I'm sick of sick

This house is a germ-infested zone right now. My cold has now switched to my sinuses, particularly my right sinus and it's aching. I'm producing more mucus than anyone should ever produce.

I took 2 Tylenol PM's last night instead of my usual 1 just to ease the aching and get better sleep. However, my sleep was disrupted by my oldest daughter emerging from her room, standing in the hallway at 3 am. I looked at her, and knew she had gotten sick. I said, "Did you puke?" She nodded and headed for the bathroom. And there it was, on the bed, down the side of the bed, in the rail, on the floor and rug.

So here go hubby and I cleaning it up, which wasn't easy in my Tylenol PM induced daze. Poor hubby almost gagged himself. I shampooed the mattress, rug, and carpet. We changed Meg and got her down on the couch, and we were back in bed around 3:30ish. Zach kicked me in the side for quite some time after that (I must have disturbed him) and my sinuses started draining again. Not a great night of sleep at all, and poor Bryan had to get up early to head to Louisville for a day trip.

Needless to say, I kept Meg home today. The good news: I got my new washing machine last night and I"m making good use of it already today :) It's nice and quiet too. I love it. I've got minestrone soup in the crock pot for supper and I'll make some chicken salad with some pre-baked chicken I bought at Kroger. Keeping Zoe away from Meg is a challenge in itself, and she's being a typical almost-3 year old, so it's a tiring day. At least I've got my crock pot and new washing machine to help me out :)

Where have I been?

Well, my baby (my Dell laptop that is) has a bad video card, so I've been forced to come downstairs into our dusty basement to use our standby PC. I've no games on this one now, so I'm in withdrawal. We've found a few cheaper used cards on Ebay so we'll be getting one of those soon. I just feel lost without my baby, err, laptop.

Plus, I've had a terrible cold that started in my nose and went down into my throat and chest. I completely lost my voice on Sunday and felt lousy over the weekend, so I stayed home from church and rested while hubby was nice enough to take the girls with him and on to a birthday party for one of Meg's school buddies afterward. My blog-friend and local mom friend, Melissa, took Megan to another birthday party for a schoolmate that happened to be just after the first one, so I had a nice quiet day to rest. Thanks to hubby and Melissa for that.

Also, my washing machine broke--so that kinda puts life on hold here as the laundry monster looms. We went to Sears Saturday night to purchase a new one. I did a little research and found one with decent reviews for a reasonable price. It's a bigger capacity too, so that will come in handy as #3 appears and I have yet MORE laundry to do. It will be ready for pickup today, so hubby will be on his way after work to pick it up. Pray for it's safe arrival here :) We haven't had the best of luck with driving large appliances home (ask me about the dryer sometime).

I've been doing more nesting as well. Saturday night we visited Lowe's and bought a closet organizer system and some nice bins for storage for the girls' room. Yesterday, I went through a few boxes of baby clothes to find things that Zach could wear. I had a whole cycle of emotions going on. First I was happy to look through the little baby clothes again. Then I was sad that some of my favorite outfits that the girls wore wouldn't be worn by another daughter of mine. Then I felt lucky to have seen two daughters wear the outfits. Finally, I felt hopeful that one of my sisters-in-law would have a little girl and I would see them worn again ;) Pregnancy moods--lovely

Woot!

I've reached 10,000 visits to my little ole blog. Thanks to all of you who read my ramblings! I'll continue to read yours too ;)

Prayer Request

**UPDATE--Joey just called and little Austin Scott was born about 9 am EST. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. He has lots of dark hair too. Mom and baby doing fine!
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My friend Jamie in Versailles, KY is scheduled to have a c-section tomorrow to deliver her second baby, a little boy they're naming Austin. If you would, lift up a little prayer that all would go smoothly in the delivery. Her husband is Joey and they have a 4 year old daughter Kaitlyn as well. I'm excited for them and can't wait to see some pics!

Back to Nesting

Since the holiday season is finally over (where did it go??), I'm back into nesting mode. I took down the tree over the weekend and got the rest of the decor down yesterday. I cleaned the living room really well, even vaccuuming around the baseboards. Got some more laundry caught up.

Today, I'm alternating between laundry, cleaning up bedrooms, and shampooing the living room. I was way behind on carpet shampooing. And now I'm almost out of detergent, but I'm going to keep at it until I run out today. I'm doing a few passes at a time, then taking a break in between to do the other chores and rest my back. My Hoover steam cleaner is great, but it's heavy and can do a number on your back if you overdo it.

I'm getting really anxious to get things ready for the baby. I've got to start getting Zoe's clothes into Megan's room. We're brainstorming ideas to organize the closet better. I think we're going to storm Lowe's this weekend and buy one of those orgnanizer system things, plus some extra bins, etc for shoes and out-of-season clothes.

Bryan wants to build the girls a bunk-bed and is looking for plans and ideas for that. He has already been offered help from our neighbor (the one who had the heart bypass a while back). He is a good woodworker and has a nice shop in his garage.

I'm not in much of a rush to move the girls in together, since Zachary will be in our room for the first few months, but we do need to keep moving in that direction. Anybody have any organizing ideas for clothing and toys when you move two kids in one room? I'm up to any suggestions.

Barack Obama a Radical Muslim?

I received an e-mail this morning that started out like this:

"Who is Barack Obama? Very interesting info and something that should be considered in your choice for President. If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts...this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States...better heed this and pray about it and share it. We checked this out on "snopes.com". It is factual. Check for yourself."

It goes on to claim that Barack Obama is actually a radical Muslim, instead of a Christian as he claims. And that he refuses to put his hand on his heart during the national anthem or to say the pledge of allegiance.

What I liked best about the e-mail is that it tells you to check out Snopes for yourself--really makes it sound legit, doesn't it? Well, if you actually check out snopes and their evidence, you'll find that this e-mail is actually a hoax full of false allegations. Here are the links to the Snopes articles I found:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp

The photograph in question in the second article was a true photograph, but claims that Obama routinely doesnt't put his hand over his heart during the anthem or refuses to say the Pledge are unfounded.

Lesson: Don't believe everything you read, especially in e-mails. Check it out on Snopes.com or other sources, especially before you forward it to lots of other people. That's how smear-campaigns and rumors are spread--people sharing information that they don't even investigate for accuracy.

There's enough political yuck going on already between the candidates themselves, don't you think? We don't need to propagate it.

Adventures in cake-making

In the last two weeks, I've made 3 cakes. It's truly a record for me. I'm not much of a cake maker, especially from scratch. I've made the girls their birthday cakes from mixes and pre-packaged icing for the past 3 years now. Though I get frustrated at not being a great decorator, I just like the fresher taste of home-baked birthday cakes, even though it's from a box.

These first two are Megan's 6th birthday cakes, with a Barbie, Island Princess theme. I used Duncan Hines white and dark chocolate fudge cake mixes, Pillsbury vanilla whipped icing (2 cans), and Betty Crocker decorator icing (the green in a can and the purple, pink, and white in tubes). The decorator icing comes with their own decorating tips too. I also used Betty Crocker Decor Selects colored sugars for the rainbow. Nothin but convenience here folks. The Barbie edible image and gazebo thing I found at two different places online (can't remember where right now).

