Track Mom, or How I Learned to Stop Living and Love the Sport

Sorry, Dr Strangelove reference there in the title.

Track has been my life since mid March.  Three days a week, we are at the track field for practice.  At least one other day a week I've been trying to run Boy on the 2.3 mile trek we chose through the neighborhood.  I now live, breathe, sleep, and eat track.  Everything in my life is now centered on how long I have to do x,y, and z before we have to be at the field or be sure Boy does x,y, and z so he can do well at the field.

We've done some organized sports in the past, but nothing like this.  Boy is not...athletically gifted...but in track, he has found something he is passionate about and wants to pursue.  So I'm supporting it and by supporting it, I mean dropping what little time I had outside of work to shuttle him back and forth.

I've heard Hockey Moms have it worse...dear god, 6 am practice.  *shudder*

But Boy is doing well and he's grown in confidence by leaps and bounds, I will do what is needed to keep him going.  Watching him run and improve his strength, stamina, and time makes me swell to the point of bursting with pride.  Another great benefit is that Boy is no longer allowed to be picky, he must eat a variety of foods to feed his body's needs so that he can become a better athlete, which means I get to Cook All The Things!!!! that I haven't gotten to cook in ages.  It's very liberating for my dusty cookbooks and food blog.

Yesterday was his second track meet and he did pretty well.  Track meets aren't as bad as I thought they were going to be, especially since I found a canopy on sale at the local sporting store for $50.  That made a world of difference, I was able to set up my own little kingdom in the shade and sit there drinking, snacking, and knitting in a leisurely comfort away from all the chaos of kids that don't belong to me...except when they realized I'm a Nice Mom who doesn't scream and yell and brings things like coloring books, toys, games, and movies.  Sigh.  Still it was nice and not too hot between the shade and breeze.

Boy is really starting to get the "you're a girl" comments because of his long hair, but he handles it well and once his gender is established within the group he makes friends fast.  He's now part of the Three Musketeers and very proud of this fact.  I'm thinking he's about the right age for the book so I'll download it for his Kindle app and encourage him to read it before showing him the movie (if it's age appropriate, I honestly can't remember because it's been so long).

Of course, what is a brag post about my kids without pictures?

100 Meter Dash

 Long Jump (8'10"!!!! and that was his shortest jump)

A Reluctant Rescue

Life sure can be crazy at times.  I am not a fan of dogs, yet I own two rescued chihuahuas and love them, though not so much the male when he chooses to pee on my rugs.  Three days ago, I went to pick up some items from a friend's house and found her dog in less than desirable conditions.  Due to extenuating circumstances in her life, she is no longer able to care for the dog and has been attempting to rehome her with no success.

I came home, called Man, and told him we had to do something immediately because the situation was just no good, bad, awful and the puppy wasn't happy.  A few hours later we were back at the house collecting the dog and her various belongings.

When we brought her home we spent an hour on the front porch brushing, brushing, and brushing until she'd had enough.  We then brought her into the bathroom and washed her until the hot water heater ran out of water, but she still wasn't fully clean, we rinsed her and called it good until we could get her more settled and comfortable.  She'd been through so much already and the bath was a bit distressing so she'll get another bath on the next sunny day.

She's so full of fluff it's hard to tell she's thin, but the second picture (showing my embarrassing pile of recycling to go out) does show some of her leanness.

Man laid on the floor with her for an hour and a half before we walked her for the night and put her in the kennel.  She was utterly blissed out and started to relax.

There is an issue with Freyja, she's dog aggressive.  So at the moment we have my dog sequestered in my room with a small chihuahua paradise set up while we work on how to address her issues and safely attempt to integrate her with them.  I'm in touch with a malamute rescue as well as putting out feelers to local trainers to find out how to resolve her aggression in a safe, controlled manner.  I've had two serious inquiries into adopting her and have screened one out and told the other she is next on my list to come meet her if she doesn't work out in my home.

Since taking her in, I have been on the phone and computer calling and emailing everyone under the sun about her.  I've talked with the owner who had her prior to the people I rescued her from and got a great amount of her history under my belt and it's tragic.  She was bred multiple times and has been rehomed multiple times.  At some point in her life she developed dog aggression and the woman I spoke to rehomed her in the hopes she would go to a good home where she would not live stressed out by other dogs and loved.  Sadly, I am her sixth placement in her four short years of life and if I'm not her last, I want to be sure whomever she goes to will be  her final family.  She deserves to be loved because all she has to give is her love and she gives of it freely.

Now that she's settled in, she is utterly blissed out between all the love we have to offer.  She has labeled herself Protector of Children and when the kids went to school on Friday I walked her with us to the bus stop.  When the Yellow Flashing Machine of Death pulled up, she placed herself between it and the children in an attempt to protect them from impending doom.  Once she realized the school bus was a gigantic CAR full of excited children, it was all I could do to keep her off the bus because she wanted to ride with the kids. 

Girl came home from a sleepover with a stomach virus and Freyja has been nothing but a source of comfort to her between laying next to her on the couch and pacing outside the bathroom whining while Girl vomits and cries.  Once Girl was feeling a little better they got down on the floor together for some pettings and next thing you know, the belly was up for grabs and the world was good for a time.

