Ready for Halloween!

Katie has decided to dress up as Tinkerbell for Halloween this year.
Here she is, trying on her new costume.

Bet you didn't know Tink plays soccer, did you?

One small step, One big pain

One of my souvenirs I brought home with me from the cruise last month was a nasty case of plantar fasciitis. Talk about painful! I ran down the long hall to our cabin, barefooted, and my right foot has been in pain ever since. It's happened to me before, but in the other foot, and it healed within 3 days on its own. This time I've not been so lucky. Last week I finally saw my doctor about it and I've been following his treatment recommendations. Massage with a golf ball followed by ice and also ultrasound treatments. Since starting those things, it's definitely getting better, but it's not yet gone. He also recommended investing in a good pair of shoes designed for plantar fasciitis. Well, that cost a small fortune, but it sure makes walking around all day much more comfortable. I've never spent so much on a pair of shoes, I have to admit and it wasn't easy for me. Regina is much better than I am at spending money, but I think she would say I'm beginning to get the hang of it. She manages our finances and balances the checkbook. From Portland she can follow my trail of debits which is beginning to show that I'm doing a fine job developing my ability to spend! That doesn't mean I don't feel guilt about it, though!

New Schools For Katie

Since Suzie and Katie will be moving down to Portland at the end of September, we started to look at school options. We really like the program she is in up in Seattle (Bright Horizons) but the school here is associated with Nike and IBM. The employees of those companies get the first spots and then it is open to "transfers" (which we are). Unfortunately, they have no openings until June. It was located out of the way for both work and the new apartment so I guess it is better for all to find something new.

I started to look for programs closer to where we will be moving to in Lake Oswego, OR. The move to this apartment will be my third move but I am enjoying getting to learn the different suburbs. I narrowed it down to two - a KinderCare facility and The Touchstone School. Both have a pre-k program and Kindergarten. KinderCare wanted to test Katie to see if she was ready for Kindergarten. We tour both this Friday. It will be fun to see how Katie does "picking out her new school." I worry she will want to stay and play with her new class! Both offered to have Katie try out the school for a day, too.

The nice thing is that both of these schools are close to the new apartment (1.5 and 2.5 miles away) and on the way to the office which is about 7 and 8 miles away from the school. If we like these schools as a pre-k option, both have kindergarten, too.

More after we tour!

Dinner at our House

Katie and Jack


Avery hanging out in the baby pool.

Mel, Courtney, Jack and Avery came over tonight and had dinner with us. The babies are approaching 6 months old and are so much fun to be around. Katie has adopted them as her little brother and sister, she told tonight. Makes me sad that our attempts to give her a sibling last year didn't work out. I think she'd be a wonderful big sister!

Uncle Jay

Last Thursday, I received a call from my Mom and sister that our Uncle Jay (her sister's husband) had passed away. He lived a great life and was 90 - but the loss certainly brought back memories of the times spent with my extended family.

Unlike many of my friends, I didn't grow up with a big extended family. My Grandparents either died before I was born or before I was 10. Since they came from Lithuania while they were teenagers, never to return, we didn't have the typical extended family. When friends talked about visiting Grandparents, we talked about visiting my Dad's two sisters - Aunt Vic and Aunt Mary (they never married and lived in the same house they were born in) and my Mom's sister - Auntie Anna (who also never married and took care of my Grandmother until her death). While the rest of the family lived near the "aunts" (PA, NY and MD), my Dad's siblings never married or never had children, and on my Mom's side, they did marry and have kids, but Mom was so much younger than her siblings that my cousins were getting married when I was still in elementary school! All but one... Uncle Jay and Aunt Vern.

I loved visiting them (we didn't do it very often as they lived on Long Island New York) - they had two kids (same ages as Sue and me) so we had a great time. They were always full of fun and seemed to live (by my standards and view) a glamorous life... the big city and all! I am not sure if it was because they "looked more like us" or that they were so engaged with us kids when we visited, but I will always have fond memories of them. It still brings smiles to my face when I think about our visits.

Like all looks-back, you remember the good times and wish you had spent more time together. I thought of them when we went to NYC just before our vacation in July but thought that there just wasn't enough time to go out to see them. I should have. I always have and always will think of them when I visit NYC. Perhaps the most vivid memory I have of Uncle Jay was his zest for life. He always had the next great idea - remember the t-shirts? - and big heart.

You will be missed, Uncle Jay - and I am not sure you ever knew how much you meant to me - by all who knew you.

Happy Birthday Melanie!

Hope you're having a GREAT day!

Thank Goodness The Heat Is Gone!

Without air conditioning, it is VERY difficult to get through the days and nights. It was in the 100s last week in Portland and I had hoped to escape the heat by going to Seattle for the weekend... but no luck.

Katie had a birthday party on Saturday at a nearby farm (with rides). It was fun watching her (with her classmates) run around like crazy to do all the rides. The parents ran behind them and watched them do all the rides by themselves. All of a sudden, my little girl seemed to disappear. She, of course, loved the tea cups, Ferris wheel and roller coaster. Her "best friends" were Andrew and Alex. It was very cute to see the three of them in the first car on the roller coaster. After the second time, they were all raising their hands! Afterwards, Katie and I went to McDonald's to get a "fish sandwich" for Katie and a burger for me. We then decided to go home and run through the sprinklers in the yard... after a "quick" hour in the McDonald's play area.

