SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!

I'm BAaaaaack!!!!!!  Are you shocked?!  Do I need to give you a minute to gather yourself and recover from the shock of seeing this blog updated?  I get it!  Day after day, month after never ending month of checking in and seeing nothing, and then SUDDENLY, you check in and BOOM...a new post!  I apologize for being remiss in my posting efforts.  I wish I could say that I have a great excuse.  But I DON'T!!!!  Life has just, you know...been happening!  For a while, I could blame it on Max because it seemed like every time I turned around, the kid was either on my computer, or in front of the TV right beside my computer...and I need to limit my distractions while I blog!  Otherwise I can't think straight and all kinds of crazy, disjointed, nonsensical stuff ends up on here!  BUT...Max moved out a few weeks ago.....soooooooo.  But hey...that's a GREAT place to start the catch up!

Max moved out three weeks ago into his own apartment.  He is living with three roommates, two girls and a guy.  They seem to all be getting along nicely and he's happy over there!  And that makes this mom happy!  He is working at a burger place, Jack in the Box and is putting in about 30 hours a week at this point.  He seems to like it well enough, though told me that when he works his longer, nine hour shifts, he is pretty uncomfortable.  Max has one leg that is shorter than the other by a little bit.  We had him checked out by an orthopedic surgeon  when he was in the 4th grade due to a severe limp he developed while we were walking all over Europe on vacation.  The discrepancy in leg length was the culprit.  It really hasn't troubled him too much since.  UNLESS he spends a good deal of time on his feet, in which case, he does have a good bit of pain due to being "off".  This weekend we are going to try to find him some better shoes, along with an insole for the one foot to see if we can even him up a bit and hopefully, make him a bit more comfortable.  He also has pretty flat feet....which isn't helpful from a comfort standpoint either.  But other than his sore feet/hip/back, he is doing quite well and seems to like living on his own.  He is getting life figured out, bit by bit.  He's cooking and cleaning up after himself.  Tackling his own laundry and hitting the stores when his supplies dwindle.  Clara is "starting to miss that kid", as she says, and is hoping he will get to join us for dinner one of these nights that he is free from working. 

Benjamin is working at Office Max and is liking it.  He seems to find it a bit boring, but "wouldn't want to go get a hard job like Max has."  So there you have it.  He prefers little to no action and getting paid for it.  While Max much prefers the faster pace!  Who knew?!  The adjustment has been a bit tough for Ben.  He's such an early to bed guy!  It's not unusual for him to be out like a light by 8:30 or 8:45 during the week, but then is an early bird, getting up again around 5:30 a.m.  His usual shift at the Office store is 4-9:30 pm.  Which is no big deal and not that late.  But when he has to come home and do a half hour to hour of homework, he's not getting to bed until between 10 and 11 pm.  Again...not an issue for your average high schooler...but it's throwing poor Ben for a loop!  He just doesn't operate well past 9 PM!  I'm sure as he continues the schedule, things will get easier for him!  He's gotten really into photography and has gotten QUITE good at it.  His passion is photographing cars.  The faster and fancier, the better!  He's gotten paid a couple of times for some of what he's done and is starting to get invited to car gatherings to take pictures.  He is also starting a photography club at school! 

As for Miss Clara...she's delightful as ever.  As intense and serious a student as ever any 7th grader in history could be.  She's after straight A's and nothing else will do!  She studies SO hard and it is paying off for her.  Her favorite subject this year seems to be Spanish.  She's soaking it up like a sponge and seems to have wiggled her way into the favorite star student spot with her teacher!  She takes after her mama!  In addition to school, she's dancing up a storm and LOVING it!  She got her very first pointe shoes!  OH MY!  She is SOOOOOO excited about that!

And yes...that's my little ballerina there on her toe!  SO proud of her!  In addition to her regular ballet classes, the studio she dances at called and requested that Clara specifically dance in the Nutcracker this Christmas!  We had not planned to participate due to all the extra practices and the craziness of the holidays...but since they specifically asked her to...AND made an exception and let her skip the warm up because we can't be there after school quite that fast, then we agreed. So far, she is dancing three dances in the Nutcracker performance.  I can't wait to see her up on the stage!  Her dancing makes me happy, happy happy!  She's growing up so fast!  Can't believe she is 12 already!  Here's a picture from her birthday....this girly just makes me smile!

These are her in her new room we made over for her birthday! She was in heaven! 

What else?  Well, Chris is working CRAZY long hours right now.  It's really crunch time with their company and he's burning the candle at both ends these days.  We don't see him too much, except to watch him sleep, poor guy.  This too shall pass, and we are hoping the worst of the push is behind him and he can just work regular now!  Not that that in and of itself is a cake walk.  But we will gladly take anything less than 90 hours a week! 

