A stubborn child, a bellyache and a missed holiday party

So I had planned to go with my family to Jessica and Jeremiah's holiday party yesterday. The night before though, I had some really bad stomach issues. I wasn't feeling very tip-top, but was willing to muscle through it. But then, Tommy got a timeout. That was pretty much the end of any chance of going to the party. All Tom needed to do was stand, facing the wall quietly for about 30 seconds. He couldn't even do 1 second. He screamed, cried, sat down, complained...you name it. He just didn't want to do what he needed to do to get out of time out. He had already been through a shorter version of this earlier in the day. This time, however, he just wouldn't do it. I put my foot down and I wanted him to take his time out and then we could have left. He stood there screaming for at least 2 hours. I felt kinda bad, but he just needed to be quiet and face the wall for a very short bit. I ended up staying home while Jay took the kids to the party. I was a little bummed that I didn't get to go, but I had to fight this battle.

a friend's pain

I just heard that a friend of mine lost her mother unexpectedly yesterday. I heart aches for her. I can't imagine it. It makes the lights, decorations and presents seem so worth nothing. Family is worth so much more.

When I was 12, my grandmother passed away on the 23rd. Ever since then Christmas had a small touch of sadness for us kids and a much larger one for my mom.

My heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to my friend and her family. I wish there was something to ease your pain.

A snowy weekend

Well, Jay finally made it home. He was due on a flight into Dulles at 8:30pm Friday from San Francisco. It was canceled. He tried to book any other flight into Dulles or Bwi. All canceled. He finally was able to book a flight to JFK airport and thought he would take the train home that night. Well, his flight didn't arrive until 9:20 and the last train left at 10:05. He didn't make it. So he decided that despite the fact he had been awake for about 28 hours, that he would drive home that night. He rented a car and drove. Luckily he didn't hit any snow until the Maryland line. On 895, he did a good deed and helped some stranded guy get to a gas station so he wouldn't freeze.
I woke up at 2:43 in the morning, went to the bathroom, and thought...Gee Jay should be here soon. I opened my bedroom curtain and stood for just a minute watching the snow come down. As I get ready to turn back towards my bed, a car crept by the first driveway and then turned into our second one. Jay was home!! Talk about good timing!
He made it. Though we weren't able to return the rental car until Sunday afternoon. Jay had to dig out both driveways on Sunday and that took a while. Our roads still weren't the greatest, but we managed. Many friends are still all the way stuck in.
The boys' schools are canceled today. It was going to be Tom's last day at Galilee so that's kinda sad. He may get to go back if we aren't going in January, but I don't want to pay the tuition if we only go a few days.
I am curious what they do with Joe's school. He was supposed to go Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I am pretty sure that as long as the roads get cleared today that he will have school tomorrow...but if not, then will they have to go on Wednesday? I guess we'll see.
Jay is planning to work some days this week. He hopes to talk to some people and get a firmer plan for January. Hopefully, he does.

A possible delay of the inevitable

So last week, I emailed Jay several questions about moving and scheduling the move, etc. Jay gave very vague answers to the questions and it left me feeling very unsettled. So, I kinda knew something was possibly up. Then came his email that he is scheduled to be back in Australia in the second week of January...but that he is also leery of making whole family plans since the long term contract hasn't been signed. Sigh. What this all means is that there is a chance that Jay will go there in January and the boys and I will be stuck here until the contract is signed. It could still get signed before then, but based on the track record, there's probably a better chance it won't get signed. Jay thinks that there is about a 75% chance the whole family will move in January. Of course, that number is just something he came up with and not any number that has been told to him. I really really want to move with Jay and not have to move the kids by myself.
I am not the kind of person who goes with the flow very well. I am much more of a planner and I don't like this whole not knowing thing. Very stressful.

Four

Four seems to be the magic number today. I just schedule our 4th Christmas celebration. First will be on this Thursday while my sister is in town from Idaho. 2nd will be on Christmas day with my parents. 3rd will be with my brother and his wife when they come in town a few days later. 4th will be with Jay's mom, sister, aunt, his grandparents, and our nieces. I have gotten the feeling from my mom that she would rather combine the 2nd and 3rd one. That won't work though as Nick and Kelly won't get into town until several days after Christmas and two of my kids know that Christmas happens on Dec. 25th.
In past years, my siblings haven't been here on the actual Christmas and we did a "fake" Christmas usually the weekend before Christmas. My mom likes to act the part of Santa so she started telling the kids that the elves were leaving gifts since I told them that Santa only comes on the 25th. Jay, the boys and I would then have Christmas at our house on Christmas and Santa would come.
Joe and Tom have gotten some strange ideas about Christmas decorations. We aren't decorating this year for a lot of different reasons. The main one is that we have planned for months and months to do Christmas at my mom's house. The boys were very worried that Santa won't come to an undecorated house. I finally got it through their heads that it's okay because we aren't going to be here. If we are out in the evening, we drive through some neighborhoods looking at Christmas displays. They will exclaim from the backseat "wow! Nothing will stop Christmas from coming to that house!" They also seem to think that Santa will stop at the most decorated house first.

Jay should be home in four days. I really miss spending time with him. I have been emailing him lots of questions about moving and got some vague news Sunday night. He said that he was told that he had to be back there in January. (Well, that's what we planned, right?) Of course, NGC hasn't signed the long term contract, so the boys and I can't move until it is signed. Hopefully it will be signed soon. Of course, I emailed and asked if Jay had to go if it wasn't signed but I haven't heard back from him yet. I really really don't want him to go without us again.

Splish Splash

Today was a fairly good day. Though it started early when Sam turned on his light to play at 1 am. I turned it off and put him back to bed. He got up several more times until I brought him to my bed to sleep, around 3. He did go back to sleep then, which was nice. The big boys were awake by 6:30 though.

Jessica was a doll and watched all three boys for me this morning. I was really torn about what to do. Do I work at the house or do I do something for myself? I picked myself! I ran some errands and purchased my mom's Christmas gift. I thought my shopping was completely done, until I realized the store forgot to put something into the bag after they wrapped it in paper. I had to run back and pick it up. At least, I realized it before I had picked the kids up so I didn't have to deal with dragging them along with me. But my shopping is all done and almost everything is wrapped.

While the kids were with Jessica, they made us a meal for dinner. We already had dinner plans for tonight, but now we have dinner all lined up for tomorrow! yea! We ate dinner with our neighbors tonight. A yummy pork roast with carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, and rolls. Cupcakes for dessert and we were all set.

After Jessica's house, we came home for one of the boys' favorite activities, splish splash. The boys don their rain boots and jackets and we all head outside to splash in the really big puddles that are in our driveway. We come inside as a wet muddy mess and then the boys all shower together while I clean up the entryway and start a load of their wet clothes in the washer. Splish Splash is always a really nasty mess for me to clean up, but they really do love doing it. After the shower, they had popcorn and watched a movie.

I took the boys to see Lights on the Bay on Thursday. I wanted to be there early so that we wouldn't have to wait in a really long line. There were no cars there. We drove through it twice and then it was only 5:40. So, I drove to Columbia and we went to Symphony of Lights. We liked it much better, but maybe that was just because it was something new and different. The boys loved it.

Friday night, I had a couple of friends over and then the boys and I went to my mom's on Saturday. We decorated her tree and it turned out beautiful.

slogging through

I feel like I am just slogging through the days. There are some good times and some low times and lots of work. We had Cub Scouts last night. It would have been much more enjoyable if I could have left Sam at home. Tom was an angel, even though it wasn't his activity and he wasn't able to make the craft. Tom sat and watched and was no headache at all for me. Joe did his craft really well, but if he wasn't actively working on it, he was getting a drink from the water fountain (about every 2 minutes) or hanging on the den leader. Literally hanging on him. Sam was everywhere, into everything, playing with the water, throwing coats on the floors, opening the door and leaving the building. I think I will ask my neighbor to watch them next week. Part of the problem is that Cub Scouts starts at Sam's bedtime and goes for a little over an hour. We don't get back home until 8:15. It's across the street so we just have to walk over and back. Next week is the cub scout Christmas party. It is also the pack meeting so there are about 4 times as many people and kids as there were tonight.
I am getting so sick of pizza. We went to pizza hut last week and then again this week. Last week, Joe had earned a free personal pizza because he read his 8 books for the Book It program. This week, Sammy got his flu shot booster and the nurse gave him a coupon for a free personal pizza. If she would have given it to me without telling Sam, then I could have saved it for another time, but she gave it straight to Sam and told him what it was. He cried so hard when we drove past pizza hut at 10 in the morning because he wanted his free pizza. Well, we got it last night and it was another headache to take 3 boys out to dinner. It was not as bad as last week when Pizza Hut just couldn't get my pizza made correctly so at least that was better.

My birthday snow

So Jay and I have been married for over 8 years, and it has snowed on my birthday (or the day of my birthday celebration) for 6 of the 8 years. About 6 years ago, after 2 years of snow, Jay proclaimed that it was his birthday present to me. And every year since then he makes it snow. Jay has the boys completely convinced that he makes it snow for my birthday.
As I was hearing the forecast yesterday, I was skeptical that we would actually get snow this year. Most of yesterday, the snow was going to be north and west of us. Jay tried to claim that sleet should be at least half credit, because after all, he's half a world away. I should have just kept the faith. Around noon, the sleet and rain turned into huge beautiful flakes and the boys came running and shouting "Daddy made it snow!" Happy Birthday to me!

