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First full week of school

My children attend a school in a district where "someone" decided that the kids would start the term on a Wednesday.

A Wednesday? WTF?

Needless to say, my kids' started school last Wednesday. My sister's three children started their new year last Monday. MONDAY!

So this will be my kids' first full week at school. And I'm sure they'll be super-tired by the end of the week. It'll be just joy-joy-joy for me!

Since it's going to be a long week for them (and for me), we had a quiet day at home today. We only ventured out to go to church. Yes. The rest of the day was home. I finished up another 3 loads of laundry & vacuumed the place while the kids lounged. Even though I was running around a little, it was so nice being able to just hang out with the kids at home.

Even better because we spent yesterday away from home. We headed out at 8am. We hit the grocery store first thing. We went to IKEA, which you all know takes AGES to get through (because there's so much to look at. We stopped by my Mom's to pick up a Phillip's and a flat-head. We then headed out to my youngest nephew's first football game. We topped off the night with a late dinner at my sister's house. We got home around 9pm. And we were ALL tired.

So the lull of today was something we all needed, don't you think?

And now? The kids are having a little snack. In a bit they'll both be in their bathrooms getting ready for bed. Ahhhh!! Did you just see the heaven's part in this Mommy's world? Oh yeah! Once the kids are in bed, I have my time. Watch what I want to watch. I get to relax all over the couch without anyone touching me. I really enjoy having that little bit of time to myself. Don't you?

I'm hoping I've got the strength (and patience) to get through this week without having too many meltdowns.
Posted by Grace at 8:32 PM No comments:


First day gitters? Done!

Today was the kids' first day of school!

These past few days, I could tell they were both nervous about going to a new school.

The whole business about a new environment. New teachers they've never met before. AND making new friends.


They both woke up without a fuss.

Me? I woke up extra early. Even though we were going to leave the house 45 minutes later than we'd do on a typical morning.

Why? Because it was the first day. And all the parents were asked to walk their child(ren) to their rooms to meet the teacher. AND to help get their supplies in order.

My son's class is on the first floor. My daughter's class is on the second floor near the back stairwell.

The classrooms are HUGE compared to their old school. What I like is that the kids have SPACE to move around their classrooms without having to scoot around each other. Each classroom even has a window. I must say that the view from my daughter's class is pretty spectacular.

Can you  believe that tomorrow is their first half day? It's actually not HALF really. They normally start at 8:30am and get out at 2:50pm. Tomorrow they end the day at 1:10pm -- so that's about less than 1 3/4 hours fewer on their short days.

Since I'm working now, I've actually enrolled them in the before and after school program. Even though it'll be long day for them, the program allows them to get started on their homework, read books from the library, do research on the computers, and play outside. I think that last one is the most important thing to all the kids (not just mine),

Now how is it going for your kids this new school term?

Here are the kiddos outside our front door: Here's my little guy at his desk: Here's my girl going up to her classroom: Posted by Grace at 9:01 PM No comments:


How do you work?

In our current economy, there are a lot of adults not working.

Folks who easily got a job about 10 years are now struggling to find a job. Any job.

And there are companies who are out there trying to restructure to get more efficient. Yes. Companies are running lean. They are cutting any fat they can. But what does that mean to you?

This frame of mind came to me this morning.


Because my manager came up to me and said

"Employee1 gave two weeks notice on Friday."


This employee has been on the fence for a quite a while. This person's work has been sub-par compared to the rest of the team. And my manager has tried countless times to coach this employee. Days? No. Weeks? No. It's been MONTHS people. And this employee has continued to turn in shabby work.


So push came to shove on Friday. And this employee gave notice.

What's crazy is that they are continuing to let this employee work.

Why do I say this?

This employee deals with outside clients. This employee works with outside companies. This employee really has an opportunity to SCREW.THINGS.UP.ROYALLY.

I remember when I gave my two weeks notice to a company that I'd worked 6 years for. I didn't like my current manager, who was a great worker but a horrible manager. And I finally had enough and gave my notice on a Monday (which happened to be my day off). When I came into work on Tuesday, the Director called me in and let me know that I'd be let go at lunch. Yes. THAT. DAY. So no farewell lunch. No way to gather everyone I knew together. Just a couple hours getting my work area organized and then I scooted out trying not to let the door hit my behind. I wasn't disgruntled with the company. I just didn't like my manager. And they booted me after six years. I do remember it like it was yesterday.

