New Digs

Having three young kids, a dog and a cat reminds me of pick up sticks. Pick up sticks. I say!!

One minute they are all together, the next minute they are scattered all over hell...I'm adding one of these to my Christmas wish list.

This whole being back home thing...I spent the weekend on my duff, watching the Olympics. Dave took the big kids fishing Sunday night and Maiya and I stayed home.

Yesterday I did nothing, thanks to the migraine (damn weather!) Nothing consisited of: washing a load of clothes, folding three loads of clothes, spending two and a half hours on village related business, taking Devin to preschool, going to the library, picking Devin up from preschool, calling Rite-Aid to full a prescription, making saurkraut and kielbasa for lunch, etc... ;)

Today was nail day...still need to polish mine tonight. I just got done playing Play-Doh with 'lil Miss, and I'm off to straighten the house and formulate a dinner plan.

Have a great Tuesday all!

Talk nicer to the people I love.
Try to fix the regrets I have already, and prevent new ones.
Say "Not right now, it's mommy time" and not feel bad because I have in fact, given plenty of time to the kids.
Dig the clean house out from under the crap.
Not be so crabby.
Renew the friendship with my husband.
Rediscover the lighter, fun loving me.
Get a bird.
Scrap, darn it.
Make Concord grape jam again.
Visit my friend Shannon.
Teach myself to tat...still.

So. How does the mid-life crisis look on me? ;)

Done with work. (For the most part...)

The carpet guys were back today to finish the stairway. You know what Maiya had to say about that?........."Good deal there heffer momma, too bad it's a 'day late and a dollar short'. I sure could have used that padding last week. When I Fell Down The Stairs!!!" At least that's what I think she said....;)

These Olympics are really killing me. Way too many late nights and early mornings.

Hopefully the biggies will end up going camping with Dave this weekend. (Can you feel the scrapping vibe...?)

Have a great weekend all!

City vs Country revisited~
We had to stop for a train the other night on the way home from the amusement park. At that point we had lived here for 7 years, 7 months, and 16 days. That is the first time we ever had to stop for a train.

The country is less populated, that's why the bus holds K-12th graders and it still isn't full.

I think if we were to move back to the city now, the kids would not appreciate what they left behind. If we move when they are older, I think they will long to be back in the country.

Priorities~
Mine have been all wrong lately.

The kids~
I'm ashamed to say that I let Devin slip through my own cracks somehow with the ABC's and whatnot.

It's amazing how much crap Trent can stir up in the short time he is home from school.

Maiya is back up my backside, and I like it this time around.

Work~
Fun while it lasted this go around.

The House~
Still needs tons of work, but will happen someday. (See Priorities, above.)

My Health~
Needs work. It's hard to be the best person you can be when you aren't eating, resting, and feeling your best.

The Changes~
Nursing home hiatus again.

Devin will continue to work on ABC's at home, and start preschool next week. (M & W, 3 hours each day.)

Home projects are now at the bottom of the daily "To-Do" list.

Healthier eating, "down" and "me" time for the momma, water (ack!), and exercise (double ack!!)

Family harmony first, everything else secondary.


Can you just smell the winds of change....?

To. My. Stomach.

My boy, my littliest baby takes the bus to first grade tomorrow. A bus that transports 1st through 12th graders. Sick. Just sick.

God help me tomorrow...

Friday~Maiya fell down all 16 stairs while the babysitter was here. E GADS!!! She's fired, but Maiya is okay. The sleepover went well.

Saturday~Took the biggies blueberry picking. Yum. Family bike ride day on the trail and dinner out.

Sunday~Migraine day, argue with your spouse day, Michigan's Adventure day.

Today~Three hour shift at nursing home, appointment at the orthofdontist for Trent. The spacers are in place, the orthodontic journey has begun. Girls to daycare, meeting minutes to do, house to clean, first grade open house to attend, grocery shopping to do.

My rocker? ;)

No, off for the next 3 days. Whoo Hoo! Tomorrow Trent and I are hanging out in GR, window shopping, school shopping, having lunch. The girls will be home with Dave and the babysitter will relieve him at 1 pm. Then we will have Devin's little friend Hannah come over for dinner and movies. We are in the process of working her up to an all-nighter, except she is afraid of Dave, so we'll see how long this takes.

Hopefully Dave and the biggies will go camping this weekend, and leave me and little itty bitty home.

No real weekend plans yet, there are some things that must get done though.

We have doors upstairs again. Thank you Mr. Jim!

