Winter Holiday

This past weekend we took a trip up to Shiga Kogen, a ski area near Nagano, Japan.  I really really really was NOT looking forward to it.  Packing up tons of gear for the kids, loading up on snacks (because you never know what kind of Japanese food the kids will eat), leaving at 3am, sitting on a bus for 5 hours, just to drive into freezing temperatures and snow.  Sounds fun for any mom, right?  Well, I wasn’t convinced, especially when we get off the bus and are greeted by this….

But the girlies were excited and so along with some great friends, and their three boys, everyone bundled up and was ready to hit the slopes.

Brian took Abbey and Allie up first.

Amber just wanted to play in the snow.  It was the most snow any of the girls had ever seen in their lives. 

She played and played.  And played.

When everyone was exhausted we came in for ramen and beer. Mmmmmmm.

We skipped any food that was labeled, “fish paste”.

We bought silly neck warmers before we took on the next couple of days.

And now the girls are practically Olympic caliber skiers. (This is where the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics were held.

And Amber is still a goofball.

So our family ski trip turned out to be much more pleasant than the catastrophe I thought it would be.  I am still looking forward to our trip to Hawaii in April, but on the long bus ride home, we talked about doing this trip again next year.  And heck, maybe it would even be fun for mommy to try and ski.

Yay! The First Day of School...2011!!!

The Three Girlies had their first day of school on Monday.  They were all so excited they about peed their new jeggings.

I on the other hand, had the mixed emotions of every mother.  These kids need to get out of the house mixed with…..why do my babies have to grow up so fast?

Abbey is almost 13.  She tried on about 15 different outfits before settling on the perfect one for the first day of school.

She is a mini me.  She sounds like me, looks like me (except I don’t have dimples), and she even acts like me.  She’s 7^th grade cool and ready to show her sister the middle school ropes.

Allison is 11 and has moved out of elementary school. 

Normally outgoing and relaxed, I am seeing hints of anxiety and pre-teen self consciousness.  She also, for the first time ever, had to have the perfect outfit.  But despite the pressures of having to play the “look cool for middle school” game, she stopped at the shoes.  That’s my Allie girl.

Amber is 8 and started 3^rd grade.

She is sassy and silly, and a little bit disappointed that she has a boy for a teacher.  (Boys are a bit gross these days.)  I’m thinking it’s going to be the year of many friends for my social girl.

If we can buy more shoes and clothes for Abbey, help Allie remember her locker combination, and get Amber to quit talking and eat her lunch at school, I think we will be off to a pretty good year.   

  

But geez…..I am sure gonna miss my girlies.

Swim Like A Stingray

It was a goal of mine to make it past this last weekend.  My week was packed with entertaining the mother-in-law, the fifth grade graduation slide show from hell, and volunteering my time and talents (like telling people, “No you can’t go down that hallway!”) for our base running club.  But by far, the highlight of my maniac week/weekend, was the final swim meet of the season.

Abbey and Allie are both on the Yokota Stingrays swim team.  Back in September when we they first tried out, I didn’t know how it would go.  I sent them both happily into the pool and when they came back out they were both crying.  Hysterically.  

The coach assured me that they just weren’t used to the 50 meter pool and the intensity of the practice.  We definitely weren’t in the neighborhood swim club back in Texas anymore.  The girls continued to cry.

At home, I somehow convinced them to keep on trying.  Maybe it was the once-in-a-life-time-opportunity speech I came up with.  Or maybe it was the heart wrenching story I told them about me giving up the swim team in ninth grade, only to wish I was still on it my senior year.  Sigh.  Most likely, it was the promise of Subway every Thursday night after practice that motivated them to keep on trying.

And try they did.  Five days a week for the last 9+ months Abbey and Allison have become swimming machines.  (Ooh, and I became the wet towel toting, goggle adjusting, Speedo buying queen!)  I am so proud of how hard they have worked and all they have learned.

Hopefully, they will look back one day and be proud of accomplishing what they thought they couldn’t do. But deep in my heart, I hope they don’t just say, “Geez.  Remember when mom MADE us be on the swim team in Japan?  That sure sucked.”

Great job girls!  Stick with it.  Your hard work and commitment will take you anywhere you want to be in life.  Mama loves you.

Now all we have to do is inspire Amber to be on the swim team too.  This one’s not going to be so easy.

1000 Miles in 2011 - Day 38...I Think

It’s funny how the mind wanders when one exercises.  A half an hour of running and suddenly, you’ve sorted through the most of the world’s problems.  Well, at least the problems in your own world.

Today, I started out a little stiff from that Chuck Norris roundhouse kick I tried a few weeks back, and my chest was burning from the crisp, cold air blowing around me.  But after about three or four minutes, Hannah Montana (of all people), had me running a nice easy pace…….and my world started to make sense.

Here is what went through my mind today in four miles….

1.     Is she a Crip or a Blood?  My perfect honor roll student got called to the counselor’s office this past week with her friends because they all decided to wear purple on Thursday. They were informed that this is considered a form of gang activity and bullying and it would not be tolerated.  She came home hysterical because she thought she would get into trouble and it ruined her fun Friday.  I had to calmly explain that it would have been fun to have a purple day and that I knew she wasn’t being bad, but that we had to follow the school rules because some people could possibly take it too far.  Then, I piled my three girls in the van and we all went down to get matching tattoos like the Japanese mafia.

2.     Carbs.  I thought about carbs while running.

      I started the Atkins diet plan eight days ago.  I can’t have any carbohydrates other than what you get from green vegetables for six more days…..and even then I can only add nuts, berries, and cottage cheese. It says on the Atkins website that my carb cravings would lessen over the first few days, but I bet Dr. Atkins doesn’t have a box of Thin Mints on top of his fridge, a can of Pringles in the pantry, and a Tombstone pizza in the freezer.

3.     I thought about God and I prayed.  This often happens when I run and I am not sure why.  Maybe it is because there are moments on my run that I don’t have to think about anything except putting one foot in front of the other.  I am breathing fresh air and the sun is on my face and I just feel close to Him.  It is these moments that I have held my hands up thanking Him for my blessings and I have also cried out to Him to answer my prayers….and I know He is there. It sounds crazy typing that out here, but it is my own little moment with Him, and I love it.

4.     I hate bodily fluids.  Usually I get mad somewhere along my run because I pee my pants a little bit.  Hey, I have had three babies so give me some slack.  Today, I stayed dry but my nose was running faster than I was.  It was gross and of course I didn’t have a tissue.  Some people do that “snot rocket” thing but I KNOW I would just snot all over the front of myself.  I had to use my sleeve.

5.     Finally I had about a half of a mile to go and Van Halen came on my iPod and started singing, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, and my thoughts went straight to my husband….who will be home in 21 days……and I miss him.

  Dumb love songs.  Where is Megadeath’s “Appetite For Destruction” when I need it?

So that’s it.  That’s what went through my brain mixed in with, “oh geez is this ever gonna end?” and a few more carbohydrate hallucinations.  I am now back on track.  My daughter is not in a gang, I can have 3 strawberries in 6 days, Jesus loves me, my coat can be washed, and my husband called just a few minutes after I got home.  Nine hundred and fifty some miles to go!