I want to do it RIGHT NOW & ALL NIGHT LONG....

<-------this!

Baby Steps

Well, this morning I officially became a "flybaby". Before taking the boys to school, I filled one side of my kitchen sink with hot water & bleach and let soak for one. Then I rinsed and cleaned with Comet & rinsed again. I have to be honest though, it didn't look any cleaner than it does when I just use Comet, but I dutifully sprayed with Windex & dried it out. The next side I am going to skip the water/bleach step and just use the Comet & Windex. Tomorrow I will get dressed to the laces, but I already do that anyway, so I'm wondering if I can just skip step two and move on.

Okay, onto sink side #2.

HAPPY EASTER

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

Amen, Sista!

The answer is: ZIPPY

The question is: How many things did I cross off my to do list this week?

They were good plans....in my mind....however, there was already a plan in place for me and it didn't really involve anything on my list. Oh well....eventually they will get done.

We did, however, make Easter cards, a birthday card for my brother, color Easter eggs, ride bikes, play basketball & go to the park. None of which were on my list, but I think the effects will be more far reaching than a clean pair of underwear!

Spring break officially ended today (by the school calendar), but we still have the weekend. An Easter egg hunt at the church tomorrow, which I volunteered for (???????) and Easter services on Sunday; one at 9:00 the other at 11:00 (because I'm working in the nursery for that service). We were supposed to go to a friend's house for dinner, but 3 of their family of 5 are sick and I have 2 sick ones myself, with the prediction that I made tonight that Michael will wake up tomorrow with puffy red eyes & a snotty nose. Mother's intuition, I guess, plus he has the tell tale signs. I did at least make it to the church nursery on Wednesday to clean all the toys and wipe everything down and then spray every inch with Clorox anywhere spray, so that if that is the "common source" of strep which has plagued my family, it will be eradicated. It only took about 4 hours, during which time Hurricane's Bryn, Michael & Daniel pummeled my house. I either really need to get on board with this flylady stuff or get my husband on board with the theme of our house being "a clean house is a sign of a wasted life".

Well, if I don't get back on here between now and Sunday, have a very happy, very blessed Easter.

Good Friday ~ Holy Friday ~ Great Friday

• Yeshua` HaNotsri U'Melech HaYehudim


• IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM


• JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS

Whatever the language, the meaning is the same. Today as I prepare for (my opinion) one of the most (if not the most) holy & sacred day all year, I am reminded of no matter how great my troubles & trials may seem to be, they are nothing compared to what Jesus went through in the Garden of Gethsemane and more importantly in Golgotha upon the cross. I know that he went through what he did so that no matter how inconsequential my troubles were, I could bring them to him and lay them at his feet. I am so thankful, even though my daily life & living seem to not reflect it as it should, that Jesus died on the cross to save me....I can't think of anyone else who would do that. I need to work on being able to bring the feeling that I have when I am inside of the sanctuary outside of it and into my everyday life. It seems so easy in words, but something that I struggle with on a day to day basis.

This cartoon, while maybe not totally appropriate for today, is semi appropriate. Most of don't like to focus on the horrible things that happened to Jesus, but maybe we should. I think it is easier to identify with the agony of birth though because most of have either gone through it or perhaps witnessed it first hand....not many of us have ever witnessed anything of the like of the flogging and crucifixion of Christ.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--GAIN

after several vomiting episodes, restless nights & general malaise, I took Daniel to the doctor this afternoon to find out that he has strep. Again. Or still. He's not sure which it is. We'll go back on Wednesday for a recheck. At least he didn't puke after the strep test today, though. Although, he does seem to throw up every morning and afternoon after his nap. Not sure what that's about, but I've learned to keep him (and a bucket) close to me for at least the first 30 minutes of awakeness (not sure it's a real word, but it's my word)!

Bryn is mad because we aren't going up for spring break. He was looking forward to seeing his cousin. He will get over his madness, but he's a teenager and his "world" does not go much further than him. It comes with the territory. He'll be really mad to find out that he has tutoring this week.

Hopefully I will be able to start on a project or two this week, and perhaps even finish them. Now that's a concept there....finishing a project.

I'm off to make breakfast for the young 'uns...they are both climbing on me making it difficult to type.

Spring Break OH-EIGHT.....

is going to be more like spring bust. My plan was to go to PA for Spring Break, originally leaving on Saturday, March 15 & coming back home on Saturday, March 22, but Bryn had something going on in VA on Monday, March 17, which left us leaving on Tuesday, March 18 & coming back on the 22nd, which to me, Tuesday is pretty much lost, leaving just Wednesday, Thursday & Friday and then leaving on Saturday. For me, (and I know this is going to sound like whining, but too bad), that's just too stressful. I mean, I would really love to go up and see everyone, but realistically, it's not going to happen. It's, at best, 3 days, of non-stop running, only to return home to VA Saturday evening and attempt to get ready for Easter the next day and then on Monday it's back to school, work, etc....I have stuff I need to get done, so my trip to PA will hav to wait until school is out and I can stay for a few weeks without worry.

