My kids are so over tired. You know what I mean by over tired right? Last night daddy let them stay up late and then this morning they were up at the crack of dawn. No. Really. I am not exaggerating when I use the term “crack of dawn”.
Last night I was on an important phone call and when I got off, I realized it was 2 hours PAST bedtimes. Hubby was down in the playroom creating quality time with the munchkins, obviously not realizing the time, as he was so enthralled watching Game Cube Porno. You know, Mario bare-backing that creepy looking dinosaur eating fruit all over Isle Delfino. My family is addicted.
So in my why-can’t-you-ever-get-the-kids-to-bed-without-me-having-to-remind-you-voice, I yell down “get the kids to bed please!” He shoots me the “I’m so sorry look” when he looks at his watch. I give him the whole “they are going to be hellions tomorrow and yours to deal with look”. He nods. He knows. He has been here before. He hustles them to bed but they are all wound up and do not settle well so it was REALLY LATE by the time they drifted off.
So today was not a fun day. Daddy had to deal with the consequences of having three children who were not adequately rested. It was a long day. Kids fought a lot, no one was agreeable, everyone whined.
But there was good that came out of all this. Hubby learned a lesson. How do I know? Tonight it’s now a little after 7pm and my kids are all showered, in their jammies and IN BED already.
Daddy learns quick.
Last night I was on an important phone call and when I got off, I realized it was 2 hours PAST bedtimes. Hubby was down in the playroom creating quality time with the munchkins, obviously not realizing the time, as he was so enthralled watching Game Cube Porno. You know, Mario bare-backing that creepy looking dinosaur eating fruit all over Isle Delfino. My family is addicted.
So in my why-can’t-you-ever-get-the-kids-to-bed-without-me-having-to-remind-you-voice, I yell down “get the kids to bed please!” He shoots me the “I’m so sorry look” when he looks at his watch. I give him the whole “they are going to be hellions tomorrow and yours to deal with look”. He nods. He knows. He has been here before. He hustles them to bed but they are all wound up and do not settle well so it was REALLY LATE by the time they drifted off.
So today was not a fun day. Daddy had to deal with the consequences of having three children who were not adequately rested. It was a long day. Kids fought a lot, no one was agreeable, everyone whined.
But there was good that came out of all this. Hubby learned a lesson. How do I know? Tonight it’s now a little after 7pm and my kids are all showered, in their jammies and IN BED already.
Daddy learns quick.
Do you ever want to blog something but you are afraid the person you are blogging about could one day find your blog?
Yeah. Me Too.
Yeah. Me Too.
It's one of those lazy days for me. It's cloudy and not as warm I would have liked. It's Seattle. This is typical Seattle weather. Im in my comfy clothes. I am in glasses. Im walking around barefoot. I have my Diet Coke with Lime and lots of ice in a big glass right here. Im playing some Web Boggle, chatting via IM with a few friends, eating too much chocolate, contemplating cleaning out my closet, and thinking about how I can get more volunteers to work at my kids school.
What are you doing today?
What are you doing today?
My friend Mir left the following question for reply: (Everyone please leave me more questions!)
What is the single biggest day-to-day lifestyle difference for you now, being the sleek slim-n-trim new Kym, vs. when you were still obese?
Hmmm. Lifestyle difference. It's really hard to narrow this down because the impact is broad and wide. I guess it would be more energy so I do more. I have a better quality of life. From the fact that my kids have a lap to sit on, to that my house is cleaner cause I don't feel like Im going to fall over dead going up and down the stairs 10 times a day, to being more active around the community then I was before because I have more of me to "give" and don't have to conserve my energy, to chasing the kids in the yard. Energy is the biggest change.
Thanks Mir for askin'!
What is the single biggest day-to-day lifestyle difference for you now, being the sleek slim-n-trim new Kym, vs. when you were still obese?
Hmmm. Lifestyle difference. It's really hard to narrow this down because the impact is broad and wide. I guess it would be more energy so I do more. I have a better quality of life. From the fact that my kids have a lap to sit on, to that my house is cleaner cause I don't feel like Im going to fall over dead going up and down the stairs 10 times a day, to being more active around the community then I was before because I have more of me to "give" and don't have to conserve my energy, to chasing the kids in the yard. Energy is the biggest change.
Thanks Mir for askin'!
I am making a roast and just realized (several hours later) I forgot to hit "start" on the oven. (sigh)
Ok... my buddy Mir gave me this idea for Fun Friday. Since my life has been pretty boring today, it sounds like good posting fodder. Ask me your questions and I will answer them.
Can we talk for a moment about shopping behavior? I think my mother didn’t really train me properly.
As we have discussed before, I was a fat kid. Shopping wasn’t fun. I still remember the humiliation of my mom having to buy jeans in the Husky Boys department at Kmart. The only thing worse then being fat was being fat and poor. The clothing choices were limited at best.
We didn’t go store to store looking for the right fit. We didn’t have “online shopping”. And since I was so hard to fit, it’s a wonder we found anything at all. I certainly didn’t look my best. I wonder if I shouldn’t be teaching my kids “to buy smart” and only buy things that fit well and look really awesome… vs. buying for convenience, time savings, price point etc? I mean… how many times do we look in our own closet and think: I’d so much rather have 5 really GOOD outfits then a closet full of all this mediocre crap?
So now as an adult, and particularly a newly normal sized adult, I have to readjust my shopping behavior. I’m learning things. Like that to truly understand what looks good you have to try EVERYTHING on. Everything. Don’t just go buy it cause you know the size and think it will fit. Cause it might look like crap. And you might find something spectacular if you just try it on. So what…I’m supposed to do this with my kids too?
I still, out of habit, do not particularly find myself at the malls very often. I think because I am frugal I simply avoid stores. If I’m not there, I don’t spend money. But when I do go, and I shop, I enjoy it. And because I don’t go, my kids don’t get clothing on a regular basis. I tend to “buy all at once”. And truthfully, I like the online shopping aspect of everything. I do Mega-orders. My laziness probably wins out even over my frugality. Put in a big order at Lands End and Hanna Anderson… and be done with it.
So thanks for bearing with me through all this… What I want to know is how often you buy clothes for your kids? How many stores do you go to? How exactly do you shop and how often for clothing? Do you buy by the outfit? Picking out only the things that look really awesome and buying a little something every month or so? Do you buy by the season? Spending a wad of dough before school starts and in the spring? If you have multiple kids, do you take each of them individually? You’d HAVE TO right? How do you shop?
Seriously would like comments on this one. Please tell me about your shopping habits for kids clothing. Teach me dear community!
As we have discussed before, I was a fat kid. Shopping wasn’t fun. I still remember the humiliation of my mom having to buy jeans in the Husky Boys department at Kmart. The only thing worse then being fat was being fat and poor. The clothing choices were limited at best.
We didn’t go store to store looking for the right fit. We didn’t have “online shopping”. And since I was so hard to fit, it’s a wonder we found anything at all. I certainly didn’t look my best. I wonder if I shouldn’t be teaching my kids “to buy smart” and only buy things that fit well and look really awesome… vs. buying for convenience, time savings, price point etc? I mean… how many times do we look in our own closet and think: I’d so much rather have 5 really GOOD outfits then a closet full of all this mediocre crap?
So now as an adult, and particularly a newly normal sized adult, I have to readjust my shopping behavior. I’m learning things. Like that to truly understand what looks good you have to try EVERYTHING on. Everything. Don’t just go buy it cause you know the size and think it will fit. Cause it might look like crap. And you might find something spectacular if you just try it on. So what…I’m supposed to do this with my kids too?
I still, out of habit, do not particularly find myself at the malls very often. I think because I am frugal I simply avoid stores. If I’m not there, I don’t spend money. But when I do go, and I shop, I enjoy it. And because I don’t go, my kids don’t get clothing on a regular basis. I tend to “buy all at once”. And truthfully, I like the online shopping aspect of everything. I do Mega-orders. My laziness probably wins out even over my frugality. Put in a big order at Lands End and Hanna Anderson… and be done with it.
So thanks for bearing with me through all this… What I want to know is how often you buy clothes for your kids? How many stores do you go to? How exactly do you shop and how often for clothing? Do you buy by the outfit? Picking out only the things that look really awesome and buying a little something every month or so? Do you buy by the season? Spending a wad of dough before school starts and in the spring? If you have multiple kids, do you take each of them individually? You’d HAVE TO right? How do you shop?
Seriously would like comments on this one. Please tell me about your shopping habits for kids clothing. Teach me dear community!
I am happy. You know, really happy. I have such a blessed life. Everyone is healthy. My kids are gorgeous. My husband is working. We are planning a trip to Disney World. My kitchen is clean. My laundry is almost done. I got to sit ALONE in my quiet and fairly clean house thumbing through US magazine and sipping Diet Lime Coke with Sanibel curled up on my lap. It’s been such a good morning.
It’s been a good week actually.
We’ve been really busy, but a good kind of busy. Not the hectic how the hell am I going to get everything done kind of busy. I hate that. Yesterday, I made a break through with my daughter Dinara. She got a concept very quickly that allowed me to see all this developmental movement therapy is paying off. It was priceless.
My son didn’t wake us up this morning. We’ve been working on this for WEEKS. And it finally clicked. It makes a huge difference that I got an extra hour and half of sleep this morning.
All is light and bright with the world. I just wanted to share.
It’s been a good week actually.
We’ve been really busy, but a good kind of busy. Not the hectic how the hell am I going to get everything done kind of busy. I hate that. Yesterday, I made a break through with my daughter Dinara. She got a concept very quickly that allowed me to see all this developmental movement therapy is paying off. It was priceless.
My son didn’t wake us up this morning. We’ve been working on this for WEEKS. And it finally clicked. It makes a huge difference that I got an extra hour and half of sleep this morning.
All is light and bright with the world. I just wanted to share.
Maybe I’m just anal retentive, but I tend to set a lot of goals in my life. For all kinds of things. What I’m going to get done today, how much money I’m going to make this year, what things I want to work on teaching my children, even what important relationships I want to focus on, develop and nurture.
Sound ridiculous? Yes well… read on anyway.
Goal achievement requires a few different steps. It requires motivation or desire. It requires planning. It requires persistence. It requires a metric by which to measure your success. It requires reward.
There’s been a lot going on in the blogging community lately. People going on breaks, people feeling overwhelmed by the efforts of fostering online community, people getting too close, people pissing other people off in real life, people pissing other people off in the online world. People feeling like their priorities are all out of whack. People not really knowing why the hell they do this.
That’s important. Know why the hell you do this.
Some people are doing it with the hopes it will make them money someday.
Some people are doing it because they like the community feeling it fosters.
Some people are doing it because it’s a place to get feedback anonymously about private things you wouldn’t share with real life friends.
Some people are doing it for journaling reasons.
The list goes on ad nausem.
So… why am I writing about this? Because I think many people are confusing the goal with the reward of blogging. There is a subtle difference. And it’s really important to recognize the difference because it can save you a lot of pain. And it really determines how you run your blog, how much time you spend on it, etc.
