What's up?

I have a few updates. We got Dylan's baseball schedule yesterday. If anyone is interested in coming and watching a game let me know and I'll email you a schedule. I would rather not make it public, if you know what I mean. He's having a great time this year. Joel said he's hitting and fielding really well at practice.

I got to peek in and watch a bit of Maddie's ballet rehersal for her recital in May. It was amazing. She comes home from ballet and says she never learns anything, but what I witnessed showed me otherwise. It was beautiful.

Spring break starts this week. Maddie has that damn cold of course. She gave it to Joel. I have worried a lot about it turning into pneumonia again, but today is day 4 and she actually seems to be getting better (cross fingers).

Yesterday was Maddie's parent/teacher conference. It wasn't a bad conference. She had earned her self-manager badge by her good behavior and the teacher sang her praises for that. She's a little bit behind where she should be, but she's making really good progress and should be where she needs to be by the end of the year. The teacher was worried that she would lose some of it over the summer and suggested summer school, but I think we're going to go for some home tutoring. A little more flexible and I think (know) she will respond better to that. Especially if it is Dylan and I doing the tutoring (mostly Dylan). Joel and I are convinced that the only reason that she is a little behind is because she was sick for so long. She was sick pretty much from the beginning of December clear until the middle of February when she finally had the pneumonia and then got better. If you don't feel good your brain doesn't work at the level it should. I think that is how she fell behind a little. Poor girl. She's smart, that's for sure.

Today was Dylan's parent/teacher/student conference. He really wanted Maddie to come so he could show her his classrooms and locker and everything. She loved that. All of his teachers sang his praises as usual. He always seems a little embarrassed about that, which is funny. He should be used to it by now.

I had a job interview yesterday. I am always looking for something better and more ideal. When you think of working from home you think of flexibility in your schedule, but that's not the case at all. Almost always when I apply somewhere I get a job offer. It's hard to find a transcriptionist with as much experience as I have, so that does make me feel good. At my current job, my line rate is in the higher bracket so I have a difficult time find a job offer with an equal or greater line rate. I would love to find one with better hours, but that is near impossible as well. This current job offer was for full-time only. While I wouldn't mind working full time while the kids are in school, I can't do it over summer. The pay was equal to what I get now though, so it did mean more money. In the end, I turned it down. I have a really difficult time leaving my current job. The company is stable. In fact, the last place I was offered a job at went bankrupt and was bought out by my current company a week after I turned down their offer. The lure of full time on a temporary basis was tempting so I spoke with my current supervisor and asked to increase my hours by 8 every week. It's not full time, but it's 32 hours. This will last only until the kids get out of school and then I'll go back to my regular schedule. I feel a lot more comfortable with that. While she had me on the phone she told me what an awesome job I am doing. I had a minor HIPAA violation last month that turned out to be really nothing I could have done different to change anyway. All my audits are passing or within a half a point of passing. I never have any schedule noncompliance or complaints against me. It felt nice to have someone appreciate what I do.

Okay, this boring serious post is done. I got things to do.

Almost made it

Just when the craziness of spring arrives what should happen.....SICKNESS. That's what happens.

Maddie is sick. At first I thought maybe allergies, but it seems to not be so. Sniffly, coughing, blech. We almost made it to spring break without any more colds. I let her stay home today. I know that I kind of have a double standard with my kids as far as the staying home thing goes, but I have good reasons. For Dylan he has to have a fever and/or puking to stay home. Maddie's standards are a lot lower. She's only in first grade so missing a day of school isn't going to harm her scholastic achievements. In middle school missing a day can be like missing a week. Considering all the homework they always have topped with all the schoolwork, getting behind is a nightmare. I should know, remember The Swine Flu week? Argh.

Dylan acts like a 4-year-old when he finds out Maddie gets to stay home and he doesn't. He doesn't have the sniffles or a cough or anything other than a headache when he got home from school yesterday, and yet he feels he deserves a day off. It's baseball season - sickness is not an option for anyone.

After the pneumonia problem we had with Maddie awhile back, I refuse to take chances with her colds. She will lay on that couch until she is better - no matter what.

