Archive for March, 2007

IT’S MATT WERTZ DAY!! AND THE BEGINNING OF SPRING BREAK FOR ME! Okay so spring break technically doesn’t begin until like 5 tonight when I get off work, but who says I can’t be excited right now?!? That’s all I can really think about at the moment.
Tomorrow we’re going to brave the GINORMOUS crowds and try our hand at the Cherry Blossom Festival. We’re taking the metro, so we can avoid the frustration of finding (or not finding) a parking spot and we’re taking lots of snacks and food and hopefully can find a patch of grass to chill out on, read, listen to our ipods and maybe get to see the kite-flying exhibition. I was looking at all the activities held around and/or at the festival, and there are some really neat things going on. A lot of them cost money (boo), BUT I found something I REALLY want to do. It’s a Japanese Lantern tour of the cherry blossoms. It’s free, held on certain nights from 8-10 and they provide each person with a japanese lantern. HOW amazing does that sound? It reminds me of when we lived in Germany and we went on this kinder-march and every kid had a lantern, it was so magical. Memories like that sometimes get confused with dreams in my mind. AH!
Okay, I gotta go do like a bajillion things.

LOVE!

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Okay, so I’m still feeling a bit sick. The nausea lasted from Friday til yesterday and now, thankfully, is gone. My body still isn’t back to normal though. I’ve eaten a lot of cornflakes today because I can now eat food without forcing myself and/or immediately regretting it. Today I feel SO much better than I have in a week, so that is good. Still working on getting better though.
God is teaching me a lot about letting go of things. I have such an issue with control and I don’t even realize that I’m not letting God in, not considering His will. Although I realize that trying to completely control things is an act of defiance and therefore, sinful. I need to work on praying ceaselessly, so I can be in His will, ever-mindful of His presence and His desire for me to let go. Of course my controlling things does nothing good, and, truth-be-told, He doesn’t need my help in orchestrating my life. I mean I want to help and I want to be a vessel He can use, but first I need to remember He’s there and has it all under control. I was thinking about it last night, and I cling to things so dearly sometimes. It’s as if I believe that thing I’m clinging to is the end-all-be-all and the best it’s gonna get for me and that’s not true. I don’t know what God has for me, but I know it’s better than what I have for me! So, here’s to letting go, holding loosely.

LOVE!

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Okay dear xanga-friends, first of all, THANK YOU to those of you who prayed. I actually felt better after I posted my last post and I believe it was because you were praying, yay! I AM feeling better, though not 100%. I guess I should explain what happened. Well, I can only assume I caught what the boys had, some sort of virus, perhaps the stomach flu. There was much pain, much nausea and much wanting to die. There was also much laying completely still in bed. Thankfully the boys were wonderful and left me alone when they came home from school (Loren even gave me a gentle hug) AND the great Cecilia came over and took care of me and brought me Gatorade, yay. So anywho, things have been getting progressively better, though I was still quite nauseous this morning and haven’t really started consuming real food again. The thought and sight of real food makes me want to lose it, so yeah. Sorry if that was TMI.
It is quite a lovely day outside, and it makes me sad that the state parks don’t open til April here. It would be perfect to go hang out at Burke Lake today (not to mention FREE), but no, we shall wait. NEXT weekend, Cecilia and I are making big plans my friends. It is the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which will be crazy I’m sure. We’re gonna pack a lunch, bring some books and sudokus and hang out. There is supposed to be a kite-flying exhibit-thing too! It’s supposed to be 70, which equals perfection. Y’all should come join us!!

LOVE!

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I…am….so…sick. I feel as though I’m dying from the inside out. If I lay really still in bed it’s almost like I’m not sick, and this is how I’m able to write on xanga. Please pray for me.

LOVE!

