Lent, Cold, and Interviews

The snow is melting!  Yay! I am so ready for the spring.  I already have a list of ideas of activities I'd like to do this spring - like the zoo, hiking, more running, long walks, playgrounds, nature centers, etc.  I am a bit sick of being cooped up indoors.  However, I really need to learn some fun winter activities if we are eventually going to move north.  Evan loves the snow though.  He is obsessed with his shovel!

Instagram: mapleandmud

This was him on Monday when we got our (last) snowfall.  He was so excited about shoveling the balcony.  And he was constantly saying he wanted to go outside and banging on the front door with his shovel.  Yesterday I took him out for at least 40 minutes and by the time we came back in and took off his jacket and boots, he was ready to go out again. 

How do you like that new hat?  I got it at RUUM for $2.99.  Yeah, what a deal!  They were having a sale and all hats and mittens were only $2.99.  We got him those red mittens too, but he thought it was too hard to grip the shovel so kept taking them off.  Maybe that is why we only have mismatched mittens these days!

Yesterday was the start of Lent.  I had high hopes of making it to church but the service was at 7:30pm and that is just a little too late for Evan.  He's a handful at church in the morning when well-rested...the last thing I wanted was to bring him at the end of the day right around his bedtime.  

Here are the things I've decided to give up for the next 40 days:

1) Meat : this is a big one but I decided that I wanted to give up something big and serious this year.  Something that would make me think more and reflect more.  So, meat it is.  I was a vegetarian for eight years, so it's not like it's impossible...it will just be difficult with Ivan being such a huge meat-eater.

2) My iPad in the evenings: I feel like I've gotten addicted to playing with my iPad in the evenings when I get home and I used to never do that.  So, I am going to try and cut back and not look at it after I get home.  The only exception is to watch movies/TV after Evan goes to bed (after he falls asleep with me in the rocking chair I like to hold him for a bit more while I watch a bit of TV or part of a movie.  Once I leave the room I have a ton of stuff to do so there is no time.  However, there is a bit of peace and calmness that remains right after Evan falls asleep.  Also, the other exception is using my iPad for recipes (I just can't also check my email and Facebook).

3) Useless internet searching: Yup, every time I turn my computer on I feel like I need to click on all the current trends so I know what is going on in the world.  It's like a black hole and it is tough pulling myself out of it.  No more.  My time is too precious to waste reading pointless articles...even if it is fun.

And every Lenten season I also like to focus a little on giving more, rather than just giving up.  So this year here are the areas I am giving more:

1) I would like to spend more time with my nun friend.  

My nun friend is the one in red - this was her 80th birthday (like 5 years ago)

She is getting sicker and I am afraid she will not be around much longer and I really want to spend as much time with her as possible.  Plus, she doesn't get a lot of visitors and I hate to think of her passing the days alone.

2) Give more of myself to the church.  I would like to get a little more involved.  The church is really big and sometimes I find it overwhelming, but I would like to meet at least a few people and attend at least some activities.  Or at least make it to mass!

Ok, those are my Lenten promises.

And lastly, I got some exciting news the other day.  I was invited for an interview at Hopkins!  They sent me an email saying my application had passed the first round of review and the next step was an interview.  I know it is still far from an acceptance letter and even further from a scholarship of any sorts -but it's a step in the right direction.  The interview is tomorrow!!  Yikes!  I thought it wouldn't be until next week, but they wanted to schedule them as quickly as possible.  I hope I am ready for an interview...the last time I interviewed was for my current job about 6.5 years ago!  I am usually the one interviewing!  I'll need all of the luck and prayers I can get, so feel free to wish me tons of luck or say a prayer or two for me. :-)

And because no post is ever complete with out an adorable photo of my son - here he is in all his bed head glory!

It's possible his hair looks like that because he hasn't been sleeping well and every night he tosses and turns to no end.  Keeping the both of us up all night long.  It has been really fun....

There's Sleeping and then there's no sleeping

Going through my photos I think I forgot to tell you about Valentine's Day.  Don't get too excited because we didn't do anything too amazing, but I did do a little something fun.  I made pink pancakes!  I was trying to make Valentine's a little special so we could start a few traditions around holidays, but I couldn't get as organized as I wanted.  Maybe next year.  However, I did see a recipe for beet pancakes that turned the batter pink and I thought that sounded fun.

