Monday...again

So here we are almost in March, and we're due to get 8" of snow tonight. Yuck! Phooey! Blech! I'm longing for crocuses and we're getting more snow. Not how I wanted to start the week. I also have decided that swimsuit season is fast approaching so I should at least make an effort at not embarrasing myself or my progeny at the beach. I'm wearing a size 10 jeans right now and I know my swimsuit is an 8 (unless I want to wear my maternity swimsuit which I'm not thrilled about). There is no getting around it, I'll have to diet. Another Yuck, Phooey, Blech. I like to eat darn it. We'll see how it goes. I'll track my calories over at fitday. Usually if I can keep it to about 1800 cal/day I lose. I know you're now thinking, "hey I thought she was a dietitian, this should be easy for her." It just means I KNOW how bad my eating habits are, not that it's easy to change them. My perfect eating day would be coffee and donuts, coffee, coffee, coffee, nachos and beer, pizza and beer, cake. I don't eat that way but I sure wish I could!

S-A-TUR-DAY- NIGHT

Just thought I'd lead off with a little Bay City Rollers in the title.
I've debated whether to even mention the flap over another blogger's Duggar family comments. I'm afraid I found the whole thing interesting in a "can't turn away from the car crash" kind of way. The original post was sort of snarky but was meant as humor. Lots of mud got thrown both ways after that. What it really made me wonder was how other's are perceiving me just from the blog. Hmmm, lots of kids, goes to church---she must be one of those wild-eyed fundamentalists. Hmmmm lots of kids, swears and drinks----she must be one of those welfare types that expect me to support her. Neither one is true but it is so much easier to pigeonhole people. Then after you've neatly categorized you can move on. A human failing I guess.
I've mostly been working on painting the kitchen this week. I also finally got blinds and hung them in the boys' rooms. I bought E a bed frame and mattress. It should be delivered on Monday. She's been sleeping on the floor. Before you accuse me of child abuse, there are two perfectly good beds upstairs, she chose the floor in the downstairs bedroom. She really wanted a couch, not a bed, but it wouldn't fit with the closet jutting out so... mean mom finally decided to move her off dead center and get the bed. She can put it against the wall with pillows and approximate a couch. S went to spend the night with a friend. L,C and F got some movies from the library and are planning a "movie party" complete with Dots and Snowcaps.
In the mean time, I think I'll pull out some of those "big CD's", which is what my 3yr old calls records, and jam to the Bay City Rollers!!!!!

1-2-3

Perhaps I use one discipline technique too much? Last night L was being difficult so I said "go to bed". Off she goes in a flood of tears. I went up 5 minutes later to talk to her. Why the tears? Not because she was sent to bed, because I didn't count! "Mom, if you don't get to 2 how do I know to stop?" Ummm, maybe when I say quit?

The Weekend

Dh and I went to Lowe's (his favorite store I think) and got rollers, brushes, etc so I can paint the kitchen this week. We also found a nice small vanity with sink for $100. We need small because it would give us more room in the bathroom. The plan is to buy a thing each paycheck. We'll get the fixtures, then the new toilet, maybe a light, a new medicine cabinet then maybe this summer we can work on the bathroom. We'll see. Things have a way of not working out exactly like they were planned on paper. Saturday night we took S,C and L to a skating/birthday party. E watched F and L. Since we were in town and we would have had to turn around right away if we drove home, we had Chinese for dinner. It was something we hardly ever do so it was nice.
Today the boys had a basketball tourney game. They lost, so civic center basketball is over just leaving us with S's school team for now. Of course, I met a friend of mine leaving the game. She and her husband run the baseball league and she handed me the forms so in a couple short months I'll be standing at a ball diamond instead of sitting on a bleacher. I don't have climatic season's anymore, I have sports seasons.
I updated my food blog for this week. This week I hope to: paint kitchen, paint cabinets, touch up wood putty spots in bedroom and mud room. Eventually I'd also like to get to the dining room (in which we will never dine) E and L's rooms also need painted. Maybe by the end of summer.

More Accomplishments

For whatever reason I was still feeling full of youthful vigor and promise today so for fun I recaulked the tub. This entailed removing the old caulk and scraping mildew. You may remember we have the world's smallest bathroom, and not only is it small but it's unventilated, thus the mildew. I figured if I was already wet and gross might as well scrub, scrub,scrub the tub. That was so much fun I drug out the carpet cleaner and did the floor. Why the previous owners carpeted a bathroom is beyond me. Perhaps they didn't have six kids. It was....let's say odorous and unpleasant, but it is now clean. Not sure where this working mood came from.

Tonight dd and her friends have gone to a middle school dance. I think dh is not quite comfortable with her looking nice and going to a dance. I went to a Cub Scout meeting and filled in time by letting them arm wrestle each other and me. At least I can still beat the 10 and 11 yos. It's always good to leave them thinking you could potentially hurt them, LOL!

