Manic Monday

Manic Monday #222

Imagine you can only keep 5 things that you have (people not included). What 5 things would you keep? Only fiiiiive things? Wow, that's such a small number. Why don't you just say three and make it that much harder? If people aren't included, are dogs? I mean, I'd HAVE to keep my dogs. They're living, breathing creatures which... well, heck... after keeping those I'm down to three. Why don't I just take a big tall glass of shut the hell up, huh? Other items I'd want to keep... my hard drive as it contains my backed up photos. I don't want to lose my precious memories of my boys. I'd want to keep... wow, well, when it comes down to it, my pictures and my dogs. Everything else is pretty much replaceable -- to some extent, right? How about a clean pair of underwear? Ha! My grandma always said that you should wear clean underwear in case of an accident. Not that you wouldn't soil them anyway if something bad were to happen. Ha! Gross, I went from talking about my precious pictures to crapping my pants. Next question...

What's the hardest thing you've ever had to learn? The hardest thing I ever learned was that sometimes you have to take the path less traveled. It's less popular... people don't understand it... people condemn you for it... people turn away from you for having done it but in order to be your true self, sometimes you just gotta do it.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life and I'm going to... keep trying to live the best life I can for me and my boys and wonderful hubs.

What do you call it...

...when your vacuum cleaner doesn't suck. I mean, when things are bad, we say they "suck." But, when a vacuum goes bad it's because it doesn't suck. So, do you say it "blows?"

Regardless, please bow your heads in a moment of silence...

My vacuum cleaner has died. I have gone through not one, not two, but basically THREE vacuums in seven years. How is that so? I seriously should have bought a freakin Dyson from the get go. BUT... have no fear, I have ordered one now!

I just got an e-mail notification that it's shipped, too. I'm giddy. It's purple. It sucks! It's a Dyson. It's made for people with pets. It's on its way to me. I have no idea how to contain myself but you obviously know you're getting old when you're excited about large appliances and expensive vacuum cleaners.

Talk to the head and tippie toes

That's pretty much what it is now at night. Ben isn't my little snuggly cuddler anymore. He wants me to talk to the back of his head and that's generally the view I get. He's growing more independent (of course) which means that it's probably time to wean the little guy to a crib of his own. Insert a big Facebook DIS"like" here. I love snuggling with him.

I know there are a lot of people out there that don't agree with the whole idea of co-sleeping anyway. I know it's not for everyone--nothing is. I like it for the simple fact that a) I get more sleep b) I'm right here if/when he needs me and c) they're not snuggly forever so I get to cherish this time with him. I'm certainly not worried of having a 2 year old in my bed, but I can't say that I don't love my little 5 month old in there with me. I can be sure of him... I can check on him and I'm not trudging up and down the stairs several times a night. For me, for now. It works. I love it and frankly, that's all that matters.

The other thing he's done lately is play footsie with himself. It's truly adorable. At bathtime, he will kick kick kick but his feet aren't too far away from one another and he always goes back to one right atop the other. Too cute!

How many...

How many e-mail accounts does one person need?

I have...well, I have several. I have my main one and then I have the one associated with my blog. Then I have the one I set up for Facebook. Then I have my new verizon one that I got when we switched internet providers. Honestly, I'd like to keep that one because it's similar to my blog domain name... decisions decisions decisions.

Seriously, though, I have to whittle it down. All of them are driving me nuts!

Pile it on...

What a complete and crazy comedy of errors the day has brought thus far. For the last three nights I've had unprecedented bouts of insomnia which leave me utterly exhausted by day's end. Last night, unfortunately was no different. I was operating on about 3 maybe 3 1/2 hours' sleep at 7am when I finally woke up Ben to nurse since I had overflowed onto my t-shirt. Ugh. Starting out my morning soggy. Just a bit of foreshadowing on how my day was to come.

Andy got ready and on the road to pick up William and head to L-town (Lubbock) to watch the Red Raiders take on the Longhorns (GO RAIDERS!)

For some odd reason, Ben was still sleepy pretty much right after he nursed so I obliged him and let him go back to sleep (with me right along side him.) Andy had said good morning/good bye to Drew before he left and that kept him up. I knew he could pretty much fend for himself for breakfast so I was feeling no guilt going back to sleep.

I'd JUST... and seriously, I mean just fallen back to sleep when Drew comes in to ask a question. I'm sure it was something that was SO important that it just COULD.NOT.WAIT. I whispered something completely indiscernible waved my hand and out he walked. Again, I was looking so, so, soooooo very much to getting back to sleep when in AGAIN came Drew. This time with a LOUD annoying whisper. You know the kind that is SUPPOSED to be a whisper but it more like muffled throat straining, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM, CAN I GO TO MIMI'S?" I just tell him that I"ll take him there at 11. "BUT SHE'LL COME GET ME NOW." Man alive I was not going to get any sleep. I knew I needed sleep before I just snapped and bit his head off. He was bored and wanted a playmate. "You can go. At 11, when I take you!" He walked out really sad. But, at that moment, the important thing was that HE WALKED OUT!

