Ringadingding

Hidy Ho all.

I am so happy because our refrigerator was fixed today. It broke on the 4th which made fixing a special 4th of July meal difficult. It is an interesting experience not having a freezer at all and the fridge part not work very well. I kept asking myself what people did before freezers and such.

The kids are doing well in Karate. This is so good for them. They are learning respect, self-discipline and exercising to keep their bodies healthy. The price seems expensive but when you break it down it is actually a good deal, especially here in Manhattan. At this point I am still too chicken to do it myself. Maybe once the kids are back in school I'll take lessons too. I'd be discounted because two from the family are already taking lessons. We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes.

Carlos got braces. I feel like I am married to a teenager. Seeing the braces brings back so many memories. No gum, no corn on the cob, aching teeth, cut cheeks, funny sounding talking. I'm glad that the experience is over with. Of course it was worth it for my fantastically straight gorgeous teeth. Luckily, Carlos only has them on the bottom row of teeth. The dentist said that he had too much space which was causing the teeth to constantly shift around. As a result the bone never solidified. If he doesn't have it taken care of he will loose his teeth. Not a good thing.

Ethan's drawings are becoming more and more complex and detailed. He truly is an artist. We all love looking at his creations. Right now he is interested in drawing inventions and Spiderwick creatures. Funny boy.

Jane is such a good example to me. She keeps her room so neat and organized. She even enjoys picking up and organizing the boys room! Lucky for Carlos and Ethan who don't seem to enjoy doing it themselves. Jane got a haircut and she looks soo cute. She works very hard on staying healthy by exercising everyday and brushing her teeth. She is amazing.

We are going on a trip in August to upstate New York. There is a cheap cabin that we are renting for a week. I'm really excited because it is cooler up there and there are trees and nature and stuff. It is right on the border so we are going to visit Canada while we are up there. For the kids there is a pool so we can go swimming every day. I'm counting down the days.

I'm starting to read this book called ADD-Friendly ways to Organize Your Life. It seems that I might just have ADD or at least have many of the symptoms. For example, I try to do everything at the same time and as a result I overextend myself and burnout. Then of course I don't finish the task. I also easily get off-track, like when I go to clean up and see a magazine that I haven't read and before I know it I've spent the last 30 minutes reading it. Another big one for me is what they call going into micro-focus. This is sooo me. I get lost in the details instead of focusing on the main task. And it's true for me that many times this happens as a way to block out the overwhelming feelings. Another symptom is that I have a poor sense of time. I underestimate or overestimate the time a task will take. I get stuck and resist moving on to the next task. In kid terms I don't transition well. Another symptom that Carlos will readily agree to is that I have a tendency to over complicate things. It is always surprising to find yourself described in a book.

Have a good night.