Prepare to be amazed!!!!!

Want to see what I got for only 32 bucks?????

You may want to get something to drink first, this is a big list.....

5 loaves of bread
4 boxes kids fruit snacks
2 lbs grapes
2 fancy shmancy razors
2 packs of hot dogs
1/2 gallon milk
2 packs of rice side dishes
3 small boxes flavored wheat thins
2 big ole boxes of wheat thins
7 kool aids
2 boxes of nilla wafers
2 fajita kits
1 taco seasoning
jello
bbq sauce
2 boxes of mini wheats
4 boxes raisen bran
powder


That should have cost 124, cool huh!

Beaten and Broken and Taking a Break!

OK,the last few weeks have been rough. Between Ryan's OT, the kitchen redo, and everything else, I am just beat! Today is one of those days I have to ignore the mess, the things that need to be done and just rest a little. I am snuggled under a blanket, cup of coffee in hand, and resting. Will I make dinner, yep! Will I switch laundry, yep! Will I do the bare basics for work, yep! But THAT is IT! Now I am off to watch a movie, and I will watch the whole movie sitting here, which is a struggle for me, but dammit I will REST!

Oh so sleepy

The stress of yesterday kept me up last night, very, very, late. I had also taken a pill that normally makes me sleepy, so when I finally went to sleep around 2:30/3 am, it made it really hard to get up this morning. The kids slept until 8, which is awesome when you are exhausted, but will be terrible come Tuesday when they need to go to school. Needless to sa, the house is very dark, I fed the kids waffles and indulgent cinnamon rolls (I know how to buy myself peace) and now I am just sitting here, thinking of falling asleep.

There are a ton of dishes, so maybe I will get those finished and just doze on the couch, I mean the kids are 8,6, and 4, what could happen??? Hahhhhhhhahhhhahhah!

Smacked down, again

I took Haven to the neurologist today since she has been really off the last few weeks. Behavior is bad, not listening, not following directions. Everyone kept saying it was ADD and I knew in my gut it wasn't. Haven has had a rough go, heart condition (cured as of this year!), SEVERE reflux and gastric issues (under control), food allergies (forever and ever) and a few other small things. We went and the doctor was wonderful. I explained what was going on and she told me right from the start that Haven didn't have ADD/ADHD because she played so well and was occupied while we were talking, so I thought, WHEW! Then she gave her another test....she made her hyperventilate....she had a seizure.

So, she wasn't being bad, or difficult, she has a seizure disorder. Man, that hit me...hard. I guess we will just go forward, get the EEG to confirm and start meds.

Bad, hard day.

Please can I have a real fall, pretty please!!!!!

Fall is my favorite season, and I miss the crisp fall days like we had in NY. In Virginia, summer tends to blend into winter, which here is usually wet, cold and dreary (sounds like fun huh). The winter just becomes summer, no real spring. This summer has been milder, and we have had a few fallish days, so I am seriously hoping for a real fall!

There is something about the kids heading back to school, the leaves changing, needing a sweater and it getting dark earlier. It feels so homey to have the days be cool and crisp, and the evenings dark and cozy in the house. I also LOVE apple season. I used to love peach season too, but since Haven is allergic, we just skip it and wait, wait, wait for apples!

I am guessing we will do two trips to the orchard, one in mid September and one in October. The October trip is also usually the pumpkin trip, so that is when we will do a festival. September is so I can load up on apples for baking and eating. It will be a top day for me when I have bushels and bushels of apples for canning, just think, applesauce, apple butter, spiced apples and apple pie filling! There will be enough to last the winter :)

Muck and yuck

Our disposal has been on the fritz and now it has just died completely. I am more than annoyed since I paid a lot of money for that disposal a few years ago so that this wouldn't happen. The worse part is that the sink won't drain well now on that side and a dirty sink makes me nuts! I also use my sink a lot, especially when cleaning produce, so losing a side is tough. Needless to say, tomorrow I will be buying a cheap disposal and Ry will install it on Weds and I will leap with joy!

I lied

We didn't have chicken. My ride home was terrible, I95 is very slow the Friday before a holiday, add in rain, etc, it was just bad.

I even stopped at the store to get more chicken because I didn't think I had enough for dinner, and then I cam home, put the extra chicken in the freezer and made the kids blueberry pancakes and sausage. They were yummy!

Stinky pork

You what stinks? When you have to go to class and it is raining, and you know you won't be home until almost dinner. So you plan something that can cook while you are gone, for me this was pulled pork. I made the rub and got the pork out, ready to rub it down and put it in the oven so it could cook all day and become delicious while I was gone. I open the pork and it smelled terrible! The only meat I have ever had an issue with is pork, I cannot tell you how many times I have brought home a roast or pork chops to find that they smelled bad and I had to throw them out. Anyone familiar with the price of a pork shoulder will know that it pained me to throw that hunk of meat out! That was two meals for us, dinner tonight and I always freeze some of the pulled pork for a quick dinner down the road. Oh well, better than poisoning the family!

