Here I come again

Well, here comes another attempt at blogging.  I'm not sure if it will be any more successful than it was before, but I'm going to give it a try.  I've both got a lot more on my plate as well as having not as much on my plate.  More because I'm working now, just two days a week, but it is cutting out time for being home to get things done.  But I less because Teddy is trying to step it up with helping more around the house, as is Rich.  So I'm able to set a schedule and get things done.  For the most part, I'm keeping everything at a baseline daily or weekly.  Starting next week, I'm planning on going through the house for organizational and decluttering.  It'll take me a long time to do it because I'm planing on doing it in small batches, like a shelf or a drawer at a time.  Eventually, it will all be good.  Or so I hope.

One of the things I'm trying to work into my plan is all the TV that I'm trying to watch.  Between catching up on shows that I'd left go by the wayside but want to see and the new shows coming out, it's a lot of time.  I've been catching up with a lot of watching this week while the kids are on break (trying to get things done while they are home is near impossible) so hopefully, I'll be down to just the new eps each week.  I'm hoping to do reviews of various eps weekly as well, once I get everything scheduled and organized.

I'm not sure if anyone would be interested in what shows are on my watchlist, but I'm going to list them in case anyone is interested in my reviews of what I'm watching (or if anyone wants to say "Make sure you review this show!  I'm really curious about it!")

Saturday

• Doctor Who 

Sunday

• Quantico 

Monday

• Gotham
• Scorpion
• Blindspot
• NCIS: LA (still catching up with season 5 and 6, so I'm recording the new season to watch when I'm done playing catch up)
• Supergirl (when it starts)

Tuesday

• NCIS
• The Flash
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Limitless
• Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris
• Wicked City (when it starts)

Wednesday

• Arrow
• Criminal Minds

Thursday

• Heroes Reborn
• The Blacklist
• Angel from Hell (when it starts) 

Friday

• Grimm

There are a lot of other shows that are supposed to come on later in the season that I'm planning on watching.  I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to keep up with all of them, or keep up with reviewing them, but hey at least I'm going to try.  I'm also going to try to get back to updating my 101 in 1001 blog.  I've been doing things for it but not really blogging so... we'll see how it goes.

Now I'm off to take the boys to lunch.  They've had to spend an hour every day cleaning their room and when they do, I do something special with them each day.  If they get their whole room cleaned by Friday, they are going to the movies.  So far, they've been keeping up with things pretty well so they've got a chance.  

In the meantime, I'm going to post a few pics from the last week or so:

Pete getting his karate on

Teddy with his good karate form

Super Peter

Teddy, falling asleep at the computer

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, so there's still a few weeks left until 2014 is a thing of the past.  And honestly, I'm not really "resolving" to do and not do these things.  It's more like goals that I'm hoping to make happen over the next year.  And some of them, I'm hoping to start before the year is over.

Yeah, I'm rambling.  I figure why not jump back into my blog in typical "Amber" style.

Anyway, it's Monday, I feel like making a list and this is the one I'm going to make.  So here we go!

1. Update my blog at least 3 times a week - I'd love to update it daily, but that's asking the impossible.  Yeah, Pete's in school now (and has been for a few months) and, in theory, that should mean I have more time on my hands.  Instead, I feel more brain frazzled than before.  So 3 times a week, and trying for more actual updates than memes that only require me to write one or two things.  That sounds plausible - at least until the end of January when I forget and my blog goes dormant once more.
2. Take more pictures - I realized how badly I'd fallen down on the job this year when I really had to scrape to find enough pictures for our yearly calendars.  (The best gift we've ever come up with, year after year.)  You'd think with a digital camera, a smart phone and a tablet with a camera that I would have had MORE pictures.  Nope.  So this year, that's gotta change.  I don't want another year of just finding pictures of the back of the kids' heads everywhere.
3. Actually review some books - I love to read.  Always have.  And I love sharing what I've read.  But for some reason, I have this mental block about actually DOING it.  I've even got my reading blog out there that should be the perfect vehicle for it.  But do I ever make time to sit down and do my reviews?  Nope.  Instead, I end up sitting at the computer playing game after game of Bingo and feeling like I'm doing nothing with my life.  So this one kinda goes with the blogging thing.
4. Make up a cleaning schedule and STICK TO IT - We moved to a new apartment at the end of October and I refuse to let it get to the state the old apartment was.  So far, I've been doing a (semi) decent job of not letting things get too bad.  But I don't ever want to get to that point either.  So I'm going to try some FLYing, some of my own stuff, remembering the use the white board to update chores that need to be done and by who.  Because I can do this!
5. Have all the boxes unpacked by summer - Ideally, I'd love to have them unpacked before the first of the year, but I'm trying to be a realist here.  I may want to get my house in perfect shape, looking great and having a place for everything, but life happens and I'm naturally indolent.  I can only push myself so far with things.  So by summer... yeah, that's possible.

