I can shake shake shake my booty!

Workout: Yay I made it to the afro aerobics class! The teacher is this perfect tall blond who is actually really sweet but is a jerk for having a reflection that makes my reflection look so crappy. I loved the music which had intricate drum beats and such energy. The moves were fun and although I looked horribly awkward it felt like dancing and was SOOO much better than the never ending monatony that is the elliptical. The teacher brought sarongs for us to wear and the whole class was barefoot haha. Sadly, I woke up sore this morning and after the class my soreness has doubled. I need a hot bath and a massage!

After the class Ara and I came home and ate a lunch of leftovers. They were good leftovers so I wasn't complaining. I am an excellent microwaver. I had to clean the house for my student and then I put the sleep resistant Ara to bed. She was silent for probably 45 minutes and I don't know if it was her active brain or the sound of power tools from next door (landlord AGAIN) but she was very awake when I went to get her. The student I saw today is making great progress, this is her first year in High School and her first year in a band of any kind. I think the whole expirience is helping her to push herself foward. I've been teaching her since she was 4 so it's hard for me to see her as a freshman! And... you know where that train of thought led me.. SOMEDAY ARA WILL BE 14!~ /dramaqueen off

Sunny Park!

Workout: 55 minutes (that's right I gave up 5 minutes short of an hour and I suck)

After the Y Ara and I ate our lunch at the park. The weather was incredible. It is lovely to be outside and not bake. Ara made lots of friends and I chit chatted with some Mom's which is unusual for me because I am usually too shy. We seem to have invited some of the bazillions of flies that live at the park to come home with us though... I hate bugs in the house! I put my PB&J down at the park for a second to stop Ara from doing something and when I looked back it was black with flies. Needless to say I shared Ara's sandwich and the birds finished off mine. I brought plenty of grapes so we had enough to eat but I mean.. eww flies.

I signed Ara up for Itty Bitty Sports today! It starts mid-October and she even gets a special shirt to wear like a real team. She will be learning 4 different sports and I am bubbling with the excitement, I just KNOW she is going to love this!

I also signed up for Afroaerobics for tomorrow, I hope there will be enough people for the instructor because I am looking forward to something other than an elliptical.

Monkey Monkey

Ara and I borrowed the Curious George movie from the library last week and she is very pro- "kurris George" now. I've been reading her Curious George stories for bedtime and her favorite story is one where George follows a duck to the park and finds a dump truck. He also sees a family sitting on a blanket in the park eating a picnic. So dump trucks and picnics have been her favorite topics lately! Tonight we took her to the park to have a picnic, she was ecstatic. The poor kid has recently grown and she can barley run 5 feet without tripping on nothing and sprawling head first into the grass. I'm so glad she inherited my ears and lack of grace... Ara doesn't let it slow her down though, she shakes it off and runs another 5 feet. She wasn't thrilled with the part of the "picnic" where she had to actually sit and eat though. It was like pure torture to her that we forced her to eat a bread stick before she ran off. She plays a little on the slides and enjoys throwing her red ball around a bit but mostly she just likes to run. She is pretty fast too, her little legs are a blur of motion as she sprints in one direction, falls, then as something else catches her eye she rushes off in another direction. She always gives off a feeling of pure joy as she plays though and it fills my heart up to watch her smile and laugh and even fall. Personally, I think she is pretty great even if she is impossible to take a picture of!

I don't know why I'm still awake, I feel like I have a flu or something and I need to close my eyes.

Red isn't just a suggestion

I ran a red light on a left turn arrow and the stop light took my picture and mailed me a $280 ticket. Only my second ticket ever so I'm bummed and a little paranoid now that the "man" is watching me! I don't even get to be righteously indignant because the pictures and video of me committing the act are pretty indisputable. Soo... it's off to traffic school for me, hopefully I will learn to be less of a danger on the road.

