big step for womankind

I read a review of this in this month's Today's Parent.

And I thought "Hey, even I can manage 10 minutes a day. Surely I can." (Please don't ask what I do with my time, I have NO clue.)

So I ordered it. It arrived yesterday.

I am going to go downstairs now and try it.

I hope to survive. (I am so uncoordinated).

All in the name of weight loss. (As of Monday I was down 7 lbs... and so far I haven't eaten my children or been too hideous to live with.)

Even the boy admits to being tired - it's a sign

Stuart started to play hockey this fall.

It's something I have written a million posts about in my head : the first practice where he couldn't even stand on his skates but wouldn't give up (the day that it felt like someone was cutting my heart out of my chest), the day he got sent back down to initiation to learn how to skate (phew, the relief) the day he got called back up to Novice (hurray!), the day he got his first two shots on net in a tournament (yippee! I don't know what we're going to do when he actually scores, I'd better start stuffing my pockets with tissue).

It's been a long process, this October to January blossoming of  my son the hockey player. Emotional for his mama, who can't skate herself and found herself unable to help much beyond words of encouragement.

The Stu has tried lots of things in the past. LOTS of things. And he always loses interest - usually quickly (as in, the moment I paid for something that he swore he would love). I didn't really give this hockey thing this long, especially since he had so much to learn.

The boy has proven me wrong. He is so dedicated. He won't give up. He keeps getting up and dusting himself off. Getting back out there, even when he was slower than 3/4 (9/10ths?) of his team. His belief in himself has never flagged.

A couple of weeks ago he started skating lessons on Saturday mornings that coach had recommended he take.  The same day he started floor hockey at the community centre, something he had done one session last year and loved. I'd registered him for the floor hockey back in November (back when he was still skating with the younger kids in initiation) in an attempt to keep him motivated. 

Well intentioned, but for the last 3 weeks our Saturdays have looked something like this:

9:45 am - skating lessons, 1 hour

somewhere between 11 am and 1:30 pm - hockey pratice, 1 hour

3:00 pm - floor hockey, 1 hour

Add to that a Sunday morning game (and a tournament 2 weekends ago, so 2 games on Sunday) and my boy, my boy who has denied being tired every single day of his 7 year-old life has given in and admitted that he is tired.

"Mama, I'm tiiiiirrrrrreeeeddddddddddddd" he said (whined) after he had spent an hour looking at the same math problem (that he had to bring home as extra work because he didn't finish it in class).

Words I thought I wouldn't hear from him before adolescence. (I have to admit I felt a small thrill of victory, the kid has nearly put me 6 feet under on more than one occasion with his refusal to sleep). (In sharp contrast there are some days Julia says it all day - when you ask her to do hideous things like hang up her snow pants or pick up the toys in her room).

We talked to him and told him the floor hockey has to go for now. School is his priority and hockey is important, but that the floor hockey has to go.

I expected tears. Whining. Pouting, recriminations, you know, the whole production.

We got :

"Okay Mama."

Wow. 

I know - I need to get a life

I have so many things to blog about that I haven't made time for and what you're going to get is this:

Remember the a$$ who is our school council treasurer?

Hmmmm. Just got a message from the co-chair saying that he has not, nearly 3 weeks after the meeting given a cheque, as promised, to the principal. 

You know, for those silly book things we wanted to spoil the children with.

Since we're so extravagant and wasteful.

Frick.

Simply put

I am a member of our school council this year. Not a member of the executive, but a "member at large".  I've been good about attending meetings (as opposed to last year where I forgot every single one) mostly because my friend Jen is co-chair and another friend is vice-chair. 

We're having some trouble agreeing on things at school council. Namely what our focus is for this year for the profits from our fund-raising events. In the past there have been things like play structures, a light system for the gym/auditorium, a sound system. This year we were going to focus on a lawn for the back school yard, but then the school board stepped in and said we were due to have the yard re-sod, so that left us looking for a cause.

We turned to the teachers and to their wish list. The number one thing on that list? Levelled readers. Most of ours date back to when the school opened in 1991, and are either ratty or just plain irrelevant in terms of current events (some date from the 1980's... the publication if not the books. I am sure I must have seen some of them in my days).

So levelled readers it was - and they are not cheap. I believe they are about $1000 a set. 

