TMI...no not really.

What do you mean, 'Matt's gonna kill me?'

It's all good. I think 'The Procedure' is the best way to phrase it, and it's how I think I've referred to it in previous posts. Anyway...29 hours to go.

The good news for you the reader is that I will be off my feet and responsibility-free for a couple days with lots of time to post. I plan to do some video work and some trip research work...I've refrained from posting too much info about the developing Summer 2009 trip because I don't want to jinx it, but I think that all the pieces are finally in place and it's safe to start talking about it.

Anyway, that's all starting tomorrow. Right now I'm stuck in that mixed blessing mindset of being in the middle of a short work week that I've been looking forward to for a while...but no matter what you do, it's still Tuesday. Expect more info, more videos, pretty soon.

Matt

Busy Fun

Good weekend. Friday night was nothing unusual. Just hangin' out as a family at home. I managed to stay awake for the first 45 mins of the presidential debate. I'm impressed I made it that long!

Saturday morning was the usual round of going to Kindermusik craziness. I got to go with my sister for her "practice" hair and makeup for her wedding. Both looked gorgeous and very princess-y! Matt's parents worked their tails off helping him get the first 2 of our 4, overgrown, half-dead, nasty bushes out of the front yard in front of the house. The ground is SO dry that even tying 250 lb ropes to the bushes and tying those to B & K's massive Suburban broke the rope! So, they cut them down as far as they could and used the chipper to make mulch out of it. 3 hrs later, the front of our house looked pretty different! It'll probably be months before we're able to get everyone together to get the other 2 bushes out!

Today, Matt took the kids to church/Sunday School while I *blushes* did grocery shopping. The power outage a few weeks ago totally messed with our budget and I'm trying so hard to make up for it w/ out wasting money! This evening after dinner (and ANOTHER miserable Bengals loss), we went to a great park in Clifton that overlooks downtown Cincy. The big girls had a great time (it's been a few weeks since we've been to a park) and the babies seemed to like being outside.

The babies are still doing great with their rice cereal. Robby has to have his hands held down as he really wants to put them in his mouth WITH the ceral. Sheesh. Hannah, last night, took a good mouthful, sloshed it around in her mouth and then spit it out. Matt said she did a little better tonight, though. Robby continues to perfect his rolling abilities and Hannah her grabbing abilities.

The big girls are doing well, too. Mari's ear infection seems to be improving (after antibiotic #2) and Faith's possible environmental allergies seem to be under control (thank you Children's Claritin!). They both look forward to their preschool days -- Faith even has HOMEWORK now as she begins her "Letter of the Week" program at school!

Guess that's it for now. Busy week this week -- we do the "walk through" for our new travel trailer and Matt has his...procedure (he's gonna kill me). More on both later.

Steph

Rice Cereal and Work Observations

Well, the kitchen just got a lot more crowded, and mealtime just got a lot more complicated. Two highchairs, two babies, two bibs, two bowls of rice cereal for the first time.

Pretty typical. Both were interested. Very interested. In fact they both kind of went crosseyed trying to focus on the spoon as it got closer to their mouths. Spit most of it back out, but definitely were trying to eat and were not unhappy at all. A good beginning. But I have to say that I find the thought of mealtime now a little stressful. Oh well...I hardly notice the logistics necessary to get them both to bed any more...I'm sure it will only be a matter of time until the insanity becomes routine. Took the usual video, and we'll post it as soon as we're able.

Meanwhile, got observed at work today. Was really stressed out about it, too. I mean, it's always a little intimidating when the boss stops by to watch you work, but this time was particularly unnerving for some reason...not sure why. Makes me wonder...maybe people from other walks of life can answer this question: I know that just about everybody goes through 'employee reviews' and whatnot as part of their job...but how many other jobs are there where your boss just comes in and sits there and watches just you doing what you do, taking notes all the time? I'm trying to picture in a corporate setting the boss just plopping down in someone's cubicle and in effect saying "Don't mind me, just keep doing what you're doing" and then watching them like a hawk for 45 minutes. I don't think it works that way.

Anyway, it went well. Kids behaved, lesson didn't flop. Nice to have that off my shoulders for the time being.

That's all for now. Again, end of next week I hope to have a lot of time for video work and hopefully some of the fruits of that will be manifest here on the blog.

Matt

P.S. I know that at least one person just discovered the blog for the first time. Hi, Mrs. H, nice of you to stop by. Literally!