Today, I finally got to try out my new Wilton Bundt pan my in-laws got me for Christmas. I made an Orange Pound Cake--a recipe that came with the pan. I wanted an orange cake recipe to use up some of the oranges I bought from my oldest niece for a fundraiser. I got to use my new microplane for some orange zest. Last week, when I took Meg shopping, I used a little Christmas money I had to buy me a new juicer (only about $10 at Wal-Mart) so I had fresh orange juice for the cake and icing. Though the cake looked and smelled wonderful, it was a bit lacking in taste. And for the life of me, whenever I make a cake from scratch, the texture ends up denser than I'd like. It WAS a pound cake, which is a dense cake anyway, but I had a ring of extra dense cake around the top (which was on the bottom of the pan). I may have underbaked it, but I couldn't get my toothpick all the way to the bottom and it looked clean when I pulled it out, AND I baked it the maximum amount of time. I followed the recipe to a T, and it ended up being a moist cake with yummy icing, but the cake itself is a bit bland. There is no salt in the recipe, which I found odd, and that may explain the blandness. I don't know if pound cakes usually call for salt or not.

Well, those are my adventures in cake making. I will probably try a recipe from online for a different and more flavorful orange cake.

Attitude Adjustments

Megan had her first Upward cheerleading practice tonight. Unfortunately, she also exhibited a majorly bad attitude towards me and therefore required an "attitude adjustment" when we got home. I'm glad we had the time there at practice so I could better plan the "adjustment", instead of reacting out of anger.

Man, that kid can push my buttons. And so can just about anybody right now :) I'm giving myself a ton of slack with my moods because I just can't control them most of the time since I've been preggers.

I think, though, that when this pregnancy is over and I'm into the child-rearing years, I'll need to consider my own attidude adjustments. I want to reach the point where at least most of the time, I'm mindful and conscious about how I react to the kids (and others too). To think before I act and speak. And at the same time, be real about my feelings and not deny them. To be a good example to my kids about how to handle feelings in healthy ways.

Right now, I'm not sure how to go about that without talking their ears off, but if I can just reach the point of being a good model of behavior and taking responsibility for my actions and reactions, that should speak louder than words.

Now, where's that chocolate....?

Time keeps on tickin...

**EDIT: The actual highlight of Christmas Day was finding out my hubby's brother and his wife are expecting again! Please keep them in your prayers that this pregnancy will be successful and healthy this time around!

It's a new year! Christmas came and went, Meg's 6th birthday came and went, and we're already full-steam into a new year. I don't know how it all goes by so fast.

We traveled to our hometown to be with family for Christmas. Highlight of the trip: Bryan and I went to Opry Mills in Nashville on Thursday to shop and just spend the day together. We had a ball buying little baby boy clothes we found on sale. We spent about 3 days with the family and came back here last Friday. I had to bake a couple of cakes for Meg's party on Saturday.

We had a nice little party for her at our church. Such a blessing, since I didn't have to worry about cleaning up the Christmas tornado at home :) She had her Nana and Papa there, Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Bradley, and a few little friends there and they each had a little sibling with them, so it was fun day.

On New Year's Eve (Meg's actual birthday), I took her shopping with the money she got for Christmas and birthday. She bought some new Bratz shoes (with no laces--she's very proud of that), a Fairytopia Barbie, and a Dora movie. That night, we had a fun party with our Sunday School class. The kids played upstairs and the adults played games and munched on goodies downstairs.

Yesterday, we mostly just rested. I started putting away stuff and washing new clothes. Today, I have a Dr. appt and it's so cold I dread getting out. Then it'll be back here washing more laundry :) The neverending stories of laundry and dishes begin again!

Merry Christmas to all!

The presents are unwrapped and loved. A new bike and new dress up clothes. Lots of stocking stuffers. Cookies eaten by Santa and oatmeal eaten by the raindeer :) A new microplane for me and the best one of all--the best egg rolls from the city of Louisville brought to me by my hubby--gotten on one of his trips there. We used to live there and I have raved about those egg rolls ever since we left :)

As we get ready to travel to visit family, I hope you all have a great Christmas filled with sweetness and love. Safe travels to you all and to all a good night! ;)

Let go of Rockwell

Life happens. Even at Christmas time. Each year, especially since I've started a family, I've had this little vision of a Norman Rockwell painting for the holiday--family gathered around ethereal-looking Christmas lights, joyous smiles, presents perfectly wrapped, everyone dressed nicely, children behaving....then I snap back to reality.

Kids and parents get sick. Arguments abound. Screaming. Crying. Pulling of hair. The presents are not perfectly wrapped. Some don't get wrapped at all. Christmas candies and cookies don't look like the picture in the cookbook and some aren't prepared at all.

Troubles outside of the family loom as well. Friends and family sick and in the hospital. Estranged family. Tensions. Work problems. Money tight.

It's not Rockwell, but it's beautiful all the same. My husband and I just watched "The Nativity Story". If you haven't watched it, please try to do so. It's so touching and moving, seeing how Jesus, Lord of all creation, humbled himself to be born into a poor family in a stable, among parents who weren't even supposed to have children yet. The movie dramatized the struggles Mary and Joseph may have faced as they learned of the impending birth, then the journey to Bethlehem. We don't know for sure if it happened the way it did in the movie, but we can be sure that life was hard. He wasn't born into luxury. He wasn't born into a Rockwell scene. His parents were scared, unsure, tired, and frustrated, and I'd say much more so than most of us.

I've reminded myself the last few days to let go of the Rockwell vision and embrace the gift that came with that humble birth. Life happens. Perfection comes only in that gift, that hope--knowing that we were bought with the price of that humble life.

We tried to get Megan to watch the movie--she was much more interested in watching cartoons with Zoe in the other room. But we did get her to watch a few important parts. Although the whole family didn't gather serenely around, watching the story of Jesus' birth, we were able to communicate the importance of the season. We also listened to Megan telling us how she was a shepherd, then a wise man, yesterday in a Sunday School re-enactment of the birth...interrupting the movie, of course...but what did I expect? Rockwell? :)

When you can't go shopping....

Get some junk food :) That was my therapy yesterday for taking a rain-check (literally) from my shopping for Christmas goody and meal ingredients. We dropped off some goodies to a few friends just as the rain started and it didn't let up all day. So, I drove by McD's for the girls, then DQ for a double cheeseburger, small fry, and a peppermint chip blizzard.

Now, I don't usually go for the seasonal blizzards because I'm kinda afraid I'll be disappointed, but that one looked good and it was! Yummy little chocolate pieces, peppermint candy pieces, and peppermint syrup in there. Mmmmm!

Now you want to try one, don't you?

Well, I'm off to shower and shop today. No rain, so I'm going to brave it...with both girls...pray for me.

In the news

A Christmas Tree Hunt Gone All Wrong A man and his kids went out into the wilderness in Northern California looking for a Christmas tree. Well, they got lost in the freezing snow. Luckily they found shelter in a drainage pipe and their signal was spotted just before the rescue was called off. I'm thinking, "Why not just go to Wal-Mart? If you get lost in there, you won't find any employees when you need them, but you've at least got some Cheetos."

Jamie Lynn Spears is Pregnant The star of Zoey 101 and Britney's little sister is pregnant at 16. Lots of outrage and uproar over a "teen role model" being so irresponsible. I'm thinking, "Why haven't we learned not to put our trust in the Spears family...or the Hiltons...or the Richies...or the Lohans...you get the idea. I wonder why people are so surprised?!"

Eek! It's a Mutant...Not Really A man left the state of Oregon because people there aren't very nice to people with blue skin. The video link here shows a man with obviously blue-toned skin that may be suffering from a rare skin disorder or the effects of drinking a supposedly cure-all solution of colloidal silver. Either way, I'm thinking, "Shame he didn't surface a couple years ago during the filming of X-Men III. They spent a lot of money putting blue makeup on Kelsey Grammar for the Beast character. They could have saved a buck or two."

And that's my news for the day--have a good one!

On the mend

Zoe is finally feeling better. She's back to getting into things, jumping on my bed, and following me around, generally wreaking havoc ;) That's how I know when she's better.

