The Happiest Place on Earth

So, my and B's anniversary is on May 1st. We will have survived this thing called marriage for 9 years, now. He was going to surprise me and take me away somewhere, but instead he decided to take a family trip to Disney. I think that was a great idea, since we would have had to find someone to keep the girls and take them to school, etc, etc... The girls have no idea we are going so far and we do not plan on telling them until we board the plane on Friday morning. We will return on Tuesday next week, so we should have time to see everything and have a grand experience. Meanwhile, I am running around like a crazy person trying to get the house cleaned up, picked up, straightened up before we leave. (I cannot stand coming home to a messy house after a trip!!) I also know that I will be too worn out to clean when we come back. We're going to stay in the Grand Floridian Disney Resort- and I am excited about that because I have always wanted to stay there. I have been trying to bribe the girls this week by telling them that if they are really good, they will get a huge surprise at the end of the week. (Emmaline thinks it is a trampoline...) We went to Disney 2 years ago with them (that is when the picture up top with Sleeping Beauty was taken), but made the mistake of going during the week of Thanksgiving. It was horrendous. Horrible. I would not recommend it. I guess I got spoiled because I had been so many times when it was not crowded. The girls didn't know any different, and had a great time anyway. Annelise is very excited about riding the Tower of Terror again. I don't know if Emmaline would survive that ride, so I will probably sit that one out with her. All of this is assuming I do not choke Brian before we leave. He is very anal and has come up with this "schedule" that we must follow to get the optimal Disney experience. I can tell he is going to get on my last nerve with it. We have already had a big blowup about the flight we will be leaving on Friday morning. He booked it for 6:30 a.m., which means we will need to be at the airport by 4:30 a.m. which means the girls should be hitting meltdown mode by about noon. He says he just wanted to get to the park as early as possible, but I would rather have a little less time at the park in exchange for happy, alert children. So far our friends all agree with me! He also had us scheduled to eat breakfast every morning at 7:15 a.m. I won that argument and got it changed to 8:00- still a little early, but better than 7:15. Anyway- I have gotten the girls clothes out and the suitcases down and I have made significant progress on the house- but still have a ways to go. Tonight is soccer and out to eat, then tommorrow night is church (at least I won't have to cook for 2 nights) and Thursday night I think I am going to give everyone a round of Benadryl at about 5 p.m. so we will be asleep at an early hour since we have to get up in the middle of the night to get on a plane. That's the plan. Hopefully we will have safe, non-eventful flights there and back. Just when I think life is going to slow down, it rushes right on forward again, full-speed. At least ,for the most part, the things making it busy are good things to have going on. For now it's back to the phone triage and then soccer preparation. At least Emmaline is taking a nap today, so maybe no middle-of-the-field meltdowns will be had!

One Of Those Weekends

So glad it is Monday. Strange statement, I know, but it was a bit of a "yuck" weekend. Brian was on call, which means I was a single parent on Saturday while he worked and made hospital rounds. I was already not looking forward to that, but I am used to it, so I knew it would be ok. Until I woke up Saturday morning around 7 with a horrible migraine. I have only had 3 migraines in my life. The first was about 7 years ago and was so bad I thought I was dying and would almost have been ok with that if it meant the pain would go away! The second was bad, but not debilitating. This one on Saturday was like the first one. I started puking around 8 and did that for 2 hours before the Relpax and Phenergan kicked in. I could not leave the bathroom and when I finally did, it was to pass out in the bed. I slept for 2 and a half hours- during which time I have no idea what my children were doing! I told them I was sick and that they needed to be quiet and stay out of trouble. I guess they did. I know I sometimes talk about how badly they behave , but they are so good when it really counts. Thank goodness someone called and woke me up around 12:30. It was one of those days when I wish I lived closer to my family. Brian got home around 2 and I was fine by then. I have a fairly high pain tolerance. I have had 2 kids without pain meds and was also induced with both of them. That was terrible pain. Two of the migraines I have had give that labor pain a run for the money. Anyway- enough complaining for now. The worst part was I did not get anything done Saturday morning. Friday night we had family night and watched The Waterhorse- good but a little sad. Then Saturday night we went out to dinner with friends. It was prom night and we had fun watching all the teenagers playing grown up. They all looked so young! Some girls were wearing some pretty provocative dresses, though. Let me tell you, if I am paying for the dress, I will have input on the dress. Period. My girls are going to hate me. On Sunday, we had a family reunion all afternoon at my parents. It was fun, but I really didn't feel like socializing, so I didn't talk to that many people. By Sunday night we were all pooped and it was cereal for supper and baths and bed. The girls didn't put up much of a fight- they were exhausted. Today Brian had to leave early for the hospital and I got the girls ready and we left in an absolute downpour. Even with 2 umbrellas and raincoats, we were soaked. Needless to say, I am glad to be back home in a quiet, if messy, house. I am going to start cleaning and putting up stuff. I need to marinate the pineapple teriyaki chicken we are grilling for dinner tonight. (Yum!) The parents are coming over to eat, so the girls are excited about that. This afternoon I'll be doing phone triage and then I'll fix the rest of the dinner. Such exciting plans, I know! I am just so grateful I have not woken up with a headache the past 2 mornings.......

