One of them days

I think I need to go back to bed, pull the cover's over my head, and stay there. Suprisingly, I'm actually in a fairly good mood, but my day so far.

7:30 Wake up to #2 royally upset about daddy not being at home.

7:35 #2 wakes a tired and crabby #1 while I ignore him for the whole 30 seconds it takes me to pee

8:25 listen to #2 cry for 15 minutes because he has decided, despite the fact he's perfectly capable of telling me what he needs I need to learn to read his mind. He wanted me to help him get the last of his yogurt out of the bottom of the cup. He finally told me at 8:40, but continued to cry for another few minutes.

8:50 make a Dr appointment for #1 to find out what the rash on his face is.

9:30-10:10 #1 has an all out melt down. Ends up sent to his room till we leave for the Dr after a long talk about how if he wants the privileges of being a big boy he has to start acting like one. ......Part of this is in my last post.

10:20 find and get shoes on both boys to go to the Dr.

10:45 Drive to the Dr's office thinking Hmm the van doesn't feel right, must be because the air is on.

11:10 See Dr. Find out #1 has a raging case of poison Ivy, get prescription for oral steroid since it's too close to his eye for a topical one.

11:25 pull over while leaving Dr's office because #1 informs me I forgot to buckle his seat belt. See front tire is flat, grab my phone to call DH since I don't even know where the spare is hidden in our van and find out my phone is dead.

11:30 arrive at the BK (with a play area) 6 blocks away from the Dr's office still with a flat. Go in order lunch and borrow the kid at the counters cell phone to call DH to come rescue me.

12:00 DH arrives to the rescue and we see him changing the tire

12:30 DH comes in to BK says the spare is low on air so he's taking the van home.

12:45 Drop off #1's prescription on the way home

1:03 call friend to let her know it's just poison ivy and not contagious according to the Dr. (I know I always thought it was too...he said it's an old wives tale, probably because the oil is easily spread, but once it's washed away, other kids can't get it) since she was wondering, especially since our kids always play together.

1:13 Call new friend (we had our first "date" last night, she answered my personal ad and seems really nice, and even fairly normal) and told her the playdate we planned for tomorrow is a go because the weird rash on my kids face I told her about is not contagious.

1:30 Put kids in bed for nap...yes even #1 today. Also realize I don't eat fast food anymore because it just makes me feel blah and oddly still hungry and full all at the same time. I'd forgotten this.

1:40 finally say screw the utility bills, and the environment, and the dependency of our country on foregin oil for energy sources and turn on the A/C

1:50 actually make my shoestring budget chat I try to make every Tuesday at 2. Today I can tell them how my budget for the next 2 weeks is busted after today.

Still left to do today.
Make supper, I have a new "experiment" planned of vegetarian shepherds pie.
Take #1 to his sports class tonight
Try to get a nap in sometime.

The first I hate you

Or close enough. It's true words do hurt. I've been bit, hit, slapped, pinched, and scratched numerous times by #1 in the last 5 years, but today is the first time he tried to hurt my feelings by words. The exact phrase was more like, "I want you to go away and I want Ms. Jessica to live here." And as much as I know it was said out of anger and spite it still stung. Especially since I don't think he'd find Ms. Jessica any more fun then mommy. I suppose on the other hand this is a good thing, It means his language skills really are developing beyond the phrases they practice at school.

The new do

ooops, I forgot to post this, wrote it over a week ago......


Just like E I needed a change. So I made a last minute appointment at the beauty college yesterday afternoon for today. I wasn't sure what I'd find today since the only man ever to make me want to grow my hair out, and actually be able to cut is so I could deal with it, had graduated. With Sam gone, and with the job options he had the last time I talked to him being on the other side of the city, I decided to take my chances and go to whoever had an opening. And today I met Adam, I almost feel like I'm cheating on Sam, but I think Adam is even steamier, if that's possible.

The minute I told Adam he could do whatever he liked to me (and he thought I just ment my hair Ha! Just kidding hubby! well for the most part) his eyes lit up. See that's the reason I like going to the beauty college. When I go anywhere else and tell them to do whatever they want, I need a change they don't believe me and will try to get me to cut it in stages, or just trim up what I already have. At the college they are still stary eyed enough to not be scared of screwing up. I will admit I got a little worried after he joked about giving me a punk look, and then went on to explain how when he's not given a specific style to do he will just start cutting without any plan and see how it comes out. But he assured me it always looks great, and hey after that head massage/hair wash who am I to complain. And he was right, I love the new due. Even if #1 didn't recognize me as I got out of the car, and the dog barked at me when I came in the door. Now I just hope I can succeed at styling it as well on my own.

