Flatline

                     
☝that is a graph of my weight loss 
So that goal of losing weight? I'm being as good as I can be without going overboard. I'm walking 4 miles (fast) up and down the hills around here everyday. I'm doing Crossfit twice a week. I'm logging my calories to make sure I don't go crazy. I've been doing this for three weeks now. Do you know what I have to show for it? NOTHING.  Absolutely nothing. I have lost exactly one pound and that's a come and go pound (you know, the one you have if you weigh yourself now, but not when you weigh yourself in 5 hours, but then it's back in another 5 hours).  WTF? Stupid, stupid aging. I blame it all on aging. There are two things keeping me going on this kick:

• I feel better, mentally and physically, throughout the day when I walk in the mornings. 
• My body has rearranged some of its mass in a more pleasing way. 

However, my body fat % is still very high and my weight is still high. I haven't paid close attention to my body fat percentage, but I can say that if it's changed, it's only changed by at most 1%. 

So this is my frustration for the moment. I don't really have much else to say about it other than fuck aging's effect on my metabolism. 

Crossfit yesterday was more squats, alternating those with handstand pushups. Before you go and get all impressed by me (as if you could after reading the above), know that I can do a handstand, but I cannot do a handstand push up. So I would do a handstand, then drop down and do a cheater pushup ... because I can't even do more than one proper pushup.

Fountains and Parks and Parenting Self-Esteem
Avery has been to fountains around town three of the last three days, tyvm. At least I'm keeping her active. We played at the OHSU fountain for two hours on Monday. I had Elise and Nolan for the afternoon, and we met Christie & Henry there for part of the time, so that two hours went by fast. After that I took all three kids to the park for a bit. I felt like a Good Mom and a Good Babysitter because of those things. But, on balance, Nolan exited the school without me or any other adult and made his way down the sidewalk in the parking lot where cars are typically going every which way. And later in the day, Elise just strolled out into the street when I was focused on Avery and Nolan. So, overall, it was a wash of a day in my parenting/babysitting/child handling self-esteem.

TV
Is anyone else watching Veep? The first episode I had trouble thinking of Julia Louis-Dreyfus' as anyone other than Sarah Palin, so I thought that would be a hinderance to me watching the show. A few episodes later and it's clearly not based on Sarah Palin in any way. It's a very funny and very clever show. Watching the show the other night, it struck me that I in no way have trouble thinking of it as a leap for a woman to be the VP. It's not like I've ever doubted a woman could do the job of VP, I think it's more than 10 years ago I would have looked at it as Hollywood trying to be progressive or whatever. Now it's just something that hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will soon(ish). I should note, the show is a comedy and funny for those who aren't into politics.

Bullets

I seem to have a harder time blogging with Mom here. Maybe I've been subconsciously blogging to keep her informed of my life and now that she's here, I struggle with it more? When out of ideas, there are always bullet points with random stuff.

• Mom took Barkley to the groomer this morning. He looks good, but it cost double (!) they amount they quoted on the phone, so we're still in search of a good groomer if anyone knows of one. 
• The knobs have been installed on the living room cabinetry.  It's basically done, though we still have to one door put back on after a hinge mishap. Now I need to focus on getting the visible shelves filled with "decor." That'll take me about 3 years to do, I'm sure. 
• Barkley is making small progress with walking on the wood floors. Very small, but progress nonetheless. 
• Remember when I said I was going to have a controlled fall about 1.5 months ago? Just to be completely open: there was nothing controlled about it. I've been awful about logging food, about what I'm eating, and about keeping up with walking. Not exactly shocking, I know. 
• Mom and I spent a lot of the day getting her gadgets and technical needs figured out. We got her new GPS working, saved addresses in the GPS, mapped out dog parks close(ish) to us for her to try out with Barkley, got her account set up so she can view my calendar, and got her DVR set up properly so she can watch the tube of boobs in her quarters. 
• We're all (D, me, Avery, and Mom) to the Timbers game on Saturday night.  That's right, I'm giving it another whirl. I'm not overly optimistic that I'll enjoy the game, but perhaps I'll enjoy watching the people watching the game. 
• There's a new competition-based reality show about tattooing called Best Ink. While I would never get a tattoo, I have reached a point where I can appreciate the artform of tattooing as craft or an art. 

Five

Awake
I've been awake since 5 am. Early waking is a rarity for me. I made myself a protein drink using Spiro-tein. I figure since protein drinks are seemingly the only thing that don't give me a headache and queasiness, I should at least try to find one with less sugar than my beloved Odwalla. It definitely isn't as good as Odwalla with its 37g of sugar, but given it only has 7g of sugar, it's acceptable.

Full Metal Jousting and other TV stuff
Arriving just in time to satisfy my obsession with the 13th century is a show on the History channel called Full Metal Jousting. D and I saw it advertised at the beginning of a movie and couldn't resist. We'll see if it holds our attention. Such shows always peak my interest, but rarely hold it.

