I've suffered from general anxiety for over 3 years now. It was triggered when our friends were murdered in 2004. I suffered with it for a while, went on Lexapro briefly and then back off it. I don't like taking daily medication, and I've always been able to handle it pretty well.
I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but it's gotten bad and I'm not handling it well. I'm sleeping a lot, I feel nervous the majority of the time, I've started having headaches at least 4 times a week, and I have a lightheaded/dizzy feeling a lot of the time now, too. I am thinking it has to do with me starting school. The closer it gets, the more nervous I am. I start in 5 days, and I'm excited about it, I don't dread it or anything. I guess the reason it's making me anxious is I'm worried about going to school, and caring for my children and my home at the same time. I had a breakdown Sunday night, I just started crying while I was folding a load of towels. My whole body felt like it was shaking uncontrollably, but I wasn't shaking at all. It came and went pretty quickly, and I didn't identify it as anxiety until later.
I should probably go to the doctor, and get put back on meds, but I just don't want to, and I'm not really sure why. I guess I want to wait until I start school and see if it goes away, or at least back to the tolerable level it was a few weeks ago. I will have to do something if it doesn't ease up soon, though, I don't know how much longer I can handle this.
8.23.2007
8.16.2007
White Light, Black Rain
I just finished watching a documentary on HBO called White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I have always been interested in World War II, so I tivo'd this the other day when I saw it on. It made me incredibly sad. I just keep seeing the pictures and images they showed. The survivors they interviewed were so young when it happened, mostly small children, and it hurts my heart to think of the things they saw and endured.
I really recommend watching it if you get the chance, but be warned, it shows graphic images of the injuries people sustained, and of the aftermath.
I really recommend watching it if you get the chance, but be warned, it shows graphic images of the injuries people sustained, and of the aftermath.
8.11.2007
Scissors + 5 year old = Emergency trip to salon
I forgot to mention when I posted last night, Shelby got a haircut! Apparently her new school scissors were just calling her name, and for some inexplicable reason, she cut her hair. Up to her ear on the left side. Shelby, the child who has handled scissors for at least 2 years now, cutting paper and doing crafts, finally cuts her hair when she's 5 1/2! Luckily, the salon was able to get us in that afternoon, and now she has a pretty short, but very cute, layered bob:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
8.10.2007
Busy week!
The kids had their first week of school this week, and I've been trying to get everything lined up for my school, so I've been pretty busy. Hunter and Mackenzie started out with a full week, and since Shelby is in Kindergarten, she's on a staggered schedule and only went one day this week. All of them like their teachers, and the year has started off well. Hunter was extremely nervous about 6th grade, switching classes and all, but he absolutely loves it. I figured he would, and I'm glad he does. Shelby was looking forward to it until she found out that her teacher is a man. But she had a good time on her day last week, and she says she likes her teacher, now, which is a relief. Here are some pictures of them:
As for me, I've been getting all kinds of frustrating surprises from the college. First of all, the website was saying I had holds from the library, so I couldn't register my classes online. When I called the library to have them removed, they couldn't find any record of me in the computer.
I finally got that worked out, and got online to register. Then I found out I can't take more than 11.999 hours per semester unless I show proof of 2 doses of the MMR vaccine. The thing that pisses me off is the only reason I have to show this proof is because I received my GED. At this school, if you graduated between '78 and '99, you only have to show proof of one dose (which is what I have). But if you graduated after '99 OR got your GED, you have to show proof of two doses. I was supposed to graduate in '97, but actually received my GED in '96. So I really fail to see what the fact that I got my GED has to do with how many doses of a vaccination I got when I was a kid. Did they give me a different dose or something, knowing that 17 years down the road I'd get my GED instead of graduating with a diploma? It's insane.
So, for now, I'm registered for 9 hours. I'll go on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and take Intro to Visual Arts, Intro to Literary Genres, and Spanish I. Those weren't my first picks of what to take, but there wasn't a whole lot left by the time I was able to register.
I also found out that when I took the placement test for the college back in 2000, I was deficient in the Reading portion of the test, along with the Math portion. I fulfilled the Math deficiencies (Elementary and Intermediate Algebra) when I went in 2001, but no one ever told me this. Plus, the fact that I was deficient in two subjects, requires me to take a class called Learning Strategies. This also pisses me off, because I could have finished these classes already if I'd known I had to take them, but the main thing that makes me mad is that I am an excellent reader (not to toot my own horn)! I really don't understand how I could have failed the Reading portion. I can pay $20 and retake the reading portion the next time they have the placement tests, and if I test out of it this time, those two deficiencies will be removed and I won't have to take those two classes. I plan to do that, because I'm sure I will test out this time. I'm wondering if there wasn't some kind of mess up, seeing as I was never told about those developmental classes before. The college changed computer systems recently, so it makes it suspect.
I just hope nothing else comes up before school starts. I'll start on August 28, so just over two weeks. I qualify for some financial aid, but it won't let me accept the award on the website. I've got to call the Financial Aid Office on Monday and see what's up with that. Since I'll be a student this fall, I'll have priority registration for spring, so hopefully I won't have a bunch of bullshit to go through when it's time to register for spring. And I will definitely finish this time, because no way do I want to go through the whole enrollment process ever again!
7.29.2007
Back to school
Back to school time is always fun, right? Shopping for school supplies, backpacks, lunchboxes, clothes, shoes. A fun time is had by all. Until it's not. I always start out the annual shopping day with high hopes and spirits. Until we hit the first store. Three kids scatter across the store grabbing what they need and/or want, yelling at Mom to come help them find this or that. It's about ten minutes into the first store that Mom starts to get a headache, starts to lose her patience, and get a little irritated.
Needless to say, we did some shopping over the weekend. We just went for clothes and shoes, since I don't have supply lists yet. We went to the shoe store first. I thought ahead for once and had Darrell take Maggie to another store while the rest of us got shoes. Maggie has a thing for shoes and she would have had a classic 2 year old tantrum if she had been in there with us and not got shoes. Then we went to Ross, which is sort of like a Big Lots for clothes. They have good name brands for a fraction of the retail price. You can get excellent deals there. We got Hunter everything he needs to start the year off (he'll need more winter clothes later). Darrell ducked out of that store shortly after we got in there, but he took Maggie with him again, thank goodness. Shelby stayed with me to whine about wanting toys, which I had already told them we were not buying.
Next we went to TJ Maxx to look for Kenzie's stuff. We found her everything she needed there, which was pretty much just shorts. I made Shelby stay in the truck with Darrell, but took Maggie in with me, under the condition that she had to ride in the cart. She was just fine in that store, while it was Hunter who was bugging me for non-clothes.
At that point, we still needed to swing by Wal-Mart for socks and underwear, but I was already worn out. We'd been shopping for about 2 1/2 hours, and I was wiped. Shopping with the children is hard work! So, we stopped by a friends house and visited for a little bit and came home. I'm glad to have all that finished, and the only things we have left are the incidentals, and of course supplies.
Today we did absolutely nothing. I decided to be lazy and stayed in bed until 2 PM. I cleaned on the house a little bit and did some laundry, and cooked supper late. Tomorrow, and all week, we're supposed to all get up early so that we can ready ourselves for school starting next Monday. I always have that plan, but it never seems to actually happen. We usually go up to the day before school starts sleeping late, and then we have to adjust ourselves the first few days of school.
I got all my transcripts and things sent to Columbia State, so hopefully I'll be hearing something from them within the next few days. Wish me luck with that!
Needless to say, we did some shopping over the weekend. We just went for clothes and shoes, since I don't have supply lists yet. We went to the shoe store first. I thought ahead for once and had Darrell take Maggie to another store while the rest of us got shoes. Maggie has a thing for shoes and she would have had a classic 2 year old tantrum if she had been in there with us and not got shoes. Then we went to Ross, which is sort of like a Big Lots for clothes. They have good name brands for a fraction of the retail price. You can get excellent deals there. We got Hunter everything he needs to start the year off (he'll need more winter clothes later). Darrell ducked out of that store shortly after we got in there, but he took Maggie with him again, thank goodness. Shelby stayed with me to whine about wanting toys, which I had already told them we were not buying.
Next we went to TJ Maxx to look for Kenzie's stuff. We found her everything she needed there, which was pretty much just shorts. I made Shelby stay in the truck with Darrell, but took Maggie in with me, under the condition that she had to ride in the cart. She was just fine in that store, while it was Hunter who was bugging me for non-clothes.
At that point, we still needed to swing by Wal-Mart for socks and underwear, but I was already worn out. We'd been shopping for about 2 1/2 hours, and I was wiped. Shopping with the children is hard work! So, we stopped by a friends house and visited for a little bit and came home. I'm glad to have all that finished, and the only things we have left are the incidentals, and of course supplies.
Today we did absolutely nothing. I decided to be lazy and stayed in bed until 2 PM. I cleaned on the house a little bit and did some laundry, and cooked supper late. Tomorrow, and all week, we're supposed to all get up early so that we can ready ourselves for school starting next Monday. I always have that plan, but it never seems to actually happen. We usually go up to the day before school starts sleeping late, and then we have to adjust ourselves the first few days of school.
I got all my transcripts and things sent to Columbia State, so hopefully I'll be hearing something from them within the next few days. Wish me luck with that!
7.27.2007
Today has been so lazy. The kids went out and played in the kiddie pool, and other than that we've done nothing. We all slept until around 11 AM, so we haven't even been up that long.
I've started a new blog! I decided to keep my weight loss stuff separate, so I made a new forum for it. It's called My Weight Loss Journey. I am putting it all out there, and am really only looking for support. I know some of my eating habits aren't all that great, and my water intake is sucking so far, and exercise is pretty much nil, but I'm just working on small things at a time, so I just need support, not criticism, even the constructive kind. I am very sensitive over my weight issues, so it was a huge step just for me to do this, and I'm feeling kind of fragile and exposed.
Shelby stayed up all.night.long last night. Like I've said in earlier posts, her sleep schedule has been messed up ever since she had her surgery. Last night, Darrell fell asleep on the couch. About 1:00, I went to bed, and I just let him sleep because he was wore out from work yesterday, and he was sleeping deeply. I told Shelby (who was still up at this point), to come into my bed with me and go to sleep. She did, but at around 1:30, she decided she wanted to sleep in the living room with Darrell. I told her to go in there and lay down and go.to.sleep. Next thing I know it's 4:30 AM, I hear a loud noise from the living room, so I go in there, and she's still up!! I do not take well to getting woke up in the middle of the night over nonsense, so I wasn't a happy camper, and neither was she once I got in there. I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid. I let her sleep for 6.5 hours, and then made her get up when I did. I had intended to make her get up by 9 AM, but since I was so tired, I didn't wake up!
We're getting a new bed tonight. Woot! My SIL's boyfriend bought a brand new queen size bed for his son, and for some reason they aren't using it, so they offered it to us. I am SO glad. I have no problems with our current bed really, but Darrell hates it. But this way, we're going to give Hunter our bed, and his bed will get passed to Kenzie, whose bed will go to Shelby. It's musical beds! ;)
I've started a new blog! I decided to keep my weight loss stuff separate, so I made a new forum for it. It's called My Weight Loss Journey. I am putting it all out there, and am really only looking for support. I know some of my eating habits aren't all that great, and my water intake is sucking so far, and exercise is pretty much nil, but I'm just working on small things at a time, so I just need support, not criticism, even the constructive kind. I am very sensitive over my weight issues, so it was a huge step just for me to do this, and I'm feeling kind of fragile and exposed.
Shelby stayed up all.night.long last night. Like I've said in earlier posts, her sleep schedule has been messed up ever since she had her surgery. Last night, Darrell fell asleep on the couch. About 1:00, I went to bed, and I just let him sleep because he was wore out from work yesterday, and he was sleeping deeply. I told Shelby (who was still up at this point), to come into my bed with me and go to sleep. She did, but at around 1:30, she decided she wanted to sleep in the living room with Darrell. I told her to go in there and lay down and go.to.sleep. Next thing I know it's 4:30 AM, I hear a loud noise from the living room, so I go in there, and she's still up!! I do not take well to getting woke up in the middle of the night over nonsense, so I wasn't a happy camper, and neither was she once I got in there. I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid. I let her sleep for 6.5 hours, and then made her get up when I did. I had intended to make her get up by 9 AM, but since I was so tired, I didn't wake up!
We're getting a new bed tonight. Woot! My SIL's boyfriend bought a brand new queen size bed for his son, and for some reason they aren't using it, so they offered it to us. I am SO glad. I have no problems with our current bed really, but Darrell hates it. But this way, we're going to give Hunter our bed, and his bed will get passed to Kenzie, whose bed will go to Shelby. It's musical beds! ;)
Weight update
I went ahead and weighed this morning, just for the heck of it, and I've lost 4.5 pounds! Woot!
7.26.2007
I've been busy over the weekend, and not so much this week, but I haven't had much to write about. I got a letter from the college on Saturday that I had to send my high school and GED transcripts to them. I called on Monday, because they should still have that stuff, but found out that they purge all those records after 5 years. So I called the high school on Tuesday and had them send that transcript, and had to go to the Technology Center today in person to have my GED transcript sent. There's also a form about Hepatitis B that I have to mail back. I need to do that tomorrow so they'll have it by Friday.
I've been getting the kids some school stuff together, a bit at a time. We bought Shelby a backpack with detachable lunchbox on eBay the other night. It should get here by the weekend, I'd think. She wanted the type where the lunchbox attaches to the backpack for this year. It'll be easier to carry, too, and one less thing to hang on her hook at school. They had a general supply list in the newspaper, so I went ahead and got her a folder, crayons, glue, school box, scissors, and markers. I think the only thing I'm lacking for her is a nap mat, and then the requisite hand sanitizer, Kleenex, etc. I went through clothes today, and she has enough clothes to last her the whole school year. I got her some stuff on clearance a few weeks ago, and I had a whole tote full of size 6 clothes in the shed, complete with three jackets and a coat. Score!
I won't know what Mackenzie will need until we get the list from her teacher. She wants to start buying stuff so bad, but I'm not going to buy stuff we "might" need, and then not need it. The Intermediate and Middle schools have an open house on August 2nd, so hopefully we'll find out her teacher and maybe even get her supply list that night. We should have the tax free weekend that weekend, as well, so that'll be nice. We're going this weekend to finish getting clothes for Hunter and Mackenzie, and shoes for all of them. Hunter and Kenzie are using their backpacks from last year since they're still in good shape. I do have to get Hunter another lunchbox, though. I didn't really like the one he used last year. Mackenzie eats her lunch at school.
They also had a general supply list for the middle school at Wal-Mart. It wasn't very big, really. It was stuff like a 3" binder, enough dividers for 6 classes, loose leaf paper, and a calculator. I think there might have been another thing or two, but I can't remember. I think I'll just wait until the open house for that, too. Hopefully we'll get Hunter's supply list at that time, as well.
