So this weekend was a big one for me. I haven't been on a road trip of any sort since June of 2005 and I haven't been with my family for any kind of Christmas celebration since 1997. This weekend I was able to fit both things in.
Saturday we left well before dawn even thinks about showing up and headed down towards Louisiana. Temperature wise, the second we hit Oklahoma there was a huge difference. We went from below freezing to icky hot. Not fun. Other than that it didn't look all that different. We ended up taking forever to get through Texas because of traffic and other little things. The trip through Texas was so stressful that, as soon as we hit the Louisiana state line, my son shouts "We escaped Texas!!!" It definitely felt like an escape to all of us. Nothing against Texas. I'm a big fan of the state. We were just ready to be here.
Sunday we spent the day with my entire family, minus one cousin, at my grandmother's house. Since some of the people have to work for Christmas, we did it this past weekend. I haven't experienced this in so long and it really wasn't all that different from when we were younger. Family visited. We all ate too much. Games were played. Overall, it was a really wonderful day. There were a few moments I could have done without but it was worth it. Actually, seeing how happy my grandmother was to have everyone there and watching my grandfather get choked up over his Christmas gift(a frame with a picture of him as well as my dad and uncles all in uniform when they were younger) made it all so worth it.
As if that wasn't enough, I was given a gift that day that will hopefully be passed down to my son and on and on. My grandmother has always been a quilter as was my great-grandmother. When they were married, my parents had quilts on the beds that they were given and my sisters and I all had baby quilts. Mine was big enough that I slept with it until I was in my 20's and it was falling apart from use. After my great-grandmother died, most of the quilts went to my grandparents. I have loved them and the history and time they represented since I was 13 or so. I have been saying since my later high school years that I wanted one. My grandmother always just smiled and we moved on. She made lots of quilts and it was always the same story. Well Saturday she told me she had something to show me and started showing me this great quilt I recognized the squares as being fabrics I had seen all my life. Some had been used in clothes for my sisters and I. Some had been from my great-grandmother's scrap collection and others my grandmothers. As usual I was awed and loving it when, to my complete shock, she told me it was mine. She had made the top for it and then had some women she was friends with do the rest. The top part is what would matter anyway as that is where the love and sentimental value is. What got me is she did all of that specifically for me because she knew how much I wanted one. I always thought I might eventually inherit one of the older ones. It never occurred to me that one day I would have one of my very own. It wasn't a Christmas gift, just something she wanted me to have. It was also a big secret everyone had kept from me. If I didn't get another gift this year, that would be more than enough. Even now I get tears in my eyes thinking about it. I'll post pictures of it later.
Today I learned two things. I learned that when you are a kid, some things just seem so much bigger and I also learned that some people just won't change no matter how hard you wish they would. I would have been perfectly fine not learning the second one but oh well.
The bigger thing came when I ran by my mom's house to drop something off. She recently moved back to where we lived from mid 4th grade to mid 6th or 7th grade. As we pulled into the trailer park, I noticed that the walk we used to get to the bus stop all those years was much shorter than I remembered. In fact, the entire place was much smaller. The place was our playground for all of those years and the yards seemed so big and the walk so long. Now it all is just really small. I was amazed at how much my perception had changed.
I don't feel like getting into the other thing right now. Maybe a little later when I'm not tired and still sensitive about it.
The best part of my day, aside from buying stuff for my son with someone else's money and getting to eat my step-mom's awesome cooking again, was going to see Christmas lights. It was so much fun. Some were just as awesome as I remembered and some were so much less. I don't think the less was perception because my step-mom felt the same way. I felt like a kid again. So many of my few good memories are from this time of year and I have been enjoying reliving them again with my own son. I will post some of the pictures from the lights when I'm home as well.
I am really grateful that my husband agreed to come this Christmas. I don't think he will ever fully understand how much it means to me. I'm so blessed.
Every year people look forward to the Christmas movies and I'm not different but I defintiely look forward to certain commercials as well. My two favorites are for Hershey Kisses and Toys for Tots.
This one for Toys for Tots always gets to me. It's simple but says all it needs to and it's just really touching. I always look forward to it.
This is the classic Hershey kiss holiday commercial and it isn't spectacular or touching but it is cute and fun. I love it.
Now this year there are two commercials that were hits in my house. One for the hilarity and one because it is touching.
This one was around last year but this year they added the trampoline and slap and it killed my son. He went into hysterics when he saw it. Now I like seeing it just to see him laugh.
This is another for Toys for Tots but it really got me because I get it. A year or two after my parents split up my mom sat me down a few days before Christmas and told me there was no Santa and there was no way we were going to have presents for Christmas. Well it was more like I wasn't. I wasn't allowed to tell my sisters and basically my Christmas was set to suck from there. I will never forget walking into the living room and seeing all of the gifts under the tree. The people in our church got together and bought us all gifts. Even then I knew how big of a deal this was and this commercial just reminds me of the joy that those acts of kindness give people who pretty much have no hope. It's one of the reasons we try to make a point to help out at least one family a year. I hate that we haven't been able to do as much this year but every little penny helps.
This one for Toys for Tots always gets to me. It's simple but says all it needs to and it's just really touching. I always look forward to it.
This is the classic Hershey kiss holiday commercial and it isn't spectacular or touching but it is cute and fun. I love it.
Now this year there are two commercials that were hits in my house. One for the hilarity and one because it is touching.
This one was around last year but this year they added the trampoline and slap and it killed my son. He went into hysterics when he saw it. Now I like seeing it just to see him laugh.
This is another for Toys for Tots but it really got me because I get it. A year or two after my parents split up my mom sat me down a few days before Christmas and told me there was no Santa and there was no way we were going to have presents for Christmas. Well it was more like I wasn't. I wasn't allowed to tell my sisters and basically my Christmas was set to suck from there. I will never forget walking into the living room and seeing all of the gifts under the tree. The people in our church got together and bought us all gifts. Even then I knew how big of a deal this was and this commercial just reminds me of the joy that those acts of kindness give people who pretty much have no hope. It's one of the reasons we try to make a point to help out at least one family a year. I hate that we haven't been able to do as much this year but every little penny helps.
When we moved here we knew that the winter was going to require some big adjustments for us. I was so confident we wouldn't have any issues with adjusting to the cold then we got here and I was sure I would freeze to death. It wasn't the cold as much as the wind. Well I'm here and it's cold and guess what, I'm not frozen to death. Don't get me wrong, it's cold. This morning it was 19 degrees when I brought my son to school and the ground is covered in several inches of snow for the third day in a row. In a few hours we are expecting some freezing rain. So as I was walking home from the school and had to stop to let traffic pass. Someone offered to let me cross but the snowy/slushy road is slippery so I let them go because it was almost bell time and they were dropping kids off. I didn't want to slow them down or to hurry myself and bust my butt. As I was standing there I realized that it didn't feel all that cold. I looked up at the big sign and saw that it was 19 degrees and was shocked. Sure, if it was windy it would have felt colder but, coming from 80 degree weather on average even this time of year, it should have felt worse. Now I'm not sure if I will get as used to the snow that doesn't go away but I'm trying. I will say we need to get a snow shovel. We are just used to snow that melts the day after it falls.
Just as I'm getting used to this we are leaving to warmer weather. I was talking to my sister so I could get the weather in SW Louisiana for next week. Her husband is a meteorologist and is a really good one so I trust him way more than the weather channel. He's in the background when she asks him about the weather and I hear him say "Cold on Sunday and Monday then moderate the rest of the week." I asked my sister what cold meant because it was in the teens here at the time. He responded with in the 40's. I remember when that used to be cold. In fact my other sister is coming from Florida and to her that is cold. Definitely going to be interesting. I'm getting excited for the holidays and not going to think about the fact that they might have a white Christmas here.
Just as I'm getting used to this we are leaving to warmer weather. I was talking to my sister so I could get the weather in SW Louisiana for next week. Her husband is a meteorologist and is a really good one so I trust him way more than the weather channel. He's in the background when she asks him about the weather and I hear him say "Cold on Sunday and Monday then moderate the rest of the week." I asked my sister what cold meant because it was in the teens here at the time. He responded with in the 40's. I remember when that used to be cold. In fact my other sister is coming from Florida and to her that is cold. Definitely going to be interesting. I'm getting excited for the holidays and not going to think about the fact that they might have a white Christmas here.
I have had a very interesting day and am really just very happy right now.
When I woke up at 5:45 I noticed that it was unusually bright. I looked out the window and that was when I saw that the world was covered in a gorgeous blanket of white. It had already snowed at least a good inch and was still coming down pretty good. Now I'm from the south so this would usually mean that everything was going to be closed and life as we knew it came to a halt. I say this but I only remember it snowing once when I was a child. It was that way when it snowed in South Carolina though. Unfortunately a few inches of snow isn't enough to stop the world here so I had to get my son ready for school. It was a bit of a struggle because all he wanted was to go outside and play.
It turns out that the mighty army can be delayed by a few inches of snow. My husband was told work was postponed until 1300 and since my son had an appointment not long after that time he pretty much had the day off. Of course they couldn't have called him before he was halfway to work but that's ok We spent the morning finishing a Christmas gift and just hanging out together.It was really night to have that time with just us.
After lunch we dragged ourselves out into the snow to go to my son's appointment. I have never been in a car when this much snow is down and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I expected. I love our car with it's traction control and my husband is a great driver in the snow. After the appointment we went to the library and signed up for library cards. In a matter of 5 minutes I had picked up about 8 books that I will devour over the next two weeks I have to relax. My son picked out two and I am sure that he will totally enjoy them.
We have only been home a few minutes and I have already had an interesting time. I got to wrap my son's gift for his dad. It was a first in the fact that all I did was send him to school with some money and he picked it out himself. After we finished, my husband helped him wrap his gift for me. He was so excited. My sister called just after that to tell me that she had her ultrasound and she is having another boy. She was a little disappointed because she was wanting a little girl to play dress up with but I'm sure she will be thrilled in time.
My day of fun is nowhere near over. I'm going to get off of here and go teach my little man how to make snow angels and probably get pelted with several sow balls in the process. I'm sure I will eventually get rid of the snow but today it has just made everything feel more Christmasy. I'll have to enjoy it while I can because my actual Christmas will be warm.
YAY for snow!
When I woke up at 5:45 I noticed that it was unusually bright. I looked out the window and that was when I saw that the world was covered in a gorgeous blanket of white. It had already snowed at least a good inch and was still coming down pretty good. Now I'm from the south so this would usually mean that everything was going to be closed and life as we knew it came to a halt. I say this but I only remember it snowing once when I was a child. It was that way when it snowed in South Carolina though. Unfortunately a few inches of snow isn't enough to stop the world here so I had to get my son ready for school. It was a bit of a struggle because all he wanted was to go outside and play.
It turns out that the mighty army can be delayed by a few inches of snow. My husband was told work was postponed until 1300 and since my son had an appointment not long after that time he pretty much had the day off. Of course they couldn't have called him before he was halfway to work but that's ok We spent the morning finishing a Christmas gift and just hanging out together.It was really night to have that time with just us.
