Hmmmm....

I have no idea how to title posts.

An update on the carnival and today's goings on.

The carnival was a bust. When we picked up George, he was very excited about the bounce house and all the balloons around...but when we went outside it seemed that looking at them was enough. Mommy and Daddy thought about letting him bounce...but at the time there was a bunch of rambunctious bigger boys bouncing around in there. We didn't see food ready to go and there weren't lot of people around, except for the big kid in the bounce house. Giving George's lack of patience with food (he falls into the FEED ME NOW! category) we decided to forgo the carnival all together.

There's been another change in Director at the preschool...that makes 3.5 since George started going there in March of 2008. I'm not sure what the issue is, exactly. I can't say that I am impressed with the current Director, though I think she is an interim, so she may or may not stick around. I'll wait a bit to make a full judgement.

So, today has been full of nothing much. We did the grocery shopping and laundry is in the works. George is being very clingy...wants to be held and is very whiney. He's been this way for the past week. Very much into momma.

He wants to type now....u8888kumu,,u m mu,muu, usdu m uu ,ikffziiiiosdddddddFfsssssssssss nn snnmnngnnggg.gn.gn ddddddddddddddddddddddd d d jj3 1 111 22222w32222222222223eeeegggggggggggggggggggvvvggeeeerrrrrrrreeeder,

He asks for Dad-dee every morning as we get ready...and breaks into a HUGE smile as soon as Eric comes into the room! He's also picked up the "Imma, Gonna, Gitcha" chant from Aunt Sarah, Uncle Bob and the girls and loves to "get" us...although he doesn't have the follow through with the tickling yet. But it is still pretty stinkin' cute!

This morning he wanted bubbles. He didn't really want to get dressed but we finally got clothing on the little guy. It was chilly today, so he got to wear his jacket, too. Mommy blew bubbles and George chased them and popped them. And then he sat on my lap (backed in, as usual) and watched me blow bubbles over his shoulder and that was huge fun as they whizzed past...and then he saw that I was dipping the wand and he wanted to dip the wand. So, I held the bubble bottle and he dipped and held the wand up and I blew. Wel, once he got that far, it wasn't too much of a stretch to him blowing the bubbles himself. I still held the bottle and it worked very well! Except for when he couldn't get a bubble to come out (for various reasons) and then he would put the wand on his lips and blow. Yuck! He didn't seem to mind, though!

I declared this weekend FACEBOOK FREE. It is going well. I thought it might be a good idea to help me get some stuff done, but I seem to suffer from an internet addiction in general and not specifically FB! :-) I'm not getting much accomplished around here...but Eric is coming down with something he has been fighting for the past several days. We aren't sure if it is allergies or what. That means that he spent a lot of time sleeping in this morning and I spent a lot of time George wrangling! I keep telling myself there's still tomorrow!

In other news...

I’m kind of excited! An e-mail came out at work for a community service project asking for blankets for Hospice. They are looking for gently used or new blankets to assist patients in staying warm as their immune systems start to slow down with advancing illness. With winter coming up blankets are a must.

So, I thought for a few seconds. I’ve got a couple unfinished projects at home and at least one would be a good fit for this request. Bringing it in to work would be great…but I can’t exactly sit in my cube and crochet all day! (A moment to daydream about what that would be like! And back to reality…) Ah, but I could get a conference room and crochet over my 30 minute lunch once a week. If I’m going to reserve a conference room I might as well see if there are any others who might want to join in. So, I asked a couple of people who I know crochet and knit and two said they would be willing to join me! YAY! One of the two is also working on scarves for the homeless, so we might work on that project, too since it is faster and less intimidating than an afghan. There are a couple I have not heard responses from so the little group might be a little bit bigger. AND I told the person coordinating the project so she might point others our way.

This really makes me happy! I’ve thought about doing something similar for quite awhile, but didn’t have an opening…nothing specific to work toward, so it seemed awkward to ask. This was a perfect opportunity! I’ve asked that the word be passed to others who might be more closet knitters and crocheters.

