There's something that happens during cookie season, if you're a scout leader, a cookie coordinator for your troop, and even sometimes if you are a cookie mom with inventory on hand. You go a little crazy. And I don't mean the cookie sales crazy that you see as an innocent bystander. I mean the internal "I'm trying to keep it together while constantly tallying and subtracting and balancing bank deposits and inventory and cookie supply and demand information in my head." I've already gotten there, on day two of cookie sales, when usually I don't get there until a couple of weeks in. I am disturbed. My brain won't shut off. The house has long ago fallen apart, and I just need to clear my head.
Blogging, is the way to clear your head. I don't get to do it much anymore, but this morning, on Sunday, I decided I would just sit down and dump my brain, pour my heart out, and feel much lighter.
I realized that I needed my laptop, which was in the van, in the locked-up-like-a-fortress garage, and that I wasn't dressed. I tried to get dressed, which became a huge chore. My jeans are all dirty. Like so dirty I won't tell you how many times I have worn my favorite one pair of jeans without washing them. Nope. Won't say. Can't tell. So I gathered all the jeans up to wash a load, at which time I realized I needed to throw in the new boy scout uniform pants of M's. I use the term "new" lightly. I am trying to be money conscious (always) and so instead of dumping the ridiculously outrageous $24 on a pair of blue pants, I found a pair on ebay for $10. M doesn't like jeans and has been begging me to buy him uniform pants because they are more like khakis and less rigid. Sometimes jeans make him freak out with the rubbing on the skin and the rawness on the waist. So I found the $10 pair on ebay. Then they arrived. Then I saw that the seller did not disclose the poorly hemmed bottoms, and the fact that they were 4" shorter than any average. They were also really washworn and not nearly as new blue as the photo showed. I spent the morning watching M in the tub while I used the seam ripper to tear out the hems and then discovered that even if they are now long enough, they have been worn and faded enough to have two very white-ish horizontal lines across the legs where the hems were folded. Ugh. In the process of getting these pants ready for the wash I thought I would open A's new swimsuits. I never buy Justice clothes. They are too much for me and I usually have a great friend (two actually) who sell used Justice clothes at a price I can handle, and then I don't have to shop. But I saw an advertisement for a cute swimsuit that's right up A's alley, and I thought, I will get that as her "good swimsuit" for this spring. So I ended up ordering two suits and a rashguard that matches both. She has a used Justice suit that was a size 12 and it surprisingly fit her perfectly. It's the only justice suit she has, she normally wears a 6/7 in suits and I thought we might finally get into an 8 this summer. She's slim. But since the Justice suit I have is a 12, of course I ordered all size 12's from Jutice. They swam on her. We were both so sad. I wanted to return them and exchange then for an 8, but of course they are "online only items" and the return form is just a return form, not an exchange form. And I call Justice and they "don't process returns" but would be happy to make my life a living hell by placing a whole new order where, you know, I pay them again with my unlimited funds and then later on (you know like two months from now when they get through their "processing time" i can have my original money back. Good times. I may lost it just a bit and tell the woman on the phone that if she can't process a return I don't want their junk and I will just send it back. Yeah. This is because I am supposed to be blogging by now but I haven't even gotten dressed.
I package up the RETURN and take the load of jeans and boy scout pants down to wash. At which time I am interrupted by kids who want to talk about Spirit Week. Which starts tomorrow. Because on Friday when I picked them up from school, M gets into the van and says "I can't wait to see all the costumes you are going to sew this weekend for us" and I think he is confused because HALLOWEEN IS NINE MONTHS AWAY and I swear I thought I got a year before I have to do that again. Then a paper is thrust at me with excitement and I see that on top of the TWO cookie booths we are running this weekend, the birthday party, and the Girl Scout meeting to prepare for World Thinking Day, we now have Super Hero Day, Disney Day, Mismatch and Crazy Hair Day, School Spirit Day, and Blast to the past day. I digress. (That's the moral of the story, you see.)
So the kids get told that their mother is offering no assistance for Spirit Week. It's every big kid for themselves. Their outfits have to be decided and laid out the night before. Mom isn't sewing, buying, or crafting ANYTHING (hear me, ANY. THING.) for Spirit Week. That's not very nice of me, is it. Not very spirited. But I grew up when Spirit Week was in high school and the participants were self sufficient enough to figure it out with minimal help from parents. I want my kids to start this self-sufficiency early, like they are starting Spirit Week early. I explain to them that they can create their own super hero! Won't it be fun! and M starts literally crying, and telling me that his teacher told him he has to be a boughten super hero and that it has to be a real one not a made up one (which I absolutely know isn't true, but he takes things very literally and is always concerned that he will be in trouble) and so eventually the tears get calmed and today we are tearing the house apart (more) to find costume pieces. We have one spiderman glove and one spidey suit. The mask is missing but I declare that *not my problem* because It's not my job to keep track of masks and the only real reason there is one glove and a suit is because of my attempts to organize and keep things in labeled bins (which means those two important pieces were in the costume tote where they were supposed to be.)
A Plays along beautifully and creates her own superhero, Called "Anime" pronounced AnnaMae.... who is a Japanese Anime Artist who can draw things and snap her fingers so that those things come to life. She finds an Indian/beaded/silkish gown from the Goodwill Halloween Costume buying spree, puts her hair in pigtails and sticks pencils in them, and takes paper and colored pencils in hand. I'm so proud of her own creativity and my lack of involvement that I go right down and put on a t-shirt and my clean pair of unflattering black fleece pants, my sweater slippers, and slip outside to the Fort-Knox Garage to get my laptop from the van. In my haste to finally get home last night, and out of my clothes and into my bed, I didn't pull the van up far enough in the garage so the back hatch is too close to the door so I can't open it to get the laptop out of the back, but eventually I get the laptop into the house and onto the sticky and overcrowded dining room table.