After lunch we dragged ourselves out into the snow to go to my son's appointment. I have never been in a car when this much snow is down and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I expected. I love our car with it's traction control and my husband is a great driver in the snow. After the appointment we went to the library and signed up for library cards. In a matter of 5 minutes I had picked up about 8 books that I will devour over the next two weeks I have to relax. My son picked out two and I am sure that he will totally enjoy them.
We have only been home a few minutes and I have already had an interesting time. I got to wrap my son's gift for his dad. It was a first in the fact that all I did was send him to school with some money and he picked it out himself. After we finished, my husband helped him wrap his gift for me. He was so excited. My sister called just after that to tell me that she had her ultrasound and she is having another boy. She was a little disappointed because she was wanting a little girl to play dress up with but I'm sure she will be thrilled in time.
My day of fun is nowhere near over. I'm going to get off of here and go teach my little man how to make snow angels and probably get pelted with several sow balls in the process. I'm sure I will eventually get rid of the snow but today it has just made everything feel more Christmasy. I'll have to enjoy it while I can because my actual Christmas will be warm.
YAY for snow!
I'm listening to my husband and son playing and am reminded just how blessed I am to have them. I feel especially blessed to have my husband home for Christmas again this year. I'm holding tight to all of these laughs and memories we are making. I haven't done any Christmas shopping without my husband being with me because I know that next year I will more than likely be doing it all alone. This season is going to be filled with so many moments I wish I could just push pause on and restart later on when we will need them.
I hope that everyone is having a blessed holiday season and can look forward to the next year with at least a little hope.
I hope that everyone is having a blessed holiday season and can look forward to the next year with at least a little hope.
This has definitely been a nice week for me. I saw my first big snow here in Kansas. We had some a week or two ago but it wasn't as much or as interesting as the snow we had Tuesday. It was coming down and being blown all over by the heavy winds and it made for an interesting site. It was really different being out in the snow. I am from the south and everything always seemed to shut down when the littlest bit of snow fell. Not here. Life went on like nothing was happening, you just dress a little warmer and drive a little slower.
Tuesday was a big day for me. I had my first doctors appointment here and that's always a scary thing for me. Even as a little girl I didn't do well with meeting a new doctor. My mom said that when I met the doctor who would be my pediatrician for the next 13 years I threw up on him. I wasn't sick. It was pure nerves. I don't throw up on them anymore but my blood pressure went up a bit because of it. Once again that turned out to be an unnecessary worry. My new doctor is totally sweet and wonderful. She loves to talk and makes you feel like you are visiting with a friend but one that can help make you feel better. We went through my list of medicines so she could understand why I need them before putting them in the system here. The night before I had the appointment I had some intense muscle spasms on my abdomen on the lower left side. She said I had a hernia and freaked me out with her wording a little but basically it's all good. Just taking it easy for a few days then life back to normal. The big part of the appointment was when it came time to address my asking for a referral to the surgical weight loss center here.
Now let me tell you something. I knew I was pushing it as she had never seen me before and when she mentioned that she was pretty much against surgery unless it is necessary I thought I was screwed. I will give her credit. Putting aside her personal feelings on the subject, she listened to my reasons why I want the surgery and took into account that I had been in the program in Hawaii and that my other doctor agreed I was a good candidate. She asked me a million questions to make sure I knew what I was in for the good and the bad. I even managed to impress her because I had talked to the people in the program here so I knew what they needed from me too. In the end she was happy enough with my reasons why and could even sympathize because she herself is morbidly obese. What she feels is a major difference in our situations is that she has not lost any of her ability to function normally on a daily basis and I have noticed a gradual decrease in how well I function. I will admit that is the one thing that has bothered me most. She put in for the referral so it could be as soon February or March I'm guessing. They go through things really fast.
Note:As I was typing I got a phone call and was told the referral didn't go through for whatever reason. They are going to put it in again. Apparently it's an issue they have with their system. I refuse to give up hope that it's going to go any way other than planned.
Aside from all of that, not much has been going on. My son has developed an attitude problem that is determined to drive me up the wall. My husband is working late every night and oddly it isn't bothering me. Don't get me wrong, I miss the time we spend together in the evening but it's just something I am getting used to not having it. It's a good thing though. We have the Battalion Christmas Part tomorrow night. I have met maybe 5 people from the battalion in passing and only two have I spent any amount of time. I get the feeling this is going to be a big party but I'm not sure. Hopefully it will be fun.
Only one week until Christmas. This year is going to be a bit crazy but hopefully good for me. What makes this year so special, aside from my husband getting to be home again, is that we are actually going to my dad's house for the week. I haven't celebrated Christmas with my family since 1997 so it is a big deal. My son will get to have the holiday with his maw maw and paw paw and I get to do all of the fun things with him that we did when I was a kid. I was sitting here the other night thinking and mentioned to my husband that we should go look at Christmas lights around here when I had a lightbulb moment and totally freaked out on him. Poor guy was so confused why I suddenly got so excited and needed the phone but he obliged. What I had remembered is that every year we went looking at Christmas lights and there were two families that just went all out with the light displays. It used to be one of the highlights of the holiday season. My stepmom assured me that they still did it and said she had planned on taking my son and my nephew to see them. No way they are going without us at least following them. I am so excited. I really hope it all goes well. My family is known for being a bit of a downer but the holidays are really a special time for them so hopefully I won't be disappointed.
The only part of the week I'm nervous about is Christmas day. I don't have the best relationship with my mom and to say that my son really doesn't know her wouldn't be stretching the truth. I love her but sometimes she is more than I can handle and she has never made a big point of getting to know my son. This year my dad and stepmom have to work and I got the idea that we would go to my mom's on Christmas day. I don't know what made me want to do this. Whatever the reason, it's done. My mom is excited and I'm actually looking forward to it. Hopefully everyone will have fun. I think what I want from it most of all is a good memory because I don't have a whole lot of those to hold on to. I think it should be fine. I'm hoping it will.
SO anyway, here is the schedule so far.
Saturday, Dec. 20~ We are driving from Kansas to Louisiana. It looks like a 13 hour drive for where we are going. When we get there we have to make sure everything is ready for the next day which includes me putting a last minute present together.
Sunday, Dec. 21~We take the 2 hour drive up to my grandparents where the entire family(minus one grandchild who is serving in Korea) will be together to do our big Christmas celebration. This includes my grandparents, their 3 sons and their wives, 9 grandchildren(6 bio, 3 married in) and 3 great grandchildren. Also we can expect my great aunt and her husband and at least one of her daughters and grandchild to probably drop by to see everyone. Yeah...it's going to be nuts. I expect my paw paw to go hide at some point. We will eat a big meal, exchange gifts, cleanup, and probably play a game at some point. I am so looking forward to it. At some point we will drive back to my dad's house and probably all crash.
Monday, Dec. 22~ I have been informed by my sister that my child will be kidnapped by his grandmother(my stepmom) for the day and we are going to be told to go away and come back late. So far all I see us doing is going to Olive Garden with my sis and her hubby and maybe doing some shopping for my son. His grandmother on hubby's side is sending a gift card so I might just shop for him then. At some point I might dump my hubby and go to starbucks with just my sister. It's something we like to do and haven't done since July. We also might go see my cousin for a little while this day too.
Tues, Dec. 23~ So far there are no real plans for this day. I hope to get to spend some time visiting with my sister and stepmom. The only thing on the agenda is dinner with my cousin and her son to celebrate his 8th birthday. It's exciting. My dad is working but hopefully will get to meet us there.Santa cookies will also probably be made this day.
Wed. Dec. 24~This day will be spent prepping for dinner that night as my stepmom is insisting on cooking a big dinner. It is also my parents anniversary and I am hoping we will be able to scheme up a little something to surprise them with.A cake at least. They never make a big deal out of it but we want to do a little something. After dinner we will open all of our gifts, which will take forever it sounds like. They have gone insane shopping for my son and my sister's son. After we get the kids calm enough and in bed then we will hang out until we can play Santa. I'm expecting very little sleep this night.
Thurs. Dec. 25~We get to wake up at 4:30 in the morning so my dad can watch my son open his "Santa" gifts and spend time with all of us before he has to go into work. I'm not sure what time we are going to my mom's. I'm guessing late morning. We will head over there and I will help my mom. I have been wrangled into making a no bake sugar free cheese cake. I see us spending most of the day there.
Friday and Saturday Are our last days there and I have no idea what we are doing. Hopefully relaxing and visiting as my dad is finally off. We are scheduled to drive back Sunday as of right now.
Is it a wonder I'm so tired just thinking about it all?
Tuesday was a big day for me. I had my first doctors appointment here and that's always a scary thing for me. Even as a little girl I didn't do well with meeting a new doctor. My mom said that when I met the doctor who would be my pediatrician for the next 13 years I threw up on him. I wasn't sick. It was pure nerves. I don't throw up on them anymore but my blood pressure went up a bit because of it. Once again that turned out to be an unnecessary worry. My new doctor is totally sweet and wonderful. She loves to talk and makes you feel like you are visiting with a friend but one that can help make you feel better. We went through my list of medicines so she could understand why I need them before putting them in the system here. The night before I had the appointment I had some intense muscle spasms on my abdomen on the lower left side. She said I had a hernia and freaked me out with her wording a little but basically it's all good. Just taking it easy for a few days then life back to normal. The big part of the appointment was when it came time to address my asking for a referral to the surgical weight loss center here.
Now let me tell you something. I knew I was pushing it as she had never seen me before and when she mentioned that she was pretty much against surgery unless it is necessary I thought I was screwed. I will give her credit. Putting aside her personal feelings on the subject, she listened to my reasons why I want the surgery and took into account that I had been in the program in Hawaii and that my other doctor agreed I was a good candidate. She asked me a million questions to make sure I knew what I was in for the good and the bad. I even managed to impress her because I had talked to the people in the program here so I knew what they needed from me too. In the end she was happy enough with my reasons why and could even sympathize because she herself is morbidly obese. What she feels is a major difference in our situations is that she has not lost any of her ability to function normally on a daily basis and I have noticed a gradual decrease in how well I function. I will admit that is the one thing that has bothered me most. She put in for the referral so it could be as soon February or March I'm guessing. They go through things really fast.
Note:As I was typing I got a phone call and was told the referral didn't go through for whatever reason. They are going to put it in again. Apparently it's an issue they have with their system. I refuse to give up hope that it's going to go any way other than planned.
Aside from all of that, not much has been going on. My son has developed an attitude problem that is determined to drive me up the wall. My husband is working late every night and oddly it isn't bothering me. Don't get me wrong, I miss the time we spend together in the evening but it's just something I am getting used to not having it. It's a good thing though. We have the Battalion Christmas Part tomorrow night. I have met maybe 5 people from the battalion in passing and only two have I spent any amount of time. I get the feeling this is going to be a big party but I'm not sure. Hopefully it will be fun.
