I swore I would never say that

I took the kids to visit Papa and go out to lunch today(again). The kids were being kind of squirrley, so I opted against a trip to the mall and decided to bring them home so Gracie could take a nap instead. My car is smaller than Lisa's and the kid's carseats are virtually right next to each other. Not a good thing. They were bickering and taunting each other in the back seat. I askd them to stop. They didn't. Then I found myself saying "I will have to stop the car if you do not stop fighting." It was very reminsicent of the "Don't make me come back there!" The only problem was, we were on the freeway and there was nowhere safe for me to pull over, so it was an empty threat. Those never work. Next they began having a sword fight, Cameron with his Power Ranger Sword, and Grace with her Tinkerbell wand. Again I tell them they need to stop. They don't. I tell them I am going to take away their "weapons" if they do not STOP HITTING EACH OTHER WITH THEM. They still don't stop. I tell Grace to give me her wand. She says NO! and hides it where I can't get it. I would have pulled over at this point, but again there is nowhere safe and we need gas, and I have to pee. Cameron wisely chooses to put his sword down. Gracie continues to hit Cameron with her wand. When she is not expecting it, I reach around and grab the wand out of her hand. Yeah, real safe driving there. But she wasn't listening and I could not have her whacking her brother while I was trying to drive. As soon as I take the wand away from her, Grace begins SCREAMING at the top of her lungs, kicking her feet and banging on her carseat. A full on tantrum. She continues to do this for twenty minutes. I try reasoning with her, I try threatening that she will never get the wand back if she doesn't stop crying this instant, I try turning up the radio to drown out her screaming. Nothing works. I am beginning to get a headache. Cameron suggest I just give her the wand back to make her stop screaming. No way. I am not rewarding this kind of behavior. She continues to scream. Finally the screaming turns to crying. I ask her if she would like a tissue and she says yes. She continues to cry, but quietly at least. I pull into a gas station and get out to pump the gas. When I open the car door to put my credit card away, Cameron says "Gracie says you're Bad". Great. Just call me Bad Aunt Michelle. By the time we get home, I seem to have been forgiven. I think she misses her Mom, and her Dad, and her own bed. Five days is a long time to be away from home without your parents when you're three.

Parenting is hard

We're on day three of this substitute parenting thing. Two more days to go. I didn't exactly think this thing through when I agreed to it. First of all, my vacation ends on Tuesday. That's the day Lisa and Scott are coming for the kids. That means I will have spent my entire vacation either away from home, or watching the kids. Which is fine, but there was no time in there for me to chill out at home. I am a homebody by nature. Sometimes I like to just spend the whole weekend at home, doing the laundry and cleaning the house. I haven't been able to do either of those things. I like to start the work week prepared. It doesn't look like there is going to be time for that either. I don't think I was prepared for the complete lack of sleep I am encountering either. I have a hard time sleeping at night. Some nights, like last night, I don't sleep at all. That's why I sleep during the day occasionally. People with my type of kidney disease are supposed to sleep more than normal people. Chronic fatigue has been a real problem for me in the last couple of years. When I don't get enough sleep, I start to feel sick. I can feel a sore throat coming on now. Gracie has been getting up at six forty-five in the morning. That is entirely too early for me. Today she woke up Cameron at that time too. Great. Joe says not to worry, that when we have Sophie he will help me. He has not helped me at all with Grace and Cameron. He's asleep right now. I have heard it is different when you they're your own. I certainly hope so. So I'm tired. More than tired. Exhausted. Yet I have to think of things to do today to get us out of the house because there isn't a lot for the kids to do here and they get bored easily. And when they get bored they start fighting with each other. Or bugging the animals. Gotta go. I have two small children to entertain!


P.S. I completely forgot it was New Year's Eve! Today is an anniversary for Me and Joe. Eighteen years ago we met at a New Year's Party. Eighteen years!! Has it really been that long? It hardly seems possible. Happy New Year everybody!

I hope my sister is having a nice time in Mexico, drinking Margaritas and watching the sun set, because man, I am tired. How do you people that have two(or more) kids do this? Seriously, how? I had the kids alone for most of the day, as Joe wasn't feeling all that well. I took them to the park because, well, things weren't going well cooped up in our small apartment. All three of my animals are completely freaked out that these children have invaded their space. I am constantly herding the dogs(and cat) away from the children or the children away from the dogs. One of our dogs is thirteen years old and she is not at all happy about having a three and a five year old chase her around or try to sit on her while she is laying on her couch. The nerve! The cat feels pretty much the same way. She hasn't come inside the house at all since the kids arrived last night, Gracie yelling "HERE KITTY KITTY!! WHY YOU NOT LIKE ME KITTY?" Anyway, so I took them to the park today. My first mistake was walking there instead of driving. We have a park literally on every corner in my neighborhood. I thought it would wear them out if we walked to the park and back. The only problem is, Gracie didn't want to walk back from the park. And you can't make a three year old walk if they don't want to(If you know a way to get them to do this, please share). Once we got to the park, I pushed them in the swings, I built sandcastles, I went down the slide. I tried to sit on a bench and soak up some of the sunshine, but that didn't go well. First Gracie had to go to the bathroom. Then Cameron had to go. Then Gracie had to go again. I think we spent a good portion of our time in the bathroom while we were there. There were other kids at the park playing together while their mothers sat on a bench reading a book or conversing, but not me. No, they want me to play with them. Which is usually fine, because that's why I'm doing this. To spend quality time with my niece and nephew. But dude, I was tired. So we came back and watched television. I know, bad. But I needed a break. And during that time Gracie styled my hair. It was beautiful. I would have taken pictures, but Cameron took the batteries out of my camera to out into his video game. Good times. It is now ten to nine in the evening and I am about to go to bed and conk out. Tomorrow I have the entire day planned out. There won't even be time for T.V. But there will be time for a nap for Gracie. She was tired and ready for a meltdown at four o' clock without one.

My favorite Christmas gifts

I was going to title this post "A few of my favorite things", but then I noticed Shelley already used it, and I didn't want to be a copycat. :) Here are some pictures of Christmas Eve, and a few of my favorite gifts I received for Christmas. My sister made that blanket for Sophie. I love the pattern on the fabric, and it is so soft! She also got me this beautiful handcrafted doll for Sophie. Gracie got one too. She is adorable! Also from my sister I received this beautiful Clayworks church titled "Hope" that I had asked for. Joe got me this very cute Tinkerbell teacup. He may have had a little help from me with that one:) He did however, get me this beautiful Angelheart Brighton bracelet, which I absolutely love, with no help from me whatsoever. I am very lucky indeed.

P.S. Sorry these are in no particular order. Blogger is being uncooperative.

2 months!

We have been LID for two months today. Only like a bazillion more to go. Having a blast up in San Francisco. Rain came today, and it looks like it will be staying for a few days. We've had a change of plans. We have decided to come home two days early, and bring the kids with us to our house where we will watch them until the second, while Lisa and Scott take a trip to Mexico. That should keep us pretty busy until I have to go back to work on Wednesday!

The link wasn't working...

so here they are! You have no idea how long it tookme to get this to work!!!


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

A day in the city

Today Joe and I took Bart into the city and spent the whole day exploring Union Square. We had so much fun! I took too many pictures to post here, but here's a link to the photos I did take. Just hit "play slideshow" when you get there. Only one more shopping day left! :)

Safe and Sound

We arrived safely at our destination in San Francisco today. That's a long drive. I shouldn't be complaining because I only drove three out of the seven hours it took us to get here. Sometimes I drive the whole way by myself. The weather is actually nicer here than at home. It was raining when we left early this morning. It is cold here, but sunny at the moment. They are calling for rain again by Christmas day. Last year it rained every single day that we were here. I hope it doesn't do that this year. I can't believe Christmas is on Monday. December flew by. Tomorrow Lisa and family are going to visit Scott's side of the family and Joe and I are staying here. We may go into the city, or to the movies, or we may just stay here and lounge in our P.J.'s all day. It hasn't been decided yet. Either way, we are both in need of some rest and relaxation, and I'm happy that we're going to get some.