Well, my house is destroyed once again. Okay, not destroyed, but definitely not as clean as it was last week. My niece was here yesterday, I watched her for my sister while she worked. She's spending the night tonight so I can watch her again tomorrow. I am really not fond of babysitting, but I know she doesn't have a whole lot of options for childcare, and I want to help her out where I can. She has been applying for nursing school, and today she got the letter that she got in! I am so excited for her. She's been a CNA at the local nursing home for the past two years. She'll go to the local Technology Center for her classes, starting September 4. She'll be done next August and she'll be an LPN. And, she'll be making almost double what she makes now. The nursing home she works for is paying for her school, minus a few things that hopefully she can cover with scholarships and grants. She'll have to stay there for 1 year after she finishes school, and then she's free to look elsewhere if she wants to. I am just so happy for her, she deserves this.
I made a decision Monday to get back in shape (again). I went grocery shopping and got whole wheat bread, low fat yogurt, and healthier snack type stuff. Snacking is my downfall, so I got several 100 calorie pack type snacks. 100 calorie cookies and popcorn, Weight Watchers muffins and carrot cake snacks, and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. I had one of those tonight and man, are they good! I hid them in the bottom of the freezer under the broccoli, so no one should find them there. Ha! I have yet to get back into the exercise groove, but I will. I want to take this slow and one step at a time this time, and make it stick. I will probably work more on getting my food under control, and then start incorporating exercise. I'm setting small goals to start with, my first being ten pounds. I even made a little ticker, that I'll probably keep up with here.
Well, I think I've talked enough for one night! This will teach me to wait nearly a week between posts! Goodnight!
I've been getting the kids some school stuff together, a bit at a time. We bought Shelby a backpack with detachable lunchbox on eBay the other night. It should get here by the weekend, I'd think. She wanted the type where the lunchbox attaches to the backpack for this year. It'll be easier to carry, too, and one less thing to hang on her hook at school. They had a general supply list in the newspaper, so I went ahead and got her a folder, crayons, glue, school box, scissors, and markers. I think the only thing I'm lacking for her is a nap mat, and then the requisite hand sanitizer, Kleenex, etc. I went through clothes today, and she has enough clothes to last her the whole school year. I got her some stuff on clearance a few weeks ago, and I had a whole tote full of size 6 clothes in the shed, complete with three jackets and a coat. Score!
I won't know what Mackenzie will need until we get the list from her teacher. She wants to start buying stuff so bad, but I'm not going to buy stuff we "might" need, and then not need it. The Intermediate and Middle schools have an open house on August 2nd, so hopefully we'll find out her teacher and maybe even get her supply list that night. We should have the tax free weekend that weekend, as well, so that'll be nice. We're going this weekend to finish getting clothes for Hunter and Mackenzie, and shoes for all of them. Hunter and Kenzie are using their backpacks from last year since they're still in good shape. I do have to get Hunter another lunchbox, though. I didn't really like the one he used last year. Mackenzie eats her lunch at school.
They also had a general supply list for the middle school at Wal-Mart. It wasn't very big, really. It was stuff like a 3" binder, enough dividers for 6 classes, loose leaf paper, and a calculator. I think there might have been another thing or two, but I can't remember. I think I'll just wait until the open house for that, too. Hopefully we'll get Hunter's supply list at that time, as well.
Well, my house is destroyed once again. Okay, not destroyed, but definitely not as clean as it was last week. My niece was here yesterday, I watched her for my sister while she worked. She's spending the night tonight so I can watch her again tomorrow. I am really not fond of babysitting, but I know she doesn't have a whole lot of options for childcare, and I want to help her out where I can. She has been applying for nursing school, and today she got the letter that she got in! I am so excited for her. She's been a CNA at the local nursing home for the past two years. She'll go to the local Technology Center for her classes, starting September 4. She'll be done next August and she'll be an LPN. And, she'll be making almost double what she makes now. The nursing home she works for is paying for her school, minus a few things that hopefully she can cover with scholarships and grants. She'll have to stay there for 1 year after she finishes school, and then she's free to look elsewhere if she wants to. I am just so happy for her, she deserves this.
I made a decision Monday to get back in shape (again). I went grocery shopping and got whole wheat bread, low fat yogurt, and healthier snack type stuff. Snacking is my downfall, so I got several 100 calorie pack type snacks. 100 calorie cookies and popcorn, Weight Watchers muffins and carrot cake snacks, and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. I had one of those tonight and man, are they good! I hid them in the bottom of the freezer under the broccoli, so no one should find them there. Ha! I have yet to get back into the exercise groove, but I will. I want to take this slow and one step at a time this time, and make it stick. I will probably work more on getting my food under control, and then start incorporating exercise. I'm setting small goals to start with, my first being ten pounds. I even made a little ticker, that I'll probably keep up with here.
Well, I think I've talked enough for one night! This will teach me to wait nearly a week between posts! Goodnight!
7.18.2007
I'm a cleaning fool!
For some reason, I got it in my head that my whole house needed to be cleaned from top to bottom, so I've been working on that this week. I've got a lot of it done, but I've been leaving the major rooms for last. Those being Shelby & Maggie's bedroom, and my & Darrell's bedroom. Those will probably take me a good two full days to do. Between that and taking care of Shelby, I haven't carved out any time to blog this week.
Shelby is doing good. She was great over the weekend, and then on Monday morning she started having pain again. She seems to be worse early in the morning, I imagine her throat hurts worse first thing in the morning. She's had to have pain meds upon waking up for the past three days. Yesterday she was feeling yucky all day, until around 5 PM. I hope she'll start feeling better again in the morning.
Mackenzie is coming home tomorrow, two weeks early. I'm glad, really, I've missed her. She isn't ready to come home, but my niece is homesick, so my sister is going to get her. I'm just having Mackenzie ride back with Amy, so that's all taken care of for me. My mom asked me if we could wait until next week, and she would meet me halfway, but I'm ready for her to come home now. School starts in about 3 1/2 weeks, so we have stuff to do to get ready for that. I want her to go through her clothes and see what still fits and what doesn't, so I know what I need to buy. We're going to let my niece use the clothes she doesn't fit into anymore, to help save my sister some money. She has so many clothes that only her favorite things really get any wear on them. The stuff I like the best I will put up for Shelby. :)
I checked my application for school on Monday, and it is now showing as processed. So I'm hoping I'll get a letter by the end of the week. I don't think there'll be any problem being accepted. For one thing, it's a community college, not a private university. I was a student there before, and my grades and everything are in good standing. My GPA from my three semesters there is a 3.450, and that includes an F that I got when I dropped a telecourse I took the semester I was pregnant with and then had Shelby.
As soon as the kids' school starts up, I'm going to go up and apply to substitute teach. If I can get my school schedule worked out the way I want it, I'll be taking three classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and a fourth class online. That will put me only driving to Columbia for school two days a week, and leave three days open for subbing. If I can sub an average of two days per week, that'll have me bringing in around $300-350 extra per month. Nothing major, but it'll help. And on the plus side, it'll hopefully help me get my foot in the door after I finish school, to get a teaching job here. The closer it gets to starting, the more nervous I'm getting. I'm going to have to sit the family down and have a discussion about helping out this fall, and I'll have to get us on a strict schedule so I can keep the house clean, keep up with school, and spend time with my kids and husband. It'll be so worth it when I finish and have my degree. I'll just have to keep that in mind during these next 2-3 years.
