The "what I want to be when I grow up" job!!

let me begin with what a pleasant surprise it was viewing my blog with comments!! Thanks guys!! - man though, I guess if I dish it out I need to be able to take some criticism too. I apologize for not blogging enough or razzing cows in western Kansas (it was a shock to see the cattle prisons but I'm sure there are happy cow farms out there too!!). Jill - we miss you too and want to come up to KC at xmas time - we'll work something out. We had an AWESOME time in Dallas (I'll post pics this afternoon), we visited the Zoo, science museum, JFK museum, hockey game, big mall...it was as good as I thought it would be.

Now....the big news.... I got a new job!! I will be the new full time television producer for KPTS (the local PBS station). Man, I am SO excited. I've wanted to be a full-time producer for forever and I LOVE PBS (watch for me on many annoying pledge breaks to come). It's going to be a change to move from suits to jeans. but it'll be great to be out there shooting and editing every day. The gang over there are fabulous and I'm just so excited!!! Stay tuned for video clips of my productions and great production gossip stories!!

Giving Thanks in Dallas - a random post

I've come to the conclusion that I'm not as creative or witty, or committed as I'd like to be in these blogs. I think the lack of commitment may contribute to the lack of creativity and wittiness but the jury's still out. It's a little depressing as well to constantly see "no comments" on every posting...like why bother writing when no one's reading? I have NO idea how many people actual read this thing so speak up and encourage me to keep on truckin if you like-a what you read-a (pathetic attempt at wittiness). We are off to Dallas tomorrow for a little vacation. we have no agenda besides catching the Stars and Maple Leafs hockey game (what a "Canadian" thing to do given the fact the virtually the whole rest of the country wil be watching football). Euge and Josh will take in the Grapevine Skatepark with half-pipe ramps big enough to earn Euge's approval. I plan to veg..alot...work's been as hectic as it always has been, and the house, pets and kids never seem to get any easier. I will forever remember these years as the "tired" years - happy, but tired. A few days away from it all will do us all some good- my friend Jessie offered up her place and she's coming up to Wichita for the weekend - truly a noble gesture to turn your house over to a family with 2 little kids - eek!! (I plan on keeping the kids in the car upon arrival and putting away all the breakeables right away). So...no schedules..no cooking...no housecleaning ...no pets (we got the pet sitter)....and no work. Sure, the whole extended-family, home-cooked thanksgiving-thing has a lot of bonding moments we'll miss...but we'll have to make do with a stress-free buffet brunch, hockey game, and sight-seeing. haha.

Coincidences, Connections, Craziness

You know the 'Six Degrees of Seperation" rule - well, in Wichita, Kansas it's "one degree of seperation". This means that no matter who you meet here, you'll both have at least one friend/aquaintance in common. This has ceased to amaze me after living here a while (I used to proclaim "you're kidding I know them TOO!! so much I started annoying myself) - it's a small City and subcultures are tightly connected - but a coincidence this past weekend blew my mind. We were at Benton Airport for Eugene's dept. picnic (super fun - Josh got his first plane ride in a Stearman Bi-Plane) and a cool-looking couple show up. The guy had a friend who was a pilot at Benton who told him that there was an event going on that days (ours) and he might be able to score some free place rides. The plane rides were over but once the Stearman Pilot (Sam Gaymar the ex-astronaut who'se been up in space 3 times and comes straight out of the movie "the right stuff") learns that the visitor-guy is originally from Poland, he takes him over - on the tractor of course - to the neighboring house, where there are four Polish student pilots living there. Sam takes the guy (I can't remember his name - let's call him "Sal") into the house and to go meet the students. One of the students looks at "Sal" strange and says "wow, I used to know a "Sal" back in Poland, he was my next door neighbor. "I know" said "Sal", "I'm him." Can you believe that? Two next door neighbors from Poland meeting up in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. The world is a small place and if you're open to opportunities and willing to take a chance, you can make connections everywhere you go!

