Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Corn Roasting

Last night Windsyr came downstairs holding her mermaid barbie and announced: "It's just so hard corn roasting."

I know my daughter well enough to know that whatever she meant by this, it made perfect sense on Planet Windsyr, so I smiled sympathetically and said: "What do you mean by that?"

She proceeded to show me the many braids she had put in her barbie's long pink hair. "I've done all these, but there's still so many to do!"

And suddenly it clicked. Corn rows. My daughter was giving her mermaid corn rows, and now you see what I mean by my daughter's logic. If making corn rows could be summed into one verb, I think "Corn rows-ting" would be the right one.

Have your kids created any new words I can add to my dictionary?

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

D.O.D.

Though A.D.D. may be all the rage these days, there is a highly overlooked disorder in the pyschological field that I would like to bring to light. My gut tells me I am not the only one with this disease, and by coming out of the closet I might even find some camaraderie among fellow sufferers.

Let me introduce you to an hour in the life of one who suffers from
DISTRACTION OVERLOAD DISORDER.

The other morning I was cleaning up after breakfast. When I opened the fridge I found it nearly bare which reminded me that we needed groceries. Leaving the dishes unfinished I sat down to write a grocery list, which led me to my recipe book in search of menu ideas for the week. The recipe book reminded me that I had been intending to get some recipes from a few friends, which made me think that some of those recipes might already be posted on my yahoo group. Leaving my grocery list unfinished, I went upstairs to my computer where I intended to check my yahoo group, but upon opening google, I got distracted by the daily news and started to read about the elections. Leaving my recipe list unfinished, I next checked my email where a message reminded me of a birthday party my son was invited to which reminded me I had a present in need of wrapping. The need to wrap reminded me of Christmas, which reminded me of a returned Christmas card which reminded me to put my email address on a friend's blog so she could send me her address. Leaving the present unwrapped, I went to her blog, which of course led to another blog and another where I ended up finding a fun activity posted that I just had to try. This led me to an internet site called myheritage where you can upload photos and use face recognition technology to find out which parent your child resembles most, or which celebrities you resemble. I then realized I needed to switch to my downstairs computer where the photos are kept if I wanted to play with face recognition. But I couldn't go downstairs until I cleaned up the mess of staples and 3x5 cards my son had scattered from the computer desk while I'd been at the computer. The mess upstairs reminded me that I still hadn't finished cleaning up breakfast which reminded me I hadn't finished my grocery list, my menu list, my recipe search, or wrapped the present...

SO....What would YOU do at this point?

1. Wrap the present while you are thinking about it?
2. Finish cleaning up breakfast before the grapenuts cement to the cereal bowl?
3. Check the recipes while you are still logged onto your computer?
4. Stop and clean up the mess of staples your toddler made?
5. Leave the room quickly to find the toddler who has now disappeared with a stapler in hand?
6. Go downstairs to your other computer because it is really quite crucial to find out which celebrity you look like ?
7. Stop and write a blog entry blaming the fact that you can't get anything finished on Distraction Overload Disorder!?

Well, being the prudent mother that I am forced to be at times, I first chased down my son. He had the stapler in the living room where more staples were now scattered, and this of course meant I had to vacuum the living room rug. At some point I also got to the kitchen, the bedroom mess, and the wrapping, but it was days before I got back to the face recognition, over a week before I got to the blog entry, and the recipes I pretty much gave up on for now.

Whether typical housewife hysteria, or truly a disorder of sorts, this my friends, is my life! (You can see why I relate so well to the "If you give a mouse a cookie" series of books.) And speaking of mice, my next entry will feature an incriminating picture of a little varmint who has been sneaking around our garage eating leftover Halloween candy. It's very funny, but will have to wait for the many distractions that are sure to come between now and that next blog entry...(like the fact that I just decided to experiment with font sizes and colors which you will now note in my entry.) See...distracto-woman!!! That is me, and I am not ashamed to admit it, so long as nothing distracts me before I get the chance! :)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Husband bloggers


Now, I don't know about your husbands, but mine had been somewhat slow to come around to the world of blogging. Oh if I twisted his arm enough he would check my/our blog, and occasionally even leave a comment. But when we got started on the whole "hundred day" thing, my husband was finally inducted, self-inducted even, into the world of blogging when he started his own blog to keep track of people's progress and success stories. Now, this really had potential if I hadn't up and gotten pregnant right about then, halting all normality in our family and any semblance of downtime for him, my primary caretaker. Well folks, just as I am back in the saddle again, he is finally able to put time into updating his hundred day blog, and you MUST sample his latest inspirational read. It will put just a little more wind beneath your wings today, and it will also encourage my husband to keep blogging. And let's face it, we need more husbands bloggers. So pay him a visit, and leave him a comment so he knows you were there. And THANKS upfront for supporting husband bloggers of the world.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Rolling in it

I walked by Windsyr who was counting her coins today. She was on a million five, a million six, a million seven...

