Mish Mash

Tim and I have been going to a TON of holiday gatherings over the last week. First it was our neighborhood, which was great. I finally got to meet everyone that Tim met months ago at the Friday night parties. All in all, it seems like a really great group of people in our neighborhood. We got lucky this time, our last neighborhood was just filled with old, non social and rude, creepy people; not to mention no kids for the boys to play with. It is the exact opposite on all accounts now. YEAH for Crocketts Ridge!!

Then we hosted poker night this week, not really a holiday party but it's rare for us to host and Tim loves to host. He's now got a dedicated room, table, tv and a house big enough to accommodate.

Last night was the FS Series party. They are a local event production company that put on most of the races Tim and I compete in. It was really nice to get out and be social. Speaking for myself, I was proud of me for actually talking to people. Granted I stayed in the same corner and they had to come to my table, they were mostly coming to talk to others at my table but hey, I still joined in the conversations. Usually I'm a stick in the mud and only talk to Tim and one or two other people. We actually won a door prize, comp entry into a duathlon in January. We never win things...maybe our luck is changing...first the new neighborhood now a door prize. What is going on here.

As we were at the party last night, I noticed a woman that I had seen at so many races over the last two years, as a spectator for her husband. I thought she had a familiar face, but I couldn't place her. Last night I noticed that she was pregnant, due January 7th, if I remember correctly. Apparently her and her husband read the blog, so hello to you Dan and Natalie and congratulations on your first child. On the way home, Tim enlightened me that we used to play flag football against Natalie, no wonder I had the familiar feeling. Tim said he felt like crap because anyone that knows him from flag football most definitely does not have a good opinion of him. So for anyone that fits that category, I can honestly tell you that my husband is not that man any more.

Last random thought. I just wanted to clarify that Brayden is not trying to potty train himself yet. He's just trying to imitate Ryan. Which I suppose is better than nothing. But realistically he's just playing right now. I hope he's not as hard to potty train as Ryan simply because he can watch Ryan but let's be honest, little boys just don't train that easily. Seriously, we've been working with Ryan for almost a year and we're still having to play up pooping in the toilet because he'd be fine with sitting in his own filth if left up to him to decide. Maybe 4 is a magic age, temper tantrums and pooping go away...maybe???

It's official

As of yesterday, I am signed up for my first IM. I'm going to do the Chesapeake IM in Maryland on September 25th. A few things led to the decision to pick this race: 1) It was "early" in the season and not in November, 2) It's flat and most importantly 3) the coin landed on heads and tails would have gotten me into the Redman IM in Oklahoma. I'm excited and ready.

In other news, this is my second week at home with the boys and it's been great so far. I can't say that it's been full of "fun" yet as it seems that it's taking me a long time to just get general up-keep of the house caught up. Believe it or not, we've haven't unpacked everything from the move back in July. But the most exciting thing...is my first Christmas present. I've already gotten them from my parents. I wanted built in book shelves for around our fireplace to fill the void and viola...what do you think? Unfortunately I didn't take before pictures...but they are awesome!
Other than that, our first few weeks have been crazy. We've made a gingerbread house. See the nice little smiley face Ryan made on the roof?




















We're also seeing how Brayden wants to be just like his big brother...he's already trying to go pee on the potty and he's pulling his pants down and up by himself...he can't quite get them back up. I missed my boys.

Two days left

Until I'm at home with the boys full time. Granted, I will be working 15-20 hours a week, from home. But the boys will not be in day care or staying with dad at all from now on. I'm pretty sure dad is ready to really enjoy his retirement now as he said "I'm just thinking of when I can go fishing." when I told him of my plan to stay at home with the boys. He'll probably still even come and take one of them away every now and then. I'm sure that will be good for everyone involved.

This won't be that much different from before when I was working part-time. The only difference is that now I don't have to go in to the office at all. Back to getting up when Tim leaves in the morning to get a few hours of work in before the fun with the boys starts. I'm excited. I've missed my boys tremendously the past few months.