GREEN TIP OF THE DAY: In honor of "Blog Action Day" I'm referring you to some environmental blogs that are popular on Blogspot - take your pick and read one - there's a blog listed for every taste and interest:

http://greenfuture.blogspot.com/ - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.

http://consciousearth.blogspot.com/ - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.

http://greenskeptic.blogspot.com/ - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.

http://thelazyenvironmentalist.blogspot.com/ - Sustainable living made easy.

Wanted: Friends

I was just sifting through some facebook pics and blogs of people I know and made an unsettling discovery - I am devoid of a "friend clan". See, being a transplant, having 2 kids, working full-time and volunteering extra tiome with media-related undertakings (Visioneering, film fest, etc) is great for my career life, but has done nothing for my social life. In Oregon, Eugene and I had an awesome pseudo-family of friends - they were all transplants too, all had little kids, and were all liberal "screw the system" hipsters. We all had little kids, celebrated holidays and birthdays together and just had a blast hanging out. God, I didn't realize how much I missed that until now. I'm a super-social person - but I don't think I've set aside the time and energy neccessary to invest in any meaningful relationships with people here (the one I did have moved away - damn you Jil!!) - especially other couples with small children, and I admit, it's kind of lonely. So, I'm being proactive and putting out a call for entries - if you are fun-loving, fairly liberal (sorry, bush-lovers not allowed), have or like small humanoids, and enjoy get togethers at various places around town - we're in!!

Stuff

I took these pics over the weekend - Genevieve and her stuff. She can't go anywhere without carrying some sort of makeshift purse and a plethora of crap. I worry these tendencies will turn her into a "bag lady" when she gets older - or at the very least a pack-rat.

My editorial advisor (Euge), is insisting I write about yesterday's windshield-wiper fiasco. Our windshield wiper had fallen off last week and in true Lardizabal-Jenkins style, we didn't bother (or know how) to replace it until it started pouring rain yesterday on our way home from the mall. So of course I can't see anything and we turn into the nearest cull-de-sac to avoid crashing into whatever we can't see. Anyone who lives here will groan when I mention that the neighborhood we are driving through is Eastborough. This is a neighborhood that has such a superiority complex that it became its own city....in Wichita. It has its own police, piddly "City" hall, and a speed zone of 20 MPH just so that the police (who have nothing else to do) can nail anyone who goes even 5 miles over that (my theory is they use the money to throw a "we're so great" party every year complete with radar guns as party favors). So anyway..we drive under a tree to avoid getting totally soaked and Eugene hobbles out (his ankle is still bandaged up and he has one of those cast-boot things on) to try and put the windshield wiper on. After about 3 minutes of sturggling and getting wet, the house we're parked next to opens its garage dorr and there's a family standing there. The wife proceeds to yell at Eugene that we're parked on their lawn (like one tire was on their grass) and to get off their property. Imagine this scene for a couple of minutes - a guy in a cast in the pouring rain with his family in the car, trying to put a windshield wiper blade on and all they can do is stand in their garage and yell at us? This is a great opportunity to warn those of you out there about the power of Karma. If you see such an opportunity to help someone in need and do not take it - well, you know the saying "Karma's a Bitch?" - enough said.

school schedule mayham

Sometimes I think it would be easier to give up fighting the system, quit my job, and spend the day shuttling my kids back and forth to various committments b/c it sure seems like the schools do not want both parents working. I found out yesterday when I picked up my son at 5:15pm, that he doesn't have school for the rest of the week. They're doing the "DIAL" mandatory testing on each kid for half an hour each and apparantly they can't handle conducting regular classes at the same time. Now I admit, I got the letter home saying they're doing this testing and that Josh wouldn't have "regular classes", but I didn't interpret that as "no school at all for three days straight". I've been spoiled with preschool, where, if your kid doesn't have class, he goes to Adventure Club: the after-hours care. I have Josh in "latchkey" (God I hate that term being a lowly latchkey child myself during my elementary and middle school years) and they posted their notice YESTERDAY AFTERNOON that there would be no latchkey Wed, Thurs or Fri. Now, Euge and I are transplants here, which means no family or close ties with moms that have nothing better to do than watch our kid for 3 days straight. I couldn't skip work for the rest of the week and neither could Euge. I thought fast and raced to preschool daycare where I begged the admin head (literally crouched and had hands in praying motion with a pitiful look) to take Josh in the preschool class. The Gods must have been smiling on me because it turns out a kid was sent home throwing up that day and that meant there would be a space for Josh today (the Gods were obviously not smiling down on him - wonder what he did?). Thurs and Fri looked good too. Now I have to find a way to take him to his scheduled testing time tomorrow morning, when I have 4 meetings scheduled back to back at the same time (I already called Euge and he has an appt with an orthopedic surgeon he's waited 3 months to get). I think I'll leave it in the hands of the Gods again (you can tell I'm a huge Battlestar Galactica fan), I'm too tired to stress about it.