I open it, I log on to blogger, and I am READY! M comes out and says "are you hungry mom? I will make you some cereal" (So sweet is he. Always my helper. He loves me, this I know.) I tell him, "sure buddy, I would love some rice chex!" and I thank him and sit down. And he says "Hey mom, we are out of milk." So I have him just make his own cereal and I will run up to Caseys in a few minutes and get more milk. (you know, I was JUST out in the van. Seriously. JUST.)
"Anime" comes out in full costume, and suddenly wearing the pink pair of glasses that she *lost at school* two months ago, that I cleaned her locker and her desk and crawled under part of the dirty bleachers in the gym and looked in the smelly lost and found box and begged the office to look out for and posted on the school facebook page. They are ON HER FACE as if they never left, and she is a nonchalant about it as though I didn't just go on a month-long rampage looking for them. I just look at her incredulously and say "where did you get those glasses" and she responds with "I don't know, I just found them somewhere." Yeah.
All of this, and I haven't written a word. Then E tears himself away from Planes Fire and Rescue long enough to have an argument with me about why he wants to watch more music videos on You Tube, and then to ask for a snack (he hasn't had breakfast, we don't have milk) and he announces that he will eat pretzels for breakfast and I say "fine. Eat whatever. I don't care." and start to write.
THIS, Is why I never get to write. This is my life.
I love my life, I truly do. I am surrounded with people who love me, even if they also sometimes drive me entirely insane. We are healthy. We have a warm place to sleep, even if it's a disaster.
The laptop is surrounded by dirty dishes, the paint for the Little Free Library I haven't gotten to paint yet, the Mod Podge and supplies leftover from the Pinewood Derby car two or three weeks ago, Three opened cereal containers getting stale, a role of paper towels, an IH tractor, an open container of pretzels with a missing lid, a letter that my recent PAP came back clear, The offending list of Spirit Week activities on yellow paper, A hanger, and a bowl of slowly rotting blood oranges that my kids HAD to have and then REFUSED to eat. I look on the floor and I see a page of Christmas Stickers, a piece of aluminum foil, a non-winning scratch lotto ticket, a ring from a milk jug, a foil peeled back top from a to go butter container, a sprig of grape stems with no grapes attached, and a green top from a squeeze applesauce container, one child slipper, and a ziploc bag of markers.... all within two feet of my person. Where do I start? Who can I hire? How would I pay them?
Maybe I just need to eat some Girl Scout Cookies?
Showing posts with label Messy House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Messy House. Show all posts
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Thank God for Tuesdays.
So, Tuesday. My favorite day of the week. MY day. Tuesday nights are my night. Evan stays with the kids and I.... GO! I have something going on almost every Tuesday. MOPS meetings, Bunco, MOPS Mom's night out, Taize worship at church, time at the library.... anything that means quiet. Peace. Fun. Relief from being on call at every moment.
Have I mentioned that these two kids are really kicking my ass lately? I don't know what it is. Their ages? The weather? I just want to nap. Like by 11am. Every day. It's so NOT fun to try to get them both to focus long enough to get their coats and hats and boots on and get out the door, all after getting them to focus long enough to get them potty/changed and then teeth brushed and hair done and clothes on and packed up to leave. I don't even consider doing my hair or wearing makeup. My mascara long since froze in the van because I forgot where it even was it had been so long since I wore any. I've gained like 8 pounds and can feel it in my jeans and I am like SERIOUSLY? This must be because I am not eating well (always running it seems) or because I am always wearing sweatpants because they are just so comfy when you might be down on the floor 5000 times a day. Oy. And it is barely even winter. How can I have already put on half of my extra winter weight? And I just know that Doctor Bob will say "you just need to excercise" and I will say "I know" and then I never will. *sigh* I am convinced that if I had the Michael Jackson Experience Video Game for Wii (oh and a Wii too) I would be skinny. Seriously. Oh who am I kidding? I bought the stupid rocking step thing (I can't even remember the name, how bad is that?) and I didn't even use it once. Seriously. The DVD's are still in the package. Now that is bad. Worse than even I usually am, but I just don't have the TIME and when I have a second the last thing I want to do is EXERCISE! Argh!
Our bedroom is a nightmare. Seriously. People think that when I say something is messy, I must be lying, because, after all, I am so organized. Ha. Hahaha. There is a ball of yarn unwound all over the room, entangled in various plastic hangers
and a dislodged baby gate, precariously sitting on top of a basket full of clothes beneath an open drawer, and next to that is a tote of newborn diapers (don't ask) and a tote of stuff I have either sold or am wanting to sell, right next to THREE totes of winter clothes and pajamas that are mine that have only gotten half unpacked and the rest became a giant landslide that has now merged with the pile of dirty clothes. The only place you can go in the room is to the bathroom, and that is a life or death trip. When the kids get in there, at least one person falls down every 2 minutes and bumps their head on some random object. I can't find any clean socks. I don't have any clean jeans. I can barely find a bra, and 6 of the 9 drawers in my dresser are permanently open. Two of them are empty. What I REALLY need is someone to take my kids. For two full days and one night, and lock me in my bedroom with some garbage bags and a laundry chute. I have about 4 loads of dirty diapers that are beyond needing washed. There's a pizza in the kitchen that is stuck to a pizza stone and might have been there since Sunday... or Monday? Probably Sunday. Both couches are piled with laundry and there are three hampers full of clean laundry in the living room next to the Christmas tree that need folded.
This is my life. The kids rooms are disaster areas, you can't walk through them and all the toys are strewn about. The cloth diaper pail is missing (in the laundry room, full of dirties) leaving a pile of dirty ones in Marek's room and a full diaper genie of sposies.
Tomorrow Ardyn has school and Marek and I were going to head to playgroup, and I promised the kids (before I knew we would be broke again this week) that we could go see Santa at the mall after school on Wednesday. Yeah. So that's what's going on here.