Tomorrow is Maddie's Parent/Teacher conference. Thursday is Dylan's. Tomorrow is also the last day of school for spring break. Normally I dread spring break. I don't really need another reason for them to be all up in my face 24 hours a day, especially when I am supposed to be working, but I am looking forward to not having to get up at 6:45 and get Dylan motivated for school. I am looking forward to not having to make 3 trips to the school every day. Hopefully the weather is nice enough for them to hang outside for some of the days. Hopefully Maddie feels good enough to go to Mam's house for a few days. Hopefully I am not picked up by the men with white coats by the end of it.

Maddie's Story

Maddie wrote a story. Here it goes:

"Hi. I am here to tell you about Leprechauns.
Leprechauns have a lot of hair.
They never cut their hair.
They have tiny hammers in their mouths.
I know all about Leprechauns because I went to Irish."

By Madelyn Rogers

Happy Spring!

Today is the first day of Spring!! WOO!! Winter is now in our rear view mirror. Not that I have anything to complain about. We have had one of the most mild winters I've ever seen. No snow. Not anything to spit at anyway. Loved it.

I decided to take running back up again. It's kind of like an addiction. I quit because my knees were giving me all sorts of trouble. I started just walking 4 miles a day and at first my knees were still hurting but they've felt better and better and lately I've been feeling the burn to run again. I started thinking more and more about it. There is a 5K being hosted in Poulsbo next month and ironically enough, its right near my house and the very loop that I run/walk. So it gave me some incentive to get back out there. I can train on the course! It doesn't get any better than that. I've been taking better care of my knees too - more icing of my knees and more ibuprofen. It's working because I haven't had any knee pain at all. This morning I ran with Amanda. I was really nervous because I have never run with anyone before except Dylan and running with him isn't the same because he runs so freaking fast. It was awesome to run with someone else. It is very motivational and holy hell was I proud of us. We really pushed it today. We're going to do it next Saturday too. I can't wait. By the time the 5K comes around we will definitely be running the whole thing. The only thing stopping us from running the whole thing today was this little thing called "holy crap that's a big hill." But, we ran halfway up it, which is a pretty amazing feat.

Hey, it's a book!

Remember how much I love Jodi Picoult???? She's my favorite author ever.

This month she came out with her newest book...House Rules. It's about a boy with Aspergers.

I really want to say something about this book, but I can't. Rachel hasn't read it yet. I have to wait until she reads I don't ruin it for her.

So, it got me thinking about Jodi books and how much I love them. In the past I have made a list (ha! another list) of her books in order of how much I love them. I am going to do it again, this time including the newest book.

1. Change of Heart
2. Plain Truth
3. Nineteen Minutes
4. My Sisters Keeper
5. Perfect Match
6. The Pact
7. Handle with Care
8. House Rules
9. Vanishing Acts
10. Keeping Faith
11. The Tenth Circle
12. Second Glance
13. Salem Falls
14. Mercy
15. Harvesting the Heart
16. Picture Perfect
17. Songs of the Humpback Whale

Now, just because a book is towards the bottom of the list doesn't mean I didn't like it. Even #17, although not my favorite Jodi book by any means, is still 1000 times better than most of the other books I have read.

Jodi is coming to Seattle this weekend and for the 2nd year in a row I won't get to meet my author idol. She even has 2 dates scheduled. The problem is that the first one is Friday night. I don't drive well in the dark, especially in strange places. The second one is Saturday afternoon and unfortunately, I have to work that day.

Soooo, I'll miss her again.

We interrupt this schedule....

Evening time is pretty structured in our house. I don't like disruption in it. Last night was disruption.

Here's our "typical" schedule.

Kids home: 3:50
After School Snack: 4:00
Dinnertime: 5:30
Snack time: 7:00
Quiet time: 8:00
Book time: 8:20
Bedtime: 8:30

With Dylan's baseball practice he doesn't get home until after 7:15 on practice nights. I know that some families like to eat dinner late, but our family does not. Dylan had practice and Maddie had ballet last night. So, I figured I would make dinner ready on the table at 7:00 so that when the boys got home, it would already be on the table ready for them. Seems logical, right?

Well, Maddie gets home from ballet at 5:45. Before last night, I always had dinner ready for her when she got home from ballet. Last night it wasn't even started yet. She was starving. While I was making dinner, I was chopping up some green peppers which she kept swiping from me. At 7:00 she and I sat down to eat. She ate FIVE HELPINGS of dinner before Joel and Dylan even got home. I started to worry that there wouldn't be enough left for them. Luckily they got home before Shrek Maddie ate all their dinner.

