Dasrren's brother, Keith, is going to be a diving judge at the Summer Olympics in Beijing! Here's an article on him. Pretty cool. He's really a terrific guy.

We're having weird weather. It's snowing a ton right now, and the wind is blowing at about 40 mph. It is no fun being outside--it feels similar to having one's skin sandblasted and then the sand melting off. Not that I've ever been sandblasted. Yet, anyway.

Made more cheese this weekend--a caerphilly, which is a Welsh cheese. It'll be ready pretty fast--in like three weeks.

Well, well, well. We worked out last night and I slept like a baby. Phew! I was starting to worry after about four nights of horrible sleep. I'd make a terrible chronic insomniac.

It's snowing today and the road to work was slicker than snot. I couldn't go faster than about 30 mph. There were all sorts of cars off the road.

Three good things:
1. The Cortez Recreation Center
2. Homegrown beef
3. My husband

Hello, insomnia.

I have about 60 things running through my head. Something weird is going on with my stomach. Darren deleted his blog. Money is tight right now. Maybe I should get a second job. Conor started wrestling. Work is weird. Should we sell the house? Why am I so afraid of building a website? I need to start working out. Poor Heath Ledger. What should I make for dinner? Anna needs to go to the orthodontist. I'm thirsty. What cheese should I make next? I need to get cracking on our taxes.

Time for a drink and another attempt at sleep.

OMG, I'm posting from work! I'm usually too busy to even think about my blog, let alone post from work, but I'm in wait-for-other-folks-to-finish-their-jobs-so-I-can-start-mine mode right now.

I bought a domain name this weekend! Now I just need to find time to do something with it.

We also bought a new fridge this weekend. I haven't had a new fridge in over ten years. Well, it's used, but it's new to us. Our old one quit back in November, so we bought one from Darren's brother. That one NEVER worked. We didn't get our money back, either. Anyway, our old one started working again but it was only a matter of time before it died again. So yay, new swanky fridge!

I made the most awesome cheese ever this weekend. It was a variation of Cotswolds cheese that I invented. Traditional Cotswolds cheese is Double Gloustershire with chives and onions. That sounded OK, but Double Gloustershire with roasted shallots, garlic, and chives sounded even better. So I made it so, and baptized it "Tewkesbury".

I was drawn to the Cotswolds recipe in the first place because my great-grandfather was born a little town called Blockley in the Cotswolds. However, I decided not to name it after his birthplace because I like the sound of Tewkesbury better. C'mon, Blockley cheese? Really? Tewkesbury cheese sounds much more chi chi.

I also made Mesa Jack, which is also my own invention. It's Pepper Jack, only with fresh peppers instead of dried, a fresh jalapeno, and garlic. It smells awesome.

Three good things?
1. My new fridge is huge and beautiful.
2. My old fridge is now a cheese cave!
3. The weather here is finally warming up. It was above zero this morning, thank you Jesus.

I had a dream last night that I was the recipient of some sort of big blog award. I got tons of traffic because of it, and people started commenting on my posts about what a bad parent I was, how bad my grammar was, etc... Weird. Bleh.

It's effing cold here. It's been below zero for the last 5? 6? mornings. I'm such a baby. I hate it being that cold.

Three good things:
1. I got a new cheese cookbook.
2. I have Monday off.
3. My polar fleece slippers really rock.

Really, the truth is, I wish I had a little miniature Tim Gunn on my shoulder to tell me I'm awesome in moments of low self-confidence.

We had such a good night tonight. My kids just absolutely rock. They crack me up at every turn.

We started the evening trying to plan a weekend in Ouray. Then in dawned on Darren and I that we could use the money we'd spend this weekend to pay off a credit card, so we decided to stay home. I'm sad but I am sure in the long run I'll be happy.

I might get to see Niki this month! I've known her since I was a teenager. Once upon a time, we sort of shared a boyfriend. She knows as much about me as my sister knows. I love her and miss her.

Three good things?
1. Project Runway
2. My adorable dogs
3. The phone. My sister saved my sanity tonight. Thank you, Lizzy!

So Anna has been on Ritalin since August. As much as I hate to admit it, it makes all the difference for her.

We've known for several years that she has learning disabilities. After a long struggle with the school district, we had her tested. Sure enough, she has a visual memory disability, a processing speed disability, and a fine motor disability. Honestly, once she got involved with the district's special needs program, I thought that would be the end of it. Smooth sailing, right? Wrong.

She did much better in school, but she still had a really hard time focusing. Hell, at home, it takes her ten minutes to put her shoes on because she gets distracted by the pretty pretty curtains or couch or whatever. She laughs when I tell her this, but she agrees she just can't focus.

Darren definitely had ADD growing up, and really felt badly for Anna. I felt badly too, but I figured that she just needed to snap out of it, for crying out loud. Mind over matter, right? ADD is just a made-up diagnosis for lazy parents and teachers, right? So what if it takes her four hours to finish her homework.

But there was certainly something going on that we needed to help her with, so we pursued a diagnosis with her doctor. I was honestly thinking he give us some info on how to handle things at home, and we'd get another diagnosis to add to her Individual Education Plan, and that would be that.

Well, Dr. Heyl kept evaluating and evaluating. I think she had four appointments with him, all full of testing and questionaires. I knew where things were headed, but I was still adament--no child of mine would be on drugs. It meant I failed as a parent, after all.

Darren really was the one that organized and took Anna to these appointments. After the last one, he called me at work. Told me that we finally had a diagnosis, and that Dr. Heyl had recommended starting Ritalin right away, and had written a prescription for such. I was furious. How dare he even recommend it?!

And then Darren told me he had already filled it, that he didn't want Anna to go through the hell that he did during middle school, and that he was fully ready to face my wrath to give his child a chance at a halfway normal middle school experience. Besides, if we noticed anything, we could take her off the drug.