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Okay, lots to tell. Maybe not as much as I thought, but we shall see. Yesterday Loren went to school and spent the whole day there (yay). I’m not sure if this is because he got genuinely better or because I told him that he couldn’t have waffles until he had gone a whole day without being sick. Yes, I know it would have been awful for me to bribe him into faking being well so that he could have waffles, but I really don’t think this was the case. So this morning he had a homemade waffle, and when I say “homemade” I mean, from a mix but made on my waffle iron. The bad news was that yesterday Alex AND Koda (the puppy) were afflicted with this business. Alex stayed home from school. Today, however, EVERYONE went to school, okay maybe not Koda, and everyone stayed at school, which was good because my boss took the car and I would have had no way of picking any sickies up today.
Secondly, CECILIA F. RIESTER STARTED WORK YESTERDAY! Praise the Lord! I’m so excited for my lil workin’ girl. She’s gonna be my sugar-mama (right, C?). hehe. But seriously this is great.
Thirdly, I got GREAT news yesterday. My cousin, Tim, who is a Marine fighting in Iraq, is coming home! He should be home by the beginning of May and there will be a celebration with lots of family on Mother’s Day. So, never one to waste time (ha), I promptly began searching for plane tickets home for that weekend. After talking with my boss (I worked it out so I only miss half of a day of work on Friday and half a day of work on Monday, quite a feat if you ask me) I booked a ticket. I don’t believe I’ve ever traveled so much in my life! Of course I got all emotional when I emailed my family and told them I’m coming home and I’ll get to see Tim. I miss my family a lot, and I’m so proud of Tim. I’m really excited!
I’m trying to catch up on LOST episodes today, despite the beautiful weather calling to me to come outside and play. I haven’t watched LOST since the end of February, it starts at 10 here, and I just can’t do that. 10 is my bedtime. I just love that show though. When all other shows let me down or randomly interject reruns, LOST is there (okay so it did have the longest hiatus ever this winter, but at least it’s consistent now). The episode I’m watching is so funny too. AH I love it.
God is so faithful and truly showing me that He is my joy and strength. I can’t rely on ANY other thing to make me happy, I’m getting it. What a great Dad He is.

8 days til the Matt Wertz concert, woo!

LOVE!

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Well today was DAY 2 of Loren’s mysterious illness series. Apparently over the weekend he got sick and it continued into the week. Tell me if you think this is weird, he threw up at his friend’s house (sorry for the grotesque details) then continued with the planned sleep-over. I guess I thought throwing up at a friend’s house warranted going home and cancelling the sleepover. I dropped him off at school today at 9 (a little later than school starts), only to get a call at 10 saying “he’s not ready to be at school yet”. Not wanting this to continue on for forever, I emailed his father and suggested taking him to the doctor. Off to the doctor we went. Oh did I forget to mention that after dropping him off at school I drove to Cecilia’s place so we could fight the “crazy-Riester-girl-blues” and go get coffee together? I had been at her house oh, about 5 seconds when the school nurse called. Ugh. So I turn around WITH Cecilia in the car with me (a MUCH needed diversion) and went to pick up Loren. Then we went to the doctor’s (not without stopping at Starbuck’s first, I’m the worst nanny I know). We got an appointment a mere hour away (unheard of at military clinics I tell you), so we drove around to kill time, then came back. We meet with the doctor, who mostly chats with Loren about symptoms and how he is feeling. After the exam is about over, Loren speaks up with this little treasure, “I made some nachos on Saturday and whenever I think about them, I get a headache. I think that is what made me sick.” Doctor: Hmmm. You are making me hungry. haha. So now Loren is on a “simple” diet (aka soup, crackers, water, NO dairy) until things look up. He has eaten nothing today and I practically have to force him to drink Gatorade. Can you get sick like this from being malnourished? I wonder…

Here’s hoping that tomorrow we make it through a whole day of school.

LOVE!

