Birch Aquarium

last wednesday we took the day off from school and went to the Birch Aquarium at La Jolla. it was in the 80's at the coast and quite a beautiful day. here are some of the things we saw:

A sea cucumber:

an enormous lobster (11+ pounds):

hermit crabs that tickled:

seahorses:

sea stars:

abalone:

lots of jellies:

some weird fish:

we also stayed to play in the water tables. we raced boats over and over again!

then we watched the sunset and went home!

it was a fun filled day and a great break from our daily routine.

winter in SoCal

so it's been in the 80's for the last week. all of the windows are thrown wide open. the kids are barefoot outside and in shorts. life is peaceful and good at the moment.

i hear so many stories of harsh weather, unfathomable cold (-58*F??? how do people survive?), and flooding and the likes. i tell you, i'm perfectly content to keep my weather, thank you very much. i'm thinking of having the garden tilled so i can start my garden. my roses are in bloom. i have a vase of wildflowers on my table. i have a tan. life is good.

the only (very minor) down side is that my cast stinks. it always stinks these days. i'm very ready to be able to shower without a plastic bag on my arm. some day...

15 weeks down, 5 more to go.

I'll get to it eventually...

it's not easy keeping up with all that i'd like to keep up with. for instance, i really wanted to take Christmas pictures of the kids. i did that this week, after Epiphany...well, at least it's done! the laundry needs to be folded, i need to do some more school with the kids, i should tidy the house before my parents arrive. or, none of the above. it's 80 out right now. we're having my favorite january weather of all. bright, clear blue skies, sunny and delightfully warm. it's time to trim my (blooming) roses and turn over the garden. time to enjoy the windows being wide open and the warm breeze ruffling the papers on my desk. time to relax and be thankful for the many blessings in my life.

this past week, i also saw my surgeon for a checkup. after 14 weeks, he finally said the words i wondered if i would ever hear...you're healing. the second surgery and my good behavior (who knew doing nothing would be so hard?) have done the trick and i am finally on the road to recovery. i have another 6 weeks in the cast, then hopefully i will be allowed a removable splint. i get dreamy when i think of being able to take a shower sans bag over cast, or swimming or simply the opportunity to soak in the hottub. life is good, just different from normal!

a little update

i would be remiss if i didn't at least make note of the last few weeks. i had a second surgery on my wrist the day before having 19 people at our house for thanksgiving dinner. thankfully, we were picking up that dinner and not making by hand from scratch! i slept most of thanksgiving day.

having a second surgery was a road i didn't wish to travel, but one that was necessary since the first screw was stripped and ineffective. the second surgery also restarted my 3-6 months in a cast timer. i hope to be out of this cast sometime between late february and late may. funny thing is, this time around i rarely feel the cast. it's become very much a part of my body, barely registering sensation as i go about my day. this time around was much more intense pain the first two weeks as i adjusted to the much larger screw. however, i minded my surgeon and have used my hand little, if at all. for the first time in months, i have hope that it may someday heal.

one other item of note. little dude is also in a cast owing to his big brother's loving shove and the resultant dislocated ulna. we're quite the pair, and i've taken to telling people that i've learned not to arm wrestle my 3 year old...no one wins!

go ahead, try it.

try to open a ziploc bag with one hand. try to dry off your back after a shower with one hand. try to wash your face at the end of a day with one hand. just for the sake of giggles, try to pull on your pants with one hand tomorrow. then try to button those jeans with one hand. now tie your shoes with one hand.

how about your hair? i use mousse in mine. try to dispense mousse into the same hand you're using to dispense the product. now try to put on deodorant. try to put toothpaste on your toothbrush while it lays unsupported on the counter top. or try to open a child proof medicine bottle with one hand.

next time you do laundry, try to fold it using one hand. let me know if you figure out how to fold socks or sheets. then try to strip a bed and remake it with only one hand.

i'm not complaining, i'm only suggesting that my life is significantly changed. i had no idea how vitally important having two functioning hands was until i temporarily lost the use of one. also, please excuse my lack of caps as i struggle to tap out a post with one hand. it's not as easy as it looks!

broken

in case you're wondering, i'm broken and typing is a challenge. i broke my wrist 3 october, had surgery 9 october, took a whole lot of percoset and am on my third bottle of vicodine. fun times! still managing to keep up (catch up) with school for the kids, but the house and anything computer related is woefully neglected. maybe i'll try to catch up in 2-5 months when i get my cast off.

next time honey, don't kick me so hard! oh, and i promise not to block like that again. :o)

Is it really September?

Funny how time has a way of speeding away from us. Here it is, nearly the middle of September, and I have no idea where the summer went, or the first three weeks of school. My, how time flies!

We've been busy, but a very good kind of busy. All three kids are really enjoying piano lessons, and of course, Little Dude would like to start now, too. They're all doing soccer (well, Little Dude just plays with the mama), all doing karate (um, again, Little Dude has his own way of doing this, although he's working on charming Sensei Martha into letting him start early), and of course, all doing school. Even Little Dude is beginning to read with his older brother. Who says 3 is too young to start Kindergarten???

Last week, we dealt with an Africanized bee hive in our tree. I'm not as loving as I once was toward bees. It certainly doesn't help that Little Miss is sensitive to bee venom (and has an epi-pen), and those weren't your run-of-the-mill European honey bees. I still twitch when anything flies by, including flies.

Our latest adventure was to go to the AIAA Space Conference & Exposition here in San Diego. Education Alley was a blast, and we certainly will look forward to whenever this conference returns. It was fun and quite educational!

Never a dull moment around this house, but maybe I can manage to update a bit more often. It's all about routine!