Only one week until Christmas. This year is going to be a bit crazy but hopefully good for me. What makes this year so special, aside from my husband getting to be home again, is that we are actually going to my dad's house for the week. I haven't celebrated Christmas with my family since 1997 so it is a big deal. My son will get to have the holiday with his maw maw and paw paw and I get to do all of the fun things with him that we did when I was a kid. I was sitting here the other night thinking and mentioned to my husband that we should go look at Christmas lights around here when I had a lightbulb moment and totally freaked out on him. Poor guy was so confused why I suddenly got so excited and needed the phone but he obliged. What I had remembered is that every year we went looking at Christmas lights and there were two families that just went all out with the light displays. It used to be one of the highlights of the holiday season. My stepmom assured me that they still did it and said she had planned on taking my son and my nephew to see them. No way they are going without us at least following them. I am so excited. I really hope it all goes well. My family is known for being a bit of a downer but the holidays are really a special time for them so hopefully I won't be disappointed.
The only part of the week I'm nervous about is Christmas day. I don't have the best relationship with my mom and to say that my son really doesn't know her wouldn't be stretching the truth. I love her but sometimes she is more than I can handle and she has never made a big point of getting to know my son. This year my dad and stepmom have to work and I got the idea that we would go to my mom's on Christmas day. I don't know what made me want to do this. Whatever the reason, it's done. My mom is excited and I'm actually looking forward to it. Hopefully everyone will have fun. I think what I want from it most of all is a good memory because I don't have a whole lot of those to hold on to. I think it should be fine. I'm hoping it will.
SO anyway, here is the schedule so far.
Saturday, Dec. 20~ We are driving from Kansas to Louisiana. It looks like a 13 hour drive for where we are going. When we get there we have to make sure everything is ready for the next day which includes me putting a last minute present together.
Sunday, Dec. 21~We take the 2 hour drive up to my grandparents where the entire family(minus one grandchild who is serving in Korea) will be together to do our big Christmas celebration. This includes my grandparents, their 3 sons and their wives, 9 grandchildren(6 bio, 3 married in) and 3 great grandchildren. Also we can expect my great aunt and her husband and at least one of her daughters and grandchild to probably drop by to see everyone. Yeah...it's going to be nuts. I expect my paw paw to go hide at some point. We will eat a big meal, exchange gifts, cleanup, and probably play a game at some point. I am so looking forward to it. At some point we will drive back to my dad's house and probably all crash.
Monday, Dec. 22~ I have been informed by my sister that my child will be kidnapped by his grandmother(my stepmom) for the day and we are going to be told to go away and come back late. So far all I see us doing is going to Olive Garden with my sis and her hubby and maybe doing some shopping for my son. His grandmother on hubby's side is sending a gift card so I might just shop for him then. At some point I might dump my hubby and go to starbucks with just my sister. It's something we like to do and haven't done since July. We also might go see my cousin for a little while this day too.
Tues, Dec. 23~ So far there are no real plans for this day. I hope to get to spend some time visiting with my sister and stepmom. The only thing on the agenda is dinner with my cousin and her son to celebrate his 8th birthday. It's exciting. My dad is working but hopefully will get to meet us there.Santa cookies will also probably be made this day.
Wed. Dec. 24~This day will be spent prepping for dinner that night as my stepmom is insisting on cooking a big dinner. It is also my parents anniversary and I am hoping we will be able to scheme up a little something to surprise them with.A cake at least. They never make a big deal out of it but we want to do a little something. After dinner we will open all of our gifts, which will take forever it sounds like. They have gone insane shopping for my son and my sister's son. After we get the kids calm enough and in bed then we will hang out until we can play Santa. I'm expecting very little sleep this night.
Thurs. Dec. 25~We get to wake up at 4:30 in the morning so my dad can watch my son open his "Santa" gifts and spend time with all of us before he has to go into work. I'm not sure what time we are going to my mom's. I'm guessing late morning. We will head over there and I will help my mom. I have been wrangled into making a no bake sugar free cheese cake. I see us spending most of the day there.
Friday and Saturday Are our last days there and I have no idea what we are doing. Hopefully relaxing and visiting as my dad is finally off. We are scheduled to drive back Sunday as of right now.
Is it a wonder I'm so tired just thinking about it all?
The sun is a deceptive thing. It shines brightly and beautifully, all the while calling to you "come and play in my warmth." What it fails to mention is that you aren't in Hawaii anymore and it's 33 degrees outside. It also fails to mention the 25 mph winds that are going to make it feel more like 20 degrees and that the wind will sting your cheeks and steal away your breath.
Yeah...the sun is a deceptive thing.
Yeah...the sun is a deceptive thing.
It never fails that kid snots usually lead to mom snots. Somehow I've managed to avoid that the last few times that my son had a cold but this time it got me. Both his dad and I have a cold and, as usual, it seems to be hitting me the worst. I think it's probably because I was used as a tissue a few more times than daddy but oh well. Hopefully today was the worst day.
Yesterday my baby turned 8 years old. I can't believe that he is already 8. I can't figure out where all of the time went. I love him so much and he just seems to find a new way every day to make me smile.All week he kept saying that he wouldn't have to use the booster seat after he turned 8 but all day yesterday he kept riding in it. I'm guessing he just wasn't ready to give it up yet. That's fine with me because I'm not ready for him to grow up just yet.
Yesterday my baby turned 8 years old. I can't believe that he is already 8. I can't figure out where all of the time went. I love him so much and he just seems to find a new way every day to make me smile.All week he kept saying that he wouldn't have to use the booster seat after he turned 8 but all day yesterday he kept riding in it. I'm guessing he just wasn't ready to give it up yet. That's fine with me because I'm not ready for him to grow up just yet.
Today was another pretty great day. Our Christmas decorations are mostly up and we watched a great movie together. Kung Fu Panda is awesome! My son was insane today but I'm hoping it was just the excitement. He can be hyper but this was insane. It made me feel like screaming. At one point I just put him in his room so I could have a few minutes of peace.
So for a first today we had a little snow. It wasn't much at all but when you were on a tropical island for three years and are used to decorating your tree in 80 degree weather, it was really nice. Definitely felt more Christmas like.
Nothing more to add. Just had a good day.
So for a first today we had a little snow. It wasn't much at all but when you were on a tropical island for three years and are used to decorating your tree in 80 degree weather, it was really nice. Definitely felt more Christmas like.
Nothing more to add. Just had a good day.
Thanksgiving is usually a holiday I look at and wonder what horrible thing is going to happen or what illness am I going to have. For me, Thanksgiving generally involves some level of misery. Here's a recap:
1999: I was pregnant and was so sick I could hardly stand it.
2000: I was pregnant again and a week away from my son being born. I had high blood pressure so I wasn't allowed to eat very much, not that I could have anyway. I ended up sleeping the day away.
2001: I had a bad cold but otherwise it was a decent day.
2002: I had the flu.
2003: I had some raging infection that gave me a fever of 103.7. I refused to go to the doctor and ended up in the emergency room a week later with pneumonia.
2004: I ended up having a flare up of female problems and spent the afternoon trying not to black out on my mother in law's couch.
2005: My husband was leaving for Iraq in a week and I had just gotten over a breast cancer scare. At the time I had an open wound where the biopsy site had gotten infected and spent the afternoon in acute care to get the dressing changed.
2006: I spent the day with my sister and her boyfriend and his incredibly racist,bigoted dad being treated like I had the plague or something because I didn't share his views. I was also kind of bummed because it was my first Thanksgiving without my husband and my son was really feeling it. The highlight of the day was that we got to go swimming. That was a lot of fun.
2007: Ok this one wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. My sister had chosen to have thanksgiving with her friends and that hurt a little but I was really happy that my husband was home. We didn't do anything. I cooked a little something and everything came out badly so I wasn't thrilled. I was healthy so that was a plus.
So you can see why I am apprehensive about Thanksgiving. My husband ended up having to work all morning but I still was ok. I had just planned on cooking a whole turkey breast and they don't take nearly as long so it was fine. Thankfully it turned out to be the best Thanksgiving I have had in a long time and some memories were made that will last a life time.
My son was so excited about Thanksgiving this year. In our house, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all the blessings we have had over the past year. He loved that and even wrote a song about it. Originally I was planning to make a gumbo but then he got it in his head that he had to have all of the thanksgiving food. Somehow I ended up being tricked into turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, gravy, and pumpkin pie. Now I'm not a pumpkin pie fan but my son really wanted to try one so we just got a small one for him to try. The big selling point on making the meal was that he was so excited. It made it easy to get into the spirit. He even said he'd try everything which is a major big deal.
As expected he woke up hyper and excited. I cooked the pie and cornbread for my stuffing while we watched the parade. He kept running back and forth between the parade and the cartoons he had on in his bedroom. It reminded me of when I was a kid and did the same thing. He spoke to most of my family as we made our morning calls and excitedly told them all about how great his thanksgiving was going to be. My husband came home and we started the turkey. My son and husband peeled and cut potatoes for the mashed potatoes and I finished putting the stuffing together (I had stuffed my turkey with onion and carrots) and got the veggies done. Before we knew it dinner was on the table and it looked awesome. I have to say the turkey was pretty good and the stuffing was AMAZING! We stuffed ourselves and then just vegged out for the rest of the day. We had so much fun. For the record, my son loved everything with the exception of the Pumpkin Pie. I can't say that I blame him and my husband said this one had a weird texture so that makes it even more understandable that he didn't like it. The cute moments were watching my son have fun helping us make some of the food and listening to him talk about all the different great things that excited him. It was really great.
This morning has continued the wonderful memories. We woke to a mix of snow and rain which was cool since we aren't used to snow any more. My son voluntarily swept and mopped the kitchen. As I type this, my son is cleaning up some of the toys he has in the living room and my husband is putting our Christmas tree together. For the record this is the first day after thanksgiving since we've been together that he hasn't had to work. I plan on having a wonderful lunch of leftovers and we will decorate the tree then watch kung fu panda. Tomorrow we are going to drag out the rest of the decorations and watch Ironman. Sunday is the little guys birthday so we will do whatever he wants with the exception of church in the morning. I'm really loving this weekend.
1999: I was pregnant and was so sick I could hardly stand it.
2000: I was pregnant again and a week away from my son being born. I had high blood pressure so I wasn't allowed to eat very much, not that I could have anyway. I ended up sleeping the day away.
2001: I had a bad cold but otherwise it was a decent day.
2002: I had the flu.
2003: I had some raging infection that gave me a fever of 103.7. I refused to go to the doctor and ended up in the emergency room a week later with pneumonia.
2004: I ended up having a flare up of female problems and spent the afternoon trying not to black out on my mother in law's couch.
2005: My husband was leaving for Iraq in a week and I had just gotten over a breast cancer scare. At the time I had an open wound where the biopsy site had gotten infected and spent the afternoon in acute care to get the dressing changed.
2006: I spent the day with my sister and her boyfriend and his incredibly racist,bigoted dad being treated like I had the plague or something because I didn't share his views. I was also kind of bummed because it was my first Thanksgiving without my husband and my son was really feeling it. The highlight of the day was that we got to go swimming. That was a lot of fun.
2007: Ok this one wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. My sister had chosen to have thanksgiving with her friends and that hurt a little but I was really happy that my husband was home. We didn't do anything. I cooked a little something and everything came out badly so I wasn't thrilled. I was healthy so that was a plus.
So you can see why I am apprehensive about Thanksgiving. My husband ended up having to work all morning but I still was ok. I had just planned on cooking a whole turkey breast and they don't take nearly as long so it was fine. Thankfully it turned out to be the best Thanksgiving I have had in a long time and some memories were made that will last a life time.