To ensure I don't miss any crap quality TV, I sometimes peruse the Daily Picks on TiVo's website. I'm doing it right now and see the movie The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie listed. Here's the description:

This 2010 snoozefest supposedly was a passion project for stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, who wanted to work with European director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck ("The Lives of Others"). But this "romantic thriller" about a math teacher who gets involved in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with a sultry stranger in Europe is a complete train wreck. Depp is unconvincing as a nebbish, while Jolie walks through the film with the numbed gaze of a recently Tasered supermodel. You really don't want to book this tour.

Huh? Why did they list it on their Daily Picks if they hate the movie so and recommend skipping it? Weird. I really should have been an investigative journalist since it's stories like these that I could bring the forefront of America's attention.

Minutia update
It's now 7:35 and Avery has woken up. Unfortunately she joined us in bed last night, so there will be no TV this morning. She's doing pretty well at sleeping in her bed, at least relative to the last couple of months. She comes in with us 1-2 times per week. I can't blame her much for last night's disregard for the rule since she said her ear hurt. Who wants to sleep alone when your ear hurts? Not Avery.

High

High self-esteem day

Friday was a day to strengthen my self-esteem with a number of events (written on Friday):

• D just asked me how to do something obscure in Excel and I was able to recall from my many years of Excel devotion from way back when exactly what it was called.  Minor, but nice. 
• When I had my friend & neighbor's daughter this afternoon, she had three minor fits at the grocery store.  With each I calmly stood my ground.  During the third one, she actually got down in the middle of the produce section and started crying.  I continued to stand my ground and was able to calmly bring an end to the fit without giving in one little bit.  I had about ten people watching me as this fit went down.  A  woman (60-ish) came up to me after it was over and commented how well I handled it.  Excellent. 
• I got a number of things done today and this makes me feel good. 
• Finally, Avery is starting to understand the new reward system I started a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted to give her an incentive to do things like tidy her room and set the table without me asking her to do them.  So I decided to tell her she could earn two tickets if she did a task without me asking her to do it and one ticket when she does it when I ask her to.  She has, predictably, said no to performing a task I ask her to do.  To get around this, I tell her that the choice is do the task and earn a ticket, or I still make her do the task, but she earns no ticket.  It only took one time of her having to do the task and getting no ticket for her to realize she should take the one ticket deal.  Anyway, I thought it wasn't getting through to her that doing tasks without being asked would rewarded.  However, in the past couple of days, she's taken the initiative to do a few tasks. 

Sushi & Gelato

D and I took Avery and the G kids out for sushi and gelato tonight.  Considering we were out to eat with a 4, 3, and 2 yo, it went very well.  Best part was by the time we got home it was immediately time for bed!

Beach Trip

Elise earned a reward of going on a beach trip with a friend.  She chose to take Avery.  As long as G3 stays put, Avery will be off to the beach with Elise and Jay tomorrow for the bulk of the day.  In the evening is our date night.  Nice.

Update on Sunday: Avery had a great time with Elise and Jay at the beach.  And given the time, the Gs just kept Avery straight through date night, which meant that D and I had from 11:30 - the night free!

Estate Sale

On the way home from soccer today, Avery and I happened upon an estate sale.  So we popped in and I ended up buying a telephone chair/table, you know, because there's nothing like buying furniture for antiquated technologies.  Next up: fax table!

I plan to eventually (ha! in Megan-terms, that's like 4 years) refinish the wood so it's a darker colored wood, as well as reupholster it.  I just like it because it's unique.  Since I moved the chair that was in my office into the living room, I've been wanting a replacement.  I was just going to buy a cheap IKEA chair, but saw this and figured what the hell.  Plus, it's got a little nook below the table where I'm quite sure Avery will have a ton of fun putting things.

TV

I have been on a Seinfeld rerun kick.  I have no idea why.  I'm loving it, though.  Between Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, I'm cracking up all day.

Oh, and if you're not watching Suits, you should be.

Hipsters

D and I spent our aforementioned free time on Saturday while Avery was at the beach shopping for our costumes for Partiamo, which is the name of the annual company retreat with D's office.  The theme this year is hipsters. Time will tell if I have the guts to wear my hipster costume.  I am not one to dress to standout and my outfit is quite loud.

Specialist

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Turtle & her eye

There's much I want to blog about to catch up, but Turtle is occupying most of my brain at the moment.  A bit ago I made an appointment for Turtle to see a vet that specializes in ophthalmology.  I decided that it's worth the consult fee to see if this vet thinks it can be anything simple - or at least treatable with reasonable medications.  I'm not going to authorize any tests that will reveal things that we won't treat (cancer, tumor that must be removed, etc).  Hopefully that approach will keep the cost down while keeping my guilt and worry in check.

Her eye doesn't look quite as bad as it did at its worst, but it's definitely unpleasant to look at.  And her nose is still bleeding a good amount.  She won't drink her food if I liquefy it, nor will she drink Ensure.  She will, however, drink an Odwalla protein shake.  Leave it to my dog to pick the most expensive option.  Ah well, the shakes are quite filling, so I don't feel like she's starving to death if I give her two a day.  She looks quite svelte right now. 

