My littlest little is home from preschool today. Partly because we woke up to snow on the ground this morning (told ya... New England), and partly because she has yet another cold, with a low-grade fever, and one of the many rules of her preschool states that you can't bring your child into school if they have a fever, and they may not return until they're fever free for 24 hours.
No matter. I love my one-on-one time with her.
Case in point:
After sitting on the floor behind me, contentedly coloring and singing a little tune while she was at it, she decided it was time to play with her dolls. So, she gathered up a couple of her stuffed animals (one in particular, her pink bunny with its missing ears and holey backside, is an absolute favorite of hers), her dolly high chair (in which pink bunny sits, at its place of prominence), and her little chair from her table and chair set.
She then proceeded to explain to me that I was the mommy, she was the sister, and her treasured, holey bunny was the baby, and that we were to pretend to be at a restaurant.
I asked her, "What are we doing at the restaurant?"
Her reply?
"Eating, you silly!"
Guess she got me on that one! :)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like... Springtime???
Here in Massachusetts, it's 47 degrees outside. Right here. Right now. It's supposed to get up to 56 degrees, at some point today (according to the weather thingy-ma-bob on AOL).
I currently have all of my kitchen windows open, my bathroom window open, one of my living room windows open, and both of my bedroom windows open, and the breeze that's blowing into each of those windows isn't the slightest bit cold. Not even cool.
Need I remind you... it's December. And I'm in New England.
It's just so weird, that it's a week and a half before Christmas, and it's so balmy here. Not that I'm complaining, though. I've grown to HATE shovelling.
But, seeing as how it's New England, the old adage can hold true: "If you don't like the weather here, just wait a minute."
I'm not holding my breath.
I currently have all of my kitchen windows open, my bathroom window open, one of my living room windows open, and both of my bedroom windows open, and the breeze that's blowing into each of those windows isn't the slightest bit cold. Not even cool.
Need I remind you... it's December. And I'm in New England.
It's just so weird, that it's a week and a half before Christmas, and it's so balmy here. Not that I'm complaining, though. I've grown to HATE shovelling.
But, seeing as how it's New England, the old adage can hold true: "If you don't like the weather here, just wait a minute."
I'm not holding my breath.
Monday Randomness
Morning, all!
I just realized I haven't posted anything since last week, so I figured I'd better get on the bandwagon and update you all on my oh-so-exciting life! :)
I FINALLY managed to go to the doctor's, and his "official" diagnosis was that I had a sinus infection. I personally think it had gone waaayyyy past that. When he tapped on the spot underneath my eye sockets and asked if it hurt, I told him, "It doesn't now, but as the antibiotic starts to work, and everything begins to drain again, it will." I was so clogged up that NOTHING was coming out!
He wasn't my usual doctor (in fact, that's one of the reasons why I don't like going to my doctor's office much any more; my doctor's SO in demand that I hardly ever get to see HIM when I make an appointment), so he didn't know ME well enough to know that when I get sick like this, I know pretty much exactly what's going on with me. So, even though I wasn't symptomatic of anything in particular, he was nice enough to take me at my word and give me a prescription for ten days worth of amoxicillin.
I'm happy to say that, after three or so days of taking the prescribed medication, I'm sleeping a bit better, and FINALLY starting to feel as if I might just shake this thing after all!
While I was there, I wanted to have him administer a TB test for me. I have the opportunity to work in a lunch service position at my littlest little's school, but everyone who goes NEAR their food on a regular basis has to have an up-to-date TB test performed. Since I don't believe I've EVER had one, it's important that I get one. The logistics are what always seems to get in the way, though.
He was happy to put the order in for me, but said I'd have to come back in two days to have the test "read". That meant going into Urgent Care on Saturday. Not one of my favorite prospects in the world. Not only would the wait time depend on the amount of people waiting to be seen, but I couldn't figure out a way to get the reading done without having to pay for parking. And, call me cheap, or call me stubborn, but I REFUSE to pay six bucks before I even walk in the door! So, I canceled the test for that day, and will call in to schedule it for the week that my husband's home on vacation. Problem solved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My husband has taken it upon himself to take off his scheduled weekday (Thursday). The good part is that we've been able to spend some time together, get errands done that either require the both of us to participate (like finishing up the wrapping of Christmas gifts), or that we need to "tag team" for (like for my oldest daughters parent/teacher conference -- I stayed home with the girls, while he went to meet with her teacher, only because I was sick as a dog that day, and didn't feel like getting dressed and heading out ANYWHERE). The bad part is, we're losing valuable overtime everytime he doesn't work on that day.