I'll spare you all the boring, petty details but at the December meeting (which I missed, for good reasons) there was a small brouhaha over money. As in, we had none to buy these levelled readers with. Or so our treasurer insisted.

Now our treasurer this year was the chair for the past two years. He magnanimously stepped down to be treasurer because our past treasurer had moved away and as he said "Someone has to do it". Except that he seems to be having trouble realizing that he is not treasurer AND chair. And he has some elaborate system for the accounting and requested a large transfer to the field trip bus account in the fall which has left us (according to him) without any money to spend on things we want to -mostly because he is insisting that we leave a large balance in the account by year end.

And things got ugly on Monday. Our chair asked for money (there have been executive meetings regarding the budget) for books. He said no, there wasn't any. Pretty much everyone in the room with the exception of his wife (the secretary) and the principal (who has to stay neutral) was trying to give reasons for why we should spend some money (ie: talk some sense in to him). He just kept droning on and on about the global recession, and how all our fundraisers were going to take a huge hit (lunch programs more specifically) and how there was going to be no money, yadda yadda yadda and then alternately bit the head off anyone who made any point (Did you you am I am spendthrift parent spending other people's money? Me neither.)

Eventually is came down to a vote. A vote where everyone at the table raised their hand in favour of buying books for our children - everyone but him and his wife (who was busy taking notes, I felt for her poor woman). He proclaimed LOUDLY that he was not in favour of spending the money. Too bad, outnumbered buddy.

The next morning at the bus stop the vice-chair asked me how I'd enjoyed the meeting. We both grumbled about the issue and then she told me that her husband had put it very succinctly:

"So your treasurer voted AGAINST buying books for the students?"

Think about that for a second. We have over $5000 in the bank, no expenses left and he voted against buying books. Against buying books in a school where we have a large ESL population. Where we have enough underprivileged kids that we seem to be catering underprivileged families more often than I would like. Kids whose parents, sadly, may not be the ones taking them to the library to read books. To get them hooked on reading. To expanding their childrens' horizons - for some it is for very good reasons, heavy work loads, second jobs etc - there just aren't enough hours in the week for some of these parents.

And he voted against buying books. Against buying books.

I can't get over it. If I didn't have good friends in the executive I would have to withdraw from the committee. 

Except that would probably let him get away with more stuff. Grrrrr. 

La Grosse Vache

It's official - I am FAT.

No, not my usual "Oh, I'm so fat!" when I've put on 5 pounds. Really fat. Like add up my two pregnancies, add them to my usual weight and tah-dah! You have me. Now. Nary a baby in sight.

I have gained 35 pounds in the last year. 35 pounds. 35. On someone who is 5'6" that's a lot of weight. Even when you continue to weigh yourself in kilograms and pretend it's not so bad.

This time last year I started taking Zoloft. To help keep the psycho woman at bay during hormonal times of the month. And stuff. I guess I didn't realize then that there was other stuff too (the anxiety... oh the anxiety. What do you mean it's not supposed to feel like there's a tiny bird trying to escape from your chest on a regular basis? Really?)

I knew there would be some weight gain. This much weight gain? Um, yeah, no. The doctor made noises about me taking the pills for a year and then coming off, and I figured that the weight would *poof* vanish.

But in December she suggested me staying on another year - I haven't been as stable as she would like (##^$%%@#*$^ contractor after the move, isn't it nice to have someone to blame for at least part of things??) and she likes to bring people off in the winter, very very very VERY slowly so that by April they are off and feeling normal when the sun comes back to these parts of the world. She doesn't think I am there yet.

Now, seeing I didn't want to be in Christmas photos this year (due to my girth) and that I actually have photos of myself clutching a pillow in front of my gut (I know! As if that hides it! No! It just makes people think "she must have gained a ton of weight!") I decided that it was time to do something about my ever-growing weight. Besides changing meds, because you know what? The whole starting new meds thing sucks in my opinion.

Last night I signed up for Weight Watchers Online. This morning I was breezing through the grocery store thinking "this isn't so bad!"

It is now 4:13 pm and you know what? I AM HUNGRY. Not to mention CRANKY.

And I forgot that I have the school council meeting tonight and have eaten my weight (or near enough) in baby carrots and red pepper. They may have to ask me to leave (sorry, gross I know, but it made my husband laugh).  Which would have me starting a list of Top 10 things to get you kicked out of a school council meeting. 

*Grumble*