I'm going back to school...

This is an update on the ever changing school situation that happens at our house. Monkey was accepted to full-day five days a week preschool at White/Yellow Belt's school. Originally I got a rejection letter. While we were under this assumption I was entertaining the idea of not pursuing nursing school but going to culinary school. Then after some thought I decided that I will always love to cook and that after getting a nursing degree I could always go back to culinary school. That is when I got the acceptance agreement for Monkey where I had to agree to take him to and pick him up from school every day and that it is a full-day five day a week program. I was at the Recruitment and Counseling office the next day with the acceptance agreement to hand deliver the letter.

The next step to me going to school is paying a bill that I never paid at SMSU, currently MSU. So I called and asked what the total was at this point in time and they said, "$2,821.80". No big deal, I thought, we almost have enough to cover that saved up. So then I was thinking, "I wonder if they would settle for a smaller amount?" It took me a week to finally get around to calling them but I am really glad that I did. I had originally asked for them to send me a bill but then asked about a possible settlement. The lady I was talking to transferred me to a different lady who put me on hold for a couple minutes to "make some calculations". When she came back on the line she said that if I make a lump sum payment and if I can do it in 30 days they will settle for $1950.00 How's that for debt reduction? So tomorrow I will call the Bursar's Office and pay the bill over the phone. And my transcripts will no longer be held hostage. :D

Step three for me going back to school will be applying for colleges. I will most likely go to UMSL because I've heard good things about the nurses coming from that school. The community colleges have good programs as well but there is a two year waiting list so I might as well go and get a four year degree. I've also been asked, "Why not SLU it's two minutes from your house?" To those people I have asked if they would like to sponsor me going to that school, or any other private university for that matter, because I'm paying for this myself and I would rather not be paying for it the rest of my life. I have many other things that I would like to spend money on.

I'm really quite excited that I'm actually doing this. I'm going to miss being a stay-at-home-mom. I think I will enjoy being a student though...and eventually a nurse.

Post Secret

Every week I look forward to reading a bunch of postcards that people have created to tell anonymous secrets. Sometimes I read them and think they are sad. Sometimes they leave me feeling a little shocked. This is a postcard from this week. It made me laugh as hard as The Graham Norton Show that I'm watching. Hopefully I'm not breaking any copyright laws by reposting it but it was too funny not to share. Check out the link in my favorites.

Count it...

Number seventeen Pilates work out completed. I also walked for about 40 minutes this morning. Tiny waist. Lifted tush. I was watching The Graham Norton show while I was working out and I thought I was going to pull something I was laughing so hard. The actress that plays Professor Sprout in Harry Potter is really a hilarious lady. She has all kinds of stories from her long career. A lot of them happen to be about poop and passing gas. Between her and Graham though I almost literally busted my gut.

White Belt's Progress Report...

White Belt did really well on his "report card" this quarter. He is exceeding the grade level in reading. This makes me proud of all the time that we spend reading with him and Monkey and that Dirty and I spend reading ourselves. It really didn't click for him last year but I'm glad that this year when it clicked he had a caring nurturing teacher. He is also mastering everything else at grade level (math, social studies, language arts, et cetera). His only negative comment was that he tends to socialize too much in gym class. That apple didn't fall far from the tree. ;^) His weakest subject was math and even that was a high "B".

Mrs. H said that since the beginning of school White Belt has really come out of his shell and is really close with his group of friends (IH and TC). She said that they are all little scientists. She really seems to understand that they are still children who need gentle guiding, and we have felt extremely blessed to have gotten Mrs. H this year. And finally, I don't think I can write it or say it enough how proud we are of White Belt for working so hard throughout the year and doing really well in school, scouting and with Tae Kwon Do. What a well rounded little boy we've raised. :D

Count it...

Number sixteen Pilates work out completed. I also added in about 125 crunches because I ate a bowl of chili and felt a little bloated.

Random Thoughts...

I've been thinking that most of my blogs are just records of Pilates workouts. I've also been doing yoga at least once a week. I still haven't incorporated much cardio. I do think that my eating has gone down since I cut out soda and started drinking so much water.

It has been unofficially confirmed by AT that White Belt is indeed Yellow Belt now. However, if you see White Belt don't say anything to him because he has not been presented with his Yellow Belt. That should happen Tuesday when AT is back in town. I'm not going to change his nickname until he's been presented with his new belt. Although I did notice that his White Belt photo is actually him as a No Belt. This was brought to my attention earlier but I thought it wasn't because the white belt blends in with the white of his uniform.

