Yeah, me too

Kids Room

Ok, I know I said a couple of weeks ago, I was going to clean the clutterfrom the kids room.  Well the day I wrote that post, I didn’t do it.  I know, just get over it.  I meant to and did go look in the room.  Stood there for a moment, then decided to clean the bathtub instead.   I did get the floors vacuumed first however.

Yesterday I did it.  I came home from taking them to school, saw Bud on his way.  Then started the gruesome task.  The reason I decided to actually jump in yesterday was because I was laying in bed.  You know when you are kinda half awake and half asleep?  Well I was in that fog of 1/2 and 1/2.  And for some reason, I was thinking about cleaning it up.  I don’t know why, but I started feeling really guilty about that room.  And so when I got up I kept telling myself that it had to be done. 

So, like I said, I jumped right in.  I had things piled up all over the house.  Little piles of books, stuffed animals, Lego’s, planes, jewelry, dirty clothes, etc.  After 8 hours minus lunch, I had it half way done.  3 big lawn garbage bags full of junk, broken toys, and just trash I was only half way done.  I still need to get under the beds and in the closet.  Arrgghh.  Then I will be done.  So today when I get finished with this post, I’m going back to the battle field to finish the job. 

I know, I have to be a horrible mother to let it get so bad.  Oh I feel like I’m up for the Worst Mother Of The Year Award.  I’m going to win it. 

Book Fair Anyone?

This week has been really hectic, so sorry about the pause in posting.  This week the kids school held a book fair.  They do this every year.  This is the first year I have been able to help out.  Let me tell you, if you have never participated in anything like this, you are missing out.  I had the best time.  What happens, is, this company brings all of these books, and I mean “alot” of books to the school.  They bring the shelves and all kinds of things.  Book-markers, pens, notepads, erasers and such.  The PTO pulls this all together and it is an amazing program.  As a volunteer, you help set up the books, there are hundreds of books.   The week before, papers are sent home with the kiddos so that parents can help them pick out some books they might like.  There are order forms for them to choose from.  When Monday comes, the classes take turns coming to see the books and either pick from their list or browse around to see and read or look at the pictures in the books  themselves.  They are also allowed to fill out a “wish list” to take home in hopes of coming back the next day for the book they want.   This would last for 3 days.  Monday thru Wednesday.

Each class gets about 20 mins, to browse.  Of course the pre-k and kindergarten need a little help to decide and that is where the work comes in.  I had such a blast helping the little one decide.  The aww factor they all have at the sight of so many good books is just inspiring.  The glossy covers with the colorful pictures just pulls their minds and is wonderful to watch. 

Sally wants the one about the fairy’s and Johnny wants the one about the dinosaurs.  The books were not expensive.   And I think all of them  got at least one.  Some got 4 or 5.  Just to see their faces as they left for their classroom with their new books was so cool.  So if you ever get the chance to help out with something like this, do try it.  I know I will be back next year.

Thank You Bud

Hope you all had a wonderful VDay yesterday.  I did.  I had a wonderful one.  Bud is the sweetest man.  I won’t say why, but just let me tell you, he is a sweetie.  Normally he has this “gruffness”, “hardness” about him.  But this week he has been especially understanding.  All week I have been feeling ”out of sorts”.  He has been really busy  as one of the guys at the shop has been sick.  Every night he has come home dog tired.  Yet he has made time to talk to me. 

Yesterday was a busy day for him as usual, but he still took time out for me.  He knows me and I know him and I know that the time he gave me yesterday meant something.  Took alot for him.  So I say thank you Bud for yesterday. 

The kids parties at school were alot of fun and a needed break from reality for me.  I had the best time with them, Nosey’s was around 10:30 am and Noisy’s was at 2:00pm.  I really enjoyed watching the kids interact with each other and visiting with the teachers.  My hat is off to the teachers of the world.  You guys rock.

Today however I am back to being me.   Time to come out of the clouds of Valentines Day and get back to reality. 

