Holiday Mail for Heroes

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The girls and I might sign a few cards here soon. :)

It's hard being a lady of leisure

Zelda sure is having a hard time adjusting. (Click for the full picture. :)

mommy & checka lunch @ noodles & co.

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The dog

I should update on this, too.

I finally decided that I don't need to keep putting my life on hold until our house sells, so I put in my application for a retired racing greyhound in the middle of August. I had my phone interview a few days later, and then we had our home visit last weekend. It was really informative, and it was long enough for me to remember the questions I had had. &nbsp;I feel like the rescue group is really dedicated to making sure that the right dogs go to the right homes, which includes making sure that the home is ready and able to care for the dog. (Not just monetarily either.) &nbsp;They advised me that the haul coming in the middle of September was full, but that there should be one at the end of the month too.I was thinking it would take some time to find a greyhound that was cat/kid-friendly AND would do okay in a house without a fence. So I didn't even have my hopes up too high for that haul. (Besides, I've been waiting a year to even apply, so a few weeks were no big.)

Tuesday we spent the day in Fredericksburg, and when I got home I found a voicemail from another woman at the rescue. Turns out they had a dog coming up on the mid-month haul who meets our needs, and would we like her? So, yeah. Now we're scrambling to get everything together, but it looks like it's going to work out. They let me know that I don't have to bring the kids to the adoption event, which is really nice. I will be able to concentrate (well, as much as I ever am. ;) I ordered the collar last night, but I chose just to put our last name/cell phone number on it. (And, yes Alice, I realized after I hung up that I could've embroidered my own. Dur.) We're definitely going to change her name, and we have a shortlist, but I want to meet her first. I've seen pictures, but I want to see her coloring in person. She's 4 years old, and she's being vetted today! &nbsp;I have requests out on Freecycle for some of the stuff we need, and we're going to Costco/Petsmart/WallyWorld for the rest of it. Oh, and we need to put something up high to keep the kids from being able ot open the door and let her out, since we don't have a fence.

3 days until school starts!

We had kindergarten orientation yesterday. Charles got back from his meetings out of town in time to meet us there. (As in, we arrived at the same time and got to park beside each other.)

Adia's teacher is brand-new, which is kinda cool, since it's just like Miss Binney in Ramona. :) A was painfully shy and opted not to play with the toys while the teacher talked to the parents. (She stayed with us.) Unfortunately we hadn't gotten the heads-up that they would be offered the chance to take a practice ride on the bus. I say unfortunately because that meant we didn't have any time to prepare her. She flipped and declared we would be driving her to school everyday. (No.) So her first experience on the schoolbus will be the first day of school.

I gave the teacher a heads-up that Adia is reading on at least a 2nd grade level already. I'm not sure she believed me, but she said they do evals a few weeks into classes, so I guess they'll find out then.

Overall, I'm pretty sure we're making the right decision to put her in school. The academics of homeschooling her don't worry me, but the socialization does. I know most kids are fine being homeschooled, and I'm not knocking it in the least. But Adia really needs to have the chance to get out there alone and learn how to socialize with her peers. (And new adults too.)

Playing in the fountains at C's house

cutie pie on the playground!

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Is there anything cuter than kids in glasses?

I think not.

We took the girls to get eye exams today.  Adia was already at 20/30 at her 4yo checkup last year, and she apparently has pretty significant astigmatism.  She was all excited to be like Mommy and Daddy until we were looking at frames, when she decided she can see just fine and doesn't waannnnnaaaa wear glasses.  (Tough cookies, kid.)

She's getting some awesome pink frames with bling.   Sleeping Beauty glasses.  ("Lipstick Pink", if you'll put your feminist rage aside for a moment.)  They're not what I would've picked -- the Barbie wire frames were more flattering and have a better warranty -- but I'm not the one who'll be wearing them.  ;P

Oh, and remember how glasses used to be dorky?  When did that change?  Francesca is begging for glasses.  I may order her a frame with no lenses just so she'll chill.  She's probably going to need them by the time she's 5 anyway, according to the optometrist.  Three cheers for genetics!  Her left eye also has a tendency to pull inwards, so we might be looking at vision therapy too.