I have been trying to be thankful for what we have, and for all the crap that seems to be suffocating me, and for all the things that I need to get done I am just remembering they will be there tomorrow. Although they will be compounded 100 times by the time I get to them. I have an overflowing basket under the table in the dining room full of papers to go through and things to scan and bills to pay. Ugh.
But you know, what I really want to do is play play-doh and make cupcakes and easy bake treats in the new oven that Mimi at church passed on to Ardyn. and I want to play games and drink hot cocoa and take the kids outside for a sled ride. But how am I ever going to even get mildly caught up around here? I don't want things to be perfect, but I would love to have something to wear! I would like my own bedroom to not be a danger zone that we can't even walk through. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day :) Right?
On a brighter note, we DID finally get the Christmas tree up. Sunday afternoon. I had intended that this would be the year that we put
up the tree and used my collection of Disney ornaments that I haven't used in years. Before kids, well, before getting married, I had three trees. The main tree in the living room which is all white/silver and has lots of glitter and glass ornaments. Then I had a red and white tree on the front porch, and a Disney tree in our spare bedroom. I packed the Disney ornaments up, including the Pooh tree topper, and couldn't wait till the day I would use them again.... but never knew it would be because I would convert my gorgeous glass tree to a kid-friendly one. The problem? We spent about an hour in the attic and can NOT find the Disney Ornaments! Yikes! They MUST be up there. Seriously. I hope I find them. In the meantime I used some of my red and white ornaments and some that I have that weren't breakable, and we made it work. But it's pretty and the kids are happy. So I am happy too :)
AND I actually got our Christmas Card pics from Snapfish yesterday, and stuffed cards after the Health Ministry meeting last night and addressed them all before the MOPS meeting tonight. Any chances that tomorrow I can buy 50 stamps and get them all sealed and mailed? Hmmmm....
Stay tuned for Christmas Card pics. They are adorable but I won't post them until everyone gets theirs in the mail. I have to be thankful that I meet so many new people each year that I have to take a hard look at our Christmas Card list to try to keep it at 50-60 people. Whew!
Have I mentioned that these two kids are really kicking my ass lately? I don't know what it is. Their ages? The weather? I just want to nap. Like by 11am. Every day. It's so NOT fun to try to get them both to focus long enough to get their coats and hats and boots on and get out the door, all after getting them to focus long enough to get them potty/changed and then teeth brushed and hair done and clothes on and packed up to leave. I don't even consider doing my hair or wearing makeup. My mascara long since froze in the van because I forgot where it even was it had been so long since I wore any. I've gained like 8 pounds and can feel it in my jeans and I am like SERIOUSLY? This must be because I am not eating well (always running it seems) or because I am always wearing sweatpants because they are just so comfy when you might be down on the floor 5000 times a day. Oy. And it is barely even winter. How can I have already put on half of my extra winter weight? And I just know that Doctor Bob will say "you just need to excercise" and I will say "I know" and then I never will. *sigh* I am convinced that if I had the Michael Jackson Experience Video Game for Wii (oh and a Wii too) I would be skinny. Seriously. Oh who am I kidding? I bought the stupid rocking step thing (I can't even remember the name, how bad is that?) and I didn't even use it once. Seriously. The DVD's are still in the package. Now that is bad. Worse than even I usually am, but I just don't have the TIME and when I have a second the last thing I want to do is EXERCISE! Argh!
Our bedroom is a nightmare. Seriously. People think that when I say something is messy, I must be lying, because, after all, I am so organized. Ha. Hahaha. There is a ball of yarn unwound all over the room, entangled in various plastic hangers
and a dislodged baby gate, precariously sitting on top of a basket full of clothes beneath an open drawer, and next to that is a tote of newborn diapers (don't ask) and a tote of stuff I have either sold or am wanting to sell, right next to THREE totes of winter clothes and pajamas that are mine that have only gotten half unpacked and the rest became a giant landslide that has now merged with the pile of dirty clothes. The only place you can go in the room is to the bathroom, and that is a life or death trip. When the kids get in there, at least one person falls down every 2 minutes and bumps their head on some random object. I can't find any clean socks. I don't have any clean jeans. I can barely find a bra, and 6 of the 9 drawers in my dresser are permanently open. Two of them are empty. What I REALLY need is someone to take my kids. For two full days and one night, and lock me in my bedroom with some garbage bags and a laundry chute. I have about 4 loads of dirty diapers that are beyond needing washed. There's a pizza in the kitchen that is stuck to a pizza stone and might have been there since Sunday... or Monday? Probably Sunday. Both couches are piled with laundry and there are three hampers full of clean laundry in the living room next to the Christmas tree that need folded.This is my life. The kids rooms are disaster areas, you can't walk through them and all the toys are strewn about. The cloth diaper pail is missing (in the laundry room, full of dirties) leaving a pile of dirty ones in Marek's room and a full diaper genie of sposies.
Tomorrow Ardyn has school and Marek and I were going to head to playgroup, and I promised the kids (before I knew we would be broke again this week) that we could go see Santa at the mall after school on Wednesday. Yeah. So that's what's going on here.
I have been trying to be thankful for what we have, and for all the crap that seems to be suffocating me, and for all the things that I need to get done I am just remembering they will be there tomorrow. Although they will be compounded 100 times by the time I get to them. I have an overflowing basket under the table in the dining room full of papers to go through and things to scan and bills to pay. Ugh.
But you know, what I really want to do is play play-doh and make cupcakes and easy bake treats in the new oven that Mimi at church passed on to Ardyn. and I want to play games and drink hot cocoa and take the kids outside for a sled ride. But how am I ever going to even get mildly caught up around here? I don't want things to be perfect, but I would love to have something to wear! I would like my own bedroom to not be a danger zone that we can't even walk through. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day :) Right?
