This New Life...

It's hard to believe a whole month has gone by since my last post. Life seems to move at warp speed these days. Being a single mom takes so much more time and effort than I ever imagined! I have a whole new respect for my fellow single moms to say the least.

Since the last post, Katie turned 8. EIGHT!!! It's hard to believe. I celebrated with my usual tear-fest over her baby pictures, wishing I could turn back time, or at least reduce the speed at which it goes by. I'm so very proud of her - she is an awesome kid. So kind and compassionate, an awesome little artist, very determined and very, very strong. I think people who are close to her forget how very strong she is, in fact. She has gone through a ton of change in the past year - the loss of her favorite pet and a favorite uncle. A family split apart, a grandmother with very grave medical conditions, a grandfather who took a near fatal fall, a daddy who isn't around as much, a new school, a mommy who works outside of the home for long hours. That's a LOT of change in a short period of time, and while others think she's not doing well, I think she's doing fantastic. It's ok to cry, it's ok to question and it's ok to be angry - all natural parts of dealing with change. I still worry and fret over what this all does to her self esteem and self worth, but I think she's getting there and accepting more of it all with every passing day.


To celebrate Sadie's 4th birthday and Katie's 8th, the girls chose to once again have a joint birthday party. This one was held in our home (Dear God!) with more than 20 kids present. I lost track at 20... it's kind of counting guppies in a tank - they never stop moving and they're constantly moving from group to group so you can't get an accurate head count. It was fun for both the kids and adults I think, though as I do every year, I swear not to have another party in the home of that magnitude. Ah well, at least I didn't bring in live animals this year.


The girls' schedules this year are a bit insane. Katie has violin two nights a week, soccer one night and every Saturday and Sadie starts "bawaway" (ballet) tomorrow. Never a dull moment around here. I miss the younger years when activities did not take over our evenings. Our nights off are spent on homework, playing outside with the neighbors and the occassional walk to the park.


In other news, I've started to date a little bit. It's so weird to be back 'out there' at 30-something, and as a single mom. I'm enjoying it thus far, though there are no real connections to be found yet. It's more an opportunity to get out and meet new people, see new places, stuff like that. And it helps me, of all things, to put a focus back on what I want out of life, where I want to go next and who I might be interested in getting there with. If nothing else, I get some great stories out of the experiences, and it's a cheap form of therapy every time you meet a new person and get to tell your life story.

So, that's life in a nutshell at the moment. Work is going really well (I love it!), the girls are adjusting, once again to the latest change that the new school year brought about, I'm adjusting to single mommydom and life keeps ticking by. I'm working on some plans for a (gasp!) vacation early next year I hope - it's long overdue for the girls and I to get away and regroup. 

Funeral Songs

I've had way too much time this year to contemplate funeral music. And so, to save others the time, here are a few I'd like at my own funeral, which I hope is not for 100 years. In case it's not, here's a head start. None of that Wind Beneath My Wings, Dust in the Wind crap for me.

- Enter Sandman - Metallica - I want my urn to be carried in ceremoniously to that. Hokie Stone optional. Oooh, ooh - an urn made from Hokie stone. There you go. Hopefully I don't go any time soon as this may scare the crap out of my children.

- Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum - goes nicely with the "mount on wings of eagles" scripture from the Bible.

- My Way - Frank Sinatra - a nice photo tribute piece

- Blackbird - Beatles - because it's my most favorite song ever

- Another One Bites the Dust - Queen - to go out to post-ceremony


- Down in a Hole - Alice in Chains  - as I'm lowered down or scattered wherever.



So there. Easy enough. Now you don't have to spend 10 hours searching the internet for the right songs for me. Not that that is what I've done all night...


Classic rock (late 60s early 70s) songs outside of the norm. Email me if you have suggestions. So far I've got "Long as I can See the Light" by CCR. Need 2 more. I love "Everything I Own" by Bread, or "Can't Cry Hard Enough" by the Williams Brothers (I know, not classic rock, but my God, can't get it out of my head right now), but find them to be too, too sad.

Good News Round 1

So, time to spill some of the beans - Saturday the girls and I are moving! I found a cute little house in a subdivision literally crawling with children. The girls are excited, and the boxes are piling up.

Add to that that I just returned from a fantastic trip. I don't usually say that about my work travels, but this one was lots of fun. I enjoyed visiting with my clients (many of whom I've known for years), had some down time to check out local sites (well, it was Minneapolis, so there wasn't TOO much to check out, but I did tool around Mall of America today), hours of conversation with an old college friend who happened to be in town and ended it all by having a "me" day to kick back and really relax for the first time in quite a while. I got on the plane to come home feeling eager to begin the next chapter in this crazy book of life.

I have much more good news, but don't want to jinx it, so will fill it in as we go. Hooray for new beginnings!

Seasons

I feel like I'm going through many seasons at the moment - rebirth and spring, death and fall, my summer years and some dark winter nights are co-mingling all at once in a huge force of change in my life.

