It's almost Christmas!

It has kind of crept up on me, where did autumn go to? Here we are, 8 days before the BIG day and my house looks like a Christmas shop!

For our first Christmas together I made my husband go out and buy a lovely big tree which I enjoyed decorating while he was at work. I even added a garland down the stairs with lights and ribbon and our home looked so lovely. But as Chuck is a mailman, he is very busy on the run up to the holiday and only has Christmas Day off, so I found myself looking at the decorations on my own quite a lot.

Subsequent years we did the same thing, and then one year I decided I no longer wanted the big tree, we sold it at our summer yard sale and the following Christmas bought a 3' white fibre optic tree. It was (and still is) very pretty, took no time to decorate or take down and I was very happy with that. It was perfect in my bedroom the Christmas I was on bed rest when I was expecting the boys and it was still great their first year. But for the twins second Christmas I wanted something bigger and better, I wanted to begin to create an exciting and special time for them each Christmas, so Chuck and I went out shopping and bought a 6' pre lit tree. It is so nice, and majestic and I love it, although the small white tree still goes up, in the opposite corner of the room!

One year I decided to buy some plaster houses from Michael's and sat and painted them so I could create a tiny village for my mantelpiece. It looked so nice and I was more than pleased with it. Then my in-laws came to visit and bought me an entire set of houses, complete with fir trees and figures, so my village grew. Two summers ago at my neighbor's yard sale, I bought some more houses to add to the village which is rapidly becoming a town!

I purchased lovely wire wrapped lights and hung them across the archway to our living room and entwined lights through the metal of the bakers rack! This year, my husband's parents sent me more Christmas things. We got icicle lights for outside, and a reindeer and sleigh. For inside the house we have a train set that goes round and round a village green, filled with people and a carousel. We have an ice skating pond, with skaters and a street lamp to light the entire scene. We have Santa and Mrs. Claus and various other figures that sing and dance their way into Christmas.

I have been told there is more to come, my living room is bedecked, lighted and so Christmassy you would think you were in the North Pole at Santa's workshop. I have penguin and snowmen candle holders, golden fir cones and wreaths a plenty. And now the twins are in preschool I have paper plate reindeer heads, ginger bread men with fluffy pompom noses and Christmas tree decorations every where I look. My tree is lop sided, with many decorations placed together on the lower branches. When the boys aren't looking I move the decorations around and spread them out higher up the tree, and when I am not looking the twins reach what they can and move them back down to the lower branches!

And this year, for the first time ever, Chuck actually has two weeks off over the Christmas and New Year holidays. I am so excited to have a real family Christmas this year, one where he doesn't have to rush back to work before the turkey is cold. I am planning to make cookies with the boys, bake a cake and make a traditional English trifle and mince pies. We'll have a huge turkey with all the trimmings and I already have plans for using the leftovers. The present shopping is all done, the cards are written and mailed so when the boys finish school this week, and Chuck finishes work we will all be able to relax and enjoy the holiday!

Am I my mother?

I have been wondering if I am becoming my mother? It is said that all women do, but has anyone tested that theory?

My mum died in 1979 after a 10 year battle with breast cancer, and I have realized that will be 30 years next year. 30 years! I can hardly believe it. I have lived longer without my mum than I lived with her. That's kind of sad really. Sometimes I wonder what she would think of me if she could see me now. Since she died I have moved from my family home, worked in a hotel in Cornwall, trained as a nurse in London, and taken holidays throughout Europe. I have gained two degrees, moved to America, gotten married and had twin boys. It truly has been a lifetime!

Although I have been without her for so long, I still have so many memories of her that stick with me. She ALWAYS ate mints, Foxes Glacier Mints, wrapped in a little blue paper with a drawing of a polar bear standing on an ice block on it. They were clear, and hard and I thought they were the most boring sweets in the entire world! Even the fruit ones that were introduced later, were really boring! Hard candy is not what children want to eat! Now I live in the US I cannot buy Foxes mints, but I do buy Altoids instead and eat them all the time, and one of my twins loves them too! So I have inherited the mint habit! Have I become my mother?

