Saturday, October 30, 2004

1 down 2 to go....

My first thought Friday morning was TGIF!!! Then I thought WHAT AM I THINKING!?!?! Friday is just the start of things to come for the next few busy days. I never had these problems when we avoided Halloween before. It's definitely not geared to toward the TOK family, especially one where ALL members want to participate and in a dramatic way.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the 7 school kids got onto the bus. They made it and had everything they needed. Well, I lattered learned we forgot to find and send Jake's library books with him, but all the IMPORTANT things that were needed were sent. LOL The elementary kids had their class candy. We'd sent in the apples for Jake's and Eileen's classes earlier in the week so it wasn't a concern that morning. The ones that could dress up had their costumes (only 2 middle school kids couldn't) This year at school I had...

Michelle...she brought her gown (found at the thrift store on Monday) for her princess costume...for her BOYFRIEND! LOL He made quite the cutie in his purple satin gown while wearing a pink and silver wig. She's a lucky girl ;o)

Val...wore her perfect for her formal dress we found at the thrift store. I had told her I wasn't buying her anything because we had an old dress I could mend and alter to barely fit her. But when she tried it on, it had to be bought. Luckily I had a $5 coupon so it wasn't that much. Too bad she won't be going to the prom this year. LOL It was accented with her dollar store lightup crown.

Liz and Luke couldn't dress up unless they dressed as someone significant to their lessons. PARTY POOPERS!

Carrie...I actually sewed her a costume on Wed (score one against procrastination!). Was super easy to design it and sew it (well except for my machine acting up because fingers had touched it that shouldn't have!) While sewing it I thought...WHY don't I do this more often!?!?! She had a cheap crown from Wal-Mart to wear.

Jake...Wore all black because he was being a Ninja. I designed and sewed his Ninja hood on Thursday night. While sewing this I was thinking...NO WONDER I don't do this more often! GRRRRRRRR! It came out so so but not how I wanted it to look exactly. He was happy with the hood, he wasn't happy with his black tshirt. Ninjas need LONG sleeve shirts ya know!

Eileen...wore her purple dress she wore to kindergarten graduation last June. I made her a cardboard and foil crown to wear with it. We decorated it with ribbon rosettes.

Olivia dressed up also because at 1:30 we took a ride to the school to watch the Halloween parade. We also watched an activity in Jake and Carrie's room. Carrie's activity wasn't planned but the teacher insisted we wait to take her from class AFTER the activity. The 5 kids I had with me were not happy to have to spend a half an hour sitting still in a classroom watching a bunch of 4th graders listending to a teacher. I wasn't too thrilled about it either. Judging from the looks on other parents' faces, we weren't alone in our feelings. Oops, back to Olivia's costume.

She wore a Barbie dressup gown that my mom bought for Carrie a few years ago (and has been used by someone for a costume since) I found a sequined, cone shaped damsel hat from the dollar store that was laying around. She also had to include a set of wings from the dollar store.

As I was almost to school I remembered....I forgot my camera!!!! GRRRRRRR I hate when I do that. Hopefully it won't be forgotten for the rest of the weekend.

Now for the rest of the weekend....

We have a Harvest/Children's Feast at church at 4:00 Saturday. The theme for this year is Pirates. So some of the kids will be dressing up differently then what we made them for school. Jake will be a parrot, using the costume I made for Luke last year. I still have to make his beak and tack it to his Ninja hood. I need to make some eye patches for the Pirate princesses and brides LOL. Liz is going to be tinkerbell. I'm not sure what Luke and I are going as. I want to make myself a beard but not sure if I'll get to it. I thought about making myself a pegleg but was afraid "P" and her family might not find it funny. She has lost a leg to cancer and wears a prosthetic. I hope she'll be using it to her advantage tonight. :o) I also want to make a few Pirate hats. After I'm done here it's the next thing I'll be doing online.

For the feast I have candy bags made up. (Luke and I made them this morning) I also have bags of gold foil wrapped peanut butter cups (treasure!), 60 glow stick bracelets, and 48 mini bottles of bubbles. I'm not sure if I'll be handing out things as treats or they will be using what I bought as part of the treasure hunt. I have to find the cord to Val's bubble machine. She's not sure where it is and I really want to bring it! It makes TONS of bubbles!!! The good thing about this is...I don't have to make anything to bring to eat or for dinner at home!!! No cooking!!! Woohooo!

Sunday is another busy day! We'll be going to church at 11 then leaving from there to go to my parents' house. We'll eat dinner with them and take the kids around on their street a bit. Jump in the car and take them to Tom's moms for a tour around their blocks. Hopefully we'll get home at a decent time seeing as there is school the next day. I can't wait to snitch some of their candy. hehehehe

Between all this I have do the two activities the literacy advocates sent home with each of the elementary kids. They all require the parent to do a bit of work. THANK YOU NOT! Six activities that require at least half an hour each to do this weekend. Some people have NO clue about homelife! GRRRRRRRRR!

Oh yeah and you can't forget, there's laundry and feeding the masses too. Unfortunatley getting ready will leave a mess to be dealt with the next day too. I can't wait until MONDAY!!! LOL Actually Tues as Tom has the day off (government holiday). It's one of the rare times when he's off but the kids have school. I hope it's a nice day, I have a bunch of things to do outside still (winterize the pool, dig up canna lillies, put up the popup for the winter, etc)

Well back to reality!
Be ye havin' a jolly, good day me Hearty!
Ya Ho Ya He...A pirate's life for me!

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Grrrrrrrr!

I've been wanting to update for a while. I even had a huge post started yesterday. Then I had to take a potty break. Olivia took it upon herself to clear up my browsers and closed my post.