Shelby is doing good. She was great over the weekend, and then on Monday morning she started having pain again. She seems to be worse early in the morning, I imagine her throat hurts worse first thing in the morning. She's had to have pain meds upon waking up for the past three days. Yesterday she was feeling yucky all day, until around 5 PM. I hope she'll start feeling better again in the morning.
Mackenzie is coming home tomorrow, two weeks early. I'm glad, really, I've missed her. She isn't ready to come home, but my niece is homesick, so my sister is going to get her. I'm just having Mackenzie ride back with Amy, so that's all taken care of for me. My mom asked me if we could wait until next week, and she would meet me halfway, but I'm ready for her to come home now. School starts in about 3 1/2 weeks, so we have stuff to do to get ready for that. I want her to go through her clothes and see what still fits and what doesn't, so I know what I need to buy. We're going to let my niece use the clothes she doesn't fit into anymore, to help save my sister some money. She has so many clothes that only her favorite things really get any wear on them. The stuff I like the best I will put up for Shelby. :)
I checked my application for school on Monday, and it is now showing as processed. So I'm hoping I'll get a letter by the end of the week. I don't think there'll be any problem being accepted. For one thing, it's a community college, not a private university. I was a student there before, and my grades and everything are in good standing. My GPA from my three semesters there is a 3.450, and that includes an F that I got when I dropped a telecourse I took the semester I was pregnant with and then had Shelby.
As soon as the kids' school starts up, I'm going to go up and apply to substitute teach. If I can get my school schedule worked out the way I want it, I'll be taking three classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and a fourth class online. That will put me only driving to Columbia for school two days a week, and leave three days open for subbing. If I can sub an average of two days per week, that'll have me bringing in around $300-350 extra per month. Nothing major, but it'll help. And on the plus side, it'll hopefully help me get my foot in the door after I finish school, to get a teaching job here. The closer it gets to starting, the more nervous I'm getting. I'm going to have to sit the family down and have a discussion about helping out this fall, and I'll have to get us on a strict schedule so I can keep the house clean, keep up with school, and spend time with my kids and husband. It'll be so worth it when I finish and have my degree. I'll just have to keep that in mind during these next 2-3 years.
7.13.2007
What a day!
After only four hours of sleep Wednesday night, I was so exhausted yesterday. I got to be the one to drive to Nashville and back again, so that didn't help anything. Shelby's surgery went really well. She did fabulously for the staff, and in recovery. All the staff at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital is just amazing. I would absolutely want to take any of my kids back there if they need surgery for anything in the future.
She's doing great today, too. Her throat isn't hurting as bad, but her ears have bothered her today. We've still been dosing her with her pain meds regularly, and we'll probably switch to an as needed basis tomorrow. She was able to eat a bit of solid foods this evening, and I'm hoping it'll be better tomorrow. Maggie has been jealous that Shelby seems to be getting more attention today, and she got a balloon and new doll from my SIL. I told Maggie if she has surgery, she'll get a balloon and new toy. Heh. Of course she doesn't understand what I'm talking about.
I've got to get my house cleaned up tomorrow. It was pretty neat before we left yesterday, but last night and today especially it's gotten pretty well trashed. I've been tired, because even though I was so sleepy last night, I was woken up pretty regularly by this or that, so I only got 3 full, uninterrupted hours of sleep from 7-10 AM this morning. The rest of the night was broken up into chunks of an hour or so at a time. I kind of expected that on the first night, though. Hopefully tonight I can get a full night of sleep!
She's doing great today, too. Her throat isn't hurting as bad, but her ears have bothered her today. We've still been dosing her with her pain meds regularly, and we'll probably switch to an as needed basis tomorrow. She was able to eat a bit of solid foods this evening, and I'm hoping it'll be better tomorrow. Maggie has been jealous that Shelby seems to be getting more attention today, and she got a balloon and new doll from my SIL. I told Maggie if she has surgery, she'll get a balloon and new toy. Heh. Of course she doesn't understand what I'm talking about.
I've got to get my house cleaned up tomorrow. It was pretty neat before we left yesterday, but last night and today especially it's gotten pretty well trashed. I've been tired, because even though I was so sleepy last night, I was woken up pretty regularly by this or that, so I only got 3 full, uninterrupted hours of sleep from 7-10 AM this morning. The rest of the night was broken up into chunks of an hour or so at a time. I kind of expected that on the first night, though. Hopefully tonight I can get a full night of sleep!
7.11.2007
Ready for the "big day"
We are all ready for Shelby's surgery tomorrow. We filled up with gas, got ice cream and popsicles, and all kids are deposited, or ready to be deposited, at the places they're staying tomorrow. I'm nervous, but I know things will go well. We're having it done at one of the best children's hospitals in the country, and it's a routine procedure. Darrell is having major anxiety over it, so I'm trying to not voice any concerns or fears I have. There's no use in both of us being like that, and I don't want Shelby to pick up on any nervousness from us. She seems to view it as a big adventure, and isn't even scared of having an IV inserted.
Nothing interesting happened today, unless you count Maggie's screaming fit all the way through Wal-Mart because I wouldn't buy her any candy. 2 year olds, ya gotta love 'em.
I'll update as soon as I can either tomorrow evening or Friday. Think good thoughts for us!
Nothing interesting happened today, unless you count Maggie's screaming fit all the way through Wal-Mart because I wouldn't buy her any candy. 2 year olds, ya gotta love 'em.
I'll update as soon as I can either tomorrow evening or Friday. Think good thoughts for us!
7.10.2007
A Good Sanity Day
Today was a good day. It's pretty laid back around here the last few days. Mackenzie is at my mom's house until the end of July. Hunter goes to work with Darrell during the day, so it's just been Shelby, Maggie and I at home. We slept in this morning, then I and they both needed a shower, so I put them in the shower with me. That was an experience, and not something that I plan on doing again. I ended up shaving my legs in cold water, after getting them both washed up and out of the tub.
We went to Wal-Mart after that and the grocery store to pick up a few things. They played together for a while after we got home and now they're outside on the swingset. Of course, the real challenge with those two will come tonight when it's time for bed. It is so hard to get them to settle down and go to sleep these days. It's those times that I wish they had separate bedrooms.
Tomorrow is going to be fun. Shelby is having her tonsils out Thursday, so tomorrow we have a lot of running to do to get ready. I told her we'd go to the movie store and let her pick out some movies to watch over the weekend, and we have to get some ice cream, popsicles and juices for her to eat and drink for the first day or two. I have to fill the truck up with gas, and get all of Maggie's stuff ready for going to my friend Dawn's house while we're at the hospital. It's going to be a long day, and I'm dreading it, but I know she needs it. I'll just be glad for it to be over. Funnily enough, the thing I'm dreading most is keeping her from eating or drinking anything after midnight tomorrow night. Like I said before, she's very sneaky, so I'm going to have to keep a hawk eye on her, and hopefully get her to bed before midnight. I'm going to let her sleep in on Thursday until just before time to leave so we won't have to worry about her wanting breakfast. We have a two hour drive to the hospital though, so I know she'll be whining about being thirsty and hungry long before we get there.
So, today was pretty boring, but I wanted to get in the habit of updating. I'll try to post tomorrow, and then I'll update Thursday as soon as I can. I'm not sure when we'll be home, or how Shelby will be doing, so it may be Friday before I have the energy.
We went to Wal-Mart after that and the grocery store to pick up a few things. They played together for a while after we got home and now they're outside on the swingset. Of course, the real challenge with those two will come tonight when it's time for bed. It is so hard to get them to settle down and go to sleep these days. It's those times that I wish they had separate bedrooms.
