From Vet's Assistant to Master's Fellow & Family Update

My very good friend SW is leaving me. She's moving far away to a suburb of Albany, NY to work in a laboratory after being accepted into a Master's degree post-graduate Fellowship. (I think I've got that right - I struggled with the wording of that one sentence for nearly five minutes!) I will admit that, even though I'm excited for the opportunity she's pursuing, I'm feeling slightly abandoned. This is not her fault, and I know that she's thrilled at this new chapter in her life, and I'm happy for her, but I sure am going to miss her. She's been one of the constants in my life for nearly five years now! It's hard to let go of her and say, "Well...see ya 'round sometime!" even though I know that she'll come back to visit occasionally. Not only do I love her dearly, my family loves her, too; I hope she knows that. SW - I will miss you. Please do everything you can to stay in touch, and let me know where you are when you get there so I can write you often, or visit, if I happen to be in the frozen tundra that is Upstate NY. ****************************** Kiddo and Little Bit are doing fine. They're still having some small power struggles - what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine, too...though you can play with it occasionally unless I scream my bloody head off first and make a big deal out of nothing. Kiddo seems to be getting into quite a bit of unnecessary trouble over these struggles. I know that what they're doing is completely normal, and we're doing our best to help them both understand how things need to work, but sometimes, no matter how reasonable we are, we remember that you cannot reason with an 18 month old at all, and it is very difficult to reason with a 4 year old. Sharing is hard for them, especially Kiddo. The biggest thing right now is his manipulation of her to get what he wants. For example, the other day, we were all sitting in the living room watching Max & Ruby (ugh...) and neither of them were playing with anything at all. But then, Little Bit noticed Kiddo's doodle board and decided she wanted to draw. The second (I mean this literally) she put her hands on it with interest, Kiddo decided he wanted to draw, too, and started to take it away from her. This lead to not only a screaming match ("Mine!" vs "Mine!") it lead to a tug-of-war as well. I tried to calmly intervene by explaining to Kiddo that he should let her use it because he didn't even know it was there until she picked it up - but this just served to make him scream louder. Eventually he wound up in his room, screaming his fool head off with instructions not to come out until he could be calm and listen to Mommy. A similar situation arose a day later when Kiddo decided to help me fold laundry. I usually let him help with this, even though I have to go back later and re-fold everything because it's mostly just in a wadded-up pile of fabric. Anyway - Kiddo was "folding" one of Little Bit's shirts, and she came along, recognizing that it was hers, and took it off the chair where Kiddo had carefully placed it. I believe she was going to toddle it into her room, but he snatched it away from her before she got the chance. This led to another screaming/tugging match which landed both of them in their rooms for a period of time. She quit screaming first, so she was allowed out and that made Kiddo even angrier. He also does the, "Here [Little Bit]...don't you want to play with this?" Meaning that he wants whatever she's got at the moment and he's trying to get it by giving her something else to play with. This ploy rarely works, because then she wants both the things he's given her and...of course...screaming ensues. It's a vicious cycle, and I know it will end, but it sure is exhausting. It doesn't help that Little Bit is cutting some pretty serious teeth right now - so I'm sure that has something to do with the automatic "crazy" reactions. Anyway - other than these...disturbances...we're all doing well. We're still on the hunt for a mini-van, and Hubby is supposed to be going to look at and drive one tonight (along with Our Favorite Mechanic) so we'll see. I'm engrossed in a completely wonderful new vampire series and, though I'm still being somewhat domestic, my enthusiasm has lessened a bit with the want (no...strike that...need) to fly through these books. There are four and I'm already almost 1/2-way through the 3rd one! Who knew I could read so fast? Work is still good...though I'm having trouble concentrating because my books are like a siren call to me all day long. Hmmm...maybe I should leave them at home to avoid the temptation? TTFN JMS