My mum had dark, curly hair and would set it regularly in hard plastic rollers to help create more of her curls. But after sleeping, sometimes bits of her hair would stick out at odd angles, so she would just take a pair of scissors and cut that piece off! It used to make me laugh to see her chopping bits of her hair off before she dashed out the door to catch the bus to work! But guess what I have a tendency to do now? Yes, I will cut my hair if there's a bit sticking out that won't be trained or behave itself! Am I my mother?

And last but not least, my mum always had her favorite biscuits (cookies to my American friends). She loved custard creams (YUK! I don't know any children that like custard creams, let alone love them), and she loved wafers! These two types of biscuit were always the ones left at the bottom of the biscuit tin. As children we would come home from school and always checked out the biscuit tin to see what there was to eat, and if those two varieties were in there, we would leave them there! And now, I quite enjoy custard creams - when I can get them. And as for wafer biscuits, I have found that they are pretty nice, I even bought some this morning when I went grocery shopping!

So, have I become my mother??

Run For The Wall

Run For The Wall and Rolling Thunder were new terms to me a few years ago, until I met Steve Woestemeyer.

Steve is a computer guy I worked with at HP, here in Colorado Springs, a tall quiet man with white hair and a white beard. He scared me once, although I had no idea it was him for some time. It was Halloween and I was sitting at my desk early one morning when I looked up to find the Grim Reaper standing in front of me. He wore a flowing black robe and carried a scythe. I couldn't see his face, and more scarily, he didn't speak. I was hesitantly laughing and trying to work out who was under the costume but the figure never said a word to me, and after a while just turned and left.

Steve is a Vietnam Veteran and every other year he joins with family and friends to participate in the Run For The Wall motorcycle ride (www.rftw.org) This ride, from coast to coast across America, ending at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC was started in 1989 by a couple of Vietnam Veterans who traveled across the heartland of America on motorcycles, talking to local radio, TV, and newspapers about the fact that there were thousands of men and women still unaccounted for from all of America's wars.

The Run For The Wall always culminates with a Rolling Thunder Protest Ride from the Pentagon to the Wall on Memorial Weekend. Mainstream media calls it a parade but the organizers refer to it as a protest ride. It’s not a party. It’s a mission to pay respect to those who have fallen and to call attention to issues regarding the POW's and MIA's that are not accounted for after each war or conflict.

Steve and Linda have two sons, Aaron and Shawn, and last Friday suffered the unimaginable when they lost their son Aaron in a motorcycle accident. I want so badly to tell Steve, Linda and Aaron's wife Tami how sorry I am, but no words can adequately convey those feelings. I can never tell them I understand how they feel, and I hope and pray I will never lose a child. Now that I am a mother I cannot imagine how you ever get over losing a child. I cannot imagine the sadness and pain and the immense sense of loss. Aaron was only 29, he had his entire life ahead of him. I didn't know him at all, but if he was like his dad, he was a great guy.

I can't be at the memorial service, but I will be there in spirit and my thoughts will be with Steve and his family long after the ceremony is over and 'normal' life is resumed. I know that for Steve, Linda, Tami and Shawn life will never be the same again, but I do know that in time things will become easier, that they will smile and laugh and talk about Aaron fondly. Steve, I hope that your family and friends help you be strong at this time, I hope the sun shines on you all, and I hope that you are able to get past this terrible time in the knowledge that so many of your friends and work colleagues, past and present, would take this burden from you if they could.

You are all in my thoughts.

Thoughts of England

I am homesick this week. There's a possibility we may be able to take the boys to England next summer and I am so excited at the idea. (If it doesn't happen I am going to be SO disappointed). There's a whole family out there my twins have never met, plus my niece and nephews are in relationships and having children of their own that I have never met. It's a tough thing to be living somewhere so far away from everyone who is so close and dear to you. While I love my life here in the US, and am now an American citizen, my heart and my 'home' will always be in the UK.

I spent the better part of my life in the UK, I miss the scenery, the gentle (and green) rolling hills, the small winding roads, the pubs and restaurants. I love that you are never far from the sea and a walk on the beach and despite what many people say about British food, I miss bacon, sausages and really good pub grub. I miss being able to park my car in the town center and then just walk around to visit the bakers and buy wonderful Cornish pasties and freshly made bread. Then pop next door to buy fruit and vegetables and head across the street to the butcher to get the freshest meat available. Here, all my shopping is done at the grocery store (called a supermarket in the UK) and it's sad that so many towns here in America have lost that connection, that people no longer have the ability to walk around their town center and purchase the groceries they need for dinner from individually owned and operated shops. Having a town center is very European and I would love to see it happen here more, I miss it greatly.