Disneyland pics

Vacation

Today was the last day of school before our Christmas break(it is a Catholic school, so this is what they call it). Two glorious weeks off. Wahoo! I was able to come home a little early today, as we had only twenty two children attend(as opposed to the sixty some we usually have). I cleaned the house, wrapped one last present and packed the rest of them for the trip, and cleaned out the car. Prescriptions have been picked up, the petsitter is scheduled, Christmas cards have been mailed out. I think we are ready for our trip. Joe finally decided to tell me my surprise for tomorrow. He's taking me to Disneyland! I love Disneyland. It is so beautiful there at Christmas time. We haven't been for a couple years, so I am really looking forward to it. As for the little problem I was having the other day, Joe has handled it and it shouldn't be concerning me anymore. Whew. I didn't want that hanging over my head over the holidays. I may not be around for a couple of days. Disneyland all day tomorrow, then we're leaving very early on Friday for S.F. Maybe after I get to my sister's I'll have time to post something.

Stressed

First off, I have to say thank you to my secret pal. I don't know if she reads my blog or not, but how cute is this hat and mittens set she sent me? And that Panda bear was on my Christmas list. So cool! I am so stressed out. I think the hustle and bustle of Christmas is getting to me. Something else happened today that totally freaked me out and caused me to leave work early in tears. I had to take half of a Xanax when I got home, and I never do that. I can't talk about it, but it involves a creditor, and a law suit, and being served papers at work. For something that isn't even our fault and I had no idea about. Merry Christmas. I know my husband will sort it all out eventually, but for now I am scared and anxious. I did manage to finish wrapping all of my presents today. Now they are all ready to be dropped off or packed up for our trip. Here's a picture of all the loot. No wonder we are financially tapped out! I have a tendency to go a little overboard at Christmas. I just can't help myself. I love giving gifts! See that fancy silver ribbon on most of the presents? That's to hide the fact that I am a terrible wrapper. I really am. So all of the packages got fancy silver ribbons to hide the flaws. Everyone but the kids, that is, because kids need to be able to rip into their presents without the hassle of ribbon.

The fastest weekend ever

Is it Sunday night already? What happened to the weekend? I think the reason I feel like the weekend slipped away too quickly is because I spent the majority of my day yesterday at work. Yes, I was at work from 9-3, renewing the infant, child and adult CPR/First aid class that is required for my job. Fun. It actually wasn't that bad, and now it is done for another two years and I don't have to worry about it. I am not looking forward to this week, even though I only have to work three days. It is going to be crazy busy. I hate crazy busy. On Monday I have to go drop off presents to all my friends I will not see next week. Tuesday I have a Christmas party at work, and then a doctor's appointment, followed by dinner with the in-laws to exchange gifts. I am tired just typing that. Wednesday I have to get the car serviced so it's ready for our trip, as well as clean the house and pack. Thursday both Joe and I are off, and he has something special planned, but he won't tell me what it is. Did I mention I am not very fond of surprises? I'm a planner. It's hard to plan for a surprise. Bright and early Friday morning we leave for my sister's. We'll be gone for ten days. I can't wait to see the kids. I haven't seen them since the first week in October, since we didn't visit at Thanksgiving this year. Whew. Maybe I can do some relaxing while I'm there. Hubby just walked in the door and wants to know what's for dinner. Ummm....Oops! I have no idea! Gotta go!

Crafting

I am feeling a million times better today. I think I just needed to get that out of my system. Thank you for all the encouraging comments. They truly helped. My favorite was from Tracy, where she named pretty much anything and everything that could go wrong with "plan B". It actually made me laugh, because that is exactly how I think! There will always be something to freak out over. The key for me is going to be keeping the freakouts to as small a time frame as possible and making sure they are few and far between. So I have been a little stressed out over the last few days, so what did I do? (I know you are thinking shopping, but no, I have been banned from using the checkbook again until well after Christmas!) No, I didn't shop. I did some crafting. I made a lot of jewelery yesterday and today. Beading helps me calm down and takes the focus off of what is bothering me. I made ten bracelets and six pairs of earrings. Some of them turned out quite cute. I also have been working on these scrapbook picture frames that you hang on the wall. They are done on a piece of artist's canvas, which I painted and embellished. I left photo mats empty because it is a gift for someone and they can put their own photo in. I am going to make a couple of these with some Chinese characters on them that say "love", or "hope", and possibly "family". I really like the way they turned out. I am going to make one for Sophie's name, on mint green and lavendar, with a Chinese character on it. Probably "Love". Anyway, I am much calmer today and am sitting here listening to Christmas music and making more bracelets. I hope I can sell all of these!

Crafting pictures

So you had a bad day

Now I can't get that song out of my head. I had a bad day. A rotten day. I snapped at my husband before I left work work(at 5:45 a.m.! Not a good start to the day), then I yelled at some co-workers today over something that really shouldn't have bothered me so much. Then I burst into tears on the phone with my husband, which prompted him to say "What is wrong with you?" At which point I started talking a million miles a minute, saying how China was going to put into place new regulations, and how we won't qualify to adopt from there when they are put into place, and even though we're already logged in, what if they decide we aren't qualified now? What if they decide we don't meet their standards to adopt? What if we wait two years and we don't get to have a child? I was talking so fast he could barely understand me, and man, where did all that come from because he didn't even know anything about any new rules(I hadn't told him). I guess that was festering inside of me waiting to come out. I know my post yesterday was all about me being at peace with the whole situation and what not, but I don't think it really hit me until today that we don't meet the new requirements. And nobody knows for sure if the people who are logged in are going to be exempt from these new rules. I can wait two years for a child. I can. What I cannot do is wait two years and then be denied. I just can't. So of course I tell my husband we need a plan B. Maybe we should look into other countries just in case. Because you know, we're independently wealthy and can afford to do this. Or, maybe we should go back to some of the infertility treatments. After all, everybody who decides to adopt ends up getting pregnant, right? Except even saying that statement out loud makes me start to hyperventilate. Infertility treatments. Shudder. I know that there is nothing we can do. It is completely out of our hands. What I need to do is find a way to continue to not worry about it. I'll be back in my Zen place tomorrow. Today I just need a little time to freak out.

Isn't this supposed to be an Adoption Blog?

I know, this blog is supposed to be about our adoption journey. It says so right in the title. See? I haven't been writing much about the adoption. Much? How about at all? I just can't right now. I haven't even been following the referrals(besides the other blogs I read). I used to get excited every month when referrals came out, and went to every single site that got one so I could see the pictures of those cute faces. I didn't do that this month. Mostly because there is no rhyme nor reason to when referrals come out anymore, and I can't take the guessing game of how many day this month? How does it compare to last month? Are they speeding up? Slowing down? Why? Just writing about it gives me anxiety. I am a high strung person by nature, and I can't take the added stress. I promised myself I would stop stressing once we got our LID. Our paperchase was a nightmare from beginning to end, and I swore I would relax when it was over. Yeah. That lasted about all of a day and a half. Before I knew it, I was all stressed out again, checking Rumor Queen's site, freaking out over referrals(or lack thereof) and having serious anxiety attacks over supposed "new regulations". It isn't good for me, mentally or physically. I was discussing it with my husband one night and I asked him "How come none of this stresses you out like it does me? Why aren't you checking the websites for updates or freaking out over new rules?" Do you know what he said? "I can't do anything to change the situation, so it won't do me any good to stress over it." At first I was annoyed with him, and answered whatever before gong back to my blogs and all of the rumors. But the more I though about it, I realized how right he was. He is in a much better place than I am. He takes one day at a time and doesn't worry about what tomorrow will bring. He says "It will happen when it happens. But it will happen." The are saying the wait is definitely going to go up to two years. Possibly longer. I am coming to peace with that. Maybe we need this extra time to prepare. Maybe in the next two years my husband will find a full time teaching position. Maybe we'll be able to move into a bigger place. Maybe things will change at my job. I don't know. Nobody knows. What I do know is I have to stop stressing out over this. So I am taking Rumor Queen off of my bloglines. For now. I will still be following along with other people's blogs, but I am not stressing over when referrals are coming out, or how many days were included this month. I simply can't do that for two more years. So I'm not going to. So if you came here because this is an adoption blog, I apologize. Right now it is just a blog about the everyday happenings of my boring life. Someday I hope for it to turn back into an adoption blog. Hopefully sooner than later. And now a tidbit from my boring life. I just came from Bunco, where I won again. I'm on a winning streak!(yeah, I know I just jinxed it). I also received a very cute gift from the gift exchange, and it ended up coming from my very good friend Monica. Thanks Monica! Now it's late and I must get to bed.