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Last day

Today is Avery's last day at her current school.  I was telling Christie that I'm not the parent to have emotional reactions to things other parents seem to react to.  By that I mean that I don't have these "she's growing up so fast" cringes and I often don't get emotional about things I hear other mothers talking about.  Well, I found the thing I do.  I'm having a hard time with this changing of schools thing.  I guess it's because she does so well at her current school, she fits in, she's liked by all the teachers and kids, and it's really been a great experience for her.  Her teacher called me yesterday to see what special treat Avery would like for her goodbye party.  Then she said, "If only I could have ten Avery's in my class."  I almost cried when I dropped Avery off at school this morning.  Avery, on the other hand, is just fine with it all.

I made thank you cards for the three teachers yesterday.  I also got each a gift certificate to Target. When Avery is old enough to pick out appropriate gifts for her teachers, I will go with something more personal than a gift certificate.  However, I have a lot of trouble buying knick knacks that *I* pick out for a teacher.  *I* would never pick a knick knack.  I always pick practical, so gift certificate it is.  At least I made personalized cards!

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TV

D and I have started watching a new series on USA called Suits.  I linked to it on Hulu for anyone who is looking for some TV to get them through summer.  Both D and I really enjoyed the pilot.  It avoided a lot of cliches, so I have hope it'll be a good show. 

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Books

I'm reading Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction.  A Goodreads friend (and former coworker from way back) read it and rated it highly.  She and I have somewhat similar reading tastes.  It's hard to read, not because of gory detail or awful stories, but because reading about a child who becomes addicted to drugs is gut wrenching to think about.  Oh, and Christie, it was published in 2008.

I'm also reading Children of the Mind, the fourth in the Ender's Game series.  It's not nearly as readable as the other three.  However, D told me the next one is very good, so I will slog my way through it to get to the next one.  D had the same reaction to Children of the Mind as me, so the author must have been having an off period.

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Sneak peak

And since I don't have the brain bandwidth (see aforementioned Turtle issue along with Avery's last day of school) to blog about these things, I shall make a list of all I want to blog about:

• Avery's fit in Colorado
• Recap of Colorado trip
• Avery's sleeping situation update (it's good!)

Jog-A-Thon

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Seeking Pledges

Avery's school is doing a Jog-A-Thon to support their Healthy Kids campaign.  Any family or friends who'd like to sponsor Avery can do so by making a per lap pledge or a flat fee pledge.  Avery will run for 20 minutes.  A lap is approximately 1/24th of a mile.  If anyone is up for sponsoring Avery, flat fee or per lap, leave a comment or shoot me an email.  She'll be running either tomorrow or Thursday, then I have until the 20th to collect the pledges.  I'm so late in posting this because we were gone most of last week.  Eek!

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Day Off

This is my first true day off in a while.  At least, it's my first day where I have a large chunk of time to do whatever I want.  So, of course, I want to do nothing.  I will not actually be doing nothing, but it's funny how that works.

Among the projects I'm considering:

• Finishing odds and ends in the garage
• Starting the knitting needle case for RHG
• Cleaning the house thoroughly
• Finally doing Avery's 3rd BD post (head hanging in shame)
• Editing some of the video from our trip to make a little movie

Right now, I'm leaning towards a bit of the first three.

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TV

Marcel, of Top Chef fame, has his own show on the SyFy channel: Marcel's Quantum Kitchen.  I was never a fan of Marcel's on Top Chef, but the show is pretty interesting.  They are obviously inventing drama to make the show more interesting (which I don't think is necessary), but it's nothing too annoying. 

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Snoring

Both dogs are in my office snoring away as I write this.  I love snoring dogs because it means they aren't bugging me to do something.

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Freecycle

I'm in a round of Freecycling.  Unfortunately, I've had no one request the stupid futon frame.  I guess I'll try posting it on Craig's List for free and see if that gets any hits. 

Drawing

Milestones

Every once in a while, I actually read the "your child at [insert age]" article sent to me by babycenter.com. Today's linked to skills mastered by the average 31 - 36 month old. Avery's in the advanced category for all ages listed for most skills. The skills she's not quite there on are related to drawing. She can sort of draw a circle, but most of the time she keeps going around and around and it's just a hot mess really. She is no where near a stick figure. I am not shocked by this at all because she has so little interest in drawing or coloring. She can hold the crayon or marker quite well, it's just the activity itself holds no interest for her. Don't get me wrong. I'm not worried about this at all. Different kids like different things. I just find it interesting.

I also don't think she's doing every other foot when going up and downstairs.

I have commented to friends several times that I don't get why it takes kids so long to master their colors. Given one of the milestones is knows ONE color, clearly it's a universally challenging thing for kids. Avery, by the way, is not blue-yellow colorblind. The day after I did the post stating how sure I was that she was blue-yellow colorblind, she identified yellow for the first time ever. That was the only color she was, for whatever reason, struggling to remember. She's got it down pat now.

