riding for 2

Updates (A New Post for Reals, D!)

2010-09-11T21:56:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a couple of weeks it has been.

Friday, K & I stayed home because she was throwing up in the middle of the night. Monday was a holiday, followed by a week without her "regular" teacher, Miss Jeanne. All of that contributed to one of the worst weeks ever in the history of Kaia at daycare. She kept saying, "I don't want to go to school!" followed by a couple bouts of horrible crying and screaming. Thursday and Friday, daycare basically had to just take her because she wouldn't stop crying. On every occasion, when we pick her up, she is fine and says she had fun at school, so I'm not sure what's going on. They think it's just a stage of "regression" where she is having separation anxiety... I hope this coming week is better.

Also on Thursday, I started the day getting poured on, in 4 inch heels, Kaia screaming for me not to leave her, then going to work only to get yelled at by a nurse who wasn't happy about something. I don't know if I have mentioned it here before or not, but nurses are THE WORST people to deal with when it comes to anything health related because of course, they are nurses therefore they KNOW EVERYTHING. Ugh. I could go off on a tangent right now but I won't because I don't want to get all riled up.

Today, Kaia wore big girl panties from about 3:00 until bedtime. No accidents! She peed in the potty every single time we went in there to sit. This is a major breakthrough!! She is so excited, I told her we would go buy her some more big girl panties, and she informed me that she did NOT want more Dora panties, but Mickey Mouse ones. Her best friend at school, Sabella, has Micky Mouse panties so of course... ;) It's the cutest thing in the world to see those two play together. When I picked her up early Friday, Sabella came up to Kaia, hugged her, put her head on her shoulder and patted her back. I said, "Oh Kaia! Sabella gave you a hug. Do you want to give her a hug back?" She turned around and hugged her tight. It was so adorable.

I think I've decided on Kaia's paint color for her room. It's called Cool Pool and it's a really cool turquoise/water color. I love it! Cory & I can't agree on colors for the rest of the house, but we need to do something soon because all this neutral, beige crap is driving me nuts.

OCTOBERFEST IS COMING!!

My brother and his boys came up for a surprise visit... can't remember if I said anything about that here, but anyway, it was great. They loved the house and had so much fun with Kaia. I really, really wish they lived in Oklahoma. And I really, really wish I didn't feel so old when I think abou the fact that Matthew was 2 when I lived with them in AL... he is 13 now. Ugh.

New Post! New Post!

2010-07-30T13:34:00.004-05:00

A certain best friend of mine blasted me today for not putting up any posts, so I figured it must be about time to update the blog. Sorry it's taken me so long...

Our house is awesome, most of you know that already cuz you have seen it! It's slowly coming along. And I mean slowly. But I did manage to get to Lowe's last week to get some paint samples for Kaia's room. I'm still torn between purple, pink and orange. Kaia picks a different "favorite" every time I ask. :)

We've really, really enjoyed being back in T-Town. It's been awesome to get to hang out with everyone without it being such a pain in the butt to drive back and forth. Steph's tired and ready to go to bed? Ok, just go on home and Jay will drop me off later... just simple things. We went over to Jerm's pool one hot Sunday, just because we could.

I really miss my big sister and my Ilda though. :(

Other than that, I don't really miss Stillwater. Maybe summertime traffic. I probably miss that.

The job is great. I have to go to Chicago at the end of the month though. I hope it's not anything bad. With health care reform and the changes coming to this industry, you just never know. I think wellness efforts will actually get bigger, but that doesn't mean the budget will be there to support it.

My running group has been a lifesaver for me. I run with them 2x a week unless I'm traveling. We are slow beginners, but just having that group to meet up with and the accountability of having somewhere to be... it's like doing exercise classes again, only this time, I don't have to be prepared. :)

I don't have to go to NM again until November, I'm pretty relieved about that. I love going there but I miss my family tooooooo much. Yes Cory, you too, not just Kaia. :)

Kaia's new daycare is awesome. The first week has been incredible. Here are some photos from her online journal. Enjoy!

The House

2010-06-02T21:18:00.004-05:00

Just for the record, the above picture is the greatest picture ever taken. And if you haven't eaten at El Tequila yet, you should go because it's really damn good.

Well, we've been here for almost a week and the house is still a wreck! What?! Everything isn't put away and the rooms aren't painted?? Why, I never...

It's hard to be lazy and OCD at the same time. I desperately want to get the house done, but absolutely zero interest in coming home from work to do more work. What a conundrum! No wonder people say, "oh we've lived here for X years and still haven't unpacked..."

The house is freaking awesome though. I'm anxious to get it "done" so that I can actually take pictures to post. I know you all are dying. Seriously. I mean, what is more exciting in this world than the Cheney's new house?!?

We've met neighbors, walked Kaia to the park, bought her a little giraffe blow-up pool for our amazing backyard, grilled... life is good.

Pictures soon, I promise. Just as soooooon as I get the house clean.

MFPOS

2010-05-25T20:10:00.002-05:00

Well, the "buyers" still haven't come through on the purchase of our house. I can't help but wonder if they are trying to get out of the contract, but then why would they sign an extension Friday if they wanted out? I don't know, but Cory is stressed to the gills. This whole process has been a gigantic ass-whip and I wish I could meet these fuckers.

As of now, we are neither buying nor selling a house. Our realtor in Tulsa is going to try to buy us some time so we don't lose the house in Tulsa. Cory & I talked to our parents and we can borrow money for closing if we need to, but I am hesitant to do so because what if those losers back out of buying our house? I mean, we can't force them to buy it. We can sue them, but that still doesn't free us from the mortgage. Clearly they don't have any money for us to have.

UGH

So, our stuff is in storage in the 'hood in Tulsa. Chances are good everything we own will probably be stolen while we wait for these losers to get their shit together. Har har, that was sort of a joke. Sort of.

I signed up today to start a running training program. I start Wednesday at 5:50. I haven't really done any running in a very long time. I mean, I've done relay stuff but as a walk/jog participant. This training program is to get me back into "really" running. Here's hoping...

I'm totally excited about being in Tulsa. I just wish we could get all this bullshit over with. Thanks to everyone who helped us this past weekend and to Uncle Jay for letting us crash at his bachelor pad for god only knows how long. lol

About a month late

2010-05-12T21:29:00.004-05:00

I know, I know. I've been horrible about updating this blog. I don't want it to die, but it sure is hard to find free time to devote to it. I keep saying I need a secretary... lol

I was in Abilene, TX all last week for work. Nonstop presenting, it was awesome but too long to be away. Kaia is still mad at me, and I turn around and leave again for Albuquerque on Monday. :( At least the NM trip is shorter but still... I'm afraid to leave. She has told me to go away, cried when I try to pick her up, hit me... I've cried daily since I got back from TX. I am not having a good time, and put on top of that stress the stress of selling and buying a house... ugh. Poor Cory.

Anyway, I'm sure she's probably just going through a phase where she prefers Cory, or really is mad that I've been gone and will get over it.

After this trip to NM, I shouldn't have to travel again until July. The job is still going really well, but it has been stressful lately, it's getting harder to stay caught up, but I'm hopeful. I took tomorrow off, even though I need to get things done before my trip. Before our closing date got all screwed up, I figured I needed to spend a day to pack, clean, etc. but now that we have another week... well, I think I might just relax a little. I have a massage at 3:00. :)

Cory & I went to see Iron Man 2 last weekend. It was pretty good. Not as good as the original, of course. Kaia & I went to see him do his first martial arts test. It was pretty cool. I took some pictures but they weren't very good. The iPhone takes pretty good quality photos, but the delay always kills me.

I'm so excited about our house. I can't wait to show you guys pictures. I will try not to wait until i get it just the way I want it, else you might never see it. :) We are really pumped about our covered patio and nice backyard. Oh a grilling we will do, oh yes.

Cautiously Hopeful

2010-04-23T12:24:00.003-05:00

Well, in case you haven't heard, we have a contract pending on our house. Yay! Or Eeee! I'm not sure which it is, it changes daily.

I am excited to live in a real city again; I am scared to change daycare; I am excited to have River Trails to ride on; I'm scared I won't have anyone to ride with; I am happy Kaia will have both Grandma's closer by; I am sad she won't have Aunt Paula and Aunt Ilda anytime we want; I am glad my commuting days are over; I am sad Cory's are beginning; I am excited to have a new house~!

