I did it.
I actually survived training & I've got my own window, I can't believe it!
Now for a completely new kind of stress...not screwing up.
(no pressure)
I only helped 4 people cos it was late in the day when I actually got to set up my window but Monday I'll be in the hot seat.
Zoinks!!
(pray for me please, pray lots & pray hard)
It's pretty fun, I like talking to people & our townsfolk can be very interesting. Even more so because my coworkers have lived here a long time & we all know how small towns are...I'm learning all kinds of good stuff!
But only during lunch.
(a'hem)
~~~
So we were planning on a quick trip to visit my sister this weekend. Adah & I need haircuts & my sis lives close enough that the cost of driving there is about equivalent to paying someone else to do it. Adah especially likes having her aunt do her hair - Margaret sprinkles glitter in the kids hair when she's done & Adah LOVES it. She totally gets her princess vibe goin' & checks herself out in every mirror in the salon - she's so funny!
Anyhoo, this time we planned on all of us going so the boys could hang out with their uber-cool tween'ish boy cousins (total hero worship goin' on there) & so we could go to church with Great Grandpa K Sunday morning.
Then Eli got a sore throat.
So we amended the plan to a girls trip.
Then Eli developed a magnetic attraction to mommy's lap & mommy's sick-child instincts kicked into high gear.
So we further amended the plan to a day trip Sunday, nixing the visit with Great Grandpa because we don't want to take the chance of making him sick.
Then Eli's eye got all pink & goobery.
*sigh*
The further, further amended plan is to take Eli to the urgent care clinic first thing in the morning (to get him diagnosed with pink-eye which I've had so many times I can diagnose it myself) & then Adah & I will make our trip to get new do's & have some girl-time with auntie M and (hopefully) make it back before dinner.

I wonder what surprise we shall discover in the morning...

In which my writing skills go out the window...

I ended the day feeling good for the first time in days. I made some headway in my training & I think I may just finish most of it by the end of the week & keep TB happy. That's the plan anyway. (fingers crossed, knocking on wood)

My struggle right now is that I'm so dang tired. Tonight I'm going to bed before the kids, I plan on doing some studying in bed but at least I'll be in the right place. I usually hang out with Chris & watch a show or 2 online after they go to bed but when I do that I end up not getting to sleep until about 11 & that ain't cutting it sleep wise. (you can tell in the writing of this post - usually I take the time to revise it until my thoughts flow better & I have halfway decent sentence structure but tonight I'm so tired I just don't care.)

I'm off to supervise homework now & then straight to bed...nightie night y'all!

Girlfriends spell relief!

Ahhhhhh.


Time with the Lord & with my prayer/Bible study group felt soooooo good today! I have not been spending time with God lately & I'm feelin' it - as evidenced by my past week & yesterday's post.

(yeah, I'm a quick one I am.)

I knew this morning that even though we got up late, I needed to get my fanny to church & meet with my group. The sermon was great, as it always is, Pastor Dan is a wonderful Pastor but I could just feel God pushing me to get with the girls, share my heart with them & pray, pray, pray. I am so thankful to have this group of women. Gals I can laugh with, cry with & spill my guts to (in total confidence they will keep all my deep dark secrets) are worth more than their weight, I can tell ya.

I came home from church with a spring in my step, thanks to God & the knowledge that my gals will be uplifting me whenever God brings me to mind.

Unfortunately, my euphoria did not last long. Chris had me sit with him while he checked the grocery sales online & I was attacked with separation anxiety over my former task. As I'm sure you understand, his brain does not work the way mine does & as a result he was not doing it the 'right' way. I almost got a knot in my poor lil tummy watching the train wreck in progress...

Ok so it really wasn't that bad, he's doing fine, but there's a learning curve to finding the best deal & a lot of the household shopping savvy resides in my head, not his. I wanted to give him a list of what is typically better priced at which store but he prefers to figure it out himself. I understand because he'll understand it better that way but I did have to go into the other room for a minute so I could mutter about all my hours of work figuring this out for nothing...no drama here, nope none at all! (Where does my daughter get that trait? Hmmm...)