I hate to see my girls sick, but if there is a bright side to it, it's that they are really agreeable and quiet when they're ill. Zoe just laid around all day yesterday. At the doctor's office (she did have an ear infection), instead of bouncing around like she usually does, she just sat calmly on the table and in the waiting area on my lap. Last night, she was content to lie on my bed watching cartoons, drinking 7-Up. Not our Zoe at all, though not unwelcome behavior, LOL!

After one dose of antibiotics and a few doses of Ibuprofen and ear drops, she's already on the mend.

Last night she also did something she has never done, but I sincerely hope she does again (and I hope Megan does too). Not too long after dinner, she came into the kitchen holding her mouth and looking ill. I asked her if she needed to puke. She said, "Yah." I happened to have the garbage bag out sitting there in the floor and I said, "Here, just puke in here." And she did!! Every bit of it went into the bag!! That has never happened before. So gracefully too. She puked a bit, and then said, "Wipe my mouth." Sounded so pitiful, but we were so amazed. I didn't have any vomit to clean up at all. Just took the bag out. I know that will never happen again like that, but I sure it wish it would!

Monday, Monday

And it's a crappy day. I think Zoe has an ear infection now. We visited some friends in Nashville yesteray afternoon and we all went to the Opryland Hotel to see the sights. We had a great time with them, but didn't get home until after 10 pm. The girls both went straight to bed, but Zoe woke up about every 1/2 hour to 1 hour crying. We thought maybe she was just overtired and having trouble sleeping. She wasn't running a fever and she would say different things every time we went in there.

I think she finally went to sleep around 4 am, and the alarm went off at 5:30 for the school day. Ugh!! Bryan and I both have colds and were medicated (I had just had one Tylenol PM), so it was very difficult getting up. Megan did ok, and I went back to bed after I got her off to school, but was only able to catnap.

When Zoe got up, she started complaining about her ear, and she had a fever. She hasn't eaten well all day and has been lying around. I've got an appt with her doc at 1:30 today. We seem to be keeping her busy this month.

All that, and then I find out my brother is officially on his fourth marriage after a visit to a judge last Friday. Wonderful. (*not*) Wish I could pretend to be happy for him. I'm so disappointed and angry with the choices he's made in his life. I won't go further into ranting about it because I'd be here all day.

Isn't it sad that I dread interacting with my family this Christmas? I should want to go back to my old home, the place I grew up. I don't even want to think about it. I can see why some folks move away and just never come back now.

Anywho, this was quite the depressing post, wasnt' it? I'm determined to get over this hump of a day and enjoy the rest of the week, enjoy preparations for Christmas. I have an awesome little family of my own that I wouldn't trade for the world and I'm going to love and cherish them, even through the snot, coughs, and doctor trips :)

A few of my favorite things...

Thursday night, hubby was out of town. I got the girls to bed without much fuss and was able to sit and enjoy the beautiful lights from the Christmas tree and Christmas village, watching "A Saturday Night Live Christmas" (too funny) and just enjoyed the time with Poncho and my Zachaboo (yep, Zach's got a nickname now). I journaled in the baby's journal and enjoyed some Lucky Charms--I love cereal at night when I'm pregnant :)

Friday night, a Christmas party in O'boro with hubby. We rushed around to get ready and drop off the girls and we both were kinda cranky with colds brewing, but we were able to sit and eat a nice dinner there at a table to ourselves! Quiet, relaxing dinner. Decaf coffee with derby pie. A magician who was hilarious. We were dead tired when we got home, but it was nice.

Today, rainy and icky outside, but warm and cozy in here. Morning with sausage biscuits, jelly, OJ, and coffee. After that, Meg and I made out Christmas cards for family and friends. Sweet treats while we worked. A hot shower, a few chores, then I made a batch of pretzel candy. Our "Buddy" is here now for the afternoon and he and Meg are having a blast while Zoe is napping. I just enjoyed some honey/chamomile tea (so good on my throat) and am listening to some great instrumental music from "Maggie's" site. I'll be taking a bit of a nap soon, then baking some cookies.

Good stuff of the season. God is good!

But not the season to fit in all your clothes :)

All that eating may keep you from wearing your favorite outfits, so beware! Treats in moderation, people.

My problem, however, is my pregnant body is rather hard to accomodate. I'm pretty much restricted to maternity clothes now.

I finally tried on the little black cocktail dress that my sis-in-law found for me. It looked quite lovely and fit wonderfully in the belly area--nice and loose--kind of a babydoll dress style. The top, however, was a different story. Bryan could barely get it zipped. My chest just didn't want to fit in there. :) When it was finally zipped, I couldn't move my arms up and down.

So, I've decided that comfort is more important than the sparkly fashion of the cocktail dress. I'm opting for the gray maternity dress pants, the red maternity (actually a juniors XL) short-sleeve roomy shirt with a white tank under it. I'm still wearing my heels though and I'll carry the purse that sis-in-law got to go with the dress.

Still wish I could wear it--bummer. And I was afraid it would be too BIG :)

Tis the Season....

To EAT! I absolutely love all the treats of Christmas time. I love making them and I love eating them. Hubby got a nice tin of flavored popcorn from a business associate, and I'm eating that now. We made some candy for his employees in his department at work as well. We've been doing that each year. It's a fun and yummy way to bless them and thank them for their hard work. He also found some nice worklights for each of them too, so he got to play Santa Claus this morning ;)

One recipe I made for the guys came from www.razzledazzlerecipes.com. It was quite yummy, very easy, and really economical! I'm sharing with you here:

Pretzel Candy Crunch

2 cups broken pretzels

1 cup tiny marshmallows

1/2 cup chopped salted cashews or peanuts

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup half-and-half or light cream

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 cup chocolate chips

Combine pretzels, marshmallows, and cashews or peanuts in a large mixing bowl; set aside.
Combine sugar, half-and-half or light cream, and butter or margarine in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate chips. Let stand 1 minute to soften pieces. Stir till combined. Let stand 5 minutes.

Pour chocolate mixture over pretzel mixture; stir to coat. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto baking sheets lined with waxed paper. Chill till firm.

Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator.

Makes about 30 pieces.Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare candy and store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

My time waster this morning

But so fun! Now I'm moving on to my chores, but I wanted to share what I've been doing. For the past few years, I've been printing out Christmas gift tags I've found online, but today, I decided to try designing my own. I thought I'd share them with you here.

I'm not sure about image copyrights, but I will list the websites I got the images from here. The clipart from the first two tags came from http://www.cutecolors.com/. The clipart for the last two tags came from http://www.hellasmultimedia.com/webimages/. I downloaded the Snowflake brushes from http://www.easyelements.com/index.html. I created all these with Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, saved each one as a jpg file and made a sheet with two of each one side by side in Microsoft Word. I added black borders around each in Word as well. I suppose you could save each of these files, then add them to Word and print them out as well. Since I'm not selling them, I wouldn't think it would be a problem. If anyone knows if it is, let me know.

By the way, I designed each to be 2 inches high, by 3 inches wide, but it didn't reflect that here. You may want to resize to your desired size.

Tuesday stuff

Meg is feeling better. Her doctor saw some major infection there in her right ear yesterday at her appt. She said it looked like a big pimple in there. Gross. Anyway, she's on Zithromax for 5 days and ibuprofen for pain and fever at bedtime and before school. Also some ear drops I'm just using at night for now. She's not complaining of pain since Sunday, so no sense giving her tons of meds.

