Our life with Kevin

Been forever!

2010-04-04T21:05:00.003-04:00

It's odd that last night I was thinking about making a blog entry and then Dottie mentioned missing my blog on a FB comment today. I took it as a sign...

I'm so out of the groove of blogging that this post will probably come across stilted. You get so used to little posts on FB that I almost think that way sometimes, but I'll give it a try.

Kevin is growing like a weed and is about 38 inches at the last unofficial measurement I did here at home. He's still a thin little guy, though. Most times he's the sweetest boy, but, MAN(!) he can be stubborn when he's in a cranky mood. He has already commanded control of the remote control to start his movies (it's such a guy thing).

As I've talked about on FB, we are about to have the kitchen remodeled. It all started with me wanting a dishwasher because our current one (Katie) has been doing a poor job of it. My brother (who is a contractor) came over to check the situation out with our cupboards to see where we could put one. Roni starts asking about the cost of new cupboards and it just snowballed out of control from there. Although I am terrified at the debt I am accruing over this, I am extremely excited at the thought of a new kitchen. Our kitchen is currently very outdated (original cupboards, sink, faucet, etc.) and the layout just plain sucks. Everything except my fridge and floor is getting changed. Even my stove is getting moved. Speaking of the stove, which is less than a year old, I am replacing it with a stainless steel, double oven, range. Bought that today when I bought the dishwasher and the microwave that will go above the stove. I figured "in for a penny....". I blame it on the low blood sugar I was experiencing while shopping. The island (cheap version) that is in the kitchen currently is going, going, gone. It is nothing but a junk collector. We are ruthlessly getting rid of stuff. I don't even have to haul anything away. I just put it on the curb and people take it. I've never put anything out that wasn't gone within a couple of hours. I believe people are now stalking my house waiting for the next item they can take. I'm thrilled with it and am glad to be helping someone else out.

As embarrassing as it is, I'm going to post the pictures of the kitchen as it is currently and when the remodeling is done, I'll come back and post the update...

A rough week

2009-08-19T22:26:00.002-04:00

Roni had her Gastric Bypass surgery on the 12th. Because of her Fibromyalgia, the post-op days were horribly painful for her. It was exactly what I feared. I knew from past surgeries how bad it could be, but I had a small ray of hope that this hospital would be different since it was a large hospital, out of the area, and is actually a teaching hospital. I had hoped they would be more progressive, understand Fibro, and be up on the research which is published that shows why Fibro patients suffer from post surgery pain that is out of the ordinary, how to avoid it, and act accordingly.

I was sorely disappointed.

Roni's sister, bless her heart, came to be with Roni during the surgery and her stay in the hospital since I couldn't be there because we thought Kevin would be terrified to be left with anyone overnight.

After all these years, I'm convinced that very few medical professionals understand Fibro. Some don't even believe in it. Hospital personnel certainly don't get it. They make comments like, "You just had surgery, you have to expect some pain." What they don't get is that it isn't the surgery pain that has her writhing in pain and screaming out like nothing you've seen before with the same surgery performed. It is the Fibro pain. They refuse to listen, think you are exaggerating, being a baby, etc. It is beyond frustrating. It is heart wrenching to watch. It is why I never jump to any conclusions about a patient complaining of pain. Unfortunately, many of my fellow nurses, and even doctors, do just that. I try to teach. I become the patient's advocate. I hope there is a special place in Hell for medical personnel who allow a patient to suffer needlessly.

I'll get off my soapbox.

Anyway.

She came home on the 15th. Things are progressing slowly. Her PO intake is not what it should be, so I worry about dehydration. Her protein intake is not even close to being enough. She does get up and move around, for short periods, a couple times a day.

While she was at the hospital, Kevin became depressed and it was so sad to watch. I videotaped him on the 3rd morning he awoke and she wasn't there. The video is dark because it was a gloomy day and his bedroom light wasn't on, but this is what I walked in to that morning...If you turn your volume way up, you can here him ask for her "Noni"....about broke my heart.

Ahhhh...an antennae again.

2009-07-26T18:30:00.004-04:00

Remember this post? For the past 2 years, I have looked on with envy at other vehicles that sported their Mickey Antennae Toppers. No more, my friends...

Never mind the icky-ness of the actual topper. It's got some kind of ~~who knows WTF~~ lint/pollution/whatnot on it, but it's back.

On top of this:

I'm back in a Jeep and I feel like I'm home again. The minivan was comfy and huge (too big, actually, for me), but it wasn't me. I missed the 4x4 of the Jeep. I missed the ruggedness of the Jeep. I missed ~~being able to drive over curbs if some dumb fuck was parked, illegally, in my way~~ being able to drive on more rugged terrain, if need be, when the situation arose.

I'm in my comfort zone again. I love Jeeps!

He hates water on his face...supposedly

2009-07-20T22:49:00.002-04:00

Just a couple of weeks ago Kevin would carry on like a nut case, in the tub, if water got on his face...

It's moments like this...

2009-07-15T20:45:00.001-04:00

...when I feel so bad that he is the only child this young in the house.

Yeah, I know...

2009-07-07T21:41:00.003-04:00

I was struck with the urge to write and the one-liners on FB just don't cut it all the time.

Anyone still out there?

Kevin has really taken off with his talking. I was a little worried for a bit, but now he just says every-damn-thing. You know what that means for me, right? Gotta watch my sailor speak. Not so easy for me, but I'm trying while he's within hearing range.

Mondays are turning out to be rough for him because he gets used to me being home all weekend and then, on Mondays, I'm not. He was walking around looking for me and saying, "Mama?" The last 2 Mondays, he's been cranky for Roni....coincidence? He waits for me at the window when I'm due home, and he has the biggest smile on his face while he's looking out the window when I pull up. He melts my heart.

I still love my new position at work. There have been some challenges trying to change some bad habits of the staff on my floor. I think I'm making progress. I am the "catch more flies with honey, than vinegar" type of boss. It works for me more often than not. Once in a while, some poor fool may take that for being a pushover...then they get the smack down they have coming and you can almost see the light bulb go on over their heads. The ones that have had to learn this lesson will say to their coworkers, "She's cool as long as you do your job. Just don't fuck with her." I'm good with this rep. Kinda proud of it, actually. I still watch my back...don't get me wrong. I've got some real trust issues and carry scars from people who stabbed me in the back by telling outright lies about me. I've had a couple of department heads that wanted to try to give me a little push. "Timid" is not a word that one would use for me and I pushed back. They backed down. I can't really blame them for testing the waters on what the new kid during the week is going to take. They'll learn. I don't want to make any enemies, but I won't take their shit, undeserved, laying down, either.

I love my boss. She's actually the first DON I've actually made a connection with. I hope I am not making a fatal error trusting her, but I actually do. I've had a few Administrators that I've loved, but never a DON. I can tell she actually listens to what I have to say and, after all these years of being treated as if I didn't know shit while I was the weekend Supervisor, it's a very welcomed change. I hadn't realized while I was on the weekends, the last few years, how depressed I'd become. I became apathetic in my job. It seemed that, no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't appreciated...so I stopped trying. Subconsciously, I gave up. I wonder if my (previous) weekend nurses feel that way...even if they don't really realize it. I know they don't feel as if they're part of the team.

I don't know how to fix that.

I never realized how horrible that feels until I wasn't there anymore.

Sad to say

2009-06-10T21:47:00.003-04:00

I guess I have to face the fact that my blogging days seem to be coming to an end. Between Facebook and the new job hours, I just can't seem to come up with anything to write anymore that isn't totally redundant and boring. For now, anyway, my writing skills have gone to sleep and are showing no signs of waking up. They've been lacking for some time now, if I'm going to be honest with myself.

I didn't want to just disappear on the few people that still follow me without an explanation, so I will bid you all a farewell and a heartfelt "thank-you" for your support over the past couple of years.

I feel sad over my decision, in a way, and know damn well the minute I post this message something uproariously funny is going to happen for me to blog about...That's the way I roll.

A couple pics to leave you with....the first two is Kevin's first interaction with another little boy (adopted from South Korea and a few months younger than Kevin). Typical toddler play and I was happy to see him being able to play with someone close to his age...The last one is out by our little pond while he was standing among the ferns.

I'm lovin' it

2009-05-27T20:17:00.002-04:00

Well, now that I've actually been able to work in the position for which I was hired for a few days, I'm really enjoying myself. Years ago, I was loving my job. I'm feeling it again and am very glad I moved into this position. I'm still trying to get a handle on everything I need to be doing and trying to figure out the best routine to do it in, but, so far, I'm having a blast. The day flies by (remember that I was used to working 16 hour shifts that were much, much quieter in comparison, so 8 busy hours goes by in a blink for me). People actually listen to what I have to say and appreciate it. I think that was the most frustrating thing about my previous position...not having the bigwigs get that they should take what I say seriously because I'm good at what I do. Dammit.

I know I'm still in a honeymoon period, but, unless I start getting stabbed in the back again, I think I made the right move.

Coming home and having Kevin smile at me and give me kisses and hugs is awesome. I do have to admit that there have been days I've come home after he hasn't had a nap, but is about ready to fall asleep on the couch and he is cranky. Those are the days that I have to give him a little time to wake back up because YO! MOMMY IS HOME! Once he does, though, the kisses and hugs and "Up?"s are endless.

All in all, I'm a pretty happy person these days...

The switcharoo

2009-05-18T22:39:00.002-04:00

Sigh.

Well, the drama at work continues and I am stuck right smack in the middle of it all. Apparently the DON thinks I'm tough enough to handle it since I have a, and I quote, "strong personality". After being told I will have 2 floors, with one of them being the one they demoted the LPN from (who, BTW, quit), this weekend I found out that, hell no, I am now on the floor of another Unit Manager that wasn't even in this mix. She was moved to the 2 floors that I was told I'd be on. So now they've probably pissed her off and, once again, I look like the bad guy. "Coincidentally" *cough* today, on my first day in the new position, the floor nurse called off. I had to take the floor. I'm starting to think that it may have been his way of saying he isn't welcoming me. I'm off tomorrow. Can't wait for Wednesday. *rolling eyes*

I HAD to do it

2009-05-14T21:20:00.003-04:00

About 2 weeks ago, like every other time in the past, I went to cut Kevin's hair. For some reason he went absolutely ape shit. Weeping and wailing, arms flying, head whipping. It was brutal. I was like, "WTF?!". I don't know why this is suddenly freaking him out, but DAMN. Anyway, I had already made some cuts and could not stop at that point. I was using scissors and was worried about hurting him, so I snipped fast and got out quick. In hindsight, it turned out so bad because of his flailing about that it really wouldn't have made that much of a difference in the outcome if I had stopped earlier. It turned out that bad. I let some time go by and cringed at how bad it was every time I had to take him out in public...which is often since he goes everywhere with me.