They totally rocked the exam, by the way.  The glaucoma test was no big deal.  (The one that makes me cry half the time.  The puff of air in your eyeball one.)

bday girl & sister having pancakes & oj

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Earth Song

If this was never released in the US, then why do I remember hearing/seeing it along the way somewhere

Panic Time

Because I always need a reason to do that, right?

I called the university today and found out from admissions that I could potentially start classes Spring '10.  Eeeeek!  So now I have a lot to accomplish in the next 6 months in addition to the "taking care of the kids" and "moving" stuff.

- Fill out the application
- Write an essay for the application
- Fill out the "guaranteed admission agreement."  This, beyond my 4.0, guarantees that my community college degree will get me in to the university.  It also waives the application fee.  (Which is $50 now?!)
- Register for my last community college class
- Figure out how to work that into my RCC transcript.  (It will have to be at a different school, since mine isn't offering an online Intro to Western Civ class this fall.)
- Order transcripts from: SVCC, HSC, LU, and RCC
- Find daycare/preschool for Checka
- Find aftercare for Adia

See? Panic.

Of thunderstorms and puke

My parents are here for a few days while Charles is out of town. They're helping me put more stuff in storage so we can fully declutter the house and hopefully sell it! (We have had a few people come through over the last week -- yay!)

So last night we went out to dinner at a local seafood restaurant that pretty much sits on the water. A storm rolled up while we were sitting there, and it was a lot of fun to watch. The power went out for a couple of minutes, but we already had our food. So, whatever. There was a break in the storm for our drive home. When we got back here, there was a limb on the deck rail and our trash can was halfway down the neighbor's yard. There were limbs down all over the neighborhood too.

A couple hours later it started up again. We couldn't do movies on the Roku, since it needs internet to work, so we started watching "Silent Movie." It was actually a decent "Steph Netflix" pick. (Those words are usually associated with seriously crappy movies.) 1/3 of the way through, or so, the TV just cut off. I could intermittently get a red "standby" light to come on, but that was it. Charles' computer was beep-beep-beeping like it was on battery power. It took us half an hour to figure out it was a brownout. We had partial power, but not enough to power a TV or computer. Overhead lights flickered and clock lights were dim. Not long after we figured this out, everything turned off. I think the flashlight is in my car, and it was still storming hardcore. After a few minutes of using cell phones for light, I remembered I had a bunsload of candles around.

Mom and Dad and I headed to bed (and I slept in Adia's bed because the dark was scaring her.) When I woke up at 7, we had power again.

I went to nurse Francesca (who was wandering around the house) and found chunks of something in her hair. She told me it was chicken nuggets. I checked her bed and... ew. I came back up to the living room and told her "You threw up in your bed!" Her response? "I did?!" The sheets are drying, the comforter is in the wash, and Miss F now smells like body wash. She seems fine this morning, and she's had a bowl of dry cereal.

It's Friday, must be time for another post.

(Seriously, look back at my pattern over the last few weeks.)

I've been spending a lot more time over at Twitter and facebook these days, but that's the way it goes.

Let's see.  We've dropped our contract on the old house. (The status of which is dubious in the MLS.)  We put a contract on a fixer-upper, and we've had it accepted.  We were also approved for a rehab loan, so now we get to do building-lite.  We need to pick out paint, flooring, appliances, and heat pump.  We also have to pick out all of the people to do that.  And all on a budget.  This house is freaking huge.  I'm not as thrilled with the location, but it's a good location for what it is.  (Does that make sense?  It's not downtown like I wanted, but it's still a good place.)