After 7 years of business ownership, I'll be stepping away from association management and eventually school ownership and taking on a new role as a business analyst (essentially what I was already doing) at a consulting firm in Richmond. It means leaving behind the flexible, at-home schedule, which I have so many mixed feelings about, but the benefits are outstanding, it's what I've dreamed of doing, and where I want to go. I haven't got all the details yet, but I'm almost afraid to pinch myself - I wanted this job, needed the change, more than anyone can ever imagine.

It seems like there have been so many goodbyes this year. Friends, relationships, clients, my favorite pet ever, fleeting childhood moments with the girls. But it's been a good year, too, and there's so much to look forward as we settle in for the long winter months ahead. I can't wait to see what will emerge this spring from all the changes that transpired over the past year.

Summer 2009

This summer has been an absolute whirlwind. Most of it has been spent in Three Oaks Montessori, working on summer camps (outer space, circus and art fun!), prepping for yet another remodel, adding students and getting the new staff in place and comfortable. We added a Kindergarten program, lots of space and have rearranged everything countless times to find the right flow. It's pretty exciting to see all the progress made, but my goodness, I'm exhausted.

I'm still working full time with association management as well. My two clients are both in interesting places, which takes up more time than ever. That makes a cranky Kim. I try to relive the stress with frequent trips to the pool with the girls. I look forward to the school year starting so that I can focus entirely on the associations and be past the licensing, new employee, remodel stages of the school for the year.

We managed to get a way for a few days with some friends to Outer Banks. Even though I worked about 10 hours while on my two and a half-day vacation (yes, I realize it's a disease) we managed to have some fun. It was great to stand in the surf, though, and completely revitalized me. We enjoyed visiting with our friends, and the kids were too cute as they frolicked in the sand. On the way out we stopped at the Currituck lighthouse in Corolla to take in the view. I love the Outer Banks. In all my travels, it's still one of my favorite spots to be.

This week Sadie turns three. She's been on a huge growth spurt the last week or two, so I'm hoping we can pack away her 24 mos and 2Ts by the time she's 3. She's still tiny as can be, but I think it may just be her makeup. Speaking of makeup - she's obsessed. On her face, arms, legs, with any bit of it she can find around the house. Trouble!

Katie turns 7 in two weeks, and start first grade on the 8th. We find out who her teacher is on Thursday, and I can't wait to see who of her friends are in her class. There are only four first grade classes, so chances are good we'll know a handful of kids in there.

My parents bought a new home, which is exciting news in our family. They're about 15 minutes from our place, which is great. It's a cute Cape with loads of potential, an awesome screened in back porch and a fenced in yard. I'm already planning on sending the kids over the minute they're ready for them... they'll love it!

Loads of other things have happened, but I'll spare the boredom of recounting them. I'm looking forward to reclaiming a 50 hour or less work week starting the week of the 15th and will stick to it. No new businesses, charity stuff or anything else in the brew (yet, anyway - who knows what I'll find to fill those 30 other hours I hope to abandon from the work week).

Birthday Fun

Sunday was my birthday, and it was one of my best (at least Saturday night was!). My sister planned an awesome little surprise party, full of some of my favorite people. I had a blast hanging out, visiting with friends and just letting loose. So much fun, in fact, that I woke up Sunday feeling a bit blue that it was over so quickly.

The past year was one of my toughest in so many ways. I took risks that didn't pay off, stuck around when I should have walked away. Ran away when I should have clung on. Made more mistakes than may seem humanly possible, yet learned more about myself and why I'm here. I'm not sure where I'll end up from all the experiences, but feel forces of change working in me to open up parts of me that have been dormant for years. Nothing like a good kick in the butt to get you to re-examine your path in life, I guess. And a few good self-help books to get you back on the right track. Blah, blah, I'll stop now.

So, another year under the belt. I look forward to the year ahead with both excitement and trepidation. There are a lot of changes in the months ahead (aren't there always?). I'm not ready to talk about them, but suffice it to say I'm hanging on for the ride of a lifetime. Great things are in the works, some things are complete unknowns and others are ripe with emotion. I can't even write or verbalize at the moment, so if I seem distant, please bear with me. I'll be back in time.

Trying to Keep My Head Above Water

It's been a busy week or two since I've last had time to post. Preschool has officially started, and we have our first students. We took one student on that we were unable to keep, which is upsetting for me. But, I learned an important lesson on how Montessori is not for everyone. It was a long day on Friday, as we worked to figure out the best solution, which in the end resulted in our not taking on the little one. I've been upset about it all weekend, even though I know we did the right thing.

The girls are doing great! Katie got her first report card, with all perfect scores on her progress. She's gotten comfortable in her classroom, as her teacher informs me she's become quite the chatterbox. I'm glad she doesn't save it all for at home. It's amazing how much - and how long - a six year old can talk. I try to pay attention, but often feel my eyes glazing over about 5 minutes into her rendition of her entire day. Wow. She doesn't leave out a detail. I think that, instead of Guatanimo, they should tape shut the prisoner's mouth and stick them in a room with a rotation of six year old girls, each fresh from a day at school. Talk about torture. But I love that she's so open with me, so I shouldn't complain. Much.