Luckily, the week is fully of 60 degree weather and rain. I am finally sleeping though the night and loving it!

It was a HOT weekend in Seattle

Katie cooling off this afternoon.

Here's a 1-minute video...

Katie's Self Portrait

Katie drew this picture of herself

for Gina to hang up

on her "wall of Katie's art"

in her Portland apartment.

Cool Art!

It is so fun to see kid's art work. Thanks Suzie for putting Katie's work up on the blog. I hope she keeps drawing... funny how kids love to draw and then as they get older they stop. Wonder if it is because we get too critical of our work instead of enjoying the experience?

USS New York

I just got this in an email and was able to confirm it as a true story, so thought I'd share it here.

This is the USS New York. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up."

"It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

Finally ~ Generic Zyrtec!

For those of you who suffer from allergies and take Zyrtec to manage it, like I do, you'll be happy to know (if you didn't already) that there is a generic zyrtec now available at Costco! And the price is phenomenal! You can get a bottle of 300 tablets for only $15.99. Maybe it's been there for a while, I don't know, but this is the first I'd heard of it. I have to say, I'm excited about it! (Now I don't have to order from Canada anymore!)

What A Race!

Did you see it? The men's 4x100 freestyle relay was amazing last night. I was screaming at the TV... windows open and all at 11:30 last night. Wish I could have been there it looked amazing... in my dreams I would have been on the Olympic basketball team or the swim team.

I know that all the good stuff will be between 11:00pm and midnight. I am just planning on staying up late and going into work late. I am hoping for a new single Olympic record with Michael Phelps... two down and six to go! Also looking for us old ladies to win more, too. Can you believe there is a 41 year old woman swimming? She's already got one - a silver!

I will keep dreaming and watching!

Drum Showcase

My brother and nephew demonstrate their drumming skills. Check it out!

"I Got Stuck"

Saturday was my company picnic. It was at a corporate event site where we were in the mountains - a lake for fishing and paddle boating, lots of food, give-aways and a tire swing. I took Katie so Suzie and her sister, Bonnie, could relax and go to a movie.

It was a great day for a picnic as it had cooled off from the week long high temperatures. We quickly looked around and decided to get out on the lake. Katie and I maneuvered the boat and paddled all over the place, but it was too restrictive for her as she couldn't jump in the lake or move around. Once we got back onshore, she noticed the "balloon man" who made her a princess crown and magic wand (which I ended up holding most of the picnic). And then... she saw the tire swing. She never left it!

Several of the big kids loved swinging her around and around. She took a VERY quick break to eat an orange creamcicle but then never left the swing. It worked out great for me as she was in between the food and the sitting area. We had been there about three hours -- and I was just getting ready to REALLY eat -- when Katie saw that the other big kids were eating their ice cream on the tire swing. Since she didn't have one, she asked me if she could have another orange one. I said yes and had just handed it to her when I heard in a voice that you know something is wrong... "I got stuck!"

My first thought was she had her foot stuck in the tire as she was busy working on her ice cream. I quickly moved towards the swing but saw that her feet weren't caught nor her hands. I started to slow down when she jumped off. But, as she began to turn towards me I saw the blood. My heart sank...

The ice cream had been on dry ice and they were so cold that it stuck to her tongue. Since she had never experienced this before she did not know what to do. She didn't know that pulling it away would cause injury. There was blood everywhere and across her tongue was a quarter inch strip pulled away. My first thought was "how can I hold her while I drive to the emergency room? I can't believe she has to sit in the back in her car seat by herself." Ugh.

People around me grabbed water and the scarves that had been on the tables (cowboy theme) and we kept putting light pressure on her tongue with the wet scarves. I asked her to be calm so we could get it to stop (she never did scream, just yelled "I got stuck" and began to cry/look worried when she saw the blood). She stood quietly (a big tear ran down her check) and never made a sound. After about what seemed a lifetime, the bleeding became controlled. We grabbed our stuff, a fresh cloth and walked to our car. She just walked beside me with the cloth in her mouth and as I watched her all I could see was saddest eyes looking up from a cowboy themed scarf in her month. The only thing she said was... "we need to tell Mama."

We drove home (about 20 minutes) and got back to the apartment easily. While it was the first time she could see it, her tongue had stopped bleeding and her view of it in the mirror wasn't as bad as it could have been. I decided there wasn't much we could do and that a trip to the emergency room did not make sense. We snuggled together (with her blanket) and watched an hour to the "good night show" - one of her favorite shows to watch in the evenings (it is on early here and plays again until later into the evening). After about an hour, she began to get active and be much more like the old Katie. She kept waiting for Mama and looking at her tongue, and slowly she got back to normal. By the time Mama got home, Katie was her old self... with a scraped tongue.

Suzie and I both told her that it would begin healing during the night while she slept. When she woke up in the morning, she went straight for the bathroom (it is usually coming over to me to wake me up) and turned on the light. I popped up from bed - wondering why she had done that - and as she turned off the light and saw me she said "it is all healed - my tongue is better!" It was that smile that made me feel better.

The day ended with a trip to the Disney store. I am happy to report that the weekend ended without any additional injuries!

The Olympics!

I am so excited to watch the opening ceremonies tonight and get the Olympics underway. I love the whole idea behind the greatest sporting event in the world - countries putting aside all conflict and political views to see the best athletes compete. While it doesn't always work out that way, I choose to keep the spirit alive and cheer on the best athletes!

