Although I do my best to live in the moment, I have to confess that for about 7 years now, I've been secretly looking forward to the day when all the kids would be in school and I would have a few hours to myself on weekdays. Perhaps it's not been a very secret desire, come to think of it. I'm pretty sure every one of my friends knows how much I've been looking forward to this. In fact, every so often over the years I would entertain the idea of homeschooling the kids but then I would remember how much I was looking forward to those few hours of time to myself and that would instantly zap any such thoughts.
Last year was the magical year when Kardynn's time in preschool would overlap with Kiersten's time in Kindergarten. But The Universe has a sense of humor because, I suddenly found myself caring for a little one once again. I'm actually very grateful for the time I got to spend watching my niece last year, but it was a funny turn of events all the same. (On a side note, it made me realize how far we've come. Wow! Watching an infant is time intensive. There's no easy slipping away to do things like...post on your blog.) I still did get time to myself a couple of days every week but I just had one day of negative productivity thrown into the mix.
Time moved along and my niece switched to full-time daycare. But by then summer had arrived and the house was once again a constant center of activity with everyone home from school. But The Universe wasn't finished having a little fun at my expense. One week before school was to start up again, my husband started a new job...working from home. "Seriously, Universe?! Are you kidding me?"
But that's okay because his being home didn't really interfere with what I wanted to do, which was to exercise. All summer I'd been looking forward to being able to exercise five mornings a week.
Two weeks after Kardynn started preschool I finally caved in and went to see a doctor about the pain in my heel. At that point I'd been in constant pain for about 5 weeks. And what happened with the doctor is hopefully The Universe's last little joke at my expense. I've been temporarily banned from all exercise while my foot heals from plantar fasciitis. I supposed to run a half marathon on November 9 but I've finally accepted that it's not happening.
So this is a reminder that I'm not in control and that I have to go with the flow and roll with the punches as best I can...and that The Universe has a wicked sense of humor.
Sunday, September 30
Friday, August 10
Sam the Author
I'm making a quick appearance to brag about my 10 year-old brother. I convinced my dad to send me these two samples of Sam's writing. (When you read this, keep in mind that he's 10.)
(He was at a coffee shop, waiting for his mom and her friend to finish up their drinks. He entertained himself by writing about what was going on around him.)
The Coffee Shop
The air rung with the dusty taste of coffee. The maroon tables were spotted with sugary orange specks. The empty ashtrays stood like rooks on a chessboard; unmoving and imposing. A field of white dust spilled on the corner of one ashtray, an orange cigarette and a white one sharing the ashtray with their burned tips. A brown paper towel lay r/5 under the left ashtray. Beside it was a tall metal pole with lines of material ridging out. 2/8 of the way up was a thick ring of white plastic, a hook hanging out. When the hook is lifted, the pole will come crashing down on the table. Dirty straws hang menacingly beside the saucers holding scalding cups of coffee with a white rose in the middle. Columns of silver screws guard the boards with flat heads and inviting spaces. Droning voices argue monotonously, smiling and nodding with flat, unshaved faces. Women smile and approve in both sincere and false optimism, changing quickly with the first litter of pessimism. Pens quiver in wavering hands,unused ink drying up in the sun. It is lifted up and tapped on blue lines of paper. Squares are drawn and speckled on this sheet of snow. The metaphors switch to physical as high hands and pained fingers dance around in the language of emotion. Stern faces replace the exaggerated happy ones. A lone laugh creeps in before it is smothered by the pained atmosphere. Pats of hair and wiggling fingers show the tension and nervousness of the conversation. Straight lines of sound cut through gibbering voices. The table acts as a stage for the fingertappings of buildings, plans, and life-changing ideas. Strained smiles and polite shields of gratitude disguise the battlefield as a royal tea party. The world awakes as bikes and cars pile up at lights and whiz past statues, the humans pasted to their spot. The people clatter on, moving the conversation forward but staying still. The buzz of silence is shooed awy, the talkers determined not to let their mouths close. The buzz of silence hovers around the bystanders feeding on the fertilizer of boredom. Quiet sips of coffee approach the mouth but never make it in. The pencil stops and drops on the table as this writer goes to sleep.
