Where Was I?

Friday

• I splurged and bought myself a radio alarm clock which docks my ipod. I think that for the first time since I got the darn thing, I may actually start using it!


• Of course, the music on it has been there for over two years now. And I keep having to forward through inappropriate music since I'm at work--and most of the songs on the "Natural Born Killers" and "South Park" soundtracks just MIGHT be frowned upon here.

Saturday

• I walked around with my son delivering donation bags for Cub Scouts.



• Did some of the housework.



• Took son to a birthday party in the same neighborhood where we'd delivered bags that morning.



• So frustrated with my horrible housekeeping, decided to buy new curtains and blinds for bathrooms and bedrooms--GROSS!



• John and I took all three kids to the mall--and remembered why we haven't bought new curtains YET. The hide-and-seek possibilities of the draperies department prevents our ever getting to actually LOOK. (John and I made a "date" to look them over during one of our lunch hours this week.)



• Except for the ice cream, trip to the mall was a complete waste of time!

Sunday

• MORE housework. My kids think they are Cinderella, and I'm the wicked step-mom. I completely get where they are coming from. But I can't figure out how to share the work load equally so that it actually GETS DONE, and it's not ALL done by ME.
  


• Twilight's funeral. :-( He is buried in one of our landscaped areas, underneath a beautiful tree. And we put down my garden bunny--received last Mother's Day--as his marker.



• Distribution of bags with the GS troop in a different neighborhood. (Why is it that no troops ever do OUR neighborhood?)



• Meeting with other GS leaders to plan next overnight event. Which I found out Friday is scheduled at the same time as Mary and Keith's next Suzuki concert.



• Get home to panic of WHAT'S FOR DINNER? I never made it to the grocery store. Scrape together a casserole with chicken, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, broccoli, rice, and stuffing on top. Delicious. Keith and I were the only ones who ate it. And he refused to eat the broccoli and rice portion of it. (Oh well, more leftovers for me!)


• Decide to let Keith start using the shower downstairs. The upstairs bathroom just doesn't have enough towel racks for all five of us, and I'm tired of picking up towels off the floor. He's excited to have a shower "all his own." After the shower, I walk downstairs to find all of his clothes on the floor--and his towel. There is no laundry basket. He can't reach the towel rack.


• One of the times I had to get up to check on Izzy last night, I actually stumbled back to bed, and fell on my husband. I didn't know he was there. (VERY groggy.) I think the possibility of our having any more children just got "fixed."

This morning

• I couldn't get out of bed. (Two kids moaning/whining all night will do that to you.)


• After repeated requests to Izzy to get her socks/shoes/coat on, ended up marching her out to the car without the coat on. She wasn't happy. Neither was I!

R.I.P. Twilight

Poor Mary's little bunny Twilight passed on yesterday. We can't really say what the cause of death was, but it was quite a shock to Mary to find him when she went downstairs to play with him and brush his coat.

It was a very, very sad and weepy household last night. Keith was also upset about the loss of his bunny's brother (and feeling, for perhaps the first time, his OWN immortality). Izzy--well, she doesn't have the emotional capacity or attention span to handle something like this yet. She was upset at first--and then she kept going around matter-of-factly bellowing out around the house in her BIG voice, "Twilight DIED!" which would upset her big sister even more.

I made the grand gesture to our sad daughter and let her sleep in our bed with us last night.

Now that the shock has worn off, Mary's doing a little better. She drew a picture for him and pinned it on his empty cage. She wore a dress today in honor of him. And she is requesting that we bury him underneath the tree in the front yard (we are still pondering if that is the best location).

The good news is that Mary was already asking about a new pet last night. A mouse? A hamster? But NOT another bunny. We told her we would take some time to heal from this wound--and take care of Twilight's brother Brownie--before we moved on to a new pet.

John and I have been going back and forth over getting a dog for the last few months, anyway. And looking into non-allergenic breeds so that I don't have to have shots. Perhaps this summer we'll finally take the plunge--and find a replacement for our dear Mary's Twilight.