My son was so excited about Thanksgiving this year. In our house, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all the blessings we have had over the past year. He loved that and even wrote a song about it. Originally I was planning to make a gumbo but then he got it in his head that he had to have all of the thanksgiving food. Somehow I ended up being tricked into turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, gravy, and pumpkin pie. Now I'm not a pumpkin pie fan but my son really wanted to try one so we just got a small one for him to try. The big selling point on making the meal was that he was so excited. It made it easy to get into the spirit. He even said he'd try everything which is a major big deal.
As expected he woke up hyper and excited. I cooked the pie and cornbread for my stuffing while we watched the parade. He kept running back and forth between the parade and the cartoons he had on in his bedroom. It reminded me of when I was a kid and did the same thing. He spoke to most of my family as we made our morning calls and excitedly told them all about how great his thanksgiving was going to be. My husband came home and we started the turkey. My son and husband peeled and cut potatoes for the mashed potatoes and I finished putting the stuffing together (I had stuffed my turkey with onion and carrots) and got the veggies done. Before we knew it dinner was on the table and it looked awesome. I have to say the turkey was pretty good and the stuffing was AMAZING! We stuffed ourselves and then just vegged out for the rest of the day. We had so much fun. For the record, my son loved everything with the exception of the Pumpkin Pie. I can't say that I blame him and my husband said this one had a weird texture so that makes it even more understandable that he didn't like it. The cute moments were watching my son have fun helping us make some of the food and listening to him talk about all the different great things that excited him. It was really great.
This morning has continued the wonderful memories. We woke to a mix of snow and rain which was cool since we aren't used to snow any more. My son voluntarily swept and mopped the kitchen. As I type this, my son is cleaning up some of the toys he has in the living room and my husband is putting our Christmas tree together. For the record this is the first day after thanksgiving since we've been together that he hasn't had to work. I plan on having a wonderful lunch of leftovers and we will decorate the tree then watch kung fu panda. Tomorrow we are going to drag out the rest of the decorations and watch Ironman. Sunday is the little guys birthday so we will do whatever he wants with the exception of church in the morning. I'm really loving this weekend.
This week looks to be an interesting one. I get to spend some time with my guys later in the week. I get to cook my second turkey ever...ok so a whole turkey breast. We aren't dark meat people. My baby will turn 8 later in the week. Christmas season in Kansas begins. Just a lot of things.
Thanksgiving is going to be nice and very different this year. We honestly have no traditions. When we lived in SC we always went to the inlaws. When we lived in Hawaii we were either with my sister or just did nothing. This year we couldn't really go anywhere and I wasn't planning on cooking big. Honestly, I had just wanted to cook some gumbo or something and have some kind of desert for the guys. A few days ago my son started talking really seriously about thanksgiving. We talked all about how it is a time to remember what we are really thankful for. He got all excited about that and wrote a "thankful" song. He then got started on the meal part of excited. Started talking about making a pumpkin pie and he's never had one before. He kept going on and on about pumpkin pie and stuffing and having a fun dinner so now I'm cooking. He is going to help me cook and has said he will try everything which is honestly a really big deal for him. The funny part is I went from dreading the idea of cooking to getting a little excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Another big thing is that my little man is turning 8 later this week. I can't believe that it was 8 years ago he was in my belly not letting me eat or sleep. I was hugging on him today and told him he had to stop growing up and he told me " I know, but I can't" and then hugged me. I know that I'm going to cry at least once on his birthday. He has given me so much and I have no idea what I would do without him. It's so scary to think that one person has that much impact on your life. I honestly believe that I could eventually be ok if something happened to my husband but, if something ever happened to my son, I don't think I'd survive it. Just really scary to me.
Enough reflecting. I need to go to bed I guess. Hopefully at some point I will be able to shut my brain up.
Thanksgiving is going to be nice and very different this year. We honestly have no traditions. When we lived in SC we always went to the inlaws. When we lived in Hawaii we were either with my sister or just did nothing. This year we couldn't really go anywhere and I wasn't planning on cooking big. Honestly, I had just wanted to cook some gumbo or something and have some kind of desert for the guys. A few days ago my son started talking really seriously about thanksgiving. We talked all about how it is a time to remember what we are really thankful for. He got all excited about that and wrote a "thankful" song. He then got started on the meal part of excited. Started talking about making a pumpkin pie and he's never had one before. He kept going on and on about pumpkin pie and stuffing and having a fun dinner so now I'm cooking. He is going to help me cook and has said he will try everything which is honestly a really big deal for him. The funny part is I went from dreading the idea of cooking to getting a little excited about it. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Another big thing is that my little man is turning 8 later this week. I can't believe that it was 8 years ago he was in my belly not letting me eat or sleep. I was hugging on him today and told him he had to stop growing up and he told me " I know, but I can't" and then hugged me. I know that I'm going to cry at least once on his birthday. He has given me so much and I have no idea what I would do without him. It's so scary to think that one person has that much impact on your life. I honestly believe that I could eventually be ok if something happened to my husband but, if something ever happened to my son, I don't think I'd survive it. Just really scary to me.
Enough reflecting. I need to go to bed I guess. Hopefully at some point I will be able to shut my brain up.
Most people have at least one phobia and some people have what seems to be a never ending supply of them. I can honestly say that I have two. One of them I have had for so long I don't remember when it started. I am claustrophobic. I know there are people who are more so than I am but it is still definitely there. My second phobia is one that I have no idea where it came from or when it even started. Hawaii is where I first remember it showing up but I don't know why it would pick there to start. All I know is that right now it threatens to drive me a little insane.
What is this thing that can stop me dead in my tracks and apparently induce panic attacks in a grown woman? A mouse. No matter how tiny it is the second one is mentioned I start getting jittery and hearing noises where there are none. I see one and that's it. I'm frozen. So what shows up in our nice new home, a mouse. I had seen pest control at my neighbors (we live in a duplex)earlier in the week but I didn't think much of it. They have lived here longer and our place was sprayed right before we moved in. Now I'm wondering if this isn't why he was there. You can bet your butt I will be calling Monday to try and gt one out here. Now I know it's a part of life, especially in colder weather, but it's a part of life I can do without. When I saw the mouse last night I spent the entire evening in a state of panic. I couldn't force myself to move off the couch and seriously felt like I was going to be sick. I ended up having a panic attack. We put poison down. If you are into humane things, sorry. At least it's not one of those horrible traps. I just can't handle it. Does that make me a big baby?
What is this thing that can stop me dead in my tracks and apparently induce panic attacks in a grown woman? A mouse. No matter how tiny it is the second one is mentioned I start getting jittery and hearing noises where there are none. I see one and that's it. I'm frozen. So what shows up in our nice new home, a mouse. I had seen pest control at my neighbors (we live in a duplex)earlier in the week but I didn't think much of it. They have lived here longer and our place was sprayed right before we moved in. Now I'm wondering if this isn't why he was there. You can bet your butt I will be calling Monday to try and gt one out here. Now I know it's a part of life, especially in colder weather, but it's a part of life I can do without. When I saw the mouse last night I spent the entire evening in a state of panic. I couldn't force myself to move off the couch and seriously felt like I was going to be sick. I ended up having a panic attack. We put poison down. If you are into humane things, sorry. At least it's not one of those horrible traps. I just can't handle it. Does that make me a big baby?
So many times I've started to come back and post but I never really had anything I felt needed to be said. Other times I would have loved to come back for a place to let the frustration out but the words wouldn't come. I'm finding myself needing somewhere to go where I don't have to worry if I am bugging someone or where I can say everything I want all at once. This seemed like as good a place as any. It certainly worked before.
So here's what's been going on in my life since February.
My sister got married. This of course required a very expensive trip along with the expenses of having someone in the wedding as well as doing the photography..for free. It ended up not being a great wedding at all. She terms it as a disaster and I'm inclined to agree. She is married though and is pregnant with her second child. She moved in July from Hawaii to Florida and we are actually getting along really well. She mellowed out a lot.
My husband switched positions in Hawaii which allowed us a few months of him actually not having to go anywhere. We managed to celebrate our 9th anniversary together though we didn't get to do much. It was still nice to have him home.
Most of the time between May and September was spent ferrying myself and my son back and forth to doctors appointments and getting ready for our move. Right before we moved my son was diagnosed with ADHD and Autistic Disorder with mild symptoms. I guess that means the same as saying he is high functioning. We put him on a stimulant for the ADHD after much consideration and it has helped him so much in school. He only takes it on school days or when he has some function where he really needs to be calm and focused.
We've moved from Hawaii to Kansas in what I consider the move from hell. It was pretty much ruled by Murphy's law and started with me losing my engagement ring the morning we cleared housing. After all those times it fell off at the beach and I found it, I lose it in a house that has absolutely nothing in it except for the few suitcases we are taking with us. All I can figure is it fell in a box we gave to charity or it went down the toilet. all that matters is it's gone. We spent three days in a really nice Navy Lodge and spent most of it worrying about money. We hadn't gotten the advance we were supposed to and were paying for everything out of pocket so it was not fun. We left Hawaii with 100 dollars and no idea how we were going to pay for everything on the Kansas side. It didn't really get any better and we ended up having to borrow money to make it but we got through and eventually our money came in.We had trouble getting to St. Louis MO to get our car and ended up having an accident with the rental car. Nothing major, just backed into a flatbed trailer that was parked in the road. It was definitely just another one of those things. It took us longer than expected to find a place to live but we ended up with a nice duplex off post. We really like it and the only thing I wish was different about the area is that they would hurry up and finish the two houses they are building right around us. The biggest bonus is that we live directly across the street from the school so there is no transportation issues with getting the little guy to school.
School here has been very interesting. Instead of putting him in a self contained classroom they put him in a regular second grade class. He was working on a first grade level in Hawaii because they are so far behind here and this new school is actually more advanced than most other schools in the state so he had great challenges going into it. I'm happy to say that he is doing really well. There were issues with under staffing and him not getting what he needed at first but it's been resolved. He is catching up a lot more quickly than any of us thought he would and he absolutely loves his class. I'm having to work with him a lot more outside of school but I am really liking it. It gives me a chance to see what he can really do and now that I know what was causing all of the communication struggles it's much easier to work around it. It's still a struggle some days but it's so worth it. It has ruled out me working anywhere that will not let me be home when he is. At least until he is caught up with his grade level and that could take a while.
Now for me. I have been unhappy with this move. Mainly because it went so badly but also because I really miss Hawaii. I miss the culture and the beauty and the people. I miss my friends and right now I really miss the weather. The cold is not as easy to adjust to as I thought it would be. It is causing problems physically that no one warned me about but then again I don't think it's something my doctor thought about. My face seems to have gotten worse in the cold. I know the pain part has but the actual paralysis seems more marked. I can actually look in the mirror some days and see it. It's no where near where it was when I first got the palsy but it is enough to be a little depressing. It's been almost three years and I just want it gone. I am in the process of getting things done so I can have weight loss surgery here since it went so wrong in Hawaii. I was telling the people here about the program in Hawaii and they couldn't believe how crazy it sounded. Once I can get a referral from my doctor then it shouldn't take more than three months for them to get me in surgery. I'm excited but at the same time I'm worried because I just found out that my husband will be gone for a month in the spring and might be leaving again in early summer so I don't know how that will effect things.