And then there's me!  What am I up to now that the kids are back in school and Max has moved out?  Well....Clara keeps me busy reading ten thousand different homework reports, etc.  I am currently in Civil War hell.  She just sprung a new two part project on me to be dealt with in the next couple of weeks.  For one part, she has to rewrite the Gettysburg Address in her own words and deliver it to the class.  She wants to take it up a notch and dress as Abe Lincoln to do it.  Okay.  Check.  Thank goodness it's Halloween time and there are beards and hats galore easy to find!  I got this.  Then she springs part 2 on me.  None of the choices are good...but I went with what I THINK may be the lesser of all the evils.  We She has to construct a diorama of a famous civil war battle.  ARGH!  Can you say "PAINFUL"?!  But it's better than the map with umpteen battles and their descriptions labeled or the 5 minute newscast interview at a famous battle.  Ya know why?  Because I looked on Amazon and this mama can purchase a civil war plastic soldier playset, complete with soldiers, flags, covered wagons AND scenery playmap for $16.  Soooooo, with that in hand, all I will need will be some fake grass, some boulders (and let's face it...I live in rock heaven) and a whole lotta glue and BOOM!  Project complete!   Wish me us her luck.  She's never constructed a battlefield, and neither have I...so this could get touchy! 

And when I'm NOT doing 7th grade civil war homework?  Well...I have a new fitness passion!  Pole Fitness has recently come to Oro Valley.  Before you get all excited, let me tell you that the class is taught in a children's dance studio, by a very strict mormom MOM.  So it's not a spicy, sexy, crazy kind of class!  Two or three days a week I go to Pole Fitness where we do lots of pushups, tricep dips, squats, every kind of sit up and ab exercise you can imagine and pull ups.  Then one day a week, I do a Spins class.  In that class, you get to USE all the muscles you've been building up in the fitness class.  And boy do you need muscles!!!  I had NO IDEA the kind of strength involved in this sport.  And I have a new and healthy respect for pole dancers...I don't care WHAT kind of dancing they are doing.  That pole stuff is TOUGH!  I am amazed at the strength I have gained in that class in just a short time.  Of course...it hasn't all been smooth sailing.  Three weeks into my classes, I dislocated a rib.  OUCH!!!!!  Talk an injury that is HARD to forget.  I pretty much thought about it with every single breath for three weeks straight!  I FINALLY felt better and go the go ahead to try it again on my birthday!  I was SOOOOO excited.  Couldn't get to class fast enough that morning.  Of course...I had lost all my muscle in the three weeks I was sitting out and couldn't really do much and was no longer brave on the pole.  As a matter of fact, I was a total chicken and could only manage a couple of spins!  Spinning does NOT come naturally to this mama.  Throwing yourself around a slick, HARD pole and spinning at wild speeds while you try to hang on and not get completely dizzy...THAT has taken a LOT of mental exercise!  Everything in my head says "DON'T DO IT" sometimes.  And when it comes to time to let go of the pole with one hand...while you are spinning...my head is like "Oh NO YOU DON'T".  Sometimes the workout is WAY more mental than physical!!!  I am just not a naturally brave person!  Apparently I'm not the most coordinated either!  I've only been back in class for one week since my dislocated rib.  Today was my second spins class since the rib.  And what happened?  I managed to break my toe!  That's right.  CRACK!  Don't ask me how I did it because I'm sure I don't know.  I'm guessing one of my landings was a little less than graceful?  But who can say.  Now my toe is throbbing, swollen and a nice shade of blue/gray.  I also have a major "pole kiss" on my inner thigh as my instructor calls them...translation: BRUISE.  And it's a doozy!  I can only imagine what it's going to look like tomorrow or in two or three days!  I'd like to say I'm bringing sexy back like the Justin Timberlake song.  But let's face it...it's not going well!  I'm battered and bruised and my pole work is anything BUT sexy.  As a matter of fact, I'm sure the vast majority of the world would have themselves a great laugh is they could see me there swinging er, attempting to swing around that pole!  I have a LONG way to go!  I need a stronger grip, more muscle strength, WAY less body weight would certainly help, oh, and I need to work on being able to do some splits.  THAT would be useful as well.  Just, you know, the regular goals of a 43 year old mom!  Anyway.  That's what me and the rest of this household has been up to!  Hope you enjoyed this update!  I am off now, to tape and elevate my pretty blue toe!  Then it's a full afternoon of dance for me with the princess as she works her Nutcracker magic!  Hopefully, I will be back soon!  Until then!  Enjoy one of our STUNNING recent sunsets!