Another thing that has made me feel homesick this week is a purple weed!

Before I moved to America I lived in North Yorkshire and regularly drove across the North Yorkshire Moors on business. In August the moorland comes alive and is a blaze of purple as the heather flowers and blooms. It's a wonderful sight and tourists come from all over the country to take photos and marvel at the color. (Occasionally they also try and steal the heather, but that's another story!) There are two fields near where I now live that are covered in this unknown purple weed, and every time I drive to the grocery store I am both uplifted by the sight, and saddened, as it makes me want to be in Yorkshire next time the heather blooms!

My poor head!

Isn't it funny how accidents happen when you least expect them to? Of course if you were expecting them, I don't suppose you could call them accidents! But as someone who seems to be prone to them, I am starting to think a little warning would be nice!

Chuck was off yesterday and after we collected the boys from preschool, decided to give them lunch and work in the house until we had some shade in the back garden and could go out there to work. A little while back we bought a Hoover steam vacuum so we could clean our carpets, and thought we could practice on the stairs before doing the entire upper floor. (We have wood downstairs). Chuck wanted me to sit down and rest, but I wanted to help him, so said I would vacuum the stairs while he prepared the steam vacuum. He wasn't thrilled, but I hate sitting down doing nothing while he's working! It's neither comfortable nor relaxing for me.

I cleaned the bottom few steps then moved the vacuum to the middle landing while I cleaned the last two steps and without warning the vacuum fell off the landing and hit me on the head! OMG! It hurt like hell! I burst into tears and was crouched on the stairs with my hands on my head and just crying and crying. Chuck ran over, pushed the vacuum off me and switched it off and all I heard him say was "Oh God Wendy, you're bleeding!" So, being somewhat practical, I told him to get me off the stairs before I bled all over the carpet and to fetch me some towels. I couldn't stop crying, my head hurt so much and I was conscious of blood all over my hands and arms, down my shirt and pooling around my feet on the wood floor. The twins were standing silently in front of me while I cried and bled and tried to reassure them that mummy was OK, she just had a bad boo boo!

While I stood there with the towels pressed to my head, Chuck called my doctor but she wasn't able to get me in, so we realised we were going to have to head to the emergency room. I called my friend and neighbor, Christine, and she came right over to take the boys, despite having 3 of her own children at home and a husband who was laying a new floor that day. Thank heavens for friends who are willing to drop everything to help you out when you are in a bind! Chuck and I headed to the hospital and I cried off and on the entire way, not just because my head hurt but because I was in my old gardening clothes and had little makeup left on my face! I hate to go out looking a mess! How silly!

We expected a long wait at the hospital, but the emergency room was entirely empty so I was taken straight through to be treated. I needed a tetanus shot, had my head cleaned and then injected with Lidocaine to numb it before the nurse put in two staples! OUCH! Needless to say I had the worst headache of my life for the rest of the day, and spent the afternoon trying to rest and sleep away the pain and wash the blood out of my hair. I didn't sleep very well last night, and have a bad headache again today. This morning I am relishing the quiet in the house, but already dreading when the screaming, shouting, terrible twosome get home from preschool!

Chuck has banned me from ever using the vacuum cleaner again, so I may have to resign myself to living in dust and dirt up to my ankles from now on! But how many of us clean the bottom half of the stairs with the vacuum on the floor, then put it at the top of the stairs while cleaning the rest? It's normal practice, but not for me, not anymore.

This is not all it's cracked up to be!

Just about everything you read, while pregnant and after delivery tells you of the joys of motherhood, the wonder of watching your child grow, learn and discover the world around him. But few books - or mums - talk about the sheer hard work, the loneliness of being a stay at home mother, the isolation and lack of adult conversation.