Obviously, since we were eating dinner after 7:00, snack was pushed back. At 8:00 p.m. I announced snack time and Maddie was freaking out about the time. "but, it's almost bedtime!!"

Obviously, bedtime was pushed back too.

Monday's are officially my least favorite day of the week.

Every year at baseball season I start off with good intentions about dinners. For practice days, we eat after practice. For game days, we eat before. By the end of the season, we're eating McDonald's or macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Now for some exciting news....Maddie got her Self-Manager badge yesterday! There are only a handful of kids in the class that have one. They have to earn it through good behavior, doing their work, etc. She has coveted one all year and yesterday was finally the day. Before the teacher handed it out to her she was telling the class about the "person" who was about to get it. I don't know all that she said, because Maddie couldn't remember everything, but she said "this person is someone who I never have to remind to stop talking." Good thing I wasn't there for this because I would have been like "whaaaat??? You have got the wrong kid here teacher."

.....and we're off!!!

Today marks the start of the busy season in the Rogers House. Baseball season starts. Well, the season hasn't "officially" started, but practice starts tonight. Between that and Maddie's ballet and science club, we're going to be running our tooshies off for awhile.

Joel has been hyping Maddie up about basketball for awhile now. He's had it in his brain that she will be a good basketball player. I've been fairly quiet about this. If she's anything like me, she's going to be the worst basketball player that ever lived, but she's proven herself to be more like Joel than me in more than one way so we'll see. Everytime he brought up basketball she'd freak out and say "NO, I just want ballet!!" Anyway, this weekend he brought home a basketball and took her outside and taught her to dribble and pass and how to run and dribble. She loves it. Like, really loves it. So she asked me to find a place where she can play basketball on a team. I found one, but it doesn't start until November and she has to be in 2nd grade (which is perfect because she will be in 2nd grade in November!) So, she and her daddy have all summer to work on her basketball skills. We need to find a hoop, but my dad said people drop that stuff off all the time at the wrecking yard.

On Saturday I went and saw Remember Me with Rachel. I love Robert Pattinson and could have watched this movie with mute on and still loved it. Seriously though, I was really looking forward to seeing Rob in something other than Twilight. He's an outstanding actor (totally hot) and I really enjoyed his performance in that movie (hot). Oh, and he's hot.


Told you so.

Warning! This blog may bore you

I only walked two days this week. How pathetic am I? I am a bit of a baby I guess. I don't mind walking in the rain, but when it's raining and 37 degrees....I turn into a big fat baby. Fat being the key word here.

Joel and Dylan had a good time at the WWE show. Maddie and I had a really good time with our BFFs that night. We met Marin and Rachel at Stella's and had dinner and then went to the Zone so the girls could play in the bouncy house and inflatable playground while Rachel and I chatted. It was really nice. We need to do that more often.

Today is Friday, which means we get two days of sleeping in. I hope. I have had to get up at 6:30 every day this week. I need more sleep STAT.

I rented Planet 51 for movie night. We're all really excited about this one.

We saw the preview for Iron Man 2 last night. Holy Moses, Robert Downey, Jr. That boy needs to stop getting hotter every time I see him. I mean, seriously. Have you seen this face? Watch it here

Beware, this may cause drooling.

Sad, sad, sad

Corey Ian Haim December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010

Everyone has a teen idol growing up. Corey was my first celebrity crush. I had his pictures everywhere. While watching The Two Coreys it was pretty obvious how messed up he was with drugs. I had hoped he would pull himself back up someday, but unfortunately the drugs got the best of him. RIP Corey.

How is a raven like a writing desk?

So, as predicted, Alice in Wonderland was AMAZING. I haven't seen a 3-D movie in YEARS and they have really come a long way with technology. I was really excited to see my kids see a 3-D movie. The first time something jumped out at Maddie I saw her flinch and she turned to me and said "DID YOU SEE THAT???" It was hysterical. We want to see it again, in 3-D of course. I can't imagine seeing it any other way.

I will admit I was a little nervous that Maddie would find the movie "scary", especially in 3-D. She wasn't even in the slightest bit scared. I was glad about that.

We took the trip to Gig Harbor (45 minute drive) to the Galaxy Theater. If you've never been there, it is totally worth the trip. It is a totally posh theater. For the first time since I've been an old woman I actually was able to sit through a movie without having an aching back and buttocks after. The seats are that comfortable.