I guess I can say I'm finally starting to adjust. I don't hate it here and things have improved so I am definitely happier. I get to be with my family for Christmas, barring any last minute Army surprises. That is exciting to me because it's been 10 years since I had Christmas with them. I'm most excited about seeing my nephew because he's grown so much since July and seeing my sister. We have been really close though I have to admit I'm not missing the pregnancy drama that I had to deal with last time. It is the one advantage of not being there.
I guess this is enough of an update for now...not that I have any idea who I'm updating. The few people reading this pretty much know everything already. It is kind of relieving to get some of it out of my head, hopefully for good now.
So here's what's been going on in my life since February.
My sister got married. This of course required a very expensive trip along with the expenses of having someone in the wedding as well as doing the photography..for free. It ended up not being a great wedding at all. She terms it as a disaster and I'm inclined to agree. She is married though and is pregnant with her second child. She moved in July from Hawaii to Florida and we are actually getting along really well. She mellowed out a lot.
My husband switched positions in Hawaii which allowed us a few months of him actually not having to go anywhere. We managed to celebrate our 9th anniversary together though we didn't get to do much. It was still nice to have him home.
Most of the time between May and September was spent ferrying myself and my son back and forth to doctors appointments and getting ready for our move. Right before we moved my son was diagnosed with ADHD and Autistic Disorder with mild symptoms. I guess that means the same as saying he is high functioning. We put him on a stimulant for the ADHD after much consideration and it has helped him so much in school. He only takes it on school days or when he has some function where he really needs to be calm and focused.
We've moved from Hawaii to Kansas in what I consider the move from hell. It was pretty much ruled by Murphy's law and started with me losing my engagement ring the morning we cleared housing. After all those times it fell off at the beach and I found it, I lose it in a house that has absolutely nothing in it except for the few suitcases we are taking with us. All I can figure is it fell in a box we gave to charity or it went down the toilet. all that matters is it's gone. We spent three days in a really nice Navy Lodge and spent most of it worrying about money. We hadn't gotten the advance we were supposed to and were paying for everything out of pocket so it was not fun. We left Hawaii with 100 dollars and no idea how we were going to pay for everything on the Kansas side. It didn't really get any better and we ended up having to borrow money to make it but we got through and eventually our money came in.We had trouble getting to St. Louis MO to get our car and ended up having an accident with the rental car. Nothing major, just backed into a flatbed trailer that was parked in the road. It was definitely just another one of those things. It took us longer than expected to find a place to live but we ended up with a nice duplex off post. We really like it and the only thing I wish was different about the area is that they would hurry up and finish the two houses they are building right around us. The biggest bonus is that we live directly across the street from the school so there is no transportation issues with getting the little guy to school.
School here has been very interesting. Instead of putting him in a self contained classroom they put him in a regular second grade class. He was working on a first grade level in Hawaii because they are so far behind here and this new school is actually more advanced than most other schools in the state so he had great challenges going into it. I'm happy to say that he is doing really well. There were issues with under staffing and him not getting what he needed at first but it's been resolved. He is catching up a lot more quickly than any of us thought he would and he absolutely loves his class. I'm having to work with him a lot more outside of school but I am really liking it. It gives me a chance to see what he can really do and now that I know what was causing all of the communication struggles it's much easier to work around it. It's still a struggle some days but it's so worth it. It has ruled out me working anywhere that will not let me be home when he is. At least until he is caught up with his grade level and that could take a while.
Now for me. I have been unhappy with this move. Mainly because it went so badly but also because I really miss Hawaii. I miss the culture and the beauty and the people. I miss my friends and right now I really miss the weather. The cold is not as easy to adjust to as I thought it would be. It is causing problems physically that no one warned me about but then again I don't think it's something my doctor thought about. My face seems to have gotten worse in the cold. I know the pain part has but the actual paralysis seems more marked. I can actually look in the mirror some days and see it. It's no where near where it was when I first got the palsy but it is enough to be a little depressing. It's been almost three years and I just want it gone. I am in the process of getting things done so I can have weight loss surgery here since it went so wrong in Hawaii. I was telling the people here about the program in Hawaii and they couldn't believe how crazy it sounded. Once I can get a referral from my doctor then it shouldn't take more than three months for them to get me in surgery. I'm excited but at the same time I'm worried because I just found out that my husband will be gone for a month in the spring and might be leaving again in early summer so I don't know how that will effect things.
I guess I can say I'm finally starting to adjust. I don't hate it here and things have improved so I am definitely happier. I get to be with my family for Christmas, barring any last minute Army surprises. That is exciting to me because it's been 10 years since I had Christmas with them. I'm most excited about seeing my nephew because he's grown so much since July and seeing my sister. We have been really close though I have to admit I'm not missing the pregnancy drama that I had to deal with last time. It is the one advantage of not being there.
I guess this is enough of an update for now...not that I have any idea who I'm updating. The few people reading this pretty much know everything already. It is kind of relieving to get some of it out of my head, hopefully for good now.
This weekend is going by too fast. I really am wishing it was one of those four day weekends we get once in a while. After a week of catering to my sisters needs, no matter how exaggerated the seemed to me, I was ready for some family time. Some just the three of us family time. I will say one thing though. This past week has shown me that I will miss my sister and nephew when we move in September, but I will not miss her neediness and ungratefulness.
In other news with her, my parents have done a total turn around on her wedding. She finally told them to just tell her what they were willing to pay for the few things they were going to pay for so she would know. They said they'd get back to her in a few days. When they finally called her, she said it was like a totally different person was talking to her. My step-mom was all excited about the wedding. They had booked a place that day for my sister and were already reserving certain things they will need for the decorating and reception part. My step-mom then informed her that there would be no limit given on what they would spend. Now you have to understand that comes with an understanding that my sister is planning a small wedding so they know it's not going to break them financially. My middle sister had limits on her wedding because she is the type to go nuts. I had no limit on my wedding. My step-mom literally handed me her debit card with her pin number and said to go buy whatever I needed. Her doing something similar for my sister shows me she is serious about doing whatever my sister wants for her wedding. It's really making me happy.
We are getting excited about the trip to Louisiana for her wedding. We are taking two weeks and going to South Carolina first to visit my husband's family. I am very much looking forward to seeing them. I miss them more than anyone. We are spending about 5 days at their house then renting a car and heading to Louisiana for the remainder of our time on the mainland. I am refusing to make this trip about driving to see this person or that person. If they want to see me, they will come to me. Another plus is I will be staying with my cousin instead of my parents. This will make for a much more relaxed stay as I love my cousin and she is probably the only person in my family that doesn't completely stress me out. A big plus is that she has a son that is a month younger than my son (we were due on the same day!) and I know that he is really going to have fun with him. They haven't seen each other since they were 4 so it's going to be interesting.
So here are some of the things we are looking forward to:
1. Chick-fil-a! We are having serious withdrawals people. My husband worked for them for 9 years so we do miss them.
2. A honest to goodness road trip. You can drive around the entire island in a day but you are still in the same place. I want a road trip where you actually end up somewhere different and can't go back in the same day.
3. Sonic drinks. I am really wanting a strawberry slush something fierce.
4. Real cajun food. I can make a good bit of it but I want things like crawfish and boudin that i can't readily get here.
5. Seeing my friends in SC. We will go to church the Sunday we are in SC and I can't wait.
6. My mother-in-laws yard. She has a beautiful yard that she did all of the landscaping for. She has a gift.
7. My son seeing his grandparents. He has been missing them so badly lately that I think this will do them some good.
8. Last, but not least, my sister getting married. I'm going to cry. I'm also so happy for her that I can't wait. It's not everyone I would pay thousands of dollars to go see get married.
I'm sure there are a lot more things. Those are just the first ones that came to mind. This will be my first time back to Louisiana since Hurricane Rita tore apart the areas I grew up in. We will also drive by some places that were hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina. I am a little worried about how I'm going to react to it all. We had just been here a few days when Rita hit and it killed me to be so far away. I'm just not knowing what to expect. One of the towns my dad lived in for several years was totally wiped out. They said the only thing left standing was the town hall. I'm hoping to have time to drive down and see it and hopefully see some progress there. I'll take my camera if I get to go. I also want to check out some renovations they made to the city I went to college in. It looks like they made a historic district.
Well I need to stop rambling and get to bed. I have chapel in the morning. Hopefully I can get some sleep. I'm not tired at all.
In other news with her, my parents have done a total turn around on her wedding. She finally told them to just tell her what they were willing to pay for the few things they were going to pay for so she would know. They said they'd get back to her in a few days. When they finally called her, she said it was like a totally different person was talking to her. My step-mom was all excited about the wedding. They had booked a place that day for my sister and were already reserving certain things they will need for the decorating and reception part. My step-mom then informed her that there would be no limit given on what they would spend. Now you have to understand that comes with an understanding that my sister is planning a small wedding so they know it's not going to break them financially. My middle sister had limits on her wedding because she is the type to go nuts. I had no limit on my wedding. My step-mom literally handed me her debit card with her pin number and said to go buy whatever I needed. Her doing something similar for my sister shows me she is serious about doing whatever my sister wants for her wedding. It's really making me happy.
We are getting excited about the trip to Louisiana for her wedding. We are taking two weeks and going to South Carolina first to visit my husband's family. I am very much looking forward to seeing them. I miss them more than anyone. We are spending about 5 days at their house then renting a car and heading to Louisiana for the remainder of our time on the mainland. I am refusing to make this trip about driving to see this person or that person. If they want to see me, they will come to me. Another plus is I will be staying with my cousin instead of my parents. This will make for a much more relaxed stay as I love my cousin and she is probably the only person in my family that doesn't completely stress me out. A big plus is that she has a son that is a month younger than my son (we were due on the same day!) and I know that he is really going to have fun with him. They haven't seen each other since they were 4 so it's going to be interesting.
So here are some of the things we are looking forward to:
1. Chick-fil-a! We are having serious withdrawals people. My husband worked for them for 9 years so we do miss them.
2. A honest to goodness road trip. You can drive around the entire island in a day but you are still in the same place. I want a road trip where you actually end up somewhere different and can't go back in the same day.
3. Sonic drinks. I am really wanting a strawberry slush something fierce.
4. Real cajun food. I can make a good bit of it but I want things like crawfish and boudin that i can't readily get here.
5. Seeing my friends in SC. We will go to church the Sunday we are in SC and I can't wait.
6. My mother-in-laws yard. She has a beautiful yard that she did all of the landscaping for. She has a gift.
7. My son seeing his grandparents. He has been missing them so badly lately that I think this will do them some good.
8. Last, but not least, my sister getting married. I'm going to cry. I'm also so happy for her that I can't wait. It's not everyone I would pay thousands of dollars to go see get married.