Sadie has taken to preschool better than I thought she would. She has a tough time sharing mommy when I'm in the classroom, and has been remanded a few times for wanting to push others away when they come to close to me. She's enjoying her introductory lessons, though, and I'm amazed that a little spitfire like her will take her time to so delicately unroll her mat, place her materials on it just so, work quietly, and then put her mat away. Amazing stuff, this Montessori method. She is fiercely independent as always... we're past the biting phase, and now into a hitting one. Good times keep on rolling!

Preschool is hilarious, and has left me considering wanting to do another blog, anonymously. Seriously, the things these kids say and do are incredible - from potty jokes to play-do up the nose, it's been a nonstop barrel of laughs.

I'm still managing my two full-time clients and doing the work for my other business as well, so I barely have a moment to blink, let alone write these days. I'm zapped of energy, yet feeling enthusiastically hopeful about this school thing. I do enjoy it more than I imagined I would, and can't wait to see how we grow.

Election 2.0

So, Obama won. It's no surprise, really. It was fun to be a part of history today. I actually got goosebumps as I stood in line with a hundred plus people at our little voting station, realizing that many, for the first time in their lives, were making an investment in our country. The woman behind me was 62 and voting for the first time. Wow.

Now to see how we reflect on this historic day four years from now...

The thing that I think isn't being talked about enough is the evolution of communication that led to this historic night. And how it will change elections next time around. Obama exploited Web 2.0, and I truly believe that this, plus grass roots efforts, was his potion for success. The Republican party can be blamed for choosing a poor VP candidate, neglecting to find a campaign winning message and many other things. But I think that truly, they lost because they did not embrace the evolution of communication, but kicked against it. They wanted to mandate what the public saw, and how they interpreted it. They failed to understand that, in today's society, the public defines the politician (or the company), destroying the long-held belief that the politician (or company) can dictate what it is and who it stands for. Evolution at its finest.

What scares me is the thought of our election four years from now. Because next time, both candidates will have caught onto technology and embraced it. Next time they'll be able to reach further into our homes and lives... scary, isn't it?!

UPDATE: Check this article out - great ideas on how Web 2.0 can infiltrate and change our political system.

GOOD Morning!

I awoke at 5:00 this morning to the girls fighting. I rolled out of bed, covered in sweat (I'm still recovering from bronchitis, which hit late last week). Came downstairs to discover Darla had eaten off half of the fur on her tail, leaving a nasty patch of red skin showing. The girls had destroyed what little I'd kept up over the weekend. And Sadie was hot. Great. She'd been sick early last week, got better within 24 hours, but then had been fighting something since Friday, so I sat her down, got her some food and drink and turned on the TV. Then I noticed Katie was hot too. Looks like there will be no school today.

I got both situated in front of the television and sat down to survey the damage. I discovered Carly had broken one of her nails, in HALF. It was dangling and bloody. Oh joy.

Katie got on my computer to check in on Webkinz, but quickly closed it and looked at me. Uh oh. Pale face, dark sunken eyes. Checked her fever 102. Checked Sadie's - 101. And mine? A mere 99.8 today.

So, I'm trying to decide now who should go to the doctor and who shouldn't. So far, since 5:00 a.m. I've changed two beds, bathed one child and one dog, tried to perform minor surgery on the other dog (unsuccessful), and started the sterilization process, which includes thus far two loads of laundry, a load of dishes, Lysol mass attack and vacuuming. Any one care to join in on my fun?

The only person I know who's having less fun than me today is Amanda, who's headed back to the clinker for more chemo. Please send positive mojo/energy/prayers her way - that they find the right cocktail to get her into remission this time around, minus the massive mouth sores. Hang in there, 'Manda!

Seeing Stars

For the girls birthdays this year I made each a cake for their at-home soiree. Sadie got Pooh, and Katie chose Tinkerbell. Both involved thousands of little icing stars, which are fun at first, but torturous after about 1:00 a.m.

Katie's cake, though, was more fun to make than I'd anticipated. It was so much fun, in fact, that it has encouraged me to simply buy a cake at Ukrops next year. Here's how it went:

1. Cake came out of the oven PERFECTLY. Sat it on the counter to cool, went to take care of something, and Sadie got by me and into the kitchen. Five minutes of an unattended toddler led to this...


2. Made another cake. It fell. Face came off when coming out of pan. It was about midnight by then. It came out looking like this. In case you're unsure, yes. It is about 1/2" deep (compared to the previous cake's light and fluffy 4 or so inches).


3. Improvisation. Cake 1 plus Cake 2 equals something similar to what it should look like.


4. Final product. See? You can't even tell. Unless you ate it. Half of it tasted like lead poo, the other was light and fluffy.