Nursery School, Pizza & Umbrellas

Today is Little Bit's first day of Nursery School! I can't believe it - our little baby is growing up so fast. No, it does not make me want to have another one, but my arms do sometimes ache (along with other parts of my body that shall remain nameless) to hold my little baby. Babies, if you include Kiddo. He was so tiny when he was born (4lbs 6.8 oz) and now he's 4 1/2 and the smartest thing on two legs. (Well, maybe not really, but I think he's a genius!) Hubby got a little emotional today when he dropped them off at school; I don't blame him, I would have, too. It's a perfectly normal and somewhat expected emotion to feel sad or nostalgic when you bring you kids to their first day of school! Last night, Hubby ordered pizza. Neither of us felt like cooking. Either that, or neither of us was inspired to cook anything with what we had in our fridge - you know, one of those "create-a-meal" things that your mother (well, my Mother-in-Law, anyway) could always throw together using a can of beans and a 2 year old box of cornbread! Suddenly there was a sumptuous meal in front of you. Neither Hubby nor I have that ability. Well, Hubby does more than I do - he's the cook in the family. I can cook when I have to, but I've been known to burn water. My meals always seem to turn out OK now, but there was a time... Ah, I guess that's a story for another post. So pizza arrives and I have Little Bit sitting on my lap. As Hubby turns to bring the pizza into the kitchen, Little Bit gasps, gives an excited squeal, and exclaims happily, "Pissa! Pissa, Daddy! Pissa!" Hubby and I both smiled and looked at her quizzically, because neither of us knew that she knew what pizza was, really, not to mention that she could say it...sort of. It was one of those moments when you realize that your child knows more than you give him or her credit for. Then, this morning Hubby (I'm relaying this second hand...I got it via a phone call from Hubby) and Kiddo were looking for the umbrella ('cause it's finally raining!) and they asked Little Bit if she knew where the umbrella was. She said, "Brella!" and went off looking. A couple minutes later Hubby said he heard a "CRASH!" and then a dragging sound and here comes Little Bit with the big golf umbrella (larger than she is) trailing along behind her. He tells her, "Oh! You found it!" and she says, "Brella! I found it!" Yup - my kids are smart cookies. Can't put anything past them. Would you call me a proud parent? TTFN JMS

Shoulda been an engineer!

I just walked into the cafeteria at work to get something to eat...and the chef asked me if how I was going to pay. I told him I was going to give him my Debit card...as usual. He said that was fine, but he'd have to write it down and give me a receipt later, because he couldn't get the paper into the credit card machine. I asked him if I could look at it and he said that was fine, except everyone at table 5 had already tried. (The tables aren't really numbered, he just said that to be funny - and I think it was a "Wedding Singer" reference.) I told him I was the only one at the shop I used to work in that could ever get the paper in the credit card machine so that it would work properly. After looking at it for a couple of minutes, I realized that there was no place to "thread" the paper and started examining the machine a bit further. The roller and wheels were on the top of the cover that closes over the paper. I pulled a length of paper out, closed the cover and pressed the button to advance the paper a bit. It worked. I asked him to please reprint a receipt so we could make sure it was working. He pushed a few buttons and "ZIP!" it worked like a charm. He hollered, "We got it!" and the applause was lovely! He commented, "How many college degrees does it take to fix a credit card machine?" I said, "I don't know, I don't have one." and he looked at me funny...I'm not sure what the look meant. Anyway - I got a free breakfast out of the deal! It was kind of fun. I guess I'm smarter than I give myself credit for - or maybe just more logical and patient...I don't know. TTFN JMS

I am 1 in 100!

