113/365: That's Not Snow

The Bread Co parking lot at the Loughborough exit.

I didn't get the call last night.  The storm is now supposed to move in late this morning, first with freezing rain and sleet and then with up to 20" of snow.  It is being called the storm of the century and I'm still skeptical.  People are preparing for the worse as is evident in this photo.  I stopped by Bread Co for breakfast and the parking lot was slathered in salt.  It was so prevelant that I thought that had already gotten a dusting of snow.  It wasn't until closer inspection that I realized they were actually prepping for the storm.

112/365: Will They Ring?

I learned quickly that any time there is snow or ice forecasted, I sleep with my phones by the bedside.  Sometime tonight, tomorrow, or tomorrow night there is an "epic" winter storm supposed to hit St. Louis.  Now I know that could mean a foot of snow or flurries.  Still, nothing is worse than hunting for the phone or phones at 4:30AM.  And now that I have multiple phones, I cannot predict which one, if any, will ring.  Personally, I don't care so much about a snow day tomorrow, I'm rooting for Tuesday.  I'm supposed to work until 8PM on Tuesday night and I'd love to have that night home with my family.  Anything else would all be gravy.

111/365: MOBAR

This the sum of the results of my 2010 road season.  My goal for the season was two fold, to win the state championship races and to win Missouri Best All Around Racer (MOBAR).  My efforts for a state championship jersey did not produce the results I wanted, so for the last month of the season, I focused on the other piece of my goal.  I'm happy to say those efforts paid off.

I raced a lot in 2010.  I believe I only missed four MOBAR races.  By the end of cx season, that sustained effort took a mental and physical toll on me.  And then waiting for the final results of MOBAR to be calculated took an even bigger mental toll.  While I believed my ciphering to be correct, there are nuances to MOBAR calculations, especially for Cat 4 women, that I still don't understand.  While I may never own a state championship jersey, I will hang this proudly on the wall in the basement and race MOBRA races for free this year . . . just not all of them!

110/365: Rainbow Cupcakes



My assisants



Start with the purple.



Next is blue, then green.

Bella likes the blue batter.

The orange is added.

Today we baked.  The kids have been after me to make cupcakes so today was the day.  And it wasn't just any kind of cupcakes, they wanted "rainbow cupcakes like Nellie's".  Of course I had to oblige.  Boo and Bella lined the muffin pans for me.  (Mom, why are the cupcake wrappers for a birthday?  Because that's all they had at Market Place unless you wanted plain.)  I mixed up the cake batter and divided it into six small glasses.  Then the fun began.  I added food coloring to each of the glasses, blending it well.  Next I divided each glass' content among the muffin tins.  The mix said it would make 24.  It lied; we only got 18.  Each color in then layered in on top of the next.  These go in the oven for the alloted time and voila! rainbow cupcakes.  I used my Pampered Chef decorated to pipe on the icing and Boo and Bella added the sprinkles.  (three for the cupcakes, three for Bella)  Klucker says his mind is tricking him and they taste like Fruity Pebbles.  I think he's a little Fruity Pebbles in the head.



The finished product.





The rainbow on the inside.









109/365: The Last Minute Phone Call

Boo is chatting with Klucker.  We were in the private waiting room prior to his surgery this morning.  This was the second time he's had outpatient surgery in his short life.  Both times it's been for tubes in his ears.  And I think each time was more traumatic for mama than it was for him.  Today was easier in that I knew what to expect.  I knew how disoriented he would be as he woke up.  I also knew he'd sleep like a rock once I got him to lay down this afternoon.  This time the ENT is going to monitor him more post surgery.  We'll be going for a check up every four to six months to make sure the ear drums aren't being sucked out of shape.  He'll also have to have a complete allergy panel to see if there is some outside cause for the fluid.  These tubes will also have to be removed in a few years instead of falling out on their own.  I have to say in spite of how much it stressed me out for him to have these procedures, I'm thankful for them.  Boo's only ear infection since August 2009 came after that set of tubes became dislodged.  Before that it was four to six infections a year.  But by tomorrow the little man will be back to normal, bear hugging his sister, sassing his dad and loving on his mama. 

108/365: Sweet Dreams

I don't know what it is, but I haven't been sleeping well as of late.  I fall asleep without issue; that's never a problem.  But then I wake up frequently through the night.  I'm hot, then I'm cold.  My arm falls asleep.  Diesel rolls over and spreads out so I can't move my legs.  Daisy paws at me to lift her in bed because she's cold.  And on, and on, and on.  I'm not a big one for taking any sort of meds, supplements, OTC, or prescribed.  I try to solve issues naturally, holistically before turning to chemical help.  I've tried varying the temperature in the bedroom.  I've tried varying what wear to bed.  I've tried banishing the dogs (that didn't work at all).  I've tried having a glass of wine.  I've tried not having a glass of wine.  Nothing has been fool-proof.  So tonight I'm giving in to melatonin.  Klucker swears by it.  I've taken it on occasion, but not really known if it's worked or not because I hadn't been having problems.  Tonight will be the real test.  Wish me luck and sweet dreams!

107/365: Celebrating Birthdays

In my family, birthdays were always a big deal.  I can remember as a child always having a family party.  My mom has three sisters and my dad had a brother and sister, so I had lots of cousins.  They weren't elaborate affairs.  We would have a meal of some sort, typically mostacolli, chili or sloppy joes, and cake.  I can only remember ever having one party where I invited my friends. 

I've tried different things to celebrate birthdays with my kids.  Bella's first birthday, and Boo's first three birthdays, were celebrated with huge family parties.  We had all of both sides of our families--great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and the like.  With just my side, that's 30+ people if everyone shows.  It was a production and I didn't have fun.  For the last several years, we've just invited grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins--the kids' not mine and Klucker's.  That purges the guest list down to 12 . . . a much more manageable number.  And this year we let Boo have a kid party, with family invited, at Chucky Cheese. 

Tonight my cousin had a party for her youngest child--he was three today.  She invited the entire German mafia, i.e. our aunts, uncles and cousins and had chili, hot dogs, and fixings.  It originally seemed odd to me that she had it on a weeknight until I thought back to our childhood.  (Only nine months separate us, so we have a lot of shared memories.)  Our birthday parties were almost exclusively on a weeknight.  Tonight was a nice, controlled affair.  People stopped by after work and had dinner.  We got home at a decent time.  And the kids had a great time playing with their cousins.  (The kids don't know that they're really second cousins or that Aunt Teri and Uncle Lou are really cousins as well.) 

The only event this evening begged me to question how to celebrate the birthdays for my children.  As a kid I often wished my mom would let me have friends over to our house for my birthday.  I also frequently wished that I didn't have to share my birthday party with Jeffrey . . . which may be the reason that birthdays are so important to me now.  I want my kids to be able to celebrate with friends, but I do enjoy having my larger family there to celebrate.  How much is too much?  Where do you draw the line?