I'm sure there are a lot more things. Those are just the first ones that came to mind. This will be my first time back to Louisiana since Hurricane Rita tore apart the areas I grew up in. We will also drive by some places that were hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina. I am a little worried about how I'm going to react to it all. We had just been here a few days when Rita hit and it killed me to be so far away. I'm just not knowing what to expect. One of the towns my dad lived in for several years was totally wiped out. They said the only thing left standing was the town hall. I'm hoping to have time to drive down and see it and hopefully see some progress there. I'll take my camera if I get to go. I also want to check out some renovations they made to the city I went to college in. It looks like they made a historic district.
Well I need to stop rambling and get to bed. I have chapel in the morning. Hopefully I can get some sleep. I'm not tired at all.
Last year I blogged about a "friend" that had really effected my past. You can go read about it HERE if you feel the need to refresh your memory.
Needless to say, this person got in touch with me through myspace and decided he wants things to be like the 'old days' meaning before he turned into a total ass. He even apologized for the way things ended between us. He doesn't know about the consequences of how he treated me...not the big one at least but his apology still meant a lot to me. It's one of those things you think will never come and when it does it feels nice. The bad part of it all is that it brought up all of those memories and feelings I've worked so hard at forgetting or moving on from. I feel so weak for not just being able to take it and move on. I pretty much told him that him trying to be like things never changed wasn't going to work. He isn't going to understand why and my husband doesn't think I should fill him in on what he doesn't know, though I really would love to just have at it and let him know just what a jerk he is..but it really isn't going to do any good. Now I'm just back to where I was and I feel so mad that I let an email bother me so much. Maybe this will give me closure and be done with. I want that more than anything.
Needless to say, this person got in touch with me through myspace and decided he wants things to be like the 'old days' meaning before he turned into a total ass. He even apologized for the way things ended between us. He doesn't know about the consequences of how he treated me...not the big one at least but his apology still meant a lot to me. It's one of those things you think will never come and when it does it feels nice. The bad part of it all is that it brought up all of those memories and feelings I've worked so hard at forgetting or moving on from. I feel so weak for not just being able to take it and move on. I pretty much told him that him trying to be like things never changed wasn't going to work. He isn't going to understand why and my husband doesn't think I should fill him in on what he doesn't know, though I really would love to just have at it and let him know just what a jerk he is..but it really isn't going to do any good. Now I'm just back to where I was and I feel so mad that I let an email bother me so much. Maybe this will give me closure and be done with. I want that more than anything.
I didn't realize it was a week since I last posted. Wow. Honestly not a lot has happened in the week. We were supposed to have a fun game night Sunday night but Friday night I started getting one of the headaches I'm starting to be too familiar with. It got incredibly worse over Saturday so that evening my husband told me that we weren't going to do the game night if I wasn't completely better by Sunday morning. I wasn't in as much pain but I was so exhausted and out of energy so we canceled it and just vegged all day. We did the same thing Monday but more out of laziness than anything.
Tuesday I went to PWOC and I'm really loving it. The class I'm taking is called Intimacy with God and we are using the book with the same name by Cynthia Heald. It's going to be a very interesting study. I'm not going to be able to just sit back and watch. I'm going to have to participate and it's going to be really interesting.
Yesterday I had an appointment with a dermatologist for a skin condition I have. It's a pretty bad one I don't talk about too much because it's a little embarrassing. Anyway, I finally talked to my PCM and he sent me to a dermatologist. I couldn't have asked for a better appointment. I seriously don't do well with new doctors. I have been known to get into panic attack modes just going to the new doctor but this went really well. The doctor was a woman which was extremely helpful to me and she was very nice and easygoing. It didn't hurt that the appointment took 45 minutes from me walking in the door to leaving with a filled prescription in hand. Honestly only about 15 minutes total of that was me waiting for something and not all at once. The end result is we are trying an antibiotic therapy. The truth is that if this helps control it then I may be on it for the rest of my life. That's twice a day every day. I looked at the bottle today to see how long we were trying it for and I have enough with the current bottle and refills for the rest of the year. Yeah...wasn't expecting that. It really is worth it if it helps. I go back in a couple of months for a progress check and we'll go from there.
Nothing else really exciting going on. The friend I had mentioned in one of my previous posts that I had gotten her kids called me a few days later to tell me she was mad at me because I "disrespected her" and argued that she never had an attitude with me or yelled at her kids. I told her I wasn't going to argue with her about what happened. It was over with and I was moving on. She is out of state right now and I'm hoping it's blown over by the time she gets back. I'm just dealing with her as she is now but I'm not getting walked all over anymore. She may need her drama but that doesn't mean I have to put up with it.
The rest of my week looks a little bland. I really need to do major housework so I'll be busy with that. My sister's fiance is leaving today for a week so I'll be hanging out with her some and my hubby has guard duty starting tomorrow at 6pm so I won't see him from about noon tomorrow (his lunch break) until sometime Saturday. I'm not too upset about it. Just annoyed because he also has chapel duty on Sunday morning. Thankfully he is getting Monday off.
Tuesday I went to PWOC and I'm really loving it. The class I'm taking is called Intimacy with God and we are using the book with the same name by Cynthia Heald. It's going to be a very interesting study. I'm not going to be able to just sit back and watch. I'm going to have to participate and it's going to be really interesting.
Yesterday I had an appointment with a dermatologist for a skin condition I have. It's a pretty bad one I don't talk about too much because it's a little embarrassing. Anyway, I finally talked to my PCM and he sent me to a dermatologist. I couldn't have asked for a better appointment. I seriously don't do well with new doctors. I have been known to get into panic attack modes just going to the new doctor but this went really well. The doctor was a woman which was extremely helpful to me and she was very nice and easygoing. It didn't hurt that the appointment took 45 minutes from me walking in the door to leaving with a filled prescription in hand. Honestly only about 15 minutes total of that was me waiting for something and not all at once. The end result is we are trying an antibiotic therapy. The truth is that if this helps control it then I may be on it for the rest of my life. That's twice a day every day. I looked at the bottle today to see how long we were trying it for and I have enough with the current bottle and refills for the rest of the year. Yeah...wasn't expecting that. It really is worth it if it helps. I go back in a couple of months for a progress check and we'll go from there.
Nothing else really exciting going on. The friend I had mentioned in one of my previous posts that I had gotten her kids called me a few days later to tell me she was mad at me because I "disrespected her" and argued that she never had an attitude with me or yelled at her kids. I told her I wasn't going to argue with her about what happened. It was over with and I was moving on. She is out of state right now and I'm hoping it's blown over by the time she gets back. I'm just dealing with her as she is now but I'm not getting walked all over anymore. She may need her drama but that doesn't mean I have to put up with it.
The rest of my week looks a little bland. I really need to do major housework so I'll be busy with that. My sister's fiance is leaving today for a week so I'll be hanging out with her some and my hubby has guard duty starting tomorrow at 6pm so I won't see him from about noon tomorrow (his lunch break) until sometime Saturday. I'm not too upset about it. Just annoyed because he also has chapel duty on Sunday morning. Thankfully he is getting Monday off.
I did two things today that I had never done before. One of the things I did was a big step for me.
The first was pretty insignificant. I bought myself three pairs of shoes just because I liked them. I have never bought three pairs of shoes that were not flip flops or some for other people. I technically bought 5 pairs but two were for my sister's birthday. I spent 54 dollars for 5 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of no show socks. How awesome is that??
The second thing was a pretty big deal for me. I am the type of person that will get totally ticked off with someone and hold my tongue. I swear I have "walk all over me" tattooed on my forehead. I went to pick up my son from the bus and one of my friends wasn't there to get her two kids. I took them and started calling her right away. She wouldn't answer her cell and I didn't have her new home phone number. I was a little annoyed she wouldn't answer her phone. It wasn't going straight to voice mail so I was pretty sure it was ringing. This scenario went on for 30 minutes before she answered! I was so pissed that at one point I sent her a text message that said "Answer your damn phone woman!" just to shock her into actually calling me back. It's shocking for me to talk to a friend like that. Heck, I don't talk to anyone like that. It didn't work though since she still took about 20 more minutes to show any life. Anyway. I had her kids give me there school folders so I could see if there was a phone number in it that I could reach her at. When she was on my road, I started to put things away. The son's notebook fell out of his folder and then I went to go get it (the exact same time she was getting out of her car) the folder blew away with the contents of it. The first words out of her mouth were to cuss at her son since she thought he had been the one to take it out. I yelled at her "don't you dare yell at him. It was my fault!" and I was pissed. When we found the papers and were walking back to the house, she started fussing at him for taking the folder out of the bag and I stopped her right there. I told her that I had asked him for it because I didn't have the home phone number and that SHE wasn't answering her phone. She didn't apologize to her son but started in an annoyed tone on me.."I never put my number in there." I was so far beyond mad that I just laid into her. "I didn't know that! What the hell was I supposed to do? I was worried and couldn't reach you so I was doing the only thing I could think of. When your a few minutes late I've been understanding. When you call and can't make it in time, that's fine. When you don't show up and don't answer for 30 MINUTES what the hell am I supposed to do?" She apologized and I just said I was glad I was there because I had thought about picking my son up from school and no one would have been there. She then proceeded to tell me that it would have been fine. They would have just taken them back to school and they would have called her. How in the hell is that fine???? I started to fuss at her about that attitude but she hightailed it out of here. I think she knew what was coming. She called me about ten minutes later apologizing because she loves me and doesn't want me mad at her(she was responding to the text message.) I told her I was fine but she needed to get it together basically. She gave me a lot of excuses, some of which are valid but basically it's the same stuff she always pulls. With her there is always an excuse when overall she needs to do something to get her act together because she is all that those kids have and she is the adult.
I am so proud of myself for not just letting her get away with all of this. I guess I had just finally hit the point where enough was more than enough and I exploded. I honestly felt no guilt afterwards, which I usually would have. Maybe I'm finally growing a spine.
I'm taking a step towards growing a little bit more of one tomorrow. I'm going to a group bible study where I don't know a majority of the women. This is a big deal for me because I am not good in situations where I don't know people. Hopefully it will go well. I'm seriously fighting everything in me that wants to stay home safe in my pjs.I will be brave!
The first was pretty insignificant. I bought myself three pairs of shoes just because I liked them. I have never bought three pairs of shoes that were not flip flops or some for other people. I technically bought 5 pairs but two were for my sister's birthday. I spent 54 dollars for 5 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of no show socks. How awesome is that??
