Jolly Me

I am uncharacteristically merry about the upcoming holidays. Easy Ed thinks it's because the stock market has done well this year. But I think it probably has more to do with both kids being in school all day and finally having a job that is challenging and fun (at least for the moment). And just having so many reminders of all my blessings lately....

Here are a few little things that are contributing to my jolly ways this season....

1. Pandora Christmas Radio. I play it through most of the day when I'm working from home. It's always fun to hear a forgotten favorite. Another bonus: Having Christmas music playing in the house all day bugs the hell out of Easy Ed.

2. Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks. Salty and sweet. Very sweet, but yummy. Definitely get a short....there are some serious laws of diminishing returns working in that drink (not to mention calories). When I was about to exit Starbucks after drinking one the other day, I briefly considered busting through the window rather than walking out the door. It just seemed so possible at that very moment in my extreme sugar high.

3. Cinnamon-scented pinecones. Who invented these? I am not a card-carrying Michael's customer, but I was walking by the store entrance the other day when my nose came across a bin and I had to buy a package. And then I came back the next day and bought more to fill the rest of my house up with that yummy scent!

4. iPad. We found a Black Friday deal so the iPad is already in use at the Guzman home. This means our Christmas tree is going to be a bit bare this year, but early projections declare it a winner. I will write another post soon about the iPad and specifically how it is shaping Noe's learning.

5. The Nutcracker Ballet. We have tickets for Christmas Eve. This version of the ballet is supposed to have a lot of American history to give it a DC flavor. I am excited and a little nervous about how the boys will fare. The tickets were not cheap. I already have the boys in training....they listen to the Nutcracker CD every night and we have been reading the Nutcracker storybook that my aunt gifted us several years back. Tonight we went to a practice performance.....a silly Disney revue that the local high school was putting on....and the boys did well. I, however, wished I had brought along the above mentioned iPad ;-(.

6. Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown. I like Jillian because she isn't peppy and kicks my rear end. I also like her because the bottoms of her feet are dirty in her exercise DVDs. It tells me that she is working and not just "showing up." My arms and abs haven't looked better in years. It is a good wintertime indoor exercise alternative for me, since I refuse to get an overpriced (why should I pay big bucks to drive and park and THEN exercise?) club membership, but I don't always get my butt out the door for a run in the extreme cold temperatures (extreme cold = anything below 50 degrees to this Portland girl).

7. $1000 of non-perishable food. I get to give this away to a local organization as part of my church calling. How cool is that?

A Noe First

Getting a good picture of Noe usually involves a lot of clicks and a lot of luck. Yesterday, I was taking pictures of the boys out in our neighborhood before the landscaping crew took away our leaves (look at the background of this photo....literally minutes before the leaves were all gone) and I asked Noe to smile for me. He stopped playing, looked up and willingly gave me a big smile. I love being this kid's mama.

Where We Stand Right Now

I am truly, truly enjoying my job right now. I have everything in my job that Mr. Gladwell told me I needed to be happy: autonomy, complexity, a clear reward for my effort.... I'm just like those rice farmers in China. I also have a really bad sinus infection and would like to drill a hole in my head to release some of the pressure I am feeling right now.

Ed likes his job, but wishes he didn't have to work nights and weekends. He has started jumping rope every night in the basement when he gets home from work at 2am. He says it helps him burn off steam from work and sleep well. I think it's pretty awesome.

Noe's language is much improved from last year, although his pace of progress has slowed in the past month or so. His latest "stim" is crossing his fingers and toes obsessively, which gets in the way of his signs. He even tries to eat his food and pick up things with his fingers crossed. We are getting him an iPad for Christmas because he loves the one his therapist brings. I think it will be great for him to have a computer he can operate on his own, that will help teach him some academic and language skills, and will give him access to all the music he could ever want to listen to!

Asher is definitely an outlier (see Mr. Gladwell link above). I just haven't figured out if it is the kind of outlier who will change the world or the kind that will exist in his own little weird world. When my mom came to visit us last week, he drew her a map of the neighborhood so she wouldn't get lost. He comes home from school and writes story after story and reads book after book and then draws maps and pictures and crafts random things from paper and string and tape and then goes outside and runs and plays soccer and rides his scooter and comes back inside and makes up random songs on the piano and creates graphs to record our favorite toy story character or thomas train.....it NEVER ends until I hold him down on his bed and make him go to sleep at the end of the day. He is the youngest one at his bus stop and he assigned himself to the position of bus stop organizer....calling when the bus arrives, organizing the kids into a line. Can a 5-year old be manic? Perhaps they are slipping the kids coffee....or meth....during kindergarten snack time?

We are nearing our fourth anniversary in our home and we're starting to feel itchy for change. The reality is that we love our little community and our little home and the boys' schools. We would love to live closer to family.....but things are quite good where we stand. I think we are just itchy by nature. Hopefully a little bit of house remodeling and a few good bike rides around the lakes will keep us put for awhile longer.