Ara's Eye

We had a hard day today. Ara scratched her eye with a juice box straw and then rubbed it frantically and managed to get all of her upper eyelashes stuck under her eye lid. She wouldn't let me near the eye to see what was wrong but by the way she was screaming I felt a trip to the ER was in order. Lots of feeling powerless while she cried hysterically and was held down by countless doctors trying to pry her eye open in sued. The first doctor kept yelling at her that she was 3 and she was old enough to know to open her eye. He tried twice, when he returned to the room the third time I wasn't going to let him touch her again but luckily he had decided the same thing and he sent us onto another part of the hospital.

The third time they tried to hold her down it took FIVE people.

She screamed for me.

Over and over.

"It hurts"
"Momma!"
"No thank you PLEASE"
You have never felt your heart break like it breaks when you are powerless to help your child.

She was terrified and traumatized. So the stupid resident comes back into the room while she is sobbing into my shoulder and says that I have to choose; either to sedate her or to let their child life specialist talk her into allowing them to do the procedure while she is awake. I'm sorry but why had no one called a child life specialist before they terrorized her 3 times? I was like.. "she is scared of you and everyone else wearing scrubs, that's not going to change because a lady with a smile and some toys comes to play with her". I chose to have them sedate her, I felt like it was the only choice. The resident didn't like it, he tried to talk me out of it by listing all of the dangers involved. He pointed out the machine they have for reviving her should her heart stop or should she stop breathing. I took a deep breath, said a prayer and repeated my wish. In the end they got it done, and she woke up a different girl. Since the eyelashes were out of her eye and they had put some numbing drops in she was finally out of pain (6 hours of pain and no food or drink would make anyone mad) Ara was like a different kid. All of the nurses loved her and they fed her Popsicles and let her waste their ace bandage stuff by making bracelets.

Cornia abrasions are particularly painful because the eye has so many nerve endings but they do heal very quickly. In a 3 year old they said to expect a full recovery in 2 days. We have some sort of goop that I get to "try" to put IN her eye 4 times a day to help ward off infection and motrin for the pain. Other than that she is as good as new. Oh yeah and I worked out today.

The end.

breaks suck

Workout: (fail) 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes strength

I had no energy.. but I blame my cat for spilling my cereal before I had a chance to eat any. When in doubt, blame your cat (he doesn't care!) I was so excited to finally take the afro aerobics class but I guess they didn't have enough people signed up before hand so the class was canceled. I was a sad panda! I guess I am just paying for being lazy about working out lately. I need to get back in the game, October is coming up fast and avoiding the treadmill won't help me much lol.

WOW ~> http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal. Someone take me please!!!!!!!!!!

I Have Tools, Now What?

Workout: 25 minutes crossramp, 20 minutes strength, 35 minutes treadmill.

I usually do an hour of cardio in one go but today I just felt like mixing it up a bit. I put the strength circuit in the middle. Variation is always good but I think I will start with treadmill next time because that is where I really want to see improvement. The trainer left me a note... I was expecting it but it still sucked. She noted that I have been falling short of my goals lately and asked if I was logging all of my workouts. Oh well, I am back and focused again and ready to make up for the 2 week break.

I am trying to put Ara's trike together today. She has been asking about it everyday, the poor poor deprived child lol. It's harder than I thought it would be. The instructions and the way they label the different sizes of screws sort of boggles my brain. I am frustrated trying to hammer an end piece that will hold the wheel onto the shaft. There is nothing to hold the other side in place, so when I hammer it just slips out of place. Punk instructions.

I have been working on a wedding invitation for A's sister. They want something similar to the invitations I make for Ara's parties. I thought that would be no problem until they emailed me the picture they wanted to use. It's a black lab wearing a bridal veil. I was a little discouraged because the picture wasn't great quality. It was taken indoors with flash so the lighting is harsh and the eyes are little reflective white circles. I have been working on it for the past two nights and I am pleasantly surprised. Instead of being super weird it looks cute and once I put some more time into repainting eyes I think I will be happy with it.

So You Had a Bad Day....