I think I needed to put more beets in there because it was only slightly pink, but it was still fun.  They turned out just fine and you couldn't even taste the beet flavor at all (good thing because I HATE beets with a passion).

This was our meal.  We are completely out of maple syrup (hint hint mom) and so all we had left was that tiny drop.  I can tell you that Evan ate about three bites and was done, of course.  He ate well for like three days a few weeks ago and then went back to his normal pattern of not eating.  I am hoping it's just because his molars are coming in.  I also bought Ivan new slippers and a back scratcher.  We don't normally do presents for each other but since we didn't do Christmas I thought I would surprise him with those two fun gifts.

I made Evan Valentine's cards to pass out but something got in our delivery way...

and

All the snow we got made it impossible to get out and deliver them so now I have to mail them and I have no stamps.  So they will all be very late (except the ones I made for my coworkers because I handed them out on Tuesday).

On a different note, look what we did to our bed.

Can you tell it's on the floor??  Yup, we now sleep on the floor.  Ever since we moved to the new place Evan has been sleeping in our bed full-time, rather than just half the night.  He takes naps in our bed and sleeps all night with us.  However, we aren't always in the bed and hubs is terrified that Evan will fall out of the bed one day.  We were going to get rails but since he's older he can just climb over the rails and get even more injured (if he wakes up and wants to get out of bed).  So, we just decided to put the mattresses on the floor.  That way if he falls out, it's nothing worry about.

I know co-sleeping is one of those topics that people are either for or against, but I love it.  At first I was determined to have Evan sleep in his crib but I think that was more because I felt like it was the "right" thing to do.  However, when I went back to work the pediatrician suggested I try having Evan sleep with me so that I could nurse easily and get some sleep.  It worked like a charm!!  I hardly noticed him waking up to nurse and I was finally well-rested.  Plus, after being at work all day I loved the extra cuddles at night.  And I love waking up to his smiling face in the morning (on the weekends, he is not smiling when I wake him up during the week to go to daycare).  

Now that he's gotten older he spreads out a bit more, but most of the time he actually just cuddles up right next to me.  And sometimes his puts his arm around my neck and his face right next to mine so that we are sleeping cheek to cheek.  It is so sweet and melts my heart every time.  And now we rarely have sleep problems.  Although Evan is teething now and wakes up a few times screaming bloody murder, I am right there to calm him down and help him fall asleep again.  It makes nighttime so much more relaxed.

No, he will not be sleeping with us forever.  Eventually we will buy him a bed and he'll sleep in his room, but I am not really concerned about it right now.  People like to tell me he'll be sleeping in my bed forever, but really he won't.  I highly doubt a 14 year old will want to sleep with his parents!  When he is ready he'll transition to his bed.  My husband shared his bed his entire life!  In Honduras people tend to only have one or two beds in the family and everyone shares with everyone.  So, he doeosn't think it's weird for Evan to sleeps with us...he actually thinks it's weird for him to sleep alone.

And look how happy Evan looks!

So content with his little bum up in the air!

Goodbye Dolce

It's been a crazy last few days with lots of snow, no daycare, grant writing deadlines, and sad days.  Today is my first day going to the office since Tuesday...an entire week.  I had a grant deadline on Friday so I had to work but Evan was sick and then we got over a foot of snow (which is a big deal here), and then I realized Evan also had two molars coming in and was extra clingy and refused to play on his own.  It was a bit of a stressful time.  I did most of my grant writing from 8pm-2:30am when he was asleep.  Ivan was plowing all night so after two nights of no sleep he wasn't really awake enough to watch the kiddo.  So midnight grant writing was the only way to go.  It gave me a small idea of what nursing school will probably be like.

