Really?? I need surgery?

Well-


For a long time now I have had this knee pain...it would come and go at random times-I could be fine one minute, and two seconds later I would be in pain...

[I thought it was all in my head]

FINALLY I got into the doctor and had an MRI.

Yes, there is a tear. A tear in your meniscus. You will need surgery to repair it. Gristle sound? No, that is not fixable, sorry. See you in surgery. You'll be fine.

I will see the doctor today to see about options and what I can expect. Ill let you know my prognosis. Wish me luck.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Lays potato chips...

...cut 'butterfly' style and the chips overflowing from between the two halves....add a glass of ice cold KoolAide....and summer is here!

Today's temperature reached 108 on my thermometer...stir in some unusual humidity of 14%, and some dark clouds...and you have one hot, strange day here in Palm Springs.

Pool isn't quite to my liking yet. If I had to describe it I would say a refrigerated Coke can placed on someone's back...I like it when the sun's rays boil the water to a level where you walk in and say, "Ahhhhhhh...." ...yes, my old bones need the rejuvinating waters of the valley to unwind my spirit and relax the mind.














Much is on the "To Do" list for the summer.

Here is a sampling...

*lose weight (always on the list)
*sleep in (doing good so far)
*stay up late (not as much fun as I remembered)
*find some fun activites for the kids (working on that one)
*celebrate our 10th anniversary somehow (we are going camping in Idyllwild!)
*finish this on-line class of 23 things...
*sign up for more 5k's (walking, of course)


What plans do you have?

Vacation (squared)

YES!!!!


IDAHO here we come!!!!!


6 more days....6 more days......

How in the world do babies get to be 8 years old?

My mom warned me plenty of times....



.........."Honey, you better enjoy those twins now, because before you know it...they are going to be all grown up."

At the time I couldn't wait because I was dealing with 1 colicky baby and 1 who was fearless. Both wanted attention at the same time, both wanted to be fed at the same time, both needed me at the same time....I was continuously exhausted.


















...Now, I wish I had those days back.














Those carefree fun days where time seems now, to have stood still....


















Is it me, or do you notice too, that smiles just don't come as quickly as they used to back in those days? It is a whole different world now...sometimes easy, sometimes very difficult...but each thing we experience with them....is a learning step for them on their path of life. Oh how quickly the time goes...

I cannot beleive how big my babies are! Thursday, June 11th, they turned 8 years old!















Such a BIG DAY for the twins, and especially for me....yes I was va-klempt all week.
And I'm so glad it is over, and we have a whole year to look forward to the antics of 8 year olds!

Thing # 8 RSS Feeds and scrambled eggs-HELP!

My brain

What in the world am I doing trying to learn all this stuff? I am so confused about RSS feeds (still) that I took the night off to rest my brain...now I'm back at it today....

I''m skipping a few "things" (#6-7) because I didn't understand them, now I'm stuck on #8 which is:

• WHAT THE HECK IS A RSS FEED?
• ONCE I'M SIGNED UP- THEN WHAT??
• WHAT IS IT SUPPOSED TO DO AGAIN?
• DO I HAVE TO FEED IT ANYTHING?
• WHERE DOES IT SHOW UP TO DO WHATEVER IT IS IT DOES?

My brain is like scrambled eggs right now...

I have followed the directions to "follow" someone, but not sure if I am or if they know they are being "followed" and I also signed up to Bloglines, which I''m so confused as to what I'm checking off the boxes for!

Can someone help me out there?

PS- don't let me fool you if you see the FOLLOW thingie on my blog, or the SUBSCRIBE...I can push buttons to get them, but I'm not sure what exactly they do....

Thing #5 Explore Flickr

Yuck....very confusing trying to find where to go or what to do on Flickr....I have an account, and followed the tutorial on what to do...until I got to the uploading of my first picture, and it wouldn't do it!
Then I tried to download the program and I don't have enough memory currently (Robb, don't get mad...you can look at it when I get up there)...then I tried Flickr Commons.
I couldn't figure out exactly what the purposeof it was....to look at pictures and help identify them?
(frustrating) and then I tried Flickr Toys, which was fun, but am I correct that there is only 1 page of cool stuff? I played with making the map, but I didnt add it to my blog. Just played with it.

Anyone have any help for me to find people I know on Flickr to share photos with, or help uploading pics?

Classroom Learning 2.0 challenge Thing #1-4

Hi!

Last year I went to the CUE conference, and learned about blogging and others funny named things I knew nothing about. I went about creating my first blog site and blogged until I was burned out! (giggle) I now know how to blog and comment, and add different things to my website, but now I want to learn more.
I am currently taking an on-line course (credit must be given to the California School Library Association for the development of this program) that will teach me 23 things.... ....so the first thing I did was create an avatar using Doppelme...see near top of this blog. I liked the dread-lock look, but I really don't have them. Just picture this as me if I was living on the beach in the Bahamas, having a drink at Capt'n Jacks!

Another quest was to create a voki, which is a speaking person who represents you....again, I had problems finding the right hair color, and I'm sure somewhere there is a site where you can upload a pic of yourself and have your own voice added...so I just chose an animae person and have really red hair. The voice is me though! :) Again this is at the top of the blog, just push the play button.
These were free sites and a blast to create. It didn't take a lot of time either! Go check them out!

