Last week, I was late picking up Zevan and saw a news crew on the corner by the school. When I went in to ask about it, I was shown an article in the Gazette Study urges closing 4 D-11 elementaries, expanding three schools to K-8. Buena Vista was one of the schools recommended for closure.

This came as a complete shock to me. I was unable to even comprehend what the article said – I just couldn’t believe that we would be considered for closure.

In the Friday Folders, we received a plea to write or call the board with why our school should stay open.

This past weekend, another article appeared: Will your child’s D-11 school close?

At drop off and pick up on Monday, I spoke with a lot of anxious parents. We have worked so hard to build this community! Emails were being sent. Letters and calls were made.

Tonight, at the November 12 Board Meeting, several people made heartfelt presentations to the board on why Buena Vista should be kept open as a Montessori school in its current location.

When one presenter asked for a show of hands of meeting attendees who were there representing Buena Vista, over a third of the room raised their hands.

After the Citizen Comment portion of the meeting was over, I spoke with BV parents and teachers in the lobby. We wanted to work quickly on getting our efforts more organized – particularly for the next board meeting.

So tonight I posted a plea in the forums to the West Side Moms to write letters – particularly those who have kids they would like to attend BV in the future, or even those who just want to support the alternative of a Montessori school in town.

And I updated the Buena Vista PTA website and passed the URL to people to sign up and get more information.

A few hours after the meeting, this Gazette article appeared: Lobbying to save schools begins

It’s difficult for me not to get emotional. I mean, I *love* Buena Vista. I can’t imagine having to move Zander and Zevan to a traditional school after they have been thriving in the Montessori program. I so want them to get the full Montessori experience through 5th (and possibly 6th) grade. Zander and Zevan’s teachers have been so wonderful, and the boys just learn so much!

I’m just sick over the possibility that they would close our school. I am going to believe that “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” and that the more vocal the parents are with the board, the better our chances of staying open.

If you live in Colorado Springs, please get involved – send email to all D11 board members, make a call. If you don’t, then please just send your positive energies to help keep our school open.

is headed to a District 11 School Board meeting to see if I can stop them from closing the ZBoy’s school. Oh boy.

my Twitterank is 3.67! http://twitterank.com/?u=thehealthymom

When jokes go too far
On the way to swim class, the boys were telling their jokes. They are very much into homonyms and words with more than one meaning.

Some examples:
What do you call root beer when you put it in water?
A root beer float!

What is Emmett Wolfe’s favorite animal?
A wolf!

What is not right, but not left?
Wrong!

For this last joke, I tried to provide an alternative answer. “Incorrect,” I said. That was brushed off. So instead, I made the wrong answer buzzer sound.

I have no idea how to write that sound my onomatopoeia skills are failing me. BZZZ looks right, but it sounds more like AHHH! or EHHH!

Anyhow, that sound just cracked the boys up. And every time they tried to speak, I would cut them off with the buzzer sound. This went on for several minutes, and all of us were cracking up the whole time.

Finally Zevan said, “Stop, Mom! My funny bone hurts.”

“Where’s your funny bone?”

“Right here. In my ‘mittle.’

I buzzed one more time and Zander scolded me, “It’s not funny anymore, Mom.”

“Why not?”

“Because Zevan’s funny bone hurts.”

Oh.

In the car last night –
Zander: Do we celebrate Veteran’s Day?
Me: Do you know what a Veteran is?
Zander: It’s someone who was in the Air Force or Army.
Me: Or the Marine Corp, Navy or Coast Guard.

Zander: You were in the Air Force, Mom?
Me: Yes, I was.
Zander: So we can celebrate you!

This morning, Zander calls up to me from the breakfast table: Mom! Did you forget about school today?
You don’t have school today.
Oh, that’s right! It’s Veteran’s Day! (to Zevan) Let’s celebrate MOM!

Happy Veteran’s Day to everyone who has served our country and is currently serving our country. Thank you for all you do.

I haven’t yet blogged about Race 3 of the Fall Series at Ute Valley. Because it sucked. I injured myself during Race 2 because I was competing with an 8 year old. That last long downhill, I pounded too hard, and that was that. I still haven’t recovered.

Photo by Dee Budden

The week before Race 3, I saw Karen at Great Moves PT (Jessica was out of town) and got the diagnosis that I am hypermobile on my right side and immobile on my left side. Not good. My balance is off. My left leg is longer. My right ankle is weak. The imbalance goes all the way to my shoulders.

She said she could get me through the race injury-free, but probably not pain-free. I’ll take it.

Race day was cold. I ran into Leslie at the bib pick up table. Then I found May at the starting line, with no sign of Candy. Tiffany was out of town.

May and I started the race together, but by the time we got to the sidewalk, I was already falling behind. 2.5 miles into the race, I twisted my ankle on a loose rock. Hard. I never fully recovered. I tried to walk it off. Then run. Then I had to walk again. I tripped on my long left leg 4 times and twisted my same left ankle twice again throughout the race. It was brutal. I walked a good portion of the race. And it was HOT. Sun beating down, no shade hot.

When my nemesis passed me, I was sure it was over for me. Here’s the think about these races – even if you are injured, you don’t have much choice except to finish the race. So I walked a bunch, ran as much as I could (which didn’t feel like much). I was running downhill for the finish and saw Doug and the ZBoys at the finish line. And, May, too I was just glad to be done.