Power and 4 Month Checkup!

I'm typing this from our laptop in our home! We have power as of 4:40 pm today! Hooray!!! We were so excited and jumped and danced around. Ahh. Nice, quiet evening tonight. Only the sound of crickets. No NOISY, ANNOYING, LOUD generators from our neighbors. Only natural sounds. :-)

We went over to our friends' house for dinner (we brought over Subway) and when we got home, we put the kids to bed. I then went out to get some basic groceries. Went to our local Kroger that I love. Sign on the door said, "We will close at 11pm tonight to restock perishables and will reopen at 7am tomorrow." Went down the hill to Bigg's. No signs, looked pretty good, so I got what I needed. Saved the milk (the most important and needed thing, really) for last. It's in the back, left-hand corner, which of course is good product placement, right? Ugh. Absolutely and totally empty of milk. None at ALL. Oh except of course for the organic stuff. However, I am currently receiving WIC coupons, thank goodness, and can definitely not get organic milk on the coupons. Ugh. I ask the manager and he says that the milk was supposed to be there at 5pm that evening. It was 9:30pm. He's all, "But we have organic!" I was all, "Thanks but no thanks!". Ugh. Unbelievable! I wasn't able to waste 2 WIC tickets by getting everything on them except for the 3 gallons of milk!

SO I went to Walgreen's and got a gallon. At least the girls can have oatmeal and we can have cereal! Even though it was a frustrating outing, I am still just SO glad to have power!

BABY UPDATE:
Hannah and Robby had their 4 month checkup yesterday. Since Matt was still off school he was able to come and I was SO SO glad! Robby weighed 16 pounds and Hannah, 15 lbs, 3 oz! They're doing great! I don't remember their lengths, but Hannah was in the 70th percentile for babies her age and Robby "near the top"!!! Fantastic for Durkee-Specter babies! Perhaps they BOTH got Grandpa Durkee's height genes!!!

Steph

Calamity Days and Buddhism

My simple understanding of one of the basic tenets of Buddhism is that all suffering is caused by desire...desire for earthly things. And, the problem with desire is this:

I want something, I work to get it, and I instantly want more of it, or some other thing. The desire is never quenched, it simply leads to more desire, and eventually that desire is unattainable.

In an abstract sense, this has always seemed distant and never really rang true to me. I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping my desire in check and not letting it control me. And I suppose in most ways I do.

HOWEVER,

There is one area of life which has shown me the cruel workings of the chain of desire. It is the snow day. Or in this case, the Calamity Day.

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. But any teacher will tell you that one of the wonderful perks of the job is the odd bonus day off. The relief of getting the phone call or of seeing your district on the ticker. The lazy morning that follows. The possibility of a nap. It's lovely.

But here's the problem. No matter how balanced my state of mind, no matter how positively I feel about my job, no matter how clear the roads and skies are...

...YOU ALWAYS WANT ONE MORE DAY.

Look at me. I've had 3 totally unexpected days off. In September for goodness sake. And yet, when I got the news that tomorrow I finally had to go back to work (for a 2-day work week no less) I had a terrible sinking feeling and realized how much I was hoping for yet ANOTHER day off.

What is WRONG with me?

So, the Buddhists are right about that.

Anyway...

Still no power at home. Over 72 hours now. Probably gonna be till Sunday, we're probably at the bottom of the list because we're the only street in the whole area without power. I'm sick of this. I'm not one of these people who go into seizures without cell service and internet access...I really can survive quite happily for a while, but even I am at the end of my rope. I'm tired of carrying the oil lamp from room to room at night. I miss electricity. I miss having edible food in the house.

I know I have no right to complain compared to those in Houston, or any other place where a real hurricane has hit. My problems are just an annoyance. But I am annoyed.

Matt

53 hours and counting...

The blackout continues. Still no power at home, another evening mooching from mom and dad. The fridge has been emptied. I missed school again today. Waiting for word about tomorrow. Steph's school has power, so she's at work as usual. The power company is estimating that 85% of the area will be back up tomorrow.

Managed to get a few seconds of video of the winds...not too impressive, really - whenever I turned the camera on, the winds died down. Hopefully I can upload that when the power comes back on.

We'll keep everyone updated. This is getting old. Not looking forward to another night listening to the neighbor's generator.

