it's been a crazy week...

the day off on monday was nice though. the kids and i hung around the house and i met my girlfriends for lunch and broke the baby news to them. one looked so shocked, and the other one was screaming. crazy girls! lol

i've dropped tutoring, so that's one less thing on my plate. i kind of feel bad about it because i've had this one student for over a year now and his mom was happy with the situation, but something had to go. i did hook him up with a great replacement, so i know she'll be very happy with her too.

i actually said no to worship practice and girls night out this week, which is major. i hardly ever miss practice and saying no to hanging with the girls is hard to do! they were going to see 27 wedding dresses, but i promised to see it with another friend so i passed.

youth group is at planet wisdom this weekend. i also said no to that, which is also big. i really wish i were there, but i have so much that needs done this weekend with school and around the house so i'm glad i'm not too. i hate to miss elisabeth's soccer game and pawn her off on someone else too.

so far this week for my classes, i wrote a 3 page paper giving my testimony (citing Bible verses where required), caught up on a week's worth of math and did the review tests, answered ten lengthy questions for psychology, and read genesis. (exodus is due to be read by monday or tuesday) i have some verses i need to refresh myself on and say from memory and a big OT survey test to study for, along with more psych questions and a paper.

also coming up this week are a chiropractor appointment for nick (to try to come at his headaches from another direction), my first ob visit for the baby, a meeting at my house monday night (my trashed house that needs cleaned because i'm too busy all of the time) and a couple of birthday parties.

i think i need to schedule in some sleep in there sometime, i've been taking naps every evening around 6:00, so that's been helping a lot. but since morning sickness kicked in this past week, i've been fighting that too.

once we get past this week, hopefully things can calm down a bit.....but nah, they probably won't, it's our life. we stay busy (too busy sometimes) but i love it. i wouldn't trade working with youth or singing in worship for anything, and if it weren't a bit crazy i'd get bored.

ahhhhhhhhh!!!

so much is going on, i'm going to go insane!!! do i seem very busy to you?

1. i work full-time, m-f from 8:30-4:00 at an elementary school, and i tutor from 4-5 three days a week

2. i am married and have 2 kids and 2 animals--that equals 5 kids, right? (housekeeper/maid, laundry woman, chef, tutor, personal assistant, chauffer, soccer mom...you get the idea---not to mention all of the running/stress of dealing with doctors because of nick's headaches, we're still trying to find out what the problem is, but his eeg and mri results won't be in for awhile)

3. i am on the worship team at church and volunteer with the youth group, along with being part of a weekly connection group

4. i am now also a full-time college student (yeah, your mom goes to college!)

5. my books came in a week late and assignments were due but extended

6. someone dropped my from my psych course and accidentally enrolled me in a counseling course (and psych is one of the assignments i'm already late on!)

7. and lucky #7....i just found out i'm pregnant! now, that was totally unplanned and unexpected! i found out last sunday, told jerry on monday, and we broke the news to the kids today. jerry's overwhelmed, nick's pretty calm about all of it (he'll be out of the house in 5 years), and elisabeth's ecstatic. me? i'm parched and thirsty all day long....which makes me run to the potty every 20 minutes! lol other than that and some minor "signs" the only other thing is that i'm super tired and need a nap mid-day. so much for my weightloss program right now...

nasty little brats...

someone egged the glass door on our lanai, the one that goes to the office (we have 2 sliding glass doors out there). we were sitting here, minding our own business and watching "how to eat fried worms" with the family when it happened. i ran outside and jerry did too. we didn't see anyone running away, but when i was out in the street trying to watch for movement down the street, someone next door looked out the window and then ducked out of sight. so i'm thinking the punk next door and his friends did it. it didn't look like the parents' cars were home, so it very well could've been them. i called the sheriff to report it because there's been stupid stuff like that going on in our subdivision lately. tomorrow i think i will have a little chat with the parents.... thing is, this "kid" graduated last may, so he's an adult now. dummy!

college courses + no books = insanity!!!

i ordered my books for my courses last week. i was assured they'd all be at my house either saturday or monday, minus the math book that was out of stock but on order. saturday, nothing. monday, nada. tuesday, zip! wednesday, i call the bookstore...the math books came in today, and we'll be sending it out with the rest of your books today too...WHAT?!?! so i had the pleasure of emailing all of my profs and letting them know, i'm sorry, but i can't do any of your assignments until i get my books, hopefully i can turn something in early next week for you! yep, that's the first impression i wanted to make.....not! ugh!