Little Bit of Everything...

So, it was brought to my attention that I do not have any pictures of myself on my blog. Well- this is about as good as it gets for now. Brace face and all. This was taken the other morning while I was putting on Emmaline's shoes and getting ready to take them to school. The one on top is of her on the zoo field trip yesterday in front of the chimpanzee. I know, it is easy to get the 2 pictures confused... (: I am in my normal attire- Clemson T-Shirt and jeans and half asleep. Keep in mind, I am trying to lose 10 pounds, so I should have cheekbones (that you can see) in a few months- I'll have to post an "after" picture so you can compare. I don't know if I look like a teen-ager, but there have been a lot of people -since I got braces especially- who have thought so! I feel sorry for any teenager who looks like a 33-year old! So, there you have it. I hate pictures of myself, but there it is. Okay, at the bottom of this post, you will see the granite we have chosen for our next house. It looks more gray in the pics (one is close up and one is at a distance- same slab). I like it a lot, so I am excited to see what it will look like in our house. Tommorrow Brian is going to oversee the trees being moved around on the lot. That should cost a small fortune...... Oh, well- it has to be done, I hate to see trees get cut down if they don't have to be. Science lab went ok today. I had the table where the kids got to squeeze toy birds to see which one makes what noise. I should have taken Motrin beforehand, but you live and learn, I guess. I did learn a lot about birds, though! I can pick out a sparrow's call from a mile away, I bet.....

Last night went really well at church. Supper was fantabulous as always. The homemade buttermilk biscuits are good enough to make you want to slap your grandma. Then we went to the new class we have chosen for this session. It is about how to decide what is important in life and how to manage time. (Boy, do I need that.) The teacher is just incredible. He is so intelligent- I don't think I could even imagine how deep his thoughts go. I am really going to enjoy this class. He did make a good point last night. He talked about praying to know God's will for something. He said many of us just pray and pray "God, tell me your will on -blank-." We focus so hard on trying to see His will, we miss seeing Him. The teacher pointed out that God doesn't need us to see His will, He needs us to see Him. He wants us to seek to know Him, not His will. And by knowing Him more, our thoughts and ways will be more in tune with his will automatically. I had never thought of it that way. He made so many points that were just so simple, but had never come to my mind. Next week we are actually going to start the worksheets and stuff, so I am looking forward to it. I am convinced that people will never have true joy unless they are living a God-centered life. I have lived both ways and I know for a fact that life is much better when you give God control over it and when you put Him first. The teacher mentioned that the purpose of this study is to be able to determine the difference of what is urgent in life and what is important. What is urgent has to be done, but what is important needs to be done. We should never dismiss the important things for the sake of urgent things. I know one area I fall short in for that is spending quality time with my kids. I do what has to be done for them, but not always what needs to be done. They need quality time and they need to feel appreciated and loved. They need to know that I spend time with them because I enjoy it and not because I have to. They also learn by example and I am trying hard to set that good example and it is not easy. Anyway- I am excited to see where this class takes me.

Take a look at the granite on the bottom of the post and let me know what you think!!

Soccer Stress

Here are some soccer pics from last week's game. Glad I took some then, because last night was a bust. Our little team got waxed, and Emmaline was going on no nap and cried everytime the other team scored a goal.... Poor thing had a meltdown in the middle of the field at one point and I had to go get her. My fault for not getting her in the bed at naptime. We live and learn, eh? There is a team picture here (notice how Annelise is a giant....) and then one of Annelise getting into the game and the other one is of Emmaline getting right in there with all the boys and getting the ball. We didn't see much of that this week because of the no nap, but I expect she will be back on her game next time. Tonight we have church, which also means church supper (yum!). You know the church supper chef is good when he has been featured on the food network!! We are starting a new session there for Wed. nights, so we are looking forward to seeing how this new class goes. Still just kinda hangin' out at that church- just not positive about joining quite yet. We do really like it, though, so I won't be surprised if that is where we do end up. Sorry about these pictures being all over the place. I still have no idea how to get them where I want them. I am so computer-challenged....