Neighbors

After dinner last night, Avery wanted to play ball. The three of us went into the exterior courtyard next to our house and sat down to toss the ball to each other. A neighbor's gate was open and eventually the temptation of the ball was too much for their 5-month-old puppy who ran out to greet us when no one was looking. That resulted in us meeting three sets of neighbors. We're not good at meeting people who are not introduced to us. Hell, we're not good at maintaining relationships when people are introduced to us. Now if I can only hang on to their names and commit them to memory.

TV

D and I brought down the DVD's for the first season of several TV shows. We finished the first season of Breaking Bad, then dutifully ordered the next two seasons so they'll be at our house when we get home. We started Sons of Anarchy last night. I'm enjoying that one, too.

Friends

Vic and Mike arrive this afternoon! It'll be fun to have them here for the rest of our visit. We've already book a boat trip out to Coronado Island for later this week. We're planning to dinner out tonight, so that should be fun.

Receipts

BPA and receipts

Apparently BPA is often used in the paper used for receipts because it brings out the black print without the need for ink.  Excerpt from this post on Enviroblog:

Now a new, federally funded, multi-year study is confirming our concerns about BPA in receipts. More than 380 pregnant women from the Cincinnati area had their urine tested for BPA at three points during pregnancies and at birth, and the results are troubling. Women in the study who worked at a register had an average of 55 percent more BPA in their urine than those employed as teachers. Many register receipts are coated with BPA, which brings out the black print without the need for ink.

While I don't obsess about BPA exposure, 55% higher seems so out of whack. 

Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex

The title sounds very, very dirty.  However, this post is really just an analysis of the 3.2 million OKCupid users and how they describe themselves and their habits. It's fascinating which sterotypes stand-up against the data (gay men love The Devil Wears Prada and Brittany Spears) and which ones don't (gay people are not out to convert straights nor are they any more promiscuous than straights).

I also love the map showing which geographies are more gay curious.  Oregon is super gay curious, as is Canada.  Mississippi not so much.  Duh.

TV Update

A couple of weeks ago, I gave my opinion of the onslaught of new fall TV shows.  Watching the pilots is really only the first step in my process of adopting new shows to watch.  The next step is natural attrition, either because they are canceled or because I just don't feel like watching them.  When I have backlogged episodes sitting on the TiVo, yet don't feel compelled to press play, those don't make the cut.

Anyway, of the ten I listed and did not immediately rule out, I am watching four: Mike & Molly, The Event, Running Wilde, $*#! My Dad Says.  I do also like Raising Hope, but haven't watched more than the first two episodes. 

DC

DC trip in April

We are meeting D's dad and his partner, Rosie, in DC for several days in April.  Originally we were going to meet them in NYC.  However, when we planned an excursion to DC to tag onto the NYC trip, everyone decided to just go to DC instead.  It looks like my mom will be joining us, as well.  Dad?  You up for it?  Let me know if so and I'll give you the dates. 

Fall TV is here!

I love the fall because I love TV.  I told D the other day that the only career I could really see myself having a lot of passion about is working in programming for a TV studio.  I get so excited about new TV shows and love to try out each new one.  I quickly eliminate most from my list of must-see TV, but I love TV.  I love movies, too, but I think I love TV more.

Anyway, as such, I shall provide you with a rundown of my opinion of new shows this year.  These are in no particular order and just listed in the order in which I remembered them.

