To Nap or Not To Nap...

Thank heavens for 9:00 church time.
Dang that 9:00 church time.

Dang that 10 year old boy lesson preparation time at 6:30 AM.
Thank heavens for a nice, long afternoon!

Dang that rushing around to get the rolls made, shirts and clothes ironed, hair done, Sunday dinner started, last minute lesson items assembled, gum searched for, pantyhose looked for, and searching and searching for something to wear.
Thank heavens for church being over at 12 blissful o'clock!

Dang the afternoon meetings, home teaching, and dinner clean up.
Thank heavens for a soft bed and fluffy pillow to fall in to after dinner clean up.

Dang the mess I always manage to leave before 9:00 - in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the laundry room, and in the computer room.
Thank heavens for time to clean it up before it's time to go to bed.

Dang the missed morning walk with my honey.
Thank heavens for the brisk, late, windy afternoon walk with my honey.

But most of all, thank heavens for the nice 2 hour nap that I can take if I want to. Such leisure, such drowsiness, such grogginess, such bliss!
But dang the weird afternoon dreams which involve stealing my identity, stealing my purse, admitting that you took my purse and you've broken your probation, trying to cover up your theft with a jacket, and what in the world was I doing at a Kmart/Payless during the middle of the night with probation breaking purse stealing thieves in the first place? It absolutely woke me out of my slumber!

(Oh, well, weird dreams and all, my bed is much nicer than a nap against a pole at Payton's basketball game...yes, I said basketball game...)

Dang that 9:00 church time!
Thank heavens for that 9:00 church time!

A letter to Robie Creek

Dear Robie Creek,

Tomorrow I will miss you. I will miss sitting feverishly at my computer with fingers revved and poised over my keyboard to frantically try to type faster than thousands of other runners who, for some strange sadistic reason, want to enter your coveted race.

Tomorrow I will miss you. I will miss the anticipation of training in tall drifts of snow and preparing to climb your steep 8.5 miles, often by myself, to reach the summit called Aldape. I will miss the relief that fills my body as I go 5 miles downhill to reach the finish line. I will miss the delicious feast of food that waits for me after the finish line is crossed and my t-shirt is picked up.

Tomorrow I will miss you. I have managed to get into your race for the past 6 six years and I have finished your difficult course in less than 2 hours 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I will miss you. I will miss the comraderie of 1500 other crazies on race day who, together, make the trudge up your winding, dirt canyon road.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will remember the way I put sunscreen on my face last year without wearing a hat. I will remember the way sweat poured down my face and trickled into my eyes and burned them incessantly until the sunscreen had worn off.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will remember the lovely sunburn I received on my right arm that outlined my ipod attached to that arm. I will remember how that sunburn outline tattoo stayed with me throughout the winter to help me remember that gorgeous day.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will think about the training runs Alyssa and I ran last year to prepare for the pounding we would take from you. I will think about the gnarly trails we decided to take in the freezing wind and icy conditions to the top of the world - to the top of the world of Boise anyway. I will remember how nice it was to have a running partner who enjoyed climbing the hills and trails with me for a common purpose. I will remember how well Alyssa did and how excited she was to win a "medal" for taking 2nd place in her age group.


Tomorrow I will think about you. I will think about how nice going for a run is. I will try to remember how it feels to have my legs move freely beneath me without feeling like my hip is going to explode. I will think about this when I am climbing an infinite amount of stairs going nowhere in particular inside a gym and doing a bazillion exercises meant to strengthen my core. Sigh.

Robie Creek, I didn't know how much I would love, hate, miss, regret, and enjoy you. Please don't give your participants a cute t-shirt this year. Please don't give a great swag bag on number pick up day. Please remember me, because next year...

I'LL BE BACK!!!

My Last Nerve...

Well, as I found out yesterday, it's not just those 20 little first graders that are "getting on my last nerve". Evidently, according to my newly found doctor friend, I have a nerve problem in my sciatica. Yep, I've gone through 4 pregnancies and never once did any of those sweet babies give me the "stop dead in my tracks" pain that I've been experiencing the last three months.