Brian and I have been thinking lately about what Emmaline will possibly want to do when she "grows up". We know Annelise will be in the science/medical field. There is no doubt about that. We thought maybe Emmaline would be an architect or something that works with perfectionism and anal retentiveness... Last night she just informed us that she is going to be a ballet teacher. A "serious one" she said. I can definitely see that. She is mean enough and she has the body of a ballerina. She has become obsessed lately with taking ballet and she has never seen or had a class, so something is there that is just a natural desire. Obviously she may not be cut out for the stress of competitive sports, so she may just succeed at ballet. She also wants to play the violin. She must be pulling all of this from some ancestors way back, because none of us or our current relatives is quite as "sophisticated" as she is turning out to be. Annelise has decided on the flute for an instrument, but she prefers the sports to dance, and she also wants to start tae kwon do (spell check, there...). I feel sorry for anyone she kicks with those mule legs and big ol' feet. At their school, they have to choose an instrument in first grade and stick with it all throughout 12th grade. I think that is great, I just hope they like what they pick. Oh, the field trip to the zoo was pure mania just like I thought it would be. Let me just say I truly despise the zoo. It was pure torture. Even though the orangutangs had their baby and he was too cute for words. Tommorrow I have to work in the explore science lab for Annelise's class. They are studying birds. I hope to talk Brian into taking the girls to school on Friday and letting me stay here and clean. Don't tell him, I am still trying to come up with a way to get him to agree to it without him realizing it! I got some pictures of the granite we chose. They don't really do it justice, but still, it is pretty close. I will post those tommorrow. Time for Emmaline Zoo-Girl 's nap, so off we go to read a story and get to some zzzz's.

You Are Only As Old As You Look

So, the braces may be workin' for me after all.... The other day this guy ran out of gas in front of our house (seriously, if someone is going to break down or run out of gas, they will do it in front of our house...) and he comes knocking on the door. I went to it, with Betty loaded and in my back pocket as always, and asked him what he needed. He was about 50 years old, I guess, looked like a nice guy. He said he wanted to know if we had any gas he could buy- just needed enough to get him to the station on the corner. I told him I had no idea. He says "Well, is your daddy home? Maybe I could talk to him." I said "What?" He said, "You know, if your dad is here, I could ask him." I said " I am 33 years old, sir." He was totally embarrassed, and I remembered that there was a gas can on the side of the garage and told him that he could check and see if there was anything in it, but to just get enough to get him down the road. He checked and there was a little bit in it, and he put it in his car, brought the can back and tried to pay me. I told him to keep his money and to do something nice for someone else that day. Then the next day, I went to an antique store looking for a vanity for Annelise's bedroom, cause that's just the kind of girl she is... The little lady who owns the store is about 65 or so, and she comes up and asks me if I am looking for one for me. I told her "No, it's for my little girl." Then the lady puts her arm around me and whispers, "Oh, honey, my grand-daughter is a teen mom too. It is so hard, but you'll be fine." I just looked at her like she forgot to take her crazy pills that morning, but then it sunk in what she meant. I had no idea how old she thought I was, but she was really sweet, so I decided not to correct her. I replied, "Uh-huh." and just smiled at her. So, the braces may be in my favor. The bad thing is, when I try to dress up a bit in one of my fave Ann Taylor outfits, it looks silly with braces. Only 16 more months to go with them. Tonight is the second soccer game. We had been concerned that Emmaline wouldn't want to play when she saw how aggressive it can be, but let me tell you, she got right in there and fought for the ball and gave it everything she had. We were so proud (and shocked). She really enjoyed it. Annelise looks like Andre the Giant out there, but she has a good time. She is really getting so big and so grown up. Hard to believe that is my baby. Well, it is our turn to bring snacks to the game tonight, so I am going to go get those together- Propels and Cheez-Its it is.

Thank Goodness It's Monday

Wow, what a week-end! B and I were going to go somewhere since the girls were gone all week-end on their first camping trip (which they loved, BTW). But, we ended up having so much we wanted to get done here, we just stayed home and got some things attended to. We did take time on Friday after dropping off the girls and went to Tryon to go antiquing and eat at a quaint little pizza place there. We didn't find anything we were looking for but it was fun to look. Then we sat down to eat and a few minutes went by and they sat the most horribly behaved children next to us, with their equally obnoxious parents. These kids were probably 8 years old and they were worse than my kids who are 4 and 6- on their worst days times 10. They spilled their drinks right off the bat because they took the lids off their cups immediately- it went all over and the mom just laughed and laughed about it. The little boy was the worst- he was jumping around and yelling and the moms at the table were talking so loud, we couldn't even hear ourselves think. The hostess tried to seat another, older couple behind us and they picked up their silverware and went to the other room before even getting their seats warm. We should have asked to be moved, but I was so surprised at kids that old behaving like these were that it didn't occur to me. I just ate a little bit and got the rest to go before B or I blew a gasket. I am so strict on my kids and my friends are, too. Just some friendly advice- do not count to 3- that does not work. Kids know when they are being bad, a warning is fine, but after that, there should be some consequences- especially when the kid is 8. Or if you are the type of parent who does not believe in discipline- as these parents so obviously didn't- do not take the kids to a restaurant unless there are golden arches on the sign. Do not ruin other people's dinner- especially since a lot of others paid to have sitters and expected to go out for a peaceful meal. Oh, and if you have to call the kid down more than a few times, it is time for a trip to the bathroom. I'm just saying.... Anyway- on Saturday, we went to almost every furniture store here looking for a recliner for our next house and we did eventually find one. I don't like recliners that actually look like recliners. I call those "butt-back" recliners- obviously because that big puffy back looks like a giant fanny to me. (Sorry for those who have or like those- that is fine- just not my style.) We also found some chairs to go in the sitting area of our next kitchen. And, we picked out our granite. I would never have thought we would have chosen the granite we did, but I loved it and it will blend with the backsplash we chose for the cooktop. We had lunch Sat. with our friends and their boys and that was fun- then Sat. night, we went and hung out with some more friends and their boys. Sunday we went to church and lunch and then had to go to the lot and decide where we wanted the trees we are moving. We had to kind of place the house on the lot to decide that, and that took forever, because the house is at an angle and my hubby is anal about stuff like that. We were there for 3 hours and I wore a camisole because I thought it would be nice to get a little sun- now I look like a lobster and my skin is on fire on my chest, back and shoulders. That is what I get. I thought B and I were going to be divorced before we left the lot because of all the yelling and arguing. My lack of patience does not come in handy with times like that. However, after the sun poisoning set in, I was fine. We then went and picked up the girls and heard all about the camping trip and took the girls home, threw them in the bath, fed them and put them in the bed. Annelise told B that she had an ear infection in her right ear (very matter-of-factly) and lo and behold, she did- so she started on antibiotics before bed. Hopefully she will make it through school ok today. She tends to be crabby when she gets ear infections- I don't blame her. Well- gotta run. This week is looking like it will be just as crazy as last week was, so I better get started with it!

