When you live in the most educated city in America

It is really fun to yell out "I have to go to work at the Tire shop!" at school drop off.

It does not get old.

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Do you remember the long crazy saga behind Mr F's job?  You know we moved to NC (thought permanently) only to have the economy tank, pay cuts, workload increase, etc?  Then after 2 years he was up for his dream job in MI?  So we went for it... but someone beat him out and they offered Mr F the job of #2 instead.  And because I was so depressed in NC, we took it?  And then immediately we figured out the #1 was a sham.... and so did the #1.... and Mr F was doing 3x the work but stuck in the #2 because the sham #1 was misrepresenting Mr F's work as his own?  Then after 2 years, another magazine moved up here and hired a new art team.  And Mr F got beat out for the #1 AGAIN and offered the #2 AGAIN... but we had to get away from the crazy sham guy so he took it?  And then the Sham guy (who no longer could hide behind Mr F's work) finally got fired, and they wanted Mr F back for the #1 at that magazine... but corporate has a no hiring an employee that has quit policy?  So that was disappointing, especially since by then we had figured out that the guy who got the #1 at the new job was a megalomaniac with a disdain for cars and photography.... which is kind of the job.  And unlike the Sham who knew Mr F was a better designer and just let him do his work... this guy just crapped all over everything Mr F did and it was really depressing for Mr F not to be proud of anything that ever went to press.  WELL, that guy was finally fired (which we really didn't see coming and were actively pursuing other options out of the area) and Mr F is redesigning the magazine.  All of his dreams (career anyway) have come true, and I guess the lesson here is that patience is a virtue after all.  So it has taken us 4 years, but things have finally settled where they should.  And the girls are thrilled that we don't have to move again.  Me?  Eh, I've realized that I kind of relied on the promise of a move to keep me in the unsettled place I find most stimulating.  I'm just not a settled type.  Not sure how to replace that.  Maybe more extensive travels?  For now, I have moved on to looking at local houses...

Did you follow all that?  It has been crazy, stressful, disappointing, depressing and infuriating but ultimately a story of redemption.  There were a lot of times when I felt like people are hired for their big personalities and not their actual qualities (which I do think is sadly true) and wasn't sure how Mr F could break through that barrier.  But perseverance, competency and talent have finally won out.  Which is a sigh of relief for society at large.

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First Day of School:

Kid is in 6th grade
                                                   

(Can you believe it?!?!)

Baby is in 2nd grade

(Sad to report that, so far, Baby hates 2nd grade.  Mostly because now there is actual work to do.)

 The start of school means one thing around here, Big Boy can get back to his favorite past time.... 

harassing Kid while she does her homework.  

He loves it.  

Almost as much as he loves trying to lick the butter dish off of the counter when we aren't home...

(Sadly, he has finally succeeded)

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Update!  Kid got the Taylor Swift haircut.  Which unfortunately means that this low maintenance mom has to blow out her daughter's hair EVERY SINGLE MORNING.  Even while her dad was out of town and we had to get up a half an hour early to get to a morning carpool... My love knows no bounds!!!!

Brain Dead

Last night someone (Baby, just to be clear... Kid would die if you thought it was her!) had an accident & instead of getting the sleep I desperately need... I got to spend an hour cleaning up the bed.

I'm EXHAUSTED.  I never really was able to get back to sleep after that so I had... oh... 4 hours of sleep.

I did workout.  I am in my calories.

I filled out our passport applications and got my passport photo taken (I don't hate it).

We had Kid's first basketball practice (she doesn't want to quit.. so that is pretty good).

Then we had a basketball parents meeting.

Thankfully, I made two pots of soup & two loaves of bread yesterday. Since it is freezing out I just put the whole 2nd pot in the garage which just made everything even easier to manage.  Tonight after basketball I just brought it in and up to a boil. Done.  I kind of love the polar vortex.  I now have the world's largest 2nd fridge.