"Hey doc!" I say this morning at my visit. "My jaw is bugging me. It's painful and stiff and I'm constantly finding myself clenching my teeth...I'm getting headaches. I'm walking around trying to keep my mouth open and I look like I should be put in the nut-house! What's this all about?" (All true, except I didn't quite phrase it that way!) Doc: How long has this been going on? Me: Oh, I don't know - maybe 6 weeks or so. It's starting to drive me crazy! Doc: Um...(looks at me quizzically)...like about as long as you've been taking [new medication]? Me: Well...(wheels turning in my head)...yes. I'd never considered them related. Could they be? Doc: I've never heard of that being a side effect to [new medication], but let's look, shall we? Doc busies herself at the computer while I sit, slack-jawed; her captive audience. Doc: Well, sweetie. It looks like you are special! Me: What do you mean? Doc: It seems as if 1% of all persons taking [new medication] experience jaw stiffness and pain. 1%. ONE PERCENT! Leave it to me to be in that minority. Needless to say, she's changing my medication. Thought I'd share. TTFN JMS

Domestic Goddess...?

I was a Domestic Goddess last night; and it was a good night, too! When I got home, Kiddo, Little Bit and I spent about an hour watching Noggin ("It's like pre-school on TV!"). Little Bit mostly sat in my lap and let me play with her hair, though she got down and danced several times. Kiddo sat in his little rocking chair and answered all the questions like the smart boy that he is. Kiddo is also learning to spell and understand how words work. I spelled two words for him last night - B-A-T-H and B-O-T-T-L-E (so Little Bit wouldn't understand and get too excited) and he understood exactly what I said. I quizzed him later and he knew! He's such a smart kid and I'm constantly amazed by him. He can even write his own name now! Anyway - I made dinner (BBQ pork chops, green beans, apple sauce, French bread), got both kids settled into their chairs and they both ate really well. I also put a soda in the freezer for Hubby and wrapped up his portion of dinner (he was at work) and stuck it in the still-warm oven so it would be hot when he got home. While the kids were eating, I did dishes and laundry. When they finished eating, we watched Dora (a nightly ritual) and then both kids got a bath. It was a relatively dry affair for which I was very grateful (because I didn't get soaked) and everybody got washed and dried and in their jammies without incident. Teeth brushed. Hair dried. In bed without any arguments...it was lovely! Both kids fell asleep almost immediately because I didn't hear a sound from either of them until about 6:30 this morning! One small issue happened when I was in the kitchen making dinner. Kiddo kept telling me he was very hungry and I kept repeating that dinner would be ready shortly and he would have to wait just a few more minutes. Apparently this wasn't good enough for him, because he went into the diaper bag and got out two packages of peanut butter crackers; one for him and one for Little Bit. I realized it was a bit too quiet in the living room and went to check on them and there they were, both silently munching on crackers! I asked Kiddo where he got them and he told me, "In the diaper bag, Mom! We were hungry and couldn't wait until dinner!" Needless to say he got in a little bit of trouble over that because he didn't ask me first and, though it didn't seem to spoil anyone's appetite, he had to forgo watching Go Diego Go as punishment. This is why after Dora was over, everyone got a bath, instead! Well...it was a good night...no arguments, no screaming (on anyone's part) and I managed to accomplish a lot so I thought I'd share my accomplishments with you. I feel like I need a pat on the back! TTFN JMS