Tomorrow is going to be fun. Shelby is having her tonsils out Thursday, so tomorrow we have a lot of running to do to get ready. I told her we'd go to the movie store and let her pick out some movies to watch over the weekend, and we have to get some ice cream, popsicles and juices for her to eat and drink for the first day or two. I have to fill the truck up with gas, and get all of Maggie's stuff ready for going to my friend Dawn's house while we're at the hospital. It's going to be a long day, and I'm dreading it, but I know she needs it. I'll just be glad for it to be over. Funnily enough, the thing I'm dreading most is keeping her from eating or drinking anything after midnight tomorrow night. Like I said before, she's very sneaky, so I'm going to have to keep a hawk eye on her, and hopefully get her to bed before midnight. I'm going to let her sleep in on Thursday until just before time to leave so we won't have to worry about her wanting breakfast. We have a two hour drive to the hospital though, so I know she'll be whining about being thirsty and hungry long before we get there.
So, today was pretty boring, but I wanted to get in the habit of updating. I'll try to post tomorrow, and then I'll update Thursday as soon as I can. I'm not sure when we'll be home, or how Shelby will be doing, so it may be Friday before I have the energy.
7.09.2007
A New Start
I just realized it's been over two years since I posted anything in this blog. I think I want to start again, but you know me. I've decided to try and take my blog in a little different direction, mostly about parenting, and the craziness that goes on in my house. I affectionately call our house a zoo, it's very loud and chaotic around here pretty much all the time between the hours of 8 AM - midnight.
Since I'm starting anew, I'll reintroduce myself. I'm Paula, 28 year old sahm (stay-at-home mother) to four kids. My husband, Darrell, and I have been married for 11.5 years. I've been a sahm the vast majority of that time. I worked part time at a video rental store from June '06 through March '07. There's a long story in there, but I don't feel like going into it.
Now, for the ones that my blog will mostly revolve around, my children:
My oldest, and only son, Hunter, is 11. He's at that adolescent angsty, full of attitude age. As far as he is concerned, life is so unfair if he doesn't get to do 100% of the things he would like to do. I think he's hitting puberty full on and it's showing. I can let him do 8 out of 10 things he asks to do, and he'll just complain about the two things he wasn't allowed to do. But he does have his moments. He is very sweet, giving and loving. When he wants to be.
My oldest daughter is 10. She and her brother are only 11 months apart, and they were our only children for 5 years. Mackenzie is a pretty typical ten year old. She loves to read, and play with her toys, and fight with her siblings. She is hitting that moody sort of age, where she can't decide whether she likes us or hates us. If we don't let her do something she wants to do, then we hate her. See how that works?
Shelby is 5. She is very hard to describe. She's a very independent, mischeivous, strong willed, sneaky little girl. She and her little sister are the ones that really keep me on my toes. She gets into everything. She's the child you have to watch 24 hours a day to keep her out of trouble. She is also very smart, inventive, and hilarious.
Maggie is 2.5. She's a pretty typical toddler. Shelby is teaching her everything she knows, and they love to tag team me. She's too smart for her own good. She idolizes Shelby and will do anything Shelby asks her to do. Or tells her, mostly. We're currently working on potty training Maggie. I will be glad to have this done, then I can be finished with diapers for good. I think she's ready, it's more dependent on me to take her.
As you can see, I pretty much have my hands full. I will start attending classes at a community college in August, and I'm scared about dealing with regular household things, class, and the kids. I plan to use this blog as a place for venting, and helping me to get through these next few years while going to school full-time and parenting four active children.
Since I'm starting anew, I'll reintroduce myself. I'm Paula, 28 year old sahm (stay-at-home mother) to four kids. My husband, Darrell, and I have been married for 11.5 years. I've been a sahm the vast majority of that time. I worked part time at a video rental store from June '06 through March '07. There's a long story in there, but I don't feel like going into it.
Now, for the ones that my blog will mostly revolve around, my children:
My oldest, and only son, Hunter, is 11. He's at that adolescent angsty, full of attitude age. As far as he is concerned, life is so unfair if he doesn't get to do 100% of the things he would like to do. I think he's hitting puberty full on and it's showing. I can let him do 8 out of 10 things he asks to do, and he'll just complain about the two things he wasn't allowed to do. But he does have his moments. He is very sweet, giving and loving. When he wants to be.
My oldest daughter is 10. She and her brother are only 11 months apart, and they were our only children for 5 years. Mackenzie is a pretty typical ten year old. She loves to read, and play with her toys, and fight with her siblings. She is hitting that moody sort of age, where she can't decide whether she likes us or hates us. If we don't let her do something she wants to do, then we hate her. See how that works?
Shelby is 5. She is very hard to describe. She's a very independent, mischeivous, strong willed, sneaky little girl. She and her little sister are the ones that really keep me on my toes. She gets into everything. She's the child you have to watch 24 hours a day to keep her out of trouble. She is also very smart, inventive, and hilarious.
Maggie is 2.5. She's a pretty typical toddler. Shelby is teaching her everything she knows, and they love to tag team me. She's too smart for her own good. She idolizes Shelby and will do anything Shelby asks her to do. Or tells her, mostly. We're currently working on potty training Maggie. I will be glad to have this done, then I can be finished with diapers for good. I think she's ready, it's more dependent on me to take her.
As you can see, I pretty much have my hands full. I will start attending classes at a community college in August, and I'm scared about dealing with regular household things, class, and the kids. I plan to use this blog as a place for venting, and helping me to get through these next few years while going to school full-time and parenting four active children.
1.15.2005
Food is my master...
How does food have such control over my life? How? I have completely lost control over myself this week. I didn't even weigh in this morning. I weighed on Wednesday and had gained back 1.5 pounds. This sucks! Why do I let food control me like this? I was watching that reality show on VH1 where the celebrities are competing to lose weight. The one lady that used to do the Snapple commercials was on there, she was big and I thought surely she weighed over 300 pounds. They weighed her and she was 245 pounds. OMG. That is what I look like. I look like her. I thought she looked huge, and I LOOK LIKE THAT. I keep waffling, going back and forth between fuck it and I can do this. The fuck it moments are easier to give in to, hmm. This pisses me off. I can't even run and keep up with my 3 y/o! If she takes off running, I cannot catch her. So, I've decided to lay it all out on the line. I am restarting first thing Monday morning. I am going to set specific goals, daily goals, at least until I have a handle on things. On Monday, I will:
How does food have such control over my life? How? I have completely lost control over myself this week. I didn't even weigh in this morning. I weighed on Wednesday and had gained back 1.5 pounds. This sucks! Why do I let food control me like this? I was watching that reality show on VH1 where the celebrities are competing to lose weight. The one lady that used to do the Snapple commercials was on there, she was big and I thought surely she weighed over 300 pounds. They weighed her and she was 245 pounds. OMG. That is what I look like. I look like her. I thought she looked huge, and I LOOK LIKE THAT. I keep waffling, going back and forth between fuck it and I can do this. The fuck it moments are easier to give in to, hmm. This pisses me off. I can't even run and keep up with my 3 y/o! If she takes off running, I cannot catch her. So, I've decided to lay it all out on the line. I am restarting first thing Monday morning. I am going to set specific goals, daily goals, at least until I have a handle on things. On Monday, I will:
- drink *1* Diet Dr. Pepper and then water or Crystal Light the rest of the day
- not eat any junk food: cakes, candies, chips, etc
- eat small portions
- get in at least 30 minutes of exercise
I'm going to start planning out my food for the entire day the night before, and stick to that menu. This is what I'm going to do.
