Unabridged status updates sorted by topic

FREEDOM: This summer is the first since 2008 that Luke and I don't have a child under the age of one in our house, and it is glorious. Gone are the days of following a rigid feeding schedule or cutting an errand short because you didn't prep enough bottles. Events taking place after seven don't automatically require a sitter. You can get by with two diapers per tushie instead of three or four, and bringing along a change of clothes is now an elective instead of non-negotiable.

To celebrate this new phase in our lives, we are planning accordingly. Evening baseball games and family walks (both sponsored by my employer, thankfully). Plans for our first summer vacation (near the lake) with talks of visiting the ocean next year. Longer day trips farther away home, and more often. These "adventures" are definitely not perfect; sometimes the kids are crabby because they're missing their naps/tired of being in the car/eating a late lunch/angry over leaving/take your pick, but we are no longer letting the benefits of a routine automatically trump getting out and about as a family. Races, bridesmaid responsibilities, birthday parties, and an overall lack of funds will keep us at least Indiana-bound most of the season, but fortunately there are plenty of local parks and kid-friendly attractions to keep us appropriately engaged. I even ordered an Ergo over the weekend to support our new on-the-go lifestyle, allowing us to tackle rocky terrain, city streets, and other walking-centric activities stroller-free. Nathan will be a year and a half soon, but he's sitting pretty at around twenty-four pounds, and the carrier holds forty, so I'm hoping we'll get a lot of use out of it even without the addition of more children. (More on that in another post.)

 

Visiting a local creamery over Memorial Day weekend.

LOST FINALE: What to say about the show to end all shows? I doubt I have anything new to add to the conversation, but LOST was introduced to me during one of the most vulnerable times of my life; it tethered me to the adult, pre-motherhood world outside my apartment when my insecurities as a first-time mom left me unmotivated to even drive to the grocery store. It wouldn't be right to let it ride off into the sunset without voicing my thoughts. Because I'm, like, a month behind, I'll keep it brief.

• I thought the ending was strong. I was satisfied with the idea of the castaways needing to come to terms with their life on the island before they could Move On.
• I loved the scenes between Jack and his father, and the fact that it was Jack's love for Christian, not Kate, that finally triggered his island memory. I loved the reunions between Sun and Jin, Sawyer and Juliet, and Claire and Charlie.
• I thought Hurley was a worthy choice for Jack's replacement on the island and liked Ben as Hurley's number two. I bought that Ben's work in purgatory wasn't finished and that he didn't belong with the core group's ascension into the light.
• I didn't like that Sayid was paired with Shannon instead of Nadia or that Michael was confined to the island forever, especially when he acted as he did not out of malice or jealousy (as Ben often did) but to protect his son.
• I hated that the "Walt is special" and "Aaron is a miracle baby and can't be raised by another/an Other" storylines were never resolved. Also, that Desmond's season-two revelation of Claire leaving the island with Aaron never materialized, when all of his other premonitions came true.
• Still curious about Charlotte's connection with the island and the effect it had on her (i.e. death).
• I don't understand what if any effect the time traveling had on the overall plot.
• I appreciate the island being the life source for the entire world but thought the physical reprensentation of it--light in a cave? Really?--was a bit hokey.
• After what I'm calling the "Island Mythology" episode, I had less respect for Jacob and more sympathy for the Man in Black, along with a lot of questions as to why the brothers couldn't hurt each other and why Jacob could leave the island but Smokey couldn't.
• I may be the only viewer on Earth who didn't like the Richard-centric episode. I thought he was kind of a wimp.
• I'm sad that Jack didn't really have a son or that John never actually reunited with Helen. Those ideas made me so, so happy.
• I bawled my eyes out during the last ten minutes of the show and even harder at the appearance of Vincent at Jack's side near the end.
• I'm still torn over the Widmore-versus-Ben dynamic. Am thinking Widmore was actually the more honorable of the two.

...Okay, so not exactly brief. But man, that felt good.

 

My two favorite guys.

RACING UPDATE: Still training for the Rock 'n Roll Chicago Half Marathon, still struggling to find the motivation to train most of the time. I'm wondering if it was too ambitious to tackle another half so soon after my first? It helps that Jenn, the local blog reader who reached out to me during the Mini, lives in a neighboring town and that we are close enough in proximity to meet up for runs during the week. Running is a lot easier with a partner at your side, and it's been so great to find another mom friend in my general area. Plus, Jenn has two young children who are close in age to Kara and Nathan. Win for the mommies, win for the kids.

Anyway, I've got six weeks until race day, and while I'm not following Hal Higdon's intermediate schedule to the letter, it's a good place to start, and I have been more consistent with integrating strength training between runs. After August 1, I'm going to focus more on shorter races and improving my time. Still aiming to increase my pace to that elusive (to me) ten-minute mile.

Enjoying the waterfall view at Lieber State Recreation Area. You better believe this will be blown up to 8x10 size when they're teenagers, for all their friends to see.