Hockey time in Kansas

My little guy starts "Hockey Skills" Class tomorrow - I can't believe how excited I am - you'd think he just got drafted by the NHL or something. I think it's inbred in Canadians to put their kids in Hockey - I say "kids", not boys, because last time I went home to PEI it seemed there were just as many girls playing hockey as boys - awesome stuff. Euge and I were a little apprehensive about Josh's skill level and how he'll do tommorow, but after taking him skating for his last practice on Saturday, we feel better. I think we've officially graduated to the next level of parenting: the "teach your child a skill and and follow-through" type of parenting - which we've never done before. We're the reigning kings of half-baked parenting - one swim session here, one bike-ride there, 3 weeks of rock climbing, then 4 weeks of basketball - it's like we're actually passing on our ADD to our poor kid, who will never really learn how to do anything well. It was different with skating though- there's a lot monre at stake. There's the money involved (actually the grandparents bought the skates and equipment - amazing grandparents ), then there's the time involved to learn how to simply skate, and then there's the whole cultural thing. We faithfully took Josh to the rink twice a week for an hour each time - and each time we saw him get better and better. We added his equipment on piece-by-piece to get him comfortable skating in it and by the time last Saturday came along, he was zooming around the ice with full-equipment. I know this is so mom-ish but he was SOOO CUTE. I can't wait until tomorrow to see him in action. As a reward for all the hard work he (and us!) put in, we bought NHL tickets to see the Dallas Stars take on the Maple Leafs over thanksgiving weekend in Dallas. The seats are in the front section and I'm telling ya - as a Canadian, it'll be worth every penny!!

lippy

Have you ever bitten the inside of your lip, and then KEEP biting it accidently whenever you eat? it's...really....annoying (and painful). I am housekeeping my office this week - color-coding files, getting rid of documents from 2005 that I"l never need (until I throw them out of course). It's all very liberating and feng-shui-like. I think I'll buy a plant over the weekend and name it Hank.

Green Tip on-a-budget tip - start your own office-recylcing effort if no one recycles office paper. I take 3 boxes from work every Friday and recycle most of it but then I always have paper available as well for my own home printer, kids' art projects (paper-mache heads!!), and paper in general. You'll actually save money on this one and your eco-concious efforts will rub-off on others (my co-workers are now very good at putting all their office paper in the recycling boxes).

b-day weekend

As far as over-30 birthdays go, this was a pretty good b-day weekend. Ran the Wichita half-marathon (started feeling the blisters that now cover my right foot at mile 6 so that was not too much fun), had brunch at Ben and Sam's (AWESOME food - like "I can't believe my luck at be-friending gourmet chefs" food), and went out for Japanese steak house last night (the kids LOVE it). We were supposed to go up for a flight with Euge but the winds were really strong and sitting on the runway in that rinky-dink plane, my gut just felt uneasy. I looked over at Eugene and I could tell he was torn about what to do. The winds were really borderline "too strong to fly" but that plane was rocking pretty good and we were still on the ground! After a few minutes and checking the weather again he looked over and said "I just don't feel comfortable". He made a good call as the "Pilot in Command" - I was pretty proud of him and really relieved this birthday wouldn't potentially be my last! haha.



running...and running....


Finishing at last!!