Anyway, this employee where I now work is a really nice person. But doesn't have the skill set to be successful in the job. Organizational skills? Okay. Communication skills? Okay. Negotiation skills? Okay. But to place all these demands of the job together? A bit too much for this employee.

Now my manager is trying to figure out how this employee will turn in the company assets. Laptop. Cell phone. Printer. And WHEN the hand-off will happen.

But decisions change like the wind. Their decision to let this employee continue to work may shift tomorrow. They might just have her complete the day. It'll be interesting to see how this all works out. Drama. DRAMA!

Now if I was being coached? I'd be making change to my work style right and left. I'd be going out of my way to get things changed around. I wouldn't turn in what I was told as being crap. You know?

I mean, right now I'm just a cog in the system. I don't make any dramatic decisions. I don't have face-to-face contact with clients. But I do my darn-dest to do my best. Every single gosh darn day. I try to support my 8 counterparts as much as possible. Even though they each do drive me nuts at some point during the day. I still give of myself.

How about you? How are you working right now?
Posted by Grace at 10:00 PM No comments:


It's been a week and we're still getting settled

The kids and I have been in the townhouse for a week now and we're still getting things in place.

I finally remembered to call the cable company to activate our service and get an internet connection. So I'm FINALLY back online.


My Dad had some eye surgery performed on Monday. Not only has he been dealing with glaucoma for about 20 years, he developed cataracts over the last 6 years or so. He had some surgery performed on his right eye but that didn't go well. He's basically blind in that eye. He's been dealing with the cataract in his left eye but it's been hard on him. Not only did he end up having the cataract removed, the doc also put in an artificial lens into his eye. He went in both Tuesday and Wednesday to get checked. And the doc is super happy with my Dad's progress. The artificial lens they put in gives my Dad far-sighted vision. No worries though. He's happy that he can SEE things far away as he's always been near-sighted. In a few months after his eye has settled in with the artificial lens he'll be fitted with some reading glasses so that he can see things up close.

The Hubs was actually in town for 4 days. He drove in Wednesday after work. He got here pretty quick. He was here before the kids were in bed! He was in town for a reason! Yes! He had a face-to-face interview on Thursday. It actually went really well (according to my husband). He'll find out if he got that job sometime this week. [crossing fingers & toes] It was SO nice seeing, cuddling, and sleeping with the Hubs for those few days/nights. I really do miss him.

The kids start school this Wednesday. Tomorrow night they get to meet their teachers. I think they're both a little nervous about going to a new school. But it'll be a good situation. The school is BEAUTIFUL. I'm really excited for them. Since they have two more days until school officially starts, I signed them up to attend daycamp Monday & Tuesday.This is going to be the first time I'm getting them ready here at the townhouse for camp/school. I'm all alone. No one to help me. For now. [crossing fingers yet again] Here's a view of the main foyer into the school. No bungalows here like what I had when I was in school. It's high ceilings with air conditioning! My health issues seem to have settled a bit [knock on wood]. I just have to be sure to take my morning meds a minimum of one hour before I eat breakfast AND take my late afternoon meds a minimum of one hour before dinner. I think my body has finally gotten into a "groove" with the meds. While I'm still sleeping on my 6" wedge, I've finally been able to sleep on either side without having any internal issues. Can you believe it? I was sleeping on my back about 90% of the time for about 3 months. It definitely wasn't fun or fully relaxing for me at night. Hopefully my body will continue "to be friends" with my medication so that I can continue to sleep comfortably at night and function properly during the day.

That's how my week has gone. How about you?


90% means we're not quite yet done

I thought we'd be in our new place tonight.


I'm not ready for it.


I don't have my kitchen organized.

I don't have any groceries.

Today's focus was getting all our stuff IN the place.

All the furniture in place.

All the boxes & totes inside or in the garage.

All the clothes into the closet.

So I didn't have the time (or should I say energy) to tackle the kitchen.

My husband?

He didn't label the boxes well.

The stuff for the kitchen?

The boxes say "Kitchen".

Not one smidge of info about what's INSIDE the box.

So I've got to open up 7 boxes and determine what I'm keeping and what I'm throwing back into the box.

