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| Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
The Finish |
Thank you for all your kind wishes and support.
This photo of my training partner and me was taken as we approached the finish line.
Happy Mother's Day.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Completing a triathlon is a fantastic experience.Labels: Exercise and Fitness |
posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:07 PM   |
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| Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
Something to Say about Denial |
With my first triathlon tomorrow morning, I have been trying to be particularly careful in my eating and sleeping habits this week. I have also tried hard to manage my progressively escalating case of nerves as the week went on. So you might expect that I would have gone to sleep as early as possible yesterday. Almost as if I were in denial about my need for rest, I did the opposite, and enjoyed what was for me an unprecedented social opportunity that I could not refuse.
I was honored to receive an invitation from Soccer Mom in Denial to join her and Jenn from Something to Say about Life in the Netherlands for dinner. That's right, for this weekend Jenn in Holland is Jenn in Massachusetts! How cool is that?
We had a fun evening typing talking and talking and talking. Plus there was fabulous food. We were the last ones to leave the restaurant. Hmmm...I bet my triathlon training buddy and our trainer would have something to say about that. If they ask me about it, I may need to deny it. Afterwards, we went to a bar. Relax! I was willing to stay out late for friends, but I did deny myself alcohol in order to avoid derailing my training and triathlon prep. Actually, I had such a good time that I really feel it helped me to relax before my big event tomorrow. The Big Giraffe also denied me the consequences of my late night by generously encouraging me to sleep in today! I certainly have something to say about his kindness.
I have enjoyed what SMID and Jenn have to say for almost as long as I have been blogging, and there was no denying from our prior meetings that SMID is a fabulous person. I quickly felt that I could say the same about Jenn. I have to admit that as much as I enjoyed getting to know Jen and getting to know SMID better, what most stuck with me today, other than just having a great time last night of course, was what Jenn had to say about Life in the Netherlands.
Of course, I had to find a metaphor in what Jenn described to apply to my own life. For example, Jenn described the way she shops by going from specialty store to specialty store like the cheese store, the nut store, and the bakery, just the way things used to be in the US before supermarkets became so prevalent, except that they bike everywhere. So today I didn't just go to the supermarket, but made a stop at a specialty store, Trader Joe's, to stoke my yogurt craving as well. Technically, I haven't ridden my bike in two days, but I will be on it bright and early tomorrow for the first leg of my triathlon. Yeah, not as nice and neat as in the Netherlands, but if you add biking and choosing the right store for each purchase... Of course, in the Netherlands, an employee would have started pulling together my usual order for me when I walked into the stores. Trader Joe's didn't even have my normal order; they were out of the cheaper Greek yogurt. I silently rejoiced at the "excuse" to buy the more expensive Greek yogurt that tastes twice as good.
Tomorrow's my big day. I'm all packed and just about ready to go to bed. I'm definitely nervous although not nearly as nervous as I would have thought. Apparently a night off was just the ticket.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: When preparing for something stressful, there is something to be said about denial.Labels: Blogging Flexibly, Exercise and Fitness, Food (Solid), Humor (at least Attempted), Outings and Playgroups |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:06 PM |
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| Thursday, May 08, 2008 |
Bare Naked Ladies Snacktime Concert |
Today I felt like I was on an international flight filled with preschoolers and babies. A flight where there was only one parent for every 2+ kids. In typical flight tradition, it was hot and there was hardly any room between seats. I was getting kicked by the kids behind me, and I had to pry my own kids off the seats in front of us on more than one occasion.
Parents all around me had diaper bags chock full of premiere snacks (aka junk food (aka bribe food)) for their kids. The ones who hadn't thought to do this were luckily able to purchase good bribe food. Some parents had thought to bring crayons, paper, books, toys, stickers, you name it to entertain their kids. Others like yours truly felt blessed that they hadn't cleaned out their diaper bags in a while and were able to pull out a bunch of cheap plastic toys.
Parents started out on a happy, enthusiastic note and cheerfully comforted their kids who were tired of sitting still. Within a short period of time, threats were being issued left and right. By the end I felt like an insane person. I was hot, tired and I felt like...well...I was on an international flight with little kids. Except I wasn't. I was at a free Bare Naked Ladies concert in Barnes and Noble.
Yes, you did read that right! BNL was promoting their new CD Snacktime. I have always imagined going to a BNL concert, although I never pictured two little kids hanging on me. I have to admit at first I thought this was some weird MA thing, I mean a concert in a bookstore, but it's actually a national tour. And it turned out to be totally worth it. I had a great time, and the boys really enjoyed themselves. In fact my younger son (YS) enjoyed himself so much that I had a flashback to a conversation with my aunt where she said YS had the personality of a golden retriever and would be one of those kids who is always up for a party. Watching YS quickly get into the groove and start clapping to the beat, caused me to make a mental note to remember to order some of the Say No pamphlets that are always advertised on TV. I'm kidding, he's just shy of two...but on the other hand he was really into it and I could picture him in his teenage years swaying back and forth with a lighter....
The concert was for 30 minutes. In addition to singing songs off their new album, they sang one of my favorite workout song, Another Postcard, and One Week. We even got to meet them after the show.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Bare Naked Ladies are definitely appropriate for small children.Labels: Humor (at least Attempted), Outings and Playgroups |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:37 PM |
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| Tuesday, May 06, 2008 |
The Secret Garden |
When I was a kid, I really enjoyed reading the book The Secret Garden, and I vividly imagined what the garden looked like. Fast forward 15+ years later. When I saw my current house, I felt like I was at home, because, for some reason, the yard felt really familiar.