(The first chapter of a book that he started.)
CHAPTER ONE
As the orange sun set over the ravaged, broken sand pillars of the
desert, the Rashniki scuffled in the dirt. They were the size of the
mouse, but life depended on them, and many stages of glory had taken
place on their soiled homeland. This would be their downfall, as the
blood of the fallen contaminated the water. Once the gods of the
heaven, the dust on Faral Plain was their hearth and brethren. They
never wondered about the world miles away from them, but kept to their
universe of destruction, and lingered in its aftereffects.
***
The bushes on the palace wall were empty, hollowing and decaying on
their narrow stumps. The windows on the palace shone with the elegancy
of sawdusty boards. Its doors were lined with wriggling termites. The
steel tiles of the castle had crumbled into dirt. The inside of the
castle, however was as neat as a diamond ring, perfectly carved with
miniature sapphires arranged within half a millimeter of each other.
The chairs of the palace all faced northwest, and the beds had not had
a wrinkle on them for 7 years. The castle was under siege. Castle
Rashniki had been the most powerful of its kind, the Durnaiya, but its
legacy was withering away as its dependent creature was scuffling in
sand and dying of thirst. The prince of Rashniki, Yu Kretti, was
slipping into a trance. Within a year of this trance, he vanished, and
items started disappearing. It was immediately understood that Kretti
was now a ghost, and King Rin took over the castle. It has been 6
years since that happened. The clouds of dust around the palace door
are gone. Rin has finally dared to step out.
***
Rin stopped momentarily at a village tavern.
“Eh, man, ye got 9 silvs? Oth’wise ye can’t step a wav’rin’ foot ‘to
dis tavehn. Well, ya gots ‘dem, ya rich drunk? Eh?” The man’s speech
was so drawn out it sounded like ‘duuuunkk’.
“Leave me be, you vulgar, misbegotten foe of our land!” The men
laughed like hyenas.
“’O ya dink ya are, a durn noblesm’n, tossed ‘pon our f’ne flurr l’k
a k’dnipped pr’nce? Eh?” The king ignored him.
“Those who talk the most have the least to say,”Rin muttered.
“Kya-aaa-aaa-aaa-haaa!” The bartender chuckled. “Put down you, Bart
E.” Bart whipped the bartender with one finger, sending him flying
into his own barrel of whiskey. It pummeled the bartender as if
avenging themselves for being locked up in a dark cellar. Bart turned
back and glared at Rin.
“A Gehehara,” Rin breathed. “Superhuman strength, feeds off addiction
to one thing. Perfect place for one.” Rin however, was not very
concerned. This gehehara did not look very intelligent, and Rin
whipped him straight in the belly with the flat of his sword. Bart lay
out of breath on the ground. Rin marched out of the tavern, head held
low, but with the apparent posture of a king.
***
In Yenta City, a white palace stood in the middle of a grand lawn.
500 slaves could be seen marching up to that palace, surrounded by 1
guard for each of them. No chain was tied to their ankles, but the
guards were Tenharkanas, and used telekinesis to bind the slaves
together.
“My king!” a guard yelled to King Harn. Beside Harn stood a tall
elegant lady, whose black hair hid her face. Her name was Hakke. She
blew the guard up from the inside out. He had made the fatal mistake
of not bowing. Yenta had no prisons, as Hakke pierced the evildoers
(to her) with daggers of hot flame before wiping them out from memory
instead of killing them.
***
Rin traveled around, defeating various geheharas and tenharkanas (the
most common types of creatures around his area). One day Rin traveled
to Faral Plain. As he climbed onto Ranka Pillar, the highest sand
pillar in the plain, he noticed a deep gorge in the rocks. Rin jumped
into the gorge. He flashed his blade, stuck it into the rock, and
pulled it out. The rocks were soft, as if someone was playing with
them. He noticed a small spring bubbling up, some rodents, and a small
tree that had olives growing on it. The gorge could sustain life for
centuries, as long as the livers were small creatures. Rin saw one of
the rodents fly up and play with lightning. Rin gulped. These were the
animals that his castle depended on to soar high and live low. They
were the Rashniki, and they were inviting him to their home.