On a brighter note, we DID finally get the Christmas tree up. Sunday afternoon. I had intended that this would be the year that we put
up the tree and used my collection of Disney ornaments that I haven't used in years. Before kids, well, before getting married, I had three trees. The main tree in the living room which is all white/silver and has lots of glitter and glass ornaments. Then I had a red and white tree on the front porch, and a Disney tree in our spare bedroom. I packed the Disney ornaments up, including the Pooh tree topper, and couldn't wait till the day I would use them again.... but never knew it would be because I would convert my gorgeous glass tree to a kid-friendly one. The problem? We spent about an hour in the attic and can NOT find the Disney Ornaments! Yikes! They MUST be up there. Seriously. I hope I find them. In the meantime I used some of my red and white ornaments and some that I have that weren't breakable, and we made it work. But it's pretty and the kids are happy. So I am happy too :)AND I actually got our Christmas Card pics from Snapfish yesterday, and stuffed cards after the Health Ministry meeting last night and addressed them all before the MOPS meeting tonight. Any chances that tomorrow I can buy 50 stamps and get them all sealed and mailed? Hmmmm....
Stay tuned for Christmas Card pics. They are adorable but I won't post them until everyone gets theirs in the mail. I have to be thankful that I meet so many new people each year that I have to take a hard look at our Christmas Card list to try to keep it at 50-60 people. Whew!
Monday, September 06, 2010
Anyone want trade places, just for this week? Thursday looks good for me.
I've been trying to get to the blog for SO long now. I have several reviews that I need to get written, and I feel badly that I am a bit behind on them... but am looking on the bright side that they will be thorough reviews with products that I have really tested on a long term basis (positive spin... see how that works?) I really hate that now I have to go back and read my own blog to remind myself what I have already talked about. But tonight I am NOT going to do that. Sorry. Just not. It's my blog, you know how I operate.
This week is going to be SO busy that I am trying not to panic. I tell myself that God won't give me more than I can handle, but it's not what he gives me that worries me... It's the things that I can't help but volunteer for ;) Basically I love to volunteer, but if you see me coming this week, and you are a friend, do me a big favor and stop me. Just tell me to take a deep breath, reconsider, and really, don't take anything but NO for an answer from me. I just can not do one more thing without doing permanent brain injury this week.
The week has of course already gone off with a big bang, considering that today was Labor Day. And yes, three glorious Labor Days ago, I spent 15.5 hours in labor with Ardyn. *sigh* where does the time go? I would love to write a whole post about just that, and another entire post about just her Birthday dinner (we haven't even GOTTEN to the party yet!) but I haven't even uploaded the pictures from the camera, and I just can't fathom blogging without checking the pics and adding some for you to see. It's how I roll.
Tuesday is the big MOPS kickoff meeting, and most of you know by now that I am head-over-heels in LOVE with MOPS. I adore it. This year I really wanted to be an even bigger part, and help spread the word and the love to other moms because we can ALL use this support network. It has changed so much about my life and the way my children are raised and are able to interact with others. Without MOPS, Ardyn would not be in preschool this year. I would not have known that she COULD be in preschool (stupid public school cutoff dates!) and I really wouldn't have known much at all about the preschool that we chose for her. She wouldn't be starting dance. And I wouldn't have half of the sanity that I still seem to be clinging to.
So as part of the big MOPS kick-off, because I am now a Steering Team Member... I had lots of responsibility. We all did and do, but this year my position is a "new"one to our chapter... Discussion Group Coordinator. We have never had discussion groups in our chapter before, so this is very exciting, and really badly needed... but also will be a welcome challenge as we forge a path that we don't have set for us. So I have been working on centerpieces, names for our discussion groups, themes for each group, some creative/crafty stuff to go along with them... and also several forms and mailings that will go with the new group format. Also updating the website to get everything ready for this new season!
Tomorrow we have to be at the church EARLY in order to get things setup, and I still have copies to make and things to laminate.... all before tomorrow night's meeting. Also, did I mention that we have our contractor arriving TOMORROW to setup his gear and schedule delivery of our roofing supplies? And that is super exciting but in addition to starting the roof, they will also be starting (at the same time) the front porch. Yes. Front Porch. Home of my crap. Nothing says "welcome to my house" like a front porch sewing room and "scrap-crap" all over a temporary table. Be prepared to trip over cords and weave around containers. Seriously. But since I am finishing the MOPS meeting stuff, the table can be put away. Which had to happen tonight in case they need to get inside tomorrow. And it's 11pm and I haven't moved the Wicker furniture outside. Or stuffed the centerpieces yet. And yes, I know I shouldn't be blogging, but I can't HELP it. I should NEVER be blogging but I need this release. It's like a memory-dump for me.
So this week the contractor starts the roofing, and the tearing out of the front porch windows and door, and I have to have one side of the porch cleared before Wednesday and likely cover the sewing crap on the other side so that it can be moved to the "finished" side and they can work on the "other" side. When this is all done, I have this grand master plan to move all of the sewing stuff to the opposite end of the porch and get more light, as well as more room, and also a perfect view of the front yard from the sewing table so that I can watch the kids play outside and work at the same time.
Oh and then there is that pesky little thing about Ardyn going to school twice a week, and Ardyn also starts dance this week! I am super excited about dance, but there is just ONE teeeeeny tiny hitch.... the same day that Ardyn starts dance? I have my first colonoscopy and EGD (upper scope.) Yay me! If you've been reading (have I talked about this on blog or just facebook?) I have
had these horrible attacks that at first we thought were gallbladder, but two ER visits, a fabulous one-night and two-day stay in the hospital, and bloodwork, Gallbladder Ultrasound, HIDA (nuclear medicine) scan, and a Abdominal CT with contrast later.... they think I have Crohn's or IBS. The specialist is leaning towards Crohn's wholeheartedly. And I have had a few attacks since being out of the hospital, the latest being about 24 hours long in which I thought I might alternately die, poop myself to death, or belch up an intestine. Yep. Good times. And this attack lasted 24 hours WITH double doses of Pepcid around the clock, a single dose of Prilosec (I was desperate) about 10 thousand TUMS, and a prescription Opiate painkiller. Yep. Still painful. That's the kind of pain we are talking. WTF.