Before: OK, I can't find a before picture of me. Well that's a lie, I did find one, it was very bad and I was in my PJ's. As hubby says I have a very bad adversion to camera's and it's true I do, but anywho my hair was shoulder length and straight with some slight layering going on towards the bottom, that is the reason it looked decent it was growing out in the first place.

After: Seriously this picture doesn't do it justice. It's much cuter in the mirror, and blogger won't upload the other picture of the back...which is all spikey.

I NEED MORE GRASS MAN!!!!

NO not the kind you smoke, although I could probably use some of that too, might make my life not seem so pathetic, that my main excitement at the moment is I finally got almost enough cut grass to mulch my vegetable garden.

See we have a mulching mower with no bag. Despite the fact I've raked and raked and raked after every time hubby mowed the yard, I was not getting nearly enough mulch. So I even made a deal with the neighbor boy (after making sure his mother didn't need her cut grass) that I'd buy it off him for 50 cents a bag load, but he has yet to deliver. However thanks to the week of rain (which drove me and the boys nuts) the grass was supper long when we cut it in spurts between rain this week, so I got me enough mulch to go around my existing plants YIPEE!

I know it, you all want my life!

To clarify :
E - I totally agree with you Hubby should finish school first, but I've nagged him, and bugged him, encouraged him, and waited patiently for 4 years for him to enroll in a school again, and it hasn't happened. When we were in TX he did have tuition reimbursement, but no longer does. And I've gotten tired of waiting which is why if he doesn't very very soon, I will, and he'll just have to wait till I'm done.

Merrit - I'll have to rent the movie, I have never seen it. I know I live under a rock!

Ultimatum

I'm usually not a huge fan of them, but I gave Hubby one this weekend, well kind of.

Background info is hubby dislikes his job, and has for oh I don't know, how long have I known him? 9 years? And any time I push for him to find something he'd actually LIKE doing I get the resistance of "it's not practical, we don't have the money, etc, etc, etc,".

So I told him that practicality aside he now has 3 choices.

1) Live with his current job for the next 5-6 years it would take for me to be able to get through school, get a master's and support us. Then he can become the parent that while maybe working PT is more responsible for home stuff and school stuff with the kids. (For us, I don't see it working well for both of us to have "career's" until our kids are out of the house.)

2)He can go back to school, switch major's and probably have the skills, and an actual bachelor's degree, needed for a job he would like in 2-3 years, at which time I will plan on at least finishing my bachelor's, but will still be the main "at home" parent.

or

3) Tell me he loves his job and I'm misconstruing the facts.


He flat out told me it wasn't #3, so it looks like one of us needs to do something, and if he doesn't enroll in school, and look into student loans and finacial aid for next winter, I will be. And once I start school he probably will be stuck till I finish.

See for me, I really don't care which of the paths he decide's he'd like to take. I have (I think) finally narrowed down what I want to be when I grow up to 3 main choices, and no matter what he decides I can make one of them fit.

My first option is a more traditional route. I would probably get a bachelor's in education with the intention of continuing on to a master's in special ed and speech pathology. Giving me the flexibility to stop after a bachelor's and teach, allowing me summer's off with the kids (also an option if I do speech pathology within the schools). The second thing I see myself enjoying and eventually being able to make a career out of is something to do with construction, and home building, flipping, etc. I haven't completely figured out what or how to get into this, but I plan on starting to learn more about it this summer, on a volunteer basis. And the third option you ask? To simply do what I've been doing the last 5 years, be a SAHM, try to continue to learn how to be a housewife (Yes I still suck at that part) , squeeze the budget till it hurts, and become crafty.

Actually it's nice to know I think I've finally narrowed it down. Does that mean I'm really an adult now? I may even make my final decision before my personally imposed deadline of 30, which is only 6 months away.

Mother's day

We had a very nice, very quiet day. I woke up at 9:30 to donuts and coffee, stayed in my pj's till 11 ish, and then watched the boys ride their bikes in one of the few breaks from the rain. Hubby also planted my artichoke starter's in the garden. They are starting to look sickly inside so hopefully getting them in the ground will help...hopefully.