Annelise's Coping Mechanisms....

Poor Annelise. She has had a tough couple of days. Yesterday, her beloved bearded dragon from school ("Spike") passed away unexpectedly from strep that he probably got from a student. (He is the whole reason we had to get Henry, our bearded dragon.) She said she was so sad, that during singing time yesterday, she couldn't even sing. Then Emmaline went to spend the night with Aunt Libby last night so I could go on Annelise's field trip today. Well, the fact that A and E have been sleeping together for the past few months almost every night coupled with the fact that Annelise was totally exhausted last night made for a rough bedtime. She cried and moaned and had to go get all of Emmaline's animals that she sleeps with every night and put them in her bed. She begged for me or Brian to sleep in her bed with her. She begged to skip school and just go to Aunt Libby's so she could be with Emmaline. (All to no avail, unfortunately for her...) So it was no surprise to me when Annelise woke up and had "Sally, Angelina and Lily" with her. Who are they, you ask? They are Annelise's 3 imaginary baby bluebirds that seem to appear when Annelise is under a lot of stress or is really upset about something. It has been a while since I have heard of these 3 birds, but I didn't make a big deal out of it, because having them around makes her in a much better mood. According to her, they were asleep the whole way to school and then they woke up when we got there. That means that the whole walk to the school from the parking lot and the whole time we were waiting in the hall for her teacher to get there, she had her index finger pointed like a gun and held up in the air, because that is where they sat (duh...). I know there were some people who thought it was strange to see her with her hand frozen like that, but she didn't care a bit. I explained to her teacher and she was very understanding. At least she temporarily forgot about them on the field trip this morning. (Which was just ok, there was a lot of poop on that farm. A lot.) However, once I picked her up back at school this afternoon, she informed me that the baby bluebirds thoroughly enjoyed the field trip and that they learned a whole lot. I took her to lunch at "Ola's" (her name for any mexican restaurant) and I let her order fried ice cream for dessert- which she ate every bit of herself- I didn't even get a nibble. I have not seen or heard about the baby bluebirds, since. I have a feeling that once Emmaline comes home, tonight, they will be gone for a while again. I know that the experts say that imaginary friends exist to help kids cope with things and that is obviously true. (That would also explain why I had about 4 of them when I was little.....) Emmaline has one too, she calls it "baby pear" and it is very tiny and she holds it in the palm of her cupped hand. She gets very very upset when Annelise pretends to steal baby pear and cries over it. I have not seen baby pear for a long time, either. I am sure the bluebirds and the pear will show up again about the time we are getting ready to move this winter. I don't see it as a big deal and it does seem to comfort them, so I just go along with it. Hopefully Annelise will have a good week-end camping with Aunt Libby. Brian and I still have no idea what we are going to do with all that freedom. I think I just want to stay around here and maybe go antiquing in Tryon or something like that. I am sure we will think of something. At least I am almost done with this week. Just have to fix dinner tonight for us and Aunt Libby and Curt and then I will be pretty much home free. I wish I still had some imaginary friends sometimes- I could have used them this week!