I woke back up about 10:20 a.m. and fed Ben. Then I made my way to the kitchen with sore feet, stiff back, headache, growling stomach and called my mother-in-law to apologize. She said that he'd called her wanting to come over and they'd offered to come get him and take him to the game. Wasn't that the sweetest thing? I, of course, said YES immediately and began to gather his things together.

• Baseball shirt - check.
• Cleats - Hmmm, where were those cleats? Oh yes, he'd taken them off in my closet when he took a shower in my room after practice on Thursday. Cleats - check
• Hat - check
• Equipment bag - I headed out to my car to fish it out of the trunk. Bag - check
• Water bottle - check
• Red socks - check
• Red belt - check
• Pants - YIKES! I have no idea what color pants. I give them a pair of white AND a pair of grey pants and the send an e-mail to the coach and to Andy and start fishing through e-mail to see what color. Finally Andy calls and says that he'll call to make sure they know "white" pants. So, pants, check!

They're here and get his "stuff" and head out the door.

"OH WAIT! Josh, run this form out to the car, QUICK!" It's a form to order team and individual pictures which was today. Whew! We barely made it before they pulled away

I wake Ben about 20 minutes before we needed to be there. He's, of course, hungry. I scoop him up and tell him, "Eat quick, Kid, we gotta jet!" Surprisingly, he does!

Dad calls on the home phone asking where everyone was. I tell him I'm getting us packed up to head out the door and he said he doesn't see anyone yet or the picture people. I said, "Well, Ed and Sharon are there with Drew. They're at field 4. That's all I know." He says he'll see me when we get there.

We're in the garage packing up when my cell phone rings. I'm annoyed, don't they know I'm busy? But since Andy's gone and Sharon's got Drew, I figure I better answer because you just never know. By this time, it's ten minutes before game time. I'm doing my best to get out of the door.

"How far away are you?"

It's my mother in law.

"Why?"

"Drew forgot his glove?"

My blood pressure starts to rise. Clearly, I'm annoyed. I noticed a stupid glove in the back of my car but I remembered asking whose glove it was not two days before and Josh had said HIS glove was the loose one in the back of the car. I didn't pay attention to WHICH glove... just that it was a loose glove in the back and it obviously had to be Josh's. I was so wrong. UGH! They'd gotten their gloves out to play catch last night and instead of putting it back WHERE HE GOT IT FROM he just threw it in the back of my car. Well, I just grabbed the equipment bag because I KNEW everything was in it LAST NIGHT when I put it in my car!

I now knew, I had to hurry even moreso than I was already intending to hurry. Seriously, why can't I just be ON TIME? WHY? Is it inevitable when you have children that you'll be annoyingly late to everything?

I backed out of the garage in a hurry. Obviously, irritated because I'm THIRSTY and now won't have time to stop and get a drink. I get about four houses down then realize, DUH, you forgot the stinkin stroller for Ben. Reverse down the street, open the garage, load up the stroller and get back on the road.

I get another call from my Dad. "Are you sure they're on Field 4?" Then it dawns on me.... he's at the wrong field. "Dad, remember, Drew doesn't play for KYA any longer? He's at Richland Hills." I give dad directions how to get there and apologize profusely for not confirming an address for him.

So, I'm speeding down the way trying to get there as quickly as I can. Josh says I ran over a squirrel. I don't think I did but I'm certainly not going that way for a while because I don't want to think I did. I avoid carnage at all costs, you know.

We get to the park and immediately call dad with an address. I pull to the entrance, give Josh Drew's glove and tell him to RUN. I said, "I have no idea where the field is, only that they're on Field 4 and it's at the back. RUN." We are 5 minutes late. I drive around in the parking lot trying to find a space. Pull in and get the stroller out the back. Load up the diaper bag. Load up the fan (yes, it was hot and I brought a battery-operated smaller camping fan to keep Ben cool). Go to unhook him from his car seat and feel wet on my arm when I pull him out. I think to myself, "Oh, he didn't burp much after he ate. He spit up on me."

Um. Wrong.

Dead wrong.

Yellow, runny poop-blow out the diaper-all over the arm, my shirt, the car seat wrong. All kinds of wrong was I. Shit was everywhere. At that point I just looked at him and ...

LAUGHED! What the hell else are you supposed to do on a day like that?! I said you know what... DISH IT OUT! We can take it... you're a mess, man. Lets get you cleaned up. I sat him in the floorboard and used about 200 wipes to clean up everything as best I could. I stripped him down and get him changed.