looking at the syllabi (is that proper plural form of "syllabus"?), i'm starting to wonder what i've gotten myself into! i could drop a course, but i'd really hate to. if i can manage it, i will take the full load of 15 credits this semester. summer is much shorter, so i'm not sure if 15-18 is realistically possible or not, and who knows what the fall term holds...many surprises, i'm sure! (if you're reading this from "gtgf" go check out my "overwhelmed and over-extended" post) i'm beginning to wonder if graduating in december will be possible or not. i'd probably ought to start changing my mindset to a may '09 graduation instead of december '08.

_________________________________________________


so tomorrow, we go in for the EEG and MRI. nick's EKG turned out fine, so he's on the new headache meds and they really seem to be doing the trick. he's been hyper and crazy and basically "normal" (if there is such a thing for him) for the past 2 evenings, it's good to have my son back after a 6 week hiatus! i hate it when my kids aren't feeling well, even if it means i get a little peace and quiet, because i hate to see them miserable.

...and it's that time of year again, when the insanity starts, and you're carrying around this sign-up sheet for girl scout cookie sales! we missed the meeting over the break, so elisabeth just got her information monday night. besides my big order that i wrote in last night, she just started selling cookies today. she's already sold 42 boxes and got all three of our school's principals to order from her, she's really impressing me this year. last year she was so shy and scared to ask people, and this year she's pretty bold compared to what i expected! i love how much better she is lately at having confidence and concentration. it's awesome!

okay, off to start reading genesis for my old testament survey course...wheeeeeee!!!

headache free since friday morning...

so now what?!?

after nick went to school on friday, he hasn't had a headache since. he even says the constant one is barely there. he hasn't had any of the new meds (we decided to wait until after the EKG results) and the dark circles under his eyes seemed almost gone this morning at church. i'm baffled, but happy that it's happening. so i guess unless the constant headache comes back, i won't give him those pills. i just don't know. hopefully he's been healed of the issues and they'll be gone forever, but if he isn't, what's the right direction to go if they're no longer constant? i guess we'll cross that bridge if they come back and then call the neurologist to see what to do.

onto other things...

nick's team won their soccer game yesterday. he did a great job keeping this one kid on the other team from just running up and down the side of the field with the ball, and i swear the kid had legs that were twice as long as nick's! he did a great job keeping up with him and keeping him at bay. i don't think the kid broke away once to score with nick on him like that!

elisabeth's team (coached by jerry) tied 2-2 yesterday. she did a great job as goalie. one of the points was scored by the ball flying up near her head, and at that age those are hard to stop. she does such a great job watching the ball and jumping on it when it's coming!

jerry preached today at church. it was a great message to go along with our church's current series on "40 days of community". our church is just such a great place to be, and every week i'm reminded just how blessed i am to be there and how awesome it is to know the friends we are making and considering as part of our family.

we went to see "the pirates who don't do anything" today, it's a really cute movie, and even if your kids are a little older, it's not too bad. i think nick wasn't too upset we went to see it even!

so "school" starts tomorrow. it's going to be an interesting journey, that's for sure! i'm sure i'll be thrown for a few loops here and there, but i hope to be finished by december, may at the latest. i'm just so excited to finally have the opportunity to finish my degree and all of the doors it will open.

where to begin?

wednesday was okay. nick stayed home (to recoup from being woke up every hour) and i dragged through the day, followed by our bible study group in the evening...i took a nap in between!

thursday, nick and i went to the neurologist. they changed his meds, said to keep a headache journal (days he got them and what he took for them---i'm also going to start journaling his sleep, food and exercise, along with tv/computer/video game time). monday he goes in for an EKG because some of the meds can't be taking with cardio issues (we don't think he has any), then we'll pop in to the allergist for his monthly check-in. thursday he has an EEG (sleep deprived...that should be fun) and we have to be in tampa at 7:30 a.m., and then his MRI is in zhills at 12:30.