Remind me to let her count my dollars someday.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Sri Lankan Festivities

So here is a small recap of the big event in Sri Lanka that I may never be at peace about missing, but there are some things life decides for you.

Special thanks to my brother Dan who captured the journey beautifully. I could go to his blog and steal more pictures to show you some of the beauty they encountered during their adventure, but it is probably easier and more ethical to send you to his. (Savannah's blog) It is well worth taking a look. They spent several days touring this incredible part of the world and have some great footage.


In a traditional Singhalese wedding ceremony, the dancers and drummers proceed the wedding party.


Scene from the ceremony

Here Adam is putting a "wedding necklace" on Upekala (Pek.)

Picture of the wedding party including three of my five brothers (Darron, Dan, Adam)


Happy Bride and Groom

Sara and Sandee (and all the women who attended )were outfitted in traditional Sarees for the wedding. This picture is taken at the post wedding party. Pek is as much a knockout in her red "homecoming Saree" dress here as she was in her gorgeous wedding dress.

What is Sri Lanka without elephants? This picture was taken at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage.

I heard so many reports of the monkeys and how they were everywhere!

This is the Kandalama Hotel where they stayed during part of their touring. It has won awards for its eco-friendly design, and as you can see, it is built right into this jungle without disturbing much!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Back in the Saddle

There's no time like the first day of a New Year to come out of blogging hibernation. If anyone is still checking this blog after my four month leave of absence, I thank you for your loyalty.

As probably most of you know, I was totally knocked off my feet and pretty much out of my life for a good three months by a grueling pregnancy. This is my fourth pregnancy but only my second experience with hyperemisis gravidarum, and let me tell you it is not fun. Only five lucky women in every thousand will experience this level of illness with a pregnancy...and every one of them will wonder if they are dying, (and/or feel like they would rather die than have to endure the relentless suffering of HG.)

At 23 weeks now, I am MUCH improved and almost back to a normal life. The nausea persists around the clock, but the throwing up has tapered off greatly and will hopefully stop altogether. It has been replaced by eating 24/7--as an attempt to abate the nausea (which never helps, but on I eat anyway.)

I feel so grateful to have made it through those very dark days, and I am indebted to friends and family who took over my life, making sure my kids were cared for, my family fed, and my house cleaned, etc. I am especially amazed by my husband who carried the family torch on his own without missing a beat--volunteering in the kids' classrooms, coaching and attending every one of their soccer games, getting all three kids ready and out of the house every morning by 7:45 and handling dinner, homework, showers, the bed time routine, and then dishes, laundry, etc. every night on his own while still making time to tend to my every need and take me for IV's and doctor appts as necessary. (Even when it meant leaving an out of town meeting abruptly to spend a day in the ER with a wife who could barely thank him for it.) He kept me in clean sheets and clean pajamas, ran to the store at a moment's notice to fulfill any food request I thought I could stomach, coordinated with my friends to make sure I had daytime help and visits, etc., and patiently endured the loneliness of this one man show for days, and then weeks, and then months...he is my best support and my biggest hero.

I was blessed to be able to enjoy the holidays, and enjoy them I did. It was hard on Brian and I to miss the HUGE festivities going on in Sri Lanka, where my brother got married on December 22nd. My dad and many of my siblings were fortunate to attend and had the experience of a lifetime. We knew the day we found out we were pregnant that Sri Lanka was no longer an option for us, and it was a true loss. But right now I have to focus on the small, daily triumphs of just being able to function again--and tolerate sights, sounds, smells, motion, touch, and even my own saliva--all of which for months were completely out of the question.

You can imagine this season was a time for my family and I to reflect on the very basics of what is most meaningful in life, and we have learned some hard but enduring lessons through our challenges.

That is a long enough entry for today, but I will be back often now.

Happy NEW YEAR to everyone, and thanks for caring enough to check in on our little corner of the world.