Behaving ourselves at the Japanese steak house


The chef putting on the show


Catch the Shrimp!


Where did it go??

Ode to Oprah

I recently started using my DVR for good things (not that Spongebob, Dora and Diego are bad but after 60 saved episodes of each it becomes turtuous). I started recording Oprah to watch after I put the kids to bed. Watching the shows again was like being re-united with a former BFF. I admit it, I LOVE the shmaltzy "we can all be winners...live your best life...accomplish your dream" shtick that she spoon feeds us every day. It's like wrapping yourself in a warm fuzzy blanket. I laugh, cry, cheer and get totally sucked in and begin living the gospel. I've followed Dr. Oz's advice and rid my fridge of foods containing sugar, enriched flour and partially hydrogenated oil. I try to "pass it on" every day and do good deeds for strangers (some days smiling politely at chronic compainers is the best I can muster), I even started believing that maybe I can accomplish my own dream of being a successfull freelance video producer/journalist, live on the ocean or in the mountains (I'm not too picky -either will do), travel the world with my pilot/rocket scientist husband and gorgeous kids during the summer, all while being deliriously happy and then featured on Oprah herself! OK, OK, I agree, a lot of it is totally fake and corny, but I've realized that Oprah's biggest appeal is that it inspires you. You see every day people doing wonderful things, and it takes a little away from the sayings "I could never accomplish that" or "what can I do? I'm only one person." It's a great escape into optimism and I always want to accomplish a little more after watching. And after retiring up to the bedroom, guess what I can read before going to sleep? You know it - the "O" Magazine!

Thrifty Green Tip: Don't idle your car - it's a myth that cars burn more gas starting up than sitting there idling. If you're waiting for someone or something, just turn the engine off. You'll save emissions, AND gas money.

Better late than never

I hawked newspapers for United Way last week outside my work. Denise Neil (a columnist at the paper) was there too, so we hung out and made the best of it. Most of the time I was there (6:30am-8am) it was dark and quiet. The DJ from Power 93FM was there too and I love how they always make it sound like there's a BIG party going on wherever they are - I mean I wanted to go there too until I realized I was there and it was just the three of us, and a random car that would try like hell to avoid eye contact until we pretty much had to jump on the hood waving like idiots. Denise just emailed me the pictures she took and I guess I'd better abandon any plans I have to do any sign-holding jobs after looking at that first picture - nice. I redeemed myself in the second picture though.

In other thoughts...Joshua's teacher asked to speak to us last week after school (uh ohhhhh), but it was good news. Seems Josh scored so far off the charts in the mandatory reading comprehension tests that he will now be spending a few hours each day with, not first graders, but SECOND graders! If you're a diligent blog reader you'll know that I predicted my son was a genius way long ago.

I watched the Travel Channel last night, which is a big deal b/c the kids take it hostage over the weekend until I'm stuck with the theme song of "Diego and Dora" stuck in my head for the rest of the week (why does Dora get only a "backpack" when Diego gets to have a "rescue pack?" - sexist). Anyways, the program showcased the natural wonders of the earth - Amazon River, the Gadaloupe Islands (spunds like that anyhow), and the world's tallest waterfalls in Venezuela - MAN I wanted to go see all of them - I'm a traveler at heart and have been fighting the desperate urge to go off travelling again. I used to go overseas every year until the kids - yes joys of my life etc etc - how can I find a job travelling and producing TV programs? ahhhh, Travel Channel! Now I need to convince Euge to move to DC - NASA's Goddard Flight Center is there, should be a cinch.

Green Tip of the Day - The Eagle did an awesome 2-page article on re-useable shopping bags (I know, everyone outside of Kansas is like "well duhhh"), but local folks - these are great. They costs under $2 each and save plastic bags from polluting lakes, or just sitting in landfills for like thousands of years (they don't desintegrate). The reuseable bags also save the energy and resrouces going into making the plsatic ones. They're stronger, save you a ton of trips back and forth unloading your groceries and they're totally hip right now - you'll be the envy of the parking lot!! Dillons Marketplace sells them now, and offers recycling for plastic bags. Just get one or two each grocery trip you make and you won't feel the cost at all.