Things have been better with the kids today too. I expected to loose my mind during the sermon this morning - the kids are not very good at sitting through the whole thing & there's lots of whining & whispered fighting that gets significantly slightly louder as the time progresses. But I kept my cool & wasn't even very irritated with them. We played a bit when we got home & I had snuggle time with a couple of them so that was good as well.

One of my gal-pals gave me a good idea for a after school/work routine for us - reading (um doy) which is one of my favorite pastimes. Well, more accurately reading my books is one of my favorite pastimes - whenever I start reading one of their books I begin yawning within 2 pages, weather or not I actually like the book & I want to stop immediately. But I think I have discovered some books that will work well for us - I began reading Mrs. Pigglewiggle's farm to them recently & we all love it! Books like Ramona, Pippi Longstocking, Mrs. Pigglewiggle & the like I can get into. They have a story I actually enjoy & the kids are old enough now that it captures their attention too - bonus!! I'll let you know how it goes, although I want to read an installment this evening I think I'll wait until tomorrow & start the week out right.

Happy Monday y'all!!

Sometimes I really should stop & ask for directions.

I am completely overwhelmed.

Work is going well, I'm s.l.o.w.l.y getting through the training but there's a lot of pressure (possibly imagined) to get it all done & it's freaking me out a bit. I have to talk to my boss on Monday about that - I don't know what her time expectation is for me getting through all this stuff. The other gal that's in training with me (and is much younger) is a lot faster than I am & I'm concerned that TB (the boss, a bit of a type-A perfectionist) is impatient with me. But I don't know how much of that is my 40-year-old-been-a-homemaker-for-7-years-intimidated-by-a-19-year-old-mind & how much is reality.

She's really not intimidating, it's more of the stereotype of the old lady can't keep up with the fresh young blood than anything else. I actually quite enjoy working with her, she's very nice & seems quite mature for a 19 year old girl. When she talked of graduating last year I assumed college, she looks a lot older than she is but silly me, it was only HS.

I'm feeling dated despite the fact that TB is a little older than me & the assistant manager is nearing retirement age. (Dangnabbed 19 year olds!)

None of this is what's overwhelming me though. No, that would be my family.

Every day this past week I've gotten overwhelmed by my kids within about 2 minutes of getting home. I assumed that on the weekend I would feel better but so far this is not the case. And this week was not even a normal work week, we had the holiday off!

Chris has been great, he's totally taken on the housework & cooking & the house is cleaner than it would be if I had been the one home. But I'm not sure this is helping me either.

The kitchen has been my domain for years but now I'm finding things in the wrong places & my routines are no longer in place. I kinda feel like a stranger in my own home. Now, I'm the first to admit I'm a tad anal about where the dishes go & things like that. I like things where I like them, what can I say? But when I showed him how I put the bowls away, round bowls in one stack & square bowls in another (completely logical, right?) he said "well you're not putting away the dishes anymore are you."

Ouch.

I've never been a fan of doing the dishes. I've been known, at times, to put them off & end up with a nasty stinky mess in the sink & all over the counter but that was MY job in MY kitchen & I'm not sure I want to give it up! Now Chris is doing the dishes, the menu planning, the shopping & the rest of MY job & I don't like it one bit. (There I said it, harrumph!)

Then there's the kids. Now, I love my kids but those of you who are familiar with my blog know that I've been challenged by them from time to time. (yes I know, the understatement of the year, young as it is...) Everyone assumed (and by everyone I mean Chris, my mom, my sisters & my BFF) that when I got back to work, out in the real world & interacting with adults again, things would get easier for me at home. Hell, I bought into it too but so far it's not been the case! I don't like to leave them in the morning & I'm happy to see them when I get home but I can only handle so much. I like to snuggle quietly with one or two, read books to them & watch them play but if things get loud (as they are 95% of the time) or more than one tries to talk to me at a time (another 95%) I simply can't handle it & they must get away from me NOW before I blow my stack. (and when I say blow I mean Mt St Helen's style.)

