How Old Am I?

Today I had to go to the podiatrist to get my orthotics. Yes- orthotics. That is a word I used to reserve for older women who had terrible feet. Until my feet started hurting!!! OUCH! I went in a few weeks ago to get that all check out. I went in and he said he would try to see if these would work. We tried a sort of "practice" one first, which seemed to help a little bit, but not totally. Also- he told me I was wearing exactly the wrong shoes and the wrong size shoes. Okay- now we are on to something! I can see that shoes that don't fit MIGHT hurt your feet. ha ha!

So after a few tries at different things, and the threat of a giant needle with cortizol, I opted for the orthotics. For those of you who don't know, you get a casting of your foot so that they can send it in to the incredibly overpriced company that presses some material together so they can call that a "device". That "device" then looks just like the insert you can get along with your tennis shoes already. Only in my case, I take out the insert I buy with my shoe, and put my fancy inserts in and strut around with that one in. Oh- Dr. Scholls- you have nothing on me!!

When I got the castings the Dr. says "OH- well I can see why you have trouble! Look at these?" Now mind you, "these" are castings of my feet. So basically he is saying "Look at your crappy feet!" ha ha! So he shows me that in fact it is a miracle in itself that I ever learned balance in the first place, because I don't even use my whole foot to walk on. Not because I like to walk this way, but because I have such high arches that they just don't touch the ground. Mr. Magoo has always commented on my arches, but mostly when we are at the beach and my "footprint" is nothing more than a heal and ball of my foot. (sometimes I get a sliver on the side to attach the two) If I lean though, I can get the side of my foot to make a print too! It wasn't until Mr. Magoo brought this up that I even noticed this was abnormal! Nothing like family to bring you back down from your "fancy foot cloud"! :P

Anyway- I did get to try the orthotics out today and it did feel different. They are much like contacts, in that you can't just go off and wear them. I get an hour today, two tomorrow...you get the drift! But I'm not allowed to exercise in them for 2 weeks so I don't hurt my knees or back.

I Said WHAT?

Have you ever wondered what in the heck you are doing? I sit back a lot and think "Wow- never thought I'd be doing this?" I always picture being in heaven and awaiting my departure to Earth. Talking to God and him going over this list and saying "Now- I know you aren't going to remember this when you get there, but here is a list of what you have signed up for." Then me laughing hysterically because there is NO WAY I'm going to do those things on that list. My list would consist of things like: Reading the same book 10 times a day; Living away from my family; Cleaning bathrooms; Scooping poop; Eating a slobbery bit of food when I little hand "feeds" it to you (and enjoy that!); Driving forever just to see someone for a few hours; etc. You get the idea!

During the day I just have to chuckle to myself and think "Well God- you were right!" I'm sure that somewhere I agreed to this, but I just can't remember when or what I was thinking!

Whew! One Big Laundry Pile!!!

Today my Mom and I did some serious laundry! Now to most people "doing laundry" means that the laundry is piled SO high that you have no clean clothes in the house. To me, that means that the CLEAN clothes have now piled so high the kids and Mr. Magoo have no idea where that other sock went so they can match up a pair! I don't know what the deal is, but my issue is not actually doing the laundry at ALL! In fact, I do about a load a day so that I keep up with all of the clothes. When the clothes reach the clean state, that is when I sort of lose all sense of focus. You sure would think that after years and years of training I would be able to walk a pair of socks or a clean shirt from the laundry room right into the closet. After all- it isn't like it is up or down stairs. No, it is just down the hall. Sounds easy doesn't it?!?

The worst part of laundry for me is seeing white clothes in the dryer ready to be folded. To me this means that inside that dryer awaits an insurmountable challenge. Find all matches of the socks and put them away. For some reason this is harder than any Sudoku puzzle I've ever attempted. Why can't all of the white socks make it to the same load??? There is always a leftover sock that I keep in hopes of running into its mate somewhere along the line of the laundry.

My wonderful Mom came over and helped me get it all in order again. I know now that the washer and dryer are grey. I had no idea. It had been too long. :P
It is SO nice to have it all done and I can start fresh! THANKS MOM!!!! :)

Subway Lady

We were at Subway today and a lady came in to order while we were eating. I have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. How do people live their lives in such a way that ordering Subway is something they think has to be done with flare?!? This lady starts talking loudly in a sort of fake sounding accent and saying extra things to the guy like "I HAVE to order these things! I'm buying it for my movers." and "My- they certainly don't like vegetables do they?" "Cheese? Well since they didn't specify let's just go with the 'regular' cheese. Who knows what they really want?" It made me want to say something to her. Does she think that movers are somehow a lower class than her? Or that people who don't order veggies are to be talked down to? Who knows? Of course, I didn't have the guts to say anything, but I did moan about what she was saying to Mr. Magoo at our table. Chicky Magoo 2 was with us, and she couldn't stop staring. She was quite a spectacle though! I just hope the movers she is taking this food back to can get through their day! Sheesh!