I am feeling very grumpy today, and although it's only just afternoon, it's already been a very long day. Last night I went to a wine tasting party at a friend's house. It was a lovely evening, and I really enjoyed myself. I found one wine I very much liked and had to order at least one bottle; then headed home quite happy with myself. But when I got in, which was about 9.30pm, Chuck informed me that Jamie was still awake and being a problem. He wouldn't go to sleep, said he wasn't tired and seemed to delight in making life difficult for his daddy. Oliver had fallen asleep about 15 minutes earlier, so I knew that today would be difficult as the twins would be so tired and stressed as their normal bedtime is generally 8.00pm. Within 15 minutes of being home, I got Jamie to sleep, basically by threatening him with death or worse, so he snuggled down under his blanket and was asleep within minutes. But this morning they are both unbearable! By 9.30am Oliver had had a time out in his room, during which he kicked the hell out of the bedroom door, kicked the closet door off the sliding rail and screamed non stop. He has already 'lost' his television time and his library books, no fun and games today for any of us!

I took them out a little while ago. We went to the library to select some books and then to King Soopers for a few groceries and since we got back, Jamie has taken over where Oliver left off. He screamed and cried for 20 minutes because I took Oliver out of the car before him (it was Oliver's turn to be first), he screamed and cried because I didn't carry him into the house (I was carrying groceries) and then screamed and cried because I wouldn't give him chocolate cereal for his lunch. He is presently in his room, kicking and screaming and I am SO tired of it all.

I have tried everything, quiet time, time out, loss of privileges, Love and Logic and even a smack now and then, which doesn't work AT ALL and I am resolved not to do anymore. When one twin stops screaming and crying, the other one starts. And if they are not fighting me, they are fighting each other. Raising two boys is SO hard, no-one tells you any of that, and day upon day it is so wearing and exhausting. Since the boys started preschool things seem to have gotten worse and I have my own theory on that. They are very good in school, polite and pleasant, they have been nicknamed 'The Sweeties' they are so nice, but I feel all that goodness is wearing them down. I think that after they have spent 3 hours being on their best behavior they have to let it all out, and every afternoon my time is spent resolving fights and arguments, trying to get them to do what I need, trying to get them to eat something sensible for lunch and just simply trying to get through the day until my husband gets home to relieve me of it all! It's hateful right now, I thought the terrible two's were bad, along with all the menopause symptoms I was suffering, but this is even worse.

I may need to call Supernanny! I feel I am losing the battle to help my children become nice, kind, thoughtful and generous children. Right now they appear to be monsters, they give me cheek, answer me back and scream at the top of their lungs if I should even say "I will think about that" let alone the dreaded "No!" I have read so many articles on dealing with tantrums, and listened to the wisdom of so many friends, but I feel lost in the moment right now, in the whirlpool that my life is becoming while trying to deal with two very strong willed children. I am sure that we will all come through this unscathed and wiser and stronger, but it's hard to see that moment right now.

What happened to customer service?

I left school at 15 and went to work at a company called Boots the Chemist. In the UK this is a large, well known store with branches throughout the country. There's nothing quite like it here in the USA. Boots sells just about everything, from records, dog food and jewelry to all the medicines, first aid items and prescriptions you would expect to find at a chemists. It was always (and still is) the place you looked if you wanted to buy a great camera or have your photos printed. In the very early days Boots also had a lending library, and I do remember seeing some of those books at home, with the Boots logo stamped into the front cover.

I spent 12 years working at Boots, starting out as a junior sales assistant, eventually becoming head of Display and Design, responsible for all the window and in-store displays. During my years there, I was trained in customer service, trained on how perfumes are made and what leather is used to make a great handbag. But no matter what else we learned, customer service was paramount. The customer was always right, and had to leave the store feeling happy with their purchase, happy with their experience and wanting to come back and shop again. But now, I am wondering what happened to customer service, it certainly doesn't seem to be the same as it used to be. The reason I am wondering this is because of my bicycle! (Post of 08/18/08). I am still waiting for it to be delivered and having an incredibly difficult time determining when it will arrive.

We ordered the bike from Sears and were perfectly happy to do so. Sears has a great reputation, has been around a long time and would surely ensure a good experience when shopping with them. We placed the order online on 15th August and received a confirmation email that the bicycle would be delivered on the 25th, which was perfect as we were having a vacation at home and would be able to go out for bike rides. But the 25th came and went and the bike was not delivered. I called Sears customer service department who told me the bike was going to be shipped from a store and they didn't know when that would happen! I was amazed they couldn't tell me that, it seems impossible that Sears customer service associates cannot contact one of their own stores to check on a delivery date. So another week went by, and although Chuck sent two emails to the customer service department we heard nothing else!