That pretty much sums it up. Nothing many of you haven't experienced in your lifetime already, but a first for us with a child to think about.

My job is great, I really love it. :) I already got a raise but it was tiny since I haven't been here very long. Next year though, I am hoping I get a good one. So far, so good.

I'll be traveling a lot in May, but June should be nice and quiet. If all goes well, we will close on May 17 and be living with Uncle Jay for awhile. Bring on the fun!

Feeling Nostalgic

2010-04-03T18:58:00.002-05:00

I have a couple friends who are expecting and it's making me want another baby. Not that I don't want another baby when friends aren't pregnant, but this makes it worse.

So, this is her third Easter. This will be the first year that we do any eggs or anything. We're going to Sapulpa for lunch and we're planning to hide some eggs. I'm still not decorating eggs though, just for the mere fact that hard-boiled eggs are gross and I don't want to get stuck with a fridge full of them until later on when she actually will remember. ;)

She is doing great, despite her bout with pneumonia. She seems to have a little fever right now but I don't know why. She was on medicine for 10 days straight so it's something new. She doesn't seem to feel bad though. Sigh. I'm ready for the sicknesses to slow down again.

Other than that, she is great. Her personality is really showing and she is HILARIOUS. I wish everyone I know could spend enough time with her to really see how she is. Uncle Jay and Aunt Paula and Aunt Ilda are really the only ones who see enough of her to know how funny and smart she is, and of course Grandma Cathy & Grandma Jane.

Work is still awesome. :) Still living in dang Stillwater but ... there's always hope.

Peace out.

Trouble

2010-02-08T22:18:00.000-06:00

Look at those eyes. Seriously. We are in big trouble.

Snow Days

2010-01-30T22:32:00.003-06:00

I'm all for having snow days and staying home from work, but who the hell thought it would be fun to close daycare?? Being snowed in with a 2-year-old is not as fun as it sounds, people, mark my words.

Today was better, we got to play in the snow and since Kaia had boots to keep her feet dry this time, she liked it a lot more than at xmas. She actually didn't want to come in. I think she liked listening to the crunch under her feet. She wasn't too thrilled with our snowman though, I think she was afraid of him. Since the Fletcher incident, when she doesn't like something, she says, real quiet, "snowman bite?" or "backpack bite?"

:( It's the saddest little voice, too.

Other than that though, she had fun. She just didn't really want to stand next to the little frozen dude for a picture.

I've eaten everything under the sun the past few days. Made chocolate chip cookies (from scratch!) and ate at least half a dozen already. Then tonight we went out to eat. Ugh. I'm hoping the damage won't be as bad as I think it will be...

The job is still going great. I love it. I am getting to do so much more writing than I had anticipated... I've received a ton of good feedback about my writing skills too, which is nice. I haven't heard that since... geez, I can't remember really.

House hunting is kind of on hold. We have only had one viewing of our house. Open house is on Sunday. Here's hoping. :\

Honor Roll

2010-01-26T18:10:00.003-06:00

Last night, Kaia and I were sitting in bed, reading stories. After we read (4 books), she started drinking her milk. She guzzled and guzzled, like little kids do, then she stopped, looked up at me and said, breathless, "Ilda?"

And I said, "Ilda is at home."

To which she replied, "Ilda?"

So I repeated myself. She then asked for "Paula?" (which sounds like podda). Then "Mark?"

And I said, "Ilda is home. Mark is at home."

So she went on.

"Candice?"

"Candice is at home with Mark."

Today, I picked her up from daycare, a rarity for me, and on the way home she said, "Mark? Candice?"

So I said, "Mark and Candice are at home. They live in Texas."

"Texas?"

Yep. I think that she might remember you all. ;)

I can't believe she's 2

2010-01-24T10:03:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful, beautiful, sweet, smart, funny little girl. The love of my life. :)

She's running around in circles, birthday balloons in tow, giggling and having the best time. The first time that balloon pops and terrifies her, I hope I can comfort her and not make her scared of them for the rest of her childhood!

What a way to start 2010

2010-01-02T12:29:00.004-06:00

If you Tulsans haven't eaten at Doe's Eat Place on Cherry Street, I highly recommend it. Our bill was more than the hotel but it was worth it. One of the best steaks I've ever had and the atmosphere was just how we like it...like an old pub somewhere. Its one of the most eclectic menus too...we had tamales with a cup o chili as an app. Then salad, I had boiled new potatoes with my filet, Cory had mashed and we shared grilled asparagus. Southern style drop biscuits came with the meal...I thought they were gross tho. More donut than roll really. We both had a beer but I already forgot what it was called. K-something.

We had a drink at the hotel, then I was out by 11. Kaia's been sick for a week now. So much for Cory's vacation. I took her to the walk-in this morning. Two ear infections plus bronchitis-like something or other. So I just dropped $120 at the pharmacy. Between xmas, NYE and today, I've spent a gazillion bucks. And trying to get Kaia to use an inhaler thing is going to be even more challenging than the nebulizer when she was little...

So anyway, I bought Cory dinner, he had his way with me and he ate my Doubletree cookie. Then he left me with a sick baby to go to the Cotton Bowl. Typical!

(rofl, he's so gonna kill me for that paragraph but I couldn't resist)

My 2 Cents About Health Care Reform

2009-12-24T16:45:00.005-06:00

Since graduating from college, I've worked for a hospital, the state health department and now an insurance company. You would think if anyone would know the right answer for health care reform, I'd have it. Of course, if I did, you'd have heard of it by now.

The truth is, I support the idea and the need for change. It is a broken system. But what is even more broken than that is our nation's disregard for our health. People under the age of 50 should not be on 12 different medications. Kids should not be overweight, never mind obese, with diabetes and high blood pressure. It makes me sad. And sick.

When I taught at the high school here, kids were clueless about what is healthy and what is not. I think it's hard for people to decipher some things but there's one unmistakable, undeniable truth: moving more makes you more healthy. As a personal trainer, I heard all kinds of bullshit excuses as to why and they are all just that: bullshit. If you're lazy, at least admit it.

But I digress. This was meant to be a post about reform.

Making insurance more affordable is good. People should have a medical home. Families need to have a family doctor, not the emergency room. But giving more people access to care is not going to reduce health care costs.

We have an aging workforce. People get sick more as they age. 60% of the country is overweight or obese. 30% of kids are now overweight or obese. What's going to happen when those overweight kids grow up and get jobs? Will they all of a sudden be healthy and thin and active? It's not likely. They'll come to college with chronic disease, then go out into the workforce with chronic disease. Things will likely get worse before they get better.

What we need is more PE in schools; trails and fitness options in every community; flexible hours so people can exercise during the work day; safe routes to schools so kids can walk or bike to school again; nutrition education for every age group because even after all this time, people still don't get it. Cafeterias on worksites and in school need to serve healthy food. You know, I grew up on crap like fried chicken and fries just like the rest of you but things are different now. Kids don't play like they did when we were kids. I was outside constantly as a kid, riding my bike or playing basketball or exploring... kids have to eat better at a younger age.

Last but not least, parents need to suck it up and be parents. As in, you are in charge of your kid, not the other way around. You buy the food, you determine the rules, you sit on your butt every night watching reality TV or you get up and walk or play or move.

There are so many things that need to change before things will get better, I just don't think the President's focus is on the right part of reform. It will be interesting to watch it all play out over the next ten years.

This Just In...

2009-12-19T18:43:00.001-06:00

Kaia & I just woke up from an almost four-hour nap. I think maybe we needed it...

The job is great, the house hunt is frustrating and Kaia is fabulous.

That's the update. :)

The Best Present Ever

2009-12-06T19:53:00.002-06:00

We got her something for xmas and it came in the best thing - a box - and even better, a box with lots of brown paper cushioning it! We might as well save the presents for next year and just let her enjoy the boxes and paper for now. I doubt she'll have half as much fun with the gifts.

2009

2009-11-29T11:06:00.002-06:00

What a year. The blog hasn't seen much action, has it? Seems like everyone has kind of abandoned the journal in favor of 2 second posts on fb but I'm going to keep this going even if I'm the only one. Sometimes I feel like writing more than I'm willing to share with fb "friends" that I haven't spoken to in 20 years. lol

So the first two weeks on the job have been superb. I'm very nervous but it's a good thing. The kind of nervous that will make sure I do a good job. As opposed to not ever even making it to OKC on time because I had nothing to do once I got there. ;) Well ok maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but almost. This job will be much more intense and I am so excited and lucky to have this opportunity. I hope this is a place I can stay for a long time.