So this Wednesday, I get to start my day by taking Ardyn to school. Then I get to take both kids and all their gear to my mom's, then I get to return home to a house full of contractors, and then I get to commence my first meal of the day, which will consist of.... wait for it.... ONE GALLON of liquid laxative. Yep. That's right. Those of you who have never had a colonoscopy.... don't be shy. Read alllllll about it. ONE Gallon of liquid laxative. No meals. limited liquid diet. You know what the GE's office staff said "You probably shouldn't make any plans that day." Um, ya think? Are there people who think they are going to drink a gallon of laxative and still make plans? Oh my. So they actually also told me that "we have several patients who say it's better to just take the gallon into the bathroom and drink it there." Yep. Can't wait. Did I mention I've decided I can't be responsible for my kids that day? And that I told my husband that he will wait on my hand
and foot, even if that means replenishing toilet paper? I am so not going through this alone. Someday he will have to do this. I vow that he will. And then, after drinking half of my gallon of laxative, I get to drift off into a peaceful sleep. And then wake up at 4am to start drinking the other half, which I must have drank before my morning appointment, and when I am FINALLY done with that gallon, I get to take not ONE, but TWO ducolax prescription laxative pills. Yep. Because I am sure there will still be some scary poo hiding in there somewhere. After 24 hours of no food and a gallon of laxative. Surely. I mean, these doctor's are SPECIALISTS. This is what they do for a living. Don't tell me that they don't see some poo here and there? But I have to top it all off with laxative tablets. Not one. Two. (okay, ending my rant)
So. Let's see how my week is shaping up.
1. Setup for MOPS kickoff meeting, finalize papers and decorations, make copies, etc.
2. Clean off half of front porch and stuff crap in an unnoticeable corner.
3. MOPS Kickoff meeting
4. Sleep
5. Take Ardyn to school
6. Come Home and pack kids things for two days with Grandma and Auntie.
6a. House inundated with construction work. Marek screaming and biting my legs whilst cleverly unpacking everything I pack.
7. Pick up Ardyn from school
8. Take kids and their Krap to Grandma's
9. Come home to half-a-front porch and start drinking my laxative
10. Poo a l0t, hope bathroom exhaust fan doesn't transfer smell to roofers and knock them off the house.
11. try to sleep.
12. Poo some more.
13. try to sleep.
14. Angrily wake-up before the sun
15. Drink More Laxative
16. Poooooooo
17. Take two ducolax
18. Poooooooo to the noise of construction starting all over again.
19. Head to hospital and hope I don't poop my pants on the way there.
20. Register.
21. Get put into hospital gown and under anesthesia.
22. Swallow Scope.
23. Hope I don't know what happens when they "turn the bed around" (the nurse's exact words)
24. Recover
25. Dress
26. Get Driven Home
27. Get Waited on Hand and Foot
28. Hope that I want to eat again sometime
29. Somehow get the children home and take Ardyn to her first dance class.
30. Start thinking about when to have poor child's birthday party that I have halfway finished.
30a-30e. Finish Pinata. Finish Invitations. Finish Decorations. Mail Invitations. Bake and Decorate Cupcakes.
So, anyone want to trade weeks with me?
Remember that I said don't let me volunteer for anything. I mean that. Can I make myself clearer?
Goodnight!
This week is going to be SO busy that I am trying not to panic. I tell myself that God won't give me more than I can handle, but it's not what he gives me that worries me... It's the things that I can't help but volunteer for ;) Basically I love to volunteer, but if you see me coming this week, and you are a friend, do me a big favor and stop me. Just tell me to take a deep breath, reconsider, and really, don't take anything but NO for an answer from me. I just can not do one more thing without doing permanent brain injury this week.
The week has of course already gone off with a big bang, considering that today was Labor Day. And yes, three glorious Labor Days ago, I spent 15.5 hours in labor with Ardyn. *sigh* where does the time go? I would love to write a whole post about just that, and another entire post about just her Birthday dinner (we haven't even GOTTEN to the party yet!) but I haven't even uploaded the pictures from the camera, and I just can't fathom blogging without checking the pics and adding some for you to see. It's how I roll.
Tuesday is the big MOPS kickoff meeting, and most of you know by now that I am head-over-heels in LOVE with MOPS. I adore it. This year I really wanted to be an even bigger part, and help spread the word and the love to other moms because we can ALL use this support network. It has changed so much about my life and the way my children are raised and are able to interact with others. Without MOPS, Ardyn would not be in preschool this year. I would not have known that she COULD be in preschool (stupid public school cutoff dates!) and I really wouldn't have known much at all about the preschool that we chose for her. She wouldn't be starting dance. And I wouldn't have half of the sanity that I still seem to be clinging to.
So as part of the big MOPS kick-off, because I am now a Steering Team Member... I had lots of responsibility. We all did and do, but this year my position is a "new"one to our chapter... Discussion Group Coordinator. We have never had discussion groups in our chapter before, so this is very exciting, and really badly needed... but also will be a welcome challenge as we forge a path that we don't have set for us. So I have been working on centerpieces, names for our discussion groups, themes for each group, some creative/crafty stuff to go along with them... and also several forms and mailings that will go with the new group format. Also updating the website to get everything ready for this new season!
Tomorrow we have to be at the church EARLY in order to get things setup, and I still have copies to make and things to laminate.... all before tomorrow night's meeting. Also, did I mention that we have our contractor arriving TOMORROW to setup his gear and schedule delivery of our roofing supplies? And that is super exciting but in addition to starting the roof, they will also be starting (at the same time) the front porch. Yes. Front Porch. Home of my crap. Nothing says "welcome to my house" like a front porch sewing room and "scrap-crap" all over a temporary table. Be prepared to trip over cords and weave around containers. Seriously. But since I am finishing the MOPS meeting stuff, the table can be put away. Which had to happen tonight in case they need to get inside tomorrow. And it's 11pm and I haven't moved the Wicker furniture outside. Or stuffed the centerpieces yet. And yes, I know I shouldn't be blogging, but I can't HELP it. I should NEVER be blogging but I need this release. It's like a memory-dump for me.