Yesterday I called Sears again and was quite cross. I was told the store who was going to send the bicycle out had been emailed to try and ascertain a delivery date, the associate I spoke to said she "hoped they would respond, but couldn't promise anything". I find it incredible that this is the way Sears carry on their business, and also really angry. We have paid in full for the bike, and we don't have it, and have no idea when we will have it. Yesterday afternoon I spent some time online looking up the names of some of the Board of Directors and the CEO, and have already sent one email out to express my disappointment in the service that Sears is providing. I don't expect a response, nor do I expect anyone to try and remedy the problem. Which is why I am wondering what happened to customer service. Once upon a time, any customer like me, who was experiencing such difficulties, would be helped out as quickly as possible. The problem would be resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned, because the company would want the customer to come back and buy from them, they would want their reputation to remain as high as possible and they would want their customer to be happy! It's a shame it's not like that anymore. But I know one thing, whenever we are in the market for a bicycle again (and it will happen often, I have two sons) I will not go to Sears for them!

Turf and Serf!

We haven't had a finished back garden since we bought this house, which was 8 years ago! We landscaped half of it, using gravel and bark and I planted lots of perennials, and drought tolerant plants. I wanted to try and create an English type garden here in Colorado, and some of my neighbors laughed at me! But I have persevered, and now it's all coming together. The garden has willows along the rear fence, which provide wonderful shade for the hot afternoons. I have Lilac and Russian Sage, which the hummingbirds love. I have Shasta Daisies, Asters and Dogwood, which all provide color and texture throughout the year. We have a designated area for the birds, with feeders and a bird bath, and small wind chimes which sound lovely on a breezy evening, but not so nice when the wind blows up a storm, as it often does here in Monument. The initial plan was to continue with xeriscaping, completing the entire garden and adding in a water feature and a patio, but we had twin boys instead! Our plans were shelved so we could raise our sons, money became more sparse and the garden was half gravel and plants and half weed. Boys, gravel and dirt don't really mix! Well, of course they do, and they love it, but me and my wood floors do not!

Last week we noticed one of the sod farms near here had free delivery, so we ordered 1000 square foot of sod (our garden is HUGE and we needed that much sod just to cover half of the garden). We prepared ourselves for some hard work. And it was hard work, back breaking work. Preparing the ground was much, much harder than either of us had realised. We rented a tiller and a roller, we pulled weeds, and plowed the weeds, removed rocks and stones and plastic spades, added soil enrichers and worked until the sun disappeared over the mountains behind us!

The sod arrived on Friday morning, just before the boys went to preschool, and they loved watching the pallets being lifted off the truck. I was excited to get started although daunted by the task in front of us. But I changed my clothes and began work. First of all, I could barely lift a roll of sod, it's SO heavy. But I managed to get 3 in the wheel barrow (I can hear you all laughing) and then just about tipped the barrow over trying to move it! Chuck became the serf part of my title, he moved all the sod to wherever I needed it, while I rolled it all out, staggered it in the correct fashion and fitted it all together like a jigsaw - I have always loved jigsaws!

By the time I went to fetch the boys from school at noon, almost half of the sod was laid, and realising we could actually do this in one day if we pushed ourselves, we went for it. I was SO tired, and aching and hurting but we kept on, and by 5.30pm last night, we had laid all the sod! Our garden looks wonderful, really wonderful. I am so excited to finally have the lawn and can't wait for the boys to be able to lie on it and look at the clouds, to play in the paddling pool and kick balls about in the summer. All they want to do right now though, is make snowmen, it's all they talk about! And while I keep telling them it's not the right time for snow and they understand that it's not yet winter, they still want it to snow!

My son can scream louder than a train whistle!

We had our yard sale on Friday and Saturday, and although each day seemed to be very slow, with people arriving in fits and starts, we did very well. And each day the clouds and rain rolled in just as we were packing things away. So it was all good!

