Saturday, January 31, 2015

Pineapple tops and olive oil drops

It has been a day of kind of blah work. I am trying to get our room straightened and changed around which, as you can imagine, is almost torture. I made good progress, but now the basement is even worse than before. Oh well, the process never ends.

Since his sisters were getting to do fun things this weekend, the boy got to choose our dinner spot. Pizza Inn. You now what I have said about this establishment in the past. Mind you, it is clean and well managed. I just feel like hot death when I leave. Tonight was no exception in terms of people watching. Their newest thing is what looks like a crescent roll with olive oil to dip it in. Of course the boy's shirt looked like it was riddled with holes until you got up close and saw that it was just generously peppered with drops of, as Rachel Ray so annoyingly calls it, "EVOO". Arrrgghhh!! Oh well, there are worse things to be doing. We did, as always, get to have a discussion time to learn some lessons. The kids asked us about some different things people either had on t-shirts or inked on their bodies. My favorite was, "Why on earth would that lady have the top of a pineapple on her neck? Why not the whole pineapple?". "Uh, honey, that is a pot, I mean, a marijuana leaf on her neck." "Why would they put that on there?". That is a question I didn't know how to answer. I would probably have the Alfred Hitchcock sketch on my neck if I did something:



Then people could talk about me at the restaurant. And I am sure they would....
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Friday, January 30, 2015

Frozened out

We had a Frozen night at church tonight for families. We watched the movie, talked about some scripture that very closely paired with the movie, ate some snack mix, drank melted snowman(ice water) and brought warm blankets and pajamas for the homeless and less fortunate in our community. There were lots of little people dressed as the sisters, singing at the top of their lungs and thoroughly enjoying themselves. So very cute. I am home now and am glad to leave Frozen ight behind, but I consider it a successful night.

The crazy Copper went for her yearly checkup today at the vet. She surprised us all and took her shots, blood sample and stool sample like a champ. She didn't cry out when she got the shots and she even loved on the vet and her techs several times. Heck, who wouldn't? They gave her plenty of treats and scratches and pats. Good stuff, good stuff. She's a keeper I think. Keep reminding me I said that if she chews up anymore wood work!



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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Don't skip the meds!

Living here in East Tennessee, the allergy capital of the nation, no one is really immune to having some effects from the area. I never really considered myself an allergy person; I never had shots or had the need to take weird medicines. A few years ago, it was suggested that I might just want to take an over the counter allergy med to help in the fight against chronic sinus infections. Okay, I'll do it. Everything is fine...until I run out. My meds are taken at bedtime so when I remember that I have exhausted the bottle's contents, well, I am already pj'ed up and ready for bed. So I ran out a couple days ago and was considering not getting anymore. I thought, "I'm feeling fine. One less foreign substance in my body. A good thing." And then yesterday evening hit. And today hit. Shame on me for thinking I was immune. While I was at the drug store getting my meds, I wanted to ask someone if my teeth looked like they were falling out or if my head looked like it had sustained trauma. OUCH! Dumb Jenny...bad Jenny! Take your Wal-Zyr or whatever it is.

Sorry nothing funny to report today. If I could have captured myself on video and posted it on this blog, that would have been funny. Me walking around in a fog. What's not entertaining about that?


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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

REIIII'm going to go in debt

I had to go shopping today which, if you know me at all, is a task very close to torture. Unless it is to get shoes or books, I can really take it or leave it. For some upcoming events, I had to go to REI. This is the first time that I have gotten to go and look at my leisure, by myself, and see everything I want to see. My father has received their catalog and has been one of their members for years. My brother and I as kids have ordered many a birthday, Christmas and Father's Day gift from their catalog, with Mom's help of course. All I discovered today is that I found something I liked on every aisle...and the cheapest thing I loved was $20, unless of course you count the hand warmers for $1, but you can get those at the drug store. The clearance racks were stuffed with tempting treats and I had to shield my eyes and flee the building with just the essentials that were on my list. But I will be back...when I have birthday money. Come on, June. Come on, June.

Night all.