Oh, it's nice to know that there is a diagnosis for my extreme discomfort. It's also nice to know that there can be exercises done and drugs taken to relieve the inflammation around ms. sciatica. (She's quite the wench right now...)

My hope is that with some physical therapy exercises and a round of anti-inflammatories, I can become my old self again. Of course I'll keep everyone who has been so kind to me and so empathetic to my situation up to date on my butt! heehee. Thank you friends and family!

Funny sidenote: On my trip to the pharmacy to pick up the steroidal pack prescribed to me ("don't worry, it's not anebolic", said my new doctor friend-- great 'cuz I don't want to get Incredible Hulk-ish) the pharmacist directed me to start the dosing "tomorrow".
"Why not tonight?" I questioned.
"Well, they make you grouchy, irritable, fidgety, and anxious. You should probably just start them in the morning with your breakfast," said Albertson pill counter person.
"Great! Now I have an excuse to ruin a perfectly wonderful Saturday!" I exclaimed.

Even funnier sidenote: This morning after reading the documentation that accompanied the prescription, I thought twice before popping the first two pills. Heck, there's a lot of stuff that can happen as a result of taking something that is supposed to help you! Don't worry though, I told my family to call 911 if I "vomited anything that looked like coffee grounds or experienced extreme puffiness, or developed severe mood swings, or ate grapefruit while taking the medication, or ... "

I'll "end" it right there, folks.
I don't want to be the "butt" of anymore jokes.
I know reading about this is a pain in the "kiester".


OK, I'll stop since I probably think I'm funnier than you do... but seriously, thank you for your concern.

Goin' to the doctor and I'm gonna get better..

Yes, I finally did it.

After a couple of months of complaining loudly to anyone who would listen and to anyone who wouldn't,

and after a couple of months of becoming best friends with Advil,

and after a couple of months of climbing and climbing and climbing the stair machine at Gold's,

and after a couple of months of clean running shoes,

and after a couple of months of feeling like an 82 year old,

and after a couple of months of thinking it would just go away,

and after a couple of months of Bill telling me I needed to go see someone, I finally did it!

I made the call to The Sports Medicine Institute of Idaho.

I hope they are nice to me.

I hope they don't say I will never run again due to the unfixable damage I have incurred upon myself.

I hope they don't make me do hard stretches or strange contortions (Bill frowns upon hard stretches and strange contortions - he feels they hurt more than they help.)

I hope they don't want me to take heavy drugs - I'm a lightweight!

I hope they do give me good news.

I hope they make the pain that churns in my right butt cheek and radiates to my right hip and slinks its way down my right leg and causes me excruciating discomfort GO AWAY.

I hope my insurance pays for this.

I hope I will be whole once again.

Wish me luck.

A No Good, Very Bad Day

Today was a no good, very bad day.

5 children went to the "red" - that's BAD in first grade.

1 child slapped another on the face. That's BAD in any grade.

2 children told the music teacher they were not afraid of going to the principal - they'd been there before. That's EXTREMELY BAD in first grade.

4 children sauntered in from recess 10 minutes late. That's just plain old fashioned ANNOYING.

2 children laughed and talked while I was talking. That's BAD in Mrs. Ball's class.

1 child was/is/always will be concerned about what/where/why/when everyone else is at/doing/being. That's just enough to make me want to be EXTREMELY RUDE. That's BAD for Mrs. Ball to be extremely rude.

I just want to go someplace warm, humid, sandy, watery, massage"y", facial"y", and where there is good chocolate I can eat while I enjoy beforementioned adjectives.

I think I deserve a couple of these. Don't you? (What the heck, I'm eating about 6 right now 'cuz I don't really care what anyone thinks.)



...think I'm starting to think like a 1st grader.

Fiesta Bowl, Baby!