A non singer

Joe had a note sent home from his music teacher at school on Tuesday. She had to move Joe to a new seat in the music room, completely away from all the other students. He refusing to sing and spends his time bothering other students. Joe is such a headstrong child and he doesn't like to do things on someone else's schedule. He also just has no interest in singing the same songs over and over again. I talked a lot with him and he is irritated that they have to sing the same song so many times so that everyone can learn it. He learns it really quickly and doesn't like having to sing the same ones over and over and over. I completely get his point, but also understand why the teacher has to go over and over. It's not the teacher's fault that Joe has an almost perfect recall for things like songs, movies, and stories. I've really got no clue what to tell Joe in order for him to enjoy music class more. I had a great music teacher for a long time, but I don't really know this teacher.
We had a good holiday break, a good Joe's birthday, a really nice Thanksgiving, etc etc. Jay is enjoying 75 and sunny in Australia while yesterday we had 50 and rainy. Oh yea. I have been working really hard on getting the house ready for the realtor. The upstairs is done except for cleaning, and most of that is really close to being done.
I have not been able to fall asleep at night, but once I am asleep, I sleep like the dead! I have almost missed getting up in time to get Joe and Tom ready for school. I ended up having to set an alarm this morning and I still almost didn't get up. I just need to get to sleep earlier.

A good weekend

I have been looking forward to this past weekend for what seems like forever. A full three days of scrapbooking, no interruptions, no responsibilities, nothing but what I want to do. Glorious, except the lack of sleep of course. There are two things that I can do on these types of weekends and it is so hard to choose. Do I sleep or do I scrapbook? Despite the draw of the bed, I tend to scrapbook and sleep is minimal. I got 4 hours on Friday, an hour nap on Saturday, then 5 hours Saturday night. I had a really fun time and got some things done. So it was a good weekend overall.
Jay got a call on Friday that said he may or may not be leaving on Saturday for Australia. He was told to be ready to go at a moment's notice. So, he couldn't cancel the babysitting that my parents were scheduled to do. He, of course, did not go. He got to have a night fully to himself and he was bored. He did get some leaves raked and the shutters put on the house.
We have a parent teacher conferece today and a cub scout meeting tomorrow night. On Wednesday, we head back to my mom's for a few days.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Living in limbo

So Monday morning on the way to the airport, Jay got a call. Thankfully, we hadn't even gotten out of Pasadena yet. He wasn't going to go to Australia until next Monday. So we drove home. We took his bags inside and then he left for work. Minutes after he left for work, he called me and said he was leaving Saturday, not next Monday. Okay, that works, whatever.
Shortly after he got home from work last night, he had an email from someone suggesting that he goes to Australia on Tuesday instead of waiting for Saturday or next Monday. This person wanted him to go to a different part of Australia in order to prep for the Newcastle stuff. As of this morning, it was sorta penciled that he would be leaving on Wednesday.
At this point, I am trying not to count on him for anything. Not that I want him to leave, but it would almost be easier if he did. I don't have to cook as nice of a dinner if he isn't home and one less thing off my list would be great!

Getting ready to be left behind

So in less than 4 days, Jay will be leaving for Australia and leaving all of us behind for awhile. Of course, he will also be leaving behind the cold and rain for warm and sun. He also leaves behind a long list of things that we need to get done. Well, we'll get done what we can and that's that.
Here are some things currently going on:
Tom- He got kicked out of preschool on Monday due to spitting on two different friends. This comes after a week of time-outs and problems. Miss Janet said "enough" and called me to pick him up. He is only the second child ever to get kicked out in her 20 years at Galilee. Tomorrow, he gets to try again and is excited about returning. Hopefully, it will go well.
Jay- He is leaving soon so he got a laptop from work. He is really really busy at work too. The laptop has made things a little worse because now he works at home too. When he is at home, he now works on the computer, including getting up around 5 this morning to work on it before leaving at 7:20 for work.
Sam- He had been doing really really good at potty training but the last two days have not been good at all. I am trying my best not to get frustrated or really to say anything about it. After a few accidents in a row, we just switch to a pull up for a while. Crossing fingers that I can stay fairly calm about it.
Chickens- We're getting about 4-5 eggs a day right now. They are wonderful! It won't be for long as we really need to move them before Jay leaves. We have to take down all the chicken stuff before we list the house.
House- It's getting there. We have to paint the kitchen and dining room, the stairs, and the office and we will be done with the inside. I bought shutters for the outside, but screwed up and didn't buy enough. So I have to order 1 more pair.
Me- I keep getting these really bad, sneaky headaches. They come on very slowly and build steadily, until I can't function and just need to lie down with eyes closed. I can get them to abate somewhat by relaxing and tylenol, but they are still there. I am hoping that as I get more and more things done, then I will have them less and less.
Off to do more things!

12 days and counting

So in 12 days, Jay leaves me alone to deal with everything. Birthdays, holidays, house on the market, packing, Christmas shopping, Cub scout space derby competition, selling his car, etc. will all be my responsibility. I am not looking forward to this at all. Seriously, not at all. He is looking forward to his trip, but his work is getting a bit frantic and people are trying to get him to work longer hours in order to get stuff done before he leaves. 9-10 weeks until we move and Jay will be gone for 5 of them.

In other news, our Visa has been approved! Which is really great news, but it came as a bit of a surprise. You see, none of our medical exam forms have been turned it. Well, turns out, we didn't need them! Back in the beginning of September, I read the requirements and it sounded like we didn't need them so I asked Jay if he was sure that we needed them. He said yes, so I emailed him the link and asked him to read it. Are you sure we need them? Yes he said. Well, no, we don't. So I spent hours and hours trying to get all this complicated paperwork in order, bloodwork and doctor visits and shots. And now, after all the stress was pretty much done, I found out I didn't need to do any of it. What?!?

The total egg count now stands at 18. We are getting at least 1 a day, though today was 3 eggs. It is one of our kids favorite jobs...going out to look for eggs. It is also getting to the time to give the chickens and other pets away. We still haven't had any luck placing Domino somewhere. I assigned Jay to do the task since I wasn't having any luck and he hasn't really had any luck either...though he hasn't exhausted all of his options yet. I also assigned him the task of taking care of my laptop battery, but he hasn't yet. He better get on the ball, he is running out of time.

Joe still hasn't lost any teeth. I spoke to the doctor about it during his appointment and she said that it wasn't considered late until 7 1/2. We'll see. At the rate we're going, Tommy will lose his first tooth before Joe does.

More eggs and big boy underwear

We got 5 eggs last week and then none over the weekend. I guess the layers wanted some days off of work too. We got one more egg yesterday and then two today. Today we have a dark brown egg as usual and then a really really light tan egg. And, my chicken of questionable sex is female! She laid the egg yesterday. I saw sitting in the nesting box and about 15 minutes later, when I checked again, we had an egg. I think I have at least two layers, maybe three now. My chickens tend to lay in the afternoon, sometime after lunch. I can tell that I have an egg somewhere as all the chickens run up to the fence, clucking like crazy...like they are so proud of what they just did. Too funny.
Sammy is in big boy underwear! He wears them all day long and we get through the day with only 1 or 2 accidents. I finally made the decision to push him a little on the potty training. We've been doing pretty well. We started last Thursday with this and have been in underwear almost the whole time. Hopefully we will stay with it. He still wears a diaper at night, but that's okay. He's still pretty little.

The fruit of my labor

Why is it when a chicken lays an egg I feel so accomplished? Yes, I ordered the chicks and have cared for them, fed them, kept the coop clean and dry, gave them fresh water, and protected them from harm...but nothing I did really produced the eggs. As long as they survived to an egg-laying age, the hens would make eggs. That's what they do. Doesn't matter...I am pleased as punch for the four eggs in four days that we have gotten. They tend to appear in the afternoon, and today's egg was actually in the nesting box! It's a big deal as the first one was just inside the coop, second on the ground under the coop, third on the ground next to the waterer... I was concerned that we would just keep moving farther and farther away from the coop. I have no clue who is laying or even how many are laying...but I think that it is just one hen right now.
I had a rough evening tonight and I am feeling sorta gloomy. I did manage to get part of the basement painted. I hope to do a second coat tomorrow sometime so that the furniture can be moved and the other half can be painted. I plan to scrapbook tomorrow evening so I will have to do it during the day.
I need to go to sleep as I am tired and dozing while typing.

A rainy Thursday

I don't really have much to say, but just wanted to share a few things.
I got my stitches out on Tuesday morning. My scar has calmed down a bit and is just an ugly pink scar that should fade within a year or so. I still don't have a lot of strength in my hand if I try to put weight on it, like pushing up from the floor, etc. This was caused by the nature of the surgery and I just have to build everything back up. But I am happy to report that I am pretty much pain free for the first time in 5 years! I still have a tiny bit of tingling in my middle finger, but the dr said that should go away within the next month or so...if it is going to go away at all. I could have a little bit of nerve damage because I waited so long to do the surgery. However, this tingling is so slight, I can certainly deal easily with it. Previously, the smallest tasks caused tingling and minor pain (tasks like brushing teeth or eating) while bigger tasks like painting a room or riding a bike would end up causing really bad pain. My whole arm would hurt sometimes. I just dealt the best I could, but I am certainly wishing I would have done this long ago. It is so nice!
The new tile floor in the entryway and the replacement tile in the bathroom was ready to be grouted on Monday evening. Jay didn't do it. He watched tv instead. Okay. Tuesday, Jay took Joe to cub scouts and then returned home to watch tv. Not okay. We don't have a toilet in the full bath and have to climb over the wall in the entry without touching the landing in order to get in or out of the house. Yesterday morning, while Tom was at preschool, I grouted the floor. (Pain free!) It turned out really nice and I finished the job today with the grout sealer. As a side note, the grout sealer is called "One Step Grout Sealer". There are 5 steps listed on the application instructions. Even if you just pretend that the only step is to spray it on, you still have to do two coats before it is done.
My kids tend to use superlatives incorrectly so we've been trying to work on it a bit. We've been working on the word "best" this week. Joe asked who was the best kid. I explained that each kid was the best at something different. He wanted examples. This is what I came up with on the fly.
Joe- The best helper of projects
Tom- The best eater
Sam- The best toy picker upper

I think my three boys are all the best, but it was kinda hard to come up with something that each one was the best at in our house. Competition isn't really my thing.

