Time To Run

Last Friday, in my quest to buy an interesting present for a friend's birthday, I dragged my kids to some cute little boutiques in the old part of town. I had Jordan in his carrier and let Lexi roam free. Even though this is not my preferred way to shop, little boutiques don't tend to keep the aisles clear for strollers.

In the first store, Lexi had to point at everything and make comments. By the time we made our way around the store, the ladies at the register were snickering. They told me that she is quite the talker. I just laughed & said, "Yes, she is non-stop!"

We went into the second place & it was pretty much the same thing, except that they had several breakable items so I had to keep reminding her not to touch. There was a group of well dressed women (baby boomer age) having a meeting in the middle of the store. I think they owned it. I did my best to keep the volume of Lexi's chatter down with no amount of success. Somehow, I found a gift and got us all to the front. As we were leaving, Lexi turned to the ladies to say good bye and make this announcement, "I have caca in my panties!" They all stared at me over their posh reading glasses even though Lexi had given them a HUGE smile.

It is one of those moments when you realize the best thing to do is politely nod and say, "With that, it is time to go." I am glad that I don't have any reason to go back there for a while!

Not an IT Girl

I have disappeared from the blogging world for the past two weeks because I remembered how much I hate computers. For the most part, they are fine or even great, but when it comes to IT stuff...YUCK! I have been working on getting hooked up to the servers at work. I ordered a static IP, had to changed modems, fought with getting the firewall installed, and spent a million hours talking to tech support. Everything is finally doing what it should and I am praying that I don't have to go through all this again when we move.

Speaking of that, we have a contract on the new place. Yippee!! We are supposed to close around April 15th. I have also realized just how wonderful our realtor is. She is doing everything, even stuff I should be taking care of. Maybe some people prefer to be more involved, but with everything going on right now...I love it!

Put an Offer

Besides being slammed with work this week, taking care of kids, trying to clean the house, etc., we realized that the time for our lease is drawing near and we needed to get serious about buying a place. Fortunately, one of the places that we have had our eyes on recently was put up for sale. Even better, they had an open house last Saturday. The place has some perks we didn't even know about like a $4500 air and water filtration system. I have spent the last few days working with a mortgage broker, looking at several of the places we were interested in, coordinating with the realtor, and finally making an offer (this morning). We are very excited about the place.

The only potential problem could be the timing. The sellers are about to have twin boys. They are due at the end of July, but will probably come the middle of June, which is when we are interested in closing. They would like to close sooner. Seeing that they just put their house on the market, that seems odd to me, but they are fairly young and might not have thought this out completely or are not exactly sure what babies (especially twins) and selling a house entails.

We'll find out this evening what they decide. While we want this one, there is one almost exactly like it (same floor plan) that will be on the market tomorrow. We got a sneak peek this morning and it is very nice too. I told the realtor that we would just go for that one if this doesn't work out. They are both just around the corner from us.

Back in the Saddle

Those of you who read my last post may have guessed that my old boss called & offered me a part time job. Apparently, they have not been happy with the way marketing has been handled since I left. I will only be taking on the part of the job that I truly enjoy though, which is creating proposals. I will not have to do a lot of research or mingling.

Today was my first day back, I guess. I had a telephone conference with several people in the office to go over our roles. To prepare for the call, I put a movie on for Lexi. I knew I needed a little quiet time and that would be the best way. About 10 minutes into it, she started screaming her head off (in a non-hurt way). I had to ask them to give me a minute and let me call them back. Apparently, in my haste, I had forgotten to take her to the potty and she had an accident. Oops. I'll add that to the check list.

Fortunately, they love kids and I have worked for them for 5 years, so it wasn’t embarrassing. Can you imagine starting off a new job like that? Of course, I didn’t mention the reason I had to call them back. However, I did let them know that they will have better luck getting more of my attention in the afternoon when she is napping/enjoying quiet time. That is when I plan to do the bulk of the work. Hmm...planning that is the thing that used to work before I had 2 kids.

Let the games begin.