I'm heading out the door for the day today so don't really have time for the update I wanted to give. I'll try to get in tonight and do it, although Halloween costume designing and creating are keeping me busy.

I don't remember if I showed off Michelle's senior picture yet. So I'll do it now, excuse me if it's been done already.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Day Off

It was a nice day off from school. I think we all needed it and enjoyed it. Michelle and Val had C and F over for the afternoon. Pat brought home Jess after class and Drew went to Wells to pick up Allison. At first I thought Drew was going to be unbearable this weekend but he seems to be in a better mood then when he first walked in teh door this afternoon. Let's hope I'm right! The rest of the kids (except Olivia) had activities to do at church with their groups. Liz chose to stay home with Olivia. She didn't want to see her sad. Have I said that Olivia actually prefers Liz over me most of the time. I feel sorry for Liz about it at times, but I think overall she's quite tickled that Olivia is so in love with her.

I did manage to get some work out of the kids. I'm happy to report that BOTH bathrooms are clean at the same time! The livingroom and kitchen floors were cleaned enough for me to quickly mop. Although I only did under the kitchen table. I'll finish it in the morning.

I'm starting to get motivated but not motivated enough to get my rearend down the cellar stairs with loads of laundry. I have NO idea why it's so hard for me to do it. I think if I didn't have to do that I wouldn't have a problem with laundry. I used to love having the washer and dryer (when they worked) immediately handy. Of course back then we were in a 750sq ft mobile home and only had 3 kids....but I was AWESOME at keeping up with the laundry!

In the morning I'm hoping to start the laundry and get into my room to shovel it out. It seems to be the "isle of misfit clothing" around here. I'm often amazed how my 20yo's shorts that are too small for him, yet are too big for my 18yo manages to find it's way across my room and under my buffet. It's not like they are changing in there, or hanging out. I don't even do their laundry for them for the most part. I think there's a castaway magnet in the walls.

There also seems to be an accumulation of boxes and baskets of things that no one knows what to do with. WHAT am I suppose to do with them. That's my problem...not knowning where to put anything. If I knew where to put things I wouldn't have it all laying around! It would be nice to be able to climb out of my bed and not worry about having to trip over the huge box of misc dishware. To be able to see the lovely deep green carpeting in almost perfect condition (carpeting tends to stay like that when feet don't actually touch it!). To be able to just pull out a chair at my grandmother's old serger table and try to learn how to use her serger before Christmas comes and goes. I also know that when I wake up to a clean room, the UGH factor of waking up is gone (no, UGH! I have to clean this unmanagable place AGAIN!) I tend to keep the rest of the house cleaner when the first thing I view upon waking is a clean bedroom.

I do have to deal with a few things I don't really want to though. The wooden half crib that Olivia hasn't used since July of 2000. If I put it away will I have to immediately get it out again because it's needed. And will it be ME that needs it!? While I'm looking forward to being a grandma but I'm VERY willing to wait until it's the right time! YIKES! I hate thinking about something like that happening to my kids right now. Why can't they just stay 5, 6 or 7yo and keep everything so simple!

For some reason I can't bring myself to put the crib away, even though it would free up a lot of space in my room. It's silly to keep it up for sentimental reasons. I keep trying to tell myself if I put it away correctly, it'll all be there waiting to be put back up when the time is appropriate. I guess it's because if I put it away I'm finally saying....we most likely won't have anymore babies of our own. While I think I'm ok with it...things like this prove that I'm not as ok with it as I think I am.

Well, guess if I ever intend to get up at a decent time tomorrow and start all this work, I'd better get to bed.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Well as usual

nothing went according to plans. I never cleaned the fridge, I left late for grocery shopping and I never finished. Olivia and I did manage to spend pretty much all I was hoping to spend though. Unfortunately I'm not satisfied that I have everything I need or should have.

I made a side trip after leaving the dollar store. I spied the Rescue Mission's Thrift store. This is one of the more expensive thrift stores around but I really needed to try and find some jackets for Luke and Jake. Jake's jacket is too small. They both hate wearing pull over fleeces. I managed to find a windbreaker for Jake and a zip up fleece for Luke. Both were pretty happy with what I bought. So what if Luke's fleece was a girl's? We just cut the cute white and purple flowered Jenny tag out of it, no one is none the wise (I hope there no other identifying marks on it!) I also found a winter ski coat that fits Jake. While having the boys try on the jackets/coats I discovered that Jake, Carrie and Luke are all set for winter coats. I'm pretty sure Olivia is ok too. I know I'm going to have to find a new one for Val, someone stole the one I bought her for Christmas last year. I think I'll also have to find one for Michelle, Liz and Eileen. I'm NOT ready for snow and I wish everyone would quit telling me it smells like it's about to snow!!! Even Olivia told me the other day when she opened the window to yell goodbye to Tom one afternoon. *heavy sigh*

One of Tom's co-workers gave him 5 tickets to the circus in town. We convinced Drew to take Luke, Carrie, Jake and Eileen downtown to see it. As a treat I gave him $20 for dinner at McD's and parking. While the rest of us sat here trying to figure out what to munch on, someone had the brilliant idea that we'd take a ride to the pizzeria and grab something. So we did! LOL Pizza and wings it was. As delicious as it was, I can't wait until I can make my own pizza at home.

For some reason I'm really tired tonight. I keep making myself happy by remembering that there's NO SCHOOL tomorrow!!! (staff development day) Woohoooo!! Now if only I can make it a productive day off. I'm starting to wonder if running the house on a schedule might be beneficial after all. Nevermind...thought is gone ;o)

Hello World!

