Easter fun with friends. It was a damn good weekend.
Perry made some tempura for the first time. Massive hit.
Accidental twinning at the 6AM class and volunteering with our Crossfit box to clean up the garden by the dog park.
thehoosie reblogged
I was born in the year of the bicentennial. Solidly Gen X, I grew up in an era of hope. Gone were the days of cowering under desks to escape Russian bombs. Gone were all the archaic tropes of my parents’ generation, their quaint Cold War fears.
My first album was Thriller. The greatest threat to me as a child was the zombies who danced with Michael in the street. Delicious, MTV imagery, more choreography than chaos.
I learned Russian, the words perestroika and glasnost. Mr. Gorbachev did tear down many metaphorical walls and when the Berlin Wall itself was torn down by jubilant masses of ecstatic Germans, I took it as par for the course. And Yeltsin after him was the dancing bear, a charming Russian, who would fling open the doors of freedom where once an Iron Curtain had blocked our view.
The only demons who haunted my adolescence were the twin spectors of AIDS and drugs, both of which I had the power to keep out of my own life. If I practiced safe sex (or abstinence, though many of our Baby Boomer parents remained too mindful of the summers of love in their own pasts to proselytize that hard), I could protect myself. If I kept my experimentation under control or just said NO (though Nancy Reagan was a bore and anti-drug commercials are only good for quoting when one is high), I could protect myself. Imagine the agency we eighties and nineties teens possessed! It was within our own power to protect ourselves from the greatest threats to our welfare. We were in charge!
I came of age in an era without constant war, an era of widespread economic prosperity. There were problems, but they were lovely and salacious: blue dress scandals and white Broncos on the highway. Something called the World Wide Web was making millionaires out of everyone and I moved to California before anything crashed but the waves. Danced on a bar as Y2K failed to end the world.
As such, I cannot imagine what kids go through now. All their fears are real and impossible to protect against. They have to face a renewed Russian threat, one where the antagonist is literally everywhere, pretending to be your friend in cyberspace.Privacy is a non-starter. We are afraid of nuclear bombs again. And they could come from a variety of sources. There are terrorists on the news, who might blow you up or mow you down with a truck. The cops are shooting kids in the street and young men in their own backyards.
And people are bringing guns to school. And murdering children in their desks and hallways.
And it is our fault.
In the midst of our blissful Gen X ascension into adulthood we ignored the implications of Columbine. We let ourselves believe it was a freak moment. We did nothing.
We made no speeches. We organized no protests. We started no movements. We let Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold start us on a national path to nightmare and we did nothing.
I am so, so sorry. I am sorry families of Newtown, Connecticut and of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I am so, so sorry that we did not demand action when we had the chance.
But I will stand with you now, you brave young adults of this fraught and terrible moment. If it is not too late. If you will have me. I will do what I can to help you while you bravely take agency in your own lives, while you fight back against the terror that your generation has been forced to face because mine was too distracted by AOL and grunge rock to do the hard and important work that needed to be done.
Thank you for showing us what bravery looks like.
Thank you for refusing to give in to terror and apathy.
Thank you.
We are Gen X and we are here. We are standing by. We are ready to help.
Also it’s spring break
I made it. Barely. I thought Thursday was Friday all day long. It was tough. In San Jose we had feb break and then spring break in April. I stayed sane longer. Here we go from xmas to the last week in March. My brain hurt.
Anyway- I’m so happy being lazy.
More. And my parents are selling their home and moving to be close to us soon- went down to say goodbye to 2908. All the feels. We also celebrated my mom turning 84 and dad turning 80. Great visit!!!
Some life lately pics
Crossfit obessession
I’ve been doing Crossfit for 1.5 years now and I’m in love. I’ve always been athletic- field hockey, basketball, tennis, rowing in high school and rowing in college and post college. And now Crossfit. I decided last minute to sign up for the open again this year even though I was only 2 months post surgery and stuck in my boot. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do any of the 5 workouts. But I did them all!!!! And kicked ass on 18.4. Holy crap. Surprised myself. Squatted, did jumping pulls ups, jump rope- all either w one leg or using mostly one leg. Overhead squats were the hardest but I did them slowly and managed to get them done!!!