At this point, he's loaded up in the stroller, it's hot. I'm already a sweaty mess. I walk up to a canopy where there are picture people and she tells me that I'm at the wrong one, the baseball picture people are at the end of the park. Ok, I figure, I'll hit them on the way to the field that I'm walking to that I have no clue where it is.

It's an odd shaped park actually. It's 4 baseball fields with a football field dead center. Just, weird to me. I walk to the back and spot the team. Drew was up to bat right when I got there. Good base hit and safe at first. WOO HOO!

I see my mother-in-law and wave to her. She takes Ben. She tells me that the picture lady named Sharon told her to just have me pay for everything all at once. But, now the picture people are no where to be found. UGH! So, no team or individual picture of Drew. I took the form back and am hoping that I can get it taken care of via email. We'll see.

Since Sharon has Ben and he's content for the moment, I snap a few pictures of the boys in action. While doing so, I stand right in an ant pile. Yeah, April. It's just par for the course of my day.

Good thing: the Red Sox won.

Drew goes home with Mimi and Pop and I am thankful for that. I don't think I'm cut to entertain anyone right now. Even six-year-olds that entertain themselves.

I went by Sonic and ordered up three chili cheese dogs with tater tots and got me a Route 44 unsweetened peach tea. Thank you, Jesus, for these amazing thirst quenchers! For that 10 minute ride home, Ben fell asleep in the car and now, at 5:45 p.m. He's not falling back asleep. What does this mean? He'll be screaming all night at Josh's football game. Oh joy what fun that will be.

Fabulous Fridays

Fridays mean I take Josh to school early for guitar practice. This Friday was a little different, however, because I've adopted the art teacher. His school has a group of parents who "adopt" the special area teachers since they don't have a set "class" but rather a revolving group of students all year long. These teachers are often overlooked on teacher appreciation days, holidays, etc. because parents are spending on "the" teacher rather than "all" teachers that interact and teach your kiddo.

This morning we were stopping by the grocery store, Albertson's, because I knew they'd have a good selection of flowers to choose from. You see, I adopted the art teacher and her birthday was Sunday. I decided to deliver her flowers for her birthday. Only, I didn't want to spend $40-$50 on a flower delivery when a) I had a beautiful pink vase, b) it was stupid to spend that much money on them and c) we can find some that smell delicious for 1/2 the price and KNOW when they were delivered!

So, off we went. Josh chose stargazer lilies for her. He arranged them in the vase himself and even did the delivery on the way to guitar practice.

It was fun.

I hope she liked them.

First "ding"

My new car got it's first ding...at the hands of my children. I shouldn't really get upset I guess, because, after all, it's just a "thing" right? And, they were trying to be responsible and shut the garage, right? Even though they didn't look to see that my trunk was open and all the doors to the car were as well?

Well, the garage door shut my trunk and left a nice gouge about 1.5" long deep down to the metal on my trunk.

It was inevitable. I knew it'd happen. It happened about three times to my Envoy. I just was hoping to at least have it longer than 5 months before it did.

Sigh.

Starting off to be a good day

I enjoyed a wonderfully productive day so far!

• We devoured French toast with homemade oatmeal bread this morning.
• I cleaned the kitchen
• I even took a small nap
• I made the quickest trip to Wal-Mart you've EVER seen (I had a sleepy baby, it had to be quick)
• I started and finished three loads of laundry
• I finished writing my to-do list for the week
• I even got on the floor and played with Benji
• I made a Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti in the crock pot
• Picked up Subway for lunch

Productivity

I had a productive morning. I prepped the veggies for chicken fajitas later tonight. I made a batch of Rice Krispy treats for the family. I even cleaned the kitchen and the playroom. I started a loaf of homemade sourdough bread in the bread machine. Too bad it didn't come out -- the last FIVE loaves of bread have looked like BRICKS! So, I got ticked -- it's a baking war now and I went to the package of the King Arthur bread flour I have and I made a loaf of their white oatmeal bread. The OLD FASHIONED WAY -- mix, knead, rise, punch, shape, rise, bake. I cleaned and froze strawberries and blueberries for my smoothies. I kept loads of laundry going and I got a much needed hair chop! Now I know why I don't go but once every little while to get hair cuts -- $55. Just for the cut. I'd already washed it! INSANE!

Wednesday Wickedness with MLK

Hi and welcome to Wednesday Wickedness. We are like other memes in that we will ask you ten questions each and every Wednesday. But our little "twist" is that each week we will pick a famous person and pick ten of their quotes. Each of our questions will be based on the quotes. Got it? Great! Let's begin this week's meme!

Today we picked Martin Luther King, Jr. Here's Wednesday Wickedness!

1. “A lie cannot live.” When was the last time you felt you were forced to lie? I never feel "forced" to lie. You can lie to protect someone's feelings but you're still CHOOSING to lie. Honestly, I don't lie often, if at all. I don't sugar coat anything -- not even with my kids because I don't want them to feel like life is easy and happy and just a big bowl of cherries all the time. Sometimes it's hard and sometimes it just downright sucks. But, how you choose to react and handle those situations -- even when no one is looking -- is what truly defines you as a person.