I feel like I've been out of commission forever. I don't think I've ever felt so out of it as I have from this cold. I've been on antibiotics for 9 days and I still have evenings when I feel feverish. The last few days I've been dizzy...must be my sinuses are still full but not infected.

This weekend we had our huge international church function. Saturday night was a BBQ/Pig roast which was delicious!!! It was rainy and muddy but everyone had fun anyways. I was at church by 9am Sunday morning. I was helping serve the breakfast and snacks at lunch time. I ended up missing the main broadcast because the caterer needed help. I almost asked for a job but didn't feel I could do that without first talking to Tom. Also the hours I'd have to work were wrong for my family (weekends and evenings mostly). It did renew my interest in doing something in the culinary profession though. I was scrutinizing the caterer and of course could do it oh so much better!! LOL

I'm back to considering going to a community college in the next county over next September. They have a professional food handling certification program that's 1yr long (17credit hours for 2 semesters). There are other classes there not listed under the requirements I'd like to take too. I've been thinking...If the church does put in a professional kitchen and do catering, then I can really have an input there with the courses taken. So I might not necessarily have to go out on my own to use my certification.

Of course everyone else thinks I should go to nursing school. I do know that that's another one of my strengths and I agree with them. I think that right now with a bunch of little ones still, it's too much. I'd rather do something quick and what I feel is fun to get back into the swing of college. I don't want to be away from home and swamped with heavy thinking homework when I am swamped with helping the kids with their homework now.

HOMEWORK!! UGH!!! I have been feeling totally overwhelmed with this right now. You'd think that it should be the kids' problem not mine. Unfortunately they all require my help in their tasks. Eileen is still having a very difficult time with her letters and sounds. It's getting very frustrating for all involved. I'm trying hard not to show it but last night I wasn't very successful :o( I'm a reader and having a hard time understanding why she can't get that rhyming words are spelt the same except the first letter. Not only do I have to help her study there's...Luke, Carrie and Jake who have a list to do too. Can't forget we also have to work on our math facts too. And helping when their stuck and keeping Luke on task....AAAAAAARGH!!! It's one of those times where I've looked around and thought...is this fair for everyone? Am I messing up my kids? I hate when I get like that!!! I think being wet and chilled from standing out in the rain at Liz's soccer game didn't help matters last night either.

I am happy to say that for the first time in a long time I did a bunch of work around here. Of course it wasn't really obvious seeing as this place as gotten so bad since I've been sick. The kids have tomorrow off for a staff development day. I'm hoping to go grocery shopping today so I won't have to run out tomorrow. It would be nice to have lots of yummy food to enjoy the day off. I'm also hoping to get the kids to help make a dent in this housework! Bedrooms need attention! I have piles and piles of clothes downstairs needing to be put away. And then there's the carpeting of clothes in certain rooms (mine and the laundryroom mostly) that needs to be weeded through.

Well, I have to get off here if I'm going to get to the store. I figured if I didn't update this blog first it'd never get done. Now I can cross off one task on my list ;o)

Friday, October 15, 2004

Pass the Depends please

UGH! UGH! UGH! I had started to feel better but now I feel like garbage again. My chest has decided to let loose and I've been coughing up a storm. Unfortunately I've also been wetting everytime I cough too. Nothing like a good coughing fit to put to rest the idea of having a bladder of steel. I think I need to go jump on the trampoline regularly again. I'm also sitting up not wanting to go to bed. I know once I lay down it's only going to get worse and it's bad enough now! For those that I was complaining to about lost medicine. I FOUND IT! I only missed last night's dose. WHY do my kids think that anything not nailed down is a toy?

I'm glad it's Friday already but this weekend isn't going to be too restful for myself. There's a huge international shindig at church this weekend. I'll be away at that for most of the time.

I worked with Carrie on her planet project tonight. She decided to make a pillow about Venus...her favorite planet. She came up with the design, I appliqued Venus to the pillow top, she decorated and sewed the rest of it....including whip stitching it! I'm impressed.

The other kids became interested in sewing. Liz has always enjoyed it a lot and I was looking for a nice machine for her for a while. (haven't found one yet though) Luke was asking about making something and wanted to hand sew it when I told him I didn't have the time or feel well enough to show him my machine tonight...it was 8:30 btw! Carrie wants to do more too. I suggested that maybe they think about Christmas gifts they could make for everyone and then we'll set up the projects. I'm not really comfortable with letting the kids use my sewing machine. It was originally my grandmother's and is older then I am. It runs GREAT though! So great that I had no qualms about giving away my expensive basic Husquavarna.

The state of the house is bothering me. I feel like I need to do everything NOW but never seem to get anything done or even started. The kids moved the livingroom around again, it'll be rearranged again shortly. It's not a very good layout. I guess as long as they clean the room before they move it around I should allow it to happen. LOL At least ONE part of the house is clean!

I'm debating on running to the grocery store tomorrow. I don't really need much but I'm out of lemons and am MISSING them! Right now I'm drinking straight bottled lemon juice to replace them. Not nearly as enjoyable. I wouldn't mind a jar of pepperocinis either. I sent Drew and Pat to WM to grab some milk but they forgot it! LOL Those video games have a way of erasing people's minds while your playing them. Maybe I'll just send them with a list. Might be safer to run there myself. Guess I'll have to see how I feel in the morning.