today nick woke up seeming fine, had an asthma attack, and then got a headache. turns out i don't have any ibuprofen in the house so he took another med (bad mommy, not authorized by neuro). went to school, couldn't stay at school, talked to team lead teacher, and school nurse (so the social worker doesn't start calling for excessive absences) and then made him come to work with me so he wouldn't sleep all day. by 10:30 he was feeling much better (thanks to unauthorized med... :D ) and asked to be taken to school. so he went and made it through the day just fine...then crashed when we got home. gotta try to keep him up late tonight so he doesn't sleep too much. (neuro said 6-9 hours a night...min/max)

i'm thinking chiropractor with acupuncturist might be a good idea to try. couldn't hurt anyway!

tomorrow is soccer. guess i ought to take down the tree too! lol need to start a "honey do" list for jerry...

btw---i ordered my books for school. once i got off the phone with the bookstore, i got this knot in my stomach and started wondering what i've gotten myself into! they should arrive by monday, possibly tomorrow though. life is going to change drastically starting next week, that's for sure! (i'm working on trying to get everything organized and figure out schedules and chore lists so i can implement them soon to keep from getting too frazzled from the chaos our life is getting ready to be....help!!!)

fun day....not!

so much for going back to school. nick woke up with one of his bad headaches this morning, i gave him meds right away to try to stave it off so he could go to school. when it was time to leave, he was shaky and dizzy and miserable, so i called the doctor and they got him in this morning...so i missed school the first day back. took him in, upped a prescription, had brunch, dropped him off at the house, dropped off his notebook that needed to be turned in to his teacher, and picked up elisabeth for her neuro appointment...

car needs gas, tire's low, she needs lunch. we pull into the gas station and take care of all of that and now are running late. i fly there, slide in 2 minutes late, and sit for 2 hours in the waiting room! it was crowded and annoyingly noisy during different spurts, depending on who was in there...i hate when people are super noisy and let their kids run like animals in doctor's waiting rooms, come on people, not everyone wants to hear your loud conversation (especially if it's obnoxiously loud and in spanish) and watch your kids wrestling with each other all over the place!

we finally get called in and the neuro asks if elisabeth is "still taking her strattera"....no. "why not?" well, i learned about this antioxidant that has over 200 studies on it and has proven to be effective with a.d.d. (note the "h" isn't there, she just has trouble staying focused, not the bounce-around-the-room kid). insert questioning look here... "what is it?" opc3, with pycnogenol "how do you spell that?" (i ended up spelling it at least 4 times, it's tricky when you're not looking at it!) "okay, so when did you start giving it to her? when did you stop the strattera? did she go to school without the strattera at all? was it just during the parties before christmas?" in november, mid-december, yes a week, no they had tests and book reports to give then i went into an explanation about how elisabeth sat down with her new sewing machine and wanted me to teach her how to use it....and stayed there working with it for at least 2 straight hours (i didn't mention that it was also through the frustration of it needing threaded multiple times and she still persisted). i mentioned how she's had fewer meltdowns, better overall behavior (didn't get on my last nerve much at all over the break which is unusual because they're both on my nerves within 2 minutes of leaving school most days), stays on a task longer than she had, and doesn't fight me in taking the opc3 like she did the strattera. i also mentioned how she faked taking strattera for a week, and the teacher could tell she was "off" the whole time and how that didn't happen at all during one of the most hectic weeks of the school year when she was taken off the strattera but taking the opc3. by this time, the neuro was convinced that it was working and had a look of satisfaction on her face..."well, you don't seem to need us any longer" i didn't think so, but just wanted to touch base "if a natural antioxidant is working, that's good, natural is much better than taking 'drugs', and it seems to be working" (and she said drugs in an almost disdainful way)...so we parted ways and no longer need to go to the neuro unless it's not effective long-term. i'm so excited that's behind us!

a stop at wal-mart, get a snack, drive through horrendous traffic, supper at sonny's bbq with the fam...

home and hanging out,meds to nick, kids to bed at a decent time.

two hours later, nick's still awake, shaky, dizzy, hyper, limbs feeling heavy like bricks, crying, angry, spaced out, mood swings... we figure out it's the midrin, he took 2 as per the directions. it's obviously too much for him. called the on-call ped, told to call poison control center to double check their info, and told to let him "ride it out" but check on him throughout the night to make sure he's responsive...