There are four bedrooms, so each girl will get their own.  The last bedroom will be a guest room.  The former two-car garage is a one-car garage and the area they made a room will be the playroom.  I'm kinda excited about having just one room for all of the junk.  There's also another room that I'm planning to use as an arts and crafts room for both me and the girls.  The backyard is half-fenced, so I'm expecting to finish that after we sell our house.  (The rehab loan won't cover it.)

Now I'm working on everything that goes with buying a house.  Setting up appointments, packing, cleaning, procrastinating... heavy on that last one.

On the plus side, we should be in the house in time for Adia to start school in September!  She's excited, I'm excited, it's all good all around.

I adopted a cat back in March, did I ever mention that?  Her name is Sparkles and she's a Siamese mix.  Heavy on the "mix" side of things, I think, but she's a fabulous cat.

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so brave she got a purple dino bandaid!

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hamantaschen of failure

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adia...wearing a bib?!

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5" snow on ground. power

5" snow on ground. power out. elec. co. phone line busy. very windy.

sitting up asleep on the couch

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portrait of a sick bebe

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Little Suzy Homemaker

So, Friday morning someone on the local freecycle list offered up a bunch of twin sheets. I managed to snag a set of Finding Nemo sheets! Alas, the previous owner was a smoker, so I had to do a bit to get them suitable for sleeping on.



Checka's doing well with the sleeping on her own. She stumbled down the hall around 10:30 last night, but that was because Crush will. not. leave. her. alone. He had reclaimed our bed but has decided he'd rather lay in Checka's bed and lick himself obnoxiously. I love cats. After that, she slept until 6 something.

Yesterday I decided I needed to get curtains. I looked at an antique store, flea market, and consignment shop. All I found was an undersea shower curtain. At $10, I passed. I visited another antique-type shop and found bolts and bolts of fabric. I wound up buying 3 at $5/ea.




The yellow and white was a tease, because there were only a couple of layers of that on the bolt when I got home. And it'd been cut. But I'll be able to use it for something, because I looooove it.

The fabric that was underneath it is a gold silk, so I think that'll be used for curtains. :) I grabbed a blue silk that I haven't decided what I want its purpose to be, but I like the color. (And $5/roll silk.....)



I made these today. Don't look too closely, because I didn't pin or measure very well. But they serve their purpose.

The girls never fail to amuse me

We have, arguably, the two cutest kids in the world.

This picture is from playing outside in the 70+ degree weather (in February!) the other day.


A summary of our week:

Monday morning - Charles left for Florida.
Monday night - Francesca woke up at 9pm to nurse, and after 50 minutes, I just let her wake up. She hung out with me until I was ready for bed, at which time she insisted she wanted to sleep on the couch. I tried arguing with her, but eventually let her go. I figured she would get up here, last 2 minutes in the dark, and be back to my bed before I knew it. I was wrong. She slept up here until 3:30am.

Tuesday: We played outside, and I ran them ragged. I also cleaned out the guest room/bed, which is where we've been storing moving boxes.
Tuesday night: Francesca nursed to sleep, I put her in her bed, and then she woke again a little while later. I put her in the bed with her koala, and she put herself back to sleep. Until 2:30am when she fell out. (I didn't put a bedrail up because she did fine on the couch. Oops.)

Wednesday: We went to the LLL meeting, and the girls spent a large chunk of the day running around outside.
Wednesday night: I put a bedrail on the bed, and Francesca again woke up to nurse at like 9:30. I nursed her, gave her a drink of water, and put her back to bed. She put herself to sleep, and she stayed there until sometime during the night. She pretty much ignored me in the bed, though, and snuggled with her koala instead.

Thursday night: I nursed Checka, and when she was still restless, I went ahead and put her in her own bed. She didn't wake up until 1 or so. (I was still up, as Charles was flying home from FL, and a delayed flight meant he wasn't home until 12:30.) I nursed her, changed her diaper, and Charles put her back to bed. She slept there until sometime during the night, when I nursed her again and Charles put her to bed. Then she was up by like 6:30, I think. But it's an improvement.