I don't want to hurt the kids or make them feel like Mom doesn't like spending time with them but my kids are loud, raucous and always fighting to be the one heard first & I start to panic. All weekend I've been shooing them away from me, trying to do it nicely but a lot of the time they won't listen & I have to raise it up a notch to get movement & they get their feelings hurt.

Then Chris hears me beginning to loose it & comes to my rescue & I feel guilty, or worse, he comes to the kids rescue & I feel resentful & arguing ensues.

Could someone please tell me who I am, how I fit into this dang family & where I can find my sanity? Pretty please??

Spinnin' like a top

First day of work today and all I got to say is...

Wow - my brain hasn't seen this much action in a loooong time (and it's a mite dizzy!)

G'night all, I need me some sleep!

Workin' girl

Hi folks.

I'm back again...I think. I'm beginning a new journey soon & I feel as though I should get my thoughts written out through this process.

I got a job.

Yup I'm no longer a SAHM. As of Dec 28th I'm a bank teller & I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm excited, scared, nervous, depressed and well, generally in a tizzy about the whole thing.

It's weird getting back out there after not working for over 7 years. I'm so used to taking care of my home & family I don't know what to feel. And adding to my ambivalence, Chris will become a house-husband & I'm not ready to just hand it all over to him.

Can you tell I don't like change?

I know this job is going to be good for me & I know I'll be good at it. One thing I am looking forward to is meeting a lot more people here in our lil community. I tend to hermit myself in my house & this will force me to get out there & be around people...which I really do need. I think it's also going to help my depression which would be fabulous.

But for now I've got 'what if's' and 'but how about's' and 'what happens when's' swirling through my brain & I can't get the dag-nabbed thing to shut up!

So I'm thinkin' I need a new name for my blog...any ideas? All I can come up with is Michels Madness or Michels Mayhem but I'm not crazy about either of them. I want something catchy that describes the insanity of our household & life. Ya know, mom with depression, 3 strong willed kids 2 of which have ADD & a hubby with ADD all tryin' to navigate this world without messing each other up too much.

Hmmm...

A whole new me or, man do I love technology!

I found this great contest over at 5 Minutes for Mom the other day for a Wii fit & I just had to try for it. Your main entry in the contest requires you to sign up for WeightView, a really cool site that does amazing things with your picture.
Here's my before & after photos from WeightView:























Um...wow???
Holy schmokes what a difference!! (I was going to say holy cow but well, y'know...) I'd say this gives me some motivation...it even took my double chin away! I'm going to make that call to the dr I was talking about several days ago. (No I haven't called yet, that's something I talk about & think about forever but don't actually do. Could be the reason I don't get anything done!)
So.
Go sign up to see the new you and then enter the contest at 5 Minutes for Mom. Just don't win ok?...I want that Wii fit for myself!!!

The same age as Sesame Street? Cool!

In 1969 (the year you were born)

Richard Nixon becomes president of the US Mary Jo Kopechne is killed when Senator Edward Kennedy veers off a narrow bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, crashing into a pond US astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to set foot on the moon while commanding the Apollo 11 mission Breathtaking pictures of Mars are transmitted to earth from NASA's Mariner 7 as it passes within 2,200 miles of the Red Planet Woodstock music festival begins in upstate NY, featuring performances by Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and many more artists 250,000 Vietnam War protestors gather in Washington for the largest anti-war rally in US history The first draft lottery since WWII is held in New York City The Beatles' performance in public for the last time, on the roof of Apple Records The Stonewall riots mark the start of the modern gay rights movement in the US Marilyn Manson, Jennifer Aniston, Renee Zellweger, Edward Norton, Christian Slater, and Linus Torvalds are born New York Mets win the World Series New York Jets win Superbowl III Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup Sesame Street premieres Midnight Cowboy wins the Oscar for best picture David Bowie's debut single, "Space Oddity", becomes a huge hit - in part due to the US landing on the moon Sharon Tate & the LaBiancas are found murdered by Charles Manson & "family"

