Three Good Things

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I recently bought Sammy a few new articles of clothing – really awesome stuff that I got for cheap at the consignment store. A black hoodie with a rhinestone butterfly on it, another with mod purple and blue cats all over it, and one faded old thing which I bought only because it had blue and green hearts on it which reminded me of her eyes (some days blue some days green). She described it all to a stranger today, and was asked which was her favorite. She answered, “the one that matches my eyes.” I find that charming.
2. Sam’s version of “Call Me Maybe”: “Hey, I just make you. And it’s crazy. So here’s my llama. Call me maybe?” Delivered in a six-year-old voice this is about the cutest thing ever.
3. I told a great Little Bear story tonight at Sammy’s bedtime. I’m a little sad that I never wrote down my greatest hits. I could have changed the characters around and had my own series of children’s books written by now.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I’m back at my Three Good Things exercise after a brief pause due to the election. No talk here about how I’m feeling on that issue. The point is, I’m back at it.

2. I love taking my Samantha to the dentist. She is such a pleasure. She asks all sorts of questions and makes conversation with people (kids and adults), and charms the socks off of everyone she meets. She also has no cavities, and she was able to do the xrays of her back teeth for the first time. She has a real sensitivity to things that might make her gag (she won’t even wear a turtleneck because it touches her throat) and she swore to me she was not even going to TRY to put those things in her mouth for the xrays. But she did it. And she only was able to do it through sheer determination. Effort, people! She put up with a discomfort in order to attain a goal. I’m not sure what motivated her, but the point is – she made the effort. She was very pleased with herself, too. Awesome.

3. This didn’t happen today – it happened last week when I wasn’t blogging. But …

Both Leo and Zoe are toddlers now!

They don’t walk much yet, but they both can do it. A new era has begun.

Three Good Things for the day, on this very tough day:

1. Sammy has turned one of her iPad geography games into a musical instrument. She’s learning where Jamaica is on the map and making a sound that is pretty darn close to Jamaican steel drums.
2. I got through all my physical in-box and paid all my bills. I’m actually shocked and proud that I was able to do it under the conditions in my house today.
3. Adam brought me a cup of coffee this morning before I got out of bed. Lifesaver.

Good Thing for the Week:

We finished off the week of school. Sam did all her work for four days in a row, although she was late today. But it was a good school week. Next week we’ll try to do all five days, and I’m optimistic.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I set up gmail accounts for Leo and Zoe. Faked their ages just to secure the account names I wanted for them. Apparently, it’s an FCC requirement to not allow e-mail accounts be assigned to children under some age. It wasn’t a problem when I set up Sam’s gmail account in 2006. Anyway, I spent a few minutes sending phony email from the babies to their parents–to myself, you see.  I wrote phony letters in my childrens’ names and sent them to …myself. And then I was surprised and enamored of the cuteness when I received them. Awwww.
2. Sam memorized the names of all 50 states and is working on her third poem. She loves memorization, and she loves geography. We also just play around with Google Maps. Zooming in and out, reading the city names, watching how the maps change, bringing the little guy over so we can see photos and move around like we’re virtually there. Sam is wild for this stuff. I’ll count it as geography.
3. The Switch Witch is coming tonight. Sam sorted out about half her Halloween take, and offered it to the Switch Witch. If the Switch Witch thinks she has offered a good trade, she will exchange the candy for a good gift. But a lesser offer will garner a lesser toy. Luckily, Sam picked out just the right amount of candy to switch to justify giving her the one toy we had prepared: a pink cowboy working cap gun. Super cool. Of course, Sam knows that the Switch Witch is mommy or daddy, but it doesn’t seem to curb her enthusiasm for the game. You should try it – the Switch Witch is awesome. I think we got that idea from the Kalts, but we probably modified it some.

Three Good Things for the Day:

1. The “I-am-dependent-on-others-for-all-of-my-meals-and-snacks” diet works! Ten pounds to go to my pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-pregnancy weight (but another seven or so to add the final “pre” associated with Sam).
2. Sammy got to go on three separate trick-or-treat runs: one with me, one with Ale, and one with Adam. We had to work in shifts to keep up with Super Girl, who was charming and wonderful tonight. It was also a good workout for me on my knee-scooter.
3. Because of #1 and #2, I got to eat extra candy.

Three Good Things for the Day:

1. We’re back in school! Sam and I resumed our regular school schedule today. Sam has done some work here and there over the past six weeks, but until now it’s been too difficult for me to get down two flights of stairs and stay there for a few hours. But I did it today, and we had a blast! My mind is popping with ideas for new work for Sam to do. We started a new book today, A Little Princess, which I’ve never read and have been looking forward to. We played a new version of the Exchange Game. Sam flawlessly recited the two poems she has memorized and her printing is as good as ever. While we were on hiatus, I added a new subject to her checklist: History. She noticed it written on the whiteboard and demanded to do history. She was excited to work with her puzzle map of the U.S. She did all of her work in about 2.5 hours without a single complaint. I know today was especially good because everything was fresh again, but still, it was just so amazingly awesome to work with Sam again.
2. Besides school, I started a new schedule I’m going to try with Ale and the kids. Ale has been here for close to five months and we still don’t have any kind of routine that works for everyone. It’s just so complicated, and we’ve had so many crises. But I’ve learned a few things that don’t work, so I’m hopeful again.
3. I bought Zoe and Leo their first pairs of Robeez. I don’t put my kids in shoes until they have to walk outside. Actually, I don’t even put socks on them unless it is cold. Why? Why do people add all these little objects for their babies to pull off and throw around? I’ve never understood it. Anyway, neither of the twins are walking yet, but they are so close, and the weather is getting cold. It’s only a matter of time. I have a picture of Sam standing outside on the deck with me wearing her first pair of shoes. It’s such a happy thing.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I colored with Sam.
2. I made my own coffee.
3. My grocery delivery arrived before everything shut down in anticipation of the storm. (I swear, the only thing Obama has ever been right about is what wimps D.C. people are about the weather.)

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I got my cast off. Let me repeat: I no longer have a cast on my leg. The relief is indescribable. I have a boot now, which I can take on and off. I can put weight on my foot. I should be able to walk in the boot without crutches in a few days, after I regain a little strength and practice a bit. I’ve always said that a baby’s first steps are miraculous to me, and now I get to experience a little bit of how it feels as an adult. When I took my first few steps with the crutches and tried to put weight on the foot, it was frightening. It felt impossible. My muscles had no idea what to do. But I’ve been working on it all day and it’s beginning to feel more natural. I can already go down a whole staircase with one crutch – on my feet instead of sliding on my butt. I can do a shuffle-step without the crutches at all if I only need to move a couple of feet, like when working in the kitchen. I unloaded the dishwasher today, just for fun. It’s thrilling! It’s liberating! It’s like getting your driver’s license. “You mean, I can just take off and go? Just like that?” Yes, just like that.

I can’t include any other Good Things today; it would cheapen the one. Suffice it to say that today is the best day I’ve had in a very long time. Everything was a Good Thing, today.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. Today, I had the pleasure of observing Sammy work just a bit closer to understanding the concept of zero.
2. My new maid service started today. I can’t say that they will solve all the problems I had with the last crew, but they definitely work faster and so far, seem professional.
3. Sam and I baked cookies and pumpkin seeds, all in one day. That’s pretty amazing considering that prior to today, I hadn’t cooked anything at all in 4 weeks.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I upgraded my internet speed.
2. I did my exercises.
3. I got to hang out with Adam for about an hour, just watching Big Bang Theory and relaxing. Nice.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. I began a low-intensity workout regimen of my own creation. Just push-ups (knees only, since I can’t use my toes), crunches, some inner-thigh work, and stretching. 2-3 times a day, not too intense. Of all the suggestions I’ve received to deal with my fragility issue, one that has always made sense is to become stronger, so that less force is put on my tendons. But most exercises put stress on those same tendons. These classics don’t seem to. Then I’ll add my physical therapy, and then hopefully go on the meds for psoriatic arthritis, and maybe I’ll do better. That is the plan. Also, I still need to lose at least 10, but preferably 20 more pounds and this is a good time to work on it since I have to be focused on my body anyway. My health is number one on my hierarchy list right now. Gotta get past all this shit.
2. Borrowed a book from the Kindle lending library today using my Prime membership. Oh, how I love you, Kindle.
3. Found a couple of new iPad games for Sam to use in school. I’m improvising school right now, and thank goodness for the iPad. Lots of really good apps out there.

Three Good Things for the day:

1. During my morning (ok, afternoon) shower (a Good Thing in and of itself), I noticed that the brand new bottle of shampoo I had given to Sam the day before was actually a bottle of conditioner. And it was 90% empty. Annoying, maybe. Charming, definitely. It made me laugh.
2. I do so love to root for an admirable underdog. Or pair of underdogs. Especially when one of them is Malcolm.
3. Sam and I did lazy-school all day long, from 9am-8pm. It took that entire time to get our usual core subjects done. And it was quite wonderful.

Three Good Things for the Day:

1. I’m just about finished writing a real blog post – not a TGT entry. Hopefully you’ll see it tomorrow.
2. Just in the nick of time, I was able to rent a knee scooter and made it to parents’ observation day at Sammy’s gymnastics, which I would otherwise have missed. (I can no longer use crutches–pinched nerve or carpel tunnel or something. It seems like everyone who can put weight on the knee should have one of these instead of those dangerous crutches – it’s a real shame that insurance won’t cover it.) She “won” a medal, but she was much more interested in testing out my new wheels. It is quite fun, and I think I might make it to Busch Gardens on our Williamsburg trip after all. The knee scooter is going to make this next trip so much easier than the last, which is one of the things I write about in the next post.
3. I made progress in getting an appointment with a “real” rheumatologist…one at a teaching university. All I have to do is collect all my reports and fax them to him, then in 3-5 days he will call me back to set up an appointment…for January. But that’s ok. I can’t do much until then anyway. The point is, I am dumping my incompetent doctor for one who should, statistically, be better. He can’t be much worse. Anyway, it’s yet another road to travel in my continuing adventure labeled: “What the fuck is wrong with me?”