Back in Time

As part of my "Duties as Assigned" at work, I'm working half-time at Old Cowtown Museum - It's a living history museum that's in bad need of a facelift. We had a special VIP kick-off event yesterday and I decided to have fun with it. I got help with the costume closet and dressed up in 1880's period dress. OK, if you're a good sport and a tad narcissistic like me, this is a great gig. As one of the "Townfolk" I had people approach me, get their pictures taken with me, and just smile a lot more than usual. I adhere to the Sesame Street principle of "the more we get together, the happier we'll be", so I had a great time. I was also so impressed in talking with the other real-re-enacters, how dedicated and passionate they are about the place. Most have been volunteering for like 10 years and just love it (this is like EVERY weekend without pay). I can see a little now why they love it - it's a little bit of an escape, like playing house in a make-believe little town that's life-size!. I had fun during my time there and can now say I think it's a place worth visiting - just slow down and be sure to spend some time talking to the interpreters - their knowledge and attitude are a welcome change from the hectic pace of everyday life.

Blogger's Block

I know I know...bad blogger....BAAAAD blogger...This is a great examploe of putting too much pressure on myself. I was so set to re-vamp the tired old blog, to launch the New, Improved "Dot on the Map"...To incorporate a constant theme....That I instead became overwhelmed and did nothing. Then I realized:

No one reads this stupid blog but me (oh and Jennifer - Sorry Jen!!).

My life just ISN'T that interesting.


I really don't have the time or energy needed to make this a must-read


So...if you like random thoughts, stupid pictures and random postings, this is the place for you!


Things I thought to write about this past weekend:


Web Videos: I happened to teach a series a video production workshops to our newspaper, and know that all the papers and TV news sites are jumping on the "must have video on our site" bandwagon. But I realized over the weekend that the vast majority of us still use the internet to 1. read gossip (MSN's most clicked heading), 2. watch STUPID videos, 3. find out if that icky-looking rash is really leprosy or not (God bless webMD).

Kansas State Fair: Check out the pics above. OK, word of advice to the Kansas Tourism Bureau: do NOT, I repeat NOT use the fair to profile how culturally enriched Kansas is. All I can say is 6 teeth per family (my facebook page has a great video of the pig races if you're interested).

My son and my bum: He loves it, I don't know how to handle the obsession. He'll hit it, hide behind it, laugh at it, what's the deal? I happen to think I have a pretty great booty myself - is it wrong to be flattered? Five is a very obnoxious age.

Cheap Green Tip of the Day: fill big water bottles and put them in the back of your toilet - it costs nothing, takes 15 minutes and will save you gallons of water every day.

Stay Tuned for more fascinating random thoughts!!

Va-Cay-Yay!!

Tomorrow I am going on Vacation to one of my most favorite places in the world - Banff, Alberta. We're actually going to be camping with Eugene's parents in Kananaskis Country but it's all the same - tons of mountains, wildlife and nature. I won't bore you with all the wonderful details but here's a list of things I look forward to:

- No work for 2 weeks - AND no cell phone or blackberry service in the mountains (so REALLY no work b/c these days we all know how that goes).
- No cleaning or cooking!!!
- Built-in Babysitters! (Eugene's parents)
- Scenery that goes up (aka mountains)
- trail running
- Visiting the Columbia Icefields on a cool ice-climber bus
- Early morning hikes in the mountains
- Downtown Banff
- Seeing my family (again! - my sister lives in Calgary and my brother's visiting)
- getting to spend more than 2 hours a day with my family.

Pictures to make you jealous (from top): Kananaskis Country where we'll be camping, Banff Springs Hotel (where we got married!), Downtown Banff.