Evan cuddling with Dolce

But the sad news is that we gave my beloved Dolce away.  I still can't fully believe that he doesn't live with us anymore.  It just wasn't working out.  The hubs was always frustrated with him because he was constantly vying for attention and knocking Evan over (not meanly at all, just because he is so big) and constantly wanting attention.  So I felt like poor Dolce was getting yelled at all day, every day.  Then hubs would put him in the bedroom so that Evan would stop climbing on him and hitting him with golf clubs, but being shut in a bedroom for hours while the rest of the family played together wasn't fun either.  I came home from work one day last week and just felt that there was so much negative energy focused on Dolce and I hated the idea of Evan growing up in that type of situation and learning to yell at dogs and just being around that negativity.

So, I called the Samoyed Rescue people and they sent a family out to adopt him.  It all happened so fast that I barely got to say goodbye.  Maybe it was better that way because  I would have cried like a baby (and I did, after he left and every night since).  I do think he's probably happier with the new family.  They had three kids around 10-12ish and they had another Samoyed that was 13 years old.  Plus, they had a house with a yard and lots of toys (dog toys, not baby toys).  I think he'll love playing with the kids and I just hope they take good care of him.

Dolce playing in his new home

I miss him lots and I'm sad Evan won't get to grow up with him.  Maybe in the future we'll get another dog...when we live in a house instead of a tiny apartment and when Evan is older.  I will miss walking him and playing with him and driving to Vermont with him.  But he seems happy in his new home and that is what's important.  I wanted to keep him no matter what but then felt maybe that wasn't fair...that maybe we weren't a good family for him anymore.

So sad though.  I hate making hard decisions like this - where what I want isn't what is best.  And hopefully he knows that we gave him away because we loved him so much, not because we didn't want him.  

Snow Day, Running, and TEAS!!!

I haven't blogged for a while because I haven't gone into work for a while.  I'm not complaining though!  Yesterday was a holiday and today we have a snow day.  Yay for random snow storms!  Ok, I'm not that excited about the snow storm because it seems like it will be cold the rest of the week and that means it won't melt for a while so we'll be left with icy roads and a wet dog (after every walk).  However, it was nice to stay home today and play with Evan.  He has decided he LOVES this pig that my mom made him and when he spots it on the floor he picks it up, gives it a big hug and kiss, and makes some cute cuddly noises.  It's the cutest thing ever.

Please excuse the messy apartment - we have no place to put the stroller except the middle of the living room.
And most photos with Evan turn out blurry because he won't stay still for two seconds.

This past weekend was good and bad.  I had my TEAS exam (nursing school entrance exam) for University of Maryland scheduled on Saturday...or so I thought.  In my head I had scheduled it for 18 January at 7am.  I had to be there 30 minutes early so I arrived bright and early at 6:20am.  And then I waited for someone to show up, and no one ever did.  I got out my confirmation sheet to see if there was a phone number and there wasn't.  So, as I was debating what to do, I looked closely at my confirmation sheet to realize that I had scheduled the exam for 18 December 2013.  WHAT???!!!!  Why would I do that???  It was clearly a mistake because I never would have scheduled it for December when December was full of moving, finals, work, and our trip to Vermont...so I had obviously messed up.  And it was a pricey mess-up because it costs $115 to take the test and there are no refunds.  So I went home and paid the fee again and signed up for the test on Monday (luckily there were a few spots left so I could still take the exam before the 3 Feb. deadline).

Uggg - that mistake did not make my weekend a happy one.

On the other hand I was able to make it to my friend's son's 5th bday party and that was a good time.  It started at 10am and I stayed until 3pm!!  I know, maybe I overstayed my welcome.  I don't see my friend very often and since I was out there I felt like we should spend some time catching up, so I wanted to make the most out of the visit.

On Sunday I did the amazing - I got up early and met the Team In Training group for a training run.  I hadn't met up with them for a long time - since I was a mentor back in 2012.  I love TNT though and missed running with a group.  I ended up doing 7 miles, which is pretty amazing to me since I had only run four times since October.  I wasn't sure how 7 would feel but since it was only 21 degrees out, my legs were numb by mile four and I couldn't feel how tired they were.  Plus, I was running with one of my friends and she was doing a run/walk (run four minutes, walk one minute) so it made it slightly easier.  She tried to convince me to run 14 miles with her but I declined.  I may have been persuaded but we were planning on hitting up the aquarium again so I needed to get home.  I promised I would do a longer run with her next week.  I think.  If I don't wimp out.