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

A heavy heart

I'm taking a bit of a break today as I'm mourning the loss of 2 terrific kids. Coleman won his freedom Monday evening & Dante won his Tuesday morning.
They were both courageous to the very end & touched many lives.
Please pray for their parents, Scott & Peggy, Tony & Jo - they need all they can get right now.

God bless you all!

I dream of...Michelle?

The other day I had this crazy dream about one of my favorite bloggers, Michelle from My Semblance of Sanity. It was one of those really vivid dreams that make you wonder if it really happened which is weird for me. The only dreams I ever remember are nightmares - with the exception of when I was pregnant & when I was on the nicotine patch. At those times I had extremely vivid dreams but not ones I can repeat in polite company, if you know what I mean. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)

So I'm in my car with my son Eli just out & about running errands. We see a sign for a kids craft place & decide to stop in & check it out. It turns out to be this huge room off the back of a house. So we go in & ring the bell to let them know we are there. And who comes out of the door but Michelle! I was so excited. I mean, I've wanted to meet this woman for the longest time but she lived so far away. I didn't understand how we could come to be at her house but hey, who's gonna argue?
So she had shelves & cupboards full of papers & paints, glues & glitters, anything you could think of to use for kid crafting, she had it there.
We get Eli started on a project & she invites me into the house for coffee. So we hang out & chit chat for awhile, checking on Eli from time to time (because we all know what Eli can be like!)
Finally he's done creating stuff & she goes to walk us out to our car...but things have somehow changed since we've been inside. We've gone from a suburb area to a rural setting & we are now on a ranch with horses & cows all over the place. I ask her for a tour & she shows us all over their operation, they've also got chickens & a few goats (strangely, just like some friends of ours back in Cle Elum...) & it's just a beautiful setting. Then she says "I've got one more thing to show you...the guest cottages."
What? Have I died & gone to heaven? She's got cottages & you can actually stay here?
Oh. My. Gosh!!!
We go & have a peek in one & it's absolutely charming. All decorated with antiques & homemade quilts, just like I would do it. *sigh*
I've got to get home but she gives me her brochure & I promise to call her soon.
Next we seem to do one of those dream time-warp things & I'm arriving at her place with some girlfriends for a weekend getaway.
Michelle greets us & gets us all tucked into our cottage. It's just the right size for us all & we are looking forward to a weekend of much laughter & fun.
We have dinner (catered by Michelle's cook, how cool is that?) & go over to the big house for an evening of crafting fun. She's got it set up so we can scrapbook, make cards, or a centerpiece for our table. She joins us & we spend the next few hours being creative & laughing until our faces hurt.
The next day we go for a trail ride on the horses & boy you oughta see the cowboy guiding us...whew! He chooses the right horse for each of us & off we go. It was a great ride through some amazing country...our cowboy is charming & helpful, and tells us some great stories of ranching life.
Next is massage time, now that our buns are aching & we're all bowed-legged & sore from riding. (Of course, Michelle had a spa at her ranch...I mean, who wouldn't?) We enjoy our pampering & decide that tomorrow we might just need mani/pedi's too.
More fabulous food & crafting fun, and a lot more laughter shared by all.
The next morning we woke up & felt fabulous. We had breakfast & were just heading over to the stables to see the cowboy horses & maybe go for another ride when what should happen?

My dadgum kids woke me up.

Oh man...

