Friday, June 07, 2002

Today was the big 40th birthday bash of Katja and Kai's school. The school is as old as I am! Almost exactly, as they opened September 1961 and that's when I was born. I feel lots of affinity with it now ;).

Seriously, it was a fun day. I just came home from 2 1/2 hours straight of face painting! I'll be dreaming of American flags, soccer balls, rainbows, spiders etc.! I must have painted at least 30 faces. But lots of happy kids, so it was fun and they were all so cute and polite. One boy thanked me in advance, just in case he might forget later :).

As a room parent for both Kai and Katja's class, I was supposed to help out in both classes at 2:30 this afternoon. I had to bring juice boxes for Kai's class and cupcakes for Katja's. Yesterday Safeway was sold out of cupcakes, so I called at 7:15 this morning to reserve 30 cupcakes. They were sold out already!!!! So I ended up ordering a birthday cake, which the kids loved, especially the blue icing roses on it.

I also saw part of their show, a really cute review with songs of the 40th years existence and a slide show. Katja was in one of the pictures.

Now we're home at 9:30pm and we haven't had dinner yet, thank heavens for Pizza Hut! ;)

Things that made me (especially) happy today:

1. The gorgeous weather! Crisp, clean weather, bright blue skies, every color was vibrant in nature!
2. All those kids that got their faces painted. They truly are the future and I have to say, at least 30 of the future are a-ok!
3. The realization of just how many friends I have in this world. I realized that this morning at the gym, where I talked to 4 people, whom I consider great friends.
4. My wonderful family, all 4 of them.
5. I survived this week, LOL!

Thursday, June 06, 2002

Another night of violent weather, tornado's in the area. Thankfully not here! I like spectacular weather, but tornado's can stay far away, thank you!

A relatively quiet day today, nothing at the school. I had a nice workout with my friend Jeanne, 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weights. After the shower, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get insect repellant bracelets. They have a Citronella smell and seem to be doing a good job in keeping the insects away from the kids.

Then to the Vitamin Shoppe, because Christine is taking this supplement, that's making her feel quite well, so of course I have to try it too. It better work, it wasn't cheap!!! (oh, the vitamins are called Maxine, for those interested)

At Borders and Hallmark, I got my mom's gift and card and Father's Day cards for everyone.

Today was one of those really fatigued feeling days I get occasionally (though less in the summer, so I'm contributing this one to last week's fever and all), so I was just dragging with everything.

I went home, much later than I had hoped, as I wanted to get a nap in, and ate lunch: wonderful Gazpacho from Fresh Fields and hunks of real Parmesan cheese, also from there.

Then it was time to get Kai from school to take him to the doctor for his itching ear. The skies were looking ominous, so I got Katja out too and took her with us, as I didn't want her to have to be at home in a severe thunderstorm or tornado.

The doctor was way delayed (what else is new ;)), but the three of us were enjoying the wait and chatted and played mad libs. What a difference from when they were toddlers! Now the 45 minute wait was actually a fun family time!

The doctor didn't find anything spectaculair wrong with Kai, so we have to try some Cortaid in his ear for a few days and see if that makes a difference.

On the way home, I remembered I have to bring cupcakes and drinks and all for the party tomorrow in the classrooms, so we stopped by Safeway. *Not* a good idea with 2 kids, we left with way more than just the drinks and cupcakes. But they did help me carry things and put things away.

Tonight I had a long, long talk with my sister in law in Canada. They're going to drive down tomorrow to be here for my mom's birthday. I can't wait to see them!

I've decided to add something to my Blog every time: what made me feel happy that day. So here's the first installment:
1. The feather kisses Saskia gave me, while I was carrying her home in the blazing heat this morning
2. Rick's huge smile this morning, when sticking his head out the bathroom door to talk to me
3. Kai's reluctant, but seriously huge hug before saying goodbye in front of his classmates at school
4. Katja's laughter this afternoon at the doctor's, a place she's usually quite afraid of
5. The raindrops on a leaf after the rainstorm tonight, the sun shone through them making them look like glass.

Wednesday, June 05, 2002

Last night I came home and just lied sprawled on the couch! I was so tired! But it was a productive day and I finally seem to be getting back to normal physically, hurray! I just don't like being unable to function!

On the way to the gym, I managed to get up enough courage to call my mom. I managed to keep level headed and let her do most of the talking. Then I saw her again later at the gym and she was all smiles and cordial, so maybe a relatively normal (though much more distant than before!) relationship will be possible now.

After working out (or should I say chatting, as I did more of that than move my limbs), Christine and I treated ourselves to a manicure/pedicure. I've become a different person, I never used to care about my nails, would just paint the ones on my toes in the summer, all kinds of funky colors. But the ones on my hands usually looked horrible, split, too short etc. I had only ever had a manicure just before my wedding. And look at me now, I'm actually keeping up with it fairly well and my nails look a whole lot healthier. That's definitely an incentive. We got a design on our big toes: a flower with a little "diamond", yet another first for me.