Random Stuff falling from my Brain onto the Computer Screen

Warning - there is no cohesion to this entry whatsoever. This is what happens when one is overworked, sleep deprived and exhausted to top it off.

So, what did you think of the final presidential debate? All in all I thought McCain looked like the guy I actually would have voted for last election cycle. I was happy to see him back at his best. And tonight reconfirmed how much fun it is to be an independent. Although I had pretty much made up my mind months ago, I am able to see pros and cons of each candidate. At the end of the debate, I've finally made up my mind for sure ,though I'd been leaning that way quite a while. I'm going with the guy that I can see making educated, sound decisions that consider the population at large, that I believe will be the best leader both abroad and at home. Guess who that is? There, I did it. I spilled my political beans. I'm voting Obama.
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The school is finally open. Ms. Amy, our school teacher, is awesome - Sadie has thoroughly enjoyed her first two days of "skooooohl." She's learning (though she doesn't know it) about spacial relationships, simple math skills and language. Plus she's doing fun crafts and such. She's taking some nice naps, eating like a little piggy and generally a happy camper. She just needed a constant availability of new things to see and do, apparently, to forgo the tantrums. She does miss her Grandma, though!

So yeah, the school is done. A few pickity pics are included for your viewing pleasure. Pretty, no?! Sadie's favorite area thus far seems to be practical life and botany/animal science/geography. Katie's loving math and language, and has been having fun doing phonetic excercises with the movable alphabet. I need to get out and get more photos of the sensorial area and practical life - tres cool!


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Though I seem to be the only human truly affected, my fluffy feline best friend has gone missing. It's been over a week and two trips to the pound, but still no Buster. The people at the pound told me yesterday that there's been a rash of rabid racoons in our area, which has me fearing the worst. Especially since the day before he disappeared I noted racoon prints on my car hood. I miss his furry highness knocking me over in the mornings as he begged for breakfast, purring his loud, uneven purr and licking my toes with his sandpaper tounge. Well, I don't miss the toe licking, but I'd take it every day for hours on end if he'd just come home. There I go getting all teary about it again. I miss my kitty!!! He is (I refuse to think he's otherwise) the best cat ever. Ask anyone who's met him.

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Check out Sadie's latest trick:



Endless dinner time fun. That's "burp" in case you didn't figure it out. A mother couldn't be more proud.

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And, to conclude this random mess of a blog entry, some long overdue pics of pretties!

Worst Mommy Award

And it goes to none other than myself. I made the video for Sadie's birthday. Last Friday was Katie's. She asked for a video as well. The problem is, to make a video for her I have to condense 6 years. Plus find the right song (I refuse to use Hannah Montana). So it isn't done yet. Ah well. Hopefully it'll get done this weekend. Along with more painting, yard work, financial analysis, ant killing, flyer posting, power washing, shelf building and other fun things I have on my agenda. I'm praying for rain on Saturday morning so that we can skip Katie's soccer this week. Three days in a row two weeks back to back is enough.

So, yeah, Katie is 6! She decided she'd be kind enough to share her festivities with her sister, and we had a joint party this year at the local air-jumpy-place (JumpZone - they were great!). We ended up with close to 20 munchkins in attendance, after much whittling of the guest list. Katie didn't get to invite kids from her Kindergarten class this year - I had to put my foot down somewhere or we would have filled the darn place. Sadie didn't get many on her list at all, thanks to Katie's ever-growing social network. That kid has more connections than I do! Sadie ran around like a mad woman, trying to keep up with her sister and the other big kids. All in all, a good party - especially since it wasn't in my home.

In fun news on the home front, we've had an invasion of ants in the last 24 hours that rivals something out of a horror movie. I bought 8 bait traps, some spray, gel and outdoor treatment and got down and dirty spreading it all. Tomorrow I look forward to the joy of emptying cabinets to remove all their tiny little carcasses. I've already gotten rid of the honey bottle full of them (how DO they get in there?!), a couple of pounds of sugar and a ziploc bag of lollipops. Nasty little buggers. I have to admit I hate to kill them, though. The pest guys said not to interfere - to let them take the bait back to their nests. So I've spent some time watching them travel in their little lines along my backspash, stopping to chat with their passing neighbors. "Hey George, how are the kids?" "Fine Mary, just taking back this nice bit of (poison)grub to them - check it out! It's in cabinet three and there's tons to be had by all!" They seem much more intelligent than the crazy cricket spider things that will invade later this fall.

Also on the homefront, Three Oaks Montessori School opens on October 13! I've hired on an AMS certified teacher, and we're busily prepping the classroom area. Still having problems with the county and DSS, but I'll find a way, I'm sure. For now I'm going to open to 5 lucky students until we finalize our DSS application and can add others. I've been loving getting out there and experimenting with the girls and our neighbor kids with the different materials, and amazed with Sadie's progress already. I'd been worried about her age and ability to cope in the classroom, but she is better behaved in the classroom than at home by far. Katie is excited about the "big kid" materials we got, too - I purchased an entire primary to elementary classroom kit, so there's lots of work with fractions, geography and language that she's been dying to get into. I do what I can with her, but I have tons to learn - I can't wait for OUR school to start! I'm nervous as heck about filling up the classroom and waiting list(s) quickly - our marketing materials arrive tomorrow, and it just all makes it so real. Of course, the loan payment to do all of this slaps me into that reality as well.

