Today is the first day of the third week I am back in the work environment and what a huge adjustment it is.
I used to think being single and working was easy. Then I got married and had kids; became a stay at home mom. That was one of the biggest changes I have undergone and it took a long time to get really comfortable with that role. Now I am a working mom and I am struggling to adjust to yet more changes.
Dinner is no longer on the table when John wants it. I don't get to spend near enough time with the girls. The house is a mess. Laundry is overwhelming. Can't remember the last time I scrubbed a toilet. And I have all but given up on the idea of giving the hardwood floors a decent mopping.
For as hard as I thought being a SAHM was, being a working wife and mother is nine times harder. Schedules are harder to flex. John still expects me to do everything. The girls are always needing me in some way or another. All the demands I had before are still there and now I'm dealing with less time to do them all in.
So when hubs gets his panties in a wad because I won't drop what I'm doing to appease his needs it really irks me. I mean, really, irks me. Given that he is always reminding me of the things that are not getting done you would think when he sees me actually doing something he would be less apt to interrupt me or to start acting like an invalid who is completely incapable of doing something for himself. Why must I always be the one who knows everything?
If it is so important to know if the pets are fed then get off the damn computer game and pay attention to someone or something around the house. If the lack of clean clothes bothers you then get off your arse and start a load of laundry.
I'm not saying he hasn't done anything since I started back at work, but what he has done isn't nearly a third of what he still holds me accountable for. Sure, he vacuumed the floors and did a load of laundry; has kept the kitchen pretty clean, but these are only a few of the things I have been doing for 10+ years. So unless he plans on taking on the finances, paying bills, doing the taxes, helping the girls with their homework every night, etc- then I am not going to apologize when I lose it because I'm stressed out.
So here I am, week three; stressed beyond belief. I got up and made hubs breakfast before sending him out the door. I've packed the girls lunches. Packed my lunch. Gotten ready for work. Prepared the girls for the day. Did a load of laundry. Found their TKD uniforms and set the bag up, ready to go for tonight. Gathered the trash to set outside. Fed the pets. I even found time to vent online. All this in just two hours.
I have no idea what time he got up - usually somewhere between midnight and 3am - but to my knowledge I am not seeing any recognizable contribution on his part this morning to ensure today goes as smoothly as possible for ALL involved - not just himself. He didn't feed himself. He didn't pack my lunch or lunch for the girls. He didn't feed the pets. So what exactly did he do for someone other than himself?
I have no idea. And THAT is why I will not apologize for snapping under the pressure of trying to adjust to life as a working wife and mother.
Wait.......I take it back. He DID do something for someone else. He let his dog out.
Maybe, just maybe, if he was as committed to me and the girls as he is to that damn dog then maybe, maybe I wouldn't be so pissed off today.
But its okay. I can handle this. I always do.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Week One and Done
I cannot begin to tell you how super excited I am to be back at work. I know.....a little late on the details, but better late than never.
Monday was great. Last Monday that is. My first day of work went rather well for a typical last minute government job. I spent most of the morning waiting around with three other ladies, for someone to get us up and running. By lunchtime it was pretty set in stone that wasn't going to happen that day. Probably not the next either. And sure it enough it didn't. So my first two days of work were spend pulling files and logging case numbers for another section of the office. Honestly, I would rather deal with the countless paper cuts than sit around and do nothing.
By Wednesday we were up. Training in the a.m. and live work by that afternoon. Of course Thursday was a bust as it snowed ----15" here. And more that night. Friday brought hope we would be at work but after a few text to my new boss - no-go. Apparently no one else was going in so we couldn't . Oh well. My first week of work turned into three days of work. I'll take that.
As for Jessa and her rock ear.....it's out. Hubs called on Monday morning. Got an appointment for Tuesday afternoon only to have them call back to reschedule for Wednesday. By Wednesday afternoon I was pretty fed up with the nonchalant attitude the ENT field seems to have for child care. Of course after the rock was out I couldn't give a damn about any of them. My baby girl was finally free of debris. Yippee.
So with all the snow, an empty ear, and lots of time off I managed to get absolutely nothing accomplished. Haha. Not a thing got done all weekend. Mainly because I have just felt drained. And John has too. Its like a damn disease that just won't go away. But now its Monday night and I'm feeling the crunch of getting no laundry done and no shirts ironed for hubs. Oh well. We will just have to deal.
Tomorrow begins week two at work. Week two for the girls to attend SACC - which they thoroughly enjoy. Another week of hell for John at work (I swear I wish he would actually LOOK for a new job rather than mop about how much he hates this one). And another step closer to getting out of all this medically induced financial debt.
I've got plans and I want to see them achieved, but they can't happen if John doesn't work with me. For ten years we have been out of sinc with finances and now I am finally able to contribute - now is not the time to quit on me. Now is the time to tighten down the straps. Lets get this crap paid off and finally start saving for a real retirement.
Friday will be my first paycheck and it will barely cover 1.5 weeks of SACC but it does bring us into week two; a larger paycheck means a larger payoff. We should have enough to pay for 2 weeks of SACC and possibly enough to make an extra payment on one of the cards. We'll just have to see.
Well, wrinkled shirts are calling so I better get at least one ironed before tomorrow morning.
Monday was great. Last Monday that is. My first day of work went rather well for a typical last minute government job. I spent most of the morning waiting around with three other ladies, for someone to get us up and running. By lunchtime it was pretty set in stone that wasn't going to happen that day. Probably not the next either. And sure it enough it didn't. So my first two days of work were spend pulling files and logging case numbers for another section of the office. Honestly, I would rather deal with the countless paper cuts than sit around and do nothing.
By Wednesday we were up. Training in the a.m. and live work by that afternoon. Of course Thursday was a bust as it snowed ----15" here. And more that night. Friday brought hope we would be at work but after a few text to my new boss - no-go. Apparently no one else was going in so we couldn't . Oh well. My first week of work turned into three days of work. I'll take that.
As for Jessa and her rock ear.....it's out. Hubs called on Monday morning. Got an appointment for Tuesday afternoon only to have them call back to reschedule for Wednesday. By Wednesday afternoon I was pretty fed up with the nonchalant attitude the ENT field seems to have for child care. Of course after the rock was out I couldn't give a damn about any of them. My baby girl was finally free of debris. Yippee.
So with all the snow, an empty ear, and lots of time off I managed to get absolutely nothing accomplished. Haha. Not a thing got done all weekend. Mainly because I have just felt drained. And John has too. Its like a damn disease that just won't go away. But now its Monday night and I'm feeling the crunch of getting no laundry done and no shirts ironed for hubs. Oh well. We will just have to deal.
Tomorrow begins week two at work. Week two for the girls to attend SACC - which they thoroughly enjoy. Another week of hell for John at work (I swear I wish he would actually LOOK for a new job rather than mop about how much he hates this one). And another step closer to getting out of all this medically induced financial debt.
I've got plans and I want to see them achieved, but they can't happen if John doesn't work with me. For ten years we have been out of sinc with finances and now I am finally able to contribute - now is not the time to quit on me. Now is the time to tighten down the straps. Lets get this crap paid off and finally start saving for a real retirement.
Friday will be my first paycheck and it will barely cover 1.5 weeks of SACC but it does bring us into week two; a larger paycheck means a larger payoff. We should have enough to pay for 2 weeks of SACC and possibly enough to make an extra payment on one of the cards. We'll just have to see.
Well, wrinkled shirts are calling so I better get at least one ironed before tomorrow morning.
Friday, February 7, 2014
This is a Test. This is Only a Test.
If I thought the beginning of the week was stressful, the end of week beat it by a mile. A million miles.
Bringing myself down to Earth after landing a job proceeding a four year search was easier said than done. I must have stayed on Cloud 9 until at least Friday. Super excited to start a job; stressed out from trying to ensure everything is prepared and ready to go for the job; even more stressed out getting childcare set for both girls. Its been a high stress week and Friday topped it off - not so beautifully.
I had promised a long time ago that I would eat lunch with them at school one day but I always found excuses to not do so. Realizing that would no longer be an option as of Monday I set about making plans to have lunch with Jessa on Wednesday and lunch with Samantha on Thursday. It was a nice surprise for both and honestly, the food our kids are being served in the lunchroom was pretty good. I was really opposed to letting them eat school processed lunches everyday, which is why they generally take their lunchboxes, but after seeing what their are being served, and eating it too, I'm much more at ease and ready to let them buy lunch more often. Especially since we can afford it more after I begin work on Monday.