Workout: Never made it to the Y because the car ran out of gas in the middle of an intersection.

Down with the FEET!

Workout: 30 minutes elliptical, 25 minutes treadmill, strength/cardio circuit.

I reversed the arms on the elliptical on Tuesday so that I was pushing, mostly out of curiosity because I have always ignored that setting. It turns out.. I have muscles there and I have not been using them! I was sore.. in my shoulders, sides, and even abs. Almost a good sore but a when taking a deep breath makes you aware that you have ribs and they hurt.. not so much good. So today I struggled, I am still feeling like I am "getting" sick, unless I'm tired then I actually feel sick. Does that make sense? But I have been away from working out for almost 2 weeks, I will pop a vitamin and be at the gym in the morning before I let that go on any longer. I felt like a wimp today, kind of moapy and grumpy. My feet are really bothering me on the elliptical, they go numb and hurt at the same time. Like a spiky painful numb. I might look at getting some cushion things for my shoes next time I'm at Target. It really bums me out because I enjoy the elliptical, if only I didn't have feet. I knew feet were up to no good! Down with FEET!

Back to the Y

Workout: Yay! Back to the routine. 62 minutes elliptical, 30 minute shower lol.

I was dreading working out after such a long break but it was surprisingly good. Yay for that. I noticed a new class happening today at a time I can actually attend! It's afro aerobics and it sounds really fun! Hopefully it will be a regular class, if it's still on the schedule next week I am going to try it! I think I will also try to make a step class on Sunday if A doesn't mind too much. We have a busy weekend ahead... as usual.

Plastic bags and dead bugs

I just did the grocery shopping for the week and I'm feeling guilty about using plastic grocery bags.

Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?

My dinner plan this week:

(it's hard to type with my cut finger /whine)

Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: Roast Beef (yay Crockpot)
Wednesday: Tacos
Thursday: Stew
Friday: out

I'm not feeling well, hopefully I just need a little r&r and I will be as good as new. The last two weeks have been so busy that a lot of things have been getting shoved aside. Things like.. sleep and working out! Today is catch up day, I already filled the fridge with food for the week, I need to clean the house, write the bills on the bill board, and give Ara a bath. That will free up the week so that I can get in morning workouts, return library books, update and have my business cards printed, and focus on potty training with Ara. She has made some progress but I feel like I need to make it a priority so that we can be done with it (woots for no more diapers!). I wish there was an easy button for this because I feel like a dork noob.

The studio I use for lessons on the northwest side of town has expanded. There is now a counter set up in the lobby area for instrumental rentals. I'm really glad to see that Mike, the owner has found a way to supplement because it has been slow for him with students. I love teaching in the space, it's roomy and the location is convenient for my students. I am hoping I can pick up a few new students with the school year starting. I would love to add another day of teaching. I'm also thinking of returning to Flute Club. I need to play more before I forget how! Soon I will only be able to qualify as a flute holder....

David Finko, the composer of the pic concerto I premiered last spring sent me a recording of another soloist playing his arrangement with piano. In some ways I preferred the piano accompaniment because the scoring with the orchestra made balance difficult in the mid range. Still I think overall the orchestral accompaniment offered more interest as far as textures and colors. The piece will be performed my Mimi Stillman this fall! I'm excited about that, I hope David sends me a recording so that I can compare myself and feel utterly inadequate... wait what?

Ara just brought me a dead beetle... she dropped it into my hand and asked me what it was. Gross. What is the purpose of all the tiny beetles....

Well on that note (dead bug) I will stop typing!

Excited

Can't wait!

Opps I'll have to wait!

On August 14, the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was moved to summer 2009.

Artist

Dreams and Cakes

I wish that I had a mouse arrow in real life that I could use to hover over things so that a little explanation box would pop up. You could be driving along and when that angry guy cuts you off and you're like,"what the heck? are you really that big of an a-hole?" Then you could place your mouse over him and it would tell you what his problem is! Which might help or it might just confirm your suspicions that he is fact a jerk face but either way you would understand a little better.