(He was at a coffee shop, waiting for his mom and her friend to finish up their drinks. He entertained himself by writing about what was going on around him.)
The Coffee Shop
The air rung with the dusty taste of coffee. The maroon tables were spotted with sugary orange specks. The empty ashtrays stood like rooks on a chessboard; unmoving and imposing. A field of white dust spilled on the corner of one ashtray, an orange cigarette and a white one sharing the ashtray with their burned tips. A brown paper towel lay r/5 under the left ashtray. Beside it was a tall metal pole with lines of material ridging out. 2/8 of the way up was a thick ring of white plastic, a hook hanging out. When the hook is lifted, the pole will come crashing down on the table. Dirty straws hang menacingly beside the saucers holding scalding cups of coffee with a white rose in the middle. Columns of silver screws guard the boards with flat heads and inviting spaces. Droning voices argue monotonously, smiling and nodding with flat, unshaved faces. Women smile and approve in both sincere and false optimism, changing quickly with the first litter of pessimism. Pens quiver in wavering hands,unused ink drying up in the sun. It is lifted up and tapped on blue lines of paper. Squares are drawn and speckled on this sheet of snow. The metaphors switch to physical as high hands and pained fingers dance around in the language of emotion. Stern faces replace the exaggerated happy ones. A lone laugh creeps in before it is smothered by the pained atmosphere. Pats of hair and wiggling fingers show the tension and nervousness of the conversation. Straight lines of sound cut through gibbering voices. The table acts as a stage for the fingertappings of buildings, plans, and life-changing ideas. Strained smiles and polite shields of gratitude disguise the battlefield as a royal tea party. The world awakes as bikes and cars pile up at lights and whiz past statues, the humans pasted to their spot. The people clatter on, moving the conversation forward but staying still. The buzz of silence is shooed awy, the talkers determined not to let their mouths close. The buzz of silence hovers around the bystanders feeding on the fertilizer of boredom. Quiet sips of coffee approach the mouth but never make it in. The pencil stops and drops on the table as this writer goes to sleep.
(The first chapter of a book that he started.)
CHAPTER ONE
As the orange sun set over the ravaged, broken sand pillars of the
desert, the Rashniki scuffled in the dirt. They were the size of the
mouse, but life depended on them, and many stages of glory had taken
place on their soiled homeland. This would be their downfall, as the
blood of the fallen contaminated the water. Once the gods of the
heaven, the dust on Faral Plain was their hearth and brethren. They
never wondered about the world miles away from them, but kept to their
universe of destruction, and lingered in its aftereffects.
***
The bushes on the palace wall were empty, hollowing and decaying on
their narrow stumps. The windows on the palace shone with the elegancy
of sawdusty boards. Its doors were lined with wriggling termites. The
steel tiles of the castle had crumbled into dirt. The inside of the
castle, however was as neat as a diamond ring, perfectly carved with
miniature sapphires arranged within half a millimeter of each other.
The chairs of the palace all faced northwest, and the beds had not had
a wrinkle on them for 7 years. The castle was under siege. Castle
Rashniki had been the most powerful of its kind, the Durnaiya, but its
legacy was withering away as its dependent creature was scuffling in
sand and dying of thirst. The prince of Rashniki, Yu Kretti, was
slipping into a trance. Within a year of this trance, he vanished, and
items started disappearing. It was immediately understood that Kretti
was now a ghost, and King Rin took over the castle. It has been 6
years since that happened. The clouds of dust around the palace door
are gone. Rin has finally dared to step out.
***
Rin stopped momentarily at a village tavern.
“Eh, man, ye got 9 silvs? Oth’wise ye can’t step a wav’rin’ foot ‘to
dis tavehn. Well, ya gots ‘dem, ya rich drunk? Eh?” The man’s speech
was so drawn out it sounded like ‘duuuunkk’.