In other news, George now identifies octagons and knows that Stop signs are that shape. He also knows circle and oval and heart (which he pats his chest and says boom, boom when he sees). He knows the color yellow…and right now everything is yellow. Fish are Bish. Ball and Bowl sound an awful lot alike! He does car, truck and bus…all of which go “Vrooom!” Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star has motions…the making of the diamond in the sky happens to be his favorite part. He calls the TV something that we don’t quite understand…and I can’t even pronounce it the way he does to even begin to spell it! He watches, “Max and Ruby” and “Dora” (Swiper is the real star, though…he says, “Aw Man!” any time he sees Dora.) and LOOOOOVVVES Moose A. Moose and Zee even though they are the commercial break and he doesn’t understand the puzzles during Puzzle Time, he still flaps his “wings” with Zee when she is on. Still begs for “cackar” every morning and will convince you that he needs a ‘nana, too…and maybe bread and his water…but there’s not enough hands to carry it all and that means he needs a bowl. When he says “Peas” and “Cank cou”, it’s all worth it! We are working to get the “p” sound at the end of “Help.” That one has been a bit slow going! :-) I am so loving this age…he wakes up singing and it is so sweet to listen to. Plus, the random hugs and kisses out of nowhere just melt my heart. He still backs into your lap to sit and be read to…which I adore.

Daycare is having a carnival tonight complete with bounce house and all kinds of fun stuff. I’m not sure how much of it will be too old for George, but we will give it a try and see! It is a bit rainy and drizzly today and a touch cool…but humid. Not sure how much carnival we will be able to stand! Hopefully, I’ll have more fun stuff to report later!

Finding Contentment

We've had a good weekend and an okay week. Chores for the weekend and upcoming week preparations were made yesterday, so today has not been normal. We went for brunch this morning and for two weeks in a row all the family was there. Found that things aren't going well with Eric's grandma and the plans are fully underway to take the steps toward nursing home care. Eric is on his way now to pick up a pizza. George and I are on the deck enjoying the cool weather.

I am continually amazed at how fast George is growing up. He had his first "big-boy" haircut at Great Clips yesterday. He has now added the word motocycle to his vocabulary and said Anne this morning for the first time. He wouldn't say it so she could hear it, but the rest of the family did! The stinker, as Eric says, doesn't give demand performances.

I've spent the past couple of hours revisiting a topic that has been on my mind for many, many years. I used to discuss it often with our good friend, Cory. Contentment. The word and idea are simple...the practice is so much more difficult. I'm figuring that my current state of discontentment is from taking what I was originally content with and stepping over that limit and saying that more was better. It s very hard to live in today's society and understand contentment. We are continually told that we need to strive to be better, that we need more to be better. A promotion, more money, another doo-hickey to add to an ever expanding list of other things that we do not need. It's why Thanksgiving is a difficult holiday for folks to market...and why the reality of the holiday seems to be about families getting together to plan for Christmas and to review ads and shopping strategies instead of focusing on what they are thankful for and being content in that.

A good part of contentment is balance...and I am struggling with that balance. I don't feel I can control my contentment at work just yet. I am content in my schooling...if only because there is an end in site and it is a goal I have set for myself. I don't see it changing things drastically in any way other than I can say that I finished something I started long ago and there is a kind of happiness that comes with that. So I am pouring a lot of my time into trying to be content at home.

There's an inherent flaw in this. Is contentment something to strive for? Or is it something that you must step back and and simply realise exists? The flip side is that I do think that one can strive for balance and, since balance is a component of contentment, I do think that balance can be what one works for. So, I am hoping to look at where I am and find contentment in the little things and at the same time am striving to insert some balance in my life that might further solidify the ease of being content. In trying to acheive this balance, I'm looking at a lot of things...and I mean that both figuratively and literally. There are a lot of THINGS in my life that do not contribute in any way to any sense of balance or contentment that I am looking for. So, I am trying very hard to focus on the times when I feel content and the times when I do not and the times when I feel not much of anything at all...the zoning out in front of the tv or computer or, even in some cases, when reading. I'm not saying that I have to be feeling something constantly...escape can be good at times, but I do think that an awareness is appropriate.

This post has turned into something much more HDR than I intended. (HDR=Heavy, Deep and Real...a term from the church camp counselling days.) I intend to revisit the subject regularly.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Ah, a Rainy Monday here in Kansas. It kind of suits my mood, though. I’d like to hibernate and find coziness at home…and I’m at work…a nice hot cup of coffee on my desk and wrapped in my blanket because the a/c is on a blowing on my neck.

I’ve taken to filling out these posts in a word doc at work as the thoughts come to me…and then will just post at the end of the day. It doesn’t take up much time that way. I can jot ideas and then do the clean up/editing on my afternoon break and it doesn’t take long at all.

This weekend was fun. On Saturday we went down to the Overland Park Farmers Market. It was great…we didn’t buy any produce, but we stopped in to Farm to Market and got breakfast…YUM…a fresh scone for me and George to share and a homemade cinnamon roll for Eric. We ate together on the bench out front. We watched people and ran into one of George’s teachers…Miss Kayti. George waved and said, “Hi!” to everyone as they walked past! Then it was back home for nap time. George slept and I worked in the yard a bit while Daddy did the bills. Lunch was Wyandotte BBQ and dinner was Papa Keno’s pizza…we stayed local, not a big chain in sight! J

Sunday wasn’t quite as stellar. We went to brunch and EVERYONE was there. George played catch with Aunt Anne and had a blast! Grandma and Grandpa bought a cool car that goes forward and backward and plays music! George likes to dance to the music…he’s not too sure about it moving on its own, though…and wants to sit on mommy’s lap when that happens. Brunch was great and George ate 2 and a half pancakes and a whole LOT of cantaloupe! After we left grandma and grandpa’s George fell asleep in the car…and then didn’t want to go back to sleep when we got home.

So, we loaded up into the car again and headed a couple streets over to an open house. Nice house even though it is a split level. The bedrooms are smaller and the bathrooms are out dated compared to our house. The kitchen was nicely done but small…a lot of counter space. Only a one car garage…but the lot…the lot is .78 of an acre. It backs up to the elementary school. Trees up close to the house and the rest of the lot open. Nice vegetable garden already in and some fruit trees. Several sheds were along the back of the lot for the lawn and garden equipment. We went from that one to a ranch that is smaller than ours. They enclosed the back of their garage so that you could get to the basement from inside the house…something I want to do with ours. Always a good idea to see what is out there, I suppose. Both realtors said that they were having no trouble selling houses in our area. The second realtor looked it up and said the average for our subdivision is about a month on the market. We’ve got a lot of work to do before we even consider putting it on the market!

It was rainy pretty much off and on all weekend…and then the storms hit big Sunday night and Monday morning. There’s a chance for rain every day this week. Hoping the basement continues to stay dry!

Today has been a pretty good day. There’s nothing stellar to report. We’re having ravioli for dinner tonight and then homework to read and prep for class tomorrow night. I’m looking forward to it because we get an interests evaluation…and since my interests are fairly broad, this should be a good thing!

Only Tuesday!?

This has been a long week already. I can't believe it is only Tuesday!

I was supposed to have my mid year review at work an age ago and it didn't happen. Now I've been rescheduled 3 times. This last time is for Thursday at 4pm...which likely means that I will not be leaving work at 4:30. *sigh*

A missing pages project at work has kept me busy for the past few days and I am kind of thankful for the diversion into what I consider "real" work. It's not hard, just not simple. It's detective work and I'm enjoying it. Tomorrow will be the last of it for the time being.

I had class tonight and it went well. I'm still not 100% sure what I'm getting out of everything...this class is a bit more abstract, I think than others. We talked about Learning Styles tonight and discussed the Stage, Phase and Journey Theories that go with those. I'm in the Journey group...go figure.

Little boy woke up this morning at 5:15 and was having none of the back to bed stuff. So, mommy got up and we had scrambled eggs and watch Blues Clues. Mommy and Daddy left for work early. I had school so we drove separately. Eric went to the library to drop off books and I didn't know he was doing that. I told him I'd be a step behind. Well, in his detour to the library, I ended up a step ahead...I thought I was further behind and so I went on to work and then realised when I got there that we had missed each other. I got to work about 7:30. I didn't see George at drop off and didn't see him before he went down for the night. Just loves on a sleeping boy. Hoping he sleeps in a bit tomorrow morning!

Messy, unorganized post...but then, again, that's who I am! :)

The weekend is over :(

Sunday we do brunch as a family. By "we" I mean our three Donner's plus the 4 Donner's in Chris' house and the two Hager's (sometimes...Anne works some Sundays and sometimes they have other plans...they are by far the most "social" of the group! :)) all meet up at my husbands childhood home to eat a lovely meal prepared by his mom and dad. It's a nice way to start the week. We all get to touch base and the cousins get to play with one another.

For some reason, today George decided he wanted to eat and run. It was like we finished and were talking and he was at the door saying "bye-bye". That's quite a hint! Well, everyone pretty much went with it and we were home by 12:30! George fell asleep on the way and so we put him down for his nap.