Are You Still Here?

Well- if you are still checking this blog after 8 months, kudos to you on your patience and persistence. I guess you figured that at some point I would probably be back to posting. I had thought about my blog a few times recently, and then sort of brushed it aside for Facebook for a while. I guess I liked the response on Facebook more than the blog. Blogging is like typing to "hear" yourself type sometimes. Often no on responds and you are left feeling like "is anyone reading this?" Anyway- it is therapeutic to me. So I'll try to get back into the groove again. Maybe I just ran out of things to say? Ha Ha Ha! Right- I know. (Insert peanut gallery comment here...)

We have recently gotten a new puppy. I have total mixed feeling about it, but then again, when is this not the case! Gizmo is okay with her. I don't really see BFF in their future, but you never know! If I see Gizmo buying 2 half heart necklaces and giving one half to Oreo, I'll let you know.

The kids are great! We haven't been in line this year to get the Guinness World Records for Most Time Spent In Time-Out, so that is a plus! I think they are growing up on me!! Either that or I am more oblivious! Either could be the case. :)

Well- here is hoping that you see another post in a few days. (but don't hold your breath)

The Trike A Thon

Chicky Magoo 2 participated in a Trike-A-Thon for St. Jude at her school this year. She was so excited about it and raised a lot of money for the event. The track was short, but they were to ride 50 laps, if they could. I think Chicky Magoo 2 was the only one with an actual trike, so her little legs were tired when she finished!

She was great in all turns except for turn 3. For some reason, she liked to take that one REALLY wide, and most of the time she would wonder off the track. Mr. Magoo finally moved down to that turn to try and get her focused enough to make a tighter turn! I think in turn 3 she noticed the outside lines and decided that those were the lines you should ride on!

Her teacher, Mr. Tim rode around in the green machine for his laps.

She was so proud of herself when she finished. All of the kids really seemed to love helping "sick kids" by riding their bikes. They used the event to teach bike safety too, which was good. So during the "race" they had cars made out of cardboard come across the track, which they called the driveway. Someone would yell "CAR" and the kids would stop while the car passed through the "driveway." I'm not sure Chicky Magoo 2 got this concept, because she would use it to pass the other children wide while they were waiting for the car to pass. So Chicky Magoo 2 learned strategy, while they were all learning bike safety.

Daddy, filming the last turn and giving a final high five! Go Chicky Magoo 2! 50 LAPS!

Wow! Something New!

For those of you who are anxiously awaiting another blog post (Hi Dad!) here you go!
Summer is officially here for the Magoo family! With it apparently brings storms and bad weather. :) We have had severe thunderstorms for the past several days, and a few times where we went to the basement "just in case!" The one good thing to come of it is that the kids seem to have little no fear of thunder anymore. There have been lots of nighttime storms, and not once did they come in our room or even wake up. Mr. Magoo and I were up saying "Holy cow!" But not the kids...they have been snoozing right through them!

These storms reminded me of when I was younger. My Dad and I loved to watch thunderstorms come though! We were careful not to pay attention to those silly rules, like stay indoors during a storm, or don't sit by the windows. If the storms were coming, we were out on the front porch. If they got bad, then we would go in and sit by the window to watch the lightening. Hey- if I could ride in a car without a seat belt and live to tell about it, then what would a little lightening hurt?!? These were the "good ole days" remember.

On one particular evening we were watching a storm and both happened to look at the house across the street. To our surprise, lightening hit the chimney of that house and blew the bricks right off! That was probably the loudest explosion I have heard in my life, but of course Dad and I were like "COOL! DID YOU SEE THAT?" "What? I can't hear you!" (just kidding about the I can't hear you part) If you've ever seen lightening blow something up, you don't forget it!

The other storm I remember well was when I was about 5 and Dad was taking me for a ride in the wagon. We were walking in the neighborhood, when all of a sudden right behind us it started raining. Not all around us, but right behind us in a small location. Dad took off in a hurry and ran towards a friend's garage that happened to be open. The coolest part is that as I rode in the wagon, I could see the rain line (if you want to call it that) spread out as if it was trying to catch up to us. My Dad had it too, if it wasn't for the pesky driveway. He was actually outrunning the rain. Now I know all of you think that your Dad's are Super Heroes, but seriously can they outrun rain? Think of getting to tell that story to your friends! "My Dad was so fast, he can outrun rain!" We were just outside the line of rain until we turned into the driveway, and then we got soaked! The guy down the street who's house we ran to just happened to be watching the storm come in and was standing in the garage. So- we waited with him while it passed and then finished our walk home.

Now what makes this story even more memorable for me is that this guy who's garage we were in looks like Kenny Rogers. Not a little.......A LOT! So in my 5 year old mind the story went like this. "We were in the wagon, when all of a sudden it started raining! My Dad was running so fast that he outran the rain! Then we hid out at Kenny Rogers house and talked with him while the storm passed!" Now see- doesn't that story sound made up??? You would think! But it DID happen! :)