Accomplishment

It's amazing what you can get done if you work hard (and don't sit down and don't eat). I'm occassionally overtaken by the mood to get all those little nagging jobs taken care of. Yesterday I had one of those days. I dropped F at preschool, took L & A grocery shopping, came home, put away groceries, filled out a tedious form for insurance reimbursement, took said form to the post office and stopped at the flooring store where I put a down payment on my kitchen floor. Yeah!!! It's been stripped to the floorboards, the very old, very dirty, floorboards with attractive spots of 1930's linoleum since fall. The new vinyl should be down in a couple of weeks. I picked up F, came home, gave them lunch. A has been grumpy for 2 or 3 days. I'm not sure if it's ears, teeth or what. After finally settling her down I got out all the paint stuff and primed the kitchen walls. They were three different colors. Now they are nice shiny white. The fumes from the primer though, whew!! Since I was all painty I touched up some spots in my bedroom. I also managed to get 3 loads of laundry done and make a pot roast and apple crisp for dessert. If I were this organized and hardworking everyday either we'd live in a lovely home or I'd kill myself for turning into Martha Stewart. I don't feel the mood today so I'll slink off to my slothful corner now.

Random Acts

Neither hard gym floor, nor roaring crowd, nor obnoxious buzzer nor the exciting sport will keep me from my appointed nap!


I should not have given up swearing for Lent.

Swearing would have been a reasonable response to a 6yr old who felt free to throw books and call her mother Stupo (that was a Marx brother wasn't it?)

It is reported tearfully that throwing books and calling your mother Stupo was not worth losing your electronics, sitting in your room all afternoon and going to bed early.

Proud mommy moments (and I think I deserve some after the above incident) 9yo ds got a certificate and 12yo dd gets to go eat donuts and juice for being kind. Dd volunteered to be in the group of special ed kids for a group project. I'm not sure what 9yo did, he won't say.

My Snotty Valentine

Ah, the mucus marathon!! What fun. It is my fervent hope that runny noses are the last stage of the croup,fever,laryngitis extravaganza. Now I just need to buy another gross of tissues until it passes. I have a horrible confession to make too. This virus has given oldest dd horrible canker sores. Great big huge quarter size ones. I gave her tylenol with codeine last night. I figured if it didn't help with the pain it would at least put her to sleep and relieve my pain. Because even though I know it hurts, her whining was about to drive me around the bend!!! When her mood turns a bit south, as from pain, she brings up every injustice in her life. You may be interested to know that she always gets the smallest pancake, her opinion is repeatedly ignored, I don't know how to raise young children, and that she has no recollection that I ever made her heart shaped peanut butter sandwiches as a young child. I didn't think you'd be interested but you can now understand the dose of codeine.

On brighter notes, L attended her first sleepover party on Friday. No phone calls in the middle of the night. She now declares she is ready for camp this summer. I'm not sure I'm ready to send my 6yo off for a week.

S and C raced their cars in the Pinewood Derby this weekend. They finished firmly in the middle of the pack. I will say, however, that their cars were obviously the only kid constructed ones in the race. They were really, really obviously the only kid constructed ones in the race. I of course forgot my camera, as I was trying to bake treats, set up tables, fill balloons, find ice.....you get the idea. It doesn't pay to be efficient because others gladly expect you'll do what needs to be done.

I remembered that I said I'd send cookies to L's kindergarten for the Valentine's Party today. I really hate starting cookies at 9pm. I pretty much like to sit down by 9pm and only get up to go to bed. I just made chocolate chip but I added "sprinkles" to make them festive. Kids don't like heart shaped, exquisitely decorated cookies anyway...right? right???

The brightest note... today at 2:30 I have a massage scheduled. My dh,( yes it is really him not a pod person as was my first thought) scheduled one for me. I am going to enjoy that hour. I will not make lists in my head, I will not feel guilty, I will not plan the week ahead. I'm going to enjoy this darn it. Now if I just don't fall asleep once I get horizontal!!!

Computer virus?

Every blog I go to seems to have families suffering from illness! It is making me wonder if it is spread digitally ? It snowed more here so at least it looks pretty. The trees look frosted. S has his first school basketball game tonight. I have a sore throat and my ears and head hurt but life goes on. I NEED to buy groceries or it'll be grilled cheese and soup tonight. I think I'll just have another cup of tea (ok, it's more like a hot toddy, but hey I'm sick here) and get moving!