Total Crazy Day

I found the other pictures I ordered, so I posted them. The one with the little girl on the lilypad is for my neice Reagan and the other one is for my neice, Jess. I loved these 2 prints and I hope they like them, too. I am in love with the art from this lady. SO, today has been totally nuts and is only going to get more crazy as the afternoon progresses... This morning I took Annelise to school and entertained Emmaline while I did some laundry and some other things. Then we went to the grocery store. Then we went to get Annelise at school and while I was in car line, the mom in front of me proceeded to back up and ram right into my 3 month old car. She was so nice about it and she was just mortified that she had done it, but she just didn't see me behind her in her big SUV and me in my little Acura sedan. So, there is a hole in my fender and it is really beat up, but I think the rest of the car is ok. E was watching a DVD and didn't even notice- surprising since we got quite a jolt when it happened. I have been on the phone with her insurance and mine all afternoon, plus doing phone triage which has been ridiculously busy today- of course. A close friend of ours had knee surgery today, so B is going to pick up their 2 boys after he goes to the dentist this afternoon and we will feed them and our girls dinner and take them all to their soccer games at 6 pm. It turns out our teams are playing each other, so that worked out well.... Then we will take the boys home, get the girls in bed leave once more to go feed a friend's cat and fish since they are in DisneyWorld , and come back and watch Idol. I have to do a few more things in the house before bed, and then we start again with the mania tommorrow. In the morning, I'm going to fix a pot of chili beans, some cornbread, canteloupe and brownies for the friends that had surgery today. Yesterday, I fixed lasagna, salad and store-bought cheesecake for the friends that had surgery last week. (Yes, I am possibly bragging on myself.....) Emmaline is spending the night with Aunt Libby tommorrow so I can go on a field trip with Annelise on Thursday- then Thursday night I am cooking orange-glazed pork chops, candied yams and green bean casserole for us and Aunt Libby and her hubby. I should consider opening a restaurant, but I think it would be even more stress to do that! We love to have company for dinner so we cook a lot and usually very few nights go by that it is just the 4 of us eating together. This week-end the girls are going camping with Aunt Libby and her hubby, Curt, for the entire week-end. They are staying in a camper, but Emmaline is a scaredy-cat, so the first sign of wildlife and she may be on her way back. One raccoon is all it would take and she would be screaming under a bed. She has already instructed Aunt Libby to "pick a spot where there are no bears". That should be interesting- Aunt Libby has more guts than I do, for sure. Oh, well- gotta go get the girls into their soccer gear and get supper going for the kids. Looking forward to Friday at this point!!

For the Girls Rooms

I am so excited about these prints!! I couldn't get the others on here that I bought, but they are just as adorable, if not more so. I found this artist on another website and just fell in love with her drawings. They are so cute and innocent and they will look so good in A and E's rooms. I also bought one for each of my neices according to their personalities. They aren't on here, but I'll try to get them up when I can. I love art, but few pieces really reach out and grab me like these did. They look a little vintage and they will not go out of style, so I thought it was a good investment. They are coming from London and will be signed by the artist, and I cannot wait to see them in person. I have figured out one of the reasons I have been so tired lately. I know I haven't been getting much sleep, but I have gotten used to that as it has been a problem my whole life. So, I knew it had to be something else. I realized that I had not had any caffiene for days and days. When I went to B and N and had the White Chocolate Mocha and realized how energized I felt, I made the connection. It is amazing how much more housework and such that I can get done with a little caffiene in the system! I don't think I could ever do without it, so I went and bought a bunch of Peppermint Mocha Frappuchinos and accepted that I am just addicted to caffiene. I have been good, though. I usually only have one of those in the morning, and then I try to stay caffiene-free the rest of the day. Speaking of getting things done- I have to go pick up some last-minute things to take to a friend's house for dinner - they had surgery- and then my parents are coming over for cheeseburgers and fries. It looks like it is coming up a downpour, so Brian will be grilling under the umbrella.......

Starting Already

So, this is the new sign that Annelise put on her door this week-end. As if the dramatic "whatever" statements complete with eye roll and hand on hip aren't enough. After the hours of horrible labor with no pain medicine or epidural, this is what I get. Well, I knew it would be coming eventually- just didn't expect it at age 6. I like the way she put my name first..... Anyway- she does at least write Emmaline notes to let her know when she can come in. She puts the notes in an envelope and sends it under Emmaline's door. It is so funny. No blog for a few days- it has been total crazy around here. I was in a slight depression for a while because my eye candy got eliminated off of Idol. But I did get over it. My awesome architect friend dropped off the reduced floor plan for our downstairs- and it was so great. She is just so good at that stuff. Brian and I are already planning how we are going to place furniture and appliances. I cleaned out Annelise's closet and all of her drawers this Saturday- no small task since she has gone through 3 whole sizes over the fall and winter. I had to separate all of them and put them away. Then she tried on all of her summer clothes that I bought her last year, and many of the pairs of shorts were too small (and they were size 8's). I put the summer clothes away and left 2 drawers with some winter clothes since we aren't quite totally done with the coldness for a couple more weeks. I did get to go to Barnes and Noble Friday morning and they replaced the Honey Latte (flavor of the month) with White Chocolate Mocha. I have to say that it may have been even more divine. I got Brian a gift card for 2 massages at Urban Nirvana and E picked him out a board game (Flippin Frogs- which is so much fun BTW) and A picked out the movie Waterhorse, which we will watch this week. We all went to see Horton Hears a Who this Saturday and it was pretty good. The girls have been ultra demanding for some unknown reason this week-end. I am convinced that Emmaline has been possesed by a demon spirit. She punched Annelise right in the face and after that, as I was dragging her down the hall to her room since it was so obviously naptime, she was kicking at me and crying and screaming "Boo-yah!!" That is something that Annelise says when she is excited about something- so this context that Emmaline used it in (trying to be an insane deadly Ninja) was just hilarious. I had to actually pin her in the bed under her covers (using them as a restraining device) and hold her there until she calmed down and the foaming at the mouth stopped. Needless to say, 5 minutes later she was asleep. We went to dinner tonight with some friends and their 2 boys, and then it was home to bed. It has been a crazy and wild week-end. I am actually looking forward to Monday.........

