The Frustration of the day is...

I joined a gym, a nice gym, a Health Club even! Adam and I are very proud of ourselves and have been going often (for the first 2 weeks). Said nice health club comes with exorbitant start up fee but said fee comes with "free" fitness testing including blood work, a cardio-stress test, 2 "free" personal training sessions, fitness counseling, a nutrition consultation, and some other cool stuff.

HOWEVER, they can't fit me in for this wonderful "free" testing for at least 4 weeks! People, why do I want my start up testing 6 weeks into my working out?!?! Why didn't they have more staff available if they have all these January Joiners? OR- Have the testing on a frickin' weekend already! I do work for a living and can't take off whenever the frick I feel like it!

UGH!

I want it bad...

First, a quick Hello to all the pervy Internet people... now go away, it's not about THAT.

I want to have a 3rd child. I want a third little person to love and grow and nurture. I want to watch another little person look more like Adam than me, and be deliriously happy.

I know that I should feel more than thrilled with the 2 beautiful children who already bless my life everyday. I know that a 3rd child is more work and more money and more headaches. All I can say to that is, bring it on! I was nauseous for months before, I can handle it again. Wake up for 6 months every night, multiple times, I can't think of anything I'd love more!

My loving husband thinks I am more nutso than a tree full of squirrels. He is SO DONE.
Before you even go there, I would never, n.e.v.e.r, knowingly try for a baby with out his knowledge and agreement. I need his full agreement, full patience, full happiness, full support. That being said, I still want one so badly I hurt a little.

I hurt to think that no other little person will get to be a sibling to the wonderful, beautiful, happy children we already have. I hurt to think that I will never feel those little kicks in the mornings, or watch my belly roll from side to side like a roller coaster, or again know what it's like to first hold that tiny little person who is part you and part the man you love more than anything.

I could go on and on, but I can't go on.
Lets keep this little emotional breakdown to ourselves okay?

Brianna

Brianna is a beautiful,


fearless (except for dogs),


Silly,


Monkey,


Princess!

Grant

Grant likes to play "hi-seek mama"
This means we spend much of our day seeking to find where he is hiding.
It's usually in the pantry!



Grant is a stinker and he knows it!




Hi-seek mama also has some fun perks.
(I swear people, this was his choice of a seat, not mine! Leave DCFS out of it, I have many witnesses!)

So many things to say

For once, I have a little free time today AND have enough brain cells to think and type! So much has been going on with our lives and I have had so little time or energy to talk about it.

1. Our home is on the market! YES, I know it's the worst possible time to sell a house, thank you for telling me the obvious. I could have proved that to you by the fact that in nearly 90 days on the market we have had exactly NO SHOWINGS! That's right, 3 months on the market, with a professional realtor, and we have had no one come see our home. YES- we have had open houses, those people weren't serious lookers, they were mostly our curious neighbors. YES- we have lowered our price, TWICE. We are trying to stay positive and look at this as a marathon. It's okay to start off a little slow as long as we finish the race within the time we'd hoped.

2. I've over committed myself at work, but that's not really new, just different on any given day. This year it's the program review committee, the internal community committee, the school improvement planning committee, team leader, flag coach, and 6th grade committee co-chair. Not to mention teaching my 100 or so kids and planning for them and grading all the work they do. Some people have said to my face that I need to slow down. They are mostly my co-workers who just complain about problems and then don't offer to help find solutions. I see myself as a go-getter who wants to be part of the solution. And the fact is, none of it will hurt when my resume looks fabulous in 2 years and I want an administrative position!

3. Oh yeah, did I mention I have two WONDERFUL children who are so amazing it's earth-shattering? The kids are growing so fast.
Brianna is curious about absolutely everything and does nothing but ask questions. I hate to stunt her curiosity, but I might muzzle her! :-) On the plus side she is learning so much and constantly astounds me with the things she picks up. Good and Bad things!
Grant has really found his voice too. Literally. He talks all the time. Sometimes to himself, sometimes to us, sometimes to the toys and TV. He can talk in short phrases and 3-4 word sentences now, it's amazing to hear him form questions and thoughts and actually understand what is going on inside that cute little head of his. On the other hand, I will be trying to find out if muzzles come in his size too. He actually figured out recently that "okay honey" is not the correct answer to whatever it is he's trying to tell me... Now he repeats his phrase over and over and over and over and over and over until I repeat back the right words and respond properly to the comment. Some favorites:

da da dat date mommy?--- Translation: Are we there yet mommy?
sis dack ot ide mommy.--- Translation: It's dark outside mommy.
ca bankie binkie ie ead mommy. Translation: Car blankie and binky are in bed mommy.