Next quest is Flickr....so I will check that out soon!
Let me know what you think of my avatar and Voki! :)

I invite you to join me and we can learn all 23 things at our own pace, but blog about them together! I am looking into the continuing education credit that can be obtained, and you will find me blogging about these as I learn them- as it is part of the requirement.
Come join me! Check out Classroom Learning 2.0...not just for teachers though...anyone can do this!
The 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners was fantastic! It is a power-point presentation of strategies other successful people use- and teaches you what they are and how to use them! Check out the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners.
I have to blog about which one is hardest for me and which is easiest.

Hardest for me would be Habit 1 and Habit 7. I have a great idea, then another and another...which snowball into more and more great ideas, all connecting, but I think of how to start, instead of the end in mind. Habit 7 1/2 because I don't have time to play...or allow myself to have time to play.
Easiest for me would be Habit 7 as I love to help others be successful and watch that light bulb go off in their eyes.

Jot me a comment and let me know if you want to join me! I'd LOVE the company!

*Question for you- what makes YOU blog?

Take the 5K challenge (from Weight Watchers)

Hi everyone!

I'm back with an update on my 5K challenge!

I starting hanging around active.com which was a site Weight Watchers said to go and meet others and get active by walking....then go do something wild like sign up for a 5K walk!

So I did! I met alot of great people and 1 person in particular from my area. Although we played email tag more than we got to walk together, we DID sign up for a 5K walk in the beautiful town of Idyllwild, Ca. It was their Idyllwild 5K and 10K Run and Fitness Walk.

There was also another wonderful gal from Palm Springs who took it further by doing her own 5K walk to which she made not only the route, but also complimented it with a tour of famous homes we would be walking by as we enjoyed the cool morning! It was fantastic! (Thank you Jan!) This walk was May 30, 2009 and I walked this one with my husband and twins. It was a great way to start off the weekend and prepare for the big 5K the following weekend!

Here is a recap of my 1st real 5K walk in Idyllwild this past Saturday...
This is the beautiful owner of the Taqhuitz Inn at Idyllwild! We stayed overnight here and loved it!
The best part for me was the wonderful smell of the towels...(bear with me...) it brought back memories of coming home from college and smelling mom's laundry. Mine never smelled as good, even though I used the same stuff....the towels just were so fluffy and heavenly smelling! But if you end up in Idyllwild, make sure you stay here...cute place with a full kitchen, fridge, plenty of hot water, and tons of sleeping space!

This is my new friend Susan in her cool race shirt ready to go the morning of June 6th. We were very excited and I will admit I was very nervous as well.












Need to register? These are the gals you want to see. It was amazing how many people waited until the morning of the race to register! My stomach would have been in knots if I had waited till the last minute. Brave people...either that or they have done this before.
*special note-what was so great about these ladies is that they were so full of energy and spunk! They were there last night when we picked up our registration packet Friday night and were so nice and answered my millions of questions.

My son demonstrating just how cold it was...you could see your breath...it was a very chilly 36 degrees at 7:00am.
I was saying how cold it was, that is was just freezing, but the announcer heard us and clarified that is was only 36 degrees, which clearly is not freezing...as you know, freezing is 32 degrees which clearly isnt 36 degrees...it got a laugh out of everyone.

Susan and I had our feet ready and in position for the start of the race. I am on the left, Susan is on the right.
We had to laugh because all the serious runners were going to trample us once it started. We survived without so much as a scrape or scratch.






Here Susan and I are at the beginning of the race. Notice we are all smiles. I think I was still thinking at this point, "What the heck am I doing?"

And we are off!!!!!
Susan and I started off arm in arm in case we got knocked over by someone....LOL





We literally had a cheering section on our route! It was so great!
This is where we walked through the campground and I felt sorry for all the campers who were sleeping as we noisily walked through chatting away....



Luckily the path was marked well....as I am very much directionally challenged. These arrows were fabulous and helped my tired brain by telling my legs where to go.







Yes I had to make a pit stop...but I wasn't the only one...LOL





















Wait! Is that the...YES!!!! It's the FINISH LINE!!!!! He is showing me where to go-probably because I am close to dragging my arms on the ground and my tongue is hanging down a foot out of my mouth! I did it! I really did it!


Here is my sweet family that got up so early to be at the finish line when I came in! Yeah Family!!!!











Here we are going through the finish line!
We were so ecstatic that we finished it!!!!!
If you go to the results page, you will find us at #59 and #60! I am sooooooo happy I made the effort and had such a great pal to do it with!








Here are some other highlights...my children entered the 1/2 mile kids' fun run.



And THEY ARE OFF!!!!!! (the two kids in long sleeve brown shirts # 94 and #95)











Cope coming across the finish line!
I just love this picture! He is sooo cute!




Here is Tierney....I was gonna push the others aside so I could get a good picture of her, but I thought that wouldnt be too good...(just joking)
She is the third one in the brown shirt.











We ate at different restaurants around town...




Jo'Ann's is smack dab in the middle of town center....







and this place is so much fun for all ages-
old candies and toys long forgotten...

Remember When... Toys
The Fort
54225 N Circle Dr
Idyllwild, CA 92549
(951)271-6310

All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend and I would definitely do it again! Look and see when our next 5K is in Palm Springs, email me and we'll hook up and walk it together! I am challenging you to sign up for one! What have you got to lose? :)