Ever since we screamed ourselves silly at our friend's, the Lindsay's, home 3 years ago at the first Fiesta Bowl, an idea had been formulating in Bill's head. An idea that involved a loooong road trip, his only 11 year old son, a charter bus, lots of junk food, and the chance to watch his Boise State Broncos play in a nationally televised football game in person. After the BCS selection show, I didn't think he'd still want to go, I mean, BSU was paired with TCU - just like the previous year. Again. Disappointment reigned supreme with the two males in our household. Disgust, mini tantrums, yelling at the TV, hands thrown in the air - you get the gist. Aaaaaanyway, after a couple of weeks trying to decide if he really wanted to make the trip, Bill took the plunge, made sure Payton REALLY wanted to go, then paid some guy for game tickets and another guy for two bus tickets. The idea was really going to happen. The only thing that worried me was, "Who would take the pictures?" I mean, I am the only one who believes in pointing and shooting in this family, so I didn't think that there would be many photos to document this occasion.

I WAS WRONG!!!

Bill was a good boy. He took my camera. He took pictures. They were pretty good pictures considering I have one crappy camera. The following are the pictures he snapped while on he and Payton's grand adventure.

Pre-dawn fun just waiting to happen!

Adventure is out there! (On a loooong bus ride...)

Awww, I missed him while he was gone!

Da field. Da Team. Da Best!

You're going down, TCU. What is a horned frog anyway? Sheesh.

Tostitos and salsa on every chair in the stadium. That must have taken a.long.time.

Wook at does coot BSU fans! (Say that in a baby voice for full effect.)

Diggin' those BSU Bronco shorts!

No vegetables were eaten or harmed during the duration of this trip.

Bill's gettin' good with the self portrait taking!

The trip went great - for the most part. The Broncos kicked some horned frog booty and my boys were able to be there to witness it! Loud. Very, very loud!
The bus ended up breaking down in Las Vegas, but Bill is an excellent hitchhiker and managed to find a ride back to Boise with a friendly attorney from Eagle. Thanks to Scott and his son for letting two extra Boiseans share your ride! (And thanks for not being a serial killer! Kisses!)

Good-bye, Phoenix. Until next year. They'll fly down then. Maybe I'll go with them... After all, someone has to take photos for memories!

Christmas Break 2009

What a GREAT couple of weeks we had at the Ball household during our break from school. Alyssa got to come home for 2 weeks, we (well everyone except poor Bill) got to sleep in past 7:00, we ate what we wanted (when we wanted, then made more of what we craved, and are now paying the price...), we had a great Christmas day (it didn't even start until 7!), saw some excellent movies, got to take a rockin' body core fit class several times with Gayla (boohoo she only teaches at 9:00 and, unfortunately, I'm teaching school. Drat.), drove 2 hours to a natural hot springs, sat in the lovely water for an hour, then turned around and drove 2 hours home (I'll do anything for Alyssa...), had a great New Year's Eve with our extremely FUN friends (laughed and laughed and laughed some more!), and just relaxed knowing that the end of this much needed vacation would come way too soon.

I would love to show some really fun pictures of all these events, but for some reason, my camera is being fickle. I took tons of pictures but they are no more. Sigh. Tears. Sigh. Hopefully my techie daughter who attends school in another state will be willing to provide some tech support for her computer challenged mother. Huh, Lyss?

The following pictures will have to suffice. More will be added later if I can somehow retrieve them from cyberland.....

Wii Sports Resort and the nightly three point contest...

Reaction to Axe body wash, shampoo, and cologne. Yeah, he's 11.

My favorite picture of the kids - in the middle of our Christmas trash.

Checking out the new pillow-memory foam. Aaaaahhhh.

For some reason, Kourtni had way more presents than anyone else...

A new cell phone! Whooppee! Hopefully Mom can remember her number...

My new toy - a Macbook! I love to use it while reclining on the couch or in bed or eating my oatmeal, or cleaning the bathroom...