This and that

So for the past few weeks, I haven't posted any updates on Jay's trip to Australia as it as been changing daily. Plans seem to have settled down and are penciled in. Nothing is firm yet so it could change again next week when the VP's go to Australia for a meeting. The current plan is that he will be heading out around November 13 and returning about Dec 15. Jay had been saying that he would be gone a couple of weeks, but now it looks more like a month. Jay is going to miss Joe's b-day, Thanksgiving, and my birthday. Kind of a bummer. I had been planning a weekend away for Jay and I during my birthday weekend. We aren't going to get much time to ourselves once we move since we won't have any sort of babysitters. I really wanted some time to ourselves.
Of course, I have already reserved and paid for my weekend away in November to scrapbook with some friends. Now I will have to try to find a babysitter for the boys.
Other recent news: Little Bit (one of our cats) had been doing better with her litter box, but then about 2 months ago, she peed and pooped on the rug upstairs. I got frustrated and put both cats downstairs so that they could be closer to the litter box. That worked for about a week, but for the last 6 weeks or so, Little Bit just keeps using the little box less and less. Totally gross! We have taken her to the vet and tried everything the vet has suggested. Her health seems to be declining in general. Finally, this week, I had had enough. Little Bit and Mash are now outdoor kitties. We fixed them up a very nice area outside and they seem to be starting to adjust, though the first few days were very stressful on them.

All went well, I guess...

So I can only guess that all went well during my surgery on Friday. I was told to dress in clothes appropriate for my surgery so I wore a short sleeve shirt. It didn't really matter as I had to remove all clothing (undergarments too!), even my socks and wear a hospital gown and the hospital socks (their socks have non-skid things on them). The doctor came in briefly while the nurses were doing my pre-op stuff and that is the only time I remember seeing him. I wasn't nervous at all about the surgery, until the nurses and everyone start going over the risks of the medications. You know, mild risks like headache, nausea and severe risks like stroke and major risks like death. Nice. I just kept telling myself that everything was going to go just fine. The anesthesiologist came in and explained her part to me. She said she would watch my breathing and if I started having any problems, she would put a mask on me. If I stopped breathing, she said she would be the one to put a tube down my throat.
Once I was wheeled into the OR, the nurses and assistants started prepping me and the tools. They attached some monitors for my heart and blood pressure and lungs. The anesthesiologist gave me the meds in my IV and said it would help me relax. They laid the bed back all the way and I remember listening to my heart rate on the monitor and that's it. The next thing I remember is lying in the bed as I am pushed down the hall to the second recovery room and being told to get dressed. A male nurse was going to help me get dressed, but a female nurse peeked in and asked if they could switch patients. I was really out of it still but I managed to get dressed. Now, this is when I finally noticed that I had an oxygen tube in my nose. It wasn't there before and they hadn't said it was going to be there unless I had problems. Does that mean I had problems?
In the recovery area, I was finally given my discharge instructions. The doctor had previously been fairly vague, only saying that I had to have supervision for 24 hours after surgery and to wear an ace bandage until the stitches come out and a brace at night after that. What he failed to tell me:
1) To rest and do nothing for 4 days
2) No driving for 10 days (WTF!)
3) Ace bandage can be rewrapped if too tight, but I am not to remove or change the bandage/dressing underneath. This will be removed when I have my stitches removed in 10-14 days. (Do you know how dirty this is going to get?) I have to wear a bag over my arm whenever I bathe or shower or doing anything involving water.
4) Swelling can be extreme and the hand could tingle for up to months after the surgery. I had the tingling and pain before the surgery. That's why I had the surgery. Now you're telling me I could not know for months afterwards if it worked or not?

Jay drove me home where my mom was watching the kids and my dad was working on the entryway floor. Except, my parents took the boys out to lunch and no one was there when we got there. They didn't leave any sort of note about where they were going so there was the moment of panic that something had happened to one of the boys.
They were home shortly after we were.
I was really tired and just wanted a nap. Jay started helping my dad and Sam does what he always does after being away from me. Climb all over me. He does fine being away from me, but once I am back, he can't leave me alone. As I am trying to sleep, my announces she is going to go have her nails done about the same time that Jay and my dad announce they are going to Home Depot. Ummmm, that's not going to work. Mom stayed here. She did her own nails while Sammy watched. Mom was going with a fellow teacher to a gala in Baltimore on Friday night so she wanted to look good. I finally went to my room and crashed. While I was sleeping, Tammy Sames brought me flowers, chocolate and a card. She is such a sweetie. I woke up just after Joe got back from school.
I helped pack up Jay and the big boys things for the weekend. It is the weekend of the cub scout pack's family campout. Jay, Joe and Tom went. While I was packing, my mom was doing her hair and makeup and was showing Sammy how to do everything. She left the bathroom for about 1 minute to say something to my dad. Jay happened to walk past the bathroom as Sam was dumping the nailpolish remover on the floor. He was trying to put it on the same cotton things my mom did when she did her nails. Thankfully, Sam didn't get any in his eyes or mouth, but he got it all over his clothes and the rug.
Jay and the big boys left and my mom left. Dad, Sam and I ate dinner and then Dad and I watched season 1, disc 1 of NCIS while we waited for mom to get back. I went to bed at 10:30 and mom still wasn't back yet. She finally showed up after 11:30 or so. It was a long drive for them to get home to Cambridge after I left, but they did make it safely.
I was fairly out of it when I got ready for bed last night due to the pain meds. I removed my bra and put on pjs and went to sleep. When mom showed up, I did wake up and move around a bit. That's when I noticed something poking me in my breast. It was one of the little monitor things. How did I wear it for 12 hours and not notice it?
When I woke up this morning, I was in a lot of pain since it had been about 8 hours since my last pain pill. It was really really hard to get the bottle open by myself, but I did manage it finally. When I got dressed this morning, I noticed a scratch on my thigh. It starts on the top on my thigh, mid way down and runs all the way around to the back of my thigh. It wasn't there Friday morning. I didn't see it in the dark Friday night but I don't think it happened it bed. I think it happened during my surgery. But how?
Without the Vicodin, I am in severe pain. With the Vicodin, I am really really sleepy and nauseous. The swelling is much much better today and the tingling is less. It took me very very long to type this since I am doing it one handed. If I wasn't bored, I wouldn't have done it I guess.

Surgery, etc.

I go in tomorrow for my carpal tunnel surgery. It should be a quick proceedure, only about 15 minutes, but I have to be at the hospital for 2 hours before and at least an hour after. My parents will be hanging with the kids and Jay will be with me.
Of course, I have spent the last 4-5 days really stressing out my hand. Lots of painting is really hard on it. I rode my bike on Monday with Joe and Sam and that is hard on it too. I can't wait for it to feel better. I have almost forgotten what it feels like for my hand not to hurt. My doctor said there is a small risk that since I waited so long for surgery that I could have some permanate nerve damage. I really hope that is not the case. I tried lots of therapies before resorting to surgery. It's been about 5 years now. Of course, if it all works well, I will kick myself for suffering for so long before doing anything.
I probably won't be posting much for several days. I have to keep my hand wrapped until the stitches come out. I also don't want to overwork it any so that it heals correctly.
I started back on Weight Watchers 2 weeks ago and I have lost almost 8 pounds! Hopefully, I will stay with it this time. I am not going to the meetings yet. I am just doing it online. It is cheaper to do it online than to do it with the meetings. Less than 1/2 as much.
My sister-in-law is showing up this evening to crash on the couch. She has to catch a flight early in the morning so she has to get up at 4 am.
Jay is playing poker tonight so he will be out late. This game has been planned for almost a month. One of the guys who used to play moved to Ohio and he is back this week. He knew he was coming so they planned ahead.
We have some relocation people coming to our house in the next week or two to estimate storage, shipping and moving costs. I am a little nervous now. It is getting so close! Jay is going to Australia in November. I asked when in November and he said probably around Thanksgiving. Well, that's not so cool because the weekend before Thanksgiving I am going away with some friends for a scrapbooking weekend. I have already paid my full fee and book my hotel room. I really really want to go. I don't know what I will do for a sitter though if Jay is gone. Jay thinks he will be gone for Thanksgiving. Of course, we just planned last week to have Thanksgiving with his family this year. His uncle will be in town for a few weeks from Cambodia so Jay's aunt Janet is planning a Thanksgiving feast at some point. They don't know if it will be on Thanksgiving or not yet.

Catching up, post 2

I completely forgot to mention the movies!
How could I not mention the movies!
Saturday Jay suggested we go to a movie. The last time we thought about a movie, there was nothing showing that we wanted to see. There were 2 movies we wanted to see this time. Jay thought we should see them both. I was concerned. We'd be up really late and I didn't get to sleep in Saturday morning and I just wanted to sleep!
Well, we saw two movies.
The Informant was first up and it was really good for most of the movie. Jay and I don't tend to really like mainstream movies so this was right up our alley. Funny, really funny at times, but the last bit was sorta weird. I give it an A- (only because it got a little weird).
Inglorious Basterds was the next movie. Again, pretty good. Though I am not a fan of gore for the sake of gore and there was quite a bit of it in the movie. The climax of the film also bothered me. I understood it all and know why it was there, but it just didn't sit right. I would give it a B since there were things that were never explained and the extra gore wasn't needed. Jay, however, liked this movie better than the first. Go figure.

