Daddy Is Tired

We were watching some ice thing on the Olympics last night.  I think it was pairs figure skating, but it might have been ice dancing.  When I asked Sharon she told me…obviously I don’t care that much…but I asked what the difference between pairs figure skating and ice dancing was.

She began trying to explain about the “different kinds of jumps, different turns, the…”

My eyes glazed over.  All I know is that in both “sports” (yes they’re in fantastic shape, but sorry…it’s not a sport*):

• The men wear “fancy” outfits.
• The women wear outfits that look skimpy but aren’t.
• They do crazy things on skates that normal people can’t do.
• They skate around to music I’d never EVER listen to.
• The announcers’ comments are so stupid they actually lower your IQ.

Yep, the two sound wildly different, dont’ they?  I suppose it’s entertaining to have on in the background, but the only thing I really enjoy about fancy ice skating in the Olympics is getting to hear people say “Dick Button” on TV because…well, if I have to explain it, forget it.

*Don’t worry, I’m not just picking on ice skating – there are lots of “activities” at the Olympics that aren’t “sports.”

I suppose I should start the post by saying I accidentally typed “It’s Been So Loin” the first time around.  Oops!  Paging Dr. Freud.

So this is my first post of the new year (here at least), and guess what – NOTHING IS NEW.  I know, it’s a shock.  Things are still going well with the kids, the wife, the exercise…well, if you don’t count my knee issues.  I knew it would only last for so long, although it’s a different problem than I’ve ever had.  I have an appointment on Thursday to find out what tendon or ligament is doing funny things to me.  Fortunately it’s not causing any knee instability or weakness…it just feels weird when I straighten it all the way.

Anyway, I wish I had more exciting stuff to write.  Or maybe I don’t.  Sometimes boring is good.

My Fashion Experts - I have no idea how I have nothing interesting to write with them around!

There are so many “best of” lists I figured I’d better get one out too.  So in no particular order, here are my favorite years of the 21st century (so far).

1. 2001
2. 2002
3. 2003
4. 2004
5. 2005
6. 2006
7. 2007
8. 2008
9. 2009

It’s too bad that 2000 wasn’t in the running, but it missed the cutoff by one day.  Too bad, 2000.

In 2009 I became a runner.  Despite never having run before, I began in May thanks to Kristen and the Shredheads – since then I’ve run 440 miles (yes I keep track).  While I now “enjoy” running for the heck of it, it’s easier to stay motivated when I have a race coming up.

So when a friend (the same one with whom I ran my first race ever) said she was doing a 10K in December, I jumped on board.  We signed up for the Jingle All the Way 10K, billed as an easy course that would be good for setting a personal record.

Race day, 33 degrees and rainy.  Somewhere around 4,000 people showed up for the race…so it was CROWDED.  By the time we got done using the portapotties, the race was about to start.  We were walking toward the start line when we saw people begin running, and it was about 3 minutes after the race started that we finally made it across the start line (thank goodness for chip timing).  Unfortunately, we were still in a solid mass of humanity…I could have picked up my feet and been carried along.

Anyhow, it was completely packed until just after the turnaround.  I did my best weaving around people, and even ran on the grass for some decent stretches, but there were times I just couldn’t get around.  Of course that doesn’t just mess up my time, but it messes up my rhythm and pisses me off as well.  GET OUT OF MY WAY, IDIOTS!

I started to feel pretty tired around mile 4…fortunately there were lots of beautiful women doing the race, and I didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of them.  So I kept running.  By about mile 5 I felt like I might set a personal record, so that kept me going.  In fact, I was sure I was going to beat my previous time by about a minute!  I cruised through the finish line and felt good, so I ran back until I met up with my friend so I could run with her to the finish line as well.  We met up with her family and walked back to the metro, stopping in front of the Lincoln Memorial for a quick picture with the Washington Monument in the background.  It was ridiculously cold and rainy by the end, but it was fun to have a sixth race done in my first year.

Wow, my jacket sure is bright!

Oh yeah, so my beating my previous time by a minute?  I had remembered my previous time incorrectly and ended up missing a personal record by 5 seconds.  FIVE LOUSY SECONDS.  DAMN!

Anyway, to recap the year here are my race results…not bad for someone who’s NEVER run before May 1st!

06-20-2009: Run for the Rainforest 5K: 28:48 (9:16 min/mile)
09-26-2009: Clarendon Day Run 10K: 55:11 (8:53 min/mile)
11-01-2009: Race for a Cause 8K: 43:23 (8:44 min/mile)
11-08-2009: Race Against the Odds 5K, 25:32 (8:13 min/mile)
11-26-2009: Arlington Turkey Trot 5K:, 25:33 (8:13 min/mile)
12-13-2009: Jingle All the Way 10K, 55:16 (8:54 min/mile)

Am I the only one who sees something odd about this picture?

Yes, officer, I can identify Papa Smurf's private parts.

And yes, I had to buy this one instead of the “regular” neti pot simply because the picture was awesome.

Time for the cheesy “Things I’m Thankful For” post that everyone does.  I’m thankful that…

• Our family is healthy and happy.
• My wife and I are still in love after 11 years of marriage.
• My kids are awesome (despite doing typical annoying things).
• The “teacher situation” got sorted out.
• I’ve got cool friends, both online and in real life.
• I have an awesome workout group (and partner) to support me!
• We’re financially stable, unlike so many these days.

Hopefully you’ve got things to be thankful for too.

Happy Thanksgiving from a Pilgrim Boy and a Fall Fairy!

