Thursday, February 23, 2006

Island Week!

It's been nonstop fun (and work). This place has been busy with people coming and going. I've been on my feet a LOT more then normal and for the most part I'm liking it. It started out interestingly and I have a HUUUUGE post waiting to be finished. Instead I'll do the condensed version so you'll all stay awake. ;o)

Friday

Island week started EARLY when 70+ mph winds decided to visit us early that morning.

1st trip kids stepped on the bus and our power went out!

2nd trip kids got ready and ended up dancing in the driveway. Originally it was because mom had the van door open and the radio blasting. Then it was because they announced XX school district was dismissing at 9am. That meant no school for those still at home. Those in school got back on the bus and had a 1.5hr ride to get home due to down trees.

Village got power back at 9:30am-10ish (almost as soon as the buses pulled out of the school parking lot)

Val brought over Br and Ch for the afternoon. We saved all the poor threatened food in the freezer. Mostly soft pretzels, chicken patties, strawberries and ice cream. The rest could melt for all we cared! ;o) I was thankful that my new stove was old school! Pilot lights are GREAT! Never could use the oven without power until now.

Val and Michelle went to Br's house for a few nights. She had electricity and a HOT TUB! Traders!

We joked that our Island week was starting in the Aleutian Islands.

Found out that church had power (2miles down the road). It seemed everyone but our little section of the road had power! Little kids went to church to do activities and spend 1.5 hrs in a modern facility.

Called customer service at 7pm to see is there was hope of getting power. CS person said...I hear little ones in the background. I suggest you make arrangements for the night, your power won't be back before morning.

I put on socks for the first time in a looong time and it drove my feet cRaZY!!!!!

Saturday

CS was right, still off the grid at sunup. The next morning CS put a 6pm timeline on restoration.

I could be heard muttering...I'm going through withdrawal! All I need is to sit infront of the monitor and touch the keyboard...for just a second!

Also to be heard...go look it up! (and NOT just by me!) How did we live without google at our fingertips?

5:30pm...TADA! We have POWER! All is right with the world.

Until....phone call from BIL. They are taking MIL to the hospital again. She gets admitted.

Started reading the book "Christ the Lord" by Anne Rice

Sunday

Michelle and Val get home, bringing along Br

Finished my book.

Spent the day catching up from not having power, doing laundry, and making decorations. (Monday is the main island day).

Went shopping for some last minute things and food. Cha-ching! $$$

Picked up BG on the way home so she could spend the night with Michelle, Val and Br.

Tom and Drew go up to visit MIL.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Need to take Drew and Liz to get passports. Island week report will have to be continued in a later post.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

It's in the eye of the beholder

I came home for an appointment on Friday and was told...I know what Dad bought you for Valentine's Day...and it's BEAUUUTIFUL!

I acknowledged her and went on my way. Valentine's Day morning rolls around and Eileen says...I know what Dad got you for Valentine's. It's really pretty Mom...you'll LOVE it! It's so pretty.

Now I'm not getting really worked up. I know my girls. To them a cardboard picture of two teddy bears hugging could be classified as beautiful. LOL It did pique my curiosity though. It also let me know that Tom bought me something. So then I had to get him something (stupid holiday!!!) We were having a "celebration" in the evening with a night of food and treats. So Drew and I ran to the store. I ended up grabbing a mylar balloon for Tom at the $1 store. They didn't have what I wanted...a rain guage and outdoor thermometer.

Tom arrived home with a potted plant behind his back. They were really interesting looking, not even sure what they are exactly. I knew this wasn't what Eileen had been talking about so joked...where's my beautiful present? Tom seemed perplexed until Eileen informed him...I didn't tell Daddy! He then left and came back with this....



Incase you can't see the picture well. It was a Russell Stover Heart Shaped box of chocolates. Complete with red cellophane wrap and cardboard ribbon. ROFL!!! What a beauty! Eileen kept saying...SEE Mommy! Isn't pretty!?! I agreed and then made her day when I told her she could open it and have some.

I thought back to last Valetine's Day when I was FURIOUS that Tom bought me a heart filled with chocolates. I couldn't believe that someone would buy a diabetic pg woman chocolates and it bothered me. This year I just passed it onto the kids. LOL

Where are the twins?!?!?

I could be heard frantically asking this question Monday night. Of course it was all in a dream...but it still left me upset when I awoke.