• Blue Bloods - just awful.  We couldn't even get through the first show.  It's clearly made for Republicans.  It doesn't have any political bent, but it is just so black and white.  Within the first three minutes, all dialogue had let us know who had died, who was related to who, what tensions there are between characters, and moved into the obligatory cop torturing a suspect to heroically save a child.  Puke.
• Outlaw - watchable enough, but a bit full of itself.  Jimmy Smits is well cast.  I was annoyed with the constant bombardment of tossing the football and tossing back snack foods whilst discussing a death penalty case.  We get it - you're lawyers who can handle a lot of pressure . However, it was entertaining enough to watch when there's not a lot else on. 
• Mike & Molly - I think this is going to be a good comedy.  I find that I need to give a sitcom about 3-4 shows to find its groove. I give a drama one shot because I don't think drama is as difficult to find the right pitch; comedy is much tougher.  Some of the jokes were lame and obvious, but I think in a few more shows it'll be quite funny. 
• Hawaii Five-O - it's exactly what it is supposed to be: fun fluff.  You can't take it at all seriously, but it's fun.  
• The Event - I quite liked this one.  I think it did a good job at easing us into the relationships between characters (the opposite of Blue Bloods) and keeping the viewer engaged despite jumping around between plot lines and time lines.
• Detroit 1-8-7 - this show wants to be along the same lines as a Homicide or The Wire.  It doesn't quite achieve that level of sophistication, but it's definitely watchable.  A much, much better cop drama than Blue Bloods. 
• Raising Hope - I'll be surprised if this sitcom makes it.  It's got some dark humor and might have trouble finding an audience.  But I did find myself laughing out loud several times. 
• Running Wilde - I loved this sitcom.  It's totally hilarious much in the way Arrested Development or Better Off Ted are funny.  Hopefully each show can keep up with the pilot. 
• Better With You - I liked this and found several parts funny.  It's a more run-of-the-mill sitcom than either Raising Hope or Running Wilde, but it was good for a few laughs. 
• Undercovers - ridiculously good looking CIA agents who are married to each other and fight international crime together.  Totally unbelievable, but kind of fun. It's not a must-see for me, but it's watchable fluff if nothing else is on.  
• $#*! My Dad Says - first, the producers of this show should receive the bonehead of the year award.  Apparently, no DVR (TiVo included) has a "$" button, so it's really hard to actually find the show to set up a pass.  It was an awkward pilot and would have been a complete disaster without Shatner in the lead.  The supporting cast is good.  The only questionable one is the son who is moving in with the dad. It might get better.  
• Nikita - absolutely dreadful.  Couldn't even make it through the pilot. 
• Boardwalk Empire - I was bored with the pilot. I made it about 20 minutes into it before deciding it's not for me.  It might very well be a good show, but I don't care enough to continue to watch to find out.  It's just not my cup of tea.  

Frustrated

Laryngitis

Diagnosis confirmed.  Treatment of not talking (including whispering) and lots of fluids and "taking care of myself" received.  I'm not sure how to achieve this not talking thing with a 2.5yo and three dogs.  It's so f*&%ing frustrating.  I cannot adequately express how frustrating.  The dogs got loose out front and ran off into the neighbor's yard.  What could I do since I couldn't yell after them?  The answer is jump and down and throw a minor hissy fit.  Nice.

I have a picnic on Saturday and a dinner on Sunday. I am not missing either one, but it's going to be interesting when I have to mime all my conversations.

I have learned that even laryngitis does not stop complete strangers from attempting to have a conversation with me. I'm clearly struggling to speak, yet they're still getting all chit chatty at the car wash. WTF? I couldn't be less friendly in my body language if I tried, but we live in Portland and that means chatty chatty chatty apparently.

Diet = Done, Megan = Bitching, You no like = skip this part

Maybe I'll resume at another point, but as of now, it's out the window.  I was thinking I might be able to recover after my slip at lunch, but after the dog walk and then brushing the three dogs, it's totally done with.  Something had to break between not being able to talk and having a third dog in the house.  Not only is there more chaos, there's so much more hair.  I keep vacuuming and that does nothing.  Eddie is shedding like a maniac, but I can barely brush him because he goes after me (gently) due to pain.  I try to do it as gently as I can, but he's so sensitive in the back now that it's very difficult to do.  Touching his hip is like a mass of bony bumps.  Things are definitely all messed up back there.

Then there's the constant poop issue.  Eddie is back in the garage at night due to incontinence, but there's still the poop in the garage to pick up, plus in-house accidents during the day.  And the poop in the dog run.  And Avery's twice a day pooping.  My life is like shit-picker-upper central right now.

Ah crap.  Now I'm a bit nauseated from eating stuff not on the diet.  I guess my body adjusted to it.  Man, I'm in a mood today. Screw it.  I'm going all the way with this mood.  Check out this Dear Abby article.  Some woman writes in for advice about a friendship gone south and Abby says, "DEAR HAVEN'T A CLUE: I wish you had written me before soliciting advice from your neighbors because ..." Seriously?  The first thing this "Abby" says is how you can't even ask for advice right?  

Amazing Race

The Amazing Race will have a team of a birthmother and her biological daughter whom she placed for adoption.  They've only very recently found each other.  I must say that I find it so cool that the show has such a pairing on it.  I love when adoption comes out of the closet.

Paint

Paint

Hopefully they'll begin painting our house next Monday!  I cannot wait to get a new color up.  As I've stated before, probably more times than I realize, we never liked the color we chose for the house.  It looked great on the 2"x 2" paint sample card, but awful on the house.  Our GC is coming by tonight to get the final sign off on the paint.  

Funny

Check out this playground sign.  Apparently, Canadian children are bit more capable ... or Canadians are less sue happy. 

Housewives

Since I've been enjoying my new guilty pleasure of The Real Housewives of New Jersey so much, I TiVo'd The ... DC.  Um, not so much.  Thankfully, my embarrassing attraction to trashiness is isolated to those crazy NJ women. 

I did watch the first episode of The ... DC.  What I find interesting is that two are most definitely not "housewives."  One is a realtor who does 25-30 million in listings each year; another is not even married (with no desire to be married) and runs a modeling agency.  The title of the show should be The Real Attention Seekers of xxxx.