Meet the teachers

So we went and met the teachers, and it went well! It is always interesting to see how teachers react to all of Haven's issues. I prefer them just roll with it, which is what happened today.

The girls are happy, they both have friends in the class, so they will be ready to go back next week. I too will be happy when they go back next week, only ONE kiddo at home then!

Bubble bubble

It is a rainy day, so no riding-hooray! Now where is my million dollar check?

I got a lot done, a number of errands were run, and dinner is cooking away on the stove. Tonight we will have meatball and veggie soup and it smells fantastic! I also have bread baking, and everyone will have some salad as well. Then we are off to meet the girls teachers, drop off a bunch of school supplies then home to put the kids to bed and I have a conference call.

At 9 pm, I am DONE and I will relax!

Secret hopes...

Is it wrong to hope that the rain we are finally getting keeps up so that 1. I don't have to take Haven to riding in the morning and 2. I don't have to water my garden tomorrow

First class went fine, they stare at me like I have ten heads and don't talk...at all, same old thing. No worries, soon enough I know they will become so chatty that I will have to shush them. Plus I am the ultra cool prof who lets them go crazy early the first week. I love teaching on ground, but it really bugs me to have to be somewhere at a particular time, I know I am spoiled, but remember this is my PT job, I ALSO have a FT job that I can do in my PJs. One job would be swell.

I wish my parents would get that while we make decent money, we don't have any. Comments from them regarding how much money my grandfather left and how they have no use for it at all makes me crazy. Hint...over 100K in student loans, I could put that moolah to use. Oh well, they get to make that decision, not me, so I am busy investigating a business opportunity, while writing a book, teaching at two schools, getting a doctorate and raising three kids (and a partridge in a pear tree)

Just my secret hopes :)

Dreary

We have not had decent rain since early July, which is surprising given the extreme winter that started our summer!

The last two days have dreary and cloudy. No rain yet, but they are saying we will get some later, and I am hoping we get a lot since my poor garden is looking sad.

I start back teaching PT school tonight, I am less than excited.

Off to rain dance and get the house together before my weekly call.

Parenting is hard

So, I am emotionally and physically drained. We worked hard doing the kitchen, and I was up late most nights working as well. We have also been struggling a bit with our oldest, and I am concerned we are facing another health/learning issue with her. I know what a smart, funny, sweet and all around fabulous kid she is, but it seem something always gets in the way of all the good things coming out.

Poor Haven has been dealt a tough hand, and I fear this next item will be hard to handle as well. We will see the doctor on Saturday and hopefully I will have some idea of what we are dealing with, and we can go from there.

Being Haven's mom has been tough from Day 1, and I just want to be sure that we are able to give her what she needs, so the true girl can shine through.

Such a change!!!!

My parents left this afternoon and we worked hard the last three days!!

We emptied the kitchen, tore off the chair rail that ran down the back hallway, removed the cabinet doors, painted the walls, primed and painted the cabinets and put almost everything back!

The kitchen looks fantastic! I have hated that kitchen since we bought this house, and even though we replaced the floor, counters and sink a few years ago, the awful wall color and cabinets made the room drab and yucky. Now it is bright and cheerful and very much our kind of room. Tomorrow I will regrout the counters to freshen them up and finish putting up the decorative elements. Ryan still needs to attach the sink cover and a few other odds and ends, and it will be completed.

Right now, my house is a wreck, and the kitchen is still spread all over. It will take a few days to get it together and I will post pictures when it is all done.

It is underway

Let's just say that the contents of my kitchen are spread around the house. My cabinet doors are sanded and primed in the garage. The ugly chair rail is gone, the walls are patched and ready to be painted. Tomorrow we need to sand the rest of the cabinet bodies and start the painting. If we get this done before my parents leave, I will be very impressed!

Ever slightly less annoyed at the world

At least my parents come today. I know that will help us get a lot done, and it is nice that they are willing to come and do the labor with us. Now I am off to finish cleaning the house. Ah, a weekend with people who actually care, maybe it will help my mood.

People

Here's the thing, I used to believe that people were for the most part good and kind. That they wanted to do the right thing, and that they cared about others. Well, I was wrong.

I decided I am just quiting...quiting trying to be part of it all, quiting caring about anyone except my family, quiting looking for the best in people... because no one gives a damn. The worst part is, this makes me the happiest I have been in two months. A huge weight has been lifted and now I get to be one of those people I deal with daily, the ones who don't give a crap, I can see the appeal of it all, although it is quite sad. Maybe someday I will be proven wrong again, I would like that very much.

I am getting excited!!

Today we have a lot to do, right now Haven and Ryan are at riding and I am about to go upstairs, vacuum and clean the bathroom. When they return, we will dust the living room, family room and playroom, feed the kids lunch and at 1:30 I will take the girls for well checks. Most likely, I will be taking Grayson with me so Ryan can concentrate on finally finishing the garage and the mudroom. Then after the pediatrician, I will make dinner (BBQ beef, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and salad) and then Britt has soccer practice! If all goes well, the entire house will be cleaned, the garage done, a dinner made and all appointments kept. I also MUST go and get the paint for the kitchen, I cannot wait to get it up on the walls!

