Dreams

My dreams have been very vivid lately.  It has been kind of fun to wake in the morning because I am actually able to remember what I dreamt about the night before.  For me, there’s nothing worse than knowing you had an awesome dream, and not being able to remember it. 

I’m not going to bore you with too many details but two nights ago I had a dream about a huge winter storm that knocked out our power for a week.  I am pretty sure that this was brought on by my constant watch of the weather and the forecast of snow.  I was very hopeful we were going to get dumped on. Anyway, in the dream we had a huge blizzard.  We had to melt snow for water because our pipes froze and survive on the food we already had in the house.  We were able to cook on the gas stove and stay warm because of our gas fireplace but obviously we were without the ‘extras’ that my kids seem to believe they can’t live without...you know the Xbox, TV, Wii etc.  It was fun because we all slept in the living room, played card/board games by candle light, and told stories.  Then it got weird and for some reason all the snow melted really fast and Ryann got swept away by the water which means I had to then jump in to save her…yadda yadda yadda.  I woke before the story could go on.  Then, last night, I was involved in multiple knife fights.  Jon and I watched Bourne Identity before bed and I think that it was a bit of an influence on my unconscious mind.  I must say, I was quite the bad ass.  I was taking out bad guys left and right.  That was it…just a bunch of knife fights.

Anyway, sorry about the random dream nonsense, I don’t really know where that came from.  Maybe this is why I shouldn’t Blog…you get a whole lot of stupid Andrea thoughts.

This week should be about the same as any other week.  No big plans, just teaching and work.  Oh, get this!  Direct TV is no longer broadcasting FOX.  I don’t quite understand why but we no longer get the channel.  Guess what channel the Seahawks game is on this coming Sunday?  Yup, that’s right, FOX.  Needless to say, Jon is a little panicked.  We don’t quite know what we are going to do for the game.  Phone calls are being made so if you get a call from us it's not necessarily because we like you or want to know how you are doing.  It is because we need a TV that will show the game.  With that, I hope to talk with you soon!  *wink*

Oh, also, the Christmas decorations are down!  I did it and it’s before February!  Yay me…

Plan For 2011

So, I am going to try this whole Blog thing again.   

It is now January 2011 and I still can’t believe that 2010 is over and gone.  So much has changed over the past year and it is quite amazing to see where I and my family are at this time in our journey.  I am still busy but really, when is that going to change? I have made a few recent changes in my life but I don’t like to call them my ‘resolutions’.  I feel that if I give them that title, I am bound to give up or fail.  I am making a focused effort to make these changes a part of my life, for the long run.

#1:  I will stop smoking, indefinitely.  I have set my official end date on January 15^th.  I quit a few months ago but didn’t stay on my medication and started back up after 3 months of quitting.  This really bummed me out because I thought I was done and I quit taking the medication.  Later my Dr. informed me that I need to stay on the med. for at least a year.  Ohhhh, that would have been nice to know.  Anyway, it is going to happen this time.

#2: I will get my life more balanced between work, teaching, family time, house chores, and MY time.  Now, mind you, I really don’t know how I am going to do this.  I really don't believe in the “to do” lists or that “positive thinking” will fix it all.  I don’t wanna read a book about “taking back control of your life”.  All of these things are kind of ridiculous to me.  I feel that to sit down and write a list or read a book is just a way of distracting yourself from the real work.  I mean, you know what you need to do, you just for some reason or another choose not to get it done.  I know that books and lists work for other people and if you are one of the persons it works for, congrats!  I on the other hand will be having an inner monolog that will sound something like “you know you have paperwork to finish for work, get off your ass and get it done” or “get off Facebook and vacuum the damn rug” and maybe even “wake up and get to the gym you fat ass”.  So if you hear me talking to myself, you know what the conversation is about and that you don’t need to worry about getting me in to see a psychiatrist.

#3:  Get my Christmas decorations down and packed away.  Yeah, I said it.  I have yet to take down our tree or the decorations.  This will get accomplished by an internal monolog of “dear Lord, it is February women.  Take down the freaking stockings!!!”