My Inner Child

I made it back from PEI this week. It was a marathon of a trip - Leaving Wichita on Thursday morning at 7am and driving 3.5 hours to Kansas City (3 hours at the speed limit my ass Mapquest!), Flying to DC, Customs in Halifax, then driving 3 hours (actually my brother Jon drove) to PEI to FINALLY arrive at 3 in the morning. My brother's currently living in PEI, and my sister Alyson flew in on Saturday morning. The three of us being together is always a pretty wild time - I honestly don't know many siblibngs who are more loyal to each other than we are - we will tease and fight with each other but God help anyone else who tries to come between us. PEI has some pretty strong emotional ties for all of us -The Jenkins' have lived in the same little community in PEI for eight generations - I kid you not - we were on PEI before the bloody Vikings. I spent the happiest and saddest moments of my childhood there and everytime I go back there's no other way I can describe it but "home". How can a place create such strong emotions? It is the memories? the familiarity? The family roots? Whatever it is, I cannot be cured of it. They say maritimers are among the most loyal people to their birthplace. Most of them leave when they figure out they need to make a living and "Unemployment Insurance" is among the top career choices available, but they ALWAYS come back. We have a couple of friends from Newfoundland who were living out the American dream in Oregon - she was a well-paid nurse, he was a well-paid engineer, they lived in a big house, rode around in a convertible and went sailing on their sailboat on the weekends. But, being from Newfoundland, home called to them and they could not ignore it. They're currently fighting storms, waves and physical reserves to sail up the East Coast back to Newfoundland - the Northern tip mind you - to settle and take over the family business. This dedication and loyalty to one's roots gives me hope. I worry about the loss of culture and identity in our homogenous society. I am inspired by my friends' loyalty and commitment to their culture and their home. Being home this last time has also settled some conflicting personal issues for me and helped me decide to also be loyal to my roots. That's why next year, I'll be introducing my past to my children, when I take them to PEI for the summer. They'll meet a whole family they didn't know they had, play in the ocean, pet farm animals and eat garden-fresh vegetables. They will help keep my past alive, and also help bring it into the future.

Gramma Jean

Well it's 9:30pm and I'm packing to head across the country into a different country tomorrow morning. My gramma Jean died this morning - she went to sleep last night and just didn't wake up - she was 88, no major health issues, still lived in her house and drank beer straight from the bottle - we all loved her. I haven't even had time to be sad about it, since I've been to busy dealing with work, teaching, groceries and the logistics of "how in the hell am I going to get there by tomorrow night?". PEI is not the easiest place to get to. A flight from here to there costs $1500 (I know!!). So, after spending an hour on the phone this afternoon with Eugene and comparing online travel sites and airfare prices ("change the date, ok, now change the destination airport, ok now change the arrival airport"), I found a "clearance fare" from Kansas City to Halifax, Canada - a 2.5 hour drive away from PEI - for $700- we shuffled the credit card balances around and grabbed it. Thank god my boss was really understanding and there was no crises going on at work this week (but there goes my easy "rest of the week" - read previous blog below). I'll take the camera - my family should provide some amusing photo opps for sure - and report on how it all went when I'm back on Tuesday.

Super mom - Yeah Right

I apologize to my loyal readers (yes, you two) that I haven't written in a while. You can usually assumer super-bloggers are really busy when they haven't written in a while (or else they're just in a lame patch and have nothing to write about). I know I'm lame, but I've also been super busy - teaching a kids documentary filmmaking camp (awesome), producing a video for our congressman and chair of the National Endowement of the Arts (also awesome), Flying around in an airplane (more on that later), planning out an editing workshop I'm conducting tommorow at the Eagle, sending out invites for a pizza party for my 5-year old on Friday night with 10 of his closest friends, - oh and I also have a full-time job, 2 kids, husband, dog and a house that never seems to get fully cleaned.

"Wow, how impressive" you might say, or "how does she do it?" - well...I can't.