2. “A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.” What, besides the lives of your family, would you be willing to die for? Why do you have to die for something to be fit to live? I think that's a load of crap.

3. “A right delayed is a right denied.” Are there rights or freedoms that you’d give up to be safer? I'd give up a lot of rights to be safer. However, there's no guarantee of that safety. I won't give up the right to bear arms and if they try to take it from me, I guess they will be prying my 12 gauge from my cold, dead fingers. Oh wait! I think I just answered my question on #2 Ha ha ha!

4. “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.” When was the last time that you solved a problem of yours just to create another? I guess when I chose not to attend this coming Blue & Gold banquet (it's not until February 2011), it will cause a problem because the rest of my den will probably want to attend and may feel awkward without me, their den leader, there. I, however, have no intentions of being there.

5. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” What do you have faith in? I have faith in mankind, in general. I have faith in my husband. I have faith in Christ -- I struggle with this a great deal -- but I want to believe and have faith so admitting I do is a way for me to continually believe.

6. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Do you believe things in generally will usually win out? No. I takes action. You can't sit on your ass, do nothing and expect change. To quote another eloquent speaker, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."

7. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” When was the last time that you spoke out to help someone that you didn’t have to? I wrote a letter on behalf of two friends in Scouting who I felt were getting blacklisted because of a whiney woman and an idiot with a vendetta.

8. “It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” Do you envision a time where the United States will not be at war? Why? I would love to envision a time when we weren't at war but the price of guaranteeing our freedom is high. Sometimes we have to be where we're not wanted for the sake of keeping us safe here at home.

9. “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.” Is there anything that you are bitter about that you cannot get over? There is nothing I can't get over... no one and nothing is worth that much energy. EVER.

10. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Do you take chances by speaking up even when it could cost you something? Absolutely. Too many people sit on their asses and think the politicians flapping their jaws are actually going to -- laugh -- follow through on their promises. Nothing will change until people take notice of the small gradual changes that cause mountains of change.

Conflicted

I have a friend I've known since, gosh -- forever and a day. Seriously, I'm talking -- it's been since elementary school! Yikes! That's a mighty long time.

My friend is just an average man. He lives near me. He has a really sweet, personable wife who stays home and takes care of him. He has no children. He is upgrading his house. He drives a truck for a living. He keeps a modest standard to his life. He and his wife are really just a normal, typical married couple in most aspects.

He texted me a few days ago after hearing I was under the weather to see how I was. I replied that the doctor wanted to put me on a steroid but since I was nursing, I refused. He commented something about the fact that that was because I was a good mom or something. Then he proceeded to tell me about this woman in his trailer park that was smoking pot while she was nursing her baby. Personally, I was just... dumbfounded. How any mother could love her child enough to bring them into the world... and then CHOOSE breastfeeding for it's many benefits which are too numerous to list but them basically force drugs your baby??? WHAT THE HELL?!

But, he text it to me like it was nothing. It was just nothing. Well, it may have been nothing to HIM, but it was seriously something to me. I called my mom (retired police). I called my friend Ellen (who works as a director in Austin for Child Protective Services). Both told me that it's a crime for ME to not report it now that I'm aware of it. So, yes, I'm Jiminy Crickett and I wanted to speak out to protect this child--this child that I don't know. This child that deserves SO MUCH BETTER than to have drugs forced fed to it. So I called CPS and made a report. The only problem -- I have no name, no address. Only a few scattered details that I don't really remember. It will take more than ME to help protect this infant.

My friend, he chose to do nothing. That makes me very, very sad. I seriously second guess myself for even considering someone that wouldn't stand up for the rights for a child... a friend of mine. I know that sounds quite harsh but GEEZ. If you won't stand up for something...

The fact that he wouldn't even consider saying something led me to post this for my thought of the day on Facebook:

Choosing to do what's right isn't always easy but at least you know it's always RIGHT! Or to quote one of my favorite movies, "A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man stands up for others."

It obviously wouldn't be EASY to turn in your neighbor becuase, after all, YOU have to live near them. But how can you LIVE with YOURSELF knowing that is going on and you don't do something about it. Where CAN and WILL you draw the line? It's okay to force feed the kid drugs but what about molestation? What about animal cruelty? What about ... so many things.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? I don't think so. It's a CHILD. It's a beautiful creature that God chose to give someone to take care of.... NOT consume anything that has potentially to adversely effect its developing brain.

However, you have to understand this man, my friend. He minds his business. He doesn't want to be in yours. He doesn't want you in his. He doesn't like the law, the cops, rules, regulations, the government. He's a rebel. But at what point is all that more important than standing up for the little ones that can't stand up for themselves. At what point DO you make something YOUR business because it's effecting someone or something that can't stand up for itself? When do you become the hero for those who have no voice?