Here’s some examples
Potential Reward: Book deal on a comedy book about parenting Goal: Write funny stuff to get published. Possible Metric: How many people think I’m funny?
Potential Reward: Close Friendships Goal: Make X number of good friends. Possible Metric: Depends on how you measure “closeness” (note: having the reward and goal be specific, makes determining the metric easier)
Potential Reward: Anonymous Feedback. Goal: Meaningful feedback from people who don’t know you in real life Possible Metric: # of comments from people you care about.
Potential Reward: Personal Growth Goal: Year of entries that explore meaningful daily events. Possible Metric: # of quality enteries
You get the idea. Most plans that are important to you will be more complex then three sentences. Ha.
The goal isn’t “how many people like me”. That’s a metric tied to only some people's goals. Doesn't have to be your goal. I see many folks who are getting upset because people are pissed off because they aren’t writing a certain way, they aren’t writing often enough, they aren’t writing about what this person wants to read…
Good leaders prioritize goals. And in online communities you have to recognize that there is an economy of scale. You have to pick the things that are important to you and your blog -- against what is important to your overall life. Because as things get bigger, you can’t maintain close relationships with EVERYONE or the ones that are important suffer. (And are relationships a goal for you or a metric?) Leadership requires prioritization. So, you almost have to WANT to experience the growing pains of annoying people and letting the “less important” fall by the wayside. It helps clarify your goal, purpose and mission.
Sometimes you will make mistakes. There will be obstacles. That’s where the other part of the puzzle comes into play. You have to be persistent. You have to recognize that everything is part of a process and you have to commit to the process. Sometimes people you really care about might get hurt, might leave you. But this is how you find out who your real friends really are. (Is friendship part of your formula?)
Sounds simple eh? Relationships never are. And for most people, this is about relationships in one form or another. It all sounds so cold and calculating when most people want it to feel all warm and fuzzy. But sometimes warm and fuzzy feelings aren’t the goal, metric or reward -- warm and fuzzy isn't always part of the blogging formula.
Sound ridiculous? Yes well… read on anyway.
Goal achievement requires a few different steps. It requires motivation or desire. It requires planning. It requires persistence. It requires a metric by which to measure your success. It requires reward.
There’s been a lot going on in the blogging community lately. People going on breaks, people feeling overwhelmed by the efforts of fostering online community, people getting too close, people pissing other people off in real life, people pissing other people off in the online world. People feeling like their priorities are all out of whack. People not really knowing why the hell they do this.
That’s important. Know why the hell you do this.
Some people are doing it with the hopes it will make them money someday.
Some people are doing it because they like the community feeling it fosters.
Some people are doing it because it’s a place to get feedback anonymously about private things you wouldn’t share with real life friends.
Some people are doing it for journaling reasons.
The list goes on ad nausem.
So… why am I writing about this? Because I think many people are confusing the goal with the reward of blogging. There is a subtle difference. And it’s really important to recognize the difference because it can save you a lot of pain. And it really determines how you run your blog, how much time you spend on it, etc.
Here’s some examples
Potential Reward: Book deal on a comedy book about parenting Goal: Write funny stuff to get published. Possible Metric: How many people think I’m funny?
Potential Reward: Close Friendships Goal: Make X number of good friends. Possible Metric: Depends on how you measure “closeness” (note: having the reward and goal be specific, makes determining the metric easier)
Potential Reward: Anonymous Feedback. Goal: Meaningful feedback from people who don’t know you in real life Possible Metric: # of comments from people you care about.
Potential Reward: Personal Growth Goal: Year of entries that explore meaningful daily events. Possible Metric: # of quality enteries
You get the idea. Most plans that are important to you will be more complex then three sentences. Ha.
The goal isn’t “how many people like me”. That’s a metric tied to only some people's goals. Doesn't have to be your goal. I see many folks who are getting upset because people are pissed off because they aren’t writing a certain way, they aren’t writing often enough, they aren’t writing about what this person wants to read…
Good leaders prioritize goals. And in online communities you have to recognize that there is an economy of scale. You have to pick the things that are important to you and your blog -- against what is important to your overall life. Because as things get bigger, you can’t maintain close relationships with EVERYONE or the ones that are important suffer. (And are relationships a goal for you or a metric?) Leadership requires prioritization. So, you almost have to WANT to experience the growing pains of annoying people and letting the “less important” fall by the wayside. It helps clarify your goal, purpose and mission.
Sometimes you will make mistakes. There will be obstacles. That’s where the other part of the puzzle comes into play. You have to be persistent. You have to recognize that everything is part of a process and you have to commit to the process. Sometimes people you really care about might get hurt, might leave you. But this is how you find out who your real friends really are. (Is friendship part of your formula?)
Sounds simple eh? Relationships never are. And for most people, this is about relationships in one form or another. It all sounds so cold and calculating when most people want it to feel all warm and fuzzy. But sometimes warm and fuzzy feelings aren’t the goal, metric or reward -- warm and fuzzy isn't always part of the blogging formula.
Last night my husband took me to go see Eartha Kitt and out to a swanky Seattle restaurant for dinner. He even arranged for a babysitter! See? This just goes to show that post Mother's Day Guilt does work. As we discussed, listening to Jazz would be more his type of evening, not mine, but I'll take it. And it lets me know he's trainable. The best part is he arranged everything himself and it took PREPLANNING. So big smoochies honey! Thanks for the great evening! And I hope you enjoyed the wifely positive reinforcement you got for your efforts.... {wink, wink}
Today I am heading out to the zoo with the two little ones as a field trip with Dinara's school. (John has to go to work! Whooo Whoo! He got a great freelancing gig!) It's a pretty day, so we are looking forward to it. Although Noah seems to be in a funky mood. He already woke us all up really early and he pegged his sister Dinara in the head with the pretend pizza cheese shaker. She responded with the appropriate "What is wrong with you!"
Today I am heading out to the zoo with the two little ones as a field trip with Dinara's school. (John has to go to work! Whooo Whoo! He got a great freelancing gig!) It's a pretty day, so we are looking forward to it. Although Noah seems to be in a funky mood. He already woke us all up really early and he pegged his sister Dinara in the head with the pretend pizza cheese shaker. She responded with the appropriate "What is wrong with you!"
I haven't shared too much personally about myself so I thought it would be fun and good reading to recap the last three years. They've not been particularly easy years, but I think it will make for some interesting reading. Now maybe I can start working on my 100 things list... Enjoy!
1. I started infertility hormones.
2. I stopped infertility hormones.
3. We decided to adopt an infant son.
4. We decided to adopt a toddler girl too.
5. My daughter Emma was 3 and I hated leaving her home to travel.
6. My mom, from Florida, stayed with Emma.
7. We traveled to Kazakhstan.
8. We got detained in Moscow because we didn’t fill out a form.
9. I tried to bribe the guard. I cried. Nothing worked.
10. They made us convert all our US Dollars into Rubles.
11. We checked out of the hotel we stayed in for the night and waited for our ride.
12. I got food poisoning. I ralphed for HOURS in the lobby bathroom of the Marriot Grand in Moscow.
13. It was a nice hotel bathroom in which to spew.
14. Lucky for me, there was a snow storm and our plane was very delayed.
15. By midnight when we borded, I was done ralphing and was just mildly nauseated and weak.
16. I remember watching the sunrise and crying that today I would meet my children.
17. We landed at 6:30am.
18. At 7:30 when we got to the apartment I tried to call home.
19. I heard the following: I’m sorry; we are unable to connect your call due to an earthquake in the region.
20. It’s hard to find news stations in Almaty. It’s harder still to find news stations that speak English.
21. We found out the earthquake was a 6.7 and freaked out.
22. We were meeting our two new children in 2 hours not knowing if our eldest child was alive.
23. I cried. A lot.
24. Dinara was walking outside the orphanage with her groupa wearing a little mink coat.
25. It was strange to see an orphan in a mink coat.
26. She recognized us from our pictures, held our hand, but was very nervous.
27. They took her away to get her dressed and when she came back she wasn’t too happy.
28. When John took pictures, the flash scared the crap out of her.
29. She cried for 30 mins.
30. And for everyday thereafter for 9 days of visitation.
31. The couple who was with us couldn’t believe we were going to adopt a child who cried at the sight of us for days on end.
32. We knew she’d stop crying by the time she was asking to borrow the car keys.
33. Noah was a happy go lucky baby.
34. He was 7 months old. Dinara was 2 ½
35. We called them “fire and ice”.
36. Guess which one Dinara was?
37. Emma and mom survived the earthquake.
38. When we went to court in Kaz, when they declared the kids ours, we cried.
39. It snowed that day.
40. It was one of the best days of our lives.
41. We then went to Moscow to process the kids through the US Embassy.
42. We found out that John’s father had passed away.
43. We couldn’t leave in the middle of the process.
44. We couldn’t go to the funeral.
45. We flew home on March 19.
46. It was hard adjusting to 3 kids.
47. I was on leave from my job.
48. I decided to quit.
49. Not working was very hard concept/adjustment for me.
50. My identity was always wrapped up in my job and career.
51. It took a long time to enjoy being a stay at home mom.
52. It took a long time to enjoy being a stay at home mom with 3 kids.
53. It took about 6 months for Dinara to learn English.
54. Know how hard it is to reason with a 3 year old? Imagine it now with a 3 year old who doesn’t speak the language.
55. We decided to build an investment property.
56. I bought the land the weekend of Sept 11th.
57. It was also when I realized I now liked being a stay at home mom.
58. That same weekend I decided to have weight loss surgery.
59. September 11th brought a lot into focus for me.
60. I had weight loss surgery in June 2002.
61. They cut me open from belly button to sternum.
62. It made me so tired adjusting to it.
63. 1% of people who do it die.
64. I wrote good bye letters to my kids.
65. But I knew if I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t offer my kids the best quality of life they could have with a mom who was too fat to do anything.
66. I also knew I’d die sooner..
67. In Nov 2002 the house was completed.
68. I had a lot of fun decorating the house.
69. It’s a weekly vacation rental in SW Florida.
70. We got our first renters in December.
71. I was very proud of that accomplishment.
72. In January I started having abdominal pain.
73. I thought it was kidney stones.
74. Turned out I had a grapefruit sized tumor on my Ovary.
75. My CA125 (ovarian cancer marker) was very elevated.
76. I had a total abdominal hysterectomy with a gynecological oncologist on Valentines day.
77. I was so afraid after all I did to lose weight to live longer, I would die of cancer.
78. And what was even sadder, was that I was terrified of what Chemo would do to my quality of life.
79. It wasn’t cancer. Thank God.
80. Turns out I had Stage IV Endo. All that fucking infertility they blamed on being FAT was bullshit. I had Endometriosis.