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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

A gentle soul, a great reward

Those of us who have pets know the large role they play in our lives and the large chunk they occupy in our hearts. Those who have not had the privilege of owning a pet want to understand us, but can't completely get what we feel...and that's okay. Some of us are dog lovers...some cat lovers...ferret lovers, maybe.  Personally, I don't get cats. I'm a dog girl through and through. Cats make me feel like they are doing me a favor acknowledging my presence and as an insecure human, that hacks me off a little. I always have loved this quote, being a dog person:



Sometimes Copper gets spiteful and chews up the woodwork and I question whether or not she truly loves us or is sending us the "Get me the heck out of here!" message....but not really. She is chewing up the woodwork to get to us...she wants every waking moment she spends to be with us or on us or around us. As a human I forget that. I like time with people, but I also like time by myself. I need that time. She needs her people time...and I fail her every day when I forget that.

Today, my brother and sister in law had to say goodbye to their sweet dog Maggie. What a gentle natured girl she was. When we lost our Cosby a couple years ago, Maggie and her daughter Dakota were the first dogs our children could bear to be around in the days and weeks after her passing. Maggie walked up to our oldest, who was desperately struggling, and put her paw up on her leg just so very softly. They always said she was "blessing" you and it really felt like she did. Just made you unclench your fists and soften your heart a bit. When she did that to S, you could see the hurt start to leave and the healing begin. Dogs know; they sense.

So tonight, say a little prayer for M and D and Maggie's daughter Dakota. Their house has lost a furry heartbeat and is a bit quieter this evening. Heaven is a sweeter, gentler place now that she has entered it. Godspeed, sweet Maggie.



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Monday, January 26, 2015

A new adventure

I am currently sitting in an elementary school cafeteria with lots of other moms and dads, all of whom look quite worn out and zombie-ish at this time of the day. G has been selected to be one of the representatives from her school for our county's Honors Choir. Luckily, I got the right night this time. We arrived here two weeks ago on a horribly nasty night, trekked up from the parking lot only to find locked doors and stern faced people on the other side telling us there was "no choir of any kind going on" that night. Not too embarrassing...at all. So we are here again tonight. I arrived with a terribly nervous G, who just was concerned about what in the world was about to happen to her and would she be good enough and would she make friends. I asured her that she had every reason to be there and her voice would be a great addition to the group and to chill out. They sent her in a room and sent me to a meeting. She gave me a sick smile and went into her assigned room. Luckily I recognized a mom from soccer whose daughter is on G's team. I know she will be thrilled to see her in there and all will be right with the world. I know I felt that way when I saw the mom.

On another subject, I must ask anyone who wants to answer, "WHERE ON EARTH IS OUR SNOW?!?!?!". Come on, East Tennessee, throw us a bone and, like the "your peanut butter is in my chocolate...your chocolate is in my peanut butter" synergy of te Reese Cup, put this incessant rain together with one of these ultra frigid days and give us some sledding, snow cream and snow man weather. I think we are due a good couple of blizzard like condition days. I have stocked up on evaporated milk to make snow cream. The freezer is stocked and, of course, when the first mention of impending snow is made I may even make the choice to go gather French Toast makings(eggs, milk, bread) with the mob at Kroger. Just sayin', atmosphere, I am ready for God to pour sugar down from Heaven and give us a sweet snow day.

Night all!


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Sunday, January 25, 2015

Can I have a backrub?

I am grateful for employment, for busy days and, most importantly, for my children and husband. Today has been a day with a high concentration of work and little of my much needed family time. After talking to an individual today, I am more grateful than ever for my family, my parents, relatives and friends. Sure we all have had our spats and arguments, but we are all of one mind and heart when it comes to each other. I ask you to pray and send up positive thoughts for this individual who is doing their best to give the life they never had to even the least of these. My heart is heavy and I ask for you to take a minute at 2pm. Pray for justice.

I am going to get my pj's on and, yes, watch Downton Abbey. Why not watch aristocrats get themselves into a hot mess? Night all.


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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Quality time

With the hub and the oldest doing youth group stuff, it has been nice to have special bonding time with the youngers. We didn't do anything wonderful, just spent a lot of time snuggled up. We watched "Million Dollar Arm". It was wonderful! I cried of course. We took the dog for a walk. As usual, we play a sad game of "how many alcohol containers will we spot?" when we walk through a kind of woodsy area. In case you are wondering, they found 14. We also found this sign:



We had a nice long discussion about that all the way home. I hope I smoothed things over and they aren't scared to be in their own home or neighborhood.