Tomorrow Ryan and I will empty the kitchen and take the cabinet doors down. I will also begin patching the walls from where the chair rail was and my parents will be here in the afternoon, and I hope we can get started painting and installing the door that evening.

I am getting excited-the house will look great!

Our very big day!

We had a busy birthday day for Grayson!

We got up and I made them breakfast. We gave Grayson his presents and he went off to play the Car's computer game we gave him, and I did some cleaning. Ryan got ready, kids dressed and I had a conference call. AFter the call, the Fallons came for lunch and the children feasted on macaroni and cheese and hot dogs (yum?) and the grownups had steaks and salad. Then we had ice cream cupcakes and headed to the bounce house place.

The kids seemed to have a great time, then we headed to the farm. It was Ryan's first trip there-amazing huh! He loved it, we got our stuff and poked around, then back into the car. We stopped at Toys R Us as Grayson had gotten some cash to spend and we had promised him Play Doh. He decided against the Play-Doh and picked out an awesome firetruck and Batman walkie talkies. Finally home for a quick supper, playtime and then bed.

My baby is now four, can I be a little sad?

My baby

My baby, Grayson, turns four tomorrow. His was a difficult pregnancy and we almost lost him, but he held on and so did we, and we were thrilled to have a boy join the tribe.

Grayson has had my heart since day one. Even now, when he is in a phase where he is testing limits and really pushing me, I love him immensely. Don't get me wrong, I love the girlies loads too, but Gray, he is my baby and he has his mama's heart.

I cannot believe he is four, the time has gone so quickly. I have been home since he was born, with the exception of the two days a week I teach and he is with Daddy. I couldn't even bear to send him to preschool last year, but he will go this year and I will be sad.

He is a funny, smart, loving boy. He can make me laugh when no one else can. We call him the politician, he always has an answer and a justification, he can flash a smile and change your mind. I could see him kissing babies and winking at the mama's and winning them over. He is also quite the ladies man, always getting hugs from them and he can spot a pretty girl a mile away.

Happy Birthday Grayson, you make my days bright and interesting. I love you to the moon and back sweet boy!

Wanna have some fun?

Me too. Too bad today will NOT be fun!

The girls have appointments at the cardiologist. Haven has been going since she was two days old, Brittan they heard a murmur in and wanted checked out just in case. I guess Gray will have an appointment this fall too, to make sure his ticker is a-ok.

The problem with the cardio is the appointments are VERY long, and I will have all the kids. I am packing the laptop and movies to hopefully keep Gray settled, and I will have snacks hidden away as well.

At least we get to have lunch at our favorite Tuesday spot with our favorite Tuesday people.

Tomorrow my baby turns FOUR!! He is not a baby anymore and we will be celebrating that he is here and that we love him. I will spare you all the details of just how hard it was to get that kid born, but I am happy to have him!

Our house

OK, so when we bought this house almost five years ago, I really hated it. It had smurf blue carpets, a gouged kitchen floor, disgusting counter tops, and baby poop looking walls. We have been working on the house ever since, and sometimes, when I walk through now, I am so happy and proud of what we have accomplished. That doesn't mean the work is done, we still have quite the list!

My parents come this week and while they are here, they are helping us get some things done. As you can imagine, with a husband who works nights and three kids and my two jobs, it can be tough to get the big stuff done. While they are here we are:

1. Replacing the playroom door. It broke last year, so I have had to suffer through listening to the kids all summer when they screech and yell :) Also, it gets COOOOOOOOLD in the family room at night in the winter since that room is an addition, so I will be happy to have a new door.

2. Will will be painting the kitchen, the walls and the cabinets!!!!! The walls will be a warm goldish yellow. We have a lot of yellow rooms, all different yellows, not sure how that happened. I wanted the kitchen to flow well with the dining room which has red walls on the bottom and beige on top. The cabinets will be painted a cream color to match the appliances. I am so, so, so, so excited about this! We will also re grout the counter tops we put in a few years ago. They are natural stone tiles and I love they way they look, but they are a pain to clean!

3. New molding will go into the dining room. Hop hip hooray, we will finally have the molding finished in there!

4. The fireplace mantle will also get new molding and a coat of paint. I would personally love to cover the brick with river rock, but well, it costs too much, so I will take new molding.

I cannot wait for everything to get done! The other thing I need my dad and Ryan to do is to cut down the wisteria out back. The previous owners planted it too close to the house and in a place where you can't trellis, so it just attacks things. We will cut it down, haul it to the dump compost, and maybe this spring we will build the deck. My backyard is awful, mostly because we haven't had the chance to attack it yet. I want to build a deck over the patio and a wall next to it to direct the waterfall that flows down our hill when it rains. Then next year, we will put up the umbrella and put out my furniture, oh what a dream!