81. On day 14 my incision ripped open getting up from the couch.
82. It was gross.
83. Doctor forgot to put in a drain in the OR. Also forgot to give me hormones.
84. The adjustment was hell. Damn doctor.
85. Anyway…. I finally healed.
86. My 14 year old dog died suddenly in June. We were happy we still had her daughter.
87. I lost 140 lbs with the weight loss surgery.
88. I realized I would need plastic surgery to look normal.
89. I went to Brazil to do it and my mom went with me.
90. I shouldn’t have gone to Brazil. I had complications.
91. They removed 13 lbs of extra skin from me.
92. But they don’t use the same level of pain control in Brazil.
93. I really suffered.
94. They wanted to readmit me to the hospital in the USA, but I resisted. I had surgery without anesthesia instead.
95. I thought if they put me under again, I’d die. I was convinced and still I am I was that close to death.
96. Day before I came home from Brazil my daughter and other mini schnauzer were attacked by a stray bull Mastiff while walking the dog. Bailey was a hero.
97. Bailey didn’t make it. She died 6 days later.
98. It hurts to sob uncontrollably after a tummy tuck.
99. It took me 8 months to heal.
100. It was only a few months ago I could start sleeping on my stomach again.
101. But my boobs are perky and my tummy is flat.
102. When 2003 ended, I was glad.
103. 2004 was going to be my “easy year”.
104. We found out my grandfather had liver cancer.
105. 12 days later he was dead.
1. I started infertility hormones.
2. I stopped infertility hormones.
3. We decided to adopt an infant son.
4. We decided to adopt a toddler girl too.
5. My daughter Emma was 3 and I hated leaving her home to travel.
6. My mom, from Florida, stayed with Emma.
7. We traveled to Kazakhstan.
8. We got detained in Moscow because we didn’t fill out a form.
9. I tried to bribe the guard. I cried. Nothing worked.
10. They made us convert all our US Dollars into Rubles.
11. We checked out of the hotel we stayed in for the night and waited for our ride.
12. I got food poisoning. I ralphed for HOURS in the lobby bathroom of the Marriot Grand in Moscow.
13. It was a nice hotel bathroom in which to spew.
14. Lucky for me, there was a snow storm and our plane was very delayed.
15. By midnight when we borded, I was done ralphing and was just mildly nauseated and weak.
16. I remember watching the sunrise and crying that today I would meet my children.
17. We landed at 6:30am.
18. At 7:30 when we got to the apartment I tried to call home.
19. I heard the following: I’m sorry; we are unable to connect your call due to an earthquake in the region.
20. It’s hard to find news stations in Almaty. It’s harder still to find news stations that speak English.
21. We found out the earthquake was a 6.7 and freaked out.
22. We were meeting our two new children in 2 hours not knowing if our eldest child was alive.
23. I cried. A lot.
24. Dinara was walking outside the orphanage with her groupa wearing a little mink coat.
25. It was strange to see an orphan in a mink coat.
26. She recognized us from our pictures, held our hand, but was very nervous.
27. They took her away to get her dressed and when she came back she wasn’t too happy.
28. When John took pictures, the flash scared the crap out of her.
29. She cried for 30 mins.
30. And for everyday thereafter for 9 days of visitation.
31. The couple who was with us couldn’t believe we were going to adopt a child who cried at the sight of us for days on end.
32. We knew she’d stop crying by the time she was asking to borrow the car keys.
33. Noah was a happy go lucky baby.
34. He was 7 months old. Dinara was 2 ½
35. We called them “fire and ice”.
36. Guess which one Dinara was?
37. Emma and mom survived the earthquake.
38. When we went to court in Kaz, when they declared the kids ours, we cried.
39. It snowed that day.
40. It was one of the best days of our lives.
41. We then went to Moscow to process the kids through the US Embassy.
42. We found out that John’s father had passed away.
43. We couldn’t leave in the middle of the process.
44. We couldn’t go to the funeral.
45. We flew home on March 19.
46. It was hard adjusting to 3 kids.
47. I was on leave from my job.
48. I decided to quit.
49. Not working was very hard concept/adjustment for me.
50. My identity was always wrapped up in my job and career.
51. It took a long time to enjoy being a stay at home mom.
52. It took a long time to enjoy being a stay at home mom with 3 kids.
53. It took about 6 months for Dinara to learn English.
54. Know how hard it is to reason with a 3 year old? Imagine it now with a 3 year old who doesn’t speak the language.
55. We decided to build an investment property.
56. I bought the land the weekend of Sept 11th.
57. It was also when I realized I now liked being a stay at home mom.
58. That same weekend I decided to have weight loss surgery.
59. September 11th brought a lot into focus for me.
60. I had weight loss surgery in June 2002.
61. They cut me open from belly button to sternum.
62. It made me so tired adjusting to it.
63. 1% of people who do it die.
64. I wrote good bye letters to my kids.
65. But I knew if I didn’t do it, I wouldn’t offer my kids the best quality of life they could have with a mom who was too fat to do anything.
66. I also knew I’d die sooner..
67. In Nov 2002 the house was completed.
68. I had a lot of fun decorating the house.
69. It’s a weekly vacation rental in SW Florida.
70. We got our first renters in December.
71. I was very proud of that accomplishment.
72. In January I started having abdominal pain.
73. I thought it was kidney stones.
74. Turned out I had a grapefruit sized tumor on my Ovary.
75. My CA125 (ovarian cancer marker) was very elevated.
76. I had a total abdominal hysterectomy with a gynecological oncologist on Valentines day.
77. I was so afraid after all I did to lose weight to live longer, I would die of cancer.
78. And what was even sadder, was that I was terrified of what Chemo would do to my quality of life.
79. It wasn’t cancer. Thank God.
80. Turns out I had Stage IV Endo. All that fucking infertility they blamed on being FAT was bullshit. I had Endometriosis.
81. On day 14 my incision ripped open getting up from the couch.
82. It was gross.
83. Doctor forgot to put in a drain in the OR. Also forgot to give me hormones.
84. The adjustment was hell. Damn doctor.
85. Anyway…. I finally healed.
86. My 14 year old dog died suddenly in June. We were happy we still had her daughter.
87. I lost 140 lbs with the weight loss surgery.
88. I realized I would need plastic surgery to look normal.
89. I went to Brazil to do it and my mom went with me.
90. I shouldn’t have gone to Brazil. I had complications.
91. They removed 13 lbs of extra skin from me.
92. But they don’t use the same level of pain control in Brazil.
93. I really suffered.
94. They wanted to readmit me to the hospital in the USA, but I resisted. I had surgery without anesthesia instead.
95. I thought if they put me under again, I’d die. I was convinced and still I am I was that close to death.
96. Day before I came home from Brazil my daughter and other mini schnauzer were attacked by a stray bull Mastiff while walking the dog. Bailey was a hero.
97. Bailey didn’t make it. She died 6 days later.
98. It hurts to sob uncontrollably after a tummy tuck.
99. It took me 8 months to heal.
100. It was only a few months ago I could start sleeping on my stomach again.
101. But my boobs are perky and my tummy is flat.
102. When 2003 ended, I was glad.
103. 2004 was going to be my “easy year”.
104. We found out my grandfather had liver cancer.
105. 12 days later he was dead.
Shrek was great. My kids loved it. We took Neve with us, who's the beautiful daughter of Kim and Jay and one of my daughter Emma's bestest friends. Afterwards, we went and stuffed our faces at Olive Garden and had a yummy meal. Great fun.
While driving to the restaurant, we hear Neve and Emma whispering in the back of the van: "So exactly how would donkey's and dragons have babies anyway?"
My husband smiled and without missing a beat whispered the perfect answer: "magic".
While driving to the restaurant, we hear Neve and Emma whispering in the back of the van: "So exactly how would donkey's and dragons have babies anyway?"
My husband smiled and without missing a beat whispered the perfect answer: "magic".
Do you feel the excitement in the air? It’s the start of the summer movie season! Whoo Whooo. I love the summer movie season.
Tomorrow our family is going to go see Shrek 2. Have you heard the soundtrack yet? Pretty cool. Am I dating myself if I say how excited I am it has FUNKYTOWN? Anyway...
I can’t wait to see what my kids pick up from this movie. Yeah yeah. If you are one of those mothers, just move along now. My kids will have way worse things to talk to their therapists about when they are 30 then the horrid movies I let them see in their innocent youth.
Shrek 1 gave us many memorable expressive quotes that sound so dang cute coming from humans under 55 inches tall. Did you kids spew these too or is it just because my kids watched the DVD a bazillion times?
So you’re a giirrrrrlllll dragon. Well of course you’re a girl dragon!
Wow, Let's do that again!!
What are you all doing in my swamp?
That’s a NICE boulder.
I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brother’s can’t deny….
I’ll make WAFFLES!
Ogres are like onions. They have LAYERS.
I've got a dragon here, and I'm not afraid to use it!
Im a donkey on the edge!
Oh, no. Dead broad OFF the table!
You definitely need some tic tacs or somethin’, because your breath STINKS!!!
Tomorrow our family is going to go see Shrek 2. Have you heard the soundtrack yet? Pretty cool. Am I dating myself if I say how excited I am it has FUNKYTOWN? Anyway...
I can’t wait to see what my kids pick up from this movie. Yeah yeah. If you are one of those mothers, just move along now. My kids will have way worse things to talk to their therapists about when they are 30 then the horrid movies I let them see in their innocent youth.
Shrek 1 gave us many memorable expressive quotes that sound so dang cute coming from humans under 55 inches tall. Did you kids spew these too or is it just because my kids watched the DVD a bazillion times?
So you’re a giirrrrrlllll dragon. Well of course you’re a girl dragon!
Wow, Let's do that again!!
What are you all doing in my swamp?
That’s a NICE boulder.
I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brother’s can’t deny….
I’ll make WAFFLES!
Ogres are like onions. They have LAYERS.
I've got a dragon here, and I'm not afraid to use it!
Im a donkey on the edge!
Oh, no. Dead broad OFF the table!
You definitely need some tic tacs or somethin’, because your breath STINKS!!!
Since I still waiting for my damn furniture, I went out and bought the new light to go above my kitchen table to get started on my "make my home my sanctuary" path of style and wellness. Isn't it pretty? I wanted something different and striking. I fought my Pottery-Barnesque urges and decided to live on the edge. Ha. I'm a wild woman.
Today I had my end of the year conference with Dinara’s teachers. Dinara is in Early Intervention Preschool because she’s at risk of falling behind academically because she was in an orphanage till she was 2 ½.
It’s really sad to hear your kid can’t do things on target with other kids. One example of something “academic” is that my daughter can’t do rhymes. She just doesn’t get it. And Rhyming is a pre indicator on how well children will read in the future. They should be able, as an example, to see a picture of the word BAT and pick out other pictures that rhyme with bat. My daughter can’t do it consistently.
But this doesn’t mean she’s not smart. She really can compensate. For example, the cards have colored backgrounds. So like Bat has a yellow background, Mat has a yellow background, Cat has a yellow background. Snake and Cake have green backgrounds. She doesn’t get the whole rhyming thing, but she’s figured out she can compensate by looking for the cards with all the same background. So she’s SMART…she just can’t retrieve words the same way a “typical” child can.
One neuro- physicist says this is because she’s got a “gap” in her brain because she didn’t spend enough time creeping and crawling. Other experts think that some of this is English as a Second Language issues. Other experts think that this is simply a “delay” that she will catch up by the second grade.
