Seussical the Musical

It's been over 20 years since I've seen a high school production and I'd say things have changed a bit! Katie, Regina and I went to see Seussical the Musical tonight, performed by a very talented group of kids at Riverdale High School. We went because Katie's babysitter played one of the primary characters - the sour kangaroo who didn't believe Horton's claim that someone was living on the speck of dust. She is quite a talented young lady and her performance was thoroughly enjoyable. Katie was especially excited to see it. This was her first time seeing a play performed up on a stage. We had a great time!

Portrait of Fruit Man ~ by Katie

After we finished dinner this evening, Katie created a little book which included this drawing of what she calls, "Fruit Man". All of his body parts are made of fruits or vegetables. His head is an apple, his hair is lettuce, his eyes and nose are peas and his mouth is a lemon wedge. His neck is asparagus, his arms are bananas and his body is made of carrots, with a row of peas around his hips. Green beans make up his legs and his feet are made of apple wedges. Pretty clever, don't you think?

Family Portrait by Katie

L to R: Katie, Suzie, Regina

Just A Yittle Bit of Snow

A very excited Katie woke us up this morning and couldn't wait for us to see the little bit of snow that had fallen while we slept. It's going to be in the 40s today though, so it'll be gone soon. Even so, it's pretty while it lasts.

All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go!

Well, before I realized it's Martin Luther King day and therefore Katie doesn't have school today, I helped her to get dressed in this cute outfit I bought yesterday. We were in Seattle for the weekend and before we left to drive back to Portland, we stopped off at the Gymboree outlet in North Bend. I love their prices and therefore, that's where I've gotten most of Katie's wardrobe for the last couple of years. They also resell on EBay pretty easily, too.

So, since Katie has the day off, she and I need to take advantage of the time to work on her school project. Her class is studying outer space and each kid has been assigned a topic to research and then present to the class. Katie's topic is the Moon and she presents it on Friday this week.

Sleeping Beauty in Seattle

Katie drew this portrait of Sleeping Beauty for me today in hopes that it would help me to feel better. How sweet is that?! I woke up this morning with an excruciating migraine which caused me to throw up all of the orange juice and banana I had for breakfast. This was especially bad timing, because Katie and I are in Seattle for the weekend while Regina stayed in Portland. Now, Katie is really sweet when I have a migraine, but it's hard to be a good Mom to even the sweetest kid when your head is pounding. So, I had to reach out for help. Fortunately, our babysitter was available this afternoon and took over for me while I rested. It would have been a truly miserable day otherwise.

The reason we came up to Seattle this weekend is because Katie had a dentist appointment yesterday morning. I'm disappointed to say she had a couple of cavities which needed to be filled. Her teeth are close enough together that it's really critical we floss and we hadn't yet made that part of our routine. So, we have now learned our lesson. Katie now knows that flossing is necessary every day. I wish that had become a habit for me when I was a kid. Maybe now I would be better about it. Anyway, I took the video camera to the appointment and in the next couple of days I'll post a short video of Katie getting her first fillings. Not something to be proud of necessarily, but a milestone, nonetheless.

Katie's First Filling

Hokie Pokie

Katie and I were reading one of her new books the other night entitled "Hello Hokie Bird" (yes, it is about Virginia Tech - thanks Shirley family!) and on one page I started to sing the "Hokie Pokie" song. I guess Katie had never heard of the song (or at least that she remembered) and she sat listening to me without moving. When I was done, she said, please sing the hokie song again. We sang it all night!

It is no longer called Hokie Pokie - it is the Hokie Song!

A Quick Trip To The Store... NOT

When Suzie left to go to Seattle, Katie and I thought we would run to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I promised Katie that it would be a quick trip. Just before we get to the grocery store my car beeps at me. I already have to go get it serviced because the driver's side door is not "connected" (my technical term) to the car and sending signals correctly (I can't open windows, move mirrors, unlock doors or get the inside car lights to register to turn off when you start the car). Since the inside lights won't go out after the car starts, I had to turn them off. The impact to turning them off is that all of the dashboard lights go off along with the overhead reading lights. When the car beeped, I couldn't see that it was telling me my left rear tire was low and getting lower.

The car beeped again as I was parking the car at Albertsons (grocery store). I worked my way around to Katie's door, and as soon as I opened her door I could hear this loud hissing sound. I knew it was coming from my tire as it was also visibly lower. I then looked at the tire gage light in the car. It was dim but I could now see that the tire pressure was 22 instead of 32. I told Katie to stay in her seat and that we were going to drive down the street to a tire store (lucky for me there is one just a mile down the road). By the time we got there, the tire pressure was 11!