In Adia news, she continues to improve on her reading skills. (We're talking names of dinosaurs!) I bought "What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know" last weekend when we were at Borders. She asked if she could read it this afternoon, so she spent an hour curled up on the couch reading it. Hehe!

By the way, Crush has not been amused by the recent warm weather and my need to open the windows.

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In other vitally important news

I'm working on rearranging the living room. I haven't told Charles I'm doing so. We'll see what he thinks of it.

I just called our Realtor to see if she has heard from the listing agent on the house we want to make an offer on. We had a few last minutes questions (like "How is it zoned?" as a biggie) that I want answered before we sink into the Money Pit.

Goodnight Mom

This was posted on a mom forum where I'm a member:

In the messy green
family room
There was a telemarketer ringing the telephone
And a crying toddler
because his brother just popped his
red balloon
And a picture of--
The cow jumping over the moon (which someone colored on with permanent marker)
And there was a missing
teddy bear, and a girl with
gum in her hair

And one to be scolded
And laundry to be folded
And a very hungry spouse
And something stinky in the house
(that no one else seemed to smell)

And a comb and a brush and a colicky baby who just won't shush
And a frazzled mommy screaming #*%#@

Goodnight messy room
Goodnight scribbled-on moon
Goodnight cow getting out while she can
Goodnight telemarketers and the
popped balloon
Goodnight long-gone teddy bear Goodnight cereal bar smeared all
over the dining room chair

Goodnight spitup
And goodnight leaky sippy cup
Goodnight much-too-little house and goodnight grumpy spouse
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
And goodnight to a certain 4-year-old who just needs to hush right now I mean it

Goodnight Elmo
Goodnight toys we'll pick up tomorrow,
or the next day
Hello chardonnay and TiVo--
"me" time finally

http://www.parenting.com/article/Mom/Relax--Recharge/Goodnight-Mom

Snow movies

Snow day!

My little singing wonder

I've been noticing lately that Adia can carry a tune. Right now she's singing "My Personal Penguin" completely from memory (the tune -- she has the book in front of her) from hearing it in the car a few weeks ago. It's super-adorable.

Talking to the bank

Charles goes to talk to the credit union today to see what they can do for us.

I'm going to burn off enough nervous energy to lose 20 lbs. today. (I imagine the same will happen whenever we put an offer on a house until it's accepted. And then more until closing. haha.)

Just another couple of hours until I hear from him, hopefully. His appointment is at 11, I think.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 cans chicken
1 block cream cheese
1/2 C shredded cheddar
1/2 C ranch dressing
3/4 C Frank's hot sauce

Combine in mini crock pot.

waiting 2 go 2 lunch

waiting 2 go 2 lunch w mom and mb. they must not be done w dentist yet. girls have dentist appt 2day 2.

Inauguration

It was tough to get out of bed this morning after having slept on the couch, again, because of illness. (Francesca this time -- she had to be propped all night for congestion, so Charles slept on his back. And snored. While she snored too.) I did finally get moving and called to confirm that our inauguration party was still on. It was, and so I got the girls dressed. We got out the door almost a half hour after we meant to, but I managed to get both of them, extra clothes, a diaper, and all of the supplies for the food I was going to make. Oh, and Checka went diaperless.

We got to J's house and unloaded. We started watching the coverage and C (female, not Charles) showed up. We didn't have pizza sauce or pepperoni for the pizzas the kids were going to make for lunch, but nobody wanted to miss the beginning of the ceremony. (Or go back out in the sub-freezing air!) Shortly after deciding not to go, we decided we wanted Buffalo Chicken Dip* anyway, so C went to get the ingredients. She got back pretty quickly, and it got started on the stove. We busted out the hummus while that was cooking. C & J's mom was at the inauguration, so we kept joking "Look! There she is!" whenever they'd pan over the (huge) crowds.