fun, waking up every hour to rouse a kid, that's how i like to spend my sleepy time! well, of course i'll do it, i'm the mommy, i do whatever is necessary to take care of my kids and make sure they're healthy and well. (not that i've been able to control much of this headache business lately....at least we got his neuro appointment moved up 2 weeks and go in this thursday....pushy mom that i am!) yep, just call me...

supermom!!! (at least today, please!)

back to life, back to reality...

back to school tomorrow morning. part of me is looking forward to getting back into a regular routine, part of me is dreading it. i have one week left before i start classes, so i've got to tie up the loose ends for that too (call financial aid, fax them a paper, call business office, call university bookstore....i think that's all). also, elisabeth has an appointment in the afternoon so the kids and i get a short day back, so that helps a bit to know it won't be a full day. haha

so yeah, back at it! maybe a routine will help me get on top of organizing things this week too.....but don't hold your breath!

amazing grace...

"amazing because it is"....so true! that's the title to a song by the almost but it's what comes to mind when i think of my church too. grace community amazes me more and more the longer i'm there. the love and understanding that's shown to everyone who needs it from almost everyone else....it is truly amazing! i'm so glad we're there and can't think of a better place to be "exploring grace, experiencing growth, and extending God's love" while "building a better community by God's grace". worship this morning was amazing (at least from my viewpoint on the worship team--both experienced by me, and observed in others), and the message was even more so.

i'll leave you with a video and the lyrics of our closing song (by matthew west), which brought me to tears at the end of both services....



only grace

there is no guilt here
there is no shame
no pointing fingers
there is no blame
what happened yesterday
has disappeared
the dirt has washed away
and now it's clear

there's only grace
there's only love
there's only mercy and believe me it's enough
your sins are gone
without a trace
there's nothing left now
there's only grace

you're starting over now
under the sun
you're stepping forward now
a new life has begun
your new life has begun

there's only grace
there's only love
there's only mercy and believe me it's enough
your sins are gone
without a trace
there's nothing left now
there's only grace

and if you should fall again
get back up, get back up
reach out and take my hand
get back up, get back up
get back up again
get back up again

there's only grace
there's only love
there's only mercy and believe me it's enough
your sins are gone
without a trace
there's nothing left now
there's only grace

more plans and dreams...

whether we get that house or not, there are things i want to do around here to make it more home-y and more "us". so yesterday afternoon, i sat down and looked up all of the furniture pieces needed to finish the house except for the kids' rooms (but we even found the beds they want, just didn't write it all down on my list). i can't wait to get these things purchased and put in to finally have the house "finished". it includes making myself an office/studio space, finishing jerry's office, master bedroom furniture, entertainment center (for our new huge tv) and a kitchen/dining set. this could all feasibly be accomplished by summer, and i'm excited! (that will mean a few more sewing and art projects too...to accessorize all of this great stuff...i just got the best magazine yesterday and can't wait to get fabric and all of the stuff to jazz up our space a bit!)

anyway, on my internet journey through wal-mart, target and ikea websites i also was pleasantly surprised to find out that target is still carrying the line of "simply shabby chic" bed linens i started getting for elisabeth 2 years ago. i showed them to her, and she was so happy that i found them! i told her that if she wanted, we could finish decorating her room as her birthday present, but that's all she'd get for her birthday. she excitedly agreed that this is a great idea!

below is the shams/duvet that match her curtains, and below that is the quilt. i already have 3 curtain panels, and i'm going to use one of them as fabric for extra projects. on top of that, we found some great fabric lined baskets at big lots today. for around $40 i can get a hamper and 4 matching baskets for her shelves. that isn't even the best of it...i found a beautiful ballet picture (huge too, i might add...) at marshall's last week and put it on layaway to keep it out of the house as long as possible. if we break down and get her the bed from ikea too (picture also below), her room will be absolutely amazing! i just bought some "pooch" yarn today (reminds me of a poodle) in a mix of cream, tan and mauve...perfect for her room, and i'm going to knit a throw for her too. i don't know who's more excited, elisabeth or me!!!

i just love my "new" sewing machine...

