Jumbled Up IV

Happy Tuesday everyone!  We're way past Quick Takes Friday, so let's do a mid-week "Jumbled Up" post, shall we?

* I do a fair share of running on the treadmill, which is boring, as you may know if you're a runner.  So I bring my laptop down to the basement and watch shows while I'm doing it.  I usually save shows that M would not watch with me for my treadmill times, so that we can watch our favorites together.  But I tend to burn through my own favorites really quickly since I'm usually running for about an hour two to three times a week... that's like 1/3 of a season each week.  So I'm looking for suggestions.  Any ideas of stuff I would like (that M might not)?

I'll give you a few examples:

Last winter as I trained for my half marathon it was The Tudors:

It was meh.  Entertaining enough to watch while running to pass the time but not something I would spend free time on.  I got through the Ann Boleyn stuff (a historical story I really love) and then dropped it.

For a long time I've been watching Parenthood, both on and off the treadmill.

It's gotten to the point where M will no longer watch this with me, so it's been relegated to mostly treadmill viewing.  He calls it the "People Talking Over Each Other Show"... and I do agree that the directors of this show seem to often use the technique of everyone in the cast talking at once to create  sort of a realistic, family-type banter.  And perhaps they overuse that technique just a bit.  And perhaps it is slightly annoying at times... but I think I'm just used to it.  Plus I've been watching since season one so I'm really attached to the characters.  The latest season just ended though, and I don't know when the next one is coming, so that's the end of that.

Right now I'm in the middle of the latest series of Call the Midwife:

M doesn't prefer to watch this with me, I think because there are too many women screaming as they give birth.  He always says, "She's not pushing effectively!"  This is a man who has attended a childbirth class or two (and remembers that screaming is discouraged as it takes away energy from the pushing part of labor, fyi).  My husband is a bit overly picky when it comes to TV shows, I guess.  Bless his heart.

I looooooove this show; the only trouble is I cry every time I see a baby being born.  And there are plenty of other cry-worthy moments in this show, besides just the birth scenes.  I don't know if you've ever tried getting choked up and crying while you're running full speed, but, well... it's slightly suffocating.  (BTW, Parenthood makes me cry fairly regularly as well.)

Sooooooo, long story long... what do you all recommend (maybe something girly but funny and not a sob fest?)

*L is our thoughtful little girl (they all are, but L particularly).  She's a bit of a worrier, actually.  Wonder where she gets that?

She is the one who talks the most about dying, and I can tell she ruminates over it a lot.  She'll ask me things like, "When am I going to die?" or say, "I never want you to die Mama."  It is sometimes a challenge to come up with answers for her.

As an aside, she and N had a funny conversation in the car the other day:

L: I'm only 3 and you're 5, so we've got a long while before we get old and die.

N: Yeah, we're not 1,000 years old yet.

L:  Mama's not too old; she's about 100.

N:  NOOOO, silly.  She's 14.

The other day at the dinner table, L started talking about growing up and leaving home.  I think she was thinking about it because we had visited my alma mater earlier that day for a concert, and I was telling her about how I slept there and lived there and that was the first time I had left home.  She started saying that she never wanted to grow up or move away from home.  Tears welled up in her eyes as she told me she wanted to stay in our house forever and ever.

I thought about her growing up and the day when she'll change her mind about all of that, and she'll be ready to move away from home.

And I realized that I kind of want her to stay around forever, too.

*Seeing L's selfie there makes me think of this story that I actually saw a few months back, but I thought of it again today and I burst out laughing.  Maybe I'm overtired, but picturing that eagle selfie in my mind was just hilarious for some reason.  Mixing the animal world with our social media smartphone obsessed human culture struck me as reeeaaaally funny.

And speaking of funny things around the internet, did you see the Kid Snippets that came out in celebration of Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you)?

I showed it to the girls and we all LOL'd quite a bit.

This one also makes me giggle... you've all seen it, right??



The bunny.  Just... the bunny.

Okay moving on.

* A random shot of girls dancing together.  There is always some sort of dressing up and putting on of tutus and having ballet performances in the kitchen going on around here.

...and I love this froggy dance that C did at dance class the other day:

* We had a sort of shopping spree at Old Navy last weekend.  We had some SuperCash to use up, know what I'm sayin'??  I got myself my first pair of skinny jeans.  That's right; I've been rocking the boot-cuts since the 9th grade.  Mostly (for the last 8 years or so, anyway) because I don't come upon the extra money to buy new things for myself too often.  But I am now hip and cool and all of that.

I also got myself a neon zipper hoodie, and I didn't really realize until after I brought it home that it matches my phone case:

So whenever I take my phone out in public, I now feel a little weird, like people must think I planned the whole thing.  Like I'm some kind of super trendy Apple person, with my skinny jeans.  I just need to dust off the Apple decal that I got with my iPhone and put it on the family minivan, and maybe run with my earbuds on my next run, and I'll be all set.  But you all know that, actually, I'm frumpy inside, so... you can set everybody else straight, mmmmkay?

* I thought you might enjoy this picture that N lovingly drew for C the other day:

Yes, that's a baby, crawling in front of her crib... pooping.

* My peonies are sprouting!!!  (Thanks Missy!!)

I was certain that they were dead, since they are right next to the road and our town threw down TONS of sand and salt during this snowy snowy winter.  But they came back!!  I can't wait to see if they flower this year.  They're just my favorite.

Our neighbor is going to let us borrow his rototiller soon, so moving our seedlings outside to the garden beds should be happening soon!  I'll keep you updated.

YAY SPRING!!!  It was so slow in coming this year, but I think it may finally be here.  There's still a bite of cold in the air most days, but at least we're done with winter coats.

*Another thing that I'm done with soon is teaching my class!  My kids take the AP exam next Monday, so that means I'll be totally done with everything in about two weeks.  It's so close now that I keep thinking about what life will actually be like when I don't have to dash to the computer and squeeze in as much work as possible every time I have a spare moment.  I think I'll either be wringing my hands, not sure what to do with myself, or... well, my bathroom will be clean.  My laundry will be folded.

We're thinking ahead to how we will structure next year and fit everything in, and we may make some tweaks as far as child care so I can do work in more concentrated bursts, and be completely present with my family when I'm not working.  But I am definitely thankful for this job and income and I have enjoyed teaching these bright students this year.  I can say that I have enjoyed the work itself a lot, despite the time adjustment of being a WAHM.

With that, I will close this most random TMI jumbled-up blog post.  Thanks for sticking with me to the end!

(I'm thinking some memoir-type reflective posts will probably be coming once class is over for me.  They are rattling around in my brain and begging to get out before I forget them.  :)  Stay tuned!)