The past few days have been hectic to say the least.  Helping her adjust, dealing with an ill child, and still keeping my other pets happy and content is taxing me to great lengths.  I am not very excited about adding another dog to my family and maintain a cautiously pessimistic outlook on the success of this venture, but it needed doing and I learned that when I want something done right, I have to do it myself.  So it's being done.

More Reusables

I'll attempt to keep this from becoming a big TMI fest, but it is about menstrual products so beware.

I was a tampon girl since I first got the hang of it.  I always hated pads, hated hated hated them.  That bulky feeling and just knowing that everyone could see the outline through your pants was horrible and humiliating.  It was also probably one of the big contributors to diving head first into the punk/goth scene and embracing JNCOs and other super baggy jeans.

After I had my first child I realized that pads were an evil with whom I had to come to terms.  So I wore them, and I wound up with skin irritations because of the chemicals they contained.  I wound up using some of my son's newborn cloth prefold diapers, specifically for that purpose, they were not mixed up with his, and it was a super bulky relief.

Once I regained my fertility I started searching for alternative options to tampons because while I had some cloth pads, I was not fond of the bulk or the laundry.  It just wasn't a pleasant thing to empty out menstrual pads into my washer, even coming from the dirty hippie chick...it was just gross to me.  I saw menstrual sponges but nixed them because I didn't feel they'd be clean enough and then I found a Diva Cup.

Back in those days, you know the ones, when online shopping wasn't a huge thing and the "green" living hadn't quite caught on...life was tough back then...I had to order my Diva Cup through a private seller, similar to Avon or the like.  Today you can find them in any health food store, but back then I ordered mine from a woman online and it arrived in a lumpy, yet discreet, yellow manila envelope.

I squealed, got excited, and didn't menstruate for another nine months since I was pregnant.

Most women will tell you that the secret to getting pregnant is to order a menstrual cup.

So cue the cloth pads again and months of lactational amenorrhea and finally I got my period again. I wasn't fond of my Diva, it was just too rigid and uncomfortable.  The suction sometimes felt like it was trying to suck out my uterus.  So I hit the internet again and came across what I consider a training cup, Insteads.  They were much more flexible and user friendly, but they leaked.  This is where my handy dandy cloth panti liners came in.  I'd ordered a ton of them years prior and used them, but they were put into full rotation.  So I still had my cup and I was now putting those flannel panti liners to use.

A few years later I got an IUD placed and had to let the Insteads go since they can potentially dislodge an IUD.

Finally, I got my tubes tied and decided to purchase a Lunette cup since I no longer had any fears of hearing that metal *tink* into the toilet bowl.  It was a total impulse buy, I just happened to see it in a natural parenting store while buying laundry detergent, but when I held it I was impressed with how flexible and contouring it was.

I fell in love with my Lunette.  I rarely have issues with leaking or that sucking out my innards sensation and the stem is short, but not too short, so it isn't pokey, and I don't have to...well...fish to pull it out.

Some time ago I realized that all my flannel panti liners had gone by the wayside, I only had one old faithful left.  Then, a month ago, a pagan friend of mine invited me to her twin daughter's womanhood ritual.  They're officially women so they're going to celebrate with a ritual and bestowing gifts that women will need in their lives.  I contacted her with the idea of sewing them some panti liners and she gave me the green light so off I went to the fabric store with coupons in hand and sat down to sew.

A quick picture tutorial on making cloth pads:

I started out by laying my last remaining liner on the fabric, folded in half, and then simply cut around it.  I modified it to be a little bigger, but stayed true to the shape.

 I cut them out (remember, two layers of fabric so they match perfectly) with my amazing rotary cutter.

Lined them up, ready to sew.

I turned the fabric to face itself (wrong side out), being sure to keep the corresponding sides together and then sewed all but the top edge with a basic straight stitch.

I then flipped them right side out (you can see the one that's been flipped and the rest are still waiting to be turned).

Time to sew the top closed.  Simply fold it in to form a 1/4" seam and then topstitch it closed.  Continue the topstitching all the way around the liner to give it more structure and a more finished look.

Place snaps either using a press or a hammer, I used hammer snaps.  Hammer snaps are my preferred for this since my press tends to punch through, but do be careful lining them up properly, I ruined two with misfires and fixed a couple by separating and rebending the prongs to try again.

They're cute!  They're soft!  And they're totally reusable.  The one I used for a guide is probably 12 years old, if I recall correctly, and still kicking strong.  I'm looking forward to my new, cute cloth panti liners, and I hope the gift for the twins will be appreciated.

I'd say the cost for the materials was around $20 at my local big box fabric store (with coupons), and I made 24 (including the two screw ups).  The snaps were the most expensive items and if I make more I'll be ordering online next time.

Snow Day!

