So, now that I’ve moved spaces, not posted all summer and lost all my readers I’ve decided it’d be a good time to restart blogging. Niiice. I may move back to blogger soon, though. While I like some features of wordpress, there are some things I really liked better on blogger. Or maybe I’ll just try out a whole new site.
The boys are back in school and we are going full throttle with activities in the afternoons. Yesterday Luke had both guitar lessons and flag football practice. tonight he has scouts. Tomorrow, they both have scouts and Spencer has flag football Friday. Next weekend Spencer starts in on Robotics Club at the school, which at least is free and right after school. However, it just happens to be on the same night as Luke’s guitar and football. I’m going to need medication to get thru the fall, I tell ya!
In other news, I’m freelancing just enough to say I am and not enough to help pay the bills. Which means I need to find a parttime job soon. Or just get more creative with saving money. Or win the lottery. Or have a rich relative I didn’t know die and leave me some cash. Kidding. Sort of.
Can I just admit here that the main reason I’m thinking of moving back to blogger is actually that I don’t like the screen that comes up when I’m adding a new post. I find it too high-techy and unnerving. Hmmm. Surely that can be changed!
Mom and Dad were in town this weekend and we took them to the Gospel Sunday Brunch at Stubbs. It’s an easy outing that makes everyone happy because Mark will go anywhere for barbecue, Mom and Dad like gospel music and like having something “exciting” to brag about to their friends back home, and they have fried catfish and biscuits and gravy for the boys to eat. Honestly at this point in my life if no one is crying, yelling or telling me I look like hell, none of which I could hear over the music if they were, I’m a happy camper.
So, Sunshine actually got up on the stage and sang with the gospel group. He didn’t just stand there and look around either – he sang into the microphone loud enough to be heard! I was so proud. I never had the nerve to do stuff like that as a kid. I so wish I’d had a camer!
It was all in all a nice visit. I think Mom was so stressed about her medical issues she forgot to be OCD about everything. She didn’t mop the floor once the whole time. Which I’m not sure how I feel about that since I was hoping to get a little cleaning done while she was here. Oh well. They’re on the South Beach diet and that about drove me crazy. Apparently they no longer eat fruit, eat very few veggies, eat no bread, but eat lots and lots of meat. Blech. For some reason I thought you could have veggies and some bread on that diet, so I think they are taking it to an extreme.
In other news, I’m doing some actual paid work for the next month or so and may not have alot of free time to post until June or so. And I won’t have much time then since I’ll be helping with cub scout camp and vacation Bible school and trying to keep my kids from sending me to the loony bin. Oh yeah, and having two birthday parties back to back that month. That’s of course, all contingent on if I get the part-time job I applied for. In which case I have no idea what I’ll be doing with said kids or about said camps. Add in that I may or may not be spending some time out in Midland helping out if Mom does have to have colon surgery. Anyway, as summer approaches, my life is spinning out of control. In retrospect, I’ll likely be posting profusely, but it may not make much sense.
So, I’m sitting here waiting for my dr. to call back about an “emergency” appointment with an allergist because of my hives that won’t go away and my mom calls. They’re coming in next weekend and thought they should let me know that 1. Dad has a staph infection on his legs, but he’s on on antibioticsexpects the infectino to be gone by the time he gets here so not to worry. 2. Mom has precancerous cells on her colon and is going to Houston the day after they’re here for a second opinon since her dr. is recommending pretty radical surgery. Ugh. Lovely. Gonna be a fun year. Hopefully Dr. E will get me sorted out at least and I’ll just have to worry about the old folks.
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Filed under: Uncategorized
So, Mark wipes down the kitchen countertops once in, I don’t know, maybe a year? Here’s where you think I’m going to complain about his lack of help around the house, but he does do other stuff, so that’s not quite where I’m going with this.
This morning, I was going to the evil Walmart to get some dog food because it’s honestly the only place I can reliably get the kind we need. And with a 16-year-old dog with stomach issues, let’s just say we MUST have the exact same cans we always buy. It is not negotiable. Trust me. Anyway, I ask Mark if he needs anything.
“Yeah, can you get some of that antibacterial kitchen cleaner?”
Sounds innocent enough, but *I* use a homemade organic cleaner and have for quite some time. And yet, we have 3, yes 3 bottles of kitchen cleaner in the kitchen cabinet. MMMMkay, I’ll do that so now we’ll have four never-used bottles of cleaner.
Let’s take a look in here. *I* am the one who usually mops the floor. I use vinegar and have a 1/2-full bottle. Oh, but wait, here’s some mop and glow. And a generic version of mop and glow. And some special cleaner for the laminate flooring….
Shall I go on?
So, I didn’t buy any new cleaner, but I did move the stuff we already have to the front of the cabinet. Who knows, maybe he’ll wipe down the counters tonight to prove he uses the stuff.
