September 30, 2006

I Wanna Be a Drifter

We rented 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' last night. AWESOME movie! The ending was the BEST!! And it was a total surprise. I love when movies surprise me. If you've seen the other 2 and haven't seen this yet, RENT IT! It was good.

So my mom has been gone for 3 days now and won't be back until tomorrow night, which has left me to kind of take care of my dad. He's working all the time now, so the only thing I really have to do is make sure he gets dinner. Not that he couldn't do it on his own, but I don't want him stopping at Mc Donald's drive thru the whole time. My mom and aunt went up to Michigan. My grandpa has alzheimer's and unfortunately it looks like he may need to be placed in a home in the near future. It's really been hard on my grandma, she doesn't want to do it, but she's having a hard time taking care of him on her own. So they are up there helping my grandma check some places out so when the time comes they will already have planned what to do next. I guess I try not to think about it too much, but it's so sad when the family gets together and he doesn't know who anyone is. I'm sure it's harder on my mom and aunts, having your father not even know who you are has got to be tough! I've heard people say, "I'd rather have alzheimer's than cancer!" But I'm not so sure cancer is the worst disease. I mean, it's horrible too, but with alzheimer's it takes so much away from the person and it takes so much from their family and loved ones. Even though grandpa is still alive, he's not "here" anymore. Does that make sense? It's like his body is still walking around but it's not him. He doesn't know who anyone is anymore and half the time he doesn't even know who he is. It's horrible to have to witness, that's all I can say. I wouldn't wish it on any family. Anyway, I'm glad my mom could get away. Of course the selfish side of me wants her around to help me out, but I know she needed this time to visit her parents and get away from us for a little while. I think it is good for both of us.

Guess what I'm doing tonight... I'm going back about 15 years and spending my Saturday night *babysitting*. lol A former client of mine emailed me a couple days ago asking if I could watch their daughter. The girl they had lined up cancelled at the last minute and they have some big plans for their 10th anniversary. I would love to see their daughter and I would hate to see their anniversary plans ruined, so of course I said I would. I had "K" for almost 2 years and she left this fall to go to preschool. She's almost 4 and just the easiest little thing to take care of, so it won't really be like I'm working. We'll try to find something fun to do. She'll be here pretty late and I've already told her parents they may have to ring the doorbell when they come to get her because I'll probably be snoozing myself. I'm getting old, I just can't stay awake past 11:00 anymore.

I think I'm going to call the chiropractor Monday. I was talking with a friend yesterday and she was telling me how her mom has had asthma all her life and she started going to a chiropractor and she hasn't had any problems with it for a long time. Taylor's asthma has been horrible. He slept in his own room last night and still woke up in the middle of the night having to use his inhaler. Of course I had to sleep in there too, just incase. I know I may seem overly protective, but a few nights ago I really thought we were going to have to make a trip to the ER or call an ambulance. He just could not get his breath. It's scary. I know someone who died a few years ago from an asthma attack because she didn't have anyone at home to help her. So I can be labled "over protective", I really don't care.

At this very moment my kids are discussing what they want for Christmas. We have the Christmas bug early this year. I'm starting to get excited already! Fall is here and Christmas is near... I love Christmas. And having kids just makes it even more special. I remember last year this time I was having to worry about money and if my kids were even going to have a Christmas, but as always the Lord worked it out and took care of us. Just like He always does!

And who knows, we may have a little something extra in our stocking this year.

September 29, 2006

Almost Made It

Well, I almost made it through the whole week being positive. Until last night.

My mom is gone for 4 days so therefore I had to get up early today to get daycare kids. We work different "shifts" and I don't usually start working until 11:00 am, so having to work at 7:00 am is a little more difficult. Quit rolling your eyes and think about this... if you normally start work at 8:00 am, think having to start at 4:00 am ok. Can ya feel me now? Routine is routine whether it's am or pm and when that routine gets broken, my nerves go crazy. (And just so you know, one of the reasons I start work that late is because we homeschool and I teach my kids all morning. So there!)

So I decided I would try and get to bed early last night. Alot of good that did me. All I did was toss and turn and struggle to get to sleep. I think I finally dozed off around midnight. But I was up again around 2.

Taylor has been having major asthma issues the last couple weeks and he has been waking up struggling to breath and having to use his inhaler each morning between 5 -7 am. I always make him get in my bed after that so if something were to happen again or if the inhaler didn't do its job, I would be right there. Well, last night the boys wanted to sleep in my room so he was already in my bed which was a good thing cause I'm not sure I would have woken up that early. So I finally got him settled and breathing ok and back to sleep and I continued with my tossing and turning.