The boys and hubby made me this key holder for my gift.

Apparently they are all sick of being ready to go and having mommy have to search the entire house for her keys. Not that I'd be unorganized or anything ;-)

Then after lunch I had to head off to work. Luckily it was a fairly quiet day in my department anyways, and I was able to leave early because by that time I wasn't feeling well. Also nice that the nice manager was on so he let me come home after finishing up my area.

School Update

IEP Meeting
We had #1's IEP (Individualized Education Plan for special ed students for those not in the know) meeting today to transition him to Kindergarten. Basically the teacher see's no developmental delays, including social, for him to continue to have a IEP in that area. She said I looked like I felt uncomfortable with that idea, and to some degree I am. I guess it comes down to the fact that I'm concerned about his fine motor skills and social skills I see at home. However if he's able to conduct himself on the level of the class in these area's then he probably doesn't need the IEP for school. He will still have an IEP for language, and be under the special ed umbrella, so that if problems arise next year we can be on top of it. Also to continue an IEP into Kindergarten for these area's he'd have to have a full evaluation, which I'm at a point I think would be a good idea, so while it would once again take 2 months to re-do an IEP in social and developmental area's next year, It would be with a better idea of exactly what his issues are. I'm not convinced they're gone, myself, just not apparent in the preschool setting.

The speech pathologist's evaluation however was right on with what I'm feeling. She gave me idea's on things to do with him this summer, and the more she talked the more I was able understand what I've been reading about language delays in a way that applies to #1. Also I asked her if she felt it could be an auditory disorder the way she was speaking, and she suggested waiting to see how he does next year and if he continues to have problem's she might suggest screening for one in 1st grade. I do know those tend to not be done as readily because they are expensive.

I don't think the counselor likes me however. At both meetings I get the feeling she thinks most of his issues are a direct result of our parenting, because he's good at school (hey if they are I'm the FIRST person who's open to new ideas on how to manage his behavior). When I brought up #1's 2 days this year he refused to go to school she had a strange look on her face and later commented on how we have to be very consistent, and let him know who's in charge. Um yeah lady, we are extremely consistent in our discipline strategies, and while I fully agree with letting him know who's in charge, when you take that stance with him it turns into a power struggle, which is why I have so many problem's parenting #1. See my natural response to #1 not going to school would have been to "make him" kicking and screaming, but really what good would that have done. By letting him stay home and find out how boring a day with mom really is he eventually told us what was bothering him in the first place (friend issues) and happily went the next day with a plan on how to resolve the friend issue. At least both the teacher said she saw his temper twice and now see's what I'm talking about, and the speech pathologist said her daughter was always the same way and still is at 21.

The Tea Party
After the IEP meeting I went and wandered through Hobby Lobby until it was time to go back to school for the Mother's day Tea Party DS's class was having. It was SO CUTE, I wish I'd have remembered to bring my camera. I always forget my camera for this stuff. The kids all sang a couple songs for us, and then we sat at the tables with our kids and drank tea, punch, and ate cookies and mini muffins. They made flower pots with flowers in it for us and also placemat with fill in the blank questions about their mom's. Plus I got coupons saying he will make his bed, get ready for bed when I ask without help, and give me a hug for no reason.

Here's what my placemat says...#1 filled in the bold words.

My mom is 2 feet tall. Her favorite color is purple and she likes to wear dresses. My mom is 47 years old and she weighs 40 pounds. Her favorite food is Ice Cream. When we are together we like to have fun and play special time. My mom is very special to me because she's great.

I suppose I can handle being 47 if I'm only 40lbs LOL

Oh and before they sang their songs, #1 interpreted the class to tell his teacher "sometimes I take showers with my daddy" Yup that's my boy!

I'm back, and it wasn't the bill we forgot to mail

Well the internet seems to be cooperating once again, and despite we found the check for our last cable bill sitting on my desk a week after it was due (and coincidently 2 days before internet went down) That wasn't the reason we were out. Everyone with this company in this area was having issues.

However this little outage got me and Dh thinking. We are considering dropping high speed internet. I was much more productive on the day's I went sans internet. But at the thought of dropping it for good I start getting the shakes....What if I have to look up a recipe? What if I need information for #1's school? What if I want to download a picture? Or need to look up a phone book? I mean it took me 20 minutes to realize I could look up a recipe for pork chops (which I hadn't cooked before) in a cookbook on Monday instead of jumping online. Do I really want to wait for dialup for all this stuff?