My List
Under an old brass paperweight is my list of things to do today
Go to the bank and the hardware store, put a new lock on the cellar door
I cross 'em off as I get 'em done but when the sun is set
There's still more than a few things left I haven't got to yet

Go for a walk, say a little prayer
Take a deep breath of mountain air
Put on my glove and play some catch
It's time that I make time for that
Wade the shore and cast a line
Pick up a long lost friend of mine
Sit on the porch and give my girl a kiss
Start livin', that's the next thing on my list

Wouldn't change the course of fate but cuttin' the grass just had to wait
'Cause I've bot more important things like pushin' my kid on the backyard swing
I won't break my back for a million bucks I can't take to my grave
So why put off for tomorrow what I could get done today

Like go for a walk, say a little prayer
Take a deep breath of mountain air
Put on my glove and play some catch
It's time that I make time for that
Wade the shore and cast a line
Pick up a long lost friend of mine
Sit on the porch and give my girl a kiss
Start livin', that's the next thing on my list

Raise a little hell, laugh 'til it hurts
Put an extra five in the plate at church
Call up my folks just to chat
It's time that I make time for that
Stay up late, then oversleep
Show her what she means to me
Catch up on all the things I've always missed
Just start livin', that's the next thing on my list

Under an old brass paperweight
Is my list of things to do today



~~Toby Keith song

I now have this Friday off.
Next week I had requested Tuesday and Wednesday off since those are Trent's first two days of first grade.
Two days were removed from my schedule the following week.

I love flexibilty in an employer. I must say that this job has flexed over backwards with me on many an occasion. I love them for that. A little of that goes such a long way. :) Now I can heave a big sigh of relief. *SIGH* I logged 117 hours on the clock between the nursing and clerk job this last month. (And I took that week off from work when the kids were gone...) That doesn't include drive time, or anything house/home related.

Everyone else in the house is flu free for now, knock on wood. Yay!
The bus stop is right in front of the house. Yay!
The Council talked 'raises' for the clerk and treasurer on the 2005 budget. Yay!
The carpet for the stairway is ready to be installed, just need to set the day. Yay!

I almost forgot *Gasp!* about a nail appointment today. There wasn't enough time to get both of us done in time though. I did Cheri's, and I get to do mine tonight.

Brain farting, can't think of anything else right now.......(Unless you count the kids, and why they aren't in bed yet. That's about all I can think of.)

With the Village meeting for another month. Except for all the after meeting mess.
And done working 5 days a freaking week. I shall tell then that tomorrow. I know my limitations...

Ask me how I know this now.

Nuff said...

I logged 8,500 steps on the pedometer yesterday...7,100 were at work. Say it with me now...."Gee Chris, sit on yer arse much when you get home?" ;) Ha! That is exactly what I did.

I was bit more motivated today...started village checks for Monday, putzed around the yard a tiny bit, made dinner, took the kids for a long walk, washed dishes, did laundry, cleaned and straightened.

No plan yet for tomorrow. Probably school shopping though for the big 1st grader.

One babysitter (husband, father..) who will not do any of the following:

Leave vomit on the toilet.
Or the curtains.
Or the desk.
Or the floor.
Or the lamp.

Somehow let the baby get a white deodorant stick and paint the hunter green wallpaper with it.

Oy! Trent is the pukey child today. Maiya is the snotty allergy, tooth cutting child today. Devin is the snotty allergy child today. Let the games begin I say! Indeed.

In other news........that $2.13 raise really makes a difference on my check, about $90 worth. Country men are flirty today. I really miss my dishwasher. The Olympics start tonight. It's the weekend and I am off, thank you jesus! They are scheduling the hell outta me. Whoever coined the phrase "No use crying over spilled milk" ought to have the shit slapped out of them. I have no shampoo in the house. Dave is working all day tomorrow. I'm praying for a puke free day. I can't wait to buy the carpet steamer, and that is so sad. It has been down right frigid this whole month. The heat has been on more than once in the house. The leaves are actually changing colors in some spots. *HORRORS!!!* I need a day off from everything and everyone. I've gotten to the point that I can't speak coherently sometimes when I'm hooting and hollering at the kids, or calling them...."TrentdamnitDevinughyouthereboy!!" I'm like a crazy momma. School starts in 11 days and you may as well take my "Mother of the Year (NOT) badge away for what I'm about to say........I CAN'T WAIT!!! Never thought I'd say that...thank goodness that just makes me human.

Have great weekend all!!

The bad:

Three kids, all with snotty noses and bad attitudes. Whine. Whine. Whine.
No dinner plan yet.
Two point five busted nails. (hahah, laughable in the big scheme of things, but a pita none the less.)
Having to work eight hours on Friday when I thought I was working three. Cancells out the working for three, when I thought I was working eight tomorrow I guess.

