Mandatory blog post

I have absolutely nothing to say. But I'm still here.

Crazy weekend

Whew - finally get to stop moving.

Friday afternoon we met at the old condo to get the last few odds and ends out - which meant for me a lot of running back and forth from the car to the condo in the pouring rain. Then we went to Cici's with BMEM, because they couldn't come to the twins' party the next day. Cici's is a great place to feed a family for cheap - but it makes for an exhausting time. Once we're there, for a party our size, we have to rearrange tables to get everyone together. Then hope that we can find 2 high chairs, and that they both have a funcioning strap to keep Crazylegs McGee and Robby McSelfLaunch from toppling over. Then someone goes to start getting the girls their food while someone else feeds the twins. Basically we could be there for 15 minutes before we can even THINK about eating anything ourselves. But, it was nice to see everyone. That night, after the kids were down, I had to go out and do late-night grocery shopping for the party and for Steph's Mother's Day breakfast in bed.

Yeah, that whole paragraph was just Friday from 4:30 on.

Saturday morning - got up and insanely decided to try one of the "Performance" workouts on the treadmill. I've been doing the "Aerobic" ones which spend most of their time between 3 and 4 mph. Well, the one I tried on Saturday goes up to 6.5 mph and stays there for a while. Honestly, did better than I thought. But felt not at all well when I was done. After recovering from that, took Mari to Kindermusik and then came back just in time for the twins party - a lunch affair in the back yard. Everything went really well, the weather was tremendous and everyone was pretty happy. Then prepare the breakfast in bed which had to sit overnight. A few hours later, off to church to prep the sanctuary for the Brass Fellowship concert - honestly, worth a few blog entries on its own, but not tonight. The concert itself was absolutely draining - my back was killing me by the end. But I think it went well and was really really thrilled to be able to have such a performance at our own church. Back home, knock back a beverage and some nachos (yeah, after all that treadmill I've been eating like the old days this weekend). Collapse into bed.

This morning, got up early to start the breakfast casserole. Served Steph breakfast in bed - nothing fancy folks, no tray, no rose, no mimosa. Just drop it off, close the door and keep the kids away for 15 minutes. Get dressed, and a morning of random errands with everyone. Slow afternoon, then dinner at G&Z to celebrate mother's day some more - and here I am. Tired. Somewhere in the middle of this weekend I stopped drinking caffeine...tomorrow morning I will restart my addiction.

Sobering to think that this level of monthlong activity is going to be a yearly event. Late April-Early May...every year...insanity. Oh well.

17 days of school left. But who's counting?

Matt

Happy Birthday Twins!

Okay, so I'm a day late posting...

Wow, amazing that they've been around a whole year. Funny to scroll back and look at the posts from just before they came and the first few days after. Funny how it used to seem like a huge hassle to change 2 diapers.

Their personalities are really showing - Hannah is looking like Faith Jr. in a lot of ways - she's the talker. Robby is his own guy - both of them seem to be more extroverted and happy than either Faith or Mari - they laugh more often and with more abandon than the older girls did. It's especially cute when they make each other laugh.

I feel bad that I haven't gotten nearly the amount of video of their first year as I would have liked...but I also know that I've done my best. Trying to not beat myself up over it too much...and in the meantime trying to get the darn camera out more often.

Oh well...

Today we're going to the old condo for the last time to clear out the last few odds and ends...closing is next week. Bittersweet....but mostly sweet.

Gotta run - thanks for stopping by!

Matt

THANK YOU ULRICH SCHNAUSS!!!

Thank you for being reasonable, and I have every intention of buying the rest of your albums!

Seriously.

Okay, what am I talking about here?

A while back I noticed that one of my uploaded YouTube videos had been blocked due to me using unlicensed material. I went on quite a tirade against the Moody Blues. See the Oct. 7, 2008 post. The point of it was...yes, of course I used the music without permission...but it's a family vacation video for heaven's sake! Do you really have nothing better to do than to come after my own little hobby?

Honestly, this was a large part of my sort of 'giving up' on the whole YouTube thing for a while. I loved sharing these old vids with people, but when this went down it bummed me out.

Well, I got back on today, with the intent of uploading some more. And of course, lo and behold, a bunch more have been either blocked or muted. Seriously. Infuriating.

BUT...

My man Ulrich Schnauss, or someone associated with Ulrich Schnauss had a WONDERFUL idea. My videos containing his music (Tennessee Children's Museum and Louisville Out and About) now contain a brief annotation advertising the song, as well as a link to purchase it.