Not to mention the fact that all of the boys have recently been sick (Daniel was puking AGAIN today), the dog is sick (and Brian has things going on that will keep him away from the house for the majority of the time I'm gone & all the troubles with the dog started after having her boarded in November), yada, yada, yada. I just think it's best. I keep going on and on with the reasons why....I guess because I feel like I have to....I don't know why.

Anyway, enough of that.

I'm bummed, but at least my chest pains have subsided.

the porcelain god

This is what my 16 year old looked like this morning at 6:30am...except he's not a cat! I got up at my usual 5am, and told him to get in the shower..at 6am, he still hadn't, although he had been in the bathroom for at least 35 minutes. He came downstairs around 6:10am saying he needed 10 more minutes, his stomach didn't feel right. I gave him the evil eye, said you ARE going to school today, and he went back upstairs. I got in the shower & at 6:30am, went back to his room to tell him to get up, but he rushed past me holding his mouth. Yeah right, I thought, this should be a good performance. Well, lo & behold, to my surprise, it was the real thing....which unfortunately I witnessed. He's 16, so I figured he would be alright here by himself while I went to work, so I got myself ready, got the other 2 dressed and came downstairs. We were down here about 5 minutes when Michael (the 4 year old) came running out of the playroom yelling EWWWWWW....Daniel threw up all over the train table. Yippee...so now I also have a 2 year old throwing up, which means it can happen anywhere at anytime. I think I feel nauseous, too, but don't know how much is real and how much is imagined because of the germs that are surrounding me. I guess there will be no worky for me today.

AHHHHHHHHHH

I took the little boys to the doctor this afternoon, but not before a well-deserved, and long awaited trip to WalMart. I have to limit myself on my trips there because I have a tendency to buy make up (that I never wear), shampoo & conditioner (when I have full bottles at home), face creams (that don't work), nail polish (that I don't apply or apply once and then chip it away...why, because once it chips, I hate it, and if I'm not near nail polish remover when I see it, then it all must go some way) and last but not least, cleaning products (of which I have enough of to start my own cleaning business). So, after getting my "stuff" & cruising the toy aisles, we made it to the checkout with just enough time to make our purchase, run to the McD's in the store for lunch for the little ones & the big one, who we had to get off the bus @ 2:20 and then head to the doctor's office for a 2:45 appointment. We didn't get in the van to leave until 2:25, which meant Bryn had probably already started walking home, but since my phone was dead, I had no way to call him, so I ended up driving down a couple streets before locating him, but when he saw that he had a big mac waiting for him, he wasn't as bitter about walking half way home only to be told he had to go the doctor's office to sit in the van while we went inside.

The visit went well, except for Michael whining and crying, but I know he is sick, and the fact that he had been up since before 6am didn't help, either. Daniel was his normal jolly self. Michael did well throughout the exam, and even tolerated his strep test very nicely. Can't say the same for Daniel. I should have asked for the $4 that his happy meal cost since it ended up in their trash can after his strep test. Off to the pharmacy, but since I'm lazy, I took the prescriptions to the drive through and called Brian to have him pick up on his way home, then home, with 2 little boys snoring the backseat...ahhhhh. silence....and then WAAAAAAAAAAA. Michael's awake after a 40 minute snooze. YAY. Oh well, at least maybe he'll go to bed early.

I am feeling bitchy

Daniel woke up at 3:30am & finally fell back to sleep around 5:00am; however, by that time, my alarm was going off. Luckily, Brian told me that since both little boys are sick (or seem to be), he would graciously take Bryn to the bus stop so I wouldn't have to get them both up so early. Sounds great, except that Michael woke up around 6'ish, crying because he "forgot" to get his hot cocoa last night (the reality: he started crying in Awana's last night with about 15 minutes left to go that he was tired, his head hurt & he was cold, so we came home, he got his pj's on& went right to bed....never asked for hot cocoa). I made his hot cocoa for him, put in bed with me, turned something on the TV for him. Then the cat started howling, so I put both the cat & dog in the back room & closed the door. Almost asleep at 7:00am, drifting in and out, then I hear a noise...not too loud from where I'm at, but an extremely annoying noise. This time it's the dog howling. I guess because it's 7:15am, and she didn't get her food at precisely 6:00am, she's not happy & she's going to let me know it. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Brian is also acting pissy at me right now because apparently around 2:00am, he tried to "cuddle" with me, and I pushed him away....is it so much to ask to just sleep ALL night, no interruptions whatsoever, just one night a week maybe....I mean, it's not like it's was the first time this week (or probably that night), that he "approached" me in the middle of the night. I'm tired for goodness sake! Maybe, just maybe, if I had a night or two of uninterrupted, blissful slumber, I might be a little nicer, all the way around.