Books

I have no update here.  I haven't read much at all since I finished the last book.  I am taking it as a sign that I am not going to finish the book on modern slavery.  It's just not worth it.  So, I'm taking suggestions for new books to read.  Ideas anyone? 

NP

I saw the naturopathic physician this week.  The reason for going: to see what can be done about my constant need for sleep.

He explained a difference between conventional/Western medicine and Chinese medicine in a way that made me think about medicine in a way I hadn't before.  When you go to a conventional doctor with, say, a migraine problem, that doctor will likely prescribe Imitrex.  In other words, the doctor is prescribing something to suppress the symptom rather than fixing the problem causing the migraines.  The goal of Chinese medicine is to address the problem rather than the symptom.  I should note here that he wasn't at all critical of conventional doctors here.  There was no attitude that conventional doctors are quacks or aren't valid.  It was just explaining he different thought processes. 

I went to an acupuncturist when we were trying to get pregnant.  I remember her taking my pulses there and getting a similar result to his result.  Basically, according to Chinese medicine, my kidney function is close to non-existent and liver function is not stellar.  The way he described it, the kidney is like the battery to the body.  My battery is empty.

So, we're starting with three sessions of acupuncture, a blood test (which apparently is analyzed differently than conventional doctors analyze results), and I'm supposed to start an elimination diet.  My first acupuncture treatment is tomorrow.  Since Avery's not in school, I'm taking her.  I think she'll just want to watch the process, but I have my iPhone if she wants to watch TV. 

Eddie

Since we've been giving him additional medication to dull any pain and discomfort he is experiencing, we've had far fewer poop accidents in the house.  I'm not sure why, but RHG speculated that maybe he's more willing to go out during the day to eliminate since it's not as painful for him.  My guess is that is correct.

We still have issues, one of which was pretty traumatic for me the other day.  This is disgusting, so if you're easily disgusted, move along.  Avery was at school, so I decided to eat lunch in the living room while watching my new bad habit (RHofNJ).  I sat down in the chair, ate my lunch and thought all was well.  When I got up from the chair to put my dishes in the kitchen, a turd fell off the back of me.  It was then that I realized I had been sitting on a couple of turds in the chair and hadn't noticed.  So gross.  Clearly, it didn't smell badly since I didn't notice that.  Thankfully, that is the chair with the cover that can be washed, so I stripped it immediately and washed it.  No more Eddie in that chair! 

Bookcase

Weekend Recap

Avery and I had a couple of playdates on Friday, the second of which was at Rachele's.  Very convenient for me since D and I had date night on Friday night.  We decided to make it a double-header and saw two movies: The Other Guys and The Kids are All Right.  I thought The Other Guys was very funny.  The Kids are All Right was good, but not as good as I was expecting given it's stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Saturday we didn't do much of anything but nap before the G's arrived to drop Elise and Nolan off for a 24-hour break from the kids.  Our first overnight with both Nolan and Elise was about as easy as having two additional children could possibly be.  Nolan went to sleep without a fuss, as did Elise.  Avery had a bit more trouble - as she always does when we have guest children around - but even that was easy to deal with.  Nolan woke once during the night (D got up with him).  I got up with Elise and Nolan in the morning.  Avery came down to join us when she finally woke up.  The kids played well together.  Nolan entertained himself with my drawer of plastic containers.  All in all, an easy little stint in having three kids and three dogs in the house for a somewhat extended period of time.  Hopefully future weekends will be the same.  Fingers crossed.

Sunday, after E&N left with R&J around 4 pm, D put together Avery's new bookcase (see pictures below). We ate out on Sunday night, followed by an evening of TV - Madmen, Design Star, Rubicon. 

Avery's Room

We decided Avery's room was too cramped with both the chair and the new bookcase, so we have moved the chair into our room.  Clearly, we need to move the map behind the book case (all in due time, people), but I'm so very happy to have a place to put all the books and toys that were lining the floor of her room.  Eventually I'll buy some baskets/containers for some of the cubbies, but I wanted to get an inventory of the books and stuff we have before doing that. 

I've also decided that I need to buy Avery curtains and bedding that are a bit more girlie.  Now that her personality is more formed, I recognize the decor doesn't reflect Avery's personality very well. 

Real Housewives of New Jersey

Crap.  I'm totally hooked. I knew I shouldn't have started watching it.  It's like crack.  These people are crazy, but I just love to hate them.  Which is why we all watch those shows, isn't it?

BFF Dialogue

I am absoluetely terrible at remembering the cute things Avery is starting to say.  I have busted out laughing a number of times now that her vocabulary is verbose enough to relay more than simple things.  I did jot down a couple of exchanges between Avery and Elise during our weekend.

Avery, to me, at dinner: "I'm having a conversation with Friend Elise." 
Avery, to Elise: "How was your day Friend Elise?"

Elise, with genuine enthusiasm: "I didn't fall down the stairs!"
Avery, with matching genuine enthusiasm: "Good job, Friend Elise!"

Totally Awesome Desk

Check out this idea for containing cord mess.