What Matters Most

Normally I don't like to take life too seriously- it's just too short. I tend to deal with things using humor and dry sarcasm and I am usually pretty lighthearted in conversation. But, last night I was watching the Idol Gives Back show (which was great, I thought) and it was such a jolt of reality. I am not the type to get emotional or cry at movies or anything like that, but that show was just really touching and it made me think about what I do and what our purpose is in the brief time that we are here on this Earth. I have seen shows like that before and it is always shocking to see that people live the way some of them do. We sit here in our crystal palaces and we play armchair judge while we watch these people on our big screen plasma HD TV's. We get upset when Starbuck's doesn't have our favorite flavor anymore and these people have to worry about where their next meal is coming from or who in their family is not going to make it to the next day or week. We are so spoiled and so blessed and we just whine and complain so much. These people would probably do anything to have the type of problems we have and we take it for granted. The grandmother on the show last night who lost all 4 of her children to AIDS and was left with all 8 grandchildren to take care of. She has to dig graves and do whatever odd jobs she can just so they can survive. I cannot imagine it. My husband and I have been blessed- we have more than we will ever need. We do help out others when the need is presented to us, and we enjoy doing things like that. We could always do more. I thought about what really matters in life. I think that when we are gone from here, the only thing that will matter at all is what we did for others while we were here. What kind of impact did we make? Did we make a positive difference in anyone's life? God calls us to love one another- that means everyone. As Mother Teresa once said "Love, to be real, must cost- it must hurt- it must empty us of self." We are about to build a nice home and we have to rebuild a lakehome, too. I think it is ok to have nice things, but are we doing anything for anyone besides ourselves? If I were in the position of some of those people, I would sure hope someone cared enough to help. I hope that we can all realize how truly blessed we are- to have people who love us, to have children who are with us, to have decent homes and cars and food at our fingertips at all times. I hope that when we teach our children to share with others that we are leading by example in that lesson. I am such a fixer. I am a person who wants to help everyone and who wants to take care of all the orphans and the stray animals and such. After watching that show last night, I couldn't even fall asleep for a long time, seeing the faces of all the children with no-one to take care of them in my mind. 13 million orphans in Africa alone. My hope is that all of us are doing something- blessings are meant to be shared.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

I had chocolate chip cookies for breakfast- 4 of them. Then I had way too much pasta for lunch plus 2 more cookies, and then I fell asleep on the couch for about 10 minutes. Is that bad?
It has been that kind of a week. I am sooo sleepy. My fault for staying up and watching basketball until the last second of the game. (And I didn't even care who won! How sad is that?) If I watch a sporting event for more than a few minutes, I'm hooked and I have to finish watching it. This is particularly a problem in football season. I just have the "can't help it's" today. No energy and no desire to do anything. (Except eat cookies, obviously). Tonight is soccer practice , so I will sit my fanny in a chair and watch them and then we are going out to eat- the last thing I need to do. But, I am sure I will perk up when we get home and sit down to watch Idol. It's getting to the point where I am going to really hate seeing any of the contestants go home. I think I am just in "blah" mode today. I was completely non-productive except for doing 2 loads of laundry. Tommorrow I am taking the girls shopping to let them pick out presents for Brian's birthday. That is usually fun, so I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to going shopping for him tommorrow morning by myself - while the girls are at school. Since the stores don't open until about 9 or 10, I guess I will have to go to Barnes and Noble and get a Honey Latte to use up time before I shop. (Lord, I don't know why I don't weigh 400 pounds.....). Then tommorrow late afternoon, I am going to have to get something done in this house. At least I won't have to cook. Going to the Wed. night supper at church- always a plus. Hopefully I can control myself a little better tommorrow with the sweet tooth. Just had to confess what I had done. I feel better now.