I will be glued to the swimming events. I am not sure what is more exciting -- a 41 year old woman competing in her 5th Olympic games or a young man going for the most gold medals in Olympic history and/or a single Olympics!?! Tune in and enjoy!

Tinted Brow Gel

Tinted Brow Gel

by Anastasia

I love this product! It adds color to your eye brows and shapes them as well. It also allows you to give definition to sparse areas of your eyebrows.

I've never liked eye brow pencils. In fact, before I knew this product existed, I would use mascara on my eyebrows.

Katie was DRY this morning!

I'm proud of you, my big girl!

Here are her new shoes she got just a couple of days ago.
(She wanted me to post this on the blog so you can see them, Gina.)

What? The Doctors Are Changing Their Minds?

I learned today that osteoporosis continues to increase even though we are fortifying food with calcium and adding calcium supplements to our diet. The research is now showing that it isn't calcium that is needed to stop, reduce or eliminate this disease. Osteoporosis may be caused by a Vitamin D deficiency. And, Vitamin D (or the lack of it) may be a leading cause for all types of cancer, muscle pain, joint pain, fatigue, and other diseases.

Why do I know this? I just found out that the "ideal ranges" for Vitamin D are between 40 and 70 depending upon the time of year and/or where you live. The levels fluctuate based upon sun exposure. Since we get the vast majority of our Vitamin D from the sun, people in sunny places like Phoenix have higher numbers than those who live in Seattle, for example. People also have higher numbers during the summer than they do during the winter. What is my number? 24. Ugh.

So, I will be adding Vitamin D3 to my list of supplements and I need to get sun. The best way to get Vitamin D is the sun. The key is to... hang on as this is going to be exactly the opposite of what we are being told to do... go outside during peak sun (typically between 1:00 and 3:00) for 20 - 30 minutes withOUT sunscreen. The goal is to get "pink" but not burn. The more skin that is exposed the better.

Grab your bikinis and sunglasses, but leave the sunscreen at home! See you outside!

Okay, this isn't working!

It's weird. During our vacation, Katie woke up with dry pants 90% of the time. On the cruise, she woke up dry every single morning! During that time, she was wearing pull-ups, though. Just in case. We celebrated the dry mornings and Katie got excited that she was staying dry all night, just like the big girls do.

So now that we're home, Katie convinced me to let her wear underwear at night. I thought it was a no-brainer, since she's been dry a majority of the nights during the last 3 weeks. But, my goodness! Talk about a setback!. Every night that she has worn undies, she's woken up wet! What gives?! So, each morning, I wash her bedding - again and rethink our strategy for the next night.

So far, I'm limiting her liquid intake in the evening and I make sure she empties her bladder right before bed. Clearly though, that isn't enough! So last night, I did one extra thing - I got her up out of bed and had her go potty at about midnight when I was getting into bed. I had to laugh. She was completely disoriented when I picked her up. She kept her eyes closed, I sat her on the potty and she swayed back and forth. I had to hold her up so she wouldn't topple over. I whispered to her that it was time to go pee-pee and sure enough, she went. I was certain this was going to work... But no. She still woke up damp! Argh!

Okay well, I'm just going to try the same things tonight. Her last drink was at about 6:15pm and I've warned her that she gets nothing else to drink tonight. I'll get her up again to pee when I go to bed.

I think it'll work tonight. Let's see if I'm right. More to follow...

Katie's 2nd Dance Recital ~ June 2008

I don't know why it has taken me so long to post this,

but finally,

here is a 3-minute video of Katie's dance recital from June 27, 2008.

What's on Katie's Mind These Days?

Here's a conversation Katie and I had this morning before I took her to school:

"Momma, what is that? What are you putting
on?"

"It's my bra."

"Why are you putting on a bwa?"

"It holds my boobies up so they don't fall
down."

"But, why don't you want dem to fall
down?"

"Well, it's more comfortable if I have a bra on
to hold them up. And, I think it looks better."

"I want one!"

"Oh, your boobies are still small enough that
you don't need one yet."

"But we can wook for a small bwa to fit my
wittle boobies. Pweese, Momma! Can we?"

"Ok, sure. Next time we're at the store, we'll take a
look..."

I'm curious to see if she ever brings that up again.

Last night she interrupted whatever we were talking about and said, "Momma, I don't want you to die. I don't want anyone in my family to die."

She's also asked me several times in the last few weeks if I would help her to live forever. I said, "Well, I can help you to live longer. Here's what we need to do. Eat good food and only a little junk food now and then. Exercise. Go to bed when you're supposed to so you get enough sleep." Of course, I could have gone on with more things to do, but I figured those three things were enough for her 4-year-old brain to ponder. Then she said to me, "You need to do those things too so you don't die and you can help me live forever."

She's increasingly interested in being a big girl. Last night, she was really into it. When we got home from Portland around 8:30pm, she had a light dinner and afterward, she wanted to help me wash her dishes. So, I filled up the sink with soapy water, pulled up a chair for her to stand on and as I washed the dishes, she rinsed them and placed them in the rack to dry. It's fun to watch her try to figure out how to position each of the dishes in the rack. Then, we parted ways and next thing I knew, she had pulled out a new pair of Disney jammies from my suitcase, ripped off the tags, and had put them on. She also had on a fresh pair of underwear to wear to bed, instead of a pull-up. She was certain she could go all night and wake up dry. After she modeled her new jammies for me, she announced, "Well, now I need to cwean up dis mess I made. It's portant (important) I do dat." And she proceeded to pick up all of ther toys she had spread out all over the family room in the short time we'd been home. Her next chore, she decided, was to fold the towels I had just taken out of the dryer and they were in a pile on the couch. When that was done, she told me it was time to brush her teeth. Okay, now at this point I'm freaking out a little bit. Who was this kid? And where was my Katie?!

