My 45th Birthday

What a fabulous 45th birthday I had.

New picture frame from my friend Eric

Quiz night with the British Expats

My friends Maureen & Lyn

Danny's art on display at his school's event

Cheeky monkeys

Lunch at my favorite fried chicken food truck. And yes, those are waffles. 

The boys got me Birkenstocks. So comfy!

Rewards for the K-Shots

Today I took Jack and Danny for their "well visits" which in England means "annual check-ups". Jack at 7 years old is doing great in all aspects because he's tall and slim and healthy. Daniel is too - he's super tall (96%-ile) and slim and healthy. Then came the shots/vaccinations/injections as we call them in England (I've got no idea at this point which country says which. That happens with a lot of Anglo-American words these days).

Daniel had to have 4 shots. I knew this but did not tell him for fear of hysteria.  As it happened, surprising him did not work either. In fact it was AWFUL. If I had to do this again would I warm him? I don't know, because he would have dreaded it and refused to go. Now he's anti-doctor for the rest of his life I think. He was hysterical and sobbing and I had to hold him down. UGH. Horrible.

Afterwards I took them both for ice cream then got Danny home and made a huge fuss of him. Blanket over his knee, recliner seat, warm milk and the iPad. Hey, he had a bad day.

Tonight he is no less upset. At this point of the proceedings Jack was okay when he had it done (2010) but at least twice tonight Danny came to me and crumpled up and cried and made me promise that he'll never have a shot again. He feels things so deeply that he breaks my heart.

Snakes & Shakes

This past weekend was a busy one. On Friday we had the our friends Maureen, Lyn & Eric over to discuss a Brit event that we are putting on at our house soon. Of course it ended up with an outdoor fire pit and much drinking and laughing. Saturday we took the boys on a big walk at a local park and had such a great time. We saw garter snakes and deer and a kingfisher among other things. It was great to get outside for a couple of hours and not freeze to death.

Garter snakes just out of their winter nest

Can you spot him?

On Saturday afternoon we had a little boy over to play with my lad then we took them to see "The Muppet Movie Most Wanted" at our favorite spot. We ate pizza and watched the film and snuggled under a blanket. It was great.

On Sunday I got up early and went walking with my friends. We did 4 miles and had a good natter. I love my Sunday morning walks. Then it was housework (ugh!!) and then I took a man to dinner who had travelled across from Maryland to see me for a work thing. At the end of the meal I got the most excruciating headache of my life and I couldn't drive home fast enough to take painkillers and lie down. That nightmare headache stayed with me all night and made me get up at least once to get more medicine. By Monday morning I felt like I'd been through a traumatic event. It's funny how a migraine can do that to you.

My spring 21-day challenge is going okay. I'm drinking the shakes, laying off the wine and eating healthily and walking a lot. I haven't done the exercise dvds like I should be. I have a real aversion to work-out dvds and going to the gym. I don't know what it is but I find them so boring and not my thing at all. I love to walk outside. But walking alone isn't going to shift my bingo wings and get rid of my belly is it, so I probably should at least get the cellophane off the disk and see what it's about. Tomorrow.

Head Marbles

There's some stuff rolling around my head today.

Last night was amazing. The British Expats and people from local schools helped me host a dinner at a local center for needy people. There is no better feeling in this world than helping at a place like that. I'm going to be hosting one night each month and I'm already excited about the next.

I started a "21-day challenge" diet thing where I paid $140 for a breakfast shake and food containers and menu plans and workout DVDs. I'm with a group of women and we have a closed Facebook page and egg each other on. Well that's not happening as no one posts. I've posted a couple of times but feel like I got a bit shamed. I posted a picture of crackers and triangular cheese that I aways loved as my Weight Watchers snack as it's only about 100 calories and it makes you feel like you had a crunchy indulgent snack. Straight after my post the lady in charge posted the words "Don't eat CRAP". Nice. That made me feel part of the group, not. Ugh.

I'm training for a 5K. I did two miles yesterday and my shins are killing me. Jack's doing it with me but the slacker is only doing 1 mile.

I've got some personal stuff going on. Sorry to be vague. I know there's nothing more annoying and you want to shake it out of me but I can't say. I'm just seeking love and attention at this point. Sorry.

But life's great actually. We're all grand. It's just the niggly things keeping me awake.

Teetering on Spring

It was so nice to get the kids outside. Well let me rephrase that - it's nice that Craig got the boys outside today. I spring cleaned the house with gusto. Hoovered and scrubbed and did all those odd jobs like wiping mucky hand prints off walls and cleaning the floor behind the toilet. I also have a dozen house projects I want to start, like painting the kitchen cabinets and I think I can probably start now that my broken arm's improving. What I didn't expect is that I'd have to work so hard on using my fingers again but that's what is slowing me down. I can't grip very well or lift heavy things. I absolutely can't fire up a lighter either, so it's a good job I don't smoke.

The boys have let me get housework done because they are both obsessed with Minecraft and Terraria (video games) and don't need telling twice to amuse themselves for a couple of hours. I hate not being a more attentive mum but tomorrow I'll spend some better time with them and really, I have to get stuff cleaned. Anyone who insinuates that a clean home is an unhappy home is nuts. There's nothing happy about waking up with dog hair in your mouth and having your feet stick to the bathroom floor.

I love a fire - one of the nice things about the cold weather

New haircut today. No longer looks like Ken Dodd.

Daniel in his usual high-speed mode.

Luke the hamster. Coolest hamster in Ohio. 

Tubing, Pancakes and Relentless Snow

My laptop got dropped and the hard drive had to be replaced which is why I haven't blogged for a while. My fingers are far too big and clumsy to blog from my phone or iPad! So much has been going on the last 2 weeks. We've done lots with the kids but also both been very busy at work.  I'm able to do about 70% of my regular stuff with my arm now but still struggling with anything heavy or awkward or twisty. I'm going to physio 2 x week and meet with the hand surgeon again on Friday to have another x ray.
Anyway here's a couple of pictures from the last 2 weeks ....

Tubing at Mad River Mountain. One time was enough for Danny.

Pancake Day celebrations with the Brits

Snow snow snow. When will we ever see grass?

 In addition to tubing and pancake day we took the boys to see the Lego movie and we had an Oscar party at our friend Maureen's house. Soccer season is also starting but our first practice was cancelled because of the relentless snow. I hate the snow. We've also volunteered twice at our local soup kitchen and attended various children's birthday parties. In fact it's been quite a busy and stressful couple of weeks to be honest. It would be nice to have some down time so that I can catch up on housework and other tasks that have been put aside.I can't remember what it feels like to be "bored".

But that's ok. Every day might be absolute chaos but at least I get to spend it with these boys.