Constructing a Lifehttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/en-US2010-03-11T01:00:30ZSquarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Standup Comedianhttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/3/10/standup-comedian.htmlShelbitha2010-03-10T23:58:00ZStephen, while walking outside:  "I was younger like mommy and daddy.  Now, I'm 2 and a half"

While in the bath, mommy was talking about the rubber ducky and asking Stephen if he had a tail:  "No, I don't have a tail, I have a penis"

 

]]>Let's hope this week ends better than it startedhttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/3/10/lets-hope-this-week-ends-better-than-it-started.htmlShelbitha2010-03-10T18:38:34ZStephen and I both got the stomach flu yesterday.  I think we are both much better today, although in recovery.  It is very hard to parent when you are that sick, but thankfully it was only a few hours until Sean came home and put Stephen to bed.  A few hours of watching Sesame Street and Cars movie. On Monday, before the stomach flu, Stephen got into a fight, pulled some boy's hair, and that boy bit Stephen on the cheek.  He's okay now after a lecture about not pulling hair and some advil, and the bite is now just a bruise, which is going away quite fast.  Here's to better days ahead...

]]>Bike Training in Sealy and Houstonhttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/3/8/bike-training-in-sealy-and-houston.htmlShelbitha2010-03-08T18:03:11ZThis weekend, Sean, Stephen, and I headed down to Houston for me to be able to do some training rides for the MS150 coming up.  We went on one 50 mile ride on Saturday and one 30 mile ride on Sunday.  It went really well, but the last 12-14 miles of the 50 mile ride was hard since it was head winds and through hills, but that's good practice :)  We saw a lot of cows and really pretty farm land scenery on the 50 mile ride.  We did an "easy" 30 mile ride on Sunday morning in the park near the Bayou that runs basically from Summer and Jon's house all the way to Katy, where Sean's parent's live.  I took my point and shoot camera with me both days to get some shots.  Stephen had a lot of fun with the rest of the family and Sean who took care of him both days.  Sean got some golf in, we got a couple of good Catan Settler's games in, and had a good weekend. 

]]>ibookshttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/3/4/ibooks.htmlShelbitha2010-03-05T01:11:51Zokay, so I wasn't all that impressed with the ipad launch.  I don't have an iphone, but i do own an itouch that I LOVE and am planning to get an iphone soon.  I am a HUGE reader of actual books, BUT...I am excited about this ibook app on the iphone/itouch/ipad.  Penguin books is exploring what kinds of things they should do with it...take a look.  The audio is horrible, but I don't think you really need it to understand what concepts are at play here.  Think about interactive books; kind of like taking Choose your own adventure books to the extreme...

]]>Re-Fluxhttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/3/3/re-flux.htmlShelbitha2010-03-03T16:07:51ZI've been re-reading "Flux" by Peggy Orenstein, which is one of my favorite books.  I first read this book at 24, on advice from my sister.  4 months later I met Sean.  Then I re-read this book at 26, right before I got married and after I had moved with Sean cross-country.  I thought it might be interesting to read it after having a baby and getting married.  It is.  My perspective has definitely changed in 7 years since the first read.  At that point, I was so concerned about having equality in my marital relationship and wondering how I was going to have it all, or how I was going to find someone who would be my partner and what my career would be like.  Now, I read it and I don't think that about that stuff to that extent anymore, I just do it. The book still reads well and I still find myself saying, "yeah, that's true" to most of it.  

Here at casa Eidson, we have some flux of our own going on, with some EXCITING (as Stephen would say) stuff on the horizon that I can't talk about yet. :)

]]>Stephen's Olympicshttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/2/25/stephens-olympics.htmlShelbitha2010-02-26T03:51:40ZStephen really enjoys the Olympics, but hasn't chosen a sport yet.  He does sing the national anthem and the Olympic song though: 

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]]>What a difference a year makeshttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/2/25/what-a-difference-a-year-makes.htmlShelbitha2010-02-25T17:32:33ZHipsToday marks the first anniversary of my right hip replacement and I'm getting all choked up here at how much this has made a difference in my life.  As I went to the doctor for my one year appointment this morning, a flood of feelings came over me.  I remembered what it was like waiting with my father for the surgery to begin, the fact that it was so early in the morning that the door wasn't opened, I remembered the pain of waking up after the surgery, and I remembered my most down point in time, when they took the catheter out and I realized that I had to get up to go to the bathroom myself and I couldn't imagine how I was going to do that.  

How much different are things now?  wow. No pain, I can bike, I can swim, I can carry my son up the stairs, I can take him out of the house without worry about not being able to carry him...  I am so grateful of my marriage to my wonderful husband.  I was thinking about how many things in our short marriage we've endured: car accident, back surgery, building a house in the middle of a recession, a kid, hip replacement, moving across country etc...and every time we go though something like that, our relationship gets stronger and more meaningful. 