The only thing we all agree on, is that it’s hard to quantify what the problem really is.
And what worries me, is that my kid has pretty good street smarts. So that in an academic classroom, a teacher is going to have be pretty smart to realize what she is really absorbing and what she is simply picking up via cues from other kids, the environment, etc.
Dinara is a charmer. She’s a nurturer. She’s what her teachers describe as “the most delightful child we’ve ever had”. Her charm really does carry her. But I do worry about academics. And I wonder what can I be doing now to make things easier for her in the future.
It’s really sad to hear your kid can’t do things on target with other kids. One example of something “academic” is that my daughter can’t do rhymes. She just doesn’t get it. And Rhyming is a pre indicator on how well children will read in the future. They should be able, as an example, to see a picture of the word BAT and pick out other pictures that rhyme with bat. My daughter can’t do it consistently.
But this doesn’t mean she’s not smart. She really can compensate. For example, the cards have colored backgrounds. So like Bat has a yellow background, Mat has a yellow background, Cat has a yellow background. Snake and Cake have green backgrounds. She doesn’t get the whole rhyming thing, but she’s figured out she can compensate by looking for the cards with all the same background. So she’s SMART…she just can’t retrieve words the same way a “typical” child can.
One neuro- physicist says this is because she’s got a “gap” in her brain because she didn’t spend enough time creeping and crawling. Other experts think that some of this is English as a Second Language issues. Other experts think that this is simply a “delay” that she will catch up by the second grade.
The only thing we all agree on, is that it’s hard to quantify what the problem really is.
And what worries me, is that my kid has pretty good street smarts. So that in an academic classroom, a teacher is going to have be pretty smart to realize what she is really absorbing and what she is simply picking up via cues from other kids, the environment, etc.
Dinara is a charmer. She’s a nurturer. She’s what her teachers describe as “the most delightful child we’ve ever had”. Her charm really does carry her. But I do worry about academics. And I wonder what can I be doing now to make things easier for her in the future.
Here's my top 10 things that other mom’s do that really annoy me:
Don’t use all three lanes at my son’s preschool. The school has sent out MANY notices about how to pull into the driveway so cars don’t get backed out onto the street. The directions are clear. But some mommies, even after months of instruction, still can’t figure it out. I almost got out and kissed the mom who was directing traffic the other day flagging in all the idiots who didn’t read the memo.
Mom's who comment on my groceries while I’m in line at the grocery store. Running commentary on whether this tastes good, or the fact my grocery bill over $250, or the fact that their kid NEVER eats chocolate. They never used to comment when I was really fat. Now I guess that I’m thin, they wonder who’s putting away the 2 boxes of Lucky Charms with two gallons of milk and 4 bags of Chips. (They were on sale!)
Keep telling their kid over and over that they better stop doing X or else Y is going to happen. But Y never happens, even though X keeps happening. Drives me INSANE. Consistency is key! These are the same parents who ask me why my kids are so well behaved. They just can’t get over it.
No Interuptus Junior! This scores very high on the annoy o’ meter. When Johnny interrupts you again and again and the mommy never tells Johnny to catch a clue. A simple “Johnny, mommy is talking, I’ll be with you in a minute” would work wonders. Johnny has learned though that he always comes first with mommy and everyone else be damned and he doesn’t have to be patient. Johnny is going to socially be a star. Not.
Brag about how their kids only watch 2 hours of TV a week. Just shut up all ready. We don’t care. Yay for you.
Complain about Disney movies and tell me you never let your kid watch them. Ok I know the mom always dies… but seriously, don’t you have bigger things to worry about then restricting your kid from finding out what really happened to all Nemo’s brother’s and sisters?
Complain about public school but don’t volunteer to make it better for all our kids. Put your money (time) where your mouth is or shut the hell up.
Parents with one kid telling me how their kid is going to 5 educational classes a week on top of doing a mommy and me language course. I think all this stuff is great. Just don’t make me feel like less of a mommy because I’m not doing it for my three kids. If I only had one kid to pay for, maybe it might happen. These are usually the parents who only let their kid watch 2 hours of tv a week too.
Mom’s who do cutesy arts and crafts project with toilet paper rolls and sparkle glue daily. These parents also keep all their kids artwork. All of it. Never throw it out. Scares the crap out of me.
Mom’s who don’t ever push their kids outside their comfort zones… ever. They expect little, so they get little. Johnny can’t sit still during movies, so we don’t go. Have you tried? Has Johnny been EXPECTED ever to sit still? Susie doesn’t go swimming because she’s afraid of the water. So have you put her in a lifejacket and gotten in the pool WITH HER or taken her for swimming lessons to help her get over this fear? Stuff like that. I view that our job as parents is to help our kids become well rounded, happy, independent adults. And sometimes, that means you have to give your kids a push even when its uncomfy.
Don’t use all three lanes at my son’s preschool. The school has sent out MANY notices about how to pull into the driveway so cars don’t get backed out onto the street. The directions are clear. But some mommies, even after months of instruction, still can’t figure it out. I almost got out and kissed the mom who was directing traffic the other day flagging in all the idiots who didn’t read the memo.
Mom's who comment on my groceries while I’m in line at the grocery store. Running commentary on whether this tastes good, or the fact my grocery bill over $250, or the fact that their kid NEVER eats chocolate. They never used to comment when I was really fat. Now I guess that I’m thin, they wonder who’s putting away the 2 boxes of Lucky Charms with two gallons of milk and 4 bags of Chips. (They were on sale!)
Keep telling their kid over and over that they better stop doing X or else Y is going to happen. But Y never happens, even though X keeps happening. Drives me INSANE. Consistency is key! These are the same parents who ask me why my kids are so well behaved. They just can’t get over it.
No Interuptus Junior! This scores very high on the annoy o’ meter. When Johnny interrupts you again and again and the mommy never tells Johnny to catch a clue. A simple “Johnny, mommy is talking, I’ll be with you in a minute” would work wonders. Johnny has learned though that he always comes first with mommy and everyone else be damned and he doesn’t have to be patient. Johnny is going to socially be a star. Not.
Brag about how their kids only watch 2 hours of TV a week. Just shut up all ready. We don’t care. Yay for you.
Complain about Disney movies and tell me you never let your kid watch them. Ok I know the mom always dies… but seriously, don’t you have bigger things to worry about then restricting your kid from finding out what really happened to all Nemo’s brother’s and sisters?
Complain about public school but don’t volunteer to make it better for all our kids. Put your money (time) where your mouth is or shut the hell up.
Parents with one kid telling me how their kid is going to 5 educational classes a week on top of doing a mommy and me language course. I think all this stuff is great. Just don’t make me feel like less of a mommy because I’m not doing it for my three kids. If I only had one kid to pay for, maybe it might happen. These are usually the parents who only let their kid watch 2 hours of tv a week too.
Mom’s who do cutesy arts and crafts project with toilet paper rolls and sparkle glue daily. These parents also keep all their kids artwork. All of it. Never throw it out. Scares the crap out of me.
Mom’s who don’t ever push their kids outside their comfort zones… ever. They expect little, so they get little. Johnny can’t sit still during movies, so we don’t go. Have you tried? Has Johnny been EXPECTED ever to sit still? Susie doesn’t go swimming because she’s afraid of the water. So have you put her in a lifejacket and gotten in the pool WITH HER or taken her for swimming lessons to help her get over this fear? Stuff like that. I view that our job as parents is to help our kids become well rounded, happy, independent adults. And sometimes, that means you have to give your kids a push even when its uncomfy.
GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER.
It's coming in my MAILBOX.
Sex in the City: Season 6 was released and it's coming from Netflix!
YIPEE!!!
It's coming in my MAILBOX.
Sex in the City: Season 6 was released and it's coming from Netflix!
YIPEE!!!
I am vice president elect of next year's PTSA. In some insane moment of volunteeritis, I decided that I could make a difference. It happens to us control freaks a lot. We think if we have control, we can make things better.
I managed many people during my career in corporate America. I always got great reviews from people who worked for me. I was motivating. I didn't micromanage. I had good ideas. I was supportive. I never got voted off the island. But there was a major difference: employees are motivated by staying employed and getting a pay check. Volunteers are in it for more altruistic type motives. Volunteers aren't getting paid. Thus, I have now learned, volunteers are harder to motivate.
What do you do when a mom won't answer your emails? When a mom wont answer her phone. When she won't come to meetings and she doesn't follow through. I'll tell you what I want to say: You're fired! I can even do the cute Trump hand gesture.
Managing volunteers is sort of like herding kittens.
Did I mention before I'm a dog person?
I managed many people during my career in corporate America. I always got great reviews from people who worked for me. I was motivating. I didn't micromanage. I had good ideas. I was supportive. I never got voted off the island. But there was a major difference: employees are motivated by staying employed and getting a pay check. Volunteers are in it for more altruistic type motives. Volunteers aren't getting paid. Thus, I have now learned, volunteers are harder to motivate.
What do you do when a mom won't answer your emails? When a mom wont answer her phone. When she won't come to meetings and she doesn't follow through. I'll tell you what I want to say: You're fired! I can even do the cute Trump hand gesture.
Managing volunteers is sort of like herding kittens.
Did I mention before I'm a dog person?
You read all the time about idiots getting scammed by scammers on eBay. Well... here's someone who did something about it. This fellow Seattlite got him good. Just happened a few days ago. Check it out HERE. It's a fun read!
Back in February, I went to HighPoint North Carolina to buy furniture at FurnitureLandSouth. After 13 years of marriage, I still had pieces of furniture that I bought at Target. I kid you not. What's even sadder, is that some of these pieces were in my formal living room and dining room.
As we have discussed previously, I am cheap and like to save money. It just didn't make sense to me to decorate my formal living room because my kids would just destroy it anyway. Plus we don't entertain much. When I worked, all I did was work so no one ever came over. Then we came home with the kids and it didn't make sense to buy furniture when I had a 30 month old who had never seen a magic marker. So I put off the furniture.
So in February, I went and bought a new master bedroom suite, formal living room furniture and furniture to make my dining room into a library/study. Since we don't entertain, I couldn't see wasting all that space on formal dining room furniture so I am creating a "wall of books" and a place where the kids can do homework and we can store craft stuff. For in the Kitchen, I bought a 60 square table made with this finish that is supposed to be impervious to even nail polish remover. I can extend this table to 90 to seat 12 people if we have company. So it will be come my "formal/casual/everyone-always-hangs-out-in-the-kitchen-anyway table.
So I am still waiting for my furniture. I expect it will get here in July. I'm frustrated it's not here yet, but I knew going into this it wasn't an instant gratification kind of thing.
Before all this furniture comes I have to get the carpets cleaned. I have to get rid of all my old furniture but time it right so we aren't suffering without stuff. I am getting rid of: Rocking Chair, Hall Tree, End Tables, Kitchen Table, Kitchen Chairs, Emma's dresser, 3 cribs, a changing table etc. I have to move dressers around which requires lots of emptying. (Noah's getting my stuff, Emma's getting his.) I need to buy Noah his new twin bed and get him out of the toddler bed.