So this week the contractor starts the roofing, and the tearing out of the front porch windows and door, and I have to have one side of the porch cleared before Wednesday and likely cover the sewing crap on the other side so that it can be moved to the "finished" side and they can work on the "other" side. When this is all done, I have this grand master plan to move all of the sewing stuff to the opposite end of the porch and get more light, as well as more room, and also a perfect view of the front yard from the sewing table so that I can watch the kids play outside and work at the same time.
Oh and then there is that pesky little thing about Ardyn going to school twice a week, and Ardyn also starts dance this week! I am super excited about dance, but there is just ONE teeeeeny tiny hitch.... the same day that Ardyn starts dance? I have my first colonoscopy and EGD (upper scope.) Yay me! If you've been reading (have I talked about this on blog or just facebook?) I have
had these horrible attacks that at first we thought were gallbladder, but two ER visits, a fabulous one-night and two-day stay in the hospital, and bloodwork, Gallbladder Ultrasound, HIDA (nuclear medicine) scan, and a Abdominal CT with contrast later.... they think I have Crohn's or IBS. The specialist is leaning towards Crohn's wholeheartedly. And I have had a few attacks since being out of the hospital, the latest being about 24 hours long in which I thought I might alternately die, poop myself to death, or belch up an intestine. Yep. Good times. And this attack lasted 24 hours WITH double doses of Pepcid around the clock, a single dose of Prilosec (I was desperate) about 10 thousand TUMS, and a prescription Opiate painkiller. Yep. Still painful. That's the kind of pain we are talking. WTF.So this Wednesday, I get to start my day by taking Ardyn to school. Then I get to take both kids and all their gear to my mom's, then I get to return home to a house full of contractors, and then I get to commence my first meal of the day, which will consist of.... wait for it.... ONE GALLON of liquid laxative. Yep. That's right. Those of you who have never had a colonoscopy.... don't be shy. Read alllllll about it. ONE Gallon of liquid laxative. No meals. limited liquid diet. You know what the GE's office staff said "You probably shouldn't make any plans that day." Um, ya think? Are there people who think they are going to drink a gallon of laxative and still make plans? Oh my. So they actually also told me that "we have several patients who say it's better to just take the gallon into the bathroom and drink it there." Yep. Can't wait. Did I mention I've decided I can't be responsible for my kids that day? And that I told my husband that he will wait on my hand
and foot, even if that means replenishing toilet paper? I am so not going through this alone. Someday he will have to do this. I vow that he will. And then, after drinking half of my gallon of laxative, I get to drift off into a peaceful sleep. And then wake up at 4am to start drinking the other half, which I must have drank before my morning appointment, and when I am FINALLY done with that gallon, I get to take not ONE, but TWO ducolax prescription laxative pills. Yep. Because I am sure there will still be some scary poo hiding in there somewhere. After 24 hours of no food and a gallon of laxative. Surely. I mean, these doctor's are SPECIALISTS. This is what they do for a living. Don't tell me that they don't see some poo here and there? But I have to top it all off with laxative tablets. Not one. Two. (okay, ending my rant)So. Let's see how my week is shaping up.
1. Setup for MOPS kickoff meeting, finalize papers and decorations, make copies, etc.
2. Clean off half of front porch and stuff crap in an unnoticeable corner.
3. MOPS Kickoff meeting
4. Sleep
5. Take Ardyn to school
6. Come Home and pack kids things for two days with Grandma and Auntie.
6a. House inundated with construction work. Marek screaming and biting my legs whilst cleverly unpacking everything I pack.
7. Pick up Ardyn from school
8. Take kids and their Krap to Grandma's
9. Come home to half-a-front porch and start drinking my laxative
10. Poo a l0t, hope bathroom exhaust fan doesn't transfer smell to roofers and knock them off the house.
11. try to sleep.
12. Poo some more.
13. try to sleep.
14. Angrily wake-up before the sun
15. Drink More Laxative
16. Poooooooo
17. Take two ducolax
18. Poooooooo to the noise of construction starting all over again.
19. Head to hospital and hope I don't poop my pants on the way there.
20. Register.
21. Get put into hospital gown and under anesthesia.
22. Swallow Scope.
23. Hope I don't know what happens when they "turn the bed around" (the nurse's exact words)
24. Recover
25. Dress
26. Get Driven Home
27. Get Waited on Hand and Foot
28. Hope that I want to eat again sometime
29. Somehow get the children home and take Ardyn to her first dance class.
30. Start thinking about when to have poor child's birthday party that I have halfway finished.
30a-30e. Finish Pinata. Finish Invitations. Finish Decorations. Mail Invitations. Bake and Decorate Cupcakes.
So, anyone want to trade weeks with me?
Remember that I said don't let me volunteer for anything. I mean that. Can I make myself clearer?
Goodnight!
Monday, July 26, 2010
What a horrible weekend!
I would give anything to be asleep right now. I know, that sounds nothing like me, right? Well I fully intended to be in bed early tonight, but things (of course) just didn't happen that way. It's been a crazy few days.