Today I took a clipper to it. At least I didn't have to worry about poking his damn eye out. He threw a fit again, but I really didn't care at this point. I love how short his hair is now....the top has that fuzzy feeling, but I don't like the way the front looks. His hairline grows around his face...KWIM? Because of this, the front looks all rounded and like a bowl cut. Not sure what to do about this....thinking of putting mousse or gel in it and trying it spiked up...

He's saying "cheese"....

Silence is not always golden, my friends.

2009-04-30T20:40:00.003-04:00

Moms know this fact quite well. Usually, I'm pretty quick on the uptake when there is that deafening silence while the boy is awake. Today....not so much.

Witness my TV:

Can you see the coloring all over the screen? Yes, the boy still lives~~, but probably only because it came off with an electronic cleaner~~ because his mama loves him more than any old TV.

Onto other news. I attended a viewing tonight of a co-worker. I have not been in work for 2 weeks so, while I was at the viewing, I was visited by several staff members just busting a gut to fill me in on the events happening there. Holy shit. Much has happened and not a bit of it sounds good. People got fired, somebody got demoted, somebody else is interviewing for a new job so they can leave....Here's the thing...When I applied for Unit Manager in order to go day shift, I applied because an opening for a specific floor opened up. I was told I was getting that floor. In the meantime another RN applied for a Unit Manager position, also. There wasn't another spot open. From what I gather, they decided to make a position open by demoting the Unit Manger of one of the other floors because she is an LPN and they want RNs in that position. Following me? They want RNs because an LPN cannot supervise without an RN in the building and the Unit Managers will have to work every 3rd weekend on 7-3 shift to supervise because I will no longer be on the double shifts on the weekends. The shit of it is that they decided that I wasn't getting the floor I applied for. I'm getting 2 floors and one of them is the floor that the demoted LPN works on!!! Great. Hands up in the air if anyone thinks that she isn't going to resent the hell out of me even though it is the other RN applying for the UM job that has caused this to happen.

Yeah. That's what I thought, too.

Fuck.

Oh, no you don't!

2009-04-23T19:55:00.005-04:00

Kevin is hit or miss with naps for the past couple of months. If he's up early, sometimes I can get him to take one. If he's up late (say, after 8AM, which is rare these days), it's usually a no go. If I can't get him to nap by 1 or 1:30, I won't let him nap at all because he takes 3-4 hour naps. It would be so much easier if he just napped for an hour, or so. I don't want him up until 10PM...no way, no how.

So, today was one of those "I'm really tired, but I'm not going to nap Mama" kind of days. When he does this, I make an early dinner and Roni gives him his bath around 5PM. He's in bed by 6ish and sleeps through the night. I decided dinner would be KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and threw meatballs in a crock pot with some sauce (not a stitch of this was homemade, BTW) and we had meatball subs. Kevin finished his and went off into the living room to watch Cars. When I finished, I went looking for him and this is what I saw when I entered the LR....

I resigned myself to the only easy way to handle this crisis is to pick him up and bribe him with taking him outside. It worked and he had a blast at the local park. BTW, this was our first time to this park and I was truly impressed. It was waaaay nicer than the crappy, run down park I was taking him to.

He started off on the tame side of the park...

Then he moved over to the bigger kids side...

The first two pics show his favorite slide. He actually catches air time going over the hump in it.

They also had a rock climbing wall, a zip line, and some other climbing things, but he didn't go on those....yet.

Facebook has made me so lazy

2009-04-21T21:02:00.003-04:00

My blogging has gone straight to hell. I blame Facebook. If you FB, I'm sure I need not say more.

Let's see. What's going on here...?

Well, I'm depressed.

1) I should be sitting in a motel in VA right now for an overnight stay on the way to Disney, but I'm not.

2) Some huge snafu with the checking account has happened and I'm about to lose my mind trying to come up with the money to fix it. I had never bounced a check in my life and now I have multiple notices coming from my bank for insufficient funds. It's humiliating and frustrating because I don't know WTF happened. Thankfully, my bank pays the bills so I don't have the recipient hitting me with charges for a bounced check, so it could be worse. My bank isn't so kind to not hit me with fees for each check they've covered for me which, of course, just makes the pit that I need to climb out of deeper. This is a full blown crisis over here. I don't have a lick of cash to even put in the account to stop the bleeding. There are still checks pending and I don't get paid until Friday. Not to mention that my mortgage is due on the 1st. The whole thing has me sick and I don't know when it'll be straightened out.

3) Still waiting to get off the weekend program at work.

4) Kevin is being difficult the past two weeks. Crying, whining, meltdowns, etc. Terrible twos? Molars? I think I can feel one coming in, so I give him Motrin and stand firm on temper tantrums. Trying to cover all the possibilities. Please let this stop soon. Gah!

Could it be time?

2009-03-26T21:53:00.003-04:00

* For the past couple of days Kevin has been grabbing at himself 'down there' and when I ask him if he has to 'pee pee' he smiles and runs to the bathroom. He does go when he gets on the toilet, but his diaper is wet, also. I'm thinking of buying pullups when I get groceries next week...

* At this moment Katie is upstairs, in her bed, sobbing her eyes out form a broken heart delivered by Kennie. This was her first serious boyfriend. I cried with her and then sent her mom up. I have no details, yet, but that doesn't mean I don't want to kick his ass.

* It seems like it's been awhile since I posted a pic:

Aaaaand....you're grounded

2009-03-16T22:02:00.002-04:00

Sigh.

That child is going to be the death of me. I'm referring to Katie. Sometimes I can't believe that I've actually chosen and prayed to go through the teenage years all over again in about 10 years, or so.

One day last week Katie asked to go to the movies with her girlfriends. She normally is not allowed to go out on a school night, but this was an early movie so we allowed it.

Some background: Katie's boyfriend started driving a few months ago. We have forbidden her to drive with him, just yet, because we believe he needs some experience under his belt before we are going to entrust her very life with him. She has agreed and actually has said, "sometimes I even forget he drives.". Uh-huh.

On the day and time in question, Roni was not home. The plan was that Katie's friend's father was going to pick Katie up and drop the girls off at the movies. Katie says to me, "They can pick me up now or they can come back at 4 o'clock". I told her it was fine for them to pick her up now.

A couple minutes later she calls out to me that they were there and we said good-bye. That's when intuition hit me. I went to the front door to look out and there was a little 2 door beater car parked 3 houses down. My antennae went up. What father of a friend would park 3 houses down? I peeked out the door as Katie jumps in the front seat of the car. The front seat is significant because, logic tells me, her friends should have gotten out of the car to move the seat for Katie to get in the back, no? I peeked closer and I can see the back of the driver's head and his longish, frizzed-out hair. Kennie, Katie's boyfriend, has longish, frizzed-out hair.

Fucking busted.

I texted her and said, "That didn't look like 'so-and-so' and her father picking you up." She actually had the balls to say it was. Sigh. I'm not sure what irritates me most....the sneaking around and disobeying, the flat out lies, or her thinking I'm incredibly stupid.

Roni called a little while later and I told her the news. Some sleuthing then turned up (and I cannot reveal our sources in case this blog is read by the perpetrator) that she has been driving around with Kennie all along...especially on the weekends when she is at her father's house.

I texted her "it wasn't smart to lie". She texts back "what?"...as if she doesn't know she's in the shit. Roni texted her "I hope you're having fun because it's going to be a looong time before you can go out again." She texts back "I'll explain later. Love you". Uh-huh. What does she think she's going to explain? Seriously. There is no explanation for blatantly breaking the rules. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

I could barely wait to hear what she comes up with. When she got home (early...the first smart thing she did that day) she started saying that it was the first time....I took pity on her so she didn't bury herself deeper and interrupted her to tell her we have witnesses that that wasn't so. She stopped talking (the second smart thing she did that day).

I have to say that she took her month worth of grounding like a big girl and didn't wail and whine like a fool (which only pisses me off further) so she made 3 smart decisions once she knew she was busted.

Sigh.

Did you know that Roni was born yesterday?

2009-03-05T18:41:00.002-05:00

It's dusk and will be full dark in about 15 minutes.

Katie: "Could I run over to Kasey's For a minute?"

Roni: "Now?!"

Katie: "Yeah."

Roni: "No."

Katie: "What if I meet her halfway?"

Roni: "....."

Roni: "Why do you want to go over there?"

Katie: "She has a bunch of my CDs (for like 3 years now) and she's not going to be in school tomorrow."

Roni: "Why is this suddenly an emergency?"

I take Kevin and begin getting him ready for bed.

Katie: "I'm going to brush my teeth." **I have to say here that she doesn't just willy nilly brush her teeth for no reason. We're happy she brushes her teeth before school and before bed. 'Nuff said.

Roni: "....Okaaaay?"

Katie: Brushing hair.

I come back downstairs from putting Kevin to bed and catch the tail end of Roni's final "no".

I don't know how many of you have teenagers, but this was a definite I'm sneaking out to make out with my boyfriend scenario written all over it.

Excuse me while I get Roni her baba.

"Do you know why you were in timeout?"

2009-03-03T21:32:00.004-05:00

There are a few things that Kevin is not to touch/do or he gets a timeout. Touch the computer, touch the copier, and play in Cassie's water bowl (I have Pergo floors and they will warp if water stays on them for any length of time). He knows he is not to do these things.

I walked into the dining room and found him jerking away from the water bowl because he heard me coming. A huge puddle was on the floor. I said, as he was leaving little wet footprints across the floor, "That's it. Get in timeout." He walked over to the couch to sit on it while I turned off the video and removed his toys. I make a point of looking at my watch. He watches me. I walk away to leave him alone to ponder the error of his ways. I periodically peek in at him. Still sitting there. Good. Two minutes are up and I go back in to him. I put my arms out and he reaches up to me. I pick him up and, while holding him, say, "Do you know why you were in timeout?" He says, "No." I'm thinking to myself, "Oh, bullshit." I say out loud, "You know you're not supposed to bmrpchokdfjgh." That gibberish was because he chose that moment to lean in and give me a kiss.

The ladies better watch out for my little charmer...He's going to be deadly.

Well. I did it.

2009-02-23T22:28:00.002-05:00

I canceled our Disney trip for April. It's a new experience for me to be sure. I'm not quite sure why I suddenly felt no desire to go. Roni said, "You always say that everything happens for a reason, so maybe it's preventing something bad from happening."

Maybe. I don't know, but it's done. I'm kind of sad in a way, but also feeling a sense of relief. It's very strange, actually.

I believe I finally did it...

2009-02-17T19:58:00.002-05:00

...had the most embarrassing public moment of my life today.

I was grocery shopping with Kevin, per usual, today. I was trying to reach the diet soda that Roni wanted and, not only was it on the top shelf, it was in the back of the shelf. I was trying to determine how I was going to get at it because it was really far back there. I'll tell you that I'm quite used to stepping on the bottom shelf at the store because, when you're only 5'1" in shoes, you have to adapt. Well, I made the erroneous decision to step not only on the bottom shelf, but also on a case of soda. You probably know what happened. The case slipped. My knee then slammed off the shelf above it.

I've mentioned before what happens to me when I'm in a lot of pain and this was no exception. The world started going black and I started feeling sick to my stomach. Kevin is sitting in the cart and I said, "I have to lay down, baby." He thinks I'm playing and starts giggling. There was no way I could get up or I know I would have lost consciousness. So there I lay feeling like an ass and not being able to do a damn thing about it. When I pass out in these situations, I have seizures. I could not let that happen. I have my damn legs wrapped around the grocery cart and was watching Kevin praying that he would just not try to climb out. After a couple of minutes, I tried to stand. No go. I broke out in a cold sweat and started to go down. I pulled my coat off because I needed to get cool and laid back down on the floor.

The crowd started gathering. GAWD!!! I'm mortified laying there, but had no choice. A very nice lady came by and kept talking to me, asking if I was okay, etc. She said to just lay there and she'll stay with my baby and not to worry. More people came. The question of "should we call an ambulance?" NO!!!!! I'll be okay in a few minutes. I tried to stand. The world went black around the edges and, worse, the hearing started going. If you've ever passed out, you know that that is the last thing that happens before there's nothing but black. I have to lay down again. I laid on the floor and looked up at Kevin. He's starting to look confused and concerned. The nice lady keeps reassuring me that she'll watch him. More people gathered. I can barely hear them. I'm willing this effing episode to pass already. The lady is telling me I'm clammy. I knew that. She grabs a pack of soda and pops one open and tells me to drink it. I don't want to hurt her feelings and tell her that I'm a diabetic and can't have it. It's not my sugar. It's a vasovagal episode. I took a sip to be polite anyway. After about 10 or 15 minutes of causing a scene and giving these people something to chat about to their friends and family, I was finally able to stand without feeling like I was going to faint.

When I was finally alone with Kevin, after thanking everybody (especially the nice lady) profusely, Kevin leaned forward and gave me a kiss.

What a freakin' day.

I wish I could have taken pictures for the blog...LOL.

What a beautiful day it was!

2009-02-11T21:39:00.003-05:00

Of course it's over with no foreseeable nice days in our future again...(I'm a glass half full kind of gal, can't you tell?).

Kevin was ecstatic! He has missed being outside as is evidenced by his reaction today. If you're not on FB or, more accurately, my friend on FB (and why aren't you?) you missed this pic of the boy feeling high on the weather...

What I told my boss and what I didn't

2009-02-10T21:31:00.003-05:00

I informed my boss last week that, within the year, I need to get off the weekend program and onto 7-3 shift or get gone. She actually seemed happy that I wanted to come 7-3. Hmmm. Of course we all know that, at the rate my facility trades out DONs, she may not even be there by then.

What I didn't tell her, yet, is that I'm going to need to take a leave of absence for 3, or 4, weeks starting at the end of June or early July. The reason being is that Roni is going to have a Gastric Bypass surgery and the estimated time frame is around that time. She certainly will not be able to care for Kevin during her recovery. Since Roni has Fibromyalgia, history has shown that, when she has surgery, her recovery is much worse than other people's. In the past it has sent her into a "flare" and the pain is intense.

I'm not sure how to phrase this upcoming event to my boss. I don't think that they are legally required to allow me off for a leave, but I hope they will not be difficult.

The whole thing is making me a nervous wreck.

Somebody help me with the feed reader...

2009-02-03T23:26:00.002-05:00

I have some of the blogs I read coming through the Google feeder onto my phone. I have no idea how they got there, but it sure does spoil you! Now, the question is: Why aren't all of them coming through and how do I make them?

Could somebody explain, please?

You'd never know he's such a happy boy...

2009-02-02T23:28:00.004-05:00

The cake:

So, the birthday party had to be canceled because half the family was sick. Totally sucks, but what are you going to do? The cake had already been ordered so Roni and I had our own mini party for Kevin. He, without a nap, was not in the best mood. He was happy when he saw the car on the cake, but, when we started singing "happy birthday", this is the reaction we got:

BwaHaHaHaHa!

The cake made it all better...

Afterward, we crashed and somebody decided to take this very unattractive picture (of me), but cute pic of Kevin:

Dos años!

2009-01-27T21:56:00.006-05:00

I can't even believe it. Tomorrow my son will be two years old already! Where has the time gone?

Two years ago...I was still waiting for the call from my Case Worker to say I finally had my referral. Two years ago...my life was full of anxiety wondering if I was ever going to be a mom. Two years ago...I was wondering what my son would look like. Two years ago...I had no idea how much love you have for your child.

Two years ago...a barely 18 year old woman in Guatemala was going through emotions that I cannot conceive of. Two years ago...she loved her baby enough to make such a huge sacrifice for his sake. Two years ago...I had no idea how much love you have for your child.

Tomorrow I will light a candle and say a prayer for this beautiful, selfless woman.

Sleepy Boy!

2009-01-20T18:44:00.001-05:00

For once, there is no volume involved unless you want to hear Katie and I giggling like fools.

This weather sucks. No, really.

2009-01-16T20:06:00.002-05:00

I know this area is not the only area in the friggin' deep freeze right now, but I just have to say that it truly blows. I cannot fathom those people who actually like cold weather. It's not normal. Humans were not meant to inhabit such a ridiculous climate. Friggin' Polar Bears are meant to inhabit this climate. It's stupid cold. Every winter I say the same thing....I need to move south. Unfortunately, it's not possible because Katie's father would forbid it, I'm sure. She's 15...maybe in 3 more years we can get the hell out of here.

Poor Kevin doesn't either #1) know how to cover himself back up fully, or B)...hmmm...I forgot what I was going to say here. Must be the freakin' COLD interfering with my brain synapsing. Anyway. Because this house is almost 100 years old, the way it was built has a few issues. One is that there is no heating vents in any of the bedrooms. There is one central large floor vent in the hallway outside the bedrooms. It's not really a hallway, per se, It's more of a landing. You, literally, walk up the steps and either walk straight into my bedroom or do a U-turn into Katie's bedroom. The bedroom doors have to be let open during the day to allow heat to enter the rooms. When we sleep the doors get shut so it gets chilly in there during the night. The doors need to be shut or we'd be kept up all night with all the racket the dogs make. Normally it's not a problem. It doesn't get very cold during the night, we dress for the winter weather, and both Kevin and I like to sleep in a colder room, but this week has been a different story altogether. It's getting too cold. I was running an electric ceramic heater in Kevin's room to warm it up before he goes to bed, but Roni does not feel it's safe to run it during the night. She's terrified of a fire. (I'm worried it'll get too warm in the room for him. He hates to be hot when he's sleeping, but I could adjust the temperature of the heater so it keeps it cool without being cold.) Soooo, Kevin has been waking up between 4:30 and 5:30 this week. I've been assuming he's cold so I've been gathering him up and bringing him into bed with me. Every day, except this morning, he's gone back to sleep. Now the weekend is here and my 16 hour shifts. I'm thinking that it's going to be an exhausting weekend.

Do you think it's unsafe to run an electric heater in his room? It's the kind that stays cool to the touch, if that makes a difference.

Just for sh*ts and giggles

2009-01-07T21:25:00.002-05:00

I'm looking into the future and know that I will need to get off the weekend program within the next year, or two. I know it sounds far away, but, as fast as time is flying by these days, I'm getting antsy about it. The way things are at work lately, I can't expect that I'll be able to switch shifts and remain there.

So....I decided to apply for a State job (preferably a State Inspector for nursing homes) and get on the waiting list. I didn't really know what to expect, but figured it couldn't hurt. I am an idiot and forgot to fill out the supplemental application that goes with the regular application, which would have raised my score higher. Nonetheless, there was only one score higher than mine in the County in which I reside and 2 higher than me in the next County over. Not too bad considering I, figuratively, did it with a handicap. If I wasn't an idiot, maybe I'd have made the top of the list. I guess an idiot doesn't deserve to be there, so it's justified. I can only wait now for some jobs to open up and try to dazzle them in an interview if I'm contacted. I cannot retake the test for 6 months, so I'm stuck for now.

I'm curious to see what happens with my career...The thought of leaving my place of employment after 13 years is sad, but exciting at the same time.

Check your cell phone bills!

2009-01-02T19:37:00.002-05:00

This is a public service announcement, folks, because I am infuriated right now.

We have 3 lines on my cell phone account. The bill can be confusing to read (if I bother to take the time to do so). I noticed a charge on my bill two months ago from "M-Qube" and wondered what is was, but figured I bought something and didn't follow up on it. I noticed it again this month and Googled it. Turns out there's a class action law suit started against them for charging people for things they never bought. I checked my bills closer and saw that I've been getting charged this amount for the past four months. When I checked my cell phone carrier's site, I saw it was for signing up for "horoscopes". I never signed up for any such thing...not to mention that I never received any such thing on my phone. It is supposed to be credited to me and removed from future "subscriptions". We'll see....I just wanted to make y'all aware of this crap going on so it doesn't happen to you.

Future basketball star!

2009-01-01T17:06:00.002-05:00

Well, gosh, maybe next year?

2008-12-25T21:54:00.003-05:00

I had some high(er) hopes for Christmas this year regarding Kevin and his gift receiving reaction as compared to last year's "nada" reaction. Granted, it was a smidge better in that he'd take a gift that I had to unwrap for him and run off to play with it quietly on the couch, but he still didn't get involved in the whole unwrapping thing himself. *Sigh* When I pulled off the "Santa Sack" from his "Bounce and Spin Zebra", he ran away whining.

WTF?

He did wind up playing with it, cautiously, a little later, but still hasn't gotten on it and really let loose, yet.

He did much, much better this year at the family gathering at my brother's. No withering or whining...just running around and pretty much at ease for the most part.

I did a lousy job at getting any pictures, ya know, with all the freakin' unwrapping I had to do. I got a pic of him in his little suit and a few pics of him off on the couch with his favorite toy still in its box...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

"What is it?"

2008-12-19T18:59:00.003-05:00

Can you stand another video?

We got a ~~freakin'~~ nice little snow storm today. I ~~stuffed~~ bundled Kevin into last year's snowsuit which is a little ~~like putting sausage into its casing~~ snug and took him outside to experience it.

His reaction, "What is it?". He says it twice...as usual, turn up your volume.

It's the best I could do and DAMN I wish I would've made my bed before I took this video!

2008-12-18T19:12:00.003-05:00

The proof....sorry it's so choppy and dark in places. I couldn't let him see the recorder or I wouldn't have gotten even this much. Turn your volume up and listen to the grunts and groans while he's trying to carry Mickey up the steps.

It can't possibly last...

2008-12-17T20:33:00.002-05:00

It started last week out of the blue. I refer to Kevin's ~~compliance~~ ~~willingness~~ eagerness to take a nap. I thought the first time was a fluke, but it has continued.

He was starting to fuss, as he is wont to do, around his nap time one day last week and I said to him, "It's time for a nap" and turned to get his bottle ready (yes, I still give him a bottle at nap and bedtime...I'm a chicken, OK?...OKAY?! Are ya happy now?).

Eh-hem.

Sorry. Back to it.

He started to run back to the living room while I was pouring the milk and I figured I'd be chasing him in a minute. Much to my surprise, when I turned around he was holding his Mickey that he sleeps with (that's my boy!) with a big smile on his face. I cautiously walked toward him, not daring to hope, and he turned and walked over to the baby gate at the bottom of the steps. I opened it and he started climbing the stairs while holding Mickey. I followed him up in utter amazement. He hustled through my room and into his, walked over and turned on his sound machine, and turned to me with his arms up to put him in his crib. I. could. not. believe. it.

He's been doing this ever since. I don't expect it to last, but it is so adorable. I want to try to videotape it, but I'm afraid he'll just stare at the camera and then, of course, not do it...

Totally humoring me

2008-12-16T21:47:00.003-05:00

While shopping today, I came across some Santa hats so I plopped one on Kevin's head. He immediately pulled it off with a disgusted look. I said, "let mommy take a picture first" and put it back on his head.

Behold the look I got:

Flashback

2008-12-10T00:43:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had a memory from your younger days that came at you from out of the blue? It happened to me today as I was driving home from getting groceries. I believe it was a defining moment in my life.

It happened about 30 years ago when I was 15 or 16 and my friend was 13 or 14. I walked to her house to get her so we could go hang out. When I arrived at her house, her father met me at the door and walked me back to her room. A bit unusual, but I had no idea what was coming. When we entered her room, her dad picked up a pack of cigarettes and said to me, "are these yours?". They weren't. I had a split second to make my decision whether I was going to throw my friend under the bus and let her get beat up by her abusive father, or if I was going to take the blame for her and take the chance that her father would tell my father and I could be beat up by my abusive father. I glanced at her face and knew I had to take my chances. When I saw the look of terror there, I saw myself. I said to him, "Yes, I asked her to hold them for me. I'm sorry.". He walked over to me, handed me her cigarettes, and walked out of the room.

I knew I did the right thing.

It was the moment I knew who I'd become.

And he never did tell my father...

Seriously! Lowe's is having a 50% Christmas decorations sale.

2008-12-04T19:02:00.006-05:00

I just bought this today. I never would have spent the amount of money on it that was the regular price, but 50% off! Now, they were speaking my language. I've never had such a nice tree before. That would be the reason i felt the urge to actually blog about it. Much to your dismay, I'm sure. Sorry about that...

I put it up, but, obviously, it's not decorated yet.

To take your mind off the above nonsense, I will shamelessly use my adorable son:

He has taken to climbing up and down time and time again on the dining room chair for some reason. Naturally, when I pulled out the Flip, he stopped.

Again, he stops doing his adorable antics once he sees the Flip. Sigh. Of course, he was singing and clapping to...wait for it....The Wiggles. (BTW...You can see part of the old, crappy Christmas tree in this video that, when I plugged it in, some of the lights were burnt out...hence, my justification for buying the new one.)

I've done gone and lost my mind

2008-12-02T22:02:00.003-05:00

We went shopping on Black Friday. Not in the wee hours, mind you, but we did venture out in the afternoon.

Just for shits and giggles.

I had never seen a HDTV in real life before. As I ~~muscled my way~~sauntered through the electronics department, I gazed upon these most wondrous of inventions. I stood there with Kevin just gawking. Drool escaping from my mouth as I stared in amazement. Where have I been? How have I never seen these before? Why haven't any of you told me about this?

Can you say "impulse buy"? Yeah.

I don't have the actual HD hooked up, yet, because my appointment is not until next Wednesday, but this thing is pretty sweet already.

The WALL!

2008-11-27T20:26:00.003-05:00

This, my friends, is the new wall separating my bedroom into two, count them, two rooms!

Bliss, I tell ya. No, it's not primed or painted yet, but it's THERE. I can now sleep in my bed again. Last night was my first night in my bed in about 6 months. I was able to read and
eat my peanut butter cups in peace. Without stealth! What a beautiful thing.

The blankie

2008-11-26T22:39:00.004-05:00

I have to say that I'm terrified that something awful will happen to Kevin's blanket. Or that he'll carry it around when he's 22. Whichever. The reason this comes to mind is because of
this post by The New Girl (who is a fantastically funny blogger, BTW). If you scroll down a couple of paragraphs, she is talking about switching her daughter's old doll with a new, identical doll and her child's reaction.

Hence, the fear.

The boy is totally attached to his blankie. There is a particular corner of it that he searches for. He'll start turning the thing around to feel each corner until he finds the "right" one. It's frustrating to watch when he's frantically searching and he's felt 3 of the corners, and I think it's almost over, but then he reverses his search and starts covering old ground. I've taken to putting the correct end of the blanket toward his face (yes, I know which friggin' corner it is) and hope he finds it right away. If he start twirling the damn thing, I step in and just hand him the correct corner. He then takes it and rubs it between his fingers like a talisman, or rubs it against his cheek. We take it on vacation with us because, simply, it is a lifesaver at times. WHAT. IF. I. FORGET. IT. AT. HOME?! Worse yet, ~~OMFG!~~ what if I left it at a hotel?! His stuffed Mickey Mouse is his second choice. I'm trying to keep him from taking the blanket out in public with us because he drags it around and, um, yuck, so I make him leave it in his crib. He's gotten used to that and will just drop it now and pick up Mickey instead. Roni, on the other hand, would let him take it anywhere (although she did put her foot down when he wanted to take it in the bathtub while on vacation).

Do your kids have a similar object of love?

I think I did it...

2008-11-19T12:22:00.004-05:00

I may have found a way to upload the Wishes video... make sure you watch it all the way through. What you may think is the Grand Finale, isn't.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1406988204156394590

If you click the link, you can watch the video. You can also download it to your iPod/iPhone. It actually plays better on there. The colors are better....

Wishes video

2008-11-18T21:25:00.002-05:00

The trip down went very well with Kevin. He was completely different than our trip in January and I was so proud of him.

One near miss while driving...which, if you read my last trip blog regarding the idiot drivers that seemed to hone in on me, was a huge improvement. I don't know how you guys are when driving beside an 18 wheeler, but I constantly watch the side of the truck where the turn signal is under the truck. I've never had a problem before, but this time it paid off. The trucker was passing me and my old habit kicked in and started watching the turn signal. I don't know if he forgot I was there, or what, but the turn signal came on. I kept watching it. Waiting. I knew I was in his blind spot because he never finished the pass. I just knew this was going to be a bad thing. Here he came. I could see the people in the car behind me looking horrified. I'm thankful that there was a shoulder on the highway and I wasn't caught on a bridge or a construction zone. I swerved off and laid on the horn. There wasn't much else I could do. He heard me and jerked the truck back which, BTW, is kinda scary to watch in and of itself. It was a pretty big swerve because his front end was already halfway across my lane. Other than that moment, it was a good drive.

The Universal hotels are gorgeous (and pet friendly). We stayed at the Hard Rock and I'd stay there again in a minute, but it will probably never happen due to the cost. It was really a once in a lifetime thing for us. I enjoyed the Universal parks, but wish I could have spent more time than we did at Disney. Katie was in heaven at the Hard Rock. This trip was mostly for her because I think she's about done with the Disney trips now. I'm sure she won't be going on our next trip. Staying at this resort was also for Roni because she's more about the hotel than I am. I don't much care about where we stay as long as it's pretty decent. Three stars are usually what I shoot for. I'm glad I was able to do it for them this time.

As for the video with Kevin running through the fountains...it's gone, just gone. I don't know what happened, but I can't find it on my computer anywhere. Every other video is there, but not that one. I'm so upset because I adored that time with him and wanted to save it for posterity.

The night at the Magic Kingdom was perfect. I was in my happy place made twice as happy when it's decorated for Christmas. Kevin saw his first fireworks when the Wishes Holiday fireworks began. Hey, if you've never seen Disney fireworks, you don't know what you're missing. I wasn't sure how he react so I held him for it. He was mesmerized. Toward the end of the video, I jiggle the camera a bit. Excuse that, please. I had to switch arms holding Kevin. It was that or drop him. I thought about it for, you know, the sake of the video, but then decided against it.

O.M.G. I can't get the video uploaded because it's too long!!!! Argh! I tried through youtube and it won't allow it either. Any ideas? I'm sorry....I've been trying for hours.

Back from Vacation

2008-11-17T22:09:00.006-05:00

Let me just throw some pics at ya tonight. I'm tired....

This was Kevin's first time running through sprinklers/fountains and one of my favorite memories. He absolutely loved it. I have video that I'll post at another time...

My two favorite rides at Universal:

Now for some Disney magic...the Christmas party. There is nothing, to me, that compares to being in WDW to see the Christmas decorations. We only got to see MK decked out because we were there too early, but I love, love, love Epcot's decorations also. Check out the castle...I also videotaped the holiday version of Wishes....which I'll upload when I have some more time.

Because she must have a portable outlet, or something

2008-10-31T21:06:00.003-04:00

So Katie calls a few minutes ago from trick-or-treating. At 15, but whatever. She asks if she can come in the house to get her phone charger (she stays at her dad's on the weekends) because she forgot it. Now, normally this wouldn't be an issue, but the boy just got done ~~screaming~~ ~~crying~~ fighting going to sleep and ain't nobody going up those stairs before morning and taking the chance of waking him now. Especially since it's a Friday night. Eh-hem.

She has to be at her dad's house by 9:30. It's already after 9. She's bitching that her phone is going to go dead before she gets there. Uh-not if you get off the phone now and quit wasting the battery on this lost cause. So she says, "Now I'm going to be on the streets without a phone." My eyes are just about stuck up under my eyelids from not being able to stop rolling them over this one. How about the 87 friends that you're with that all have cell phones? And, even more curiously, how the hell did she think she was going to charge it while roaming the streets?

Just pick it up in the morning, kid.

I'm still marveling that I ever survived childhood without all the things that kids have now-a-days. I also marvel that said kids feel that it's their God given right to have them to begin with.

Not a drop of snow at my house....

2008-10-28T17:44:00.001-04:00

....but check out this video from just a few minutes north of me! Whoa.

Wait. What?

2008-10-27T18:20:00.001-04:00

A snow storm tomorrow? You've got to be kidding! If this really happens, I'll post pics. It seems a bit early to me....

Update on Mom

2008-10-22T22:36:00.003-04:00

Mom finally got her type of leukemia diagnosed. She has CLL...which I think is a good thing. Well, as good as it can be when you are diagnosed with, you know, cancer. *shudder & wince* She hasn't seen the specialist yet. Her appointment is at the end of the month, but her family doctor cannot feel any swollen lymph nodes. With her blood count being normal except for the WBCs, it sounds like she'll be staged low. The usual prognosis is 10-20 years. She's 70. Looking at it logically, and not emotionally, her lifespan really shouldn't be affected too much. Does that sound callous? I don't mean it to. It's just the way my brain works. Of course, things could change at any time and it could accelerate tomorrow. I pray she continues with her life which is filled with vitality. She puts most 70 year olds to shame. Hell, she puts me to shame. I can't imagine her any other way. I don't want to.

New thingy in my sidebar...

2008-10-21T22:49:00.002-04:00

OK, I had no idea this thing existed. I was on my dashboard page and saw someone was listed as a follower of my blog. (Thanks, Janet ) I was, like, WTF is this? I'm still trying to figure the thing out because I'm not sure what all it involves...

I will tell you this much...if nobody else clicks on that thing, it'll be off my sidebar in no time flat because, you know, advertising that one person follows my blog is not exactly good for the ol' self esteem. You know?

No pressure, though.

Why me? Sigh.

2008-10-17T20:36:00.003-04:00

I swear. It's always some damn thing that goes wrong for me in any plan.

I, being the kind soul that I am, decided to make things as easy as possible for the delivery guys today. Besides, it was the perfect chance to wash the walls in the laundry room. As I mentioned, I took the washer and dryer outside last night. Today, I washed the walls where they were because, I don't know about y'all, but I don't move out my washer and dryer to clean behind them on a regular basis. Maybe I should. Then I cleared all the furniture out of the way between the front door and my kitchen for the stove. My house looked like it had been tilted on its side.

As a side note, I decided I'd love to downsize my furniture. It's amazing how big the rooms look when all that big ol' furniture is out of the way. The furniture never looks that big in the furniture store until it gets home and then it's, like, huge.

Anyway.

First of all, these guys were nice enough, but I'm sure glad I wasn't paying them by the hour because they took 3 times as long as I would have if I did it my damn self. Honestly. I was just about to hip-check the ~~stereotypicalfatbellyheavybreathingasscrackshowing~~ one guy the hell out of my way and say, "Just let me do it, already!" It took about an hour just to take the old stove out and bring the new stove in! WTF?! It took Katie and I 10 minutes to take the washer and dryer outside last night. A fifteen year old girly-girl and a 5'1" woman.

After I rolled my eyes through this, while all the while being as sweet as could be, they went back out to the truck. They were gone about 20 minutes. You really have no idea how irritating this was for me. Finally, dude #1 comes back to the door and tells me that they didn't notice at the store, but there's a dent in the dryer on the side and they can knock 10% off if I wanted to take it and, if not, they can bring me another one back tomorrow. I asked which side of the dryer. He tells me the right side. Figures. The right side is the side that would be showing. He asked if I wanted to see it. Yes, I did. I went out to the truck and it was a pretty big dent. I said, "You can only take 10% off for that? Because that's pretty big." He said he could call in to the manager and I told him to do just that. The manager, after yelling at the guy for not noticing the dent and me looking around like I couldn't hear him blaring out of the 2-way, said to offer $150 off. I was cool with that 'cause I'm all about saving money. They finally bring it in, lose one of the screws to hook the plug up to, spent at least 20 minutes looking for it, until I went to my toolbox to see what I had available. I had one. They tell me they can't hook the vent up to it because it's a plastic one...I know that's not their fault so I kicked them out of my way and did it mydamnself. Then they tested it....THUNK...THUNK...THUNK...THUNK and it got HOT. Sigh. Disconnect and take back outside.

Bring in washer. I had left the hoses from the old washer hooked up to the water source because I had no idea if new hoses would come with the new washer, or not. Now, this is very important...the old hoses were hooked up to the water source. The other end of each were not hooked up to anything. Dude #2 wasn't sure if the water was turned off before he was going to remove them...Do you see where this is going? He turned the fucking water on. I about bit my entire face off to not scream, "YOUSTUPIDFUCK,IFTHEWATERWASONITWOULDBEFLOWINGOUTOFTHEENDOFTHEHOSEALREADY!!!

Sigh.

Now I have no dryer until tomorrow. I work 16 hour shifts on the weekend. They are not allowed to hook up the vent hose. Roni can't do it. Ergo, I have to wait until Monday to move the dryer back out, to hook up the vent and do some laundry. Laundry that is really piling up, BTW.

Changes....in a hurry

2008-10-16T19:54:00.003-04:00

Because of the washer/dryer changes coming tomorrow, I'm trying to get the new floor down in that half of the laundry/dog room.

I did mention that I'm putting a new floor down, right? Yeah, I did...OK...well, when I first started a couple weeks ago I went nuts and started cutting the carpet into about 5 foot sections and ripping it out. I got almost all of it out except the last 4 feet, or so, and came to a screeching halt because of having to move the washer and dryer. It's a general PITA to do this stuff when you have to shuffle stuff around to do it. With the new stuff coming tomorrow, it gave me the kick in the ass I needed to get going again. Rather than shuffle the stuff, though, I took them right out the back door and put them in my back yard. I can imagine what the neighbors think. They'll be taken away tomorrow by the guys making the delivery. I promise I'm not going to leave them there....honest.

I didn't take a pic of the old carpet....that would be too embarrassing, but I did take it of the floor before I laid the new tile down and, of course, after:

Before:

After (well, actually it's during...semantics):

What are the odds?

2008-10-15T20:40:00.003-04:00

My dryer is near death. Runs for 2 hours and the clothes are nowhere near dry, all of a sudden. To be fair, I don't even know how old the thing is. I got it second hand, from a friend, about 10 years ago. I certainly can't complain. Especially since it was free. Along with the washer. My stove is about 8 years old. It's a smooth top and we cracked the top in the beginning of summer. The crack goes right across one of the large burners, so I've made do with the one large burner and 2 small ones while waiting for the moment some liquid goes down the crack and electrocutes me. Don't worry. I've covered the crack with blue painter's tape to help to keep that from happening. High class all the way. I've been meaning to get a new stove since it happened, but you probably know by now how much I procrastinate. I decided to buy new rather than replace the ceramic top because, with the stove being 8 years old, I just know I'd get a new top and then the whole stove would die, or something.

I also had to buy a new A/C this summer. Do appliances always die within a short time of each other?

Although I've made do with the stove ~~while risking life and limb~~, but cannot survive without a dryer. This is the thing that has finally prompted me to get shopping. My intent was to buy just about the least expensive dryer I could find. I also intended to buy an inexpensive washer because I figure that I might as well replace my ancient one at the same time since the clock is probably ticking on that sucker, also. That was my intent. But. I wound up ordering a HE washer and its matching dryer. I'm inordinately excited about my purchase. I wish the pics could do them justice, but, if I try to enlarge them, they just get all fuzzy:

After I told the salesman that I would take those, I told him I needed a stove. I'm pretty sure the one pictured is the one I ordered. To be honest, once I heard the ridiculously inexpensive price he gave me (It was on clearance and he knocked another 30% off), I swooned and can't be absolutely positive of it. I'm pretty sure this is the one, though. I love, love, love that it has dual burners on the two large ones. Both large burners are in front, also, which I also love.

You just know that I'll be shopping for a refrigerator soon, don't you?

Woot!

Just a few pics

2008-10-14T18:24:00.003-04:00

The weather was picture perfect today and we spent some time outside after grocery shopping and dinner.

I can't believe how big my boy is getting:

This one is while grocery shopping and he's showing how laid back and cool he is:

After 7 years of trying...

2008-10-09T09:49:00.002-04:00

Pennsylvania has finally passed the law banning mandatory overtime for nurses. It is on the govenor's desk and he is expected to sign it. It will go into effect on 7/1/09. They finally saw how unsafe it is for a nurse to be mandated. This is a huge win for nurses and patients alike.

Confirmed

2008-10-07T20:12:00.002-04:00

Well, the only new thing I know re: my mom and her diagnosis is that they re-did the blood work and her WBCs came back at 96,000 this time. The doctor said that there is no doubt at all that she has Leukemia. She has to see a specialist and I'm still waiting to hear what type of Leukemia it is. I have a call out to her, but she has not called me back yet.

ION (in other news): I had to postpone my interview yesterday because I was totally exhausted from my weekend at work. It was unfreakin' believable at work Sunday. I got to bed around 2:30AM and, of course, Kevin woke up at 6. I called the new place and told her that I would come across as a babbling idiot if I showed up for an interview that day. Oh, yes I did.

So....I went this morning. They want to hire me. Alas, they can't afford me. The Personnel Manager said that "Corporate" was working on coming up with new pay rates. Yeah, they need to. They don't even come close to our STARTING rates, let alone someone with my experience. She looked so sad, I almost felt guilty. I told her to hold onto my application and give me a call if something happens. I'm glad I went, though. For one thing, I got to do an interview for the first time and got that out of the way. For another, I got to see how I'd be in an interview. I thought I'd be nervous, but I was very comfortable and confident. It was cool.

Prayers, please

2008-10-03T21:44:00.004-04:00

My mom just called me. She had bloodwork and pulmonary tests done today. She also has Shingles. The covering MD just called her to say her WBCs are at 100,000 and that she has Leukemia. That's all he said to her except to say that if anything happens this weekend, to go to the ER. If not, to call her regular doctor on Monday to see what she wants to do...

We have no idea what kind it's supposed to be. We have no idea what the prognosis is. We don't know anything, yet.

The story of my life...

2008-10-03T00:09:00.002-04:00

This right here?

Yeah. It about sums things up right now. Finding my sewer line blocked by tree roots was the capper on my week. Two hundred and eighty dollars later...that is 2-8-0 y'all...and we can use our plumbing again. You just don't realize how precious it is until you don't have it.

After playing phone tag half the week with the Personnel woman at the facility I called to ask about a position, I have an interview for Monday. Monday. My worst day. I can go and look like I'm hung over because I'm just not at my best on that day...sigh. In a way, though, Monday is good because I will have been reminded over the weekend why I am trying to leave a job I've been at for so long. See, by now, my memory becomes foggy and my irritation level with the place is way down because I've been away for days, but I'm sure that by Sunday night I'll be aggravated again and will be happy to check out a new place.