One more thing on the list...

I think I am going to start writing a book. Not an academic one, did one of those already, well part of one, and I am sure there are many more to come as my teaching career progresses. This will be a book about something I want to write about and I think there is a need for it. I am not sharing my idea, just going to see if I can get the first few chapters written in the next few months.

I know, one more thing, but I HAVE to work and to further my career I HAVE to finish my doctorate and I HAVE to raise the kids (haha, I like them I was kidding) and I WANT to do this. So that is that.

Csa super food

I don't know how to express my love for my CSA. Is it a pain some weeks to go get the stuff, yes. Is it worth it, always.

One of the small steps we made when starting to change our lifestyle was in our food choices. Knowing the food going into my kids really makes me happy. Yes they occasionally eat junk, yes there is Kool Aid in my fridge, we are by no means perfect, but there are things I saw that we could change.

This year our garden took a hit during the floods we had. I am so grateful that every week I get a beautiful supply of fresh food for my family. The kids look forward to seeing what is in the bag, and I look forward to serving it to them. Thanks to the abundance we have received some weeks, we have been able to freeze some of the stuff including beans and tomatoes. Today I have a batch of CSA beans and a batch of our beans to be frozen. We also have a lot of tomatoes, so some will be peeled frozen. This week our garden tomatoes are almost ready to pick, and if we get them all, we should have around 40-60 tomatoes....can we say canned spaghetti sauce :)

off to check the garden and blanch the beans. Dinner tonight is kielbasi, roasted squashed potatoes and beans, plus melon for the kiddos.

Now midnight

and the boy is going strong.

I however am exhausted.

He is running around the house.

This is not good, however he and I spend lots of quality time together.

Around and around and around

goes the terrible sleep cycle. So Grayson and I did not get a good nights sleep, so today when he was getting very crabby, I made him go upstairs to rest. Three hours later, at 4, he came down. Hmmm.

So now it is just after 10 and he and I are watching a movie, since he can't sleep. Hopefully he will sleep in tomorrow morning. At least I can use this time to do course checks so all I have to worry about tomorrow is going to get the CSA stuff and seeing Dr. Tom.

Bing bang boom

So it is 1 in the morning and i am just going to sleep. Grayson had a nightmare and is sleeping next to me, and then BAM! He falls out of bed, and in the process takes my lamp with him and light bulb shatters everywhere.

So I get him up and make sure he is OK. Then I go downstairs for the vacuum and a light bulb. Come back and find the old bulb is stuck, so I get the other lamp and move it so I can see the glass, then I vacuum.

Life is never dull!

Oh and after Gray got up the first time, he said he was hungry. I offered him water to which he replied, "That's OK, water is like chicken to me." What does that mean?

***
Edited
I would like to add that following the lightbulb incident, Gray was then up until after 2 am. He then decided to wake me at 6:40 to start the day. I am EXHAUSTED!!!

Sometimes you just have to do it

After you had a bad start to the morning (see post before this), and then the kid's are having a rough day, and the animals are acting up, and the cats knock over the hamster cage spewing hamster bedding everywhere(it was just cleaned this morning at least) and you have a HUGE paper due tonight that you are barely started on.....


Sometimes then, you just put the kids in the car, drive to the drive through ice cream place, and buy them ice cream for dinner. Actually, they will still have dinner later, but they got dessert before dinner because we were having a bad day and we just needed that.

How do you define

a morning that begins with your three (4 on Weds) year old son screaming at you how much he hates you...as you cook french toast for him, with the homemade bread you made for him.

The problem began as Grayson was arranging the letter magnets on the fridge while I cooked. He then asked me what a string of letters spelled, and I told him that those letters didn't spell any words. THAT WAS IT! He started screaming at me, he says he hates me, that I am mean to him, etc. Um, ok?

Now let's backtrack to yesterday when I was in Giant with my three kids. I told them we could buy 6 boxes of Eggos (a HUGE treat for my family) and they could pick out any kind! They were so excited and picked all sorts of crazy Eggos, Lego eggos, Kung Foo Panda Eggos, etc. Directly following the joy of Eggo choosing, something I did made Grayson angry, I don't even remember what, and he put his hands on his hips, told me he was mad and he was leaving.

I have two other kids who have been 4, so I called his bluff (mistake 1) and said, "OK, sorry to see you go!" and walked away so he couldn't see me, but I could see him. He walked to the end of the aisle, then turned and started back for me. I thought, Aha, as always this has worked! (mistake 2). I poked my head around and asked if he was ready to come with us, and HE TOOK OFF RUNNING TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE STORE!

We followed along the back then cut up and couldn't find him. We were so close to the doors, I was afraid he had left. The girls and I split up, Britt went to the back of the store, Haven went one way up front, and I went the other. The girls saw him, and went to grab him and HE LAUGHED, he thought it was funny!!