With the rest of the week being so productive it really bites the big one that Friday, and Saturday were so unproductive.
Friday afternoon, my last bus stop afternoon pick up (sad day) the girls and I walked home as usual but the conversation between Jessa and I was anything but normal. First words out of her mouth after she gets off the bus are "Mommy, I have a rock in my ear." Ummmmmm. What ?
Yeah, I was kind of taken back by this comment. What mom believes their child has a rock in their ear? I, unfortunately, did not. We get home; I see dirt in her ear opening. I see a pencil mark on her cheek. A flashlight shows me something but I'm still not seeing a rock. Okay. Time to call the Dr's office.
I get referred to the local Urgent Care and off Jessa and I go on our Friday evening adventure.
A quick check in, vitals taken, and finally the Dr arrives. Nice lady. She peeks in Jessa's ear and says "Yep, there is something in there." A pair of tweezers come into play and even though I can hear the Dr scrapping something that sounds like a rock I still can't believe it. There is just no way my daughter has a rock in her ear. So I ask to see it.
THERE'S A DAMN ROCK IN MY CHILD'S EAR !!!! WHAT THE HELL ?!?!?! How ??
After some grilling Jessa finally gives up the truth - she saw a rock on her friends shoe, and for whatever reason,,,,,,,,,,put it in her ear. I don't know why. Neither does she. But hey, she's five. What else do we expect?
Several attempts and the Dr simply cannot get it loose. So we're referred to the ER. And off we go again.
Another check in. More vitals. And another Dr. This one I didn't like so much. Gave one really lame attempt to get the rock out but quit saying "I can't do this."
So here we are ...... waiting until Monday when we can call around and find a Dr capable and available.
Bringing myself down to Earth after landing a job proceeding a four year search was easier said than done. I must have stayed on Cloud 9 until at least Friday. Super excited to start a job; stressed out from trying to ensure everything is prepared and ready to go for the job; even more stressed out getting childcare set for both girls. Its been a high stress week and Friday topped it off - not so beautifully.
I had promised a long time ago that I would eat lunch with them at school one day but I always found excuses to not do so. Realizing that would no longer be an option as of Monday I set about making plans to have lunch with Jessa on Wednesday and lunch with Samantha on Thursday. It was a nice surprise for both and honestly, the food our kids are being served in the lunchroom was pretty good. I was really opposed to letting them eat school processed lunches everyday, which is why they generally take their lunchboxes, but after seeing what their are being served, and eating it too, I'm much more at ease and ready to let them buy lunch more often. Especially since we can afford it more after I begin work on Monday.
With the rest of the week being so productive it really bites the big one that Friday, and Saturday were so unproductive.
Friday afternoon, my last bus stop afternoon pick up (sad day) the girls and I walked home as usual but the conversation between Jessa and I was anything but normal. First words out of her mouth after she gets off the bus are "Mommy, I have a rock in my ear." Ummmmmm. What ?
Yeah, I was kind of taken back by this comment. What mom believes their child has a rock in their ear? I, unfortunately, did not. We get home; I see dirt in her ear opening. I see a pencil mark on her cheek. A flashlight shows me something but I'm still not seeing a rock. Okay. Time to call the Dr's office.
I get referred to the local Urgent Care and off Jessa and I go on our Friday evening adventure.
A quick check in, vitals taken, and finally the Dr arrives. Nice lady. She peeks in Jessa's ear and says "Yep, there is something in there." A pair of tweezers come into play and even though I can hear the Dr scrapping something that sounds like a rock I still can't believe it. There is just no way my daughter has a rock in her ear. So I ask to see it.
THERE'S A DAMN ROCK IN MY CHILD'S EAR !!!! WHAT THE HELL ?!?!?! How ??
After some grilling Jessa finally gives up the truth - she saw a rock on her friends shoe, and for whatever reason,,,,,,,,,,put it in her ear. I don't know why. Neither does she. But hey, she's five. What else do we expect?
Several attempts and the Dr simply cannot get it loose. So we're referred to the ER. And off we go again.
Another check in. More vitals. And another Dr. This one I didn't like so much. Gave one really lame attempt to get the rock out but quit saying "I can't do this."
So here we are ...... waiting until Monday when we can call around and find a Dr capable and available.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Its Only Tuesday
What a week.
Sunday brought about unscheduled haircuts, birthday parties, and late night bowling. Not to mention the absolute most embarrassing loss by any NFL team at the Super Bowl. Like I say, if you are going to brag about how good you are then you had better bring it all. The Broncos brought nothing.
I'm no Manning fan. So what? There is just something about Peyton that has never sat right with me and Eli isn't much better. So when a no-name QB blew away the Broncos and embarrassed the shit out of the entire team, I celebrated. Was very happy to have anyone other than a Manning standing up there with the trophy.
Although, given the choice I will always pick the Patriots and Brady over anyone or any team. Always.
Monday was an average day. Some things went right. Some things went wrong. Putting together my resume was harder than I expected it to be. Not because it was hard to remember all my jobs or what I did when, but because the resume template I was using would not work right no matter what I did. And no matter how many times I had asked John to "help" me, it still wasn't right.
Monday was also the day I realized I had not yet revealed my Resolution for February.
It was quite a toss up deciding what I really wanted to focus on. Would it be laundry - which is always piled up and ironing needing to be done, or would it be finally getting my act together and hitting the gym (in home) in the mornings so I could get into shape? Of course there was a third option I had been contemplating - get down to business and finally get a job.
For four years I've looked. Not with serious vigor, but I must have applied to 200 different positions over the course of the last five years and by this time I had just about given up.
Enter Tuesday. Last week I get a text from a neighbor whose been a pretty good friend. She forwarded to me a text her sister had sent her in which she was looking for 10 people to fill data entry positions immediately. I know what you're thinking - scam. I thought it too. But since I know Vic and I was fairly certain, being an employee of the law, she would not pull me into something of questionable origins. So I texted back and by the time the conversation was over I had a contact name and number for her sister. A quick call to D (the sister) and we had an interview scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
So here we are Tuesday ---- I go to the interview thinking its not going to be anything great and it turns out the job could be my saving grace. A way back into government work I have been looking for for years !!! Vic's sister, D works for a local county government so the job she is hiring for is with the government. Doing data entry. Granted its a temporary position (17 to 20 weeks in length) but its full time employment at $15 an hour. And it could turn into perm employment if I perform to their liking.
With a little adjustment to John's schedule, and as long as I can get the girls into SACC, then all is good. I FINALLY have a job. And its only Tuesday, the 4th of February.
Well, I guess that takes care of one Resolution, which now begs the question - what do I focus on for this month?
As it turns out, I am going to stick with my third option. Modified slightly. Instead of focusing on "finding" a job I am going to focus on "keeping" a job. I haven't been this excited about having a job since I got hired as the UA of my Reserve Unit back in 2003. I loved that job and I really did not want to leave it. But rather than being forced out, I left voluntarily, hoping that one day; some day I would find a way back in. And today; well today appears I did just that.
So now I have the job my goal for February is to out-perform any of the other applicants so that by the end of the 20 weeks I'll be a shoe-in for an invite to stay on with the county.
Sunday brought about unscheduled haircuts, birthday parties, and late night bowling. Not to mention the absolute most embarrassing loss by any NFL team at the Super Bowl. Like I say, if you are going to brag about how good you are then you had better bring it all. The Broncos brought nothing.
I'm no Manning fan. So what? There is just something about Peyton that has never sat right with me and Eli isn't much better. So when a no-name QB blew away the Broncos and embarrassed the shit out of the entire team, I celebrated. Was very happy to have anyone other than a Manning standing up there with the trophy.
Although, given the choice I will always pick the Patriots and Brady over anyone or any team. Always.
Monday was an average day. Some things went right. Some things went wrong. Putting together my resume was harder than I expected it to be. Not because it was hard to remember all my jobs or what I did when, but because the resume template I was using would not work right no matter what I did. And no matter how many times I had asked John to "help" me, it still wasn't right.
Monday was also the day I realized I had not yet revealed my Resolution for February.
It was quite a toss up deciding what I really wanted to focus on. Would it be laundry - which is always piled up and ironing needing to be done, or would it be finally getting my act together and hitting the gym (in home) in the mornings so I could get into shape? Of course there was a third option I had been contemplating - get down to business and finally get a job.
For four years I've looked. Not with serious vigor, but I must have applied to 200 different positions over the course of the last five years and by this time I had just about given up.