Hopefully, everyone will stay well enough for us to attend Bryan's company Christmas party on Friday night. Luckily, our youth in the church have decided to host another Parent's Night Out that very night, so we didn't have to put anyone out for babysitting. I love Parent's Night Out. If you have a church with lots of teenagers, you may want to suggest they start doing that. A few adults hang around of course, to keep the teenagers in line too :)

I've got to get my "outfit" together for the party. I will try the dress that sis-in-law found for me--I think she paid about $1 for it and it was $100 new or something like that. If it's too big or too short to keep me warm enough :) I'll go with pants and festive shirt. We'll see.

I'm going to have to paint my toenails too for my heels. I may have to have hubby do that, since I can't bend so well anymore. He's done it before and spoiled me. If your hubs have never painted your toenails, you should get them to--it's such pampering! :D

Monday, Monday

This morning's first headline on GMA: "Terror at church". Not what you'd expect to hear.

Some crazy maniac shot several people at a missionary training center at a small town in Colorado and later on at a large church in Colorado Springs.

I apologized to my baby this morning for having to bring him into such a frightening world. When I was this far along with Megan, the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 happened. When I was pregnant with Zoe at this time, I had a terrible car crash. I wonder if these poor kids have a chance. :(

Yesterday, Megan developed what we think is an ear infection. She actually started crying and laying on my lap at lunch because of the pain. A call to her doctor, a trip to the pharmacy, and this morning, she went on to school. I'll be bringing her in to her doc to have a look though as soon as they can see her.

Saturday--it was nice. We decorated the tree, finally. I decided to go with a white tree this year, and bought a new one at Wal-mart. Why choose another tree when I had two already? I wanted something between the size of Charlie Brown tree and Rockefeller Center tree. This one fits well in front of our living room windows. A new box of shatterproof ornaments allowed the girls to decorate it almost all by themselves. We watched Rudolph as we decorated.

I also made 3 loaves of cranberry orange bread for our neighbors that day. I love holiday baking. Tiring a bit, and hard to find the time sometimes, but something I look forward to anyway.

Well, now off to call the doc!

Pregnancy--The good, bad, and ugly

Good: Watching my belly grow, feeling Zach kicking around, wearing cute maternity clothes.

Bad: Worrying every day that he's not moving enough...until he kicks me hard as soon as I lie down.

Ugly: Watching my thighs and bum grow as much as my belly, and the most embarrassing (*drumroll please*)....peeing when I sneeze.

And there you have it--some of the ups and downs of pregnancy. I wouldn't trade it for the world. :)

Do you like it?

My new Christmas header that is! I figured out the Magic Extractor tool yesterday in Photoshop Elements and got crazy with some clip art and pics :) It was fun!

God bless the Flylady

I still get daily e-mails from www.Flylady.com, the lovely lady who's mission is to help us keep up with our daily chores without them weighing us down. I don't keep up with the e-mails often, I must say, but I do read some from time to time. Today's was poignant to me, reminding me that it's my attitudes that hold me back from improving important areas of my life. I share it here:

Dear Friends,We all have said this in our lives when we have been asked something.These words come out of our mouths before me can stop them. "I know"…These words are not said with an affirmative tone! They are said witha defeated tone and possibly a hint of anger.

Let's look at what this is all about! To me I know means we haveprocrastinated once again. We are saying that yes we knew we weresupposed to do something and then we didn't do it! We are taught that when we know to do something and we don't do thatwe have made a mistake. We don't like making mistakes. This is wherethe defeated attitude and anger comes in. Why do we do this to ourselves?

Here are some meanings to those habitual "I Knows".
A way to shut the other person up.
You are right; I need to think about that (just not right now!)
I can't make a mistake.
Puff yourself up (YES I KNOW THAT I AM NOT STUPID!)
Not being aware of what is coming out of your mouth
I already know that so just leave me alone!
It is just a habit.
I may know but I am still not going to do what you tell me to.
It's just too hard.

These words may have become a habit to say but it is important that weare aware of the words that come out of our mouth, how we use them andhow they are perceived. Just like with the word perfect we have tofind new ways to describe our feelings. Please watch yourself today with these words. The key to not sayingthem is DOING. Just knowing doesn't get something done! We have totake action! Then you can celebrate instead of being defensive!Do it now! Don't wait! FlyLady

Monday, Monday

I have began to look forward to Monday mornings just a bit. I don't look forward to getting up early to get Meg off to school and Bryan off to work, but I do look forward to sitting for a while, drinking my coffee, watching Good Morning America. Of course, Zoe does eventually get up (right at 7 am this morning), so I have to get her settled down with some breakfast and juice, but then we can hang out in our PJ's for a while before the work begins.

Perhaps I should try being more productive right from the start, since Sunday's supposed to be our rest day, but Sunday for us is usually pretty busy with church activities, and I just don't have the chance for that quiet morning time. Should be spending this time doing Bible study too, but I'm just kinda in a slow down cycle at this season of my life. Whatever the case, I like my Monday mornings right now....just a bit. It's still MONDAY for goodness sakes!

By the way, we kicked off Christmas season with our annual Christmas banquet last night and had some great gospel music from the Conquerors afterwards (a men's quartet made up of some local fellows, including a great bass singer from our own church). Good stuff--great way to get in the Christmas spirit!

Ah, sweet nesting!

Only three times in my life have I had the privelege of enjoying "nesting". Being pregnant with our three children has brought out this wonderful urge to organize, declutter, and clean. Mind you, I'm still no Martha Stewart when it comes to housework. I ain't got nothin on June Cleaver, but I do tend to get some much-needed work done when I'm pregnant.

Yesterday, I finished the "toy purge" of the season, tossing out every broken/old toy I could find, putting some in bags to give away, and reorganizing what's left. I even got the wise idea of pulling out every baby toy that I could find and putting them in a toy basket in the living room to have them ready for Zachary.

Bryan, in his husband-wisdom, reminded me that he won't be playing with anything for about 7 months. Well, at least I won't have to go digging for them 7 months from now when he's ready to play. One less thing to worry about, eh?

A couple months back, I wrangled Bryan into helping me clean up downstairs. We fully cleaned out my little basement garage, the den and kitchen area, and got a bit done in the guest rooms. I've managed to stack up yard sale stuff (hopefully God will grant me energy to have a yard sale next spring) and the give-away toys and clothes (remember my closet purges?) in the little garage, so it's kinda back to being piled up again. But the stacks look much more organized!!

If you've been so lucky as to experience nesting, I hope you made the best of it. If you have yet to be preggers, I hope you get to experience nesting, because it makes you feel like you've really accomplished something.

The Monday after Thanksgiving

It's been a dreary day weather-wise, and just a little dreary in my heart this time of year too. Mainly because it seems that the holiday season is just one blur of activities and "stuff". Then it's gone, and we're left with all the receipts and the cabin fever of a long winter.

The whole weekend was nice, but went by so fast. We traveled to the in-laws Wed. night and didn't get there until around 9:30 pm. Thanksgiving day was probably the most restful day. I slept in as much as I could and just pattered around the in-laws' house, playing with the girls, making my cranberry salad, until dinner, which was big and delicious! The girls and I took nice naps after the meal. The house was quiet all afternoon--it was nice.

Bryan and I were able to take in a movie that night--"The Mist"--not recommended, especially for young viewers. Thankfully, the girls stayed with my in-laws. It was rather gross and had a twisted ending--so much for my pick. Usually I like a good scary movie--this wasn't one of them.

Friday, dinner at my dad's house. It went smoothly, except for having to clean the house for an hour before I could start cooking anything. Poor man, he has no idea how to keep anything clean. He supposedly had someone come in to clean for him a few days prior. I don't know what they cleaned, but it wasn't anything I could see! Thankfully, Bryan took the girls to run some errands while I did that. Then, I was able to get the turkey warming in the oven, mix up my stuffing, and cook mashed potatoes, green beans, and crescent rolls. My ex-sister in law and my youngest niece were able to come. I was so glad to have them. It felt a little more like a normal family. No word from my brother that day.