~~~~

Y'all should check out this post on Michelle's blog. Even though she doesn't really have a ranch with hottie cowboys & cute cozy cottages, she's got a dandy of a contest goin' on to promote her latest venture. Don't forget to let her know who sent you!!

Now, where is that cell phone?

I recieved this, my second blog award (never did anything about the first one...need to visit that blog and dig it up in her archives!) from my pal Kate who writes about her life in Texas. She's a lovely person & is wonderfully supportive, especially when I'm waaaay off my rocker. (Not that it happens often...*a'hem*)
Thanks Kate!!

The way this works is I answer the following questions with single word responses, and pass the award on to 5 other bloggers:
1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Where is your significant other? Back-room
3. Your hair color? Brownish
4. Your mother? Mom
5. Your father? Dad
6. Your favorite thing? Books
7. Your dream last night? Dunno
8. Your dream/goal? Kids
9. The room you're in? Family
10. Your hobby? X-stitch
11. Your fear? Opinions
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Content
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Confident
15. One of your wish list items? Music
16. Where you grew up? Kirkland
17. The last thing you did? Read
18. What are you wearing? Jeans
19. Your T.V.? Sony
20. Your pet? Gihli/Smudge
21. Your computer? Dell
22. Your mood? Restless
23. Missing someone? Yup
24. Your car? Caravan
25. Something you're not wearing? Socks
26. Favorite store? Michaels
27. Your Summer? Hot
28. Love someone? Yes
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? 26th

I wish I could give this to all the blogs I read...here's my pics, go check em out!
1. Blessed...
2. Diagonally parked in a Parallel Universe
3. Livesay (Haiti) Weblog
4. Fried Okra
5. My Little Corner of the World

This is going to be short and er, sweet today. I pulled a muscle in my back a few days ago & yesterday it was feeling much better...yesterday.
Today...ow, ow, OW!
I can hardly move right now, everything hurts. Moving my head, sitting down, getting up...even making a sudden facial expression hurts sometimes.
UGH!

Anyway, I didn't come here to whine my head off...I really wanted to share with you our latest kid'ism.

From Adah
"I'm a gooood pooper mom. I'm a poop girl!"

Now aren't you happy you visited today? Now your life is complete, having heard that Adah is a poop girl. I mean, what an accomplishment!

Actually it's a great thing. For the past 2 days she had successfully pooped without making a giant mess in her undies. This is huge for us, she has been very difficult in this area, making me lots & lots of nasty laundry to clean - blech! You can read more about that here & here if you so choose - but I can't imagine why you'd want to!!
So we've been lavishing her with praise & telling her that she should be very proud of herself. And proud she is, our sweet little poop girl.
*a'hem*
Totally a story to save for her embarrassment in later years :)

Hola 2009!

Ok this is pathetic.
I was trying to write a silly little poem about the new year & I can't get beyond the first line (which sounded like a 3rd grader wrote it anyway.) I think I've not only lost brain cells from having children but from endless loads of laundry & dishes.
We rung in the new year by snuggling on the couch (except we didn't so much snuggle as sat next to each other...we both pulled back muscles recently.) and watching movies. Chris picked The Dark Knight & I chose Tuck Everlasting. As much as I like The Dark Night I didn't think it set the proper tone for celebrating 2009 but Chris just had to see it, then he fell asleep during my movie (which was very cute btw.) We'll be watching it again tonight so he can see what happens after the opening credits.
We've spent our first day of the new year by doing pretty much the same thing we do everyday. Cleaning..internet..laundry..internet..fighting..internet..dishes..internet..fighting over who gets to be on the internet...
You get the general idea.
So I haven't made any resolutions for this year, I never keep the dang things anyway so why bother? I really like what Dawn at BecauseISaidSo came up with though.
I have been seriously thinking about talking to my Dr about my weight. I'm about 80-90 lbs overweight & it's only getting worse. I think about exercising or cutting back on the sweets & it just sends me into scarf-everything-I-see mode. Like I know I'm going to diet soon so I better cram in all the crap food I can now. I'm tired of getting winded (and my knees protesting) going up the stairs. I'm tired of not being able to romp around with the kids much. I'm tired of seeing pics of myself & thinking "that's me? Yuck!!"
I would have to get my mom into this...we don't have enough money for WW or a gym or whatever & I think I'm going to need that outside motivation. I just don't have the willpower to do this on my own. I need someone (other than my husband) to kick me in the butt. I've become very lazy & unmotivated (dunno if that's a word but I'ma use it anyway) & I don't see myself doing what I need to do on a regular basis without that help.
So.
I'm off to loose more brain cells do laundry.
You got any resolutions? Will you actually keep them? Do anything fabulous to welcome 2009?

~~~~

2009,
you'll do just fine.

(oh yeah, 3rd grade all the way. Maybe 2nd even.)

Oh THAT mom.

Yesterday I had the torture pleasure of grocery shopping with my 3 little snarling, sniveling darlings. It was such a hellish great trip, replenishing my pantry while displaying my obvious lack of control parenting prowess.
Oh we dragged, pushed, pulled traipsed round the store, blindly grabbing merrily & efficiently gathering the items on my list, my obnoxious precious little ones sitting in the previous isle throwing a fit following obediently behind me like a line of ducklings.
I tell you I was the nightmare come true example of what every mother fears knows her kids will be like with her pathetic superior mothering abilities.
Oh yes, yesterday I truly was THAT mom.

I hope we don't get fined for this!

I started this post back in October...procrastinate much? Anyway, it's a follow up on our friends memorial service & the excitement that followed.