It all took a little longer than we expected though, so we quickly shared a sandwich for lunch and then I rushed off to the school, to teach Rauschenberg for Artsmart in the 6th grade. At this time of year, the kids are really smelling vacation and it's hard to get their attention anymore. So I kept my talk short (not much to tell about Rauschenberg anyway ;)) and they had lots of fun doing the collage project.

After school let out, I solicited Katja and Kai's help in pasting labels on and hanging the 4th grade projects for the artshow on Friday. It took us about an hour, but it's all done, yippee!! I rewarded them with a trip to the school's bookfair, which had a 2 for one sale and I even found myself some nice fairy books: "When the root children wake up" and "Good Night, Fairies". I love everything to do with fantasy creatures (fairies, gargoyles, dragons etc.).

My friend Claudia came in and we went to look at the chicks the school has in their backyard. Claudia selected 2 of them. We had a good laugh, because she lives in a townhouse community with very strict homeowner rules and we hope the chicks she chose are not roosters! I can just imagine the neighbors' reactions!

After picking Saskia up from school, I drove (!, the pool is about across the street, but I was soooooo exhausted) to the pool and let her swim for about an hour.

I was so grateful to my very dear husband, as he took over completely, once I got home!

Today was no less busy. First a workout, with personal training, but to my dismay, my strength is not back yet. But it was therapeutic to talk to Mimi about our mothers (why is it, that so many people seem to be able to totally commiserate??? Do all women 55 or older go through such crisis? I hope not!).

Then, I raced back home, slattered on sunscreen (as it was sunny and 92 degrees out!) and took my bike over to the park, where Kai's 4th grade picnic was being held. I arrived just in time to eat the last hot dog and play and talk some and walk back to school with the group. Kai went home with me afterwards and we ran some errands together: Fresh Fields, for some great fruit, wine and snacks. Then Baskin Robbins to order a birthday cake for my mom (yes, I am an angelic daughter ;)) and of course, Kai got an ice cream too, he chose their new flavor, Wild n Reckless Spirit, after the movie "Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron".

When Katja got home, we left for Victoria's Secret as we both desperately needed new underwear and I wanted her to get some good stuff. We had fun shopping, we stopped at Express and then got some nail polish and sunglasses (mine broke last week and I missed them desperately).

By then, it was past 5 o'clock and time to get Saskia. Then quickly in swimsuits and off to the pool. We just got a nice hour in, before it started thundering and the pool closed. The storm was quite severe as it turned out and I saw one of the most spectecular lightning bolts nearby, I have ever seen. And soon, oh, I can so long for it, it is time for bed!


Monday, June 03, 2002

The good news is, the fever is gone. The bad news is, so is my energy, still :(. Yesterday, I took it easy, though I did some very light exercising (I read some scary story on the Internet about exercising with increased body temperature afterwards, not good for my peace of mind!). The weather has been gorgeous, so I just sat outside and read, what luxury, really, come to think of it! I rarely give myself time to do so!

In the evening, we went to dinner at a Dutch family's house. Well, the adults are Dutch, the kids are American, as they've been here even longer than us (23 years!). This was a "blind" date, as I had met one of the daughters at the gym and she heard Saskia and me speak Dutch and after some talking I found out her mom is about my age. So she gave me their phone number and I called and we hit it off, so she invited us to dinner. It turned out to be a very nice evening! Fun chatting outside for the adults. The kids swam in their pool and caught fireflies. It always feels great to meet some people who seem "friend" material!

Today I went to the gym, did a light workout. Ok, to many 1.5 hours on the bike wouldn't seem light, but for me it is, as I kept my heartrate in the 60% range and just felt like I was at least moving. I still had that scary article about heart damage when exercising sick in mind. Christine and I had a nice chat.

Then quickly home, where Laura came to give me a massage. Man, was it ever needed! My right leg had been hurting me so much, I was beginning to wonder (yes, I am a worry wart, I freely admit it!) if I might have something scary going on there. Bone cancer or something (especially with the unexplained fever). But it all turned out to be severely knotted muscles. Ouch! That massage was very painful, but the leg feels slightly better, according to Laura it will feel even better by tomorrow. I sure hope so! That pain makes me really tired too.

Ok, enough health whining. Katja decided to forego her skating lesson this afternoon, so it's nice and quiet, just what the doctor ordered (oops, didn't mean to make yet another health reference!).

Tomorrow I'll have to teach Artsmart in Katja's class and got some magazines together for the kids to use (they'll be making a collage). And now back to my book (Angela Elwell's "Silver Sword").