Ara's Birthday was a very nice day. She kept saying, "Momma? Happy Birthday!" Which was so cute. We wanted to take her out to a nice dinner, unfortunately we ASKED her where she wanted to eat... so we all had delicious chicken-type products from McDonalds. I decided last night that I will make her birthday cake instead of letting A's Mom buy one. I love baking, the only flaw in the plan is that our oven hasn't worked since we moved in. So I finally called the landlord about it today. He came over and decided that it doesn't work. He said he will bring in a different oven (I wish the word "different" were replaced with the word "new") but I doubt that will happen quickly enough for the party on Saturday. So I will be making fun trips to my Dad's to bake the cakes, and I will decorate them here. The only problem will be getting the cake to the party without it melting into a frosting puddle. I miss AC in the car!

A Birthday Letter To Ara

To Ara on your 3rd Birthday,

I can't help but think about what was happening 3 years ago on the eve of your birthday.  I was so impatient to see your little face and when you were finally here I couldn't take my eyes off of you.  You were so beautiful, your eyes were perfect almonds of deep brown and your lips were an adorable pout.  You smelled sweet and the weight of your tiny body in my arms made me feel so fulfilled and scared at the same time.  Being your mother is the most wonderful, challenging, and scary task I have ever undertaken but I wouldn't change a thing.

This past year, your two's, were not as terrible as people say they will be.  You are opinionated and stubborn but you are also kind and sweet.  This year I have had to realize that you are not a baby anymore.  You are so brave, you charge right ahead into any situation and my instinct is to always protect you.  You don't mind me there but you don't need me to hover over you anymore. 

This year you have developed a sense of the world around you, including the dangers.  You talk to everyone you meet about thunder.  For Halloween I worried about taking you somewhere people would be wearing scary costumes.  So we took you to the Children's Museum where.  You were dressed in a Minnie Mouse outfit that I made, it didn't look much like Minnie Mouse but you were happy with it anyway.  It was so much fun, we painted pumpkins, played in a pretend grocery store, and even played in the train room.  Trains are still one of your favorite things.  You also love your Dora blanket and sheets although you don't really watch the show much.  I think you love it because we let you pick it out.  Your newest craze has been ponies.  It started with an old DVD we borrowed from the library but now we check out books about real ponies and horses and you love them.  We still watch a lot of Charlie and Lola but we pick new videos every other week at the library so there is variety. 

We used to go to the play groups and storytime groups every week at the library.  You loved to interact with the kids and to color in the children area but you had such a hard time sitting still for the stories.  You love to move.  Trying to stop you from dancing and singing felt futile.  After our trip to California to see your great great Grandmother we started going to the YMCA instead.  You love the helpers and kids at the Y.  Everyone knows your name and they all smile when you walk in.  You love to sing the "YMCA" song and even though you're not supposed to the workers let you go back behind the counters.  Your smile lights up the building and everyone smiles back.  We usually spend about 2 hours there a couple times a week.  The other days you help me do the grocery shopping, house cleaning, and general errands.  These are boring things but you don't seem to mind, in fact you are always thrilled to help Momma. 

You are very artistic.  We spend as much time as we can drawing, painting, coloring, and even making beaded jewelry.  I am amazed at the control you have.  You can draw shape and little characters.  When you want to color something I like to draw a few pages for you.  A few months ago I drew you a page that had a bunch of balloons.  When I walked over to check on you expecting to see that you had colored in my drawing I was shocked to see that you had turned the paper over and drawn balloons of your own.  You concentrate so hard and you draw recognizable birds, cats, and even people.  You are always so proud of your art and so am I.

In April we moved into the new house and we moved you into a toddler bed.  The transition went fairly smoothly although we had a couple sleepless nights.  We decorated your room with pictures I made for you and a special colorful rug your Daddy picked for you.  You helped us to organize your toys into bins so that it's easy to find what you are looking for.  You are good at helping put them away now.