He did not think it was funny when I came and grabbed him and threw him in the back of the cart and proceeded to yell at him and fervently try to explain how dangerous that was the whole time we were in the store. He also was not happy when his father then had the same conversation with him about how dangerous it is.

Please say this is a boy thing and a phase :(

I admit it, I am crazy....

After all the running around this morning, I went BACK out with the kids!

We got.....
A new mattress pad for the guest room
Pack of 5 cars for my little guy's b-day
BIG pack of sheet protectors
5 more smelly oil air fresheners (can you tell I had a good deal?)
6 boxes of frozen waffles
4 more boxes of cereal
2 pencil boxes
2 sets of hangers for curtains
2 family sized packs of chicken


for......$28, yes 28 dollars.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee such a great feeling :)

We aren't MIA

We have just been BUSY!!!

Ryan was off yesterday, and I have so much going on at work. We did some work in the garage, I did a million calls and wrote a paper. You know it is busy when I order pizza for dinner. One big bonus, while cleaning out the garage, we found the box that had my German incense burner. My parent's brought him back from their trip there years ago, he is a chef because I like to cook, and he blows the incense smoke out of his mouth...he looks a little like this but mine is cuter :)

Today I went out and robbed, err, shopped at a few stores. I did so awesome, for 125 dollars, I bought:
4 kid's jeans
1 kid's corduroy pants
1 kid's dress
6 kid's shirts (cute hoodie ones too)
3 kid's tights
5 air fresheners things
2 shaving gel
hamster chewies
2 38 lb vats of cat litter
8 boxes of cereal
1 frisbee
2 10 packs of pencils
2 magnetic lists
10 packs of cheese
3 pudding
3 jello
2 bbq sauce
2 butter
3 boxes pasta
12 koolaid packets (hey they never go bad!)
1 bag of dog food

Not too shabby!

Why doesn't he get it?

My husband has bad days at work, busy days and weeks just like everyone else. WHy can't he see that I too have bad days at work, and really busy weeks too at my job too, but I have to work while also doing the job of caring for 3 kids and a house.

This week at work and school is AWFUL! New mentees, old mentees, new course start, old course end, training...you name it, I have it in the next three days. Right now I am getting ready for 3 hours of back to back calls, which I will then top off with a paper I have to write. Not to mention that tomorrow is the ONLY day Ryan is here to help me prep for the work we are doing next week, PLUS I have a paper due tomorrow and one Saturday, and my regular job.

Maybe I should send the kids with him to work so he can see what it is like....

Cheap stress relief

There is something to be said for getting your hands dirty. We needed more bread, and I have five conference calls today, so I got a jump on it and started this morning. There is something glorious about felling the warmth of the bread dough and you knead it, and the smel of the yeast. I am not against bread machines, I even used to have one, but nothing takes the pace of the old fashioned way.

Interesting day

It makes for an interesting day when you have to file a report with 3 different state attorney offices, the local FBI and the local police.

We are going after a company for fraud, and I hope the powers that be take them down hard, so no one else is ever taken advantage of.

Just call me Robin Hood.

I hate money....

August is our worst month since I don't get paid all summer from one job. We thought we had planned well, and pending no major mishaps, we would have been ok. This week was by far the worst we were going to have, and of course, unexpected things happened. Now I am broke, broke, broke until Friday and it is making me stressed. I just hate money :(

It's official

I will be calling the doctor in the morning. I kept hoping this cough would go away, and it got better for a few days and is now worse then ever. I'll probably end up with some antibiotic that makes me feel worse :(

This will screw up my day tomorrow, I will take the kids with me, and we need to do the farm tomorrow since I have calls all day Weds. Oh well, I will pack snacks and keep my fingers crossed the doctor is quick.

The connection is lost

How come on days that you need to connect, no one has time?

This summer has been a sad one for me, I have had conflicts with my mom and have felt like I am putting everyone else out. It is hard to feel like you try so hard, but you are only thought of and wanted when there are no other, better, options.

The last straw was today when my dad hung up on me because someone came to the door. To be fair to him, he will probably call me back, even though I was just babbling about stuff.

EDITED:

My dad did call back, as I knew he would. He listened to me cry and tried to make me feel better. He gets my vote for father of the year.

Trying to make things look up...

and it is getting a touch better.

Right now the kids are driving me a little crazy, imagine three kids on scooters IN THE HOUSE, moon sand dumped all over the dining room and someone letting the dog out the front door, all within a half hour. I have just sent them to do ANYTHING that doesn't involve them making noise, running around or making a mess....we will have to see what they come up with.

I have gotten some work done, which is a relief. Dinner tonight is on the simple side since everyone keeps complaining about everything. I am just making waffles and bacon for the kids, a BLT and soup for me, and Ryan is on his own since he said he doesn't want a big dinner when he wakes up.