While he was sleeping, I folded laundry and made the grocery list. Once he woke up, Eric and George went to the grocery store and I stayed behind and ran the sweeper, picked up toys, washed dishes...and surfed the net.

Chris and family stopped by to pick up George's old jumperoo because their little one could use it now and George is done with it! While they were here, Chris took a quick peek at our new deck. It's been way to hot to even think about having anyone over...and I swear he wasn't even out there for a full minute before we were all back into the air conditioned bliss.

We've been under heat warning the past several days...and they weren't joking. I don't mind heat. I kind of thrive on it...crazy, I know...but this has been enough to sap even me. I thought about doing some clean up in the back yard. That 30 seconds showing Chris the deck changed my mind. Hoping next weekend is better!

Tomorrow is a work day. I need to get my head back into that frame of thought. I've got a few more things to pick up and then I am going to work on reading a bit again...and hopefully to bed at a decent hout.

And please...please...let George sleep all the way through tonight. We haven't been having mush luck with that this weekend!

A new day?

Right before dinner last night the littlest Donner had a major melt-down.

It landed him in bed early and very hungry at about 11pm. It's okay. He was VERY sweet while he sat on my lap and ate his O's at 11pm. I also started not feeling well last night after dinner. Chills and general yuck. So I went to bed not long after the little guy. It made getting up with him at 11 even more not so fun, but he was being so sweet and I don't get that nighttime snuggle time anymore, so it was a trade off.

Today, I never even got dressed. The weekend plans hit the skids and I am looking at another early bedtime. Eric was wonderful enough to let me go back to bed after breakfast and I didn't get up until noon. Felt okay for a few hours...a little "fuzzy" but otherwise just fine. Started not feeling so hot about 4.

It will be another early night for momma Donner. Hoping that maybe tonight I can lounge and read some of the books I have checked out. It would be a nice thing to finish something for once. I did notice that it's all non-fiction. Maybe I need a good mystery?

It's Friday!!!!

This has been a crazy and strange week. Bull Thistle was last weekend and we left on Sunday to make the long trek home. We stopped the first night in Terra Haute and struggled with the little guy not wanting to go to sleep. Who would have thought that riding long distances in the car would keep him awake? He did catnap here and there, but no serious sleeping. We drove all night on the way out and he was awake for the bulk of it. Very excited to see cars!

We arrived home Monday afternoon and unloaded the car. We checked the mail and whatnot….and that was about it. Tuesday brought me back to the working world followed by a session each with my project advisor and module 2 instructors. (Did I mention that I am back in school?) Eric stayed home to get caught up on rest since he did the driving.

The work week went in a blur…one problem followed by another. I can’t say I love my job at the moment, but I did find it fun to get my hands back into some real problem solving yesterday and today! Just picked up the littlest D from daycare and it's the highlight of my day! I can’t wait to see his smiling face and big blue eyes. He is the cutest little guy and so very, very sweet.

I think I have Eric convinced to go with me to see Julie & Julia this weekend. It’s been a while since we have seen a movie together in the theater. It should be a nice change of pace. It’s Ms. Streep, so I am sure it will be worth the money.

I will leave you with a list of books I currently have checked out from the library…maybe you can tell where my mind is headed with this reading list!

The Lawn and Garden Owner’s Manual: what to do and when to do it Hill, Lewis
Kitchen Gardens: how to create a beautiful and functional culinary garden Barash, Cathy
Four Seasons Gardening: a month-by-month guide to planning, planting and… Reilly, Ann
The 4-Hour Work Week (CD) Ferriss, Timothy
Depletion and Abundance: life on the new home front Astyk, Sharon
A Nation of Farmers: defeating the food crisis on American soil
One month to Live (CD) Shook, Kerry
The Organized Life: secrets of and expert organizer Denton, Stephanie
House works: cut the clutter, speed your cleaning, and calm the chaos Ewer, Cynthia Townley

New to this

Jumping into the wide world of blogging is a daunting task when you have siblings as talented as mine! I will not be as humorous as either of the two of them, nor do I have a "voice" as distinct as theirs. It's okay. I'm not looking to win any awards.

So. What exactly am I doing with the blog thing? I'm not sure. Looking for a creative outlet. Trying to find a way to record thoughts and get feedback from others easily. Keep in touch with more than my Facebook status. Explore ideas and share what I'm learning. Keep everyone updated on our family goings on.

I think that pretty much sums it up! Like I said...I'm new to this. Please be kind and understanding while I fumble around trying to figure it all out!