Happy Birthday, Muffin

Yesterday was Brian's birthday. Poor thing, I didn't even have a card for him or anything. It was such a "sickly" week at this house last week, and this week-end was so crazy-busy that there was no time for shopping. He understood and he was fine with it, but I still felt bad. The girls drew him some adorable pictures, and I am going to take them shopping on Wednesday to pick out his gifts from them. We both let them pick something out themselves for our birthdays. It keeps it very interesting. Annelise usually picks something that she can use, too- like a movie that she likes or something like that. I think I am going to get him a gift certificate to the spa for a couple of massages. He is going to need them when we start building this house and the lakehouse. He has accomplished so much in his 36 years- most of it without any help from anyone. I am really proud of him. Sometimes I can't believe that we are both in our mid-30's. It seems like just a couple of years ago we were just getting married! I hope that he has a really good week and a wonderful year. My parents had a get-together for his birthday and my brother-in-law's birthday yesterday. We grilled burgers and had a yummy cake that I swear may have just been butter with icing. Then when we got home yesterday afternoon, I told him to just do whatever he wanted and I bathed the girls (usually his job) , fixed their dinner and put them to bed. He chose to just surf the internet, which he thoroughly enjoyed. It is rare that he gets to do that uninterrupted. I think we are going to celebrate his birthday on Thursday night, since Tuesday is soccer and Wed. is church. (And the girls won't have his gifts by tonight....) I'm going to make orange-glazed pork chops, one of his favorites. Tonight, it will be pot roast, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. Oh, we did have fun at the Sunday school social this past Saturday night. Wish UNC could have pulled it off, but it was fun. Our friends and us are the only ones with kids older than 4, and most of the other people had babies. We got sitters and chose not to bring ours- that was a good decision. A couple of the other moms were a little surprised when Megan and I seemed glad that we weren't going to have any more kids. I just thought to myself "Just wait until you have another one, and especially when you see what it is like when they get a little older..." Oh, yes, they will eventually understand the glee we had over the vasectomies. Love my girls, but I know when I have reached my limit! There were several couples that we did connect with, though, so it wasn't bad. We'll see how it goes over the next few months. Well, I need to go do some "stuff" around the house- as always! Happy Birthday to my poopsie.

Workin for the Weekend

Today B and I went all over tarnation looking for some tile for the front porch at the house we are currently in. The tile there now is easter egg blue, which never matched anything...... it must have been on clearance back when they got it. At least it is a small area. I want to do a khaki and cream diagonal checkerboard on it. I'll have to take before and afters to put up here. It may look weird if you can't imagine what I am talking about. We didn't find any tile that looked good together. It was frustrating, so I just decided to stop looking and we would look again later. I can only take so much in Home Depot and Lowes. The yard is looking great, B is almost done with the planting and then he will have the grass to work on and that is it. A did not get sick one time yesterday- thank goodness. I felt really terrible, though- and having both girls at home with cabin fever did not help. I did manage to do 5 loads of laundry and the phone triage for the office, but that was it. I skipped dinner and went to bed. After we dropped the girls off at my parents, B started to feel bad. I was just laughing at him- another sick trait I got from my mother, we laugh when people get hurt or feel bad, especially if it is our husbands. (Not if someone is seriously injured- I am not heartless....) We were going to go out to eat but instead I went to the store and got B some Sprite and cool ranch doritos -his choice of food when nausea is present (I know- nasty). He is now on the couch looking pale and I am going out to dinner with a friend, as I feel marvelous tonight. I have lots of housework to catch up on from all the time I have spent on the couch and taking care of A, but it can wait until tommorrow. We are supposed to go to a social for the Sunday School class we have been going to tommorrow night, so we will see how he feels, then. I am making the chocolate caramel nut cake and some ham and swiss mini sandwiches. Nothing too difficult. I don't want to set the bar of expectation of me too high for these people the first time.... We went and checked on the lot today and it was exciting to go see it. We cannot wait to start building. Well, I am going to torture B some more before I go to dinner. I offered to make him some fried eggs with runny yolk (he just hates that) or a banana/peanut butter/ and mayo sandwich- but he declined and told me how mean I am. It humors me. Have a great weekend!

Wish It Was Just Paranoia.....

Well, here we are. Annelise threw up last night at about 8pm. She started with a headache at about 7, and I thought she was just saying her head hurt because I had a terrible headache for the past 2 days. But then she started to get pale and she would'nt eat her supper (totally unlike her). Then Brian said that she and I complained so much that he was starting to feel bad, too. (I swear, sometimes he is so sick in the head...) I went to get in the tub because I could not even think about eating, and I put Annelise in our bed while I was in the tub and she watched TV. Well, about 15 minutes went by and I heard her throwing up. I was freaking out because I just knew it was all in our bed and mattress. Bless her heart, though, she had gotten a grocery bag from the cabinet on her way up to our bed "just in case" and she managed to get it all in the bag. This is one of those times I am so glad to be married to a pediatrician. We have all sorts of medications on hand at all times. We gave her a phenergan and a zofran and she fell asleep and actually slept through the night. We just left her in our bed and I slept with her. The picture is of her this morning. She is still a bit pale, but she did manage to eat some saltines and some jello. She was supposed to have her K-5 graduation pictures made this morning, but that will not be happening. Emmaline seems fine, so far..... She is dancing around the house in her ballerina tu-tu. They are supposed to go spend the night with my parents tommorrow night. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will be able to go. They were so excited about it. (Brian and I were kind of looking forward to it, too.) I am feeling a little better this morning. I am just going to play it by ear with Annelise today. Oh, well- at least I can get the laundry done before I have to do phone triage this afternoon. Say a little prayer for Annelise, maybe she will feel better by tonight.

Paranoia

On Tuesday, when I took Annelise to school, I overheard her ask a friend why she had not been there the day before. The friend replied that she had been at home throwing up all day. (Great, and you are back today!!) So, then of course, the paranoia set in. My stomach and head have been hurting ever since. I have asked Annelise so many times if her tummy hurts that now she thinks it does. Poor thing. I am making her into a hypochondriac way before her time. Then I picked her up today (after finishing the beautiful bulletin board I did for her class) and the teacher tells me, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but one of the students just threw up." Great. Now I feel even worse and I think I could vomit any minute. Most of it is because my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law and both neices had this tummy bug about 2 weeks ago and I laughed at them and made fun. I should have known better. That just makes me extra paranoid that I am getting it now. To top it off, my wire on the bottom set of braces popped out and is scratching a hole in the side of my cheek. They are going to let me come in and pop it back in today- that is if I haven't puked everywhere by then. I am probably fine, it is just this little annoying feeling of nausea that is tugging at me. I know it is all in my head. I had Chinese for lunch, so let's hope it is just paranoia.... Yesterday was just a jumble. I don't know how else to describe it. The girls took long, long naps which was great. The phones for the office were ringing off the hook, so I was busy for a while with that. Then we went to the first soccer practice last night. Emmaline was so good. She only cried once- mostly because she is so anal and such a perfectionist. She loved it and can't wait to go again. A little while after we got there I noticed that on the field right next to us were a lot of people we had gone to church with. They were almost all people who had supported us and were sad to see us go, so it was good to see them, but they wanted to know why we felt like we couldn't come back and talked about how they needed us and loved us. It was tough, because "Why do you feel like you can't come back" is a hard question. It is difficult to put the answer into words without sounding cynical or bitter- and I am neither of those things. So, that left me in a bit of a tizzy. We went out to eat with the soccer coach and his family and had a good dinner, and then went home and got into bed late and just crashed. Today has been a bit better. The girls were so good this morning on the way to school- they were holding hands the whole way. I did the bulletin board pretty quickly and it looks great if I do say so myself. I rewarded myself with a honey latte from Barnes and Noble- which doesn't do much for a headache or fake nausea, but it was still good. Then I went and got a new Clemson t-shirt from Knickerbockers- hopefully to take to the Clemson/Alabama game in August. We should find out soon if we will be able to get tickets or not. Well, that is it for now, I think I am going to throw some laundry in and lie down.......

My Mama Didn't Raise No Fool

Happy April Fool's day! It is my mother's favorite day of the year. I think she enjoys it more than Christmas. She is the master of pranks and practical jokes. No-one has been able to pull one over on her, yet. My sister and I keep telling my dad to spend the night in a hotel on March 31 every year, but he just ignores us and falls for the torture every year. One time, she set all of the clocks in the house 2 hours earlier than normal. She even set the one in his car up. His alarm went off at 5 a.m. (really 3 a.m.) he got up and got dressed for work and my mom did, too- just to go along with it all. He left for work, my mom went back to bed and he got to work and saw an empty parking lot. She made me call my grandmother once (when I was about 12) and tell her that my mom had fallen down the brick steps of our house and she was unconscious and bleeding. My g-mother lived right down the street and she came running and was in full panic mode and when she saw my mom standing there laughing she threatened to spank us all. She will do whatever she has to to trick you. She used to hide in my bedroom closet when I was little and make scratching noises inside the closet. I was not allowed to get out of bed for any reason, so I would just lay there in terror. Once, she solemnly told my sister and I that our beloved preacher had passed away, suddenly. After my sister was in tears, she laughed and said "April Fools!" Truly she is a sick individual. I have to say I have inherited some of that.... This morning, I turned off my alarm clock and sat up and said "Oh, my gosh!" really loudly. B woke up out of a dead sleep and said "What's wrong, what's wrong?!" I said, "It's 8 o'clock!!" (I usually get up around 6...) He started freaking out and I finally told him it was only 6. It was pretty funny. I would like to do some more today, but I need to plan. My dad and brother-in-law already tried to get my mom today. Needless to say, she picked up on it immediately. She said it was a rather pathetic attempt. I don't think I will ever try to get her, but B is gullible and he is a fun target. Anyway- stay on the alert, today- you never know what people will do!! By the way, that cake last night was just sinful it was so good. Definately a keeper. If you want to make it, just go to www.southernliving.com and search the recipe file for chocolate caramel nut cake. It should be there. You won't regret it! Tonight is the first soccer practice. It is pretty nasty outside, so we will see if they actually have it. Hopefully it will warm up a bit after this week. One minute it is 73 degrees and the next it is 45. It will be interesting to see if Emmaline actually sticks with the soccer. I'll keep you posted!