My time is 2006 was 1:12:35. In 2007 it was 1:11:41. This year, it was 1:15:48. 4:07 slower than last year. Not too bad for all that walking.

But now I feel worse. My ankle hurt for several days after the race. Wednesday I tried to run with May and ended up walking. I tried to make up for the aerobic activity by swimming laps while the boys were in swim lessons. Swimming is hard work!

I had to get help. This time I saw Jessica. Twisting my ankle (multiple times) did a number on my right side. I was sent home with exercises and icing instructions. And told to rest on the running. So I did. I rested until this morning.

Today I ran with May – a short 4 miler – well, I ran 1.75 miles, then rested and stretched, then ran another 1.25 miles, then walked the last mile. When I started running, I could feel a strain in my ankle, which then moved to my calf, then hamstring, and finally the lower back. After my rest/stretch break, I went through the same progression. I am definitely changing to my new shoes for my next run.

I also swam today. 2 laps free, 2 laps breast, 2 laps free, 2 laps breast, 2 laps free, then basically an IM with the kickboard. My breaststroke kick is terrible.

I think I might go back to the P90X DVDs this week. I need to work on my strength and balance and flexibility. And maybe get under 130 lbs before I turn 40 next month.

We’ll see. Right now I’m wrecked. Totally tired and frustrated with my injuries.

When cousin Joshua comes to town, the boys are invited to spend the night with him at Grandma & Grandpa’s house. We like to take advantage of those evenings and have a date night.

So I dropped Doug and Jeff off at the All Colorado Beer Festival where he met up with Kurt and Mike. Then I took the boys over to Grandma & Grandpa’s house where we hung out and had lunch.

The boys were uber excited to see each other, and Zander was over the top, verging on overly rude, excited. I had to have a big talk with him, and I could seriously feel that he was inwardly rolling his eyes at me and just wanting me to leave. Sheesh! It was all I could do to keep my cool.

He kept heading towards the TV there and turning it on. I encouraged/pushed them outdoors to play soccer with Joshua and Uncle Greg before I left.

I thought I had time to stop at Target, but it was later than I thought, so I went straight to Tuscany Day Spa for a glycolic peel. While those are not as relaxing as a full on facial, that’s about all I could afford at the moment, and I really needed it – my skin hasn’t been great lately.

I nearly fell asleep in the chair, and it did turn out to be pretty relaxing. Afterwards, I went over to my mom and dad’s house to bring their mail in and feed their fish. I also picked up some laminate trim that my dad bought to see if it would match our flooring. I hung out there until Doug called for pick up.

I picked Doug and Jeff up at 4:00 PM. They were funny. When we dropped Jeff off, Johanna and Jennifer were outside with the kids, so we stopped for a chat. It was nice to catch up for a short time.

Then we went home, had a snack. Our house was cold for some reason – so we turned on the fireplace and then snuggled up on the couch to warm up. That turned into a phenomenal time for both of us. A great start to date night.

We snuggled up and napped/watched tv/listened to music. We had plenty of time to relax until our dinner with Tom, Georgiana and Jesse at 8 PM at Jun’s. It was really nice. Quiet. Low key. I threw in a load of laundry, checked my Facebook/email while he slept off his afternoon buzz. Then we both showered and dressed to go out.

We checked the Indy and found that Love .45 would be playing at Southside Johnny’s. YAY – I remember really enjoying that band. So we made plans to head there after dinner and hang out.

Dinner was great. Georgiana is Jun’s lawyer, so he kept suggesting dishes for us. I had a taste of this special tuna sashimi with avocado that was just flown in. Delish. I ordered from the Hibachi table and knew I had to wait until the next party was cooking. I had some tempura and a Mai Tei to tie me over. But it didn’t arrive. An hour later, they came over and told me that one of the guys from the table ATE MY FOOD that was cooked for me. They were very apologetic and said they would make me another. I waited nearly another 20 minutes before I got my food. Thankfully I had wasn’t crazy low blood sugar angry starving, but still, I was hungry when it arrived.

I was surprised that they didn’t offer us a free drink or a discount on our email or anything. Jun’s customer service needs a bit of tweaking, I think.

Despite that, it was a good meal, great conversation and a fun time.

We got to South Side Johnny’s and caught the last song of the set. But the break music was just my thing – some old school Rob Bass – It Takes Two. That set the tone for the rest of the night. When the band came back on, their set included Jessie’s Girl AND Talk Dirty to Me! Yes! Love it. Also some rocking more modern totally danceable tunes.

During the night, this woman called me over and complimented me. She said that I was “dazzlingly beautiful” and “so naturally beautiful.” That was a nice ego boost. I thanked her, embarrassed but pleased.

More fun cover songs (Personal Jesus, Blister in the Sun, Dancing with Myself), another set break, and another set, and then on the last set break we danced to Sugar Hill Gang’s Rappers Delight, which was abruptly cut off in the middle of the song. We took that as a cue to leave.

When we got home, we both checked email (nerds, we know) and went to the bedroom for some more fun time and then sleep.

I slept in until 10:00 AM this morning. Ahhh… I love date night!

is having a great night with my husband And now we’re going out for dinner then live music