I'm making myself a nervous wreck thinking about it. I've never had to have an interview before. I was pretty much just hired on the spot for this job that I'm at. What the hell do I even wear?! I have nothing! I live in jeans or shorts and scrubs. All my "good" clothes from when I was a manager are either gone or outdated.

I think I'm gonna puke

Exploration

2008-09-29T21:12:00.003-04:00

I've finally decided to look into another job. The corporation that I work for has pushed me to the brink with their "We don't give a damn about our employees" ways. I've been gleaning information from several sources within the facility and comparing notes from what each person is saying and have come up with a scenario that may be paranoid, but I don't think so. Apparently, they are setting a situation up that puts the supervisors' licenses on the line and that is a bit scary. From what I understand, they are going to have the RN supervisor work a floor while supervising all 4 floors. This is not a safe practice in my opinion. The icing on the cake, and the thing that has expedited my desire to leave, is the sneaky way they are going about this transition. They have not asked for a meeting with me or the 3-11 Supervisor to explain what they have in mind and this transition is supposed to take place after this weekend. I have to hear this stuff through the grapevine. I have also heard of a master plan to do away with the 16 hour weekend program. The plan I heard is quite detailed and it involves me moving to the 4 day weekend program, which consists of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The kicker is that they expect me to do the 3-11 shift. I can't, and won't, do 4 days 3-11. I'd rather do a 10 day 7-3 shift with every other weekend off if they do get rid of the 16 hour program. Working an 8 day schedule and losing every single weekend is not worth it to me. Doing the 16 hour shifts and having 5 days off every week was worth giving up every weekend, but having off only 1 extra day with the 4 day program, is not. They have proven time and time again that they are sneaky bastards and cannot be trusted. I'm sick of wondering what is going to befall us next so, for the first time in 13 years, I have made a phone call to explore a position somewhere else.

We'll see how it all turns out...

This whole thing has me a nervous wreck and I've been covered in hives since I made the phone call last night. At least I hope it's hives.

Aaaand here I go again....

2008-09-25T22:07:00.002-04:00

Another home project. I'm going to lay a new floor in my dogs' room/laundry room.

What? You want to know if I ever finished the bathroom? Well, uh, not just yet...but we did buy a palm sander today so it could be finished. I just couldn't manage to hand sand ~~the massive amount~~ the walls and ceiling. It's tough, man! Today, since the bug bit me to work on the house again, we bit the bullet and bought the damn thing. So, soon on the bathroom...K?

I've been yapping for a while over here about needing to pull the nasty carpet out of the dogs' room. Having 2 big-ass shedsomuchthatit'sawonderthey'renotbald dogs in that room is not conducive to carpeting. It cannot be kept clean, plus the smell after they come in from the rain just stays in there. So, yeah, yuck.

Today I bought the flooring, came home and starting cutting the carpet out of that room. It's almost done being torn out. I just have the end to do where the dryer sits and my back was just hurting too bad after moving and lifting the washer to continue. I can't wait to get it done. Hopefully the bug will keep biting me throughout the whole project.

The writing on the wall

2008-09-24T19:07:00.003-04:00

There was no cooking in my house tonight. Roni took Katie shopping for some personal items *cough* bras *cough* so I took Kevin to BK for dinner. I love taking him out to eat because he's just so darn cute sitting there, like a big boy, scarfing down unhealthy food. I decided to treat him tonight and get him a Sprite (sugar, but no caffeine-I'm not completely crazy). He's never had a Sprite before and was in heaven. I got the biggest smile when he tasted it and realized it wasn't the usual milk. Now that he was on a sugar high, I decided that taking him to the park to run it off would be a good idea-especially since the weather was so beautiful. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of us going down the slide for obvious reasons, but he was somewhere between thrilled and terrified. It's a thin line. He did want to go a second time so I guess he had fun, although he clutched me just as tight the second time.

Mommy aiding and abetting getting the child wired (horrible picture of me-wow):

Oh, yeah, he's feeling good:

He's not giving up that cup even thought it's mostly water at this point:

Just as we were winding things up (I was trying to time his "crash" to get home for bath and bedtime), up pulls Renee ~~squealing tires and laying skid marks and then running pell mell across the park~~ who walked over to me to lay The News on me. The DON in my facility has been fired. It is the 9th time I've heard this news in one form, or another, in my almost 13 years of working at my facility. That is an awfully high turnover rate. They either quit or get canned after a relatively short period of time. It really didn't surprise me knowing the history of this position, but it makes me nervous. Again I have to wonder who we'll get next and what she/he will be like. We sure have had our share of nutcases there. I also have an uneasy feeling about a major shakeup may be happening and maybe my job, or my hours, being in jeopardy.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that it doesn't get too crazy there...

Cherry Cheesecake!

2008-09-19T18:54:00.005-04:00

The weather was beautiful today. While Roni was getting ready for us to go shopping and then to dinner, I took Kevin for a walk:

Kevin and I went into ToysRUs while Roni was shopping for clothes next door. I've been on the hunt for wooden blocks of different shapes for Kevin to play with because he loves to stack things. I found some blocks, but they're smaller than what I wanted. I swear they don't make the ones I'm thinking of anymore because I can't find them anywhere. I also scored a new insulated straw cup, 2 new Wiggles DVDs, and a travel MagnaDoodle for the trip. Afterward, we picked Roni up at the next store and headed to Old Country Buffet. I love buffets with Kevin because there's not a bit of waiting involved, hence, no trying to occupy toddler while waiting for waitperson/drinks/food/bill. He also eats very well at a buffet and they lose money on the boy. His favorite thing is the breaded shrimp. This cracks me up because Katie, at almost 15, has never even tasted shrimp. The only problem with a buffet is that he has trouble comprehending that, when we get up from the table, we will be right back and starts to cry.

We went and got our desserts and one of the items I got was cherry cheesecake. Kevin wound up with it and was in heaven. I, unfortunately, forgot his bib...After he took the first bite, he actually shimmied in his seat with delight:

"Wow! This is good!"

"What is this stuff called? Cheesecake? Odd name..."

"Thank-you, Lord, for cheesecake!"

"I just can't get enough!"

"Is there any more?"

Apparently he prefers the tougher look...

2008-09-17T22:29:00.003-04:00

I put his hat on this way....

Two minutes later he did this...

WTH are the chances?!

2008-09-16T20:39:00.003-04:00

Yeah. So we leave for Disney/Universal on November 7th. Right? Uh-huh. Check the date on the ad below...This is the arena that I watch the hockey games from and is, like, 10 minutes from my house. I can't stand it, already. Do I deprive the boy from his favorite thing? Sigh. I guess I'll see if I can change our ressies...

My email address...

2008-09-15T13:10:00.004-04:00

For contact purposes re: facebook, if you'd like to send me info on how I can get you on my friends list, email me at: Ratherxbxatxdsny at aol dot com.

I was trying to think of a good way to do this without all of us putting our entire names on my public blog...even though they're there on facebook. I'm weird.

I need friends!

2008-09-12T21:58:00.002-04:00

Facebook is irritating the hell out of me. I just joined and am really having a tough time navigating it. It seems so UNintuitive to me. I'm trying to persevere and not junk the whole thing already, but MAN!

Anyway, I'm feeling lonely on there. I sent out some requests for "friends", but I don't think anyone knows who I am. I say that because one (Hi Barb!) actually wrote back to ask who the heck I was....OK, she didn't say it like that. She was very nice, but she really didn't know who I was until I brought up this blog. Jane knew who I was (Hi Jane!), but we have actually exchanged emails before so maybe that's why *shrug*. So there I sit...2 friends...well 3, if you count Roni...

Pathetic.

Wanna be my friend?

Yikes!

2008-09-12T13:19:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you something...Last night was something else altogether with Kevin. I've never seen such a display from the boy. We actually were discussing taking him to the ER due to his inconsolable crying/screaming. It was so bad that I didn't even bring out the video recorder...

First off, he refused to nap yesterday and was way over tired. On top of that, he didn't eat much all day (probably because he was over tired). The combination of these two things caused a meltdown of epic porportions. At the time that it was happening, we weren't sure if that was the issue or if he was having severe belly pain because he kept pulling his legs up while screaming and screaming and screaming. We're both nurses and were starting to wonder if he had an impaction, or something. I'm telling you that it was nonstop for about an hour and we were getting really worried...especially when even the Wiggles didn't help!

Roni finally said that maybe he was mistaking hunger for pain and needed to eat. That was a good thought, but how was I going to get food in him while he was like this? He wouldn't eat. I finally decided that I would take him upstairs, away from the stimulation, with a bottle. I was praying this would work because, if it didn't, we'd be headed to the hospital. When we got upstairs, he continued his crying/screaming for about five minutes while I held him. Then he picked up his bottle and handed it to me. I held him and fed it to him. I have never seen him take a bottle so fast. As soon as he was done, he sat up and said, " What's that?" while looking out the window. He was a completely different kid and I was extremely relieved. I knew then that he was OK. Now that he was energized, he didn't want to go to bed so I took him back downstairs to play or awhile. After another half hour, or so, he took his bath and went to bed with no problem.

Today he woke up on a fabulous mood. I will never allow that combination of events to happen again. Believe it.

Remembering

2008-09-11T22:02:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here watching "102 Minutes That Changed America" on the History Channel. It is still unbelievable the events that happened 7 years ago today.

Sad. So very sad. I am at a loss for words to express the feelings this brings out in me.

I'm sure you understand.

I'll never forget what I was doing the very moment I heard about the World Trade Center Towers...I was in the basement of the building I work in. There are no windows, radio, etc., down there and you are completely cut off from anything going on outside. or even upstairs for that matter. I was in the process of implementing the Weekend Program at work and I had a chart in front of me of employees who were switching to the program and employees I was calling to ask if they wanted to go Monday-Friday. I was working on the schedule to be implemented in a couple of weeks. A guy who worked there at the time had his office down there and came down and said to me, in a not-so-convincing manner, that 2 planes had hit the Towers. I was barely paying attention to him and kinda chuckled because I thought he was playing around. A few minutes later, my boss's boss came down and told me the same thing in a much more believable tone of voice and I was like, "Wait. What?!"

Those moments very clearly stand out in my memory like it was yesterday.

Do you have a memory to share?

God bless all the innocent people who died and their families & friends who have suffered so deeply.

Yo Dawg, I'm not afraid of you!

2008-09-10T15:40:00.003-04:00

Check it. Notice the big can of spider killer? Now, notice the spider that is hanging by its web from the spider killer? I have it circled in red.

Uh-huh. I believe it is flippin' me off....

W.T.F?!