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I meant to post about this a week or two ago when I first read about it, but something happened and I never got around to it. Sunshine has been on Singulair for his asthma and allergies for about a year now and it’s really been a wonder drug for him. He hasn’t needed his rescue meds once since he started the Singulair.
That was until I read this and freaked out and took him off it. See, the son of a couple I know well attempted suicide not too long ago, so I’m more than a bit senstive to this risk. Their son survived his attempt, but not without longstanding consequences. He’ll never be the same again. So, you can see I’m touchy about this issue.
I’m now rethinking that choice because to be honest, I’m starting to think the Singulair did affect his mood, but in a positive way. He’s been just plain impossible the past week or so. What we call his “anxiety issues” are starting up again in a big way. And he’s waking up every morning with puffy eyes. Coughing half the night. We’ve tried going back to Zyrtec, but that never really worked for him. Three other meds we’ve tried had very obvious side effects we weren’t willing accept. So, as of tonight Sunshine will be back on the Singulair. I found this article comforting and think I need to rely on my instincts with this one. That Mommy gut feeling tells me that Singulair was really helping asthma boy and he needs the stuff to breathe.
Still, I felt I needed to post about all this just in case some who’ve heard me proclaim the wonders of Singulair hadn’t heard it. Truth in advertising and all that.
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I don’t even try to compare Superman’s kindergarten class to way back in the dark ages when I was in kindergarten, but things have even changed since Sunshine was in kinder just 3 years ago. Just after Christmas, they started having spelling tests. Easy words, but still… spelling tests in kindergarten?!?
Here is what Superman brought home today:
Directions:
1. Your child has been assigned an insect. Please help your child research facts about his/her insect. (Please only do the assigned insect.) The research can be from books, a magazine or a reliable Internet source.
2. Your child is to fill out the information they have learned using the attached sheet. It is very important that your child write the report him/herself. Attach a picture, drawing, or cut out of your insect to the top of the paper.
3. Make a model of your insect using homemade materials. You can use egg cartons, toilet tissue tubes, pipe cleaners, etc. Have them label key features of the insect, including head, thorax, abdomen and antennae. Finally plase have your child practice reading the report as we will share it and introduce our insects to the class.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Assigned insect: HORSEFLY
Hmmm, so it’s not just a research project, it’s a research project and oral report. I don’t know whether to laugh it off or call and ask if we somehow accidentally got the homework from the second grade class. lol
In other news, we went to the awards assemblies at school. Somehow all of Superman’s illnesses were either before or after the last nine week so he managed to get perfect attendance. Go figure.
Sunshine raked in the awards. He got perfect attendance (I swear those teachers must sometimes forget to check the roll!), Academic Excellence, A Honor Roll, (No, I do not know the difference between Academic Excellence and A honor roll. Wanna take a stab at it?) and the ROAR Award. (ROAR stands for something I can’t remember but is essentially for good behavior.) Mark has been threatening ever since we got the note about it to call and have them note on the award that it is only for behavior at school b/c he’s been a pain in the you know what at home lately.
Now, I’m off to find some missing video game so Sunshine and his friend will leave us alone.
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I’ve been working on my spring planting the past few weeks. I tried to wait until after Easter and for the most part, I did. I think I’m almost done. So far I’ve planted about a dozen pots of various shade tolerant plants for the front yard – camellias, iris, mint, mock orange, impatiens, snapdragons and a few plants whose names I forget but had tags that said they’d do well in the shade. Now I just have to buy the water feature I have my eye on and I’ll be ready to post photos of this year’s new and improved landscape!
We’ve revised our backyard “vegetable” garden quite a bit. Both Mark and I are tired of spending hours keeping pests away from the tomatoes only to have them ripen while we’re on vacation. So, this year we decided to not plant anything that would require netting, stakes or cages. So far we have some herbs, a variety of peppers, broccoli rabi, Swiss chard and strawberries.
I also planted some sunflower seeds around the yard in sunny locations. Wish me luck that they will get enough sun to grow. And more importantly that my darling weed whacker doesn’t whack them before they get a chance to grow. If all goes well I’ll have some photos to share in a few weeks. And some veggies to eat in a month or so!
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We had a great Easter last weekend. I helped out with the neighborhood Easter egg hunt and the boys had a blast hunting eggs. They got enough candy for a small army of children and even let me take their picture with the bunny. Unlike the bunny at the local mall, ours didn’t get arrested or have any wierd freak outs. Maybe next year. I thought I’d share a few pictures to commemorate the events!
(Aren’t the little girls next to him holding hands just too, too cute? I’m going to have to pass this one along to their moms!)
He was moving so fast I had to use the sports setting on this one. And I still barely caught him because I couldn’t keep up!
Incidentally, the boy next to him is the brother of the girl next to Superman at the egg hunt. Just in case you needed to know that for a trivia quiz or something. (Hey- who knows what I might do on this blog?)