We've all been good this year!

Santa delivered WIFI to us and so we're all taking advantage of it! Except Bill - the cat's enough for him...

Traditional Christmas Eve dinner - pizzaaaaa!

Wow - it's a good thing all those other pictures were lost in cyberspace! That's a lot of photos...

Wordless Wednesday - How I feel about Winter/Christmas/Holiday Break...

I can't bake, but I can POP!

Lately the baking around the Ball house has been a series of tried and failed scientific experiments. Messes occurring before the oven is entered, messes occurring during the baking process, and a disaster when the finished product emerges from the oven. I'm not sure what's wrong with my baking skills as of late, but they pretty much suck.

I think there are several reasons for this inability to create a gastronomical success. Here are my theories:

#1: I didn't get the baking gene from my parents. I mean, seriously, how come my mother and sisters can bake and create beautiful concoctions, have a delectable recipe for everything, and present it in such a Martha Stewart fashion??? Huh, Mom, Teressa, Aly, Emily??? Not.Fair.

#2: I am a HUGE multitasker. I can't even watch TV without having laundry or schoolwork in front of me. So, when I bake, I'm usually doing laundry, the dishes, homework with the kids, cleaning the bathroom - (don't worry, I wash my hands), and getting dinner ready at the same time. I just listen for the timer to go off...

#3: I think people leave out ingredients or one step of the direction just to frustrate me and make my baked goods look like a science project gone wrong. This happened last Sunday when I tried to make a recipe from a certain blog. Let's just say, the blog was a total and complete lie. I think the recipe was made up and the pictures the blogger took were from some other place. My cookies DID NOT look like hers and to show her a thing or two, I deleted her blog from my sidebar. Yes, I am heartless! Nah, nah, nah, nah, naaaaah!

I think those are enough reasons to show my incompetence in the kitchen and around stoves. Suffice it to say that my neighbors will not be receiving anything baked, or anything that has to rise, be creamed, sifted, beaten, rolled out, set to a hard or soft ball stage. Nope. They'll have to wait for another, better neighbor to deliver those things.

However, lest this post seem too negative on my part, I do want to add that even though I may not be the baker in my family,

I can sure pop popcorn!

I can also put carmel on top of it!

And stir it through.

I can put it in cute tins!

I can deliver it to a couple of neighbors
(but only a couple since I ate most of it...).

Yep, that's what I can do this Christmas season.
I hope my mom and sisters can understand.

I'm just saying...

Where has the time gone? My mom used to say that the older you get, the faster time flies. Words of wisdom from a very smart mom!

I've been thinking about my lax blogging lately - due in part to my status obsession with FB. I figure, why do I need to blog when I can write a silly one or two sentence status that no one really cares about? hmmm. That's just it. No one really cares about a FB status and this blog is like my family's journal of the events in our life. So, here I go to get caught up with the happenings in life from the past 2 months. I know a lot of you might not care so you can just go back to check your FB friends' statuses if you want... heehee

The following are a list of things in no particular order that have been on my mind or happening in our life that I think about during the day, or that keep me up when I should be getting my precious 6 hours of sleep each night:

***That my purse is like my life in that it is cluttered, not sure what I'll find in the deep recesses of it, that I would be embarassed if someone peeked into it, starting to get worn out, but I still use it everyday and love the fact that it was a gift from a precious daughter who knows I like nice things to carry stuff in!

***That Thanksgiving dinner was really very tasteless to me. Everything on my plate was a pale color and not very satisfying. We all missed being with our usual company of Jeff, Tresa, Ryan, and Tyler. Her gravy is much better than mine and she decorates the table really cute. I also missed reading her paper and perusing all the ads after stuffing ourselves. Don't go away for Thanksgiving ever again. OK, you guys?
The leftovers we had on Sunday were, however, totally scrumptious! I wonder why that was???

***That I miss Alyssa being home. But when she is home, I worry about her and where she is, who she's with, what she's doing, why she hasn't called to check in, if she's driving safely, etc... That will never change.

***That teaching first grade is such a blessing for me this year! What a 360 degree turn around from the dregs of 5th grade last year. The funny thing is, those 5th graders from last year, who are now in 6th, are so happy to see me in the hall, give me hugs, tell me how great I am and how they miss me.. Um, kids, could we have seen a bit more "love" last year??? Yeah, didn't think so.

***That I feel so blessed to have a healthy family who are capable of playing sports at each season of the year and keep my driving skills up to date by dropping them off at practice, and picking them up, then driving to their games!

(I am serious about them being healthy- we are lucky.)

***That Christmas is going to be here in less than 2 weeks and I'm still not finished with my shopping and hope that I've made everything "fair" with the kids and that I hope I can get my mom's, dad's, and mother in law's gifts sent out so they'll reach them in time! Whew. I can really start to stress myself out at this time of year. I don't think that's the purpose of this season???

***That I can't believe I haven't even done anything for our Christmas cards this year. We took a few pictures downtown on Thanksgiving day but those turned out blechy. I had a clear vision of us standing against the old brick walls of beautiful downtown Boise, looking all perfect and card-ready, but when you don't have someone to tell you to move to the left, or put your foot there, or suck in your gut, or try not to look like a pirate, well, it's dang hard. Alyssa did a great job managing to balance our camera on the tripod on top of a garbage can, however. Self-timer just didn't cut it though, and we turned out grainy and awkwardly posed. We definitely need some re-takes, but Bill isn't as excited about old brick walls like me.

***That if I can never run again I will be the saddest person on the planet. Been too busy to actually schedule a PT appointment, been stretching, doing other exercising, and taking some Advil. Been adjusting the way I sit during long meetings at church, or while I'm on the computer. Been visualizing what it's like to have my legs carry me for miles and miles. Yep, I've been on the edge about this, but maybe once I'm home for more than a couple hours at a time, I'll actually do something about it...

***That I will be glad when Kourtni gets her license. That I will not be glad when Kourtni gets her license. I have very mixed emotions about that girl and her socializing skills. She feels the need to go to parties, bowling, movies, b-ball games, etc... but she has no way to get herself there other than ME! And, after all, I do have awesome driving skills thanks to running her and her siblings around, but, my word! That girl is on the go and that means that I have to be on the go as well. I'm too tired and old to be on the go like that, so it is really nice when another parent chips in to drive but that hasn't happened too much lately. Oh, Kourtni, I love you, I just get tired thinking about taking you places...

***That I live for the weekend. I get giddy when it's Friday! A little more sleep, a little more time at the gym, a little more free time, a little more time with the family. Can you say it with me, "Ahhhhhh!"

***That I love having someone other than me or my kids clean the house. Wow. That's about all I can say. Too cool to come home from work and have your home sparkling. To look at the shower walls and actually see, what looks like, your reflection in them. To have the dust bunnies removed from the ceiling fans. To have mopping done in the laundry room! To have each bedroom vacuumed on one day! To have my toilets look amazing! Wow. I'm definitely thinking about adding this luxury to our budget...Thanks Merry Maids, you did a phenomenal job! Can you come again???

***That it really is ok for us not to have Christmas lights on the house. We can just enjoy our neighbors' lights and imagine what our house would look like if it were trimmed in red and white sparkly orbs...Wow, it would look great! But, this is an extremely busy time of year for he-who-would-get-on-the-house-and-put-up-the-lights, and we're just grateful to see him before 9:00 each weekday night and occasionally on Saturdays. Besides, we don't need any broken bones, sprained joints, or twisted tendons from what might happen if we got up on the roof...

***That I really am grateful to have such a good group of people who surround me each day - my little family rocks! These 5 people in my life are forgiving, patient, obedient, wonderful, funny, smart, amazing, and loving. I don't know what I would do without their support and presence each day. I love my ball babies!