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The Adventures of JR, Jenny, Olivia, Molly, Violet, and Red.
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Preschool Regret

Why oh why did my child’s preschool music teacher think this song was a good selection?

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream,
If you see a crocodile, don’t forget to scream – AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Livy is not convinced there are no crocodiles here. She sees them everywhere!

Broken Blog

STDERR:
http://www.drozmonkey.com/2009/04/27/if-you-give-a-mom-a-muffin/ Error C3861
‘mso-style-name’: identifier not found, even with argument-dependent lookup
render: *** [Internet Explorer HTML rendering] Error 2

Possible developers responsible for errors
http://www.drozmonkey.com/2009/04/27/if-you-give-a-mom-a-muffin/: Jenny(4/27/2009)

As if trying to keep all the builds at work stable wasn’t enough to do, it looks like some careless blogger at home decided to recklessly submit a post which broke the blog on some browsers. The customary punishment for breaking the build blog, besides being shamed publicly, will be expected tomorrow morning. To be clear, said punishment is breakfast, preferably breakfast tacos.

So what really happened is funny. If you didn’t see a problem with Jenny’s post yesterday then you are probably using a browser other than Internet Explorer (IE), such as my preferred browser Firefox. Jenny had copied and pasted the text from an email that she had gotten in Outlook which is set to use Word as the editor. When she pasted it into the blog, it didn’t paste as plain text, but rather it carried along invisible formatting. IE was not able to decipher the formatting correctly and barfed on it. The hilarious part is that this happened because the text came from Microsoft Word. Yes, Microsoft makes both Word and IE, but IE couldn’t render it while Firefox could.  As funny as that is, you might think that this is not really Jenny’s fault, but this isn’t the first time this has happened. The last time this happened I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how I broke the blog only to find this was the issue. At that time, I explained it to Jenny to which she replied, “So that is what the ‘Paste from Word’ button in Wordpress is for.” Touché, I wasn’t even aware of that button, but yes, that is what it is for. I was willing to let it slide the first time, but not twice.

All are welcome for the tacos tomorrow, but please note that once the <FOOD> email notification goes out they probably won’t last long. ;-)

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,

She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She’ll pour herself some.

The coffee will get spilled by her two year old.

She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.

She’ll remember she has to do some laundry.

On the way to put the laundry in the washer,

She’ll trip over a garbage bag and bump her foot on the refrigerator.

Bumping into the refrigerator will remind her that she has to plan dinner
for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.

She will look for her cook book (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of
Hamburger).

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two
year old.

She’ll smell something funny.

She’ll change the baby sitting next to her two year old.

While she is changing the baby the phone will ring.

Her two year old will answer it and then ‘accidentally’ hang up.

She’ll remember that she wants to phone some friends to come for a play date
and have some coffee on Friday morning.

Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.

So, finally she will pour herself some.

And chances are…

If she has a cup of coffee…….

One of her kids will have just eaten the muffin that went with it!

by Kathy Fictorie
based on “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff

Sweet Olivia

The other day I was complimenting Olivia on being a sweet little girl. I told her that she is very good at making people happy and I like that about her. I asked her what makes her happy. Here was her list:

I like Disney Bingo.

I like singing.

I like playing with my sisters.

I like helping my Mommy.

I like making Sesame Street eggs with my Daddy (Easter eggs).

This morning on the way to preschool we had this exchange:

Liv: Mama, I saw a motorcycle. I wish Daddy could have a motorcycle.

Mama: Why?

Liv: Cause it could be so cool! And he could drive it to work and when he didn’t want to, he could leave it at home.

I swear JR is behind it all. You’re not going to wear me down – motorcycles are too dangerous for a father of 3 girls, 3 & under!! I need your help!!