Last night we met with a realtor. I sort of felt like I was dating again. Relax, Big Giraffe! What I mean to say is that I was really nervous about what the realtor would think of our house. We had a different realtor offer his opinion last year, but I wasn't sure if this realtor would agree. I ran around like a lunatic trying to get everything together. Plus earlier that day I gave a complete house tour to two of my friends. Talk about cementing my friendships with them forever; hey I don't just show anyone my closets and basement!
The realtor arrived and he had nothing but wonderful things to say about our house. Phew! I felt very proud. The fact of the matter is that the Big Giraffe and I have worked hard to do at least one home improvement project every year. One year it was remodeling our kitchen. Another year it was replacing a single toilet, but still that toilet was an improvement! He said the same things that the other realtor said too.
Before you think my head is starting to swell with pride, I can share another point of agreement between the two realtors...our yard looks like something out of the Secret Garden. As the realtor last night put it, most people have to invest some money in their house to put in up on the market (fresh paint on the walls, fixing any cracks in the walls or floor etc.) We're good on that. We need to put all the improvement money into our yard. He also clarified that this was not something that we can handle alone (that's not the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth time that we've heard that.) We need machines.
We're going to be exploring different options for this, but we know that it's inevitable that we need to hire someone. Unlike us, I don't think most people would consider "looks just like The Secret Garden" to be a selling point!
I know I'm way behind in my blog reading. I've been fighting a cold since the end of last week. Fortunately I'm well on the mend.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Murphy's law is right; even if you haven't been sick all year, you are likely to get sick the week of your first triathlon. Labels: Random |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:31 PM |
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| Sunday, May 04, 2008 |
Baby Gear: Discard Now or Later? |
When I first had my older son (OS), I could not imagine giving away one single item of his. What if I regretted it? What if I needed it later? When I worked at our moms group yard sale, it almost pained me to see the high chairs, strollers, and Pack N Plays donated. How could people part with these items? I'm sure those of you with older kids are laughing about that one.
The Big Giraffe and I have decided to move! Yes, we're really excited about it. There's a catch though. After meeting with our financial planner, we're probably going to wait another year to year and a half. Probably. We're meeting with a realtor tomorrow evening to find out where the market challenges have dropped our home value and to get an early idea of what work we need to do before putting our house on the market. The fact of the matter is a year will go by pretty quickly.
Our annual moms yard sale is also later this month. I went into our basement a few nights ago to try to see it through a realtor's eyes and, after fleeing in horror, I came to a rather shocking realization: I'm no longer attached to baby items. In fact, the yard sale can't come quickly enough. I am excited to casually donate my high chair, baby toys, etc. I decided to take a stab at selling some of them and have been amazed by the response. Anything that doesn't sell is going to the yard sale.
It doesn't take a background in rocket science for me to realize that I had been hanging onto these items because I wasn't ready to say that I was done having babies. Sometime between then and my current look at the basement, it became alright to let them go. Yes, I know getting rid of things is a sure fire way to get pregnant again. I already checked my birth control prescription. Phew!
As a prospective buyer was checking out the high chair today, I noticed that the white plastic had started to yellow in spots. This high chair is only just about 5 years old, and I've kept it very clean. In fact, it was less used than most of my baby gear, because my younger son (YS) went straight to a booster chair, so he never used the high chair. I was a little surprised by how quickly it had begun to age. Then I had another realization. If I didn't get rid of it now, it would be a guaranteed fight with my future daughters-in-law.
I imagine that the conversation would go something like this:
Alex Elliot (AE): I've saved this high chair for all these years for my grandchildren.
Future Daughter-in-law (FDIL): It looks like it's aged a little. Why is it yellow? It was white in the pictures with my husband
AE: (defensive) It's perfectly fine (and to me it would be!).
FDIL: What year was that plastic made? I remember reading in a history book that there were many issues with plastic when we were born.
AE: That was BPAs, and I don't remember any high chair trays being recalled.
FDIL: All the same, though our plastic regulations are much better now. It's been 30 years after all. I just don't want my baby actually eating off of old, degrading plastic. Seriously a high chair tray is the baby's plate. That's just gross not to mention dangerous.* Maybe we can take and keep a picture of it.
AE: Fine. (rushing out of the room to call the Big Giraffe). But I saved it all these years for you!!!
Alright maybe I saved it all these years for me. That would be hard to admit though.
*If this is YS's wife, she can point out that he never even used the high chair in which case I will pretend I don't hear her.
Wow! I'm exhausted from this fight. May all my fights with my FDILs be this easy to avoid! Off to tell the Big Giraffe how I'm the best FMIL ever! Alright, at least let me have this moment!
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Deal with baggage and other gear before it poisons future relationships.Labels: Humor (at least Attempted), Toys / Clothes / Gear |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:11 PM |
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| Friday, May 02, 2008 |
Two's A Charm |
Dear Mrs. Chicky, Her Bad Mother and Mrs. Chicken,
 I would love to be able to give you some advice on having a second child. The problem is that most of the time, I still need some advice. I'm just kiddin | | |
Congratulations! And happy mother's day!