I am accident prone,  I am clumsy, and it is a “blue eyed miracle” that I have even made it to 41.  I drop things, run into things, and fall.  All my life I have had to learn to be careful when I do anything.  Ha, but still things happen. 

This morning after taking the kids to school and going to town for things for the weekend, I get home and gather up the laundry.  This is a simple task.  Nothing too risky there.  Our laundry room is outside about 10 yards from the house.  So I am walking out the door with not one, but two baskets full of clothes I hope to get done with before the end of the day, and fall. 

I fall off the concrete steps, there are two, onto our concrete carport.  Laundry flies everywhere.  I smack my head, of course I hit the left side of my ear and skull on this surface that is cold, wet and HARD.  Talk about stars, I had cluster bombs going off. 

As I was falling, in slow motion, I was thinking, “Oh shit, here comes the lightening”.  And as I hit, I could feel the crack of my noggin all the way to my feet.  Of course I just knew that I was going to have a TN moment.  But the strange thing was, I didn’t.  The only thing that hurt was my ear and head.  I cannot believe that this didn’t trigger an episode.  Of course the day is still early so I expect to have caused some damage.

Don’t suppose I could get so lucky as to have shaken my brain enough to be cured now.  Could I?? 

Big Ole VDay Tommorrow

 

Yep, Tommorrow is VDay.  I hope you all have a good Valentines Day.  I hope you get some Luv and give some Luv.   The world needs more of it. 

I haven’t been in the best of moods this week.  Still not much better today.  This is a hard time of year for me and for those of you who know me, know why.  I’ll not go into it. 

One thing that takes my mind off of things is School Parties.  Yep.  Another one.  Just like with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am helping with the parties again.  Baking the cookies, getting the goody bags together and doing all the “fun” stuff. 

So I just wanted to say while I have a moment… Happy Valentine’s Day Guys.  Love Ya

Is It My Turn Yet??

Here I am again.  At home while everyone else is somewhere else.  Kids are at school, Bud is at work.  I am here.  I want a part time job, I want to get to go somewhere other than to the grocery store.  I want to get out and see what is going on in the world.  I feel so left behind.  So left out.  I have to stick to a schedule everyday.  I am getting burn out. 

I know everyone does.  But people that work at least get to get out to go to work.  I hate staying at home sometimes.  I see the same stains on the wall, walk the same paths everyday.  Do the same things.   Can I have a break?  I need a haircut, I need some jeans with out holes in them.  I need some new shirts that don’t have holes or bleach stains on them.  I need some socks that fit. 

I say all this and I want all this, but instead of going to get these things, I wait and spend the money on the kids.  All I want to know is “When is it my Turn??”

Not Having a Good Day?

Me?  I usually don’t have time to realize that I am having a bad day.  Today however, I am having a bad day.  It’s cold outside here in East Texas.  It’s windy outside.  I don’t want to be here in this house today.  I don’t want to do anything.   I am kinda squirking some of my jobs today.  I am taking a time out shall we say.  I am doing nothing but reading some new blogs. 

One in particular I would like to share with you is one about Failing.  If you are having a bad day, this should cheer you up.  Come  on, click it, you know you want to….

FailBlog

I must warn you that some of this pics are graffic, as in the little animals, but some are truly funny 

You Asked for It

A Typical Monday  
This is how I spend my Mondays.  For those of you who ask me, “What is it that you do all day?”  Here is your answer.
 
Disclaimer:  This post may be very boring and take a lot of time to read.  It is very detailed and exact, so prepare yourself for a long read.  Remember this is my day and I leave nothing out.  Not one thing, people.  Nothing.  Read at your own risk.