You have a step stool in the bathroom that makes you feel like a big girl.  You love to wash your hands and brush your own teeth now that you can see the sink! 

We just got back from a camping trip at Canyon Lake (AZ), your first camping trip in fact!  We went with Grandpa, Ann, Auntie Emily, Uncle Victor, Erin, Shawn, and Shane.  Heather, Preston, and little Jackson came up for the day on Friday and Saturday as well.  I loved to sit and watch you play.  You had an expression of joy and curiosity all the time.  You were so brave in the lake I had to remind you not to pass the buoy that marked the swimming area which was way out in the deep part of the lake.  You kept telling me not to follow you, so I had to give you some space (not too much though!).  You loved camping so much you would go and go and go until you finally just passed out from exhaustion.  The very first morning you woke me at 5:45 am and said so sweetly, "Momma, the sun came up".  Even something as small as that amazed you and made me smile.  I love to see the world through your eyes. 

One of our special games is to make up songs.  You think of something like a door and I think of a song.  If I can't think of a real one I just make up a new one.  You love this game and you remember the songs!  You have such a sweet voice and even your Dad is impressed with your pitch and he is the picky one! 

You bring me such joy and I hope you feel like the most special and loved girl in the world tomorrow! 

Ara's first camping trip!

Camping on Canyon Lake.

Today Ara and I leave for a camping/boating trip with my family. This is Ara's first camping trip and I am a little nervous about how she will sleep and keeping her safe.

Will I be a Mom noob her whole life?
Maybe.

I originally planned to pack light and simplify. That never works. I have a tent bag (clothes), beach bag, car bag, and bathroom bag. Not to mention sleeping bags, shoe bag, sheets & blankets, toys, and life vest. I am sitting here not feeling well trying to finish up last minute odds and ends. Paying bills, calling students about Sat.. I still need to throw the trash, do the dishes, make lunch, do the dishes again.. lol. Oh and get the camp stove down from the loft without killing myself.

It has really poured rain the past two nights and our leaky seals on the car have turned the car in to a SMELLY Venice. I freak out if anything touches the floor because it's so gross and wet and gross. GROSS. The car is so endearing with it's many many many problems. It makes me think of the smelly canals in Venice. Not that I've ever been there, but the book I just finished was set there and smelly rivers of rancid water sounds about right. I would like to shampoo it before we leave but I won't have time. Maybe it will all work out. Maybe the car will become self cleaning. That seems likely.

I sound grumpy but I am really looking forward to this trip. It will be nice to be out on the water, swimming, wake boarding (I think I fear the ski's too much we'll see), sitting by a camp fire. I think Ara will have the time of her life! My Dad has a little birthday party planned for her on Saturday so the grand total for Ara parties this year seems like it will be three! Three parties for a three year old cutie. It's a dangerous precedent, I know.

Well one last bill to pay and then I can go dangle on the ladder with the camp stove.

Packing. Yay.

I want to go to China!

:P

Workout: 30 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes treadmill

I'm tired, I'll write more tomorrow :P

Friday Rolls Around Again

Workout:
30 minutes elliptical
30 minutes treadmill
15 minutes around the strength circuit

After a 2 day break (1 day intentionally, 1 day because Ara was sick) I was dreading dragging my butt back to the gym. I should stop with that expectation because whining about how hard it is to come back after a break is a drain on my motivation. Plus there are so many other things I can complain about, it's really a waste lol.

After the Y, Ara and I went swimming at my Mom's pool. I forgot her floaty (it seems I am incapable of NOT forgetting at least one crucial thing when we leave in the morning). It was actually good though, we worked on swimming skills and she seemed to really enjoy it.

I had Ara's invitations printed last night and they came out pretty well. I wish that I hadn't had to crop so much but the basic design is intact and it's legible which is pretty important. It was only $5.70 to have 30 glossy, personalized invitations printed in an hour. You really can't beat that with a stick!

Side note: Egees pina colada not as delicious as a real one :P