We worked the community meal tonight. The kids helped their Aunt Deb deliver meals to people and take someone home. I saw the ruins of many a plate of lasagna and salad drenched in ranch. I think there were many satisfied tummies.

The kids are snuggled up in our bed watching a movie. I may just let them stay in here and sleep with me. I cannot remember the last time that happened. They may not last long, but I'll take a few more snuggles.
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Friday, January 23, 2015

What do you do with a grumpy waitress?

The hub and the oldest are at a youth thing tonight, so I took the youngers and went to dinner. Since we spent last Friday in the ER, we decided to lay out of futsal for the evening and give the boy's hand some more healing time. They requested burgers and a burger restaurant. Out of the kindness in my cold heart, I will not say where we went...but it has gone way downhill since we went there 6 months ago. Our waitress rolled her eyes every time she had to interact with us, which was three times...total. The kids were perfectly behaved, used their manners and didn't spill or make a mess. She wouldn't give us any bread, but did so for every table around us without them asking. She never asked if we needed more water and actually got mad when we ordered water. She didn't get our order right, but I was afraid to complain. If she was ugly when we were being kind, what would she do when I said the burgers were not cooked to order or that she left most of the normal things that come with the meal off? I know about people who spit in your drink or clear their sinuses into your guacamole. Do not want to be the recipient of that.

Needless to say, we will not be back. It's a sad decline.


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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Old man learning Spanish

Today was the 100th day of school today and, as always, there were activities to celebrate the excitement of the day. The boy, I think I told all three of you yesterday, had to dress up as his 100 year old self. The joy he took in planning his outfit was honestly hysterical. The picture I took of him acting like he was hard of hearing did not turn out so well, so this was the final shot:



Notice he still had his Spiderman Van's on because, well, he's going to be a hip centanarian. I mean, come on.

Continuing on the track of my son today, he has a new friend in his class "for a few days" he said. After school discussions in the car always lose something in translation, so I am unsure exactly why she is there such a short period of time other than there might be more comprehensive ESL/ELL school programs. Either way, her English is not good and the boy feels very strongly that he wants to help her and make her feel welcome. It melts my heart that he is so concerned about her feeling comfortable. Once the hub arrived home, the boy begged for an app on his ipad to help him learn Spanish. Then he disappeared. I continued to get dinner ready and the hub checked the stack of mail and the kids' school papers. The boy runs in, yells, "Deciembre!!!!"....and runs out. "That means December!" he yelled as he ran back down the hall. One of the girls said, "You might want to learn January...we're kind of past December." A few minutes later, he came and asked how to say, "Hello! My name is Finley." Since both of us took a few years of Spanish, we gave him the words to say: "Hola! Mi nombre es Finley." Throughout the course of our meal, he kept coming up with things to say to his friend. "How do I say 'I speak Spanish a little.' or 'I like pears and dogs.'?" We kept telling him that "Hola! Mi nombre es Finley" was all he needed to say tomorrow. "Less is more son." Dinner was done and I was cleaning up when he comes running in again..."CABEZA!!!! That means head!"...and flies back down the hall. The hub and I looked at each other, silently acknowledging that it was going to be a long evening. Indeed it has been. I really just need to record myself saying, "Hola! Mi nombre es Finley." so I can play it several hundred times to him. Once he found out that a place we know is a Spanish word meaning "beautiful", he asked us how to use it in a sentence to her. "'Hola! Mi nombre es Finley.' is all you need to say, son. Please understand" the hub begged. "Could I say she had a beautiful head? I know those words." "'HOLA! MI NOMBRE ES FINLEY!!!' is it for tonight. We appreciate your concern, but just perfect one line and leave it!" we both said. A little aside here, I realize that I stink when it comes to correctly punctuating quotations and quotes within quotes. Forgive me. Also, I realize that an upside down exclamation point should be on the other side of Hola!, but I cannot figure out how to do that on this contraption.

