So, I just realized that I never did link some of the super cute, recent pictures of Andros sled riding and playing outside and just generally being super duper incrediably cute š So, here you are!
Ā Andros & I on the 17th of January, 2008. Aren’t we cute??
AndrosĀ onĀ hisĀ rockingĀ horseĀ onĀ theĀ 18th
Andros & me
AndrosĀ &Ā KevinĀ sledĀ ridingĀ atĀ AtwoodĀ LakeĀ ResortĀ onĀ theĀ 27th
So I just ordered How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. I’ve been trying to learn to cook more vegetarian recipes and thereby eat less meat. So far though, I’ve been pretty much stuck on about 4 recipes – spaghetti squash, black beans & rice,vegetarian stir fry,tostadas… So, after seeing this at borders yesterday I came home and read lots of reviews on amazon. Most of the complaints seem to be along the lines of ‘hes not a vegetarian and talks about meat’ – but since we aren’t either, it doesn’t really worry me. In anycase I’m excited to get it and start cooking 2 or 3 or 4 meals a week vegetarian, and saving meat/fish for the weekends and special occasions. I’ll post about how I like it when it comes!
Tae Kwon Do class last night was very good. We did the usual stuff and then take downs and how to get OUT of take downs at the end of class… and then left the mats down so that we could actually practice our fighting steps after class. I’m feeling slightly better than I had been about testing on the 9th, though its still more than just a bit nerve wracking. I’m excited to go again tonight though, and practice some more. Its just very hard to do so here at home what with Andros running around, and the simple lack of space…
We went up to Canton yesterday, so we stopped and got Grandpa a longer printer cable, which made him very happy. Now he can actually pull it all the way out and not have it get caught or anything. We also found out that my Aunt Carol was in the hospital and got her appendix removed! Which got us wondering how you get appendicitis anyways. I mean, is it like a virus/disease or does your appendix just randomly quit working properly?? Maybe I’ll look it up and figure that out sometime…
So, today I went in to New Philadelphia, just me and Andros, for the first time in a while. It was pretty nice to get out of the house (even if it was just grocery shopping, mostly!), and away from everything just the two of us.
The first thing we did was stop by the Verizon store to see what is up with my phone. The guy there was super nice. He updated the phone somehow (thought I did that before, but apparently not…), so we’ll see if it works better now. If not, he said to just come back in and they’d get me a new phone. So, we’ll see. Hopefully it works now.. I’ll just have to see.
Afterwords, we went to the grocery store and went shopping. Andros did wonderful, just riding around in the cart smiling and looking at everything. Its so cool watching him notice different things and be OK with things for the first time. Its so cool that he’s really starting to “play” with some of his toys – especially his cars/trucks/etc pushing them around, and even making little sound effects!
I also dropped off our application for Financial Assistance to the YMCA. So, hopefully they’ll give us a call here soon and set up an appointment. I really hope we get a discounted membership. I’d love, love, love to be able to go in and swim once or twice a week. Swimming just makes me feel soo good, makes me so happy.
So, today I went in to New Philadelphia, just me and Andros, for the first time in a while. It was pretty nice to get out of the house (even if it was just grocery shopping, mostly!), and away from everything just the two of us.
The first thing we did was stop by the Verizon store to see what is up with my phone. The guy there was super nice. He updated the phone somehow (thought I did that before, but apparently notā¦), so weāll see if it works better now. If not, he said to just come back in and theyād get me a new phone. So, weāll see. Hopefully it works now.. Iāll just have to see.
Afterwords, we went to the grocery store and went shopping. Andros did wonderful, just riding around in the cart smiling and looking at everything. Its so cool watching him notice different things and be OK with things for the first time. Its so cool that heās really starting to āplayā with some of his toys – especially his cars/trucks/etc pushing them around, and even making little sound effects!
I also dropped off our application for Financial Assistance to the YMCA. So, hopefully theyāll give us a call here soon and set up an appointment. I really hope we get a discounted membership. Iād love, love, love to be able to go in and swim once or twice a week. Swimming just makes me feel soo good, makes me so happy.