The cold frigid northern south has gotten snow for the first time in five years.  This means that life grinds to a halt, everything closes, and we all hunker down with good food, strong drink, and entertainment.  Since I grew up in the very southernmost part of the country, I still see snow as a novelty and squeal with excitement when it starts to flutter down from the sky.  Of course, even sleet and teeny tiny specks of snowflakes are enough to make me jump up and down, but by the time I went to sleep last night I admit that I was feeling a bit of despair as it had been sleeting/icing (not sure what terms to use, frozen precipitation that's not fluffy?) all evening and I'd promised my kids snow in the morning.

Thankfully, oh so thankfully, there was a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground when I woke up early this morning.  Then I realized I'd left my camera at my friend's house after a get together last weekend and I felt a bit of annoyance since I have my camera phone to shoot with.  I made the best of what I have, and even lowered myself to use my boyfriend's Nikon, but I think my phone took better images since I'm unfamiliar with his camera and wasn't sure how to operate it in manual mode.  It makes me feel dirty to use a dSLR in point and shoot mode.

So we woke up to

and there were two very excited children begging to go out.  I told them later and grabbed two very reluctant chihuahuas to take them out for potty time.  My female did her usual dance at the door and jet out as quickly as possible only to stop stock still, leaving little doggy paw skid marks in the snow on the porch, because she had no clue what was on the ground.  My male took a bit of encouragement to even get out the door since he can smell snow and despises it passionately, a well placed slipper got him moving in the right direction.  The poor things had a record-time morning potty break and the male was sent back out several times to "Go Potty!" since I know he'd much prefer to do his pooping the warmth and comfort of a hidden corner, but they did it and then scurried back into the living room and burrowed under blankets and children seeking warmth.

I fixed a hearty breakfast and then sent the children on a scavenger hunt for long underwear, clothing, and winter gear.  After about an hour of "I can't find" and "I can't get it on" we were ready to head out into the cold and snow.

They dove straight into the snow and I hedged my way into the backyard to check on the chickens.  The girls were huddled in their coop with the heating lamp for warmth, but seemed fine so I knocked the ice out of their water dispenser, threw them a double ration of feed, and joined the kids for a snow fight.  

This snow isn't snowball snow.  I've never seen snowball snow in the six times I've been in the snow, but powdery stuff that doesn't compact isn't snowball snow, even I know that.  So we made do with scooping up handfuls of snow and chucking it at each other.  I, of course, was the victor until I gave up when two neighborhood kids joined in over the fence and it was four against one.  Even I know when the odds are stacked against me and when it's time to wave the white flag.  So I tooled around the yard, shooting with the boyfriend's camera, and fiddled with stuff in the yard.  Girl and I played together and ran around, played on the swings, and then we moved to the front to go for a walk and scout out potential sledding hills.  I grabbed a lid to one of my storage bins, just in case.

Well, the storage bin failed, but we found a spot and headed home for lunch.  After some screen time, lunch, more screen time, sewing (for me), and playing, I finally succumbed to the pleas and took the kids out for a second time.  I inflated a tube we use at the lake in the summer and we headed to our hill.  We spent about forty five minutes tubing before I begged to go inside.  I was wet from kneeling on the snow to fling kids down the tiny hill and getting very cold.  For some reason it just felt so much colder the second time we were out.  The kids had a blast and I had fun too, I even slid down the hill several times and only shoved the kids down to get an extra turn a few times. 

I feel I set a fine example by making a running jump onto the tube, jarring my neck and shoulders, and showed them exactly why we don't do such wild things.  It was still fun, though my neck and shoulders disagree.  Back in our yard I cleared some snow from my car, filled a bowl with the clean snow underneath, and set it on the porch for a snow cream carrot to dangle when they got unruly.

Then we just laid about and vegged.  I did some laundry, we watched another movie, we played some games, and we plugged in.  Girl and I got into a heated game of Jenga while Boy watched and cheered me on.  I fixed beef stew for dinner and once I successfully bribed them into eating a satisfying amount, I pulled out the snow and snow cream fixings.

Snow

1/2 C sugar

1 C milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

I mixed the milk/sugar mixture earlier in the day to let the sugar dissolve and just stored it in the fridge.  I spooned the snow into the bowl to fill it about halfway and poured the mixture over it until it was just slightly wet.  At first I whisked it together, but grabbed a spoon since it wasn't doing a very good job.  It took about two minutes to stir it up properly, but once it was ready it was delicious.  Very creamy and very vanilla.  The kids loved it.  I didn't use much of the ingredients so I put the snow outside again and the mixture back in the fridge for tomorrow.

The snow really compacted down when mixed up and I now understand why the recipe I found online called for a full gallon of snow for 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of sugar (I halved the sugar).

After snow cream, the kids sort of devolved and I'd reached my limit by that point.  Boy brought in a huge load of wood and then I sent them to brush their teeth in the hopes of signaling a wind down and beginning a quiet evening by the fire.  It was not to be as they screeched and howled at each other since one decided that the toilet lid was a fine seat to use while brushing and the other felt it was their seat first.  I ignored them for a while, but finally reached my breaking point and screamed that the day was over and it was time for bed.  Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth as fingers were pointed and blame was shifted.

Then they went to bed.

They're off school tomorrow too.  I had to shift my work schedule to be home with them so I'm off as well.  I hope we make it out alive.