Welcome, friends!

This is my first attempt at blogging. I hear it is all the rave! As a mom, I just thought that I would share some of my thoughts, fears, experiences, joys, tears, laughter, stories, etc. You get the gist....Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope to hear back from you. This is meant to be a constructive, hopefully, funny, page that let's us moms forgive ourselves, give ourselves a break, and hopefully some support! Happy reading!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Just when I thought I was in the clear....

....and spring was on the way, I get another cold....or whatever it is....sick again! UGH! I guess my first year teaching art to four year olds who come to school sick is costing me this year...hopefully my immune system will toughen up for next year. I knew when I looked at about four runny nosed kids last Thursday that I may not make it through the weekend, and of course, the hubster was "stuffed up" for about three days, "I'm not sick..." kiss, kiss....ugh....thanks everyone! Maybe next winter I will just move to the Virgin Islands by myself to avoid the colds/flus/viruses/sore throats/runny noses/aches and pains....you get the gist...(I haven't said that in a while...) Anywho, I am off to get my Theraflu on....need to heat it up in the microwave. I do like the nighttime apple spice flavor...it helps me sleep too!!! Until next time....

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

School starts at 8:46AM.....

....and my son knocked on my bedroom door at 9:00 and asked, "Mommy, do I have school today?" I said, "Yes, of course you do...why?" He replied, "Because it is 9:00...." AWESOME.....after the initial panic set in, and I could sort of organize what needed to happen in minutes, we got ourselves out of the door in 20 minutes. Both kids were in school by 9:30....of course, I was suppose to meet a friend at 9:15 for coffee, I had to call her and tell her about my mishap....she agreed to wait for me and have a bite to eat. Of course, I had a conflict that I needed to work out with another friend....carpooling our girls to ballet, and picking up our boys from school. I usually wait for the boys and bring them to ballet, and she picks up the girls and takes them while I wait for the boys. This week, I agreed to take the girls, which meant that I would have to leave the school at 2:15. Of course, I am chairperson for Earth Day/Green Week at our school. I am taking t-shirt orders for Earth Day, today was the last day that I was able to take orders. I needed to stay until 3:30. Conflict.....so, while I was having breakfast with my friend (who was already a rain check from last week....sick daughter at home...), my phone was ringing off the hook to work out the carpool conflict. Rude....but, necessary....conflict resolved. Stress level finally going down....however, then I needed to think about collecting the t-shirt orders, and what I am going to do for a lesson tomorrow when I teach art....not prepared at all....ugh....now, it is almost 6:00PM, I am "venting", I have collected all of the t-shirt orders and changed my art lesson which is all set, stress level way low....now, I just need for my desktop computer to be fixed....supposedly tonight...and all will be well....ugh......I am SO happy to put this day behind me....!!! ;

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Some times you feel like a nut....

....I can't wait until my kids have kids of their own! (Warning....a little gross....) Last night, I took my daughter to a birthday party. She had been fighting a cold all week, I kept her home in bed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. By Thursday, she seemed great, so we decided to get back into the world. By Friday, she finally went back to school, her friends really missed her, but I just wanted to make sure not to "share" this cold with her friends. We had to go to a birthday party that afternoon. Well, of course, she started coughing....and coughing, and coughing, and coughing until she said that she needed to go to the bathroom where she coughed so hard that she threw up. I cleaned her up and left....we get home, and I gave her a bath, put Vick's on her chest, and feet with socks and put her to bed. Hubster and I were waiting for our son to get home from a play date. In the meanwhile, we ate dinner together, yet, daughter came out and said that she coughed herself awake. We went into the bathroom for her to cough so hard that she threw up chocolate cake all over the toilet...yes, all over the toilet, not IN it, but all over it. She mentioned that she did a little bit in bed too....I walked into her room to clean up, reached for the light and stepped in it....of course, son came home in the middle of it all.....I got it all cleaned up in the bathroom and told son to brush his teeth, but he couldn't stand the smell...so I told him to go into the other bathroom...he did, came back and got ready for bed. I cleaned up daughter's floor, took the rug outside and changed the sheets and proceeded to put everyone to bed. In the meanwhile, one bathroom smelled like vomit and the other like "stinky boy".....I did a load of laundry, tried to scrub the rug outside, in the dark and it is a shag rug, LONG shag....came back in and was finally able to sit down. No sooner did I sit down to watch some TV with Hubster that a subject came up and we got into a heated debate.....the phone rang, luckily, and I went to bed....not the best Friday evening....today is a new day. Daughter stopped coughing pretty much altogether, all of the laundry is finishing up in the dryer, the rug has been scrubbed clean...and we are off to another birthday party. Hopefully this one will go better....wish me luck.....