The Winds Are Changing

Starting the week off with a kidney stone could have been a sign that life was about to shift. The obvious sign that I need to start paying closer attention to my body was the first one. By refocusing on my health kick goal from New Years, I'll be sure to take a vitamin everyday and eat a little healthier so that a calcium deficiency never beats me up again. Pregnancy & breastfeeding aren't exactly easy on women. Besides the pain, I have decided to quit slacking and really work to get the baby weight off. In January, I talked the talk and seriously thought about it, but have failed to follow through. Yes - I sadly admit that I am the same weight that I was at the 6 week check-up. Exercise hasn't been the problem. I have been turning to sugar highs to combat lack of sleep. Fortunately, Jordan is finally improving with help from cereal.

Another change that I can't go into too much detail about, started with a phone call Monday night. I was offered a job working part-time from home doing something I know all about. The additional income will help with money things that have been on my mind like saving for college, 401k, a new vehicle for me in the future, mortgage payment, decent furniture, and life in general. It is just the amount of money that I figured would give us breathing room.

Because of that call, I have had to jump into action. I am making To Do Lists everyday to catch up on things that have been neglected. Getting them done now will help make working easier. I have also researched and found a good little mother's day out program for Lexi to start in the Fall. I am actually excited about it. She'll be going 2 half days a week. That should give me enough time to speed through work while entertaining Jordan. An evening or Saturday/Sunday may be necessary as well, but we'll see.

We'll I am off to go to playgroup and then run more errands ... Have a great weekend!

Dr. Pain

I have been in the hospital a total of 5 times:

1- when I was born
2- when Lexi was born
3- when Jordan tried to come early
4- when Jordan was born
5- last night

I am one of those silly people that only go to the doctor if I am on my death bed, so you can only imagine what it would take to get me to go to the emergency room at midnight. Apparently, a tiny (4mm) kidney stone will do the trick. The pain had gradually been building all weekend. I seemed to be able to manage with a couple of Tylenol though. That was until 10:30 last night. I kept waiting for the Tylenol to kick in, but no such luck. I also tried toughing it out until morning. There is a reason that most people compare this pain to giving birth. However, I would rather give birth because something wonderful results from the pain. It is also easier to have a positive attitude about babies.

So, our fun night started with me waking Steve up to tell him I couldn't handle the pain anymore. I struggled to put Jordan in his carseat and gather a few things, while Steve grabbed Lexi out of bed. Steve rushed there and dropped me off at the door. I walked in thinking that I was glad they had all my information and hoping the paperwork would be quick. Unfortunately, the computers were down. Steve parked and brought the kids in. After suffering in the waiting room for a half hour, the triage nurse talked to me and took blood then arranged a room for me. I was also given a CT scan. We sat around for a long time. I nursed Jordan and waited for strong pain medication.

In the end (3am), they just gave me a prescription and sent me on my way knowing full well that I was in lots of pain. Couldn't they have slipped me one pill? We had to find 24 hour pharmacy & wait for the pharmacist to do her magic all while dragging two little ones around. I decided it would be easier to lay down in the parking lot & have Steve run me over with his truck, but he refused.

All the fun bubbled over into today. I have had very little sleep, have taken pills that make me drowsy, have a cranky toddler, have a very unhappy baby that does not want to drink formula while I am drugged, and on top of that I have to spend the next few days trying to get this stone out of me. Yippee! The truck idea is sounding really good.

Happy Easter!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter! We are having a wonderful weekend with our adopted Texas family. Yesterday, Lexi and the other kids had an Easter Egg Hunt and then we all ate pizza. This evening, we are gathering together for a big Easter Dinner. What a perfect weekend.

Randomly Spewing

There are various things/topics I have been considering for posts, but it isn’t always easy to remember any of them when I sit down at the computer. I also don’t usually have two hands free to type with. Fortunately, I am somewhat proficient at typing with one hand thanks to working at home during the first few months after Lexi was born. This morning, my mind is in a daze so I’ll just spit out some of the random ideas.