There are more things that I want to resolve, I'm sure.  Less time on the computer.  More time with my family.  More exercise and more focusing on me.  But it's good to start small and add rather than overwhelm myself now and set myself up for failure.

H is for... Handholding

On Sunday morning, I drove my eldest to church for his religious education class.  It was just the two of us and, as we were walking across the lawn to the church, chatting about nothing consequential, I felt a small hand slip into mine.  And it made my heart smile.
It's the simple things like this that make me happy.  Especially since I know that I'll only have that feeling for a small amount of time.  Before long, he'll be embarrassed to hold my hand.  He'll be a teen and not want to embarrass himself in front of his friends.  He'll feel that he won't need the warm-blanket security that comes from holding on to your Mom's hand.  He'll try to go it alone without much input from me.  And by the time he'll want to slip his hand into mine again, it will be so much bigger, not nearly as soft.  It will be a growing man's hand instead of a little boy's hand.  These are things that I know as well as if I could see the future.
So I take these moments of happiness as I can.  I revel in the trust is engendered by that simple action.  I feel protective, loving.  I feel like I am the world for this boy, and I'm glad that, for a time, I can be that for him.  Because that's what a Mommy should be.

Treasure these memories while you can

G is for... Gaming

I still remember my first time.  I was in the Student Center, sitting with two friends.  Eric, the one that was experienced in this sort of thing, was talking us through what we needed to do.  He led us down the path, helping us craft just what we needed.  And while my friend Alison was able to walk away, I knew I was hooked for life.  I'd become a gamer.

For the longest time, I had to hide it.  My step-mom had very negative views of gaming.  She was convinced that it was a tool of the devil and that I'd lose myself to insanity if I played.  So I never looked for a group when I was home.  It was something I just did when I was in college.  We had a regular group that got together - Eric, Jake, Jay, Jim... I was the only girl in the group.  But that didn't matter.  I was there to have fun, and fun I had.  I played a psionic based on myself.  I played a wizard (which was actually one of my worse characters - I had a tendency to do things that broke the game when I played her) in a fantasy setting. I played GURPS (Generic Universal Role-Playing System).  I played Champions.  I lost myself in whatever my GM (usually Eric) wanted to throw my way.  And I wished I could play when I got home too.

I suffered a drought in my gaming for several years.  Even though I had my own GURPS books (carefully hidden from my step-mom), I didn't know anyone to play with, didn't know how to find a gaming group.  So I created characters in the dead of night, hoping that someday, I'd be able to use them.

It wasn't until I was immersed in the online community that I started gaming again.  First the occasional game with some friends after I moved to NY.  Then with my future husband (since that fact that I was a Gamer Girl was one of the things that drew me to him.)  I learned that there was more to the world than just GURPS and Champions.  I was (finally) introduced to D&D.  I learned that you didn't need dice to play, and that you could play as easily by writing e-mails online as you could playing face to face.  In fact, for a long time, all I was able to do was play online in a few Amber Diceless Role-Playing games.  (Based on Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber.)  My world was expanding.