TIR: Early Morning Shower

So the story picks back up at about 1 AM and I had just slapped the bracelet on Noel. We drove up to the next transition point where I attempted to clean up. I had just finished running two 10K races with 6 hours rest in between, so I was feeling a little “ripe”. So I took what I call a “porta-potty baby wipe shower”. You see, during the night most of the transition points were out in the country. So there was no running water and no bathrooms; just porta-potties and barely any light. However, I did find that with enough baby wipes one can emerge from a porta-potty feeling quite refreshed and clean. I had taken my time in “the shower” and by the time I got done, we knew something was wrong because Noel hadn’t shown up yet. Just then we heard reports from other teams that there was a runner off the course. What? Really? You knew there was a runner off the course and you just left them running the wrong way? Seriously? So we jumped back in the van and went out to find Noel. Remember that it is 1 AM and it is dark. It was windy that weekend and frequently the course signs were blown off, but on this leg it turns out that they neglected to even mark the final turn with a sign. Later someone from the race said that the directions clearly stated to turn at the flashing yellow light. Thanks, I’m sure the cost savings of one sign over a 200 mile course was worth it. Anyway, we soon found Noel and she was headed back to the course. We whipped around pulled up next to her. I was riding shotgun and waved her in and yelled for her to jump in. In typical Noel fashion, she waved me off, yelled something about not wanting to get us disqualified, and then proceeded to attempt to out run the van. Finally, we convinced her that it would be OK to take her back to where she left the course. Even though she ended up running about three extra miles she still made good time. I learned later that one our other runners took detour earlier as well by following some other runners. Trying to cover 200+ miles certainly has its logistical challenges and we had trouble staying on the course in the vans with maps.

Soon it was time to switch back to the rest van. Luckily they were at the right transition. Originally they had gone one too far but luckily figured it out. We hoped in the rest van and headed off to the next rest stop in Houston. Ed had setup the GPS for us so that we could go straight there instead of following the running course. I was driving and everything was going well until we got to the interstate and things weren’t really clear. I ended up getting on the interstate going what we were pretty sure was the wrong way. Laud, my navigator, went to consult the GPS and right as he touched it, the screen went black. Sweet. We turned around anyway and hoped for the best. Eventually we figured out that instead of turning off, the GPS hadn’t realized we were going the wrong way and just thought it would go to sleep since we had 20 miles to go on the interstate. The GPS ended up taking right where we needed to go. The transition point was at Luke’s Locker, a sporting good retailer and the main sponsor. They were open so I decided to go check them out. There were two young ladies serving free breakfast taco type stuff (yeah, I always want Tex-Mex in between runs). Anyway, I was astonished to find out that the two gals had no idea what was going on. They were amazed at all the people showing up. Apparently, when their boss asked them to work at 3 AM on Sunday morning, they didn’t ask any questions. That was enough for me, so I went out to find a place to sack out. When I got back to the van and got my stuff out, I saw everyone laying on the concrete in front of the strip mall store fronts. Then I turned and looked at the beautifully manicured lawn. I admit it. As I rolled out my sleeping bag on the soft green grass, I did have a prideful moment thinking about how smart I was for thinking of this as I quickly fell asleep. Who wouldn’t pick to sleep on grass over concrete?

After about an hour, I was violently awaken. Something was in my face. It was… water? Lots of it. And COLD! Oh, then it came again. It took me a minute to realize what was attacking me. Remember that this is Texas and grass isn’t naturally green here, its brown. Yes, there was a sprinkler system. And not one of those sissy ones that just mists; this baby had the big guns with oscillating heads that pop up and I had camped out right in front of one so that it shot me directly in the face and down into my bag. I was also close enough to the edge that it doubled back and got me twice before I could escape. So there I was soaking wet and cold. I hated to do it but I had to open up the van, which woke up Noel who was sleeping inside. She found it funny enough that she didn’t seem to mind. Next time I’ll try exercise a little more humility when I think I’m so smart.

6 AM and it was time to run again. Noel was up first with a short 2.3 mile run so it was a rush to get out in front of her so I would be ready next. This time it was a 5.6 miles leg including a trail through George Bush park. The run was pretty uneventful. It seemed like there were a lot of people walking which was pretty de-motivating. I pushed through to the end looking forward to my last leg being a mere 3.3 miles which I was planning on hitting hard.

3rd Leg complete. Distance: 5.6 miles. Time: 43:47. Pace 7:50.

Stay tuned for the Lone Star finish and the aftermath.