So anyway, those are some of the gazillion things on Katie's mind recently.

More to follow, I'm sure...

Oregon Coast

Katie, Bonnie and I are spending this weekend with Regina in Portland. We headed west today on highway 26 and ended up at the coast. We spent some time walking on the beach before we got back into the car and headed south on 101. We ended up in the small town of Manzanita where we had a yummy dinner at Manzanita Seafood & Chowderhouse.

Oh, and guess what?! We had a showing today! A potential buyer actually scheduled time to look at our house this afternoon. Thank God we left it cleaned up and ready to show. I sure hope the kitties were well-behaved.

Visiting Family Back East

After the cruise ended on July 20, we flew to Charlottesville, VA and spent the next week with Regina's family in Waynesboro, VA. Katie was actually more excited about spending that time with her cousins than she was about going on the cruise. She LOVES spending time with her cousins Paige, Katelyn and Matthew. She's pretty fond of Aunt Edy and Uncle Matt, too. Anyway, here's a 4-minute video of our visit.

Music:
Sunshine and Summertime by Faith Hill

and World of Wonder by Didjworks

I think I know...

I bet cashews, coconut and oat (oatmeal) are my issues! Of course, I think I will still get the ones with alcohol and weather changes... but I bet these three are problem issues. Guess we will see!

Okay, Courtney, you need to do it now!

Regina's Food Sensitivities

Regina's blood serum reacted to the following foods:

Kidney bean, buckwheat, cashew nut, coconut, cranberry, cow's milk, goat's milk, oat, quinoa, sesame, walnut, baker's yeast and brewer's yeast

* the items in red are the ones Regina and I have in common.

Travel Day

7am the phone rang to wake us up. We showered, ate breakfast and finished packing so we were headed off the ship by about 9am. Hopped into a cab and arrived at JFK shortly after that. Waited and waited some more for our 2:20pm flight to Charlottesville, VA, via Dulles. At about 2:10pm, the agent broke the news that our plane hadn't even left Dulles yet, so therefore we would be delayed. Apparently, Dulles air traffic was a mess and all flights in and out of that airport were significantly delayed. We soon realized that we would miss our connecting flight if we didn't find another way to either get to Dulles or bypass Dulles altogether and somehow go directly to Charlottesville. We ended up doing the latter. That meant we had to claim our bags, catch a cab and get over to LaGuardia. From there we caught a US Air non-stop to Charlottesville that left at about 8pm. We were so excited to finally get on an airplane, only to have our excitement snatched away from us as we sat on the runway for an hour. It was not comfy at all. Small plane, no air conditioning. Yuck. Katie is a good traveller though and handled it like a champ. We finally arrived in Charlottesville around 10:30pm. Edy (Regina's sister) and Matt (Edy's husband) picked us up and about an hour later, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house (Regina's Mom and Dad) in Waynesboro.

What a day! But, we made it.

Newport, Rhode Island

Umm, okay ~ hot and muggy again. We walked around the shops a little bit and quickly returned to the air conditioned ship. We're whimps, I guess...

Hard to believe tonight is our last night. We're definitely sad it's over. But, the good news is ~ we're not going home yet! We'll spend the next week in Waynesboro, VA visiting Regina's parents and her sister Edy. Katie is so excited to see her cousins. It's all she's been talking about for the last several weeks...

~ peace out ~

Provincetown, Massachusetts

Hot and muggy... ugh. We're spoiled by the cool, breezy weather in Seattle.

The ship anchored in the bay and smaller boats ferried us between the shore and our ship. I got this picture of Katie on the way to the shore. Notice the couple in the background. If you are an Amazing Race fan, you may recognize them. We saw them all throughout the cruise and we spoke to them several times, mostly because Katie loved their pink hair and simply had to let them know!

Regina, Katie and I were all absolutely miserable as we walked around the shops in Provincetown, MA. Hot, sweaty, grumpy. Even so, we managed to spend a little money. I got a tie dye hoodie from a quirky place called Shop Therapy. We also found a small convenience store where we bought another supply of diet coke for the last couple of days on the ship.

Tonight on the ship, the late show was another performance by stand-up comedian Jessica Kirson. Crazy funny.

Bar Harbour, Maine

There were many opportunities throughout the week to have portraits taken by ship photographers, so we took advantage. This one was our favorite, although there were several others we liked enough to also buy. I'll post them after we get home and I've had a chance to scan them in.

We didn't get off the ship today. Instead, we enjoyed a leisurely morning and ended up at the kiddie pool around 11am or so. We hung out there for about 3 hours, I think. We were getting hungry, so we decided to get dried off and grab some lunch.