A Perfect Day

Today was a wonderfully perfect day. For the first time in five months my husband did not have to work on Sunday. I was so used to being alone that I had forgotten how nice it was to have him home! Today we slept in, then I made us a yummy breakfast. We lounged around in our P.J.'s until noon, drinking coffee, reading the paper and listening to Christmas music. It rained last night so it was cloudy and cool outside. Perfect weather for staying cozy inside. Pretty soon we felt the need for a nap, so that's what we did. Napped. I love naps. I wrapped some Christmas presents(almost done), then ran and got us dinner. Now we're watching sixty minutes(recorded it). Tomorrow it will be back to our hectic schedules, so I'm glad we had the time to catch up and relax a little. Here's my ornament for today. It came in a set of four, with a different angel on the top of each bell. The bells make the most beautiful tinkling sound when you ring them. One of the kids gave me these a few years ago. I remember them distinctly because the child who gave them to me asked me to open it right then, while I was standing on the playground. So I opened it, and some of the other children had gathered around to see what it was. One particular little boy, whose mother had Cancer, came up to me after the other children had gone and said quietly to me "My mom would love those. She likes angels." We talked about his mom for a few minutes and then he went off to play. Later that day, when his Aunt came to pick him up, I handed him a small gift bag. He looked at me with a surprised look, and then suddenly his face lit up in a huge smile. I didn't even have to tell him what it was. He already knew. As far as I know, he gave his Mom that ornament for Christmas. She died ten days later. She was a beautiful, courageous woman. That little boy went to live with his Dad after that school year, so I don't get to see him anymore. I think of him often, and I hope he remembers that small bit of kindness I offered him that day. I hope he still has that ornament, and I hope it makes him think of his Mom, like it makes me think of her every time I place it on my tree.

Catching Up

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post! I am way behind on my ornaments f0r my sister's challenge. I have been terribly busy. And the short amount of time I am not busy I have been sleeping. A lot. I don't know if I was coming down with something, or if it was some of the medications I am taking, but all last week I was just so sleepy. All the time. It was all I could do to stay at work until three-thirty, then I was coming home and taking an hour and a half nap. And still going to bed at 9:30! It seems to have passed today. No nap. Good. I have so much to do, and I certainly wasn't getting it done while I was asleep! Today was employeee appreciation day at my husband's part time job, so I went and finished up my Christmas shopping at forty percent off. Can't beat that! I am now officially done with my Christmas shopping. It feels good to be done. Now I just have to wrap, and deliver all of the gifts to the people I am not going to see at Christmas. I love spending Christmas with my sister, but sometimes it's hard to get everything done that needs to be in time for us to leave for ten days. Well, I have a ton of bracelets to make for people that ordered them, so I'd better get to it. Here's my ornament for today. Another Disney.

Funny Things Heard Around Our House

So I went to PetCo this weekend to buy one of our dogs a "bubba"(stuffed animal). She had stolen on out of Sophie's room awhile back, but she's a small dog, and it was a large animal and she could hardly even carry it around. But oh, how she loved it. So I decided she needed a new one that was more her size. So off to PetCo I went, with my sister on tow. They had a huge selection, and we were kind of in a hurry, so I chose the first one that caught my eye that was the right size. So we get home and I give Gizmo(or "Dizmo" as Cameron calls her) her new Bubba. And she loves it. She is carrying it around, making it squeak incessantly, and bringing it to us so we can play fetch with her. After getting it home and getting a better look at it, I realize what kind of animal it is. It's a beaver! Yes, that's right. A beaver! So the following things have been said at our house over this last weekend. The first couple were said inadvertantly, but once we realized how funny they were, of course we had to keep thinking up new things to say(because we have the sense of humor of a teenage boy)
"Where's your Beaver?"
"Go get your beaver. Go on, go get it."
"What a cute beaver you have"
"That is one squeaky beaver !"
"Bring me your beaver!"

And my personal favorite, said by my husband today:
He had sat down on the couch, on top of Gizmo's bubba, without realizing it. Gizmo was digging at his leg and he was telling her to stop. I said to him "I think you might be sitting on her beaver!" He gets up and sure enough, there is her toy. She brings it over to me and he says "Sorry Gizmo, I hope I didn't hurt your Beaver!" Yeah, it doesn't take much to enterain us around here! ( I think we might have to name the new bubba "Britney")

Here's a pic of the tree, for my sister
And another ornament. One of the kids gave me this one last year. It is a Lenox and I am quite fond of it.

Ornament Challenge

I finally got my Christmas tree up(finally? it's only Dec. 4th!), so I can now participate in my sister's ornament challenge. I finally bit the bullet and bought an artificial tree. It is something I swore I would never do, because I LOVE the smell of the fresh tree, and I liked the tradition of going to choose it too. It just wasn't feasable anymore. We live in an apartment, and we are gone the week of and most of the week after Christmas. Since it made me sad to take the tree down before we left, it was always totally dead by the time we got home and the mess was horrible. So I found a cute little one at Jo-Anne's, and I bought some pine scented room spray to make up for the aroma. When it's lit at night you can't even tell it's fake. We might go back to a live tree, after Sophie comes home and is old enough to help participate in the choosing of one, but for right now this works. Anyway, since I am a little behind in the challenge, here are four ornaments from my tree. Do you sense a theme here? Yeah, my tree has a Disney theme. I started collecting Disney ornaments almost fourteen years ago when we were first married and I was a Disney freak(I had a Mickey and Minnie cake topper on my wedding cake!). My obsession with all things Disney has subsided(a little), but the ornaments are cute and I never had the money or time to buy all new ornaments. So the Disney theme stuck. I have added ornaments that I have received as gifts over my years of working with kids. but we'll start with the Disney ones. The second ornament is a Christopher Radko that I received as a gift and I love. I never could have afforded it for myself. The others are ornaments I collected over the years from our yearly trips to Disneyland. We go almost every year at Christmas time. They have unique ornaments you can't buy anywhere else.

A Whirlwind Weekend

Whew, this weekend simply flew by! I have been going, going, going since I picked my sister up at the airport, and didn't stop until I dropped her bakc off today at 2:00. Then I went home and crashed! The Harvest Festival was fun(it always is), but the Blogger's get together was truly awesome! I am so lucky to be able to meet and get to know such a great group of women! More details later, and I am behind on pictures too. I owe my sister some ornament pics, and I have pics of the Harvest Festival and the present Joannah brought me too. Blogger won't let me put in links right now(what's up with that?), so I can't link to any of my bloggy friends right now. Maybe later. Kristen, Shelley, and Joannah, I had a great time. Let's do it again soon!

Oops!

I made it all the way through last month without missing a day, and then I forgot to post yesterday. Oops! I may celebrate making it through national blog posting month(almost) by not posting for a couple of days. My sister is coming to visit and my weekend is jam packed with fun. Tomorrow night we're going to another bloggy get together, so I will be sure to post the deatils of that. I also wrote quite a lengthy post blowing off steam about my job, but just writing it semed to help and maybe I don't need to post it for the world to see. I'll see. TGIF!