My office is a big ugly empty space. I've got to find a way to make it "me." I do have a great big window with a view of Boulder which is not all that exciting but hey, it's sunlight.

Kaia is doing so great, she's learning and growing and... eating! I don't want to jinx myself but she has eaten really well the past three days. Right now, she's polishing off some dry cheerios after eating a whole biscuit for breakfast. Then she climbed in my lap and started making faces at me...we were all three laughing so hard our cheeks hurt. I want everyone to go make a baby. Right now. :)

The house hunting has been pretty fun. We are finding neighborhoods in Tulsa that we would really like to live in, beyond what we already knew about. We saw a couple yesterday around TU that were pretty great. Just not quite "it" yet though high on the list of possibilities. The problem we're having really is space. What we can afford in the areas we want = pretty small. But anyway, it's been great and we can't wait to move back home.

Thanksgiving was great, my nephews (12, 10 and 8) were all smitten with Kaia; Stephen and Ben particularly doted on her. She had a great couple of weekends with family. Mark & Candice on weekend, my family the next... she loved chasing the cats and dogs and kids. It's fun to see her experience new things and have fun.

Life is good.

Sweet Ipod gods!

2009-11-05T12:25:00.001-06:00

I found it! I found it!

Naked baby wearin' a hat

2009-11-04T20:29:00.001-06:00

Bluer Pastures

2009-10-29T12:33:00.002-05:00

So, I think everyone knows by now that I have accepted the position with Blue Cross & Blue Shield, aka Health Care Services Corporation. I use the latter term because I will be working with more than just Oklahoma employees and Blue Cross is a subsidiary of HCSC. Four states are under HCSC: New Mexico and Oklahoma, which are both mine, Illinois and Texas. I have three "counterparts" for the other states. My boss, who is in Texas, reports directly to the Chief Medical Officer, who's in Chicago. There will be traveling, mostly to Albuquerque, but soon to Dallas to meet the Good Doctor who is our boss.

I'm really excited about this job, but rest assured, this is a BIG JOB. I don't think I'll have much time for blogging or texting or emailing at work. At least not until I get into a good routine and really understand what all my responsibilities are. He told me on the first phone call, this job is demanding and busy. So I guess I'll be earning my pay for once. I'm totally excited about that. I hate being bored at work, as you guys can probably guess by now.

It's a pretty decent pay raise with decent benefits and good raises. I'll be downtown at 14th & Boulder and close to Riverparks, which I'm also excited about. I hope it doesn't take too long for our house to sell.

What I'm NOT excited about is (once we move) Cory's drive and ... new daycare. :( In fact, I get queasy thinking about it.

Just Shoot Me

2009-10-27T08:18:00.000-05:00

Can't find the iPod. Sigh.

Just for fun

2009-10-20T20:41:00.001-05:00

Mommy colored my nose with her make-up pencil.

Oh and I really like grandma Cathy's cookies.

:)

Well now...

2009-10-20T18:32:00.001-05:00

It is looking like we will be making Tulsa our home in the near future! Details to come.

Fun with Kaia

2009-10-13T20:12:00.006-05:00

I know I've said it before but it is so much fun having Kaia around, I can't believe how entertaining she is. :) She is growing (er... developing? changing? learning?) so fast. She's still so tiny... I worry about that off and on but try to focus on the fact that she seems healthy and happy.

It's so funny to ask her a question:

"Kaia, do you want to go outside?"
"Ous! Ous! Outside??? Yeah. Yeah. Ous! Ouside!"

She would stay outside from the time she got home from daycare til dark and probably beyond if we would let her. I hope that doesn't change.

We have some great videos on the camera but I can't seem to get them to upload onto the computer and play. Don't know what the dealio is, but I'm sure Daddy can figure it out.

We finally got new car seats and turned the little bugger around. Oh speaking of ... she picks her nose now and says "buggers?" We officially have to watch our language now, she repeats EVERYTHING.

We took her to a pumpkin patch this past weekend in Arcadia. It was so much fun. I had never been to one before, it was beautiful there.

We had steak & shake afterwards. Burgers and fries are beautiful too. lol

PS

2009-10-13T18:33:00.001-05:00

For those of you on fb, please don't comment about the JOB interview on there. There are three co-workers and one associate on my fb list!

so...

2009-10-12T18:59:00.005-05:00

I'm glad that is over with...

I was at BCBS for almost three hours today, I think the guy who would be my boss was going to be late for his flight. I did my presentation via teleconference for the other two health promotion specialists (one in Texas, one in Chicago) and for him in the room. It was weird, but it went really well. No one was familiar with the topic so I think they were impressed. I put a powerpoint together but they didn't have a computer set up so I just talked. I feel like I already know these people because technically, this was like the third interview. He said, "I hope that tells you how important it is for us to find the right person for this position..."

The building is on the edge of downtown at 12th & Boulder. The building is ugly as sin on the outside but slightly better on the inside than what I've got now. My office though... HUGE. Huge window, my own fridge, massive old and ugly desk... I'd have a diner's club card for travel so I wouldn't have to pay anything up front like I do now.

I'd be Senior Health Promotion Specialist in charge of employee wellness for oklahoma and new mexico. My boss would reside in Dallas, so I'd be on my own mostly. It's a lot of responsibility, but I don't know that it will be a lot of money. I think it will be more money than I make now, but you have to realize my benefits... I pay for nothing, not even my flex account. I receive a pretty big benefit allowance and have money left over. I have tons of freedom, access to a fitness center on-site and get 3 weeks vacation plus sick leave and holidays. It should be a dream situation. Except that I'm bored out of my mind and ten years older than everyone else in my department making the same money as they do with very, very little chance for a raise. Who knew? Government employees don't get raises, it literally takes an act of the legislature to get a raise.

Anyway, it's all so stressful. Driving back and forth to OKC for the past 9 months; wanting to buy a house and move but not; now, possibly driving back and forth to Tulsa instead; wanting to buy a house and move but making Cory commute... UGH. Too much. I need a serious vacation.

I think I'd like the BCBS job, but I don't know where I would go from there. He was honest with me that it's a senior level position and pretty much "it" as far as their wellness program goes, but the company is big and there are other opportunities within the company. Where I am, all of the management is old as the hills and will retire soon, but I don't think I would be able to beat out any of the people in line behind them for a better paying job. Not any time soon anyway.

Sigh. Drink, anyone??

post

2009-10-05T18:02:00.003-05:00

So, here is the latest on the job front: My "in person" interview is Monday at 12:30 p.m. I'll be there for approximately two hours. The man who will be my boss will be there, along with someone from HR, and via teleconference, at least one of the other members of the wellness team. I have to deliver a short presentation on the health/fitness topic of my choosing.

Eeeeee!!!

I Guess It Was Right

2009-10-02T21:54:00.002-05:00

So, I got an email back from the BCBS recruiter today...

Good afternoon, I hope all is well.  Thank you for the feedback and I apologize for the delay getting back to you.  The conversation went very well from our perspective as well and we would like to have you come to our Tulsa office the week of the 12th for the final interview.  Please let me know your availability and I will follow up early next week to confirm the details.

Have a great weekend.
I guess we shall see what happens!

BCBS

2009-09-30T21:56:00.003-05:00

I had a second phone interview today... I am not at all sure how it went. When I think back on it, it seems like we just chit-chatted and went over some of the same things as last week (it was a different person) but I don't know that I said anything right, or answered any of the questions to the best of my ability.

So, reaching out to some of the people who read this blog who have had these kinds of extensive interviews... how do you usually feel after? Have you ever felt like you blew it but then got an offer anyway? Or the opposite? I'm just not sure what to think. Also, the staffing person asked that I follow up with him via email to "...let me know your thoughts after the conversation." What do I say? ??

I think this would be a really exciting position, but gone would be my days of internet surfing and going in late and leaving early... both good and bad. I mean, I'd like a happy medium. I'd like to leave work feeling like I actually accomplished something but still had time to surf a little. 8 hours a day of surfing though... that wouldn't be missed. I don't hate my current job (well, there are days that I do)... I think I am mostly disappointed that it is not the job I hoped it would be. Benefits are good, my co-workers are good, but man...I am bored.