And on the other business front, I continue to plug along with my clients. It's been a tough few months, and one is facing a situation much like the one on Wall Street (only nano-sized in comparison), so I've had a permanent case of heartburn over it for the last few weeks. A "bailout" may be in sight, though, so I'm hanging on and hoping for the best. I figure something has to break soon! (Hopefully it won't be within the synapses of my brain!)

Goodbye Old Friend...

This week I said goodbye to a reliable, old friend - one who has been with me for about 8 years. My beloved Expedition was getting near her end... the transmission wasn't responding as it should, her brakes were squeaky and needed to be replaced, she costed more than $100 to fill up (even with the dropping gas prices) and the work needed to keep her running exceeded her net worth. I'd seen it coming for a few months, and kept nursing her along, not quite ready to let go.

I have to admit that I teared up a bit when the dealer drove her away. When I got home with my new car, tears till in my eyes, and confided this to my sister, she told me I'm nuts for feeling so glum about, of all things, a vehicle. But I loved that truck. It had been a huge part of my life these past eight years.

That truck had taken me safely, loaded with friends and/or family, on road trips all over the country - from Chicago to Pensacola, Myrtle Beach to Philadelphia, Atlanta to Iowa. We went tailgating, to weddings and funerals, bowl games and vacations. Both of my babies came home from the hospital, cradled in the center of that metal giant. Just two months ago she went half-way across the country, on a trip to New Orleans for business. She was a great truck.

I'm really going to miss my leather seats, 6 disc CD, pimped out speakers, and ample cargo space. I know, I know. All excesses I never needed. But all the more apparent when I dropped to a consumer-friendly crossover without a single bell or whistle.

I do realize this is something I should talk to my shrink about. I realize it's much deeper - that it's symbolic of all the things I'm losing and changing in my personal life right now. Stuff I'm not ready to talk about here, in cyberspace. All the same, that vehicle held a little bit of my heart. And held a huge number of happy memories. Over 150,000 miles of them.

Farewell, old friend - you've served me well!

I-yi (whoa-oh) I'm still alive...

But barely kickin' at this hour. Thought I'd take a minute to update anyway, and to answer the bazillion questions I got about the latest crazy adventures here.

So, here goes (sorry for the brief bullet points, but it's all I've got in me tonight!)

• Japan - finally got around to making some plans! We're staying in Otsu 3 nights, Kyoto 3 nights, Mt Koya IN a Buddhist temple one night and Tokyo 3 nights. Taking a helicopter ride around Tokyo while there. Trying out Ryokan, which are Japanese-style B&B's - sleeping on mats, eating on a table just off the floor, etc. I'm finally getting excited.
• iPhone - Oh soooo money! Love it. Now to find time to really play with it.
• The New Business - It's officially (kind of) off the ground. I registered it as Three Oaks Montessori School. I'm going through the process of getting licensed by Dept of Social services. But then I hit a major snag today. Seems the county doesn't want me to have two businesses at my home. So now I have to go through a 90 day approval process which includes an appearance before the Board of Supervisors. Sweet. I definitely have the time, energy and money for this! Not to mention they want $750 just to talk to me. I heart Hanover at the moment.
• The remodel. OK, so I may have jumped the gun. I just assumed that since I own my property, I could use it, within reason, for my own purposes. I found out it isn't so (see my love of Hanover above). So I don't know if I can use my garage as a home office without paying for a very expensive permit. In fact, I found out it's been illegal all along. Not that anyone ever told me that when I called the county three years ago to register my business (which they don't do) and ask for any ordinances that may apply (of which they said were none). Even better, it was illegal for me to have employees in my home. News to me! Not one to be easily swatted aside, I am thinking of plan B already. Employees work from home, child care is in my home, family lives in one room of our home. That's legal. Or having a dozen kids living in our small home with us. Also legal. Want to build things with a wood shop in the garage? Sure, why not? Want a two-story garage to house your gun collection? Go for it. The more ammo the better. But plug in 3 computers and answer a phone? Well, that will cost ya a plenty in Hanover. You may have sensed my anger. It is only enhanced by the long afternoon in the beautiful new planning offices of Hanover county that must have costed millions to build.
  
• More on Montessori... (deep breath - ok, I'm better). So yeah, I want to do the Montessori school. Only I'm not trained, nor do I know enough to teach. Nor do I want to be a teacher. I'm fine with helping, though. So I'm looking for a part-time teacher. No bites yet. Let me know if you know of someone in VA! This would enable me to be close to Sadie, fill a need in our community in terms of quality preschool offerings (currently slim to none) and possibly make a buck in a few years, if I stick with it. Cross your fingers for me folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
• The "other" business. Yes, I'm still keeping it. I love my microwave scientists and am excited about the changes my other client is making to their organizational structure. I want to see them through. And I like my travel a few times a year. Call me a bad mommy if you will, but I need those adult "breaks" (even though it's usually stressful and full of work), and I thrive on accomplishment.
  
