Back at Work

I am finally back to work after my crappy allergy/sinus/flu/coughing up a lung illness. I don't know exactly what it is, but I am covering all options by alternating medications for each. M, me, and S all have this. M has the worst cough and to be honest with you, it is absolutely irritating. S is just congested in her nose. Hopefully after resting for two whole days, I will start to get better. My boss told me that I don't have to work on Saturday after all... yeah! I am so excited about that. I don't really need to waste a whole day here on the weekend.

I still have not heard anything from the school I applied to in order to get my teaching certificate. Hopefully, I will in the next week or two. I would like to get started on that so that I can complete the program and apply for a position ASAP. Our "new plan" is for me to get a teaching job for the next school year (07-08). Then we will try to get pregnant around August so that I have the summer months to be at home with the new baby without having to take any leave. Being a working mom stinks... but I don't think I want to be a stay at home mom either. I need my space and adult interaction.

I am so glad that Fall is finally here. I love this time of year. M stayed at home with D this afternoon and he was supposed to get my Halloween decorations out. I am going to put them up this afternoon.

Whew!

We survived S's party! Ten little 6 year old girl showed up. It was absolute madness, but definitely entertaining. I wish my camcorder was working because I would have loved to share with all of you the giddy excitement that each of them expressed when she opened EVERY SINGLE present. It was nothing like I had ever seen or heard before. Girls, if you thought that we were ditzy back in our day, watch out. These girls of the future are nuts! A brother to one of the little girls was over for food and presents (he and H were going to stay the night at his house), I wish you could have seen the expressions on these boys faces when the girls were acting like this. My dad actually got up and went to sit on the front porch. M was making fun of them in this stupid airheaded tone, and the sad part is that they thought he was serious. D was just looking around like WTF, and H and Caleb just stood there gaping at what they thought had been taken over by aliens or something. I mean, I just cannot find the words to explain this. I personally loved it and thought it was the funniest thing that I had ever seen.

I thought that I was getting lucky around 8:30PM that night. By getting lucky, I mean the girls had finally settled down in the living room to watch a movie. I figured it would be the perfect time to catch up on my second season of Desperate Housewives before the third season premiered on Sunday. Well, that didn't last long. Boy, did we know when the movie ended. All the shrieking and excitement started all over again. Only this time I found myself walking into S's room with what looked like 10 midget hookers. OMG!! They had gotten into the makeup. And I don't mean this cheap play stuff that they have for little girls. I mean that they got into MY makeup. And I will be the first to admit that I don't bargain shop for my makeup. And might I mention that they were not just trying to apply it to look nice, they were COLORING their faces with it! Yes, coloring their FACES. I would not be the least bit surprised to see them with breakouts today. Lord help me. I told them to all go into the bathroom and wash it off before they got it all over their clothes and bedding. I told them that their mommies would not appreciate having to spend all day trying to scrub all of that off. Well, that does the trick for future reference. Always threaten with the mommies... which by the way, I had permission to do. Speaking of mommies, they all needed to call theirs before bed. Wow, that's crazy. You think that they had not spoken with them in a year. But whatever settles everyone down and makes them feel comfortable... I am all for it. I like it when S calls me. Actually H calls me a lot more than S does. He is always wanting to feel me in on what he did that day. Sometimes he even calls to tell about the trouble he got in that way I have time to calm down and think about it before I get home. My son is a wise young man!

Me, M, and S all got extremely sick yesterday. It's this sinus/allergy stuff and it has turned into a respiratory thing, I think. I burns to cough, to breathe, etc. The only thing that works for me is Tylenol Flu, but I cannot take that at work because it makes me go right to sleep. So, unfortunately I am going to have to try to make it until 5:30 today. I feel like crap already. I cannot breathe and I have the worst headache ever.

I need to get some new pictures put up on my post. I only get on here when I am at work, and all of my latest pictures are on my computer at home. I will try to get some on here, maybe tonight.

Take care!

Peace and Quiet... Will it Ever Come?

Do you ever feel like you just need a few minutes to breathe? I have been feeling that way for the past couple of weeks. Our schedules are so unbelievably crazy... I just want to stop for a minute and breathe. I've put S in dance now so that's just more to try to squeeze in. I'm just so tired right now. I cannot seem to catch up on anything this past week. Work is getting busier, I'm getting more stressed out being here, who knows. I just needed to vent!

I picked up D's prescription for his bites yesterday. He crashed last night at 6:30. I could not believe it. He slept all through the night too.