Anyway... Im in the mood to actually make some progress on this, but I don't think I should start until I know the furniture is on it's way from North Carolina.
I want my furniture!!! I'm tired of furniture limbo.
As we have discussed previously, I am cheap and like to save money. It just didn't make sense to me to decorate my formal living room because my kids would just destroy it anyway. Plus we don't entertain much. When I worked, all I did was work so no one ever came over. Then we came home with the kids and it didn't make sense to buy furniture when I had a 30 month old who had never seen a magic marker. So I put off the furniture.
So in February, I went and bought a new master bedroom suite, formal living room furniture and furniture to make my dining room into a library/study. Since we don't entertain, I couldn't see wasting all that space on formal dining room furniture so I am creating a "wall of books" and a place where the kids can do homework and we can store craft stuff. For in the Kitchen, I bought a 60 square table made with this finish that is supposed to be impervious to even nail polish remover. I can extend this table to 90 to seat 12 people if we have company. So it will be come my "formal/casual/everyone-always-hangs-out-in-the-kitchen-anyway table.
So I am still waiting for my furniture. I expect it will get here in July. I'm frustrated it's not here yet, but I knew going into this it wasn't an instant gratification kind of thing.
Before all this furniture comes I have to get the carpets cleaned. I have to get rid of all my old furniture but time it right so we aren't suffering without stuff. I am getting rid of: Rocking Chair, Hall Tree, End Tables, Kitchen Table, Kitchen Chairs, Emma's dresser, 3 cribs, a changing table etc. I have to move dressers around which requires lots of emptying. (Noah's getting my stuff, Emma's getting his.) I need to buy Noah his new twin bed and get him out of the toddler bed.
Anyway... Im in the mood to actually make some progress on this, but I don't think I should start until I know the furniture is on it's way from North Carolina.
I want my furniture!!! I'm tired of furniture limbo.
My son peed on his bedroom’s carpeted floor last night for no good reason other then he could. His bedroom reeks of pee. I’m so irritated with him that I can’t even make this into a funny story.
He then informed me he likes the smell of pee.
Lovely son. This and your fetish for smelly feet is going to really impress your future wife someday.
He then informed me he likes the smell of pee.
Lovely son. This and your fetish for smelly feet is going to really impress your future wife someday.
My favorite commericals are the idenity theft ones by Citibank. They are absolutely hysterical. My favorite one is the Leather Bustier...but I do love them all.
I also like the Pepto Bismol Dancing commercial.
Do you have any favorites?
I also like the Pepto Bismol Dancing commercial.
Do you have any favorites?
Uh... I'm too lazy to go looking for the cute little blogitforward button but....
Check out my friend Mir's spankin' new blog: Woulda,Coulda,Shoulda. She's had a really rough last year so be sure to leave her a supportive comment or two!
Check out my friend Mir's spankin' new blog: Woulda,Coulda,Shoulda. She's had a really rough last year so be sure to leave her a supportive comment or two!
It’s a gorgeous day here in the Pacific NW. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and I picked up several 2 liters of my new favorite drink: Diet Lime Coke. We store them on shelves in our garage and I buy them on sale and stock up.
Well, Dinara, our resident food and drink stealer, went and helped herself to half a bottle. She’s not selfish. She treated her brother and the neighbor boy too. We were amazed she could even open the bottle, but I guess she’s an over achiever in this department!
Dinara does not get the concept of asking first when it comes to food and drink when mommy isn't around. At other people's house, she will just open their fridge. If there is food in their pantry, it 's fair game. If she's thirsty, she helps herself. She does for the most part seem to get the boundaries in our own house, but seems to forget in other people's homes or if I am not around to "catch" her.
I am at a loss for what to do with this kid. Consequences don’t seem to be working at all. She just doesn’t care. She loves soda and sweets so much, whatever she gets as a consequence just doesn’t seem to faze her. She’d rather pay the price and have her way. Instant gratification is king.
And yes, we can try harder to put things out of her reach and eyesight. But we still have to teach her somehow that she has to respect limits. I mean, the kid helped herself to stuff in the neighbor’s garage too!
Well, Dinara, our resident food and drink stealer, went and helped herself to half a bottle. She’s not selfish. She treated her brother and the neighbor boy too. We were amazed she could even open the bottle, but I guess she’s an over achiever in this department!
Dinara does not get the concept of asking first when it comes to food and drink when mommy isn't around. At other people's house, she will just open their fridge. If there is food in their pantry, it 's fair game. If she's thirsty, she helps herself. She does for the most part seem to get the boundaries in our own house, but seems to forget in other people's homes or if I am not around to "catch" her.
I am at a loss for what to do with this kid. Consequences don’t seem to be working at all. She just doesn’t care. She loves soda and sweets so much, whatever she gets as a consequence just doesn’t seem to faze her. She’d rather pay the price and have her way. Instant gratification is king.
And yes, we can try harder to put things out of her reach and eyesight. But we still have to teach her somehow that she has to respect limits. I mean, the kid helped herself to stuff in the neighbor’s garage too!
I got a Tic Tac out of Noah's nose today. Every parent wants to be able to add that one to their resume don't they? Dinara put a white Tic Tac up Noah's nose. Noah said it made his nosespicey when he breathed.
And let me just say... it's not easy to hold a flashlight, hold a forehead back, and manipulate tweezers in a 3 year old's nose. Nope. Not easy.
I have Tic Tac Naso-Talent!
And let me just say... it's not easy to hold a flashlight, hold a forehead back, and manipulate tweezers in a 3 year old's nose. Nope. Not easy.
I have Tic Tac Naso-Talent!
Yay John! My husband got a great contracting gig yesterday. He got a JOB. It’s short term, but it pays well and is doing exactly what he loves to do which is doing scripting using Macromedia Flash. So we are hoping this the beginning of some good things. He’s also going to start offering to do websites and stuff and see if he can get some more freelance work that way.
I am on my latest money saving quest. Can you believe that I actually ENJOY saving money? I mean.. it feels as good to me as spending money. I get a charge out of figuring out how much “after tax” I am saving. So if I sell something on Ebay, it’s really 25% more cash then I think because I don’t have to pay Uncle Sam for it. Of if I buy something on Ebay, after deducting shipping, it’s like getting it for an additional 3% off cause I don’t have to pay Washington’s outrageous 9.2% sales tax.
My latest quest is now to start shopping at a bunch of different grocery stores. Instead of planning my meals and buying what I “want”. Now I am buying what is on sale for a month and IM going see what that does to my monthly grocery bill. We buy A LOT of meat and fresh produce so our monthly grocery bill (not counting eating out) comes to about 1K or a little more per month. This includes shampoo, pull-ups etc. This week, by shopping THREE stores sales (granted, it took me extra time and I figure my time is worth about $20 per hour) I was able to shave approx. $65!! And we are eating WELL! Pot Roast, Port Chops, Chicken, Spare Ribs. YUM! So if I can shave off $65 per week that would be $3380 per YEAR. The fact that it’s all “after tax” is an additional benefit. So I will add 25% to that figure for a grand total of $4425 per year. That’s the equivalent of my husband getting over a $2 per hour raise. Not bad right? And you know, I know I could shave even more off our food bill if I would actually do MEAL PLANNING instead of just cruising up and down the isles buying what I think we “need”. Maybe that will be my next quest.
Is it sick the way I think? Maybe. But it helps me to not want to spend spend spend all the time.
I am on my latest money saving quest. Can you believe that I actually ENJOY saving money? I mean.. it feels as good to me as spending money. I get a charge out of figuring out how much “after tax” I am saving. So if I sell something on Ebay, it’s really 25% more cash then I think because I don’t have to pay Uncle Sam for it. Of if I buy something on Ebay, after deducting shipping, it’s like getting it for an additional 3% off cause I don’t have to pay Washington’s outrageous 9.2% sales tax.
My latest quest is now to start shopping at a bunch of different grocery stores. Instead of planning my meals and buying what I “want”. Now I am buying what is on sale for a month and IM going see what that does to my monthly grocery bill. We buy A LOT of meat and fresh produce so our monthly grocery bill (not counting eating out) comes to about 1K or a little more per month. This includes shampoo, pull-ups etc. This week, by shopping THREE stores sales (granted, it took me extra time and I figure my time is worth about $20 per hour) I was able to shave approx. $65!! And we are eating WELL! Pot Roast, Port Chops, Chicken, Spare Ribs. YUM! So if I can shave off $65 per week that would be $3380 per YEAR. The fact that it’s all “after tax” is an additional benefit. So I will add 25% to that figure for a grand total of $4425 per year. That’s the equivalent of my husband getting over a $2 per hour raise. Not bad right? And you know, I know I could shave even more off our food bill if I would actually do MEAL PLANNING instead of just cruising up and down the isles buying what I think we “need”. Maybe that will be my next quest.
Is it sick the way I think? Maybe. But it helps me to not want to spend spend spend all the time.
You can get approved for the Beta by starting a Blogger (free) WebLog.
Just letting ya know.
Just letting ya know.
What's the best way to "market" your blog? There has to be a science to it. Is there anyway to do it other then reading everyone else's blog and commenting? Anyone want to give me some tips?
Ok so I got my kids all signed up for their summer activities. We are signing them up for a few classes instead of taking a summer vacation this year since we are planning the "mega" trip to Disney in September.
Noah is going to go to a daddy and me one day Pony Workshop. All he cares about is being able to say he is going to Pony Camp like his sisters did last year.
Dinara decided to take a Costume Making. She picked this after she found out that Pony Camp and Day Camp were already full. Once she found out that they were going to be decorating shoes she would get to keep and putting on a Fashion show...she was sold.
Emma decided she wanted to do Cheerleading Camp. This would have about been my last choice for Emma but I am just keeping my big trap closed and signing her up like a good momma. At least it's physical activity right? (And a lot cheaper then some of the other classes!)
Noah and Dinara will each do a half day for a week of Gymnastic Camp. God I hope it wears them out.
Emma will do a week of Day Camp. The weeks she wanted were already filled. This camp is going on a bowling field trip and so she thought that sounded pretty cool.
All three kids will do several weeks of swimming lessons. I feel like swimming lessons are important. It's like a safety thing and an excercise thing. Two birds with one stone.
Aren't you glad you asked about my summer plans?
Noah is going to go to a daddy and me one day Pony Workshop. All he cares about is being able to say he is going to Pony Camp like his sisters did last year.
Dinara decided to take a Costume Making. She picked this after she found out that Pony Camp and Day Camp were already full. Once she found out that they were going to be decorating shoes she would get to keep and putting on a Fashion show...she was sold.
Emma decided she wanted to do Cheerleading Camp. This would have about been my last choice for Emma but I am just keeping my big trap closed and signing her up like a good momma. At least it's physical activity right? (And a lot cheaper then some of the other classes!)
Noah and Dinara will each do a half day for a week of Gymnastic Camp. God I hope it wears them out.
