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!

a new challenge

Well, I have officially accepted the position of nursery manager for our church. Now, I have worked in the nursery for several years, and was quite content to be told when to show up, what to do while I was there, and when to leave. But, when our current nursery manager resigned a month ago, the higher ups came to me immediately and asked if I was interested. My initial answer was a great big NO. I thought about it for a while, then told them I might consider it, depending upon what it entailed. I had one sticking point, though, and they had one sticking point, both of which were linked to one another. "They" (the church higher ups) wanted me to physically be in the church every Sunday from 7:50am until 12:30pm....I did not necessarily have to be in the nursery for all of the those hours, nor do I think that they wanted me to be clocked in for all of those hours, but just be in the building...you know, just in case. This was their sticking point. I, however, was adamant that I was not going to be in the church from 7:50am until 12:30pm, whether it be in the nursery, in worship, or whatever. I told them that I would be there for the 11:00am service & on an as needed, emergency basis for the other two services. That was my sticking point. (A little background: Our church has two "campuses". One in Manassas & one in Haymarket ((which is new)). I used to go to the one in Manassas, but I started going to the one in Haymarket when it opened in November because I do not care at all for the minister in Manassas. My theory is that if I don't care for the person delivering the message, then I'm going to miss the message. I know, I shouldn't "kill the messenger", but it's the way I feel, and I feel that I get more from the minister in Haymarket, so that's where I go).

Anyway, long story short (actually, it's too late for that), "they" obviously decided that if they wanted someone for the job, they were going to have to bend a little (another background tidbit: no one else was interested in even talking about taking this position on, so it was me or no one, and the clock was ticking).

So, here I am, somewhat wondering what I've gotten myself into. The description that I was given during the talking/interviewing process vaguely resembles the description that was handed down after taking the job. YIKES....I did, however, tell them that I would do contingent upon a 60 day probationary period. If I feel that it's a fit for me, then I'll stay on...same goes for them.

They are looking for a major overhaul of their nursery structure as it is now, and while I feel that I'm up to the task, I hate failing, and I've never had a job where I was also taking care of my own children at the same time. I feel like I keep adding to my plate and not removing anything...oh yeah, I'm also chairperson of the prize committee for Bryn's after prom party.