The other hip is fine.  I go back in 2 years and every time I go back, they will take a picture of both hips to see how they are doing.

]]>Our little two year old...http://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/2/22/our-little-two-year-old.htmlShelbitha2010-02-23T04:09:30ZThis weekend, Sean went hunting in the panhandle of Texas and I went to Houston to spend time with Sean's family, train for our bike race, and have fun.  Kaitlyn joined us and drove both to Houston and back, which was SO NICE because Stephen was being a little sick two year old.  On the way down, he would not go to sleep on Friday night until his bed time, but then woke up about 1 1/2 hour later, screaming.  Then when he calmed down he said to Kaitlyn, "I am not screaming at you, I am frustrated with mommy."  I told him well, while it was tough being him, it was also tough being his mommy. :) On the way back, he never did take a nap (!) for 4 hours in the car.  Once we realized that, we sang and sang and played, "I spy" and realized just how many white trucks there are on the road.  One of the big things we do on the road is try to find cows, which is not hard because there are cows lining the roads for 3 hours of the 4 hour trip, especially if we go on the back roads for half of the drive.  My wonderful inlaws babysat on Saturday and Sunday and allowed us to take a 15 mile and 30 mile ride in nice weather.  I have to move my training inside due to threat of snow tomorrow and cold temps in Dallas.  I've been doing spinning and the longer ride felt great, so I feel in pretty good shape, but still have to continue training.

]]>Haitihttp://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/2/22/haiti.htmlShelbitha2010-02-22T22:45:43ZThis is originally from an email from our friends Brent and Catherine Bauer.  I hope Catherine doesn't mind me putting this up, but hopefully we can raise some much needed money for them.  Brent is a trained trauma orthopedic surgeon. 

Dear Friends,

As many of you may know, my husband Brent (BJ to some of you) is working in Haiti this week.  He has volunteered his time and skill to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center to help the survivors whose lives have been devastated by the recent earthquake.  Their need for medical supplies and equipment is great.  The University of Maryland Medical System and the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center are working to rebuild the St. Francois de Sales Hospital in Port-au-Price that was destroyed in the earthquake and they have committed to staffing the hospital with their own medical staff (orthopedic trauma surgeons, general trauma surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, etc.) for the next 6-8 months, at least.  As you might imagine, this is an incredible commitment since they are reducing their own medical staff at Shock Trauma Center by approximately 22 persons every single week for the next 6-8 months in order to to serve the people of Haiti and their overwhelming medical needs.  In the weeks following the earthquake, teams from Shock Trauma performed emergent treatment of life and limb-threatening injuries with limited supplies and resources.  As their ability to deliver care improves, they have the potential to prevent long-term disability in a large percentage of the Haitian population, but they have an urgent need for orthopedic implants and tools.

Many corporations and individuals are looking for ways to send their support to the people of Haiti and I am writing to solicit your help in supporting their effort.  If you would like to contribute, or if your church/company/organization is looking for ways to help Haiti, Brent and his fellow volunteers can certainly use your help.  

Brent arrived in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, February 20th with Team 4 from Shock Trauma. After learning about the conditions under which they are operating, I am determined to do what I can to provide them with the tools and equipment they need to continue the great work they are doing there.  Any contribution you can make will go a long way toward helping them obtain what they need to fulfill their commitment to the people of Haiti.  They are attempting to raise $23,000 this week alone in order to purchase some orthopedic equipment that is essential to the operations they need to perform. If the people of Haiti do not undergo these surgeries, they will be permanently disabled and therefore unable to work to support their families.  There is only a small window of time in which to perform these surgeries before their patients lose function of their limbs and their injuries become permanent disabilities.  The future of their nation depends on their ability to overcome these injuries and rejoin the workforce.  With the proper equipment, Brent and his colleagues will be able to effectively treat hundreds and thousands of injured Haitians, which will give their patients the best possible chance at having a complete, functional recovery.  

To make an immediate contribution online, you can make a credit card contribution directly at https://www.ummsfoundation.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=469 

If you want to learn more about the efforts of the Shock Trauma team in Haiti, visit the following links:
http://www.umm.edu/videos/trauma_care/misc_haiti_pollak.htm
http://www.umm.edu/videos/trauma_care/misc_scalea.htm
http://www.umm.edu/videos/trauma_care/misc_haiti_briefing.htm

]]>Florida in February 2010http://www.constructingalife.com/constructing-a-life/2010/2/16/florida-in-february-2010.htmlShelbitha2010-02-17T00:15:05ZSean and I and now Stephen every year go to Florida to visit with my family over President's Day weekend.  This past weekend was kind of cold there, but we made our own fun anyway.  My sister Lilli and her daughter Violet were there and my brother David and his fiance Leslie came up from Miami to see us for a night.  

Stephen used the giraffe that had been mine to play with as a child as a "bobsled" and right now he is sweeping the floor to practice "curling".  We have Olympic fever in the house! :) 

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