For some reason I didn't feel well on Thursday morning, and spent the morning in bed until about noon. It was not pleasant. I had lots of stomach cramps and diarrhea. No fun. I was miserable, but thank goodness Evan stayed and took care of the kids while I rested. The rest of the day I felt better. We just kinda laid low. I thought maybe I ate something at the baby shower the night before that might have disagreed with me. That night we ran out to my mom's so that I could pack up my scrapbook stuff for my Friday night craft night. For supper we took my sister to Mineral and I had some appetizers and then salad bar. I felt fine. The next day (Friday) I had a big salad for lunch with Tuna and that night I decided to have something delicious. We were scrapbooking after all :)
That afternoon, the power went out. Marek and I were in the kitchen making a fresh fruit salad (he had just woke from his nap) and Ardyn was still sleeping. About an hour after making the salad, the storm blew through. Right before it hit, Marek and I ran outside to get a rug and a pee pad off the clothesline, and when we got outside I put him down on the sidewalk because I couldn't take stuff off the line AND hold him with one hand, and I was in a hurry because I could tell the rain would get here very soon. I no sooner got the stuff off the line (there was just two things) and the wind picked up (from NO wind to unbelievable in just a second) and I turned around to see the basketball hoop blowing over... and headed right for Marek, who somehow miraculously stepped out of the way just in time. it was so windy he was squinting at me and then it blew HIM over and I ran towards him and scooped him up and we ran inside as it got even worse and started downpouring!
After the storm blew through, I got ready to head to Princeton. There still wasn't power here when Evan got home, and when I got to Princeton, they had significant storm damage, with trees down everywhere. Half of Princeton was without power. I couldn't get to the church because there was a tree blocking the road, and I called to let the girls know that I had to drive out by Tiskilwa and come up the country roads to get there. They told me they didn't have power there but had food and were scrapping just the same.
After I got there we ordered Pizza Hut. I had the chicken alfredo pasta bake and it was delicious as usual... but it had been a LONG time since I had it. We scrapped till midnight and then I ended up talking to a friend till 1:30 in the parking lot. The kids and Evan had gone to Happy Joe's for supper since we had no power, and ended up staying at his parents because the power was still not on when the kids were ready for bed. I headed out there after a brief stop at home to grab some clothes and toothbrushes.
We went to sleep at 4am and there was still no power. at 6:30am I woke up and could NOT sleep anymore so I went downstairs. I didn't know why I couldn't sleep. In about two hours my stomach started hurting and the diarrhea started. It was not pleasant, but at about 11am I went up and woke up Evan and told him that I couldn't deal with the kids anymore and that I was sick and needed to lie down. At that point it just got progressively worse, with lots of abdominal pain. Evan brought Marek up to me and we napped together, and when Marek woke up I tried to go downstairs with him but when I would stand the pain was unbearable, so I went back up to sleep. I couldn't sleep and by the time 1:30 rolled around I was in agony. I told Evan that I was going to the hospital and we all got in the van and he took me and dropped me at the ER. By the time we got to the hospital, I was hyperventilating. I could not talk to Evan much on the way there, and while thinking about my pain level (putting natural childbirth at a 10) I was thinking this was a 7 for sure. I could NOT figure out what was going on. I was afraid it could be something like appendix or gall bladder, especially since both my mom and sister have had them both removed. The ER Doc was leaning towards UTI (WTF?!) and so they did bloodwork and urine sample. I spent most of the time (2.5 hours?) I was there asleep on the gurney. I was just so exhausted. They gave me a GI Cocktail (which worked on the nausea and numbed my stomach and esophogus, and actually stopped the pain entirely.) and then when both the UTI and the bloodwork were clear, they discharged me with instructions to rest and take Pepcid and Tylenol every 8 hours and see my Dr at the beginning of the week. My dad came to get me and dropped me at home, where I slept from 4pm until almost 8pm when Evan went to my mom's and got the kids back and brought them home to bed. I still hadn't eaten in 24 hours, and was a tiny bit hungry so I had a handful of wheatables crackers. I felt fine, but about two hours later the intense pain started again and I was so miserable and scared. I called Evan and he came home, but about the time he got here I was almost asleep and the pain was less. I had cold washcloths on my head, my neck, AND my stomach. It was terrible. When I finally fell asleep it was probably somewhere near midnight and I slept straight through till I heard Ardyn pitter patter into the bathroom this morning. Then I sent her out with Evan to the living room to watch cartoons and I went and got Marek, nursed him, and slept on and off till almost noon with him. Then I moved to the couch and lay there until about 2pm when we put the kids down for a nap and Evan and I both lay down and slept till almost 4pm. When I woke up I was feeling a TON better and STARVING because I hadn't eaten in two days, and I ate a PB sandwich (no jelly) and had half a banana.
Ardyn and I cleaned out the fridge and freezer because the power had been out for just over 24 hours and we lost everything upstairs. Then I cleaned the inside of the fridge and the kids and I took a shower together. When we were finishing up, my mom and dad came over to bring back my van and helped me get the kids dressed. Then since I was still feeling well I took them out to supper (where I watched them eat because I wasn't thinking that I was ready for a real meal) and then we went to Wal-Mart where we dropped $418 on two carts FULL of groceries and then brought everything home and unloaded it. I put all the cold stuff away and left the rest on the porch for Evan to deal with when he gets home. Then I put the kids to bed and made a chicken pot pie for myself. I took my medicine first and I am sitting here writing this because I wanted to be upright and digest a while before I went to sleep. Boyd came inside and is sleeping on the couch next to me. Poor Old Dog. :(
Just about 10 minutes ago Ardyn came to the door of her room to inform me that she was sorry, but she had taken her nighttime diaper off (she's not night time trained yet, but can go for a whole nap) and that she then peed all over her bed. AND down the side of the mattress and box spring. I was so angry and frustrated! GRR! Now she's sleeping on the spare crib mattress on the floor of her room. Oy. And now I am going to bed! Wish me luck that the chicken pot pie settles well, that I sleep well, and that this week is much better, more productive (you should see this pig stye we live in!) and that my stomach does not continue to do this!