Return things to the box you ask?


We're moving into a place where the kitchen is about 1/3 the size of where we're moving from.

So needless to say, cabinet space is limited.

Therefore I'm only keeping the stuff we actually USE in this new kitchen.

Everything else will just have to go back into a box and be sealed in tight until we move into a bigger place (hopefully in the next 2 years).

What I did accomplish?

Put linens on all our beds.

So even though the dressers aren't organized? The clothes that were hung here at my folks' are now hung at our new place.

All but one pair of our shoes & flip-flops are at the new place.

But we really did accomplish a TON today.

I'm ever so thankful for my sister, my nephew, and my two BIL's. Without them I wouldn't have been able to move that furniture myself. NO.WAY.

I've already downed 2 Extra-Strength Tylenols to combat the impending sore muscles & joints. I know I'll probably pop a couple tomorrow morning as well.

I can't believe how gosh darn HEAVY some of our furniture is.

Each of us did manage to bang at least one of our body parts. Me? My hand got caught under a piece of furniture we were putting on a dolly. I yelled "HAND" and my BIL&Sister picked the piece up SO fast!

We also almost had an accident with the moving truck. Look at your index finger. Look at how wide it is. THAT is how close the truck was to the main water pipe that leads to all the meters of our group of units. I just about had a heart attack when it happened. HEART.ATTACK. But the good Lord was looking out for us and that mishap was avoided.

There's no way I'm waking up tomorrow at 5am. Yes. That's what time I woke up today. And I decided to stop working at the new place at 5:45pm. So it was a FULL day of busy-ness.

And I'm fully tired.

I'm glad I'm showered and the kids are almost ready to be tucked into their beds here at my folks. Because I'll be falling into bed soon after their heads hit their pillows.
Posted by Grace at 9:03 PM No comments:


Nervous and excited

It's Wednesday!

We're moving into our new place on Saturday.


I'm nervous about moving everything in one day.

I'm excited to be in our own place again.

But I have to get through the move first.


Plus I know I'm going to be a sore mess when I wake up Sunday morning.

All the lifting.

All the going up and down the stairs.

Remember that it's a 3 story townhouse?

The first floor is basically just the entryway and garage.

The second floor is the kitchen/laundry/living/dining rooms along with a bedroom & full bath.

The third floor has a 2nd bedroom & bath and the master bedroom & bath.











Fun. Fun. Fun!
Posted by Grace at 9:52 PM No comments:



Rather than stay home and hang out like we'd normally do, I decided to take the kids out and about.

Rather than attend the normal service we go to, the kids and I attended the early service. It was nice though not what we're used to. The earlier service has a more contemporary approach than the traditional one we usually go to.

We then headed out to the local Children's Museum. A place we've never visited. The bonus of going today was that every 2nd Sunday of the months it's free. Yes. Free! The kids had a good time. A couple hours of checking things out. It was nice.

My two sharing a chariot: My Princess just had to leave an artistic mark: The two are deep in concentration working with clay: My daughter wanted to climb each and every part of this room: My son just wanted to climb anything, even the rope: Blowing bubbles made the kids laugh: They could have blown bubbles all afternoon: It was definitely a nice couple of hours: We were all hungry by then, so we ate at a little place near the museum. The 222 Cafe was really small but the food was GOOD. The Bear had regular order of waffles. The Princess had an order of pumpkin waffles. I ate Green Eggs and Spam -- which was scrambled eggs with spinach and spam along with some wheat toast and potatoes.

Did you have a good Sunday with the ones you love?
Posted by Grace at 5:46 PM No comments:


Cleaning up before a storm

Guess what I spent my morning doing?


Yes. Cleaning.

And I joyfully did it.


Because I was cleaning our new place.

The other day I went by the place to drop off some water, salt, rice, and a Bible.

Those of you who have superstitious parents or relatives know why I did it.

Just to keep the peace. And to give us some good vibes upon moving in.

But let me tell you.

When I went by to drop the stuff off the other day, I found a yucky surprise in the townhouse.


I found ants.


The ants had found a way in and had made their way up to the 2nd floor.


Not only did I yell when I saw them. I also got a chill all up my arms.

I ran pretty quick over to the drugstore down the street. I came back armed with ant bait AND spray.