2008-09-09T20:30:00.003-04:00

Why, oh why, is the boy giving me a hard time about going to bed recently? I had to find the humor in his temper tantrum to keep my sanity tonight so, what did I do? I video taped it for the blog and for posterity. *wink* Sorry it's so dark, but I wasn't crazy enough to turn the light on.

He actually was much worse than this before I grabbed the Flip to record it. He was screaming his bloody little head off and his hair was flying around while he was jumping up and down with all his might. While it was so frustrating that I felt like I was ready to call Super Nanny, it was also hysterical to watch.

I did wind up picking him up and holding him for about a half hour after I turned the camera off. That may have been the wrong thing to do....I guess I'll find out tomorrow...

My two babies

2008-09-05T20:17:00.002-04:00

Kevin, just before his bath, was watching the Wiggles (big surprise there, huh?) and singing along with the video. What he is saying is, "Quack, quack, quack" (If you don't watch the Wiggles, you wouldn't understand, but you can hear the song in the background...). He is also showing how much he loves our ever-so-patient Pug, Cassie.

Mama knows best

2008-09-05T15:02:00.004-04:00

Why do kids never, ever get that? From toddlerhood to teenville, they think we don't know WTH we're talking about.

So I tried to put Kevin down for a nap today when it was sooo obvious he was tired and needed one, but noooo. He don't need no stinkin' nap. So now I decided to take him to the park up the street because I knew I'd be in for a whiny afternoon and it would be a looong day at the homestead.

We were there all of ten minutes...

He started out happy enough...

but then the swinging motion did him in, me thinks....

Needless to say, he's napping now. I hate to say "I told you so"....naw, that's a lie, I love to say, "I told you so". It's one of my very favorite phrases, actually. One he'll get to hear many, many times for the rest of his life if he doesn't wise up and listen to his mama. I hope he learns quick for his own sake. Yeah, I know he's just a toddler, but experience with the Katie tells me that I sure hope he catches on fast! LOL!

Trying to give up control

2008-09-02T21:38:00.004-04:00

I admit that I've been reluctant to allow Kevin to feed himself anything other than finger foods. I hate the mess, but lately he's been wanting to do it more and more himself. I know that's a good thing. Bully for him and all that. The problem is that if he's not truly starving, he will just play with his food and, by then, it's too late for me to jump in because he gets all indignant and gets pissed if I try to feed him. Well, tonight, he was starving and I knew it by the way he was whining. I decided to let him have at it, even though there was sauce involved and there was gonna be a mess. He ate a ton and I never lifted a finger to help him:

Ironically tonight, for the first time in for-freakin'-ever, he wanted me to hold him and rock him while I gave him a bottle. I was so surprised. I just kept thinking, "This may be the very last time he asks me to do this....ever."

That hadda hurt!

2008-08-28T21:26:00.004-04:00

Kevin's pretty tough when he falls/hurts himself. The only time he cries is if he's really hurt or he's tired. When the crying started this evening after hearing the crash in the next room, it caught our attention in a hurry. He came walking out of the room crying his little heart out and blood coming from his mouth. He split his lip pretty good and it swelled up fast. Hugs from Noni and Mommy (and having a Popsicle) helped.

One year ago this week our lives changed forever

2008-08-27T19:59:00.002-04:00

I am writing this now because I was at work on the 24th....

On Sunday it was exactly one year since the day Kevin was put in our arms forever.

I'll never forget Shannon, my CW, calling me on a Tuesday night to tell me my PINK appointment was for the following Monday morning and that I had to be in Guatemala on Friday to pick up Kevin. OMG! Three days notice to book my flights, arrange child care for Katie, Pug care for Cassie, get the two big dogs boarded, pack, notify work, etc. It was an absolute whirlwind.

One year ago today was our Embassy appointment, and one year ago Friday we were all home, together, forever.

I've been watching the montages I made during the process and the memories are flooding back. I'm including the videos in case you'd like to go down memory lane with me...

Just click on the thumbnails if you'd like to view them.

Waiting for you...

Kevin 2-4 months old

8/24/07 (pick up trip)-12/07

A word to the wise...

2008-08-26T21:43:00.002-04:00

When consuming an individually wrapped snack item, such as a snack cake, completely remove said item from the wrapper rather than peeling the wrapper back because, God forbid, you might get your finders messy, and scarfing down half the item while perusing the Internet.

Because.

Trust no one.

It truly is not a pleasant feeling to look at the second half of said item after the remainder of the wrapper is removed and see a white colored, raised substance on your food which you're pretty damned sure is not supposed to be there.

Trust me on this.

If you're a WDW freak, like me, you'll understand..

2008-08-20T21:20:00.002-04:00

I've been reading as much as I can find about Universal for our trip in November because, well, I'm a planner. The message boards that I read are mostly Disney boards, but they do address Universal Parks, also, albeit to a much lesser degree. I'm reading and reading and, inevitably, wander over to my first love...the Disney boards. I'm reading the Disney boards because I'm already trying to plan my 2009 trip. I always have my next trip being planned in my mind.

It's a sickness. I know.

So....as I'm reading, I'm thinking, "While I'm right down the street I'll pop over to the Magic Kingdom with Kevin for one night. After all, it'll be free because I'll use my Disney Rewards card." See how I justify? That was my plan and then I kept reading how it'll only take a maximum of 2 days to do Universal. Today I said to Roni, "What do you think about doing Disney one day while we're down there?" She was for it, so off to the message boards I headed again to plan what we were going to do.

This is where the angels started singing.

I find out that the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) starts the week we are there!!!!!!

I need to pause here for a moment to gather myself and wipe the tear of joy from my eye.

Let me just say that, to me, there is absolutely nothing better than being at WDW while the Christmas decorations are up. They are absolutely beautiful. The atmosphere is amazing. It is magical.

Needless to say, I went online and bought our tickets for that party. I thought I was excited about this trip before. Now I'm over the moon.

Multitasking

2008-08-13T21:08:00.001-04:00

Every time he sits on the potty, he wants to brush his teeth...

"Whassat"? (What's that?)

2008-08-09T19:22:00.003-04:00

Kevin's reaction to my new Flip Mino...

I TOTALLY get no respect!

2008-08-08T20:21:00.003-04:00

I was napping this morning. Originally she laid across my face, but was kind enough to move so I could, you know, breathe.

Well, I guess it's time for pull-ups

2008-08-04T19:27:00.002-04:00

Kevin has started casually potty training. I say "casually" because, I don't know if you remember a while back when he peed on the potty quite accidentally, or not, but I've been putting him on the potty in a totally non-pressured kind of way for awhile now. At first he cried because he was afraid he'd fall in. Then he got used to sitting there, but didn't know why he was there so he'd just kinda hang out (no pun intended). Then he got into this phase where, God forbid, I'd go in the BR myself so I'd say, "Mommy has to go potty" and he'd go in with me. At that point I'd ask him if he had to go potty and put him on it. Last week I asked him if he had to go potty and he smiled so big and ran into the bathroom, grabbed his potty seat and tried to put it on the commode himself. It was so cute to watch the light bulb go on. I put him on and he peed right away. Of course, I made a big scene of praise for him, although I didn't expect too much after that, but he did that 3 more times that day! He's just 18 months so I don't know if this will stick, so I'm taking a very casual approach, but I think I'm going to buy him pull-ups tomorrow for during the day and see what happens...

What happens when he hasn't had enough of a nap:

2008-08-01T18:46:00.003-04:00

He's all boy

2008-07-29T22:44:00.004-04:00

Multiple times a day, Kevin just about gives me a heart attack while he's "dancing" to the Wiggles on the couch. Notice his pitch forward early in the video. He has also made a complete mess of our curtains by tearing them open to watch the cars go by.

Funny story:

Roni collect dolls. The expensive kind. I don't get it, but whatever. Anyway, one day she was shopping in Big Lots and saw a cheap doll with cute clothes on. She wanted the clothes for one of her collectibles so she bought the doll. After she took the clothes off of it to use on her doll, she figured she'd offer the doll to Kevin as a new toy. He looked at it, shook his head no and said, "uh-uh". This is not the first time he was offered a "girls" toy to play with. Each time he wanted nothing to do with them. Cracks me up every time!

Maaa! put the camera away!

2008-07-24T15:28:00.001-04:00

Blogging from my iPhone!

2008-07-21T20:40:00.003-04:00

This is waaay too cool!

I'm just learning the different ways to play with this phone, but so far I'm loving it!

Roni's got phone envy. I think she'll be ordering one soon enough.

C'mon...could he be any cuter?

2008-07-17T20:56:00.003-04:00

Kevin has a way of whispering his words, so turn your volume up if you want to hear him...

I wish I'd remember to carry my camera around...

2008-07-15T19:54:00.003-04:00

...so I don't have to take crappy pics with my phone!

Kevin has finally decided he likes to wear his hat. I think little boys in baseball hats are adorable!

WOW!

2008-07-11T13:32:00.003-04:00

The boy went to sleep at 6 last night and didn't wake up until almost 8:30 this morning! I was starting to get a little worried there for a minute. Looks like he had a rough night. Check the hair:

In other news...I didn't get my iPhone 3G today (insert boo-boo face here). They sold out 2 people in front of me in line. I decided to direct order it and was told about a week. Sigh.

Hopefully, tomorrow is the day

2008-07-10T21:11:00.003-04:00

Unbeknownst to you, I've shown remarkable restraint not babbling on and on (as I did re: hockey) to you regarding my plans tomorrow.

Tomorrow, barring any complications, I'm gettin' me one of these babies:

I can't wait to play with it!

Well, this kinda sucks

2008-07-08T19:35:00.003-04:00

Kevin's been a bit messed up on his sleep habits lately. He's currently trying to transition himself to one nap a day. That would be fine if he wasn't so cranky for the last couple hours before bed...which is about 6PM.

But, anyway...

This morning he went for his nap and only slept for about an hour because he had pooped. Normally I can go up and change him and he'll go back to sleep, but not today. So I got him up and we went grocery shopping. He seemed wide awake so imagine my surprise when I opened the van and saw this:

I must've stood there staring at him for 5 minutes waiting for him to sense me there and wake up, but no go. So I figured that I'd unbuckle him and he'd wake up by the time I pulled his arms out of the harness because he always does. Nope. I picked him up knowing that he'd wake up now. Nope. He laid his head on my shoulder and slept on. Now I'm standing in the parking lot overcome with love, but wondering WTH I was going to do now.

I peered into my van looking for an answer to my dilemma and saw his old Snugli laying between the back seats. I maneuvered myself into the van, still holding him while he slept on, and grabbed it. I laid it in the seat of the cart (or buggy if you're from the south) and voila!:

He woke up in the store, but was content to stay laying there the whole time because he was just so tired.

The longest day of my life

2008-07-04T20:10:00.002-04:00

Guess what time the boy got up this morning. Go ahead. Guess.