In my dream we had 2yo twin boys! It was open house at school and we all went. The place was packed. While trying to get up the stairs Carrie asked if she could take the boys ahead to meet her teacher. I agreed and off she went with a boy in each hand. Next thing I knew Carrie was walking back and was empty handed!!!

I started to panic and asked her where the boys were. She acted like I had 3 heads and said she didn't know what I was talking about. I then ran through the crowds and around the school searching for my twin boys. No one was helping or cooperating with me. I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS!

I then found myself in our house and still looking for the boys. Tom said they aren't here! I started walking out the door and Tom ran after me asking....Where are you going? I told him....I'm going to go look for my boys! Where else would I be going!?!? And I marched down the street with drink in hand. LOL This is where I woke up, totally frustrated.

I told Tom about my dream and he said...Maybe you had it because we DON'T have twin boys! I replied....maybe it's because I'm SUPPOSE to have twin boys and I'm the only one who knows it!!!

Monday, February 13, 2006

Busy with a side of cuddle

This weekend was productive even if you can't tell by walking in my front door. I'm bound and determined to get this place in ship shape condition before the kids start midwinter break on Saturday!

Yesterday I got so busy that I lost track of the time. Before I knew it there was half an hour until I needed to be at church and NO ONE was ready! I didn't even have anything completed to bring to the potluck. So we stayed home. The side of cuddle comes in when looking at how much time I spent with Danielle. The kids kept her pretty busy and were passing her around. I mainly took breaks and cuddled with her when she was hungry. I wouldn't feel very comfy doing that too often but every once in a while it's nice to be able to do it.

I did mostly normal upkeep stuff like bathrooms, dishes, and laundry. I was buried in laundry since I slacked off last week. We were this -><- close to running out of propane and couldn't get a delivery until the end of the week. They're weird and require you to pay your previous months bills before they'll bring you more. Knowing it'd be a few days until they'd get out here, I saved what little propane we had for our hot water useage. On Monday I had the kids pick out as many outfits as they needed for the week and washed ONLY that, including towels. I never got a load of white clothes in so some were scrounging for socks by the end of the week. Luckily they had a handy supply UNDER THEIR BEDS to dig through. I guess that explains why I could do 2 loads of whites one day and yet couldn't find certain kids a pair of socks the next day!

Yep, we started in on bedrooms. We'd have finished the little girls room if Liz was here but she was away at church for a young sister's weekend. By the way her mouth ran non-stop after she got home...it was a GREAT weekend. LOL I couldn't work for long because my allergies started acting up. I probably should've just kept on going and figured I'd be sick for the next few days. If I don't want to be sick for the first weekend of Island week I'll have to work on MY room early in the week. Probably tomorrow. Especially since I have appts late in the day on Wed and Thurs.

Drew's car failed inspection last week so they worked on it this weekend. He just got back from getting it approved. Now there's nothing holding him back on finding a full-time job. RIGHT!?!?! Val was gone most of the weekend. Her boyfriend had a wrestling tournament in the Adirondacks (came in 5th) on Saturday and she went out to dinner with him and his family on Sunday. Today J is coming over after school so her and Val can get ready for Valentine's Day.

Hmmm...while writing about J coming over I asked Michelle what we should do for Valentine's Day. She said..."people are coming over". I guess THAT's why J is coming here. So her, Val and Michelle can get ready for their boyfriends to come over after school tomorrow. Not that I mind...they're all great kids. I just wasn't planning on it. I'm sure if I said I didn't know, Val would tell me exactly when she asked for them to be here. She has a way of asking/talking that leaves me clueless at times.

Carrie's lesson for the TODAY study went well on Friday. I was left wishing they went into more details about label reading, exchanges vs carb counts and mixing the protein with the carbs to keep your blood sugar on a more even keel. Maybe those are future lessons. I mentioned that her numbers were too high for my comfort level. They downloaded her meter and agreed. Her glucophage as been increased. It looks like it might be helping so far. I miss the tighter control and aggressiveness I felt I had with the insulin. I have a diabetic rant brewing but maybe I'll save it for another time. Like when I'm in a bad mood. LOL

Danielle is getting GRABBY! She's also realized what we're doing when we put food into our mouths. And she wants to do it too! Yesterday I ended up with my plate of spaghetti and meatballs in my lap. After Danielle failed to get it with her hand (but her sleeve was successful) she got it with her foot! It's a good thing she's cute! ;o)