Enter Tuesday. Last week I get a text from a neighbor whose been a pretty good friend. She forwarded to me a text her sister had sent her in which she was looking for 10 people to fill data entry positions immediately. I know what you're thinking - scam. I thought it too. But since I know Vic and I was fairly certain, being an employee of the law, she would not pull me into something of questionable origins. So I texted back and by the time the conversation was over I had a contact name and number for her sister. A quick call to D (the sister) and we had an interview scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
So here we are Tuesday ---- I go to the interview thinking its not going to be anything great and it turns out the job could be my saving grace. A way back into government work I have been looking for for years !!! Vic's sister, D works for a local county government so the job she is hiring for is with the government. Doing data entry. Granted its a temporary position (17 to 20 weeks in length) but its full time employment at $15 an hour. And it could turn into perm employment if I perform to their liking.
With a little adjustment to John's schedule, and as long as I can get the girls into SACC, then all is good. I FINALLY have a job. And its only Tuesday, the 4th of February.
Well, I guess that takes care of one Resolution, which now begs the question - what do I focus on for this month?
As it turns out, I am going to stick with my third option. Modified slightly. Instead of focusing on "finding" a job I am going to focus on "keeping" a job. I haven't been this excited about having a job since I got hired as the UA of my Reserve Unit back in 2003. I loved that job and I really did not want to leave it. But rather than being forced out, I left voluntarily, hoping that one day; some day I would find a way back in. And today; well today appears I did just that.
So now I have the job my goal for February is to out-perform any of the other applicants so that by the end of the 20 weeks I'll be a shoe-in for an invite to stay on with the county.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Bobs, Birthday, and Bowling
Wow, was yesterday eventful. It started out as a typical Saturday - a lazy wake up by all (except John who finds it all but impossible to sleep past 4am) followed by a lazy breakfast, some TV for the girls, and some computer time for mom and dad.
The girls watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" with John while I worked on our monthly menu and grocery list. Jessa said she was going upstairs. Nothing out of the ordinary for her to decide she needs some quite "me" time so when she was gone for more than a few minutes I chalked it up to her playing quietly in the playroom as she had done a thousand times over.
It wasn't until I went for a shower that I discovered it. Hair. All over my bathroom floor. Hundreds of strands 3 - 4" long. A quick glance in the trash can almost lead to tears. Chunks of hair. All that same beautiful reddish-brown color that our smallest beauty sported since birth.
It took a second or two to gather my wits before yelling for both girls to join me in the bathroom.
Jessa's hair has always been slow to grow but it has always been so very beautiful. I'm often jealous of those lovely locks. It wasn't until she was about two that she finally had enough to hair to start playing with styles.
This didn't last the entire year as Miss Samantha decided to play with scissors (as most kids do) and gave her sister a haircut that did not leave much for working with. For far too long we referred to Jessa as our Chemo baby due to having to literally shave her head. Talk about a devastating moment for mommy.
Thankfully, after many lectures and the hiding of all scissors we managed to get past the "I need to cut everything" stage. And for the past few years we have allowed both girls to grow their hair as long as they wished as long as they took care of it and it was healthy. Rewind to Christmas for a view of how long both girls hair was.....
Pardon me for saying, but damn those are two cute girls. :) Sometimes it really is hard to believe they are my daughters. Anyhow.....
Getting past the scissor stage.....Well, we got past it with Samantha that is. Jessica, evidently was not completely done with her need to cut things. This was brought to light with the bathroom discovery. After much conversation we finally discovered that little miss had wanted to try mommy's curling brush (nothing more than a circular brush) but it got stuck in her hair. When she couldn't get it out, instead of asking for help she chose to cut it out.
When asked why she didn't just come tell me what she had done the poor girls says "I thought you would be mad." All I could do is hug her. My sweet baby, who worked so long to get her hair so long was afraid to tell me she had a problem. That, is something we will be working on - building confidence in our girls so they are not afraid to ask for help.
So I set out to work trying to save as much of her lovely locks as was possible, and this was the final product. Funny, but she absolutely loves it and I have to say, so do I. Of course Jessa has always had the most beautiful hair and nearly any cut is just beautiful on her.
Not quite a bob, but still beautiful.
Whew !!! We managed to make it through the morning with only one incident. Now I can relax and go back to focusing on grocery lists and clipping coupons. Or so I thought.
All week Samantha has asked about her classmates birthday party. And every time she has asked I say yes, we'll go. It wasn't until she plucked at the invite attached to the fridge door that morning that I suddenly realized I had lost my mind. At the very least I had lost track of time. The birthday party; the party at the local Bowl America, was at 7pm that evening.
Suddenly I realized what a goof I had made. WHAT HAD I DONE ??? I hadn't RSVP'd for the party. I hadn't taken Samantha shopping to find a gift for her classmate. I hadn't done a thing.
Frantically I grab the invite and search for a method to RSVP the parents. Email only. Ugh. Oh well. It was going to have to do. A quick apology and a last minute "Samantha would love to be there" and off the email went. Crossing fingers it wouldn't be too late we waited for a reply. Two hours later we got a call. Samantha was welcome to join in the festivities. Yippee. Only now the issue becomes what to do for dinner?
I've been working on cooking and eating healthier so choking down bowling alley greasy pizza or stale pretzels was not all that appealing, and since I possibly have a job (more to come on that later) I needed to focus on meals that could be made quick and easy but still be healthy. So I scoured the fridge / freezer and pantry and came up with a good ole standby - Hamburger Helper. Or rather Chicken Helper. The chicken was already thawed so it was simply a matter of coating it in crumbs, boiling the pasta, and heating up some beans. A healthy and colorful dinner served with Hawaiian dinner rolls in under 30 minutes. Awesome !!
A quick stop in at Target to find a gift and we're off to the bowling alley. Turns out it was easier for Samantha to pick out a gift than it was to find a way of wrapping it. Finally we opted for a small roll of blue paper, a yellow bow, and a card. Another 15 minutes to wrap the gift (not easy to do when you're standing outside the backseat passenger door using the car's seat as a flat surface).
Once at Bowl America we set up Jessica and John on one lane while Samantha and I set out to find the birthday boy and his party. Wouldn't you know it. The party is on one end and the reserved lane for John and Jessa is at the opposite end. Oh well. They still had a blast.
And Samantha got to spend some time with another friend from school. A super sweet, and incredibly beautiful girl in her class we had met a while back when the girls were doing Cheerleading.
These two played together most of the evening until it was time to gather the gang for a few rounds with daddy.
And her mom is super pretty too. That whole family is super beautiful so its no wonder they do things like casting calls for Disney. So imagine how honored I was to hear she thought my two sweeties were just as worthy of a Disney audition.
Really? I don't know what to say. Other than "HEY, SIGN EM' UP."
I'm always willing to let the girls try anything so if there is an opportunity for one or both of them to break into the field of talent, bring it on.
The birthday party was a blast for Samantha so when the crowd began to disburse we migrated to the other end of the ally to join Jessa and John in a quick game. Looking back now I should have put the brakes on John after the third game but I haven't seen him have such a good time in a long time and I didn't want to be the one to pull the plug. Yeah, I should have pulled the plug. He's paying for it this morning with back pain and aching all over. Poor guy.
But to see him spending some quality time with his children and having him actually focus on what we were doing was really nice. Not to mention I don't think he's been that relaxed in a long time. No worrying about traffic and every idiot on the road not knowing how to drive. Not thinking about how hard he is having to work to pull us out of the financial hole we got into.
Just relaxing, quality time with his family. It was worth every penny to know that night will be one the girls remember for a long time to come. Me too.
So here we are with a new day and a long list of to-do's to get done. Laundry, cleaning house, finding a suitable outfit for an interview on Tuesday, and updating my resume before hand. If I don't get to it now nothing will get done and I will be completely unprepared for Tuesday.
I'll get into more details on Tuesday about the job interview, but for now, wish me luck. I really want this job.
The girls watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" with John while I worked on our monthly menu and grocery list. Jessa said she was going upstairs. Nothing out of the ordinary for her to decide she needs some quite "me" time so when she was gone for more than a few minutes I chalked it up to her playing quietly in the playroom as she had done a thousand times over.
It wasn't until I went for a shower that I discovered it. Hair. All over my bathroom floor. Hundreds of strands 3 - 4" long. A quick glance in the trash can almost lead to tears. Chunks of hair. All that same beautiful reddish-brown color that our smallest beauty sported since birth.