The Virus has left the building

at least for the most part. I don't feel so hot but I don't seem to have any sick days in my contract so....The weather hasn't been helping my mood either. It got warm and rainy and after 3 days finally melted all the snow. I was getting in the mindset that after it was gray for awhile Spring might put in an appearance but of course I woke to snow again. Spring is such a tease.
Tomorrow L will go to her first sleep over party. That poor mother has no idea what she's in for. I can only hope she doesn't do anything that would result in our having to move far, far away. The Pinewood Derby is Sunday. Hey, I guess we should start on those. It is not a father/son bonding experience here. It is a mom trying not to take her finger off with a hacksaw and slapping some paint on it experience. Maybe I can just talk them into sticking the wheels on the square block of wood. It would be futuristic don't you think? Hopefully they won't be too embarrassed.

Murphy

Murphy was on to something with that law of his. I actually went to the trouble to change all the sheets upstairs on the kids beds today. This of course inspired Mel to puke all over hers. She has a fever too, so didn't enjoy the bath that followed so much. I predict a night in the chair with my sick baby.

The Barking of Tiny Throats

The really great thing about croup is....ok, I can't think of a really great thing about croup. Unless you like the sound of Harp Seals or something. C started feeling better but F woke me up Saturday night with a decidedly blue tinge to his lips and nails. So I spent more time in the world's smallest, steamy bathroom. When E got up Saturday her eye looked like it had been replaced by a beet. Off to Redi-Med we go. It wasn't pink eye, she had scratched her cornea. We had to return Sunday but it looks like we can avoid a trip to the ophthamoloigist. Now the argument is to convince her to wear her glasses since contacts are out for awhile. Ah, the vanity of a 7th grader. On the bright side, S's party Friday night was a success. Today is one of those days that can even depress a Pollyanna like me. Gray-check, muddy-check, snow melted down to show how dirty it is-check. This calls for tea and fresh chocolate chip cookies. Hey, it's cheaper than prozac!

Friday Fun?

Today is a day from he**. It is our 5th 2hr delay this week due to fog, I have more to do than two of me can accomplish (so much for that schizophrenic feeling paying off) and 9yo ds woke me up at 5:30 with blue lips and wheezing. Nothing like a good dose of terror to wake you right up. Luckily some time in a steamy bathroom (I knew I'd be glad we had the world's smallest bathroom) brought him around. No school for him today though.

Eleven Years Ago

S was born. I went to work that day and was fine. Picked up dd after work, gave her dinner, put her to bed and made a big bowl of spaghetti. About 9:30 OUCH!. I tried to track down dh, waited for him to get home from work, made it to the hospital about 11:00 and he arrived at 11:30. Just under the wire for Groundhog's Day. Which gave me the best line of the delivery "I don't care if he sees his shadow or not, he's NOT going back."

S fancies himself quite amusing (and he really can be funny in a dry sort of way). He is tall and wiry. He plays sports but is only fair at them. His true passion is his imagination. He lives in a world of Yugioh, The Rings Trilogy and other places of his own devising. Thank God he hasn't discovered D&D yet. When he does I know he'll be obsessed. He has yet to develop the annoying teenage tendencies of his sister. Care if he showers? Care if his hair is standing up? No way! He will have 3 friends stay over Friday night. They will be swimming (which I hope wears them out some) eating pizza and drinking Mountain Dew, playing gamecube, dueling with Yugioh cards and watching movies. Apparently, at least for my 11 year old, this will be as close to heaven as he can get this side of the grave.

About That Resolution..00

I seem to remember saying we were going to slow down. This week and last are showing that we're breaking that resolution. It just has seemed to be "the perfect storm" of things to do. I won't even go into last week but this week includes. Mon-2 dance lessons at 6 and 8:15, basketball practice from 5:15 to 6:45 and a 7:00 o'clock basketball game. You'll notice this means I needed to be several places at one time. This involved lots of driving back and forth and leaving the littles in the van, since taking in and out of seats is the time consuming part. Yesterday I also had to return some things to a store (2 wasted hours) and did the taxes (ick!). Tonight is basketball practice and a basketball game. Wednesday is basketball practice, Kid's Klub at church and my ds's birthday. Thursday basketball game. Friday ds #3 basketball game, sleepover birthday party for ds #2, cub scout meeting that I have to attend, leave to pick up ds#2 and then return to meeting and dd #1 has a pizza party at pizza hut for her basketball team winning which I have no idea how I'm going to get her there. Saturday I need to get assorted boys home and we have two basketball practices. Ok, I'm tired just thinking about it. This is the last week for dd#2's basketball team and #2 and #3's should be over in a couple weeks. That will just leave ds playing on the school team. Dd #1 has decided to not do track and be in drama instead. Just as many practices I'm sure but no sitting at track meets or waiting to pick her up from the bus. Ok, this turned into a big vent. It's not that I mind anything they do, I just always feel so time pressured because if you're driving around in the evening all the homework, housework, cooking, laundry, errands must be done before about 5:00. We could become hermits I suppose but I know none of us (except maybe dh, who refuses to leave the house) would like it.