Well, it's been so long since I posted that I forgot what my blog looks like. Thanks Facebook.
Briefly: the girls had birthdays, we got a black lab from the shelter, Remy started hockey, I picked up the elementary-school-choir-accompanist gig, snow fell, and the 'mamavan' devolved into a sad, gimpy, downtrodden machine.
We've had a major shift in our sports agenda (other than the hockey thing) - Kira, by guest-playing a couple of scrimmages with her old soccer team, has decided that ballet sucks and she just wants to get back on the soccer field. I'm thrilled with her decision-making ability, and with her overall soccer ability, really. Also, the ballet bill goes down by about 50 bucks a month! She does have to suffer through two more weeks of ballet because November's paid for and I refuse to let her skip paid stuff.
I am rackin' up the Mom Titles: first, Soccer Mom; second, Stage Mom; and now, Hockey Mom. My mom's friend Jean Vezey told me recently, "Hockey isn't just a sport, it's a way of life." (I remember going on long drives in Fairbanks with her to drop Russ off at practices, in 1980something) There is just gear for every body part... practices sometimes three times a week (they're 4-year-olds!!)... and a whole new set of parents to meet. Remy totally loves it - and he stays upright now almost all practice. The best part of hockey is when Kevin gets to help the coaches out. Lots of Daddytime.
Cinder is our new dog. I brought her home on September 28th. She's 5 human-years old, black with gray on her chin, pretty well trained and really, really food-obsessed. Her first owner lived in Anchorage but somehow the dog ended up at the Palmer shelter. Her name was Kiera - she still perks up when we say Kira's name, but she's learned her new name well. It's nice to have a dog around again, especially for the girls. Remy just likes to push her around and yell at her, but I'm hoping that will change. It's clear how much he wants to take out his frustration on some being that won't push back - so we need to change what frustrates him so much, or give him a punching bag I guess!
There's been an increase in the number of times per week the kids ask me, "What kind of new car would you buy, Mama?". They engage in a lot of wishful thinking... Remy will say, out of the blue, "Mama let's go buy another car today and get rid of this stupid one." I wonder if they're embarrassed or something? During my Nome trip in August, the van finally whined its last whine and the power steering crapped out. So they're happy it's not whining anymore, but I think it stresses them out seeing me try to crank that steering wheel with every fiber of my being. It would be fixed if it weren't for The Schedule. On the bright side, snow and ice on the road make steering almost normal again.
I finally caved this week. I gave in to pressure from society to fight the aging process. I opened the Crest Whitestrips door prize I won in the spring... and I bought myself a little tube of wrinkle magic, Ultra-Lift. It's not a 39th-birthday, mid-life reflection thing, I just thought I'd try a little self-respect and see what happens. I may go off the deep end and buy something for age spots.
Now, back to knitting little things for Taia to sell in her 6th-grade economics project... Hopefully by my next post I'll have speed-knitted a dozen scarves, Ultra-Lifted many wrinkles and whitened my teeth by 5 shades.
