New Hôm Nay

MauldenNews January 2012

No pictures this month...camera fatigue from Christmas, perhaps? Sorry, you'll have to use your imaginations...


Every new year brings new experiences, some anticipated, some not. A few things that were new for us this month:


- We started speech therapy with Sam. He tends to "stutter" when he gets excited, only I didn't really recognize it or think of it as stuttering.... he often repeats a whole word or phrase several times, often at the end of a sentence more than the beginning....anyway, we are learning and playing new games at home, and Sam is happy to have new ways to earn lollipops.


- Alle's new thing is selling Girl Scout cookies for the first time. She had her whole sales spiel memorized and performed it for all the neighbors and anyone who would listen. She even told everyone what cookies she thought they should buy. She really wanted to earn the prize for selling 1000+ boxes...funny how they have NO idea what is realistic at this age. 


For some reason being the mom of a Girl Scout feels like such a new and foreign phase of parenthood to me. But it's good. I like her cute little Daisy troop and I feel very domestic when I iron the patches on her uniform.  We sold 61 boxes and I took the opportunity to order all the kinds I had never ordered before. Now I need an excuse to have a cookie party.


- We tried a couple new foods this month -  fresh fennel (in salad with oranges & red bell peppers) and parsnips (julienned and roasted with rosemary and thyme). I thought both were good, even though I'm not a big fan of anise flavor. Why a green bulb should taste like black licorice is beyond me. Sometimes it's like a game to find new stuff in the produce section, since a lot of it is not labeled, at least here. It's also fun to stump the checkout person when buying weird vegetables. Next time I might try rutabaga if I get brave.


- I've taken a break from running and instead I'm doing a new workout routine called P90X. I'm 3+ weeks into the 90-day program. It's a good change and good for core and overall fitness... The strategy is "muscle confusion" ... I think I'm successfully confusing my muscles. I was skeptical about the kenpo kickboxing, but I'm even enjoying pretend-punching and kicking more than I thought I would. 


- Status update on my 21-day challenge: I'm still at it! My wristband is wearing thin, but my complaining frequency has definitely gone down. Yay! It's amazing how automatic complaining is for me. Sometimes I just can't think of anything to say that's not a criticism or complaint so I am learning to just...be quiet. I liked what one finisher said - when we keep our complaints quiet, it's easier to hear God speak to us. 


- I'll close as usual with my Book Pick of the month: Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner. The author grew up Jewish and is now Christian. Really liked her interesting perspective on Jewish practices like keeping Sabbath, lighting candles, mourning, prayer and others. 


- May you all be happy and at peace. Keep in touch.