While Rich and I lived in Philly, I had my first regular gaming group since college.  At first, we met at a local bar/restaurant every Tuesday.  But when that started getting pricey, we moved the game to our apartment.  One of the saddest times was when we moved from Philly to Nashville - no more regular gaming with our friends.

It took us awhile to find a new group to game with.  At first, it was just not really knowing anyone.  Then there was the added challenge of having young kids.  But we were lucky enough to find not one, but two groups that had kids the same age as ours to play with.  The first family moved away from Nashville and our group dissolved.  The second is just another family and us - and we're still getting together, semi-regularly, to play.   And when we don't have time to get together because of life hitting us hard, Rich and I will sometimes run one-on-one games.  We've also had Teddy and Pete wanting to join in.  (Pete more to roll the dice, Teddy to actually have fun playing.)  It's family fun, and I couldn't ask for anything better.

In gaming, I get something that I haven't found elsewhere.  I get to use my creativity in creating stories.  I get to create something with others.  I get to have memorable moments and stories to share with like-minded individuals.  I get to be a part of something.  And, for a little while, I get to set my life and my problems to the side and be someone different than who I am.  I can lose myself in a fantasy where I am a superior thief.  A master archer.  A swordswoman who will fight to the death to protect her friends.  A superhero with the ability to turn insubstantial.  Anything I can dream, I can be.  And I can set her world aside for awhile whenever I need to go back to real life, knowing that she'll be there waiting for me to take her on her next adventure whenever I feel the need.

Running our boys through their first D&D session

   If you happen to be a gamer as well, feel free to share your favorite gaming story in comments.  I love hearing what other characters have faced!

F is for... Family Literacy Day

Today was Belmont University's 13th Annual Family Literacy Day.  It's a free event that the University puts on for the community to promote literacy.  Aimed at kids from pre-K to sixth grade, the kids get a paper with six boxes on it.  They go to their choice of reading circles set up by different groups on campus, where they can either read to or be read to by volunteers made up of groups on campus.  After their stories, they get a sticker in a box to prove they've been to a reading circle.  When they get two stickers, they can go get refreshments and/or do crafts.  When they get six stickers, they are allowed to pick out a book from a large selection of books - anything from picture books to the latest book by Lemony Snicket.  It's a great way to get kids reading and enjoying the written word.

Small signs to let people know they've come to the right place.

This is our 4th year going (I think) and, as in past years, we had a wonderful time.  They host it at one of the local parks so we can enjoy the wonderful Tennessee spring sunshine. Things were set up a litter different this year from the times we've been in the past.  They'd moved the registration table inside and had the reading circles in the new baseball stadium the park had built over the last year.  But we were able to find where we needed to be fairly quickly, picked up the boys' papers and goody bags, and headed out to get our read on!

Showing the way to the reading circles.

As always, there were quite a few groups with their reading circles, all vying for the attention of kids to come listen to their stories.  Each group had a different theme (though they didn't always choose books that were exactly fitting).  As soon as we walked in, someone suggested we got to her group where they were reading fairy tales and mythology.  It was as good of a place to start as any other, so the boys went and chose a Dr. Seuss - Horton Hears a Who.  I don't think the students that suggested it really realized how long the story was.  It took three of them reading it to the boys to get through it, and then they gave each of them two stickers instead of one!  The kids were pretty happy with that!

My boys, listening as a student reads Horton Hears a Who to them.

Pete was behaving pretty well there, too.  I was happy with my boys.

We actually split up at that point, Pete going with Rich and Teddy coming with me.  They both wanted different kinds of books, so it seemed to make sense.  Teddy and I wandered around until we found a lonely group with dinosaur books.  Teddy chose the book How Do Dinosaurs Go To School?.  We were able to talk him into sharing reading duties.  He read one page and one of the students read the next.  By the time they got to the last page, they both read together.  And I think it gave Teddy the courage to try reading out loud on his own for the future books.

Teddy and one of the students reading together.