My friend AR thinks that I should help her and others buy clothes. This does sound interesting but I'm not so great with telling people what to do. And truthfully to be responsible for people spending money on something like clothes makes me feel a little anxious. I do tell my kids what to do but I like to give them choices or at least try. I have helped a friend pick out nail polish and not felt guilty. But nail polish is much less expensive than an article of clothing. I guess really AR would have the final say so and if she really didn't feel comfortable with something she would be able to voice that.

Speaking of AR I think I have a tendency to overstay my welcome. I can't seem to go to AR's or DR's for less than three hours. What exactly is too much time when you go to someone's house either planned or impromptu? It's hard to gauge especially if the kids are playing well and you're enjoying the conversation. Now that my kids are older I don't have that reason to leave all the time. Which leads me to...

I've been wondering how advanced my people reading skills are. I'm a bit narcissistic and tend to pay more attention to myself than others. Can you be a bit narcissistic or is there just narcissistic?

Count it...

Number fifteen Pilates routine completed. I'm not going to get into it today though.

White Belt is now Yellow Belt???

It isn't official but White Belt took his Yellow Belt test Saturday morning. He did an awesome job. Out of everyone that was asked questions about Korean names for basic forms White Belt knew all of them without hesitation. Master DB asked him if he spoke Korean. When asked to say the Membership Oath he said it loudly, clearly, and also without hesitation.

After all of the testing was finished one of the black belts came and sat down by White Belt to tell him that she was impressed with him. Then she asked him who his teacher was. When he told her that it was AT she told us that she's known him since he was eight years old and that he is a good teacher.

White Belt hasn't been presented with his Yellow Belt yet because AT is away on a mission trip for his teaching job. I'm sure that he's earned it though. Tonight at class he was taught a new form which leads me to believe that he's moving on to earning his green belt. That's the one he really wants.

Pictures and videos will follow. I wanted to wait until I had a picture of him with his new belt.

Count it...

Number fourteen Pilates workout completed yesterday. I didn't get a chance to record it. And now I'm needing to head out the door to go to a prize sorting meeting at Monkey's preschool. My pants are fitting a little better. I've cut out soda...but I still drink anywhere from one to three cups of coffee a day. Today at a three hour coffee shop visit I had two 16 oz. cups. I feel like I'm eating less. I just can't seem to get that scale to budge. Oh well at least I feel like I could kick some butt. Yeah that's right I said it...BUTT!!!

More weather...

It was another beautiful spring day in St. Louis. White Belt, Monkey and I went to my friend JK's to decorate Easter eggs. I had packed a picnic lunch. So after egg dying we went to The Heights playground to have a picnic lunch and play as long as the boys wanted. We stayed about four hours. At the end of our stay there Dirty's friend, BB, showed up and we sat on the bench talking about the boy/girl differences in pretend play. Mainly that difference is that the boys were either animals or food and the girls were usually teenagers. I was able to deduce that what made the girls pretend teenagers was that they were in gymnastics and they did not like water. I heard one of the boys say that he was a sandwich. This made BB and I both giggle. Once Dirty showed up from work he and BB took off on their bikes and I brought White Belt and Monkey home in the car.

Immediately (or at least it seemed that way) we left home to go rock climbing at REI. This was my first time going. The boys and Dirty have been a handful of times before. I was able to make it to the top as opposed to the time I went climbing at Upper Limits and could barely make it onto the wall. It was a lot of fun. Our belayer was really nice and great with the boys. He actually talked with White Belt's scouting den for one of their electives on Sunday. Now that I've been working out I would like to try Upper Limits again. I think I could actually get onto the wall this time.

Now I have a little bit of a headache and think I still haven't recovered from my afternoon in the sun. I'm heading out again tomorrow to take the boys and one of Monkey's friends to the zoo. I'm a little worried about the crowd that will inevitably be there but I think I'll be able to handle it. I do love the zoo and that what helps make the experience have a positive note.

Count it...

Number thirteen Pilates work out completed. I'm feeling productive today. I worked out using Pilates two days in a row, I cleaned the house last night, and today I'm getting caught up on the laundry. I do have another mess added to the mix though because apparently the toilet overflowed this morning.

I do appreciate that Dirty took the boys swimming last night so that I could clean the house. However, he didn't even let me know that the towels he left in the tub were soaked in toilet water...I had to ask him! I hoped for the best that the toilet pipes had just leaked again. And now I have to deep clean the bathroom...which I did last night. But I'm feeling good and am prepared to get my germophobe body into that bathroom to bleach the place up. I guess at least he put the towels in the tub and didn't just leave them on the floor. :D

This kind of turned into a rant and really all I was meaning to do was document that I worked out. Oh well...

Count it...