So, just say a little prayer that he says his one line of Spanish to his new friend, it is well received and no ad libbing occurs. Bless his kind heart. He just wants her to feel welcome and I adore him for that.
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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Blistering walk

So in my attempt to get healthy in this new year, I followed the insructions of my trainer "Dr. Pain" and set off to do my 30 minutes of cardio. All was fine and the dog was thrilled to be out among her people. We only had one run in with a mop of a dog who was half Copper's size but ten times her size in attitude. Once we got away from it, we were home free. My tennis shoes, or rompers as my dad calls them, did not play well with my socks and so my heels have massive blisters on the back. Training tomorrow is going to suck unless these new socks I purchased work out. Fingers crossed. If only my favorite pair of New Balance shoes were still alive. I wore those things out.

Tomorrow is Hundreds Day at the elementary school and my boy's class has been asked by the teacher to dress up how they thing they will look at 100. The boy is all over this and has asked for everything under the sun that a centenarian might possibly need...okay he stopped short of Depends and a Hoverround. He doesn't know what those are thank goodness. I will have pictures as soon as possible.

Night all. Gots to put these blisters to bed and hope for miraculous healing by tomorrow.


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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

She's growin' up

Our oldest is settling nicely into her new abode. Much more nicely than I had ever imagined. It seems as though she needed a little boost of responsibility, like having her own room, and she just blossomed. I know it is all new and who knows how long the newness will last, but it is pretty neat. last night, she informed us she would be doing her laundry every two days and had already started a load and cleaned up around the laundry area. She then proceeded to fix herself a cup of calming tea, reviewed material for a test, folded and put her laundry away and came up to tell us goodnight. When I went down this morning, she was already up and dressed and making her bed. A new room and new responsibilities have given her a new lease on life. I feel bad we couldn't accomplish this sooner. Oh well. She's growing up...and it breaks my heart.


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Monday, January 19, 2015

Pitched and tossed out

Phases 1-3 of the probably 5 step room switch project are complete. We worked our rumps off and I think the work was worthwhile. The children are very pleased with their new dwellings and we are hopeful that peace will return to our land.

Just know that in the youngers' new room, you might want to proceed with caution. They have guards at every door...especially this guy:



Really, the things you find when you walk into kid's rooms. Also, I found two of my favorite pitctures of my now 10 year old. The cuteness is pretty great:






Enjoy your evening!
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Sunday, January 18, 2015

Time to relax a little

I have been going strong since 7am this morning and I am tired. Work was very busy this morning. I will just say this, I had the chance to talk to a wonderful woman who is going through a heartbreaking struggle right now. She is trying to do the right thing by family and needs help and prayer. All I can say is that my days of social work are missed and not missed all at the same time. I stayed angry at monsters who hurt the innocent.

Our "renovation" of the rooms is about 85% complete. We have three happy children for now and I hope it will stay that way for a while. I will share pictures as soon as it is complete. Right now, I am going to watch Downton Abbey and relax. As much as I can. Night all.


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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Poor blue handed boy

So there is no break in the boy's hand that they could see. Unfortunately, the growth plate area shows up as a dark place on an xray and needs a couple of days to calm down before they can tell if something is fractured. So the boy is in a splint that is wrapped up with an ace bandage. His fingers look like bloated little sausages and the bruising is snaking its way up his fingers. I will not be shocked if he gets a cast for a bit. He is in quite a bit of pain.

To say that our trip to the ER was uneventful would be a lie. It was very strange, as most ER visits are, and we were never bored. The billboard for the hospital ER advertised a 17 minute wait, so we chose to go there over the child based hospital. Guilt was felt, but we wanted close and quick. Several people had masks as our fair city is one of the flu epicenters of the southeast, according to the national news. "Don't. Touch. Anything." The boy was threatened with this phrase over the course of three and a half hours. One forgets that even though it may say 17 minutes for your wait, triage is a pwerful thing and a little boy with a janked up hand was not as important as the following...of which I can't argue with hospital staff over. They needed to go first.

1. An elderly woman who shook the room and moved her wheelchair with her unearthly and bone chilling cough. Her healthy family members wore masks to be around her. She went first.