The good:
I actually got a chance to clean and straighten the house, which is (sadly) good for my soul.
The hamper is almost empty, not enough to do a full load of whites even.
Slept in today.
Think I talked the school transportation people into picking Trent up in the ally behind the house. Whoo Hoo there! (Now, if I can just avoid hell neighbor during this ...)
All the dishes are washed...makes me want to eat out.
Talked Dave out of a day shift job that wouldn't be what he was looking for anyways. (I will be damn glad when his 'mid life crisis disguised as a job search' fizzles out...)
Two days until the big Olympics.
I have postponed the garage sale until next year. WHACK!! ;)
My handy guy already knows what the next thing on the agenda is......and he's not running away from my 6 foot long, never ending list.
I decided to attack things that need to be done in the form of mini-goals. I think three days is a good time frame for each goal. I haven't decided what the first goal is and when to start though. *Lightbulb moment* ;)

FYI:
I logged 10,700 steps on my pedometer yesterday. I thought it was interesting that 7,200 of those were at work.
My toenails have stained glass artwork on them right now.
I love bacon. Any pork product really...
I haven't lost any weight since starting back to work.

I am off tomorrow, and boy do I need it after the day I had. And, come to find out they only need me for the 3 hours on Thursday instead of 8.....*huge sigh of relief*

...yada, yada, yada.

Guest room is about finished, just needs a border up top. And yes I did crap out on the painting and declare it a border room. I heaved and hoed (sp like a mother there...) and pushed and shoved all the village furniture in there yesterday. The guest bed too. The playroom is back to a playroom now. It's missing about half of the toys though, they are still up in the attic.

Need to put the skids on home improvement the rest of this week and concentrate on village meeting (next Monday), nursing home work (full day tomorrow and Thursday, 3 hour shift on Friday, off Wednesday. Did I mention I got a $2.13 an hour raise recently?), and fun stuff. That's right fun stuff damnit. School starts in two weeks! Ugh! My baby will be taking the bus...:( And Dave will have to get him (and two extra kids) to the bus stop at the butt crack of dawn. Not really the butt crack, but it will feel like it to Dave, since he's pulling the afternoon shift. I'm taking the first day of school off to see my boy off....*sniff*

Speaking of my boy, he and I were home yesterday instead of being at the zoo. I'm so freaking tired of dealing with his constipation issues. Do you know any other person or child in the world that can go 7 days without pooping? Trent can. He didn't crap the whole time he was down state, then comes home and is one step away from an ER visit. I just want to worry about my own pooping patterns. He went to the Dr.'s today to boot...another sinus infection. We may have to consider the allergy shots.....

Devin....lots of baby talk coming out of her. The guilty over-thinker in me wonders if it's because I'm working, and they are pretty much on ignore in the morning with Dad...:(

Maiya.....being a pain in the hiney to Devin at night. Wants to be in Devin's bed sooo bad, climbs right up like she owns it and shoves Devin aside. Hahaha! We have to pull her out about three times each night and plunk her back into her own big girl bed.

Not sure what else is new lately...the days are running together anymore. Things should settle down after this week, thank goodness. Then I can start gearing up for the garage sale next month.

As always, not everything I'd hope to accomplish got done.

The guest room has two coats of paint on it. Need to let it dry overnight and see about a third coat or not. I wanted to paint baseboards upstairs today......not happening though. It will have to wait.

We leave here at 7 am tomorrow to pick up the kids. Yay! I miss them, although I will admit that another week or so would be nice. ;) I'm only human ya know. I'll try to do baseboards when we get home. We shall see if it happens, the trip is about 12 hours when it's said and done. That is the drive time, out to lunch and the VBS program. Devin has no bed to sleep in when we get home, it's still in the attic. Trent's is in his room, no sheets though.....looks like a "CAMPING!!" night tomorrow.

We are going to the zoo on Sunday, hope the weather is nice. Only 3 weeks until school starts...:( We haven't even been camping yet. I have a bunch of ideas for day trips though. We aren't having a proper vacation this summer since Dave has no vacation time. It will have to wait until winter, and he is saying something about driving south and checking on his parents in FL. That is a whole other story...............

Off to dinner and a movie now. Where and what for dinner? Dunno. What movie? Dunno. Sometimes this "new me" (the anti-planner) is annoying. ;)

Days until the opening ceremonies. :)

....scent. Are you an olfactory kind of person? I know I am. Certain scents can 'take me back', this can be good and bad. I think money spent on a Yankee brand candle is money well spent. I'm enjoying (?) the wet diaper smell of my Bunny...maybe because I know I'll never smell it again soon enough?

I love being able to smell. Fresh grass, an impending storm, an old favorite cologne, newborn baby smell, baked goods, the creosote and wood smell of my house. I could go on for days...

Happy 8th anniversary to my hunny today! We get to celebrate it on Thursday. :)

How much stuff you can move and reassemble, even when it wasn't the plan and it's not what you want to do. When the power goes out! For. Five. Hours. I was supposed to be painting....instead,I put the beds back together and moved heavy things with help from Maiya. She pushed, and she shoved,and she grunted. It was extremely funny. She was all over the idea of her "big girl" bed while I made it up. She sure changed her tune at bedtime. She is in the Pack & Play, next to the big girl bed.