I know he's wanting to take some time off and relax, but I need to get his butt in gear to make that extra money! :) He said he'll start working the overtime again after his vacation week. Fair enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I mentioned that we're done with our Christmas wrapping. Or, so I thought. One of my girlfriends dropped me an e-mail, letting me know that Amazon.com had some INCREDIBLE, one-day deals on toys. I made the HUGE mistake of looking through the list of things that were on sale. Of course, there were two things that Miss S. has been BEGGING for; 1) Puppy Grows and Knows My Name, and; 2) the holiday singing Hanna Montana doll. Both were RIDICULOUSLY marked down, and I couldn't resist. I ordered them. So, even though I thought I was completely done, I now have two more things to wrap (which isn't all that bad, really). That is, unless I decide to put them away for her birthday in February... then I can hold off on the wrapping for awhile! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of birthdays, my oldest daughter's is coming up, too. She was born at 8:24 a.m. on December 26th! :) She's without a doubt THE best Christmas present I've ever gotten!
She was dying to be old enough to be able to have a laser tag party at Good Times Emporium. You can't play laser tag until you're ten, so this year was IT for her. She was all excited about the prospect... until, to her dismay, we found out that Good Times had shut down. Another victim of the lousy economy. She was crushed.
I found another place that has laser tag parties, but they only schedule them on certain days, either before or after the general public is allowed into the building. The laser tag birthday party involves a package deal, and because it's a bit pricey, she's agreed to hold off having her party until after the holidays are over (I'm thinking February or March). To a kid that's had her heart set on a laser tag party for YEARS, a few more months doesn't matter much, I guess.
Of course, we'll still have a small family celebration of her birthday ON her birthday, as we've done every year. Considering the fact that she is pretty much a Christmas baby, I have a certain set of criteria for her that MUST be followed:
1) Her birthday is always celebrated on her birthday (the same as my other children);
2) Any birthday present that's expected to be opened on Christmas will be considered a Christmas present;
3) Any birthday present that's wrapped in Christmas paper will be considered a Christmas present;
4) Any Christmas present given to her on her birthday will be considered a birthday present.
I don't want ANYONE to ever assume that, because she was born on the day after Christmas, that she got jipped somehow. Everyone's birthday is special... INCLUDING hers.
And, like she has always said, she feels lucky, because she gets to celebrate Jesus' birthday, and then she gets to celebrate hers! :)
I just realized I haven't posted anything since last week, so I figured I'd better get on the bandwagon and update you all on my oh-so-exciting life! :)
I FINALLY managed to go to the doctor's, and his "official" diagnosis was that I had a sinus infection. I personally think it had gone waaayyyy past that. When he tapped on the spot underneath my eye sockets and asked if it hurt, I told him, "It doesn't now, but as the antibiotic starts to work, and everything begins to drain again, it will." I was so clogged up that NOTHING was coming out!
He wasn't my usual doctor (in fact, that's one of the reasons why I don't like going to my doctor's office much any more; my doctor's SO in demand that I hardly ever get to see HIM when I make an appointment), so he didn't know ME well enough to know that when I get sick like this, I know pretty much exactly what's going on with me. So, even though I wasn't symptomatic of anything in particular, he was nice enough to take me at my word and give me a prescription for ten days worth of amoxicillin.
I'm happy to say that, after three or so days of taking the prescribed medication, I'm sleeping a bit better, and FINALLY starting to feel as if I might just shake this thing after all!
While I was there, I wanted to have him administer a TB test for me. I have the opportunity to work in a lunch service position at my littlest little's school, but everyone who goes NEAR their food on a regular basis has to have an up-to-date TB test performed. Since I don't believe I've EVER had one, it's important that I get one. The logistics are what always seems to get in the way, though.
He was happy to put the order in for me, but said I'd have to come back in two days to have the test "read". That meant going into Urgent Care on Saturday. Not one of my favorite prospects in the world. Not only would the wait time depend on the amount of people waiting to be seen, but I couldn't figure out a way to get the reading done without having to pay for parking. And, call me cheap, or call me stubborn, but I REFUSE to pay six bucks before I even walk in the door! So, I canceled the test for that day, and will call in to schedule it for the week that my husband's home on vacation. Problem solved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My husband has taken it upon himself to take off his scheduled weekday (Thursday). The good part is that we've been able to spend some time together, get errands done that either require the both of us to participate (like finishing up the wrapping of Christmas gifts), or that we need to "tag team" for (like for my oldest daughters parent/teacher conference -- I stayed home with the girls, while he went to meet with her teacher, only because I was sick as a dog that day, and didn't feel like getting dressed and heading out ANYWHERE). The bad part is, we're losing valuable overtime everytime he doesn't work on that day.