I think I finally got back to sleep around 4:00ish. Well about 30 minutes later I hear this *beep* ... *beep* ... *beep* ... It's the smoke detector in the hall. Right outside my bedroom door. So I laid there half awake until I got mad enough that I got out of bed, closed my bedroom door and turned the fan on. It was cold here last night and I still refuse to turn the heat on so having the fan on wasn't real fun, but how else are you suppose to drown out the sound. And of course the fan on "low" wasn't going to do that so I had to turn it on "medium". Yay, more cold air blowing over us.

Now it's about 4:45 and I'm wondering why I even tried to go to sleep in the first place. I knew it would be a hard night. I think I finally went to sleep around 5:30 and my alarm rang at 6:00.

Can I just say how happy I am it's Friday and that 5:30 pm can't get here soon enough?! I'll try to continue on my positive thinking quest, but I can't promise that will happen today. You know with 14 minutes sleep and all...

September 27, 2006

Mindless Gossip

Because I have nothing else to post about...

Amazing Grace:
I love Nancy Grace, and as far as her questioning Melinda Duckett to harshly causing her to commit suicide... Ya, I don't think so. I think we ALL know that she had something to do with the disappearance or murder of her innocent 2 year old son.

Who's the Daddy:
Well, I guess we know now. Howard of all people. Who would have guessed? I was actually watching Larry King last night when he announced he was the father. And here I thought Kimmy was the daddy.

Fox Fight:
How about that Clinton/Wallace interview?? Well now what did you think was goign to happen when you put a "as far left as you can get" former President on a "as far right as you can get" news channel? I have to give props to Wallace for not punching ol' Clinton in the face when he tapped him on the leg. I don't think I could have shown that much restraint. Of course we also know that may have been a big production, planned and played out so that the Clintons "look" like they actually did something when they were in office and have every right to defend themselves. I mean if Hillary is going to be on the ballet in '08, they need to start winning over the democrats now.

Well, there's your mindless gossip for the week... hope you enjoyed it.

September 25, 2006

New Week

Happy New Week... Like my new look? My very talented son T1, found the header and he created the rest. What a nice son, eh!?!

Not much is going on here. I was in bed with back pain most of the weekend. Hoping that goes away soon, although I've had it off and on for a few weeks now. I think I need to find a chiropractor. I've tried advil and the heating pad and that's just not cutting it. Of course having to lift kids all day doesn't help either. I can pretty much handle it when it doesn't cause the major headache thing. That I can't handle.

Excited to watch the season premiere of '7th Heaven' tonight. Love that show.
Can't wait for CSI to return.

I'm now going to go look for my youngest... I'm pretty sure he's at the neighbors. He was suppose to take his cell phone, but such is life with a 9 yr old who's excited to play with his friends... I guess you tend to forget things.

Even though I'm in pretty much constant pain right now, I'm excited for life. I have some fun things to look forward to and a lot of great people around me.
(Now to just keep that positive thinking... lol)

Try thinking positive all week... that's my challenge to you.

September 21, 2006

The Office = Yawn

I'm sure I'm going to tick a lot of people off, but I watched "The Office" for the first time tonight and after 6 minutes I was almost asleep. SERIOUSLY... what is so good about it? Maybe it's just me? I don't know but I'll tell ya what... not. watching. that. again. BORing! I didn't find any of it the least bit funny or interesting. Actually I thought it was pretty stupid.

Anyway... today I had to teach at the co-op. I ran to the library for a movie and we learned all about Johnny Appleseed. I have 2 boys in the class who like to talk and make jokes and basically just try to be the class clowns the whole time. Today I had to get a little more stern with them. They did better about half way through so hopefully next week will be better.

Tonight we went to Super Target and did some grocery shopping. We found some great organic things. I got some stuffed pasta shells and was reading the ingredients on the back when I got home... ya, it says that there is squid ink in the product. Hmm.... kind of weird and doesn't sound too tasty. Watch, I'll end up being one of the rare people that are deathly allergice to squid ink.

I'm so happy tomorrow is Friday. I am ready for the weekend! This week went fast. I try to stop myself whenever I start to want the week to go by quickly... and try to remind myself that we/I should live everyday to it's fullest. Why wish time away. It's something none of us can ever get back. But I'm still happy it's almost Friday. Only because I'm tired though and want a day to myself. Of course that rarely happens. But I'm not complaining. We may go to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch this weekend, so that will be fun. We also need to get some mums for the front porch. Other than that, we have no plans. Just a carefree weekend.