Birds on a Wire & Smacking Siblings

I pulled onto the street where my office is this morning to see about 1000 starlings (I'm about 95% sure that's what they were) hanging out on the power lines that run in front of the property. I'm not making that number up, although I did not take the time to count them head by head. When I got out of the car in the parking lot, I was greeted by the melodious sound (read scratchy, irritated bird voices) of these feathered creatures as they fought over the best spot to perch. Flitting here and there, trading places with one another, shoving each other off only to be unseated, themselves, about ten seconds later. Later, I went out to the patio to watch them for a few minutes; it's interesting to see how they behave in a large group like that. Even with all the jostling for their own place on the wire, they were evenly spaced apart from one another - like someone drew them there. If one got spooked or got an odd breeze on his feathers, he'd take off like a shot, which, of course, made all the rest of them think, "OH!!! I've got to follow him!" and then they'd all cloud the sky in a cacophony of wings. They must be migrating early. Our security guard, who was out watching them, too, thinks they are a bad sign - a sign of an early, long, hard, winter. We've had a relatively mild summer, all things considered, but I'm ready for cooler (even cold) weather. I just hope we can get a car that has heat so neither Hubby nor I need to suffer this winter. If we don't get one, I'll take over driving the Taurus again once the weather turns frigid. Well, I know this isn't the most interesting post, but I thought it was "blog-worthy" so here it is. Nothing really new happening on the home-front. I did manage to get a good portion of the kitchen done last night - though it still needs some help. Kiddo and Little Bit have started scrapping with one another - sibling rivalry a bit early, I do believe. Yesterday, Kiddo was in his fabulous rocking chair (the one Uncle M and Aunt M made for him back when he was less-than-knee-high) and Little Bit wanted to get in the chair. She stood in front of him and screamed at him, eventually working herself up to smacking Kiddo with all her 17-month-old strength. He retaliated by smacking her back, so she bit him! He's got the mark on his arm to prove it! Hubby tells me that this morning, Kiddo and Little Bit were hanging out together in her crib and they started smacking at one another then! Kiddo got in trouble for this because, though he says she started it, Hubby asked him, "Who is older?" Kiddo responded appropriately and then Hubby said, "If you're older, bud, don't you think it's up to you to help her understand that you can't hit!?" Things were fine after that and they all sat down to breakfast. I guess, now that I've rambled on about nothing for what seems like forever - I'll sign off. Hope everyone has a fabulous day! TTFN JMS

Cleaning, Dinner with Friends & Loving My Kids

I spent yesterday morning at home cleaning instead of going to church. I felt that the house was beginning to get out of control again and if I didn't take the time to get it under control, it would get out of hand really quickly. I got the living room completely picked up and the dining area mostly done. The laundry was an ongoing process - as always. The bathroom got a quick once-over and I spent a few minutes on Little Bit's room. The kitchen has not been touched yet, but it will be. It will receive a good scouring again this evening when I get home from work. Well...maybe after the kids go to bed - less distraction. Anyway - we had a lovely early dinner at our friend C&S's house. We hadn't seen them in a very long time and I forgot how much I miss having them as neighbors. They live next door to where we lived before we moved last October. (Can you believe it's been almost a year since we bought our house?) The dinner was in honor of Hubby's birthday because they were out of town when we had the party. It was a wonderful dinner and a beautiful evening. We sat outside on their new deck, watched the hummingbirds flit in and out of the trees, and watched the kids play on the porch. At home later, we watched a Go Diego Go movie and then the kids headed off to bed. Little Bit had some trouble settling down so I picked her up and rocked her for about 20 minutes. I sang every soft, soothing song I know - and she sang right along with me. She doesn't have all the words down, but she sure has the tunes! I can almost always tell when she's finally starting to get sleepy because she stops singing the whole song with me and will only occasionally throw in a word or two. If I stop singing and she's still awake, she starts singing to encourage me onward or she says, "Again!" She fell asleep last night tucked in my arms and I spent some time just rocking her and watching her sleep. I cannot believe this is my little baby! She's so big and so active and so smart. She's smart like her big brother. Both my kids are amazing and I just adore them. Hubby is still trying to convince me to have another one, but I really don't want any more. I'm so happy with the two I have and I cannot imagine adding another one to the brood. Not only that, but I am just not a happy pregnant person and I really don't want to go through the process of growing another child again! Is that selfish of me? I love my kids so much it hurts. Well...that was an interesting post. I think I'll stop now before I get really sentimental and start crying. TTFN JMS

The beauty I see every day

You've heard me say before how beautiful my drive to work is every morning. I thought I'd take a minute to actually share a couple of photos of it. These were taken last Friday (August 8th). I drove by and saw this and then thought, "Hmmm...I should really get a picture of that someday. Oh, wait! I've got my camera with me! I'm going to turn around right now and get a couple shots!" Since I was well within my time limit of getting to work before my day started, I did a quick U-Turn (a legal one) and went back to see what I could see. There was my heron. The beautiful heron that I love to see. And a lovely sunrise. The lake was perfectly calm and reflective. I couldn't resist getting these and I'm very glad I did. I love where I live. Isn't it beautiful? TTFN JMS