~~~~

Well, despite our reason for traveling we had a really great weekend catching up with friends.

The drive was awesome, sunny & clear the whole way. When it's that nice you can see the top of Mt Rainer from the Moses Lake area - a simply stunning sight even from that far away!

The memorial service was beautiful, we worshiped together & praised God for Dave's life. Pastor Greg did a great job speaking on dealing with grief as a Christian & we heard memories of Dave & hope for the future from his family. There was a great video Cascade Productions put together from pics of Dave's spanning the years. And of course, a TON of great food! The kids did very well through the service, it was about an hour long & they are not used to sitting that long. We stayed in the back & other than excessive wiggling from Eli & having to take Adah out 2 times, they did great. Once it was over they could run around & get their energy out - but more about that in a minute.

I got my love-tank filled by my friends, oh I miss those crazy ladies sometimes! There's a group of gals I got to know very well during a prayer group & they are like sisters to me. They are the people I can bare the ugly parts of myself to & they still love me & accept me for who I am, icky parts & all. Becky, Dave's wife was a part of that & it was good to just hug her, tell her I love her & I'm praying for her & the boys. She was quite surprised to see us there - as were a lot of others. Chris enjoyed seeing everyone too. He hasn't been back for over a year so it was great for him to connect with the guys again. We were just starting to think about leaving when this hideous noise began sounding throughout the building - the fire alarm. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on & then I had one thought 'where the heck is Eli?'

You see, Eli has been notorious for turning lights on or off & touching things he oughtn't. In fact he did this numerous times at our old church in Cle Elum - the lights would go out & immediately Chris & I would holler 'ELI!' And it was always him, the little stinker.

We found Eli & the other kids. They were all scared & holding their ears. Sam & Eli in particular have sensitive ears & the noise was hurting them quite a bit. Chris questioned Eli & after lots of reassurance he was not in trouble he admitted that he did it.

He felt so bad the poor guy, I asked him about it later & discovered that he knew it would make a noise but he had no idea it would be that loud (did I mention this building has all wood floors?) or that it would be throughout the whole building.

We were very lucky it happened at the very end of the evening, a lot of people had already left & clean up had begun. Everyone was very understanding, especially as many of them already know Eli & his talent of getting into everything. I just felt bad Becky had such a turbulent ending to her husband's memorial. The police arrived about 10 minutes later to shut the thing off & they were nice as well. Chris was worried that we would get fined or something but I think they know that accident's (& 5 year olds named Eli) happen & were glad it was nothing.

He got a big lecture about not touching things etc & we decided that his 10 minutes of pain & shame was punishment enough. Every time we mentioned the subject he was so embarrassed he hid his face. He wouldn't look at anyone other than us for anything! We still refer to it occasionally, it serves as a good reminder for him & has been useful to Chris & I as a deterrent.

The psycology of bed's and umbrella's

What Your Blue Umbrella Says About You

When faced with adversity, you can be counted on. You rise to the occasion when things are tough, and you are very dependable. You are cool and laid back. Everyone finds you easy to get along with. You are a good communicator and conversationalist. People pour their hearts out to you. On a rainy day: you should spend the day catching up with your closest friends

The Umbrella Test

What Your Bed Says About You

Outward appearances aren't important to you at all. You think that the over emphasis on looks to be shallow. You try to be an organized person, but you often fall behind. Certain parts of your life tend to fall into chaos. You are very high maintenance. You like everything a certain way, and you're grumpy if things aren't the way you like them. In relationships, you tend to be quite dominant. You enjoy taking charge. You tend to be a down to earth, practical person. You think in terms of what is actual. You are a traveler. You are comfortable anywhere, and you rarely feel homesick.

What Does Your Bed Say About You?

I resemble these both very much...my poor husband!