I Heart James Taylor

I love him. I truly do. I have seen him eight times in concert and I own every one of his albums. Every single one. I can sing every word to almost all of his songs. (If you recall, I'm like an idiot savant when it comes to music lyrics). I just got his new Christmas album too. They are showing a tribute to him on cable right now. On KCET. Some great artists are performing his songs. Chicks, Bonnie Raitt, Cheryl Crow, Alison Krause, David Crosby, and many more! At the end he is going to perform. Joe is at work, so I’m sitting in my living room singing all by myself. Well, the dogs are here too, but they are not impressed with my singing.

Only two more days of this posting every day stuff. I honestly have nothing new to say. Thanks for all the kind comments on our LID. Now that I don't have that to worry about, I must find something new to stress out over. :) That shouldn't be too hard! Maybe later I will have something insightful and witty to write about. (Yeah right!)

We have our LID!

Hubby just got off the phone with our adoption agency. We have our Log in Date! Woohoo!
And it is October 26th! That means we have been logged in for a whole month already! Yippee! Now we are off to play hooky from an appointment we had to go to the movies to celebrate. Shhhhh....don't tell!

Time flies

O.K., when did my Christmas ticker at the top of the page go from weeks until Christmas to days? There are only 27 more shopping days until Christmas people! Yikes! Fortunately for me, my shopping is almost done, and, are you ready for this? They are wrapped already! Don't hate me because I'm organized. Last year I was so totally unprepared because I had surgery the second week in December. I told myself I would be more organized this year and I have been successful. Yay me! My lunch break is coming to an end(sigh) and I have to get back to the little monsters, Uh, I mean children.

LID Blues

Dudes, we have been DTC for a month and three weeks. Shouldn't we have our LID by now? I'm becoming impatient. Joe is going to call the agency tomorrow and see if they know anything yet. Sigh. Other than that, a great day. We're finally seeing some Fall weather around here. It's about time! I love the cooler weather. I even love the rain(as long as it doesn't last more than a couple of days). *To the people I work with: FYI: sixty-three degree weather does not constitute a reason to keep sixty -five children cooped up inside all day. Wear a jacket to work and give me a break. Please!*

Sparkling Clean

My house, that is. I spent the entire day cleaning my house. Seeing as though I live in a 1000 square foot apartment, it must have been very dirty. I did twleve loads of laundry today. Twelve loads. How is it possible that two people can generate that much laundry? How is that humanly possible? And it costs me two bucks a load. You do the math. I did wash every single linen that we own. Bed sheets, furniture covers, blankets, rugs, towels. I have to do this quite often, because of the dogs, but I'l admit this time it was overdue. I am exhausted. Now I just have to get my husband to keep it clean for the next five days. I want the house clean when my sister comes to visit next weekend. That's right, my sister is coming to visit. Without the kids! And we are going to have another bloggy get together! Yay!

Feeling Semi-Normal Again

Today I actually left the house! And ate real food! And it didn't make me want to throw up! Now that's something to be thankful for. That was the longest stomach bug I have ever experienced. So glad it's done with. I bet you thought I forgot about the posting every day thing. Actually, I did. I'm sitting here with my husband and we're listening to some Jazz and messing around on our computers(yeah, we have more than one. Another thing to be thankful for). I just finished decorating the house for Christmas and putting up the lights(my husband doesn't do Christmas decorations. Hey, he can't be perfect). We live in a pretty small apartment, but it took me a couple of hours to decorate. I have a lot of Christmas decorations. A lot. Most of them were my Mom's. She loved Christmas too. My Dad gave them to me when she died. So putting them up makes me think of her. You should see the outside lights. My husband thinks I am crazy with the amount of lights I manage to get onto our tiny apartment entryway. Okay, it doesn't really look like that, but it would if I had the resources. One year I actually got a letter from our apartment complex telling me I had too many decorations and would have to take some down. Bah, Humbug! I never did take them down(until after Christmas, of course), and I think they have conceded because I never got another letter. Yeah, I loves me some Christmas.

I did manage to venture out this morning for some after Thanksgiving shopping, but I only made it to one store. Pathetic, I know. This is due partly to the fact that I still feel rotten. Enough with this flu already. The good part of that is I haven't been able to eat hardly anything, so at least I won't have the extra five Thanksgiving pounds to get rid of. Here are some highlights of my shopping experience:

--My goal was to go to Kohl's first, since it is just down the block from my house. They opened at five, but I figured if I got there at five thirty or so it wouldn't be too busy. Ummmmmm....NOT! I arrived there at five forty and the place was a zoo! Luckily I was able to get a good parking spot, as someone was leaving right when I pulled in. Score!
--Of course there were no shopping carts to be had(or bags, even). I figured this was a good thing. At least now I couldn't buy more than I could carry.
--Due to the lack of carts, people were actually walking all the way down to the grocery store in the same center and bringing those carts into the store. Hello people, those aisles aren't big enough for those carts!
--Said people's carts were FULL. I mean, like overflowing, top and bottom. Who needs to buy that many presents? I think I have too many people to buy for, and I don't think I could fill one of those carts with every present on my list!
--Also, what's with people buying ten (I counted)of the same gift? Are you seriously planning on giving a George Foreman grill to every person on your list?
--People that get up that early to go shopping are serious. Get out of their way.
--There was so much to look at and so many people that I became overwhelmed and just started wandering around aimlessly. I figured then it was time to go.
--I was dreading the line to check out which was wrapped half way around the store, but it actually wasn't that bad. Kohl's did a great job of moving things along and I was out of there in about ten minutes. Go Kohl's!
--The one item that I really wanted was sold out already. After only forty minutes. Bummer.
--The number one thing I learned from my shopping experience? I'm not cut out for this kind of shopping. I will continue to do my Christmas shopping in early September or online.

After Thanksgiving Shopping Tips

I have decided I am getting up early tomorrow in search of the good deals that are supposedly out there. While surfing the net looking at online ads, I found a few shopping tips. First, there are websites out there that show you all of the store's ads for this weekend, as well as each individual item that is on sale. Some stores, like Walmart and Comp USA also have "secret" deals that aren't in their ads, and can only be seen in the stores, or on these websites. Here's a couple to check out. Also, many of the stores I was planning on visiting tomorrow have the same sales online(right now!) as they do in the store, so I don't even have to go there to save any money! Yes, I will have to pay shipping, but it saves me the aggravation of fighting the crowds and trying to find a parking space. That is priceless! Well, I'm off to see if there are any more ways I can save money tomorrow. It looks like I may actually finish my Chritmas shopping tomorrow. Yippee!

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving! Looks like it's going to be a quiet one around here this year. I am still feeling pretty rotten. This flu is a doozy. I managed to get up and run the dishwasher, but even that amount of effort left me exhausted. Luckily for us, I had the foresight to order a full turkey dinner from Boston Market last week, which Joe is picking up right now. All you do is heat and serve! We were supposed to go over to my Mother in Law's house for turkey, but I had ordered this so we would have leftovers to eat all weekend. I love leftovers. I love them almost more than the actual dinner itself. So now we can have turkey here, and still have leftovers. I so hope I am feeling normal again tomorrow. I really want to go shopping. I want to get up at five a.m. and wait in line to get into the stores kind of shopping. I have only done this once before, and I don't remember being all that impressed, but for some reason I want to do it this year. So if I am feeling better I'm going to try it. I have it all planned out. Which stores I am going to , with lists of what I need at each one, and which stores are offerring free stuff. I am going about it in a very organized way. Maybe later I'll post my shopping plan for your amusement, if I'm really bored. Until then, have a happy Thanksgiving and try not to eat too much!