Number twelve Pilates work out completed. I was hoping to try and get four sessions in this week, but I've had a cold and that was really kicking my butt Sunday and Monday. I'm strong enough now that I could probably do it on consecutive days. We'll see. ;D

It's the beginning...

Spring break officially starts today with White Belt's first day off of school. I have a cold and a headache and feel like staying in bed. We are supposed to have walking group but no one has RSVP'd so I'm not going to that. It's really tough to do with both boys. Around lunch time we're supposed to go to my friend TA's house for St. Patrick's day crafts. I'm supposed to bring a snack though and don't feel like thinking of one. Everyone always expects something great and the last four or five days I just haven't felt like thinking about it. This cold has been slow moving but really just annoying. There are a couple other activities that I have planned for the week. I really need to go grocery shopping for meals so that we don't blow through the grocery budget on impulse food buys. But again that takes me sitting down and thinking to plan a meal. You know what??? I'm going to go pound a canister of water and hopefully my brain will start working to some degree. I'll update on spring break later. :D (That's a hopeful smiley face...not how I actually feel right now. Fake it until you make it.)

UPDATE...I drank a canister of water and got moving. I was able to finagle the boys into going to the grocery store. They actually behaved pretty well with a little Lunchable bribing. (I don't theoretically agree with bribing your children but there are some times when you just HAVE to. I also despise Lunchables and think that they are a ridiculous thing to market to children and yet I still use them on rare occasions when I need a little extra leverage. Don't judge me :) White Belt conveyed to me that the reason he had been grumpy was because Monkey woke him up early. I thought that was understandable and was glad that he was identifying his feelings but did explain that just because we are hungry, tired, etc. doesn't mean that we are not still responsible for controlling our emotions. Maybe this wasn't as effective as it could be since I had blown up trying to get them out of the house.b

The Weather...

The weather in St. Louis has been bee-ah-you-ti-full!!! It's the best time of year in the city when it's sunny all day long and there are no mosquitos out yet. That is one of the things that I really hate about living in the city. We have the worst mosquito problem. It makes me want to live in the country.

But I digress. We've spent A LOT of time outside this week. On Wednesday Monkey and I were able to spend three and a half hours at the playground. Today we were at the same playground for about two hours. Then after White Belt got home from school we spent about an hour in the back yard just playing.

All of our little crocuses have bloomed...purple, yellow, white, and orange. There are some that have long thin petals that are dark purple with white patches that have black spots. I pointed them out to Monkey and he told me not to touch them because a bird pooped on them. I had to giggle a little because it did kind of look like bird poop. He also gets upset if I walk in bird poop while I'm carrying him. I guess at least he's looking out for my footware. :D

Tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy. But that is also what they've said it would be like for the yesterday and today. You know how "they" are. I guess it's also supposed to cool down about 15-20 degrees more than it has been. I'm glad that this week I took the time out to enjoy being outside. It was really lovely.

Count it...

Number eleven Pilates work out completed. I've felt pretty crappy today...bloated and such.

Count it...

Number 10 Pilates work out completed. I was feeling a little down body image-wise this last week. I bought a pair of jeans that is the same size, cut, and brand as my one good fitting pair of jeans. Unfortunately, when I put them on the thighs were so tight that they were buckling in the back mid-thigh creating something that I saw once in a magazine as a no-no. Today they were fitting slightly better. But I was definitely feeling stronger and more limber during my number ten work out. And that is what I'm trying to focus on. Number twenty here I come!!!

White Belt's haircut...

I couldn't get him to sit still for the pictures either. These are the best out of about six pictures. Some of them he managed to make himself look deranged. I was able to talk him into getting the same haircut as Monkey.

Note to Self...

Don't pretend that you are going to just drop Monkey at DR's house so you can go workout. You know that you are going to sit and chat and drink coffee for most of the morning.

I had made plans with DR to meet at The Heights to work out this morning. But she called around 9 a.m. to tell me that she had just, literally just, woke up and JR was saying, "Not yet." to leaving the house. I said I was still going and if they got going she could meet us. Then she said, "Why don't you have Monkey come over and play here? I don't mind and then you don't have to spend the money to put him in the childcare." I asked Monkey if he was okay with that and of course he wanted to go play with JR. So knowing full well that I wouldn't leave DR's house to go work out once I was there I went to DR's house to drop off Monkey. I never made it to the gym. I sat and chatted and drank three cups of coffee while the boys played. Thanks again DR.

Count it...