We are all hurting tonight.... It is definitely hard to get home over two hours later than usual & still cram the same amount of homework & cooking, bathing, etc into such a short amount of time. Kid's also physically exhausted & getting home in the dark... geez... I feel badly that she has so much work to do.   She's still only 11 and does need to go to bed.

I do, too.

Of course, tonight I have to stay up late writing out Kid's test prep for her History test on Friday.

Goodbye.  I'm barely coherent.  The end.

Life (you've missed so much...)

I don't think I ever did an August recap (or September).  Sometimes when I'm driving down the road (which despite my original intentions I'm back at.... even more than last year!!!!), I think about blogging and when I might or what I might share and then I am back in the car going the other direction, or carefully packing raspberries in little lunch containers, or checking homework (slash foraging homework as necessary!... oh, please, you know you've been there), or trying to find goggles for swim lessons, or working out, or writing the world's longest run-on sentence... and it just didn't happen... AGAIN.

But today is the day.  Kid and I are both home sick with some bizzaro stomach bug that only causes intense stomach pain for days on end. (throwing up would be a relief at this point, believe me)  I did watch this entire BBC series though. I got it at the library.  In case you are riveted by our viewing habits, Mr F and I are also watching Hell On Wheels on the nights when we can manage it between dishes and my trying to go to bed by 10:45 rule. I dig it.  It's not quite as good as Justified (in terms of spectacular characters) but it's pretty good (and more Mormon friendly, fyi Katieo).  And, when you don't have TV service you just can't be quite as picky about what you are going to watch.  I'm also working out to Extreme Weight Loss ... where has this show been all my life?!?!  It is fantastic.  Plus, it's 90 minutes which is exactly how long I'm working out, so it is perfect for me. Plus, I love working out to weight loss shows for the obvious motivational reasons.

As for weight loss.... yeah... I'm not sure.  I haven't weighed myself in awhile but I am definitely fitter and I think there is a lot of stuff up with my hormones and metabolism and I just am taking this one step at a time.  Working out consistently is my #1 focus and I am doing that and reestablishing it as a habit and I don't want to worry about my weight loss or diet portion of this until I am several months into working out consistently.  When I expect too much from myself is when I start to sabotage myself.  I'm doing unusually well in the workout department and am not being crazy.  I have at least one weekday when something comes up and I can't do it and I am just letting it go.  This is ground breaking for me.  The next step will be trying to figure out what my daily calorie burn really is so I can figure out what I would need to eat to lose weight.  I have a feeling this is shockingly below what I am used to.  And while I do not eat a ton, I think the perimenopause has killed my metabolism and I probably need to eat 1200 calories a day (maximum!!!) like on a DAILY FUCKING BASIS.  And eating 1500-1700 (which is more normal for me & previously allowed me to LOSE weight) is not only not going to help me lose weight it is why I have been slowly gaining weight for three years.  Even with the working out for 90 minutes, my fancy Up Jawbone bracelet only puts my daily burn at around 1500-1600.   WITH THE FUCKING WORKING OUT.  So, you know, that is kind of an aha moment for me in terms of why everything has been so hard.  If I'm eating 1700 calories and I'm burning 1500 (with the goddamn exercise included) I'm not going to lose any weight.  I'm going to still slowly gain.  Which explains why everything I've tried to do (Paleo, 5:2, working out, etc, just hasn't had any real effect). Still.  Right now I'm 100% focusing on making working out as close to a daily routine as possible.  Forever.  For the rest of my goddamn life.  This is real.  Maybe in November I'll start developing a real eating plan that averages out to 1200 calories/day.  I hate to do it.  But I think that is real, too.  Forever.  For the rest of my goddamn life.

Okay.