Happy Thaanksgiving

I know Thanksgiving isn't a holiday known for the giving of gifts, but I received a lovely gift this Thanksgiving. It came from the kids, and it is soooo appreciated(O.K., sarcasm is over now). You probably want to know what it is. Well, it is a nasty case of the stomach flu! Lucky me! :) There is only one word to describe the manner in which I vomited last night. Violently. Eight times. Ugh. Today I feel like I have been run over by a truck and I could barely lift my head off the pillow. This is the first time I have been out of bed all day. It is very rare that I become so sick that I can't drag myself out of bed in the morning and at least open. Today was one of those days. I slept on the bathroom floor last night, drenched in sweat and wrapped in a blanket. *Note to self: Must clean bathroom* We sent two kids home because they threw up last week, and we were even joking about how I was soooo going to catch it, but I didn't expect to get it so quickly. Me being sick caused huge problems at work again for me, I'm sure. My boss took this week off, and she was none too happy when my husband called at 6:00 a.m. and told her she would have to go in because I coiuldn't. I don't feel bad this time. I can't help it. My immune system is compromised right now. When you are sick, you're sick. I can honestly say I have never called in sick if I was physically able to go in. This morning I was not physically able to do anything but lay in bed. I don't feel like I should have to apologize for that. My boss feels differently. Sigh. Anyway, depending on how I am feeling in the morning, we may end up just staying home and spending a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us. Judging by how I feel right now, that will be the case.

That last post is proof that I cannot spell when I am tired. I can't get Blogger's spell check to work on my browser. I don't know why. I am usually a stickler for spelling. I will even go back and change a post if I read it and find spelling errors. I'm too lazy to do that now. I am so looking forward to having four days off. So. Looking. Forward. To it. This is the longest short week ever. I'm still having stress at work. I think there are big changes coming ahead, but I can't talk about them right now. The particular problem that is causing me stress is going to come to a head soon. Or rather I am going to have to confront someone about it and it will get ugly(on their part, not mine). Sigh. I would at least like to get through the holidays before having to deal with that. Every morning when I wake up I pray for God to give me patience to deal with my co-workers(and the children, but honestly they are easier than the adults.) I have been trying very hard to have a positive outlook and let things roll off my back instead of becoming annoyed or upset over them. Here's something that tested my patience today. I had to leave work to buy some craft supplies and on the way back I was stopped at a traffic light. I was making a left hand turn and there was one car in front of me. It was an elderly person. The light turned green, and she didn't start inching out into the intersection. She didn't move at all, but stayed firmly behind the crosswalk line. The light remained green, and eventually it was clear. Still she did not move. The light turned yellow, then red. I was annoyed that I had to wait at the same light twice, but shrugged it off. The light turned green again. Still she did not move. Later it occurred to me that she may have been waiting for a green arrow, which this particular traffic light did not have. Again the light turns yellow, then red. I am becoming seriously annoyed at this point. By this time several cars are behind me so I can't even go around her. I have a personal policy that I do not honk at other drivers(unless they don't see me and I want them to know I am there). I don't think it helps, and in this day and age with road rage and such, you never know what kind of crazy person is in the car next to you. I especially don't honk at elderly people. It just isn't nice. I hate to be honked at, so I don't honk at others. By the time the light turned green a fourth time, the other cars were either going around us or laying on their horns. The woman kept looking nervously in her rear view mirror, but still did not move. I did not honk at her. I sat there and willed her to move at the next green light. Finally, when the fifth light was turning from yellow to red, she turned. I had to wait for the light one more time before I was able to proceed, putting my time at the light at about ten minutes and six green lights. And yet I remained calm. That woman was doing the best she could. Maybe she honestly didn't know what to do at a light without an arrow. Maybe she was in an accident and was nervous. I don't know. I'll never know. What I do know is that I remained patient and did not allow myself to become agitated like I normally would. I need to remember to do this more often. I'll be a better person for it.

Uhhhh..Do I like this posting every day stuff? Not so much. My head is empty of thoughts right now. I am on a new medication and I have been sleepy all day. Ugh. I hate being sleepy. I am used to being tired, but sleepy makes me seriously want to put mu head on the table and nap. Not good when you work with five year olds! I'm sure you would love for me to sit and regale you with tales of my faboulously interesting life, but my eyelids are heavy already and my bed is calling my name.

A Good Day

Despite the early wake up, today turned out to be a good day. I was able to get back to sleep at around five thirty, and slept another couple of hours. Got up and made breakfast for Joe before he had to go off to work. Cleaned the house and did some laundry before running some errands and then meeting up with Joe for lunch. Fun! Then it was back home for me, where I finished beading several bracelets that a co-worker had ordered. Oh, before heading home I made a quick stop at Albertson's to pick up some prescriptions for Joe and myself. They had a sign for a promotion they are having where you can earn a ten dollar gift card for every fifth prescription you have filled. I asked the pharmacist if I could sign up and asked if that applied to only new prescriptions, or did refills count? She said all prescriptions are eligible, including refills. My jaw dropped to the floor. Do you know how many prescriptions we have in this household? Between Joe and my self it averages around thirteen. That's two ten dollar gift cards per month! I asked if there were any restrictions and when she said no, I told her they might want to start some. I love earning free money for something I have to have anyway. If you have Albertson's/Sav On in your area, you might want to check it out.

Awake again

Well, here it is, 4:30 in the morning and I am awake. Awake! And so is my husband. If insomnia is hereditary, maybe it's a good thing we can't have biological children because I wouldn't wish this torture on anyone. I am so tired. And yet I can't sleep. Ugh. I should look on the bright side. My husband and I are watching a movie together, so at least we're getting some quality time. Even if it is four a.m. Unfortunatly my husband has to get up and go to work in a few hours. Poor guy. Maybe a cup of tea and a magazine will make me sleepy.

I know I'm supposed to be posting every day, but really I got nothin'. I hope we hear something about our LID soon. I know it doesn't really matter with our agency, since they give out group numbers and we already have ours, but I still want our LID. I don't know why. Maybe because everybody else has one? Today was a relaxing day. Joe had to work(when doesn't he?), I had lunch with Dad, then camd home and took a nap. I am quite the napper lately. I haven't been feeling great. The naps seem to help. Now I'm off to get ready to go to a belated birthday dinner for my hubby with my in laws.

Here are the pictures of the scrapbook pages I did on Tues. If you have a Memories/Paperzone in your area, they sell their class kits so you can do them at home.
They really did turn out cute and you could simplify them even more by skipping the inking or not using the brads. You could also use letter stickers instead of the foam stamps to spell out "family". I like the look of the stamps, but I find them hard to do(they have to be perfect, remember?) and it is pretty messy with the paint and all. I realize if you are not a scrapbooker you have no idea what I am talking about. Sorry! In other news, I had a follow up with th efoot doctor today. My foot feels much better since wearing the boot, but I still have pain once in awhile, especially when I have been on my feet all day. He says I need to get orthotics. Those are custom made inserts for your shoes. They cost three hundred dollars, and no, they aren't covered by my insurance, thank you very much. He said I have to wear the boot until I am able to have my feet casted for the orthotics. It looks like I'll be wearing the boot for awhile. Sigh. I was truly hoping to get it off today. We simply don't have an extra three hundred dollars right now. Possibly after the holidays, but realistically probably not until February. If my foot is feeling O.K. I may just try to wear the lovely hiking boots he had me buy two months ago, with the temporary orthotic devices he gave me last time. Joe says no way, you are wearing the boot. He should know by now I don't do well with people telling me what to do! :) I was really hoping this would resolve itself on its own, but no such luck.