Catching up

This post will just be sorta a general catch up post. I haven't posted in several days and lots has gone on.



Doctor's visits-

On Monday, I had a pre-op appointment for my carpal tunnel surgery. Strangely, I had to strip down completely, underwear and all off. Weird. Anywhoo, the doctor had the lab people run several tests (CBC, TSH and pregnancy) in prep for the surgery. So, 3 vials of blood. (ps, not pregnant if anyone was wondering)

Tuesday, I was back at the same doctor for my Australian Visa medical exam. She covered most of the same things that she had covered before but she had to fill out several forms. She messed up one of the forms and said that I would have to bring her another form. She sent me back to the lab again for some tests required by the Australian government plus some other standard physical tests. So, 4 more vials of blood (all tests came back fine).

After I left the office, I realized the doctor forgot to give me my vaccines that I need. Ugh.

Thursday night, doctor calls and tells hubby that I have to come in on Friday during her lunch hour (12-1) and have her fill out forms. She is getting ready for a 2 week trip and so if I didn't go Friday, I would be waiting for a while.

Friday, I didn't have a babysitter so I had to drag Tom and Sam to the dr with me. I figured it would only take about 15-20 minutes since she just had to fill out a form and the nurse had to stick my arm a few times. 1 hour, 15 mintues later I leave with two very sore arms and another 2 vials of blood gone. My shot records appear not to have everything recorded so it is unclear whether or not I finished my polio and Hep B series. The two vials of blood are to check to see if I am immune to Hep B and polio or if I need a booster. I got three shots plus a TB tests. My left arm still hurts.

Monday- I had to run in today for them to read my TB test. Thankfully we were only there a few minutes.

Australian Dave- Jay has worked with a guy from Australia named Dave. When in Australia, he took us out to dinner and also around to see the sights one day. Friday night, we took him out to dinner. We got to ask lots of questions and thankfully got some answered. We ate at a favorite restaurant from our before-kids era, Bare Bones in Ellicott City. Some of the best ribs around. Yum!

My mom took the kids for the entire weekend which was really helpful, though it involved ten tons of driving on my part. I had to drive the kids to Cambridge on Friday and then had to pick them up again on Sunday afternoon. I hate driving that much. Yuck.

Goodbye to the red wall. We painted our entryway red about 4 years ago. We painted over it on Sunday. It was the end of an era. sorta. Jay also finally installed the under cabinet lights in the kitchen. We've had the switches for the last 4 years, but they did nothing since there were no lights. Now we have lights! We also painted over the blue in Joe and Tom's room. Our house is going to be very plain.

I decided back in April that I wouldn't sign up to do anything in the MOMS Club since I was planning to move and I have just been to overwhelmed with stuff for the last few years anyway. Well, I missed a meeting and some moms signed me up to do the Preschool Preview night. At first, I was a little irked, but since our moving plans had fallen through, I was mostly okay with it. Now, however, I am not. In 3 months we will be moving and we are not really ready. I resigned from the Preschool Preview Night today. I will not make any friends from doing that, but I just had to do it for me. I really really really hate not doing something that I am supposed to do. I have been struggling with the decision for several days. I just had to do it though. I just wasn't going to be able to handle it. I feel really bad about it. When I was president and 7 1/2 months pregnant, two moms dumped their positions in my lap. It was very overwhelming for me and I held a grudge for a long time. Hopefully, everyone will understand.

It's all about the timing, I guess

In January of 2008, Jay and I were starting to think about owning a larger home. Jay's grandparents were no longer living in their home and it had been talked about for the last 4-5 years that perhaps Jay and I would buy it at some point. So, we approached his grandparents about buying the home and his grandfather said yes, while his grandmother said we'll see. A few months later, Papa passed away, and we were told that Grammy shouldn't sell with the market so bad. It was hinted to us that we were trying to take advantage of her. That was never our intention. The house was at one time a very nice house on 14 acres. It wasn't being taken care of and it was hard for Jay and I to see that. We were married on the front lawn of the house.
So, fast forward about 18+ months...
Jay's uncle Warren is a trustee for the estate along with Grammy. Though he lives in the same county, he doesn't make it up to the house very often. Upon visiting the house last week, he was shocked at the state it was in. He then went to Grammy and told her that the house needed to be sold or it was going to not be worth anything later on.
Jay and I briefly talked about it and it looks like we are adding our name to the short list of people who want the house. The plan is to offer it to Jay's dad Mark first, then us, then open market.
We, of course, are moving to Australia so we would have to rent it out while we are gone. I'm not going to really think about it until it actually happens. I have a feeling that Mark will probably buy it. He lives in a tiny house with his girlfriend of two years. She has 4 middle school and high school age kids and have no where to sleep when they come stay with their mom on weekends.

What I am to do with him?

Him. A male. A rooster. Yes, one of eight beautiful hens we are growing is growing her own very impressive comb. So I suspect that she is a he. We have two New Hampshire Reds and their combs are very different. It has only been in about the last week that he has grown his stately comb, but what will I do with a rooster? It's one thing to have hens, but a rooster is a different story. Yes, I know that we will only have them for a short while longer, but what do I do with him then? I have planned to give Jessica my hens, but I have no clue if she has any interest in a hen. Jay mentioned dinner, but I can't. I am too attached to these chickens to ever think about eating one.
Of course, it could be a she and just have a large comb. I researched some things on mypetchicken.com and sometimes a female can take on male characteristics if there are no roosters. The website says that while comb size could be an indicator, full on crowing is more reliable along with a certain shaped tail feather. I really don't know. Perhaps, I am just jumping the gun in assuming that she is a he.

Update on the foot

As the day grew longer and more painful in the foot, I decided that as soon as Jay was home from work, I was going to see a doctor. I figured there is probably not much that can be done for me, but I feel like I need a doctor's note to get any sympathy from Jay. So, I left the house at 5:50 and arrived at Patient First and signed in by 6:10. I've never been there but the alternative (Nighttime Peds) is a nightmare everytime we have had to go. I got called back within 5 minutes, had my vitals taken, and x-ray done by 6:40. Of course, I started to feel pretty excited that I may get out of there in record time for a Switzer family urgent care visit. Nope, not at all. While I didn't beat the standing record for longest visit (set by Joe in 2006, 3 1/2 for 2 stitches in his forehead), I came close at 2 hours 45 minutes. The exam room had nothing in it. No magazines, no pamplets, nothing. I, of course, had nothing with me to do. I tend to think about that after I am already in the situation. It was a chilly 68 degrees in the room and I wasn't dressed for anything that cool. My foot hurt too much to hobble anywhere in search of anything so I sat and suffered.
The nurse practioner came in and reviewed the x-rays with me. I have two small factures on my toe/foot. The larger of the two is under the dark bruised area on my toe and the smaller one is back farther on my foot (there is a slight bruise over top it). Unfortunately, there's just not a whole lot that can be done. I have to use crutches until Tuesday morning and have to wear a stiff boot thing as well. By Tuesday am, it should be feeling somewhat better and will be on restricted use for up to another 2 weeks (no jogging or even long distance walking....just the walking needed for daily living, maybed).
This really puts a cramp in my weekend plans since I was going to work hard on the house this weekend. Ugh.
He also gave me some Vicodin for nighttime use. He faxed it to the pharmacy I requested, but of course, it was closed by the time I got there. I am not sure if I will use it or not. Last time I used something like that I had a panic attack.
Well, I'll figure something out, but what a bummer!

FRICK!!!!!! and salsa!

That is the nice word of what I really really wanted to say this morning. But I was very very proud of myself for not saying anything other than "oh oh oh".

I was playing hide and go seek with Sam this morning. It was my turn to hide and his turn to count. He can only count to 5 and he does it very fast so the hider has to go hide very quickly. He sat down on the couch and I took off running to his bedroom. As I went to go through the door, I hit my foot either on the door or the door frame. The pain was intense, but I scrambled to the space next to the bed to hide. When I hit my foot, I fell down from the pain. It was that bad. I couldn't walk for about 10 minutes. (Sam found me right away; probably because I was holding my foot, rocking back and forth on the floor, saying "oh, oh, oh") Even now, 4 1/2 hours later, it is very difficult to walk and my foot is in pain, even if I am not moving it. My two littlest toes are swollen and the second to smallest is the wrong color.

It turns out that our tomato plants are doing okay despite not looking great. They don't have late season blight after all! Yea! So last night we decided we needed to process the 40+ tomatoes we have picked this week. We used tomatoes, green peppers and jalpanos from the garden along with some store bought onions to make 9 pints of wonderfully spicy salsa. The kitchen still smells like yummy salsa. I can't wait to try some!

Another milestone behind us

Yesterday was Tom's 5th birthday and we had a fun time, despite the fact that he ended up with (almost) no guests at his party. My mother-in-law was able to make it, but my nieces weren't able, nor was Tom's great aunt. It turned out to be just too long of a drive and too busy of a holiday for any friends to make it. (Completely understandable!)
The day was too cloudy and cool for swimming, so the boys rode bikes and went out in the canoe with Jay and my dad instead. It was Sam's first time in the canoe and I think he enjoyed doing something big boyish. At first, after Sammy had already gotten his shoes out, Jay said no, that he was too little to go. Poor Sam erupted in the giant tears and just utter heartbreak. My dad overrode and of course he could go, afterall, there were two adults going.
He had fun and had some yummy Smith Island Cake (8 layers of cake and 8 layers of chocolate frosting) after we sang happy birthday. We had homemade pizza for our lunch (along with beer and margaritas for the some of the grown ups)
Traffic wasn't too bad on the way home. It maybe added 10-15 minutes. Not to bad for Labor Day.