(Bunny NOT named after Vampire books--which Mary has never even HEARD of.)

Whew!

Well, I survived my weekend of single parenthood AND numerous activities--including a GS overnight on Saturday night. I would just like to take a moment here to thank my neighbors--who are the BEST. PEOPLE. EVER.--for watching Keith and Izzy while I went and played GS leader to 13 girls in Niagara, NY.

CRAZY! I TELL YOU!!

It was a fun time. So much fun that Mary was CRYING Sunday night because she wanted to go back to the Aquarium (and because she was very, very tired, poor girl). Indeed, it took until Tuesday night for either one of us to start feeling perky again--and that's with actually getting decent sleep Saturday night.

This weekend won't be much better--well, except for having the extra pair of my husband's hands around. Saturday is a Cub Scout event, continuing swim lessons for all three, and a birthday party (wondering if we'll be able to fit it all in?). Sunday is another GS event AND a GS leader's meeting to PLAN yet ANOTHER outing. It NEVER ENDS, I tell ya!

And now that nice weather is peeking through (Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh), I'm hoping to get the girls on their NEW BIKES on Sunday. If it doesn't rain. If I'm not dog-tired after all the activities and up to my eyeballs in laundry--like every OTHER Sunday. Ah well--we'll TRY, anyway!

And...just a quick note that I won! I won AGAIN! Mommy Daisy is my hero, and I've been peeking in my mailbox ever-so-patiently every day.... Maybe TODAY?!

St. Baldrick's Foundation

A co-worker is helping organize a fundraiser for St. Baldrick's. No, she's not shaving her head (her daughter said, "Mom, you NEED your hair!")! But she wanted to help out, so she's organizing the event and collecting donations for OTHERS who ARE shaving their heads.

Julie lost a special godson to cancer on November 1 (just weeks after his fourth birthday), so she's pretty passionate about this cause.

Here at work, we were able to get permission to wear jeans on St. Patrick's Day if we donated $5. What a great idea!

I thought I'd throw this out there for her.... If anyone has a few extra bucks lying around (Go take your coins in to that machine at the grocery store! Turn in your pop bottles and send us the receipts!) and want to donate, lemme know. OK?

Here're some links:

Julie's St. Baldrick's event.

Brandon's webpage

Thank you! :-)

The CRAZINESS

John went out of town for his semi-annual fantasy sports guys' weekend. Once again, leaving me HOME ALONE with three kids and the realization that no, I would NOT like to be a single parent, thank-you-very-much!

There is a LOT of stuff going on this weekend (let's just say it was a POOR weekend for him to go away), and I'm going completely NUTS trying to keep track of 1) where my kids are 2) who's watching them when and WHERE and 3) what event we have to go to and 4) at what TIME does it start?

My co-workers keep giving me funny looks as I keep talking to myself to try to KEEP TRACK OF IT ALL.

Seriously, this is NUTS, y'all!

I am also FINALLY at a point where I'm HAPPY we decided to have only three children. 'Cause having to keep track of JUST ONE MORE kid on days like these would surely cause my brain to EXPLODE.

And...on a happy note, Mommy Daisy just posted the chance to win yet another Shaun the Sheep DVD! And you all know ME--I'm just a sucker for DVDs with claymation characters with overbites! So! Pick me again--PLEASE! :-)

I won! I won!

I'm feeling the love from Mommy Daisy! And she hinted at another SHAUN THE SHEEP giveaway coming soon!!! OH MY!!

Smart Kids! SPOILED, too!

Today we had parent-teacher conferences for Mary and Keith--which means that we got their report cards last week. Yeah. Those two are SMART. And Mary is getting better (and not so frustrated) at math (she only missed two questions on the state-required tests). And Keith has suddenly turned mature "overnight" and started actually checking his work (we'll see if this sticks--and if he continues to improve on his organizational skills). Good report cards.

I've now lost count on how many days Izzy has stayed dry--and in her underwear, too! She finally seems to have kicked this!