It took a second or two to gather my wits before yelling for both girls to join me in the bathroom.
Jessa's hair has always been slow to grow but it has always been so very beautiful. I'm often jealous of those lovely locks. It wasn't until she was about two that she finally had enough to hair to start playing with styles.
This didn't last the entire year as Miss Samantha decided to play with scissors (as most kids do) and gave her sister a haircut that did not leave much for working with. For far too long we referred to Jessa as our Chemo baby due to having to literally shave her head. Talk about a devastating moment for mommy.
Thankfully, after many lectures and the hiding of all scissors we managed to get past the "I need to cut everything" stage. And for the past few years we have allowed both girls to grow their hair as long as they wished as long as they took care of it and it was healthy. Rewind to Christmas for a view of how long both girls hair was.....
Pardon me for saying, but damn those are two cute girls. :) Sometimes it really is hard to believe they are my daughters. Anyhow.....
Getting past the scissor stage.....Well, we got past it with Samantha that is. Jessica, evidently was not completely done with her need to cut things. This was brought to light with the bathroom discovery. After much conversation we finally discovered that little miss had wanted to try mommy's curling brush (nothing more than a circular brush) but it got stuck in her hair. When she couldn't get it out, instead of asking for help she chose to cut it out.
When asked why she didn't just come tell me what she had done the poor girls says "I thought you would be mad." All I could do is hug her. My sweet baby, who worked so long to get her hair so long was afraid to tell me she had a problem. That, is something we will be working on - building confidence in our girls so they are not afraid to ask for help.
So I set out to work trying to save as much of her lovely locks as was possible, and this was the final product. Funny, but she absolutely loves it and I have to say, so do I. Of course Jessa has always had the most beautiful hair and nearly any cut is just beautiful on her.
Not quite a bob, but still beautiful.
Whew !!! We managed to make it through the morning with only one incident. Now I can relax and go back to focusing on grocery lists and clipping coupons. Or so I thought.
All week Samantha has asked about her classmates birthday party. And every time she has asked I say yes, we'll go. It wasn't until she plucked at the invite attached to the fridge door that morning that I suddenly realized I had lost my mind. At the very least I had lost track of time. The birthday party; the party at the local Bowl America, was at 7pm that evening.
Suddenly I realized what a goof I had made. WHAT HAD I DONE ??? I hadn't RSVP'd for the party. I hadn't taken Samantha shopping to find a gift for her classmate. I hadn't done a thing.
Frantically I grab the invite and search for a method to RSVP the parents. Email only. Ugh. Oh well. It was going to have to do. A quick apology and a last minute "Samantha would love to be there" and off the email went. Crossing fingers it wouldn't be too late we waited for a reply. Two hours later we got a call. Samantha was welcome to join in the festivities. Yippee. Only now the issue becomes what to do for dinner?
I've been working on cooking and eating healthier so choking down bowling alley greasy pizza or stale pretzels was not all that appealing, and since I possibly have a job (more to come on that later) I needed to focus on meals that could be made quick and easy but still be healthy. So I scoured the fridge / freezer and pantry and came up with a good ole standby - Hamburger Helper. Or rather Chicken Helper. The chicken was already thawed so it was simply a matter of coating it in crumbs, boiling the pasta, and heating up some beans. A healthy and colorful dinner served with Hawaiian dinner rolls in under 30 minutes. Awesome !!
A quick stop in at Target to find a gift and we're off to the bowling alley. Turns out it was easier for Samantha to pick out a gift than it was to find a way of wrapping it. Finally we opted for a small roll of blue paper, a yellow bow, and a card. Another 15 minutes to wrap the gift (not easy to do when you're standing outside the backseat passenger door using the car's seat as a flat surface).
Once at Bowl America we set up Jessica and John on one lane while Samantha and I set out to find the birthday boy and his party. Wouldn't you know it. The party is on one end and the reserved lane for John and Jessa is at the opposite end. Oh well. They still had a blast.
These two played together most of the evening until it was time to gather the gang for a few rounds with daddy.
And her mom is super pretty too. That whole family is super beautiful so its no wonder they do things like casting calls for Disney. So imagine how honored I was to hear she thought my two sweeties were just as worthy of a Disney audition.
Really? I don't know what to say. Other than "HEY, SIGN EM' UP."
I'm always willing to let the girls try anything so if there is an opportunity for one or both of them to break into the field of talent, bring it on.
The birthday party was a blast for Samantha so when the crowd began to disburse we migrated to the other end of the ally to join Jessa and John in a quick game. Looking back now I should have put the brakes on John after the third game but I haven't seen him have such a good time in a long time and I didn't want to be the one to pull the plug. Yeah, I should have pulled the plug. He's paying for it this morning with back pain and aching all over. Poor guy.
But to see him spending some quality time with his children and having him actually focus on what we were doing was really nice. Not to mention I don't think he's been that relaxed in a long time. No worrying about traffic and every idiot on the road not knowing how to drive. Not thinking about how hard he is having to work to pull us out of the financial hole we got into.
Just relaxing, quality time with his family. It was worth every penny to know that night will be one the girls remember for a long time to come. Me too.
So here we are with a new day and a long list of to-do's to get done. Laundry, cleaning house, finding a suitable outfit for an interview on Tuesday, and updating my resume before hand. If I don't get to it now nothing will get done and I will be completely unprepared for Tuesday.
I'll get into more details on Tuesday about the job interview, but for now, wish me luck. I really want this job.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Butt Hurt
Why is it when something is questioned; when someone's actions are questioned they suddenly feel the need to bring into question your religious affiliation? Seriously? Why can't I just wonder whether or not your request for everything under the sun is a valid need or just another scam without having my religious views brought into question?
Okay, so here's the the request made my a member of an online yard sale group that is geared towards selling furniture only.
ISO clothing & furniture & food for extremely needy family (lost father to gastric cancer February 16, 2013)
girl #1 4 yrs old - sz 12 shoe/boots & 5t clothing / needs heavy gloves & snow pants
girl #2 3 years old-sz 10 shoe/boots & 4t clothing / needs coat / heavy gloves & snow pants
boy 18 moths old - sz 8 toddler shoe/boots & 3t or 4t clothing / needs coat / heavy gloves & snow pants
boy 22yrs old (developmentally handicapped) - sz 12 shoe / men's sz xl shorts 36 or 38x32 jeans or slacks / xl shirts & sweatshirts / needs coat / heavy gloves & hat / scarf
Ladies clothing pants size 16 / tops size medium or large / shoe size 8.5 / needs heavy, long coat / heavy gloves & hat / scarf
Two twin beds and "girls themed" linens & curtains 2 medium windows
two smaller dressers
nightstands
lamps
Toy box for boy / girl
One crib and mattress boy themed linens / small dresser
bedroom furniture for mother
larger bed for mother (baby sleeps with her)
Full or queen linens
bedroom curtain set
Living room furniture
Living room lamps
Living room curtains 2 medium windows
Dining room curtains 2 medium windows
Microwave - (PROMISED BUT NOT RECIEVED YET)
UNBREAKABLE DISHES FOR CHILDREN
Glasses & plastic kid friendly cups
Cookware / Cooking utensils
Towels / hand towels / wash clothes
Baby wash & Baby Shampoo (unopened please)
DESITIN (unopened and in date)
DIAPERS - SIZE 5
DIAPERS - SIZE 5 - IN DESPERATE NEED!!!!!
DIAPERS - SIZE 5
any toiletries ie.... q-tips, maxi pads, toothpaste, razors, dental floss, unopened toothbrushes, toilet paper, DOVE soap (unscented girls have VERY sensitive skin & allergies) bathroom cleaner, toothbrushes for children and adults, mouthwash, gummie vitamins for children, combs & brushes, tissues
children's Tylenol (unopened and in date)
liquid Benadryl (unopened and in date)
wash clothes, hand towels, body towels,
Larger style play yard
Toddler safe toys for a boy
Girls toys
Educational DVDS to learn English for children
Adults Spanish to English Dictionary (I have looked everywhere!!)
Mother needs to find "free" or "donated" driving classes to get her license!
And here is a copy/past of the reply minus my original response - because apparently questioning the validity of such a request is frowned upon by the admin of the group. Unfortunately I am unable to expand the "see more" links as they are no longer on the site either so I do apologize for that, but I'll give you the gist of the conversation in a sec.