A side note: I have a few scrapbook "friends". I know them only from scrapbooking/Close To My Heart and don't know them well. We are also friends on facebook. One is a fairly conservative republican widowed mother in Buffalo. Her son and exchange student are both in high school. Anyway, she wrote on her status that she was surprisingly pleased with President Obama for asking students to work hard and achieve their full potential. Now, I love her status, but my side note deals with a comment she recieved. Many of her friends "liked" her status or said something very positive. However one friend, whom I do not know, commented "dislike button pressed". Which really irked me. I don't know this lady that said it at all, however, I feel that she "disliked" simply because she dislikes the President. Stupid. It's one thing to like or dislike a policy or even a President, but to dislike something positive that the President said simply because of not liking him really irrates me. He asked students to go to class, listen and learn and work hard. What is there to dislike?!? Would you rather your child skipped class, failed and worked in a fast food restraurant, mopping floors for the next 15 years?! Seriously. Okay, I know that I shouldn't get worked up over no one that I know, but it just shows how blinded some people really are. Arrrrrr.
Alright, I vented, I'm better now.

Man in brown, plus the phone company

Today is the day I really get excited. The man in brown will be visiting me today. UPS. I love getting packages. It's like Christmas, but year round! No matter that I already know what is in the box or even if the package is not for me. I still get a little rush from knowing that I am getting something today! Completely silly, I know. Today's delivery is all stuff for me or my business so it is extra fun!
The phone company... ugh.
The history: We have from time to time gotten billed for things that we didn't authorize or want on our Verizon account. Crummy people like to order a service, say a 12 month online subscription to how to get out of debt for the low low price of $29.95 a month, and somehow they get it billed to their phone number. Problem is they don't give their phone number, they give ours. Verizon does allow third party billing. The first time this happened (with the above mentioned service) we had a third party billing block added to our account. But once we switched to FIOS, the block didn't switch with us. So about 2 months after getting FIOS, we were hit with a $39.99 fee from some long distance companythat I had never heard of. We're on Verizon's freedom plan so our long distance is with Verizon. I called Verizon who transferred me to the company that was billing us. That company said they were billing on behalf of some other company that was actually charging the service. I got the number and called them. Someone had used our number to sign up for this service and got a free 100 minute calling card. I explained that I didn't sign up for the service and the lady said she couldn't cancel unless I sent the card back. Um, no, I didn't sign up for this service. I freely admit that the tone of my voice was not friendly. She hung up on me. Everytime I called back, she hung up. The billing company refunded the money charged but warned that unless we squared it with the rude company, the charge could keep reoccurring. And it did, month after month, we'd deal with this. Finally, it stopped after 4 months. Fast forward to this morning.
The phone rang. It was an automated service call from Verizon. It said this is a call to the Switzer residence to remind you that FIOS will be installed at ... on Friday Sept 4th. It wasn't our address. I pressed the button to speak to someone, talked to her, she transferred me to a FIOS man. The FIOS man wanted to transfer me right away to sales and billing. I had waited for over 5 minutes on hold just to speak to the FIOS man. I asked him to please help me and not to transfer me. He checked my account and said nothing was there. Why then, did we get a call? Well, someone must have just transposed the phone number when they typed it into the system. Okay, then why did they say our name? Oh, you must have just heard it incorrectly. Well, is there anyway to trace it based on our phone number. Only if you talk to sales and billing. So, I transferred again. The sales lady was helpful, except anytime she had to pause to wait on the computer system to search, she tried to sell me something. FIOS TV, would only bump our bill up to $119.99 a month. Nope, not interested. Okay, how about FIOS TV, a free Netbook, and a two year contract for only $99 a month. So, I had to ask, what if we move to a place that doesn't have FIOS. Well, then we'd be charged a penalty fee for disconnected before the two years are up. Okay, then no, not interested. Okay, how about an extra phone line. No, still not interested, could you please just solve my problem?
No one could find anything on my account at this moment. Which means, it could show up later. We'll keep fingers crossed on that one.
I like our phone number because it is soooooo easy to remember and two of my three children have already memorized it. However, I HATE our phone number for some many other reasons. For instance if a person goes online to get a free quote on their mortgage, but doesn't want to get annoying phone calls from mortgage brokers and only wants the emails, they will often enter our phone number. I get the annoying calls instead. Or, the girl (or guy) gives the annoying guy (or girl) at the bar our number. Sometimes, the jealous ex-girlfriends that call at 2 am looking for some guy and then cusses me out because I'm sleeping with her man. Collect calls from an inmate in the Baltimore City lock up that we don't accept. First it starts out as "a collect call from John at the Baltimore City Jail" No, don't accept. Then it gets creative "a collect call from Yo, it's me at the Baltimore City Jail" No, still no. Pretty soon it's a call from "pick up the phone" and "bitch you better accept". That happens at least once a year, sometimes twice.
And of course, there's the Gibson Island Gatehouse calls. The last four of their number is 0012 vs ours at 1212. And of course, the misdials for telephone information at 555-1212. I try to nicely suggest just dialing 411 and several times have been told "that's what I dialed". Well, no, you pressed 10 buttons, not 3.
We also get lots of random calls to things like auto part stores, doctor offices, etc. Perhaps people are just too lazy to look up the phone number.

Tommy's school

Tommy had his open house today at school. He towers, I do mean towers, above everyone! The next tallest boy comes up to Tommy's chin. I feel a little sorry for Tom. He is so much bigger than everyone and is older too. I hope that he does well this year. It was a little weird for me to be there today. I kept seeing moms that I have met throughout the years at Galilee. However, they were all there with the younger kids. Kids who started a year after Tom, but now Tom is in school with them.
Of course, we love Galilee though and probably wouldn't go anywhere else. I did look into a few other places, but some of them wanted me to sign a year tuition contract...of course I couldn't do that.
Poor Sam will never get to go to Galilee though. He is not old enough this year and will be going to Kindergarten by the time we get back.
We finally got some sort of birthday plan for Tom's b-day. As usual, we couldn't figure out what to do. Our house is not able to have company right now and money is way too tight to afford anything else. I asked Tommy what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted a party at Oma's house. Cambridge is an hour and a half away. Highly doubtful that anyone will be able to make it. Totally understandable. I just have always felt bad for my kids. They just don't have the close friends that a lot of other kids do. We've had friends throughout the years, but some things just haven't worked out. Either the ages of my kids don't line up with my friends' kids or they move away or something.
And of course, Tom's b-day will always fall right around Labor Day just like Joe's will always fall around Thanksgiving.
Granted, there is no Thanksgiving in Australia and Labor Day is at a different time. But Sam's birthday will now conflict with Australia Day.

Not getting much done

I am here to proclaim that I am dragging my feet, being lazy, procrastinating, doing nothing. I've said before that my house is in shambles and people tend to think it is because I am too busy packing. No, not really. I truly am doing nothing. I tend to find that the day just disappears. There really isn't much time between when I put Joe on the bus at 8:25 and when I get him off again at 3:35. We usually have to run some sort of errand and we have to have lunch. That seems to take a really large chunk out of the day. I watch tv with Jay at night so I don't even work on anything then. I am doing the bare minimum. I don't really have a good reason, but I am certainly doing it. I worked all day Saturday at a crop and then was at my mom's all day on Sunday so that Jay could drop off a load at the storage building.
Well, today I am going to try to change. I really have no excuse today. The weather is nice and cool. The kids are having a good time playing. Let's go!

Jay is worried

Apparently, things are not going well in Australia at the moment. Things keep breaking and more people are needed. Jay is doing the best to fix the problems from here. He seems to think that the next week or two are fairly crucial. If he can't get things taken care of, he will be told to pack it up and get there. No clue if he would go to stay or go for a while and come back. I, meanwhile, seem to be in denial that I am ever going to move. I am having a very hard time getting motivated with packing and preparing to move. Perhaps I am just overwhelmed with the whole idea.

First day of school

Today is the first day of first grade. Joe seemed pretty excited this morning about riding the bus and everything. Hopefully all goes well today.
I am pretty excited simply because quiet has descended on our house once again. Tom plays quietly by himself and Sam hangs with me. All fairly calm and collected.
I had a doctor's appointment this morning and thankfully, Amber was able to watch the boys for me. She canceled some things she wanted to do in order to help me out. I am very grateful for friends like her. I had my carpal tunnel evaluation this morning and the doc said he could give me an injection that would relieve most of the pain for a few months or he could just fix the problem. So we are scheduled to fix it on Oct 2. I will have to find someone to watch the kids and someone to sit with me at the hospital as I will be unable to drive afterwards due to the drugs from the surgery. I have no clue how long the actual surgery will take. No one seemed able to give me that information. Of course, my mother-in-law will be either be in Italy or preparing for her Italy trip on that day. I am hoping that my dad can take me to the hospital and Jay will just have to watch the kids.
Sammy looks like he has the chicken pox or measles or something. He doesn't. It's just mosquito bites covering his entire face. Jay took him outside all day yesterday while I was gone and used zero bug spray. Poor kids.
Our tomato plants have turned very brown. They have huge beautiful green tomatoes on the plants, but the plants are now brown brown brown. We are hoping that they don't have late blight. This year the blight has hit tomato and potato crops in the East pretty hard. Hopefully, that's not our problem. I was really looking forward to some nice tomatoes. bummer.

Where's the reset button?