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Simple Woman’s Daybook (4.20.09)

Monday, April 20, 2009
Outside My Window…
it is dark because it is Sunday night. JR has to do some work from home so I figured I’d get a head start on this post and actually get one published this week! The ten day forecast says sunny and 80-90 during the week; showers for the weekend.
I am thinking…
about Susan Boyle. I’m sure many of you have seen clips of her on the news or YouTube. The thing that gets me is that no one thought she had any singing talent because she didn’t look like a pop star – because we all know that singing talent is physically visible (just a hint of sarcasm there)! I guess I should just be grateful that this beautiful woman got the chance to show the world her talent and was appropriately applauded for it. I hope the world takes note – everyone of us is valuable and has our own gifts. It is not possible to see the vast majority of gifts by looking at someone.
I am thankful for…
my Mom. Her birthday was a couple weeks ago and I didn’t get a post up that week so I want to take the opportunity to give her a little tribute now. I have lots of warm, happy memories of my childhood, most of which include my mother right along side me. I remember making crafts, homemade treats, and singing together. Mom tirelessly devoted herself to every one of our childhood endeavors – girls scouts, 4-H, church choir, and every fundraiser our schools ever put on. When we got to junior high and there was no Catholic camp for junior high kids, my entrepreneur mother & her friends started one that still goes on today. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for us. Thank you, Mom, for the beautiful woman you have always been – inside & out. Thank you for your loving devotion to our family, for your countless hours serving the community, and for always being my biggest fan.
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Happy Birthday, Grandma!!
We are learning…
Violet is growing & changing so fast! Well, maybe not growing so fast – she’s still a little peanut, but that peanut can now crawl around the room, sit up when she gets somewhere she wants to hang out for awhile, and then mosey on her way. She is loving solid foods (so far she’s had avocados, bananas, pears, rice cereal, squash, and sweet potatoes). Oh, and she LOVES puffs. I have to make a video of her crying in the high chair. All I have to do is walk over and grab the puffs off the top of the refrigerator (I have to keep them there or her sisters will feed them to her until she explodes) and she instantly stops crying and starts clapping!
Molly is communicating more and more. Tonight she was calling for her baby doll, “Baby, where are you? where are you?” And when she found her she scooped her up and cuddled her and said “There you are!” She was so excited to run around the room showing all of us she had found her baby. Another sweet thing is watching her read books & do puzzles. She will sit for longer & longer stretches of time (we’re talking almost 10 FULL MINUTES here people!) concentrating on her work. And she started singing, too. I haven’t figured out what she’s trying to sing – maybe Happy Birthday or maybe Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Anyway, she makes really serious faces and tries to sing like her big sister.
Olivia is curious about EVERYTHING these days. There seems to be no end to the questioning, especially in the van. Where are we going? What are we going to do there? Who else is coming? Where does that road go? Why can’t we go there? What are they making over there? Who is that man? What is he doing? It’s great to see her healthy sense of curiosity. It can also be exhausting. At that point, I’m grateful for the really sweet Bible Songs CD she got from our friend Lisa! Which, by the way, made her a little star at preschool music class because she already knew all the words to “Praise, Him, Praise Him all you little children, God is love, God is love!” and “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart . . .” It’s been really fun to teach her the sweet children’s songs that I knew & loved. Makes me want to learn guitar so the girls & I can have our own little choir!
From the kitchen…
we had a pretty big Easter so we were eating leftovers all of last week. We are working on an Easter post that will give all the details (one of the benefits of being Catholic – Easter is a 50-day season!). We had our favorite ribs tonight & I’ve been craving a good hamburger so we’ll have those tomorrow. I need to take a meal to a family that had a baby a couple weeks ago and I ALWAYS take cranberry chicken because it is super easy to make two batches and always a big hit! How can it not be when it has 1 cup of Dorothy Lynch? :) I’m also planning to make my first batch of homemade biter biscuits for Violet this week. I could use something for her to gnaw on that takes some time. She hoovers those puffs!
I am wearing…
“play clothes” (aka around the house clothes) – Columbia khakis, an old green tshirt & crocs.
I am creating…
several things are underway, but somehow nothing seems to get finished. Today we finally got some of Olivia’s artwork into envelopes to mail to her grandparents. I’ll drop those in the mail tomorrow (using my drive-thru post office – yeah, I know you’re jealous!) and will at least be able to cross one thing off my list. Too bad I added a dozen more last night!
I am still working on …
getting in the 5 basic things I must do to be a healthy person in order that I might serve my family better – pray, shower, eat, exercise, & sleep.
I am definitely better in every area, but still finessing things to get it all into a more natural routine.
I am reading…
not a whole lot these days.
I am hoping…
that all goes well for JR’s cousin Jane & her family. She & her husband went to Uganda today to pursue the adoption of 3 & 6 year-old orphan brothers. They will join 4 & 2 year old brothers at home. May God bless all of them with the best transition possible, a safe journey & a most happy homecoming!
I am hearing…
the clicking of JR writing a post on the laptop & a UFC fight he’s watching in the background.
Around the house…
I am still working on creating order through daily & weekly routines.
DEW Each Morning:
Dishes (empty dishwasher & wash dishes by hand)
Eat (plan meals for the day)
Wash (get the laundry going)
3 Ss each Evening:
Set the dishwasher to run overnight.
Set out stuff for tomorrow.
Straighten up.
And I will add only checking email & blogs in the morning & evening as part of the new routine. I’ve allowed myself to feel connected to the world by checking for new emails or blog posts throughout the day, but I’ve read enough now to think there is something to the idea that if you allow yourself to be interrupted by email & blogs all day long, you will be less productive at processing email & blogs (let alone less productive at the rest of your tasks!). More thoughts on creating order are coming in a series of posts about my first few years as a full-time homemaker.