• Katie hates her preschool this summer. It sucks. It is SOOO not Montessori. Her teacher yells, tells the kids they're doing things "wrong" all the time and is generally a cranky old biddy who shouldn't be around children. Or adults. Only a few weeks left. Other than that she's great. She's a total chunk at the moment (around 55 lbs!) so I have a feeling the growth spurt is coming any day. She's always been that way - out then up, out then up... She has a new friend at school. He's not a boyfriend yet she tells me. But he's very cute. Uh oh. Oh, and the Alvin and the Chipmunks CD? Avoid it at all costs.
  
• Sadie is finally talking. And it's coming more and more every day. She's putting sentences together. I soo love this age. She's got these huge brown eyes that stops everyone in their tracks wherever I take her. I have no idea how many times they tell me she's a little angel. How little they know!!
• Spider bite - after spreading toxins throughout my body, it's finally on the mend. I felt like crap for quite a while. And I had these fun lines of poison that surfaced in various parts of my body. The spots on my leg are healing well, and shouldn't leave very big scars. While cleaning out the office for the remodel, we found a ginormous black widow with tons of sacs and smaller widows around her. I'm wondering if that's what it could have been? No clue.
• Pick up sticks with yellow jackets - Our remodel started Thursday, so I found myself moving out the rest of the office and garage storage stuff Wednesday night. Jason conveniently developed pneumonia (he's still recovering), and my employees were not eager to work overtime for some odd reason. While cleaning out the back shed area that had never been cleaned out since we moved in, I discovered multiple hives of yellow jackets. I'd pick up a board to move it, a swarm would come out. I'd pick up another, a new swarm. I was out there at midnight, in 90 degree weather, with jeans, a leather jacket, a scarf wrapped around my head and armed with two cans of bee killer. I'd move a stick, spray like all hell as I backed out of there, wait a minute and do it again. It only took me 4 hours to clear out an 8 x 10 area. After all the yellow jackets were dead I discovered the paper wasps. Good times.
• The Universalist Unitarians - I went again. It was interesting, and I learned more about their "religion." I dig their creeds and liberal structure, but still don't think I'm ready for organized religion. I may go from time to time just for some mental stimulation. I just don't do the group stuff well. I do like how mission-based they are, and how many they help in the community and beyond. Very cool.
  

Feast or Famine

Last week I think I had blog entries almost every day. Not so much this week. Here's why...

• Answered my SAHM vs. Not to SAHM dilemma. I decided to open a business. Another one. A Montessori preschool to be more precise. Yes, I am certifiably insane. In order to do this, we must completely remodel the garage into living space, to the tune of thousands of bucks. All prior to September 1. In the last 4 days I've met with close to 50 contractors, helpers and handymen. Fun stuff. Wednesday the work begins!
  
• Making plans for Japan. Well, at least realizing the trip is only two weeks away and I have no clue where I'm staying, what I'm doing or how to get around. Or how to speak the language well enough to find a bathroom. Uh Oh. Anyone have a Japanese version of Rosetta Stone laying around they don't need for a month or so? Any one know how to say toilet in Japanese?
  
• Sampled Universalist Unitarianism. Interesting.
• Got bitten by a brown recluse (they think?) and have marks on my leg where the doctor burned out a few small bits of dead skin left behind. Have cool bumps that pop out along various parts of my body following the lines of veins. Right hand has several puss-filled bumps on the interior of the fingers. Got three steroid shots on the "meatiest" portion of my body. Have been taking a barrage of antibiotics and steriods.
  
• Got rid of the shakes, sweats, night terrors, brain zaps and other fun things that went along with my drug withdrawals. Did I mention Cymbalta sucks?

So, yeah, I'm kinda busy this week.

The 4th (and 5th... and 3rd...)

Last week I was exhausted, so I played hookie a half-day on the 3rd to get ready for a fun, extended weekend with the girls. Here are a few of my favorite memories from our long-overdue family time...

Wendesday, July 3rd. Hat Day!!

Just a few of the many hats we gathered and played with. As a bonus, I discovered that I have a living, breathing garden gnome in our home, which should help satisfy my desire to go out and buy a ceramic one for my yard.


July 4th Fun at Casa Thies

We spent the day listening to Katie beg us to "do fireworks" and Sadie scream for no reason, which she often does to keep us on our toes. I felt like crap all day (thank you, Lilly drug company), so we stayed home and created our own festivities. The evening ended with our discovery that Sadie is terrified of whistling fireworks, Carly likes to eat discarded firework containers and that fireworks that "shoot flaming fireballs" are illegal in Virginia for a darn good reason. Thankfully, it had rained just before we set that one off... the singed leaves that fell down from the sky were easy to stamp out in the damp grass.