I need to go do some cleaning, but when I feel so blah and down, I just don't have the energy. I was excited about the CSA haul today, but other than that, I am just funkified. Maybe I will brew some tea and make a zucchini bread, we have a really nice one that would be perfect. Off to bake bread, do dishes, switch laundry and dust.......

I am tired and weepy

I have had an emotional few days, and I am just a big ball of weepy,

Not my favorites

Right now my family is not a group of my fave people, they are making me nuts.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Shop til you drop

We have been busy today, lots of errands to run!

Last night I went to get my newspapers, and a few other items and I rocked the cash register :)


It all rang up to 49, I paid 9!!!!!

Today we did pretty well again, the kids and I did Bloom and Rite Aid

Bloom-shelf price $79, I paid 35.
Rite Aid-shelf price $23, I paid 10 and will get an additional $2 back

I love getting what we need for next to nothing, that is how to feed a family of five, and they still eat primarily home made. Most of my savings come from things for school (snacks, etc) and things like shampoo, etc.

Saturday Hooray!

I love Saturdays when I have nothing going on. I get to stay in my PJs all day if I want, I get chores done, and I always try to make or bake somethings fantastic.

So far, by 9:30 am, I folded the mountain of kid's clothes, we are talking at least 8 loads of clothes, and put them away. I also got the lower level vacuumed and enjoyed a cup of coffee. Next on my list is to do the dishes and switch the laundry. I also need to work on a paper and do some work.

Then when Ryan gets up, I get to go to the store and get the early edition newspaper, so I can organize my shopping for the week. That is my favorite thing to do on Saturday night, clip the coupons, read the list and figure out how I can save a ton of money.

Mind warp

Stole this from another super fun blog I read here, check it out...

It is creepy how close this came to who I am. Take the test.

***

rebecca, you are mildly left-hemisphere dominant while showing a slight preference for auditory processing. This overall combination seems to indicate a well-working blend of logic and judgment and organization, with sufficient intuition, perception and creativity to balance that dominance.

You will at times experience conflict between how you feel and what you think which will generally be resolved in favor of what you think. You will find yourself interested in the practical applications of whatever material you have learned or whatever situation you face and will retain the ability to refine whatever knowledge you possess or aspects of whatever position you are in.

By and large, you will orient yourself toward intellectual activities and structure. Though not rigid, you will schedule yourself, plan, and focus on routine and continuity of operations, rather than on changes and disruptions

When changes or disruptions occur, you are likely to consider first how to ensure that such disruptions do The same balance is reflected in your sensory preference. You will tend to be reflective and measured in your interaction style. For the most part, you will be considered objective without being cold and goal-oriented while retaining the capacity to listen to others.

Preferentially you learn by listening and maintaining significant internal dialogues with yourself. Nevertheless, you have sufficient visualization capabilities to benefit from using graphs, charts, doodles, or even body movement to enhance your comprehension and memory.

To the extent that you are even implicitly aware of your hemispheric dominance and sensory style, you will feel most comfortable in those arenas which emphasize verbal skills and logic. Teaching, law, and science are those that stand out among the professions, along with technical sales and management.
***

My favorite part was the "internal dialogue" because I do talk to myself in my head all the time. Also happy to know I picked the right profession :)

I am wiped out

We had a very busy day today. Haven had riding at 9:30, then I had to go up to PT school to meet with another professor. On my way home, I stopped and got new silverware and a few things at the store. While I was gone, Ry and the kids were starting to organized the garage, and when I got home I helped. We took 4 bags of clothes to Goodwill, and put a bunch of things up on Freecycle. Tomorrow I will do a few runs to the dump, and we should have about half of the garage done, which means next week we will be able to finish :)

I have also worked, made dinner, and did some clean up. Whew, at least I don't have to go anywhere except the dump tomorrow, and Saturday I will fold clothes-all day long.

Beef, Blood and Bins

So, I am supposed to be writing my paper. It is outlined and I have the research, I just can't seem to get going on the actual writing. Ah well, after I post, I will finish up.

So tonight, as I am grilling steaks to go with the rice, tomato salad and pasta salad that I made for dinner, we had a few mishaps. The first took place as I started to cut the meat for the children. Grayson came in carrying the canister to my vacuum. Well, my hand were dirty, so I called Haven over to help because I didn't want Gray to dump the canister all over my freshly mopped floor. Needless to say, they emptied the canister NEXT to the trash can. So I send them away as I finish making plates and then I hear it....the blood curdling scream from upstairs, and it kept getting closer. It was Haven, with blood pouring out of her mouth. Thankfully she is my oldest and eight, so I didn't freak, just grabbed a paper towel and ice pack. Turns out her sister kicked her in the mouth "by accident." So we fixed her up, and served up dinner. At least everyone ate, and the ice pops after dinner made her mouth feel better.

Ok ...now I will write the paper.

No adult contact

So for the last few weeks I have been almost completely alone with the kids with minimal adult contact. I see Ryan before work, but most days I don't really talk to anyone on the phone or see anyone except other people in a store.