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Well it’s been awhile my friends. I had to restart my computer thus logging me out of xanga until now! Now I’m at Cecilia’s place basking in her wonderful internet service.
We’ve had quite a weekend. Friday night was pure craziness. You know when you look back on a night or day and you see about a million things that were pointing to the fact that you should NOT go ahead with your plan? Well this is how I look at Friday night. It started with me running around trying to pack to come to Cecilia’s, then running to catch the 5:44 metro train, which then did not leave til more like 5:50. Anywho, there was much chaos to ensue. Friday was a late night.
Saturday we got up and headed into DC, which was FRIGID and bitterly windy. We went to eat at a famed pizza place, which was very good. We had to wait for a bit though, and a lot of strange people bumped into me because there wasn’t really any place to wait to get a table. In case you did not know, one of my pet peeves is strange people touching and/or bumping into me, ESPECIALLY when they do not say “excuse me.” Ugh. From there we went and saw The Namesake, yay, I got to see it! We missed like the first 15-20 minutes, but the rest was really good. I highly recommend it, although be warned there are a few scandelous scenes (I closed and covered my eyes). No sightseeing this weekend, it was TOO cold and it was requested that we do something that does not involve walking.
I didn’t have much to say, but I will leave you with a nanny conversation. To back up a bit, Loren went on a field trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Me: How was your field trip today Loren?
Loren: Good.
Me: Did you see the Hope Diamond?
Loren: Yes, but now it’s on a necklace. The last time I saw it it was all by itself and this big (gestures to suggest the Hope Diamond was the size of a basketball).
Me: Oh I wonder what happened. Did you bring it home for me?
Loren: NO, there was a guard there (said very seriously).

Guess I won’t be getting the Hope Diamond anytime soon.

LOVE!

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I’m peeved that The Namesake isn’t showing anywhere around here. I feel like I’m back in Kansas where viewing an independent film was unheard of. Actually I saw my first independent film with my mom in KC, it was The Bread, My Sweet, and still holds a special place in my heart (I bawled through like the last half…I need to buy that movie). I thought I was moving to the “big city” which of course meant I’d be able to see any movie I want on a whim. To be fair, I did see Notes on a Scandel in a non-arts movie theater here. But that had a preview of The Namesake, which I’m now really wanting to see. They are taunting me…
God is teaching me a lot about having the BEST as opposed to the good-enough-for-right-now. I need to have patience and be in His will.
I’m really missing having a piano around. I want to start taking lessons, after my mere 7 year lesson-hiatus. Tonight as I was out on my walk I saw into a house with a baby grand and, not to be dramatic, but I ached to touch it. I miss playing. Maybe when I’m home this summer I’ll catch up, although that piano has not been tuned for like 15 years. Maybe I should find a piano store around here and go in everyday, haha.

LOVE!

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So, the heat is not working here at the house. Apparently there are two separate heaters, one for the basement (where I live) and the main floor, and one for the third floor (where everyone else sleeps). The heater for the third floor works just fine. Saturday night we (Cecilia and I) got all bundled up and went to bed. Sunday night I was on my own and it seemed much colder. I wore two sets of pj pants, one pair of thick socks, a t-shirt and hoody sweatshirt, put hot water in the hot water bottle, cuddled up with it under a quilt and duvet. It got quite cozy and I lived through the night (yay), though I do wish I had worn a hat or something. Now I am down here merely trying to exist withou the aid of heavy blankets, and it’s FREEZING. I bet it’s mid-to-upper 40s down here. An electrician is coming today, so I’m hoping tonight I will sleep with heat!! I can’t get anything done without the heat. Not to be explicit but I can’t even take a shower because the thought of taking ANY layer of my much needed clothing off makes me shiver. Maybe I should get a space heater.
I must go before I get frostbite on my fingers from typing. Wish I’d finished those mittens, though they wouldn’t help much with typing.

LOVE!

ps. Just so you don’t think I’m a wimp, it is currently 34 degrees outside right now and it got down in the 20s overnight…it’s not like 70 outside and I’m whining because it’s only 68 degrees inside. I’m no wimp!

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the more photos I promised, I can post now because I am at panera!

6. the attractive sad face I made because we couldn’t take a tour of the actual Ford’s Theatre

7. me outside the B-E-A-D museum, wahoo!

8. C outside, can’t you just sense the exhiliration?

9. C SO ready for bed, cozied up in bed because it was like 50 degrees in my bedroom. Isn’t she cute?!? Oh I must say that I had said something to make her mad and she said back to me, “you can’t tell but I’m scowling at you right now.” hehe

enjoy!
LOVE!

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