I contacted CPS. They contacted him. I doubt he will do anything about it. If he chooses that, I can't say that he's the friend or the man that I thought he was. I would have thought that he'd choose to be courageous and brave and I hope he chooses that over being a coward. This whole situation leaves me very conflicted.

Long night and back on the wagon

Last night was a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong night. Long. Long. LONG. LOOOOOONG. Night. I think I may have received about 2 hours of sleep. Poor little Ben. He's still sick.






Insert binkie... stuffy nose... unable to breathe... and then it starts all over again. Seriously, I was almost AFRAID to go to sleep for fear he'd die or something. He didn't even get any relief on an incline which has worked the last 2-3 days. Poor wittle guy! It's sure to be a LONGER day for me today. He finally was just so restless this morning around 4:45 a.m. so I just got him up, nursed him, held him close and then went into the kitchen, plopped him in the Bumbo and got breakfast ready to make. Today we're (meaning they're) having homemade waffles (half whole-wheat) with a touch of cinnamon, bacon and fruit salad (grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and pineapple) with glasses of milk.

Why does this kind of thing ALWAYS HAPPEN before I start an exercise routine so that I'm better suited just for my BODY to actually just take a nap and be rested or exercise, leaving myself even MORE tired? UGH!

But that brings me to my second topic...ladies and gents, I'm back on the wagon.

Regardless of the ginormous status of my bosom due to nursing which also leads to my inability to actually RUN, I'm still going to attempt to lose weight. I'm back on Weight Watchers. I was just digging around on their site and saw that they had measurement trackers. While I hate this... I love it, too. I don't tend to see pounds just fall off (especially while I'm nursing) but I'll love to see inches melt away.

So, back on the grind of eating healthy, lots and LOTS of salads (gotta have the roughage) and drinking all my water, taking my vitamin which -- when you think about it -- means I'm taking care of ME and making ME a priority.

And, so for MY breakfast today, I had 2 cups of 1% milk with a sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast (love those!) and a Smart Ones breakfast quesadilia topped with picaunte sauce. It was good. It's a start. My goal - allbeit - a small one for now is to lose 5 pounds a month. Hopefully more, but that will put me at losing 30 pounds by February. Our cruise is in March and that will be just perfect for me. Wish me luck.

Carpooling -- all the COOL people do it!

Since the first week of school was over and the boys were in their groove, we started the carpool with some friends that live on our street that have 2 daughters that attend school with the boys. It just makes sense. One we we'll do mornings and they'll pick up. The next week they'll do mornings and we'll pick up. OK, well, on Tuesdays and Thursdays they both work late so their kids go to an after school program but, for the most part, that's how it works.

I like doing the carpool because you get to hear the conversations of the kids. Like, when I told the boys on Thursday that I would be picking them up that afternoon.

"But you're taking us? Why are you picking us up too? Aren't we carpooling anymore?" asks Drew.

"Yes, but Meg and Emma go to Kid's Club today," I reply.

"What's Kid's Club?" asks Drew.

"It's a before and after school program for kiddos who have parents that maybe have to work a little later than when you guys get out of school."

"I won't go to Kid's Club," retorts Drew.

"Why not?" asks Meg.

"Because my Dad works and Mom stays home and doesn't work at all because she takes care of us," answers Drew.

My head spins around and I choke down the pea soup I'm ready to spew, "Oh, honey, I DO work. All. Day. Every. Day. I work. I never get to LEAVE my job. Just because mommy's job is taking care of the family doesn't mean it's not work."

It's never too early to set these kids straight about stay-at-home-moms not working. Pflbt!

What's that? The "pflbt?" That's how you spell out a raspberry! You know... a raspberry... stick out your tongue and blow! Yeah, that's what it's spelled out as. Now you know. Don't you feel special knowing that?

Anyway, it fell awfully silent in the car after that. I guess stating your case to a bunch of kids can really be a conversational buzz kill. Duly noted. I do nothing and don't work.

But, back to the whole carpooling thing. In the mornings, I don't take the carpool even when it's our turn. ANDY DOES! It's a beautiful thing. And, honestly, I think it's very cool that Andy does it! Besides, it's on his way to work anyway so he drops the kiddos off. It saves me a trip out and if Ben's still sleeping -- he gets to stay asleep! It's awesome!

After all, I've generally been up since 5 am, have made breakfast, set the table, made sure they got up on time, ate, cleared the table, washed the pots/pans, wiped the counters down, got the boys ready, made sure their morning chores were completed, helped Drew get dressed and ensure the backpacks were packed.