Time seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, the swearing in of Biden was going on. We brought the chips and dip over in front of the TV to watch for a bit. The bigs came down to ask about lunch, so we set all of the kiddos up at the table to make pizzas. The bigs were chased off to play while the pizzas cooked, and the littles bummed tortilla chips from us. (I warned Checka that the dip was "picy," but P decided he wanted a bite. It was adorable and awful once the kick hit him.)

Aretha Franklin's motown "My Country 'Tis of Thee" was beautiful. From what I could concentrate on, I thought Rick Warren's invocation wasn't too bad. I recognized the scripture he used (except I know it in Hebrew. Deut 6:4, for those who are curious.) The John Williams arrangement freaked me out a bit. It was very "movie" (yes, duh, John Williams) and made me think of a scene from a political thriller. Totally not what I needed with the worry I did have already. During that song, both NBC and CNN announced that Obama was now the president anyway. The swearing-in was so cute! You could totally tell he was nervous, and then the chief justice messed up the words. We were all "awwww-ing" over the Obama girls and their fidgeting, as well as Michelle's attempts to keep them still and/or quiet. The benediction was really good too. Particularly noted at the party was the phrase "in our churches, our synagogues, our mosques." Then we watched the Bush helicopter fly away, but none of us realized what it was, as some crisis or another had popped up.

At some point in there, the bigs and a couple of the littles ate their pizzas. Once they were safely back playing, we busted out the Giant (as in, from the supermarket chain) brownie with red, white, and blue sprinkles. Straight out of the box, with forks. I'd intended to make broccoli (or is that Barack-oli?) cheddar popovers, but we were too full from the chips and dip for more food-food. We also toasted with sparkling cranberry juice and took pretentious-looking pictures. :)

A little later, C took her girls home. J and I tuned back in at 2:30 to watch the parade, but the luncheon was still going on. After confirming that it was running over, the announcement about Senator Byrd was made. And then it was Byrd and Senator Kennedy. And then it was just Kennedy. We were totally thinking the worst, especially with the revelation that a moment of silence had been held.

Eventually they announced he was conscious and talking. The parade started too. I was a bit disappointed, because it was like 2 hours of the motorcade, with 15 minutes of the Obamas walking down the road. Apparently the "real" parade started after I left.

The kids were so good today! P and Checka were a bit clingy (esp. Checka) at times, but the bigs were off and playing together happily most of the day. Adia dressed up in a green dress and red heels. (Which she soon ditched because they weren't comfortable -- that's my girl!) S wore a black dress and black heels, and M wore a red and white polka dot shirt and brown wedges. Later they all came downstairs (without the dress-up clothes) and went shirtless for the afternoon. Oh, preschoolers. At one point while the mamas were on the couch eating brownies, Checka was sitting on the floor watching the inauguration festivities and chanting "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" to herself.

Charles watched the inauguration at work. (For some reason they had tv's tuned to the event. ;) His impression was good, although he agreed with me on the movie score. He was the one who pointed out to me that the chief justice had screwed up the words to the oath. He also left after the poet, so he didn't see the rest of it. (Though, to be honest, I mostly tuned out the poet.)

I talked to my mom this evening, and I asked her if she had anything new in her world.. like a president. ;) She said she was optimistic that this was going to bring about good things.

O-ba-ma, indeed.

Illness update

Things seem to be on the upswing. Charles took Advil for his throat this morning, but he said it was tolerable before that. 28 hours into round 2 of antibiotics for me means I can swallow without painkillers without crying. It still hurts a little, but much improved. It took forever for me to fall asleep last night and to wake up this morning, but a huge cup of coffee and a bottle of tea helped me stay awake. I'm taking the lazy way out and making a frozen veggie lasagna and garlic bread, but it's still an improvement on our diet of late.

Tonight a bunch of my friends are going out to play pool and drink sans kids, but I'll be at home with my cough syrup and Heroes on DVD. Woot woot. Doesn't get much more exciting than that.