Whee! Mommy managed to talk us into matching, patriotic outfits!

The moonbounce... always a hit in our household.

Well, until mommy gets in, gracefully hitting the vent tube and the whole thing collapses.
Then it's just funny, not so much "fun."


July 5, The Tomato Festival

For the first time in the three years that we've lived in Bubbasville, we braved the natives and tried out the local Tomato Festival. I enjoyed camouflage watching (I can still see you, people!), the plethora of churches trying to push water on me in exchange for my soul, and watching the many ways in which people displayed some nifty confederate flag stickers that proclaimed "I support national Confederacy month." One very pregnant woman Jason encountered had a sticker on each... well, use your imagination. Good times.

My parents joined us for the humid outing, and despite the stress involved in taking small children out, we managed to create a few nice memories while there.

Mom stops to cheese it up with the girls and Mark Warner, US Senate candidate and previous VA governor. I don't think she realized he's a fairly liberal democrat (did you, Mom?! wahahahaha). Warner was rumored to be a VP consideration by Obama, but he declined, citing his desire to have more time with his family than that position would allow. So, instead, he was sweating his butt off at our hillbilly fair in order to garner a few votes. Yet another reason why I will never enter politics.

Katie fed a donkey at the petting zoo area, and the donkey became her new best friend. He followed her everywhere, nuzzling her for another scratch behind the ears and more food. I so wanted to take him home with us. The neighbors would LOVE it! Katie agreed, but Jason was having no part of that discussion. Sadie, meanwhile, spent time kissing and hugging a calf, mooing softly to it. If only I could get her to be that sweet to her sister.

In the midst of all of the festivities, a photographer walked up and asked if he could take photos of the girls while they decorated tomatoes. I got an email today, and it seems that we are once again "featured" in our local paper... yeeee haww! Not only that, I think we made the front page news. And, my mug on this shot is MUCH worse than my last one in this exciting publication. At least the girls looked adorable. Jason and I looked angry and uninterested. Which is probably accurate, but all the same... front page?! Ugh.

It's official - I think I have to admit we're now locals. But you'll never see camouflage, rebel flags or big bangs adorning on this Bubbaite!

Peace, PunkRockMommy

Since beginning my blogging adventures almost two years ago, I've come across many blogs that I've fallen in love with. When a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer about a year ago, I began looking at a few of her fellow cancer fighters sites, hoping for hints on ways to help, to understand. One of them, along the way, is one that was kept by a offbeat, fun and funky mom of six who was diagnosed with breast cancer just about a year ago. PunkRockMommy became one of my favorite lurking haunts.

Today, PunkRockMommy passed away. Her husband has promised to keep the blog alive with posts on the family's coping and growth after her death. But the blogosphere will be empty without her presence.

Rest in peace, Andrea. Thank you for sharing your life, and death, with total strangers. It brought about an entirely new perspective for many.

I have to go wake up my kids and hug them...

Oh, yeah... it's always been this way!

My good friend Jen, out of sunny CA, called today to commiserate with my recent experiences with the children. Seems that she can relate as her daughter recently stuck a wooden QTip in her toddler brother's ear (far enough to land them in urgent care), as well as gave their kitty's whiskers a very short trim. All in one day. Thank God I'm not alone in all of this.

Jen also reminded me that this Katie-mess-making stuff is not so new, as evidenced from an old email she forwarded to me today. To think this was written almost EXACTLY three years ago to the date (sigh)...

Recipe for Disaster:

1 container Vaseline
1 bottle Baby Powder
A few dashes of Baby Oil
1 Extra Large bottle of Baby Lotion
A two-and-a-half-year old

Place all ingredients in a room unsupervised for 15 minutes. Be sure that it is very quiet in the room before entering it, otherwise the recipe is not working correctly.

Enter room to find mixture of the ingredients throughout the room, rubbed evenly in the carpet, on the walls, curtains, back of a rocking chair and evenly distributed throughout the toddler's hair. IMPORTANT: You will want to clean, but this mixture is impenetrable. Let dry a few hours until carpet changes to a dingy color.

After carpet is adequately ruined, walls are stained and the toddler's hair has been washed using shampoo, baking soda and other home remedies, you should have a disaster well on its way. Now dry the toddler's hair, put cornstarch in it to bring out the Vaseline, and you should have a complete disaster, such as the one pictured here.

We recently tried this recipe for Complete Disaster in our home just after placing our house on the market and it worked wonderfully. We also found that similar results can be achieved by substituted lipstick and eyeshadow for baby powder and Vaseline, which we tried on our Open House day. Enjoy!

Not much has changed since the last use of the recip... but I will let you know that you can exponentially increase the quantity of COMPLETE DISASTER if you add another child to the recipe.

Not what I had planned...

I awoke this morning, once again, to chaos and disaster. This time the girls had taken the newly purchased DragonBerry Shampoo and Blueberry Burst Body Wash and lathered everything from waist-height down on the lower level of our house into bubbles (or at least applied a slimy film which would later be "bubbled"). Seriously, what did I do in my past life to deserve this retribution?!

