Rain, Rain Go Away

It's getting dark and I'm getting worried that the rain is going to come sooner rather than later.  Normally, not a big deal....I love rain.  However, we are supposed to take the kids to the carnival tonight and once it starts raining, it's not supposed to stop for a few days.  Carnival is only on until Saturday, and I'd feel so sad if the kids missed the whole thing.  They really, really enjoy it.

I'm pretty wiped today.  I'm still feeling a ridiculous amount of pain in my right shoulder.  I had my post op appointment and he swore he wasn't near any nerves, and felt two huge muscle knots in my back and clavicle area, but I have to tell you, it feels more than muscular.  What it is, I don't know, but I do know that by this time of the day, I cannot lift my right arm up.  I can't pick up my 2 year old, which  means I definitely can't pick up my 4 year old.  I can't reach with my right arm to get the dishes out of the cabinets, can't carry a laundry basket.  It's ridiculous.  I'm not used to being useless and it's pissing me off.  I stopped taking the percocet because it made me nauseous and I was afraid I might get addicted.  Motrin isn't cutting it.  I called the doctor again yesterday, but haven't heard back from him.  I'll call again tomorrow if I don't hear back tonight.

I went to J's Mother's Day Tea at her school today.  Very cute little first grade function.  They read a poem and sang a song and I cried like a freaking baby.  Of course, I was the only mother crying and felt like a buffoon, but I don't apologize for being emotional.  My kids are the one thing that get me.  Everyone generally thinks I am a cold, bitchy type person, but with my kids...big ball of mush.  With adults, I don't have time for all the b.s.  I'm not a chit-chatter, I don't care to small talk.  At work, I'm there to do my job and do it well.  I can't get involved with all the crap.  I just don't care about it.  And, somehow, that makes me not a nice person.  Ah well...my friends know differently and so does my family.  Who cares what everyone else thinks?

05:19 - 2008-May-8 - comments {0} - post comment

Monday

So, post op appointment today.  I have Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease.  Yeah, it's real.  Whatever.  I'm fine.

I had pork chops simmering in cream of mushroom soup all day.  I poured in some rice about 15 minutes before dinnertime, and I made peas to go with it as well.  It was a yummy dinner to end the day.  Yesterday, I baked chocolate chip cookies, so we had those for dessert.

It was beautiful today, so when I picked the kids up, we played outside for hours.  We played bandminton.  We tossed rocks in the stream.  We "fished" in the stream.  We swept the pollen off of the deck and cleaned off the outdoor table.  It was a really nice afternoon. 

07:19 - 2008-May-5 - comments {0} - post comment

Sunday

So, today was Sunday.  We got a lot of laundry done and put away, Rob mowed the lawn (such as it is), I sang at church, we went to my father-in-laws and just had a fairly restful day.  While the boys were napping, Rob and I were folding laundry and putting it away and, the X-Files Movie was on.  So, we took a little break and lay on the bed to watch for a little bit and we both fell asleep.

Rob did the grocery shopping last night and man, are groceries getting expensive.  I used to be able to feed us on $250.00 a month.  No longer.  We spent $141.07 for one week last night.  Granted, $17.00 of that was diapers and we also stocked up on some toilet paper and cookie mix and Zyrtec, but still...  So, I'm hopeful that I can keep it under $300 for the month of May.  We're pretty stocked up now, so we should only have to get milk and yogurt and bread each week from here on out.

I have my post-op appointment tomorrow.  I'm a little nervous that he may have hit a nerve when he did the surgery.  I haven't been able to lift my right arm for a few days now.  As the anesthesia continued to wear off, my right shoulder began to hurt more and more.  Now, I can't lift it without blinding pain.  Even just sitting still, it hurts.  The past two nights, I took two percocet and it dulled the pain, but it made my stomach upset, so I don't want to take that anymore.  Tonight I took two Motrin and it hasn't done a damn thing.  I don't quite know how I'll get to sleep tonight. 