On our way back to the room, we stopped off at the "grown-up" pool to trade in our wet towels for dry ones. Regina noticed that Rosie was sitting by the side of the pool chatting with friends. Well, Katie had said several times since the cruise began that she wanted to meet Rosie so she could thank her for all the nice give-aways we got each evening in our cabin. So, we seized the moment and walked over to say hi. We spoke to her for no more than 30 seconds and Rosie was very low key, but didn't seem to mind that we interrupted her. I know, I know, she's completely used to it, and was practically asking for it by sitting by the public pool instead of her own private one in her suite, but I still hate to intrude. Bottom line though, we finally met Rosie!

Later in the afternoon, we took Katie to a kid's show on the ship called Dottie's Magic Pockets. They are the first children's program for kids in gay and lesbian households (and their friends, too). Dottie posed for pictures afterward. She's very sweet. Katie was thrilled.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

We arrived in Halifax about 9am, or so. We didn't plan any excursion at this stop because we were hoping to connect with my Uncle Carl (my Mom's brother) and his wife Roxanne, who live in Dartmouth, about 15 minutes away.

This little tugboat pictured here, named Theodore Too, rushed out to greet our ship as we pulled into the harbor and sort of escorted us to our pier. I learned later in the gift shop that there are children's books about this little tugboat.

We all ate our usual breakfast in the Garden Cafe. Back in the cabin, I showered first so I could quickly make my way off the gangway and down into the big gift shop/customer service area at the pier to find a phone from which I could call Uncle Carl.

We made arrangements for Carl and Roxanne to pick us up around noon and we all had lunch together. They had to get to the airport by 2pm to pick up Roxanne's parents, so we did some quick catching up while we ate. They drove us up to the highest point in Halifax, so we could enjoy the view and it was within walking distance back to the ship, so we could get back on our own.

We took about an hour to walk leisurely down the hill, through downtown Halifax, and along the boardwalk, down to pier 21 where our ship was docked. It was rather warm and Katie was fading so of course, an ice cream cone was necessary to refresh her enough to make it the rest of the way! It was a nice way to get our exercise for the day.

When we returned to the ship, we headed straight for the kiddie pool. This might not sound all that attractive for the parents, but on this day it wasn't crowded at all, so it was actually enjoyable!


After dinner, we took Katie to the playroom while we went to a game show hosted by Ross Mathews (aka Ross the Intern from the Tonight Show with Jay Leno). It was a family-friendly game show starring kids and parents who competed to see who knew their family the best. It was cute. All throughout the cruise, we saw Ross frequently, but never did introduce ourselves. Plenty of people did approach him though and he was friendly to everyone. Nice guy.

We then went to the late show which was more stand-up comedy from Julie Goldman. Funny, funny, funny.

St. John's, New Brunswick, Canada

We were awakened this morning by the frightenly upbeat announcement from our British cruise director, Simon, that we had docked at our first port of call ~ St. John's, New Brunswick, Canada. We had until 4:30pm to explore the area before it was necessary to return to the ship.

At every port of call, there are on-shore excursions available, but we decided against it. With Katie at this age, it's difficult to find something that wouldn't completely bore her. And if Katie's not happy, nobody around her is happy! Sorry to say, but that's how it goes. We could have left her onboard in the playroom (for an extra fee, of course!), but we just decided not to do that either. We wanted to take it easy and explore as little or as much as we felt like, without having to worry about schedules or other such details.

We did manage to make it to shore though and walked around the part of town within walking distance of our pier. It was nothing much very exciting, but gave us a chance to buy some cheap, generic zyrtec (not available in the US!) and more diet coke.





Back on the boat, the show tonight was a hilarious comedy show, featuring two comedians: Julie Goldman and Jessica Kirson. I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time. I thought I would pee my pants!

Oh, and we also attended a Youth Panel on the ship, hosted by the Family Equality Council. It consisted of a panel of teens sharing their experience being raised by gay or lesbian parents. These kids were very brave to speak so candidly to a full house. I don't think there was a single empty seat there.

At Sea

The whole day today was spent at sea. Our first port of call will be tomorrow.

First thing today after eating a buffet breakfast in the Garden Cafe, we checked Katie in at the playroom. Her favorite thing. And I'm glad about that so I don't feel guilty putting her in there so much!

Today we actually went to the fitness room and worked out! I did 25 minutes on the eliptical and I think Regina did about the same.

At 11am we went to a polital panel about Relationship Recognition and the State of our Movement. It was hosted by the Family Equality Council and offered a political update on the GLBT marriage movement. One of the speakers on the panel was the woman whose partner suffered a fatal stroke the day before they were to leave on the R Family cruise out of Miami in February last year. They were very clearly discriminated against by the hospital staff because of sexual orientation. Right up front, a hospital representative announced to the patient's partner and their kids that Florida is NOT a gay-friendly state and that they would not be allowed to see the patient because they are not considered to be her family. I'm happy to say they are suing.

The show tonight was Sheena Easton. Remember her? I know, she's no longer a big name entertainer. But, I remember her from my teenage years when she was a huge star. It was an entertaining stroll down memory lane.

All Aboard!

All three of us slept in the same bed last night. Even though it was a king size bed, Regina and I still got kicked, jabbed and pushed to the edge of the bed as Katie did gymnastics in her sleep. Even so, we all woke up excited for our first day on the boat.

We decided to eat breakfast items we had brought with us, rather than going out. I showered first and after I was all ready to go, I wandered down the street to a little deli/market/whatever-you-call-it and bought numerous bottles of diet coke for Regina to enjoy on the cruise. On the boat, soda doesn't flow freely, but rather, it is about $2 per can. As we all know, Regina loves her diet coke, so it was cheaper to buy it off the boat and bring it on with us.