I know he's wanting to take some time off and relax, but I need to get his butt in gear to make that extra money! :) He said he'll start working the overtime again after his vacation week. Fair enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I mentioned that we're done with our Christmas wrapping. Or, so I thought. One of my girlfriends dropped me an e-mail, letting me know that Amazon.com had some INCREDIBLE, one-day deals on toys. I made the HUGE mistake of looking through the list of things that were on sale. Of course, there were two things that Miss S. has been BEGGING for; 1) Puppy Grows and Knows My Name, and; 2) the holiday singing Hanna Montana doll. Both were RIDICULOUSLY marked down, and I couldn't resist. I ordered them. So, even though I thought I was completely done, I now have two more things to wrap (which isn't all that bad, really). That is, unless I decide to put them away for her birthday in February... then I can hold off on the wrapping for awhile! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of birthdays, my oldest daughter's is coming up, too. She was born at 8:24 a.m. on December 26th! :) She's without a doubt THE best Christmas present I've ever gotten!
She was dying to be old enough to be able to have a laser tag party at Good Times Emporium. You can't play laser tag until you're ten, so this year was IT for her. She was all excited about the prospect... until, to her dismay, we found out that Good Times had shut down. Another victim of the lousy economy. She was crushed.
I found another place that has laser tag parties, but they only schedule them on certain days, either before or after the general public is allowed into the building. The laser tag birthday party involves a package deal, and because it's a bit pricey, she's agreed to hold off having her party until after the holidays are over (I'm thinking February or March). To a kid that's had her heart set on a laser tag party for YEARS, a few more months doesn't matter much, I guess.
Of course, we'll still have a small family celebration of her birthday ON her birthday, as we've done every year. Considering the fact that she is pretty much a Christmas baby, I have a certain set of criteria for her that MUST be followed:
1) Her birthday is always celebrated on her birthday (the same as my other children);
2) Any birthday present that's expected to be opened on Christmas will be considered a Christmas present;
3) Any birthday present that's wrapped in Christmas paper will be considered a Christmas present;
4) Any Christmas present given to her on her birthday will be considered a birthday present.
I don't want ANYONE to ever assume that, because she was born on the day after Christmas, that she got jipped somehow. Everyone's birthday is special... INCLUDING hers.
And, like she has always said, she feels lucky, because she gets to celebrate Jesus' birthday, and then she gets to celebrate hers! :)
Monday, December 8, 2008
I'm Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Why is it that, as a mom, my needs pretty much always come last? At least that's the rationale I'm going with to defend my position against making a doctor's appointment... until now.
I felt a cold coming on, about a week before Thanksgiving. Oh, great. Just what every pie-making, cookie-baking, turkey-and-all-the-fixins Mama needs to feel when she knows she's going to be up against a marathon of a day. But, like a trooper, I persevered, getting all the dinner (and desserts) expertly done, in between sniffles, coughs and sneezes. Heck, I even felt somewhat GOOD on Thanksgiving. Perhaps I was only fooled by the euphoria of the day.
By Friday morning, the sore throat came back again in force. Once again, I bravely (or stupidly, depending on your side of the fence) ignored it, choosing instead to push ahead and get through the day, as only a mom with three kids home from school for Thanksgiving vacation (who were hopped up by an overload of apple pie, might I add) can do.
I'd casually mentioned to my husband, in my Robitussin induced stupor, that I'd like to put up the tree for Christmas that weekend. Silly me.
I woke up late on Sunday, after a ridiculously fitful nights sleep (I was coughing up half a lung all night long), and saw, with dread, that my well-rested husband had taken it upon himself to assemble our tree already. Poor guy... I know he meant well. But, all my weary body wanted to do at that point was go back from whence I came... and crawl underneath the covers and die.
But, once again, I persevered. I half-heartedly went through the boxes of lights, garland, ornaments, and other Christmas-y doo dads, and pretty much stopped at the tree and the mantel. Mind you, I typically have something... something that embodies the spirit of Christmas in each and every room of my house. My kids even have their own little Christmas trees, which I place in their bedrooms every year. Not this time, though.
After the tree and mantel were complete, and my homemade Advent calendar was hung, and the wreath was placed on our front door, and a few nick nacks were strewn about in the dining room, I called it quits. My husband gave me quite the quizzical look. I think, only then, he knew how sick I really was.
I spent the next week feeling about the same. Struggling to get through the days, doing just enough to get my kids to and from. Struggling even more to get through the nights, stealing what sleep I could in between brutal cough after brutal cough.
Finally, today, I decided enough is enough. I've thrown down the gauntlet. I called my doctor's office and made an appointment for ME. I'm to be seen by someone in my doctor's staff at 9:30 in the morning on Thursday. (I told the nurse who returned my call that I couldn't care less if I was to be seen by the janitor on duty, as long as he had the authority to write me a prescription for amoxicillin!).