Don’t ask me how the movie was last night. I don’t know. I didn’t go. My husband and I got into an argument right before we were supposed to leave, and I decided to stay home. This is pretty rare for us. Although we do fight, it isn’t that often and we are always able to resolve it. My husband is a big stickler on “Don’t go to bed mad.” He is also very adamant about saying “goodbye” and “I love you” before parting. So for me to tell him I am not going to the movies with him and then hang up on him is a first. And he didn’t call me back. He went to the movie without me. Hmmph. You are probably wondering what prompted me to behave that way. For the most part I am pretty eay going(I try to be anyway). But there are a few things that I am obsessive about. Being late is one of them. I hate to be late. HATE it. So much so that if I find myself in a situation where I might be more than twenty minutes late, I will often opt not to go. I hate it that much. This is one issue on which my husband and I have a difference of opinion. He is chronically late. Always. I often tell him he couldn’t be on time if his life depended on it. It drives me crazy. Usually we are able to work it out. Either I will tell him we need to be somewhere a half an hour earlier than we actually need to, or we will drive separately and meet at the destination. This actually works out quite well. I get to be on time, and he gets to be late and neither one of us is annoyed. (O.K., I'll admit I still might be a teensy annoyed when he's late. But at least he didn't make me late too). That was the plan last night. We were supposed to meet at the movie theater. I was coming from home, and he was coming from the night class he was teaching. We were supposed to meet his friend and wife in front of the movie theater at seven fifteen. I was dressed and ready to walk out the door at six forty-five. I called him to see where he was and he didn't answer. I continued to call him for twenty minutes, and he still didn't answer. Finally, at seven ten he answered. And he hadn't even left yet. And he was forty minutes away. I was so mad. He told me to go ahead and meet with his friends and he would be there shortly. Uhhhh...No. I have never even met these people! I didn't even know what they looked like! What was I going to do? Walk around the front of the movie theater calling out their names? Oh, and by the way, my husband is running forty minutes late? I don't think so. So I chose to stay home. He went without me. He said he wasn't that late. I don't believe him. I'm a little miffed that he went without me. He says I over reacted. Maybe. But I hate to be late. I can't help it. We're over it now, but steam was coming out of my ears last night.

Bond. James Bond

Tonight we’re off to see an early press release
of Casino Royal. One of Joe’s co-workers got tickets,
and invited us to go. I would be looking forward to it,
if I wasn’t so tired and it was going to be over before eleven o’ clock tonight.
With the pace I am keeping this week, I may just crash by the weekend.
I had a great time at the scrapbook class last night. I'll post pictures of the pages tomorrow. We finished six out of the eight layouts. I hope to fiinish the other two
this weekend. I am quite happy with the way they turned out. They are fall
like but not too "thanksgivingish". Yeah, that's a word. Instead of being focused around turkeys and pilgrims, the theme was more family and being thankful. I love the colors that were used too. I need to rush off again and get ready to go.

Only time for another quick post again. I have only a half hour before I have to get to my scrapbook class. I am excited about this class. It is being held at the local scrapbook store, right around the corner from my house. The class is titled "simple scrapbooking" and the theme is "giving thanks". I will complete four two page layouts in this class. I need some ideas on how to make my scrapbook pages simple, but still cute. I am seriously behind on my books at the moment, mostly due to the fact that I want every page to be perfect. If I can't spend a lot of time on one page, I won't do it. I have to get over this. Once I have a child I won't have time to make pages that take four hours to do. I need to simplify and let go of my perfectionism. I have started working on Sophie's book. A couple of the pages I make tonight will go into it, ready for pictures of her first Thanksgiving home. Gotta go get ready to go.

I have just returned from Bunco. I won! Forty-five dollars! Woo Hoo! And Joe and I drove together, since Bunco is about a block from the school he teaches at, so I got to spend time with him too. Yay! But I am exhausted. I left the house at 6:15 this morning and have just returned at 10:15. A long day. It isn't about to let up either. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment, then a scrapbooking class. Wednesday Joe and I are going out. On a weeknight! With another couple! Shocking, I know. Thursday is another doctor's appointment, followed by a three year old's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. I am tired just thinking about all of it. I better get to bed!

Wanna have a good cry? Watch this video. Worked for me!

An Unproductive Weekend

Unproductive. That's the best way to describe my weekend. Is that a word? That's a word, right? Hang on, let me check. Yup. It's a word. Sometimes I make words up, so I have to check. I have gotten nothing done this weekend. Pretty much all I have done is lay around. Yesterday I was dressed, but today I have been in my pajamas all day. I'm feeling better, so it isn't that. I don't know what it is. I am simply not motivated to do anything. Not clean the house, or do laundry, or scrap, or make bracelets for someone who ordered them for Christmas. No, all I want to do is read, or watch movies, or sleep. We watched the original Star Wars last night. Why? Because it was on. So that's my life right now. Unproductive. Hopefully I will snap out if it soon so I can get something done around here.

Apparently I can't spell due to lack of sleep judging by the title of my last post. Oh, and today is Veteran's Day, not yesterday. So hug a veteran today.

Good Morining

Hello. Good Morning. Here it is, 5:25 a.m. and I am posting to my blog. Instead of sleeping. On a Saturday. Enough with this insomnia already. Please.

I have seen this several times before, on other blogs but I thought I would share too. I love it. It makes me cry. Every time.

Happy Veteran's Day

Hug a Veteran today if you can! I got nothin' else. Still sick. Sitting home alone on a Friday night missing my husband(who's at work). That's it.

Random Things

Too tired for a regular post, so here'e a list instead:
1. I am sick. Not a lot to say about it. Finding it hard to believe that the Prednisone could make me this susceptible to illness. I'm taking a ton of vitamins/supplements. Prednisone is evil.
2. I am so tired of having to explain what happened to my foot. I know people are only being nice by asking, but I am so tired of 'splaining. I have started making things up to tell people. My favorites are
A) I injured it while playing Dance Dance Revolution. No, I didn't get a good score.
B) On the weekends I am a professional snowboarder. I injured my foot in a competition.
C) Nothing is wrong with my foot. I am wearing this boot because I need attention. At all times.
3. Only one more day of early dismissal for the kids. Good. I am tired.
4. Only two more weeks until Thanksgiving. Yikes. How did that happen?
5. Only six more weeks until Christmas. Double Yikes. I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I love the music, the decorations, the time off, the giving of gifts, and the time spent with family. I hate that I feel lonely around that time because I miss my Mom. I also feel sad about the no kids thing. Christmas is all about the kids.
6. How many more numbers can I start with the word "only"?
7. Last night I was laying in bed talking to God(As I often do). I was telling Him about our finances right now, and how it is really tight around here since Joe won't be getting paid for this late starting class until December. (He hasn't had a full paycheck since July. July.) I was asking that He help us make it through the holidays and still have enough to pay the bills and eat. I came home from work today and got the mail like I always do. I sifted through the bills when I came across what looked to be a paycheck from one of the colleges my husband works at. And yet it couldn't be. My husband gets paid on the last day of the month. He has already been paid for this month. I open it up and inside is indeed a paycheck for one thousand dollars. In the Memo section it simply says "Bonus". Thank You, God. Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

Posting something every day is provig to be somewhat of a challenge to me. My life is simply not that interesting. I am utterly exhausted. The kids have half days all the rest of this week, so work is CRAZY with the kids getting out at noon, and coming to me so I can feed them and entertain them for six hours until their parents come and get them. We had sixty seven kids attend today. By the time it is time for me to go home, allI want to do is crawl into bed. It doesn't help that I'm sick again(yes, again!) For those of you keeping track, that's four times in the last six weeks. There is no doubt in my mind that it is the Prednisone causing this. I am slowly tapering off and hope to be done with it by January. Enough already. I am feeling so under the weather that I missed my monthly scrapbook class. Bummer. I finished the layout and everything! Oh well, there is always next month. I'm off to have some chicken noodle soup and lay around in my pajamas.

Can't we all just get along?