2. The father-son duo wearing masks. The boy was a cute little thing with his little glasses and his mask on. He kept coming over and asking the boy what was wrong with him. The "fluphobe" in me was dying to throw myself over my son to cover him up, but I did not. The boy's father committed a grave misstep in my book of parental no no's: he allowed his son to play on the floor of the hospital waiting room. I really don't consider myself a germaphobe, but come on.

3. The woman who came in with the darkest sunglasses and a ball cap pulled down over her eyes. We all wondered if she was there to be treated or rob the place. Her husband then explained to us that she has a "military spine" that has no natural curve in it and causes neck problems which cause horrible migraines. His Big Gulp sized container of ice that he crunched their whole stay did not fare well with her head. She needed to be in a dark room. STAT.

4. The weirdest was a gentleman whose female companion came in and spoke to the desk people. They then sent a quartet of male staffers out with a wheelchair and a box of various medical devices to retrieve someone in a van. Two minutes later some of them return with an empty wheelchair. They got a gurney and went back out. Soon, they came back in with someone we could hear all the way outside. The hub told the boy to cover his eyes and I covered his ears. They brought a man on the gurney, laying on his belly and screaming at the top of his lungs. The man's female companion was downing tiny boxes of Nerds as the man screamed. We were confused by her reaction. The boy is scarred I think. We saw the guy an hour and a half later, still on his belly on the gurney, still quite vocal. I have to believe a substance of some kind was involved.

5. A lady got called back with us. She had ordered a church pew off of a yard sale on Facebook. She couldn't wait for her huusband to get off of work, so she tried to unload it herself. Bad call. Dropped it on her foot. Luckily for her, it damaged part of the nerve so half her foot was numb. Her friend called us over to look at it. The bone was just seconds away from breaking through the skin and the whole thing was black with some accents of purple. It was gnarly. The nerve must have been damaged, but she was in a fairly jolly mood. She and her friend involved our half of the waiting room to participate in helping them be successful in Trivia Crack play on her phone. Gotta make friends in there.

I hope all the people are feeling better today. Would be so curious as to know what brings a man in, belly down, on a gurney. Can't lie. Oh well. We'll deal with the boy's hand however we must. Poor guy. All he said was, "I got tripped and landed funny on my hand...but I assisted in a goal". That's commitment for you.


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Friday, January 16, 2015

Another one for the books...

Short post. We are sitting in the ER with the boy. He has hurt his hand at soccer and we will not be shocked if it is broken. We have seen all kinds of things in our two hour wait. At one point, we had to cover his eyes and ears when a guy came in on a gurney screaming and writhing in pain. Just pry the boy doesn't get the flu or TB on top of a possible broken hand. Updates to follow. Night all.


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Thursday, January 15, 2015

Gonna go soak

So my first appointment with Phil, aka, Dr. Pain went better than I thought. It was like two long lost siblings who had been separated for a while, but there was no time lost in hurling slams at each other. His wife shot her fair share out there too. Yes, it was a free weighted familiy reunion of sorts. I managed to get through said workout without stroking out or throwing up, althoough my Cliff bar worked its way up hard to make an encore performance. I wasn't even really sore when I left. A bit sweaty, for sure, since I can look at someone else sweating and I immediately start sweating like a groom on his wedding day. After my 20 minute snooze in the car pickup line, I felt a soreness in my right hip-upper thigh area. Nothing in the left. Not sure what I did over there, but I am like a 90 year old cripple. I am sure I have probably taken more motrin than one individual is allowed, but I had to do it. The kids kept saying, "Oooh. Mom's gonna get Mr. Phil! He broke her at training." I have only myself to blame, but today was the first step on the road to righting that wrong...I hope.


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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Oh wow...I'm skeered

Tomorrow I go to my friend's gym for the first of some training sessions. He has worked with me in the past, but it has been a long time. "Dr. Pain", as he has called himself, has no problem working me to the point of passing out or puking. I want to make a change and be a healthier person. My size will never be that of my 16 year olf self, but I can at least make myself healthier than I am now. If you see me limping around the next few days, raise your fist in the air and say, "Go, Dr. Pain!".

Seriously, say a prayer for me and hope that I don't stroke out on the treadmill or fall flat on my face doing lunges down the sidewalk in front of the men in the barbershop. I'm scared, but this needs to happen.


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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

I love gray, but come on....