Hubby's Birthday Dinner

Last night, Hubby and I were able to get a friend to watch the kids for a couple of hours - so he begged off from Choir Practice (with the Director's permission...and blessing...) and we went to dinner, just the two of us. Since it was his birthday dinner, he got to choose the restaurant and he picked Rafferty's - one of his favorite places. It was a lovely, quiet dinner. It's funny how we seem to not know what to talk about when the kids aren't around. At one point, I asked him, "So, what do we talk about?" We were both at a loss. We ate until we were both almost sick (which I was, later) and then drove through every single car lot between the restaurant and the sitter's house. We're in the market for either a Honda Oddessy or a Toyota Sienna (yes, we're attempting to become a mini-van family) and so this was a venture I was all for. We went into Gander Mountain and poked around for a few minutes, and bought the dog a bed so we could pick up the blankets she's been sleeping on and actually wash and use them for a change! Then we headed back over to the sitter's house to get the kids. They had played hard and were very obviously tired, though it was only 7:00PM. After we got home, the kids and I watched Dora the Explorer (Little Bit LOVES Dora - anything Dora is always good and puts her in a happy frame of mind. I think I might even need to decorate her room with Dora once Winnie-the-Pooh comes down.) and Go Diego Go and then ushered Little Bit off to bed. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't really feeling well and so I went to lay down for a few minutes before putting Kiddo to bed. Kiddo wanted to come up in the big bed with me so we snuggled for a few minutes and then we both fell asleep! It was right about 8PM! Sometime later I woke up and moved Kiddo back to his own room and then got back into bed and slept the entire rest of the night! I woke up this morning at 6:45 (LATE!!!) and still managed to get a full shower and be to work on time! It was a nice night, totally uneventful and devoid of stress! Hopefully all the sleep I got will help me be a productive human at work today! TTFN JMS

Birthdays and Meetings

Gosh...where to begin!? I will do my best not to make this one of my novellas...but I've been a busy human, and I've definitely got the sleepy-fuzzy head to prove it! First of all, I would like to say a very happy 40th birthday to my Hubby, whom I adore. He's a wonderful man, a fantastic father, an all around loving person and I couldn't be more lucky to have him in my life. I love you. Secondly, I was given 10 days to pull together a meeting for the 40+ person Leadership Team at work. This meant finding a hotel that could accommodate us not only in capacity, but in availability as I was given a set date for this event...August 12th. I called every hotel in the city and finally got a response from one which was centrally located but one which we have never used before. I spent an hour on the phone with the sales & catering office getting everything worked out, but it all came together nicely - even though it was last minute. They were very accommodating and I've heard good feedback about the location from the folks who attended the meeting - so we will be using them again! Anyway - on Monday this week, I came in to the office at 7:AM, worked my tail off (I don't think I breathed all day!) and left at 4PM. Hubby had things to do outside of the house that didn't include the kids, so I was at home with them while Hubby went out. I had not, however, finished all the things I needed to do for the next day and so when Hubby got home, I went back to work at 9PM. From 9PM to almost 11:30PM, I worked my butt off trying to organize everything for the Leadership meeting the next day and when I felt satisfied that I had everything in order, I went home and literally fell into bed. I had intended on taking a shower before I went to bed that night so I wouldn't have to do it in the morning, but I was so tired that I gave up on that idea even before I got home! So the Tuesday morning, I'm up at 5AM, showered, dressed and back at the office before 6AM so I could pack all the stuff I needed for the meeting into my car and be at the hotel by 6:30. As it happened, I didn't get to the hotel until about 6:45 and only had 45 minutes to set everything up before breakfast started at 7:30AM! I got in right under the wire! People started arriving, breakfast was fantastic, the staff at the hotel was awesome and extremely accommodating. We had some technical issues with the microphones and sound system, but other than that, I think it went very well. Lunch was great, all the snacks were perfect and the content of the meeting was interesting, even to me, who doesn't do what everyone else who was there does. (Did that make sense? It seems a little disjointed...) I worked until just before 5PM, went home, had the kiddos all night, put them to bed around 8PM, and then crashed heavily into bed myself at around 9PM. I slept all night, had some seriously disturbing dreams, and was up to do it all over again this morning. Gosh, I'm tired! TTFN JMS