For unto us a Child is born

Merry CHRISTmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with family, laughter, fun & waaaaay too much to eat :)

We will be eating a leisurely breakfast of eggs & cinnamon rolls after the who-can-fling-the-most-paper-around-the-room contest. And them I shall run around like the proverbial chicken while I get us ready to head down to my sisters for 2 days. And all this on about 4 hours of sleep.

And now a gift for my bloggy friends courtesy of my pal Rick over at Organized Doodles...enjoy!

Let us all remember...He is the reason for the season!

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my...oh wait, I forgot this is my life!

So far this morning...

Got up late. (no shower)
Dog saw cat while taking his morning pee & ran off. (maybe he'll get cold & come back)
Welcomed an extra kid. (babysitting all day)
Played pioneer. (chopped wood for fire)
Took a call from the city. (about dog, what a surprise)
Bundled kids for a trek to the garage. (to find dog)
Dug out drift in front of garage. (about 2 ft deep)
Wrestled van onto driveway. (took a few tries)
Found dog. (who did NOT want to get in the van)
Took 5 tries to get up driveway. (and actually made it into garage)
Un-bundled kids. (me first, I have ice in my boot, mom help)
Fixed 2 boo-boos. (band aids go fast in this house)
Rescued extra kid from my kids. (she's 3 & they play very rough)
Discovered daughter cutting up my brush. (took the bristles right off)
Scolded boys for riding old crib mattress down stairs. (miraculously nobody was hurt)

And all this before 9:30!

~~~~

Interesting Sam pronunciation:

Sam "hey mom, a question mark means a question & a es-qu-ash-kon (exclamation) mark means a question too!"
Mom "gotta work on that buddy."

I had to have him repeat that a bunch of times before I could figure out how to spell it. And I'm so not correcting him...it's just too cute for that!

~~~~

I have recently learned to be grateful that Chris is working in Ellensburg. At first I was very resentful & angry. I mean, we just moved away from there to be closer to work & now he's working right back where we came from! But the general contractor at this particular job is tarping & heating the job which means they can work all winter, even in extreme temperatures. Chris found out last week that they are the only crew working right now. All the other jobs are shut down due to nasty weather. So once again, God knows what He's doing & I haven't a clue.
Go figure :)

~~~~

Yesterday I finally finished decorating the house for Christmas. Now I just have to finish the gifts I'm making & wrap everything. Every year I plan on getting it all done early & every year I go right down to the wire. Nothing like a little added stress to spice up my everyday life.
We are getting up early on Christmas morning to open our gifts & have breakfast together. Then we will make the trek to my sister's house in Richland & spend 2 days with the rest of my family. Should be a blast & a little deja-vu, to see all our kids playing together, just like we did with our cousins when we were kids. You see, my sister bought my Grandparents old house & we spent many-a Christmas playing in the basement. Now it's come full circle & we're the boring adults talking upstairs.

~~~~

I introduced my kids to the movie Rudolph yesterday & naturally they loved it. It was so much fun to see them enjoying what I've loved for so long. Today I'm going to see if I can find A Charlie Brown Christmas online for them. I just love sharing all the old traditions with them & knowing they will pass them on to their kids someday. The best part though is sharing the real reason for the season, our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. We've always told them a bible story every night before bed but at this time of year we linger on the story of His birth. I want them to understand from an early age that Christmas has nothing to do with santa & getting lots of stuff. It's about celebrating the King of Kings & what He came here to do for us.
So we talk a lot about how santa is a character & it's fun to pretend he's real but he's not really real. And when you see santa at the store or he comes to your school party he's just a man dressed up in a costume like at Halloween. But I also make sure to tell them not to ruin it for other kids who might think santa is real.

~~~~

We took our annual trek to see the Christmas lights Saturday night. As usual we got started too late & didn't get to finish our list. But we did see some beautiful houses in parts of Spokane we hadn't been to before & it was magical for the kids. We can't afford to put up much by the way of lights so it's fun to check out the families who can keep the power companies happy.