This gray/grey weather has got to go...and grey is my favorite color(along with slate blue and drab green). I'm a virtual color wheel for the Debbie Downer in every group. The sun needs to return for so very many reasons. To take a note from last night's post, the dog with he phobia of getting her feet wet and muddy needs another place besides the patio to leave her steaming heaps. Our friend is willing to look at our roof but, can't blame him, doesn't want to go rooting around up there when it is wet. I get it. The girls need to be outside in the sun and wear themselves out so they will stop fighting. They are at the ages to get on each other's last nerve in a milisecond, but something has got to give or the other three of us may hide ourselves in the basement. They are so different, but so alike. Clash of the Titans.

The hub got a good report from his surgeons today. He has been experiencing a lot of stiffness and pain in the past month or more, so we were relieved to hear that everything he is experiencing is normal. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if he developed some other sort of orthopeadic issue since he waited in the waiting room for his first appointment for THREE HOURS. The price of getting a top notch specialist, but honestly. He got to the point of investigating whether he could have a pizza delivered to the waiting room.

Here's hoping to a little glimpse toorrow of the yellow ball in the sky. We all can use a little sunshine from time to time.


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Monday, January 12, 2015

Oh no don't let the rain come down...

Have you ever heard that song? My parents had a Brothers Four album that we used to listen to and it had the song that said, "Oh no don't let the rain come down...oh no don't let the rain come down...oh no don't let the rain come down...my roof's got a hole in it and I might drown." How true that song is today. I worried all night about the rain and the hole in our roof that is so kindly making "coffee spill" stains on the girls' ceiling. I heard the pounding on the roof in the night and, as a result, got little to no sleep. I have been a trainwreck today, even more so than usual. I thought one child had a commitment out in the western part of our county that started this evening, got all the way out there only to find that it didn't start for two more weeks. Dur. I washed a load of laundry with no clothes in it. Excellent. I did end the evening with a bizarro series of events. The shower curtain popped off and landed on my oldest's head while knocking down the towel rack. Seconds later I got the worst brain freeze ever...to the point I had to lay down on the kitchen floor. Seconds later the dog pitched a fit to go out. What was bizarre about that, friends, may be a bit disgusting or offensive to those with weak constitutions. The dog, angry about the rain and lack of fetch time today, completely destroyed what was left of her bed. It looked like a polyfil massacre in her crate. When she went out to have her after dinner constitutional, I think some of the polyfil was trying to make its way out of her colon and got stuck. So here I am, still half paralyzed from brain freeze in the rain, watching this animal squeeze and squat in some sort of strange dog pooping yoga poses all over the patio. She decided she was going to continue this process in the house...uh, NO. So I yelled to the closest girl and got her to bring me a wad of paper towels. So maybe 6 paper towels was overkill, but I pulled out about six inches of polyfil out of that poor animal's posterior like the magician who pulls the colorful string of scarves out of his fist or mouth...except completely different and totally gross. I am ready for bed and some sunshine tomorrow. Just saying.



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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Please no

I am not feeling too hot. My teeth feel like they may fall out at any time. Loving this East Tennessee weather and how it likes to battle my sinus cavity. Ummmm, ouch. Please forgive me for my whining. If this blog ends in a hanging sentence or one of these "anddddddddddddddddddd", just assume I have fallen asleep at the keyboard and write me off for the evening.

Room switch update: I expect at any point to see Dorothy and Toto flying around our house at any time seeing as how I think a tornado has come to just stay in here for the forseeable future.

Trying new things update: I had some of the children at church try Matzo for snack today. They wanted to try and be picky until they realized that it tasted pretty similar to the saltines they have every week for snack. Chalk up a win for the unleavened bread.

Please pray that this is just sinus stuff and that I have not gotten strep from my oldest. I do not have time to go to the doctor and, unfortunately, I do not have a source for antibiotics that I keep hidden in an alley anywhere. Pray hard.

Thankssssssssssssss.............................


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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Please don't call...