Thursday, October 14, 2004

Rest in Peace big guy

Shadow is gone. What a terrible day but we made it through it...it can only get better from here on out. Liz, Luke, Carrie, Jake, Eileen and Olivia were home. The kids were in and out all morning. Shadow had spent the night in the trailer with BIL and his dog...Shadow's sister. Tom carried Shadow into the livingroom in the morning so the kids could cuddle with him. After giving him a treat he started gagging and peed right where he was laying. He's never done that before and didn't realize he was doing it then :o( When he realized he was wet and what must have happened he tried to get up but couldn't. Guess it just proved that we were making the right decision, even if he did seem to be improving in health and energy compared to last week.

Tom asked Pat to drive the car, allowing Tom to hold Shadow in the backseat. Pat said he couldn't do it and gave an excuse, I know it was because he didn't want to deal with it. I didn't want to do it either because I'd been planning on taking the kids to the state park to have some fun and keep busy. I ended up driving. As soon as Tom picked him up to carry him into the car we both started bawling. It was a loooong tear filled 35 mile ride.

B met us out back of the pound. Tom carried Shadow into the garage, pet him and quickly jumped into the car. I was torn, I wanted to stay with him so he wouldn't get upset (he didn't anyways) or be with strangers...although he's met B a few times. I also just wanted to be away from the place. I gave him a kiss on his nose and a last pat then walked to the car where Tom was asking me...can we please just leave!

We stopped at my parents' house for a cup of coffee, some comfort and conversation. It seemed to be a good thing for us to do. We were both in a better state of mind when we left there. I've been thinking of him a lot these last 24hrs. One time the front door came open, I expected Shadow to be walking into the livingroom for the night. It was a kitten...cute but not what I expected or wanted to see.

I thought I had a good handle on things, until I started writing this. I guess I shouldn't fool myself. I know there will be times for a long time where I'll forget he's not here but expect him to be. (especially while clearing the dinner table) Sometimes I wonder why we put ourselves through this. Then I think of all the years he's been around, to hug, to brainlessly pet when zoning out was warranted, to walk alongside you while outside so you'd feel safe, to warm your feet when they were chilly, to just be there. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Update....

I went to the dr's this afternoon. The good news is...I lost 3 lbs since 2wks ago! LOL The not so good news...I have a classic sinus infection. They weren't happy. My bloodpressure was 156/94, they are assuming the sudafed is causing it. I'm not so sure, especially since I only took it 2 or 3 times and Dr S (regular dr) said it's fine to take because my pressure is under control. She explained that it's not a good idea to take it while having sinus problems anyways because it makes things thick inside the sinuses and deters drainage. OOPS!

I am now on a course of Bactrim DS. I don't have any allergies to meds but I'm nervous taking it anyways. Bactrim is what Carrie had an allergic reaction to immmediately after her initial discharge from her bone marrow transplant. We were admitted 2 days later with a fever which eventually turned into encephalitis...causing her to lose her speech and motor skills. It took us almost 2 wks to figure it out with tons of tests and panic (17d hospital stay) It took her weeks before she was able to walk without a weird gait. I've alerted Tom to watch for things that I know will never materialize, but it's good to be on guard nonetheless.

It's a very sad night here tonight. It's Shadow's last night with us. Tomorrow morning Tom will take him to B so she can put him to sleep. Some of the kids are a basketcase over this, I have my moments. I'm allowing kids that want to, to stay home tomorrow. They didn't finish their homework tonight and I can't imagine them trying to make it through the day in the condition they are in right now (will probably be worse tomorrow too)

I keep telling Luke...it's the best thing for him right now, but it's still very sad. Tom keeps trying to convince himself that it's the right thing to do too. He's walking around saying over and over how sick he is, how much pain he's in, how little he's moving or eating. I'm sure him and BIL will have the hardest time of all of us.

UGH!!!

That's something I've been known to say lately. I hate to seem like I'm always moaning and groaning but...I feel like GARBAGE! I think it's about time to head to the dr's. The whole right side of my face hurts...cheekbone down to the joint of my jaw. I've been taking tons of meds and keeping hot compresses on my face as much as possible but it's not helping.

I'm a little irritated right now. I don't really think I'd be a good driver in this condition. Tom went into work and turned around and came home...because we might put Shadow down tomorrow. He's currently taking a nap. I just went in and asked him if he'd drive into the city with me if I called the dr. I didn't get an answer. WAAAAHHHHHH! I just want my unclogged brain back!

I'm sure that all the teachers at school have come to the conclusion that I will NOT be getting Mother of the Year award this year. I haven't been keeping up to speed with the kids and their schoolwork. Luke went to school today without his homework done...he had THREE days to finish it. I hadn't looked at Carrie's folder until this morning. I didn't realize she has a planet project due on Friday which she should have been working on this 3 day weekend. I'm still not sure what the project entails...just that it's due. I also haven't managed to send in a snack for Eileen's class yet. And let's not forget...I keep forgetting to give Luke $4.25 for his Time for Kids newspaper. It was due the first day of school. OOPS! At least I managed to do MY homework (Letter written to Carrie on the back of her weekly progress report) just hope the teacher can manage to read what I scribbled off quickly. What are you suppose to say each week anyways? I think they should just be glad that I've managed to get them dressed in the morning! Right now it's good enough for me.

Well, think I'll bug Tom into a commitment or not. I can't wait too much longer before I call the dr for an appt today. Hopefully next time I update I'll have something more positive to post.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

I'm up! I'm up!