More updates SOON-ish.  And, no, Kid did not switch schools.  It's a long story.  But it comes down to no kid (EVER) wanting to switch schools mid-year and leave a good social network to start over as a new kid... especially when they've already been to 3 elementary schools (not counting homeschooling) and they are only in 5th grade.  And as a kid who also switched schools every one to two years between K and 8th grade I know EXACTLY how she feels and want her to feel she has some control over her own life.  We have all agreed that this is the LAST year that she'll be attending the Lutheran school.  It really is a great social setting for her (I don't think we could do better) but the academics are still an issue and we know middle school just takes it up 10 more insane notches and that is just not something we can live through.  6th grade (can you believe it?!!) will be an easier transition time since quite a few kids leave to start middle school elsewhere.  It is also a good time to start at the charter school and allows her to start at the beginning of the year into a 6-7-8 mixed classroom setting (only 18 kids a class) and that will better suit her academic placement than coming in academically ahead in a 4-5 mixed classroom.  The bonus is that she'll be able to get more comfortable with the charter school this year when we attend different school events for Baby and it won't be so unknown and weird for her next year.  We are also going to work really hard to establish outside-of-school friendships with her Lutheran school friends so that we can hopefully keep them going after she leaves that school.

Maybe This Will Go Away Soon

It seems like I can't seem to maintain the blog these days.

I'm sorry about that.

I've had a strange headache since Thursday.

I feel like my brain is trying to expand beyond my skull.

So, you know, that makes looking at the computer a little less enjoyable.

It's not just you I'm neglecting.

I didn't take baby to her class this morning (because it bores the shit out of me and the brain pressure is a good excuse).

Plus, Kid starts Brownies tonight.

I had to save up my energy for that.

Oh, and Mr F's magazine is closing* this week OF COURSE (for the 2 or so readers that have any idea what that means... well, they'll know that not feeling well this week is the worst kind of luck).

And next week Mr F will be on a work trip ALL week.

He's going to miss Kid's cheer debut at the JV football game (don't tell her).

She's going to be HOT.


* this month's issue... the magazine is not folding... no worries!

Delayed

(Also known as my first stage of packing procrastination)

I was hoping my 17 year old niece would be able to come down with me to Asheville to turn my trip of drudgery into a spectacular teen adventure... but alas... it wasn't meant to be. I'm trying not to kill myself over it. As she said "Just cry a little". Will do.

I was going to leave tomorrow morning.

But.

It feels so much better to sit around NOT packing our stuff up and eating brownies (yes I actually have to pack to go and pack... it sucks) .

Also, kind of legitimate excuse style... Kid's neurologist called with an unbeknownst to me scheduled appointment for Tuesday morning. I don't know why that happened. Usually those referrals take a couple of months. My mom suggested there might have been a sudden cancellation... could be. I thought about canceling it and rescheduling for when we're back, but I also want to be sure she gets in BEFORE starting school just in case we need a special protocol on file with the nurse. I don't want to take a gamble on the appointment and then have to wait until October to get her in. (of related interest: Kid has not thrown up once since getting out of school for the summer... this is the big thing to talk over with the Dr re:abdominal migraines)

I guess I think it's best that we stay, so now we're leaving after the appointment on Tuesday.


And now for the boring details of my life...

Tomorrow we are finalizing all the moving contracts and insurance for said move. We can't remember if our homeowner's covers this or not. I'm thinking with the corporate move I must not have cared and just added the extra coverage.

I'm also going to get all of our stuff organized and moved out of my grandmother's space.

We've put off the carpet until we move in. While I wanted to have it all done before the movers came, it just got too complicated. I really need to be able to see the spaces and look at carpet samples in the proper lighting, etc. It just got to be too much of a rush, and for that amount of money I don't want to regret my decision. I'm thinking of a light greyish taupe (called shale) by the way. Neutral but not beige. I also think the grey tones will allow for more paint color choices (assume we'll have at least one pink room). Oh and we're going with Lowe's. I wanted to support the local store but the service/price/and quality in our range just weren't worth the premium.

That's the update. That and I've gained 5 pounds in the 5 weeks I've been here (Remember when I made fun of Mr F for that?). Once again proving that I just can't drink soda without weighing 5 pounds more pretty much instantly. When will I learn? And when will I stop loving it's sparkling effervescence? Probably never... which is why I need to reinstate the ban. I just can't control myself when I let soda back into my life.