Bryan and I left there and decided to drop off the girls with his parents again and take in another movie. This time, "Fred Claus"--Bryan's choice. Much better choice. It was funny and had that predictable "you know someone's going to save Christmas" story. Not a holiday classic, but cute nonetheless. After the movie, we ate in the local Taco Bell where I worked one summer back in college days. Nothing had changed, except they didn't have any heat for the poor teenagers working in there. The poor little guy that took our order was shivering. I wanted to go get him a turtleneck or something.

Saturday, Bryan and I went shopping in Bowling Green together. We were able to almost completely knock out our Christmas list. The crowds weren't super bad either. I just do not go shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving, escpecially lining up in the wee hours of the morning to get trampled so I MIGHT be able to buy a stapler or something. Not worth it to me. I'd rather pay full price than risk my life, thank you. :) We got in and out of each store easily. I even bought some maternity clothes rather quickly (odd for me--I'm so indecisive and cheap).

Sunday, slept in, showered and and headed for home. Stopped in Bowling Green again for lunch (Mancino's pizza-yum!) and back for some quick naps before church. Megan's children's choir sang one song in our Hanging of the Greens service. Nice service. Good Christmas music and messages. Zoe was distracting, but it was still good. Left there, Happy Meals for the girls, soup for Bryan and me, and bed!

Today, not much of anything except washing clothes that we wore over the holiday. Trying to get my mind into Christmas mode, wondering about planning child-care, pictures, etc. Hoping to actually enjoy the season more than stress about it.

What to do with leftover pumpkin

I just had to post another post before the holiday begins. I made a couple of double layer pumpkin pies last night for our meals and had some leftover pumpkin mix and didn't want to throw it out. I looked up a recipe for pumpkin pancakes and used it for them this morning. They were delicious! Since my girls liked them, then you will too! :)

My pie mix had vanilla pudding in it, along with the regular spices. The pudding lent a unique, fluffy texture to the pancakes. If you've just got some leftover canned pumpkin or pie mix, this will work well. Since I had the pre-sweetened and flavored pie mix, I simply omitted the spices called for in the recipe and only used 1 tbsp of brown sugar. I also used 1 cup of buttermilk and rounded it off with 2% milk (I had to use a little more just to thin it out a bit, but not TOO thin, or you won't get fluffy pancakes). Since I used the buttermilk, I also omitted the vinegar.

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar

DIRECTIONS
In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan [my electric griddle worked super well with this--heat to 350 degrees] over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

The link for the recipe is here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Pancakes/Detail.aspx

Thanks to www.Allrecipes.com for the recipe.

Two days until Thanksgiving!

I'm brining my lovely 10 pound fresh turkey for 6 hours today per Alton Brown's Good Eats recipe. I'll be cooking it up this afternoon, carving it, and taking it to my dad's for dinner on Friday. I hope it still tastes like a fresh turkey by then.

Also on the menu: dressing, cranberry salad (my mom's recipe), double layer pumpkin and chocolate pies for both my in-laws and my dad's house, and possibly homemade rolls, though I'm leaning toward the brown and serve to save me some time and energy. My dad and ex-sis in law are providing the other sides.

My brother will probably not be there. He has just not gotten his act together this year and has really made a mess of things. At least I can see his ex-wife and one of my nieces. She's only 6 months younger than Meg, so I love them to spend time together, though we don't get to that often. Just hoping for a peaceful, uneventful meal up there. Pray a quick prayer for my dysfunctional family, if you would.

Now, for some fun. I've gotten a lot of those "getting to know you" lists and they're kinda all the same. I thought I'd make my own Thanksgiving-y version of one and I'm tagging everybody who reads--so lurkers, come out of the closet and let us get to know you :)

1. What's your favorite way to eat/cook a turkey? I like the Good Eats recipe I mentioned above--brining it first, then roasting in the oven. Comes out juicy and very flavorful.

2. What's your favorite side dish(es)? I love good dressing like my MIL makes and cranberry salad like my mom (and now I) used to make.

3. Favorite Thanksgiving dessert(s)? Good ole pumpkin pie for me--I love to make the double layer ones--they're lighter and not as rich as your traditional ones.

4. What do you like to do after the big meal? I love to sit back and nap and chat with the family, getting up every so often to pick at the leftovers.

5. Friday after Thanksgiving--are you shopping or not? Not me--no way! I'm not much of a shopper anyway and crowds make me panicky. Though Bryan and I are going to get out Saturday for a bit of shopping--probably won't be much better....hmmm.

6. Kitchen appliance you can't live without? (Not really a Thanksgiving question, but it's a good question anyway) My KitchenAid stand mixer that hubby bought me a few years ago for Christmas--indispensible, I tell you!

7. Do you decorate for Christmas on Thanksgiving weekend or later? I usually wait until later--around the first/second week of December. I get kinda tired of looking at it if I do it too soon and we're usually out of town on Thankgiving weekend anyway.

8. Five people you're most thankful for this Thanksgiving (I'm sure you have more--feel free to list them): Well, let's just say Jesus right off the bat, then Bryan, Megan, Zoe, and little Zachary on the way. And all my family and friends that I love so dearly.

That's it for now. Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!

Another "exotic" fruit you'll want to try

If you head out to your local Wal-Mart, Kroger, or other grocery chain, you'll now see these big bins of interesting red fruits--pomegranates. They've been enjoyed for centuries in arid places such as the middle east, and now is the season for them to show up here.

They have these lovely, bright red arils, or berries, inside of them. Now, the trick is to get to the berries without squirting the bright red, staining juice all over the place.

First, slice off a bit of each end. Then, score through the skin with your knife, forming sections (4-6). Then, immerse in a bowl of water and break apart the sections. Now you can gently scoop out the berries either into the water or a regular bowl and just eat em up. They taste sweeter the riper they are, and remind me of a cross between blueberries and cranberries. Delish!

I especially love them because they are jam-packed with healthy antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Check out a California based info site here: http://www.pomegranates.org/home.shtml. Try one and let me know what you think!

Good Morning America article

I've got two girls. Puberty is hitting young girls earlier than ever. One reason may be stress in the home. We're going to have to start meditating or chanting or burning incense or something--I don't want to buy any bras for my babies any time soon! ;)

Check out the article:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/story?id=3871218&page=1

To sum up all the Snopes-ed out e-mails I've gotten...

Click here:

Tired of getting all those e-mails??

Monday, Monday

Just checkin in here in Bloggity-ville. I've spent most of my computer time today just catching up on some posts on other folks' blogs. I'm doing catch-up cleaning and laundry too after a busy weekend.

And, I'm in the beginning stages of my first sinus infection for the season. I leaned over yesterday to chase our cat from under the bed and my left cheekbone felt like somebody hit me. Sinus pressure hit all at once. I'm keeping saline spray handy and will get my humidifier going tonight. I'm hoping and praying it will not ruin Thanksgiving for me. One year, I had a sinus infection on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. Not happy times.

We canned our first green tomato pickles on Saturday, the aftermath of which I'm dealing with today. I don't care for them, but they are one of hubby's favorite things to munch. It was my first experience canning ANYTHING, so it was fun to give it a go. Hubby used to help his mom can stuff when he was younger, so he knew a lot about what to expect.

I drove all over trying to find canning supplies. Kroger had jars and a canning funnel, but nobody else had anything. Wal-Mart puts their supplies up after summer, apparently. We made a makeshift rack for the bottom of my big stew pot to set the jars on. We tied jar rings together with twist ties and it worked well. I found a pair of tongs that worked reasonably well to lower and lift the jars out of the boiling water. A jar lifter would have been handy, but we made it work.

Well, I'm off to do some more cleaning and "mommy work". And blow my nose again.

If God brings you to it...

Then He can bring you through it. I've heard that many times. I thought about that this morning as I thought of how many experiences I've been through as I've gotten older. So, I've compiled a bit of a list of what God has brought me to and through.

1. Divorced parents
2. Never knowing one of my parents (that's kind of an oddity)
3. A live-in grandmother with Alzheimer's disease
4. Deaths of grandparents
5. The disablement of my stepfather
6. 2 totaled car wrecks (1 while pregnant with Zoe)
7. Working full-time while married and in college
8. 2 all natural childbirths (wonderful, but hard and working on 3--cheer me on :D)
9. The sickness and death of my mom
10. A miscarriage
11. Loss of pets
12. Loss of friends and extended family members

I could go on, but these things have been some of the biggest hurdles of my life. This is not a post of "woe is me", but a post of Thanksgiving. Since the holiday IS approaching in a couple of weeks, I wanted to get into the mindset of being thankful. I thank God every day for all the blessings of joy and happiness He's given me, but I don't often think about how He's gotten me through the tough times and the lessons I've learned, the experience I've gotten just from going through it.

If we lived perfectly peaceful and enchanted lives, how could we minister with empathy toward those who are in turmoil? The hardships of life, if we let God teach us, give us the grace to understand each other's problems, to know where they are in their pain ...and hopefully know how to give advice or help when asked or needed.

What experiences are you thankful for this season? What has God brought you to and through? What is He teaching you now?

So what do you do...

When the kids are out of school for election day and you've no where to go?

Clean out closets of course!

Well, I'm doing seasonal clothing purges. I don't know how clean the closets will actually be, but I feel better having the proper clothes for the season in place. I have finished the girls' closets and need to start on mine.

It made me a little sad putting away some of Zoe's small clothes, knowing I'll never have another little girl of my own to wear them now. But, I'll be more than happy to pass them on to whoever will be having a little girl next. And I know some couples in our family that I'd LOVE to give them too! :)

The girls are just doing whatever pleases them today. Just a laid back day, except for the closet purges. School is back in session tomorrow, so back to the old routine. And back to cleaning up the tornado that happens when kids are home all day!

Not "Goodbye", just "See You Later"

We attended Joey's funeral today. It was both beautiful and heartwrenching at the same time. The sanctuary was filled. My hubby and a few others stayed until the wee morning hours last night running wire into the gym to show the service in there in case there wasn't enough room.

Joey's son Josh, our children's minister, gave the most touching and fitting eulogy for him. Our 3 other ministers spoke as well, each recounting their own special memories of him.

I kept thinking, "I'm just not ready to say goodbye." We lost our friend to a massive, sudden heart attack on Tuesday morning. This man, who ran at least 5 miles every day, who was in terrific physical shape for being 50 years old--we never expected that to happen.

But as the stories were told, the memories I had of him kept flooding in, as I'm sure they did for everyone there. I remembered our first night at our church back in November of 2002. They were practicing a Christmas cantata, and Bryan introduced me to Joey and his wife Marsha (he and Eric A. had invited us to church). Joey was dressed...you guessed it...as Jesus. I remember thinking what a great Jesus he portrayed. He and Marsha made us feel so welcomed right from the start.

I remembered other times too--seeing Joey running past our house early on many mornings. The mornings I didn't see him, he was running, but I was just sleeping in :)

I remember how he showed up at my door the evening after I totaled my car 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Zoe. He had two big trays of food that he and Marsha had prepared so that we wouldn't have to worry about dinner on that stressful (and sore!) night.

I remembered how he prepared food and washed dishes each Wednesday night, always smiling, happy to serve. How he loved all the kids in the church, and how the little ones were just drawn to him in the nursery. Hubby remembers all the times they spent working together, dining at the Mexican restaurant for lunch, how he could see right into Joey's office from his.

And something was said today that I won't forget--we're not saying "Goodbye", just "See you later". I'm so glad to have that promise today, and my prayer is that we can touch people's lives like Joey did--unselfishly, not looking for praise, so that we'll see many more faces there--faces of people who's lives were changed because of us.

We'll Miss You

Remembering

Joey Smith

Loving Husband, Father, and Friend

"Jesus" in our Easter plays

Deacon and Faithful Servant

You will be greatly missed...we hope we can live out your example.

October is proving to be a hard month

We've just lost a good friend, valued co-worker to my husband, and much loved church brother this morning. His family has lost a husband and father. We're in shock and devastated. My husband had just dropped him off at his house last night after they rode home from a Louisville trip together. Bryan, Zoe, and I had had lunch with him and his daughter last week. It was just so sudden.

I'll give more details later as the news gets around. I know where he is now--happy and at peace with our Savior. But, death is so hard for those of us left behind. We'll really miss him.

You may call me crazy, but...

I moved our younger cat, Poncho, back into the house. When I originally put the two cats in exile, it was because Charlie (the older one who died) had began eliminating on my bed and in the house. As far as we know, Poncho never had that problem, but I didn't want to separate them, since they were so close.

I'm wondering now if Charlie had a kidney disease even way back then that made him do that. When I noticed he was very ill yesterday, I also noticed a LOT of urine near the litter boxes and a few small spots around the room in the garage. Cats will do that when they have a kidney disease sometimes. And those diseases can strike really fast. I think that's what killed him.

Anyway, I digress. Poncho is now living in our basement, as long as I don't see any signs of improper elimination. He was always more loving than Charlie to other people. I swear I've never heard that little cat even growl or hiss. So, I don't think he'll be a problem around the kids at all. I brought him in, trimmed his claws, gave him a bath, applied Frontline just in case, and brought in his litter box and food bowls. Zoe and I even went to the store this morning and bought him new fresh food, litter, and treats.

Right now, he's settling back in down there, sniffing and prowling around like everything's all new again, but EXTREMELY happy! He's rubbing the hide off my legs every time I go down there. I'm making sure I pet him and give him more attention today. He's really going to miss Charlie. They were like two peas in a pod.

Now, am I acting out over guilt? Maybe a little, but I'm telling myself that I never really wanted to put Poncho in exile anyway, so he's just back where he belongs. I hope it works out. I really missed having a cat in the house...apart from the hair and all.

Good news, bad news

The good news is our friend Kim came out of surgery well. The surgeons looked at another mass that they had been watching for a while, and thankfully it looked benign. I'll update with any info I get. By the way, if you want to read straight from her blog, "Maggie" is in charge of updating it until Kim gets back. Check out "Sing Me Home" in the sidebar over there.

The bad news....I lost my cat today. My Charlie is gone. He was about 9 1/2 years old and suddenly took ill today and died this evening. He is now buried in our backyard. I had him since he was about 8 weeks old, just a little ball of fur. He used to love to curl up under my neck back then and sleep with me. He and our younger cat had been living in our garage for almost 2 years now. I feel guilty that I didn't give him the attention he had when he lived in here with us. I'm trying to hold back feelings of guilt over not being able to help him and not having been there when he actually passed.

He had become quite ornery in his adulthood and really only liked me, but I can't help but be saddened over his loss. I'll miss him....mostly I'll miss the good days I had with him. His kittenhood, his curling up behind my legs to sleep, his purr. He had a way of comforting me when I cried. He'd come up to me with a little meow and put his paw gently on me. After such a good high day yesterday, it's hard to handle this low.

The girls are ok. They didn't really relate to him much since he had been in exile from the house for so long, but they were a little sad. They came out to watch his burial. Zoe said, "I miss you, Chardee." That pretty much said it all.

Some updates and prayer requests

First, my friend Kim from Sing Me Home (see blogs on sidebar) is having breast-cancer surgery in Louisville today....it will be a long surgery, and she'll be there 4-5 days at least, so keep her and her husband and daughters in prayer.

Second, my dad's oldest brother died over the weekend after a year or so in a coma after an accident. There seems to have been no funeral service as his wife supposedly had him cremated and didn't even tell any of the family he died until a couple days after he passed. He and his wife lived in Louisville, were rather backward and never spoke with any body much. I never even met him. It's still hard on the family, to say the least.

On a good note, Megan is doing great in school, according to her teacher at the parent/teacher conference on Tuesday evening. She's excelling in all subjects, and is one of the best readers in her class. We're a bit proud of her :)

Our baby is a......

BOY!!!!

I'm so sorry I couldn't post sooner! We had our U/S scheduled for 10:00 this morning, but they mixed up our appt and had me down for 8 am, so then I had to wait until 2:45 to get one. I had an appt at 11:30 today too, so we were out of town ALL day. I had to have "Maggie" pick up Meg at school for me (luckily her kids go to the same one) and then we had to pick her up and go to church for supper and Bible study. I've just now got home, and got the girls in bed.


Yep, we got us a boy on the way! God is so good! We're so excited! We're calling him Zachary Bryan. So far, he looked good and healthy. He didn't quite "spread em", but we could tell he had his boy parts :) The family is all excited and Megan is too. She really wanted a brother. Zoe's starting to catch on to what's happening.

Oh my gosh!

Tomorrow is the big day! We'll find out who's growing inside me. I'll finally be able to call the baby by name. We're so excited.

We're having a busy day today though. Zoe had a Halloween party at the local library's storytime so wore her scarecrow costume. She was adorable! I took pics. I'll try to post soon. We had snacks and candy and then went by Mc'D's drive thru for lunch--I won't be hungry for a while :)

Tonight, we have a parent/teacher conference with Meg's teacher. I hope we hear good things! I'm sure we will. She seems to be doing great.

I'll update tomorrow with everything we find out about child #1 and child #3 :)

Time for a laugh

When poo is flowing freely in your backyard, you need to laugh :)

My friend Marcia sent me this today. Enjoy!

Pregnancy Q & A

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q: I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q: What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question? (I'm loving this one!)

Q: My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labor, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A! : Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labor?
A: Not unless the word "alimony" means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q: Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

Well, it's went from Woohoo! to Good Grief!

Friday after the guys finished resealing our driveway, our septic system backed up and started coming into the basement. We've been having trouble with it off and on for a couple years.

We have big old trees all around our house, and their big, hungry roots have grown all up in it and the lateral lines. The pipes will all need to be replaced. The place is some 40 years old, so the pipes are clay and the roots just love them! : (

I am NOT loving this mess. Our backyard is all dug up from 2 different plumbers inspecting it over the weekend. Bryan has had to buy a submersible pump to pump out the foul liquid that is backing up until we can get it resolved. So at least once a day, we'll have to go out and pump out our waste water so it doesn't back up into the house.

Until we get it repaired, that is. We got a very ballpark estimate from the plumber that is a lot more than we were prepared for. After we get a perk (sp?) test from the health department, then he can give us a more concrete figure.

I'm tellin ya....a condo in Florida sounds better all the time. Come on retirement! ;)

Woohoo!

Time to celebrate--we're finally getting our driveway sealed after living here for almost 6 years. It's cracking up badly...not as in laughing, but as in breaking. Each winter has made it a bit worse.

The sealing guys are here now. I'm happily listening to the sealing pumping motors as I go about my day. We'll have to stay off the driveway for a couple days, so we're borrowing our neighbor's drive for now.

How many of you are behind on home improvement projects? I can see a sea of hands rising now! :) I'm thinking about making a list (it will be a long one) of things we need to do around here and start doing them one at a time...as time and money allows.

We hated living in apartments for the first few years of our marriage, but there was the definite advantage of not having to worry about maintaining things. I wouldn't trade our house, mind you, but it's a lot of work to maintain one of any size.

What are some projects you're working on right now? And please send me any tips for em too--where to start, where to buy, etc.

A new season...time for a new header

After Maggie showed me how to make blog headers, I've been hooked. It's very hard, however, because it takes me an hour or so to get one done.

And I have a little girl rolling around on my bed, kicking my laptop.

And I need to go to Wal-Mart really badly and it's already 10:30. Where does the time go?

Well, I hope you like it anyway. Let me know! Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Uggh, so unmotivated

I've managed a few small menial tasks today, but other than that, I'm sooooo unmotivated. There is so much I want to do, but deciding on what to do first and getting it started is just proving too much for my pregnancy-brain.

Plus, I've got this whole "I'm pregnant with who will hopefully be our last child, so I just want to relax and enjoy it" attitude. Not a great attitude when I've got a husband, home, and two little girls to look after.

I'm getting a desire to have a yard sale, mostly to get some extra Christmas money which is in short supply this year. Getting started with that though--well, I'm just unmotivated! I sometimes wish I had telekinetic powers like one of the X-Men or something. :)

Blogfriends--I've been stalking your blogs this week, reading your wonderful posts, but have been too unmotivated to respond much. Just know I'm still there, watching you :)

I'm back!

We had a good fall break. The girls and I arrived back home from visiting the family on Saturday evening. To my amazement and delight, my wonderful hubby had cleaned the house and caught up all the laundry and dishes!!

I was dreading coming home to all that work, but I was able to relax this weekend because of his hard work. I told him I'll have to leave him here alone more often :)

I hope to get into some deeper posts this week, but I'm just not sure what direction to go yet. Hopefully some inspiration will come soon.

Checking in quickly

Just checking in while I'm home during fall break. We took a mini-vacation to a local town on Mon and Tues. Stayed in a hotel with a pool and had a pizza-campout in our room. The girls slept together for the first time in a double bed there (and not well, mind you). It was about 3 in the morning before Zoe finally stopped wiggling around--also, the Coke Zero we drank that hubby claimed had no caffeine actually DID have caffeine, so Zoe and I were both up half the night.

Anywho, the zoo the next day--a small zoo, but nice in that it's very see-able in just one day without getting exhausted. And back home last night.

Bryan will be out of town on business, so the girls and I are heading back to our hometown to visit family, and so I can help my dad out with a few important errands. Hopefully we'll be back by Saturday and back in Bloggity-ville. Thanks for sticking it out with me. Hope you're all enjoying fall!

Secondhand smoke hurts us all

I grew up in a home with a smoker. Every year I had terrible bouts with flu, pneumonia, and head colds. When I left home for college, I suddenly had fewer colds, and since I've been completely in a smoke-free environment since being married, I have had even fewer. I don't think that's a coincidence. Here's an article I found from www.medicalnews.com on the newest initiatives to keep our kids from being exposed to secondhand smoke and the dangers they face when exposed.

I've also added a new poll to the blog about smoking bans in public places. Please vote if you visit here and feel free to comment about your vote on this post. I'd love to know everyone's opinions. If it were a perfect world, I'd totally go with choice #1. I think choice #2 is the most logical--plus, it keeps the smokers contained in places where we non-smokers don't take our kids anyway, e.g. poolrooms and bars and they can puff away to their hearts' content (and lungs' destruction).

American Lung Association Commends Nationwide Initiative To Protect Children

From Secondhand Smoke25 Sep 2007

The recent announcement of a new partnership designed to protect children enrolled in Head Start from the dangers of secondhand smoke is significant. The American Lung Association commends Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu and the American Academy of Pediatrics and their partners for taking this step to protect one of our most vulnerable populations.

