many mice in my life, working in the lab, the sight of this kitty-plaything that clearly had been tortured to death made my stomach curdle.  I think this particular mouse had been around for a while, because the kitties were fascinated by the underside of the stove every so often.  I am glad they were successful hunters.  It's good to know they keep our home safe from being overrun by mice in our absence.  It's just the idea that there might be little mouse guts or scattered molecular traces of blood around (because I'm sure Ty had so much fun tossing it around and chasing after it)  means that I will not rest easy until the floors are shiny and smell like Pine-sol.
And, I'm sure that as soon as I finish, Ty will bring up a nice mouse-filled hairball, and I'll need to do it all over again.  Maybe I'd better plan on that third cup of coffee today.

And we're back....

Well, apparently 2013 was a bust.... Not a single blog post!  

2014 is looking up!  I've already outdone last year!  

Maybe I should stop while I'm ahead!  

Brain purge

I've noticed over the past several years that at times I will be saying something or have a certain expression, and then for a moment it will feel like I'm observing myself and I'll think... "That looks (or sounds) exactly like Mom." It's a weird feeling. Raising eight children certainly can't have been easy and must have been very stressful at times, and as one who appreciates order and "everything having its place", I now empathize with the times my mom would come into our bedroom with a box when we were young (after not having cleaned up as we were supposed to do), and say "whatever is not put away is going in the trash." I see it in myself now... when I get stressed, those are the nights at 10pm as we're going to bed that I say, "Katherine.. we need to clean the bedroom. I can't sleep like this!" and then will start emptying the bureaus of the piles of stuff... or start vacuuming... or doing the dishes at 11pm. Katherine has learned to just let me clean at these times, and the mood passes after an hour.

Puck is losing weight on her new diet plan, which involves diet food and placing the other kitties' bowls where she can't access them. Dory, however, is gaining weight, as she now is eating her own (diet) food (which she apparently wasn't getting before because Puck would eat it), Puck's leftovers at times, and Ty's urinary tract formula food (which Dory loves).

I love when Kath is on summer vacation. I feel like I'm living vicariously through her. Also, I have a list of projects for her to do in her free time - like shampoo the rugs and paint the entryway and remaining trim.

2012 has been full of highs and lows already. I want more highs.

We went to the Farmers' Market last weekend for the first time, after getting a late breakfast at our favorite diner (where I had my new favorite omelette with feta cheese, pesto, carmelized onions, spinach, and tomato). We bought a cup (from a pottery booth... beautiful... one that matched our current toothbrush holder and I plan on using it in the bathroom for rinsing one's mouth, etc.... Kath rolled her eyes so I shooed her out of the booth as I was making this purchase :), a small bunch of lettuce, and two delicious cupcakes. I'm now excited to go to the Farmers' Market to get more cupcakes. I rationalize this by the fact that Kath isn't around much in the summer, so lots of veggies may just go to waste. :)

I wish the longest day of the year was in July. It seems more appropriate for some reason.