September 19, 2006

Ok, Brr!!

I'm not sure if it even reached 60 degrees here today. I guess it doesn't help that I still have my a/c on. (duh!) I was hot all day while working, but now I'm starting to feel a little chilly as I sit down and relax. Speaking of 'chilly'... tonight we're having 'chili' for dinner... YUM! Can't wait. That will surely warm us all up.

Today was a hard day at work. Lots of unhappy little ones which makes for unhappy big ones. But we made it through and the rest of the week should be easier.

Taylor went fishing with grandpa today and caught a 5 pound catfish, a small bass and a turtle. All of which stayed right where they were caught and didn't come home. (Thank goodness!) I'm not sure who had more fun - grandpa or grandson. Good times!

Well, since I was up and working 3 hours before my normal time this morning, I'm going to go relax and enjoy my evening.

See ya later gators!

September 18, 2006

Kiss It Debbie Schlussel!

"Debbie Does Politics" - Debbie Schlussel (and by the way... WHY would you name your column "Debbie Does Politics" and then expect to be taken seriously - what a joke you are!) said this:

Study after study shows that kids raised by single mothers are more likely to suffer from depression and become violent, to commit crime and go to prison, to do lousy in school and be aggressive toward teachers, to be unsuccessful and to get divorced and have children out of wedlock. A December 2001 study by England's Tavistock and Portman National Health Service Trust found that boys generally face more psychological problems during their early upbringing, requiring attention from a father. An August 1999 study by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse, found kids raised by single mothers are more apt to abuse drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

I'm just rolling my eyes and proving her wrong!!

September 17, 2006

Coach

Because I have an awesome guy in my life who always tries as hard as he can... I got this today. Only mine is the silver and black.

September 16, 2006

Rosie O' Ignorant

Rosie O' Donnell said this on The View last week:
"Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state."
OH my gosh. Seriously, is she kidding? I can't remember a time when "radical Christians" bombed anyone or anything. What is she comparing this to?
You know, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but sorry... I just can't tolerate her now. Lets just hope she's big enough to respond to the negativity she'll be getting over this with something other than "All the Christians are against me because I'm gay..."! No Rosie, I think all the Christians are a tad ticked because you just compared us to Bin Laden.

September 14, 2006

This Is A Vacation?

So today starts my 4 day mini vacation...
Although I'm not "working", I sure won't be laying around.
I've been up since 7:00 and I have a ton of things to do this morning.

-7:00 am: Lay in bed for an hour - cause this is a vacation and because of my dream last night I was too horrified to move. I dreamt I had a baby, but it was absolutely painless and fast. The horrified part comes with the fact of having another baby not the birth itself. (Note to self: Quit watching TLC in the morning!)

-8:00 am: call and cancel the carpet cleaners.
They were suppose to come at 10:00 but with all the rest of the stuff I have to do, there is no way they can come today.

-8:30 am: try to eat something or at least drink some tea. Get on my daycare providers list and send out the daily bible verse, the "question of the day" and answer any mail from last night. Check favorite blogs.
(OH and blog this! Cause this is the most important thing I have to do today.)

-9:00 am : get in shower, get kids ready, get their breakfast, start laundry

-10:00 am: get to the library right as they open and grab a movie on Indiana History, or Johnny Appleseed or anything I can find that has anything to do with Indiana for the co-op class.

-10:15 a: get home, review the movie as fast as possible and make out a question worksheet for the class.

-10:40 am (at the latest): head to the next town over and get movie and worksheet to the co-op leader by 11:00.

-11:05 am: maybe get lunch?

Other "to do" things on my "vacation":

- Finish painting the kitchen.

-Get Taylor's rocket off the roof.

-Get the laundry all caught up.

-Clean bedroom.

-Give both dogs a bath.

-Figure out at least one fun thing to do with the kids this weekend.

-Relax (always last on the list right?!)

September 13, 2006

Mary Jane (and I'm not talking about my Grandma)

I'm not for or against marijuana, but I know plenty of people from my past who have smoked it on a daily basis and I have to say that I never found them to do anything crazy, act out or commit any crimes because of it. (Actually they seemed more at peace with themselves and their lives.) However, the thing that gets me is the fact that alcohol is legal and yet it kills people every day. Then we also have the huge number of drunk driving deaths where innocent people are being killed and the drunk drivers get a slap on the hand, some community service and are back in the bars the next weekend. Funny, you never hear of someone dying from or being killed by someone who has been smoking pot.