One of my favorite things…

meeting Mariana from preschool. She has a son in Livy’s class and approached me one day saying that she had noticed me getting all 3 girls in and out of the van every morning & afternoon and wondered if she couldn’t help me, especially when it is raining or one of the babies is sleeping or I’m just too tired. It’s awesome! If I need a hand, I just call her cell on my way there and she will wait for us and then walk Olivia in with her son or bring Olivia out with her son. She has been such a gift to us! And I learned recently that her son will be in Livy’s class next year, too, so I look forward to our continued friendship (and maybe being able to help her out for a change)!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
Livy has preschool Tuesday & Thursday – only 5 weeks ’til summer break, better try to be productive! Thursday is Western Day so I am feeling the pressure for Olivia to be the most prepared in her class – afterall, she is the daughter of two farm kids! We may go to the park with a friend Wednesday morning – this is prime park weather in these parts (tomorrow will be 90)! I have my group session with my personal trainer Wednesday evening & 5K training Saturday morning. I’m looking forward to going out with some girlfriends Thursday night. Friday is my baby brother’s 20th birthday! Shocking!! Saturday we’re having friends to dinner.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing…
img_2641_edited-11
Olivia & her classmate, Ethan after their performance at the Church Festival. Both Molly & Olivia enjoyed two pony rides after the performance. And, of course, my memory card was full! I managed to delete enough photos to get some shots of their second ride, but their smiles were not nearly as bright as the first time around! :(
Be sure to visit Peggy for links to more daybooks.

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Divine Mercy Sunday

Happy Feast of Divine Mercy!

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.

divine-mercy

TIR: Midnight Run

In order to keep my mind off my latest running predicament, I figured I’d finish up my report on my last adventure. I left off last time right after I had finished my first of four legs which had gone really well. My leg was the last one before I switched back to the rest van so I had time to take a nice cool-down jog. I jumped in the van and we headed up four legs to Columbus, Texas where we were supposed to try to catch some rest. By that time it was completely dark. On the way there I cracked open my Livy’s princess lunch box and snarfed down a PB&J sandwich which I washed down with some Gatorade. Livy insisted that I take her princess lunch box for good luck but it also helped to make sure my lunch box didn’t get confused with anyone else’s.

When we got to Columbus we found that the transition was right next to the county court house. It reminded me of the small county seat towns in Nebraska with an old court house with big trees and nice lawns. It felt like it might rain so I broke out my el cheapo tarp, rolled out my fleece sleeping bag liner, and pulled the tarp over the top. I was just about a sleep when I heard a big crash which sounded like cymbal falling over. That happened about every 5 minutes. Later I figured out that it was a road closed sign that kept blowing over. No problem though, I just pulled out my ear-plugs which I had made sure to keep handy. After about an hour or so of rest, not sleep, it was time to start it up again. It had sprinkled a little bit but thankfully no real rain. It was about 10 PM at this point so I called Jenny to check in on the girls while I walked around the court house square. That’s when I spotted Governor Perry’s “entourage” (a black Lincoln towncar, and three black Suburbans complete with security detail). No he wasn’t waiting for the court house to open (the next day was Sunday remember). He was actually running on a team. OK, so I never actually saw him running but there is evidence. His team had started about 30 minutes before us so we were anxious to see if we could pass them. The Governor is no slouch if he can complete this race, but his team did have some ringers on it so it made things interesting. I walked past the Govenor’s entourage and got a “What’s up?” and some suspicious looks. I didn’t take offense since I was actually mildly worried about one member of our team who was obsessed with getting his home-made iron-on t-shirts with funny comments seen by the Governor. The only reason I worried was if he got arrested, I’d have to pick up more miles. But our runner came in before the Governor’s team so it was back into the active van.