Number nine Pilates workout completed. I had to do the cardio routine though because I am of the belief that what I work off is not enough in regards to what I "put in". Meaning I can't seem to focus myself enough to not eat a lot of crap. And since I'm the one doing the buying I have no one to blame but myself. I probably shouldn't have gone to the grocery store hungry. I'd had a banana, three cups of coffee (thanks DR), and five or six swedish oat cookies throughout the morning. Then I went to the grocery store kind of hungry and bought more coconut popsicles. I also have Girl Scout cookies sitting on the table by the boys room tempting me. That isn't as big of a temptation though as say the leftover pizza. I bought the stuff to make a salmon spinach salad but instead ate three pieces of supreme pizza. I do pull off the sausage that counts for something, right??? And anyway I need to get more cardio workouts in I would say at least three a week.

Count it...

Pilates workout number eight completed. I really didn't feel like working out today. Monkey had already been down for an half an hour which meant my entire free time for the day would be spent working out. I'd felt productive earlier in the day when I had already finished the cupcakes for White Belt's big kid playdate tonight. But by naptime I really just wanted to sit and read one of the two books I'm reading right now. I am really trying to keep on an at least three times a week though so I sucked it up and just did it. I'm feeling stronger and that's the beginning of something.

Monkey got a haircut...

Monkey had been looking a little shabby lately. His bangs were starting to hang in his eyes. So tonight I talked him into a haircut. Sorry the pictures are a little blurry. I couldn't get him to sit still for the pictures. He sat pretty still for the haircut though so I chose my battle wisely. We are finally back to the little boy bowl cut after about a year. He tried to cut his own hair last April and it's been crew cut short or in a shaggy state of regrowth. I'm going to try and talk White Belt into letting me give him the same cut. I heart it.

Count it...

Number seven Pilates work out completed.

The Life of a Blueberry...

On Saturday I went with my friend, AR, to meet our other friend, RE, at Soulard Farmer's Market. This was not my first visit to the market. Years ago my friend, PPG, took me and tried to show me the ropes. I was still a little overwhelmed with weeding out the good vendors and a little disenchanted that the vendors got their goods from the same people as the supermarkets. At the time I watched A LOT of Food Network and all of those chefs would drill it in that you should support the local farmers. Only a handful of the vendors actually grow their own produce there. So I thought why bother when I can just go to Schnucks and purchase everything at once instead of making separate stops?

Where was I? Ah yes, we went to the farmer's market and were mainly there to get the super-cheap fruit available. Right now they have great deals on blueberries and strawberries and they generally have good deals on all produce. AR is always fun to be around and to watch in all sorts of situations (charades, anyone???) but she was especially fun at the market. She wanted to talk about and analyze every single one of her purchases with us. "Is $1 for a head of cauliflower a good deal?" "Should she get it at this vendor or one of the other vendors that has it for a dollar?" "What about blueberries?" "Where should we get the blueberries?" RE's friend, S, once we were almost through with our trip asked me if I was going to get anything. Yes, I replied, I've already bought peppers, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and I plan on getting the strawberries and blueberries on the way out. I think it threw her off that I didn't have to talk about all of my purchases and ask if the purchases were sufficient.


And again, where exactly am I going with this? One of my awesome purchases was the blueberries. This purchase was exciting because of how much I saved on them. At Schnucks the week before I had bought one little container for $3. The boys really really wanted berries for a snack so I went ahead and spent the money. At Soulard, we all split the cost of one flat, which had 12 little containers I think, and I ended up spending only...$2!!!...for 4 little containers!!! Amazing deal I know. Thanks RE if you read this for reintroducing me to the Soulard Farmer's Market. I think I will now make it more of a routine in my food shopping...especially when buying fruit. I don't think I'm ready to try the 'coon or beaver yet though. ;^)



Here is what White Belt and Monkey helped me do with half of the blueberries:


We had blueberries.










We used a book that had a recipe for blueberry pancakes.









We made the batter then cooked them. Look at how blueberry-y they look!!!









We enjoyed our especially tasty (cheap) blueberry pancakes.





((I'm not quite to the photograph each step of the food making process and staging your ingredients as if photographing a cookbook (PPG and JL) but this is a start. Thanks for the inspiration.))

Should I count it???

Last week for my number six workout I did a yoga for weightloss dvd. Now I really needed this because I needed a good stretch. Yoga is also a pretty calming workout. But I don't know if I should count it for one of my 30 Pilates routines. It doesn't integrate as much ab workout as Pilates. It does require you to pull in your abs. I don't feel like it works your abs as much though. I just don't know.

The last two weeks I've been so so so sore. Saturday and Sunday were the first two days that I didn't feel that soreness as intensely as it has been. I did a Pilates routine today I felt pretty strong doing it. I didn't feel as tight in my hamstrings and shoulders. This, I guess, would be counted as six if I don't count the yoga. I don't think I'll count the yoga. Either way I still am feeling good. I'm looking forward feeling even better and stronger.