Again, this is not something that I take part in, I just find this as another situation where the government has too much power. Because it's a plant and they can't put a patent on it and make money, it's illegal. I wonder if there weren't so many alcoholics in the Senate if they'd make alcohol illegal? It seems to have done more harm than any marijuana plant.

***************************************************


Number of American deaths per year that result directly or primarily from the following selected causes nationwide, according to World Almanacs, Life Insurance Actuarial (death) Rates, and the last 20 years of U.S. Surgeon Generals' reports.
TOBACCO
340,000 to 450,000
ALCOHOL (Not including 50% of all highway deaths and 65% of all murders)
150,000+
ASPIRIN (Including deliberate overdose)
180 to 1,000+
CAFFEINE (From stress, ulcers, and triggering irregular heartbeats, etc.)
1,000 to 10,000
"LEGAL" DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from legal, prescribed or patent medicines and/or mixing with alcohol - e.G. Valium/alcohol
14,000 to 27,000
ILLICIT DRUG OVERDOSE (Deliberate or accidental) from all illegal drugs.
3,800 to 5,200
MARIJUANA
0 (yes, that's right... 0!)

(Marijuana users also have the same or lower incidence of murders and highway deaths and accidents than the general non-marijuana using population as a whole. Crancer Study, UCLA; U.S. Funded ($6 million), First & Second Jamaican Studies, 1968 to 1974; Costa Rican Studies, 1980 to 1982; et al. LOWEST TOXICITY 100% of the studies done at dozens of American universities and research facilities show pot toxicity does not exist. Medical history does not record anyone dying from an overdose of marijuana (UCLA, Harvard, Temple , etc.).

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Drug Enforcement Administration In The Matter Of MARIJUANA RESCHEDULING PETITION Docket No. 86-22 OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE FRANCIS L. YOUNG, Administrative Law Judge DATED: SEPTEMBER 6, 1988
Section 8 of Judge Young's "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision."
Page 56 & 57 http://mojo. calyx.net/ ~olsen/MEDICAL/ YOUNG/young

3. The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?

4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.
This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death.

6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.

7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.

8. At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.

9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity.

**************************************************
I just thought this was interesting.

September 11, 2006

Na na na na... Na na na na...

Hey hey hey... GOOD-BYE!!!

Good bye lousy daycare parent! Your 2 week notice this morning was the only thing you beat me at! I hope in your future daycare relationships you'll have more respect for the person who cares for your child while you work at Walmart all day. I also hope that you read the next Provider's daycare policies and respect them enough to follow them. Because as much as you'd like to believe the rules don't apply to you, they do. Although I'm sure bringing your child up to think they don't will be a plus once they get in school! And when it is asked that you don't ring the door bell and come in unexpectedly and wake up all the sleeping kids during naptime and you do it anyway, I can tell you that YES!, your provider isn't going to greet you with a big smile on her face. Who knows, maybe you can't read? I'm hoping that's the case considering you've broken so many of my policies in the short time you've been here. But whatever. And the next time you cop an attitude when I ask you for formula that you get FREE from WIC, so that I can feed your daughter while she's in my care, you can kiss it lady! And for the record, per my contract (that you signed and agreed to) you owed me the next two weeks tuition in CASH, not two checks (one post dated for next Friday - like that means anything). But because I want you gone as much as you want to be gone, I don't even care. I'm sure you feel like you've gotten another one "over on me" but that's ok because I know that's all you have in life and that's sad! Besides, just the fact that I only have to deal with you for 7 more daycare days makes it ok!

September 10, 2006

Mixed Feelings About Tomorrow

I'm somewhat patriotic and I love my country, but I'm not sure that tomorrow will mean much to me. I'm not sure if it's the seasonal depression I'm dealing with or the fact that I am one of those "freaks" who believe that our own government knew all along that what happened was going to happen and did nothing to stop it. I could go on and on about all the evidence that would make even an idiot stop and say "Hmmm..." but that would be pointless. Because no matter how you look at it, it is still a tragedy. In more ways than one.

So please forgive me if I don't deck my blog out in red, white and blue and pay tribute to a day that could have been avoided. And if I do sound angry, it's because I am. I think a lot of people are. I hate to see innocent people being taken advantage of and that's exactly what's happening here.

==========================================

In happier news...