Although I cannot remember exactly, word for word, what I wrote the first time it equates to this: Does anyone else think this list is over the top? I mean, I get trying to help someone out but this is more like a list of things a family would need if they lost their house in a fire; or if they were a family of illegal immigrants who came here with nothing but the clothes on their back. And what does this list have to do with cancer? I know plenty of people who have struggled through or have lost someone with cancer and not one of them had such a long list of needs. Sorry, but this just screams scam to me.
The original poster responded with her "WOW" comment. Basically she went on to continue bashing my un-christian like comments and made it known she did not want donations from greedy self absorbed individuals such as myself.
I replied again, as you can see above. The part of my post you don't see is where I went on to explain that people troll online yard sale site asking for donations then are caught selling these donated items on other pages. I also said I would not apologize for my views, religious or not, just because she got her feeling hurt. Then I asked if we could please get back to the reason this particular site existed? Selling furniture.
You can see the original posters next two replies above.
Thankfully I copied the post when I did because after admin deleted my original response I went back to see if I could find it and discovered the entire post had been deleted. Guess admin decided to grant my request of going back to furniture sales. Thank you admin.
So I go back to my original question: Why is someone's religious views always brought into an argument when clearly there was no need for such an offensive?
I did not bash the original poster. I did not call her names. I did not degrade her in any way yet she felt compelled to pull religion into the picture and then proceed to bash me based on her religious views. Why?
It stands to reason if a person is so true to their religion they would not need to "use" it as a crutch against the actions or opinions of others. If one were truly so steadfast in their religious beliefs then there should be no need to defend it with such animosity.
Just for the record I am not religious. I am not Christian nor will I ever be. I feel zero need for such dependency on a religion when faith has done right by me for so many years. I believe in faith. Not religion.
Faith is what keeps me moral and honest. Faith, there is something bigger and better than all of us is what grounded me and keeps me believing there will be a time when good will prevail. I have no need for religion. No need to "pray" to a fictional figure-head. No need for a book filled with such horrors as killing, war, dishonesty, mass murder, chaos, lying, cheating, stealing, and countless mis-leading "truths" to guide me toward the path of all that is right.
Knowing I am firm in my faith I felt nothing negative about the original posters gabs at my "un-christian" like comments. Clearly she is still shaken in her belief in her religious views for she is the one who needed to go on the attack using religion as her guide.
And her I sit giggling. For the rest of the day I can be happy knowing my faith has trumped her religion.
Okay, so here's the the request made my a member of an online yard sale group that is geared towards selling furniture only.
ISO clothing & furniture & food for extremely needy family (lost father to gastric cancer February 16, 2013)
girl #1 4 yrs old - sz 12 shoe/boots & 5t clothing / needs heavy gloves & snow pants
girl #2 3 years old-sz 10 shoe/boots & 4t clothing / needs coat / heavy gloves & snow pants
boy 18 moths old - sz 8 toddler shoe/boots & 3t or 4t clothing / needs coat / heavy gloves & snow pants
boy 22yrs old (developmentally handicapped) - sz 12 shoe / men's sz xl shorts 36 or 38x32 jeans or slacks / xl shirts & sweatshirts / needs coat / heavy gloves & hat / scarf
Ladies clothing pants size 16 / tops size medium or large / shoe size 8.5 / needs heavy, long coat / heavy gloves & hat / scarf
Two twin beds and "girls themed" linens & curtains 2 medium windows
two smaller dressers
nightstands
lamps
Toy box for boy / girl
One crib and mattress boy themed linens / small dresser
bedroom furniture for mother
larger bed for mother (baby sleeps with her)
Full or queen linens
bedroom curtain set
Living room furniture
Living room lamps
Living room curtains 2 medium windows
Dining room curtains 2 medium windows
Microwave - (PROMISED BUT NOT RECIEVED YET)
UNBREAKABLE DISHES FOR CHILDREN
Glasses & plastic kid friendly cups
Cookware / Cooking utensils
Towels / hand towels / wash clothes
Baby wash & Baby Shampoo (unopened please)
DESITIN (unopened and in date)
DIAPERS - SIZE 5
DIAPERS - SIZE 5 - IN DESPERATE NEED!!!!!
DIAPERS - SIZE 5
any toiletries ie.... q-tips, maxi pads, toothpaste, razors, dental floss, unopened toothbrushes, toilet paper, DOVE soap (unscented girls have VERY sensitive skin & allergies) bathroom cleaner, toothbrushes for children and adults, mouthwash, gummie vitamins for children, combs & brushes, tissues
children's Tylenol (unopened and in date)
liquid Benadryl (unopened and in date)
wash clothes, hand towels, body towels,
Larger style play yard
Toddler safe toys for a boy
Girls toys
Educational DVDS to learn English for children
Adults Spanish to English Dictionary (I have looked everywhere!!)
Mother needs to find "free" or "donated" driving classes to get her license!
And here is a copy/past of the reply minus my original response - because apparently questioning the validity of such a request is frowned upon by the admin of the group. Unfortunately I am unable to expand the "see more" links as they are no longer on the site either so I do apologize for that, but I'll give you the gist of the conversation in a sec.
Although I cannot remember exactly, word for word, what I wrote the first time it equates to this: Does anyone else think this list is over the top? I mean, I get trying to help someone out but this is more like a list of things a family would need if they lost their house in a fire; or if they were a family of illegal immigrants who came here with nothing but the clothes on their back. And what does this list have to do with cancer? I know plenty of people who have struggled through or have lost someone with cancer and not one of them had such a long list of needs. Sorry, but this just screams scam to me.
The original poster responded with her "WOW" comment. Basically she went on to continue bashing my un-christian like comments and made it known she did not want donations from greedy self absorbed individuals such as myself.
I replied again, as you can see above. The part of my post you don't see is where I went on to explain that people troll online yard sale site asking for donations then are caught selling these donated items on other pages. I also said I would not apologize for my views, religious or not, just because she got her feeling hurt. Then I asked if we could please get back to the reason this particular site existed? Selling furniture.
You can see the original posters next two replies above.
Thankfully I copied the post when I did because after admin deleted my original response I went back to see if I could find it and discovered the entire post had been deleted. Guess admin decided to grant my request of going back to furniture sales. Thank you admin.
So I go back to my original question: Why is someone's religious views always brought into an argument when clearly there was no need for such an offensive?
I did not bash the original poster. I did not call her names. I did not degrade her in any way yet she felt compelled to pull religion into the picture and then proceed to bash me based on her religious views. Why?
It stands to reason if a person is so true to their religion they would not need to "use" it as a crutch against the actions or opinions of others. If one were truly so steadfast in their religious beliefs then there should be no need to defend it with such animosity.
Just for the record I am not religious. I am not Christian nor will I ever be. I feel zero need for such dependency on a religion when faith has done right by me for so many years. I believe in faith. Not religion.
Faith is what keeps me moral and honest. Faith, there is something bigger and better than all of us is what grounded me and keeps me believing there will be a time when good will prevail. I have no need for religion. No need to "pray" to a fictional figure-head. No need for a book filled with such horrors as killing, war, dishonesty, mass murder, chaos, lying, cheating, stealing, and countless mis-leading "truths" to guide me toward the path of all that is right.
Knowing I am firm in my faith I felt nothing negative about the original posters gabs at my "un-christian" like comments. Clearly she is still shaken in her belief in her religious views for she is the one who needed to go on the attack using religion as her guide.
And her I sit giggling. For the rest of the day I can be happy knowing my faith has trumped her religion.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
The Heart of the Matter
Valentines Day is fast approaching AGAIN. Why does it seem the older you get the less time you have?
Anyhow, with that in mind, and knowing how much I really want to get my life back to some kind of reasonable and recognizable order I have decided to start making Valentines Day crafts early.
Namely, the girls are going to start making cards to hand out to all their classmates. It is my sincere hope this year is unlike those in the recent past where I am scrambling around like some lab mouse caught in a maze trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go and what I am supposed to be doing. No, this year is my year to reclaim my OCD. It has been missed and I so terribly want it back.
Starting this week I will be gathering materials and supplies necessary to create some super cute Valentines Day cards and crafts. The girls and I will begin assembly of said crafts and cards by the beginning of February. IF I am lucky, and stay focused and determined, then I might actually pull off my first planned craft for the year.
My first choice of valentines crafts for the girls to make was these little cuties.
Valentine Day Rings
How cute are those? Red pipe cleaners wrapped around a Hershey's Kiss. So simple. Only one issue......the guys in the classes may not exactly want to be sporting a Kiss Ring. So I searched for a suitable alternative and found these......