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

How do you deal with death...

.....with your child? This is a wrench that was thrown at me today....last year, my son started at a new school, he didn't really know many kids, and most of them already had their friends. My son made some friends, a few, but was bullied a little bit, and did not want to go to school. He would crawl under the covers, cry, and tell me that the lunch lady yelled at him. He made every excuse in the book. It was not an easy year...until, his friend, who was a classroom aid, a young man in his 20's, started playing basketball with him. My son would talk about his new friend, he said that his friend would lift him up so that he could slam dunk, he encouraged him to play flag football this past fall, he even came to a game....today, there was a letter sent home that my son's friend suddenly passed away. WHAT???!!! He was a young guy.....how do I explain this to my son....someone who I know gave my son the confidence to go to school, to play sports, to be a leader, and to participate. He was one of those guys that I know changed my son's life.....I am heartbroken over this loss....I never had the chance to say thank you to him. Never had the chance to say "Thank you so much for helping my son!!!" Thank you so much.....

Love what you do....

....or CHANGE what you do! It is so easy to complain about things, but if you are unhappy with your situation, do something to change it. For example, the hubster and I were "complaining" about how much money we DON'T have just about one year ago this month. How are we going to make more, what can we do to change it? I came up with an idea to give my daughter's school director a proposal to teach art in a unique way and really give quality art projects along with an explanation for the parents to understand what they are spending their money on. Additionally, the school district would save 25% on cost. She loved it, passed it along, and I was approved to begin work as of September 2010! I have LOVED every minute of it! Hubster decided to revive the youth track program in our area this past summer and had much success for the first summer! Now, we both know what to do to improve upon our programs, we are both doing what we love, while still doing what we NEED to do. I encourage you to really dig deep and figure out what you love and make something of it because you never know!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Do it for.....

...yourself!!! When I first had my two children, I would wear frumpy shorts/pants/sweatpants and t-shirts. When I would dress that way, I would FEEL that way! I made a decision about four years ago that I wanted to at least try to look somewhat decent. I started by buying some cute tops. Not just t-shirts, they were still comfy cotton, but, stylish! I started to feel better. I also took some time to put some makeup on. Not a lot, but, just a little mascara, and blush. That started making me feel better as well. Within the past year, I found some jeans that I really love, and started buying accessories that I really love! Now, I get lots of compliments on these things, and that makes me feel good. Not only did I want to start feeling good for myself, but for my husband and for my children. Who wants a rag-a-muffin for a mom? Or a wife?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Mommy brain.....

.....has this ever happened to you? Today, I was in the grocery store. I have a carabiner key chain, I ALWAYS hook it onto a ring on my purse when I get out of my car. Well, of course, I walked ALLLLLLL over the grocery store today. I get to the register, I pay, I walk out to my car to realize that my car key was GONE! WHAT???!!! I have to be at my daughter's school to pick her up in about 10 minutes. I searched my grocery bags, no key, I went back inside and asked the gal who was bagging groceries if she had seen it, no key, we walked up and down each aisle, no key, I walked over by the deli, no key, I walked back outside, no key, finally, the gal that helped me look suggested that maybe it fell out inside of my purse. I thought, well, I didn't hear it drop to the ground, I actually thought that it was caught in my fringy sweater, so, I took out my wallet, and sure enough, MY KEY! Seriously......sometimes I just wonder where my brain goes??? LOL.....

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Did this happen to anyone else...

....but me??? OK, the things that your mother never told you about....well, life. But, this particular thing is from having pregnancies. My feet are huge....I use to be a size 8 or 8 1/2, now, my feet are 9 1/2 or  10.....they grew about a half size with each child. It is a good thing I only have two kids....can you imagine? Not only that, but, because I have high arches, the extra length makes my arches work harder. Therefore, I have had plantar fascitis in my left foot, (this is an extremely painful tear or strain on the tendons in your arches, in my case, they tore, if felt like bone spurs in my arches and took 14 months to heal....not fun!) and cannot run any longer (well, long distances...that is if I want to be able to walk when I am 80 years old!) Believe me, this is something that I would not wish upon anyone! No one ever told me that my feet would grow....no one ever told me that strange things would happen to my body after I had children.....the things we sacrifice for our children! Actually, I think if I did know....would I have had children? I think that women were built to "forget" child birth....otherwise, there would only be only children in the world....lol.....oh well. The benefit is that I can usually find the cute shoes in my size, because not many people I know wear a size 10!!! ;) Now, I am off on a WALK; not RUN!