And, generally, after all that -- even with being up since 5am, I'm still in my jammies and haven't eaten. I take care of myself after they all leave. I do this because (to me) my "job" in the morning (wow, it's a JOB but yet, I don't work. How is that possible?) is to make sure they're fed, dressed, rid of bed head, ready to face the day, with brushed teeth and happy dispositions.

I wake them at 6:45 with breakfast ON the table ready to be consumed. That gives them 45 minutes to eat, get dressed and face the day. I'm honestly thinking, however, that they need to get up at 6:30 because--man alive--Drew drags his feet with EVERYTHING in the morning. He is his father's son and is NOT a morning person. He's a s-l-o-w eater. When he goes upstairs to get dressed, if there's a Lego to be found, he's playing with it. If there is a Star Wars droid, he's waging a battle in the bedroom in his underwear with maybe one sock on. It's just so silly. Maybe when he realizes that he has to get up at 6:30 becuase of this, he will rethink the whole, I'm not getting ready on time. I want them to feel like they're not rushed at all.

But, like I said, it's kinda cool that my man is a carpoolin' dad. I bet he never thought he'd be driving in a carpool. Well, he may take them to school in his Expedition, but I'm still rollin' in the swaggar wagon when I go pick them up!

Five Question Friday

Rules for Five Question Friday: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then link up to My Little Life (below)!:

Questions for Friday, September 3rd: (Special thanks to Colleen, Crissy, Bethany, Sandy, and Nel for their question suggestions! If YOU would like to be linked in a future 5QF, c'mon over to my community and offer up your best question suggestions!)


1. What do you do when you have time to yourself? Do moms of infants have time to themselves? Ha! Surely you jest! Seriously, do they? I guess if you're some housewife of NYC or where ever those reality shows are circulating now -- they have nannies and go running off to the spa and to shop and leave their nannies to deal but as for the rest of us "normal" people, we don't have that now do we? Next question!


2. When you look out your kitchen window, what do you see? I see my wooden fence followed by a tree my neighbor planted apparently because he didn't want to look at me in my kitchen. Maybe I need to have a word with him. Hmmm.


3. Who/What would you want to be reincarnated as? I don't know if I'd ever want to be reincarnated. To think of having to go through life AGAIN. All the mean girls in middle school - AGAIN. High school punishment and pop tests -- AGAIN. That'd be pure hell. I think I want to stay dead. DRT. Yep, that'll be me in the grave -- Dead Right There.


4. What is your biggest pet peeve about other people's kids? ...I don't really have any pet peeves about the kids -- it's generally about the PARENTS. If children were DISCIPLINED, they wouldn't ACT the way they do when they know they have no CONSEQUENCES for their actions. So, while the children are the ones carrying OUT said annoyance, it's really the PARENTS that bug me for failing to do anything ABOUT it!


5. Regular or Diet soda? Diet. For sure! I love Diet Big Red, Diet A&W Cream Soda, Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi. I hear bad things about the artificial sweeteners, however. Maybe I should just stick to water. :( But then what will I do with my fizzy bubble addiction?


Come join the fun each Friday at My Little Life

Friday Fill Ins

And...here we go!

Happy Labor Day weekend to all who celebrate it. And...here we go!

1. Family reunions are something everyone seems to kind of dread but after the fact, everyone appreciates the photos, memories and time spent together. I wish my family would have one.

2. My little Boston Terrier, Lola, does not have a tail that goes back and forth.

3. I love a good fitting pair of jeans. Why they seem to be impossible to find is really beyond me.

4. I'm NOT going to say Hamburger Helper makes a good meal because EWWWW! April Driggers makes a good meal!

5. I've got the nesting bug still. I so want my house purged of extraneous crap!

6. Eric texted me about his neighbor who smokes POT and NURSES HER BABY: wth!!!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting and getting rid of my sore throat/tonsilitis, tomorrow my plans include football practice for Josh and baseball practice for Drew and Sunday, I want to enjoy a cook-out with our neighbors!


You can play along with Friday Fill Ins, too. Click HERE.

Swallowing....

... it seems like such a natural thing, doesn't it? It is kind of like breathing. You don't think about it. You just breathe.

You don't think about swallowing, you just swallow... until you have a tonsil that feels like it's either about to explode or that is at such a place that... well, it honestly feels like -- you know when you're taking medication (a pill) and you don't take a drink BEFORE you try to swallow it and it sticks to the back of your throat and you have to take a couple of drinks to get it to go down? Imagine having that feeling like. ALL.DAY.LONG! It sucks.

This started a day or so ago... started with the fact that the AC unit in my bedroom died. Luckily (for me) there has been a cold front move in so that it's only about 80 in my bedroom -- 77 at night. Which, if you know me and how much I luuuuurve to have it about 40 in there and snuggle up under the covers, realize that it still sucks but at least it sucks a little less without all the direct sun and some great cloud coverage to minimize that western direct sun right into my bathroom just heating up my room. Because of this, and having had not one, not two but three services on the unit -- it's just dead I'm afraid. It still cools off AT NIGHT but it's not until about 1-2 in the morning until it reaches the 77 degree mark. So, I've just been sleeping with a sheet over me and we brought in two fans to help out.