MONEY: After years of struggling to implement a successful household budgeting system, I have finally found a way to at least account for our monthly cash flow. Because we live in an age where writing a check is considered an antiquated means for rendering payment, I've always assumed that the key to setting up a budget is the computer, i.e. Excel, i.e. turning on the damn thing every night, tallying the day's expenses, and reviewing what you have left for the rest of the month. However, because my internal hardwiring isn't programmed to handle anything more complex than watching The Daily Show once the kids are in bed, it's difficult to sustain the mental capacity for something as tedious as sorting through mounds of receipts. Plus, the computer is in the loft, and the loft is upstairs, on the same floor as the bedrooms, away from the TV, and it's all just so very inconvenient and time-consuming I want to scream. So I would painstakingly craft a budget, save it to our desktop, gather receipts accordingly, and...let those receipts build up on our desk until another month came and went and we weren't any closer to knowing where we fell on the surplus/deficit spectrum. Not. Smart.

It's going to sound crazy, but the key to my financial sanity? A notepad. This plain, tiny, white, lined notepad with orange flowers that I received as part of a birthday basket back in January whose purpose in life had been previously unknown. Now every couple of days I pull out my receipts, notepad, and calculator to document which days we spent money, where we spent the money, and how much was spent. Elementary, I know, but it's been so helpful to have a complete record of expenses that I can manage IN FRONT OF THE TV. Those big boxes that run the Internet, they are so complicated.

 

Nathan getting up close and personal with one of the zoo's newest arrivals. 

There is more to share, including the rapid development of my children, but my lunch hour is up and really, it is time to have something at the top of my homepage other than a before shot of Nathan, pre-haircut. So here you go.

Shark petting = awesome.

 

At the "Outrun the Sun" race at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park. 
 
 

My big, beautiful girl at "Outrun the Sun."

 

My handsome, delicate flower of a boy at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

 

We hope you're all just swell.

Comments

[Liz]

Holy smokes you guys have been busy! Love all the pictures, especially the waterfall one. So cute!

Oh and I agreed with every single one of your LOST observations, minus the Richard episode. I think it was kind of a wasted episode for the overall plot line but I liked it.

[Jen L.]

I squealed aloud when I saw a new post from you in my reader. Just sayin.

Looks like an action-packed summer for you guys! The kids look great, growing like weeds. Glad you're fitting in so much fun!

LOVE your LOST observations. The one about time travel having nothing to do with anything is my favorite and is very correct. Marcus still won't talk about it. He may need therapy.

[Must Be Motherhood]

1. Horray for freedom!
2. But isn't Richard just the most beautiful man ever? Who cares about the episodes' narrative. Give me eyeliner and a Spanish accent and I turn to jelly.
3. So I've been dumped for some broad named "Jenn" have I? Hmmmmm.

Also, we did find Maisy's clothing after all. I or the little guy shoved them into a random pocket in my bag and we found them a few weeks ago. So no need to worry about your delinquent children. Aside from the smooching, that is.

:P

[Joanne]

I am with you on Lost and I cannot believe how cute those kids are! Our daughters (well, my middle daughter and your first) are the same age and your daughter has approximately 90 times as much hair as mine. It is so pretty and it makes her look like such a big girl! That kissing picture is ridic. Good luck with your training!

[rkmama]

I LOVED the freedom that came when my youngest was over one. Everything from going to the grocery store to going on a vacation went from being a logistical nightmare that wore on my sanity to almost enjoyable (well maybe not the grocery store, but you get what I mean, right:))
We bought our ergo when Keaton was about 16 months when he outgrew the bjorn and I used the crap out of it last summer, so if our boys are anything alike it will have been a good investment. Rowan's even ridden in it a few times and she's 4.5!
Love the pictures- I just can't get over how TALL Kara seems.
I liked the Lost finale as well but I'm worried that if I re-watch the show,I'll be disappointed at the impressive amount of questions they left unanswered; spending the whole time pointing out how they never gave a feasible answer or even a breadcrumb to tie up a major storyline. I think I'll need a little distance before tackling it again.

[Heather]

Ahh yes, freedom. The one biggest reason why I would ever consider not having another child... starting all over at the beginning again.

As for the budget, I say do what works for you. I can tell you every cent I spend but I do NOTHING with that information. At least you are using it to know what you spend and change your spending habits.

[daddyd]

Net money is a +/- . Knowing what the net is a +. Good job on a working method. The easier the better.

[Karyan001]

I love the pic of this kids kissing :) Andrew (my 2 year old) is sporting the double scraped knee too! lol

[Parker_B]

Love your thoughts on LOST! I just about lost it when Vincent lay down by Jack at the end. I guess I kinda knew that there was no way they would wrap up all the loose ends, so I watched the finale with reasonably low expectations.

I agree with you- it was so sweet that Christian was the one to usher Jack to the "other side." Also, Sayid totally should have ended up with Nadia instead of Shannon.