So, today we went sled riding over at Atwood Lodge’s golf course. It was a lot of fun, and really the first time that Andros went sledding. We’d gone outside last week and played outside and done a tinsy bit of sledding, but nothing like today. It was a lot of fun, and I really think he had a good time. We got a couple good pictures… I’ll try and get them up tonight or tommorrow.
We saw Stardust the other day – Kevin got it through Netflix. And it was amazing! Such a good movie – definetly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Why don’t they make more movies like that? Just good, interesting, fantasy. Some special effects but not the entire freaking movie! Such a great film. We also saw Sunshine, which was also really good. Almost made me cry a couple times, but, again, great movie. Those are definetly two of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.
Hopefully tommorrow Kevin will hear about an interview (or two?) for a job at McDonalds or Dairy Queen for a couple months. Just something to hold him over till his job starts back up at Atwood Lake Park in March. I know it’d make him feel super good just to be working again, and so will I. It’ll be nice to have a little bit of “alone” time again, though at the same time, I’ll miss having him around!!
So strange, last night after tae kwon do, I was freezing cold. Seriously, the room couldn’t have been more than 55 or 60 degrees, and it was just a slow class, so I was *COLD* by the time it was over. It didnt’ help that it was like 5 degrees outside and in the car… by the time I got home, I was SOOO cold, I layed under two blankets on the couch shivered for like an hour… and then I puked š¦ Had a little fever, just felt horrible… but by 2am I was fine. So weird.
In other news, I think I’m going to apply to Baker College, for their Computer Programming associates degree, so I’ve got one option good and open. Then we’ll see what Oregon State says (should hear from them by the 1st of February), and go from their. I’m still pretty torn…
We went to the Tuscarawas County YMCA today, and got info on how to get a discounted membership. Its a very nice Y – two pools, one standard for doing laps in and then a smaller one thats super warm where they do classes thats nice and shallow. I did 20 laps (down and back), while Kevin & Andros played in the small pool – they had a lot of fun, and Kevin did like 6 laps in the pool. Then we went and worked out in their weight/fitness room which is also super nice. I walked around the track carrying Andros (walked a mile;) and then he fell asleep. Kevin ran a couple miles and did some other random stuff… not really sure what all he did. Overall it was a very nice day. I hope we get a membership one way or another, and end up going at least once or twice a week. It took me a couple laps to get back into the rhythm of swimming, but it was super nice. Almost forgot how much I love to swim!!
So I’m going to call some colleges today and make a decision by this weekend, on what exactly I’m going to do. I’m leaning towards Baker College’s online Computer Programming associates degree right now. Though, I’m also considering Westwood’s Software Engineering associates, and Oregon State University’s Bachelor of Natural Resources. I’ve pulled out my old copy of The C Programming Language and am working my way through the first chapter right now. Its going pretty good, and I’m enjoying it so far, which is a large part of why I’m leaning towards computer programming. We’ll see though..
Andros is so close to walking, its incredible to see. He’ll pull himself up, turn around, balance, and turn around and grab something as he takes a step. Its absolutely amazing. Any day now he’s going to just stand up and start walking around… I actually dreamed that he did so the other night.
I’ve stated trying to exersize more now too. I rowed for 15 minutes-ish today, did 40 cruches and 10 pushups along with some other random exersizes. Hopefully if I really start exersizing every day, I’ll be able to get into shape and loose the last 15lbs ish of pregnancy weight. That’d be awesome, so, we’ll see if I can really stick to it. Plus, it’d be nice to be in decent shape for my black belt test on the 9th…
Today I spent looking for a college where I can get my bachelors degree. The only place that sounds reasonable/practical is Oregon State University. They have an e-campus option, and I should be able to get my degree in Natural Resourcesā¦ Iāve been trying to figure out how many credits I have that would transfer and Iām just not in the least bit sure. Its so hard to try and match up whats what, you know? Plus I might have to take a year of Biology somewhere around here – depending on whether or not they accept classes I took at hocking for that, which its sounding like they arenāt going to do.