So they found that I had used the song, but realized that I wasn't a threat to their way of life, and DID NOT BLOCK it!!! They are doing what all the other organizations should be doing - using it as free advertising! That is tremendous!!!

So, everyone check out his site and purchase some music, because in the midst of the depressing realization that I can't use YouTube to share family memories in a meaningful way, I found a ray of sunshine. Someone has a sense of perspective.

Ulrich Schnauss on myspace.

Whoever had something to do with this decision, thank you for being a reasonable human being. I truly love you.

Matt

Sweet relief...

I made it - done with 2nd and 1st grade programs, done with the musical, and into the final coasting stretch of school before summer officially arrives.

Faith is 5. The twins will be 1 on Thursday. Amazing that a year ago at this time, we had still never seen Robby and Hannah. Things move fast...but I'm doing all I can to enjoy it and appreciate it.

I am making a renewed pact with myself to revitalize this blog...going to attempt to post at least 3 times a week and get back to updating videos and photos as well...seeing as how the slideshow there is still spewing photos from Cleveland last year...

The big trip is looming...and a long-overdue return to the beach is just around the corner, too. More on all that soon. Check back often!

Matt

The Light

There's stress and then there's stress. Sometimes it's a huge major life event, sometimes it's just the sheer magnitude of regular daily things that pile up all at once. We've been riding the waves of the latter.

For me, it's been threefold. Last week I was back to work after spring break - stressful enough...but also frantically trying to pull the pieces together for my first and second grade programs. Assigning parts, learning the final songs, checking to see if kids have learned their lines, planning rehearsals (which under my current schedule means filling up planning and lunch time with more practice) and having nightmares about the shows being a disaster. This week, I was able to scale back on some of the extra rehearsals, but all my afternoons and evenings have been taken up with playing in the pit of the High School's production of "Little Women" which begins tonight. So I've had like ZERO down time, free time, me time. But seriously, how can I complain about that - while I've been sitting in the pit sometimes bored, Steph's been at home with all 4 kids ALL WEEK on her own. She had plenty of family and friend help to get her through but still - it's a long haul when you're the only one there.

So, it's been a rough couple of weeks.

But...today...I think the proverbial corner has been turned, for myself anyway. Not sure if it's the fact that the weather here in Cincy has finally shifted from early spring to late spring and summer is slowly awakening...or the fact that my long days of pit rehearsals are done now, or the fact that as of yesterday, ALL my 1st graders have learned all their lines, but I feel lighter today. Which is amazing to consider when I think that I still have 3 shows to play, still have both of my OWN programs to go through, that I still have to cram 70-80 1st graders into my room this afternoon to practice again, and that there are still about 10 of those first graders who cannot understand why I get angry when they talk to their friends, lay down, run around the room, and push each other during the songs (the look of innocent shock is priceless...even the 4th and 5th time). I still feel better. Amazing. Just goes with my theory that stress is simply your brain on overload - something seems stressful when you've got a lot going on, but then if you suddenly eliminate JUST enough of the other things, the logjam is removed and it doesn't seem so bad. I guess I just got things under that critical mass.

So, still a ways to go to get to the other end of this 3 week crazy train...but I feel better about getting through it now.

Matt

No apology is forthcoming

Hey, I post when I can. I wish I had the time, energy, writing ability, and self-discipline to keep up on this thing, but I do my best.

Been a while, huh? Well, let's sum up. Robby is crawling. Hannah screams a lot and appears to be thinking about crawling, but would much rather be held all the time. Mari has a double ear infection and we have just realized that at least part of her inability to follow directions is hopefully related to horribly clogged ears. Tubes may be in the future - we don't want that, but if it explains at least some of her behaviors, bring the tubes please. Faith is frighteningly intelligent but would be content to rot her brain watching My Little Pony until her eyes fall out.

If I sound somewhat abrasive, it's because we took the trailer out for a test run over Spring Break. I spent basically 48 hours with various combinations of Faith and Mari, being the sole parent. It rained. We had nowhere to go and we had already been together nonstop for most of a week. We got sick of each other. There was much yelling, frustration, crying, whining, and unhappiness. But we survived and I'm recovering from it...and so are the girls.

In work news, I am WAY behind getting the 2nd and 1st grade plays ready. This is a result of me not yet realizing that if I don't compartmentalize ALL of my life, I simply can not keep up with everything. I'm working on it. I will do better. I could skate by before and everything would still get done and get done well. No more. Pulled in too many directions.

Beyond that, life as normal. Lots of birthdays coming up, and the light of summer is starting to illuminate the tunnel a little bit.

Thanks all for not giving up on us. More...whenever. Don't hold your breath...