I really really need a reset button. My house is a mess, I am disorganized, the laundry is piled up, the dishes are piled up. Everything needs cleaned, straighten. organized. When I only had one kid, my house was sooo clean. And no, I am not just imagining it. It's hard for me to watch any of Joe's baby videos without thinking about how clean my house is. With two kids, there were things that fell by the wayside, but all in all, I did pretty well. Not so with three kids. I just get further and further behind. I keep feeling like I could stay caught up if I could just get caught up. Hence, the reset button. If everything got reset to zero, I could stay there. Problem is I just can't get there. Too many daily things in order to make any headway.
At the least, I would like an Easy button. That would make things, well, easier.

A gross morning and an apology out of the blue

Okay, the first part of this post is really gross, but I have to share. Feel free to skip it.
This morning at 3:30 am I awoke to the sound of a child throwing up. I ran to the big boys' room and opened the door to a horrible smell and Joe projectile vomitting off the top bunk of the bed. I tried to get him down, but I am too short to pick him up when he is above me head. I ran back to my room and grabbed Jay. Jay took Joe to the bathroom and cleaned him up (i.e. wiped his face since he had nothing on him). Jay then went back to bed and right to sleep. (more on that in a minute)
So, it's 3:30 in the morning, the room stinks, there is vomit everywhere...the rug, the wood floor, Tom's dresser, Tom's clean clothes on the dresser that he didn't get put away, the bed rail, the bottom bunk, everyway. Thursday's dinner was tacos, spanish rice, etc so you can just imagine the mess. I had to turn on the light to clean up and it took me about 25 minutes before I felt that it was cleaned up enough for the night. I handed Joe a large bowl and let him climb back into bed. I had just gotten settled back into my bed when I heard him throw up again. He missed the bowl so I had to change sheets this time. Thankfully the volume was pretty small compared to the first so it wasn't such a long clean up. Again, I had to turn on the light and this time I had to climb up onto his bed to unmake and make it. I got back to bed within about 15 minutes and had just drifted off to sleep when I heard him go again at 4:30. He made the bowl so it was just a rinse of the bowl, a swish of the mouth, and a wipe of the face. Same story at 5 am. I got back to sleep at about 5:30 and the alarm went off at 6:30. I kicked Jay so he would turn it off and I went back to sleep for about 45 minutes before I heard Joe jumping off the top bunk to make it to the potty. Poor Joe only got about 6 hours of sleep and I only had about 4. We had planned to go to the zoo today, but I don't want to take a tired sick kid. Tonight is Melissa's good bye night out and I won't be home until the wee hours. I am going to be soooo tired.
Okay, so last month when Joe threw up on the floor, I gave Jay the choice of kid or floor. He picked floor. I was done with Joe in about 5 minutes and went back to bed. Of course, I had the back karma to bring it up last night while scrapbooking and it came back to bite me in the ass big time!

Okay, now for the not gross. I checked my email this morning and had a note from facebook saying a friend had left me a message. This guy was my first serious boyfriend and we went through some real crap and he broke up with me for my good friend. He just didn't treat me the best. He and I have been facebook "friends" for a few months mostly because I am horribly nosy and wanted to know what he was up to. He was my "first" afterall and we never seem to let that go. Anyway, this message from him was a very long, heartfelt apology about how he treated me in high school. He congratulated me on my family and wished me the best. I replied with the truth, that I forgave him long ago. It was some real yucky stuff that we went through, and while I didn't really understand it all, I sorta did. He has a beautiful wife and two really cute kids and it all truly worked out for the best.

Humor

What kind of pet does the sun have? A hot dog

What kind of dog wins every contest? A wienner dog

What did the taco say to the burrito? Where have you bean?

What did Dollar name his kid? Buck

What did the whale do when he got mad? He blew his top

These are some jokes that we have gotten recently on our popsicle sticks. The older two kids are just starting to understand jokes and what is funny about them. Needless to say, they still really don't get these jokes. They (and I) laugh when we tell them, but they just don't grasp why they are funny. I know this because both Joe and Tom start changing the original joke but not the punch line. Then they start making their own jokes and punch lines. I laugh, simply because I think that a child's humor is one of my favorite things, but the jokes don't really make any sense.
Tom's joke: What kind of pet does a whale have? His answer: A shark. I tried to explain that catfish or dogfish or even seahorse would be a better answer, but he stuck by his answer.
Joe's joke: What did the Chair name his kid? His answer: Leg.
Too funny

The CDP

Previously, the chicken defense project (or CDP) was a ongoing project of trying to keep the chickens in the pen. After Monday's attack, it has changed into a project of keeping the hawks out.
First, we chose to put our chicken coop in the one fully fenced area in the yard, aka dog pen. Our dogs really couldn't use it anyway as Domino easily jumps the 4 ft fence. But the fence is pretty secure and is buried underground since before Domino could jump, she would dig her way out.
I did a lot of reading about hawks and the red tail hawk is most common during summers around here and is the only one large enough to be a problem for grown chickens. This type of hawk usually hunts in fields and meadows, etc. Even though it is a large hawk, it still needs to be able to swoop down onto something as large as a full grown chicken or rabbit. Our dog pen has two lilac bushes and one very large Rose of Sharon. Add the chicken coop itself and about half of the pen is covered.
The biggest fear we had was when the chickens were much littler and a hawk would have been able to get it without much swooping. But thankfully, we never had a problem.
We've been hearing the hawks calling several weeks. They live in the woods surrounding the park across the street and probably use the sports fields for hunting. Our chickens are fairly smart and would duck under the trees/bushes whenever a hawk would start calling.
Thankfully, on Monday the hawk was not able to kill any of the chickens outright. But we still have the task of protecting them. I read up on different ways of protecting them from the overhead predators. There were many suggestions, but the only one that would really work is running strings across the top of the pen and hanging shining stuff from the strings.
Well, one problem is that we need to be able to walk in this pen so we can't just hang the strings at the top of the fence. Jay instead dug two 2-3 ft holes and put up two 12 ft poles. So about 9-10 ft above ground. I am running strings from the tall posts down to the fence posts and it is looking a little like a circus tent. I'm sure our neighbors and friends will make fun of the whole set up. And I am sure that we will have to take it all down by the time the house goes on the market to sell, as it will hurt the first impression.
We let the chickens out yesterday evening (while I was out working) for the first time since the attack and 3 of them flat out refused to come out of the coop. Poor ladies.
Today's part of the CDP will be hanging the cd's. Let's hope this all works.

Close call!

As I was out on the deck this morning, I noticed the chickens were going crazy in the corner of their pen and were just making so much noise. Our chickens don't ever sound like this and as I looked towards them, I saw one make a break for it over the fence and through the string that is strung above our fence.
I headed out the front door in order to grab her and put her back in the pen. When they get out, they never go far. Once I reached the driveway, I noticed something the wrong color in the corner of the pen, (opposite where the chickens were trying to escape.). I rushed over there to discover a very large hawk pinning one of my Silverlaced Wyandotts down to the ground. I started screaming and waving my arms to no gain. I grabbed the closest thing to me which was the door to one of the door crates and ran to the corner of the pen. The hawk moved over a bit, which caused the chicken to move too. The hawk, of course, grabbed the chicken again. I am pretty sure that I was screaming like a banshee as I ran around the pen to get to the gate and get in there to help. Waving a metal dog crate door and screaming made the hawk move from the chicken and upto the top of the fence. I wouldn't let up and chased it until it was in a tree in the yard. The hawk, of course, wasn't going to leave because it thought it was getting an easy meal. I started gathering chickens and getting them into the coop, starting with the one the hawk had pinned. She was so scared, but thankfully, unhurt. All of the chickens were very shaken and allowed me to grab them quickly. They didn't even run away. Once I secured the 7 still in the yard, I went looking for the one that had run away. The hawk ended up having a friend in another tree! Both flew away empty handed. Joe and I scoured the yard for well over an hour in search of one scared New Hampshire Red. We couldn't find her. I went ahead and opened the gate to the chicken yard (since the coop is secure) and put out a little food and water in the back yard under the top half of the dog crate. I wanted to give her another place to hide and be safe. We had plans to go swimming today so we had to leave, but Joe really didn't want to leave. He didn't want us to give up. I was pretty sure she was still alive, just hiding.
We went swimming and had a pretty good time. Only one not great thing, but that's a different story.
Once we got home and out of the car, Joe said he heard the chicken. We looked a little and then he heard her again and I did too. And there she was, hiding under some bushes next to the house. She was not there earlier, but was there now. She didn't want to get caught, but we managed to get ahold of her and returned her to the coop. Ah, all of them are safe.
The feathers on the ground show that there were 3 attempts from the hawks. Both Buff Orpingtons and one Silver Wyandott are missing several feathers, but don't appear to have any major injuries.

As a side note, it was 87 degrees inside the house when I returned home. I turned on the air. Much better now.

Couldn't be easy, could it?

We decided to go get our passport photos today after VBS. I took the boys to lunch and then drove to the closest Walmart that has a photo studio. We have gotten good passport photos from there before so it shouldn't be a problem right? Wrong. The first Walmart's camera wasn't working. Well, I needed to go pick up my watch from Arundel Mills Mall, so we'll try that Walmart. She took the pictures and the older boys did really well and Sammy was slightly misbehaving. Okay, at least they're done. Oh wait. The printer is printing them way to light and we are all looking like Ghosts. The US government is pretty picky about the photos being exposed just right and I'm so light that my black shirt is a pale gray. I asked if she could fix them and she said no, that they have problems with the camera and printer from time to time and it's just hit or miss. Okay. No big deal, we'll just go somewhere else. The traffic lights were all out around the mall and so traffic was messed up. Between that and the photo snafu, I forgot to get my watch. We drove back towards Route 2 and stopped at a Walgreen's by Marley Station. Got all kids out and went inside. Nope, printer is not working, though should be back up this evening. Got directed towards the Walgreen's way up Route 2. So, off we went. We got there, got the photos taken and left. We went to Glen Burnie Mall for the 20 minutes that it would take for the pictures to get printed. Then we went back to Walgreens. I had requested 6 sets of pictures for the boys. I should have been more clear. Passport photos are always sold in sets of two so I figured that 6 sets would get me a dozen photos of each kid. Well, 6 sets got me only 6 photos of each kid. He had already deleted them from the camera and couldn't print any more. Oh, well. Let's just go. 93 dollars later, Sammy ran away from me while I was trying to get the photo packets and the receipt. Of course, the automatic doors on the front of the store opened for him and he ran straight into the parking lot, laughing all the way. I ran after him, but didn't catch him until he was well into the traffic lanes of the parking lot. Ugh. Got into the car and drove happily drove home. Opened pictures to see them for the first time in driveway of home. Too dark and we are all orange/yellow. We all look really ill. Jundice anyone? I got online to check the photo requirements again and I really don't think that they are going to accept these photos. So if I can get a refund, we have to go through all this again. I think that I am going to make Jay go with me so that there are two of us to chase the kids and besides, he needs so more photos too.