So...since John is going to be out of town this weekend (Fantasy Baseball Draft--that time of year AGAIN?) and since Izzy was doing so well, we went ahead and took her to Build A Bear last Sunday. And since the other two's report cards were so good, and since they were begging and pleading with those sorrowful eyes, we got them each another one, too. (IF I ever promise a BAB trip again--only the promised one gets to go!)

But we drew the line at buying the critters clothes. I mean, seriously--those toys are EXPENSIVE! Especially that @#$% black lab Izzy picked out! Take your critter and BE HAPPY, you three!! (They were.)


Um, anyway, we had an enjoyable trip to the mall and wished every Sunday could be so pleasant....

Wallace and Grommett giveaway!

My buddy MommyDaisy is having another wonderful giveaway! This time it's for Wallace and Grommett movies! I'm all a-dither!

Hesitantly Triumphant

Izzy has passed her previous record from last summer of 3 dry nights in a row! (Hmmm...apparently I was too busy to post about our attempt last summer. Let's just say that after three nights dry and then several days of lots and lots of washing of sheets/comforters I finally mailed it in and put her back in her pull-ups at night.)

Izzy has now been dry 11 nights out of the last 13. ELEVEN!! I got brave and started putting her in underwear instead of her pull-ups the other night. First night was "oops" #2 (we're giving her a mulligan), but last night she made it through the night with the real undies!

DON'T ASK ME how this has come about. We haven't done anything really different that's we've done for the last two years. We've just been talking to her until we're blue in the face about it. We've "casually" tried getting her to go to the bathroom if she wakes up in the middle of the night (last night was the first night she didn't turn over and roll herself up into an even tighter, little sleepball)--we never forced her. We've been insistent on her using the bathroom before she lays down--even if she just went a half an hour ago. We did promise a bribe of a trip to Build A Bear if she stayed dry for 30 nights. (I know! It's a long time! But we ARE setting up mini-goals: candy every three days; a little stuffed animal at the week's point; she'll get something else small if she makes it to this weekend.... The Build A Bear is the ULTIMATE, YOU NAILED IT Reward. Keith is keeping a tally. I think Izzy is more excited about the tally marks growing than the BAB at the end of it.)

When we saw the pediatrician, she suggested that we not give Izzy any liquids after 6:00. Well, considering that now we don't even eat dinner most nights until almost 6:30, that's not too feasible for us. But she doesn't get anything after dinner. However if she wants a quick drink before bed (or an hour after she's gone to bed), we don't say NO. I mean, it's dry in our house, so isn't it kind of cruel to deny a kid a drink of water? So, we just make sure it's not a LOT--just a couple of drinks.

Other than that--this is all just TIMING. It seems that THIS is the time her body decided to finally cooperate. WHY it took so much longer than with the other two, I don't know. What is finally triggering her, I don't know. Whether or not this will become permanent or an occasional night-time accident for a while longer or a false hope than regression back to pull-ups, I DON'T KNOW.

All I know is, I'm happy that I may be DONE buying pull-ups, hurriedly washing sheets in the middle of the night, and worrying about whether or not she'll still be peeing the bed when she gets to college.

We'll see....

Hunger Strike--and Birthday Boy!

This week Izzy, my darling, daughter, dear, has decided to put on a hunger strike. John, D (day care provider), and I are all comparing notes on the fact that for three days straight she basically ate NOTHING but a bowl of pineapple, a bowl of cereal, a bite of pizza, and a chicken nugget. This is NOT like her. Even on days that she turns her nose up at whatever culinary delight I'm attempting to feed her for dinner, she will usually scarf down her breakfast, snacks, and lunch. But three days of just a few bites of something--and not even drinking her milk? SO not like her.