I laid out the ant bait outside the front door and a couple on the inside.

Then I sprayed the H-E-C-K along the path that those darn ants had made.

And today?

I cleaned the place.

I had to rid the place of all the carcasses.

And there were a ton.

But best of all?

There was not an ant alive anywhere inside.


I have to tell you that our place is now fresh and clean.

The floors, bathrooms, and kitchen are all spic-n-span.

The place smelled a little stale when I entered

It now smells like Pine-sol, Clorox bleach, and Lysol.


Now what did you do on this beautiful Saturday?
Posted by Grace at 5:14 PM No comments:


MDs all over the place

Yesterday I came home to find my son bundled under a blanket.

Burning up!

I took his temp and it was 101*.

I gave him some Tylenol at 5:15pm.

I cuddled with him on the couch.

Around 6:15pm I officially rechecked how his head felt. STILL burning up.

I got a sweatshirt for the Bear and grabbed my purse.

The Bear and I then headed to the nearest Urgent Care.

Why so quick to react?

He first sported a high temp (of 101*) last Monday, July 26th.

I gave swapped Tylenol and Motrin to keep his fever down for 2 days.

On Wednesday night his fever was gone.

But alas?

He started getting a cough with some slight nasal drip.

And he's had the cough and nasal drip since then.

Then I come home yesterday to find him AGAIN with a high temp.

No headache.

No nausea.


No other symptoms other than an achy body.

The nurse took his temp and instead of going down after a dosage of Tylenol, his temp actually was up to 101.5*. Definitely not the right way to go.

While we waited?

The Bear (of course) ended up needing to go to the bathroom.

Since it was a "hospital" type bathroom, I gave him some hand sanitizer when he got back into the exam room.


The alcohol-based hand sanitizer reacted with his hot body and resulted in hives.


My son broke out in hives while in the exam room.

The nurse ended up giving the Bear Motrin AND Benadryl.

The doctor checked on the Bear and let me know that his nose, ears, and throat looked fine. No raging redness. Since he had the cough for more than a couple days she wanted to get a look at his lungs to make sure it wasn't pneumonia. So off to x-ray we went. And those two little x-rays were clear as day.

To make to rule out anything else? The Bear is now on a 10-day regiment of antibiotics. And I'm tying in the Motrin/Tylenol mix in there to keep his temperature down.

Thankfully he was definitely feeling a little better. The yuckiness that comes with a raging fever is gone.

But y'all? I'm tired. Instead of sleeping through the night? The Bear woke up at 3:30am. He'd been asleep since 9:30pm and so the Tylenol/Motrin combo had worn off. The fever was building back up. So he felt yucky. And AWAKE. He was ready for a chatfest at 3:30am after he took Motrin and some cough syrup. Yeah. He wanted to stay awake and TALK!

Uhh....that was NOT going to happen. Because I? I had only laid down at 11:30pm. That means I'd only had 4 hours of sleep so far. And I was set to wake at 6am. This Mommy wanted to fit at least 1 more hour of snooze time. But who could do that with a chatty feverish kid?

I got maybe 45 minute of light sleep before my alarm went off.

So I went off to work. TIRED. What a way to face a full day of work.

But I made it through. With a forbidden cup of regular coffee under my belt. Y'all remember that I'm no longer supposed to drink caffeinated drinks? I must say that the coffee definitely did give me the extra oomph I needed to get through my day. Yes. That ONE cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, my visit to Urgent Care isn't going to be my last visit to see a doc this week. I'm headed out again tomorrow morning to see another doc. Again!

Right now I'm working on getting the last bit of sustenance into my system. I had a pretty big dinner (for me) -- 2 servings of shrimp & veggie pasta with a side of strawberries. I'm also loading up on my water intake. I've got to keep hydrated. Why? Because I am not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight tonight. I can't eat OR drink anything until after my visit to the doc to get an Upper GI done.

The first thing I get to drink tomorrow? A yummy barium drink. Oh yeah! Don't you just want to be in my shoes?

Hopefully the docs will find something. Something that'll explain this freaking heartburn that isn't getting any better with the various meds I've been prescribed since February. [sigh]

Anyone else keeping lots of time at the docs this week?
Posted by Grace at 9:13 PM No comments:

