A few pics for the week

In addition to being downright freezing, this week had its firsts. Ignatius had his first Scholastic Bowl match against Metcalf. HTJH lost, but put up an admirable amount of competition. Ignatius got a toss up right, as did a couple of his friends. It was fun to see them in a different environment than last week's birthday party. The match was on Ignatius' 13th birthday, so another first was he entered the world of teenager.

Still another first was that I changed my own windshield wipers. I had an issue with the driver's side wiper coming off from the blade. This is not the weather for that. So, I purchased some blades at Wal-Mart, believing my husband would help me. It didn't make it to his list of priorities, but seeing out of my windshield during a storm was right up there on mine. So, I found a video from Monkeysee.com, and I changed them myself. And they still remain on my car!

And so it goes... and so it goes

This song seems to linger in my head. Just finished with Ignatius' birthday sleepover. In five days, he will be thirteen. A teenager. Quite surreal. What I noted while he was among his friends is that he's a really good kid. Truly, I am lucky. So many changes will happen while he is a "teenager." Junior high, high school, college... all in a seven year span. Crazy. I used to think 7 years was a long time, but it really is not. Just a blip.

Celebrate good times, come on!

As I type, I have five 13 year olds in my house for Ignatius' birthday sleepover. First, I shall count my blessings:

-My son has friends.
-My son has good friends.
-My son's friends are funny in a crazy, geeky way.
-My son is one of the calmest (if not THE calmest) in his group of friends.

Now, my annoyances:

-Man-children have no sense of the time-space continuum.
-Man-children can be really loud and sometimes obnoxious.
-Some man-children are far from clean.

They are now playing in the basement. Thank you, Lord, for the Wii, PS2, and Nintendo DS. They are my earthly salvation.

What is Pilates Reformer?

I have signed up for a session of Pilates Reformer classes at 4 Seasons. I have done a few Pilates classes, sprinkled with a bit of yoga here and there. However, Pilates Reformer uses a Reformer machine, and, from what I can tell from two sessions, that makes all the difference.

My first class was Tuesday, and, despite the lights being out and everyone being seemingly calm, I was sweating and shaking a-plenty. By Wednesday night, I was seriously sore in places that I am certain haven't been worked in years. Today, we had a snowstorm, and I was worried that my class would be canceled, as I knew I needed it... my legs were hurting. To my happiness, we had class, and I was the only one there, so I had a trainer to myself (for $8!). That was kind of cool.

If you would like to know more, or even see what exactly people do on this machine, this is a good link. Basically, it's supposed to strengthen your core, which is, in turn, supposed to support your back and joints. I am hopeful! I definitely can tell I shall be more limber.

Snow Day!

Yahoo!

Back at School

I am letting the children socialize right now... very important since they have not been with each other for two weeks. So, I decided to socialize, too.

I got my Project Life kit yesterday. Today, I started taking photos of the "ordinary" in my morning. Pretty fun, though I think I was driving Ignatius crazy. Anyway, that's something to look forward to when I get home.

It's cccccold and we are supposed to get a bunch of snow tonight. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Perhaps tonight I need to buy some boots?

Having the students here has definitely improved my attitude. They are why I do what I do. but, when 3:30 comes, I'm outta here. This was one of the first breaks where I really "unfocused" on school, and that was a great idea on my part.

Ah, well... socialize time is over. Onward! Those who wish to keep up with my Project Life scrapbook, be sure to click on my craft blog http://platoseizestheday.blogspot.com.

Carpe Diem!

Even more decluttered!

Who would have thought more could be done than the Christmas decor today? I also cleared out Max's drawers of sizes that were too small (I still had baby socks in there!), and I put in sizes that were just right that were lovingly placed on his closet floor by the man of the house.

Now I am recalling that there is a new Brothers & Sisters and Keeping Up with the Kardashians that should soon be on my DVR. Yeah!

Decluttering Christmas

Almost everything Christmas is down, except the tree. The decorations are off of the tree, but, I kind of like having it up with just the lights. It goes with the starkness of the living room right now.

Max was NOT happy that I was de-Christmasing. Scott took him to work with him in hopes that it would go a little better with him away. Or at least that's what I thought. Maybe he was just trying to get out of having to put anything away. Ignatius was a huge help in that area. So, here's my stark wintry scene. I still need to make something wintry for the mantle, but otherwise, this is how it shall be for now.

2010

In this year, my buddy, Karen, and I are working on a scrapbook that encourages continual entries. It's a really simple scrapbook package by Becky Higgins called Project Life, and it was my Christmas gift to Karen.

This blog will, hopefully, help me remember the things for my entries until I can actually sit down and get 'er done. Right now, I have no choice, as it is in transit and is not even going to be in my hands until January 5 (or so says FedEx).

Today is, of course, the first day of a new year and a new decade: 2010. After watching and chuckling to The Hangover, Ignatius (did NOT watch The Hangover, thank you very much), Scott, and I watched the ball drop on Times Square at 11 last night, and then Ignatius and I kept ourselves awake until midnight in Illinois. We were all warm and cozy in our home, and that's the way we liked it. I read a bit of Breaking Dawn (again). It's my favorite of the four Twilight books.

Today, my husband gave me the best New Year gift ever: I slept until 11 AM. Not one bad dream. Not one scream of a child. Or at least, I was not conscious of any of that. He even watched Paranormal Activity, the movie, in the bedroom, and I did not awake (thank God... I hate that crap).

I worked out a bit with my friend, Kim, as we tortured our chests, backs, and triceps with Tony Horton and P90X, and then I braved the cold and the crazies at WalMart.

Alas, I missed all Masses at my own church for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos), so this evening I braved the cold, crossed town, and attended the ice box known as Holy Trinity Church for 5:30 PM Mass. I guess it would have been a good Mass if my teeth were not chattering quite so loudly. I know, I know. Mary dealt with much more... It's interesting how so many of my friends have posted that their decorations are down and all is back to "normal" at their house. Truly, "Christmas" is not over. This is its octave, or eighth day.

And now, I await the cooling of a skillet cookie, last year's Christmas gift from Karen, still used on nights like this where the Plato house is stocked with all that is needed to create the delightful dessert.

Oh happy day!