Unfortunately, I felt a migraine coming on as the day progressed. I had one yesterday too, probably due to the lack of sleep the night before, but imitrex did the trick. I felt good by the end of the day yesterday and I even felt pretty good this morning. Even so, by the time we got to our cabin, I had an awful migraine. I took an imitrex and crawled into bed. I slept for somewhere between 2 and 3 hours and woke up feeling pretty good, although groggy and was able to go to the show with Regina. Katie went to the playroom while we enjoyed the show.

Vacation ~ Day 1 ~ Travel

After only 4 hours of sleep last night, we somehow managed to get out of bed at 4am and were actually ready for a 5:30am ride to the airport. Our non-stop American flight from Seattle to JFK left on time and got us there as scheduled. We were all tired and managed to pass some of the time in the air by sleeping.

After waiting forever for our bags, we were finally in a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Doubletree on Times Square. Our room overlooked the square. Awesome!

We went to dinner at Langan's Bar and Restaurant in NYC just down the street from our hotel. Dinner was yummy and we were refreshed after our long flight enough to wander down the street to explore the huge, three-story Toys R Us. It has a ferris wheel in the middle of the store, that stands the full three stories tall. Of course, we took a ride. Katie was all grins and giggles.

On our way back to the room, we contemplated visiting the M&M store, but decided we were wiped out and really just needed to get to sleep...

Almost Ready for Vacation!

We are so excited about going on our two week vacation (first week on a cruise to Canada out of NYC) and the second week seeing family in Virginia! Katie is more excited about seeing her "cousins" (she is grouping cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents into it all) that she doesn't really want to go on the cruise!

I should have tried to pack earlier in the week but it has been so hot that I can't seem to do much when I get home. Today it cooled off so I can easily pack... but that has been exhausting! I over packed the first go around and now I think I have it just right. If it is cold in Canada I will just need to buy clothes! I haven't gotten much sun this summer so I need to get a tan so I don't look too goofy.

I am off to Seattle tomorrow and then we leave early Saturday morning. Look out NYC, here we come! Hey cousins - see you in two weeks!

Foster Kitten Update

Max (10 weeks old) and his Mom.

Sparkle (about 12 weeks old)

Sparkle's sister

Sparkle's other sister

Since we're going on vacation for two weeks, I'll be taking all the kitties back to the shelter on Thursday. I sure do hate to take them back before they are ready to adopt, but I don't really have a choice.

If you live in the Seattle area and are interested in being a foster family, give 'em a call. They need more foster homes!

Captain Katie

The pictures below really came out nice. It was a great day to be out -- not too sunny, not too cold -- and we had a great time. Just as we approached Bill Gates' home, Katie wanted to go up top. She quickly noticed the Captain and wanted to say hi. She walked up to the open door and proudly said hi. They chatted for a few minutes and she returned with the biggest smile. A few minutes later, she came to me and said that we should go see the Captain as she was worried the Captain would be lonely if we didn't go see her.

We both walked up and introduced ourselves to Captain Karen. Within a few seconds, Captain Karen asked Katie if she wanted to drive. Katie couldn't get in the drivers seat quickly enough! She had the biggest grin on her face and drove the boat across the lake and under the 520 bridge - about 20 to 30 minutes! As the Captain explained things, Katie listened and asked questions. When Katie asked how she drove when it was dark outside, the Captain explained how they used sonar and then pointed to the machine. Of course, Katie wanted it on so she turned it on. We saw the shore, the bridge and all the boats. I think I liked that part better than Katie did -- but she was the smart one that asked to turn it on!

During "her turn at Captain," she also talked with another Captain as he called in to Captain Karen (he was in the boat behind us). Katie talked with him for a few minutes. Just as it was time to switch back to Captain Karen driving the boat, Suzie came up and snapped the picture.

During her "drive," Katie told me that she was now ready to drive the car. When I told her she wasn't big enough to reach the pedals -- she thought for a minute -- then said that I could do the pedals while she drove! I think I convienced her that she needed to wait a little bit!

Cruisin' on the Fourth

~ click on the image to enlarge ~

Curves ~ Weight and Measurement Update

Good News!
Since Jan 23, this is what I've lost:

7.25 inches

12.25 pounds

2% body fat

Yippee!

Rub With Love

Have you tried this? Got a huge tub of it at Costco, having never tried it before (risky, I know), and I'm happy to report that we love it! So far, we've had it on grilled salmon and tonight we're trying it on grilled chicken breasts.

Week #2 of Food Elimination Diet

The other day Katie told me she can take care of herself. So, I asked her if she can drive herself to school and she said, "Well, no." "And, can you cook your own dinner", I asked. She thought about it for a second and admitted, "No, I can't. But, Mom you have to help me to take care of myself!"

This is week #2 of my food elimination diet. I'm surprisingly satisfied with the foods that I can have. I was concerned that I'd spend a lot of energy fighting cravings for all the foods I can't have right now. That's a relief. So far, anyway.

Almost every day this past week, I woke up with a pounding headache. Some of them migraines. However, today I woke up feeling good and felt good all day! Wow, what a treat. Maybe it's the beginning of feeling better.