My other option I suppose is to just get a bachelorās degree in āgeneral studiesā and then go for a masterās in environmental science or whatever I really want to do. And for that, I think Iād have a lot more optionsā¦ although I think Iād much rather have a degree in *something*ā¦
Andros seems to be back to himself again, finally. He had me pretty worried yesterday, what with pooping 5x in one day – which he hasnāt done in *MONTHS*. It was justā¦ wierd. Heās been sleeping a lot lately, or at least, it certainly seems like it to me. He slept nearly the whole time we were driving both down to and then back up from West Virginia, plus all night long. So, its been kind of a relief that heās back to himself.
So, we turned down The Mountain Institute. Itās a beatiful place, rugged and wild. With the 6+ inches of snow that they had while we were there, it was even more so. However, its also very remote. In a lot of ways thats nice, and very cool. But, its also just a tad bit on the scary side – what if something happend? Its about an hour from the closest ādecent grocery storeā, so how far to real emergency medical care? Its also quite rustic – weād be living in, basicly, a hut. Thats not bad, but itād be a big change. Currently, most of them donāt even have elctricity, let alone a bathroom, kitchen, stove, etc. Weād have to share those things with the rest of the center. Thats not neccarily a bad thing, itād just beā¦ different. In anycase though, we turned it down.
Which, leaves us back at the question of āwhats next?ā After a good bit of discussion our plan for now is to stick around here at my dadās place untill next fall/winter. Kevin will either go back to work for the MWCD or get a factory-type job with a temp agency. Weāll save up as much as we possibly can, and then in the fall/winter Kevin will go down to Hallās Diving Career Institute and take their Professional Diving Instructor courseā¦ and weāll move down to Florida or similar and go from there.
So, thats our plan for now.
Well, we drove down to Spruce Knob Mountain Center on monday – it took right around 5 1/2 hours to get there, and Andros did wonderfully. We got there right around 5pm, and met Dave Martin. He took us up to the dorms and the main yurts, and so we just ate dinner and hung out and then went to bed. Its a beautiful area, and was especially so with the snow.
Its very remote – the closest town being 9 miles away (six miles down 28/10, a forest service road, and then 3 miles up 28), though it doesnāt even have a post office. The next town, 3 miles up the road, Circleville, is where they get their mail. But the closest place with a decent grocery store is Franklin, an hour away, or Elkins 1.5 hours away. In between are several tiny towns, Seneca Rocks, and miles apon mile of national forest.
The mountain center itself though, is pretty cool. Most of the buildings are yurts, including the main one which houses the the kitchen, dining area, library and a ābubbleā at the top from which you can see the night sky. Its also connected (via a short walk way) to the other big yurt which is just one big open room where they can have lectures, classes, whatever. Its pretty cool. From there, there are two dorms, each of which can house aprox 20 people, as well as several small yurts which are usually indivudual residences for field staff and/or visiting ādignitariesā over the summer. Some of them have had wood stoves in them in the past, which is how most everything is heated (except for the bathrooms which do have a gas heater). Theres also a few other buildings, including a geo-dome, several sheds, the main office and another all-season residence.
Overall its a pretty cool setup, very rustic but cool. The only thing that bothers me at all is just how remote it is. Andros wasnāt feeling very good while we were there (and still seems a bit more fussy/upset than usual), and it kind of made me worry about what would happen if he were to get really sick, or hurt or something. Other than thatā¦ its awesome. Iām not sure Iād really want to stay there over the winter, but during the spring/summer/fall? I think itād be very cool.
The drive back took about 2 hours longer than the drive down, due to very, very bad weather. It took over two hours to get to Elkins. When we left they hadll like 6-8ā³ of snow and it was still snowing. So, probably a good thing we left when we did. The roads were horrible till we got to Elkins and then pretty bad through till we got to 79. So, its good to be home again. Very, very good to be home.
We still havenāt decided if we really want to do it or not. I think we probably will tell them weāre interested. But weāll see. Itād be a change thats for sureā¦ one heck of a change!
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