Yesterday I got back on "the wagon" and back in line with my healthy lifestyle. I have started tracking my calories again and getting back into the workout routine. Leslie and I are going to be great morning friends with her "3 Mile - Walk Off the Pounds" and Lara, Cristian, and I are going to start walking/jogging together around the lakes although Cristian has already started negotiating riding his scooter instead. That boy is a natural salesman. He could sell ice to Eskimos as they say...I feel better than I have in a couple of months. It is nice to get back into the swing of things and to get out of this depressive slump I feel like I have dragged myself into (health wise). Anyone want to wager on how many minutes I can jog before I drop into a fit of asthmatic breathing? Ha... should be interesting.
Okay so that is probably only a half truth because there is one thing that still has me holding on to the back of the wagon kicking my feet up to avoid hitting the rocks I am being dragged over. I gave up soda in January and recently I have started drinking it again. Let's just say that in times of very high stress I crave not so great for me addictions like smoking or diet coke. Since I promised myself years ago I would never pick back up another cigarette I thought the aspartame was a little less deadly and so the addiction begins again. As silly as it sounds there is not a thing in the world I miss more than smoking...especially late at night when I can't sleep. Those were the times I used to go chill outside in the patio chair in the backyard and smoke to calm my nerves. Ugh...But, never ever again. As for the Diet Coke - even though I have only been drinking it once in a while if we eat out somewhere I feel the cravings all the time like I did during my withdrawal period when I gave it up initially. It totally sucks :( I am working on it...but I am just not sure I can give it up 100% yet. Things have just been really tough lately...really tough...and I get tired of hearing "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and all that philosophical mess. Is it true? Sure...what hasn't killed me has made me stronger but damn...can I get a time out for good behavior? Any stronger and I am going to be a body builder :)
I am still really struggling with being vegetarian. It is so hard to lay off the pasta when making dinner because there are only so many other variations of food. But, I found this website full of meatless Monday recipes that I am going to start trying to add some variety. I am planning out a week's worth of menu's for lunch and dinner, grocery shopping for that list, and then cook off of that so that it is planned out in advance. I think that will make a difference vs opening the fridge/freezer at 5pm and saying.."hmmm what should I make for dinner tonight". Will see how things go...
Last night a couple friends of ours offered to take Cristian while Lara and I enjoyed a night out. He got to romp around with kids, watch movies, play, and just had a great time after he got over his sadness of us not being there. It was so nice to have a night out - just us. By that, I mean without a 7 yr old. I haven't had a night out like that in so long...We had passes to see Xmen - First Class as a pre-screening and I have to say it was actually a pretty good movie. A friend joined us for the showing too which made the wait out in line more enjoyable. She is fun company. :) Usually, I have to pass up screenings or go alone because either it is not kid friendly enough to take Cristian with us or it is too late in the day for him to be out. It was a much needed break and one I must do again soon.
Today is Cristian's last day of school. While I am happy to be parting with certain parents in the classroom I am going to miss the faculty at his school since he won't be returning there next year. The principal, assistant, administrative staff, teachers, etc...are all so sweet and worked so well with Cristian. It is an awesome group and Cristian was lucky to end up in a school with such caring and dedicated people. I hate that he is going to lose all that next year when he starts in a new school. It also means having to rebuild all those relationships and trusts with new faces...I hope we made the right decision for him. Sometimes it is decisions like this that really impact your child that make parenting tough.
I constantly hear from people how crappy the public school system is, how kids are just left behind or pushed through to the next grade even though they don't know the material just so the school can get funding, or how they only teach what is on the TAKS test and it just isn't a good education and I find myself having to frequently defend why we took Cristian out of a private school and put him into the "horrible public education system". What a perception for faculty to fight on a daily basis huh? I couldn't disagree more...a child's education doesn't start and stop at school, it continues in their daily life at home as well. If a parent does nothing to engage or develop their child at home and just sends them off to school with he expectation that the teacher will do all the work for them then yes, the system may fail your child. Why? Because as parents you need to help your child develop and expand on the foundations they learn in class. Imagine that...
Kids do not just get pushed through - in fact mine is being pushed back this year. The teacher and staff at a school matter more than the school you send your child to. Having a really great teacher is what makes the difference in their education - not the sign on the outside of the building. While I am not going to get on my rant on everyone's arguements on the teaching for testing, I will say this...has anyone stopped to think at all that maybe the TAKS tests that are pieced together cover an extensive amount of material and that the reason the curriculumn teaches for the test is because the test covers all the major things that the children should know? What exactly are they not teaching in school, that is not on the test, that you feel your child is being deprived of? I think it is human nature to want to find things to blame for failure because it stops people from having to look inside themselves. Education, like anything else in life, is going to be what you make of it. It isn't really about what is handed to you - it is about what you do with what you are given. My hope for him as he gets older is that he can see that and make the most out of the opportunities in his life.