I only have a 3 day work week and then it's VACATION time for 4 days. Yippee! I need the break! I'm seriously looking into another job. I'm just tired of the stress. I'm tired of parents who don't know how to follow my polices and who don't care. I've put off typing up my September newsletter because I'm afraid of what I may say at this point.

This weekend we worked on the house. It was fun and my house looks like a brand new house. We painted the shutters REAL barn red. I'm serious. We went to a hardware store to look for red paint and they couldn't mix the color I wanted, well the owner said he thought he had some actual barn paint in the back room and went to check... yep, he did, actual barn paint. He said you don't see many red barns anymore and have a hard time finding some red paints because of the high amount of lead in red paint. Well, since I wasn't wanting to paint a crib, I bought it. He said he had another gallon in the back if I wanted it but I thought one was enough. We painted the 6 shutters on the front of the house, the front door and the mail box. I also bought a huge country red star like this at the craft fair we went to yesterday and had my uncle put that over my garage. We also got new outdoor lights. They are SO nice, I love them! And the best thing is we spent less than $100 and my house looks like a new house. Now I need to get a new door mat and some mums and we'll be set for fall.

I'll post pics soon...




September 8, 2006

The Fam Is Here

My aunt and uncle from West Virginia came in yesterday and will be staying until Sunday. Someone else who will remain nameless COULD have came too but noooooo he had to stay home with himself. BORING! Oh well, we'll have fun without ya!! (loser!) lol

We didn't do much last night... ate dinner and sat around and talked. My aunt and mom went for a walk and we watched some tv. My uncle cut down some small pine trees in our backyard that needed taken out. Of course Taylor had to help. He loves anything that has to do with working outdoors. Then we all sat and talked a little more and had some of the cheesecake my mom made. YUM! After that everyone was tired so we ended up going to bed pretty early.

Today we've been working around the house. My friend Rick came over and brought an extention ladder and some other stuff to help fix some things that needed worked on. We got the new tv and stand moved into the livingroom. My uncle climbed up to the second story to clean out the dryer vent. Hopefully now our clothes will dry a little faster.

I'm here with the daycare kids and my mom, aunt, uncle and the boys went to Fry's. My aunt and uncle had never been, and my kids love that store. I wasn't interested in going so I told them not to wait until tonight and just take off and have fun this afternoon.

Tonight we are going to Texas Roadhouse and then probably rent a movie or two. Tomorrow there is a huge festival/craft show in a town about 10 minutes away, so we're going to go to that in the morning. Not sure what else we'll do but we'll have fun whatever it is that we're doing. We always do.

September 6, 2006

After Years Of Thought

I've decided....

I'M bringin' sexy back!!!

September 4, 2006

Labor Day

Not much going on here today. Haven't even been out of the house other than to run up to CVS and get some meds for my oldest. He thinks he has an ear infection. I got the normal Advil liquid and then decided to try some homeopathic stuff for his ear. (You can go here and find out more.) So far it seems to be working. He says his ear feels a lot better and hopefully we won't have to take a trip to the doctor tomorrow. As long as he doesn't get a fever, we'll just keep using this.

We're finishing up our kitchen today. The boys are painting right now and they're actually doing a great job! We have to get it done by Thursday as we are having family here this coming weekend. I really like the colors I picked out. I'll post pics (before and after) when it's finished.

I'm not looking forward to daycare tomorrow. Unless of course they had their "Monday" today. But, I doubt it. I know of two kiddos who had grandparents around all weekend so I'm sure there was lots of holding going on. I think that's great, but it's really hard when they come back to daycare and can't be held the whole time they're here.

Tomorrow we start homeschooling on a better schedule so I need to look over my plans for that. Thursday we go back to the homeschool co-op. I'm teaching a class this year. YIKES! Why oh why did I ever say I would do that?? I'm teaching Indiana History to 4th graders. What was I thinking?? I'm so nervous I get a stomachache every time I start thinking about it. Oh well, it's only for 13 weeks. I think I can handle that. Positive thinking...

Well, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my evening. 7am will be here before I know it.

Happy Labor Day

September 2, 2006

It's Fall?

So when did Fall decide to arrive? And when did Summer leave and why didn't she say good-bye? I miss her already! Come back, I'm begging you! I can see the leaves changing outside my front window. My neighbors already have leaves in their yard to rake. And may I mention it's cold? Brrr! I just hope this isn't the way Winter decides to make an entrance! Please give us a little more notice! Ok? I can't even think about snow yet!!