The next circle we stopped at was a huge hit for Teddy.  He saw a book that he loved and he wanted to read it to them. Dear Mrs. La Rue: Letters From Obedience School. Apparently, it's one his teacher has read in school before and he loves it.  The girls he read to were really impressed with how well he did.  Reading words like "Obedience" isn't something you'd expect from a 7 year old.  While he was reading, Pete and Rich came over, Pete having just one more story to go.  A couple of the other students read to him while Teddy was continuing to read his.  He finished before Teddy and got not just his last star but also a blow pop!  Then he sat down to listen to Teddy finish reading his story. The girls Teddy was reading to were so impressed that they gave him two stars.

Teddy, entertaining the students with his reading.

The last story was one that Teddy chose to read as well, and was one that he knew both he and his brother would enjoy. Two Crazy Pigs. I wasn't paying quite as much attention during that one, though the students and my boys both seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.  I love watching my boys interact like that!

Little Brother paying attention while Big Brother reads him a story.

I actually snuck off so I could take a picture from the bleachers of all the reading circles.  Being a reader from my earliest days, seeing so many groups promoting reading, and so many parents bringing their kids to share in the joy of reading, was a wonderful thing.

A sea of reading circles, spreading the joy of reading

Once the boys had all their stickers, we headed inside the Community Center where they had the book table set up.  Teddy looked at the chapter books while Pete looked at the picture book end.  Teddy thought he had his book - a Pokemon book, Coal Badge Battle.  Of course, when Pete saw that Teddy had a Pokemon book, he decided he needed a Pokemon book too.  Knowing the likelihood of them having two different Pokemon books, Teddy agreed to pass his off to his brother and picked up Tethan Battle Adventure #3 (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), a Star Wars Choose Your Own Adventure.  Awesome score for both of them!

Boys and their books...

After that, the boys just had to get their refreshments (popcorn and cotton candy, as well as some water), each made a bookmark and then Teddy decided to get his face painted in a way to perfectly show off the day.

And I love that he loves to read!

As always, it was an awesome day filled with fun for all of us.  I love my boys and love that they are readers, but I love even more that Belmont University puts this on every year.  If you are in or around the Nashville area at the beginning of April next year and have kids sixth grade or below, I definitely recommend checking this out.  Because you'll have an afternoon of awesome reading fun! I know we always do.

Wordless Wednesday - Egg Hunts

B is for... Brothers

When I found out that I was going to be raising not one but two boys, I had no idea what their relationship would be like.  After all, I had a sister.  I didn't know how brothers interacted.  I mean, yeah, I had two step-brothers, but they were both older than me and didn't get along too well.  So what would my boys end up being to each other?  Would Teddy be jealous of Pete?  Would Pete think his big brother was a jerk?  Would they be in each others pockets all the time?  I just didn't know. 
After four and a half years, I think that they're going to be good brothers to one another.  Oh, they don't get along all the time.  I don't think any siblings ever did.  But when I see the two of them together, I have no doubts that "brother" means something special to each of them.  And, honestly, I should have known from the beginning.
From the time Teddy first met Pete in the hospital (and maybe even before, while I was pregnant with him), Teddy loved his little brother.  He would proudly point to Pete and tell everyone we met, "That's my little brother, Peter."  He wanted to teach him things, like how to play with his toys or how to jump.  He wanted to learn how to feed him, and he wanted to read him stories.  When we would stop at Kroger, he would go to the bakery and ask for "a cookie for me and my baby brother, Peter."  He adored him.

