Memory is full...

I think my memory is full. I can no longer remember the simplest things - the title of a movie to rent, the names of new co-workers or television shows, and I have to write increasingly long complicated lists just to get through the weekly groceries. Trying to recall the name of a movie can be downright painful - "Live hard or die trying?" "Independence Day 4?" "Freedom Rings 2?" "Live free and Independent or Else?" ("Live Free or Die Hard" was the movie) And last Friday I wanted to google search the name of a girl I knew in high school - except I couldn't remember her married name. Her first name is Amy, she married a Mike... his last name may have started with an A - or a P? Try googing "Mike and Amy A" or "Mike and Amy P" sometime. I'm sure you'll have as much as I did finding her!

But I know why my memory is full - it is stuffed with numbers. Like the phone numbers for my childhood home, my grandma's (who passed away in 1989) home, the boy I liked in 1988...and yet I can't remember my own home number or cell number! And birthdays - so many birthdays! The girl who sat beside me in 6th grade band (Aug. 15th), my former neighbor's children ( May 5th and Feb 28th), my best friend from elementary school (March 20th) and every relative / friend born up until oh, about 2005. Now - no more room. I wonder if there is a way to overwrite the phone number and birthday data??

Church Chat

PJ has been enjoying going to Sunday School. Yesterday he played "evil zombies" with his best friend Logan - the 5 year old class had just added a huge toy police station to the toy collection. He excitedly told us all about the zombies causing my mom to remark "I don't remember any zombies in the Bible" and my dad saying "What about the famous story Moses and the Zombies?" But PJ isn't sure that he wants to go to Vacation Bible School this summer because, per him, 5 days of church might be too much. He also said sometimes he doesn't like Sunday School because they have to draw a lot and he doesn't think he's a good artist - but he's certainly as good of an artist as any other five year old! He just tends to compare his skills with his parents or his older siblings. The teachers sure have their hands full with his class though - 28 5 year olds yesterday. I know when he was 4 they had two classes divided by last name and I wonder if they'll have to do the same with the 5 year olds. One thing I really like about his class is that the teachers are working hard to teach charity. They are sponsoring an orphanage and every month the children are asked to donate something different - one month it was toothbrushes and/or toothpaste, one month it was shampoo and soap. He wants to donate money next week.

Lorene isn't quite as happy with her toddler class. She cries when I drop her off. But when I pick her up an hour later she is always playing happily, usually with a ball popper. The one week, it seemed every one of the fifteen or so one year olds were pushing poppers - so loud! It is cute how at this age the babies just play side by side, more or less ignoring each other (until one baby has a toy the other wants!). Lorene is still one of the smallest babies - she was a very early walker so she joined the class at just 10 months and will stay until her 2nd birthday. She can certainly hold her own with the bigger, older toddlers though. That happens when you are the youngest of four!

Always sick...trying something new

We've been constantly sick since the New Year - I think my husband has been sick nearly every weekend. So starting tomorrow we are trying something new. We are going to the store and stocking up on healthy foods and drinks and we are going to rid our diet of sugars and junk food / fatty food / fast food. We did some online research today and will be buying salmon, flaxseed, green tea (LOTS of green tea), blueberries and yogurt. I am trying to talk the husband into spinach and broccoli too - his only experience with spinach seems to be the slimy canned kind so I think he might be pleasantly surprised by fresh spinach in a salad. Broccoli will be a harder sell though.

We're giving it 3 months and we'll see if we feel better - more energy, less illness. I'd like to add some exercise too - I can't WAIT until it is warm and dry enough to actually go on nice long walks again.

Well it was a nice day at work....

I was having a very nice day at work - talking to my co-workers, drinking cappuccino, I had just the right amount of work to do - enough to stay pleasantly busy but not enough to feel stressed - and my husband and I had just eaten a good lunch. Then I got the call - PJ was throwing up at the sitter's. Noooooooooooooooo!

So I cleared off my desk, sent my boss an email (he was in meetings all week), tried to talk my husband into leaving instead (but he did have a stressful level of work so it was a no go) and left. When I got to the sitters I learned that poor PJ had thrown up once during the 20 minutes it took from her call until my arrival. And then he threw up AGAIN while I was getting his jacket on! She gave us a plastic bag for the ride home - but fortunately we didn't need it.

Once we got home he threw up 3 more times - once all over his room ... once he did make it to the bathroom (yay!). I had to run a load of laundry because unfortunately when I was dealing with the first bout of vomit at home Lorene quietly got into PJ's Easter basket. She had the wonderful idea to unwrap the chocolates, rub them between her hands to get them melty, then wipe her hands on her face and hair. AAAaGGGGHHHSSS!!!

Oh how I wished I was still at work... sipping my cappuccino and talking about American Idol.

Blizzard!

We had record snowfall this weekend! It was a blizzard - usually the local weather over-exaggerates impending bad weather but this time they possibly underestimated it. Thursday night we heard that a snow storm was on its way - bringing with it up to a foot of snow. We guessed we'd REALLY only get 4-6". I did stock up at the grocery store though - I hate driving in snow at all - and got the last loaf of bread on the shelves. They had already sold out of Vault! Anyhow, with plenty of food and diapers and drinks, we felt confident we could get through the weekend.

Friday - it started snowing at 9:18 AM. And it didn't stop. My husband was sent home from work at 2 PM. I was anxious waiting for his return - but he pulled in safely at 2:30. He said the freeways weren't bad but the residential streets were already awful. By 4:30 all of the parking spots in the complex were filled and I relaxed knowing all the residents were in safely. And still it snowed. At 5 PM I measured - we were at 5". We had sloppy joes for dinner, lamenting the fact I did not stock up on potato chips.

It stopped snowing around 7 pm and it was still quiet by the time I went to bed at 11. The next morning it was snowing again - I measured at 9 AM and we were just over 11". Maintenance was shoveling the sidewalks but gave up. I kept checking the news - they told everyone to stay home! My mom called - her work was closed and I was glad that I didn't have to worry about her on the roads. Malls closed, banks closed, libraries closed, churches announced they would be closed Sunday. We watched the snowfall and drank hot cocoa.

At 6 pm I realized I could no longer open the back door! I went out a few hours later and measured again - 20". The news reported a total accumulation of 20.4" which set a new record.

Today the snow has ceased and it is cold and sunny. Some of our neighbors are emerging to begin shovelling. The neighbor's dog - who looked thrilled to bound through the snow yesterday morning - is slogging through it now, looking a bit tired. We took some pictures of the drifts - it's wild to have so much snow in March! And we are supposed to have temps back in the 60's within the week. We shall see!

Sick...again

It seems like we've been continuously sick since the start of the year! This time it's a new virus - sore throats and coughs and feeling so incredibly tired. Only the adults are sick this time so the children can run around like little chimpanzees getting into everything and wreaking havoc while we feebly protest from the couch "no...don't climb on that...put that down..."