We did end up going to the aquarium again.  We love that place and I'm so glad I decided to buy an annual membership.  It is so fun!  This time we toured the Australian exhibit, which was really fun.  We also saw the jellyfish exhibit (amazing) and watched the dolphins during a training session.

Isn't that beautiful!!!

That's Evan in front of the Moon Jellyfish - they glow in the dark.

We ended up staying for about two hours, but it was plenty of time.  And I don't really worry about it because entrance is free with the membership so I don't feel pressured to stay all day (which I would if we had paid $30 a person to get in).

After the aquarium I headed to the grocery story.  I love grocery shopping.  I think it stems from my days when I was in college and I'd meet my mom on Thursday mornings and we'd go grocery shopping together.  I just think it's super fun.  Well, up until I have to pay the bill.  I am trying so hard to keep our bill below $100 but it still creeps up to more than that.  On Sunday my bill was $119.43, so pretty much $19.43 over budget.  As I get to the self-checkout (does your grocery store have a self checkout?  I love it), I see that the person who had gone before me had gotten $20 cash back but hadn't taken the money.  There was a $20 bill hanging out of the machine.  The person was long gone and I was unsure what I should do with the money.  I thought it was ironic that I had found $20 and my bill was almost exactly $20 over budget...so I was tempted to keep it.  However, I just couldn't do it and it felt too much like stealing so after I paid my bill I went to customer service and turned it in.  They said they could reprint the receipt for the person before me and if they had used their bonus card they could call them up and tell them they had it.  I really hope it works because I'd be really bummed if I forgot to get my $20.  I'm really hoping that turning that money in (when most people probably wouldn't have) turned my karma around and some good energy will flow my way.

On Monday I headed out to take the TEAS test again.  It was so stressful trying to reschedule because the only other options were on days that I was working.  I thought that Monday, being a holiday, would be a good day for me to retake the test but it is SO hard to find someone to watch Evan.  Since it was a holiday, my sister closes the day care.  She said she could watch him for a few hours but I could tell that she didn't really want to...so it made me feel bad.  Ivan had to work and could take a sick day, but I hate using his sick days unless we really need them because he has so few.  My golf friend said she could watch him but she had a meeting in the middle and wasn't sure if her daughter was going to be around to watch him for that hour.  Ahhh!  In the end my golf friend watched him and her daughter watched him while she went to a meeting and then I picked him up after my test.  So, it worked out...but it was so stressful beforehand.  I'm not sure how I scored on the test - I ran out of time on the math section (boo) and the science section was a bit hard...but we'll see.  Hopefully I didn't do too horribly.

And that brings us to today.  Snow day.  I surprised myself by getting up and going for a run this morning before the snow started.  Or that was the plan anyway.  By the time I got all my running clothes on and sneaked (did you know "sneaked" is the past tense of "sneak" and "snuck" isn't a word...I just had to look it up and I still can't believe "snuck" isn't a word, I've been using it for years) out of the house while Evan wasn't watching (Ivan didn't have to go to work until 11am), it had already started snowing.  So I did four miles in the snow.  My legs were tired from Sunday though so it felt a bit like work.  I'm sure they are protesting running so much after such a long break.  Hopefully they will adjust though and I won't end up injured or with shin splints.  It was chilly and wet, but a nice peaceful run.

Please excuse the unmade bed, it eventually got made.

By the time I got home the sidewalks were covered in snow and some of the roads were turning white too.  They forecasted 5-10 inches today and another 1-3 at night but I'm not sure I fully believe that.  Although it is snowing a lot today, so we'll see.

The view from our deck/balcony/whatever it's called.

Luckily tomorrow is a telework day for me, so I don't have to stress about going in to the office.

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Is it snowing where you live?

Would you have kept the $20 or turned it in?