06:30 –  Get out of bed, start coffee, administer meds.  Get dressed.
07:00 –  Get kids up and dressed.  Pour first coffee for Bud and I.  Urge kids to eat.  Drink a few drinks of coffee, urge kids again to eat and stop playing.   Make lunches.  Again, urge kids to eat or finish up.  Wash faces, including mine.   Teeth brushing for kids.  Comb Nosey’s hair, style Noisy’s hair, (ponytail).  Get backpacks and lunches altogether.  Hug Bud for the morning.  (we hug every-time we leave each other for awhile)  (every-time). 
07:45 –  Off for school.
08:10 –  Me time…. Sit outside and smoke 1 1/2 cig and drink a few drinks of my (cold) coffee.
08:20 –  Sort laundry – 5 loads
08:30 - Head to laundry room, (which is not in the house, but outside in shed).
08:45 -    Prep bathroom for cleaning.  Next start kitchen, pick up cereal from floor and chairs, put dishes in sink, all dishes.  Clean up coffee pot, wipe out fridge, put away clean dishes.  Mandatory bathroom break, back to kitchen to wash dishes, wipe counters, and table.  Sweep floor.
09:00 - Make beds
09:10 –  Trash detail, pick up toys from living room and straighten up.  Get vacuum ready,
09:20 –  Take a drink of still cold coffee from earlier.  Prep self for trip to town.  Brush hair, brush teeth 1st time for day.  All this mentally preparing list for town.  Transfer mental list to paper.  Stand still for a few seconds to make sure nothing is forgotten.
09:25 –  Gather up keys, wallet, cell phone, shoes.  One more drink of cold coffee.  Grab kids jackets that I forgot this am.
09:30 –  Check lists, lights, door and anything else like fire hazards.
09:31 –  Out to laundry room to switch laundry and smoke 1/2 a cig
09:35 –  Off to school for jackets
09:40 - Take jackets into office of school
09:42 - On to town. 
09:57 –  Bank  
10:01 –  Pharmacy 
10:02 - Grocery store.  (small town so everything is close together)
10:15 - car wash 
10:20 - Back to pharmacy to pick up
10:40 - Back home, unload car, put away items, pop frozen sausage bisquit in microwave, replace paper towels on rack, eat breakfast.
10:50 - Out to laundry room to switch laundry again.  Check animals water bowl on the way back in house with first load to fold. 
11:10 – Turn on The View to “listen to while working”. Start on bathroom.  Real cleaning this time. Toilet, sink, tub, floors, mirrors.
11:30 –  Vacuum bathroom, living room, bedrooms, and kitchen.  Not even really good, just a quick run through.
11:45 - Put away vacuum, pop lunch in oven, (left over from last night).  Get table set for lunch. Put away dishes washed from earlier.  Prepare salad for my lunch.
12:03 –  Shower Time.  But check on lunch in oven first to check progress.
12:10 - Bud calls to see what is for dinner.    
12:15 –  Realize no time for shower.  So I redo hair, rebrush teeth, change shirt, add makeup this time.  Go outside to smoke a cig.  At last.
12:30 –  Fold first load of laundry, towels and put them in bathroom and kitchen for later storage. 
12:40 –  Bud arrives home as I am putting lunch on table.   We eat lunch.
12:55 –  Clear table and wash lunch dishes.  Feed dog. 
01:05 –  Next trip to laundry room to switch loads again
01:10 –  Fold second load of laundry. 
01:15 –  Sit down and watch Headline News with Bud.
01:45 -    Bud leaves for work.  Send trash out with him.  And see him off to work, with a hug.  Always.
01:50 -    Outside for a smoke.  Yes….
02:05 - Transfer notes to computer.
02:10 –  Prepare to go back to town and the bank….again, yes, something I forgot to do while there earlier. Gather up wallet, my shoes keys and head out the door.
02:15 –  Notice dead mouse on carport, needs to be removed before children get home.  Leave for bank.
02:30 –  Arrive at bank, take care of business. 
02:45 –  Back home, forgot to get Noisy’s meds.  This has  to be administered before we get out of school parking lot so that by the time we get home, she will be ready to go on homework.  I’ll explain that later.
02:52 –  Leave for school 
02:59 –  Arrive at school and wait in line. 
03:01 –  Kids in car.  
03:10 –  Home again, backpacks unloaded, homework taken out and ready. 
03:15 –  Snacks for kids, mom doesn’t get one.  Go over homework and get computer ready for spelling words.
03:25 –  Homework begins, one on computer doing spelling, the other on other homework or free time if no other homework.
03:45 –  Back to laundry room to switch loads……again.  