M and I cleaned up the back yard, the front yard, the carport, and when even cut down these hideous bushes in front of the house. I am so pleased with it. Now, that will give me the winter to dig up all of the roots and get the beds prepared for planting beautiful flowers in the spring. I am so excited about this! I just cannot decide what I want to plant, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I know we are going to at least get a rosebush because I promised S one.

Mosquitos from Hell

A few weeks ago D stayed at home with M. When I saw D that afternoon, he was covered in mosquito bites. They eventually became HUGE and RED. To say the least, I felt a little anger towards M because I thought he should have kept him indoors more or at least took notice before they became this bad. I was told to not put anything on them if they appeared to not be bothering D. Of course they weren't... he went about his own business as happy as could be. Now, after staying alone with M for 2 hours on Monday night, he is COVERED in mosquito bites again... from being outside. I counted 9 on him when we were in line at Wal-Mart last night. I took notice of how much they had grown by the time I got him in the bath. He has 4 big ones behind his little ears. They are HUGE and RED. This is really bugging me, and I can now honestly say that I am PISSED. He should not have all of these. I am going to call his pediatrician this morning to see if I can put anything on them. They do not appear to be bothering D, but I am hoping there is something that can be applied to the bites in order to calm down the redness and the swelling. I mean, they look like they should be killing him. I don't know how he is standing it. They are all over his little body.

Our pediatrician just called... he said that D is having an allergic reaction to the bites. He has called in a steroid cream to put on the bites. For all of you that have infants, he said that YES you CAN use Off for Kids. Just make sure to not let it set under the clothes as it can absorb too much into the skin. But yes, you can put the repellant on infants. This is good to know, now that mosquito season is tapering off.

Hello, Again

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. We have been so crazy busy with everyone's schedules. S's birthday is on Saturday (her party too) and I haven't even gone shopping for any of it. I'm still giving out invitations... I know... very bad, but I just have been way too busy. I'm going at lunch today to get party favors and decorations. M is meeting me with the boys after work so we can begin her present shopping. I'll finish that up on Friday because that is the next time that we are not bombarded with extracirricular activities. Oh, did I mention that her party is a sleepover... 10-12 screaming little 6 & 7 year old girls. I am going to be out of my mind. I am preparing tons of food and activites so maybe they will just stay busy until they crash. We did this last year and it actually went over very well. I'm looking forward to it again this year. Hopefully mommy will offer to watch D so that he doesn't stay up the whole night. It would be totally unfair to ask the girls to be quiet so that he can sleep. Even though his room is on the opposite end of the house from S's, so is ours and we could hear them clear as day last year. They are so funny when they think that an adult is not around to hear them. They try to act so grown up and know-it-all. It's way too cute, but I really hope to not have another girl.

H is doing wonderful! He is so "age appropriate." That's a new term that I learned last week from my girl friend Keri (mother of 3 boys). When she is asked how the boys are, she just says "they are age appropriate." I think that's a good way to express it. H is by no means a bad behaved child. In fact, he is one of the better ones that I have seen (I'm not just saying that because he is my son). But he does try to push his boundaries every once in a blue moon. He hates to clean up after himself, but I am so big into cleanliness and organization that he really doesn't have a choice. It's either do it or no TV and no friends over. So obviously he decides to clean.

D, on the other, may have a little more attitude than what is "age appropriate." He has a mind of his own... it either goes his way or no way. A little spoiled you ask, I say absolutely. He is spoiled by bubba and sissy, mommy and daddy, granny and papa, and anyone else that he comes into contact with. Do I regret it, not for a minute! But I guess I should be truthful and admit that all of our children are spoiled. That's just what we do. This is a question to anyone out there that has an infant: Does your child wear assorted sizes of clothes? D is 8 months old now, but he can wear anything from 0-9 months. Of course, some 0 months are way too small and some 9 months are way too big. It's weird. He's not small by any means. He was 28 inches long and 18 lbs 6 oz at this appointment in July. He has another one at the beginning of October. I'm anxious to see how much he has grown.

M and I are doing great. Always on the go. I'm ready to just slow down for a day or two, but it doesn't look like that it going to happen anytime soon. It's ok though because I love the life of a mommy... never a dull moment.

I'm still disliking my job tremendously. I should be hearing something about my teaching certification in about two weeks. I am sooooooooo ready to get started on that! My ideal situation would be to start teaching when school is back in session after Christmas break. The more logical solution will be that I won't get an available position until school starts back next Fall. That would be fine with me as long as I knew that eventually I will be out of here.

Have a good day everyone!