07:36 - 2008-May-4 - comments {0} - post comment

JC Penney Portrait Studio...Grrrrrrrrr

So, we haven't had a professional picutre taken of all three kids since...well, ever.  Now, we've taken some great shots by ourselves, but I thought it might be a nice idea to take the kids to JC Penney and get a professional picture taken of them.  And, to be honest...I had a coupon.

So, last night I gave the boys haircuts and Julia and I discussed how she wanted to wear her hair, and so we were all set this morning.  I taught my piano lessons, came home and then we headed to the mall.  The kids were excited, Rob and I were feeling pretty positive about the whole thing, and so there we were.  We arrived 10 minutes early, which is late for me, but I knew we'd have to wait a little, so I didn't want to be too early.

AND HOUR AND A HALF LATER......

They finally called us to go back.  Now, I should let you know that the appointment was at 12:40 which is naptime for the boys, but I figured that they could go down a little bit late.  Well, a little bit late was out the window at this point.  Matty started to lose it as they called our name.  This was the first incidence of scootchiness though, at all.  Those three kids were FABULOUS and patient the whole time.  Anyway, Matty started to get upset, but then they call us back and we go in and they go through a thousand different poses, and the kides were excellent at following all of the directions and the poses were SO cute. 

So, finally, the photographer says, "Okay...all done.  You can come back and look at the proofs in about an hour."  WHAT???!?!?!??!???!  An hour?!?!?!  So, we took the kids to McDonalds as a special treat and a treat for being so well-behaved as they waited forever.  Then, we had to get Julia and Matthew some new sneakers, so we went and did that.  Then we went back to JCP and had to wait a little longer for them to download the proofs to a computer for us to view.

There were some cute shots, but you could tell that they had already edited some out, which I am guessing were eyes closed type of shots.  We chose what we wanted, gave her the coupon and finally left.  When I had called to make the appointment and the woman asked what the pictures were for, I explained that they were for my mother for Mother's Day.  So, as I'm paying today, the lady says, "Okay, well, you can come and pick up your pictures on May 16th."  I say, "Excuse me???  These are for Mother's Day."  She says, "Oh...well, maybe you can just give your Mom a frame and explain that the pictures are coming."  Grrrr...grrrr...and double grrrr...

So, I'm quite frustrated with JCP and will definitely never be going there again, EVER.

However, I could not be prouder of my babies.  They were just so fabulous and patient and wonderful and...I could gush about these pumpkins all day long.  I'm so proud of them.  And, if I may say so, they are beautiful as well.  I'll post one of the pics when we get them back.  On May 16th.  Grrrr...

07:58 - 2008-May-3 - comments {0} - post comment

One More Day

Okay, I took one more day, and it was a good thing I did.  I got up with the family this morning (6ish) and  got everyone breakfast and then got the boys dressed and then made the lunches (the normal things that I do every morning) and then when Rob left with them at 7:30, I climbed back into bed and slept for 2 more hours because I was so exhausted.  I definitely think I made a good decision, because walking around the classroom during testing would have been equally exhausting, and no chance for a nap there.

I have to finish a paper that is due for class tonight, but the first half of the paper is saved on a flash drive that is in my desk at school, so somehow I have to figure out a way to get to school to get it.  Perhaps I'll run over before picking up Julia from school, then I can finish it up this afternoon.  I already know what I'm going to say.  I'm just writing out my rationale for the ethical dilemma that I'm presenting at class tonight.  I'm sure I can do that fairly quickly.

Okay, back from class and it went well.  I got back my research paper and I earned an A, so that means I should get an A for the course, because I got A's on all fo the coursework.  Yeah, me!  One down, 1.5 years to go before I get that principal certificate.  My dilemma didn't really spark that much discussion, but I thought it went over pretty well.  He let me go early since I wasn't really feeling well, which I appreciated.  Now I'm back home and in bed.  Aaaahhh...