Things came to a bit of a climax last night. I had worked all wekend on a "wichita's Public Art is great!" video, spent Sunday running 5 miles in the morning (oh yes - I'm in training for the sept. half-marathon), 3 hours at the airshow (105 degrees on the tarmac), and then racing to meet the DC folks at the art museum at 3:30. I knew I had a full day on Monday and I also realized I was expected to attend the post-event dinner at 6-8pm. Now, I signed my daughter up for swim classes on Mondays at 5:30 to have some mommy-Genevieve time and I was adament I could do both. So there I was racing from work after a full day of events and presentations, picking up my daughter at daycare, throwing Capri Sun and Gogurt (best invention ever) at her to choke down in the car on the way to the Y. I got through the class with her, got her dry and changed in break-neck speed, while also trying to look my best with wet hair and bad makeup, met my husband (who was getting certified in belaying because Josh has taken up rock climbing), and left her crying in his arms (" No work mommy, no work again"), I sped half-sobbing to the hostess' house, where I downed 2 glasses of wine and did my best to be charming and hob-nob with the DC crowd. Uggghhhh.

You know what's really sad? This scene is actually pretty typical of many moms out there. We grew up with our moms working and not "being there" for us and vowed not to do the same for our kids, But then we get out in the real world after college and realize that most of us either have ambitions of our own, or just plain have to work to keep a roof over our head, so goddammit we can do both. The fact that I spent 30 minutes in swim class makes up for the fact that I couldn't put her to bed right??? I spend the weekend doing fantastic, exciting things with them to make up for working all week - that evens things out right?? We fly up to Canada and spend 2 weeks with the grandparents to make up for the fact that they are not around for the rest of the year - the exciting vacation makes up for it right?

There are no easy answers out there - It is fiscally and emotionally impossible for me to stay at home with the kids - Euge and I are ambitious, active people and we like to do things that usually cost money. But we are also assessing our values and trying harder to live our lives by what's really important to us. I hope we can find a middle road and alleviate some of the guilt on my part - which interestingly enough, Eugene feels none of - another paradox of dads and moms' roles in society...but that's for another day!


In other news...Euge finally got his Private Pilot's Liscence and took us all up for a flight on Saturday!! I was initally nervous but settled down right after we started taxiing down the runway - The "pilot" was all professional and cool and he totally knew what he was doing. The flight was awesome - I was totally impressed with my husband - he rocks!!

Attention Everyone

I've been having a hard time focusing on things lately. Thoughts race through my head at lightning speed and and I have trouble concentrating on one thing at a time. I was watching TV yesterday when a commercial came on for Adult ADD. There was a lady in a meeting at her work and her thoughts were wondering around aimlessly and her boss had to snap her out of it. "I have found the answer" I thought - "I have adult ADD".

My intensive research into the matter (google) came up with a handy selection of questionnaires that you simply fill out to determine of you in fact, do have adult ADD. Sample yes/no/sometimes questions included:

1. At home, work, or school, I find my mind wandering from tasks that are uninteresting or difficult.
2. I say things without thinking, and later regret having said them.
3. I fidget or squirm with my hands or feet when I have to sit down for a long time.
4. I have trouble wrapping up the final details of a project, once the challenging parts have been done.

OK now I was convinced, I really DO have adult ADD. With each questionnaire came a handy drug associated with it to soothe your uncontrollable impulses and put those fidgety hands at ease. Strattera claims it delivers focus, calmness and is non-habit forming. Sign me up!! Ohhhh...but then I read about the side effects - Nausea, Tiredness, liver damage and (my personal favorite) suicidal thoughts. Hmmm...fidgeting vs. wanting to kill myself - that's a real pickle. Luckily there were plenty of other drugs out there, but they all pretty much came with the same negative baggage. I then logged on to the National Resource Center on AD/HD (attention-Deficit Hyper-Activity Disorder) and it stated that "unfortunately, there is no simple test (like a blood test or a short written test) to determine whether someone has AD/HD....Accurate diagnosis is made only by a trained clinician after an extensive evaluation. This evaluation should include ruling out other possible causes for the symptoms involved, a thorough physical examination, and a series of interviews with the individual (child or adult) and other key persons in the individual's life (for example, parents, spouse, teachers, and others)."