(Notice how they all end in mommy... you would think daddy was just a prop or a toy. He apparently is not to be asked questions of, even when he's in the same room or car!!!!!)

WELL- I guess I should go teach class now. Maybe I'll be back later with pictures...

Thanks for the idea Jamie!

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere. And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?

Merry Christmas!

I'm not loving it right now

I don't have time for this post.

I have 300 papers to check and put in my grade book.
I have a flag routine to finish writing.
I have lots of paperwork to finish and mail ASAP.
I have checks to deposit.
I have checks to request.
I have kids to pay attention to, at home and at work.
I have Christmas shopping to finish.
I have to figure out how to work the sound system in the gym.
I have to breathe.

I don't want to do any of those things, except the shopping and breathing parts.

I want to be alone.
I want to get a massage.
I want to read blogs (which I haven't even had time to read this month).
I want to eat until I pop.
I want to watch my children, not my students.
I want this week to be over!

Because I don't have any real free time

A Meme/Forwarded email for you to enjoy:

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.
Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!!
Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send.
Change all the answers so that they apply to you.
Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you...Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? both, I like a nice mix under the tree
2. Real tree or artificial? fake, pre-lit!
3. When do you put up the tree? the first weekend of December
4. When do you take the tree down? when Adam makes me
5. Do you like eggnog? NO!!!!!!!!!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I have a hard time remembering early childhood.... probably Barbies or Dolls
7. Do you have a nativity scene? No
8. Hardest person to buy for? I'm not sure... Aunt Judy and Uncle Jim I guess
9. Easiest person to buy for? my kids
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Strange Catalog findings...
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but sometimes late and called a Happy New Year card
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever... I start planning early but shop late
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes:)
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas: Mom's homemade candies, especially peanut butter balls.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? white!
17. Favorite Christmas song? I like lots of different ones. Currently our family likes the songs on the Nick Jr. Christmas CD... nothing says Christmas like songs sung by Dora, her backpack, Diego, baby Jaguar, Tyrone, and Linny the Guinea Pig!
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home, or at family homes
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen & Rudolph (okay..I stole the previous person's answer...I cheated! But they stole it from the person ahead of them!)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel, given to me by my parents when I was a kid because it looked like me.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? morning, except for the matching family PJ's mom gives us the night before.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? shopping in the snow and winter coats
23. What I love most about Christmas? Being with family and days off of school
24. Do you buy gifts for your pets? I don't have pets but I do buy gifts for other peoples pets so, Yes.
25. Have you ever been Christmas Caroling? yes, but I mostly pretended to sing because, I suck at singing on tune!
26. Hot chocolate or Hot Apple Cider? Hot Chocolate, extra marshmallows please!


Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

The word of the day is...

(click on pic to clarify words...)

Stole this from an e-mail... I can't take credit...
If I'd bothered to create it, then it wouldn't be true anymore!

Halloween

So, other than the most boring title in history... here come some of the most boring (but CUTE!) pictures in history. (Sorry people, between committee meetings, may shoot self....)

Here, see Ariel and Flounder ready to go scrounge for human stuff (aka CANDY!)



Here, see Ariel and Flounder with their adoptive land parents, Superman and the mystery witch.



And here, Flounder sees a ane... I mean a plane!

Smarter than the average bear?

So this weekend, I went upstairs to see what Brianna was doing... up there by herself, for over 30 minutes.... I peeked around the corner and caught her unawares. She wasn't doing anything wrong, I just caught her by surprise.

She saw me, and said, "Damn It!"
I responded with awe, concern, and a very loud, "What did you just say?"
She looked a little sheepish and said questioningly, "Forget it!?!"

