A January Meltdown

It might be freezing outside, but thanks to our own Hurricane Mateo, we got to experience a meltdown of major proportions on our way home from Bemidji today. Whew, was it a doozy! Every few months it seems we are treated to one of these very special episodes. Maybe he was just trying to warm things up because, granted, it has been ridiculously cold as of late. But not to worry, within the first few minutes of our drive home, Troy and I were getting a little hot under the collar from the whining, crying, and forceful demands of an over-tired three-year-old.

Mateo was in one of those moods that no soothing, consoling, deal-making, stern-talking, hair-pulling, time-out-threatening, computer-time-privilege-yanking, out-of-control-child-ignoring parenting tactics would resolve. After a full twenty minutes of whining turned to yelling, crying turned to sobbing, and kicking his feet so that his boots fell off, he finally wore himself, along with our patience, out. At one point, Mateo told us he wanted his grandma because she was nice and we weren't. Oh, and did I mention the three times Troy had to stop the car and pull over after Mateo unbuckled his car seat strap because he wanted me to be his "friend" and sit next to him?

About three minutes before we got to Bagley, Mateo realized that he was tired and actually agreed with me when I told him he should rest when we got home. The last few minutes of the ride were blissfully quiet! As soon as we got inside the house, I settled Mateo in for a nap that took all of a minute before he fell asleep.

Unfortunately, he didn't sleep as long as he should have. As I write this, Troy is dealing with another time-out. I think this January deep-freeze is making one little hurricane a little stir crazy!

Baby, it's cold outside

It's almost mid-January and the usual deep freeze has descended. The forecast for the coming week is supposed to be well below zero every day. As Minnesotans we hunker down and take pride in our ability to brave the weather and conduct business as usual. I liken it to the really, really hot summer months of the south where you dash quickly from the house to the car after you have given your car the appropriate time to cool off. Well, here in northern Minnesota, we dash quickly from our house to the car after we've given our cars the appropriate time to warm up. If you're native Minnesotan, you rarely wear boots, hats, or scarves. I've people watched during the coldest times of the winter and am always amazed at how little we bundle up when it's really cold. I always get a kick out of pictures of celebrities walking around in LA with hats, boots, scarves in the fall when it's probably a chilly 70.

This post is a little rambling, but the whole reason I wrote about the cold weather is so I could show my summer flower pictures in hopes of a little warm inspiration. I am very convinced that I have yet to find my natural (warmer) habitat.

First Blog of 2009

Christmas vacation is always such a highlight. We traveled, visited, ate, stayed up late, and even managed to get a few things done around the house during the few days we were home. It's the last night of Christmas break and school starts again tomorrow. It's going to be a busy January with a slight transition since Troy is student teaching for the next three months. I've been spoiled by just having to get myself out the door before eight (and even that is sometimes a challenge). Now we will be sharing bathroom time and attempting to get Mateo up and ready by 7:45. Poor Mateo has no clue what he's in for. He's been used to sleeping in until 8:30 or 9:00 for the past couple years. On the bright side, maybe he'll be ready for bed a little earlier than 11:00.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, blessed new year! Here's hoping Troy, Mateo, and I somehow magically turn into early birds.

Good news

I was reading through some past postings and thought I would update you on what has transpired since the "unemployment" post. Despite the loss of Troy's job and the frustration with the unemployment red tape, a few very good things have happened. Troy is almost finished with all of his coursework. He was able to get placed in Bagley to student teach which will begin in January. He was able to have a second appeal with unemployment, and we are waiting to hear what the judge decided. We have been waiting for a few weeks which we hope is a good sign. Last time he was denied, we heard back within two days! And the best news--because he is a "dislocated worker" he qualifies for services through Rural MN CEP, an agency that helps people find jobs, and they are paying for his spring tuition! The tuition is roughly the equivalent of what he would have made had he stayed at the radio station working part-time and gone to school.


Last year I had the realization of how important it is to focus on the positive things in life. This has helped me as we have made adjustments with job loss, income, etc. Through life's ups and downs, the Lord shows Himself faithful in ways we would never have imagined.

Words that make sense

Here are a few words in Mateo's vocabulary that make pretty good substitutes until he gets the hang of the actual word.

Real word
1)M & M's
2)Bo Peep
3)hop scotch
4) Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer

Mateo version
1)nummy nums
2)Bo Sheep
3)hop chalk
4)Reindolph

Early warning signs?

Should I be worried that my 3 year old is exhibiting some signs of OCD? Like for example when he has to make sure the DVD has to be turned so that it's right-side-up in the DVD player before he closes the lid? Or when he spotted a Kool-Aid packet lying on the floor in Wal-Mart and made me put it back where it belonged? Or when he always locks the inside lock on the car door next to his car seat? Or when he noticed among the colored row of beach buckets on the floor in the dollar store there was a green shovel in the yellow bucket and told me to put the green shovel in the green bucket? Hmmmm...

Where did the time go?

It's the middle of December and my last entry was November 4th. Where did the time go? For posterity (a word that my mom likes to use) I am going to do a quick fill-in-the-blank summary. The first part of November had me making preparations for Mateo's third birthday party which we celebrated with family and friends on November 5. My extra-curricular at school, the junior high play, was in full swing. I had to get 21 kids ready to perform the weekend of the 21st. The weekend after Mateo's party, we spent time at my parents for deer-hunting--not to hunt but to hang out with cousins which is always fun! It brings back memories of the good old days. The next week the play did go on despite two kids not being in the show--one exit was more dramatic than the other. The main thing was that everyone had finally learned his/her lines. The following weekend we spent a long weekend in Coon Rapids for Thanksgiving and had fun at the Mall of America with Mateo. After that it was back home to get Christmas decorations up, cards mailed, and cookies baked. I have also been doing some preliminary speech stuff after school getting geared up for the 2009 season. Today is Sunday and if it weren't for the blizzard outside, I would be getting ready to play Mary in the church Christmas program and then making gingerbread houses after the service. Believe it or not, I'm really okay with staying at home, relaxing, and not doing a whole lot of anything for just one day!