First I'll give a Shadow update. He's still hanging on and we're not sure what's going on with him. He's been outside with BIL and his dog (which is Shadow's sister btw) but I'm not sure exactly how active he's been. I'm not getting my hopes up because he's still barely eating. I hate that he sleeps with BIL when he's on the property. I always feel like I'm going to wake up and he's going to tell me that Shadow's gone. I don't really want to NOT be around when he passes. Then again it is kind of nice not to have to worry about one of the kids finding him dead before Tom and I do in the morning. *heavy sigh*

Ok...it's not the greatest thing for me to be up at this time of the night (2:15am). I am excited at the fact that I have been on my feet without craving a nap since early this afternoon though. I think the bad part is over! YIPPEE!! So why am I STILL up? Because when I lay down I start coughing and hacking which keeps me awake and tends to wake up Tom (shaking beds and loud noises tend to do that to people) So here I sit. Good thing I have the internet and my blog to keep me company! :oD

I really think I have/had the flu. I even called the dr on Friday to see if it was the flu or I needed to be seen. They wanted to see me because they thought I might have a raging sinus infection, so they told me to call first thing in the morning for an appt. This morning though my face didn't hurt and my 3 day fever was just about gone so I didn't bother. About 10:30 I was wondering if I did the right thing but by 2pm I was outside walking through the gardens! It was a beautiful day out, wish I hadn't missed Friday which was even nicer.

I finally gave Luke and Jake haircuts today. I wanted to take before and after pictures because they'd gotten so scruffy looking, but my batteries were too low. DRATS! They look like clean cut upstanding citizens now! Oh what a con job THAT is! ;o) Maybe I should recharge some batteries and start taking pictures again, this blog is getting pretty barren without all my cute kids' mugs staring out of it.

While outside today I noticed a strange thing...my pool hasn't turned green yet!!! It's cloudy and might just now have a cast of green starting to it but for the most part it's still fine looking. Everyone else's pool I know is either deep green or brown already. Wonder what's up with mine? We still have to winterize the thing. Knowning me I'll be out there doing it when the ice is an inch thick in it.

Being outside and seeing the gardens has given me ideas of all the projects I'd love to do. There's the tons of Paprika peppers growing on the side of the house that need to be dried. BTW...THANK YOU KAREN! There's all the apples hanging on the trees out back. Yes they are spotted and pitted (didn't get sprayed) but I haven't found a bug in one yet. They'd make good applesauce...so that's on my todo list. There's the rows of banana peppers...some hot...some not. The thanks for that fact goes out to my BIL who mixed up the plants while he was starting them. I'm hoping to make pepper rings with them, I figure the sweet ones will balance the hot ones. Although I'd love some HOT rings anyways. (I'm missing my smashed jar or pepperocinis big time!)

The only problem with all those plans is that I have to be done and organized in the house first. Being that I was out of commission since Wed and have limited energy right now...it ain't happenin'! The kids worked well in the kitchen today and made a pretty good dent in it. Unfortunately the goal of keeping my sink clear of dishes died a painful death this week. So I'll have to get back at that. Laundry is multiplying as I type this too. If it stands by itself...why can't it walk into the machine on it's own? ;o)

OK...I think I'm getting sleep deprived silly here. Sunday paper was just delivered and I'm getting bombarded by dopey flies who are attracted to the light of my monitor. So I'm taking off and going to scour the grocery ads before I try getting into bed again.

Friday, October 08, 2004

We're being invaded!

It's that time of year. The time when mother nature decides she likes it better in my house then out of it. This week we've been inundated with wasps and dopey sluggish flies. Today it was the lady bugs' turn.

I went down to Drew's room to play his PS2 at 1:45, he came home at 2:15. Within that half an hour our livingroom, diningroom and kitchen walls and ceilings became covered in lady bugs! This happens every year and so far it's not as bad as some years but they are a pain! They stink and like to fall into plates of food.

One Christmas I was wrapping presents on the kitchen floor. I decided to take a break, reached up to the tabletop and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie that was cooling on the table and popped it into my mouth. Upon biting down on it I was sputtering, spitting and running to the sink for a glass of water. I'd biten into a lady bug that had nestled into a crevice on the cookie. ICK! ICK! ICK!

Last winter I decided to take care of the piles of lady bugs in the corner so asked Tom to vacuum them up. As soon as one pile was sucked up, swarms of lady bugs started emerging from behind the woodwork around our french doors. I told Tom....it's like they have a standing room only policy! LOL After the 4th attempt to suck them all up, we finally gave up and let them gather into the corners again. The next day I tried again and the same thing happened. Must be those corners are prime real estate for lady bugs.

Shadow is still hanging on. I'm sorry to say but I've gotten to the point of wishing he'd just let go and die. I'm not being harsh, I just can't stand to see him suffer anymore. He's a sliver of the dog he once was. This experience has left me wondering what I'd want done if I was beyond the point of healing and suffering extremely. While I don't believe in suicide, I'd hope that someone would have the guts to give me something to ease my suffering, even if it meant hindering my respiration capacity or something else.

I am SICK! I haven't felt this bad since we had the flu last year and I'm not sure when since before that. It'd be ok if I wasn't so tired and could keep my eyes opened. I did manage to stay awake until Drew got home from classes. Within half an hour though I was taking a roaring hot shower. If felt good to finally be warm, even if I was blistering my skin off. I then jumped into bed and took a 2hr nap. Got up, made dinner and was back in bed again by 7pm. I wish I could say I relaxed or slept the rest of the night away, but it didn't happen. Seems that I was the only one around that could take care of things when they cropped up. So kids were talking to me every once in a while. Tom was outside trying to tamp down the stone he'd just put into the driveway. I wanted to tamp his head! Doesn't he know I'm sick!!!! *whine* * whine*

Oh well, just got up to blow my nose, check where Tom and the dog were (dog's in the trailer with BIL and his dog...Tom has since come in, eaten and gone to bed) Heading back to bed. PLEASE let tomorrow be a better day!!!

