Drunken Squirrel Dancing

I am well on the road to recovery now and giving Mike the boot! The doctor confirmed that I was indeed suffering from the same stupid sinus infection I caught back in December and that the 10 day round of antibiotics did not kill it the first time. After another two more weeks I will be off the antibiotics (the second time) and glad to be done with all this icky sicky stuff.

With more sleep and more energy, there have been baking and cooking and knitting a plenty. Oh, and work, too. No worries, I am still keeping pace just fine. On Saturday I baked Scottish Shortbread that was nearly as good as the Walkers brand my family used to buy. It was my first attempt at shortbread and I was pretty proud of myself. The knitting project is a secret Valentines one so I can't show it just yet, but I promise I will soon. :) I love being sneaky like that. As for the cooking, I've been craving steak so badly it's not funny so tonight it's going to be T-bones, broccoli salad and a bottle of Merlot. *sigh* Does it get any better?

Oh, and the funniest thing I think I've ever seen was Emma trying to ballet dance this morning. I found a VHS of Beatrix Potter stories done by ballet dancers in costume. Very cute and Emma loved it since she adores animals. Even better was when she started trying to dance herself. Mostly it was running in circles, hopping and falling down. A drunk squirrel has probably done better ballet than my 2 year old, but it was still lots of fun to watch.

Have a great week!

The audience is listening

I have a cold. Again. When I whined to my husband he suggested that perhaps this is not my third cold in three months but the same cold I have been dragging around in various stages of getting better and then getting worse for three months. He just might be right.

I have a cold. His name is Mike. I figure anything that sticks around for three months must have a name. I also have concluded that my cold is male because (as my husband insists men do not understand subtlety) Mike just won't take a hint and leave. I think this is a slightly funny story. Only about half of my students thought "Mike" was funny. The other half were male and I think I may have offended them with my sexist remark. *sigh* Open mouth, insert foot, Lisa. Almost as good as when I mixed up North and South Korea in a lecture about communist markets. Only 1 student called me on it but at least that means she was paying attention.

Apparently Mike was not amused either because he stole my voice. I managed to make it through most of my two lectures yesterday but as of this morning I can whisper at best. So sad, I was supposed to host a mommy play date at my place but all I really need now is rest.

The interesting thing about not having a voice is how you try to communicate with other people without speaking to them. I feel as if I am acting out Mr Bean's Vacation minus the camcorder. Emma is taking it surprisingly well. She thinks it's a game of some sort but mostly she understands everything I "tell" her. I haven't really thought about how expressive our actions, posture and facial expressions are until I need to use them as my only means of communication. So far we've made it to the grocery store, video store and library all without incident or words. Emma understands when it's time to go, where to sit down, what things she can keep and what she has to give back to me. Funny enough, she still understands from my face and shaking head when I'm saying "no" and "I love you." Probably because those are the two things she hears the most from me. Now that I have no words, I truly understand how much she is "listening" to everything I am telling her, with and without words. Truly something to think about.

I will survive!

1. I am alive. I have survived the first week and a half of my new job and even though I am exhausted, I am sure I will survive. (And yes, that song is running through my head right now.) Talking with my best friend in Alaska last night, she gave me some great support since she also teaches. It's comforting to know that I am not the only one who has felt lost, stalled for time, had to go look up the answer because I wasn't sure how to explain it and felt the cold terror of 108 people staring at you expecting you to know all the answers. "They had to be desperate to hire me," I say. She says to me, "Nah, you're just a bad @$$ and they can tell." Oh, how she makes me laugh. And smile. :)

2. Emma has decided her New Years Resolution is to learn to use the potty... a lot! When her Daddy decided that she needed pull-ups to properly work this whole thing out I grimaced and went along with it. After all, it's easy for him to talk the talk but I am the one who has to walk the walk with our little girl 90% of the time. We went to buy her some yesterday but the only kind they had in her size were boy's. No worries. My daughter loves trucks and trains so much that she was thrilled with them. To my (very relieved) surprise she's really taken to her new "panties" and is doing awesome. She even went #2 on the potty! A first ever, today!

3. Morgan thinks maybe he should fly helicopters instead of work on cars. Do I know where this is going? No.

4. There has been no knitting, sewing or crafting of any kind in this house. I made cupcakes last week and that's about as good as it gets. All my spare time is spent cleaning or working on lectures.

Of the things that come

It has been said that those who write down their goals are the ones who go the furthest in achieving them. We all know writing them down is not enough, but perhaps it is a signal of how important these things are to us and how dedicated we are to them becoming reality. The writing is not the catalyst, merely the signal of our actions.

It's been a wild year and I have absolutely no idea what will come our way in the next 365 days. In honor of what has been and what I want to see, I present the 2007 accomplishments and the 2008 hopefuls.

In 2007:

• Emma started talking: first with sign language, then with words and finally whole sentences.
• Morgan started working at a new dealership.
• I got my dream job (and I'm terrified but putting on my poker face).
• Emma started giving kisses and hugs.
• We moved into a new house in a new city!
• Morgan finally got his 2-car garage and a shiny new air compressor to play with, too.
• I discovered that some gyms have day care and Pilates is a mommy's best friend.
• Morgan and I went to Alaska for a week and had an awesome adventure together.
• I've learned that friendship is an amazing gift that we often overlook, but if we are lucky it will still be there when we open the door again.
• I've found a new sense of my own strength in what I know I can do and how I can handle even the hardest of things.
• I've come to appreciate the intricate workings of marriage and what it means to pledge your life to someone.
• I discovered Papa Murphy's pizza and poker nights at home.
• I knit my first two sweaters. One for Emma, one for myself and the one for Morgan is underway.
• I have sewn three dresses for me and three for Emma.

In 2008:

• I will do my best to be a great teacher.
• I will help Emma learn and grow into the sweet child I see in her.
• I will be the best wife I can be.
• I will knit my husband a sweater (or two)!
• I will be grateful for the little gifts life brings and be open to them.
• I will train to run a 5K race as much as my knees will allow.
• I will look for adventures and seek out the new.
• I will get my passport renewed.
• ...and I will not dye my hair.