Valentine Day Fortune Cookies
Now we HAVE to make these!!! Red and pink and white ones using felt circles and a pipe cleaner glued across the center of the circle. Insert a cute Valentines Fortune and fold. Super easy and super cute. These are sure to be the hit of the parties !!!
And to ensure the teachers and parent helpers aren't left out I found these to make.......
Hugs and Kisses
A simply decorated jar filled with hugs and kisses. Attach a note that says "For when you need a hug or a kiss". So sweet.
Now if only I could get our financial situation under control we would have no problem making these this weekend. Unfortunately things always get turned upside down just when you think you are about to make headway.
So in order to get a grip on more financial chaos I'm off to put together our annual budget and start filing taxes.
Anyhow, with that in mind, and knowing how much I really want to get my life back to some kind of reasonable and recognizable order I have decided to start making Valentines Day crafts early.
Namely, the girls are going to start making cards to hand out to all their classmates. It is my sincere hope this year is unlike those in the recent past where I am scrambling around like some lab mouse caught in a maze trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go and what I am supposed to be doing. No, this year is my year to reclaim my OCD. It has been missed and I so terribly want it back.
Starting this week I will be gathering materials and supplies necessary to create some super cute Valentines Day cards and crafts. The girls and I will begin assembly of said crafts and cards by the beginning of February. IF I am lucky, and stay focused and determined, then I might actually pull off my first planned craft for the year.
My first choice of valentines crafts for the girls to make was these little cuties.
Valentine Day Rings
Valentine Day Fortune Cookies
Now we HAVE to make these!!! Red and pink and white ones using felt circles and a pipe cleaner glued across the center of the circle. Insert a cute Valentines Fortune and fold. Super easy and super cute. These are sure to be the hit of the parties !!!
And to ensure the teachers and parent helpers aren't left out I found these to make.......
Hugs and Kisses
A simply decorated jar filled with hugs and kisses. Attach a note that says "For when you need a hug or a kiss". So sweet.
Now if only I could get our financial situation under control we would have no problem making these this weekend. Unfortunately things always get turned upside down just when you think you are about to make headway.
So in order to get a grip on more financial chaos I'm off to put together our annual budget and start filing taxes.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Now THAT's how you clean house.
We've had a lot of snow days lately. I mean a LOT. As a matter of fact, last week the girls managed exactly one half day at school. Half. Just one. Friday to be exact. Pitiful.
Follow up to that almost non-existent school week was Monday off and a half day on Tuesday. And if the weathermen actually get tonight's / tomorrow's forecast right we may be looking at another snow day tomorrow. I love snow days but this is getting to be slightly crazy.
However, if you are going to have snow days you might as well make them useful and productive. So both girls and I did exactly that on Sunday. We spent the entire day cleaning house so they could have friends over on Monday. The house hasn't been this clean in years. Follow THAT up with a little of my own cleaning house today and you have the makings for a pretty great week.
For far too long now I've been trying to unload some of the girls clothing they have grown out of. With sizes ranging from 2T up to 5 I've had way too much of this stuff blocking my office entrance for far too long. I've been posting them on Facebook yard sale sites but haven't had much luck unloading any of it. A piece here. A piece or two there. But nothing significant enough to say I've made some progress in getting rid of the clutter.
Today I changed that. After watching and observing how others were posting their kids clothing online I decided to give "lot" selling a try. And man, oh man, did that sell. To begin with I broke down all the clothing into sizes, then into seasons. Each piece was sold for $.50, so if I had 10 pieces of 3T summer clothing I sold the entire lot for $5.
By the end of the day I had emptied two storage bins and cleaned off my clothes rack. The $70 I pocketed at the end of the day wasn't too shabby either. And now I can cheerfully enter my office without tripping over stuff or having to step gingerly around things.
I literally cleaned house.
Tomorrow I am hoping to sort through Samantha's closet and see what I can unload from her room. Either the items will go to Jessica as hand-me-downs or I will try putting enough stuff together for a lot sale. I would love to do the same thing for Jessica's closet as her clothes are not ones we can hand down to anyone else. If it goes as well as it did today then I will be ecstatic.
In the meantime I have to cross fingers that my car battery holds out long enough to get to the school for Samantha's IEP meeting. I really am not wanting to replace the battery just yet so if I can hold out until the beginning of the month that would be great.
If not, then the $70 I pocketed today will find a new home in the hands of an auto battery dealer. Oh well. At least it's money well earned and well spent.
Follow up to that almost non-existent school week was Monday off and a half day on Tuesday. And if the weathermen actually get tonight's / tomorrow's forecast right we may be looking at another snow day tomorrow. I love snow days but this is getting to be slightly crazy.
However, if you are going to have snow days you might as well make them useful and productive. So both girls and I did exactly that on Sunday. We spent the entire day cleaning house so they could have friends over on Monday. The house hasn't been this clean in years. Follow THAT up with a little of my own cleaning house today and you have the makings for a pretty great week.
For far too long now I've been trying to unload some of the girls clothing they have grown out of. With sizes ranging from 2T up to 5 I've had way too much of this stuff blocking my office entrance for far too long. I've been posting them on Facebook yard sale sites but haven't had much luck unloading any of it. A piece here. A piece or two there. But nothing significant enough to say I've made some progress in getting rid of the clutter.
Today I changed that. After watching and observing how others were posting their kids clothing online I decided to give "lot" selling a try. And man, oh man, did that sell. To begin with I broke down all the clothing into sizes, then into seasons. Each piece was sold for $.50, so if I had 10 pieces of 3T summer clothing I sold the entire lot for $5.
By the end of the day I had emptied two storage bins and cleaned off my clothes rack. The $70 I pocketed at the end of the day wasn't too shabby either. And now I can cheerfully enter my office without tripping over stuff or having to step gingerly around things.
I literally cleaned house.
Tomorrow I am hoping to sort through Samantha's closet and see what I can unload from her room. Either the items will go to Jessica as hand-me-downs or I will try putting enough stuff together for a lot sale. I would love to do the same thing for Jessica's closet as her clothes are not ones we can hand down to anyone else. If it goes as well as it did today then I will be ecstatic.
In the meantime I have to cross fingers that my car battery holds out long enough to get to the school for Samantha's IEP meeting. I really am not wanting to replace the battery just yet so if I can hold out until the beginning of the month that would be great.
If not, then the $70 I pocketed today will find a new home in the hands of an auto battery dealer. Oh well. At least it's money well earned and well spent.
Monday, January 27, 2014
My Girls Are The BEST !!!
I know some parents who think their kids are the best. I also know some parents who should never have had kids to begin with . But me? I REALLY have the best kids any parent could ever ask for.
At seven years old Samantha is my angel. Sweet and ever-so-helpful Samantha will always look for ways to help mommy. I admit I get frustrated trying to explain things to her and I am having to constantly remind myself that she truly does not understand most of the time, but days like yesterday are worth every second.
At a mere five years of age Jessica is my fireball. Full of spirit and a lust for life this little girl is destined for great things. All I ever have to do is ask and she is all over it.
So yesterday when I informed the girls that today would be a play-date IF they helped me clean the entire house you can imagine the girls issuing out their normal grunts and groans of disappointment upon acknowledging that in order to receive an award they must earn it. Well, those grunts and groans never came. But boy oh boy did they earn today's play date !!!
We began around 10 am cleaning upstairs and working our way through the house. By noon we managed to get all the bedrooms and master bath cleaned. An hour long break for some lunch followed by an hour of play time and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get them back into the swing of cleaning. By 2pm we had finished everything everything upstairs (except the playroom which I opted to do later) and half of the downstairs.
Understandably, by this time Samantha was starting to show signs of wear, as was I. And if I was beginning to slow down I can only imagine how tired she must have been. Jessica; however, was non-stop. But we kept at it - granted I had to fuss at Samantha several times to get up; no sitting down on the job; we all want to stop but we're not done yet. Another hour goes by and everything except the powder room and kitchen was done. Well, that and washing the floor which wasn't happening last night anyway.
Of course we are now at 5pm and I have absolutely no plans for dinner. So I pop open the fridge door and discover a bowl of sauce and meatballs. GREAT. Spaghetti it is. Kind of. We made noodles with meatballs and sauce. Along with a huge chunk of Hawaiian bread and dinner is done !!! Both girls devoured their entire meal. Man, cleaning house is exhausting work.