The carpeteers have to come back and tack down one more section of carpet, and lay the runner down the stairs. The power outage halted their progress. It looks great up there, and feels even better. Maiya ran around up there like fruit loop, then she would lay down on it and roll around. A real live carpet commercial she was... The doors will all have to be planed and then re-hung. We don't even own a plane.

I must go to bed now. Now that the power is back on, go figure. Tomorrow is voting day.......need to work from 6:30am till about 9pm (on my anniversary).

Have a great Tuesday!

My damn upstairs is springy now, as in it has some give when you walk across it. I am soooo going to be loving this carpet! The pad is all down, the tack strips (?) and the carpet is mostly cut and layed. The carpeteers have gone to lunch. I am taking a break from priming right now to get Baby M fed. I have culled the toybox (!$&!&!^, 4 bags are outta here!), and I'm almost done with the books. Roll on train of progress...

Gawd knows there is room for you all now. Dave and I disassembled and or moved:

A trundle bed.
A crib.
A queen sized bed.
A full sized bed.
Three nightstands.
A cedar chest.
Five dressers.
Two rugs.
A wooden toybox.
A bookcase.
Various odds and ends.
A TV.
And a VCR.

The upstairs is completely empty and carpet ready. I vacuumed, photographed, and wrote permanent little love notes on the floors to all who sleep there. ;)

The other "To-Do's" for the day shall wait until tomorrow. Those are:
Going through all the toys for trash and garage sale items.
Going through all the books (five large boxes) and pulling most of them for the garage sale.
Priming the guest room. YAY.....finally!!!

Instead of doing the things listed above, we went to Home Depot (I really want to work there....*sigh*) and Meijer. We got the primer and dark green paint for the guest room, and a new light fixture. Also grabbed grass seed, some shelves for the kitchen, and shelves for Trent's room.

The plan is for the carpet to be done by tomorrrow night, and the stair runner to go in a Tuesday. I need to go look for new dressers tomorrow. I'm so glad to be rid of the old Wal-Mart Sauder brand pieces of crap!

Yesterday was a long day.....we got off to a late start and had to rearrange our picture appointment time. That put us at Dave's work shin-dig early, but it was fun. There were all sorts of cool things for the kids to do. The bouncy house, a bungee card race thing, a blown up super slide, a 25" climbing tower,face painting, etc. The lines were long so the kids didn't get to do everything before we had to leave but they had fun. Trent went all the way to the top of the climbing tower. Devin freaked a bit and wanted down. As soon as she was down she changed her mind and cried when she couldn't go back up. :( They both got their faces painted like tigers. They also got to see the Aero-Med helicopter land. We had a nice lunch and scooted off to the Sears appointment. Maiya did pretty well and her pictures will be ready for pick-up on the 20th. We drove like crazy after that and would have been on time to meet my sister, except for whatever happened on the freeway 5 miles from our destination. It took me 50 minutes to go those 5 miles. Gotta love the big city. I so do not miss that! Trent nearly had a stroke when he discovered he was going to have to pee in a pop bottle, because there is just no pulling over on the side of the road in the city. *Snicker* Dinner was good, and the drive home long...but today has been sooooo quiet! I talked to both kidlets a little while ago and they are of course both fine and wanting no part of coming home yet.

***Cute Bunny alert!!!***
The other day while waiting for traffic to clear, she is sitting next to me with her arm waving around in the air. Ha! Took me a minute, but I realized that she was doing the "Mr. Trucker Man, please honk your big horn" move. She's been watching her brother and sister (okay...and mom) do it on these long drives.

Today at Meijer when the cashier asked her if she was having fun shopping, she shook her head no.

Yesterday when I told her to go get Trent for breakfast, she went a grabbed him by the hand and said "Ca-mon."

Tonight while Dave talked to Trent on the phone she grabbed her play phone and started yakking away. Of course she didn't make a peep when she had the real phone to her ear with both Trent and then Devin on the other end.

Taking such good care of all the baby dolls around here.

...........such a sweet baby. She's moving out of the crib when the carpet is done. Surprise! I am waffling on this though, so we shall see. The plan is to put her in the bottom trundle bed....it's about 6" off the floor. She has always taken nap and bedtime very serious, there is no fussing and carrying on with her. She lays down. End of story for her. Never wanted to be rocked, held, messed with. Just wants to go to bed. I have one of the extra tall baby gates and I'll put that in the doorway until I can go back (duh!) to Meijer's and get the one that mounts to the wall with the swing open door.

Happy Friendship Day to all....it's darn near over. I wanted to get my scanner up and running today so I could post a picture of my friend of all friends...Shanny. I shall add it to tomorrow's list. :)