Normally this would bother me, but I have found it to be calming. The house is quieter, I have more time for the kids and chores, and a clearer head. I may have to keep this up.

I love days at home

I feel like I can get so much more done!

I chopped and froze the jalapeno peppers we got in the CSA this week. I did it without gloves since I couldn't find any. Big mistake, but quickly resolved with Dawn dish soap and baking soda :)

I have a list of chores to complete, and I am happy that they will get done. Nothing big, just basic maintenance, but I will reap the rewards of a clean house.

Dinner tonight will be extra nice, steaks on the grill (a filet for me), pasta salad, rice for Gray and Ryan and a fresh tomato and cucumber salad with mozzerella. MMMMMMMM.

Off to clean.....

The gods are messing with me

I post how we are going to pay down debt and poof, and extra 50 bucks goes missing from my checking account. Seems the bank teller couldn't read the check my dad printed on his computer and decided it was worth 50 dollars less than the amount I put on the deposit slip, you know, the amount it was actually written for. So now I need to wait a week for the them to find the dang thing and have someone ELSE read it to see that it really was written for the amount I indicated so they can give me my money back. I am just appalled that they would take money out of my account without double checking, seems pretty obvious to me! I would also suggest that the person who has trouble reading the typed, printed checks not be the one who logs them into the computer, I can only imagine what is done with the hand written ones, **GASP**

This blasted cough

It keeps me up all night. Every time I lay down, I start sounding off like a baby seal. I know what is wrong, I have bronchitis, which is why I sound like I have croup, pretty much the same things. I don't have a fever, and other than a sore back and chest from coughing, I feel fine. But I am sleepy, and it is almost 3:30 and I just want to go to bed. But even as I LEAN back, hack, hack, hack. I am hoping this is almost over.

OK, Now I can blog :)

BTW-The chicken, lemon, orzo soup was FANTASTIC.....I will make it again and again this winter, except next time I will have homemade stock.

So, one of our biggest goals is to move to more land (minimum of 5 acres)and live more sustainably. In order to make this happen, we must first have a change in the housing market, since we would need to sell our house. Next we would need to know where we are going, we may end up staying here in VA, or there is a good chance we will end up in upstate NY. Then we need to pay down debt. That I am working on now, I would love to be able to move with only a mortgage and school loans (those aren't going anywhere anytime soon) but we will have to see. Now my goal is to take every last cent we have and split it, half into savings and half into debt. Some months it will not be much, some it will, but that is my plan and I am sticking to it :)

I shouldn't be blogging

I should be doing anything but blogging since I have about a million things to do. I could be folding the mound of laundry I have, or mopping the floor, or unloading the dishes. Right now, I have dinner cooking, and I need to do my work, but I am just so dang tired.

We had a rough start this morning and I had to redo all of Haven's clothes, again, refold them and put them away. You would think at eight she could manage to put the clothes that I washed and folded away in her drawers, but alas she can't. Then after a shower, we finally made it out. We ran to CVS to get a few things, then lunch, then stopped at the Wonder Bread outlet to check prices (they were so/so, but good enough for the wheat bread) then to the farm. After the farm, we stopped at Dr Tom's, then home to unload everything. We got home about 3:30 and I switched the clothes, vacuumed, made dinner and checked in with work. Now I just want to go to bed. With Ryan working the extra Fridays, and us having to get so much done on Thursday in anticipation of my parents coming, I am wiped.

Oh well, dinner needs tending to.....

A blast from the past

Tonight I was thinking of my favorite soup when I worked at the Greek place in NY. It was a lemon chicken orzo soup and it was delicious. A quick web search today and I found a recipe that very closely mirrors the one I remember being made in the kitchen.

Since I have some leftover chicken from last night, and I always have orzo, tomorrow nights dinner will be the lemon chicken orzo soup with the homemade bread I made today. I am hoping the girls like it, as it would be a good addition to their lunchboxes in the winter, nice and hearty, but still fresh tasting :)

I love freecycle

Ryan wanted some baby food jars for saving seeds, so I put out a call today. A very kind lady had a dozen of them and DROPPED THEM OFF!

That goes above and beyond :)

Start with the joy

So, I will start off with the good. The kids and I went and saw Dr. Tom today, and for the first time ever, Grayson let him give him an adjustment. I am so relieved as Grayson is my one child who really needs to see the chiropractor for health, especially with his sinus and ear infection issues. I am hoping that Dr. Tom will help me shake this cough that I have, it is still lingering and when I cough it is terrible, but otherwise I feel fine. I do get breathless easily, but that is really common for me when I have a respiratory infection. I guess it will end soon.

We also went and picked up the CSA bag. Ryan was so excited to see the hot peppers that were included, and I will be sure to freeze any we don't use for winter chilies and tacos.

Now on to the bad. The girls just keep fighting and I am at the end of my rope. I really wish I could figure out a way to stop them, but every summer in August this happens. I guess kids will be kids. They have all been sent upstairs, and I was so exited that I might actually get to relax and watch tv, but alas, the cable is out. Maybe I will go switch laundry and start baking bread.