For some reason I didn't feel well on Thursday morning, and spent the morning in bed until about noon. It was not pleasant. I had lots of stomach cramps and diarrhea. No fun. I was miserable, but thank goodness Evan stayed and took care of the kids while I rested. The rest of the day I felt better. We just kinda laid low. I thought maybe I ate something at the baby shower the night before that might have disagreed with me. That night we ran out to my mom's so that I could pack up my scrapbook stuff for my Friday night craft night. For supper we took my sister to Mineral and I had some appetizers and then salad bar. I felt fine. The next day (Friday) I had a big salad for lunch with Tuna and that night I decided to have something delicious. We were scrapbooking after all :)
That afternoon, the power went out. Marek and I were in the kitchen making a fresh fruit salad (he had just woke from his nap) and Ardyn was still sleeping. About an hour after making the salad, the storm blew through. Right before it hit, Marek and I ran outside to get a rug and a pee pad off the clothesline, and when we got outside I put him down on the sidewalk because I couldn't take stuff off the line AND hold him with one hand, and I was in a hurry because I could tell the rain would get here very soon. I no sooner got the stuff off the line (there was just two things) and the wind picked up (from NO wind to unbelievable in just a second) and I turned around to see the basketball hoop blowing over... and headed right for Marek, who somehow miraculously stepped out of the way just in time. it was so windy he was squinting at me and then it blew HIM over and I ran towards him and scooped him up and we ran inside as it got even worse and started downpouring!
After the storm blew through, I got ready to head to Princeton. There still wasn't power here when Evan got home, and when I got to Princeton, they had significant storm damage, with trees down everywhere. Half of Princeton was without power. I couldn't get to the church because there was a tree blocking the road, and I called to let the girls know that I had to drive out by Tiskilwa and come up the country roads to get there. They told me they didn't have power there but had food and were scrapping just the same.
After I got there we ordered Pizza Hut. I had the chicken alfredo pasta bake and it was delicious as usual... but it had been a LONG time since I had it. We scrapped till midnight and then I ended up talking to a friend till 1:30 in the parking lot. The kids and Evan had gone to Happy Joe's for supper since we had no power, and ended up staying at his parents because the power was still not on when the kids were ready for bed. I headed out there after a brief stop at home to grab some clothes and toothbrushes.
We went to sleep at 4am and there was still no power. at 6:30am I woke up and could NOT sleep anymore so I went downstairs. I didn't know why I couldn't sleep. In about two hours my stomach started hurting and the diarrhea started. It was not pleasant, but at about 11am I went up and woke up Evan and told him that I couldn't deal with the kids anymore and that I was sick and needed to lie down. At that point it just got progressively worse, with lots of abdominal pain. Evan brought Marek up to me and we napped together, and when Marek woke up I tried to go downstairs with him but when I would stand the pain was unbearable, so I went back up to sleep. I couldn't sleep and by the time 1:30 rolled around I was in agony. I told Evan that I was going to the hospital and we all got in the van and he took me and dropped me at the ER. By the time we got to the hospital, I was hyperventilating. I could not talk to Evan much on the way there, and while thinking about my pain level (putting natural childbirth at a 10) I was thinking this was a 7 for sure. I could NOT figure out what was going on. I was afraid it could be something like appendix or gall bladder, especially since both my mom and sister have had them both removed. The ER Doc was leaning towards UTI (WTF?!) and so they did bloodwork and urine sample. I spent most of the time (2.5 hours?) I was there asleep on the gurney. I was just so exhausted. They gave me a GI Cocktail (which worked on the nausea and numbed my stomach and esophogus, and actually stopped the pain entirely.) and then when both the UTI and the bloodwork were clear, they discharged me with instructions to rest and take Pepcid and Tylenol every 8 hours and see my Dr at the beginning of the week. My dad came to get me and dropped me at home, where I slept from 4pm until almost 8pm when Evan went to my mom's and got the kids back and brought them home to bed. I still hadn't eaten in 24 hours, and was a tiny bit hungry so I had a handful of wheatables crackers. I felt fine, but about two hours later the intense pain started again and I was so miserable and scared. I called Evan and he came home, but about the time he got here I was almost asleep and the pain was less. I had cold washcloths on my head, my neck, AND my stomach. It was terrible. When I finally fell asleep it was probably somewhere near midnight and I slept straight through till I heard Ardyn pitter patter into the bathroom this morning. Then I sent her out with Evan to the living room to watch cartoons and I went and got Marek, nursed him, and slept on and off till almost noon with him. Then I moved to the couch and lay there until about 2pm when we put the kids down for a nap and Evan and I both lay down and slept till almost 4pm. When I woke up I was feeling a TON better and STARVING because I hadn't eaten in two days, and I ate a PB sandwich (no jelly) and had half a banana.
Ardyn and I cleaned out the fridge and freezer because the power had been out for just over 24 hours and we lost everything upstairs. Then I cleaned the inside of the fridge and the kids and I took a shower together. When we were finishing up, my mom and dad came over to bring back my van and helped me get the kids dressed. Then since I was still feeling well I took them out to supper (where I watched them eat because I wasn't thinking that I was ready for a real meal) and then we went to Wal-Mart where we dropped $418 on two carts FULL of groceries and then brought everything home and unloaded it. I put all the cold stuff away and left the rest on the porch for Evan to deal with when he gets home. Then I put the kids to bed and made a chicken pot pie for myself. I took my medicine first and I am sitting here writing this because I wanted to be upright and digest a while before I went to sleep. Boyd came inside and is sleeping on the couch next to me. Poor Old Dog. :(
Just about 10 minutes ago Ardyn came to the door of her room to inform me that she was sorry, but she had taken her nighttime diaper off (she's not night time trained yet, but can go for a whole nap) and that she then peed all over her bed. AND down the side of the mattress and box spring. I was so angry and frustrated! GRR! Now she's sleeping on the spare crib mattress on the floor of her room. Oy. And now I am going to bed! Wish me luck that the chicken pot pie settles well, that I sleep well, and that this week is much better, more productive (you should see this pig stye we live in!) and that my stomach does not continue to do this!
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