Ice Terrace-Khary's First Time

i took khary to the crown center ice terrace this afternoon. it was his first time skating and MY first time in at least 15 years. surprisingly, the only time *i* fell was when he pulled me down (for fun). not surprisingly, khary had as much fun lying down on the ice and scooting on his hands and knees as he did skating.



and boy can that kid skate! with his newly blackened eye (no idea where it came from, but i suspect a pretend rescue from his bunk bed) and helmet, he TOTALLY looked like a hockey player.



my favorite part of the afternoon, though, was when he was finished & sat down. i wanted to take a couple more laps, and he cheered for me as i skated around and around, lol! "go mommy! yay, mommy, yeah! wooooo!" :)



ps-all photos are from my palm, so they're kinda small, which is a good thing, given that they're only 2mb, i think. ;)

oh, and also...

i want to start the wheels turning on organizing a hiking group at swope park. ppl are paranoid of going to swope park, despite its absolutely gorgeous hiking trails and central location. (gasp! it's in teh city, though...)

yeah, so i think that'll be one of my homeschool co op offerings: hiking in the city.

i hereby resolve...

here are just some ideas about what i want to accomplish in the next few months. not necessarily resolutions, per se.

1. FINISH MY MASTER DEGREE!
back when i got all knocked up and shit with khary, i was in the MPA (Master of Public Administration) program at UMKC. all the nausea, sleeping 12+ hours/day, etc, prompted me to opt for "incomplete" status in three of my courses. the only things i needed to do for each of the classes was finish one more paper. 3 papers total, for those keeping track. so sadly, i'm only 3 papers shy of a master degree. not that i'm going to go off and quit my current gig as a SAHM, but i want to mark that goal off my "to do" list, yk?

2. Become a Runner Again
in my journey to regain "runner" status this past year, i managed to have a fabulous first trail run in years. until i broke my ankle, anyway. so i got to spend most of the summer on my duff and hopped up on pain pills. (okay, i wasn't on the pain pills for *that* long, but July 18 to August are pretty hazy.) once this cough i have is gone, i'm hitting the elliptical in the basement in order to get my body and my ankle back into running form. i won't break any records (hopefully no more bones, either!), but just being able to get out on the trolley trail for a jaunt whenever i feel the need to burn off some energy/frustration will be so welcome.

3. Get on Top of My Food Allergies
i am 99% certain i am allergic to wheat/gluten, but there are other allergies going on that i haven't been able to pinpoint. in the next week or two, i'm getting my blood test for 200 foods/additives so i can make healthier choices. last year, when i was gluten free for several months, i happened to lose about 15lbs without "trying." i imagine something similar will happen whenever i figure out what foods i can eat without triggering some serious and chronic immune problems.

4. Calm the HELL down
i yell a lot. too much. i feel bad about it, but that doesn't fix the problem. we got a "nonviolent communication" guide and workbook that are already helping a little bit, and all i've done so far is read some of the guide. there are several other families who have the book with whom i hope to form a study and practice group.

and that's what i've got for now. i think that's more than enough.