Operation "Move the Kids Around" has commenced and I feel like my head could pop off at any time. We have been pitching and tossing for several days now and the process kicked up into high gear yesterday. I have taken trip three or four to KARM(Knox Area Rescue Ministries)to drop off clothes and books and toys and games. We could probably make 17 more trips and still not make a dent it feels like. As ashamed as I am to do this, I am going to give you a before so you can see some of the chaos and be witness to the transformation:






Please note, the rooms are not usually this messy. It comes from them grabbing things off of shelves and dresser tops to pitch, toss or box for safe keeping. No rhyme or reason...complete organizational stream of consciousness. I finally hit my limit of this process when I came upstairs to find the rooms like this with no clear path between rooms or to beds. I called my mom to vent after I sent the family downstairs for barbeque and baked beans. After she talked me off of my ledge, I shoved everything to one side so the children could get into their beds without serious threat of bodily harm during middle of the night trips to the bathroom. We have all bathed and are currently watching "National Treasure". Sometimes you need to cry "Uncle" and watch a fun action film with several historical accuracies and inaccuracies.

Going to give the boy some benadryl and prepare to conk out for the evening. Night all.
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Friday, January 9, 2015

Seriously?

I am sitting here in an indoor tennis facility while two of my three have futsal practice. When you can see their breath while they are playing, it makes me wonder whether practice is necessary for that day. What am I saying? Sure it is necessary. It is getting their blood pumping and hearts working in healthy ways. The coaches are growing a bit weary, as are a few of us, of the whining that is being heard around here. It has become quite entertaining, I must say. The hub is tucked in the cozy house listening to one of several roofing pitches to come in the next few days. His surroundings might be warm, but I imagine his mood will be icy upon hearing what must certainly will be a blood curdling estimate at any point. Oh well. It must be done. Blech.

I will leave you for a funny for the evening. Here I am, circa 197-, during one of my mother's many vain attempts to try and curl my thick, THICK hair. Notice the very trendy wallpaper and the wonderful blender, which I think she still has. Quality Sunbeam, people. Quality Sunbeam.



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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Awaiting bed time

I could lay down and go to sleep right now at, um, 8:34pm, but I cannot. G has gone with the girls' choir at school to go see the touring production of Annie. They will not be home until after 10:30 probably. She will be an absolute joy and delight tomorrow, I imagine. We must await her late return as it would not look so good for us to wipe out and leave her rapping at the door to get in the house. I have just gotten the boy to bed and will start the process of getting S to bed. She found out today she has "the strep" and has been feeling puny. I was thankful, quite honestly, that she tested negative for the flu. Right after she saw her doctor, we took her straight to the pharmacy to have my uncle give her a flu shot. Every teenager's dream day, although she was quite shocked that the shot wasn't excruciatingly painful.

Time to relax and coax someone to sleep. Night all.


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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Brrrrrr

The time of year has arrived that makes our relatives up in the frosty northern midwest belly laugh at this region's reaction to cold weather. I totally understand, but unfortunately our area is not built for extreme cold. We can do horrible heat all day long...just not cold. So we will be going to school two hours late tomorrow. I did love seeing a picture of my niece in her lounge pants enjoying a day off from school. So stinkin' cute! Temps got to -30 up there. ipes. With a non wind chilled temp of 7 tomorrow morning, the county powers that be decided to not let the poor bus riders turn into popsicles on the side of the road. When the announcement came out, there was much rejoicing to be heard throughout church(where we happened to be). "We get to sleep innnnnnnnn!!!!!". As much as I would like to have snow accompany this cold weather, I pray it waits until we get a new roof. The poor guys who came today to do the estimate were like little popsicles. Bless their frozen fingers. and anyway, snow is no fun at that temp anyway. Too powdery and they can't play out in it long.

I shall go to bed now and enter mini-hibernation mode. One child is feeling bad and the flu is rampant throughout our city. I need to get my sleep while I can. Night all.


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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Flu...stay away!!!