More Kudos

2009-09-28T08:47:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to say congratulations to Laura for finishing her first marathon this past weekend! 4 hours, 10 minutes. I can't even think that fast. ;)

Good job!

Limeades for Learning

2009-09-24T10:02:00.002-05:00

OK all you fellow Sonic junkies... next time you go, make sure you save the code from your drink so you can vote for a project to be funded. There are several schools and classrooms in Oklahoma that need some money, so search by state and pick your favorite project. You can vote every time you buy a drink, which for me is quite often. :)

www.limeadesforlearning.com

It's for such a great cause!

Annual March of Dimes Campaign

2009-09-21T10:25:00.002-05:00

It's time again friends... the annual March of Dimes prematurity campaign is underway, and since Cory & I did not do a team for this year's walk, I want to be sure and try to get some money raised through my site, which I created last year for Kaia. Every little amount helps the cause. And just for your information, Oklahoma's infant mortality rate has remained higher than the national average for more than ten years. :(

OMG

2009-09-15T20:23:00.001-05:00

Kaia actually ate most of her sandwich for dinner, so I told Daddy she could have some C-H-I-P-S. She saw the bag of cheetos, and started screaming and chanting, "cheeto! cheeto! cheeto!"

My MIL created a monster! I wish we would've caught it on video.

Must. Stop. Reading. Mommy Blogs. Snif.

2009-09-15T11:02:00.002-05:00

It’s so easy to try and block out what this symbolizes {kindergarten}— the next phase of life. There they go, independent little beings, off to create their own opinions and judgments and perspectives. When will they not need us anymore? When will they stop putting their little hands in ours when we cross the street? When will they not ask — beg — for another bedtime story or song? It’s all flying by so fast. When you have little infants, your parents and friends all say ‘Try to cherish this, soon they’ll be off to college.’ And suddenly, here we are. Another reason to truly, really, live in the moment. And least for a little bit, today.
and of course, from dooce:
Drop off on the first day was as difficult as I thought it would be, she clung to my arm as if she were drowning, and even though I stayed for a good twenty-five minutes and watched her climb the princess castle seven hundred times, when it was time for me to leave she was frantic. And I knew exactly how she felt, I remember the panic I experienced when my mother left me in that strange room all those years ago, but I finally knelt down and took the hand I had just used to wipe the tears from my face to wipe the ones on hers. And I handed her off to the teacher.

This sounds like our baby girl

2009-09-13T21:12:00.004-05:00

Many 20-month-olds are very affectionate. Yours probably likes to sit on your lap and cuddle because he knows it's a time when she has your undivided attention — something she loves. She continues to want to help you with household chores, everything from folding laundry and unpacking groceries to sweeping the kitchen floor. Of course she really wants to do these "grown-up" things without your help, even though odds are she can't yet. It may slow you down a little, but it's worth the time to find safe ways to let her assist you.

Kaia has been extremely "mommy" oriented these days. She's pretty much stayed attached to me all weekend, hugging at my legs and saying "Mommy" over and over and over. It's awesome. :) And she loves to throw things in the trash or help us with laundry... anything to be like us. It's amazing and I can't believe she is about to turn two years old.

Funny

2009-09-12T20:38:00.005-05:00

I have a hard time coming up with things to talk about if they don't involve Kaia or a picture! But I realized I have something to report this week so here I am. I'll try to throw in some Kaia to make everyone happy. :)

So, last year, probably in December, I emailed a former professor and told him I was being laid off. He moved from OSU to somewhere in New Mexico several years back and I've seen his name on the health & wellness lecture circuit a time or two. Anyway, he told me to send my resume to a guy in Dallas who works for Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Said there was a position opening up in Oklahoma and I should check it out. So I did, the guy emailed back that he would notify me once the position was posted. Well, I never heard anything and totally forgot about it.

Tuesday, I see an "unknown" listing on the iphone so I check messages and it's him. The job is now open and posted and he wanted to see if I was still available and interested. The job is senior health promotion manager and I'd be in charge of employee wellness for BCBS employees in Tulsa and Albuquerque, NM. It sounds like a good job. I applied. We'll see what happens, but needless to say, the OKC house hunt is once again on hold.

There are a ton of pros and cons to weigh, believe it or not. Mostly, I have exceptional benefits through the state, and dont' know that they can compete. My fringe is at almost 50% of my total compensation package. At SMC, benefits were like 26%. Then there's the location. We love Tulsa, but there is no "middle ground" for us so Cory would have to drive back and forth to campus and trust me, that drive SUCKS 100X worse than the one to the city. I dunno, I'll have to see what happens but it's kind of exciting.

PS: I posted some new videos to the youtube channel too...

Season Starter

2009-09-05T19:30:00.002-05:00

She looks so sweet and innocent...

Cuddling with Uncle Kevin

Tailgatin' with Daddy

Home

Mom Update

2009-09-04T09:00:00.003-05:00

Her stress test came back clear so her heart's in good shape. Yay! They are doing some more tests today but we think she'll be discharged tomorrow. She'll be coming to Stillwater to stay for a little while, until we feel good that she is strong enough to be alone again.

They think all this mess was caused by prednisone.

Weekend Recap

2009-08-31T12:34:00.009-05:00

Whew! What a weekend!

Let me start with a recap of the past week...

Saturday, Kaia woke up with a fever, which turned out to be swine flu. I found this out after checking text messages during my ride from Stillwater to Lake Hefner. So, not much I can do 70 miles away on a bike. My throat had been hurting but I attributed it to sinuses, and went about my way.

Did the OKC ride in six hours. Had some Mexican food then Cory drove us home. Stilly to OKC is a great ride, but lots of hills. Oy.

Monday we took Kaia to the doctor. She still wasn't eating and had a slight fever, but nothing too bad. She tested positive for the flu, so I stayed home with her Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Figured my sore throat and slight fever was probably the flu too, and figured I'd miss out on HHH but I actually felt fine by Wednesday.

Thursday morning, I got up and drove to Tulsa for a two-day workshop (for work). I stayed in Tulsa Thursday night at the Doubletree, then left the workshop early Friday so we could leave for Wichita Falls. Cory's parents picked up Kaia around 5:30 and Cory & I hit the road.

The morning of the ride, we got up around 4:45 and drove to WF from Lawton... joined up with four friends who were doing the ride and Cory went back to the car to get some sleep. :) (Thank you to my great and supportive husband!!)

Usually, we start the ride ahead of the masses to avoid chaos. This year, they had lots of signs prohibiting it. There were over 14,000 cyclists this year and we got stuck starting smack in there with them all. Less than a mile in, a couple RIGHT IN FRONT OF US went down. The woman swerved, her husband tried to keep her up by grabbing onto her, but he went down and flipped onto his back. OUCH. LB swerved just in time to miss running over the guy, and we kept on pedaling...

A few more miles in, we see a young woman lying on her stomach completely still, her arm and shoulder twisted in such a way that it did not look right. My stomach flipped, I wasn't sure she was even conscious but BW said she was, that she was just lying there crying. The ambulance was there already, I think, and another one coming close behind.

Less than 10 miles into the ride and we've already seen two bad crashes. In all the rides I've done, I've seen one guy flip head first over his bike, but Cory did that once too so it didn't scare me like this did. By the time we hit the half way point, I think we had seen 5 crashes, or the end results of the crash. I was a nervous wreck for about 60 miles.

A couple of times, the masses had slowed so much for whatever the reason may be, that we had to get off our seats and "tip toe" our bikes forward because no one was going anywhere. And of course, that meant plenty of time for the men to stop by a hay bale and pee. If I would have had my camera out, I totally would have taken a picture because it was hilarious to look to your right and see a line of men at a hay-urinal.

---

I felt pretty good, the weather was good, but the wind, inclines and rough road were slowing me down. LB and BW went on ahead and I did the last half solo. I was kind of glad really (no offense LB) because I always try to go faster than I am really capable when riding with my fit young friends! When I do my own ride, my own way, I know I can go any distance. If I had tried to keep up or if they had slowed down for me, I would have stopped. I'm about 30 pounds heavier than when we rode together last, so I tried to cut myself a break about being slow. :)

I was afraid I wasn't going to make it to the cutoff in time ("Hell's Gate") so I texted Cory and Diane and told them that. Then the next thing you know, I see this:

Hell's Gate is actually "guarded" by a giant red inflatable hulk, by the way. I should have taken a picture of that instead but I had already put the camera away (and no, I have no idea who is in the picture but I didn't want to wait until everyone was outta the way).