One more week of school until midwinter break! I can't wait. They all cooperated this morning. I did hear a few...I don't feel goods. I "ignored" them and sent them off anyways. My luck I'll get a call from the nurse with a report that so and so barfed in class. lol They've always gotta find a way to make me look bad. ;o)

Friday, February 10, 2006

Another week flew by

And one week closer to Island Week...woohooo! lol Things have been so unorganized around here that I feel out of it. You'd think with finally getting to stay home for 3 days straight I'd get to work and get somethings accomplished. NOPE! Very little got done actually. *heavy sigh* I really don't know what's wrong with me.

Things sicknesswise are still up in the air. Kids keep complaining they don't feel well on and off. It's been really hard to get them out the door to school everyday. I'm looking forward to midwinter break, with or without island week.

Today is lesson 2 of Carrie's TODAY study teaching session. Her numbers are too high for my liking....especially the morning ones. I finally got her an appt for late afternoon/after school. We'll be going in there once a week and she's already missed a lot of school for doctor appts. I'm not really happy about the time since it leaves me no time to run errands in the city. Especially since the varsity volleyball team has a home game for sectionals. People are looking for me to be home so they can go. Maybe I'll cram in a quick run through the produce section on the way home.

Danielle is so adorable! I'm dying to take a pic and share it. Problem is that it seems near impossible to get the camera and the rechargeable batteries in my hand at the same time. The kids are hilarious with her. Just a few minutes ago I stopped typing to wipe her nose. Luke makes the comment...I already picked her nose this morning...like it was all taken care of. LOL

I've found myself in a place I haven't been in before. Thinking/talking about another baby when Tom says we're done. I'm not to the point of being devastated if we are done. But I'm at a spot where it'd be harder to come to terms with. Before Eileen and Olivia were born we just took each pregnancy/baby as they came. After Eileen Tom said we were done...I didn't think he sounded sure of it though. After awhile we both casually mentioned that we'd thought about another one...I was pg that month. lol With Olivia Tom was more adamant that we were done and I was ok with it. My pregnancies were getting increasingly difficult. We both were getting older (especially Tom lol). We had a lot on our plates. For some reason these reasons don't seem to be there or make a difference now.

I know the age thing really bothers Tom. He doesn't want to be an "old guy" when the kids graduate. He keeps mentioning on creeping up toward 70 when Danielle finishes school (he'll be 65!) Although I respect his thoughts on this, I don't understand it all the way. I guess I don't see myself as getting old. ;o) As the kids get older things get easier in some ways, busier in others. I think having the age gap between Olivia and Danielle kind of takes the full plate reason out. Danielle's pg was one of my smoothest. Yes I had to do 3+ wks of bedrest but I still think it was one of my easier ones. Maybe it was because it happened during summer vacation. Maybe because I had older kids to pick up the slack. Even thought I wasn't on strict bedrest with the others, I'd always been put on "restricted activity" notice at the end of most of them.

I find myself thinking...Danielle is such a blessing...how can we NOT have more. There's not enough of Danielle to go around! The kids need another baby to love on. Danielle needs someone to grow up with. Who knows...maybe I'm tempting fate. I jsut wish I didn't have to think about it at all. It was so much easier when we accepted them as they came. All this thinking, planning, avoiding drives me crazy!

Monday, February 06, 2006

We're improving...

I think. Michelle's knee looks a lot better and she can now walk on it fine. It's still a bit red and tender. I'm hoping there's nothing left there to cause a flair-up once her antibiotics are done. Olivia still looks really worn out to me. She has dark circles under her eyes. Eileen is still complaining she doesn't feel good on and off but that's par for the course for her. I'm still keeping my eye on her. Luke is home again today. His stomach has been bothering him again and he's had some groin pain for over a day. I called the dr this AM and got him a late afternoon appt. Tom needs to come home early since I have to have a few girls at the dentist this afternoon. I know this winter has been really mild here until now. I'd still love for it to be SUMMER and have all the germs GONE!! (then again...we've had summers full of strep and mono too...oh well)

With all these kids home so often I feel like I'm going to have the school officials knocking my door down and dragging me in. On one of the email lists I'm on they were talking about a family needing to go to court and facing fines over too many tardies and absences of a child. (child's grades were EXCELLENT and they had never been in trouble before) I guess I'm thankful we don't have that policy in place. I'd be up to my eyeballs in fines! We have a more stringent attendance policy this year but luckily court and fines aren't mentioned.