With the holidays approaching, the kids are learning about the meaning of Thanksgiving in school.  And by that, I mean they’re coloring handprint turkeys, making little pilgrim vests, and coming home with feathers glued to various body parts and/or clothing.

But yesterday was different.  Ellie’s new teacher – a wonderful Bolivian (?) woman with a beautiful accent – began teaching them the story of the pilgrims.  I know this because when I picked her up Ellie ran up to me and said that “half of the continents (colonists) died, daddy!”

It’s a good thing it was psychologist day.

On the way to the psychologist, Ellie told me the story (for the 4th time) how half of them died.  I pointed out that back then life was hard and that they didn’t have everything we have, like refrigerators and cars.  When she heard that, Ellie rewarded me with the end of the story:

“Yeah, they didn’t have cars so they had to ride around on sheeps called May Flower.  And the sheeps feet were almost to the bottom.  (?)  And after they died there were only 4 women but they couldn’t go to dinner because it was their job to cook it.  And that’s why we celebrate Thanksgiving.”

What a wonderful holiday story.

Edit – I should point out that Ellie was very excited about this story.  Rereading this it doesn’t come across that way, but she was.

Holy crap, I can’t believe I’m having such difficulties coming up with ONE dumb post.  Oh, I have posts started, but I get stuck about 140 characters into each one.

Twitter much?

Of course there’s The Really Big Post about our school issues, but I’ve been advised against writing about that because it opens me up to a slander lawsuit if the shit hits the fan.  Which, at the rate things are going, will be in a couple of weeks.

But other than that, everything is going about like it always does.  I’m exhausted because Ellie isn’t sleeping through the night on a regular basis – nightmares/scared to sleep.  I’m stressed because of the school situation, particularly since Matthew is doing AWESOME there.  And I’m excited because my favorite astronaut (Al Bean, of course) is signing books in mid-November.

Whew, aren’t you glad you made it through that heart-wrenching post?  Wasn’t it full of drama?  Ugh.  I promise I’ll try to be more interesting in the future.  If it helps, I’m editing some potentially awesome pictures right now…trying something artsy.

I know you just can’t wait.

Yeah, so maybe this is a month old.  Sue me.

Fun at Sesame Place!

Lately it’s like I don’t even know my daughter…she’s gone from being a great kid to beyond being a difficult child.  She’s turned into one of those kids you watch on Supernanny.  You know the ones…they’re the reason you watch that show.  They’re the ones where you look at your spouse and say, “Holy shit, I’m glad our kids aren’t like that!  I could never let things get that bad.”  Guess what?  It sneaks up on you.

And it’s gotten to the point where I don’t enjoy my daughter’s company.

Great, huh?  Sure, we play together and can have a good time, but I can’t let go of the feeling that a tantrum is just around the corner.  And they always are…her mood will turn from great to shit at the blink of an eye.  This morning after a semi-decent wakeup she informed me that she “HATES ALWAYS HAVING TO GO TO THE BAHTHROOM!”  After a bunch of stomping around the breakfast table, she was mad because Matthew looked at her, and ” IF HE KEEPS LOOKING AT ME I’M GOING TO MY ROOM AND CRYING UNTIL TOMORROW!”

I’ve got news for you sweetie, you’re already doing that.  Come up with something more original.

Then I didn’t sit where she wanted me to at breakfast, then when it was time to get dressed “MY BRAIN IS TELLING ME TO WEAR EVERYTHING SO I CAN’T DECIDE!”  After wasting 20 minutes I dressed her and she cried about that.  Then her shoes were wrong, she didn’t want to go to school, she didn’t want to get dropped off first.  My patience is good, but when I pick her up in the afternoon the tantrums continue about EVERYTHING.  It takes a lot of effort to be around her.

This morning I realized that the best part of my day is driving away from school with an empty car.

That mortifies me.  Being a stay at home parent shouldn’t feel so terrible.  I shouldn’t relish dumping my kids at school just to get them out of my hair.  Enjoying time without them is one thing, but this is different.  This is my not being able to take it any more.

It doesn’t help that we’re only getting 5 bad hours of sleep a night.  Bedtime used to be fine, but now it’s a disaster.  After brushing teeth, going to the bathroom, reading books, and going to bed we do our bedtime routine.  Then Ellie follows this simple flowchart:

1. Say you have to go to the bathroom again (we checked this out, nothing’s medically wrong).
2. Don’t stop talking or moving.
3. FREAK OUT when Mom and Dad say it’s time to go to sleep.
4. Throw tantrum when Mom and Dad leave.
5. Go to step 1, repeat for hours.

No matter what we’ve tried, Ellie refuses to go to sleep.  She won’t close her eyes, won’t relax, won’t stop talking.  We’ve tried Ferber, and we’ve tried kindness.  She won’t even relax if we’re lying IN THE BED with her.  For a couple of weeks we had to use Benadryl to get her down, but we don’t like doing that on a regular basis so we haven’t for the past few nights.  Last night it took 3 hours for her to finally fall asleep at 11:45, and she was yelling and stomping 90% of that 3 hours.  Sometimes she says she’s scared of her nightmares, sometimes she says she’s not tired, sometimes she says that she misses us.  The story is never the same.

The good news is that yesterday we saw a psychologist for an initial consult.  We’re concerned about several things we’re seeing with her (primarily related to sleep and being sad at school, which may be related), and hopefully the psych will help us all work through this so I can get back to enjoying my daughter.

Because I miss her.