I have to do this. I have to, I have to, I have to. I just have to grab it by the horns and resist. It's all about will power. I managed to quit smoking with a smoker around me, and that is an actual addiction! I can do this. I want to look pretty again. I want to not be embarrassed by how I look. I don't want to be self-conscious all the time. I want to be able to run and catch my 3 y/o.
Oh yeah, and Delphi is pissing me off this evening!
1.08.2005
Washclothes in the toilet, and other adventures with Shelby
My third child is going to cause me to be grey before I am thirty. She has driven me completely batty this week. First of all, she has this huge attitude, and she's not even three yet! She's learned the lovely words 'stupid' and 'shut-up', and she loves to let me hear them. Her older brother and sister laugh and egg her on, so it's not as easy as all that to get her to stop. Additionally, she thinks she is as old as and can do the same things as her older brother and sister. Which leads to her getting into all kinds of stuff and making all kinds of huge messes, which I then get the great pleasure of cleaning up.
Her latest thing was to go into the bathroom earlier this week, stuff around an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet, and flush. Which then overflowed the toilet. So, some bright person put carpet in the bathroom, which is now soaking wet. I have to use a lot of towels, most of them clean, to sop up the mess, and put a fan in to dry the floor. It finally gets dry, then she goes in on Thursday evening and flushes a washcloth down the toilet. So it overflows again. I was so pissed. I cannot convey in words how pissed I was. We could not use that toilet for the rest of the night or all day yesterday. Darrell finally pulled the toilet up last night and got the washrag out. Luckily it was still in the toilet and not in the pipes. And I have finally almost caught up my laundry from having to use all my damn towels to sop up the mess. I folded 5 loads of clothes this evening, and the last one is in the dryer.
Maggie had her 4 month well baby visit yesterday. She is 16 lb., 13 oz. and 26.25". I am going to go sometime this month and buy Shelby a new carseat, and give hers to Maggie. I'm selling the infant carrier. I had really hoped to get more than 4 months out of the infant seat. I only got 4 months out of Shelby's too, come to think of it. Maggie is at the top of the chart for both weight and height. She had three shots yesterday, and has been incredibly cranky since then. I've pretty much kept her dosed with Tylenol since we got home yesterday afternoon. This afternoon, she cried for 30 minutes or so, loudly and uncontrollably. I was holding her but she wouldn't be consoled, she wouldn't nurse or anything. I finally got her to settle down and she went to sleep for about 4 hours. I held her for most of that time because I was afraid if I laid her down, she'd wake up and be fussy again. I was surprised when she nursed and went back to sleep by 8:30 for the night. I laid her down in the bed and she's still there at 11:15. That's why I was able to fold all those clothes. ;p
This diet is kicking my ass. I am eating things I know I cannot control myself with, like pizza. I have done good for probably 4 days of the past week, the first 4 days. These last three days I have had horrible will power. I've just got to do it. I do not want to end this year as big as I am now. I have a goal of 80 pounds by October, and then just try to maintain that loss through the holidays. I lost 4.5 pounds this week. The first week last year, I lose 11 pounds. I'm worried that breastfeeding an infant is going to hinder me more than breastfeeding a toddler did last year. But, on the other hand, I did not cheat in the first week like I did this year. I suck. I'm gonna get my shit together this week. I can do this.
My third child is going to cause me to be grey before I am thirty. She has driven me completely batty this week. First of all, she has this huge attitude, and she's not even three yet! She's learned the lovely words 'stupid' and 'shut-up', and she loves to let me hear them. Her older brother and sister laugh and egg her on, so it's not as easy as all that to get her to stop. Additionally, she thinks she is as old as and can do the same things as her older brother and sister. Which leads to her getting into all kinds of stuff and making all kinds of huge messes, which I then get the great pleasure of cleaning up.
Her latest thing was to go into the bathroom earlier this week, stuff around an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet, and flush. Which then overflowed the toilet. So, some bright person put carpet in the bathroom, which is now soaking wet. I have to use a lot of towels, most of them clean, to sop up the mess, and put a fan in to dry the floor. It finally gets dry, then she goes in on Thursday evening and flushes a washcloth down the toilet. So it overflows again. I was so pissed. I cannot convey in words how pissed I was. We could not use that toilet for the rest of the night or all day yesterday. Darrell finally pulled the toilet up last night and got the washrag out. Luckily it was still in the toilet and not in the pipes. And I have finally almost caught up my laundry from having to use all my damn towels to sop up the mess. I folded 5 loads of clothes this evening, and the last one is in the dryer.
Maggie had her 4 month well baby visit yesterday. She is 16 lb., 13 oz. and 26.25". I am going to go sometime this month and buy Shelby a new carseat, and give hers to Maggie. I'm selling the infant carrier. I had really hoped to get more than 4 months out of the infant seat. I only got 4 months out of Shelby's too, come to think of it. Maggie is at the top of the chart for both weight and height. She had three shots yesterday, and has been incredibly cranky since then. I've pretty much kept her dosed with Tylenol since we got home yesterday afternoon. This afternoon, she cried for 30 minutes or so, loudly and uncontrollably. I was holding her but she wouldn't be consoled, she wouldn't nurse or anything. I finally got her to settle down and she went to sleep for about 4 hours. I held her for most of that time because I was afraid if I laid her down, she'd wake up and be fussy again. I was surprised when she nursed and went back to sleep by 8:30 for the night. I laid her down in the bed and she's still there at 11:15. That's why I was able to fold all those clothes. ;p
This diet is kicking my ass. I am eating things I know I cannot control myself with, like pizza. I have done good for probably 4 days of the past week, the first 4 days. These last three days I have had horrible will power. I've just got to do it. I do not want to end this year as big as I am now. I have a goal of 80 pounds by October, and then just try to maintain that loss through the holidays. I lost 4.5 pounds this week. The first week last year, I lose 11 pounds. I'm worried that breastfeeding an infant is going to hinder me more than breastfeeding a toddler did last year. But, on the other hand, I did not cheat in the first week like I did this year. I suck. I'm gonna get my shit together this week. I can do this.
12.26.2004
And, the letdown...
And, the letdown. . .
Does anyone else feel this huge letdown after Christmas is over? I mean, there is this great, huge, l o n g leadup, and then it's over (snap!), just like that. I think I enjoy the anticipation of it more than the actual day. I love the Christmas season. I do not like seeing my friends stressed, but for me, I just refuse to get that way. Okay, I did for about a day when it was looking like we couldn't get the kids anything, but usually I'm not like that. I just love the spirit of the season, the feeling in the air, the lights, and songs on the radio. Getting cards in the mail, and getting to put my snowman collection out. It's like with the dinner. I cooked on Christmas day from around 8 AM until about 1:30 or 2 PM, when we ate. It takes so long to cook this huge dinner, and we're finished and I'm packing it all away within a half hour of finishing. It's just so... anti-climactic.