I Did It!

Well, I finally took the plunge. I applied for my teaching certificate courses. I should hear something in about a week. I am so excited. My heart is racing in anticipation! I am ready to get started. They sooner I am finished, the sooner I can apply at the school and get out of here! I was hoping to be out around the first of the year, but at the worst, I won't be leaving here until next summer. Hey, as long as I know that there is hope, I am fine with that. Well, that's all for now. Have a great weekend!

D Withdrawals

I don't know what has been going on lately, but I am having serious D withdrawals while I am away from him. Of course I love him and think that he is the most beautiful baby in the world, but it is getting harder and harder to be away from him. I find myself speeding to get home just to see him smile at me and start bouncing around as soon as I walk into the door. I get up in the middle of the night just to walk in there and stand beside his crib while he sleeps. I constantly think of him during the day. I pull up my pictures on my computer and look through all of them several times while I am at work (starting with his birth pictures on 7 January 06). I go through 8 months of pictures several times a day. It's crazy, I know. But I can't help it. I scoop him up as soon as I get home and I don't ever want to let him go. I cannot take my eyes off of him. My god, I never in my life would have imagined that motherhood would be so wonderfully rewarding. Even when my beautiful work clothes turn into squash stained homeless looking clothes, I love him even more at those times. When my hair style is held together with pears and apples, I think of how his eyes are so enchanting... They can hold me there for hours. I feel guilty coming to work because I should be there one with him all day. I feel guilty at his bedtime because I haven't got to spend enough time with him. I feel guilty when I let him get all wrinkled during his 30 minute bath because I love to just sit there beside the bathtub and watch him play. It amazes me that it amazes him to put all of his toys into the bucket and turn around and take them out. That has been his latest entertainment and I sit amazed that he thinks it's so cool. He used to think just sitting there smiling at me while sucking on his wash cloth was the coolest, but hey, I guess we all grow, don't we. I've gotten over my new baby fever because now all of my emotions are dedicated to my three lovely children.

Skipping ahead, I have decided to sign up for my teaching classes beginning in October instead of right now. Currently I am way too busy hating my job to faithfully concentrate on my new career training. Hopefully it will all work out well and quickly. I am wanting to ensure that all of my training is completed by December in case there are job opening over the Christmas break. That would be a dream come true to me. I am getting all excited just thinking about it. Gosh, I would love a new career, the constant interaction with people who actually think of something besides poking into other people's business and causing trouble, I would be working 12 miles closer to home, I could actually get off work in time to be there for all of H and S's sports and activities. Please be praying for because I am really hoping that it all works out!!

To Hell and Beyond!!

As some of you may already know, I DETEST my job. Actually, it's probably not really my job because to be honest with you, I don't even know what my job is. OK... let's start from the beginning:

On 2 June 2003, I begin working for the USAF under the Summer Hire Program.

On 1 October 2003, I got hired on for the Stay in School Program.

On 4 April 2005, I became a permanent position. Hired to be a Procurement Analyst under the 5-7-9 GS schedule. Well, this October, I will be promoted to a GS-07. I have yet to receive any training regarding my position that I have held for a year and a half. I have requested training on countless occassions. The reason that I am in this hell hole is because I constantly have to fill in for the Customer Service position. Well, to begin with that IS NOT MY JOB! It's not even close to being in my job description. There are others that technically are admin, but for some reason, I get stuck up here. It's not that I mind, I just feel so disrespected! It sucks big time! This is one of the major reasons that I decided money is not really an issue so why not become a school teacher. I've always wanted to, but my stuck up self always said that it didn't pay enough. Now, I dont' care about that. I just want something that makes me happy!

On a better note: I am going to get my hair done today! I am so excited. I think it has been about 7 weeks, and I am really in need of touch up. But today, I think that I am going to go blonder and more layers. We'll see once I get there. Maybe I will be able to post a picture later.

Until then...

Finally...

The week has come to an end! I didn't think that it would ever get here. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOATHE my job. I am so PO'd everyday. I literally sit on my rear and do NOTHING all day long!!!! I am signing up for my teaching classes next week. I am so excited. Tomorrow, we begin soccer at 8:00AM and we will finally finish up at 12:30PM. Whew, it makes me exhausted just to think about it. I am going to go by the movie store on the way home and see if they have anything interesting. M won't be home until 7:30 tonight. He promised to stay home all weekend and finish up some of the little things in the house. I am very grateful to get that done. Yesterday he kicked butt on our extremely large back porch. It had somehow become a trash dump for any and everything. He completely cleaned it off. I was so excited. Yes, finally we can have friends over for a Bar-B-Que. While he was doing that, D got 5 or 6 HUGE but bites. I was so pissed when I saw him yesterday. Then I read in the newspaper than OK has already had four deaths from West Nile. HELLO... I am freaking out here. Not only that, September is the worst time for bites, and September is also the month that most deaths occur according to the national health report. Yep, these are all of the wonderful things that I learn during the day while I am "working." Hell, if I got a real job, I wouldn't know anything!