I talked to lots of interesting people along the way, and saw a kid who was probably between 12 and 14 riding with his parents. Actually, he was ahead of his parents because he told them at a rest stop he was going on because he'd been "waiting forever" at the stop. LOL. It was so inspiring to see, esp. given that most kids these days are overweight or obese. To think a kid that young could stay motivated and focused to ride 100 miles is amazing. Here he is flagging down the 'rents:

I snapped a really quick pic, I didn't want to look like a perv. :) I talked to his parents briefly, I should have asked them how old he was.

At about the 92 mark, there's a Miller Lite rest stop. I forgot about this, and passed by the stop because at this point I was sooooo close to being done, I just wanted to get it over with! But then I decided I needed a little break, so I stopped next to a guy under some shade and said, "mind if I share your shade?" and in a peculiarly stoner voice he says, "naw man, come on in. I'm just finishing my beer. 'Never stop at the bottom of a hill, and always finish your beer. That's my philosophy...'" then he turned and grinned at me like he just ate shit. Creepy. It wasn't until I passed an empty can later on that I remembered the beer stop. I honestly thought some guy was crashing the ride drunk off his arse.

So anyway, I have some weird itchy bite on my foot, I'm sunburned (despite being felt up by a volunteer putting sunscreen on me), and my butt hurts, but I did it. 102 miles.

OK he didn't really feel me up, but I kept thinking, "geez, isn't it rubbed in by now??"

I'm done with HHH because of all the crashes though. That seems to be my method anyway... complete the century, find a new event to do. So next on the list...? Who knows. Something closer to LB and BW. They've come down for HHH three times now. It's our turn to travel. :)

(BTW, if you ever do an event, be sure to thank the volunteers. I don't know how many HHH has, but they are always so nice and gracious. Some farmers just threw out some tables and cut up tons of watermelon for us, they weren't even an "official" rest stop. People are just that nice. Think about being out there all day long, serving or driving or directing traffic or picking up all the trash... it's a lot of work for nothing)

---

So sometime after we leave, we are going to OKC to La Luna with friends to eat when I get a text from my sister. My mom's in CICU in Tulsa at Saint Francis. She had chest and jaw pain on Saturday morning and has been there ever since. She really seems to be doing well but they can't keep her BP elevated enough to do any tests without medication. So until her BP is stable, we really know nothing. I assume she probably had a mild heart attack. Anyway, keep her in your thoughts. Today is the first day I've been home to sleep in my own bed since... Wednesday? Oy. Off to nap.

A Battle of Wills, Part 1 of 12,253

2009-08-26T16:54:00.004-05:00

So Kaia is over the flu, she's feeling fine and back to her ornery self. This kid is so stubborn... those of you who have known Cory for a long time will understand what I am dealing with here! For example, we are trying to get her to stop throwing things onto the floor. She understands us and can follow instructions... when she decides to. So she threw her juice bottle on the floor and I told her to pick it up. Repeatedly. She not only wouldn't pick it up, when I mentioned the juice bottle, she would look at it, then walk as far away as possible from it. I sat her down next to it and said, "Kaia, hand Mommy the juice bottle." Nothing. I don't know how long I waited for her to finally give it to me, but the little turd was not going to get away with leaving it on the floor. I saw it as a sign of things to come if I didn't stick with it and make her give it to me.

This is going to be soooo hard.

Sweet

2009-08-23T20:21:00.002-05:00

Hi

2009-08-19T08:46:00.001-05:00

My name is Stephanie, and I'm sick of driving 70 minutes to work every day. Can someone please just come get my house sold, and find me one to move into while you're at it?

Thanks.

18 month well baby visit

2009-08-11T19:49:00.001-05:00

Some details about Kaia's appointment today:

She is now 30 inches long and weighs 18.4 lbs. She's in the whopping 5th percentile for height and off the chart completely for weight, but the doctor is not worried about her weight.

She has 4 new teeth coming in and asks to have them brushed at night by pointing and saying "teef." :)

She still loves Dora.

She knows about 30 words already, and just to be sure we weren't exaggerating, we made a list tonight:

rainbow
shoes
doggie
mommy
daddy
sock
swimming pool ("swim po")
please
bottle
juice
fish
no (quite frequently)
apple (bapple)
banana (nana)
bath
Tico (a Dora reference for you non-parentals)
Dora
Boots
teeth
nose
more
toes
eyes
book
hi
byebye
drop
bus
ball
uh-oh

We are best friends for a reason

2009-08-10T16:00:00.004-05:00

Diane completed her first century ride this weekend in Denver. Here is the elevation from the middle section of her ride:

I am so proud, it brings tears to my eyes. And it makes me realize, I am a wimp. :)

Way to go, D!!

Uncle Mark & Kaia

2009-08-09T20:23:00.001-05:00

Kaia

2009-08-09T17:22:00.002-05:00

I have to explain this one...one night, we all went to the grocery store, but Kaia and I stayed in the car while Daddy ran in. He was taking a little longer than expected so I took Kaia out of her carseat and let her play in the front with me. I knew she was over by the door messing with coins, but since she wasn't trying to eat them, I didn't mind.

The next day, I get in the car and realize that what she had been doing, who knows what inspired her, was taking all the coins and putting them inside the slots for the window controls.

Yeah, my kid is smart. :)

beautiful

2009-08-06T07:33:00.002-05:00

Too Deep for a Monday

2009-08-03T11:03:00.002-05:00

I was just thinking about Cory and Kaia's relationship... I hope all of the men in my life get to experience life as a dad to a daughter someday. I think it changes a man in a way that having a son doesn't touch. Having a son is just more guys being guys, but having a daughter... I think it makes a man really see the other side of things and maybe even see women differently.

Watching their relationship unfold and seeing her look at him with so much love and adoration... sometimes it breaks my heart and helps me understand who I am so much more, not having that relationship in my own life.

Sad, and happy too that I married someone who can be a great daddy.

The trouble with email

2009-07-31T13:31:00.002-05:00

I just sent the following message accidentally to the CDC Physical Activity and Nutrition list-serv:

Oh, bought some organic home grown cheese today. Colby.

This message was intended for my husband.

Can you feel how hot my neck is right now?!?

The End of an Era

2009-07-31T09:07:00.002-05:00

I think "dining out" as we know it is about to come to an end. For the past several months, I've been tracking how much money I spend each month at restaurants, Starbucks, Sonic, etc. and it's staggering. We've known for awhile that we do it too much but never really kept track of it like I've been doing. And I'm just accounting for what I spend, not Cory. It's gotta stop, especially if we want to have a nice house to live in!! But we all know not eating out really isn't an option, so we're going to try to cut back the frequency but also share an entree anytime we go out.

Also, it's got to stop because Kaia has officially hit the stage where she does NOT want to sit still in some stupid high chair for more than 2 minutes at a time. We met Tanner and his family at Joe's last night (his dad is being inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame this weekend--cool!) and she was a little monster! Aside from hyperactivity, she's into being as loud as humanly possible, so between her trying to escape, banging toys on the table and generally being a pain in the butt, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Not screaming-crying, just screaming, like she is testing out her lungs.

By the end of the evening, I was exhausted. It took me until a little after 10:00 to get her to go to sleep, so I just went to sleep too.

Deep Dora

2009-07-28T19:41:00.002-05:00

How cute is that??

2009-07-28T13:12:00.002-05:00

Cory tells me that Miss Priss demanded that she wear her brown sandals this morning instead of the shoes he had picked out for her... "I mean, c'mon daddy, the brown sandals go better with my outfit!"

Some photos from Colorado

2009-07-25T20:09:00.002-05:00

Diane'll kill me for this but it was cute other than her eyes being closed! :)

Yep, took a picture of myself.

I think we were about 1/3 of the way up here

Just gettin going

Gorgeous

This is a freaky thought...

My gorgeous husband outside our hotel

Greatest Commercials EVER

2009-07-23T21:36:00.001-05:00

Don't go here if you don't have my sense of humor, k? Watch the first two commercials for sure.

Hello

2009-07-21T16:05:00.003-05:00

I know, I know. I'm a bad blogger. I never did post about how Kaia was doing. I stink. Well, it took about a week, but she finally got over her mouth outbreak. She started to feel better on Saturday and it hit her originally on Sunday so... that's a long time to feel horrible and not eat. Her appetite didn't fully return to normal until a few days later but the inklings of our little happy baby appeared that Saturday. Man, what a crappy week that was.