Emma will do a week of Day Camp. The weeks she wanted were already filled. This camp is going on a bowling field trip and so she thought that sounded pretty cool.
All three kids will do several weeks of swimming lessons. I feel like swimming lessons are important. It's like a safety thing and an excercise thing. Two birds with one stone.
Aren't you glad you asked about my summer plans?
I just wanted to let you all know how much I have appreciated the comments you have left and the supportive emails lately. I am not that great at responding to individual comments, but they are read, they are appreciated and your perspectives are highly valued.
I'm currently exploring some php software options that might make comment management a bit easier and more "community focused" going forward. It's on my "to do" list.
But I at least wanted you all to know how much appreciate you. And you lurkers too :)
I'm currently exploring some php software options that might make comment management a bit easier and more "community focused" going forward. It's on my "to do" list.
But I at least wanted you all to know how much appreciate you. And you lurkers too :)
Help. Listen. Care. Talk. Lend. Share. Scheme. Try. Give. Dream. Work. Live. Wave. Smile. Drive. Laugh. Forgive. Confess. Blush. Trust. Dare. Keep. Hug. Fix spend. Hurry. Wait. Travel. Watch. Giggle. Treat. Call. Come. Pull. Wink. Toast. Celebrate. Walk. Whisper. Write. Send. Tell. Nurse. Think. Compliment. Push. Swear. Feel. Believe. Strive. Live. Joke. Fuel. Work. Critique. Boost. Start. Stay. Add. Resolve. Party. Remember. Harbor. Earn. Decide. Nurture. Promote. Sing. Carry. Sooth. See. Borrow. Mend. Trade. Hold. Cook. Offer. Thank. Follow up. Appreciate. Meet. Touch. Notice. Hear. Bring. Continue. Show. Protect. Know. Look. Bend. Grow. Maintain. Write. Receive. Deliver. Consider. Praise. Tend. Comfort. Sit. Hope. Chat. Create. Lift. Learn. Change. Toil. Do. Shelter. Build. Dance. Get it. Begin. Release. Understand.
You know how corporations have sensitivity training? I think I could make a mint if I created “How to be a thoughtful husband” training. Of course, after 13 years of marriage, my training hasn’t been too successful, but that’s beside the point.
Holidays are when I always get disappointed by my husband. I can bury the whole mundane not feeling special thing in the day to day busyness of routine. But on holidays I get my hopes up for some stellar display of how much he truly appreciates me. Especially Mother’s Day because of the infertility crap we went through. Parenthood didn’t come easy. So these holidays that were so painful when we were childless feel extra special now. You would think I would learn.
I try to not take it personally, but I can’t help it. And gift giving isn’t even necessary. The only thing that is necessary is that he shows planning was involved. It really is the thought that counts. I need to see EFFORT. If you don’t want to put in effort then you at least need to be bright enough to get the perfect gift.
I was really too sick yesterday to enjoy Mother’s Day very much anyway, but it would have been nice to have felt appreciated. He could have shown that any number of ways. He informed me that he did make dinner reservations and that did show something. Ok… so I am supposed to get all excited about him picking up the phone for 5 minutes? Big Whoop. He didn’t make me breakfast. He didn’t arrange for something special. There was no card . No gift (not even non-romantic geek ones that require electricity). No warm and fuzzy “I’m so glad you are the mother of my children” moments. Nada. And truthfully, now I’m pissed. I’m still pissed.
Stupid Holidays. I should learn to keep my expectations LOW. It’s only when I have high expectations that I get disappointed.
Holidays are when I always get disappointed by my husband. I can bury the whole mundane not feeling special thing in the day to day busyness of routine. But on holidays I get my hopes up for some stellar display of how much he truly appreciates me. Especially Mother’s Day because of the infertility crap we went through. Parenthood didn’t come easy. So these holidays that were so painful when we were childless feel extra special now. You would think I would learn.
I try to not take it personally, but I can’t help it. And gift giving isn’t even necessary. The only thing that is necessary is that he shows planning was involved. It really is the thought that counts. I need to see EFFORT. If you don’t want to put in effort then you at least need to be bright enough to get the perfect gift.
I was really too sick yesterday to enjoy Mother’s Day very much anyway, but it would have been nice to have felt appreciated. He could have shown that any number of ways. He informed me that he did make dinner reservations and that did show something. Ok… so I am supposed to get all excited about him picking up the phone for 5 minutes? Big Whoop. He didn’t make me breakfast. He didn’t arrange for something special. There was no card . No gift (not even non-romantic geek ones that require electricity). No warm and fuzzy “I’m so glad you are the mother of my children” moments. Nada. And truthfully, now I’m pissed. I’m still pissed.
Stupid Holidays. I should learn to keep my expectations LOW. It’s only when I have high expectations that I get disappointed.
I decided to take a multi-pronged approach to the whole bully situation. I focused not only on empowering Emma and working with her to develop coping skills, but also focused on what I could do at the school level to make it better going forward. Not just for my kids, but for all kids.
First, I called the school this morning. I spoke to the guidance counselor and she's very nice. What I feel really good about is that I asked her a lot of questions and was able to find out that there really isn't a good protocol on the playground assistants for dealing with repetitive verbal assaults. I told her I would be happy to help her in anyway I could or via the PTA to get procedures in place so they can recognize this type of problem. She said she is going to talk to the principal about it and bring it up at a staff meeting.
I stressed that when she talks to Vanessa, the bully, that I want her to try to understand that this is hurting Emma's heart... She told me she would try, but that it's common for "bullies" to have their own issues and usually they aren't too touched by other people's feelings. It just gives them a sense of power. It was important to me though that this girl be reached on an emotional level vs. just being reprimanded. I want rehabilitation not punitive damages ya know?
What I appreciated was that the Guidance counselor didn't make this about something Emma needed to do which I appreciated. She made this about that this kid was wrong and it needed to be addressed. She said if it was effecting Emma's eating, that obviously it's a big deal to Emma and requires action. It felt good to be validated like that by a "professional". She said that she appreciated that I was trying to empower Emma with the skills to deal with this kind of thing but that Emma isn't a "whiner" and she had no doubt that Vanessa was simply being mean. And they have lots of programs to work on that... She indicated she would even pull Vanessa into counseling if need be. She told me that she was going to pull Emma out today and let her know that if this happens again that she is to come directly to her and she will handle it. She told me that she would make sure Emma feels good about that.
Since I spoke to Emma this morning about this I know Emma is going to be ok with it. I told Emma how I was planning on addressing the problem and she agreed with me. We worked together this weekend on role playing on what she could say to Vanessa and how she could deal with her. I could see the relief in her eyes that I was involved and that I was going to make it stop.
Later in the day, the Guidance Counselor (GC) called me back. The counselor called me back. She spoke with Emma and gave her the option of confronting her bully or just having her handle it. Emma said "I want to tell her how I feel!" I am so proud of Emma. The GC said Emma was nothing short of amazing. She told Vanessa that she didn't like being called fattie and that it's not nice to call people names. Vanessa at first denied saying it, but the GC nipped that right in the bud. Emma then when on to say that it hurt her feelings and she didn't understand why she was being mean. She also told her that she asked her to stop many times and now since she didn't, she got an adult involved.
The GC said that she then told Vanessa that if she did this again, that she would be pulled into a conference with the principal. She also alluded to me that she was going to do some one on one work with Vanessa since there seemed to be some other issues going on. Vanessa was "surprised" Emma involved the GC but apologized and shook hands with Emma and said it wouldn't happen again.
But I am so proud of my daughter!!! She handled this beautifully. It's very hard for Emma to control her temper and her emotions and the GC said Emma just laid out the facts like a lawyer and then drove home the point that this girl was wrong. She was amazed that a seven year old could handle herself that well. To which I got to again drive home the point that if this is happening a lot on the playground to strong kids like Emma...what about the kids who aren't as strong?
I AM SO PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER!
Thanks everyone for your support and comments. They were very much appreciated and your perspective was truly valued!
First, I called the school this morning. I spoke to the guidance counselor and she's very nice. What I feel really good about is that I asked her a lot of questions and was able to find out that there really isn't a good protocol on the playground assistants for dealing with repetitive verbal assaults. I told her I would be happy to help her in anyway I could or via the PTA to get procedures in place so they can recognize this type of problem. She said she is going to talk to the principal about it and bring it up at a staff meeting.
I stressed that when she talks to Vanessa, the bully, that I want her to try to understand that this is hurting Emma's heart... She told me she would try, but that it's common for "bullies" to have their own issues and usually they aren't too touched by other people's feelings. It just gives them a sense of power. It was important to me though that this girl be reached on an emotional level vs. just being reprimanded. I want rehabilitation not punitive damages ya know?
What I appreciated was that the Guidance counselor didn't make this about something Emma needed to do which I appreciated. She made this about that this kid was wrong and it needed to be addressed. She said if it was effecting Emma's eating, that obviously it's a big deal to Emma and requires action. It felt good to be validated like that by a "professional". She said that she appreciated that I was trying to empower Emma with the skills to deal with this kind of thing but that Emma isn't a "whiner" and she had no doubt that Vanessa was simply being mean. And they have lots of programs to work on that... She indicated she would even pull Vanessa into counseling if need be. She told me that she was going to pull Emma out today and let her know that if this happens again that she is to come directly to her and she will handle it. She told me that she would make sure Emma feels good about that.
Since I spoke to Emma this morning about this I know Emma is going to be ok with it. I told Emma how I was planning on addressing the problem and she agreed with me. We worked together this weekend on role playing on what she could say to Vanessa and how she could deal with her. I could see the relief in her eyes that I was involved and that I was going to make it stop.
Later in the day, the Guidance Counselor (GC) called me back. The counselor called me back. She spoke with Emma and gave her the option of confronting her bully or just having her handle it. Emma said "I want to tell her how I feel!" I am so proud of Emma. The GC said Emma was nothing short of amazing. She told Vanessa that she didn't like being called fattie and that it's not nice to call people names. Vanessa at first denied saying it, but the GC nipped that right in the bud. Emma then when on to say that it hurt her feelings and she didn't understand why she was being mean. She also told her that she asked her to stop many times and now since she didn't, she got an adult involved.
The GC said that she then told Vanessa that if she did this again, that she would be pulled into a conference with the principal. She also alluded to me that she was going to do some one on one work with Vanessa since there seemed to be some other issues going on. Vanessa was "surprised" Emma involved the GC but apologized and shook hands with Emma and said it wouldn't happen again.
But I am so proud of my daughter!!! She handled this beautifully. It's very hard for Emma to control her temper and her emotions and the GC said Emma just laid out the facts like a lawyer and then drove home the point that this girl was wrong. She was amazed that a seven year old could handle herself that well. To which I got to again drive home the point that if this is happening a lot on the playground to strong kids like Emma...what about the kids who aren't as strong?
I AM SO PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER!
Thanks everyone for your support and comments. They were very much appreciated and your perspective was truly valued!