On another note - we are supposed to hear whether or not the potential buyer accepts our counter offer on the house today. I never thought I would be so excited about the prospect of being homeless, lol. I really want to put the stress of selling the house behind me so if we close on July 1, finding a temp. place to stay until end of September is a much better problem to have than to sit around with the house on the market wondering if we will sell and close on it before the end of September. :)
Wish us luck!
Cheers,
M E
Okay so that is probably only a half truth because there is one thing that still has me holding on to the back of the wagon kicking my feet up to avoid hitting the rocks I am being dragged over. I gave up soda in January and recently I have started drinking it again. Let's just say that in times of very high stress I crave not so great for me addictions like smoking or diet coke. Since I promised myself years ago I would never pick back up another cigarette I thought the aspartame was a little less deadly and so the addiction begins again. As silly as it sounds there is not a thing in the world I miss more than smoking...especially late at night when I can't sleep. Those were the times I used to go chill outside in the patio chair in the backyard and smoke to calm my nerves. Ugh...But, never ever again. As for the Diet Coke - even though I have only been drinking it once in a while if we eat out somewhere I feel the cravings all the time like I did during my withdrawal period when I gave it up initially. It totally sucks :( I am working on it...but I am just not sure I can give it up 100% yet. Things have just been really tough lately...really tough...and I get tired of hearing "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and all that philosophical mess. Is it true? Sure...what hasn't killed me has made me stronger but damn...can I get a time out for good behavior? Any stronger and I am going to be a body builder :)
I am still really struggling with being vegetarian. It is so hard to lay off the pasta when making dinner because there are only so many other variations of food. But, I found this website full of meatless Monday recipes that I am going to start trying to add some variety. I am planning out a week's worth of menu's for lunch and dinner, grocery shopping for that list, and then cook off of that so that it is planned out in advance. I think that will make a difference vs opening the fridge/freezer at 5pm and saying.."hmmm what should I make for dinner tonight". Will see how things go...
Last night a couple friends of ours offered to take Cristian while Lara and I enjoyed a night out. He got to romp around with kids, watch movies, play, and just had a great time after he got over his sadness of us not being there. It was so nice to have a night out - just us. By that, I mean without a 7 yr old. I haven't had a night out like that in so long...We had passes to see Xmen - First Class as a pre-screening and I have to say it was actually a pretty good movie. A friend joined us for the showing too which made the wait out in line more enjoyable. She is fun company. :) Usually, I have to pass up screenings or go alone because either it is not kid friendly enough to take Cristian with us or it is too late in the day for him to be out. It was a much needed break and one I must do again soon.
Today is Cristian's last day of school. While I am happy to be parting with certain parents in the classroom I am going to miss the faculty at his school since he won't be returning there next year. The principal, assistant, administrative staff, teachers, etc...are all so sweet and worked so well with Cristian. It is an awesome group and Cristian was lucky to end up in a school with such caring and dedicated people. I hate that he is going to lose all that next year when he starts in a new school. It also means having to rebuild all those relationships and trusts with new faces...I hope we made the right decision for him. Sometimes it is decisions like this that really impact your child that make parenting tough.
I constantly hear from people how crappy the public school system is, how kids are just left behind or pushed through to the next grade even though they don't know the material just so the school can get funding, or how they only teach what is on the TAKS test and it just isn't a good education and I find myself having to frequently defend why we took Cristian out of a private school and put him into the "horrible public education system". What a perception for faculty to fight on a daily basis huh? I couldn't disagree more...a child's education doesn't start and stop at school, it continues in their daily life at home as well. If a parent does nothing to engage or develop their child at home and just sends them off to school with he expectation that the teacher will do all the work for them then yes, the system may fail your child. Why? Because as parents you need to help your child develop and expand on the foundations they learn in class. Imagine that...
Kids do not just get pushed through - in fact mine is being pushed back this year. The teacher and staff at a school matter more than the school you send your child to. Having a really great teacher is what makes the difference in their education - not the sign on the outside of the building. While I am not going to get on my rant on everyone's arguements on the teaching for testing, I will say this...has anyone stopped to think at all that maybe the TAKS tests that are pieced together cover an extensive amount of material and that the reason the curriculumn teaches for the test is because the test covers all the major things that the children should know? What exactly are they not teaching in school, that is not on the test, that you feel your child is being deprived of? I think it is human nature to want to find things to blame for failure because it stops people from having to look inside themselves. Education, like anything else in life, is going to be what you make of it. It isn't really about what is handed to you - it is about what you do with what you are given. My hope for him as he gets older is that he can see that and make the most out of the opportunities in his life.
On another note - we are supposed to hear whether or not the potential buyer accepts our counter offer on the house today. I never thought I would be so excited about the prospect of being homeless, lol. I really want to put the stress of selling the house behind me so if we close on July 1, finding a temp. place to stay until end of September is a much better problem to have than to sit around with the house on the market wondering if we will sell and close on it before the end of September. :)
Wish us luck!
Cheers,
M E
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