We had to wait an hour, but they then quickly patched it up and we were out of there in an hour and twenty minutes. Katie did well waiting as they had free popcorn, we got a soda and someone had a dog! She got to pet the golden colored dog (lab I think) and watch her for about 30 minutes! Perfect timing for me as we had just finished the popcorn and Katie was starting to get restless. I got to watch the end of the first football game so the wait wasn't too bad. I can't believe how busy tire places are -- they are at least every time I go to them.

We quickly headed back to the grocery store and got home just as it was getting dark. So much for a quick trip out!

Oops... I just realized that I am logged in as Suzie! It is really Regina & Katie.

Smiling

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile
can be the source of your joy."
--Thich Nhat Hanh

Physiologically, it's been shown that smiling can make us feel happy, even if we are forcing the smile deliberately. Regardless of the science, it makes sense to smile, whether we feel like it or not. A smile energizes our brain as well as our muscles. And we don't want our face to settle into sadness.

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*Regina gave me a book of positive quotations, one for each day of the year. It's called "The Daily Book of Positive Quotations" by Linda Picone.

Still Struggling With Plantar Fasciitis

I had an appointment with a podiatrist today because my right foot is still in quite a lot of pain due to plantar fasciitis I've had since July 08. It's just excruciating and I wouldn't wish it on anyone! I've been treating it with more conservative methods for several months now and although I did see improvement, recently it seems to have gotten worse again.

The only two things I hadn't tried, are the two things Dr. Hastings recommended in his treatment plan: cortisone shot and orthotics - shoe inserts that provide arch support. Well, I've read about how horrible the shot can be and quite frankly, it really freaks me out to think of a needle being inserted into my HEEL. There are just some parts of the body where needles just shouldn't go and to me, the heel is one of them. It makes me squirm just thinking about it. In all fairness though, I remember that's how I felt about the amniocentesis - needles (especially really, really long ones!) just shouldn't be inserted into your BELLY! But, I did it anyway and it turned out to be okay. Not really painful at all, just crampy. I could do it again, if I ever had to. Even so, for today, I had promised myself prior to the appointment that I would NOT get that shot, no matter what, yet within minutes of meeting this doctor, he had a 2-inch needle in my heel. Good God, what is the matter with me? Have I no backbone, whatsoever? How did I let him talk me into it? I guess it just made sense to me when he said all I'd have to do is endure about 10 seconds of discomfort and then I'd get to enjoy being pain-free once again, which was VERY attractive. As he began, I closed my eyes, breathed in and out, long, slow breaths, and tried to think about anything other than the needle piercing through my heel. It was not as terrible as I thought it would be and it felt better immediately aftward, although now, a couple of hours later I feel pain. I guess it'll take a little time to completely take effect.

He also recommended to halt any other therapies I'm currently doing, like the nightly ice bath, massage, stretching and night splint. No problem - that'll be nice not to have to set aside time for those things anymore. All I have to do is wear the orthotics most of the time I'm on my feet. I go back in three weeks and he really thinks I'll be healed by then.

Keeping Perspective

"When I hear somebody sigh that life is hard,
I am always tempted to ask, 'Compared to what??'"
--Sydney J. Harris

We like to compare our lives to those of people we think are richer, smarter, happier, better looking, more famous. Why don't we have a house like the couple's down the street? Why aren't we doing better at work? Why can't we find the love of our life?

We forget that there are plenty of people who look on us with envy. They would really like to have our job, live on our block, or enjoy our personal freedom. When we hear them talk about the things we take for granted, we remember that we have it pretty good after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~

*Regina gave me a book of positive quotations, one for each day of the year. It's called "The Daily Book of Positive Quotations" by Linda Picone.

Self-talk

"People don't just get upset.
They contribute to their upsetness."

- Albert Ellis

It's not the events in our lives that upset us. It's how we think about them. If something bad happens, we may complain and fear we'll never feel better again.

But someone else in the same situation might say, "Gee, that's too bad, but I know I can handle it." The same event, two different perspectives. We can't control many of the things that happen to us, but we can control how we react to them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Regina gave me a book of positive quotations, one for each day of the year. It's called "The Daily Book of Positive Quotations" by Linda Picone.

One of My Favorite Christmas Gifts!

I was lucky enough to get Virginia Tech drink coasters from Edy (sister) & Matt... and I love them! It is fun to see the maroon VT, but they are awesome, too! They soak up all the moisture and I need more of them! Edy, buy me more and I will get them next time I head East! Have I used the exclamation point enough?!

How about that game last night! Oranges for everyone - GO Hokies! It was really fun because a good friend of mine went to the University of Cincinnati. We gave each other a hard time before the game on which team would win the Orange Bowl. I enjoyed his concession email when we were clearly going to win the game.

Happy New Year Everyone!