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

That's it! I'm calling a Mulligan

I want a redo of the month of October! It shouldn't be too hard, only a couple of days. Seems I've been whining/complaining a lot here lately but that's the type of time I've been having. Let's see, we've had...sick kids, emotionally wrecked kids, missed appointments, a dying dog and now I'm sick! *AAAACHOOO!*

The sickness I can handle, although I just want to sleep the day away. The dog is another thing. Shadow is our 9.5yo black lab. He's the gentlest dog I've ever met. He's had hip dysplasia to some extent since birth but it's gotten really bad the last year or so. Then he hurt his front right paw...or so we thought. It wouldn't heal and he was hardly using it. Last week Tom noticed that his front right shoulder was huge, so maybe his paw is fine now. Before we noticed the shoulder, we noticed he started losing weight, even though he was being fed. I even switched to canned food to make it easier for him to eat and digest. It still didn't help and now he's extrememly emaciated. :o( He's not walking unless he absolutely has to and is breathing heavy. I'm to the point where I don't think he'll make it through the day/night. My mom's friend B (went to my grandmother's camp with her) works at the pound and said she could "help us" with him today. Turns out she couldn't because she had Grand Jury Duty. Tom's happy about that. He keeps saying he's fine, he's fine...he's not wimpering/crying, he's still wagging his tail and he ate a piece of bread (and promptly gagged on it). I wish he'd just agree with me instead of holding out false hope. I'm afraid if I do push putting him down before he dies, that in Tom's head it'll be my fault that he's dead....because I gave up hope on him. Sometimes there's a time to say enough is enough though.

Liz has asked me to homeschool her again this morning. That makes the third time in the last week. She's the perfect kid to homeschool...she loves the academic aspect of school and is self motivated. I'm afraid of her reasons for wanting to do it though. Seems that one of her best friends since Kindergarten, A, isn't speaking to her. She has NO idea why. On the bus she tapped A on the shoulder. A asked J if it was Liz, when J said yes...A turned her back completely to Liz and totally ignored her. OUCH!!!!!! I feel for her, but not going to school to avoid it is not the answer. She has a few good friends from church, but most are a year behind her in school, which makes it tough. (they were born later in the year then Liz).

I'm not helping matters much around here. I've semi shut down and have been engrossed in the Final Fantasy X game. (working on 41 hours) Today it was pretty much all I did. I did throw together some dinner at 8:30 and in a while I'll have to throw in some white clothes. Oops...just went to throw the whites in and realized I have to rewash the light colored clothes that are in there first. They'll be the cleanest clothes in the neighborhood, seeing as this is the third time I've washed them!!! *blush*

Well Olivia is using me as a lounger, making it difficult to reach the keyboard, not to mention I'm not really in the mood for being the big comfy couch tonight. I'm more like the Big Grumpy Sneezey Couch! So I'd better end my whinefest now! Let's hope tomorrow I have a better report (and my nose stops running down my face constantly!)

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Is it bedtime yet!?!?!

That's what I was asking myself at 7:30AM! I should have known today was going to be a doozy when I realized I had both my morning and evening double booked! This morning I was suppose to take Carrie to the cancer clinic and be at WIC at the same time. Tonight I had a dentist appointment and middle school open house...again, at the same time. The dentist/open house resolved itself this weekend when the hygentist called to cancel, seems she had open house to attend also. I was going to skip WIC and take Carrie to the clinc...until Luke started puking last night!!! Wouldn't you know, I forgot about WIC until just this second, so ended up missing that anyways!

Luke was staying home and I was going to let Carrie miss Sunrise Scholars so only had Liz to get up (Michelle and Val get themselves up). I woke up Liz and told Val to make sure I was up before she left, I was going to lay back down. Five minutes later in comes Liz crying....seems she's having friend problems and it was tearing her apart. I don't know why she waited until this morning to say something, she was a mess telling me. I allowed her to stay home, letting her know it was the ONLY time it would happen. In comes Eileen and Olivia, Eileen doesn't want to go to school because Liz is staying home. 2 crying in my bed now, so much for resting. Carrie meanders in and is upset that I won't let her stay home even though she's not going to the clinic (because of Luke throwing up, do NOT want to bring germs up to those kids!). Now I have 3 kids crying with the task of convincing 2 of them that they HAVE to go to school. Homeschooling was looking like a VERY nice option at this time!!!

Eileen remembered that the fire department was going to be at school today with trucks for them to tour. So that gave her some incentive, now to get her to wear appropriate clothing. She wanted to wear a pair of jean shorts that were 2 sizes too small. There was FROST on the ground! I finally cajoled her into putting on a jean jumper over her shorts. Now for Carrie. I worked and worked. She finally decided she would try to get into the afterschool program and go swimming. I hadn't signed her up because she didn't want to do Karate and everyone has to do Karate that goes that day. So she finally went out the door.

I was certainly glad that Jake had his swimming party scheduled for today! Otherwise he'd have been fighting to stay home with Luke today too. It kills me to have to do this, I'd rather they stayed home myself!!! But a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. All I know is, by the time the kids got on the bus, I was ready for a nap!!!

Hmmm...just realized....everyone that I would have to go to open house for tonight...stayed home! So looks like I don't have to go to open house afterall! LOL Oh well, it was mostly an assembly in the auditorium anyways. Funny how this day went from being overbooked to having nothing todo at all.