She's also been complaining of a tummy ache--which would make sense since it's basically EMPTY. But last night there was a bit of a bathroom incident...and then she seemed to perk up a little (A LITTLE? She was actually doing CHEERS in the middle of the living room: "Yay for Dad!!" *jump* *bounce* So then John tried to teach her the cheerleader head bob--she hasn't quite got it yet.). Um, anyway, maybe she was just kinda bound up inside and now that there is ROOM, she'll start eating again. She polished off her cereal this morning (I ended up giving her a bowl and a HALF when she said she was still hungy), and I have high hopes for tonight, since it's FRIDAY night--which means pizza night. She did turn up her nose at pizza earlier in the week, but I'm still hopeful....

OH YES! And, as the baby pictures posted last week will attest, Keith had a birthday last week. John and I both took the day off work and spent the day with JUST him (kids were on winter break last week). We took him to Toys R Us, where he spent the money Grandpa W sent him (*cough* and THEN some), then we went to Adventure Landing where we played a bunch of games to get cheesy prizes (Oh boy! A flying saucer that WHISTLES!), and then Keith wanted to go to IHOP. We saw the line--and said ixnay on the Ihopway--and headed to Perkins instead. A couple of Perky Bear pancakes later, Keith (who'd been kinda whiny all day--I'm assuming due to lack of sleep as he went to bed late [bad mom] the night before and kept waking up) said, "Can we go home now?" Hmmm...I probably could have gotten away with just missing a HALF day of work. Ah well, I'm sure that underneath all the whining he was happy to have one-one time with his folks.

So...then we picked up the girls and had our pizza and let Keith pick the movie (Ice Age--after which Izzy kept crawling around hissing and pretending to be Diego!!! For a WEEK!). Cake and MORE! PRESENTS! and it was time for bed.

I can't thank you folks enough for helping spoil our kids. We ALL appreciate it!

Facebook SUCKS

1) Just found out that a very special friend of mine from high school passed away just over a year ago.

2) Another friend's husband just walked out on her and their three young children.

3) My creepy ex-boyfriend from high school just "friended" me. (I do believe I'm going to ignore him.) *shudder* WHY are my other "friends" "friending" him? (And isn't it amazing how quickly one can go from "loving" someone to getting the "heebee-geebees" from them? Even 20 YEARS later?)

Seven Years Ago

2/20/02--what a great combo of numbers!

Living Vicariously

My father got to go to Hawaii last week--and then another friend is there this week. My father even got to go visit my BFF from high school who now lives there. Why is everyone ELSE living my life but ME?

Anyway, here's the pic my father sent me of my ol' buddy Michelle and her family. Can't you just tell that the they are just STRAINING from the pressure of having to live in Hawaii??? Gosh! I hope they get help soon!




Facebook is somewhat addicting. I cannot believe some of the old acquaintances I've found--or who have found me. But what about those few folks I've tried to friend who haven't responded?? Either they can't recognize me due to my married name (um, which is only HALF-WAY different from my maiden name), or I really annoyed these people more in high school than I thought. Ah well. Sorry, folks! I promise I'm not nearly as weird as I used to be! SO! Now I will go and focus on those friends who DO still want to admit they know me!

On Health

Last week I had a cold. Late Thursday night I suddenly got very dizzy and "faint-ish." I just felt so strange...and I ended up not sleeping at all that night. Friday I still felt weird and spent my lunch hour curled up in a spare office trying to get my head to clear. A co-worker said, "You probably have a sinus infection." Ah, yes! That's probably it! I started feeling better by late Friday afternoon. But today I have another one of those teeth-hurting headaches. Probably weather-induced. (Rainy, gloomy 50 degree weather.)

I got home from work Thursday to a very disoriented-looking Mary. She was rubbing and blinking her eyes and complaining that she just couldn't get them to FOCUS on her homework. Within minutes, she started complaining about a headache. I sent her to bed to lie down. Mother's different stages of panic: a) brain tumor?, b) aneurysm? c) MIGRAINE?? When I went to check on her later, she was complaining of a stomach ache, too. She finally went to sleep and slept for two hours straight. She woke up much more alert and happy and obviously in no pain.

[John: Do you have a history of migraines in YOUR family?
Me: No, do you?
John: Not that I know of!
(Family: if you do suffer from migraines, and we're completely oblivious to
it, please let us know!)]