Anyway- did them all scaled of course. But damn it felt good!!!
Seriously
I’m out of the tumblr groove. Gotta get back to babbling about nonsense so my girls know that we did stuff.
Happy clams up here in Oregon. G is in 2nd grade and has found her school groove. She learned to read with the help of a tutor and is a total rock star. I’m hoping she has an easier academic path than I had- and it seems like she’s on the right track. She loves school and behaves well and kicks butt there. Gwynn is doing gymnastics and just wrapped her first play where she was the Bad Fairy. She had zero stage fright and totally rocked it. She always been our dramatic girl- will sign her up for another one. She wants to get back into swimming and I’m hoping she will pick up kids Crossfit in April. She’s tall and strong. Gwynn has her whining moments but she’s doing better overall. I suppose it helps having a 3 year old sister- less tantrums from g since jojo is all about demanding and bossing. Lol. G gets moving in the AM a lot better than she did in the fall- less fights and less mama losing her shit. G is pretty happy go lucky and helpful. We shall keep her.
Jojo is at an awesome outdoor Waldorf preschool and she’s 3 now. Her talking is finally exploding- started back in September- and she is hysterical. She has two emotions- happy or angry. Jo is way tall and strong- she is a fierce girl.
Both girls have incredible imaginations, avoid puzzles, and love playing together/ until someone hits someone etc.
The hubby is kicking butt- coaching rowing, taking care of us, and being a therapist. He’s wearing a lot of hats. Thank god for his cooking and laundry folding skills. We make a good team.
I’m busy with 5th grade, Crossfit, wine tasting, hanging w friends- and recovering from tearing my Achilles in mid dec. had surgery 3 months ago and am trucking right along. It’s a pain in my butt but I’m surviving. I’ve been out of my boot for 2 weeks except when working out. And I’m slowing strengthening that leg. It’s brutal how long this recovery is. I’ll be able to run in May. Ugh. I also had a 14 mm kidney stone in Jan that needed to be blasted. So that was fun. Apparently I produce kidney stones. Whatever.
We are loving the house we bought in August- our forever home. It’s perfect for hosting happy hour and game nights. I can hide from the children when I need to and it’s got a great front porch. And a guest room!!!
So that’s a long babbling update on us.
Cheesiest family ever. Also I loved my 2017 top 9.
My kids are going to wonder wth
Happened to this blog. Why did I stop??! When the hell will I catch up this blog with the millions of things that have been happening in our lives. I dunno. But it better happen soon or else jojo isn’t going to have any record of her second year of life. 🤪
So much goodness. Moving to Ashland was the best decision for my family. Our budget is tighter here than it was in San Jose- I’m making quite a lot less, while food is not cheap up here. But damn our quality of life is a million times better. I walk to work. Gwynn walks to school. I walk to Crossfit. G walks or bikes to gymnastics. The neighborhood is incredible- Halloween was amazing and included a beer truck at a neighbor’s house. We walk into town.
We are busy and happy. Jojo goes to an incredible Waldorf fully hippie preschool that is excactly what my girl needed in September. Her language has exploded and she plays with others so nicely. G is reading after lots of hard work on her part this fall. She’s happy and busy doing gymnastics and playing w friends. She’s starting a play in January- not sure what part yet- but she is super excited. I’m hoping she will also squeeze in a kids Crossfit class because it will be so good for her.
I’ll post a million pics soon and babble more about what is going on.
thehoosie reblogged
thehoosie reblogged
I am SUPER happy with how my mindful minute cards turned out! I plan to use these activities as brain breaks with my middle school students. If you are interested in using some of these activities in your classroom, here’s the PDF!
This is awesome!
Saving for later.
thehoosie reblogged
Yup.
Source: didyouknowblog.com
My lame instagram story about my new house!