So here's my question: Does your 4 year old know how to lie and cover their tracks? Because mine sure as heck did! We spent the next 5 minutes... me trying to get her to repeat it, her trying not to make eye contact and think of anything else that would get her out of trouble. She finally admitted to it with a little grin, and spent 5 minutes in time-out willingly.

Seriously people... I don't even know where she got that one, REALLY! That's not a phrase Adam or I really use much. And we always do our best not to swear in front of the kids. Maybe daycare..... But with Brianna, it would only take one slip, she picks up on EVERYTHING! E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G!

I was not prepared for this!

How old are your ears?

You are about 20 years old

The teen repellent will no longer foil you, but you can still hear some pretty high tones. The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 16.7kHz

Find out which ringtones you can hear!

I don't know how REAL this is, but it's pretty funny to compare with your co-workers.
My 24 year old co-worker can hear 1 step better than me but my 27 year old co-worker has worse hearing.... I love being 30!

William Tell Overture for Moms

Perfect for anyone who is a mom, or has a mom. This is the funniest 2 min and 30 seconds I've seen in weeks!
Sound is a MUST for this one!

Oh Blog, How lazy I've been!

I have not posted any new news in SOOO long!
I could say I've been busy, but that's always true. (See also title of blog!)
I could blame home computer issues, but that's boring and hasn't been a significant problem since I went back to work Aug. 27.

So... since Aug. 27... I feel like Indiana Jones in danger of being plowed down by the giant boulder and I just can't run fast enough.

In the meantime, lets just say things are calming down a little, I have some pampering planned thanks to the Pretty in Pink campaign, and I have tomorrow off work thanks to Rosh Hashanah AND the kids are going to be staying at my parents!

If you have any extra relaxation, send it my way!

It's Done

I just finished the last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".
(Don't worry, no spoilers here, I wouldn't dream of it!)

I picked up the book around 10:30 this morning from my local Borders and read all day. I stopped for food. I stopped a couple times to pay attention to the kids (who mostly watched TV all day). And I stopped for about an hour this evening... I had to hold off the last few chapters until the kids were asleep and I knew I could read completely uninterrupted.

It was an enthralling book. It lived up to all my hopes and then some. I have no idea that a day could fly by so fast. I estimate that it took me about 10 hours to read the book. I will have to read it again sometime soon because I'm sure I missed details along the way. I tend to do that... If I am really into a book, I read so fast that I miss some of the writers best nuances. I will read it again. And probably a third time next summer when I want to relive all the emotions of this time.

That being said... I find myself to be very sad. Not in any way related to the plot of the book, only that it is done. Now that I've read book 7, there won't be any more to look forward to. There won't be any more secrets, any more wonderfully written characters who grow and develop until I can feel them. There will be movies, which I always find predictably shallow compared to the books. You just can not take a book written with such depth and development and shorten it in any way. Even the most minor incidence, when left out, leaves a hole in the stories I love so much.

I will find new books to read. I will love them too. But I feel like Harry has left me.
This is silly, REALLY silly to some of you, but I feel like a good friend has moved very far away and I know we will lose touch.

I will miss you Harry. I've looked forward to all your adventures and I can't wait to share them with my children when the time comes.
Thank you J.K. Rowling for filling so many days with entertainment. However, if this should reach you... I do still have a few questions for you.

(I have intentionally left out links to all the copyrighted or trademarked items in this entry. Please don't sue me. If you want more information on any of the items, use Google. That's not my job!) :-)

No details, no energy

So, the rest of vacation was fine. It might have been just a little too long with my family but what are you going to do? A week's house rental means a week with the family. I was simultaneously glad and a little depressed to be home again.

Did a little grocery shopping... got back to normal... blah blah blah.

However, slight differentiation from blah when Tuesday night's stomach ache became uncontrollable pain with no position I could find relief in by Wednesday late afternoon. A quick call to the doctor led to a not as quick visit to the acute care center which was followed by a trip to the ER and an "emergency" appendectomy. That's right. I went to the doctor with generalized stomach pain around 6:30 Wednesday night and approx. 6 hours later I was no longer in possession of my appendix!