Antibiotics, take 2

Urgent care was pretty awesome. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes AND the doc faxed my prescriptions to CVS. I took the babes through the Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru (see pictures of snowflake doughnuts below -- although that's about all the doughnut Checka ate!) and then through the CVS drive-thru. They offered to flavor my cough syrup too, so I took them up on it. (Watermelon.) Now on Zithromax.

We swung by Rite Aid on the way home for Mucinex and nebbie refills, and now I'm home and drowsy on antibiotics and Mucinex. They're totally cancelling out my coffee from Dunkin'. This is normal for day 1 of antibiotics for me, but I think the Mucinex is magnifying it.

I'm definitely not driving anywhere else today. I can barely type! (I'm having to backspace almost every other word.) I foresee lots of TV this afternoon.

Also, I might get to sleep in the bed tomorrow night. I haven't done that in at least a week. Laying down made me cough too much, which felt yucky AND woke up Charles and Checka.

she was also rewarded

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reward 4 being good @ mommy's dr

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Still sick

I finished the abx on Monday, and within 12 hours I was feeling crappy again. I put it off and put it off, expecting to feel better, but my sore throat and green mucus have returned. So I'm off to urgent care again.

Greaaaat

Adia now has a fever of 102.6 (ish)

We'll be at home until June, if anybody's looking for us.

On the good list, the flavored Zithromax is going well.

Good and Bad

Bad: Adia has a sinus infection. She's on Zithromax for 5 days. I seriously want to move now.* I didn't sleep last night, because the Benadryl I took must've been expired and I couldn't stop coughing.

Good: Adia's lungs sound good, so we're doing good on the nebbies. The pharmacy offered to flavor her medicine, so we made it strawberry. Also, she was freaking awesome at the doctor's office. Francesca sounds and looks clear, so the doctor said to keep an eye on her over the weekend.

I suppose I can't complain too much -- the goods currently outweigh the bads. And now we should all be well enough to go Madi's birthday party next weekend. :)

*So we can be closer to good pharmacies. The CVS we went to today was fast, friendly, and has a drive-thru. I've never done that before, and it's so much nicer than dragging two kids (one sick and I'm still sick) through the pharmacy. Rite Aid has never even presented the flavor thing as an option, and I'm wary of using them for anything with the constant screw-ups they seem to have.

So, it wasn't hives

It's another form of eczema. They're sending her home with two prescription creams (probably steriods, Gramma :P) one for her body and a gentler one for her face.

Still sick, now F is off to the doctor

I spent last night violently coughing, and I wound up sleeping sitting up on the couch. I have broken blood vessels in my eyes and my throat. I'm a lot better now that I'm up and about, but I'm still occasionally coughing. My throat feels better, as long as I'm not coughing. I sent Charles back to work for the first time in almost two weeks.

Over the last day or so, Checka's hives have started covering her entire body. Seriously, she's about as bad as I was when I had the thyroid craziness last summer. Chest-to-toe hives. I called the doctor's office and they wanted to see her today, so I got Charles to come home to take her. I feel better, but not "drive two kids to Fred." better. This is the first doctor's appointment I haven't been present for, and it's a little weird.

Three cheers for modern medicine

I went to the walk-in clinic at the doctor's office here this morning. I have a sinus infection, so I came home with antibiotics, saline, and soup.

Of course, Rite Aid read the prescription wrong and had me taking 1 pill a day for 30 days. I called the dr's office when I got home, and the prescription was written as 4 pills a day for 7.5 days. Argh.

I think if I hadn't gone in today, I would be hating life (more) right now. My throat is getting progressively worse. And I might've gotten 2 hours of sleep last night, because Advil wasn't touching the pain.

I should be asleep

But I'm not, because my throat is screaming and I have at least another hour before my next dose of Advil. Also, my nose is running and I have a cough. Both of which annoy Francesca and interrupt my ability to sleep.

This really, really sucks. I am not a fan of 2009 thus far.