So anyway, the party on Wednesday went okay. It actually did not stop raining and we had to leave early due to things getting icy. I did not want to get stuck in a ditch in 30 degree (and dropping) weather, with four kids. There was already ice on the trees and grass as we went through town, and our porch was slushy when we got here. By Thursday morning, oh yeah, there was ice everywhere, with a thin layer of snow on top. Some of it is actually, amazingly, still out there. So, I can officially say that Christmas 2004 was a white one! :-)
I am in the organizing mood today! I cleaned the house up (except for my bedroom, which gets a whole day to itself), and even organized the cabinet in my laundry room. Before the end of the week, I am going to clean out my closet. I am purging - we simply do not have room to keep clothes we don't wear, junk we don't use, things we don't need. So it's all going. If I can sell it, I will. If not, off to Goodwill it goes. I'm going to organize Darrell's tools for him - he can never find a damn thing because he has about, oh, 3,000 places he sets stuff when he's finished. I'm going to try to work out some sort of system for tools he uses a lot, etc. Of course, him putting them back where they go is entirely up to him. But I'll put him a system in place. If he doesn't follow it, I don't want to hear the standard bitching when he can't find (insert tool here). I want to get all of this finished before New Year's Eve. I don't know why exactly, I just want to have everything in order by the new year.
The kids had a wonderful Christmas Day. I wish we had gotten Hunter something else besides a Gameboy, though. Since we got them the GameCube from Santa, he's barely touched his GB. Of course, when we bought the GB, we didn't know we were going to buy a GC for all of them. Oh well, he'll have the GB when he gets tired of MarioKart (that's the only game they have right now), and he can use it in the van on trips and such. Mackenzie loved, loved, loved her Easy Bake Oven. She had to make a little cake as soon as all the present opening was finished. And Shelby got 5 dolls for Christmas. Combined with the ones she already had, she doesn't know which one to put in her stroller first. LOL If I had known so many people would get her dolls, we would have just gotten her more accessories to go with them. For her birthday, I think we'll get her some, maybe a doll carseat, and some diapers. Those are two things that she loves to use of Maggie's. I don't let her use the diapers - too expensive. But everytime I go to put Maggie in her seat, a doll is buckled up in there. Ha!
I must hit the hay now. I just realized it's midnight! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and I hope 2005 holds lots of good things for you. :o)
Does anyone else feel this huge letdown after Christmas is over? I mean, there is this great, huge, l o n g leadup, and then it's over (snap!)
So anyway, the party on Wednesday went okay. It actually did not stop raining and we had to leave early due to things getting icy. I did not want to get stuck in a ditch in 30 degree (and dropping) weather, with four kids. There was already ice on the trees and grass as we went through town, and our porch was slushy when we got here. By Thursday morning, oh yeah, there was ice everywhere, with a thin layer of snow on top. Some of it is actually, amazingly, still out there. So, I can officially say that Christmas 2004 was a white one! :-)
I am in the organizing mood today! I cleaned the house up (except for my bedroom, which gets a whole day to itself), and even organized the cabinet in my laundry room. Before the end of the week, I am going to clean out my closet. I am purging - we simply do not have room to keep clothes we don't wear, junk we don't use, things we don't need. So it's all going. If I can sell it, I will. If not, off to Goodwill it goes. I'm going to organize Darrell's tools for him - he can never find a damn thing because he has about, oh, 3,000 places he sets stuff when he's finished. I'm going to try to work out some sort of system for tools he uses a lot, etc. Of course, him putting them back where they go is entirely up to him. But I'll put him a system in place. If he doesn't follow it, I don't want to hear the standard bitching when he can't find (insert tool here)
The kids had a wonderful Christmas Day. I wish we had gotten Hunter something else besides a Gameboy, though. Since we got them the GameCube from Santa, he's barely touched his GB. Of course, when we bought the GB, we didn't know we were going to buy a GC for all of them. Oh well, he'll have the GB when he gets tired of MarioKart (that's the only game they have right now), and he can use it in the van on trips and such. Mackenzie loved, loved, loved her Easy Bake Oven. She had to make a little cake as soon as all the present opening was finished. And Shelby got 5 dolls for Christmas. Combined with the ones she already had, she doesn't know which one to put in her stroller first. LOL If I had known so many people would get her dolls, we would have just gotten her more accessories to go with them. For her birthday, I think we'll get her some, maybe a doll carseat, and some diapers. Those are two things that she loves to use of Maggie's. I don't let her use the diapers - too expensive. But everytime I go to put Maggie in her seat, a doll is buckled up in there. Ha!
I must hit the hay now. I just realized it's midnight! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and I hope 2005 holds lots of good things for you. :o)
12.22.2004
We Three Things:
For Kim..
For Kim..
Three names you go by: Mom, Paula, Momma
Three screennames you have: paula46, pkeeton, pmkeeton (How creative I am!)
Three things you like about yourself: sense of humor, giving nature, ability to look at a situation from different perspectives
Three things you hate/dislike about yourself: my intense dislike of confrontation. Not that being confrontational is a good thing, but I have a hard time speaking up even when it's warranted. Also, my lack of patience and my weight.
Three parts of your heritage: Spanish, Native American, and Scottish
Three things that scare you: something happening to my kids or husband, dying slowly and painfully, and tornados
Three of your everyday essentials: the internet, Diet Dr. Pepper, squishy, kissy cheeks
Three things you are wearing right now: t-shirt, pajama pants, bra
Three of your favorite bands/artists at the moment: Maroon 5, Sara Evans, Montgomery Gentry
Three of your favorite songs at present: Suds in the Bucket, Mr. Mom, Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)
Three things you want to try in the next 12 months: photography, sewing, scrapbooking
Three things you want in a relationship (love is a given) : trust, laughter, friendship
Two truths and a lie: I speak three languages, I lost my virginity at 13, I was in the color guard in high school
Three physical things about the opposite (or same) sex that appeals to you: hands, butt, face
Three things you just can't do: sing, dance, almost anything involving coordination
Three of your favorite hobbies: surfing the net, reading, and decorating
Three things you want to do really badly right now: Build onto the house, win the lottery, build onto the house (I really want that badly)
Three careers you're considering: Hmm. Mommy, teacher, office management
Three places you want to go on vacation: France, Australia, Canada
Three kids names: Drew, Hannah, Sylvia
Three things you want to do before you die: take a real vacation, build onto the house, not be poor. Poor sucks ass.
Three people who have to take this quiz now or die a slow orgasmic death: Hell, do I know anyone who hasn't taken it by now?
Fun with Family...
So, who all is trying to deal with their families with the holiday fast approaching? I'm lucky, in that I don't have the familial problems that some do. And it helps that we don't go anywhere on Christmas, so there are no arguments about whose house we are going to, and how long we are going to stay at any one place. Most of my mom's family is going to my great-aunt's house in Dyersburg on Christmas day, my mom included. So we had a dinner at my mom's last Saturday and exchanged gifts then. She got Hunter a race track and made him a pair of pajamas. For Kenzie was a Polly Pocket set and a handmade poncho. Shelby got the most - a baby doll, poncho, robe, and quilt (the last three things were made by my mom). She made Maggie a quilt as well, and Darrell a pair of lounging/pajama pants. And she made me a quilt also. The lady that Mom was working for gave Kenzie a porcelian doll, and Hunter $10.
Tonight (12/22) is my family Christmas party. We're going to my great-grandparents house for it. We started doing a party last year, since a lot of times we all don't make it together for Christmas day. This way, we can visit and see each other, regardless of our Christmas plans. This year, we are bringing a generic, same sex gift, that way everyone that comes gets a gift. The kids are not exchanging gifts, my Granny has something planned for them. I have a tart burner to give from me, and we bought a cologne gift set to give from Darrell. I wonder how many of the men are going to get cologne. LOL
Darrell's family doesn't do anything like that. We never get together on his side of the family. Even if you do try to make it on the actual holiday to have dinner, everyone eats as they come in and then they leave. We went up on Thanksgiving by noon, and no one was there. But when everyone is there anyway, it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Our families are definitely polar opposites. My kids are loud like me. :D
It is 10:10 AM and Shelby is still asleep. I don't believe this. Usually 9 is the latest she'll sleep in. Mackenzie is at my mom's, she spent the night last night, and Maggie is napping, so it's just me and Hunter. Darrell is working today. Hunter is finally eating some breakfast, we played Go-fish for a while this morning, and he had to feed the dog. It's raining today, although the temperature is supposed to drop and turn to snow sometime this evening or tonight. We're forecasted for "up to 1"" LOL I figure the rain will be gone by the time the temps drop, that's how it usually goes. I don't ever remember seeing a white Christmas, and I don't expect for it to happen this year either. Our Christmas Eve and Day temps are only in the low 20s though (highs), so if it did snow, we might keep it around until Christmas. Maybe. It flurried the other day, but just for a bit and of course nothing stuck.