I have some pictures from our trip to Denver that I will post soon. Right now, I'm blogging from work (gasp) and the photos are on Cory's laptop. Let me just say that Denver is awesome. It's the first big city that I think Cory & I agreed on 100 percent: Yes, let's live here! So, who knows how long it will take but I really am going to start looking and applying for anything I think I have a shot at. And if it ends up that I find something but Cory does not, I told him to get his butt to Univ. of Colorado for a phd program.

So, what does that mean for us right now? Well, I guess it means the move to OKC is off again. We haven't talked about it yet but we will have to come up with a timeline and if we haven't found anything by ______, we move to OKC.

Imagine growing up in a place like Denver or Boulder where you are surrounded by mountains and sunshine? I'm all for raising Kaia in the healthiest environment we can, and either one of those two cities beats raising her in one of the fattest, unhealthiest, poorest states in the nation.

It was great riding and hiking with D again. I miss my workout buddy. :( And my best friend. :(

I'll post details about the riding and hiking when I put up pictures.

New Videos

2009-07-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

i added a couple videos tonight!
http://www.youtube.com/user/kaiamadelinesmommy

The Beast Within

2009-07-09T20:38:00.006-05:00

Man today was trying. She feels better and actually ate some cereal, but was just well enough to know that she was pissed off that she was still sick. Did that sentence make any sense??

Anyway, this kid has a temper. And is stubborn as hell. A+B = Not a Good Patient.

I've read that it's normal for toddlers to hit, and how to handle it, but that knowledge doesn't make it any more joyful. She must have smacked me ten times today. Swatted my hand away when I tried to give her ice cream. (ICE CREAM!! It's not like I was trying to feed the kid spinach!) Also, she has taken a liking to pouring her gatorade out of her sippy cup. Witness moments before dumping out Mommy's diet coke...

Like I said, trying day.

*

Last night, I did a wal-mart run and like any Mommy with a sick baby, I wanted to get her something to make her feel better. Enter the Dora Chair. Fletcher is trying to claim it as his own. I think there might be war if that happens...

The Past Five Days

2009-07-09T10:51:00.002-05:00

Usually she would plot right down across my face. Our whole bodies ache from contorting into strange sleeping positions to accommodate her. Hey, when your kid is miserable, you'll do anything.

Worst Ever

2009-07-06T15:42:00.003-05:00

Kaia woke up around midnight hot as hell. Her fever was about 103. She was mumbling and crying and didn't stop until... well, about 10 minutes ago. She did fall asleep from time to time, but for the most part, she was in borderline hysterical mode.

We took her to the doc, anticipating talk of tubes for her ears, assuming it still hadn't cleared up, but it was all good. In fact, she didn't know what was going on, so they took some blood :( and ran a test to see if she needed antibiotics or anything. Turned out to be some weird virus. She seems to be on the mend now.

I can't tell you what a scary 16 hours that was... I had all kinds of horror stories running through my brain.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. This parenting stuff is hard as hell.

UPDATE: She was not on the mend yesterday, I guess the motrin just gave her a reprieve. Last night was even worse than the night before. We are going back to the doctor today. Cory & I look like hell. There is something wrong with her mouth, I'm wondering if it isn't thrush, but her tongue and inside of her mouth is white and everything is swollen, including her ruby red lips. :( Cory called her Angelina Jolie this morning. So she isn't eating anything and barely drinks but at least gets enough to not be dehydrated. She's just crying and drooling non-stop.

In Awe

2009-07-03T22:29:00.003-05:00

Every day, I look at Kaia and am in awe of how much she has grown already. The new picture above just seems so... girl-like instead of baby-like. When did this happen? I feel like I am going to blink and miss something, like I'll wake up and she'll be in kindergarten.

Some of my favorite things she is doing now: picking up things and putting them in the trash, helping me unload the dishwasher, saying "mainmow" (rainbow) out of the blue, I guess she just likes the word... singing along with "wheels on the bus" by doing the hand motions, then when you get to "aaaalll through the town" she sings along with the ALL part. Only she gets too excited and starts it too soon. God it's cute. She also grabs onto you and squeezes and gives the best hugs in the world.

When Uncle Jay was here, she spun herself in circles until she was falling down dizzy. She loves him so much. She kept taking him books to read to her. She even ate good while he was here, especially the night we had fried fish, zucchini and Daddy's special fried taters! We found out last night that she likes peas. We had snow peas and I squeezed the peas out of the pod and she ate them like they were candy. YES! A vegetable! Starchy one but hell, it's green I'll take it.

Anyway, I know I haven't posted in awhile so I thought I'd give everyone the update on what she's been up to. I recharged the batteries for the little HD video camera so I should be able to get some more videos soon. She does this thing when Daddy reads her the "Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone?" book, I've GOT to get it recorded and posted.

Peace out, have a great 4th of July!

Kaia's First BooBoo

2009-06-29T07:57:00.002-05:00

Well the weekend was great but the drive home was the big fat suck! We wasted all of our "quiet" asleep in the car time shopping (Ann Taylor at the outlet mall? There is a god of shopping) so on the road she was pretty dang cranky. I pulled out her little lappy to occupy her and it worked great...until she hit herself in the lip with it. :( I looked down and thought she had closed her fingers in it because she started screaming, then saw blood on her hands and realized she had bloodied her little lip. :( It wasn't too bad, and like a real trooper she just screamed a bit then was ok.

Kudos to my husband, who drove the whole way from Mark & Candice's to the outlet mall in Allen, where he sat in the car while Kaia slept (ac on full blast) while Mommy broke the bank shopping. Then drove from Allen to my Mom's, from my Mom's to Sapulpa to pick up the pooch, then Sapulpa home. So he could write his column.

It was a long day. I think we have a New Rule. Traveling with a toddler means taking an extra day off post-travel.

Thanks M&C for being such great hosts, as always!

Food Stuff

2009-06-26T11:40:00.002-05:00

Kellogg's owns Kashi. Dannon owns Stoneyfield Farms. It's all smoke & mirrors. I'm going to grow my own damn food and stop paying these people!

Stats

2009-06-25T12:40:00.002-05:00

"Of 168 nations, 164 have guaranteed maternity leave, and 4 nations do not: Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Lesotho, and the United States."

YouTube

2009-06-17T22:39:00.001-05:00

I think I finally figured it all out. Here's a few videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/kaiamadelinesmommy

I love her so much :)

2009-06-17T21:56:00.002-05:00

My Mom Rules

2009-06-15T15:13:00.002-05:00

We've posted about her gift-giving before... well, she hit it this time! She got me a Kodak HD Pocket Video Camera. I've already taken 8 videos of Kaia. Expect them to be uploaded to YouTube and the link will be readily available for you peoples so you can experience the wonder that is our child. :) I cannot wait!

bibs in a bucket

2009-06-04T20:51:00.002-05:00

One of her other new hobbies is to gather up a bunch of her bibs and place them in a bucket, then dump them out onto the floor and start over. I think she thinks she is doing the laundry. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. i will try to get it on film.

Deep

2009-06-02T10:45:00.001-05:00

When I was at target yesterday, I was noticing the (most-likely) stay-at-home-moms that were there and I think it was the beginning of my undoing last night. You’re going to think I’m completely insane but you might already so what the hell.

It hit me like a freight train that I’m just like them. Ordinary. I used to feel like I was different and special… in my 30s doing all these great athletic events, going out, acting like I was still young and hot and fun… so yesterday, as I’m staring down these poor women in their workout clothes, it hits me: I’m not so special. I’m really no different than they are.

I stare at a computer all day and do nothing at a job, I go home and try to squeeze in a workout so I can try to lose weight and get my “old” self back, I take care of/play with/fight with Kaia trying to get her to eat/sleep/etc., eat, sit down for maybe half an hour then give up and go to bed. Rinse, repeat. I am only ever going to be “special” to my daughter (and Cory) and that will not last forever. One day, she will realize that I’m only human and just like everyone else. Bored. And boring. And struggling to find importance in anything that I do.

And that was just the beginning of my meltdown. My 8th anniversary meltdown.