I’m having issues at work. Women issues(No, not that kind of women issues)
What is it with women anyway? They are catty, and backstabbing, and at times outright bitchy. I am referring to myself also. And a lot of times they lie(I try not to do this. I do not always succeed). Why is it so easy for us to say unkind things about another person to someone else, but could never say it to their face(the person they are talking about)? That’s what I mean by backstabbing. And yes, I admit I have done this too. This runs rampant at my workplace. People are always telling me nasty things that someone else said about me or another co-worker. Yet the person that actually said it would never in a million years repeat it to me(or to the co-worker they are talking about). This is starting to get confusing. Are ya still with me here? What I’m trying to say is there is a lot of “He said, she said” going on(Or She said, She said). I have even confronted the person that said the nasty things about me and they say “I never said that”. Liar! If I push it and say “So and so told me you said it” they say “They must have misunderstood me. I never said that” Liar, liar, pants on fire!!! I HATE that. If someone outright asks me if I said something about them, I will admit it and apologize. I don’t LIE and say “I never said that”. Obviously you already know I said it, or you wouldn’t be confronting me about it. I have one co-worker in particular that I am having issues with. We have worked together for fourteen years. Fourteen years, people! You would think after that many years we would get along. But we don't. And I know why. I don't like her. I never have. She is not someone I would spend time with if I wasn't forced to work with her. She is unprofessional, negative, and at times downright nasty, to the kids and other workers. How she has been there as long as she has is a mystery to me(that's a whole other Oprah). I simply tolerate her presence. I don't talk to her very much, unless I am giving her a direct order(I am her superior, but only when my boss is not on campus). I don't chit chat with her. I don't tell her things about my life. By the time another competent adult comes to work(four hours later) I am so starved for adult conversation(not that talking to the five year olds isn't fascinating) that I pretty much have diarrhea of the mouth and talk nonstop. Well, she noticed this. Who wouldn't? And she confronted me yesterday about it. She wanted to know why I didn't talk to her, and had she done something wrong, and was I angry at her? I'm telling you, it took every ounce of self restraint I had not to reply "No. I'm not mad at you. I just don't like you."
I almost said that! I swear, sometimes I have no filter on my big mouth. I was trying so hard not to say that that I had a hard time thinking up something else to say! (a lie). I was silent for a few minutes while I gathered my thoughts. Inside my head I was thinking "Don't say what you are thinking, don't say what you are thinking, DON'T SAY WHAT YOU ARE THINKING RIGHT NOW!" Sometimes I yell at myself in my head. So I told her a partial truth. I told her I didn't talk to her because we didn't have a lot in common(she is MUCH older than I am. Like thirty years). I also told her that other people were telling me the nasty things she said about me when I wasn't there, and that I didn't like it. She denies saying any of the things I mentioned. Okey Dokey then. I guess two other people I work with are liars then, because she told them both the same things. I told her that if everyone that worked there(myself included) would just keep their mouths shut, most of these problems would be solved. And she agreed. And then a few minutes later she went and told the Milk Lady(yes, she has a name, but that's what we call her) that I was mean to her. How do I know this? The Milk Lady told another co-worker who works in another department and she told me. Sigh. But you know who I told? NO ONE(well, you guys). Because I have learned my lesson. My mouth will be shut and my ears deaf to this kind of crap from here on out. Because I'm tired of it. It is emotionally draining. And I have enough to be drained about.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to my Dad! He's seventy-five years old today! Normally I wouldn't reveal someone's age like that, but when you have been on this planet for three quarters of a century, I figured you ought to be proud of it!

Quick post

I really don't have much to say today. I'm only posting because this month is National Blog Posting Month. No really it is. See? That means you are supposed to post to your blog every day in November. Even if you don't have anything to say. So here I am. I had a pretty uneventful day. I cleaned the house. It needed it. I took a nap. I needed it. I also completed the layout for this month's scrapbook class I have on Wednesday. I didn't put as much work into this month's page as last month's. I'll post pictures tomorrow. I keep promising pictures, and then I never come through. Sorry about that.




*On a side note, for all you tea drinkers out there, do you put your used teabags in the sink? Do you know who does? All the time? My husband. And it drives me crazy. Used teabags are trash. They belong in the trashcan. Thank you. Rant over*

More Dolls

I bought Sophie another doll today. I know. I. Must. Stop. Buying. Dolls. If I don't there will be no room in the nursery for Sophie. Just her dolls! Here she is. I think she's pretty cute. I already have a "regular" asian cabbage patch doll. These are new. They are smaller, because they are newborns. They had the cutest regular sized asian boy doll. I had to restrain myself not to buy that one too. A girl needs boy dolls too, right? They are 50% off at Kohl's right now. I spent a wonderful day with my Dad, and Aunt and Uncle celebrating my Dad's birthday. He's 75! I have pictures but am saving them for Monday, which is his actual birthday. I'm having a great three day weekend thus far.

A Fabulous Day

Today was a fabulous day. I had the day off due to a teacher inservice. Joe and I spent the whole day together. Referrals are here and I get to stalk the websites that have posted pictures and look at those sweet faces. It was a gray, cloudy cool day. I love that kind of weather. I'm ready to pull out my sweaters. Joe was supposed to work tonight, but when he got there there had been a mix up and they sent him home so now we are spnding the evening together too. Yippee! I can't even tell you the last time we had a whole day together. It has been at least four months. I have to get off the computer now, and enjoy our remaining time together. He'll be back at work in the morning.

I work with a bunch of monkeys

Have y'all seen these commercials? They are so hilarious. I love them. Mostly because that is my life. (Except I don't work in an office. I work with children and that makes it worse.) I work with a bunch of monkeys. I'm serious. I have never met a bunch of more inept people in my life. I am alone with one of them right now. And it is only quarter to eleven. Somebody help me.


I told you having internet at work wasn't necessarily a good thing!

*Update* I will be buying this mug. Don't worry. Of course I won't take it to work. I'm not that mean. (To be honest, the people I was referring to in this post earlier wouldn't even get that it was directed at them)

A Little Obsessed

I may be a little obsessed(may be?) I bought a bunch of these at the beginning of the school year for the kids to play with. They absolutely loved them, and so do I. They are just. so. cute. So I decided to buy some for Gracie for Christmas. I started out with a starter set that has six or seven pets included with it. Then I went on e-bay to see what they had. That was my first mistake. Because there are so many, and they are so cute and I cannot. stop. buying. them. Seriously. First I bought this one. Is it not adorable? Then I found this one. It's a chinchilla! How cute is that? Then there was this one, bug house and all. Of course I had to have this one too. It looks just like the horse my sister used to have. I love it. I also love the spiderweb that comes with this one. And finally, these. I am IN LOVE with these little guys! They're twins! I am sending one to Mary-Mia when they return from China. I also purchased one for myself, and Gracie too. Don't worry, I am planning on giving these to Gracie for Christmas and not keeping them for myself. (Well, most of them anyway).

P.S. Don't believe e-bay sellers when they state something is "rare" or "hard to find". I bought those pandas there for $8.00(with shipping), and then found them at Target for $4.44. Darn!

I'm a Winner!

I found this site through Naked Ovary's site(do I even need to link to her? You all know who she is). I promptly signed up for her e-mail newsletter and was entered into the monthly drawing to win one of these. Well today I got an e-mail from the company and I won! I'm so stoked! I hardly ever win anything(O.K. I won a trip to Hawaii from a radio station once, but that was five years ago). It has been a long time since I won something. I'm so excited! I'm off to pick out which pattern I want. You should sign up for their monthly e-mail letter too. You might just win!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the decorations, the costumes, and of course the candy! I love candy. No big plans tonight. Joe and I are staying home, ordering pizza, and watching Monster House. Yeah, it's a cartoon. We're wild and crazy like that. It's high time we had some children in this house! Someday.