actually, i've had it since june, and it was given to me by my friend tina (who couldn't figure out how to thread it....it's one of those self-threaders lol---and her nickname is mcgyver?!? hehe she's good at a lot of stuff, just not sewing machines i guess....i love you tina!!!)

so i've had some fabric since our friend bob's b'day in july. it's what the party host used for table clothes for his "fiesta". it's black with multi-colored chili peppers all over it, perfect match for jeni's kitchen. so it was given to jeni and i told her that i could make her an apron with it. (she's probably totally forgotten by now! lol)

since i've been home over break i decided to pull it out, and elisabeth sat using hers (a christmas gift) with me for a couple of hours one day and we made a vest and jean skirt (for her new american girl doll) out of the cut-off portion of some jeans i cropped off for halloween. it turned out rather cute. then i made both of them (elisabeth and her doll) matching aprons, those rocked too. (wish i had a working camera, i'd definitely post some pics!)

but i digress... as elisabeth was sitting there stitching swirls and whirls on the piece of denim that became the vest, i made a bib apron out of the chili pepper fabric. but you know, that's not good enough for jeni, no, jeni needs a fru-fru apron and the bib apron was rather basic. so i decided to design my own apron using part of a child's pattern, and i am adding a bib to it too. it's got large scallops on the bottom edge and on the bib top, and heart shaped pockets. the plan was to edge it in red bias tape, but due to the twists and turns of scallops and hearts, it looked rather unprofessional. so i decided to see what my new machine could really do....

i took a scrap of fabric to play with and tried the scalloped stitch and decided to do that along the edges of the pockets, skirt and bib....too cute! i did it in red thread (since i didn't use the bias tape) and it turned out really well...after about 4-5 hours of intricate cutting with my big sewing shears. (note to self...buy some small precision scissors next time you're out!)

i've still got to finish making the ties and neck strap, and attach everything to the waistband, etc. but i think it's going to be so cute! i hate to give it away, my first "real" apron! i will definitely post pictures of it, and the matching bib apron.

on a side note, jeni likes for her family to match, so i figured this was the perfect way for them to match when making a meal. she's got a "his 'n' hers" apron set to allow greg to join her in the kitchen and look cute together! just think how cute they'll be when using their new oven mitt and potholders i'm going to make them too!!! ;) (i might even go buy a kitchen towel to make one of those hanging towels or something, we'll see.)

so until i have a camera, you'll just have to imagine my genius creativity! hehe

sidenote on my dream home... i really want to do this! even if it means getting someone else to invest the money and us either having to buy them out or sell it for profit, all i kept thinking while i was cutting the apron edges and watching hgtv was all of the things i'd do to make that one freakin' awesome home!!!

dream home update...

jerry and i stopped by there, it's definitely a "fixer upper", but so much potential!!! it has been lived in for the past 40 years until a couple of months ago when the couple moved north to be closer to family. before that, it was owned by the knights of columbus and walls were torn down to make big open spaces for their meetings. they got it from the original owner, so it's only changed hands 3 times. the pool's in good shape and it's a huge lot of land.

there's a caretaker of the property that lives next door. he came out to talk to us and his livelihood has been doing the restoration of historical houses in alabama and georgia, so he knows a bit about it. he said it'd take about $200,000 or so to really restore it right (and that's contracting it out yourself, not hiring a company to do it). the first things that would need done are rewiring the house and putting in an a/c system. it's liveable, but not pretty on the inside and would take some work. i love the idea of it, but the money is the issue, for sure! of course, it could be sold in a few years for over $1 million, but i'd want to live there and not move! i'd eventually rebuild the pool house to match the house and enclose the yard in a picket fence. probably would build a detached garage too, because there's not one there. i sooooo want this house!

hey, anything's possible, right?!? i can hold out hope until it's bought by someone else, can't i?!? :)

dream home found!!!