Its the little things

2009-05-31T20:26:00.000-05:00

Kaia is sitting in the floor in front of the baby gate taking her goldfish crackers out of the snack bowl and putting them into the silverware basket from the dishwasher. Which she has been carrying around proudly for the past half hour.

:)

I will miss this back yard...

2009-05-31T11:45:00.001-05:00

Kaia Visits the Zoo

2009-05-23T18:14:00.005-05:00

But first... a little exploration of OKC's dining opportunities. The Iguana Cafe is just outside of bricktown, kind of hidden on NW 8th street. Very chic. It's like Mexican meets the Hideaway. Most of the waitstaff was tattooed and pierced.

Instead of beans and rice, you could choose your sides. I got chicken enchiladas with white beans and seasonal fruit. It was delicious (the fruit and beans) and the main entree was just "OK" but I would go back for the atmosphere and to check out another entree. They are a little pricey though.

"Daddy, what am I sitting on??"

There's some kind of cat asleep there in those rocks.

Mommy, it's too hot for this crap. Let's go look at that house instead...

Freaking Amazing.

Aw

2009-05-23T09:39:00.001-05:00

The only thing better than having an ice cold sodie first thing in the morning? Having your daughter wobble across the living room to bring said sodie to you. :)

2009-05-13T18:21:00.000-05:00

Kaia Fell Asleep with Luke

Kaia Squealing

Fun From Lowe's

2009-05-13T17:54:00.005-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to Me

2009-05-10T21:50:00.003-05:00

Big Smiles for Mama

Showin Grandma Jane her pretty dress

I love my daddy

And I love yogurt melts

I look like a goth baby!

Moving is fun, I get to sit in drawers!

Grandpa read--er, sang--Wheels on the Bus to me!

Just for the record

2009-05-07T18:34:00.000-05:00

I love "Man On Fire." I think it's one of my favorite movies, definitely one of my favorite Denzel movies.

A few pictures to get you through the week

2009-05-06T19:36:00.007-05:00

The wee one is sick. :( She stayed home today with Daddy. Had a fever of 102. We're likely taking her to the doc tomorrow. After spending half a day working the flu phone bank at work, I'm all paranoid about H1N1...

Work, Part II

2009-05-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

So the layout of the office is like this: Kaylee and I share a cubicle (4 walls and a door). Across from us is a woman in a closet-office reminiscent of my days at Urban Tulsa. Behind us, through a door, are Matt and Landon. They are across from each other in “normal” cubicles, and behind them, two more people in cubes then the end wall.

Along the end wall is a microwave, a coffee pot and a dorm-sized fridge. I’m sure it’s against fire codes but oh well, all of that sits on top of a filing cabinet.

Around the corner from me & Kaylee, there is a large table where people eat lunch. It’s all open, we can generally hear conversations if they are loud enough. You guys know what cubicle life is like. NOT private.

Anyway, there’s a significant amount of eating that goes on around here. Some healthy, some not so healthy. The woman across from us, in the “closet office” heats and eats cabbage and brussel sprouts quite frequently. Today, someone is having some kind of soup. Either way, they stink a lot like really bad body odor, and it’s almost more than I can take. People, you are sharing my air. If you want to eat something smelly, eat it somewhere else. Ever hear of a pbj? Turkey? Tuna? Salad? Leave yo’ stanky-ass food at home and let me live in peace!

If I ever get pregnant again while I’m employed here, I won’t be able to be anywhere on this floor during lunch.

Work

2009-04-28T21:02:00.002-05:00

So work has been pretty boring. I can't remember how much I've really posted about it. An event here and there, lots and lots of meetings, working on the website... other than that, and a whole lot of reading, I don't have much to report. I hope I can stick it out long enough for things to pick up because you know how I don't do boring very well.

There are lots of perks about being where we are. I get to go to events at the capitol a lot, have one tomorrow in fact, and honestly that's just kind of cool. The neighborhood around the capitol ranges from million dollar homes to shacks, it can really change that much one street over. I've looked at a bunch of beautiful, beautiful homes online in the area. Built in the 20s to 50s and completely restored. Man, I've seen many dream homes.

It's also cool because it's close to downtown. We all went to the arts festival last week and had lunch. A two-hour lunch, in fact. Just wandered around the festival and myriad gardens.

I found out that there ARE NO RAISES in our positions. You either get promoted or you just get longevity pay. This does concern me. But again, remember all my benefits that I get for free... by the time I add back in the cost of insurance somewhere else, I bet I wouldn't make any more in the private sector. But I bet I'd be busier. Oh well. Who knows. My plan here would be 5 years so that I can get my MPH and have them pay for it. I am hoping that the people will make me want to stay.

As for what I'll eventually be doing... lots of technical assistance to places, maybe some overseeing of grants to communities, lots of marketing, lots of travel to conferences and lots of training, both doing it and training others. At this level, there is no "one-on-one" or individual programs like I was doing before. Whether or not I'll like that as much I don't know.

I am rambling. I will stop now. And eat some oreo pudding. :)

All Smiles, All the Time

2009-04-28T20:47:00.001-05:00

Phone Is Dead

2009-04-26T20:46:00.001-05:00

So the screen on my phone is fried, so if you text me, I can't see it unless I'm connected to my computer. And if you call, I can't see the number to know who it is so I may or may not answer.

Your best bet if you need to find me is email.

How did it die? Boobs. My big ol' boobs sweated it to death during the marathon relay this morning.

Sigh

2009-04-25T10:05:00.002-05:00

I wonder how many of my posts over the past 6 years have been titled that?

Cory finally has a weekend off after working in the garage for the past month or so. Of course, he's not completely "off" because he's on full baby duty while I'm in OKC. I signed up to do a marathon relay team with a couple friends and it's Sunday. Tonight will be my first night away from Kaia. I'm curious to see if I'll be ok or if I won't be able to sleep. I am looking forward to a hotel bed though, so I'm hoping sleep will be mine.

Work was fun Friday, we had an event for 4th & 5th graders at UCO. It was awesome, a day spent on campus watching kids play. That and the fact that we left at 1:30 and were done for the day... :)

I took my bike to work last week and rode 12 miles in OKC. It was kind of scary riding somewhere different alone but felt great to get on the bike. Much better than it will feel tomorrow morning at 6 am when I'm supposed to be "running" 6 miles.

How is everyone doing? Not much posting going on these days, other than the Cheneys!

No surgery

2009-04-20T19:20:00.000-05:00

Well, it's kind of gross, but good news. The specialist thinks it's a bloody scab from a ruptured eardrum. So no surgery! I'm just supposed to go back if it starts hurting again (it hasn't bothered me past two days, wouldn't you know??)

Huh?

2009-04-15T21:51:00.001-05:00

Well, I have a cholesteaetoma on my ear. I have an appointment with the ENT on Monday. From what we've read, sounds like I'll have to have surgery. :(

Gross Health Update

2009-04-13T21:18:00.002-05:00

My ear has been hurting for about a month. Chalked it up to ongoing sinus and allergy issues because of this frackin' weather. Today, I couldn't take it anymore. I had Cory drop me off at the walk-in after we shopped for groceries. Not a soul was there, I bet I wasn't there half an hour. Sweet.

Anyway, she looks in my ear and says "have you injured your ear?" No. "did something get in your ear?" Uh, not that I know of.

She says "Well, I don't know what that is but something isn't right." So now I have to go see an ear doc. She says it doesn't look like my membrane is ruptured, whatever that means, but that something looks bloody and crusty. Ew. I told Cory it was probably a tick, done crawled up in mah ear. LOL

So that's the news. My ear hurts. I just took a darvocet. cuz I can.

:P

Easter Dress

2009-04-12T18:33:00.001-05:00

I bought this for Kaia for her first birthday. It finally fits her so we used it for her Easter dress. The weather was so icky I figured long sleeves were in order.

She is growing up so fast. She is starting to look way too much like a little girl and not at all like a baby. :( snif snif

Chips and Queso

2009-04-05T21:46:00.002-05:00

That was dinner tonight. I'll not make that known when I go to work with two dietitians in the morning...

Thanks to Bloyd and Pryor for coming to our house and working their butts off. I know it was a lousy way to spend a weekend, we appreciate it immensely. You will be repaid via copious amounts of fat grams or alcohol or something. You choose.