Hubby's Party

I yanked 3 gray hairs out of my head this morning! I think it's stress. We managed to get our house clean and it looks beautiful! Now the challenge will be to keep it that way! GM came early and helped out some toward the end rush by Swiffering the floors and keeping an eye on the kids for us as Hubby and I ran around like the proverbial chicken without a head. The living room actually looks decent and put-together - not just a random assembling of furniture, it actually has a plan and a flow; a feat of which I am quite proud. The kitchen was organized and sparkling - I could almost see myself in the sink! The bathroom had a good scrubbing and I had hung three lovely hand-towels from the bar; even the toilet was disinfected and sparkly! I scrubbed the kitchen floor three times - of course, now that it has been trampled on by multiple sets of feet, it needs scrubbing again, but I don't care. The food was fantastic! We had hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers and a wonderful variety of side-dishes provided by all the attendees. Everything was SO good! Thank you to everyone who cooked. (EB, you'll need to give me the recipe for that broccoli casserole!) I need to say a special thank you to my friend SW who not only came early, but helped out afterward by bringing stuff in and cleaning up! I couldn't have done it without you! Hubby had a great time and he even had a visit from some special old friends whom he has not seen since our wedding! Though he was happy as could be with everyone who attended, I think he was especially pleased to see them because it has now been nearly 8 years since he last saw them! Hubby got kicked off the grill by MD and JB and was told to go socialize - a gift which he accepted without hesitation. Kiddo and Little Bit were absolutely wonderful - and neither of them had a nap! Kiddo had several of his little friends there so he was in heaven. Hubby put new play sand in the turtle sand box and so all the kids were crowded in sifting sand and moving earth with Kiddo's bulldozer and dump truck. When I put Little Bit to bed, she fell asleep almost immediately and we let Kiddo stay up until 9, but when he did get to bed, he was sound asleep inside of 5 minutes! SW stayed until 9ish - after we put Kiddo to bed - and then went on her way. She's getting ready to move to upstate NY so this may be the last time we all see her for a while. I'm going to miss her terribly; she's become a very, very good friend over the last 4 years. Anyway - we had a fantastic day! TTFN JMS

Lake, Work, Cake, Cleaning, 80's Fashion and Family Conversations

I drove by the lake this morning and it was so beautiful I had to turn around and take a picture. I haven't loaded the picture yet, but when I do, I'll post it here because it is worth sharing. I took a half-day at work today and left at 12:30PM so I could get some more work done in the house. Hubby met me at work, transferred the kids into my car, and went to pick up the two dining chairs that were back ordered, and then was headed to Sam's club to get supplies for his own party! I just ordered the cake. Hope those folks who are coming like chocolate on chocolate!!! I've managed to get both kids in bed and am praying that they actually sleep for a little while. That will give me an opportunity to get the kitchen finalized!!! I've made HUGE leaps of progress in there and can't wait to see it sparkle! Today was 80's day at work and it was really funny to see everyone dressed up in the horrible fashion that was that era. I made an effort to dress up, but really it was just hair and jewelry because I don't have any of my bad 80's clothes left! I wore all my mom's old silver and cloisonne bangle bracelets, my red-leather band watch, a lovely silver cuff bracelet my Father-in-Law gave me a few years ago, and put my hair up in a high-side pony-tail! It was awful! Thank goodness I don't have any pictures to prove it! Last night I had a wonderful conversation with AC about life and family and realized how much I didn't know about certain things. Our subjects jumped all over the place and it was nice to speak to someone who thinks similarly to the way I do. And, even though we kept running the conversation in circles, we always were able to follow one another! It's so great to finally be in touch with my family again! Anyway - I guess that's all for now. I'm going to go clean! Wish me luck! TTFN JMS