“Leave me be, you vulgar, misbegotten foe of our land!” The men
laughed like hyenas.
“’O ya dink ya are, a durn noblesm’n, tossed ‘pon our f’ne flurr l’k
a k’dnipped pr’nce? Eh?” The king ignored him.
“Those who talk the most have the least to say,”Rin muttered.
“Kya-aaa-aaa-aaa-haaa!” The bartender chuckled. “Put down you, Bart
E.” Bart whipped the bartender with one finger, sending him flying
into his own barrel of whiskey. It pummeled the bartender as if
avenging themselves for being locked up in a dark cellar. Bart turned
back and glared at Rin.
“A Gehehara,” Rin breathed. “Superhuman strength, feeds off addiction
to one thing. Perfect place for one.” Rin however, was not very
concerned. This gehehara did not look very intelligent, and Rin
whipped him straight in the belly with the flat of his sword. Bart lay
out of breath on the ground. Rin marched out of the tavern, head held
low, but with the apparent posture of a king.
***
In Yenta City, a white palace stood in the middle of a grand lawn.
500 slaves could be seen marching up to that palace, surrounded by 1
guard for each of them. No chain was tied to their ankles, but the
guards were Tenharkanas, and used telekinesis to bind the slaves
together.
“My king!” a guard yelled to King Harn. Beside Harn stood a tall
elegant lady, whose black hair hid her face. Her name was Hakke. She
blew the guard up from the inside out. He had made the fatal mistake
of not bowing. Yenta had no prisons, as Hakke pierced the evildoers
(to her) with daggers of hot flame before wiping them out from memory
instead of killing them.
***
Rin traveled around, defeating various geheharas and tenharkanas (the
most common types of creatures around his area). One day Rin traveled
to Faral Plain. As he climbed onto Ranka Pillar, the highest sand
pillar in the plain, he noticed a deep gorge in the rocks. Rin jumped
into the gorge. He flashed his blade, stuck it into the rock, and
pulled it out. The rocks were soft, as if someone was playing with
them. He noticed a small spring bubbling up, some rodents, and a small
tree that had olives growing on it. The gorge could sustain life for
centuries, as long as the livers were small creatures. Rin saw one of
the rodents fly up and play with lightning. Rin gulped. These were the
animals that his castle depended on to soar high and live low. They
were the Rashniki, and they were inviting him to their home.
Thursday, July 19
We're Still Here
We've been so busy having fun this summer, that I've not made the time to come report about what we've been up to. But I will!
Monday, July 9
Oskar's Birthday Poem from Grandpa
Oskar Engen, just last night,
Lay in bed not feeling right
About to lose his birthday.
Mama said, “Your forehead’s hot.
Don’t know if you can, or not
Celebrate your birthday.”
Oskar Engen, feeling sick
Decided he’d get better quick
Because it was his birthday.
Didn’t want to be in bed
When he could eat cake instead
Because it was his birthday.
Oskar wondered what to do
If Mama thought he had the flu
Would he get his birthday?
Oskar ran to get a pail
Had a plan that would not fail
Had to save his birthday.
Filled it quickly up with ice
Stuck his head inside it twice
Gonna save that birthday.
Let’s go celebrate your birthday.”
That dear friends, is why he’s here
Feeling full of birthday cheer
Celebrating one more year.
Oskar - Happy Birthday
Lay in bed not feeling right
About to lose his birthday.
Mama said, “Your forehead’s hot.
Don’t know if you can, or not
Celebrate your birthday.”
Oskar Engen, feeling sick
Decided he’d get better quick
Because it was his birthday.
Didn’t want to be in bed
When he could eat cake instead
Because it was his birthday.
Oskar wondered what to do
If Mama thought he had the flu
Would he get his birthday?
Oskar ran to get a pail
Had a plan that would not fail
Had to save his birthday.
Filled it quickly up with ice
Stuck his head inside it twice
Gonna save that birthday.
“Mama, feel my forehead now.”
“Oh wonderful, no fevered brow.Let’s go celebrate your birthday.”