On Sunday we decided to move the living room around. Our living room, dining area and kitchen are all one 'great' room - although not SO great by some American standards. A few years ago we bought a nice china cabinet at auction, moved the bakers rack to the basement and replaced it with the china cabinet so we could store more of our 'stuff'. After looking at things though, we decided we could easily fit the china cabinet in the living room area and reinstate the bakers rack, which we did. But of course, prior to doing that we cleaned the wooden floors, washed baseboards and generally scrubbed the place clean. I found three plastic spoons, two toy cars, and some pretend money underneath the sofa cushions, along with enough Cheerios to keep our dog going for a week! When the twins we just starting to crawl and walk we put the area rug in our bedroom and replaced it with a cheap off cut, then I didn't get upset that juice, milk, food, throw up and pee got onto it. But we decided it was time for a change and brought the carpet back downstairs, and the first child that throws up on it, will spend a year on his own in the basement! HA!

On Monday we decided to take a day off, and took the boys up to Cripple Creek to ride on the narrow gauge railway. It was a lovely drive through the mountains, although we really should have waited a week or two to see the fall colors. The boys were excited for the train to arrive although neither of them like loud noises, so I was really wondering how they would cope. But they were eager to climb into the carriage and chose the open one so we could all enjoy the scenery and sunshine. It seemed all the other passengers felt the same as no-one sat in the covered carriage, which may have been a big mistake.

The train set off, and the first thing the driver did was sound the whistle, and Oliver screamed and cried, he was very upset. Everyone turned to look at him - I told them all he didn't like loud noises and I could see them all thinking, "Then why did you bring him?" Chuck had the great idea of telling Oliver to scream as loud as he could when the whistle sounded and then he wouldn't be scared, and he did, and he CAN scream louder than a train whistle! All the passengers turned to look at us and when the noise died down I explained what he was doing and they all laughed. After that, everyone looked to Oliver when the whistle went and some even took his photo! Jamie spent the entire journey with his hand over his nose as he didn't like the smell of the smoke!

And sitting in the open carriage, why was that a bad idea? Because we all got covered in soot and had to spend the rest of the day walking around looking like we had just climbed out of a chimney!

The terrible twosome start preschool!

What a wonderful day! I should be cleaning or doing laundry, but instead I am enjoying the absolute silence and calm. I had no idea how much noise two 3 year old boys could make, it's incredible, and towards the end of the day, instead of things getting quieter, they just ramp it up and make even more noise. My nerves are shredded by the time my husband gets home, so this is a blissful day!

Before I married, which was late in life, I lived on my own for about 20 years. I had a house in the UK and it backed to fields and farmland so was very quiet. Occasionally I would go to North Wales and stay with my sister and her family, three children, dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, hens and even a chinchilla or two. The level of noise was so high it was a shock when I would first arrive. The children were wonderful, so full of life and so active and I was exhausted just to watch them. And then I would go home, and the silence was so all consuming it was really hard to deal with, although now I have children of my own I sometimes think wistfully about that silence. But I wouldn't swap my solitary life for the one I have now, no matter how tough it may get or the ups and downs it presents me with. Having my sons was the best thing I ever did in my life, and I really hope that I can raise them to be the best that they can.

We were all so excited for this morning to come, Jamie even had a tantrum yesterday as he wanted to go to school, but they aren't going on a Monday. I tried to explain it to him but he was mad as hell and whined and cried for almost an hour. Oliver's main concern has been in regards to the school computer, he wants to use it, and as soon as he can. They both love using the computer, and I am amazed to see their little hands stretched across the mouse, maneuvering around the screen to play the matching games we select for them. As soon as we arrived at their preschool Jamie took off his hoodie and threw it on the floor! So much for my training! I brought him back to pick it up and showed both boys where their coat hooks are and told them to put their hoodies there. They were so delighted to see their names on the hooks! Oliver immediately asked his teacher where the computer was and another parent laughed to see how keen he was to use it. Although I didn't cry when I left them, I felt a little sad and immensely proud, because my boys are growing up. They are embracing what life has to offer them and I am proud of myself for having created this confidence in them. Maybe being a stay at home mum has it rewards, although sometimes it is hard to see that, but today I am proud of my achievements with them!