Sunday was interesting. We had a brother visiting from Norway who needed to be translated when speaking. We also had Ukrainian families from Western NY visiting who spoke little English. So the Norwegian brother had to be translated into English and then translated into Ukrainian. Hope it was successful....I assume it was since no one seemed to get offended at anything that was said. :o) We all had a good time eating together. I like that we're starting it back up again. It allows us to sit and visit more. For once I was prepared ahead of time. I even have something planned for NEXT Sunday! I'm so proud of myself. LOL Liz went to a wedding at the fellowship in Delaware this weekend. Sounds like it was a beautiful ceremony and everyone had a good time.

With everyone feeling a bit better and my schedule not jampacked, I've found some time to visit a few blogs. I use to have my blog tour that I did everyday. Cutting back on my online time I got out of habit doing it. It's been nice visiting old friends. I even made a few new ones! I'm hoping to spiff up and update my blog and links this week. I'm considering moving to a place since kmomof10 doesn't fit anymore. I've wondered about going to a place that allows password protected posts since I tend to hold back on mentioning somethings I'd like to.

I managed to go grocery shopping Friday and Saturday. It's amazing how comforted I feel when I have a house full of groceries. Same goes when my van has a full tank of gas. It's silly and I'm not sure they're great things to let control my emotions...but I can't help it. It just feels good! Tom asked what was for dinner on Saturday and my answer....I don't know! He was puzzled for a second since he knew there was tons of food. I explained...that's the problem...I'm not sure what to pick now! LOL

Danielle has another new trick. She's learned to give kisses. She takes your face in both her hands and then attacks it with mouth WIIIIIIIIDE open! Nice and slobbery. She usually aims for your mouth. I'm not sure why she does this since anyone rarely gives her a kiss on the lips.

Carrie and I started the learning section of the TODAY study. The first lesson was on what diabetes is, differences in type 1 and type 2, ways to improve how your body uses insulin, how to test your blood sugar and keep a log (which we've been doing but everyone has to be taught the exact same things). We were given a new Ultra Smart Touch meter. I've been wanting one of those since it allows you to imput info and shows you graphs of your numbers. We also went over some foods and drinks...how to make healthy choices.

Next week's lesson is with the nutritionists and we'll be making up a new food plan for Carrie. I'm hoping this time is a little more informative. Last time we met with one we skimmed over things (since I was already doing a lot of it) and left it vague as to carbs allowed and such. I'm the type of person that doesn't mind hearing info I already know over again. I've found that I tend to not remember things exactly as I was taught. LOL Also things change as time goes on. I know it won't have changed much since the last time I saw a nutritionist last year. But when I think of the thoughts on food when MIL was first diagnosed with it and now....WOW! I don't know how many times I've had to enlighten people...yes Carrie can have a small piece of cake. We fit it into her carb counts one way or the other.

One interesting thing about this study. They now provide all of Carrie's meds and supplies. Since Carrie may eventually be taking glucophage and a placebo (in place of Avandia...depending on which group she's entered in), they have her taking 2 generic looking capsules AM and PM. I've noticed that her numbers are starting to creep up. I'm not sure if it's hormone/cycle related or med related. I'll have to talk to the dr about it on Friday when we go in.

We started a new family tradition last year...Island Day. Tom's now turned it into Island WEEK! LOL During midwinter break (third week of February) we have a luau type of party with lots of food and fun decorations. Tom's really excited about this and has been planning it since the end of last year. I've started gathering supplies and food for it. So far we're having chicken skewers, veggie kebabs, hawaiian pizza, rye bread bowl/dip, artichoke and parm dip, various fruits, candies and snacks, along with fruit punch to drink (pineapple, banana and guava so far)...adult "flavoring" optional. ;o) Michelle and I were planning on making a pinata (pineapple shaped maybe), I'll be "sewing" up some grass skirts out of a roll of plastic green colored table covering. I'm hoping the $1 store still has leis. I'll post pics when it's over.

Well I guess that's enough rambling for now. Need to get something done around here before I pick up the girls from school.