Anyway, I knew everyone was dying to hear what we thought of the movie. So, we definitely give it 5 stars, not to mention the Galaxy theater gets 5 stars just for being awesome. I wish the theater in Poulsbo was that cool.

Uncommon Nonsense

I'm so excited for today. I've waited for this day for a really long time. It's Dylan and Maddie's first 3-D movie and best of all....it's ALICE IN WONDERLAND!!! I'll let you know how we liked it later, not that there will be a question...cause we're gonna LOVE it.


Speaking of movies, last night we watched Where the Wild Things Are. Honestly, I liked it. I think it was made mostly for adults though. Maddie was really excited about it because she loves the book. The funny thing was that I think she followed the concept of the movie pretty well because of the book. Since they basically took a child's book and expanded it into a live action film that obviously included things that didn't occur in the book, but you can imagine that they had but were not written into a short children's book. There wasn't anything in there that wasn't child friendly. It wasn't even that long of a movie, just over an hour and a half, but it seemed a lot longer.

It's Saturday today and I was reallyyyyy looking forward to sleeping in. Joel was up at 6:15 because he went to help work at the baseball fields before the movie. Maddie was up at 6:30. Are you freaking kidding me? What part of Saturday do we not understand. Dylan wants to go running this morning so I guess we probably should get moving. It's a gorgeous day out today and is supposed to be beautiful all day. We can thank Alice for that :)

1-2-3-4 Thursday

Every week I look forward to Thursdays for several reasons.

The first of those reasons is that it's my Friday. Usually, anyway, unless I have lost my freaking mind and volunteered to work on my days off (read: last weekend).

The second of those reasons is that it's the day my dad picks up the kids after school and doesn't bring them back until just before bed. It's called a "mommy vacation" and I look forward to it every week. More importantly, so do the kids.

The third of those reasons is Tosh.0. It's actually on Wednesdays, but we record it and watch it on Thursdays when the kids are gone. If you haven't seen it, it's this guy who takes plays web videos and comments on them or whatever. It's hilarious. Like, really hilarious. There have been a couple of times I didn't think I was going to recover I was laughing so hard. It's on Comedy Central. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

The fourth reason is this:
Now, before you get all excited, I am not adding him to my "list" or anything. Rob is just an awesome dude. I always liked watching him on previous Survivor seasons he was on, and on the Amazing Race and his reality show with his wife. I do not have a crush on Rob, but I do have a crush on his personality. I like the way he basically told Coach to "suck it up and be a man." Rob for the win!! Now, although I am rooting for Rob to win, this season has me torn. I find myself rooting for everyone (well, mostly everyone, I won't lie and say I wasn't squealing with joy when Cirie got voted off last night).

Now the weird thing about this post is this:
1. It's not Thursday, it's Friday. See, I do know this. You were wondering.
2. The kids did not go with Grandpa yesterday because he was gone on business. They went on Tuesday.
3. Nothing else. I just wanted to add a 3rd number.
4. You can find your own things weird about this post I'm sure and fill in the blanks for me.

Where is the fast forward button?

Yesterday there was a TV show that Dylan wanted to watch. It was on from 6-8, but we couldn't record it because it would have recorded downstairs since we had something recording upstairs from 7:30-8:00. It was currently 6:00 and he was freaking out about not being able to record it. I informed him of this little thing called "live TV." It's an amazing thing, something that few people get to experience anymore. I don't think Dylan even knew it existed!! About 20 minutes into it he was already complaining about "so many commercials!" I can't tell you how many times his finger touched the "fast forward" button out of habit. About 35 minutes into it he quit watching it. I guess he didn't want to watch it that bad after all.

Every day when I pick my kids up their first question is always "what's for dinner?" I don't dare say "I don't know" because I will be bombarded with 100s of ideas, none of which are feasible, realistic or even appetizing, and most include going out to eat. So, I always have to be on the ball and know the answer. You would think that would be enough. Every single day one of them, if not both, will complain. Sometimes I just want to grab them by the ears and remind them that they should be grateful for the fact that I not only COOK for them but that I actually can cook rather well. 95% of the time that they complain of the upcoming dinner, they end up enjoying it. Why can't they remember that BEFORE they open the complaint box and spill it.