However it is expensive to have high speed internet, and really is it worth me having to work a 7 hour day , or 2 meals out for the family every month? I just don't know and I think I'm getting the shakes again!

Stupid Internet

Or lack of I should say. I'm not ignoring people, nor have I disappeared off the face of the earth, but I woke up today to no internet and have no idea when it will return. DH hasn't been able to get through to the company, but he did get a recording saying "upgrades are in progress". Yeah sure. I'm posting this from the library, since I was here anyways, but hopefully will be back on at home tomarrow.

34preschooler's, blind dates, and 2 week notice!

This is all about yesterday, and I forgot to hit the publish button...opps

34 preschooler
A class field trip to Totter Otterville. Think the TRU off Be caves play area times 10 and Zilker park(mini train and all) in one enclosed indoor/outdoor venue. We had a blast, and I'm glad I was able to go, but despite plenty of teacher's, aids, a speech therapist, and 5-10 parents, I came home and took a nap accidentally while watching Cyberchase with #1

Blind Date
I had my first date with a responder from my Craigslist add. It's WEIRD. She's 10 years older then me which is no biggie for me (my sister's are all that age and I don't think they're old...yet) but she seemed to think it was slightly odd. But the really weird part is a) she owns a Merle Norman (a cosmetic store) I use to work at one, and they're not that common, and b) her last job was as a property manager in a senior, subsidized housing complex, My last "real" job was as an assistant manager in a subsidized housing complex. Weird. But we got along really well and have a second date to go garage sailing on Sat.

2 Week Notice
No I didn't quit, quit. Afterall we still have to be able to pay our heating bills next winter, but I gave my notice for a leave of absence for the summer. I'm just too busy to work, but that's another post for another time. And I am SO relieved, I was starting to get sick of working again.

And then reality hit

And last week I was having serious thoughts of homeschooling....HA. I think I'd better plan to have a job that pays well enough to send #1 to a private school, or get him a private tutor if we have too many problems with the school system.

#1 had off school Monday and Tuesday this week. Monday wasn't horrible although both boys were touchy, tired, slightly crabby, and fighting. Yesterday, was interesting to say the least. I woke to hearing a fist fight going on. Came out of my room with my eyes half closed to find #1 laying on top of his trains to keep them from #2. #2 was pounding on his back, and #1 was trying to hit #2 back as well as he could from the fetal position he took to keep posestion of the trains.

They both went to their rooms while mommy had coffee.

In an attempt to have a "fun" day we went and got their hair cut (which my kids like for some odd reason, could be the sucker's they get afterward) and then to TRU to pick up a B-day gift for my nephew. I even broke down and bought both of them new balls for outside (and I never buy them stuff). The bickering continued ALL DAY LONG.

After supper Hubby suggested I go lay down for a bit since I was falling asleep at the table. As much as I didn't want to I agreed. I dozed for half an hour and was just starting to come too again when the doorbell rings (DH was out mowing with the kids). It's our neighbor holding #1's Underware and shorts. It appears the kids went over to play with his kids (he was out and said it was fine) and #1 decided to poop in his yard. WTF??????????????????? This is the kid that was almost in tears last year because we made him pee on a tree in the woods. All I figure is neighbor boy was talking about going potty outside (he pees outside ALL THE TIME) and #1 wasn't exactly clear on what kind of potty he goes outside.

So I half asleep and completely embarrassed, despite his saying it's no big deal head over with clean pants and undies. #1 is sitting naked from the waist down in the neighbor kids sandbox, and sure enough there is a pile of poop 3 feet from it. Now I was going to make #1 get a bag and clean it up but before I knew what he was doing neighbor dude picked it up with a toy shovel tossed it over the fence into the wooded area behind us and then *big ewwww moment*** Tossed the shovel back in with the toys!!! YUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then the dose of reality moves on to today. The boys were fighting again while we were waiting for the bus. Over what you might as??? PRETEND FOOD. No not the little plastic things, the air in #1's hand as he brought over "cookies" for me from his kitchen, and #1 "snatched the air/cookies" and took off running with it. I guess there weren't any more "cookies" in the kitchen.
I was SO glad to see that bus today!