Fortunately Mary already had a physical scheduled with the doctor on Friday. (Doc: Is there a family history? John: ???) So Mary was told to start keeping a headache journal to see if we can find triggers. The doctor ALSO noticed that Mary's vision is a bit off: like 20/40. The doc wants us to take her to an eye doctor (new benefits! 4/1!). It's not necessarily bad enough to warrant glasses, but she may need them if these headaches are actually due to poor vision....

SO! That was our drama for the last week! And I see from miscellaneous FB posts and blogs that a LOT of folks have been fighting one nasty bug or another lately. Gah! I hate winter! And I HATE it when my babies are sick!

More Pics

These are the pics that were supposed to go out in the now non-existent x-mas cards. And then I realized I didn't have enough to go around. *sigh*

The Pics

Mother Son Challenge


Father Daughter Dance

Technical Difficulties

Sorry to those of you who have me on your reader.... I have to completely re-do a couple of posts.

Working....

"Congratulations"

...said John, "You're one of the only people actually HIRED this month."

Yes, that's right folks. After almost exactly 120 days, the company finally offered me a permanent position--starting officially on Monday. Whew! Although, I was really to the point of "Hey, keep me as a temp--whatever! As long as I'm getting a paycheck!" Anyway, I'll now have the "luxury" of TWO weeks vacation. Ooooohhh....Wow! And I can actually get PAID if I call in sick now.

I wonder if I'm the only person in the COUNTRY who got HIRED this month?? "Yes, that's right, folks, the employment rate is UP! It went up by ONE JOB! Things are looking UP!"

What's Going On?

I feel bad. This darn job of mine is really cramping my blogging style. I just don't have the time to read or write anymore. Clearly, I should bring this up to my boss, no?

Last Friday night Keith and I went to the school for a Mother Son Challenge sponsored by the PTA. We got there early, and there was already a line of mothers/sons waiting outside the gym. After a while of standing in the hallway, one of the PTA members came down the hall and ushered some of us willing moms into the cafeteria where the photographer was set up. So, Keith and I got in another long-ish line for that (and this is when I noticed the pizza stains on his face--AND on his shirt). Keith was instantly approached by a gaggle of young boys and they all wandered around the cafeteria making very, very strange noises and just being all goofy. Meanwhile, all the mothers are trying their best to herd their over-excited boys back into at least the general vicinity of the line. I just started cracking up. I mean--it was hopeless, OK? All these goofy boys and one really long line? Just let it go, Moms. Let it go!

Well, Keith and I finally got our picture taken (and it turned out quite nice, too), and then we mosied back into the gym. The line was EVEN. WORSE.

And what were we in line FOR? Glad you asked! The PTA had rented three inflatable games for the moms and sons. Inflatable twister. Inflatable bungee (something or another). Inflatable Joust (yes!). Well, Keith and I got in the very first line--which was the bungee thing. And we waited in line for an HOUR. All three lines had the same look--Moms waiting patiently while the sons RAN AROUND and maybe stopped to watch/cheer the Joust (it was great--when a kid defeated a mom, the boys would cheer--and vice versa!). Anyway, after the HOUR wait, Keith and I finally got to do the bungee thing. We strapped on a vest that had a bungee cord attached to the wall of the inflatable. The inflatable was divided into two lanes. Each person is handed a velcroed bean bag. On the signal, they RUN down the lane and try to adhere their bean bag on the velcroed strip in the middle of the lanes). Object: stretch yourself/bean bag the farthest down the lane (and not get YOINKED back by the bungee cord).

It looked fun. But they only allowed two runs (imagine the wait time if they'd allowed MORE?). Poor Keith tripped on our first run. But he took it like a good sport and laughed. The second run I watched him closely, and he "managed" to beat me by a hair.


I was all for getting in the huge line for the Joust next. But Keith wanted a sundae. "Listen, kid. The line is soooo long for joust that if we stop for the sundae, we are NOT going to have time for the joust. Are you SURE you want a sundae?" He was adamant. So, after a quick trip to the little boys room, we ate our sundae. Twenty minutes now until the Challenge ends. Sorry, kid. Not enough time to get in another line--so we grabbed our photo and pulled on all our coats/hats/mittens, and called it a night.