I've still been walking 4 miles a day. Today I had to cut it short to 1.5 miles because I had a big phone conference with work this morning. They're making HUGE changes at work. Some sucky and bad and some not so bad, but probably will be anyway. I am not complaining. I love my job, I swear I do. I just need to remind myself of that on days like today when it takes every ounce of my effort to do the work. This is where I miss being paid hourly rather than production. My laziest of days were still paid the same as my productive days. Today I probably got paid like $1.50. Well, whatever. Someone pushed the fast forward button on my day because it seems I missed work. Mentally anyway.

Lost in the Land of Confusion and Drab

I don't have anything interesting to say today, but I wanted to make my presence known. I can't believe it is March already. Time is flying by so fast.

I rented the Super Mario Bros Wii that I've been wanting. I didn't want to drop $50 on a game that I didn't really like so I rented it first. I liked it - but I won't buy it. Mostly because I would get so frustrated with it I would throw the Wii remote. Perhaps a nice calm book would be better for me.

I've been walking 4 miles everyday. I enjoy it a lot. It's not running but I still get a sense of satisfaction, especially on the days where I go out there even though I don't want to. When I am done I feel better about myself. I see some interesting things while walking too. I'm kind of disapointed because after walking or running at least 5 days a week for over a month now I haven't lost a single pound. Not one. Now, one could say that it is because I stuff my face with food from morning until night, and one would be true. I have been getting a little better though. I can't think of how right at this moment.

Did you know March is my least favorite month in the whole world? I feel like it's this drab month where it isn't winter anymore and it's not quite spring. We're hanging in this purgatory of blahness.

Dylan brings home his 3rd quarter progress report next week. I promised him if he had straight A's he could have a new video game. On the last couple he's had all A's except a B in math. The other day he came home with a piece of paper from his math teacher that says he is currently getting an A. So, if he kept it up in the rest of his classes then I think I better start saving for that video game.

Joel and Dylan are going to the WWE show on Tuesday. Dylan has been waiting his whole life for that day (or since Christmas). Maddie and I are having a "girls night" that day complete with manicures and everything. I am so excited and not at all sarcastic about that.

Dylan heard that there is an outbreak of pink eye at his school, so he comes home and tells me, which gets Maddie asking questions about pink eye. Dylan went into a 20 minute lecture about what pink eye is, what it looks like, what it feels like, how to prevent it, how to treat it, etc. How nice of him. Only, now Maddie is obsessed with her eyes. "Mom, I think my eyes look too red. I think I have pink eye." OY

I told you I didn't have anything interesting to say.

Unstructured conversation

I'll do a quick update on my super exciting weekend.

Friday night movie night was Shrek. Of course, we'd seen it. We've seen pretty much every movie you can imagine ever made so we started resorting to old ones we love. I made milkshakes, which is like the greatest thing you can do for your child. They'll love you forever and ever. I know, cause they told me so.

Saturday Joel and Dylan went cutting wood with Joel's dad. They were gone off and on most of the day.

I had to work 9-5 that day so to prevent Maddie from being a pain in my butt all day I sent her to Mam's for a few hours.

Now onto the bittersweet news. Our beloved TV has died. As you know, we rely on this TV for our lifeline. It keeps our blood pumping and keeps my children busy when I need them to leave me alone for a minute. It started about a week ago. The words on the screen were blurry. You could still read it, but not well. Then over a week or so it started to get worse so that even the picture was blurry. After watching TV for about 30 minutes or so it seemed to get better - but I think my eyes were adjusting or I was just losing my marbles. Anyway, it was time for a new one. We made the fantastic family trip to Silverdale to get a new one. We got a pretty good deal I think. It was the same size TV - a 32" - but since our old one was a tube TV and weighed about 500 pounds and had the dimensions of a pregnant rhinoceros, this one is minuscule in comparison. It makes our TV stand look like Tennessee. I am slowly getting used to it though. What choice do I have? LOL

Sunday was baseball tryouts for Dylan. As usual, he psyches himself until he's having panic attacks over it. He did good, though. I guess. I was working so I didn't watch it. Joel watched part of it, but since it is a 3-4 hour adventure he was kind of in and out. I'm excited for Dylan's baseball season. It's my favorite time of year watching my boy out there playing ball. Plus it means sunshine. I lurve sunshine.