So according to this morning's uplifting news, our fair city is the #1 city in the nation, THE NATION, for getting flu...or something like that. This fact was so shocking that the health departments had a free flu shot day at all of their locations today. Our oldest has still not had a flu shot or mist since we could not get any definitive answer on whether or not the one the school gave contained the nasty preservative that she has an allergy to...and a "We don't guess it has the preservative..." just doesn't cut it for us. But the reports of deaths from this strain are very jarring and we don't want to risk it, SO I took her to the Health Department armed with a vat of hand sanitizer and her epipen. We got there in plenty of time and were immediately turned away. The lady said, "We've shut down for the day. There was a two hour wait at one time, so we just decided to shut down early afternoon." Huh? The waiting room was empty...well, one person was waiting for their person to come out from getting their shots. There was plenty of time before the place closed. To say I was not pleased is an understatement, but oh well. I know that people at the Dept of Health work hard. In my social work days, I dealt with them a lot...but they also need to remember that the people who come into their building are humans too and should be treated as such. Anyhoo, she will be getting a shot from my uncle at his pharmacy when he is at work on Thursday. I know that it is only about 20% effective against this mutated strain of flu, but that is better than nothing at all. Let's just pray that she can avoid it as well everyone else. This flu needs to hit the road Jack.

Have a good night. Got to get these kids to bed. My youngest keeps saying "Oy vey!" in every other sentence and the girls are singing at the top of their lungs. This may be an interesting task.


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Monday, January 5, 2015

Time for bed

Tomorrow's alarm clock is going to stink so much. So very much. The children will return tomorrow to school, a fact that is filled with much dread for all of them. They will quickly fall back into the routine of things, much better than I will, and will get along nicely. Today's last day off included pancakes for breakfast, smoothies for a treat, a riveting trip to the grocery store and last viewings of television before the "no TV during the week" rule is back into effect.

Thus concludes the last humdrum day for a while. I'll sure miss those...and the three little heartbeats that come with them...


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Sunday, January 4, 2015

Really?

I don't have much to report today. Work day and then home to continue the clean out of the playroom in preparation for the big room switch that is coming.

The evening has taken a depressing turn. I just got out of the shower to hear my husband say, "You are going to have to put me in a home." When I asked why, he informed me that G showed him something weird on the ceiling of their room. Hey guess what? A leak has so kindly decorated the length of their room. Shoot me now. This house is going to be the death of us all. I'm going to go into avoidance mode for a few. I am so angry. Night all.


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Saturday, January 3, 2015

Dread and hope

I dread for this winter holiday to end. It has been nice to sleep in a bit and have somewhat lazy days with the children. Time is passing so quickly and everything feels so out of control. S is in her last semester of middle school. I mean, I can't even think about it without getting choked up. I want to stop time and wrap my children up and never let them go. But time marches on whether we want it to or not. So it is with hope that I look towards 2015. I took a car load of items to donate to the KARM store and plan on several more loads going there. Slowly but surely I am gaining back control of this house and my life. My friend Philip is going to work with me to get healthy again and our family is making strides to get healthier as a group. I have to look forward to the break ending and real life starting again with hope. Negative emotion will do me no good. Not one bit.

I covet your positive thoughts and prayers as our family works to get healthier and closer in the new year. We'll take all we can get.


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Friday, January 2, 2015

Pitching and tossing

I am tired today. One, I think I may be getting a cold and, two, I spent a good part of the day in a closet trying to straighten it up and start this new year with fewer but more quality things. The report is a good one at least for today. I have about a good trunk's worth of stuff to take to Goodwill. Could I use the money if I were to sell the things instead? Sure, but I have absolutely no desire to mess with that. And let's be honest, I would probably make a grand total of $20 if I was lucky. So my laziness is Goodwill's gain. Here is my progress pic for the day:



I'll start it up again tomorrow. Yipes.
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Thursday, January 1, 2015

Make way for the new...

When I was a youngster, I was obsessed with Annie. Ob-SESSED! My cousin Eric, who has the most wonderful voice, and I would sing and run through the house with the soundtrack blaring. I had the doll, the soundtrack, the book, probably some sheets or a pillowcase and maybe an adjustable ring with her curly mop on it. So when I saw that a new version was out, I was leery. And no, cynical people, it was not because of race or anything of the sort. I am of the old school thought of, why remake something that was perfectly good the first time it was made? So it was with great resistance that my oldest and I went to the theatre to watch the remake. Shame. On. Me. It was so very good. I cried probably 37 times...okay, legitimately 5. I was delighted at how funny it was. I did miss "You're never fully dressed without a smile...". Oh well. I must go text my cousin and take a walk down memory lane. Have a good one....


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