I hate getting sick. I can't figure out if this is allergies, a virus or a cold. My glands are swollen. My thoat hurts. There's lots of pretty white pollen floating in the air. Anyway... I feel like crap. And you know what is worse then feeling crap? Feeling like crap on a PERFECT spring day when you have a BABYSITTER coming but you dont feel like doing anything.
Thanks for listening to me whine.
I think I'll go to bed early. I think I'll strip down naked and watch the SURVIVOR finale from underneath the snuggly warmth of my down comforter. That will make me feel better. And Im going to have my husband make me hot tea and bring me ice cream to make my throat feel better.
I hope I feel better tomorrow.
Thanks for listening to me whine.
I think I'll go to bed early. I think I'll strip down naked and watch the SURVIVOR finale from underneath the snuggly warmth of my down comforter. That will make me feel better. And Im going to have my husband make me hot tea and bring me ice cream to make my throat feel better.
I hope I feel better tomorrow.
Several weeks ago, Emma (age 7, first grade) came home and complained about a boy who was pushing her down almost everyday at school. We believed this was unacceptable. We “empowered” our daughter and told her that we would NOT let this continue to happen to her but we wanted to give her the steps to try to solve the problem herself before we intervened.
So we told her to tell the playground assistants. They did nothing but tell the kid to stop. The next day when it happened, we told her to go to the SAME assistant and tell her that he was doing it again. Again.. not much happened to the kid other then a verbal reprimand. The third day same thing happened. But this time, Emma told the assistant that she wanted this kid to have another consequence. We had her explain to the assistant that her mom said that if nothing happened to the kid today, that she was to get a pass to the principals office and call me at home. Low and behold, the kid got dentention and the bullying stopped.
Today at breakfast we found out that there is another girl on the playground who is calling Emma “Fattie”. She says “Hi Fattie” to her everyday in front of all the other kids. My little sweetheart was in tears. Since I was a fat kid myself, this just especially breaks my heart and touches a very raw place inside me still. The mamma tiger in me just wants to go put this kid into orbit. But I am trying to be rational.
Here’s where I need some advice. What would you do in this situation? Would you call the school? Would you intervene? I think we have to take a multipronged approach. I spoke at length with Emma today about self esteem, and how this girl is just mean and she’s going to come across people in her life who are mean and not to give what she says any weight. That she needs to just ignore her and/or tell her to stop. But Emma isn’t eating and Im worried it might be going too far.
My husband says I should call the school. His valid point is that if she was a minority and the kid was calling her a racial slur, that the school would jump through HOOPS to make it stop. But that this is no different. It’s discriminatory. And I agree… BUT
I think it’s more important to focus on setting Emma up with the skills to deal with this kind of thing in the future. And we don’t want to teach her that every time someone calls her a name, that she can come home and mommy will go into the school and make it stop. Or do I? I think since she’s all of a sudden trying to “diet” that it really is effecting her and I should get involved…. But what exactly should I ask the school to do?
I’m confused. And how exactly would you help your kid to cope with this kind of stuff? Of all the things I have posted, this is the one I'd really like folks to leave their comments on. I am at a loss on the best way to handle this and the best way to empower my child going forward. So please leave me your comments!!
So we told her to tell the playground assistants. They did nothing but tell the kid to stop. The next day when it happened, we told her to go to the SAME assistant and tell her that he was doing it again. Again.. not much happened to the kid other then a verbal reprimand. The third day same thing happened. But this time, Emma told the assistant that she wanted this kid to have another consequence. We had her explain to the assistant that her mom said that if nothing happened to the kid today, that she was to get a pass to the principals office and call me at home. Low and behold, the kid got dentention and the bullying stopped.
Today at breakfast we found out that there is another girl on the playground who is calling Emma “Fattie”. She says “Hi Fattie” to her everyday in front of all the other kids. My little sweetheart was in tears. Since I was a fat kid myself, this just especially breaks my heart and touches a very raw place inside me still. The mamma tiger in me just wants to go put this kid into orbit. But I am trying to be rational.
Here’s where I need some advice. What would you do in this situation? Would you call the school? Would you intervene? I think we have to take a multipronged approach. I spoke at length with Emma today about self esteem, and how this girl is just mean and she’s going to come across people in her life who are mean and not to give what she says any weight. That she needs to just ignore her and/or tell her to stop. But Emma isn’t eating and Im worried it might be going too far.
My husband says I should call the school. His valid point is that if she was a minority and the kid was calling her a racial slur, that the school would jump through HOOPS to make it stop. But that this is no different. It’s discriminatory. And I agree… BUT
I think it’s more important to focus on setting Emma up with the skills to deal with this kind of thing in the future. And we don’t want to teach her that every time someone calls her a name, that she can come home and mommy will go into the school and make it stop. Or do I? I think since she’s all of a sudden trying to “diet” that it really is effecting her and I should get involved…. But what exactly should I ask the school to do?
I’m confused. And how exactly would you help your kid to cope with this kind of stuff? Of all the things I have posted, this is the one I'd really like folks to leave their comments on. I am at a loss on the best way to handle this and the best way to empower my child going forward. So please leave me your comments!!
How do you know if you are giving your kids too much freedom? I think for us, it's when the neighbors come knocking on our door carrying a soaking wet coat that look likes my son's and two baseball bats. (I kid you not). Lets just say that in the past four days my two youngest children have:
Taken costco sized fruit roll ups from a neighbor's garage.
Taken the same rollups AGAIN after being caught but this time thought they were smarter by asking the neighbors "when are you leaving?"
Climbed another neighbors fence when they weren't there.
Have trapsed through every backyard in the neighborhood. (12 houses in all)
Turned on another neighbor's sprinkler.
Chased a neighbor's terrified cat.
Left their bikes, toys and crap all over the neighborhood.
We live on a quiet cul-de-sac. I love our neighborhood. It's very culturally diverse and for the most part, we have awesome neighbors. However the ones without kids are starting to run short on patience. And I can't blame them. I think I'm one of those parents I used to curse under my breath when I was single who didn't keep tight enough reign on their kids.
I seriously do not understand why my kids have to drift to the lowest mentality denominator of whomever is traveling in the pack. Most of this damage was done with kids from 4 other families. What really scares me is that my kids might be the lowest common denominator. Even after being talked to about boundaries and acceptable behavior...they still pull this crap.
I've had the talk with them about not going into other people's yards but they just dont seem to get it. What the hell is so confusing about this?
So now they are grounded. Now they won't be going anywhere where mommy can't see them ALL THE TIME.
Shit it's going to be a long freakin' summer.
Taken costco sized fruit roll ups from a neighbor's garage.
Taken the same rollups AGAIN after being caught but this time thought they were smarter by asking the neighbors "when are you leaving?"
Climbed another neighbors fence when they weren't there.
Have trapsed through every backyard in the neighborhood. (12 houses in all)
Turned on another neighbor's sprinkler.
Chased a neighbor's terrified cat.
Left their bikes, toys and crap all over the neighborhood.
We live on a quiet cul-de-sac. I love our neighborhood. It's very culturally diverse and for the most part, we have awesome neighbors. However the ones without kids are starting to run short on patience. And I can't blame them. I think I'm one of those parents I used to curse under my breath when I was single who didn't keep tight enough reign on their kids.
I seriously do not understand why my kids have to drift to the lowest mentality denominator of whomever is traveling in the pack. Most of this damage was done with kids from 4 other families. What really scares me is that my kids might be the lowest common denominator. Even after being talked to about boundaries and acceptable behavior...they still pull this crap.
I've had the talk with them about not going into other people's yards but they just dont seem to get it. What the hell is so confusing about this?
So now they are grounded. Now they won't be going anywhere where mommy can't see them ALL THE TIME.
Shit it's going to be a long freakin' summer.
Have you ever wondered when Norah Jones sings the song "I don't know why I didn't come" what exactly is she referring to?
Which do you watch on Thursday Nights? Just wondering.
I am a Survivor addict. "Don't get voted off the island" was a mantra for me when I was a manager. I believe with my whole being that what sets people apart in the corporate world is not how smart they are or how hard they work. I believe it's all about politics and how well you play with others (or make people believe you are playing well with others).
But tonight, I will be using the Replay TV and watching Friends with my hubby and watching Survivor before ER :)
So what do you watch?
I am a Survivor addict. "Don't get voted off the island" was a mantra for me when I was a manager. I believe with my whole being that what sets people apart in the corporate world is not how smart they are or how hard they work. I believe it's all about politics and how well you play with others (or make people believe you are playing well with others).
But tonight, I will be using the Replay TV and watching Friends with my hubby and watching Survivor before ER :)
So what do you watch?
In a quest to soothe my anxious spirit as we await word on hubby's newest employment foray... I have realized that I need a new spring bag. I really want a nice striped COACH bag with a big buckle. But they are very expensive. Even on ebay. And I am cheap. So I am asking my few dozen regular readers (you know who you are) if you know anyplace online where I can order cheap KNOCKOFFS of Coach handbags.
Just link in the comments. Thanks for supporting my lastest quest.
Just link in the comments. Thanks for supporting my lastest quest.
My husband has a job interview in about 2 hours. It's with a really big company with really excellent benefits. Really excellent. Like the best. The benefits are what makes the job (for me anyway). Not to mention, it's working with FLASH which is like my husband's "dream job". He uses Flash to make all kinds of cool games with actionscript, javascript and such. He would love this job because he would be getting paid to do what he loved.
But the job is an HOUR commute one way. Not a big deal for some folks, but my hubby is traffic phobic. And his wife, that would be me, is phobic about never getting to see her hubby. I have no desire to spend the next ten years only seeing my husband between 6 and 7 am and then again from 8pm to 10. Life's too short. Our family life is too important.
Many people measure success in terms of money. I no longer do that. To me, success is measured in terms of free time. I feel like hitting the motherlode in the job department would be if he found something completely with flextime that ENCOURAGED telecommuting whenever possible. One can dream right?
Anyway... I dont know if I should be hoping he gets this job or not. But since I know it will make him feel good... if you are the praying type, how bout sending some prayers, white light, affirmations or whatever is your thing... out to my hubby.
Thank you for your support.
But the job is an HOUR commute one way. Not a big deal for some folks, but my hubby is traffic phobic. And his wife, that would be me, is phobic about never getting to see her hubby. I have no desire to spend the next ten years only seeing my husband between 6 and 7 am and then again from 8pm to 10. Life's too short. Our family life is too important.
Many people measure success in terms of money. I no longer do that. To me, success is measured in terms of free time. I feel like hitting the motherlode in the job department would be if he found something completely with flextime that ENCOURAGED telecommuting whenever possible. One can dream right?
Anyway... I dont know if I should be hoping he gets this job or not. But since I know it will make him feel good... if you are the praying type, how bout sending some prayers, white light, affirmations or whatever is your thing... out to my hubby.
Thank you for your support.
What movie are these quotes from:
1. I caught hubby between the kitchen counter and the island for a quick snuggle and a kiss on the neck. Emma, with all the disgust her 7 year old body could muster said: Get a room!
2. I heard Dinara in her best airy voice say to her brother: What's the matter Mr. Grumpy Gills?
3. Noah in his best sing songy voice while climbing in behind his sister into the minivan: I like big butts and I can not lie!