The second thing was a pretty big deal for me. I am the type of person that will get totally ticked off with someone and hold my tongue. I swear I have "walk all over me" tattooed on my forehead. I went to pick up my son from the bus and one of my friends wasn't there to get her two kids. I took them and started calling her right away. She wouldn't answer her cell and I didn't have her new home phone number. I was a little annoyed she wouldn't answer her phone. It wasn't going straight to voice mail so I was pretty sure it was ringing. This scenario went on for 30 minutes before she answered! I was so pissed that at one point I sent her a text message that said "Answer your damn phone woman!" just to shock her into actually calling me back. It's shocking for me to talk to a friend like that. Heck, I don't talk to anyone like that. It didn't work though since she still took about 20 more minutes to show any life. Anyway. I had her kids give me there school folders so I could see if there was a phone number in it that I could reach her at. When she was on my road, I started to put things away. The son's notebook fell out of his folder and then I went to go get it (the exact same time she was getting out of her car) the folder blew away with the contents of it. The first words out of her mouth were to cuss at her son since she thought he had been the one to take it out. I yelled at her "don't you dare yell at him. It was my fault!" and I was pissed. When we found the papers and were walking back to the house, she started fussing at him for taking the folder out of the bag and I stopped her right there. I told her that I had asked him for it because I didn't have the home phone number and that SHE wasn't answering her phone. She didn't apologize to her son but started in an annoyed tone on me.."I never put my number in there." I was so far beyond mad that I just laid into her. "I didn't know that! What the hell was I supposed to do? I was worried and couldn't reach you so I was doing the only thing I could think of. When your a few minutes late I've been understanding. When you call and can't make it in time, that's fine. When you don't show up and don't answer for 30 MINUTES what the hell am I supposed to do?" She apologized and I just said I was glad I was there because I had thought about picking my son up from school and no one would have been there. She then proceeded to tell me that it would have been fine. They would have just taken them back to school and they would have called her. How in the hell is that fine???? I started to fuss at her about that attitude but she hightailed it out of here. I think she knew what was coming. She called me about ten minutes later apologizing because she loves me and doesn't want me mad at her(she was responding to the text message.) I told her I was fine but she needed to get it together basically. She gave me a lot of excuses, some of which are valid but basically it's the same stuff she always pulls. With her there is always an excuse when overall she needs to do something to get her act together because she is all that those kids have and she is the adult.
I am so proud of myself for not just letting her get away with all of this. I guess I had just finally hit the point where enough was more than enough and I exploded. I honestly felt no guilt afterwards, which I usually would have. Maybe I'm finally growing a spine.
I'm taking a step towards growing a little bit more of one tomorrow. I'm going to a group bible study where I don't know a majority of the women. This is a big deal for me because I am not good in situations where I don't know people. Hopefully it will go well. I'm seriously fighting everything in me that wants to stay home safe in my pjs.I will be brave!
Today was an interesting day. I don't know how any of it is really connected so it's going to come out as a big ramble.
We went to chapel this morning and the chaplain who was preaching today mentioned how the 22nd of this month was the anniversary of Roe vs Wade. As a Southern Baptist, we have always had "Sanctity of Life Sunday" the Sunday before this anniversary. It wasn't a day I remembered easily until the year I lost my baby. This morning, when he mentioned it, it occurred to me that for the first time in 8 years, I missed my angel baby's birthday. I started crying. I had this feeling of being a horrible parent. I don't go a day without remembering him and usually his birthday is a little hard for me. I just had a moment of freaking out because I feel like I forgot. That day was such a big day in my life. It really changed me in a lot of ways and ripped out a pretty good chunk of my heart so how do you just forget? I think I've gotten over most of the initial guilt and am looking at it as I have healed a good bit. So we'll end that portion of the day by saying "Happy Birthday, my sweet angel. We love you!"
We spent the afternoon playing games at my sister's house. We had the most fun with two new games. One is called Apples to Apples and the other is Fluxx. It was really great to just hang out and play games. I also love how my son is able to so easily entertain himself. He was entertaining all of us in the process. He is just so much fun to watch. My nephew was just laying on the floor watching my son make noises and play in his pretend world.
My nephew was so cute. He's 6 months old and is almost crawling. He gets one knee forward but as he moves the other one, he falls. He is going to get it very soon. He is so cute!
We all got hungry so we decided to go somewhere to eat. When we got there they wait was an hour long and my son needed to start his nightly routine in about an hour so waiting was definitely not an option. My sister's fiance started naming all of these places but nothing was sounding good at all. My stomach was sour from taking my medicine without bread or milk last night. I could tell my sister was getting annoyed and I was annoyed because, aside from this place, I couldn't think of anything I wanted! I hate when I'm like that. I finally told them we would just get something at home and they could go do whatever they wanted. I didn't want to hold them up. My sister seemed perturbed but I just had to save my sanity. Of course my son starts crying because he didn't understand why we couldn't wait for our turn so we asked him what he wanted. He wanted a cheeseburger. I gave him three choices and he picked one that happens to have awesome salads so I was happy. My husband was pretty happy about the choice as well and we grabbed something from there. I got an ice cream treat they are famous for and it was just the trick at settling my sour stomach. The salad was extremely fresh and awesome so I am now one happy woman.
Well hubby wants to play some ghost recon and little man is in bed so I'm wrapping this up.
Did I mention tomorrow is the first day back at school after the holiday break? Can we say FREEDOM? Well at least for a few hours. I am SO ready.
We went to chapel this morning and the chaplain who was preaching today mentioned how the 22nd of this month was the anniversary of Roe vs Wade. As a Southern Baptist, we have always had "Sanctity of Life Sunday" the Sunday before this anniversary. It wasn't a day I remembered easily until the year I lost my baby. This morning, when he mentioned it, it occurred to me that for the first time in 8 years, I missed my angel baby's birthday. I started crying. I had this feeling of being a horrible parent. I don't go a day without remembering him and usually his birthday is a little hard for me. I just had a moment of freaking out because I feel like I forgot. That day was such a big day in my life. It really changed me in a lot of ways and ripped out a pretty good chunk of my heart so how do you just forget? I think I've gotten over most of the initial guilt and am looking at it as I have healed a good bit. So we'll end that portion of the day by saying "Happy Birthday, my sweet angel. We love you!"
We spent the afternoon playing games at my sister's house. We had the most fun with two new games. One is called Apples to Apples and the other is Fluxx. It was really great to just hang out and play games. I also love how my son is able to so easily entertain himself. He was entertaining all of us in the process. He is just so much fun to watch. My nephew was just laying on the floor watching my son make noises and play in his pretend world.
My nephew was so cute. He's 6 months old and is almost crawling. He gets one knee forward but as he moves the other one, he falls. He is going to get it very soon. He is so cute!
We all got hungry so we decided to go somewhere to eat. When we got there they wait was an hour long and my son needed to start his nightly routine in about an hour so waiting was definitely not an option. My sister's fiance started naming all of these places but nothing was sounding good at all. My stomach was sour from taking my medicine without bread or milk last night. I could tell my sister was getting annoyed and I was annoyed because, aside from this place, I couldn't think of anything I wanted! I hate when I'm like that. I finally told them we would just get something at home and they could go do whatever they wanted. I didn't want to hold them up. My sister seemed perturbed but I just had to save my sanity. Of course my son starts crying because he didn't understand why we couldn't wait for our turn so we asked him what he wanted. He wanted a cheeseburger. I gave him three choices and he picked one that happens to have awesome salads so I was happy. My husband was pretty happy about the choice as well and we grabbed something from there. I got an ice cream treat they are famous for and it was just the trick at settling my sour stomach. The salad was extremely fresh and awesome so I am now one happy woman.
Well hubby wants to play some ghost recon and little man is in bed so I'm wrapping this up.
Did I mention tomorrow is the first day back at school after the holiday break? Can we say FREEDOM? Well at least for a few hours. I am SO ready.
My sister showed up at my door around 9 this morning. I hadn't even made it downstairs yet so I was very shocked. I haven't seen her for about a month so it was good to see her even if it was very unexpected. We were on strict water restrictions (they were working on the water main)so she enticed me to go to her house for a while by throwing a nice long shower in the mix. It was really nice. I was able to hang out with her while getting to play with my adorable nephew.
My son did something great today. Today he read an entire book by himself. It was a baby book but he read it all with no help.It was so cute. He picked it up and started reading it to his baby cousin. I was so proud of him. Now he can't keep pretending he doesn't know how to read. Knowing this, I will push him a little harder. It was also the first time he's put forth effort in playing with my nephew. He's pretty much been scared to get near him since he was born.
Well that was pretty much my day. I'm hoping I'll be able to drag my husband to the North Shore tomorrow. they are predicting the biggest waves of the season and I have to see that and get some pictures.
My son did something great today. Today he read an entire book by himself. It was a baby book but he read it all with no help.It was so cute. He picked it up and started reading it to his baby cousin. I was so proud of him. Now he can't keep pretending he doesn't know how to read. Knowing this, I will push him a little harder. It was also the first time he's put forth effort in playing with my nephew. He's pretty much been scared to get near him since he was born.
Well that was pretty much my day. I'm hoping I'll be able to drag my husband to the North Shore tomorrow. they are predicting the biggest waves of the season and I have to see that and get some pictures.
One of my cats is trying to seriously traumatize me. I understand that cats have hunting instincts but she is just taking it too far.
Over the past few weeks, my sweet little cat has brought three birds into my house. Two of them were still alive! The first one she brought in was a good sized bird and she had it by the wing. I didn't know she had it. I just saw her playing with something under the coffee table and went to see what it was. I scared her and the bird went flying. It spent a good ten minutes behind my Christmas tree bashing into the window trying to get out. I had opened the screen but had to give it a little push to make it out the window. Of course I had to first lock my cat in the bathroom and she didn't like that.
The second time she brought in a little bird and was playing with it. I just saw her spasing out like she does when she's playing with something. My son was the one who realized it was a bird. Unfortunately it was either a baby or one of the small variety we have here and it's neck was broken so I had to dispose of it. My son asked me later in the day if the bird was all better now and I just about broke down crying at how sad he was when I had to tell him that he wasn't.
Today she brought in another good sized bird. Thankfully, my son wasn't home because this time was the worst. She had the bird under the coffee table again. I found this out when I heard the bird crying, for lack of a better word. It broke my heart. I did everything I could to get my cat to at least take it outside. She took it out and it was still crying so I went and grabbed my cat and brought her in. I just couldn't take it. I couldn't let her kill that bird and do nothing. It was still breathing but wasn't really moving so I didn't know what to do. When my hubby got home, I had him go to clean up what I assumed would be a dead bird but all he found was a few feathers so I'm guessing it was just stunned.
I know cats are hunters, but she is cruel. She plays with them for a long time before killing them. I have heard of cats bringing dead animals as gifts but she isn't doing that. She is seriously bringing them in to play with like my son would a toy. I can't handle this.
We have tried our best to make her an inside cat and she finds ways out. There are so many reasons this latest bird craze of hers is a bad thing. My son doesn't need to see this and I really can't take it either. it's disgusting and I really don't want birds in my house. She had done it once or twice before and it upset me but it's becoming too frequent. It came down to me telling my husband that if she does it again we are going to have to find her a new home. I feel horrible for being this way but it is bordering on traumatizing for me. I love my baby girl to death but enough is enough. Am I a horrible person for wanting to get rid of her if she keeps this up?
Over the past few weeks, my sweet little cat has brought three birds into my house. Two of them were still alive! The first one she brought in was a good sized bird and she had it by the wing. I didn't know she had it. I just saw her playing with something under the coffee table and went to see what it was. I scared her and the bird went flying. It spent a good ten minutes behind my Christmas tree bashing into the window trying to get out. I had opened the screen but had to give it a little push to make it out the window. Of course I had to first lock my cat in the bathroom and she didn't like that.
The second time she brought in a little bird and was playing with it. I just saw her spasing out like she does when she's playing with something. My son was the one who realized it was a bird. Unfortunately it was either a baby or one of the small variety we have here and it's neck was broken so I had to dispose of it. My son asked me later in the day if the bird was all better now and I just about broke down crying at how sad he was when I had to tell him that he wasn't.