My second leg was #19, a flat 5.5 mile leg at about midnight. I can’t say that I’ve ever run at night before and man was it different. Everyone had blinking red lights on their backs so you could see if someone was in front of you. We also had headlamps so you could see if someone was behind you, but I honestly never looked back. This was open country so you could see for a long way, or at least you could have if it was daytime. I could see three or four light blinking up ahead, but the darkness really messed up my sense of distance and speed. Until you got close it was hard to tell if you are catching up. And in the darkness, the miles seemed really long. I probably would have been better off without my GPS watch at that point. I was able to pass a few people which lifted my spirits, but about half way I got smoked by some guy who was really hauling. Soon I could see the transition point which was well light with type of lights you see on road construction sites. Almost there, I thought. Not quite, yeah, you could see it from a long ways out and the last mile really drug out. But I finished well and my team was ready and waiting. Oh, yeah, remember that guy who smoked me? It turns out his team wasn’t there. We don’t know what happened but I was glad it wasn’t me.

2nd Leg complete. Distance: 5.5 miles. Time: 42:23. Pace 7:42.

Stay tuned to hear just how smart I am and how I managed to get a shower.

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Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I don’t even know what to say. Completely speechless. I’ll be the first to admit that I have a low tolerance for stupidity… which is why I’m having such hard time living with myself right now. I’m a complete idiot.

The Lincoln Marathon is full.

Why is that a problem you ask? Because I’m not registered. Why? I’m stupid. I could give all kinds of excuses but… OK, so here are a few. Are there really that many people up there who are going to run this? Didn’t it just snow up there last week? I can see the half marathon filling up, but the full?

I’ve been training for about 7 months. 7 months. Running up to 40 miles a week, with long runs of 20 miles in one go. First, I was training for the Austin Marathon, but after getting the flu in January and missing a month of peak training I pushed it back to the Lincoln Marathon on May 3rd. We’ve had hotel reservations for 3 months, but I figured I’d wait and register closer to the race to make sure I didn’t get injured. Then I just forgot. I didn’t forget about the race, just about registering. Too caught up with work, life, my girls, and trying to get my runs in. Luckily, a two days ago I remembered that I hadn’t registered. I even sent myself an email so I wouldn’t forget. So when I got home I went to their site to register. Then something happened. I don’t remember what; someone was crying or spilled or whacked somebody or maybe all three at once and I didn’t register.

So tonight I calmly opened up the site again to register and I clicked on the “Click here to register online” icon. Nothing happened. Click…, click.., click.,      silence. I had seen the horrific text, “MARATHON SOLD OUT”. It’s taken me a couple of hours to come to grips with it. I’ve gone through all of the stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. OK, so I’m not there yet. I’ve searched craigslist. I’ve posted a wtb (want to buy) on craigslist for a race bib.

So what now? I’m not ready to talk about that yet. Maybe I’ll find a race bib. Maybe not. What do I feel like doing now? You might guess crying or drinking; but all I feel like doing is running.

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Good Friday

We Adore You Oh Christ, And We Praise You Because By Your Holy Cross, You Have Redeemed the World!

Please visit Small Treasures for several suggestions for observing Good Friday from home. I am going to go draw the curtains now!

And Faith & Family has links to two recordings of the Stations.

I plan to listen to the Gospel according to St. John at 3:00pm. It was a suggestion on DarwinCatholic.

Also, you can join in the Novena of the Divine Mercy starting today at In the Heat of My Home.

Finally, there is a very powerful brief video (excerpts of the movie Passion of Christ) and prayer at Shower of Roses.