Answers:
1. Cheaper by the Dozen. Emma has no idea what this phrase actually means, but she does know how to use it appropriately.
2. Finding Nemo. Dinara does the *best* Dory impressions.
3. Shrek DVD where they do the music compolation at the end. Noah singing "I like big butts" is very funny and very cute except when he sings it loudly in front of strangers.
I know I know. We are watching too many movies.
1. I caught hubby between the kitchen counter and the island for a quick snuggle and a kiss on the neck. Emma, with all the disgust her 7 year old body could muster said: Get a room!
2. I heard Dinara in her best airy voice say to her brother: What's the matter Mr. Grumpy Gills?
3. Noah in his best sing songy voice while climbing in behind his sister into the minivan: I like big butts and I can not lie!
Answers:
1. Cheaper by the Dozen. Emma has no idea what this phrase actually means, but she does know how to use it appropriately.
2. Finding Nemo. Dinara does the *best* Dory impressions.
3. Shrek DVD where they do the music compolation at the end. Noah singing "I like big butts" is very funny and very cute except when he sings it loudly in front of strangers.
I know I know. We are watching too many movies.
This Sunday is Mother's Day. It also, just so happens, to fall on the second Sunday of the month. Do you know what that means? That's the day when we have the babysitter scheduled (Please call her to confirm!). Score! So you have a chance here to be a REAL STANDOUT and make this a VERY MEMORABLE MOTHER'S DAY. Don't fuck it up.
Love,
--me
the loving mother to your three adorable children
Love,
--me
the loving mother to your three adorable children
Each of my kids offers unique stylistic parenting opportunities. I have to match up my style with their needs and then, on top of it all, prioritize! I struggle with not only staying focused on what I have to do each day to keep them safe, fed and alive… but also on what I should be focusing on to make them into the best human beings they can be.
My daughter Emma is just like me and this presents me with very unique challenges. I know what this kid is capable of and it scares me. She’s head-strong. She’s opinionated. She’s stubborn. And she is smart enough to use these qualities to the best of her abilities to get what she wants. Even when she isn’t right, she’s figured out that she’s usually stronger, louder and a better manipulator then whomever she is paired up against, so she can just bully her way through.
This morning, I heard her screaming at her brother. I don’t just mean normal kid screaming, I mean all out, I’m going to make you hate me but you’ll do what I want screaming. She was throwing up insults like she had some sort of brain virus. She was mean with a capital M. It’s not important really what she was ranting about… (which was that she couldn’t find the Gameboy her brother lost) but it is important that she THINKS it is ok to berate people like that. And that she can get what she wants by being that mean.
Somehow as a parent, I have to figure out a way for her to not get her way when she’s being a bully. There has to be a negative consequence to her behavior and it has to be swift and direct. But how do I do that? I’m not around all the time. Its hard to be consistent when you don't know it's happening.
Emma is a pretty good kid and I am trying to reach her on a rational level. We are talking about it a lot. I spoke to her this morning about being nice to people and how that should be a priority for her. But I don’t think she really caught the drift. When I told her that it would be nice if she followed the Golden Rule of treating others the way you would want to be treated, she responded with that if she was as stupid as her brother, then she would deserve to be treated meanly.
Uh. No.
Maybe I’m focusing on the wrong priority. Duct tape fixes about everything right? Maybe I should just duct tape her mouth till she’s 18? Would that work?
My daughter Emma is just like me and this presents me with very unique challenges. I know what this kid is capable of and it scares me. She’s head-strong. She’s opinionated. She’s stubborn. And she is smart enough to use these qualities to the best of her abilities to get what she wants. Even when she isn’t right, she’s figured out that she’s usually stronger, louder and a better manipulator then whomever she is paired up against, so she can just bully her way through.
This morning, I heard her screaming at her brother. I don’t just mean normal kid screaming, I mean all out, I’m going to make you hate me but you’ll do what I want screaming. She was throwing up insults like she had some sort of brain virus. She was mean with a capital M. It’s not important really what she was ranting about… (which was that she couldn’t find the Gameboy her brother lost) but it is important that she THINKS it is ok to berate people like that. And that she can get what she wants by being that mean.
Somehow as a parent, I have to figure out a way for her to not get her way when she’s being a bully. There has to be a negative consequence to her behavior and it has to be swift and direct. But how do I do that? I’m not around all the time. Its hard to be consistent when you don't know it's happening.
Emma is a pretty good kid and I am trying to reach her on a rational level. We are talking about it a lot. I spoke to her this morning about being nice to people and how that should be a priority for her. But I don’t think she really caught the drift. When I told her that it would be nice if she followed the Golden Rule of treating others the way you would want to be treated, she responded with that if she was as stupid as her brother, then she would deserve to be treated meanly.
Uh. No.
Maybe I’m focusing on the wrong priority. Duct tape fixes about everything right? Maybe I should just duct tape her mouth till she’s 18? Would that work?
Which would you rather have a Porche or a BMW? If you like sex, this article may sway you.
How you can buy GOGGLE IPO Shares
How you can buy GOGGLE IPO Shares
Do you have any freakin' idea how much time it takes to plan a Disney Vacation? We are going with another family and let me tell ya, it's no easy feat. I keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be part of the fun. Planning this trip is not giving me warm fuzzies about the "Happiest Place on Earth". I'm worried that after spending THOUSANDS of dollars to create the ultimate vacation memory for my brood, it will end up just being mediocre.
So we are going in September. This means that we are going during Value Season. So hopefully we'll be able to save some bucks on our on property resort stay. I am praying that there are some great Florida Resident Discounts for September. The fact that I am not a Florida Resident is a minor detail since I own a house in Florida and pay Florida taxes and have a Florida utility bill. Nice to know those taxes are good for something.
Here are the decisions we have so far:
Annual Passes for our family
1 day at Seaworld - staying off property
1 day at Discovery Cove -- staying off property
3 days in Polyensian Villiage
5 days in Animal Kingdom
Now we have to figure out what parks we want to do when. And what shows we want to see. And whether I should even TRY to cram our family of five into one room or if I will curse myself during our vacation because I am trying to save a few bucks but will pay the ultimate price with cranky kids. My kids are all hyped up about the Magic Kingdom but I am worried if I take them to see that first that everything else will be a let down. We also want to do water parks too. We are big fans of Typhoon Lagoon.
I've just ordered my Unofficial Disney Guide and the Passporter from Buy.com. I'm ready to create a plan and eek out every possible "moment" on this trip. So if you have Disney tips and tricks, please post 'em!
So we are going in September. This means that we are going during Value Season. So hopefully we'll be able to save some bucks on our on property resort stay. I am praying that there are some great Florida Resident Discounts for September. The fact that I am not a Florida Resident is a minor detail since I own a house in Florida and pay Florida taxes and have a Florida utility bill. Nice to know those taxes are good for something.
Here are the decisions we have so far:
Annual Passes for our family
1 day at Seaworld - staying off property
1 day at Discovery Cove -- staying off property
3 days in Polyensian Villiage
5 days in Animal Kingdom
Now we have to figure out what parks we want to do when. And what shows we want to see. And whether I should even TRY to cram our family of five into one room or if I will curse myself during our vacation because I am trying to save a few bucks but will pay the ultimate price with cranky kids. My kids are all hyped up about the Magic Kingdom but I am worried if I take them to see that first that everything else will be a let down. We also want to do water parks too. We are big fans of Typhoon Lagoon.
I've just ordered my Unofficial Disney Guide and the Passporter from Buy.com. I'm ready to create a plan and eek out every possible "moment" on this trip. So if you have Disney tips and tricks, please post 'em!
Yep. I bet you didn't know that about me. But let me just say, that miniseries that was on last night "10.5" was about the worst written miniseries I have seen in a LONG LONG TIME! Scored a feeble 2.1 on the Kym Disaster Movie Love Scale. I fell asleep! The conversation throughout the movie was so horrible, it really took away from the genre.
I can't wait for the new diaster movie coming out in May named "DAY AFTER TOMORROW". Now that looks like a great flick!
I can't wait for the new diaster movie coming out in May named "DAY AFTER TOMORROW". Now that looks like a great flick!
Noah and Dinara turn a golden brown in the sunshine. They have gorgeous skin color -- a tribute to their Persian and Central Asian heritage. They understand that they are a different color because they were born in Kazakhstan... or so I thought.
Me: Dinara your skin is so brown! You got a great tan. It's beautiful!
Dinara: Yep, you are white.
Me: I wish I was as brown as you.
Dinara: I'm beautiful.
Me: Yes you are. How did you get so brown?
Dinara: I drink lots of chocolate milk and not much water.
Note: Just to clarify the water comment. Dinara's sister Emma, who is very light skinned and Irish looking drinks mostly water and Dinara believed that Emma was "washed out" by all that water.
Gosh I love the way kids think!
Me: Dinara your skin is so brown! You got a great tan. It's beautiful!
Dinara: Yep, you are white.
Me: I wish I was as brown as you.
Dinara: I'm beautiful.
Me: Yes you are. How did you get so brown?
Dinara: I drink lots of chocolate milk and not much water.
Note: Just to clarify the water comment. Dinara's sister Emma, who is very light skinned and Irish looking drinks mostly water and Dinara believed that Emma was "washed out" by all that water.
Gosh I love the way kids think!
1 big cup of coffee
1 teaspoon of Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
More Coffeemate then I care to admit
2 Equals
Stir till Cocoa dissolves.
Makes a great LOW CARB Mocha that truthfully tastes better then Starbucks.
1 teaspoon of Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder
More Coffeemate then I care to admit
2 Equals
Stir till Cocoa dissolves.
Makes a great LOW CARB Mocha that truthfully tastes better then Starbucks.
Contain your excitement kids... Cause I'm HOME!
Nothing like traveling to Florida and being surrounded by family to reaffirm for me why I live on the other side of the country.
Don't get me wrong, I love my family. They are a great group of people... But they are very different from me. Being around them can be somewhat exhausting. And I have to admit, that several times a year it enters my brain that I should leave this beautiful Pacific NW and move to Florida. The cost of living is so much less expensive there... But I know now, I could not do it.
I am bone tired and have no less then 15 loads of laundry to do, spent $300 grocery shopping and have 5 lbs of mail to sort through... but I'm so glad to be here. From the depths of my soul the title of this post (and a well known cliche) hold so true: There really is no place like home.
Nothing like traveling to Florida and being surrounded by family to reaffirm for me why I live on the other side of the country.
Don't get me wrong, I love my family. They are a great group of people... But they are very different from me. Being around them can be somewhat exhausting. And I have to admit, that several times a year it enters my brain that I should leave this beautiful Pacific NW and move to Florida. The cost of living is so much less expensive there... But I know now, I could not do it.
I am bone tired and have no less then 15 loads of laundry to do, spent $300 grocery shopping and have 5 lbs of mail to sort through... but I'm so glad to be here. From the depths of my soul the title of this post (and a well known cliche) hold so true: There really is no place like home.