10:00 - 2008-Apr-30 - comments {0} - post comment

Published

So, I had an article published at an online posting website, Informative Post.  It's exciting to see my words in print, online, even if it wasn't my most riveting stuff. :)  I signed up for another website as well, Associated Content, and we'll see what I write for them.  It seems as though they have more categories for me to write within, so it may be easier to submit to them.

I took one more day off, today.  I'm feeling a little stronger after a good night's sleep, and I'm sure I'll be back to work tomorrow.  I'm ready for the bandage to fall off, as I'm curious what's underneath; what the scar is going to look like.  But, I had instructions that I am to leave the bandages on until they fall off on their own.

I do have one task today, which is to mail out my sewing machine.  I finally gave up the fight and conceded that my sewing machine and I were never going to be partners.  It just wasn't going to work out between the two of us.  It wasn't the machine...it was me.  I needed...more from our relationship.  Quite frankly, I needed the sewing machine to sew things without any help from me, and it wasn't willing to do that for me.  So, I sold it.  Luckily, I was able to sell it to a friend who I know will get good use out of it.  I hope she enjoys it.  As for myself, I will continue to patch, hem, and fix socks by hand.

I also need to finish up my last paper for grad school, but I believe that the flash drive where I've saved it is in my desk drawer at school.  So, perhaps I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get that done. 

Learned a lesson about my chicken casserole last night.  Needs more milk.  It was more than a little dry.  P refused to take a single bite.  Said he didn't like the way it tasted.  Of course, he wasn't getting the fact that he can't make that decision until he tries it, but he was a little tired as well.  He ate his biscuit, but that was it.  Poor little guy.  It must be tough to be 4 sometimes.  J & M downed theirs, so I know it didn't suck.  They needed 50 glasses of milk to wash it down, but it didn't suck. :)

09:44 - 2008-Apr-29 - comments {0} - post comment

Recovery

So, today is a day for rest and recovery.  I had surgery on Friday to have a lump removed in my neck, and Ithough that I would be feeling a  lot stronger today, but I'm not, so I took the day off to recuperate one more day.

However, me being me, I have laundry going, the dishes are running through the dishwasher, and I'm about to toss the laptop out the window because the space bar is sticking for some reason and it's making me crazy.  Ah...okay, I fixed it.  I needed to get a crumb or something out from under the space bar.

I've been thinking a lot about money today.  Ways to make more money, ways to save money.  My tuition bill came for grad school and I don't really know how we'll cover it.  And, as I sit here, my bedroom ceiling is leaking.  Fabulous.

Tonight, I'm making chicken casserole for dinner tonight.  We haven't had chicken in awhile over here and I'm craving something made with cream of mushroom soup, and I think I'm stroganoffed-out right now.  I'm also making homemade biscuits, as  J&P are enthralled with them and I usually don't have enough time to make them.  Today, I did.

Recipe for chicken noodle casserole:

1 pound chicken, diced and browned

2 pounds egg noodles

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 can sweet peas

1/2 cup milk

Mix them all together and then sprinkle some italian flavored bread crumbs on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

(I'd like to use two pounds of chicken as then the pasta/chicken ratio is more even, however, times are tight and until grocery prices come down, one pound of chicken it is.)

At the Frugal Village, I had a nice pm from a friend who read a book that I had recommended The Thirteenth Tale, and was pleased to see that she experienced the book in the same way I did.  It was just a fabulous book.  I just finished Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, which was...phewf!...quite a book.  Such a tragedy, but such a wonderful love story.  Definitely one that I would recommend to any reader.  I'm working on one now, called Illuminated but I'm not really as into it as I'd like to be.  I tried to work my way through The Appeal by John Grisham, but I just couldn't get through it.  I just...didn't care...enough about the characters or the story to stick with it.  It wasn't a bad book, by any means, but it didn't grab me, and I need to be grabbed by a book.  This one didn't do it for me.

11:03 - 2008-Apr-28 - comments {0} - post comment