My New Office

So we haven't put together lawn chairs yet, but I hear they should be here by Monday.  In the meantime we've carried box loads of stuff to aquatics, unpacked and organized it all, assembled benches for swim lessons, put together the poolside basketball hoops and done some cleaning.  We still have lots to do but it's looking pretty good.

I am enjoying the first days at work and I could spend many more of them reading manufacturer instruction manuals with this as my backdrop...

Working Woman

On Thursday, for the first time in 8 years I'll be able to say to Bartee as I'm walking out the door... "I'm headed to work, see you later".  I'm excited.  I'm nervous.  I'm anxious.  All kinds of things are going through my head.  Even though it's part time and should really only take up about 20 hours of my week, it's a big change from what we have going on now here at home.

There it is... my official uniform.  If only I had the figure to go with it.  I'll be able to cover up with the uniform black shorts though.  I have been hired on as part of the aquatics team at the brand new Lifetime Fitness that's opening up here in town.  It's exciting to be part of something that's just starting.  There's a lot of buzz about it among the community, and the staff that I met so far have been lots of fun.  This Thursday we are receiving equipment and they need us for "set up" which I can only imagine involves assembling lawn chairs or something fun like that.  Maybe we'll get a chance to go down the slide, too.  :)

Ski Season 2010-2011

Ski season doesn't officially end until April 24th at most of the resorts, but I'm ready to move on to spring.  I've compiled a video of our season highlights...

Sheltering the Kids

Bartee and I commonly have disagreements when it comes to the kids and "pop culture" for lack of a better term.  I am usually a little more liberal with what they can get away with in terms of clothes to wear, books to read or TV shows to watch.  That said, I feel most people would consider me a prude when it comes to these things.  I do shelter them from most of network TV because I find it to be inappropriate.  In the same sense, I enjoy watching TV as a family so there are a few shows that are not off limits in my opinion.  Wipe Out, Undercover Boss, The Amazing Race, Biggest Loser and American Idol to name a few.

On Sunday night we again found ourselves among the company of stray dogs.  Turns out, they belonged to a neighbor who was out of town for the evening.  While they were out enjoying the basketball game, the dogs managed to find their way out of the backyard through a hole in the fence.  One of our furry house guests was a pint-sized Lhasa, if I'm not mistaken.  The kids were enamoured with him, primarily because they are used to our larger-than-life beast of a dog.  So naturally they were fighting over who got to hold him and who held him longer and who held him on the couch vs. the dining room chair.  Yes, there was a lot of love for this dog.  So we decided to take turns on the couch for 10 minutes each while watching TV.  I sent them over to turn on Idol while I finished cleaning up from dinner.

Bartee was flabbergasted that I would send them over to watch it alone because it's one of those shows that he finds borderline appropriate for the kids.  I tried making a case... but inevitably ended up going to the couch to watch alongside them.  It was the results show and so the kids lost interest somewhere in the middle.  And it was about that time that I was hit with the Iggy Pop performance that sparked all the fleeting comments I had read on Facebook days before.

My goodness gracious, I see now why Bartee prefers to censor this show.  Now, don't get me wrong... I love me some Iggy Pop (well, I did back in the 80s) but seriously this performance really doesn't belong on primetime TV.  The fact that he's shirtless is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things that are wrong with this performance.  To name a few of my favorites:  The gesture with the microphone at the beginning, his awkward approach and singing to Jennifer, the constant out of breath singing talking, and the odd positioning of himself on the edge of the stage to engage the crowd.

In case you missed it, you can find the whole thing right here.  You can thank me later.  :)

Soccer Season

Sanjay has been literally begging to play sports... anything really.  It seems that no matter what I ask him, he's game.  Do you want to do tennis?  Sure.  T-Ball?  Yes.  Golf lessons. Yeah.  How about soccer?  Of course Mom.  Rohan and Tarun both play; I want to be on their team.  

So, we did end up signing him up for soccer this spring.  It was pretty late in the registration process so he ended up on the only team with an opening.  It turns out none of his friends play with him on the "Lightning Bolts", but he is enjoying the season anyway.  Sanjay is very social and can make friends anywhere.  This past weekend was his second game and he's a natural.  Here are some action shots of him:

Taking the free throw from the sidelines

They all go after the ball!

Kicking with his coach's support

He's in the back getting effectively blocked by the opposing team.  :(

On "the bench" waiting to get subbed in.

In center field, taking the kick off after the other team just finished scoring a goal.

On The Meaning of Supervision

No one fights a shower like our little girl... for some reason she wants to argue and postpone and bargain when it's shower time.  What should be an almost daily activity has become more of a bi-weekly event because it's such an ordeal and we don't make the time for it like we should.  Some of you might be saying, why not just send her to the shower on her own?  Why must you be involved?  Problem is her hair is mighty long and terribly thick so she has a hard time getting it clean and washing all the conditioner out.  So shower time around here involves either Mommy or Daddy.

Well this weekend she expressed interest in really wanting to do it all by herself.  She knows that she's getting older and more responsible and therefore has been begging for more independence in a lot of things lately.  As is her nature, she also worries and hesitates because there are so many things that she still has to learn.  She is particularly afraid of learning to drive.  She has wondered "How will I know which streets to turn on?", "How do I turn on the headlights?", "What is that symbol on the dashboard with the triangle?" and "Really, you drive with only one foot?".

Back to showering... she was pleading her case to me while getting dressed on Saturday.  About how we really should let her be responsible for taking a shower on her own and so I said that would be fine, but she needed supervision when it came to her hair.  As she kept arguing with me that she could DO IT ALL BY HERSELF, I said with a somewhat strong tone, "Do you know what supervision means?".  Sanjay being within earshot and also being a bit of a know-it-all said "I know what it means.  It means great eyesight."  I guess he has a point.  Priya and I both started cracking up.  That little guy always knows how to lighten the mood even when it's unintentional.

Spring Break Skiing

I took the kids up over spring break for one last day on the slopes this season.  The weather was perfect and we had a blast.  One of our highlights was riding the lift with a guy straight out of the 80s.  Actually, he was much too young to have thoroughly lived through and enjoyed the 80s, but he was in costume and carrying around a classic "boom box" belting out 80s tunes like "99 Luftballoons" and "Take My Breath Away".  He admitted that the 80s wasn't really his decade, but he plays the 80s playlist because everyone knows the lyrics and it makes people smile.  He and his friends were really getting a kick out of all the ski instructors shaking their hips and the many random waves from strangers.

They were from Nebraska and had season passes to all the Vail resorts in Colorado.  I think he said they skied about 50 days this year and it takes them more than 6 hours to get over here.  Now, that's dedication.  It was funny on the lift when his friend was flipping through the playlist, the guy told him "Find something by Journey... that'll really get everyone going".  His friend decided to stop on something else, "Come On Eileen" and the guy says, "hmm... I don't know that one".  Cracked me up... even my kids knew that one.  Of course, they also know the lyrics to "Electric Avenue" and are a little stuck in the 80s themselves, thanks to their Momma.  :)