On that front... once I move I am totally going to bring it. For real. Really real. I am totally ready. I feel like complete crap.

P.S. Have any of you (Deb?!) done the Tracy Anderson Method? I'll have a lot of room in my basement for those crazy routines. I'm dying to hear what people think of it!

See You Later Alligator

I'm turning off the comments because I know when people see someone having a hard time they naturally want to help. Unfortunately unless you're loading up your car to come on over... nothing is gonna help right now. This is just a hard time I have to live through. No advice, no matter how well intentioned, is going to change that (just ask Mr F).

Super Short Update

We woke up to a cold house again this morning. We hadn't lost power again, that we know of, but sometime in the night our furnace shut off. Thankfully we still have electricity and could plug in our portable heaters. We still don't have our cable phone or internet service back (I just purchased 1 hour off a wireless site... that I only have an intermittent connection with... so I could check our email and access my Christmas cookie recipes). Thank God we have DirecTV ;)

Mr F ran to the store to get tuna, bread, & sugar (can't wait for that phone call... yes our cells still work). I hesitate to buy much more than our day's necessities in case we end up having to pack up and stay elsewhere. Hopefully the neighborhood burger joint is open and we can walk up there for dinner.

If our power stays on I'm planning to have a big baking day and, if I can get my car out tomorrow, ship off my Christmas boxes on Monday. I'm kind of getting down to the wire on those...

That's all folks. Not exactly the weekend I had been hoping for, but it has been an adventure.

We're Off To See The Wizard

We're packed up and hitting the road. We should be pulling into Orlando tomorrow morning for one week of uninterrupted family time. Don't worry dear readers the time is going to fly by... and... I've got several updates and a *real* (not Mrs F sponsored!) giveaway coming up when we get back. (And... psst.... we are bringing the computer so expect random updates when we can bum a free wireless connection)

Until then I think it would be fun to keep the giveaway from the other day going while I'm gone.

Here's the recap:
Now for the giveaway. Today I'm doing it a little differently. Today I'm asking that you go back in time... and make me laugh... or cringe... or really, REALLY, be glad I was not in your shoes.

Today I want you to share with me your most embarrassing or awkward family holiday moment (um did I ever tell you that my mom and I accidentally left a casserole on the roof of the car on our way to Thanksgiving... and that it fell off into the road... and that we scooped it back up... AND SERVED IT?... It turns out that (unbeknownst to us I swear!!!) it was full of broken glass.... Did I mention we SERVED IT?!)

So go ahead and share your stories. I will choose a commenter at random and send them a $10 iTunes card. (You thought I forgot about my Your LIfe Sucks Here's Ten Bucks giveaways?... I didn't I just had to postpone this one a little bit... plus I wanted to change it up a bit)

All embarrassing/awkward/horrific stories commented (on this post and the original) will be entered in and I will randomly choose a winner on Sunday November 29th.
So if anything crazy goes down over the Thanksgiving table this year make sure you enter a comment! Yes each confessional will enter you in AGAIN.

In the meantime I'll try and get something up when I get a chance... but... I'll keep this post at the top to make the giveaway entering easier...so scroll down if you're looking for new posts this week.

On The Road Again

We're headed down to Asheville today.
Don't worry this time I am taking the computer. Hopefully I'll get to post pics of the potential houses.
Stay tuned.

Because I'm Crazy

I don't have time to do a traditional post today.

So today is a video post.... ENJOY!

(Video Upload didn't go as planned... watch it Here or HERE )

I'll be back at 4 PM (PT) when I may address one of these fascinating topics:
-Gap Kid's Plus Sizes... I can't go for that no... no... no can do.
-Mrs F's rules for carb portion control (and no these don't apply to my grocery store muffin)
-Mrs F's Potato and Leek Soup recipe
-Mrs F's crazy new workout plans
-What kind of haircut Mrs F is getting on Saturday
-Paranormal State.... hello, this show ROCKS