And it hasn't changed as he's gotten older.  He loves to teach Pete how to do things.  He'll sit with him and read him stories.  He'll try to teach him how to play Pokemon.  He'll help him on the Wii or play pretend with him.  He takes being a big brother seriously, though their play is rarely serious.  He tries to guide him, teach him, and be what he thinks a big brother needs to be while still being who he is.
And Pete worships Teddy.  From the time he could crawl, he would follow his brother around.  Everything that Teddy has been interested in, Pete has followed with interest of his own.  When Teddy was into super heroes, Pete had his favorites.  Since Teddy has been into Pokemon, Pete has learned from him the different types, their moves, their strengths and weaknesses.  Pete's saddest day was when Teddy started kindergarten and they had to be apart all day long.  He can't wait until Teddy is home from school each day and wants to tell his brother everything he missed.  And he wants to spend every minute with him, if only Teddy would let him.
They each look out for the other one.  So often, Teddy will help Pete with something he can't get quite right. So often, Pete will get an extra candy when we're out so he can give it to Teddy.  Teddy will slow down so he'll let Pete "win" when they're racing each other to the mailbox.  Pete will wait until Teddy gets to him so they can tie.  
This isn't to say that they never fight.  Because they do.  Regularly.  Teddy will want alone time when Pete wants to play with him.  Pete will get angry because Teddy has something he wants.  One or both of them will come crying because they've hit one another (and Pete, for all that he's the tinier one, hits the hardest).  They fight and argue over who's turn it is to do something.  But fighting is part of growing up, and it's part of family.  I've always said that if you can fight and make up, that's the true test of love.  Because it means that you aren't afraid to let your true feelings be known.  And I see that in my boys all the time - fighting and making up.
I've always loved the song "Brotherly Love" by Keith Whitley and Earl Thomas Conley.  But it never meant as much to me as it does know that I have my own pair of brothers that I'm getting to watch grow up together.

Can't Stop the Signal, Take 2

I actually tried to post this last night, but Blogger and Chrome weren't talking to each other well and every time I tried to publish, Blogger refused to save.  It took a restart of the computer and a deletion of my cache and cookies to get myself back on track.  My A is for Amber post seemed to come out well, though, so I'm hopeful that this one will as well

I hadn't realized that I'd been gone from my blog for almost 2 months.  I knew that I'd gotten busy and that it had been put on the back burner but two months.... well, I guess it's better than the 9 months that my last hiatus lasted!  And as I was thinking about it last night, I realized just how much had happened.

Over the last two months, I've:

• Mourned my aunt
• Celebrated Teddy's 7th birthday.
• Went on the first field trip of the year (for me) with his class
• Attended the Mother/Son Dance at Teddy's school
• Celebrated my 39th birthday
• Got a sewing machine for my birthday and am still trying to figure out how to use it.
• Tried to find the magic item that would make Pete behave at PDO
• Possibly found the magic item that would make Pete behave at PDO
• Dealt with spiraling depression
• Cleaned... a lot.
• Cleaned out my linen closet and ended up with three bags of things to go to Goodwill
• Tried to figure out what to do with my kids for the two weeks of Spring Break that would leave me with my sanity intact by the end of it.
• Took the kids to Chuck E Cheese.
• Attended Tennessee States Pokemon Championship to watch Rich and Teddy battle.
• Took Pete to 2 Easter Egg hunts and Teddy to 1.
• Tried to figure out what I wanted to do for Easter.
• Nursed sick family members in the house.
• Watched my friend's youngest son while she was busy having her youngest daughter (and she's a cutie!)
• Baked a little. (Though the lemon meringue pie I made for Easter didn't really come out too good.)
• Read a lot, though I haven't been good about keeping track of what I've read.
• Played on the Wii - sometimes with the boys (Super Smash Bros Brawl) and sometimes by myself (NCIS).
• Slept.
• Had Easter at my house, with my Dad driving down to spend the day with us.
• Took apart my dryer on Easter Sunday (with my Dad's help) to fix a five dollar part that was a PITA to replace.
• Tried to avoid feeling guilty about what I wasn't doing, but not succeeding very well.

So many things went by the wayside over the last couple of months - I stopped doing my week planning, and stopped doing my daily challenges.  I stopped updating much of anything.  I stopped doing SparkPeople and stopped exercising like I knew I should.  I stopped caring.