Ok I am going to spare you the rest.  Lets just say you know
 what I am talking about here.  So this is what a Monday is
 like for me.  Sucks doesn’t it.

Told you it was boring.
Also this post was prepared with my trusty note pad I carry every where with me.

Barkie Smarkie …. The Sheltie

 

I know I owe you guys the second part to Noisy Part One.  But I am still working on it.  I promise.

Today it’s about our dog.  His name is Barkie because, well, that’s what he does.  All the time.  Of course he is a Sheltie and those of you that have one know what I am talking about when I say he barks. 

Barkie came to us in the summer.  Some one either dropped him off or he got lost from his home.  Anyway he ended up here, with us.  When he came he had mange so bad that you couldn’t even tell what kind of dog he was.  But we nursed him back to health and he is just beautiful now. 

The thing is, sheltie’s have this have this big furry coat.  And in the winter, like it is now, they tend to have alot of fur.  Alot.  Well, he is no exception.  I have read a lot on this breed and they all say that they need to be brushed.  Quite often.  Well now I know why.  And let me tell you why.

Like some other dogs, he is deathly afraid of rain, thunder, and loud noises.  He mostly stays outside, but we let him in if it happens to be cold or if some of the previous occurrences mentioned happen. 
 
Now that he is getting really furry, he needs to be groomed and I just haven’t done it.  I am not sure how to begin.  But I do know that he needs some grooming around the back side.  Just from causal looking, we can tell that he needs a good trimming and washing.  If you know what I mean.  Hey, he can’t do it himself.  There is too much hair there. 

So, knowing the weather is about to change for the worse again, thunderstorms I mean, I had a job to do today.  Go back there and see if I could clean up the “area” so he could come inside when the thunder, or lightening or whatever is supposed to happen, happens.

Let me tell you something.  I have never, ever cleaned that much poop in my life.  Sure, babies poop.  Babies poop alot, but it doesn’t get stuck to the back side.  It took two pairs of rubber gloves, 6 or 7 old wash rags and a pair of scissors to get the “area” ready for the thunderstorms.  Let me tell you something else about shelties.  When they go from 15 lbs to 35 lbs, they have a hard time turning over from a laying position.  Which was the position we started from.  We also tried the standing position, but it didn’t seem that his tail was made to stay in the upright position that I needed it to, to be able to get to the place I needed to be. 

Lets just say it wasn’t pleasent for neither one of us.  He didn’t like me much after the job, and hey I can’t say as I much blame him.  I wouldn’t like anyone coming at my rear with wash rags, rubber gloves and scissors either.  But we got through it and now when the storms come, he can be comfortable inside.  I can be comfortable knowing that he will not be dropping surprises around the house.

Morale of this story??
If you have a sheltie, please groom your sweetheart.  They will thank you later, and you won’t have to pick up surprises during a storm.

By the way, I found a cool website.  Its all about the Sheltie….check it out

Sheltie Nation

Noisy – Part One

I am going to write about something today that I rarely write about.  ADHD.  This is something I deal with every day but know very little about.  I should know a lot about it because it has been apart of our lives for a long time.  But even with all the research I have done, things I have read, and the people I have talked to, I am still learning.

Noisy, my daughter, has always been somewhat different pretty much all of her life.  She was always so sweet, and fragile but very active.  She loves to be the center of attention and is really funny.  She can make you laugh with her very out going personality.  I don’t mean silly, but very “on target”. She is always bouncing off the walls and always having fun.

When she turned 4, we started to notice a delay in her speech.  So I took her to a speech therapist until she started kindergarten.  It was in kindergarten that we learned she had ADHD.  Her teacher came to me about a month into school, and said she thought that ADHD might be a possibility because she had been having trouble getting into the routine of school.  She had given her time to get adjusted and should have been able to follow directions by this time. 