Sounds like permission to go veg in front of the Final Fantasy X game to me! ;o)

Monday, October 04, 2004

What a difference a day makes

I'm feeling a lot better today, although not 100%. I'm tempted to still take it easy but things are bugging me around here. That's always a good thing when it concerns the house. :o)

Last Friday while grocery shopping I'd decided I wouldn't buy paper plates. Our well/water supply has been doing well so that wasn't an excuse anymore. (main reason we use paper) I also wanted to start keeping up with the dishes better. With the paper plates it wasn't so important to keep them up. If there's something to put food on then washing a few pieces of silverware before serving was no big deal. This made for a constantly full sink of GROSS dishes. I've been doing a really good job of keeping up on them all week and was quite proud of myself (I'm so pathetic! lol) Especially since my dishwasher isn't working. It's being used as a very expensive dish drainer (load wet handwashed dishes into it so they can air dry...door left open)

Saturday though I was wishing for some paper products. I had to wash all the dishes at least four times! UGH! I think my fingers were permanently wrinkled and my belly constantly wet (I'm a very messy dishwasher). I was proud of myself for doing up the birthday cake plates at 8AM Sunday morning, even if I did feel horrendous. Unfortunately it's the only dishes I did yesterday, so I have a sinkful waiting for me right now. My in-laws stopped by last night with a few treats for the kids including paper plates. :oD I'm going to work hard not to slip back to old ways!

It's funny to watch the kids and see how their minds work. Drew made a bagel and was looking for a paper plate. When I told him to get a real plate he was aghast that he'd have to dirty a plate just for a bagel. He held them in his hand. LOL

I've also been working hard on catching up on the laundry. I have a ton of the regular stuff done. I can then have certain bedrooms hauled out, there are some missing articles of clothing I need to find. After that it's odd baskets and my room. If I ever get into the basement I think I'll faint! I'm about ready to just bag up everything down there without looking at it and throwing it away. The problem with that is I KNOW there are clothes that I've been looking for down there and I'd really like them back into circulation! (little kids dumped baskets out a while ago)

I guess with the pool and garden not needing me to obsess over them, I need to find something else to obsess over. We do need to finish closing up the pool and I should glean the fields before the frost hits later this week though. Hmmm...still have the Cana Lilies to dig up too. Forgot about them!

All this talk of work has left me exhausted! ;o) What I really want to do today is go back into Drew's room and get back into my Final Fantasy X game! LOL Wonder if I can do it all? Hmmmmm.....



Sunday, October 03, 2004

Feeling like CRAP!

My kids would freak if they saw that I wrote that, even my older kids. I don't normally say crap and don't care to hear it. But it's worked it's way into the house more and more. I however have every reason in the world to use it today. BECAUSE IT'S TRUE! UGH!!!

I still hadn't gotten my prescriptions filled. Yesterday was too busy and kids were here before I got a chance to run out the door. It probably doesn't help that I was also extremely busy yesterday and on my feet whenever I wasn't online (which was far less than normal).

I woke up looking like I'd gained about 20lbs overnight and my eyes were slits. My fingers were stiff and after walking a while I started coughing...not a good sign. My head was fuzzy and felt like it was going to explode, my ears felt plugged. :o( I tried to take it easy today, laying on my left side and vegging out in front of Drew's PS2. I sent Drew to WM to get my prescription. While running out the girls decided to take advantage of it and have Drew run them to the mall also. Michelle ended up buying a few things with her birthday money.

MY MIL called and proceeded to tell me....Well, that's stupid! While I agreed with her it, I wasn't going to VOICE my agreement to her! LOL I just kept quiet. Luke and Jake were talking with my nephew S on the phone and I asked to talk to SIL, D. I told her I wasn't going to the meeting (church) this afternoon and let her know why. I got the....mom's have to put their health FIRST lecture. Again, she is right, I voiced my agreement with her. She won't take my agreement and run with it. I also know (and she admits) she's guilty of not taking care of herself as promptly as she should.

I just didn't think I would feel so lousy so fast. Dr S said that symptoms shouldn't show up until being off meds for about a week. Mine showed up a day or so of not taking it. YIKES! Well, I got my meds and hopefully tomorrow will be a much better day. For not doing very much I'm exhausted tonight!

Tomorrow maybe we'll get into how I think I might have something going here concerning the dishes and laundry! Woohooo!

Saturday, October 02, 2004

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLY!!!

Today Michelle turns 17! I can't believe how fast they grow up. I look at Olivia and think...pretty soon SHE'LL be the one we're celebrating turning 17. *sniff sniff*We didn't buy her anything, just gave her cold hard cash. She needs clothes (or so she insists, although I agree) so I'm sure a trip to the mall will be requested soon.

J and B came for the night after the homecoming football game. K never made it for some reason. By 9 this AM C and F were here, K showed up by 10. I was super nice and made pancakes, sausage and hashbrowns for breakfast. J had to have a bowl of Life cereal too, it's her FAVORITE! LOL M is suppose to be here too but not sure when. C's little brother C2 is coming over to play with Jake this afternoon but again, not sure when. Either way I'll have a boatload of kids to make feed all day long. Good thing I like to cook! It's also good that they prefer to entertain themselves in their own way.....no work for me! Right now they're deciding on what DVD to watch while holed up in Pat's room. Pat's away at Jess's field hockey game (oh yeah! forgot Jess will be here today too) so not sure how he'll react to the invasion. He usually is ok with it and it is Michelle's birthday after all, but I guess we'll see in an hour or so.

I have a bunch of things I'd like to do today, including finishing the laundry and moving a hutch out of the diningroom/kitchen area. I'm hoping getting this off a wall will make it easier to use the diningroom table. As of right now we haven't really been using it. It's too hard to get into one whole side of the table. I've considered taking out a leaf and turning it, but I still think it'll be hard to use. Right now though all I want to do is take a nap. I've been up since 5:45 and been busy ever since. Actually I'd prefer to be vegging in front of Drew's PS2 and playing Final Fantasy X! Can't the world just go on without me!?!?!