No child should ever be exposed to secondhand smoke. Parents, grandparents and caregivers all must take steps to protect children from exposure. The American Lung Association also encourages all health care providers and educators to talk with parents and caregivers about protecting their children from this deadly smoke.

Last year's Surgeon General's Report on The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke made it clear that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, particularly when it comes to children. Today's announcement, "Children and Secondhand Smoke Exposure," emphasizes the harmful consequences to children. Almost 60 percent of U.S. children aged three years to eleven years-or almost 22 million children-are exposed to secondhand smoke. Infants exposed are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and children are especially vulnerable to other people's smoke, suffering acute respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia, more severe asthma and ear infections as a result. Secondhand smoke causes an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children less than 18 months of age, and each year, hundreds of thousands of children with asthma have their symptoms worsened by being exposed to other people's smoke.

Currently, 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have already passed strong smokefree air laws that protect everyone from the dangers of secondhand smoke in workplaces including bars and restaurants. In January of 2006, the American Lung Association launched our Smokefree Air 2010 Challenge, urging all states to go smokefree by 2010.

For more information about how to stop smoking, please call 1-800 LUNG USA or log onto the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking® Online program at http://www.lungusa.org.

About the American Lung Association

Beginning our second century, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined. The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease. With the generous support of the public, the American Lung Association is "Improving life, one breath at a time."

http://www.lungusa.org.
Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/83433.php

A Snopes-ed out story

Hadn't had one of these for a while. My sweet niece Alycia sent this to me. Have you heard it?

State Police Warning (serious)

DON'T FLASH HEADLIGHTS AT ANY CAR WITH NO LIGHTS ON!!

Police office rs working with the DARE program have issued this Warning: If you are driving after dark and see and on-coming carwith no headlights on, DO NOT FLASH YOUR LIGHTS AT THEM!

This is acommon Bloods member 'initiation game' that goes like this: The newgang member under initiation drives along with no headlights, andthe first car to flash their headlights at him is now his 'target.'.He is now required to turn around and chase that car, thenshoot and kill every individual in the e vehicle in order to completehis initiation requirements.

Police Depts across the nation arebeing warned.Their intent is to have all the new bloods nationwide drivearound on Friday and Saturday nights with their headlights off. In order to be accepted into the gang, they have to shoot and kill allindividuals in the first auto that does a courtesy flash to warnthem that their lights are off.

Make sure you share this information with all the drivers inyour family! Please forward this message to all your friends andfamily members to inform them about this initiation ritual.

I Snopes-ed it out for you here: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/lightsout.asp

Thanks Alycia! Keep sending any thing you get that is questionable, and I'll Snopes out what's real and what's not.

Top 10 Reasons for NOT Smoking!

I posted this on our car club's website in August of 2003 when my mom was sick with lung cancer. She died on October 9 of that same year. Since it's almost the 4th anniversary of her death, I thought I'd focus on the dangers of smoking this week. If you're a smoker, I hope you're offended enough to quit. Debate with me if you wish. I've heard all the excuses in the book. There is no good excuse for smoking. Read on:

Top 10 Reasons for NOT Smoking!
10. It's disgusting.

9. Smokers lose more teeth than non-smokers. Real pretty, huh?

8. Pregnant women who smoke risk the health and lives of their unborn babies. (ACS)

7. Smokers die younger. In fact, smoking shortens a person's life span by 13 to 14.5 years. (American Cancer Society)

6. It's disgusting.

5. Smoking causes cancer. Tobacco smoke contains at least 43 substances that cause cancer. Tobacco use accounts for about one-third of all cancer deaths in the United States. (ACS)

4. Smoking can kill everyone around you. ETS (Environmental tobacco smoke) causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in healthy nonsmokers. (ACS)

3. A disturbing statistic: Based on current smoking patterns, smoking will kill about 500 million people alive in the world today.(ACS)

2. You look really stupid standing outside Wal-Mart in January trying to puff away while you're shivering uncontrollably because you just can't wait for your spouse to finish shopping before you get your fix.

1. IT'S DISGUSTING!!! Get a clue! Your breath, hair, clothes, car, house and everything around you stinks. Do you know how hard it is to clean that crap off of car windshields, walls, and even from inside computers???

I must vent. I hate smoking. I see what it has and is doing to my mom every day. For those of you who don't know, she has advanced, inoperable lung cancer, and is going down hill day after day. She's currently in the hospital again for the third stay since January.

I've watched her go through months of chemo and radiation that has made her sick, tired, and lose about 45 pounds. Her skin is hanging off her and the right side of her face is swollen so badly that her eye is almost completely shut. Now she is developing blood clots that have her in the hospital on a heparin IV. But guess what? She still finds the strength to wheel her IV pole outside to get her nicotine fix.

One would think that after developing lung cancer, that a person would wake up and realize that they need to quit smoking. However, the nicotine (which by the way, is as addictive as cocaine and heroin) has such a control on all smokers, that even that won't stop them.

I've heard every excuse in the book trying to justify smoking.

To name a few:
1. "Smoking doesn't cause all cancers". Well, duh. Lots of people get cancer who don't smoke. However, smoking DOES cause almost 90% of all lung cancers, plus several others.

2. "You gotta die of something." P--lease!!! What kind of lame excuse is that? Why don't you just go jump off a roof or shoot yourself in the head? It's quicker, less painful, and cheaper.

3. "I could be doing worse things." Like....?? Maybe shooting your family at point-blank range? Again, quicker and less painful.

4. "I just don't believe it's as dangerous as they say it is." Well, do you believe the world is flat just because it LOOKS that way? Thousands of websites, articles, and scientific evidence is out there proving that smoking is deadly. The cigarette packs even say so--gees!

5. "I can't afford to buy patches, gum, etc to help me quit." But you can afford to die? Sorry, to go through months of chemo, radiation, hospital stays, and then die? Honestly...

Guess what? There is no excuse to smoke. If you think you have one, you're wrong. Smoking is stupid and deadly. The only reason this drug addiction is legal is the huge profits the tobacco companies are making for Washington. If you smoke, please do yourself and your family a favor, and do whatever it takes to quit!! There are many, many resources out there to help you.

Even if you're smoked for 30 years, quitting now can greatly improve your lifespan and quality of your life and the lives of those around you. You have to quit for yourself. But, please think of your family.

If you are thick-headed and decide to continue to smoke, even after you get lung cancer, emphysema, etc., don't ask them to leave their homes and spouses for days and weeks at a time to come clean up after you because you're too tired and sick from all the chemo and radiation to do anything but sit around and smoke.

It's very demeaning for me to have to go through this every week. I love my mom so much--that is why I travel 150 miles every week for days at a time to help her and my dad (who is disabled) out around the house. Yet, to see her keep killing herself and refuse to try and quit makes me want to drag her out and beat some sense into her. It is torture to live through this. Please don't do this to your family. I am done with my rant now.

Monday musings

It's been a stressful few days dealing with a situation that's required a lot of time and energy--too much to think about posting anyway. I may talk about it at a later date when there is some victory over it.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about a small conversation I had with Meg the other day. Hubby and I have been taking a parenting Bible study at church on Wed nights and it's really taught us a lot. One night one of the topics was about teaching moments for your kids, specifically when you do something wrong, you should bring it to your kids' attention and apologize for the behavior and talk about it.

Well, one afternoon, I was particularly stressed and grumpy, and I was snapping at the kids too much.

Me: "Meg, I'm sorry I've been so grumpy. I've been tired and worried and I've been too mean because of it. Everyone gets grumpy sometimes, but that's no excuse to use mean words."

Meg: "That's ok. You're still a good mom."

I love my kid!