Since she didn’t go to pre-k, I thought maybe she just needed a little more time.  Her teacher assured me, that she needed to be evaluated.  Since her teacher had been a kindergarten teacher for a long time, I knew she knew what she was talking about.  She also told me she had 2 more children in the class that were diagnosed before school started and that it wasn’t something to be ashamed of.  So I started looking for a way to help my sweetie pea. 

I checked with her regular doctor and was sent to a behavioral therapist.  But when we went for the initial visit, I didn’t like him.  For some reason, I just didn’t like him.  I guess one reason I didn’t like him was, he told me that for the visits, he would have to spend about 30 minutes each time alone, with her, for “evaluation”.  I really, really didn’t like this at all.  So I went looking for another therapist.  I decided to call the place where we went for speech therapy and they gave me the name of a woman who they worked with.  So we went to see her.  She was a young lady and was wonderful. 

We continued to see her once a week for about a month and a half.  But the problems at school weren’t getting better.   Noisy kept getting in trouble, was sent to the office several times for the same kind of things.  She would do things like tearing the paper off crayons and shredding them.  Spilling her box of crayons so she could get down and pick them up.  She wouldn’t take turns going to the restroom and still had trouble with the everyday routines.

So after talking with the therapist, she gave me a referral to a therapist that deals mostly with children with ADHD.  I was very afraid that I might have to deal with something I had never wanted to face before.  But after talking with Noisy’s teacher everyday, and accepting that this might be something I needed help with, I called and made an appointment. 

Now, realize, that not only was she having trouble at school, she was a very trying child at home.  Loving and sweet as she was, she was still very difficult.  I thought that she just needed a little more attention, and I just had a tiger on my hands.  She would tear the stuffing out of her stuffed animals.  She would rip the leaves off plants and crumble them.  Several times, I would go to check on her at night and find she had snuck a magic marker into bed with her and had colored her whole body and the sheets and her pillows.  Nosey never did anything like the things she would do.  I still just thought this was her personality.

So, I decided this visit with this therapist, might be the thing to do.  When we went for the initial visit, he talked to me and asked me questions.  The whole time, he was watching her over in the corner playing.  After we discussed all that needed discussing, he told me that he understood and that everything would be ok.  He pointed out that I was very tense and that I kept checking on her too often.  I told him that I felt I had to incase she started tearing the paper off the walls.  There it was.  In the bottom of my stomach I realized, I was stressed out and really needed help. 

He diagnosed her with ADHD and gave me a list of options.  Herbal remedies to try, and went through a list of prescriptions to try.  He explained how they all work and let me decide where to go next.  To sum it all up, we chose the lowest dose, short acting.  He assured me that after the next day, I would see immediate change.  So we left and I took her home with me for the day.

He instructed me to give her the first dose the next morning before breakfast.  So when she was finished eating, I did.  I took her and Nosey to school that morning and told her teacher the news and she promised me to call me if there were any problems.  She told me they would watch her and make sure she ate her lunch.  I also went to the school nurse and visited with her and we talked about her second dose around noon.  She was also very kind and helped me understand that Noisy wasn’t the only one that was taking medication and that it helped the others very well. 

I have to tell you, I went home and cried.  I cried like a baby.  I was now an official mother of a child with a problem I had to help.  I was so scared that I had damaged this creature from God and that I was the worst mother on the planet.  What was I doing??  How could this be??  What if the medication made her zombie fied?? What if she died from the meds?  What if she went crazy and they had to restrain her??  What if??  What if??  I was lost.

I had a horrible day.  So when I went to pick my children up after school that day, I went to pick Nosey up first. I was terrified and had trouble walking to her classroom to talk to her teacher.  When I got there, she told me to let the kids play while we talked.  Oh my, here comes the bad news.  But guess what?  She had nothing but good to say.  She said that Noisy had done beautiful that day.  That she walked right into class and started her day perfect.  They whole day went perfect.  And as I watched her and Nosey play in the corner, my heart soared with love.  She was a calm child with her personality intact.  She was the child I knew was always there.  She was with it.  She was “on target”.

Part Two Coming Up