Feeling rushed

We are trying to get together all of the paperwork, passports, visas, and medical exams together in order to be able to move. Jay decided yesterday that he wanted this done asap. Okay. Step 1, fill out and print application for passports online. Done, except when I print it, the answers for everything is just random letter (for example, Name: TLWXRN when it is supposed to say JOSEPH). So Jay is going to have to figure that out. Step 2, birth certificates. I have Tom and Sam's in hand, but need to hunt down Joe's. I used it when we applied for school last year, but I was lax in putting it away and now it is lost in a pile of stuff somewhere. Step 3, passport photos. I need about a dozen copies per kid as I have to attach two copies to just about everything. We are doing that this afternoon. Step 4, make a passport appointment. Jay and I and all three boys have to apply in person at the Post Office for the Passport. We have to make an appointment for this. Step 5, once we get the passport, we have to get our medical exams. They are pretty detailed and I have to get a chest x-ray since I am over age 11. We will all need lots of blood tests. Oh fun. Step 6, once we have all of our current medical and dental records, plus passports, birth certificates, vaccantion records, marriage certificate and school records, we can apply for our temporary residential visa.
Now, if we are still moving in January, this should all be okay. However, Jay came home from work yesterday and said he may need to go to Seattle for a few weeks for training. Umm, okay. 15 minutes later, he says that there are lots of people at work telling him that he is scheduled to be in Australia in the 3rd quarter. It is the 3rd quarter now! The 3rd quarter ends at the end of September. Then an hour later, he makes a comment about us not moving until Jan. So which one is it, I ask. His reply "I dunno". Thanks, really helpful.
On Saturday we moved the Checker and the motorcycles to our storage building on the Eastern Shore. The drive was terrible. Traffic was horrible. It usually takes me 1 1/2 hours to get there. It took 3 hours this time. The Checker doesn't run the best and has lots of problems overheating. It is usually okay if the car is moving at a decent rate and the air moves over the engine and cools it a bit. Well, sitting in traffic doesn't let it cool much. Jay was really worried about it blowing its engine. Thankfully, we made it without incident.
Moving them freed up quite a bit of space in the garage so we can sort all the boxes we had previously packed. I spent 2 hours yesterday doing that while the kids played outside in the dirt with their trucks.
Joe and Tom have VBS again this week. They are at Pasadena United Methodist this time, for $6 each the whole week. Joe says it is much better than Galilee. They are having a water day tomorrow and have to wear swimsuits. Hopefully they will have fun.

Our wonderful trip!

We had a really really great time in Montana. It's always good to sit back and relax for a long bit.

I'll skim some of the highlights here, but really a trip to Montana is mostly about staying outside all day long and playing cards at night. The best stuff ever. I will post some pictures later, once I get unpacked.



Chicago: We drove to Chicago in order to catch the train and save some time and money. Good idea in theory, but it didn't work out as well as we had planned. We got to Chicago with many hours to spare before we needed to be at the train. We parked our car and decided to take the boys to the Willis Tower (new name for the Sears Tower). They recently installed 4 all glass slide out boxes. Each box is 4 feet deep and about 8 feet wide. These boxes are solid glass and so you feel like you are standing on nothing when you step out over the city. The boys had absolutely no fear and Sammy spent his entire time laying down on the glass with his face plastered downward, looking at the cars and city below him. We got some great pictures!



Amtrak: The train that we rode out to Whitefish was the exact same train that I have been riding since I was a kid. Nothing had been updated. No plug-ins for computers or anything. Overall, not horrible on the ride out. Jay and I were really tired from driving all night but the kids did really well. 32 hours after boarding the train, we arrived on time in Whitefish. All in all, even being an older train, it is still a great way to travel. For those who have never traveled by train, here's some details. We've never done a sleeping car because of the price so I only have info on coach seating. There are no assigned seats, just assigned cars. The conductors tell you what car to sit in so that they let you off at the correct stop. Seats are in sets of two and are larger than aircraft seats. They also have a leg rest and a foot rest and the back leans back slightly farther. Two train seats together is about the same width as three airplane seats. There is no arm rest between the pair of seats so it makes spreading out really easy. There is a fold down tray on the seat in front of you, but if you are at the front of the car (first pair of seats) you don't get the tray, but get much more leg room (and still have foot rest). On the trip out, Sam and I were in the first seats with Jay and Tom directly behind and Joe across from Jay. The bigger boys wanted trays for coloring, while I desired the extra room. There is plenty of room for the kids to sit on the floor and have their toys on their seat (as if it were a table). The train is noisy at times, but typically people get quiet at night. There is a dining car (needs reservations and is really pricy). A passenger can carry on any food and non-alcoholic drinks they would like to have. There is also a cafe car that sells sandwiches, snacks, breakfast items, sodas, water, juice, and alcoholic drinks. They are a little pricy, but not as bad as the dining car, plus you just walk down there anytime it is open. Bathrooms (for some reason) are exactly like airplane bathrooms. The cars we ride in are double levels with seats on the upper floor for most everyone, handicapped seating downstairs and bathrooms downstairs. The upper level of the train is the only level that you can travel car to car on. It is fairly cheap to travel by train and kids travel half price. Each ticketed passenger is allowed two carryons (not counting purses, laptops or diaper bags) and three checked bags.
Our train home arrived almost 4 hours late into Chicago which was a drag. At least it was on time on the way out.



Whitefish: It is a beautiful place and I still love it. It has grown very much over the years and the neighboring town of Kalispell is starting to look very East Coast. The weather was really pretty good, with 93 degree days and 45 degree nights. It did rain all night one night and the last two days of our trip had much cooler days at about 77 and overcast.



Big Mountain: We drove up to the Whitefish Ski Resort on Sunday. We then rode a gondola car to the summit of Big Mountain and took a look around. The first plan had been for Sam and I to ride back down since we didn't think he would be up for the walk down. I really didn't want to ride back down. (In all honesty, the gondola car made me feel a bit panicky, and while I could have ridden a chair lift down, I wasn't sure that would make me feel much better.) So we decided to hoof it down as a family. The grade was very steep and the boys complained almost the entire time. Jay and I enjoyed it though my calf muscles were screaming by the time we got down. We got some great photos and saw many many pretty wild flowers as we walked down.



Glacier Park: The day after we walked down Big Mountain, we gathered the boys into the car and drove 1/2 a hour up the road to Glacier Park. I have lots of good memories from Glacier as a kid and it is a tradition to go there, even if you don't make it all the way up the Going To The Sun Road. Our goal was to make it to the top this time. So we did. We drove to the top of Logan Pass on the Going To The Sun Road. We got out at the visitor center where it was a cool 55 degrees and decided to hike up to the Hidden Lake Overlook, 1.5 miles away, uphill. The first 1/3 of the path is a wooden boardwalk, with sorta steep, tilted steps. We got to see some snow and lots of snowmelt waterfalls. Really pretty. About 3/4 of the way up the trail, we encountered a mother mountain goat and her kid. Some tourists had isolated the kid on one side of the trail while mommy was headed through the trees on the other side. The poor baby was crying and crying for its mother. Finally most people got out of the way (only after being asked many times by several of us bystanders), but there was still one teenage/collage age girl that wouldn't move. She was trying to get a cellphone picture of the poor baby. Even after the kid crossed the road and ran into the trees, she was still following them. Perhaps, the girl would have acted better if it was a grizzly bear instead of a mountain goat, but I am not sure. We saw several goats on the trip up to and back from Hidden Lake. We went to the overlook and someone pointed out some bighorn sheep. They were hidden about a mile away and could only be seen with binoculars, and still not clearly even then. The older boys wanted to continue on the trek, but the trail continued for another 1.5 miles and went down next to Hidden Lake. To continue would have been downhill, but the 3 miles back to the car would have been too much. It's not very easy to carry Sam if he needs it because we need our arms to balance ourselves. The path is fairly tricky at times. We decided just to head back. Once we finally got back to the parking lot, a ranger mentioned to Jay that there were some bighorn sheep at the end of the parking lot. We walked over there and sure enough, there were about 8-10 bighorn sheep grazing in a meadow about 30 feet from the end of the parking lot. Thankfully, there was a stone wall to keep everyone back with signs asking people to stay on the path. The meadows can get damaged fairly easily by foot traffic so it is important to stay off the grasses. It was great to see the sheep up close as usually they are just some blobs on the side of a distant mountain.



Molly: My brother and his wife brought their brand new puppy Molly along for the trip. The boys don't really remember any of our dogs being puppies so they thought it was so much fun to play with her. She really liked the boys. She is also one pampered pup and got even more attention than usual with three boys and extra adults to watch after her. She is a really cute little Wheaten Terrier.