So there you have it. I have succumbed. Now, please pray that I'll be better for Christmas!
I felt a cold coming on, about a week before Thanksgiving. Oh, great. Just what every pie-making, cookie-baking, turkey-and-all-the-fixins Mama needs to feel when she knows she's going to be up against a marathon of a day. But, like a trooper, I persevered, getting all the dinner (and desserts) expertly done, in between sniffles, coughs and sneezes. Heck, I even felt somewhat GOOD on Thanksgiving. Perhaps I was only fooled by the euphoria of the day.
By Friday morning, the sore throat came back again in force. Once again, I bravely (or stupidly, depending on your side of the fence) ignored it, choosing instead to push ahead and get through the day, as only a mom with three kids home from school for Thanksgiving vacation (who were hopped up by an overload of apple pie, might I add) can do.
I'd casually mentioned to my husband, in my Robitussin induced stupor, that I'd like to put up the tree for Christmas that weekend. Silly me.
I woke up late on Sunday, after a ridiculously fitful nights sleep (I was coughing up half a lung all night long), and saw, with dread, that my well-rested husband had taken it upon himself to assemble our tree already. Poor guy... I know he meant well. But, all my weary body wanted to do at that point was go back from whence I came... and crawl underneath the covers and die.
But, once again, I persevered. I half-heartedly went through the boxes of lights, garland, ornaments, and other Christmas-y doo dads, and pretty much stopped at the tree and the mantel. Mind you, I typically have something... something that embodies the spirit of Christmas in each and every room of my house. My kids even have their own little Christmas trees, which I place in their bedrooms every year. Not this time, though.
After the tree and mantel were complete, and my homemade Advent calendar was hung, and the wreath was placed on our front door, and a few nick nacks were strewn about in the dining room, I called it quits. My husband gave me quite the quizzical look. I think, only then, he knew how sick I really was.
I spent the next week feeling about the same. Struggling to get through the days, doing just enough to get my kids to and from. Struggling even more to get through the nights, stealing what sleep I could in between brutal cough after brutal cough.
Finally, today, I decided enough is enough. I've thrown down the gauntlet. I called my doctor's office and made an appointment for ME. I'm to be seen by someone in my doctor's staff at 9:30 in the morning on Thursday. (I told the nurse who returned my call that I couldn't care less if I was to be seen by the janitor on duty, as long as he had the authority to write me a prescription for amoxicillin!).
So there you have it. I have succumbed. Now, please pray that I'll be better for Christmas!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Gearing Up For Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a time for gathering up the ones you love around you, sharing a delicious meal (from soup to nuts), and reflecting on all you have to be thankful for. Although money's been tight, and we've had to sacrifice quite a bit this year, I wouldn't trade my life for anyone else's in the world. I have a husband who's the love of my life, three beautiful, healthy kids, and an abundance of family and friends, whom I hold dear to my heart.
I thank God that I'm able to have people jammed around my dining room table tomorrow, eating a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, gravy, my husband's incredible sour cream mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, fresh green beans, glazed carrots and rolls with butter. We'll have to make some room for my homemade apple or blueberry pie, too! :)
I know, deep in my heart, how truly blessed I am, because I am fully aware that there are those who (for one reason or another) will be unable to gather together with their family and loved ones, to celebrate their season's bounty.
I'm also blessed to have gotten to know so many of you. When I'm going through my list of all I am thankful for, you all will definitely be included, too.
May you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Please Vote for Brandon!
Hi there!
My friend Don has asked me to pass the word around that his younger brother, Brandon, is in a contest to help showcase young and "up and coming" talent. Brandon's written a beautiful song called "Thine Own Son", which is the one that he's premiering as his entry into the showcase.
The link to the site is:
http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?id=737
If you could PLEASE take a moment, create an account, and then vote for Brandon's song, I'd truly appreciate it. And, if you feel so inclined as to go back every day and vote for him, that would be incredibly awesome!
Also, if you're up to it, it would be wonderful if you could pass along this information to any other people you know, who might also be willing to vote.
On behalf of Don (a very proud big brother) and Brandon, I thank you very much! :)
My friend Don has asked me to pass the word around that his younger brother, Brandon, is in a contest to help showcase young and "up and coming" talent. Brandon's written a beautiful song called "Thine Own Son", which is the one that he's premiering as his entry into the showcase.
The link to the site is:
http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?id=737
If you could PLEASE take a moment, create an account, and then vote for Brandon's song, I'd truly appreciate it. And, if you feel so inclined as to go back every day and vote for him, that would be incredibly awesome!
Also, if you're up to it, it would be wonderful if you could pass along this information to any other people you know, who might also be willing to vote.
On behalf of Don (a very proud big brother) and Brandon, I thank you very much! :)
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