Come time for bed and neither one gave me a lick of problems. They both gladly crawled into their freshly made beds with clean sheets and fell off to sleep without any hesitation. I went about finishing the last of two loads of laundry for the night before I headed to bed myself. By 9:30 I was out. But I was not going to stay out.
Nope. The neighborhood howler decided that midnight would be a good time to wake everyone. Seriously? I wanted to get dressed and march over to the owners house and pound on their door until I woke them up. But my bed was so comfy and I just couldn't muster the energy to rise.
Not to be outdone by the dog waking me, John had to greet me with a 2am wake up. What the Fuck? I mean, I know you are wanting to work longer hours to make up lost time but 2am? Slightly ridiculous don't ya think? That's what I felt like; what I was thinking but I finally drag my butt out of bed at 2:30 to hobble downstairs and conjure up some breakfast and lunch for the man who busts his butt for me and his girls. If he is going to put in the effort to go to work then the very least I can do is support him with ensuring he has something to eat.
The worst thing about getting up at 2am is I cannot go back to sleep. Rarely do I ever go back to sleep after John leaves the house. And today there is just enough that still has to get done prior to the girls friends coming over to play.
Here we are, January 27th, and I STILL have not taken down all the Christmas decor. Garland still wrapped around the porch columns and the tree in the basement is all that's left but I have had little to no desire to dismantle them. Today that ends. The last of the Holiday decorations gets packed away and I can finally mark that off my to-do list.
Five a.m. now and all I have managed to do is walk around taking note of the things that need to get done before 9am - when the kiddos start showing up. Suddenly it hits me.....my girls are the best.
Pretty much the entire house got cleaned, deep cleaned, by the three of us working together. We scrubbed and polished every surface. They never once complained or forgot what they were supposed to do. They would play for an hour, here and there, and when I needed them to help me they came running. Things got cleaned that hadn't been cleaned in a year or more. By the end of the day we were all wiped out yet the girls never once argued or gave me any issues with getting things done. All the beds were stripped and remade with clean sheets. The bathrooms scrubbed. Wood polished. Floors vacuumed and mopped. Trash emptied. Stuff put away. All day those two busted their behinds for me and I could not have been more proud of them.
Because of them I now have a firm grip on the condition of the house. I am now able to rethink some of my design choices and start looking at renovations that are more in line with a family with small children. Time to get rid of the dark and drab and bring in the bright and fab. Now the house is clean I can relax and focus on what I really want - what kind of home decor I want my girls to grow up with. It may take some funds to get there but now I have an overall plan that I like. Hubs likes it too as I showed him a pic that served as my inspiration. And the girls will finally have a happy house to go with the happy home and happy family.
All thanks to my two girls. The best kids any mother could ever be blessed with.
Considering all the work Samantha and Jessica poured into here yesterday I need to ensure I honor that with constant maintenance and upgrades. So while they get some much needed rest this morning I am going to throw together some banana nut bread for snacks. While that is baking I'll finish the powder room and take down the final holiday decor. Then its a quick run-through of the basement before headed back upstairs to my office - where it has become the catch-all for all things yard sale. Hopefully I can get this stuff out into the garage before everyone starts showing up.
With plan in hand I am eager to get the day started. All day long I know I will be eyeing things around the house thinking to myself "My girls are the BEST !!!" I really am blessed.
At seven years old Samantha is my angel. Sweet and ever-so-helpful Samantha will always look for ways to help mommy. I admit I get frustrated trying to explain things to her and I am having to constantly remind myself that she truly does not understand most of the time, but days like yesterday are worth every second.
At a mere five years of age Jessica is my fireball. Full of spirit and a lust for life this little girl is destined for great things. All I ever have to do is ask and she is all over it.
So yesterday when I informed the girls that today would be a play-date IF they helped me clean the entire house you can imagine the girls issuing out their normal grunts and groans of disappointment upon acknowledging that in order to receive an award they must earn it. Well, those grunts and groans never came. But boy oh boy did they earn today's play date !!!
We began around 10 am cleaning upstairs and working our way through the house. By noon we managed to get all the bedrooms and master bath cleaned. An hour long break for some lunch followed by an hour of play time and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get them back into the swing of cleaning. By 2pm we had finished everything everything upstairs (except the playroom which I opted to do later) and half of the downstairs.
Understandably, by this time Samantha was starting to show signs of wear, as was I. And if I was beginning to slow down I can only imagine how tired she must have been. Jessica; however, was non-stop. But we kept at it - granted I had to fuss at Samantha several times to get up; no sitting down on the job; we all want to stop but we're not done yet. Another hour goes by and everything except the powder room and kitchen was done. Well, that and washing the floor which wasn't happening last night anyway.
Of course we are now at 5pm and I have absolutely no plans for dinner. So I pop open the fridge door and discover a bowl of sauce and meatballs. GREAT. Spaghetti it is. Kind of. We made noodles with meatballs and sauce. Along with a huge chunk of Hawaiian bread and dinner is done !!! Both girls devoured their entire meal. Man, cleaning house is exhausting work.
Come time for bed and neither one gave me a lick of problems. They both gladly crawled into their freshly made beds with clean sheets and fell off to sleep without any hesitation. I went about finishing the last of two loads of laundry for the night before I headed to bed myself. By 9:30 I was out. But I was not going to stay out.
Nope. The neighborhood howler decided that midnight would be a good time to wake everyone. Seriously? I wanted to get dressed and march over to the owners house and pound on their door until I woke them up. But my bed was so comfy and I just couldn't muster the energy to rise.
Not to be outdone by the dog waking me, John had to greet me with a 2am wake up. What the Fuck? I mean, I know you are wanting to work longer hours to make up lost time but 2am? Slightly ridiculous don't ya think? That's what I felt like; what I was thinking but I finally drag my butt out of bed at 2:30 to hobble downstairs and conjure up some breakfast and lunch for the man who busts his butt for me and his girls. If he is going to put in the effort to go to work then the very least I can do is support him with ensuring he has something to eat.
The worst thing about getting up at 2am is I cannot go back to sleep. Rarely do I ever go back to sleep after John leaves the house. And today there is just enough that still has to get done prior to the girls friends coming over to play.
Here we are, January 27th, and I STILL have not taken down all the Christmas decor. Garland still wrapped around the porch columns and the tree in the basement is all that's left but I have had little to no desire to dismantle them. Today that ends. The last of the Holiday decorations gets packed away and I can finally mark that off my to-do list.
Five a.m. now and all I have managed to do is walk around taking note of the things that need to get done before 9am - when the kiddos start showing up. Suddenly it hits me.....my girls are the best.
Pretty much the entire house got cleaned, deep cleaned, by the three of us working together. We scrubbed and polished every surface. They never once complained or forgot what they were supposed to do. They would play for an hour, here and there, and when I needed them to help me they came running. Things got cleaned that hadn't been cleaned in a year or more. By the end of the day we were all wiped out yet the girls never once argued or gave me any issues with getting things done. All the beds were stripped and remade with clean sheets. The bathrooms scrubbed. Wood polished. Floors vacuumed and mopped. Trash emptied. Stuff put away. All day those two busted their behinds for me and I could not have been more proud of them.
Because of them I now have a firm grip on the condition of the house. I am now able to rethink some of my design choices and start looking at renovations that are more in line with a family with small children. Time to get rid of the dark and drab and bring in the bright and fab. Now the house is clean I can relax and focus on what I really want - what kind of home decor I want my girls to grow up with. It may take some funds to get there but now I have an overall plan that I like. Hubs likes it too as I showed him a pic that served as my inspiration. And the girls will finally have a happy house to go with the happy home and happy family.
All thanks to my two girls. The best kids any mother could ever be blessed with.
Considering all the work Samantha and Jessica poured into here yesterday I need to ensure I honor that with constant maintenance and upgrades. So while they get some much needed rest this morning I am going to throw together some banana nut bread for snacks. While that is baking I'll finish the powder room and take down the final holiday decor. Then its a quick run-through of the basement before headed back upstairs to my office - where it has become the catch-all for all things yard sale. Hopefully I can get this stuff out into the garage before everyone starts showing up.
With plan in hand I am eager to get the day started. All day long I know I will be eyeing things around the house thinking to myself "My girls are the BEST !!!" I really am blessed.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Ugg !!!
No. Not those hideous furry things every tween / young adult has been hanging off their feet lately Ugg, as in that's what I have felt like for the past two days. UGG.