Matt

Greetings from the Blackout of 2008

Been about 30 hours...still no power at our house. We're at mom and dad's (who got power back this morning) for a technology fix and a warm dinner. The news stations are all warning everyone that all the food in your fridge needs to be thrown away. We were both off work today, and I'm off again tomorrow...still waiting to hear about Steph.

Gonna head home soon to light the oil lamp and put the girls to bed in the darkness.

We'll post when power is restored.

What a weird couple of days.

Matt

New Realities

1) I love my new work schedule, but it allows me MUCH less free time. I am going to seriously have to budget my time better. Although it looks like I'll have Sunday afternoons free. No reason to gouge my eyes out watching the Bengals.

2) I have been spending a lot of that free time planning a potential 2009 trip...but the numbers that came back (under the new travel plan) are gaudy. We have a lot of figuring to do...and there are some parts of the trip I might just have to let go of. And that is hard. I spent a long time changing things around and trying to find a decent itinerary that balanced travel, sightseeing, and relaxing. Had it really well. Lots of thinking to do.

3) There is no way I am even coming close to working on Tennessee videos (or the other 6-7 that I am backlogged, reaching back to mari's 2nd birthday party) until The Procedure takes place on October 1. And then...well, who knows how I'll feel?

So much more to say, so little time. Life is good, but busy.

Matt

1st Day of Preschool

Tooks had a great first day of preschool...all of this information is second-hand, but apparently...Tooks' only sad moment was when she was helping Steph pack her snack and then realized that she had to wait to eat it until preschool. Had a few tears about that. But then Steph actually had to remind her to give her a hug before she ran off to do puzzles. It's so nice to not have to worry about the tears. Not that someday she might not develop an anxiety about preschool, but for now, easy come easy go. Of course, the flipside is that Tooks is clearly going to be MY daughter in terms of being totally uncommunicative about what happens at school. Can't get her to say a word about it.

In blog news...a few new additions.

Added a link to my good friend Dr. Matt Saunders' website, Martian Dances. Check it out, but only if you're ready to have your mind blown. Funny thing about Matt and me...we could probably both look at each other and say with a mixture of admiration and trepidation, "There but for the grace of God..." and really mean it.

I hope he takes that the right way. It's supposed to be a good thing.

Also uploaded a newish video to Youtube - finished this one before Tennessee but never got around to posting it - a smattering of images and movies from the summer of 2008.

Life is good. Busy but good. Must work on time management.

Matt

Post Title Here

(It's too stressful for me to come up with post titles...)

So I know I'm back in the swing because it's 2pm on a Sunday, Matt's watching the Bengals (even though the offense apparently decided to not show up to the game), and I'm sitting at the computer trying to find ways to procrastinate on making this week's lesson plans. Sigh. It's good to be back! ;-)

Robby rolled over last night -- from his back to his tummy which I consider to be tougher than the other way. He'd rolled from his tummy to his back at Grandma & Z's this week. Hannah doesn't really show signs of doing this yet but doesn't seem frustrated by that.

Went to my sister's bridal shower yesterday. It was a lot of fun and so good to see everyone who was there. It was mostly my mom's old friends (w/ my aunts and grandma and my sister's good friends), all of whom I consider to be like family. All of whom I have sort've grown up with having around a lot and all of whom, I am pretty sure, are nurses! We tease my mom about only being friends w/ nurses! Matt's mom came too and she is, of course, a nurse as well!

I brought the babies and they behaved pretty well. Of course, there were like 20 women there helping me to hold them so that was definitely helpful.

We're really starting to feel the "crunch" of those last 2 months before the wedding. Fri night the babies and I went over to my mom's to help her and my sister finish up the invites (George helped too). So those are in the mail and we're trying to finish up all the details as we can! My sister has her first dress fitting this week which is pretty exciting! Hey the link to her cool blog is to the right there -- "Cinnamon and Lemons". Check it out if you get a chance!

Faith and Mari start preschool this week. Mari goes a half day tomorrow. Faith doesn't do her half day until Wednesday. I'm nervous for Mari -- she is so unpredictable at times. I'm leaning towards her being totally fine and not even realizing I've left. But part of me wonders if she'll melt down. With Faith we knew for sure she'd melt down -- no surprises there. So we'll see with Mari. She's taking a good nap as I type this so that will help that she'll be well-rested.

We'll see how Mommy does with it all. Both the emotional part of realizing half my children are in school now and the physical part of getting everyone where they need to be!

Steph