Well, the night before last I had a sore throat in the morning. I thought this was because of having a fan blowing on me all night. You know, the whole dry air kind of thing. It seemed to get a little better or I just didn't think about it much. But, I was really feeling kind of run down and tired (not like me). Then about midnight I woke up and could barely swallow. First though? Strep! UGH!

If you'll remember, Josh had strep throat the first day of school. But, the incubation period is too long for me to have gotten it from him. I immediately logged into Care Now's website to see how late they were open. They closed at 10. Dang the luck. I went ahead and did a "web check-in" in hopes that a) I could make it for the morning and b) I would be the first on their call list. I went up to ask Andy if he thought I should go to the ER. He always is the voice of reason. I just know that I, as a mom, can't afford to get sick. The house will cease to exist as we know it! I'm up surfing Facebook for hours at a time last night. I was afraid to go to bed.

Ben, he's still under the weather too. I start to fear that I've gotten him sick too. I remember night before last I did take a bite off his spoon just to show him what "bite" was. He'd never had applesauce and rice cereal before so I was giving him a new taste. He did okay. So, I start second guessing all my things I've done.. did I pick my nose and touch him... did I rub his eyes without washing my fingers.... how could I have gotten him sick? It's driving me nuts.

Ben was a little fussy but I got him back to sleep and then I start to drift back to sleep when I realize that I needed to get my phone from the car because that is where my alarm is (whoops.) So, wake up Ben or try to do it without an alarm. I chose the latter.

I woke up again at 5 something when my brain told me "you forgot something!" It was those stupid postcard sets for the fundraiser I bit Josh's head off. I was able to extricate myself from the bed while keeping Ben asleep (he's having to sleep with his head elevated or his nose stuffs up so much he can't breathe out of it). I came into the living room and filled out the 22 addresses (11 for each kid) and then sent out an e-mail telling everyone when they got it, don't worry about it. We want them to buy their magazines and renewals from the boys direct so that they got credit for it.

Speaking of... if anyone wants to renew or subscribe to a magazine - let me know! :) Both of my boys are wanting one of those dumb little prizes and since they both go to the same school and are selling the SAME thing, it's hard to buy a lot... so, if you want to help out two cuties -- :) I'll give you a web address where you can order and they get credit! :) Thanks. (sorry, shameless plug!)

I wake up at 7:00 a.m. I realize I've overslept by 15 minutes! DANG! Andy, Josh AND Drew are actually in the kitchen getting some cereal. I'm relieved. So relieved. Josh (the grown up) got everyone up in time. Andy's alarm goes off at 6:30 I think...maybe 6:45 but Josh saved the day and got Drew up for me. So, as a thank you, I picked him up something today.

I decide to get dressed and hope that Care Now will call me ASAP. 7:40 a.m. my cell rings. It's them. THANK YOU JESUS. I head that way. While I'm in the waiting room, I call to schedule an appointment for Ben since he's been kind of sickly, too. I get called back almost immediately (God bless web check in!) They do a rapid strep test which comes back negative. The doctor comes in within minutes and said that it could be a false negative and that I could still be in the early stages of it. He could tell that my tonsil was really huge and said he would prescribe me a steroid for the pain and inflammation but since I'm nursing ... I just said not to worry about it. I just got an Rx for an antibiotic. I'd love the inflammation and pain to go away pronto BUT not at the risk of any weird/unknown side effects because I'm nursing. He did say if it's not better in 3-4 days to come back. THREE TO FOUR DAYS? DANG GINA! I was in and out of there in less than 40 minutes. WOW!

I left there... went to Wal-Greens (or Wall-Grun's, as my dad likes to call it), got my Rx filled, hit Whataburger for a taquito and a Diet Coke (gotta stay hydrated--ha!) and then headed home. I played with Ben in the jumparoo, nursed him, and got a phone call from my good friend Landy and talked to her for about an hour... then it was time to pack up Ben and head to the pediatrician for his 11:30 appointment. We were in and out of there quickly. He checked his ears and throat... his symptoms are just a little cold. I told him how I kiss all over him and he grabs my face and mouth and nose and that I fear he may get what I get. Dr. Knapp said that I'd rather see a family a little more for being warm and close than to never see them because they're cold and distant. That's a nice thought, isn't it? He said, "No mommy guilt. You did nothing wrong. Kids get sick. It's their way to build up their immune system. It's okay." If he does develop anything it'll be a secondary infection to what he has now (little cold) and so that's when he'd need to see him again. Otherwise, he'll just have a little cold until it runs its course.

