NARF

I am the world's biggest hypochondriac, but here is one that we all have. Normal Age Related Forgetfulness.
Please do not confuse (ha, good word) this with Alzheimer's. NARF is not about forgetting the faces of your family or what year it is. NARF is standing in the basement for a full 30 seconds with no idea why you are there and no idea how you got there!
My research tells me that there are lots of reasons for NARFing, the most easy to cure being not enough sleep, too much stress, poor diet and exercise - so tell me something that I don't know, right?
Actually there is a way to prevent NARFiness, brain exercises. I read that and I panicked! That can't be true - I cannot be reading this in September. September is the absolute lowest month for brain exercises.. all the new shows premiere. How can I be doing the NY Times crossword puzzle in pen if I am watching Survivor? Does eating fistfuls of popcorn while staring intently at The Biggest Loser while flipping over to a prerecorded episode of The Amazing Race count as exercise??
Alas, the mental olympics shall have to wait until January when all my shows take a break. I can do Soduko's during American Idol.

Technical Downer

Occasionally, Lee will agree to watch a movie with me. It is not that he does not enjoy movies, he does(I think).
I love to watch movies and could have movie marathons every weekend if my kids would let me stay in my room the entire time and not feed them or drive them or watch them play sports in the rain, a subject for another day!
Lee just really has other things to do and he is always busy on the weekends... running and sleeping and watching the boys play sports in the rain. This weekend all sports were cancelled due to the deluge of rain that has been over NE for the past three days. It was a very timely weekend to get completely rained out; there was a lot of homework to get done at Teddy's house. Perfect for me - I can direct the homework assignments from the couch while watching whatever movies I could find, and hopefully convince Lee to watch with me. Yep- another topic to consider - Why are movies better when watched with someone else?
So, here is a list of broken electronics at Teddy's house..

• pendant light in the kitchen - this has been broken for so many years it might not be fair to include it
• dishwasher - yes, true we have been washing dishes by hand for a few weeks with no plans to get it fixed
• the dvd player in the family room - last nights movie was watched on the laptop
• keyboard of my computer - suddenly there is no SHIFT KEY! no biggie, right? Without a shift key it is absolutely impossible to do anything! This entry for example, is being typed on my laptop.. I couldn't sign in without the shift key... no shift key pretty much renders a computer useless. Teddy's house cannot function without a minimum of three working computers..

hmm.. I know that I will think of several more broken gadgets throughout the day today..

Welcome to the family!

We have a new member of the family here at Teddy's house...



No - not another dog, (wouldn't that be fun?!)



This is not so much fun, although it has some potential...



Welcome Josh's Trumpet

Germ Wars

I have this secret motherly pride - my kids have never been really sick. I say really sick because they have never missed school because they are too sick to go. This means no throwing up - How lucky I am!!!

However, every September we all get colds. This year I tried so hard to escape the school germ cold. Every time we walked in the door, wash your hands, wash your hands. I have the purell on my desk at work, the kids take it to school in their pockets and it is handy from every seat in the car.

Sadly, like the state of the middle east, the terrorist germs have gotten through. They haven't won, we are all still on our feet and going to work and school, but we are feeling the effects. Lots of kleenex use and lots of sniffling and coughing. The boys will make it to school all week, but just barely.

I am hiding this until the boys go to bed...

How can anyone resist?

Open up my freezer on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and occasionally on a Wednesday and nestled gently among the frozen veges and sandwich bread will be the ice cream.

Lee grocery shops most Saturdays or Sundays (thank you Lee!) and brings home the ice cream - rejoice! Lee is currently burning an extra 3000+ calories a week - just another reason for me to keep up with the daily run. The entire family can now grab a spoon at nearly any time of day or night and have a big creamy spoonful of chocolate..nuts..carmel...oreo cookie.. the flavor can change weekly. A few weeks ago, despite our attempts at keeping the grocery bill from skyrocketing, we began eating through two 1/2 gallons - before Wednesday! yummy... delightful...

Until Thursday - then we have to eat fruit or instant pudding. Life is so unfair.

Change of Season.... Honeymoon is over

I was lying in bed this morning waiting for the sound of the heat turning on. It didn’t happen yet, but any day now the routine and rhythm of the house will change once again. The soothing humming of the window fans will be replaced by the heat turning on and off. I love summer so much that this is a very hard time of year. Good bye beloved beach!

September is also the school honeymoon month. (If only my honeymoon had been a month long!) The reality of nightly homework and the grind of the routine starts to set in and the thrill of a new teacher and classroom fade quickly at Teddy’s house.

We closed the pool on Sunday and the when I look out the kitchen window the expanse of the black cover taking over the backyard is startling. This weekend I will have to move through my closet and fold up all the capris and shorts. Of course, those running shorts get to stay out a few more weeks. This is really the best time of year for running.

I pretty much took last week off from any exercise and when I went out on Sunday my body completely protested! It is not fair to only run long runs on Sunday and ignore my legs for the rest of the week. My run was predictably slow and painful. This week – the honeymoon is over! – every day I will train.. I just need a race on the calendar to train for… something easy?

Dog fight

I have been having fun with my new camera. I upgraded from the classic point and shoot to a more professional digital slr.
I sat outside on the front steps the other day trying out the settings and the different light values. The dogs followed me out (of course) and after realizing that we were not going for a walk started fooling around... Lexi constantly surveys our yard. However, she has a memory of the electric fence and the zap collar so she rarely chases any of the wildlife in the woods across the street. Generally, Gypsy will stay with her and not wander away,


Lexi is such a good looking dog,





Here is Lexi, starting the fight....

and the chase begins.. I am so happy with the clarity of the shot and the focus on Lexi,

more of Lexi beating up on the puppy. They really are happy when they are biting eachother.








Gypsy trying to get back a little. She is no match for Lexi.

Yipppee! I did it again!

Not wanting to be a one hit wonder, Michelle and I hit the road to Hopkinton for another sprint triathalon. Sooo much fun! It is better than any running race by about a million times. The variety and the socializing and the moving through each event, keeps the time from feeling too long. The horrible 1/2 mary from the spring was long and lonely and miserable and I was feeling so dejected when it was over. By contrast, the tri's are fun and I am not alone out on the course!!

I am sad that the tri season here in New England is over and I will have to wait until spring to start racing again. I am already filling up my summer calendar with plans for next years races...

race report to follow!