Somehow, though, knowing that the kids were starting back to school today (ok.... Teddy started back today.  Pete isn't back until tomorrow) was like a light at the end of the tunnel. I could see myself getting back on track.  I knew that I could start feeling like life was back to normal.  So yesterday, I wrote out my weekly schedule, including the meal planning for the week.  I didn't have my calendar in front of me as I usually do, but it doesn't look like I missed anything.  I wrote out a weeks worth of challenges to do so I can get back to my Daily Challenges.  I'm starting to feel more in control of things and it feels good.

So you should see me back here fairly regularly again.  I'm hoping to start back with some of the memes that I used to regularly enjoy, as well as posting every day for the A to Z Challenge.  Those of you who've stuck around, thank you.  It really does mean the world to me to have you here!

In the mean time, here are a couple of pics from the last couple of months.

Multi-taskin' Mama!

The boys, showing off the eggs they searched for in the house.

Super Strong Teddy!

My award-winning Kid in the Hat!

Monday Listicles - Into the Depths of My Purse!

I love purses. I buy far more than I need and change them out every few months. Last October, I decided I wanted a larger one than I had so I could slip things like books and my kindle into it.  What I ended up getting was this:

Someone was selling it at our local Cultural Festival and I thought it was perfect.  As large as I wanted, hand made, and about the same price I would have paid for crap at Wal-Mart.  And I do love it. The only problem is that, being as large as it is, I have a tendency to put more stuff in it than my back can handle.  I was expecting a disaster when I finally started taking pictures of what was in it today. I mean, look at this!

Clutter, clutter, clutter!  But it turned out to not be too bad, all things considered.

So now I invite you to join me in the journey through my purse for this week's Monday Listicles

13 Things You'll Find in My Purse

1. 
   
   I always keep a back-up book to read, usually something I'm very familiar with.  As much as I'd always like to be prepared and have my kindle or a book I'm currently reading on hand, it just doesn't happen.  This makes sure I have something to pull out if a wait gets too long.
2. 
   
   I'd read somewhere about using make-up cases to keep things under control in your purse and thought it was a great idea.  So I picked up three different ones and started keeping things in them.  I love the two clear ones I have, because it means I can see what's inside.  This one holds candy, wipes, toys.... little things like that.
3. 
   This clear container holds primarily my medicine and personal items.  The allergy med container isn't actually allergy meds - it holds my advil and other important pills.  I also have my Love's Baby Soft hand cream in there.  Absolute favorite!
4. 
   I keep my coupon keeper in my purse.  The only problem with this, of course, is that I forget to pull it back out to put new coupons in it.  Gotta find a way to remember to pull it out and regularly clip coupons.
5. 
   I'm asthmatic, so having my inhaler with me all the time is a definite plus.
6. 
   I didn't even try to look through these.  Receipts from shopping trips, papers from visits to various places and who knows what else.  Right now, it's known as Trash.
7. 
   I usually have to be the driver because, if I'm not, I start feeling pretty nauseous.  For the times when I CAN'T be the driver (other illness, usually), motion sickness pills are an absolute must.
8. 
   We end up with all sorts of things from Pokemon League visits.  this is a Pokemon pencil that one of the boys got, yet it managed to find it's way into my purse and not back out again.
9. 
   Some days I have nails, some days I don't. When I do, I have a tendency to tear them.  So my nail file is a handy thing to keep around.
10. 
    I love having long hair, but some days it just drives me nuts, getting in my eyes, fluffing out everywhere.  After not having anything to pull it back with too many times, I started carrying hair ties in my purse.
11. 
    I made an extra key for our apartment a few months back.  It, and this Pokemon card from a Pre-release (I think) had been stuffed into one of the outside pockets of my purse.
12. 
    I'm almost always in need of a place to write things down on.  The notebook on the left started life as a place to keep track of when my van was acting funky.  The one in the middle was for the days I forgot to write a note for Teddy for school and had to have something I could pull out.  The one on the right I got from a McDonald's Happy Meal a few months back.  Julius rocks.
    
13. 
    Finally, these are the odds and ends toys, pens and medicine that somehow found their way to the bottom of my purse.