I messed up a few times during the first week when I unintentionally ate food on my elimination list because it was hidden and I either didn't read the label closely enough or forgot to read it at all! For instance, it never occurred to me that wheat would be in soy sauce! Or, canola oil in peanut butter! And, some companies put wheat in deli meat. Good grief. Even though I made a few mistakes that first week, I haven't made any this week, that I know of.

Just another 100 degree day!

I am in Portland this weekend and they were calling for great weather... it is sunny and 103 by my car thermometer! I just got back from getting a massage - it was really relaxing and a great way to get out of an apartment without air conditioning. Suzie did the same thing in Seattle and Katie is off with her favorie (okay only) sitter playing in the park.

I need to go into the office and finish the employee quarterly meeting presentation so perhaps I will do that tomorrow. For now, I am just relaxing and thinking about shopping this evening to get out of the heat and to pick up the last few things for vacation. I can't wait... we are headed to NYC for a night and then off to a Canadian cruise for a week. We then head to Virginia to visit with Mom and Dad as well as my sister and her family. Katie can't wait to see her cousins (I actually think she believes they are all her cousins - Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents!). She is so excited about the trip. It will be nice to spend two whole weeks with them.

It is starting to get a little hard being in two different cities. Work wants to help get all of us comfortably in Portland so they asked me to look around and see if I can find a house or something bigger to lease (they are paying for my corporate apartment but it is just too small for everyone). I started to check a few things out and will use my HR staff to see what they can find out. I would love more square footage, a garage and air conditioning!

Katie is done with dance and on to soccer. She loves it and has worn her soccer uniform almost every day since she got it a week ago. I looked all over and couldn't find anything close in the stores that resembled a soccer outfit (it would be nice to change clothes!) so I looked on the tag and ordered more matching set in six different colors. I am sure that everyone on the east coast will only see Katie in a soccer outfit! They get here on Wednesday. I don't think they will have the soccer ball on the front but they will all have her number (2) on the back.

Well... off to eat dinner. Enjoy the weekend.

Bonnie's Results...

She is reactive to the following 18 foods:

Almond, Amaranth, Barley, Kidney Bean, Cheese, Coconut, Egg, Cow's Milk, Goat's Milk, Mustard, Pork, Canola, Rye, Sesame, Spinach, Wheat, Baker's Yeast, Brewer's Yeast

*The red items are the ones she and I have in common.

Managing Food Sensitivities

Here's what I have to do... Eliminate all 26 foods on my list for 12 weeks. On the 13th week, begin adding one food item back into my diet, each week. If I experience no symptoms after adding that food, then I can keep it. However, it's important not to eat it every day because my body would likely develop a reaction again.

So, it's possible that I could end up adding all of those foods on my list back into my diet. But first, I have to get through the 12 weeks of abstinence.

Oh no! I think I've become a cat lady...

I dropped Katie off at preschool and drove from there to the shelter where I picked up 2 of Sparkle's 6 siblings. Since Sparkle and Max aren't getting along, and I didn't want to return Sparkle to the shelter, I thought this was the best way to go.

One of the new kittens was covered in poop, so the first thing I had to do was bathe him. So, I ran some warm, soapy water in the laundry room sink and dipped him in. He didn't like it so much, but didn't really fight me. That is, until I did the stupidest thing ever... I turned the faucet on so I could rinse him off with clean water. Well, the noise of the running water made him crazy. The claws came out and he twisted his little head around toward my hand and bit me hard. Even so, I managed to keep a hold of him, turned the water off and decided bathtime was officially over! Don't worry, he didn't get hurt. Can't say the same for myself, though!

I put the three kittens in a large cat playpen, with everything they need. Sparkle seemed to recognize her siblings and almost immediately she wanted to play. The two new ones were a bit on edge, not yet able to relax and play. Even now, it's been all day since their reunion and I don't think the two newbies are relaxed enough to enjoy themselves. Hopefully tomorrow they'll settle down enough to frolic together.

Every day for the next two weeks, I have to give each of the three kittens antibiotics. I was nervous about doing it tonight because they still see me as a threat. The claws came out, but if I grab the scruff of their neck, I can avoid getting hurt.

Hopefully it won't be too long before they purr when I pick them up!

The Results Are In...

The following 26 foods make up my list of

things that could be the cause of my chronic aches and pains:

almond, asparagus, brazil nut, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cashew nut, cauliflower, chili pepper, egg, eggplant, garlic, cow's milk, millet, mustard, onion, pineapple, sweet potato, white potato, canola, radish, tomato, wheat, yam, baker's yeast, brewer's yeast.

My doctor gave me a lot of information to read about how to go about elminating these foods and suggested I use the next week to figure it all out and wait until I'm comfortable with how to do it before I actually start.

My goal is to begin eliminating all these foods next Monday.

Yikes. It's not gonna be easy, but I'm willing to try it.

Cat Spat

Okay well, bringing home another foster kitten (Katie named her Sparkle) to play with our sole-survivor kitten (Katie and Regina named him Max) isn't quite working out as well as I had hoped it would. I've resorted to having them in separate rooms!

Yesterday and the day before, I had them all in the same room, but different crates at night. Because I knew the Momma cat wasn't thrilled about Sparkle, I left her in the big cage all day while the kittens were loose in the room, in hopes that they would begin to like each other and play. Well, anytime they would run into each other (We would try to lure them together with cat toys.), Sparkle hissed and growled. Immediately, Max would back off and run over to the cage where his Mom was, climbing the outside of it, trying to get inside with her. So, for most of yesterday, I had the Mom and Max in the big cage while Sparkle was loose in the room so she could play and run around.