My grandfather: We found out some bad news while in Montana, my grandfather has prostate cancer. He is currently undergoing chemo for it and it is basically a wait and see situation. This was really sad news as he has always had pretty good health. So far, he is feeling pretty good with only some minor problems on the days that he gets his shots. His doctor says that Grandpa is doing better with the shots than anyone he has ever seen.

Playing cards: Every trip we ever took to Montana and any time my grandparents came to visit us, my parents would stay up extremely late playing pinochle. Over the last 7-8 years, us grandkids have been allowed to sub in for one grandparent or another. This year, my parents and Jay and I played several games. Jay and I also played with Nick and Kelly and my Grandparents. For some reason, Jay and I never play with my parents or Nick and Kelly any other time we see them. It's a family tradition and a competive one at that.

Badmitton: The other big Montana family tradition. Nick and I used to play for hours as kids. Back and forth, we'd hit the birdie with the goal of seeing how many times we could hit it in a row. Every year, we get the stuff out (no net, though) and play. We are passing it along to our kids too.

Big Sky Water Park: The big boys love to go there. We had planned to leave Sam with my parents and go there, but my parents ended up going into town that day so I had to stay behind to watch Sam. My grandparents are really up to watching a little kid. Jay and my brother Nick took Joe and Tom and had a really fun time. Tommy was actually able to ride some of the slides without an adult this year.

Overall, a great trip and I am sure that I am leaving something out.

Pre-vacation Stress

It gets us everytime. The kids get crazy with excitement, I get stressed, Jay gets stressed. Everything piles up. We get irritated and then go on vacation. The travel is usually stressful and we don't always enjoy it like we should. Kids are always short on sleep, etc., etc.
Add to this that I am working for the entire day on the day we are leaving. After work, we will be driving 12 hours to Chicago to catch the train to Montana. Once on the train, I know we can relax, but that's a ways away.
Tonight I showed our neighbor how to care for the chickens. About 30 minutes later, her husband called and talked to Jay for a bit. He told Jay that they really just couldn't watch the chickens after all. Okay. It is now 9 pm and we have to find someone else to watch the chickens. We did some calling with no luck. Then we called Jessica and she saved the day. We just have to drop the chickens off at her house tomorrow to be coop guests.
I am really looking forward to the trip, once we get pass the stressful part. I haven't ridden the train in 6 years, since Joe was just a baby. I think the kids will really enjoy it, though boredom may sit in. I have some ideas about getting past it, hopefully they will work.
I need to pack my clothes and Jay's clothes and then most of the packing will be done. Then I can go to bed.
I doubt that I will write anything until I get back.

Tots Line

So at last month's MOM Club meeting, we had a guest speaker from Tots Line. I spent most of the meeting looking at the lady and thinking "I know her from somewhere."I didn't catch the speaker's name or I would have known her. I read our August newsletter which had a recap of the meeting and mentioned her name. She's my neighbor's sister-in-law. I called my neighbor and confirmed that yes Krystine works for Tots Line. I just saw and talked to Krystine on Saturday at a birthday party. In my defense, I only see her once or twice a year. It's a small world.
I talked to Dorene for awhile about Tots Line today. Budget cuts have cut Krystine's job back to 20 hours a week and she is basically the only employee now. More cuts may be coming. That would be a huge shame as Tots Line is a great service.

Getting ready

We have spent most of this week so far getting ready for our trip to Montana. We are really looking forward to this trip. We have a lot of little things to do in order to get ready. We have to get laundry done, the house cleaned up, the car cleaned out, everything packed. I have a baby sitter for the chickens, but not for the dogs. My mother-in-law can watch them but only half the time so I have to get someone else to watch them the rest of the time.
We are also still thinking about getting ready for Australia. The plan seems to change daily, sometimes hourly. Jay came home last night saying that the rumor at work was that he was leaving in 6-8 weeks. Jay talked to a few people at work today and yes he is leaving in 6-8 weeks, but only for a few weeks. The current plan is that Jay will go for a few weeks and then come home and then we will all go in January. I am sure this will change again. That's just how it is. It changes and will continue to change.

Vacation Bible School

As a small child, we had a tradion of being dropped off at a local church for vacation bible school. I am doing the same with my kids. For $10 per kid, Joe and Tom go to VBS from 9 am until 12 pm for the entire week. Today was the first day and as usual, it is pretty much organized chaos during drop off and pick up. Once the parents clear it, it's pretty good, but while parents are there, it's really busy. I went down my street at 8:30 and a friend I haven't talked to in a long time pulled out behind me and followed me to VBS. Her kids were going too! Joe and her son Max were in the same preschool, and while both at Ft. Smallwood, were not in the same class. Joe was really happy to see some old friends there. Once I dropped off, I went to my very first yoga session ever. I have done a tiny bit of prenatal yoga and lots of "stretching" classes, but never a yoga session. I loved it. I think I may need to look into beginners yoga when we get back from vacation. After yoga, Sam and I ran to Target and then back to school to pick up the boys. We tried to play on the playground a bit, but Tom was just being a magnet for pain. First a boy hit him with a stick and then he got beat up by a two-year-old. It was hot and we were hungry so we left. We had hoped to go swimming at my neighbors house, but they weren't home.
While out and about today, I suddenly remembered that Jay is going out with his friends tonight and I will be alone. Ugh. I'm not prepared for this tonight. I have to be alone on Wednesday night as well.
We have a pretty full week planned in order to prepare for our trip. We are leaving Saturday night after an all day crop. We tend have to drive to Chicago to board the train by 2 the next afternoon. We are really looking forward to the trip. I am dreading the crop and then drive, but that's the only real stressful part of the trip.

7 out of 8 chickens agree...

The title came to me while chasing one chicken around and around the yard. We lock our chickens in a coop at night and I seem to always be chasing 1 chicken around at night trying to convince her to head to bed. I sprinkle some scratch in the coop, fill their water and stand back. 6-7 usually head right in, fast as can be. I tend to have 1-2 that just won't go in. It's almost like a naughty kid trying to stay up late. I came home from a MOM Club event today and had three chickens in the driveway. They ran around to the gate and I was able to get them back in without too much trouble. Our 4 1/2 ft fence contains them for the most part. If I thought they would stay out of the road, I wouldn't worry about keeping them in the pen. (For those who aren't familiar with the set up, our chicken coop is inside the fenced area we made for Chloe. It's a big fenced area with lots of shade). The chickens like to climb the trees in the pen and have been known from time to time to jump the fence.
I didn't feel like cooking tonight, but I didn't feel like eating out at a real place. We tried to figure out where to go. We asked our kids and Sammy jumped up yelling "hot dog!" Jay said maybe we should try Anne's Dairy Creme. We've never eaten there, but our neighbors like it. As a kid in a tiny town, we would occasionally eat out at the only restaurant in town. My favorite meal (from there) as a kid was a foot long hot dog with chili and ketchup, onion rings and a orange slushie. Dessert was always a vanilla ice cream dipped in cherry coating. Yum!
Anne's only has foot long hot dogs, no regular ones. We ordered one each for the kids, plus food for Jay and I. We ate outside in the grass as they have no place to eat inside. Joe had half a foot long, Sammy had half a foot long, and Tommy ate his entire foot long and the other half of Joe's foot long. We brought half a foot long home and someone can eat it tomorrow. It brought back lots of memories. Though Anne's cuts the foot longs in half before wrapping them up. As a kid, they were served whole and part of the appeal was trying to hold up a massive hot dog.
After dinner, we asked the kids what they wanted to do and gave them three choices 1) go home and go to bed 2) go home and build the bunk beds 3) go to the park and play. Our kids all three picked bunk beds. So we went home and bunked Joe and Tom's bed in order to give them more room in their room. We'll see how it goes.

Well that's okay

Thursday my mother-in-law babysat the kids for me so that I could try to get some things done. I am proud say that I got most of my errands done.
I got birth certificates for Tom and Sam (already have one for Joe).
I got new glasses. Unfortunately, they don't carry the same style as I had gotten last time so I had to branch out to something else. I can always find what I really don't like but have a harder time finding things I do like. The place I go has a 2 pair for $99 special. I was going to end up paying $99 whether I got two pairs or not, so I went ahead and got two pairs. I have always gotten the anti-reflective coating on my glasses, ever since I started wearing glasses in college. I chose not to pay the extra $40 per pair this time. I regret it already. I think I may have to go back and get it.
While waiting for my glasses to finish, I got my hair cut and my lip waxed. My friend Jessica's waxing story inspired me to try it for the first time, but I decided to try it small. It didn't really hurt. My stylist must have misunderstood me when I talked about my hair, at least about the length. It is quite short and I am not sure what to do with it. It looks okay, but I haven't had hair this short before and have a hard time styling it. I'm sure it will work out and it will grow out. Jay was surprised too about the length.
I dropped off my watch to have the crystal replaced. It is completely broken and I was worried about water getting into it. I meant to take my back-up watch in for a battery, but I forgot. Now I am without watch. It is very weird for me and I will have to figure something out before I go insane from not having a watch.
I also used some of the money I earned babysitting the neighbor to buy a new outfit. I got both the shirt and pants on sale! The shirt was $7 off the regular price and the pants were 40% off.
All in all, a successful day. The kids had a fun time with grandma and did pretty well.
I went out with some friends last night for dancing in celebration of a birthday. $6 for a bottomless cup. I tend to drink for about an hour and then switch to diet coke for the rest of the time. I probably should switch to something different than diet coke. I tend to have too much caffeine and spend the rest of the night awake. I spilled a rum and diet coke all over my brand new pants. That was a little irksome. At least it dried quick. I had a pretty good time and actually danced a bit.