That dear friends, is why he’s here
Feeling full of birthday cheer
Celebrating one more year.
Oskar - Happy Birthday
Thursday, June 21
Rough Week
We're off to a rough start this week.
It started this weekend with Annika's triathlon - her first triathlon!
She did a great job except that she missed the second loop on her bike ride. A race official suggested that we not saying anything to Annika and just let her have her day.
Well, that was all well and good until the results were posted and Annika came in first.
So I sat Annika down and explained why we would need to pull her out of the race. Annika was very disappointed.
The next day she was climbing a tree and a branch broke, causing her to fall. My dad guess-timated that she fell about 12 feet. Luckily her injuries were nothing worse than scraped up arms, knees and back.
Meanwhile, she'd had a tick on her head that Dwight pulled off. The site got infected and started to weep - which was not a pleasant thing to have happening on your scalp. So we took her to the doctor and got her started on antibiotics for that.
When we got back, we picked up Kardynn, who'd been with friends, and discovered that she had a 102 degree temperature. The next day Kiersten succumbed as well with her temperature spiking as high as 103.7 (under the arm). It was obvious that Kiersten wasn't feeling good.
But as soon as the fever reducer would kick in for Kardynn, she was bounding around like usual.
So we spent the day hanging around the house. I moved around furniture in the basement, helped Oskar make banana bread and canned some soup. Today my tummy feels a little topsy turvy but hopefully it doesn't amount to anything and everyone manages to stay healthy for the rest of the week!
It started this weekend with Annika's triathlon - her first triathlon!
She did a great job except that she missed the second loop on her bike ride. A race official suggested that we not saying anything to Annika and just let her have her day.
Well, that was all well and good until the results were posted and Annika came in first.
So I sat Annika down and explained why we would need to pull her out of the race. Annika was very disappointed.
The next day she was climbing a tree and a branch broke, causing her to fall. My dad guess-timated that she fell about 12 feet. Luckily her injuries were nothing worse than scraped up arms, knees and back.
Meanwhile, she'd had a tick on her head that Dwight pulled off. The site got infected and started to weep - which was not a pleasant thing to have happening on your scalp. So we took her to the doctor and got her started on antibiotics for that.
When we got back, we picked up Kardynn, who'd been with friends, and discovered that she had a 102 degree temperature. The next day Kiersten succumbed as well with her temperature spiking as high as 103.7 (under the arm). It was obvious that Kiersten wasn't feeling good.
But as soon as the fever reducer would kick in for Kardynn, she was bounding around like usual.
So we spent the day hanging around the house. I moved around furniture in the basement, helped Oskar make banana bread and canned some soup. Today my tummy feels a little topsy turvy but hopefully it doesn't amount to anything and everyone manages to stay healthy for the rest of the week!
Thursday, May 24
LoCo Rain
I love storms...perhaps it's the photographer in me. I love the big, ominous clouds. I love the sound of the rain. Today was especially magical because you could see (and hear!) the storm coming, but it was still bright and sunny out.
The sun was still shining when it started raining. Oskar made me chuckle when he said, "The plants must be very happy because they're getting everything they need right now - sunshine and water."
I tried to get a picture that would convey that it was actually a pretty heavy rain.
Kardynn's umbrella has seen better days.
I spotted lightning so told the kids it was time to come in. The accompanying thunder made them happy to comply.
Kiersten was away for a play date so I grabbed my camera on our way to pick her up.
Check out the Loudoun County flood waters!
I tried to get a picture that would convey that it was actually a pretty heavy rain.
Kardynn's umbrella has seen better days.
I spotted lightning so told the kids it was time to come in. The accompanying thunder made them happy to comply.
Kiersten was away for a play date so I grabbed my camera on our way to pick her up.
Check out the Loudoun County flood waters!
Tuesday, May 22
Boys and their Toys
On the way home from Oskar's allergy shots, I was having a conversation with the kids about their strengths and skills. Oskar piped up from the back, "I'm good at playboy toys." Me, "WHAT?!" Oskar, "I'm good at playing with boy toys." Ohhhhh.
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