1. Recently, I was in a group of women that highly recommended the book Twilight as well as the rest of the series. They seem to worship the writer. I just smiled and listened because I hardly ever find time for reading. Several days later, one of them handed me a copy of the book to read. I picked it up and was completely engrossed. It is one of those books that draws you in. I know that means it is a great book, but that just makes me want to get the experience over more quickly. Thankfully, I finished reading it and can try to catch up on things like blogging and cleaning. Perhaps, I will wait to read the next book in the series when Jordan is sleeping through the night.

2. Last night, I caught a news clip on 20/20 about a family I used to babysit for when I was 14 years old. The wife had and affair and decided to confess to her husband. He went insane and started spreading lies about the affair with everyone they knew. Then he asked his brother-in-law to find a hitman. Of course, he went to the police & they set him up. They taped the meeting and showed it on tv. I was surprised to catch the clip because it aired several years ago.

3. (On that same topic) When I heard what the husband was saying and saw the intense way he easily lied, it reminded me of my parents’ divorce. Not that my mom cheated on my dad, but he became obsessed with telling everyone they knew ridiculous lies and making himself believe them. Now that I have moved back here, I see their friends quite often. I have been privileged to hear more about his insanity. Apparently, he actually told people that she was an internet porn star. In the Mormon community, that is a HUGE insult. I have to admit that it made me laugh. At the time, she was a 45 year old mother of 5. It is sort of a compliment.

4. I think girls make worse toddlers. They seem to hit the terrible twos earlier and harder. On the plus side, they are easier to potty train.

5. It must be difficult to come home to a cranky wife that has been dealing with a toddler that is just sick enough to be whining about everything. An evening meeting and bad traffic probably help the situation by prolonging the torture. Of course, nothing happened to make the think of this... but he did say he would be home on time tonight.

How Green Is Too Green?

Lately, a lot of the international news has focused on the ramifications of using corn for fuel. We have also heard that the broken incandescent light bulbs practically require a Hazmat team for clean up. I guess I would consider myself fairly environmentally conscious. Who isn't, right? We recycle, always seem to produce less trash than our neighbors, and do other general things. I truly believe that every one of us needs to find better ways for almost everything we do. The drive to be better should never end.

However, I must admit that since the jury is out on some items I don’t feel at all bad about not jumping on every environmental band wagon, especially this one: cloth diapers and cloth pads. I know some people swear by them, but I refuse to believe that they are not more of a pain than their disposable counterparts. I will happily salute anyone who goes to that length for our environment, but sadly I am just not convinced that this particular sacrifice is worth it. In fact, I feel sorry for women in countries like Cuba and Haiti where they don't have an option. Of course, their cloth products are nothing compared to the posh ones available here.

If anyone is looking to start a charity, there is your idea. Raise money to send advanced cloth products to countries where they desperately need them. Some good should come out if it all. Unfortunately, I am just way too private/shy about all things female to do it myself the project would tank. This post is about as close as I come to discussing these topics that are taboo for me. I chalk it up to being raised with 3 brothers.

Coupon Challenged

The biggest challenge about being a SAHM is living with less money. I have been noticing how my friends deal with it and I am pretty impressed by their shopping expertise. When it comes to clothes, I am good at finding bargains and shopping around. Groceries, however, are another story.

Considering the fact that there has always been a big black hole that eats up my shopping list between the time I write it and the time I walk in the door of the store, it is no surprise that coupons are also difficult for me to handle. I can clip them out of the newspaper. Sometimes I can even remember to take them to the store with me. If there is more than one though, I cannot seem to give them to the cashier.

Last weekend, I got the closest ever. The list and the coupons made it through the whole shopping experience. As I was walking to the front, Jordan started crying. He was hungry, so I rushed to wrap it up. I felt bad for him, so I picked him up. In the process of trying to unload the food onto the conveyor belt, pay and reload the bags into the cart while holding him and entertaining Lexi, I forgot that the coupons had been shoved into my pocket. I didn’t remember them until the food was in the trunk and we were ready to take off.

I guess I will continue to clip coupons and make an effort, but I have realized that I am truly coupon challenged.