Dictionary of Four-Letter Words

Don't worry. This is only rated R for Robyn, nothing else.

Some recent four-letter words that aren't cursing...

MILK: The first time we asked Lukas if he wanted milk with dinner, he responded: "To drink??" Apparently, adding it to cereal in the morning is fine, but they don't sit around Bavaria gulping glasses of milk like we do in the Dairy State. Other than that, he eats so healthy he gets his calcium elsewhere!


RAIN: I might as well add COLD to this one. Oh, and WIND, too. That describes today and most of the days we've had our special guest. Every day we say, "It is not normally like this!" Yet every day it keeps happening. We were very fortunate to have sun for the mega-photo sessions yesterday. According to the forecast, though, he might not see a 60-degree day before heads home May 8 (but let's not talk about that). Sad face.

PROM: Boys slept in today so I had to run their tuxes into town. It did seem like a Cinderella story. All dressed up one night and back to jeans and running shoes the next. I will miss Carter's dapper black-and-white shoes, though! Sweet.

NIKE: Speaking of shoes... At this point, I think Nike could sponsor Lukas' flight back to Germany. He brought one pair with him, bought one in Chicago and one in Oshkosh. Today, after enjoying a pancake breakfast at my church, I took Lukas, another German guest and Carter down to Wisconsin Dells to the Nike Outlet Store there. Came home with 5 more pairs. One each for brother, mother, grandmother and dad. The 5th pair are mine. After shopping for the first 4 pairs, I figured I better buy some, too! Don't ask how we will fit them all in his suitcase.

BOOK: I believe I have failed to mention recently that my reading world has moved into the 21st century. I am now the proud owner of a Kindle Fire. While I love holding and reading a physical book, this will help me get my hands on books for our new book club. Plus, I got a super sweet deal on this. I'm talking only 25 bucks out of my pocket thanks to my "Amazon points." So now that the rain is falling and the boys are gone to another German-American Partners Party, I am going to turn it on and read our May book – Orphan Train – which is already proving to be interesting historic fiction.

TIME: Won't be a long night of reading, I'll tell you. Since I did NOT sleep in, I can't quite recover from prom like a I used to!

The Waiting Game

Good thing I am loaded with patience. Oh wait, that's gotta be someone else. (As evidenced this week.)

Carter officially started baseball practice on Monday. Due to the inclement weather, which is about to get worse before it gets better, the team has had to share indoor practice time and space with the softball team and track and field athletes.

They do various drills from hitting and fielding to pitching. Sometimes they go to another gymnasium at one of the elementary schools to do this. As a result, the person picking him up does not always know where to find him.

And we wait for him to come to us.

If you think we're joking when we say we are anxious for him to have his license and own vehicle, we're not.

Yesterday, for example, I was there to pick him up at 5:30 and had to wait for 20 additional minutes. "Practice ran long. We had lots of drills to do." OK, today I figured I would get to school early, buy scrip, go grab groceries and then get back to the school by say, 5:45.

I did just that and almost felt guilty for cutting it so close. I did not feel an ounce of guilt, though, some 45 minutes later when he sauntered out of the school. "Practice ran long. We had lots of drills to do." Whatever.

It's a good thing I bit the bullet and bought an Amazon Kindle Fire. I did it mainly to get Book Club books I might not find at the library or didn't want to purchase at full price. So Carter was lucky today that Ms. Impatient Mother of the Year could read one of her "new" books to help pass the time.

I could have done something bad for me instead. But when I drove past DQ, it was pouring rain and there's no way I was going to stand outside and wait. This time.

At least with that waiting game, there is a tasty reward at the end!

Two-fer Tuesday

Just two quick notes today:

One: It took four pedometers and probably six batteries over the course of the summer, but I reached my goal for the Steps Challenge at work -- four days in advance! So no more talking about steps and faulty equipment, I promise.

Unless I win the Kindle Fire, of course.

Two: Just got the biggest chuckle today at the expense of my now 50-year-old hubby. We were going to pick up Carter from cross country practice but since we got to town a few minutes early, we swung into IGA so he could pick up some peas for his lunch tomorrow. (Yes, we have boring lunches at work.)

He comes out laughing to himself and here's why:

Look - he got a senior citizen discount!! And they didn't even card him! I realize it's only 13 cents, but every penny adds up, right?

When I look at it, the receipt is funny on so many levels. Just buy one item and it's PEAS? Not Budweiser or something exciting like my high-fiber cereal, but PEAS? Is he an old man who has to mash them to eat them or what?