Matt

Dieting advice

Here's my random unsolicited advice, based on what we've learned from this round of attempting to lose weight:

* Hunger is just a sensation. You don't necessarily have to do anything about it. If you can mentally accept the fact that you are hungry and still get on with your life, that's half the battle.

* Stuff your face with healthy food. I now make ridiculous quantites of vegetables at dinner, just so that I have something to eat a lot of. I also LOVE a good salad bar.

* Recognize your weakest time of day, and if possible, put yourself in a situation where you won't crack. This is a problem for me, because my danger time is late afternoon, and most of the time, I'm cooking dinner then. It's just so easy for me to do a little too much "Quality Control" while I cook. I'm trying to fight it by having my tall glass of Crystal Light handy and just drinking when I'm hungry. It's a poor substitute but it at least gives me an active thing to do when the temptation hits. Back in 2003 and 2004 when I had gotten my weight way down to 190 or so, I solved this problem by working out at the gym during the late afternoon - no danger of snacking there. I don't have that option now, so I need to do the best I can.

* Allow yourself a meal off...and do it often enough that the foods you're missing don't take on a glowing mystical ethereal mythos. It helps keep it real. Cake is just cake (or in my case a giant burrito is just a giant burrito). If you've been sitting around pining for it, for heaven's sake, go eat it and get back on track tomorrow. It helps to be good now knowing that the thing you REALLY want isn't months away.

* Set yourself up a rewards plan and stick to it. Make the first few goals easily attainable, and tougher and tougher and with bigger and better payoffs as you work your way down. And I know they say you shouldn't use food as a reward, but look. Use what will work for you. If the thought of a feast that will make you gain 2 pounds is enough motivation for you to lose 10 pounds...you're still coming out ahead. Be honest with yourself and what will motivate you, and go for it.

* Find a way to exercise consistently, and do it no matter how crazy it seems. We spent the money on a decent treadmill and it's been worth every penny. And I get up before 5 just about every morning because that's the only time when I can absolutely control my environment. No kids, no anything. Just me and that damn treadmill.

* If you're not used to exercising - don't expect much from yourself. You're probably going to have a tough time for a while. Just try to go a little longer every day. Every little bit helps. You'll build muscles and endurance. It might get harder before it gets easier. Don't quit. It's okay that you suck at exercising. Give yourself a chance to get better.

* Let yourself be a little narcissistic - if you start to notice that you actually ARE looking better, or people start to comment that you're losing weight, ENJOY IT!!! We fatties spend our whole lives de-emphasizing physical appearance...but we're allowed to be proud of ourselves when we get a little less grotesque.

I dunno - this is what is working for me. Depending on when you start counting, I've lost about 30 pounds. I've got a long way to go still, but if I can do it at this time in my life, nothing is impossible.

Matt

Survival Mode

We survived. What a week! Two Wednesdays ago (the 11th), we had Mari in to the pediatrician for what we thought was an ear infection. And she just seemed generally not well. Ped. said her one ear was maybe slightly pink, but nothing too major. Gave us a prescription to fill if she seemed worse in the next few days. Well, by that Fri. night, she seemed miserable so we filled the prescription.

The next day, Saturday, Robby seemed miserable. He woke up just not himself -- quiet, not very active and kinda stared in to space. I was able to get him a rare appt. w/ the ped. that Sat. afternoon. By the appt. time, he had a 102.9 fever. Ugh. Matt brought him back from the appt. saying the ped. found nothing. Absolutely nothing and we should just keep up with the ibuprofen and Tylenol to help the fever. By that evening, Hannah had a fever and was crying a lot.

Sunday, Robby seemed a little better, Hannah not so much better and Mari was better. Fast forward to Tuesday night (Matt's birthday). By then, Hannah had slept poorly 3 nights in a row. She went to bed badly that night, too. Around 10pm, we hear this very weird, scary noise coming from the nursery. It was Robby and I knew that sound very well. It was the croup cough. Faith had had croup about a year and a half ago.

It was so scary to hear a 10 month old cough like that and struggle to breathe like that. Ugh. I spent some time on the phone with the ped. and we decided to wait it out. Spent the night with Robby sleeping on my chest/shoulder so he could be upright and I could be near him.

Got both babies to the ped. the next day. Robby was treated for croup. Hannah, for an ear infection. Ugh. So until Monday, 75% of our kids are on medication. Well, actually "Robby 'Roids" is off his prednizone now, I guess, so just 50%.

I'm so glad we have a quiet weekend planned!
Steph

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATT!!! (HE'S 33 TODAY!)