Still cleaning...and stewing

We're still working on getting the house cleaned up and in show-order for Hubby's birthday party on Saturday. It's been quite an undertaking, but we're making significant progress. I think the kitchen can be completed today, and I can start on our bedroom. Our bedroom is the last big project before I can feel comfortable having folks in our house. We're currently in the "clear-a-path-to-the-bed" stage of messiness and I expect I'll have several bags of trash as well as possibly several bags of clothes for Goodwill. Both Kiddo's and Little Bit's rooms are both in good shape and I'm VERY pleased with how well both kids have made an attempt at keeping them clean. Kiddo even tried to get Little Bit to put her books away yesterday. This was an effort in futility because, even though she knew exactly what was being asked of her, she was well into my style of ADD - going from one thing to another and not paying attention to the task at hand. I spent (get this) 2 hours last night cleaning off the table in the kitchen! Two hours! The hunt is still on for Hubby's checkbook which has been lost for months now and I was keeping a careful eye on what I touched, just in case it was the rogue item. I did a load of dishes, two loads of laundry and folded some things that had gotten piled back on my recently-cleared-off couch. We're hoping our friend DW can watch the kids tonight or tomorrow night for a couple of hours so Hubby and I can spend some serious time finalizing everything. Then we have to go shopping. I think, though, that we might leave the shopping for Saturday morning so that everything is fresh. As much work as this has been, I'm totally into it. I'm exhausted and feeling like I could sleep for a week, but I'm OK. There have been a couple of upsets on my side of the family that have put me into a funk, which is probably why I haven't written anything in the last couple of days. But stewing personal emotions aside, I'm doing well. We're all still hanging in there! TTFN JMS

Supermom! Yeah...right!

OK folks, say it with me - Exhausted. I am exhausted today. I am yawning like a champ and can hardly keep my eyes open. So far, no amount of coffee has helped enliven me - it has only assisted me in getting shaky and needing to pee every 20 minutes! I spent the better portion of yesterday cleaning my house - and I worked my tail off! If I didn't lose some weight yesterday, I'd be amazed! I did 2 loads of dishes (which had, shamefully, piled up in the sink until we could hardly run the water!), multiple loads of laundry, got down on my hands and knees with the handle to the Swiffer mop and dug out all the tiny socks, books and toys that had gotten stuck under the couch, I vacuumed, I cleaned the bathroom, I picked up Little Bit's room, I vacuumed some more, I dusted, I did some more laundry... I was everywhere! I was a whirlwind of...well...not efficiency because my ADD took over. For example: I'd be in the living room folding towels and then when I put the towels in the linen closet, I'd see something in the bathroom that needed cleaning and maybe a cup that needed to get brought to the kitchen, so I'd go to the kitchen with the intent of dropping off said cup and the returning to the bathroom, but I'd get started on a load of dishes and then, OH! I need to advance the laundry! And the cycle would start all over again! I was definitely a whirlwind, but of what sort, I have no clue. Oh - and I taught Sunday School at church yesterday morning before the cleaning bug bit me. I was still at it around 10PM when I finally gave up, hit the sack and tried to read, only to find that I couldn't stay awake! Making sure my alarm was properly set I fell asleep and slept all night long. Up again this morning. It's Monday. The start to another fun-filled week. Looking forward to Hubby's birthday party on Saturday. If you want to come, and you know how to get in touch with us, give me a call or send me an email and I'll give you all the details! :) Hmmm...I wonder if a Coca-cola would help!? TTFN JMS