~~~~

Random recipe:
I made some yummy waffles for breakfast the other day. I use the recipe from the better homes and gardens cookbook (aka red & white book) but I use half whole wheat flour & I add a scoop or 2 of wheat germ so I can pretend it's good for us. I also make my own syrup which tastes so much better than that crap from the store...well, unless you buy the real thing which of course, is fabulously yummy. To make syrup you just boil 2 parts sugar & 1 part water with a little vanilla & maple flavoring until it's slightly thickened (emphasis on the slightly, if you boil it too long you'll end up with sugar-crystal'y syrup.) What made these waffles so great was that his time I didn't know I had run out of maple flavoring. I improvised & threw a couple of cinnamon sticks in & it turned out so good I don't know if I'll make it any other way.

~~~~

Hey I blogged today, can you believe it?
Have a wonderful day & enjoy your snow if you have it :)

Forgive me bloggers for I have sinned...

It's been a month since my last post.

I can't believe it's been that long.

Ok, yeah I can but...but...but...

*sigh*

I've become addicted to a couple of things that are taking up my cyber-time... Carepages/Caringbridge cancer kids updates & Facebook (or facecrack as I've seen it lovingly called.)

I think I just gatta quit playing all those dag-nabbed games on FB (I can quit anytime I want to...I just don't want to right now...sound familiar???)

Anyway...

For now here's some kid'ism's for you.

Mom: (getting up to put in a movie for the kids & seeing Adah sit in my chair) "Adah, how come every time I get up you take my chair?"

Adah: "Mom, I didn't take your chair...I'm just sitting in it!" (Like duh mom, what are you thinking you silly woman?)

Can't argue with that logic!


This one needs a little set up - all 3 kids got a tummy bug & we had Michels pukefest 08 for a couple of days. This conversation was the day after Sam got it, I had just offered him something to eat...he was eating again but very little.

Mom: "You sure you don't want anything to eat?"

Sam: "No."

Mom: "Does your tummy still feel funny?"

Sam: "yeah, it feels kinda tickley."

Awww...

Mimi's poem

I belong to a special group of women
My friends and I have an amazing bond.
We never wanted to be in this group,
Yet we are in, for life.
Maybe we have met, maybe we haven’t,
Yet our love for each other is boundless.
We know the pain the other one feels,
And we share our victories small or huge.
Words like chemo, IV, Zofran , bald heads
Are always parts of our conversations,
As well as roidrage, tears, and meltdowns…
We always know where the closest puke bucket is,
We can hold it in one hand and if necessary,
Swallow the sandwich the other hand was holding.
We can drive to the hospital,
Park in the dark parking garage
Make our way thru the halls of the hospital
And to the appropriate floor,
Settle in a room, turn the TV on,
Give instructions to the head nurse,
Silence loud beeping IV pumps,
Direct a wagon AND an IV pole
To the playroom without hitting anything
Make our way back to the correct room
And all this, mind you,
With our eyes closed at any given time.
We know how to draw blood from lines
Sticking out of little kids chests.
We can hold them down with one hand,
While a nasogastric tube is inserted in their little nose,
And be on the phone with their dads at the same time.
We can live for days on hospital food,
And on maybe only one meal a day .
We know the names of up to 20 different drugs,
Their purpose, dosage and time to be taken.
We are always on call, 24 hours a day,
Seven days a week.
We are used to not always looking our best,
Hard to do with only a few hours of sleep .
Make up , hair styling, skirts are words of the past .
We have become addicted to texting,
hospital, clinic, home, wherever…
We talk sometimes at all hours of the night,
We know we can count on someone to be up.
Then for one of us, the world stops.
She has to walk away, broken.
This job is over .
The job is over, but the fight is on.
Remember , I said we were in this forever.
We are friends, sisters, temporary nurses,
We are each others rock, each others punching bag,
We listen , we vent , we cry , we laugh together.
We share our lives and our deaths
We share our pain and our victories.
We are strong, but not by choice,
Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose,
But never are we defeated .
We are not nurses
We are not doctors,
We are cancer moms…
Mimi ( 10-18-08 )

Please visit her carepage & check out the kids she shares about. Fall in love with them, let their stories break your heart, learn what the GOLD ribbon stands for & tell your friends about it. Learn how childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children. Learn how under-funded childhood cancer research is & join in the fight to increase awareness. But above all pray for these kids & their families. They need as much love, support & prayer as they can get!