P.S. We have internet at work now and I can check my blogs on my lunch break. Not necessarily a good thing! :)

An Interesting Day

I had an interesting phone call on my cell phone while I was at work today. It came kind of out of the blue and it upset me a little. I'm over it now, but for a half hour or so it really bothered me. My phone rang at about 9:00. I didn't recognize the number, but for some reason I decided to answer it anyway. I don't usually answer my cell phone at work, espescially if I don't know who it is. For whatever reason, I decided to answer it this time. It was a woman. She said this is so and so and I am responding to your inquiry about your birth mother. Huh? What inquiry? I didn't submit any inquiry. She names off a website that she advertises on. It is one of the Yahoo groups I subscribe to. Then it came back to me. I had seen her advertisement on
the group and for some reason I decided to fill out the form. Then I promptly forgot about it. I have a very short attention span. So she calls me today and tells me that based on the information I submitted, she was able to find the name and current address of my birth mother and would I like this information? And I'm not sure what to say. I don't know if I want this information. I don't even know why I filled out the inquiry. I was having a bad night and was worried about my health. I was reading up on the type of kidney disease that I have and was stressing out over the percentage of people with this disease that end up needing kidney transplants. It's twenty-five percent. I know that isn't a terribly large percent, but I still don't like the odds. My husband has already offerred(God I love him), but what if he isn't a match? So I was thinking maybe I might have biological relatives out there somewhere that might be a match(not that they would give me a kidney. They don't even know me). But that's why I filled out the form. Not because I want to find my "mother". I already have a mother. She died ten years ago. She will always be my mother. No one can replace her. But when someone is on the phone with you and they are asking you if you would like to know information that you have wondered about on and off about your whole life, it is hard to know what to say. So the first thing I did was ask "How much?". To which she replies "My fee is six hundred dollars". "What?!!! That's extortion!" (O.K., I didn't actually say that. I just thought it). What I said was, "Well,that's a lot of money and I certainly can't make a decision without speaking to my husband." And then I hung up on her. I felt angry. Really angry. What right does this woman have to know intimate information about me that I can't know? What right does she have to ask me to pay her six hundred dollars(that I don't have) to know this information? It is so unfair. Like I said, I don't even know if I want the information. I certainly don't want a relationship with this woman(my "mother"). I don't even know her. But it would be nice to know of any other health issues that may run in my family. Why do all of the laws protect the birth mothers, with no regard for the "children"? And then I started thinking about Sophie. How it will likely be impossible for her to ever know any information about her birthparents. And the anger turned to sadness. Sadness for Sophie,and for her birthmother, who will never really know if she is O.K. And I though maybe I should forget about this. Maybe it will make my daughter feel better to know that I know how she feels. I don't know my birthmother either. And it's O.K.

Exhausted

No, you aren't having Deja Vu. That was the title of my last post. Only this time I mean it. It's one 0' clock in the morning(well actually two. The clock on the televsion just set itself back a few minutes ago.) It's one o'clock and I am posting to my blog. When I should be sleeping. The problem is, I can't sleep. Don't worry, I won't be taking the cocktail of drugs I took the other night that made me pass out. I have already received a couple of lectures about how that was not a good idea. It actually was kind of an accident. I had taken the Robitussin earlier in the night because I. could. not. stop. coughing. About an hour later I drank the Theraflu to help with the runny nose and headache. And finally, a half hour after that I took the sleeping pill when I took all of my other nightly medication. I didn't even realize what I had done until I became so drowsy I fell asleep in a sitting position on the couch. I realized the next day that probably wasn't such a good idea, and I won't be doing it again. Anyway, back to how I can't sleep. It's maddening. How can one be so tired and yet when I put my head down on the pillow my thoughts are racing, my heart is beating, and sleep is nowhere in sight. What is insomnia anyway? Besides a huge pain. What causes it? How is it I can go months without it being a problem, and then out of the blue it returns and will not go away. Well, I'm going to Google insomnia and see if there are any good suggestions on how to get to sleep. In the meantime, I am watching Saturday Night Live that Joe taped. Come to think of it, that ought to do it. (Ha!)

Exhausted

Yep, I'm exhausted. I left the house at 6:15 this morning and have just returned at a little after nine o' clock. Talk about a long day. This year's Trunk or Treat was a huge success though. It was fun too see all of the kids in their costumes. There were a lot of Pirates this year. Boys and girls. There were a ton of Princesses too. And Ninjas. And Spidermen. I think the cutest costume I saw was a toddler in an octopus suit. So cute! I was going to post pictures, but I am too tired. I'll do it in the morning. Here are pictures of last year's Trunk or Treat to tide you over until then. I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

My Husband is the Best

I'm still sick. Bah. I won't bore you with the details. I left work early and came home and took a nap. That seemed to help some. I am really hoping to feel better tomorrow because I have to be at work at the usual time(6:45 a.m.), but I have to stay until 8:00 at night because I am participating in their annual "trunk or treat" fundraiser. Yeah, I'm gonna be pretty tired by the end of tomorrow. Oh yeah, this post is supposed to be about my hubby. He's the best because even though he just taught two classes back to back, he is at the store right now picking up dinner because I'm sick(even though I have been sick non-stop pretty much for the last three weeks). It's official. He rocks!

P.S. You know a sure way to get a good night's sleep? Take some Robitussin. Then drink some Theraflu. Then take the sleeping pill the doctor prescribed for you because you haven't been sleeping. I don't even remember going into the bedroom. The last thing I remember is turning the T.V. off, and then the alarm clock going off at five fifteen this morning!

I really have nothing to say. I don't even know why I'm posting. I'm sick again. Really sick. Different than the last time though. This one is a head cold. I have never been sick this often in my entire life. It has to be the Prednisone. Maybe the longer you take it the more it affects your immune system. I don't know. All I know is I am sick of being sick. People around me are sick of me being sick. I'm sick of writing about being sick. I'm sure you are tired of reading about it. Signing off now. It's time for my Nyquil.

You cannot escape the brightness

My husband asked for a new alarm clock for his birthday. He wanted one that played C.D.'s, so he could wake up to his music. So off to Walmart I went to find him one. They didn't have a huge selection, but I settled on the Dream Machine by Sony. It had all of the features I wanted, and was within my budget. So I purchased it and gave it to Joe. He was very happy with it, and unwrapped it and set it up right away with the his C.D. So far so good. Until I went to bed that night. I got myself situated, under the covers, hideous machine on my face, etc. and turned out the light. Right away I noticed that the room was not as dark as it usually was. At first I thought maybe I had left the bathroom light on. Until I turned over and realized the light was coming from the alarm clock! It lit up the whole side of the bed. Now this is a problem for me, because I need the room as dark as possible in order to sleep. Not only was it casting quite a bright light, the numbers were huge! Dude, like they were so big I'm pretty sure even somebody classified as legally blind would be able to read them. Ridiculously huge. Here's a picture. The picture doesn't adequately display how huge they are. They are one and a half inches tall!(Yeah, I measured. So what? I may or may not have too much time on my hands) . I tried turning it away from the bed. I could still see the light. Sometimes it wakes me up it is so bright. So I'm not sure what to do. Joe loves it. I threw the box away, so I can't return it. I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it. Either that or get one of these.

Shopping

I have been doing a little shopping over the last week. Shopping that I shouldn't be doing. Whatever. How else am I supposed to celebrate being DTC? Anyway, I picked up a couple of dolls for Sophie. The first one is one she can play with. It's hard to find Asian dolls, and I think she's pretty cute. The second on is for display only. She is porcelin and dressed in the most beautiful Chinese costume. She came with a cute mini snowglobe that has a Panda inside. There were a bunch of dolls from different countries. I looked for one from Norway, but they don't make one. Bummer. I would have loved to have that one too. Both dolls were a steal too. The
first one I found at Big Lots for twelve bucks and the second one was at Costco for seventeen. I love a good deal!

What I am Reading

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Since I've been home alone so many evenings, I decided to fill the hours with books instead of television and the internet like I usually do. I just finished Light on Snow by Anita Shreve. It was very good. I have read many, but not all of her books and enjoyed them all. I just started reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I have never read anything by her, and am enjoying it too. If a book doesn't catch my interest right from the beginning, I have a hard time finishing it, although I always try to finish a book once I start it. Next on my list is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I have never read any of her books either, so I am anxious to see if I like them. After that I am planning on reading The Blind Assasin by Margaret Atwood. I fell in love with her books in college after reading some of her short stories. My husband brought me all of these books home from work, after I complained I had nothing to read. In addition to the above fiction titles, I have decided to read one book on adoption or parenting or attachment per month until Sophie comes home. I am starting with Twenty things Adoptive Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew. I have only made it through the first few chapters, but am finding it interesting, especially being adopted myself. Lastly, I have pledged(to myself) to read the Bible daily. I received The Daily Bible for Christmas a couple of years ago, but never made it through the whole thing. It's time to pick it back up again. Well, I guess that's it! Looking at the above list, it looks like I better get going. I have a lot of reading to do! So, what are you all reading?