Now, my plan for today was to not have a plan. Well, not exactly. I had planned on not getting out of my pj's and trying to clean up the mess that has been made by everyone, because as we all know, only the woman can do that. But, since the children are obviously ill, I need to take them to the doctor, which means I have to take a shower, get dressed, do my hair & makeup, at which time, I will no longer feel like cleaning up the dump.....oh what is a domestic goddess to do??? For right now, I'm going to put my slippers on, get some more coffee, feed Michael so he will stop yapping about Cinnamon Toast Crunch and make a to do list (so I can look at it, get overwhelmed and do nothing on it...hahaha). At least it's not raining, snowing or icing (mmmm....icing...yummy) outside. It is cold, but at least the sun is shining. AND, there was no dog puke or cat whiz anywhere this morning, so that is always a plus...maybe I won't be so bitchy all day after all (maybe)

Nothing

Since I have begun trying my hand at this new fangeled (sp) thing called blogging (or blooging), I've found that I have trouble thinking of anything to write. Is it that I really do nothing. I mean, I feel like I'm busy all the time, so what makes it so hard to write about it? I mean, just yesterday, I changed one extremely bad diaper, cleaned up dog puke twice, reapplied pet urine off to the 3 spots my cat whizzed after his trip to the vet, took the floor mat out of the van & hosed the rotting chocolate milk off it, did a load of laundry because of clothes worn during the aforementioned diaper, went to work at 6pm and tried to leave to come at 9pm, only to find that a parent obviously had picked up my car keys off the counter, thus leading me to calling my (sleeping) husband to bring me my spare key. Which, by the way, I hope someone will cough them up. I need to go through the list of parents that were there last night & start calling today. My remote car starter key fob is on that key ring; I mean, what if I actually have to go inside of the car to start it? I can't even think about the horror of it all.

Time to get a shower (possibly) and get dressed (definitely).

4:30am

Four thirty a.m.....Daniel has been getting up at that time for the past several days and it's killing me. Now, I am up at 5:00am anyway, but I usually don't get the little ones up until we are ready to walk out the door at 6:15am (Bryn's bus stop is not near our house, & since he is allowed to drive, I have to take him), so that extra hour and a half that he is missing rears it's ugly head around noon thirty, and it isn't a nice sight to witness.

Well, I'm off to get the kids dressed for the day & then it's off to work for us. One good thing about them getting up so early is that they eat breakfast in the van, usually a bagel or a waffle, and they have one or two glasses of hot cocoa, so they are set until their mid-morning snack.

Here's hoping for long naps today.

3 Hours

that's all that I am "supposed" to work in my new role; however, I believe that I worked that in one day! Per the big guy upstairs....not THAT big guy--the minister....all I really have to is schedule. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it. The problem is, I have NOBODY TO SCHEDULE. And on top of that, all of these small groups keep throwing in their requests (with about a day and half notice) that they want the nursery open. And, being that there has to be 2 people scheduled at all times, is a problem in and of itself because did I mention that I have NOBODY TO SCHEDULE!!

Again, I sit wondering, what did I get myself into???

I mean, I'm all for a challenge and love to *do* things, but I really like having my freedom to do what I want, pretty much when I want. Not having to schedule anything (except, of course, appointments, but you get my drift), not having to really report to anyone, not having to find someone to cover for me, etc. I have never had a job (except for the current one of haus frau) where I didn't have coverage already provided for me if I were on vacation or sick (actually, the mortgage industry it was more like "we'll handle the stuff that can't wait, the rest will be waiting for you when you get back".....like a little welcome back present!).

And to top it all off, the majority of my ideas to bring in volunteers have been shot down. That group is too busy, that family volunteers in another area of the church, they only bring their children twice a month, etc....BUT they don't want me working the shifts that aren't covered by a volunteer because they don't want to pay me. I think they are suggesting that I volunteer my time....not to mention they are hinting that I should be there for all of the services. Perhaps I won't make it through my 60 day trial period.

On another note, I did (finally) get some recommendations for a LCSW for Bryn. Since his pediatrician was of no help, and I couldn't find any listed through his insurance provider, I spoke to his guidance counselor, who was more than helpful (unlike the one he had his freshman & sophomore year....perhaps if he had the one he has now, who is definitely much more proactive, things might be different now, but who knows????). I also have an appointment to get him tested through a tutoring center to find his key weaknesses in Algebra & Spanish. They said I am under no obligation and they give me a copy of the evaluation. That made me feel more apt to take him because the cost is $275 for a four hour block of tutoring....WAY out of my price range...even college students down here charge between $25 & $40 per hour to tutor. I have a high schooler who has helped out in the past, but she is not a constant source, and that is what we need.

Well, the microwave is beeping to let me know that I need to remove the food which will soon become our scrumptious supper. Bryn laughs because I have decided that I am "getting back to my roots" by calling it supper. One of my friends down here calls it supper also (she is from Illinois) & Bryn just thought that was the most hick thing ever, which is why I made the decision that I made. Anytime I can annoy him with just one word, I'm all for that!