Territorial Hummingbird

We have a large and lovely window in our living/dining room that looks out onto our backyard. Outside, right smack in the middle, we have hung a hummingbird feeder. After the tiny winged creatures finally realized the feeder was there, they have made good use of it and we enjoy watching the different types of little birds flit around and drink their fill of the sweet, red liquid. There is one little bird, however (I think it's a territorial male) who has claimed the entire feeder as his own. (Never mind the fact that there is space for four birds at a time; we've only ever seen two birds on the feeder together and frankly, I don't think they like each other very much.) He waits in the dogwood tree and just as soon as another of his kind makes an appearance at his feeder, he zooms out of the tree as fast as his tiny wings can carry him, ruby throat a-blazing, and chases the intruder away. Sometimes he'll come back for a quick sip before heading back to his perch in the dogwood, but mostly he just returns to his tree and settles in to wait and watch. It's really quite funny. I know where to look in that tree because Sir Ruby-Throated Hummingbird the Brave and Territorial sits in the same place every time; I've followed his progress to and from the dogwood multiple times and the route never varies. SM suggested I set up the video camera to catch it on tape, but those little suckers are so darn fast that I'm not sure I'd really be able to catch anything so that anyone looking would be able to tell what was happening! Anyway - I had to write this down before I forgot about it. I spent almost 30 minutes watching him today as I stood by the couch folding clean laundry, HGTV on in the background, kids snoozing quietly in their rooms. I can't wait for folks to be at our house next weekend for Hubby's birthday! Maybe one or two of them will get to witness this strange bird-dance for themselves! Hope you enjoyed this rare, Saturday evening post! TTFN JMS

Screaming Babies and Birthday Parties

I'm going to apologize ahead of time. This is what I'm starting to refer to as a REALLY random JMS post. Have fun! Hubby called me yesterday while I was at work to tell me that he had taken the kids to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Apparently, as soon as they got there, Little Bit started screaming her fool head off in an, "I'm-really-ticked-off-and-I-want-the-entire-world-to-know-it" way - and there was no consoling her. Hubby said he and Kiddo ate as much as they could and then just threw everything away, grabbed the screaming demon-child and left because he could feel the eyes of his fellow restaurant-goers boring holes into his back. His comment to me was: "I didn't think she had it in her to scream that loudly for that long!" He also said that he wished he'd video taped it because it was just an amazing display of pissed-off child. He had taken both kids to the doctor yesterday morning for a check-up. Both kids got a cold during VBS at church last week and have been suffering with stuffy and/or runny noses and coughs since then. The doctor examined them and proclaimed them both in good health, other than the obvious over-abundance of snot. Ears were all OK. No throat issues. Weights and heights both good. (Kiddo is 31.something pounds and Little Bit is 22.something pounds...) Hubby said that he could probably understand Little Bit's screaming fit if she had gotten a shot or something, but since no shots were given, we're still both at a loss at to what was wrong. I think she's probably cutting more molars. After I got home last night, and Hubby left to go to work, I had no issues with either of my children. They were both good as gold and we had a great time! We watched the goofy kids programs on "NOG" and then I carted Little Bit off to bed at 7:30PM. She went down without any problem. Just "Nite nite mommy!" and off she went to Sleepy Land. Kiddo stayed up until 9PM (about an hour later than I would have normally put him in bed) because he'd had a really good nap and didn't get up until around 6PM anyway. He was still awake around 10:30 PM even though he was in bed. I don't know what time he actually fell asleep, but he was dead-to-the-world when I left for work this morning. I'm planning Hubby's 40th birthday party (the party is on Aug. 9 and his actual birthday is the 13th) and since we're going to have it at our house I need to get my butt in gear and do some MAJOR cleaning. I started last night and made a great big dent in the ever-expanding pile of laundry and got the bathroom partially clean. I need to scour and disinfect the kitchen and bathroom, pick up all three bedrooms, and get the living room in order so people have a place to sit. (Maybe I'll rearrange furniture again...?) Anyway - it's busy, busy times at our house. Hope everyone is doing well today! TTFN JMS