The foxes at midnight

A stifled quack outside our bedroom window and the sound of crunching leaves got me out of bed to check on Mabel in the middle of the night. I looked outside and discovered two foxes creeping towards Mabel's nest. They froze as soon as they saw me. I went to the front door to shoo them away, and not long after I heard some angry quacking from the neighbor's yard, and then they snuck back toward her nest. Mabel may have gotten away, but the foxes took all her eggs. She came back to lay more eggs the first time the fox did this. I'll watch to see if she comes back again. She may have decided it's just not safe enough. Sigh....

I scared Mabel out of her nest when I was taking pictures. Here's the best look at her in the grass.

Mabel and her eggs are still there. Mabel is a Mallard duck who has chosen our front yard for her nest. She's nestled in the Junipers very close to our front door, and the dried leaves give her lots of cushioning for her eggs, and superb camouflage. Trying to see her in the pictures? In the top photo, her beak is pointing to the right, and her tail is to the left. In the next photo, she's facing the opposite way. In the last photo are 7 of her 8 eggs.

So far, so good

Success: Coke-free for 6 days. Getting there: Hit the gym Monday & Tuesday, but skipped it today. Give me a while: Chocolate is getting me through Coke withdrawal.

New Year, New Me

What will 2009 bring? Will I still have a job? Will my husband be relieved with the welcome respite from his extra job duties of the past 4 years? Will my son survive his first semester in high school? There's no way of knowing. So I'm betting on something I actually have control over. Now that I've known about my high blood pressure for two years, and have been taking medication for one year (which got upped 6 months ago), not to mention the anti-depressants that I re-started in 2008, it's time to lose those extra pounds. My goal: 50 pounds by Dec. 31, 2009. 5 pounds a month, with a little room for a bad month or two. Step 1: No more Coke. Had my last one on the plane on New Year's Day. It's only been 4 days, but hey, I haven't managed even that in a long time! Step 2: Utilize my free membership at the gym that supports the nonprofit I work for by donating memberships to full-time employees. I went this morning. I'm going tomorrow morning. Son is on notice that he'll have to ask me the night before if there's something he needs for school that he can't find. Dad does not have my superior lost-item-detection abilities, and I'll be sweating away on the eliptical when they're heading out the door to get to the bus stop on time. Step 3: Control my eating. I haven't given up chocolate. Yet. Best to approach these things slowly. Eliminating Coke cold turkey is hard enough. None of this Oprah yo-yo dieting for me. I'm starting a marathon that I want to finish, so no sprinting to a svelt physique by spring break. Slow and steady is my mantra. I know I can do this. I know that I need this. Wish me luck!

Confessions of a Recovering Helicopter Parent I almost gave in. After all, when I went downstairs 20 minutes after waking him up, he was polite about the fact that he was still in bed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I fell back asleep, but I didn't mean to." How considerate of him to apologize for causing me to come back downstairs to check on him. We want to reward the character traits of politeness and considerateness in our children, don't we? So as he was pouring his cereal, and asking me if I could drive him to school because he needed to take a shower, and thought he would miss the bus, I almost said yes before I said no. (He really needed a shower.) I had a good reason to say no. I needed to get to work early, and it would take me at least 30 minutes to drive to his school and back. And that was the reason I gave him. I gave him a hint about speeding up his shower, and what do you know, in less than 10 minutes, he was dressed and had clean hair. And ready to go 5 minutes before his dad. Yay, me! I didn't inconvenience myself to let him off the hook for oversleeping. But would I have given in if I wasn't planning to go to work early? Hmmmm. I can hear those helicopter blades whirring...