Every baby doll, both dogs, the coffee table, all the Disney plasticine toys, the Shliech animals, the bathroom sink, floor and both girls' lower extremeties were covered in the sticky goo. "But Mommy," Katie told me as I repressed a scream of rage as I realized the magnitude of the latest morning disaster, "We didn't go outside. And now the house smells good." I rinsed and washed, producing even more bubbles (much to their delight) and still found a spot on the carpet that is deeply stained with shampoo. I ran the steam vac over it this afternoon only to... you guessed it... produce more bubbles.

I threatened Katie with an eternity of time out if she makes one SINGLE other mess before I can hit the bottom of the stairs in the morning. Double eternity if she lets Sadie out of her crib. Her reply? Sadie can get out on her own now. Oh crap.

I never got a chance to memorialize George Carlin, one of my all-time favorite comedians who passed away last week. I did so this morning by muttering, thinking or screaming into a pillow six of the seven dirtiest words from his old 70's routine. The 7th word just didn't apply, or I would have used that one, too.

To make it all even better, I'm having some hellacious withdrawals from a medication I started a couple of months ago. When I had Katie, I began to suffer from anxiety attacks (though I didn't know that is what they were at the time). I did some medications back then for a few months, got my head screwed on straight again, and weaned off of them. I'd been able to control them since (now knowing what they were and how they came on) on my own, but in March they began to rear their ugly head once again. I wonder why? That was about the time the girls started their early morning escapades. So, I went to my primary care "nurse" (do doctors still exist?) and asked for something to help me along for a while. She gave me Cymbalta.

Two drugged-out weeks later I started having weird symptoms. Increased anxiety (but no panic attacks) and newly onset depression that I'd never before experienced. Insomnia. Cold sweats. Hot flashes. Irritability (yes, I can be worse!). Constipation like a... well, like it was not good. Then last week in New Orleans it doubled, and I added the shakes to the list. Enough was enough, so I quit. Cold turkey. I had only been on it for about 50 days, so figured I'd do every other day for a week and stop.

Now I have more fun symptoms. Night terrors (which I've never had before). Aching all over. Sharp pains in my legs and feet. Blurry vision. Extreme fatigue. Chills. What the heck?! I looked it all up online tonight and found out that these are all fairly common withdrawal symptoms from Cymbalta. I should have known, given my (and my kids') history with meds. I'm about to go the Tom Cruise route and get all psycho about pharmaceuticals. Tomorrow I get to visit with the lovely nurse who suggested this route toward wellness. I can't wait. She has no idea what she's in for. If I'm in a padded room by the end of the day, please promise to visit and wear a sunny yellow color to cheer me up.

So yeah. After being home for two nights full of night terrors, bathroom visits and incessant sweating, I'm awoken to what looks like a slime attack from a Ghostbusters flick. The devil mommy on one shoulder was oh so close to convincing me to spank them both and send them to bed, as advised in nursery rhymes and by most parents with more than 5 children. But angel-Montessori-loving mommy on the other side balanced her out and the girls ended up with a stern admonishment, a few timeouts throughout the day as required and the threat of eternal timeout and no-playdates-ever-again for Katie should she ever decide to do this again.

Please, please, let the threats work. I need a morning off!!!

Another Mixed Bag

Renewed Ban on Walmart. Due to the need to penny pinch thanks to ever inflating gas prices and the inability to get rid of our gas-guzzling SUV, I broke my promise and headed to my most hated, dreaded, local W. I finally justified my hiatus from shopping there - not a penny saved. I spent quite a while perusing, carefully seeking bargains. What I found is that my beloved Targét is MUCH less expensive in most areas - kids clothes (and much more stylish), snack foods, toiletries and diapers to name the big ones. Yay - I can once again justify my hatred of the ugly side of big business!

Preschool Ballet Rocks. More to come on that in a later post, when I load the photos and video. Let's just say I cried my eyes out... from laughter. It was well worth every penny invested in the hideous, Dora the Hooker costume for that one hour of comedy.

Yackity Yack. Sadie's talking up a storm these days. Today she got a scrape on her knee. Tonight she told me as I changed her "Mama, I Bad Boo Boo Knee" clear as a bell. She's 21 months in 2 days. She loves to boss Katie around... "TahTay, BAFF!" "TahTay, KeenUp!" and "TahTay, go ny-ny."

Japan is ON! Yep... it's definite... I'm going in 8 weeks!

More requests for your energy/thoughts/prayers:

• Amanda is back in the big house for another intensive round of chemo in an effort to wipe out the leukemia cells that survived the first round. Also, it looks like she's facing bone marrow transplant in the near future. Stay strong, 'Manda!
  
• Jameson is back home and healing after a successful Fontan (heart surgery). Hooray!
• Harlie goes in tomorrow for her jaw reconstruction. Good luck, Harlie, and hang in there, Christy!!!!