@#$%. I really wanted to try that joust! Typical Man! Stomach first!

Yeah. I could tell Keith was kind of bored most of the night. Waiting in line for an HOUR for something that is NOT a roller coaster just doesn't seem worth the effort. Ah well. We got a pretty decent picture, anyway.




This Friday is the Daddy/Daughter dance. Mary is excited that I'm letting her wear her "very best" dress--the one I bought for the family holiday pictures that never got taken (ahem!). Well, at least she and John will get a nice picture together in the new dress!

Monday night I made use of my old contacts at my old job and set up a Cub Scout visit to the phone company. It only took about 40 minutes--and it was great. The boys were completely fascinated (not to mention the dads). I got to see one of my old bosses (gee--one of the few not laid off lately), and we got to catch up. It was so perfect, I'm thinking of setting it up for my GS troop, too!




Every day Mary and her class is subjected to a math facts quiz. They take the quiz every day until they pass it. Up to now it's been addition, subtraction, and the multiplication tables (x2, x3, x4, and so on to x9). Every week we've had to deal with Mary being upset/frustrated if she didn't pass the quiz on the first try. Well, this week was the first week that there was a "combined" multiplication quiz. It had random multiplication problems on it. She was the only kid in her class to not only finish it in the time allowed, but also PASS it! John said that he even had another mother stop and say something to him about it when he was up at the school for Keith's cello lesson the other day. !! Good job, Mare! You're the envy of your whole class!

Getting It Together

Now that I've been back to work for a while (and the pukes are gone), John and I have been trying to get a little bit of order in our lives.

John is spending his weekends replacing some of the insulation in the attic, putting down plywood, and going through the junk in the basement in the hopes of putting some of the crap downstairs UPSTAIRS. So what if it just looks like our basement crap has been SHIFTED to different spots of the basement? It's shifted with PURPOSE, OK?

In doing MY part of this task, I've been helping him go through the crap and decide what to keep and what to give away/throw out. I'm just not the clutter hog that I used to be, and I really don't have a problem getting rid of most of it. OUT! OUT, I SAY!

I've also decided that it's time to step up the children's chores a bit. First, I need to be a bit more firm in the chores getting done WEEKLY. This is hard when on any given week/weekend we could have any given list of activities going on--sometimes *I* don't have time to get chores done, how can I keep on the kids? So, I don't bark at them to clean when *I'm* not cleaning. (One thing that HAS to get done: the bunny cages have to get cleaned. Many empty threats of getting rid of the bunnies are happening lately.... I wish they weren't so darn stinky!)

Anyway, last weekend I decided to teach both Keith and Mary how to do the dishes. Not just unloading the dishwasher (which both of them have been doing for ages), but ALSO loading them, and washing the stuff that can't go/won't fit in the dishwasher, and cleaning off the tables and counter tops, etc. Guess who's the biggest help here? Keith! He absolutely LOVES to help me do the dishes! He just can't wait until it's his turn. But Mary. Oh, MARY. When it's her turn I'm guaranteed to get a temper tantrum with red face, tears, and lots of "mumble wumble" under her breath. Oh, the poor, little Cinderella! This confirms the fact that I should have shown her how to do the dishes ages ago.... Man, I'm mean!

I'm forcing us all to make a habit of this. Eat dinner, wash dishes, then PACK LUNCHES (if time!), then get ready for bed. NOW the kids have ALL THIS EXTRA TIME in the morning to just GOOF OFF instead of having John get onto them about packing their lunches....

It's been...wonderful. Really, really wonderful. A clean kitchen every night. And the kids are ready more quickly in the morning. And...well, we may actually get to put the Christmas decorations away in the attic by spring (*cough*).

Wish me luck in keeping this habit going. Next step: more forceful insistence on the weekly chores. Again: baby steps.