A RARE HISTORICAL FIND in the HEART of OLD DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO -

ELEGANT FOLK VICTORIAN said to have been built in 1885. This 2,240 sq. ft., 2-story, 4-bedroom/2-bath home, with new three-year old metal roof, nice in-ground pool, charming old architecture and character, wrap-around verandas, and very nice huge corner lot is still graced with old majestic towering palm trees. Former home to the colony's Justice of the Peace, and rich with fascinating history and intrigue, this old wonder with many of its original features is just waiting to be "restored with love". This grand structure is an absolute diamond in the rough in the heart of beloved San Antonio, home of the Rattlesnake Festival, near Lake Jovita and St. Leo University. This property is being offered "as-is".


oh my wow! i could totally live there! ever since seeing brandon and heather's old little bungalow in tampa before the holidays, i've been dying to get into an old house with character, well this would definitely fall into that category, wouldn't it? i don't want to live in tampa, zhills or d. city, but san antonio could be do-able. there's nothing old like that in w.c., everything is newer, the oldest homes were built in the '80s, maybe a few older than that, but not "old". san antonio is a neat little town, very quaint and a little out of the way, but too much out. it's about a 10 minute drive from where i currently live, so really no biggie. the only issue would be schools, but there are ways to work around that too. so there we go, another "goal" for my business profits....to buy that house and pray it stays on the market for awhile! i'm fine with painting and fixing up and restoring, it sounds like a great adventure. guess i'll be going on a chilly road trip this afternoon and check it out, i need to run to d. city anyway, so that can just be a little detour on the way up there! i can't wait to see this house!

"to do" today...

1. eat a healthy breakfast (check)

2. drink lots of water (7 glasses, probably one more coming)

3. conquer mt. washmore (hey, it can't be done in just one day!)

4. clean kitchen spotless (well, maybe not spotless, but all of the holidayware is put away for another year!)

5. clean front room & vacuum/dust all "living" areas (why do today....?)

6. finish jeni's "cutesy" apron (another "tomorrow" thing, unless i get in there in a bit, if the wvu game gets ugly i might)

7. clean up bedroom, paint tv stand, and rearrange room (yeah right, what was i thinking?)

8. watch training video for transitions again (did that! i'm so excited about the business!!!)

9. email tina about business stuff, order arrival and meeting at ymca (did, no response, i wonder if everything's okay with them.....i'll call her tomorrow.)

okay, that's enough to be done! the cable guy may come out today, so i'd better get started on 4 & 5 so i'm not doing any of that while he's here. i like checking things off of lists, so i'll probably come back and update progress later.

updated/edited: cable guy didn't need to come, csr lady was an idiot! lol 5 of 9 isn't bad, i did more than half!!!

fresh start...

sometimes it's nice to think "that happened last year" and consider that you can start fresh on goals you want to accomplish.

i'm not so great at keeping resolutions, but i do have some goals i'd like to attain this year...

1.) there's always the "lose weight" resolution. mine is to lose weight, yes, but to change my lifestyle habits to be healthy and keep the weight off. my focus is going to be on losing the fat, gaining muscle, getting stronger and healthier, with the help of transitions. if you're interested in learning more about it, let me know because that brings me to #2...

2.) i'm starting my own business, with a focus on healthy living. the main focus is going to be on offering weightloss classes and health supplements (see above link). on the side, i'll be selling some websites, because that's where the quick cash is, and i'd love to take a leave of absence from my job at school to do #3... my goal is to get my business going in such a way that i can afford to take a leave of absence, and jerry can quit being bi-vocational and focus 100% on youth ministry, even if he's only getting paid part-time.

3.) i've enrolled in 15 credit hours of classes to finish my degree....finally!!! i can't believe it's been over 14 years since i left college and never took the opportunity to go back and finish. that adds up to a lot of bucks lost, so i try not to think about it. lol my goal here is to get good grades, be organized (juggling this and all the rest of my life will be quite the feat), and if at all possible graduate by the end of this year. if i can take a leave of absence at least for the fall semester, i could take enough classes to finish by then.

4.) my biggest goal is concerning family/home stuff. with everything listed above, schedules are going to be crazy. my goal is to rock at time management so that we can have quality family time, while juggling everything else. i want my relationships with my husband and kids to grow stronger than they've ever been (we're getting ready to enter the teen years here, which is scary), and in order to do that, i'm going to focus on strengthening my spiritual life too. i let myself be too busy to really focus on it most of the time, so my goal is to manage my time in such a way that it will be a priority and my family will reap the benefits of my relationship with God.

so there you have it, nothing flashy or fancy, just my goals for the new start a new year brings...

"let's hope it's a good one....without any tears!" (that's my motto for the year, too many tears in previous years!)