So I caved. Darren very rarely takes the initiative, so I knew it was important to him. And part of me just knew it wouldn't make any difference and she wouldn't be on it for long anyway.

How wrong I was. The kid has totally proved me wrong, dammit. She's a completely different person. We used to get excited when she'd bring a B home. Now she's been on the honor roll for two quarters. She has patience and self-confidence and drive and is even happier. Hell, she hugs me spontaneously now.

The damned pill has made all the difference in the world of my daughter. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm grateful for it.

My three good things today?

1. Anna
2. Honor Roll
3. Ritalin

Last night, Conor asked if he and Anna could have a later bedtime--11:00pm. Yeah, good try. And then he acted very surprised and hurt that I denied his request.

One of the guinea pigs died last night. We're down to two now. This one was at least three, and had not been eating well for a long time.

I'm horribly grumpy and stressed out. I need to come up with about 12 good things, to change my mood.

Too funny--Anna apparently googled her name and found this blog!

1. I made merlot-rosemary cream cheese this weekend, and I hear it's fabulous.
2. The Chargers are on their way to the AFC championship! Too bad I'm a Pats fan too--I'm required to root for the Chargers.
3. My husband really is an awesome guy. Even if I don't agree with his politics, I try hard to let him believe what he wants/needs. He tries hard to give me the same respect. We've gotten better at it over the years.
4. I made a fabulous loaf of bread last night. The kids fell on it like zombies on brains. I think I found some really good flour that's milled locally. Yay!
5. I also made a homemade pie crust for the first time in years. It was very easy and beyond excellent. Thanks again, beautiful stand mixer!

Today is my dad's 64th birthday. I cooked him dinner--shrimp tandoori, naan, and pineapple chutney. I love my dad so much. He's by far the smartest person I've ever known, and really tries hard to be close to his grandchildren. I feel like I owe so much to him and my mom. I'm lucky to live so close to them.

Anyway, dinner turned out just OK. The chutney was awesome. Everything else was mediocre. But hey, the Patriots won, so that made up for the marginal dinner.

Church tomorrow morning. Dad is getting officially inducted into the Episcopalian church. Conor and I will go and celebrate with him.

Work is weird and tense. I hope things settle down. I want to want to go to work every day.

The kids don't go to school until later this morning because of the snow and ice. Conor is completely ticked off that school wasn't cancelled entirely. Anna keeps saying "It's better than nothing!"

Three good things:
1. It's almost the weekend.
2. The audit at work might almost be over.
3. I really love my slippers.

That horrible bus crash in Utah has me completely befuddled. I've driven that road recently--it's not great, but it's not terribly scary. I'm really not sure why the bus was taking that route from Telluride to Phoenix, though, unless the passengers wanted to see Monument Valley. It would have added several hours onto the trip. And really, it was in the middle of the night so I'm not convinced the sightseeing sidetrip to Monument Valley was very practical.

It's not snowing anymore, and it looks like the kids have school today. They're gonna be bummed.

Three good things?
1. The kids and I managed to avoild the latest cold going around, I think.
2. Our dogs are so darned sweet!
3. Frontier Airlines has a direct flight from Albuquerque to Puerta Vallarta for about $350 roundtrip.

Three Good Things, the Tons O' Snow Edition

That big storm that flooded California and made levees break in Nevada? It's here now. Holy crapoly, it snowed and snowed and snowed last night. We probably got eight inches, which is quite a bit for this little southwest high desert mama. And we're supposed to get another six-eight inches by midnight tonight. The children head back to school tomorrow--they're already hoping for a snow day.

Truth be told, I sort of enjoy extreme weather, as long as it doesn't stay extreme for long. When we lived in Baltimore, we got to experience Hurricane Floyd. I totally made my kids stand outside in it with me, because I was fairly certain it would be the first and last hurricane any of us would witness. We just took a walk in it--it wasn't like we were out there for hours. Anna still remembers it.

Anyway, three good things!
1. My kitchenaid mixer is a thing of glory.
2. We got to expose the kids to one more thing--skiing--and they loved it, and didn't break anything.
3. My lovely Dodge Durango, which will get me to work safely. Yes, it's a gas guzzler, but I probably won't slip a bit on the horrible roads.
4. (Because why limit myself?!) I managed to make it to the Episcopalian church yesterday. I really needed to hear the homily. The rector sure is eloquent.

Sheesh, it's been crazy around here.

The kids' main present this year was a ski trip, so we took them Friday for lessons, and then spent the night in Durango.

Here's Anna before her lesson:

Poor Conor had a touch of the flu or something. He complained of an upset stomach, pretty much refused to eat breakfast (which is very unusual for him!), and then puked in the snow just before his lesson. He desperately wanted to give it a try, though, and we had already paid for the equipment rental and lesson so Darren was pretty glad he wanted to try. We got him a can of soda, told the instructor what was up, and let him have at it. Here he is:

They both had a great time, and did really well according to their instructor. They are already begging to go again as soon as possible. Darren and I are even thinking of taking lessons next time!

It's been raining and snowing since Thursday night, and it's supposed to keep up until Tuesday. Bleh.

I'm pretty behind here, so I'll just post three good things in the last couple of days.

1. We ate the whole cheddar wheel. It was absolutely superb.
2. I haven't been to work in four days!
3. The kids are going to Durango with their grandparents today.

As far as the first good thing goes, I'm really just so relieved. Darren confessed that he wasn't sure how this whole cheese experiment was going to turn out, but he totally loved the cheddar. It probably should have aged for a few more weeks, but it was starting to get a bit moldy so we just went ahead and ate it. It was very creamy and rivaled any cheddar I've bought from the store...

Still no domain name... :(