Jersey

Confession

I rarely watch TV during the day, even when I have shows on backlog.  Yesterday, not only did I watch TV, but I watched TV by flicking around the channels.  I cannot remember the last time I did that.  If there's not something that's been TiVo'd, then, for me, there's nothing on to watch and I don't even search.  All that is to say, I'm not sure what came over me when I started flicking.  Furthermore, I'm at a complete loss to explain how I landed on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  And it's certainly completely inexplicable how I actually started watching the show, then decided I'd just TiVo the next three shows (which conveniently were airing back to back).  Pathetic, strange, mind boggling, and foreign all describe the show, but mostly it just leaves me at a loss for words.  Of course, that I was watching it makes it even worse, but damn, those people are crazy.

Eddie & Meds

I took Eddie to the vet to get some pain medications and see if there's anything else that can be done for the incontinence.  He's handling the pain meds well and was happy to go on his walk today.  While he tries to go with Turtle and me when we go on the trail walk, he very quickly accepts being left behind.  A year ago, he would have whined incessantly while we were gone.  However, he does seem to still very much enjoy the short walks.

Zoo

Camping at the zoo

The camperoo at the zoo on Saturday was fun, but not quite as much fun as I was expecting.  It's not that anything went wrong or was difficult as much as it didn't live up to my expectations.  That said, I would definitely consider doing it again.  Avery and Henry seemed to have a great time.  While Avery was eager to go to bed, getting to sleep was a different story.  She was bouncing off the walls of the tent for a good hour before finally settling in for sleep.  She also insisted on taking her jammies off and sleeping in the buff, which meant that both D and I were waking up and covering her with a blanket throughout the night (she also refused the sleeping bag).  I don't think she was actually cold, but we were apparently both worried she was since we were waking and covering not knowing the other was doing the same.

We did a tour of the commissary on Saturday evening.  They showed us what vegetables look like (I guess as an educational opportunity for the kids?) and went inside the freezer and refrigerator where all the food is stored.  We did learn that the most expensive animals to feed are the sea lions since they eat restaurant-grade sea food six times per day.  Elephants, while they eat a lot, are not overly expensive to feed because they eat a lot of hay and vegetables. 

Sunday morning we did the elephants tour.  This was a let down for me because they didn't give us much information on elephants.  We went into the yard where the elephants normally hang out during the day.  They had the kids hide pieces of fruit and veggies all over the place, then we went above to watch the elephants find all the food.  I love elephants, so I could watch for hours, but overall a bit of a let down.  

Sunday

Of course, as a result of subpar sleep on Saturday night, I napped right on through the day on Sunday.  Avery also took a long nap, so that was convenient.  In the evening, we loaded up Conan and Rachele's car and drove them over to her house.  The G's borrowed my Sweet Ride to drive to Bend, so we figured we'd drive over, get some dinner out, then exchange the cars back.  It worked out quite well.

You'd think that since I napped all day on Sunday, that I'd have some trouble getting to sleep on Sunday night.  You'd be wrong.  I slept all night and woke up somewhat refreshed this morning.  What a nice change! I'm about to take the dogs for a walk, then get started on cleaning the house and taking care of a few errands. 

Doctor

I have decided to go see a naturopathic doctor to see if he can do anything about the fact I'm always tired.  I've intended to do this for years, but just never put it as a priority.  That appointment is next week. 

Garage

After morning after morning of waking up to poop accidents since Eddie didn't make it through the night, I've moved the dogs into the garage to sleep at night.  It's not as bad as it sounds since, for whatever reason, our garage doesn't get very hot when it's hot.  It also doesn't get all that cold when it's cold, though I'll just let them sleep inside if it seems too cold or too hot.  As such, I'm going to buy Eddie another dog crate so he has one inside and one outside.  He loves his crates, so I figure it's the least we can do to make the last months/years of his life comfortable.  I'm debating whether a bed for inside during the day would be sufficient. 

Rubicon

There's a new show on AMC - the network that airs Mad Men - called Rubicon.  Two episodes have aired so far and I'm impressed.  I'm looking forward to the next episode.  If you have AMC, I recommend TiVoing/DVRing/watching it.

Funk

Blah

So I'm just feeling very, very blah right now.  I manage to force myself out for the occasional activity with Avery, but mostly all I want to do is lay in bed and stare at the ceiling.  Not cry, just stare, sometimes nap.  I'm physically exhausted all the time.  I'm thinking that the antidepressants may not be working very well.  Perhaps I'll need to try another type this time.  Who knows.  All I know is that I spend most time during the day just thinking about when I can lay down and sleep or stare.  Not good, people.  Not good.

Considering the number of breaks I get from being a SAHP, the fact that I'm exhausted is baffling to me.  Between Avery's school, D being quite helpful when he's home, and many date nights, I get more breaks than any other SAHP I know, yet I still feel like I'm slogging through mud on a daily basis.  My exhaustion is basically a catalyst for self-loathing.  Ah.  Enough.  Sorry. 