Sunday Sunday

We left the house. I know, hold the presses, the kids and I ventured out into the world on a weekend.

We hit a number of stores, my girls were great, Grayson was possessed. Same old, same old around here. He does so much better when they girls are at school, I am looking forward to having just the one kid to run errands, and come October when he starts preschool, I will run errands alone :)

Even though he was terrible and awful, we still got the errands done and I was even a nice mama and picked up subs for lunch. Home we came, I did some work and unloaded the car and now need to get on cooking dinner. On our menu tonight...roast chicken with stuffing and green beans. Tomorrow I decided they can all eat leftovers, since we have plenty, and I get the night off. I will, however, make stock from the chicken and get it into the freezer, it is almost chicken soup time. Maybe bread will get baked if I don't cook.

Not tears of joy

My kids can make me angry, make me yell, and even make me swear. They can make me cry for joy, but rarely do they make me sob. Today I have 4 hours of calls. They know the drill, be quiet if they are in the room with me, and always check if I am on the phone before talking. Most of the time I am on mute, but sometimes I need to say something, so I unmute. While on the call, I did laundry, vacuumed, paid bills, and made the kids lunch. They were upstairs watching a movie and I had to unmute and they all came in screaming at me, well Britt was wailing. Seems they had been fighting upstairs. So I banish them, finish my call and go up to deal with the behavior and find their rooms TRASHED. Now I just spent countless hours organizing the rooms while really sick. Needless to say, I burst into tears, woke their father up so I wouldn't kill them and cleaned the rooms. It actually hurts my feelings, especially with the older two, since they know how hard I work around here. They also remember having to go to daycare when I worked outside the home, and now that I work from home, I just need cooperation from time to time. I cram a full time teaching job, a PT teaching job and a doctoral program in, and they rarely notice. Today was an unusual occurrence, since I try to do these trainings at night, so I just wanted cooperation.

Hopefully they will have learned their lesson.

Rainy morning

So we are having a quiet morning. I scheduled myself for 4 straight hours of training for work, yuck! At least I can stay muted and do things like switch laundry, vacuum, mop, etc while getting trained :)

I am bribing the kids with cinnamon rolls while I am on the calls, that should buy me about 15 minutes. I also have a new movie to keep them entertained.

It is a rainy day here, good for the garden and for the soul, I needed a reason to have a slow day. On the agenda today: laundry, move Haven's clothes, mop the kitchen, bathroom, dining room and family room, a paper and dinner. I may even treat myself to a mvie this afternoon with tea.

I think tonight we will have meatloaf, dilled roasted potatoes and green beans, maybe I will toss together popovers or biscuits. Tomorrow is the grocery shopping planning day, I am hoping for good deals on kid's snacks and cheese, since I need to get ready for back to school. It is so close!

I may suffer, but they don't

So, for those of you worried about my kids getting their usual meals with me being sick, don't be concerned :)

Last night Ryan grilled them some hamburgers and made some of our green beans and noodles. We even had my refrigerator pickles :)

Tonight I am making chicken in wine sauce, jasmine rice and zucchini with tomatoes and onions. Out of the meal, the chicken and rice are the only non-local items...the rest are- tomatoes (ours and CSA), basil (ours and CSA), zucchini (CSA), garlic and onion (CSA) butter (farm), wine (local winery) Not too shabby for being sick :)

Burns my britches Part 2

So yesterday someone rings our bell. We have a no soliciting sign since I cannot stand having people try to sell me their religion, their tree service and their politics at my front door. Husband and I opened the door, it is some lady telling us how she is raising money for single moms, buy a magazine and you can donate it to a charity and that everything is tax deductible. As I am leaving to get husband the check book, I hear her explain that half the money goes to her....hmmm, I know non profits, I have worked with them, worked for them and really understand the process, and that is not the process. I alert husband who stupidly still gives the woman $60!!!!!!!!!

I call the company today and asked them flat out if they are a 501c3...they are not. The woman told us that this was tax deductible, it is not, and I am furious! The thing is, we do give to charity, and I know how hard those who volunteer and work for charity groups work to raise money, and it is people like this that make it difficult for true charities to get the donations they need.

Needless to say, I registered a complaint and my check will not be cashed. Husband also learned a lesson, when it comes to donations, DO NOT give money when the wife tels you not to, he got a huge lecture on all the true charities that suffer at the hands of people like this.

Ouchy

So last night as I headed off to bed, I was thinking that I might be feeling a bit better. Then I decided to have a panic attack.....then I had a coughing fit. It was one of those fits where you can't get your breath and your ribs feel like they are breaking and you are sick to your stomach. Then any time I even tried to lean back, I had a huge coughing fit again. Needless to say, not much sleep happened. Now today I am all coughy again and in so much pain it hurts to take a shallow breath let alone cough. This plague really stinks and I am so over it.