'Toopid Allergies!!

Well most of it is allergies. I'm starting to think that some of it is not having had my bloodpressure meds since Wed. (Pat didn't pick them up yesterday, misunderstood my instructions). I've had a headache on and off since Thursday with it getting worse each day. It's mostly in my face along with a stuffy/runny nose. I asked the dr on Thurs about taking something for it, told me to go with the Claratin unless it's a constant thing. Not sure how long you have to have it for it to be a constant thing. Plus it's getting worse each year. I haven't tried the Claratin yet because I'm not sure how it will affect me and I haven't had time to find out. LOL

Last night was BAD! I layed down after Tom came home and napped for an hour. Instead of waking up refreshed I woke up feeling sicker. My head was packed and I had an upset stomach, which left me a not nice mommy. I ended up being mommied out. The kids bothered me, their noise bothered me and their constant crying bothered (don't know why THAT would LOL). I think the kids got the message that I wasn't a force to be reckoned with because when I said GO TO BED! they went! :oD So all my kids that were home were in bed by 10pm on a FRIDAY! Whodathunk! I called it an early night myself and was out of chat and into bed before midnight at the latest.

Today my head is fuzzy and I feel swollen. My eyes feel like I've been crying all night. I'm assuming this is due to not having had my water pill in a few days. I should check to see if I have at least one of those in the med cupboard. I think I saw a bottle laying around with a couple in it. As much as I hate leaving Michelle during her birthday party, I'm going to have to go to the pharmacy sometime today.

I had a dream

Actually I had it Thursday night. It was 2 fun dreams rolled into one. I dreamt that I had a baby boy, delivery and all. It was GREAT and he was BEAUTIFUL!!! I haven't dreamt that in a loooong time. I know, you're thinking...I'm pregnant! I am almost positive I'm not, so don't hold your breath. Although believe you me I'd love to be pregnant again. In a heartbeat! I just don't see it happening anytime soon, especially as Olivia gets older. I can't see Tom agreeing to go through the baby stage again as he experiences the freedom of not being in that stage more and more.

Anyways, back to my dream. I left the hospital almost as soon as I had him and we ended up at MIL's, but for some reason it was my house too. YIKES! LOL I got up out of a chair to use the bathroom and noticed that my pad had leaked all over MIL's chair. I was then upset over trying to figure out what to do about it and banging my head to be so stupid as to sit in her chair...hours after having a baby. After that crisis was over I then started walking around my house. Here's the 2nd fun part, I kept finding new rooms and sections of the house!!!

Now this dream I've had a few times recently, it's still a fun dream nonetheless! I was enjoying finding area after area until one door opened up into another family's livingroom. OOPS!!! Guess that wasn't one of my doors! LOL Why does that always seem to happen in those dreams? It was one of those, I don't want to wake up moments! Curse that alarm!

Posting time changed for filing purposes.

Friday, October 01, 2004

EEK! I need to update...

I feel so bad for not posting in a while. I kept planning to but time seemed to be keep running out.

We had a nice half day with the Elementary kids. On Wednesday Michelle and Val had a half day too. I got busy and totally forgot that Wednesday night was Elementary School Open House! So we didn't have dinner done. We got to school a little after 7 (started at 6:30) and as usual it was PACKED! I had to figure out when to schedule the kids' parent/teacher conferences. Hard thing to do when you have 3 other kids and no idea when those teachers are available too. I lucked out when I found 3 slots one right after the other in the afternoon (so big kids will be home to babysit Olivia). It's on the half day of school too, meaning the full day off the following day is FREE!!! Yippee! Well I guess I shouldn't rejoice too much yet. I still have Luke's teachers to schedule, so techinically I could have to go in on a different day.

Thursday was my regular follow-up/check-up for my blood pressure. I got on the scales and became totally discouraged! I thought I'd lost weight, I'd even had people ask me if I lost weight (so thought I looked like I had). BZZZZZZZZ Nope! I'd GAINED weight. I had been ok about my weight because while I haven't lost, I haven't gained either. Now I'm not ok with it! I weigh the most that I've ever weighed and I don't want to weigh anymore!!!!!!! I've also started to notice that I'm getting out of breath easily again. :o( Guess I need to get more active again.

While I wasn't pleased about the weight...my blood pressure was another story. It was NORMAL!!! Well as normal as a blood pressure med and water pill can make me. Blood pressure was 124/80. Not too shabby!

Olivia and I were going to hang out with Tom's mom but she wasn't home. So we headed back to my parents' house. My mom seemed in a lot better mood then when I'd seen her last week. Was nice to see! After our visit we ran down to K-Mart. SIL, D, had been down there and they had 40% off all their clearance prices. Luke and Jake really needed tshirts which D said they had tons of. The 40% off wasn't being offered anymore but I bought shirts anyways. There are times when getting something is more important then paying rock bottom prices. I got them each 4 shirts, 11 of which were $3, one was $4. I also found a $2 tshirt for Liz, $3 shirt for Val and even though I thought it was too much...I paid $5 for a shirt in a unique and pretty color. She doesn't seem to have too many nice shirts anymore.

Today we're suppose to be cleaning the house so that Michelle can have friends over. TOmorrow is her birthday and she's planning the birthday party of all parties. Friends over tonight after the homecoming football game, other friends coming at 7AM!!!!! STaying for the day, leaving at 11 after we have a bonfire. I think she's planning on 6 kids being here. Luckily they're all pretty self serving. Drew and Pat stopped by WM today to get me some supplies and a cake (they actually bought TWO of them!)