That got me thinking about those questions listed above - I mean, am I crazy to assume that we all try to avoid boring tasks, say things we later regret and squirm once in a while? Maybe I'm just in complete denial but those tendencies all sound pretty...dare I say..normal? I'm sure there are legit cases of Adult ADD out there, but I worry that these drug companies are encouraging people to take drugs who may actually just be just bored at work. As for me, I'm going to keep practicing my meditation, really work at calming my mind (no more 3-cup of coffee days), and I heard that fidgeting actually burns tons of calories - so I'll keep squirming away!!

Summer Time!!

Wow - I can't believe summer is upon us. Here in Kansas we've had such a wet Spring that it hardly seems real that it's almost the end of June - normally I'd be peeling the clothes away from my skin it's so hot and humid here (the first time I visited Wichita I wondered how anyone could have decent hair.) As you may have already gleemed from previous posts, I'm a hyper goal-oriented person that needs constant and ever-changing tasks to stay amused. Yes, it's a throwback to a childhood filled with a TV for a babysitter, a real dutch babysitter that would feed us milky, sweet coffee and sugar sandwiches for snack (mmmm...sugar...), and an unstable adolesence to say the least (we won't even go there). Anyhooo... I'm not going to use excuses for being a little crazy but instead embrace the fact that I'm always up for trying something new, look forward to challenges, and have a lot of positive energy to keep up with my darling (ahem ahem) children, husband and job.

So..Summer Goals?

- Read a couple of great books - Nothing inspires me like reading about someone else's adventure through life and having a life-altering experience that makes them a changed, but better person - I'm open to suggestions.

- Watch a couple of great documentaries - again, open to suggestions

- Take the fam. to Oceans of Fun in Kansas City - our family LOVES waterparks

- Become involved in our local film commission - it hosts our annual film festival (http://www.tallgrassfilmfest.com/) that is growing every year and it's a great opportunity to meet more film and video folks.

- Learn to relax more and enjoy the moment.

- Do something video-related every day - I need to hone my craft (which is also my passion and fules creativity and happiness).

- Go on more dates with my husband - sometimes the ones dearest to us are the ones we take for granted the most.

- Get the family to try more new things - there are a lot of cool things happening in Wichita (which I learn about thanks to my newspaper and online news site (www.kansas.com). Every weekend is filled with free, fun and interesting things to do. I'm really commited to getting out and supporting local efforts at revitalizing our downtown area.

- not over-plan and over-goal.

yay for summer!!

1 week Meat-Free

Well it's been one week living meat-free for me. Thoughts:

- I didn't lose a pound, but feel much lighter.
- I have more energy and don't feel as sluggish as I usually do after I eat.
- I haven't had this much gas since I was pregnant (they say this will "pass" - haha)
- overall, I think it's a good start and I've decided to stick with it.

I didn't fare as well on my other goals of cutting out sugar, salt, caffeine and other fatty foods. I've really tried limited my dairy consumption to low-fat or fat-free, and I haven't been adding salt to foods, which is an accomplishment - for me anyways. I feel like I'm cheating since I still eat fish, but maybe I'll start decreasing that too (but not shellfish - never!!). I have certainly eaten more veggies and fiber than before, and my body feels good for it. I also feel good about the switch from an environmental standpoint and ethical standpoint. The only thing that had always bothered me about vegetarianism was the perceived self-righteousness that goes along with it. I'm going to take the advice of the Dalai Lama - he says that buddhists should always practice vegetarianism and look for a vegetarian option, but if none is avaliable, you are to to accept, be grateful, and eat the food that is presented to you - meat-free or not. I like this because my upbringing would never allow me to turn down a meal someone prepared for me as a guest in their home because I decided to become a vegetarian (I know this seems wimpy and I do respect those who feel differently).

Enough about me - Eugene got his Private Pilot's Lisence - hooray!! I think it is so cool that he accomplished something most people just put on their "things to do before I die" list and forget about. Of course it doesn't hurt that he's a flight test engineer - unfair advantage. Maybe I'll get my liscence to and we can be like the "Danger Bay" family (Canadians would get this reference to beloved CBC cheesy favorite) and all fly planes and helicopters simultaneously :)