3:45AM. Yes. Uh-huh. You read that right. Ponder that for a moment. Enough to make you wanna puke, huh?

I must admit that I was not very mature about it. Momma needs her sleep and when you're screwing around on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday; I can be a bear.

Roni had heard him crying (She was still up. Don't ask.) while I was sleeping blissfully unaware on the chair in the living room. There is a reason I sleep on a chair in the living room, y'all. Roni, being conscientious, went to check on him when he wouldn't quiet back down on his own and found him, and his sheet, wet. He uses Huggies Overnights which, if put on him correctly, do not leak. Apparently I left a frickin' gap. Rest assured that I all but duct taped them on him tonight.

The extent of my immaturity when I saw her carry him downstairs began with, "What the fuck?!" and continued with general bitchiness toward her for a good 15 minutes. Luckily, we get pissed at each other, but don't grudge hold or my day could have been even longer.

I fed him breakfast at 4AM, for the love of God. He went for his first nap of the day at 6AM...the time he normally gets up. He woke back up after 2.5 hours and proceeded to whine incessantly through the morning. I tried to put him back down for a nap after and hour figuring he was all messed up and was obviously still tired, but that was a no go.

Loud crying ensued...and he also cried and screamed.

Back downstairs we went. More whining from both of us. He took a snack through the whining. He watched the Wiggles through the whining. At 11:30 I gave him lunch. He scarfed it down without whining. Finally. Lunch was finished and the whining recommenced. 12 noon and I was all done in. I threw a Hail Mary pass to the crib and he went peacefully to sleep for over 3 hours. A beautiful thing. Beautiful thing, I tell ya.

Thank the Lord, he was much more himself after that nap...although his day was practically over by now.

I did learn a couple of lessons through all this:

1) Make sure the diaper has no frickin' gaps.
2) Buy Roni earplugs.

I hope you've had a great holiday!

2 years ago today

2008-07-03T19:55:00.002-04:00

I can hardly believe it's been 2 years exactly since the day I submitted my I600A and officially started the process to find my baby. Two years. I just can't get over it.

Quit worrying about me!

2008-06-26T20:48:00.001-04:00

I'm FINE, Mommy!

Just some pics

2008-06-19T16:01:00.003-04:00

141 days...

2008-06-18T22:57:00.002-04:00

Guess where we're going!

Wrong.

Not Disney this time around. We're going to give Universal a try and we're staying at The Hard Rock Hotel.

Katie is pumped for this trip. This one is partly for her because she's getting older and who knows if she'll go with us next year. She wants to bring a friend. I've reserved 2 connecting rooms so space isn't an issue. The second room is actually so I can put Kevin to bed at night without having huge issues in the room with the rest of us. When I'm ready for bed, I'll slip into the room with him. The issue I have with her bringing a friend is that the cost of food is out of this world and the kid would have to bring enough money to pay for her own eats and souvenirs. I've got her ticket covered already. Katie says, "She likes sandwiches." Yeah, the kid can eat a sandwich while we eat at a restaurant. *rolls eyes* If we were doing Disney I'd have my Rewards Card that I use to offset the cost of our food, but not at Universal. I've never had to budget for food before, but I know how much it costs at these places. We're way over our Disney budget already and I just can't afford another person...

I also don't know if I can handle another teen with Katie. I know Katie pushes the envelope when other people are around and I don't want to get pissed on this vacation. This one will be much more relaxing than doing Disney and we just want to chill out. Besides, I'd be the odd person out when going on rides with them because Roni doesn't do thrill rides. The last reason is that Katie and I tend to bond on vacation and having another kid there would ruin that.

Sigh.

I used the wrong pic apparently

2008-06-12T19:52:00.004-04:00

I should've used a better picture of Kevin when I entered him in the cutest baby contest. We all know he's adorable, but he's getting low scores and now I'm aggravated with myself...I should have used one of these, maybe.

If you'd like to vote for him, please go to photo contest and enter #50793 to vote on his picture. I'm aghast that there's actually people giving him a one...although I'm betting it was to bring his score down to make theirs higher. He had been in the top ten. Bitches.

It was a good run

2008-06-11T19:55:00.002-04:00

You can take a breath of relief. The Pens lost last night and the Calder Cup run is over...you no longer have to see postings about hockey for quite a while now. Sigh.

Have you ever done something so stupid...

2008-06-10T18:39:00.010-04:00

...that you wonder how the Powers That Be allow you to continue to exist?

I hate when I do something incredibly stupid. I pride myself on my intelligence, foresight, and planning.

Today I did something that has left me playing the scenario over and over again in my head. I'll start you off with a picture of the outcome of my ineptitude:

That, my friends, is a picture of the driver's side door of my van after I fixed it enough to shut the door. It was worse.

I guess I should count myself lucky that that is all that was damaged and not, you know, me getting crushed under the car, or, even worse, Kevin getting hurt, or even my freakin' house blowing up and leaving all of us singing with the angels.

Let me set the stage...

As usual on Tuesdays, Kevin and I went to get groceries. I decided to pick up take-out on the way home for dinner. As I pulled in my driveway, instead of parking at the end of it to unload my groceries, I had forgotten I had them and pulled all the way in the back. I remembered before we got out of the van so I pulled back out, turned the van around in the street and pulled in at the end of my driveway. I had already turned the AC off when I was parking in the back and, since it was hot as all get-out today and Kevin was still strapped in his car seat, I reached over and turned it back on. I then climbed out of the van and started walking behind it to unload the food when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the van was moving. I had not put it in park! Now, there isn't even comfortable walking space between a car and the house when a car is parked in the driveway in a normal situation and this was not a normal situation.

In my usual eloquent manner, I thought to myself, #1 "My baby!" and then "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" as I was running along side the van while trying to open the door. The car was veering toward my house as I grabbed the handle and ripped the door open. Just as I opened the door and squeezed my body on the inside of the door, the door hit the gas meter and squished me between the door and the van. On it kept veering as I hear a loud scraping/crunching sound. On went my mantra of "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" while I'm thinking, "I gotta stop this before it hits the house". I got one leg in the van and half an ass on the seat and slammed on the brakes and threw it in park. The van was literally inches from my house. The Hostas have an interesting new shape to them. If the storm we are having at the moment doesn't wipe away the evidence, I'll try to get a pic of the trail of destruction so you can see how close to the house I was...

I do have to be grateful that something made me decide to turn the van around facing away from the road or the van would have rolled right into traffic with Kevin inside and me running beside it. God only knows how that would have turned out.

I would never have been able to live with myself if I was the cause of something happening to him. No way.

ETA: Here are some pics of the poor Hostas. Keep in mind for the last picture that that was where my tire stopped. The front of my van was damn near touching my house.

I'm so sorry to keep you waiting..

2008-06-09T18:48:00.002-04:00

Yes, the Pens did win Saturday night 5-1. It is now 3 games to 2. They head back to Chicago to play the final 2 games away. Next game is Tuesday night. If we win that, the final game is Thursday night. They're still shooting for that miracle. I'll let you know how it turns out...like it, or not. ;)

They sure know how to keep my hopes up this year...

They can put the brooms away!

2008-06-06T22:02:00.001-04:00

The Pens will not be swept. They won tonight. Game 5 is tomorrow night...

I know you care. Just admit it.

It's a sad day for PENS fans...

2008-06-05T20:14:00.005-04:00

Both the big Penguins and the little Penguins. The big Pens lost the Stanley Cup last night. The little Pens are one game from being swept out of the Calder Cup.

I know that none of you are hockey fans...except, maybe, Michelle (if you're reading this). Please bear with me through this tribute to my team.

As bummed as I am about the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins getting their butts whipped playing for the Calder Cup, I have to be proud of them also. This team wasn't "supposed" to go anywhere this year. They had a dismal start to the season. They fought tooth and nail through the season just to make the playoffs and, in the end, won the division. It really was amazing.

Then the playoffs started.

They weren't supposed to win the 1st round. They did.

They weren't supposed to win the 2nd round. They did.

They weren't supposed to win the 3rd round. They did.

They are the Conference Champions. That is amazing considering the what they went through to get there. I'm proud of them for that.

They are now playing for the Calder Cup (the Stanley Cup equivalent in the AHL).

They lost the first two away games and came home to play last night. The coach put in Bonvie to play for the first time in for-freakin'-ever. Bonvie is retiring after this year. He is a beloved player. His role is as an enforcer...AKA: the tough guy on the team who'll whip yo' ass if you take a cheap shot at one of his teammates. He's fought many fights and has won most of them. The other team tends to think twice about taking cheap shots when he's on the ice. Off the ice, he's sweet and kind.

When they announced the scratches last night (the players that would be sitting out), they didn't announce Bonvie's name. You could hear the ripple through the crowd. "Dennis is playing!" It was awesome. It would be the last time I'd get to see him play in person because I can't be at Friday's game. When his line skated out, the crowd went nuts for him.

Unfortunately, although the team came out strong and took the early lead, they wound up getting their butts kicked and they looked shell-shocked.

Friday is the next game. They are down 3 games to none in a 7 game series. One more loss and the season is over. Coming back from being down by 3 games and winning the Calder Cup has never been done. Ever. It's not impossible, per se, but highly improbable. I'd imagine the wind is out of their sails.

I'll root for them until the end. I'll be back rooting for them next year.

They should hold their heads up high. They have nothing to be ashamed of.

The Penguins still ROCK in my book.

Farewell Dennis. You'll be missed....

Something I never thought I'd blog about...

2008-05-29T17:00:00.002-04:00

...or think was adorable.

Nose blowing is something I feel should be done, at the very least, with your back turned, if possible. Preferably even away from other people and never, ever at a dining table. There's not much more disgusting to me than to be sitting in a restaurant and to innocently look around to have the bad luck to see someone blowing his nose while sitting at a table while dining. Blech.

And, good grief, please don't do it while you're having a face-to-face conversation with me.

I have issues with mucous. Yes, I'm a nurse, but still.

But, I digress.

I have a cold again and I have given it to Kevin. The boy has seen a lot of blowing of the nose over time. He has imitated it, sans tissue (just makes the noise-nothing comes out, thank goodness), for a little while now. Today when he woke up with the cold, I thought I'd see if he's do it for real. In an actual tissue. He did! It was so cute. My little boy, at 16 months, knows how to blow his nose.

I never thought that would make me feel proud....

His first bike (trike)

2008-05-28T20:02:00.004-04:00

Gramma bought Kevin his first tricycle. (I better run out and buy his first 2 wheeler quick before she beats me to it, too.) It's too big for him to reach the pedals and he doesn't look thrilled in these pics because he wanted to go for a "walk" instead.

When I removed his whiny butt from the trike, he went and got this from the porch. Now he's happy...