Well, I should go do laundry before the girls wake up...
So, who all is trying to deal with their families with the holiday fast approaching? I'm lucky, in that I don't have the familial problems that some do. And it helps that we don't go anywhere on Christmas, so there are no arguments about whose house we are going to, and how long we are going to stay at any one place. Most of my mom's family is going to my great-aunt's house in Dyersburg on Christmas day, my mom included. So we had a dinner at my mom's last Saturday and exchanged gifts then. She got Hunter a race track and made him a pair of pajamas. For Kenzie was a Polly Pocket set and a handmade poncho. Shelby got the most - a baby doll, poncho, robe, and quilt (the last three things were made by my mom). She made Maggie a quilt as well, and Darrell a pair of lounging/pajama pants. And she made me a quilt also. The lady that Mom was working for gave Kenzie a porcelian doll, and Hunter $10.
Tonight (12/22) is my family Christmas party. We're going to my great-grandparents house for it. We started doing a party last year, since a lot of times we all don't make it together for Christmas day. This way, we can visit and see each other, regardless of our Christmas plans. This year, we are bringing a generic, same sex gift, that way everyone that comes gets a gift. The kids are not exchanging gifts, my Granny has something planned for them. I have a tart burner to give from me, and we bought a cologne gift set to give from Darrell. I wonder how many of the men are going to get cologne. LOL
Darrell's family doesn't do anything like that. We never get together on his side of the family. Even if you do try to make it on the actual holiday to have dinner, everyone eats as they come in and then they leave. We went up on Thanksgiving by noon, and no one was there. But when everyone is there anyway, it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Our families are definitely polar opposites. My kids are loud like me. :D
It is 10:10 AM and Shelby is still asleep. I don't believe this. Usually 9 is the latest she'll sleep in. Mackenzie is at my mom's, she spent the night last night, and Maggie is napping, so it's just me and Hunter. Darrell is working today. Hunter is finally eating some breakfast, we played Go-fish for a while this morning, and he had to feed the dog. It's raining today, although the temperature is supposed to drop and turn to snow sometime this evening or tonight. We're forecasted for "up to 1"" LOL I figure the rain will be gone by the time the temps drop, that's how it usually goes. I don't ever remember seeing a white Christmas, and I don't expect for it to happen this year either. Our Christmas Eve and Day temps are only in the low 20s though (highs), so if it did snow, we might keep it around until Christmas. Maybe. It flurried the other day, but just for a bit and of course nothing stuck.
Well, I should go do laundry before the girls wake up...
12.15.2004
Back in the swing of things...
Okay, it's me again. To update from my last post in July -- I never did get a baby shower. Which was fine by me. Really. The bastard still hasn't gone to trial, either, but he didn't make bail. He can rot in jail forever as far as I'm concerned. I am not pregnant anymore (Hee!), and I passed the three hour GTT. And I didn't get that diaper bag, it went for way more than I was willing to give for a bag.
The kids are finishing up school this week. Tomorrow is a full day, Hunter has his Christmas party. We made cupcakes tonight. I made them, then Hunter frosted them and decorated them with green sugar. I have to take them up there for the party tomorrow. I'm having Mom watch Shelby since Darrell is working tomorrow. I don't know if I could manage to carry Maggie, cupcakes, and keep up with Shelby all on my own. I should probably take the Snugli for Maggie - I hope I don't forget it.
It's cold! Yesterday it was only about 33° for the high, and it was 19° when I walked the kids to the school bus this morning. We put a blanket out in Princess' dog house, and Darrell put a heat lamp in there too. She did alright, although her water was frozen in the bowl this morning. It finally feels like winter anyway! Last Thursday was our town's Christmas parade, and it was cold then too, but not as bad. I bundled Maggie up in her snowsuit and put a blanket over her, and she stayed toasty through the whole thing. I've never had a teeny baby in the winter before, I had all the other kids at the very tail-end of winter (for our area anyway).
Well, I could probably ramble on for a while about nothing in particular, but I won't bore you. :) I do want to say though, I got a Christmas card from my SIL the other day, and my brother has been shipped back out to Iraq, so please keep him and all the military people in your thoughts this holiday season.
Okay, it's me again. To update from my last post in July -- I never did get a baby shower. Which was fine by me. Really. The bastard still hasn't gone to trial, either, but he didn't make bail. He can rot in jail forever as far as I'm concerned. I am not pregnant anymore (Hee!), and I passed the three hour GTT. And I didn't get that diaper bag, it went for way more than I was willing to give for a bag.
The kids are finishing up school this week. Tomorrow is a full day, Hunter has his Christmas party. We made cupcakes tonight. I made them, then Hunter frosted them and decorated them with green sugar. I have to take them up there for the party tomorrow. I'm having Mom watch Shelby since Darrell is working tomorrow. I don't know if I could manage to carry Maggie, cupcakes, and keep up with Shelby all on my own. I should probably take the Snugli for Maggie - I hope I don't forget it.
It's cold! Yesterday it was only about 33° for the high, and it was 19° when I walked the kids to the school bus this morning. We put a blanket out in Princess' dog house, and Darrell put a heat lamp in there too. She did alright, although her water was frozen in the bowl this morning. It finally feels like winter anyway! Last Thursday was our town's Christmas parade, and it was cold then too, but not as bad. I bundled Maggie up in her snowsuit and put a blanket over her, and she stayed toasty through the whole thing. I've never had a teeny baby in the winter before, I had all the other kids at the very tail-end of winter (for our area anyway).
Well, I could probably ramble on for a while about nothing in particular, but I won't bore you. :) I do want to say though, I got a Christmas card from my SIL the other day, and my brother has been shipped back out to Iraq, so please keep him and all the military people in your thoughts this holiday season.
So, I'm back. Geez, it's been a long time since I've made an entry. I didn't realize it had been that long! A lot has went on since July. The kids started school, I had a baby, holidays, Darrell's been sick. I kept meaning to come post an update and then I'd think of all the things I had to update and it would just overwhelm me and I'd put it off again. Plus, I'm just not much of a writer, and I feel like my entries are boring as hell. Heh. It's been so long that I put in the wrong username to sign into my account. I thought they had deleted me. Haha!
I'm going to try to start posting regularly again. Maybe just a couple of times a week - it's not like I lead such an exciting life to post everyday. :)
I'll end with the most exciting thing that's happened all year: the birth of Margaret Emily, AKA Maggie. Born September 7, 2004 at 11:23 A.M., weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces - 20 inches long.
I'm going to try to start posting regularly again. Maybe just a couple of times a week - it's not like I lead such an exciting life to post everyday. :)
I'll end with the most exciting thing that's happened all year: the birth of Margaret Emily, AKA Maggie. Born September 7, 2004 at 11:23 A.M., weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces - 20 inches long.
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