Exercise and Motherhood

Exercise and taking care of twins is really, really tough. I don't seem to have any time to myself, and when I do, which is when my husband gets home from work, I am too exhausted to do anything remotely resembling exercise! By the time I have cooked dinner, fed the terrible twosome, cleared up their mess and stopped their fighting, I am too tired to care about how I may look! For a while there I was motivated to go running each evening that Chuck got home from work on time, but too many nights it was easier to sit down to a family dinner, and try to watch Jeopardy (a secret favorite of mine) than to go out running.

I watched an item on the news this morning, about J-Lo and how she's entering a triathlon for charity. She had twins just six months ago and is super fit and incredibly slim. I had my twins 31/2 years ago and am not super fit nor incredibly slim! It seems so unfair! I have a mountain bike, bought it just before I got pregnant and have rarely ridden it since. I feel so uncomfortable on it, so unsafe and never know when to switch gears. There are 17 gears and although I tried to think of using them as I would use a manual gear in a car, I just never seemed to get it right.

So I got to thinking about the bike I had when I was a kid, what we in the UK call a 'sit up and beg' bike. Something old fashioned, without gears, maybe with a basket on the front. I had visions of myself riding around the local town, becoming extraordinarily fit with little effort, and looking great while doing it! The idea took hold and I began to surf the net looking for a suitable bike. And that's how I found Beach Cruisers! How wonderful they are, such beautiful colors and just made for tootling around the town - we don't have beaches in Colorado! But at what cost? They are pretty expensive and worst of all, hard to find in a size 24" wheel. Now I am not a midget, I am 5' 2'' but can't manage a 26" wheel or the larger frame size that goes with that bike. I visited lots of local stores - it's good to spend locally - but was told they don't stock 24" wheels, they don't sell. But when I went online, I found ALL that size were sold out. There's something wrong here I think!

My husband told me I was trying to buy a bike at the wrong time of year, it seems a perfect time to me, I just want to get some gentle cycling in before the winter and the snow hits us. The boys start preschool tomorrow, so I figured I could exercise while they are starting their education.

It took over a week to find a bike, it took many emails and phone calls to online companies and what I discovered is that few of them update their websites when they are out of stock of an item. One company even accepted our payment and didn't even have the courtesy to let us know the bike we had ordered was out of stock, I only found out when I called to confirm the order and check on delivery. But we persevered and I hope to have my bike by the end of this week. It isn't a glorious colorful extravaganza, it's black with chrome fenders, but it does have a basket on the front, although not the wicker one I had imagined! I am so looking forward to riding it, I may never (make that WILL never) enter a triathlon and be as fit and slim as J-Lo, but I will enjoy my rides on the trail and into the town, so I am looking forward to it immensely!

It's raining, is this really Colorado?

It's August and it's pouring down. It has been for years, well perhaps it's only days, but it seems longer when you are stuck in the house with two 3 year old boys!


We have had so much rain recently that our back garden, which doesn't yet have a lawn, has turned into the perfect spot for a bit of mud wrestling! Every time the boys go out, and they don't stay in the rain for long, they come back in soaked and muddy and covered in sand, which is what passes for soil in this part of the world! My wood floors need brushing constantly because of all the dirt that is tracked in. Bring back the sunshine - I don't want anymore rain!

My twins start pre-school next Tuesday, they will go 4 mornings a week, giving me a total of 12 hours of peace and quiet, I can hardly wait! We haven't been separated since the day they were born, and while I love them very much, I need some time away from them now. But instead of sitting at home enjoying the silence, I have taken a part time job. I will work out of the house for two mornings and from home two mornings. It's great to be looking forward to doing something other than clean, prepare snacks, referee fights, make drinks, referee fights, play games, referee fights.........

This morning we managed to do some work in the back garden, in between the rain showers and a trip to King Soopers! We are preparing the ground for a lawn which we plan to put in soon. I will be very pleased to get some of the soil covered over and for the garden to look the way I envisage (like something out of Better Home and Gardens) but am daunted by the amount of work it will take. In addition we are holding a yard sale this coming weekend, and my home office is covered in boys clothes, shoes and toys that we want to sell. Of course the twins keep finding long lost treasures they do not want to part with, so most of the toys that I plan to sell are stashed in the spare bathroom where they can't see them! They will be in school the first morning of the sale, so I have told Chuck to ensure all their toys are gone by the time they come home for lunch!!