The surgeon, who had the personality of a door, said that it was the earliest case of appendicitis he'd ever operated on. That leads me to believe either; 1- I'm a wuss, 2- He says that to all the girls, or 3- I could have waited longer, been in more pain, and other people are just stupider than me. I vote for #3.

As of now, I am spending a lot of time on the couch... and loving the Vicodin.
I hope next week is less eventful.

Quick Change in Plans...

I said I wasn't going to post from vacation but....

Very cool vacation house, paid for by very cool parents who are here with us, has very cool wireless Internet for which new, somewhat cool notebook computer is compatible.

Quick re-cap so far:
Saturday... (WAY too much driving + with WAY too much stuff jammed in car) x (2 kids who do not want to nap on time + WAY too much Wiggles and Backyardigans DVDs) = INSANITY
Sunday... sleep in, grocery shop, rest, drink alcohol
Monday.... Pontoon boat rental, lots of sun, not quite enough sunblock on the grown-ups (Awesome day! I went tubing for the first time!)
Tuesday.... relax, grocery shopping, Dollar General going out of business clearance, shoe store with 50-70% off.
Wednesday... hectic morning trying to get kids out door to children's museum 1hour away only to get there and find out said museum was closed for the 4th of July holiday. Luckily, the kids think McDonalds playland is pretty cool and don't care about museum when nuggets are involved. Sparklers before rugrat bedtime, alcohol after rugrat bedtime.

So far... lots of fun. Still 2 days to go, and then another driving day... but we will pretend that's not going to happen.

Got to go... Wine coolers are getting warm.

Happy Independence Day Everyone!!!!!!

I'm Outta Here!

Nothing really new....

Adam and I had the babysitter come back last night and went to dinner and a movie as a couple!
Dinner was good... Movie was great (Pirates 3 anyone?) except that a REALLY annoying former student sat right in front of me with his detestable dad who thinks I suck. Sounds like a good combo for date night huh? I of course turned my back and rummaged in my purse as the lights came on and Adam told me when they were gone. I don't think they really noticed me since it was already dark when they entered... I HOPE they didn't notice me anyway... no one burst my bubble OK?

Today, a lot of laundry and packing. We are heading off tomorrow for a week in Tennessee with my parents, sister, and her boyfriend. My parents rented a house on a lake near Knoxville. The kids will be thrilled. I will be mostly thrilled... I'm hoping to gain a little alone time from all the live-in, free, babysitters next week! I only dread the 9 hour drive with the kids.... well, 9 hours driving + multiple potty/movement/food stops + lose an hour in the time change. We hope to make it to the house by around 6 EST if we leave our house around 5 CST!

I might have Internet access there, but I don't plan on updating my blog! SO THERE! But seriously... one of my 3 readers will be with me and the rest of you will just have to wait.
Luv ya anyway and Happy Independence Day!

And then the angels sang!

People, I hired a babysitter! Well, actually 2 because they are sisters and both were available and I didn't want to pick between them.

This morning, I called the nice neighbor girls and asked them to come by this afternoon. Currently, they are at my house with my kids. I am at the library ALONE! (Yes, I could be doing this from home with the kids but I had to do some computer stuff that my new computer at home is not yet set up for and/or to dang slow!)

Faithful readers (Hello to the 3 of you!) will know that Adam is not working this summer and will wonder why he's not with the kids while I get things done... He's golfing... with his dad. Which he sprung on me in the middle of Brianna's birthday party last weekend so of course I couldn't say no. Despite the fact that we have 900 things to do before this coming weekend and one car is in the shop!

Brianna was so excited to have new people to play with that she didn't shut up the whole 15 minutes I was giving the girls the important info. She has already planned that they will play in her castle after lunch, and then dress up, and then read some books. Yes, I could have done that with her to, but, I don't. Because she is annoying!

Don't start throwing things at me yet! You did not misunderstand, I said that my 4 year old daughter was annoying. And it's true. But she's only annoying to me. She is in that phase where she tests every single boundary I have, and does it in the most obvious, look-at-me-while-I-break-every-rule-you-crazy-mommy kind of way. To the average outsider or family member, she is sweet as pie and cute as a bunny. To me, she is 4 going on 15! Moms out there... you understand right?

Anyway, I think I will hire a babysitter more often!