Summer 2009

I couldn't wait for this summer to arrive. I was tired of the cold weather, the pace of the work week and the dropping off of school. I was really looking forward to longer days, playing in the pool and generally feeling a bit more relaxed because Harold was home.

So it is now the end of July. We just have a few more weeks before we head home to California. The weather has not cooperated at all. I guess it is the first cool summer we have had and we plunked down $900 for a pool membership. I'm still not sure it is worth it. We have gone every weekend for at least one day, but the process is growing a bit tedious. Abigail has made real improvements since we started. She didn't seem to want to push off from the side before but with only one week of swimming lessons, she is now pushing off both from the front and back.

Abigail's Summer
Abigail qualified for summer school which stunned me. The teachers said that they noticed that she is quiet after a vacation and wanted to make sure that she remains engaged in the structure of school and seeing teachers. I then made the choice to remove her from Learn to Grow. There didn't seem to be much point in keeping her in school for just two days. So she goes to the Arlington Public School's preschool Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 to noon. This was her last week of ballet at Fresh Pond Ballet which was every Tuesday from 3 to 3:45. I enrolled her in alternating weeks of swimming and when it is in session, it runs daily at 2PM.

Harold's Summer
He joined the BSC so that we could join for cheaper at the outdoor pool. He loves both the Waltham and Watertown gyms and has started running. He looks great and he is in training. Harold has trimmed back the tree behind our garage and that has been a lot of work. He is relaxed, fit though not always available. He spends tremendous time downloading his music. But he should be able to enjoy himself this summer and relax.

My Projects
We joined a CSF with limited success. They have been offering only cod though they promised shellfish. Oh well. We gave it a try. I had a bout of strawberry obession with freezer jam, shortcakes, and freezing. The local strawberries were wonderful and surpassed any strawberries coming from California. I am now in a blueberry phase and we went picking on Sunday. I have been trying to go to farmer's markets which I don't typically go to but they offer the same items that our CSA does but we would get to control what we wanted. I do feel that we won't do the CSA next year though. I have so much zucchini I have to make baked goods with it.

Is it February Already?

I kinda felt that January was too long and over much too quickly all at the same time. I think this is a theme with me. I have to say that we were all illness free this month, which I believe is a first since October.

I have completely fallen off the weight loss wagon for the month of January, managing only one week of good behavior and healthy food choices. I diligently went to my weekly WW meetings only to make myself accountable for the poor eating. But I do admit to having much less resolve especially since my knee is out of commission completely.

However, I have hope! I made an appointment with the accupunturist this week and hope that they can help me where PT cannot. I also have to face the fact that I may need to swim and bike on a machine just to keep my activity level up.

Christmas Eve 2008

I'm sitting here at 10:30 at night typing this entry after having stuff the bottom of the tree with all of Abigail's gifts and all of Harold's mom's gifts. I didn't wrap any of Abigail's gifts. It was a dilemma for me. I wanted her to be able to open a gift but I also thought it was an awful waste to wrap ALL her gifts, there are sooo many of them:

1. Roller Skates
2. Mouse House
3. Race track with car
4. 7 Curious George books
5. A Madeline compendium

I rationalized my actions with the fact that Harold's mom went OVER the top with gifts and wrapped everything.

It has been a tiring day. I first went to the mall first thing after dropping Abigail off at school. It was manageable at the beginning but since I didn't have breakfast, I succumbed to Chik Fila knowing that Harold wouldn't want to fight the traffic to eat with me at any restaurant at the mall. He is sick, after a week of me being sick and also shoveling snow with wet feet. My cold is almost gone but I had a really bad bout of face tenderness and thought I had a sinus infection. After the mall, I went to Linda's with Abigail, played with Shane and then went for a quick tour around the Chestnut Hill mall so that we wouldn't have to make the stop on Friday. So after all that activity, gift wrapping didn't seem so much fun.

Plus I had already wrapped all the teacher gifts and Harold's co-worker gifts. The baking turned out to be anti-climatic and I have to figure out a way to make it more manageable. It cannot be the marathon that it was on Saturday and Sunday of last week.

So I hope that Abigail won't mind that all the gifts from Santa aren't wrapped. Maybe she won't notice. But she was thrilled to give Wong Auntie her gifts and I was so proud of her.

Christmas Musings

The Tree

We bought our standard tree at Mahoney's this year. Still $60 and it is a beauty. I used my first tree skirt that I bought last year at Macy's Christmas sale in South Coast Plaza. I spent 4 hours getting the lights and ornaments on the tree. Harold said to me that after factoring in my labor and the total cost of the ornaments, the tree probably cost more than $1000. I had to admit that he might be correct.

Cards

No handmade cards this year and an annual letter. I really like our letter this year and may post it on this site along with a photo of the card.

December and the Holidays

It is now mid-December and I just read my latest blog. What happened between the adventure at Chinese school and now? Let's see, about 3.5 weeks of Abigail sickness. I think Abigail was only sick 2 weeks but between Harold and myself, we were sick most of November. I don't think we recovered until right before Harold's mom and nephew and niece came for Thanksgiving.

So being ill took the sails right out of my baking extravaganza and then the cooking marathon that was Thanksgiving also exhausted me in ways that I am only now recovering from. And then also on top of all that was the big lay-offs. Michael is now gone and the power vacuum and imminent organizational changes have left me with some sleepness nights. But I now more or less reconciled with all things. I wanted to be cautious, political and self-preserving.

My current thoughts are on how to enjoy the holidays without exhausting myself and keeping on plan. I spent 4 hours decorating the tree and it left me drained. I swore while putting up the lights and thought that it was definitely not fun. But as Harold pointed out, after all the work, the lights and ornaments look lovely.

Keeping on plan is proving to be harder. I tired of salads and my Middle Easter mixes into my salad. So I'm trying to stay with the trusted and true veggie soup. But it is still difficult to stay on plan with all the wonderful desserts and all my wonderful stress. A double whammy for me. Also the knee is still sore and I haven't been organized enough to get the bicycle contraption purchased and set up.

I had thought of giving myself a break for Christmas but I reconsidered and thought if I were at least conscious of any weight gain, I would at least not be in denial.

Let's see how I fare.

Chinese School

After going to Winchester's Chinese School on Sunday, I now have misgivings about signing up Abigail.

First, it was SO Chinese. Not just a get to know Chinese but a "you-must-already-speak-Chinese" class. It was freezing and I didn't like the teacher. What was so amazing was that the kids were able to recognize Chinese characters! I was personally at a loss.

Second, the stories they told were kind of disturbing. Death or killing was in both of them and I thought the morals were a little too advanced for preschoolers.

There is the Lexington Chinese School and that might be more our speed, but we are in the middle of the semester. I am seriously thinking that I will start Abigail next year. But that this year, Wong Auntie can work with her with books etc.

Going to a Sunday class would mean yet another activity on the weekend that I would have to bring Abigail to and I am kind of thinking that just spending time doing activities or going to puppet shows might be more enjoyable for her and myself.

Before I Forget

There is story that Harold told me about Abigail a few weeks ago. They had gone to the market together on a Sunday. Harold was worried about dealing with Abigail and sticking to the list of items that I put down. He picked up a pear and asked her what it was and she didn't know so he told her it was a pear. Harold then continued purchasing fruit and Abigail picked up a fig and asked him what it was. He didn't answer right away and Abigail said, "baby pear"; Harold was so struck by it that he told me when they returned. It is a great story and I didn't want to forget about it.

I think I am getting sick AGAIN. Abigail has conjunctivitis.