OK, I won't pick on him any more. I actually am going to have to start using him for his discount. Five percent off can make a big difference on a nice juicy steak...

Or gallon of ice cream!

A Step Backward

Well I jinxed myself.

I shouldn't have even mentioned the downfall of hubby's pedometer. Not when I was this close to the end of this Steps Challenge.

What happens? Well, my pedometer died yesterday -- thankfully the day after Double Points Day. I took Jim's battery out of his dysfunctional one and put it in mine and that did the trick.

For yesterday.

Today, when I was on my lunch hour run, it suddenly reset to 12:25 a.m. so I lost all my steps for today. Including the first 2 miles of my run. Grrr. Since Jim's did the same thing before it completely whacked out -- including losing all of its 7-day history -- I quickly found our steps "coordinator" and had her record Monday and Tuesday's miles. I did not want to miss out on those since they were both over 8 miles.

So there I sat, realizing I am only 23.2 miles (and 9 days) away from my goal. So easy to obtain, yet impossible without a working pedometer. That's when the angel appeared. Well, first she appeared to Jim and gave him her unused pedometer. He in turn gifted it to me since I am in the challenge and he isn't.

I am extremely paranoid now and just want to get these 2 dozen miles in by Monday so I can just be done with it and, frankly, might just take a vacation from this bodily attachment!

Now, instead of worrying about whether I'll win the Kindle Fire, I have to keep my fingers crossed that this pedometer lasts long enough.

And if it does and I still don't win, they double grrr!

Double Points Day

Our work Steps Challenge is coming to an end in another 10 days. From June 1-Aug. 31, we earn a point per mile on our pedometer to be eligible for certain prize drawings at different levels.

I got off to a slow start. Right now I would have to walk an additional 10 miles each of those remaining days to qualify for the iPad. With just an average of 4 total miles per day, though, I will reach the points level for the Amazon Kindle Fire drawing. That is fine with me. I am very excited about that and hope a lot of people were far more dedicated -- or not as dedicated -- so they are in a different drawing.

Even when I am not committed to a cause, I am still competitive.

Today, to help out us stragglers, it is a double points day. So whatever miles I put on, we can double it. That will take off some of the pressure.

I did a 4-mile run at lunch. Well, a walk-run since it was 86 degrees and I don't do heat very well. Then tonight after supper, I took a walk. Add to that all the incidental walking around work and the house here and I am approaching 9 miles. Oh yeah!

Meanwhile, hubby's pedometer just went on the fritz and completely cleared itself. Good thing he is not in this challenge or he would be pretty upset right now. And that's putting it mildly. Of course, he probably wouldn't be counting on all these last-minute steps and miles to reach a goal. He'd be coasting by now.

I, on the other hand, am going to hope my pedometer stays functional for the rest of August. Then I might just take a month off. I'm kind of tired of being obsessed with getting enough steps each day! And if I don't win anything -- which is typical of my luck -- then I'll wonder if it was even worth it!

Of course, as a side effect, my pants have become a bit looser. So I guess I'm a winner either way.

I sure would like to give that Kindle a try, though!

Step by Step

You might say I'm a little bit competitive. Catch me playing a board game of just about any kind and you'll get the gist of it. I like to win... or come in at a respectable second.

This is probably why running and golfing are so frustrating. I am mediocre at best at both, but I do it because I am always up for a challenge -- just to prove I can do something. Sometimes I have good results. Other times, not so much.

My latest "new challenge" is a summer fitness challenge through work. It kicked off yesterday and, since today was in the 80s and very much like summer, it was easy to get started. The premise is earning points by putting miles on your pedometer each week and adding more points through a few other challenges.

Basically, if a participant (contestant!!) averages walking/running 3 or so miles a day, they should reach the point level that puts them in a drawing for an Amazon Kindle Fire. I want! I want! But the bigger challenge is for a dedicated participant to average about 5 miles a day, which is really about 10,000 steps and that is what we should be striving for anyway. If I can do that diligently between now and Aug. 31 -- one long, hot summer -- I should reach enough points to be in a drawing for an iPad. I want! I really want!

Of course, I would be content with either prize but I suspect my odds would be better with the iPad. I mean most people can average 3 miles just walking around the office and the grocery store. So a lot of people will be in that drawing. Maybe I'll be surprised and more people will go for the big one. I kind of hope not.

My competitive edge is often softened these days be age-related aches and pains and, well, general laziness.

So we'll see. I've taken the first steps -- 10,000 actually -- the first 2 days so we're on a roll now! See you at the finish line! (One of them, anyway.)