One good thing about me getting sick is I always go down fast and hard but rarely do I stay sick for long. Just two days of feeling like I got hit by a semi compared to the entire week it took John to get over his bout. And the girls have been sick off and on for months now. Constant coughing and sneezing, leaking noses and headaches that just don't seem to fade over time. Me. Nope. I am fine one minute and laid out like a wet rag the next.
Sunday morning started out fine. I woke up at my usual 4am (roughly) and went about my daily activities but as the day progressed my "ugg" feeling grew to overwhelm any desire to get something constructive done for the day. By the early evening hours I was laid out in my recliner trying to ignore the wiped out feeling that comes from being sick. Not even a day long marathon of my DVR shows on Monday could bring me some comfort. Most of Monday was spent snoozing off and on, whether it was in bed until 1pm (which I NEVER do) or curled up on my favorite recliner. I just wasn't moving and had no desire to either.
Thankfully today is nothing like the past two. John woke me up around 4pm as usual and we bantered back and forth about whether or not he was going to go in to work today or stay home. Considering the not-so-trustworthy weather forecaster for our area is calling for 6-8 inches of snow later today, and the local school system has already decided to close in preparation for that weather front we opted to have him home one more day. Good call on our part as an hour later hubs informs me "Belvoir is closed."
So far it has been a much more productive day than the past two and we are only five hours into it, but the dishes have been cleaned and loaded into the dishwasher; the counters have been cleaned; the table cleared and wiped down. The glassware has been put away in the bar along with the numerous bottles of liquor. Even managed to purge a couple of items. With much to-do from hubs that is. Progress in comparison to the past two day in which absolutely nothing got done in the realm of cleaning. Not even the dishes.
My goal for today is to gut my office and re-organize it so I can get the taxes started and put myself in a better "working" frame of mind for when I actually get around to doing mom's business stuff. That means having to take almost everything out of my office, then finding a suitable "home" for it before it gets put back. Once I have my furniture situated I should be in a better frame of mind for putting away all this paper. And at long last I really want to get back to using my NEAT. That thing was a god-send for clearing out paper clutter and I always felt better when I wasn't surrounded, or rather, drowning in papers and stuff that needs to be somewhere other than my desk or office floor.
So with a goal in hand off I go to make things happen. I'll post before and after pics later of my re-organized office.
UPDATE:
Most people have a junk drawer. We have a junk room. And unfortunately it has taken place inside the confines of my home office.
Hidden under all that 'junk' is a chair. Yep. I promise, its really there. All that stuff in the way. So many days spent climbing over it just to get to the computer desk. Actually, these pics aren't the worst its been as you can actually see the desk and a somewhat clear path to it.
Although I am far from done today saw much progress in just organizing where stuff would end up at.
If you look closely at the before pics you'll notice the bottom of the drapes I had attached to the inside of the doors peeking out. At first these drapes were meant to give me some privacy from the girls as they were always in there, or staring at me through the doors. It drove me nuts so to stop them from constantly bothering me in there I put the drapes up. After a while I became thankful the drapes were there - not for the privacy but for the mere fact that I could close the doors and prevent any embarrassment coming from someone actually seeing what a disaster that room had become.
One of the first things to change was the drapes. They are gone. No more will I hide behind the curtains, hoping to not be bothered or to use them to hide what a mess the room is. Instead I have decided its time to open things up and make the room accessible to the rest of the house instead of being designated as the 'junk room'.
Notice I actually found the chair. See, I told you it was there. Buried under all that crap. One shot I didn't get a before of was the front of the room, or the view of the doors. Oh well. You can guess what a mess that was before. Here's the after shot.....
There are seven plastic containers full of yard sale items that I am trying to get rid of. If you look through the glass doors you'll see a stand of clothing that is full of girls clothes. These are all the things that I am trying desperately to unload. And that's not everything. Sitting in the dining room is more stuff to unload. I just haven't gotten around to gathering it all together.
Like I said, it is far from done, but today gave me a great big step in the right direction. If I can get the girls in bed before 9pm tonight (no school tomorrow so they get an extended bedtime) then I might take the time to go through the papers I managed to sort through and see what bills need to be paid and what is ready to be filed away.
Its a work in progress and I don't expect to have it completed by the end of the week but it sure would be nice. We'll see.
If I get more done tomorrow I'll post some more pics. Have a great night everyone.
One good thing about me getting sick is I always go down fast and hard but rarely do I stay sick for long. Just two days of feeling like I got hit by a semi compared to the entire week it took John to get over his bout. And the girls have been sick off and on for months now. Constant coughing and sneezing, leaking noses and headaches that just don't seem to fade over time. Me. Nope. I am fine one minute and laid out like a wet rag the next.
Sunday morning started out fine. I woke up at my usual 4am (roughly) and went about my daily activities but as the day progressed my "ugg" feeling grew to overwhelm any desire to get something constructive done for the day. By the early evening hours I was laid out in my recliner trying to ignore the wiped out feeling that comes from being sick. Not even a day long marathon of my DVR shows on Monday could bring me some comfort. Most of Monday was spent snoozing off and on, whether it was in bed until 1pm (which I NEVER do) or curled up on my favorite recliner. I just wasn't moving and had no desire to either.
Thankfully today is nothing like the past two. John woke me up around 4pm as usual and we bantered back and forth about whether or not he was going to go in to work today or stay home. Considering the not-so-trustworthy weather forecaster for our area is calling for 6-8 inches of snow later today, and the local school system has already decided to close in preparation for that weather front we opted to have him home one more day. Good call on our part as an hour later hubs informs me "Belvoir is closed."
So far it has been a much more productive day than the past two and we are only five hours into it, but the dishes have been cleaned and loaded into the dishwasher; the counters have been cleaned; the table cleared and wiped down. The glassware has been put away in the bar along with the numerous bottles of liquor. Even managed to purge a couple of items. With much to-do from hubs that is. Progress in comparison to the past two day in which absolutely nothing got done in the realm of cleaning. Not even the dishes.
My goal for today is to gut my office and re-organize it so I can get the taxes started and put myself in a better "working" frame of mind for when I actually get around to doing mom's business stuff. That means having to take almost everything out of my office, then finding a suitable "home" for it before it gets put back. Once I have my furniture situated I should be in a better frame of mind for putting away all this paper. And at long last I really want to get back to using my NEAT. That thing was a god-send for clearing out paper clutter and I always felt better when I wasn't surrounded, or rather, drowning in papers and stuff that needs to be somewhere other than my desk or office floor.
So with a goal in hand off I go to make things happen. I'll post before and after pics later of my re-organized office.
UPDATE:
Most people have a junk drawer. We have a junk room. And unfortunately it has taken place inside the confines of my home office.
Hidden under all that 'junk' is a chair. Yep. I promise, its really there. All that stuff in the way. So many days spent climbing over it just to get to the computer desk. Actually, these pics aren't the worst its been as you can actually see the desk and a somewhat clear path to it.
Although I am far from done today saw much progress in just organizing where stuff would end up at.
If you look closely at the before pics you'll notice the bottom of the drapes I had attached to the inside of the doors peeking out. At first these drapes were meant to give me some privacy from the girls as they were always in there, or staring at me through the doors. It drove me nuts so to stop them from constantly bothering me in there I put the drapes up. After a while I became thankful the drapes were there - not for the privacy but for the mere fact that I could close the doors and prevent any embarrassment coming from someone actually seeing what a disaster that room had become.
One of the first things to change was the drapes. They are gone. No more will I hide behind the curtains, hoping to not be bothered or to use them to hide what a mess the room is. Instead I have decided its time to open things up and make the room accessible to the rest of the house instead of being designated as the 'junk room'.
Notice I actually found the chair. See, I told you it was there. Buried under all that crap. One shot I didn't get a before of was the front of the room, or the view of the doors. Oh well. You can guess what a mess that was before. Here's the after shot.....
There are seven plastic containers full of yard sale items that I am trying to get rid of. If you look through the glass doors you'll see a stand of clothing that is full of girls clothes. These are all the things that I am trying desperately to unload. And that's not everything. Sitting in the dining room is more stuff to unload. I just haven't gotten around to gathering it all together.
Like I said, it is far from done, but today gave me a great big step in the right direction. If I can get the girls in bed before 9pm tonight (no school tomorrow so they get an extended bedtime) then I might take the time to go through the papers I managed to sort through and see what bills need to be paid and what is ready to be filed away.
Its a work in progress and I don't expect to have it completed by the end of the week but it sure would be nice. We'll see.
If I get more done tomorrow I'll post some more pics. Have a great night everyone.
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