Eddie

I took Eddie to the vet this morning.  The vet was onboard with my opinion that no extraordinary measures  should be taken for older dogs.  It still cost us $280 since he's running a full bloodwork panel, but I was satisfied with his explanation for it: it will tell us if there are things that can be fixed with an easy pill, or if he's trending in a direction where we need to have a frank talk. As I typically am when in the midst of a difficult situation, I'm unemotional about it right now.

Eddie pooped in the car on the way to the vet. To make the situation even more smelly for the drive, Eddie moved to directly behind my seat to poop, then I had to brake suddenly at one point, rolling it even further in my direction. Fortunately, I brought poop bags and had plenty of wipees & antibacterial for my hands after the clean up. I'm so very thankful that Eddie has firm stools.  I know that's a bit TMI, but firm stools are really something to be thankful for when your dog is suffering from incontinence.

Books

I'm now reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, as recommended by my friend Kristine.  I'd read an article either about Henrietta Lacks or about the book a while back such that I was aware of the general subject matter, but I'm so glad to be reading the book.  It would make a good book for a book club since the subject matter is open to all sorts of ethical debates.  

TV

I'm done watching So You Think You Can Dance. I think I'm done with American Idol, too.  I don't like the new format for SYTYCD this season and I'm tired of the judges fawning all over themselves and the choreographers. 

Seriously?

I'm going to buy a scooter for Avery.  She got to ride one for the first time at Elise's BD party and loved it.  Since then, she has been pretending to ride a scooter around the living room using the wooden platter from a Plan Toys food set.  Anyway, as I'm going to Amazon to order it, I scroll down the page and see this:

Seriously Amazon?  People really buy three scooters of different colors at the same time?  I really don't buy that.

Annoyed

Not Great

Today has not been so great.  Nothing major.  I am just feeling very annoyed with things that shouldn't be getting under my skin.  Example: a fellow Loreto Bay homeowner - whom I've never met, emailed, or spoken to - friended me on Facebook a while back because I'm the administrator of a group on FB of Loreto Bay homeowners.  I accepted and dumped her into my "lesser view" category.  However, I keep getting invites from her to become a fan of her FB page.  She's a Realtor in San Diego.  Why would I become a fan of a business I've never used? In another state? Yeah, not going to happen.  I just unfriended her due to annoyance.

I took the dogs for a walk and it started raining half way through.  Do you think I brought a coat or anything?  No.  Of course not.  That would be too smart. 

Date Nights

Elise and Nolan will arrive in an hour or so for the G's date night.

Last night was our date night.  We went to see Kick Ass.  It was a good movie that I enjoyed, but it was shockingly violent. I don't really mind violence in movies, but wasn't mentally prepared for this movie to have that much violence.  The movie could have so easily turned out to be dreadful for any number of reasons.  I think good directing and good casting are largely responsible for its success. 

Farmers Market

I went to the Portland Farmers Market this morning while D took Avery to the gym with him.  I don't belong at these places.  I love the concept, but not so much the actual being there.  Too many people.  I can't enjoy myself with so many people around me when I'm actually trying to look for things.  If I were just there to go to a specific stall (that I knew of in advance and I knew exactly what I planned to get), I would be fine, but the browsing is not for me.  I also didn't have much of a plan, so I came home with perhaps the most ridiculous assortment of items ever: 

• enough new potatoes for one meal
• one bunch of flowers
• one serving of frozen buffalo meat
• three red onions
• four stalks of rhubarb
• one bag of bagels 

Seriously?  I look at it typed out and it's even dumber than when I looked in my bag.  Gah.

I went because I had a goal of buying more vegetables at farmers markets this year.  I think what I will do is wait for the Hillsdale Market to get in full swing for the summer and then tag along with RHG when she goes and have her show me all the places she's already determined to be best for produce.  RHG, I'm inviting myself along for a future visit.  If that doesn't result in me not finding it to be a miserable experience, then I shall just have to admit I'm someone who wants to like the farmers market, but will never be the person who does.

Mad Men & other TV

D and I watched the third season of Mad Men over the past couple of weeks.  It took me a while to warm up to the show, mostly because the men are total pigs, but now I can't wait for season four. 

D and I TiVo'd the first episode of Treme on HBO.  It's done by the same people who did The Wire, one of my all-time favorite shows, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.  However, what I didn't realize was how much I need subtitles for these shows.  We used the subtitles all through The Wire and Mad Men.  Rescue Me's lame DVD's didn't have subtitles.  I don't catch half of what is said otherwise.  Part of it is the dialect, but I think a lot is that my hearing must be damaged enough that background noise makes it difficult to hear what's being said.  It's an argument for surround sound, but I don't care enough about surround sound to spend the money on it, so we'll have to figure something else out.  I would suggest that HBO is stupid for not airing episodes with subtitles in a few middle of the night time-slots, but I am pretty sure D and I are of a select few who use subtitles on shows already in English.