Later in the afternoon yesterday, I had all three of them loose in the room. The Momma growled and hissed at Sparkle, but kept her distance. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore and she lunged at Sparkle. I was on the floor with them at the time, so I reached out to pull her back. Both cats emerged unharmed, but I got a claw in my thumb that drew blood. So, that's what has prompted me to separate them.

This morning when I picked up Sparkle to move her and all her stuff, she purred, for the first time! She's a sweet kitten, but maybe she's not the right choice for Max. I don't know. Anyway, I'm thinking about calling today to see if her sibling has recovered from a case of diahrrea yet and if so, I could bring him here too, to keep his sister company until they can all be adopted in a few weeks.

Finally, the sun came out!

Our foster kitten - 7 weeks old.New foster kitten. It's a girl!
One of our cats ~ Mater.

Lake Sammamish
Katie playing in the water this afternoon.

Katie, the soccer player. Practicing in the backyard
after we got back from Red Robin.

Where's the SUN???

Our weatherman sucks! I kept hearing over and over that we were to have clouds in the morning, giving way to sun in the afternoon, everyday starting on Wed ~ 3 days ago. Well, at least here at our house, that's NOT happening. The sun has made an appearance only a couple of times, for a few minutes each time. Oh well, at least it's not raining, right?!

Katie started soccer yesterday. I signed her up for an Arena Sports Lil Kickers class in Klahanie. I didn't take video of her first class like I planned. Ended up talking the whole time to another Mom there. Next week I'll get pictures.

I have another appointment with Dr. Nowicki, the naturopathic doctor I met with a couple of weeks ago, to discuss the results of my blood work. In particular, we will go over the list of foods on my "food sensitivity" results. I spoke to him briefly when I was in there with Bonnie this past week and he said he skimmed the results. He said I have around 26 foods that I'm sensitive to which could be causing some or all of my problems. I'll find out on Tues (6/17) what those foods are and what I need to do about it.

Yesterday we got another kitten, for our little sole survivor kitten to pal around with. So far, they are not getting along! Of course, the Momma is pissed. So, we're taking it very slowly.

Quinoa (Kee-nwah)

The other day I was browsing the bulk food section at PCC and came across a bin of quinoa. I'd heard about it from Dr. Oz on Oprah a while back, but never got around to looking for it. He raved about how nutritious it is and highly recommended it.

Today I had some for lunch and discovered that I like it. I mixed it up with black beans and cheese, like you would rice. In fact, you cook it like you do rice, and I imagine you can do all the same things with it that you would do with rice, and it's better for you. It's especially great for vegetarians because it is high in protein, compared to other grains like rice. Although I read that it's not technically a grain, but it's treated like one.

I fixed it again for dinner, but this time l wanted to see how it would turn out in the rice cooker. It came out perfectly cooked. I mixed it up with ham and asparagus, and a little soy sauce. Yummy!

Kung Fu Panda

over the weekend, we saw this movie.
we all enjoyed it.
it kept Katie's interest.
for the most part, anyway.
she giggled a lot.
but some of it was scary
to a four-year-old.
even so,
we all enjoyed it.

Rice Cooker and Warmer

I've been using this non-stop lately and I love it!
Mostly for white and brown rice or steel cut oatmeal.
It does a beautiful job, every time.

It's made by Zojirushi, model number NS-LAC05.

Check it out.

Hooked on LOST

I have finally succeeded in finding someone to watch all four seasons of LOST dvds with me, from the beginning! My sister Bonnie agreed to watch them with me! Hurray! She saw a little bit of it when it first aired, but not enough to feel compelled to watch it every week. We're about to watch the 2-episode finale of the first season and she's hooked! There is so much going on in this show that each episode I rewatch, brings up numerous things that I either forgot or just simply didn't catch when I watched it the first time. This is just too much fun!

Very Quick Update

Katie's favorite part of eating a cupcake...

the frosting, of course!

My sister, Bonnie, got here a week ago. It's been raining almost every day since she arrived, so we've not done much sight seeing. She's gonna be here for several weeks, so we might as well wait until nicer days to get out and about.

Regina came home this weekend and is still here for jury duty tomorrow. I made her an appointment with the naturopathic doctor I met with a couple of weeks to see if he can get to the bottom of her headaches too. I'm guessing she'll be doing the food allergy testing, too.

The momma cat is already weaning her kitten. He's almost 7 weeks old and she started weaning him at least 2 weeks ago, maybe 3. So, he's learning to take care of himself a little earlier than I expected he would have to. He's doing well, but seems to be having some trouble with constipation, on and off. I'm hoping tomorrow to take the momma cat back to the shelter to get her spayed and I'll bring a couple of orphaned kittens home with me to play with our kitten. He's very playful and really needs some buddies his own age. It's gonna get crazy around here!

Gastrointestinal Distress... BIG Time!

Yikes! Today was so miserable!

This morning I had the same amount of Xylitol in my coffee that I'd had the last two mornings without incident. However, today I put it on my oatmeal too. Well, that was evidently TOO much. My digestive tract was in extreme turmoil all day long. Only now, after eating a huge batch of plain rice a couple of hours ago, am I beginning to feel close to normal. I can't wait to get Katie into bed so I can relax!