I have found a gazillion and twelve houses that I love. I'm dying to get this show on the road. I was driving around at lunch on Friday (a rarity... normally I sit at my desk and shovel in my food so I can use my lunch time to workout) and I got really excited about moving and getting to explore Edmond and OKC. It's been almost 10 years since we lived in civilization.

I totally LOVE this house but I'm not sure that the area is so great. It's one of those "up and coming" neighborhoods. I'd have to just go check it out and talk to people who know OKC but the house itself is really cute.

I should totally be in bed right now.

LOL - When Bananas Go Bad

2009-04-04T21:29:00.001-05:00

Sleepy Much?

2009-04-03T09:23:00.002-05:00

Just for fun, I took this quiz this morning.

This is what it told me to do: Seek the advice of a sleep specialist without delay

I don't think I need to see a specialist. I just need a nap!

Tired

2009-03-28T22:16:00.002-05:00

This week was interesting, wasn't it? We did actually get snow, but not as much as I had hoped for. I wanted to be able to take Kaia out and build a snowman tomorrow but I fear it will all be gone. :(

Cory & I spent the day cleaning and somehow no one room is done yet. Ugh. We have our realtor coming by tomorrow to tell us the dos and don'ts for getting our house on the market. I'm hoping she can also give us an idea of what she thinks it might sell for. She's been doing this a long time, I think she could probably give a decent guess. Anyway, we didn't get the garage cleaned out this week like we had planned so... we're behind a week but if the weather is nice this week, maybe we'll get it done and then do the "work" on it this weekend.

I registered for a bike ride Saturday. Just a 10-miler but I thought it might be a good way to kick-start my riding. I've got to get back into it this spring, even if it's just a long ride on the weekend. I miss it. And I really want to be able to do a century with D.

Kaia is getting so smart! She is giving hugs and kisses, blowing kisses, walking, saying bye and waving... it's just amazing to watch her learn. I love it.

Well, need to go check on the laundry. Ugh.

Hope everyone enjoyed their cold weekend. :)

Dead Sexy Shoes

2009-03-21T20:11:00.003-05:00

My sister and I watch What Not to Wear religiously. It has really changed the way we shop for clothes. For the better. I buy fewer t-shirts now and am trying to buy clothes for the size I am instead of wearing clothes that are too big waiting for me to be a size 6 again before I shop. I don't think I'll be a size 6 or 8 again. I'm working at losing weight and I hope I do but I don't think my waist is ever coming back.

Anyway, a combination of the show and my cubemate - who always wears the cutest heels - has got me on a shoe-buying binge. And not my typical comfy shoes, but dead sexy shoes. You guys know me... even when I was a size 6, I didn't dress "sexy" and I sure as hell didn't wear high-heels. I've always been much more practical than that. But now, I'm just going to do it...(uh, the shoe part, not the dressing sexy part). I have to dress up while I'm at work, and I go all out on days I know that I will be going "out" to a meeting. Fridays, if we don't have any meetings, it's jeans day.

It's been fun. The above shoes I bought in orange. OSU day. :D

Kaia Walks :)

2009-03-18T21:02:00.003-05:00

Those Elusive Teef

2009-03-15T15:05:00.003-05:00

I tried to get pictures of Kaia's teefies but she's kind of a closed-mouth kind of smiler. But here are my attempts. You get the idea. :)

Sleepy Babies

2009-03-12T19:32:00.002-05:00

Kaia is sitting in Daddy's lap watching Bedlam OKC style and kicking her feet. She's so sleepy she is doing anything to keep awake. I'm trying to take some "me" time for the first time in a week, even though I feel guilty as hell that I am home but not cleaning, working out or playing with my daughter.

So things are starting to be assigned to me at work. This is going to be as "big" of a job as I thought it was, which is good. And they are being extremely generous with my time right now, which is also good. I left at 4 yesterday after a meeting and left today after spending 4 hours at a water safety event with about, oh, 400 kindergartners. It was like herding cats. And tomorrow, I have a meeting at UCO until 4 so I'm guessing I'll get to leave after that too.

I got paid for the last 3 days of Feb. that I was on payroll. I haven't seen the stub yet, but the direct deposit hit and man, this is going to be nice.

The drive sucks, I'm already sick of it. I found a house I like in Edmond but of course, it doesn't matter much because we haven't done jack crap to get this house ready to sell. I'm of the opinion that we put it on the market and see what happens. Being at work at 7:30 in the morning does not bode well with living an hour away!!

Kaia is really not doing well in her new room at daycare. I don't like the lead teacher much. She isn't eating well there but eats great at home. I think they expect her to already know how to feed herself beyond what we have done with her so she doesn't get much of any food all day. We've talked to daycare about it but so far, I haven't been pleased with anything new being done about it. For the moms out there, how much should she be able to do herself at 13 months? Are we supposed to know when to give her the spoon and let her go at it? Because right now, she's barely getting food in with her hands. I mean, she does, but sometimes she misses and is pretty slow about it.

So, that's really the update. I don't have time for anything. Get home (usually) around 6. Play with Kaia, feed her, get her ready for bed, read stories, spend the next hour trying to get her to actually sleep, then I'm so exhausted I usually fall asleep too. I miss my husband. I miss blogging. I miss sleep. I'm even starting to miss cycling.

I won't, however, missing being broke.

Hi Peeps

2009-03-11T06:07:00.002-05:00

Sorry, no time to blog, maybe this weekend. Just wanted to pop in and say the job is going well, Kaia is doing well and we're all tired of this commute.

:)

Picture Update

2009-02-26T20:54:00.003-06:00

oy

2009-02-25T19:28:00.001-06:00

Worst. Day. Ever.

sigh

:)

2009-02-24T15:06:00.000-06:00

OMG, I got tulips in the mail! Thanks Candice, you're too sweet. Oh, and thanks to you too Mark.

LOL

They are beautiful, i will take pictures

HELP

2009-02-24T11:56:00.001-06:00

OK computer addicts and geeks... how would one accidentally turn the arrow down button into the page down button? Say if you were an infant and you were banging around on keys... how would one turn that option OFF? I believe it's an option because it only does it when I am logged in, not Cory.

Sigh. It's a real pain to read blogs these days.

Google Mania

2009-02-22T17:44:00.003-06:00

Use one of the first 3 answers that appear in the search engine...

1: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search:
Stephanie needs some help. Look at those pants! (I should point out that this was on a post called drunk girls but it WAS NOT THE REAL ME, I swear it!)

2: Type in "[your name] does" in Google search:
Stephanie does blog header. (This one sucked)

3: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search:
Stephanie looks like she belongs on the cover of a magazine. (oooh yeah)

4: Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search:
Stephanie hates Jericho. (I never got into it, but I wouldn't say I hated it) :)

5: Type in "[your name] goes" or "..has gone" in Google search:
Stephanie goes commando. Yeah baby.

6: Type in "[your name] loves" in Google search:
Stephanie loves trampolines.

7: Type in "[your name] eats" in Google search:
Stephanie eats her own diarrhea. (Awesome. Sort of negates the cover of magazine, doesn't it)

8: Type in "[your name] has" in Google search:
Stephanie has crush on pop star Mika. (I looked him up, and I don't think so, google)

9: Type in "[your name] died" in Google Search:
Stephanie died of injuries sustained when she was tortured for hours by a power drill. (Seriously?)

10: Type in "[your name] will" in Google search:
Stephanie will be speaking and signing books as part of the Greater Dandenong Library Lovers program.

Please folks, try this and post what you get. :)

that was fast

2009-02-22T12:13:00.002-06:00

Well folks, the days of laziness and multiple posts are coming to a close. I start the new job on Wednesday. Can you believe how fast that went by? I'm amazed. Kaia will go back to her old daycare but in a different room. Snif. She's officially in the "toddler" room now.

I'm excited about the job but nervous. I hate starting new jobs and I haven't really done it in over 5 years. The "settling in" part is rough. I hope my office space doesn't suck as bad as I suspect it might. We're on the 12th floor of the State Health Department building and it's awful. I think it even has paneling. BUT as long as I get a decent computer I'll be ok. If I get some crusty yellowed desktop well, I'll just have to quit.

I've been giddy looking at houses in Edmond (online) but I have to admit, that part is scarier to me than the job. You guys'll still come visit us, right? I mean, I know it's not like we moved out of state or something but... I dunno. It's just weird. Almost all of our "family" friends are in Tulsa. Snif.

Anyway, lots of emotions right now. I'll try to post some new pics this week of her teeth. :)