Am I Awake?

OK... I am so tired! D did not go to sleep last night until 2:00AM (I have to wake up at 5:00AM and I didn't even get out of bed until 6:00AM). Our new puppy was up too. I was so frustrated that all I could do was cry. We have kid activities until 8:00PM on Mondays, 6:45PM on Tuesdays, 8:00PM on Wednesdays, and 6:45PM on Thursdays. Then we come home and cook, we eat dinner, we get D in the bath, I tell H and S to get their baths done while I put D to sleep. Then I finally get a chance to breathe.

Soccer has officially began. Don't look forward to us being around any day except Sunday. Do not stop by to visit me unannounced, and leave a message if I don't answer the phone immediately. Considering the soccer is all-time consuming, I have to make sure that all of my very few precious moments are spent breathing. Seriously, I've got to take a couple of weeks to get back into this routine. It is so crazy. Don't get me wrong... it is fun and I love it, but WOW does it take a lot out of you!

OH, my most important news of all time. I am getting my Teaching Certificate. I have decided that I am going to teach. I have always wanted to do it, but I was being petty and stuckup by just thinking that it doesn't pay enough. Well, that won't be a big deal when M's new job kicks in. So, I have decided to go ahead with it. I would like to teach 1, 2, or 3 grade. I hate working in this hell hole that I currently work in. Yes, the money is good, but I HATE it. I don't do a damn thing all day except sit here reading blogs, emailing, and shopping via internet. I am the type of person that needs interaction with others. I need away from the stupid, gossiping old women that I work with. Hell, they are nuts! They have nothing better to do than to be concerned about everything that is none of their business. They wonder around the office making sure who is here and telling on the few that have run a minute or two late. No kidding. When I see one of those old bats walking into my office, I just roll my eyes. Literally. I'm not here to make friends. Don't walk into my office with your petty bitching because I DON'T CARE.

I just had to post of picture of D because he is so darn cute!!!

And... I am having serious baby fever! D is only 8 months old. OK, I'm over that now. We'll start trying next summer. That sounds like a reasonable amount of time.

Never Thought This Would Happen!

We are the proud new owners of a Pit Bull. Yep, you heard me... I gave in and let the kids (and M) have a dog. She is 7 weeks old and her name is Berklei. She is beautiful! The craziness in all of this is that a Pit Bull is what attacked M when he was about 12 years old... I think that was his age. He has scars on his arm and his foot. It was SERIOUS! We told the kids that as soon as she turned on one of us that she would have to go. I also told them that she could stay in the house under the following conditions: (1) they have to clean up after her... meaning that if she pees or poops or tracks in dirt or mud, they have to clean it up and then get the carpet steamer out, (2) she MAY NOT chew on my furniture and/or cabinets and/or ANYTHING that we did not buy at Petco for her! She has had a few accidents in the house, but they have all been thoroughly cleaned up! Thank god!! And (3) my house had better not EVER smell like dog! I cannot stand that smell. So far so good.

On another note, we celebrated Daddy's birthday for two days! He had two nights of heavenly meals prepared with love. I'm trying to find him the Lost Season 1 movie since Season 2 comes out today. I cannot find it in the stores anywhere. I am going to look online in a few minutes. If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know.

Also, we have had tons of rain and 70 degree days for the past three days. It has been wonderful. Although my yard is full of weeds, we needed the rain badly. We've had a lot of fires around town due to the dryness that we are having. We opened up the windows in the house and let the house fill up with fresh air. It smelled so good. But now I smell dog poop whenever I walk out front because Berklei pooped right by the porch. **Note to self: Have kids clean that up.**

D is doing great! He will 8 months old on Thursday. He has such a little personality already. We have been letting him eating those dissolveable finger foods and biter biscuits. He doesn't really like either of them. He just likes to knock them around on his tray. But hey, as long as they keep him entertained while the rest of us eat, I don't really care what he wants to do with them. Actually, I'd better be careful saying that. Within safe reason, I don't care if he wants to eat them or play with them.