Those feelings

The good news is we are about to sign a lease on a new place.  I am very thankful that we found a place to live that wasn't too expensive and that allowed dogs.  It's a bit nerve-wracking renting from someone I don't know and the lease always seems so complicated and binding.  And we somehow have to come up with $2000 for the security deposit, which normally wouldn't be the end of the world because we could save for a few months...but on top of the holidays and extra expenses like $300 electricity bills and $200 payments for my Chemistry class, extra money is few and far between.  It's gonna be a really sparse holiday season.  And a really un-festive one too.  Who wants to decorate when we are going to move and who wants to decorate after we move when the new place looks like a disaster?  And we'll probably not do our 12 Dates of Christmas because we won't have any extra money or time, since we'll be either packing or unpacking.  Usually I am overly excited about the holiday but this year I just can't wait for it to be January.

And on top of that, I have one of those feelings.  You know that pit in your stomach that tells you something bad is going to happen or that you are making a very bad decision? Have you ever had that feeling?  The problem is I don't know what's going to happen or what decision is a bad one.  Is it the apartment?  School? Nursing applications? Work? Evan/Ivan/family? Running?  I have no inclination as to what it might be but I am walking around with a whole in my stomach and I don't really want to be around when thr truth comes to light.  Of course I will be because it's my life, but you know what I mean.

Ok, enough feeling sorry for myself.  

We are supposed to get a ton of snow these next couple of days.  I'm not sure it's actually gonna happen but maybe it will.  If it does I hope I'm at home and not stuck in DC.  A snowy Thanksgiving sounds nice as long as I can pick my turkey up from the farm.  Did I mention I ordered my turkey from a farm?  Yup.  It'll be fresh and organic and free range and all that.  I hope it also tastes good!  

And I did not get a run in yesterday and I won't get one in today either.  I just have too much stuff to get done before the four day weekend that I can't find the time.  Yesterday I didn't even eat lunch until 2pm and then when I looked up again it was 4:30 and I had to run out the door to catch the bus.  It's nice when work flies by but it also usually means that it's been a crazy, exhausting day.  And it was!

I don't really have anything else to say and I don't have any pictures to share with you except that my friend found this fruit and gave it me to.  It's a zapote, a fruit that was common in Honduras.  I've never found it in the US so hubs and I were excited to eat it.  I did look up the nutritional value and found it is about 300 calories!  Yikes, no wonder it is so creamy and delicious!

Hope you are having a great week so far!

It’s a Bit Chilly mixed in with randomness

This morning I woke up and it was SNOWING.  Yay!!  It was the perfect amount – enough to make everything white and sparkling, but not enough to make me stress about getting to work.  Here is a picture from my office.

Ok, that is a view from my office building, not my office. 

This is the view from my office…at least I have a window, right?  Maybe?  Who wants to stare at a brick wall.  And actually, I never have the blinds open because I am terrified that I will one day forget to close them while I’m pumping and the people in that office across the alley will be able to see me.  How humiliating would that be????

But back to the snow.  I only like a ton of snow on the weekends, on vacation, or if it’s going to be enough to close the government.  That only happened during Snowpalooza 2010.  It was awesome – the government closed for almost two weeks and since we follow the government, we closed for almost two weeks.

This small amount of snow didn’t close the government.  Or my office.  So off to work I went.  It has been freezing though.  I know you people who live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or Montana or Alaska are probably giving me mean looks when I say it’s been freezing, but here in Maryland a temperature of 13 degrees is freezing (and scientifically speaking it’s freezing too).  The other day the wind chill was –6.  That’s cold.

I had to bundle myself up (and take the token photo in my office bathroom) and even where a hat.  It has to be really cold for me to wear a hat.

It was also too cold for me to go running.  I don’t have running clothes for –6 degrees.  I don’t even know what those running clothes would be.  How would you prevent frostbite on your nose?  No clue.

In this cold weather, I have learned a few things.

1. My work shoes are not meant for cold weather.  My toes freeze waiting for the bus.  No wonder people have boots.
2. My work pants are really thin and the cold air seeps right through them turning my legs bright red.
3. I am super happy that I got a real winter coat last year for Christmas.  It is Under Armour (my favorite) and it keeps me really warm.
4. Those duraflame logs may look pretty but they don’t provide any heat whatsoever.

That’s all I’ve learned.

Hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are!!!

 

Do you like cold weather or warm weather?

Do you have a fireplace?  Real wood or duraflames?