Today she brought in another good sized bird. Thankfully, my son wasn't home because this time was the worst. She had the bird under the coffee table again. I found this out when I heard the bird crying, for lack of a better word. It broke my heart. I did everything I could to get my cat to at least take it outside. She took it out and it was still crying so I went and grabbed my cat and brought her in. I just couldn't take it. I couldn't let her kill that bird and do nothing. It was still breathing but wasn't really moving so I didn't know what to do. When my hubby got home, I had him go to clean up what I assumed would be a dead bird but all he found was a few feathers so I'm guessing it was just stunned.
I know cats are hunters, but she is cruel. She plays with them for a long time before killing them. I have heard of cats bringing dead animals as gifts but she isn't doing that. She is seriously bringing them in to play with like my son would a toy. I can't handle this.
We have tried our best to make her an inside cat and she finds ways out. There are so many reasons this latest bird craze of hers is a bad thing. My son doesn't need to see this and I really can't take it either. it's disgusting and I really don't want birds in my house. She had done it once or twice before and it upset me but it's becoming too frequent. It came down to me telling my husband that if she does it again we are going to have to find her a new home. I feel horrible for being this way but it is bordering on traumatizing for me. I love my baby girl to death but enough is enough. Am I a horrible person for wanting to get rid of her if she keeps this up?
Nothing really exciting to report. I finished a book I had started several months back and forgotten about. It's called "For Women Only:What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men" by Shaunti Feldhahn. It's a really great book and I learned so much about the way my husband's brain works.
Other than that, nothing. I spend the day on the couch feeling like crap thanks to an antibiotic I'm taking. We also watched Hairspray. I love love love that movie. It was a great Christmas present. I am sure I'll be watching it a lot. John Travolta was awesome as Mrs. Turnblad and Christopher Walken cracked me up. Genius!
Other than that, nothing. I spend the day on the couch feeling like crap thanks to an antibiotic I'm taking. We also watched Hairspray. I love love love that movie. It was a great Christmas present. I am sure I'll be watching it a lot. John Travolta was awesome as Mrs. Turnblad and Christopher Walken cracked me up. Genius!
Today was a bit of a lazy day. We all woke up fairly late and I was dragging butt all day. The highlight of my day was going to the commissary. My son was actually well behaved and I wasn't getting run over with a cart every five minutes, so I was happy. We've started using green bags for our groceries and I never realized how many bags we used on our shopping trips. We have 9 green bags and they fill those twice as much as they would a regular bag. We did end up with one plastic bag because I didn't have enough green bags. I'll fix that next time. Just think about it though. 9 bags filled to double the amount a plastic bag would hold and I still needed one plastic bag. The bag of canned goods would have been two bags and double bagged. That's a lot of plastic.
They are talking about banning plastic bags on this island for companies that make over a certain amount of money a year. Think Walmart and grocery stores. I'm not sure exactly where I stand on that, but I don't think less bags would be a horrible thing. Walmart needs to lower the cost of their bags. They are smaller than the ones we bought at the commissary but cost 40 cents more. I wonder how much they cost on the mainland.
In other news, I think my son is about to have a major growth spurt. For about a week and half we couldn't get him to eat anything and then yesterday he started eating every couple of hours. He's also pudging up a little. Usually he will start looking a little chubby and then shoot up. Every since he got his hair cut, he's looking so much more grown up. It's fun to watch but at the same time I am sad about losing my baby.
They are talking about banning plastic bags on this island for companies that make over a certain amount of money a year. Think Walmart and grocery stores. I'm not sure exactly where I stand on that, but I don't think less bags would be a horrible thing. Walmart needs to lower the cost of their bags. They are smaller than the ones we bought at the commissary but cost 40 cents more. I wonder how much they cost on the mainland.
In other news, I think my son is about to have a major growth spurt. For about a week and half we couldn't get him to eat anything and then yesterday he started eating every couple of hours. He's also pudging up a little. Usually he will start looking a little chubby and then shoot up. Every since he got his hair cut, he's looking so much more grown up. It's fun to watch but at the same time I am sad about losing my baby.
I've been reading the book Wicked:The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and I have to say I am disappointed. I have the musical soundtrack and we've all seen the Wizard of Oz so I was expecting something a little along the lines of those two but it couldn't be more opposite. It is very dark and, in a lot of places, crude. I understand the need for some of the darkness. It explains how she became to be known as wicked. I just feel like there are a lot of things that could be done better or be done with out. One of my first peeves was the use of the word f**k. Now, in general, I don't care for the word. That is not my issue with it. It was totally out of place. This is a book about a far off land that is so very different from our own and that is the best he could do for an expletive? Give me a break. Show a little imagination. There are a lot of parts in the book that feel that way. Overall, it's just disappointing. I will finish the book just to see how he ends it, but I don't plan on buying any of his other books any time soon. I will admit that it makes me want to read the the book by L. Frank Baum that started it all.
Yesterday I did go through an interesting pictorial book on Oahu's North Shore. My husband bought me one that was more just images of the North Shore and one that is a History of the North Shore. It has a lot of photographs that are much older and is really well written with the history of the area we are so near to. I'm excited to finish it tonight as it isn't very long.
So far, my reading goals are off to a good start.
Yesterday I did go through an interesting pictorial book on Oahu's North Shore. My husband bought me one that was more just images of the North Shore and one that is a History of the North Shore. It has a lot of photographs that are much older and is really well written with the history of the area we are so near to. I'm excited to finish it tonight as it isn't very long.
So far, my reading goals are off to a good start.
Yes people, the sun is actually shinning today. I have so missed the sun over the past month. We usually haven't had a real rainy season until February or so but this year it started the end of November and wouldn't let up. My son and I will definitely be taking advantage of the sun in a few minutes. He has been dying for some time on his scooter and I just am glad to see the sun. Oddly enough, it's still raining. It's a phenomenon I will never understand. It's gorgeous out but there is a light rain going on. Barely noticeable if you are standing in it, but it's there all the same.
I'm doing another one of those photography portfolio contests over the next ten weeks. I wish I had waited to sign up because I'm still having a hard time getting used to the new camera. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but everything is coming out blurry. I think I'll have to spend a few hours tonight or tomorrow reading through the manual. Maybe I'll take it to the doctors with me tomorrow. Lord knows I usually have plenty of waiting time there. I wonder if anyone makes a dictionary that is full of all of the confusing terms that are waiting for me in there.
My baby sister turns 24 today. I don't know that she likes it when I call her my baby sister but that's what she is, even with a baby of her own now. I am hoping this year is as spectacular as she wants it to be. She's getting married in April and we are flying to Louisiana to go to her wedding. I'm really excited for her. I just hope she's really ready for the forever of it all.
I'm doing another one of those photography portfolio contests over the next ten weeks. I wish I had waited to sign up because I'm still having a hard time getting used to the new camera. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but everything is coming out blurry. I think I'll have to spend a few hours tonight or tomorrow reading through the manual. Maybe I'll take it to the doctors with me tomorrow. Lord knows I usually have plenty of waiting time there. I wonder if anyone makes a dictionary that is full of all of the confusing terms that are waiting for me in there.
My baby sister turns 24 today. I don't know that she likes it when I call her my baby sister but that's what she is, even with a baby of her own now. I am hoping this year is as spectacular as she wants it to be. She's getting married in April and we are flying to Louisiana to go to her wedding. I'm really excited for her. I just hope she's really ready for the forever of it all.
It's a new year so I thought it might be a good time to start posting again. My life isn't a lot more interesting, but maybe I can find something to talk about.
I know a lot of people do resolutions and, while I do have a few things I would like to accomplish, I'm not sure if I would call them resolutions. Basically they are just things I would like to improve.
-I want to find a way to minimize stress in my life or at least find a way to deal with the stress more effectively. I'm hoping this will help with the headaches and things of that nature. It will also make me a little easier to be around. I tend to be entirely too stressed out.
-I want to be a better housewife. I've gotten the support and love and all of that down and really my husband doesn't complain. I just feel like I need to get off my butt more and do more productive things around the house. I will never be the "have his meal on the table when he gets home" type of wife. It's not even a reasonable expectation with him never getting home at the same time. I can make sure that we can have guests over without freaking out and that we can have a comfortable home to live in. I guess it's more for me than him since he'd gladly live with the way things are now.
-I want to read more. I love to read and always feel a little sharper when I read regularly. I know I can't sit down and read like I did before or I'd never get anything done, but I can try to find about two hours a week to read. My goal would be to read two books a month minimum. I also want to try and get in some sort of bible reading/study every day.
-I want to be more outgoing. I need to break out of my shell. I'm such a homebody and get really anxious around people I don't know. I always feel like I don't belong or fit in. I need to get over that. I plan on attending PWOC(protestant women of the chapel) on a regular basis and actually participating. I know quite a few women there and really like them so I don't see why I can't start there.
-I want to exercise more regularly and stick to a healthier diet. I want to be sure that there are no roadblocks on my end for the weight loss surgery when we get to Kansas. I can't control what the doctors do but I can work on myself.
-I want to be more financially responsible. We are going to be taking a major pay cut when we move and I want us to be ready for it. I want to have enough money saved that we don't have to stress for our two trips and move this year.
If you made it this far, I'm impressed and thank you. I hope that everyone has a wonderful year and your own goals are met.
I know a lot of people do resolutions and, while I do have a few things I would like to accomplish, I'm not sure if I would call them resolutions. Basically they are just things I would like to improve.
-I want to find a way to minimize stress in my life or at least find a way to deal with the stress more effectively. I'm hoping this will help with the headaches and things of that nature. It will also make me a little easier to be around. I tend to be entirely too stressed out.
-I want to be a better housewife. I've gotten the support and love and all of that down and really my husband doesn't complain. I just feel like I need to get off my butt more and do more productive things around the house. I will never be the "have his meal on the table when he gets home" type of wife. It's not even a reasonable expectation with him never getting home at the same time. I can make sure that we can have guests over without freaking out and that we can have a comfortable home to live in. I guess it's more for me than him since he'd gladly live with the way things are now.
-I want to read more. I love to read and always feel a little sharper when I read regularly. I know I can't sit down and read like I did before or I'd never get anything done, but I can try to find about two hours a week to read. My goal would be to read two books a month minimum. I also want to try and get in some sort of bible reading/study every day.
-I want to be more outgoing. I need to break out of my shell. I'm such a homebody and get really anxious around people I don't know. I always feel like I don't belong or fit in. I need to get over that. I plan on attending PWOC(protestant women of the chapel) on a regular basis and actually participating. I know quite a few women there and really like them so I don't see why I can't start there.
-I want to exercise more regularly and stick to a healthier diet. I want to be sure that there are no roadblocks on my end for the weight loss surgery when we get to Kansas. I can't control what the doctors do but I can work on myself.
-I want to be more financially responsible. We are going to be taking a major pay cut when we move and I want us to be ready for it. I want to have enough money saved that we don't have to stress for our two trips and move this year.
If you made it this far, I'm impressed and thank you. I hope that everyone has a wonderful year and your own goals are met.