I stopped off and got me a big sweet tea from McDonald's and now Ben's swinging, the dogs are outside, I'm draggin butt BUT... big picture:

the sky is blue

the weather is beautiful

we got much needed rain

my family is intact

we are (relatively speaking) healthy

my boys love school

we do not have to go without

i have a beautiful home

i have an adorable pair of pooches

and, while I don't like my present bodily "state"... it's just a temporary part of my walk in motherhood.

I may be a little under the weather but in general,

life.is.good.

Adult stuff

We were about to walk out the door this morning.

"But Mooooom, wait." Josh headed back to the kitchen to grab the fundraiser flyer for their magazine sales. The school has a big rally, of course, to tell all the kids about the fundraiser (the only one the school has) which is magazine renewals and new subscriptions. I will just renew the subscriptions that I have and be done with it. I like easy stuff like that. I"m not buying cookie dough, candy, or any junk I don't need (not that I need magazines, but I want them and NOW it's for my childrens' benefit that I do buy them! I love reasoning things out. Don't you?)

So, I explain to him that it doesn't have to be turned in until tomorrow. It's okay not to turn it in today. He tried to reason with me.

Did you read it?

No.

I did. It's not due until tomorrow. And, with that, I start walking back out the door.

Again, "...but, MOOoOOOOOoOOoOoOoOoOm"

I walk in the kitchen, pull the blasted sheet out that I READ YESTERDAY which clearly said that the one portion he's referring to is NOT due until tomorrow. Then, I jump his butt about trying to reason and negotiate with me. I'm reading the material. He didn't. He needs to just shut up. Right?

Then we get in the car and I stop two doors down to pick up the girls we carpool with.

"We're not taking them today," he says.

"Yes, we are."

"No, we're not taking them today."

We don't say "shut up" in this house but let me tell you, I was [ ] close TO telling him to just shut up. It's annoying to have someone continually sit there and contradict everything you say and do because they are completely uninformed. HE doesn't know the schedule. HE isn't conversing with the mom. HE IS CLUELESS. So why is he bugging the crap out of ME for stuff HE OBVIOUSLY doesn't know anything about? Seriously, it's annoying.

So, after picking them up -- much to his surprise. I proceeded to tell him that the girls will ride with us this morning because this is our week to TAKE them to school. However, their mom will not be picking up MY TWO this afternoon because generally, on Tuesdays and Thursdays her daughters to go "Kids Club" (after school care at the school) which means that MY TWO won't have a ride home UNLESS I go pick them up.

And, I thought that would be the end of it.

"But, Mom, you can't pick us up!"

??? Now, I'm really interested in this logic.

"I can't? Why?"

"Because you don't have a sign. You gave your sign to Mrs. Zachmeyer."

The school went to signs in the dash of the last names of children so they know which cars they go to. They're all in a certain font, so the school knows what child belongs to what vehicle. I take a deep breath and say to my oldest child, "Well, Josh, I can pick you up because I have a sign too. We were provided with two signs."

Then, it hit me to quit being such a butt hole to my kid with my tone. Although, the ridiculousness of the entire conversation was annoying and trying on my patience (because I can't STAND to be second guessed by a KID when I know what's going on and he doesn't) I realized that he just wanted to be "in the know" on what was going on concerning HIM.

I took a minute to give myself an attitude adjustment and grabbed him on the shoulder and rubbed it a little (I mean, I AM driving while this is taking place) and said, "You really don't need to worry about all this "adult" stuff, you know? I told you I'd pick you up. I'll pick you up. Whatever I needed to do to make that happen, I would. That's something you don't even need to be concerned about for a second. So, chill out. You're too young to stress about these trivial things. If I tell you something, you know my word is as good as gold. If I say it's not due, there's a reason that I know that it's not due. If I say that we're taking the girls, we're taking the girls. If I say that I'm picking you up. I'm picking you up. Don't argue with me and just leave it at that. I know that you, don't like to have what you say second guessed and I'm no different. Especially three or four times in a row...

He realized what he'd done. We both let it go.

I'm glad that I had a few seconds to give myself an attitude adjustment so that I didn't send him off on his way to school in a bad mood.

BUT NOW -- a shameless plug -- If anyone wants to renew or subscribe to any magazines, let me know! Since I have TWO kids selling the same fundraiser, our resources are cut in half since we'll only hit the grand parentals up by one kid. I'd be appreciative if you'd buy/renew through my boys if you're in the market to do so.

Brownie Points

Yup, I'm going to earn some major ones today. See, since Josh got in the 5th grade band at FWC, he needed a guitar to leave up at the school. I certainly wasn't comfortable with him leaving his $500 Ibenez up there so I started doing some research on a "good" but cheap guitar. And, today, I went to pick it up from Mr. E's music in Bedford. He has a red/white Peavy! It's cool (just sayin).

He'll be way excited.