#4: I will make it to the gym at least 3x a week.  I want to drop these few extra lbs.  Actually…I should be honest…few extra lbs is kind of an understatement.  I think I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life.  I know that I am always happier when I am working out.  I also feel better when I can actually fit into my damn pants.  So, I will go to the gym with my friend and listen to fun music while doing the elliptical or treadmill.  There are worse things in life, right?

Okay, that is all for today.  I may come up with some more changes but I think this will be a good start.  I should probably check Facebook and then tell myself to get up and vacuum the damn rug.   

Groups of three...

So, they say that bad things come in three’s right?  I haven’t had a traffic ticket since I was in college.  I was speeding home from Pullman, trying to get home for the Christmas holiday.  At that point, it was the third in a short period of time also, maybe 6 months.  Lame.

Recently (August) I was driving to get Shea’s Birthday cake from Dairy Queen…Yummy.  It was a Thursday, which means I wasn’t working but I noticed that I had a missed phone call on my work phone.  I don’t know what made me listen to the message.  I usually don’t even look at my phone on my days off, but there I was, listening to this message, in my car, without a blue tooth.  On that note, my job had not yet provided us with a blue tooth even though the law changed about 2 months ago (making it a primary offense), we do most of our phone calls on the road between home visits AND the staff’s multiple requests for them.  Anyway, I get pulled over for using my phone in my car.  I get it…unsafe and now against the law.  I am not denying the fact that I shouldn’t have been on the phone, just super annoyed especially since it was a work related message and I wasn’t even WORKING that day.  Lame.  The ticket was $128, I think, but I went to court and got it decreased to $60.

This Friday I am taking Shawn to a friend’s birthday party in Walla Walla.  Mind you, I was not supposed to be the one driving him.  Jon had been in charge of this but we found out that the party started at 4pm and Jon would be at work till 5pm.  It takes about an hour to get to Walla Walla so it fell into Mommas lap.  I wake Ryann up early from her nap and get on the road around 3:30.  On the way home I had just gotten on the main highway and had not yet got my cruise control set up.  I noticed I was going 70ish mph and started to slow down.  Then I saw the State Patrol pull through the center divider and get on my tail.  I pulled over and he of course gives me a ticket for going 70 in a 60.  He didn’t seem to care that he clocked me 3 times and my speed was going down from 73 to 70.  I don’t usually speed, really.  I may go 5mph over but honestly I don’t make it a habit of hauling ass.  Now I have another ticket for $113 and if I want to reduce it I have to go back to the Walla Walla court house.  Is it worth it?  I will have to pay for gas and it may only get reduced by a few bucks.  Hmmm, what to do… Again, Lame.

Anyone know how to break the jinx of three?  Is there some sort of dance I should be doing to break the cycle?  Maybe certain foods I should be eating or not eating?  Any advice would be appreciated.  *no smart ass comments needed...example: "use your blue tooth and don't speed"*

Same thing, different day...

Okay, I am supper lame at this whole blog thing…I am starting to wonder if I should have even started it.  I am not a good writer or photographer nor do I have a super crazy/fun life that people really care about.  So I thought.  Then my awesome friend M let me know that she looked at the blog and was sad that I hadn’t updated.  In all honesty I feel like my days are the same thing, day in and day out.  Example you ask?  Here it is my week in a nut shell, but what kind of nut shell would it be?  You decide.

Sunday-Tuesday: I am out of the house at my Case Management job.  I am home anywhere between 4:30-6:30, it really depends on my clients…fellow CM, you get this.  I have dinner with the family, which my husband makes cuz he is the BOMB.  I then head into the basement to take care of my two loads of laundry (which I try to do daily so I don’t get behind: because that sucks!).  By this time it is pushing 7ish so I gotta get Ryann into the bathtub.  After this I try and get the house picked up.  There is always a stray sock, paperwork from school, random toys, etc.  Then either Jon or I get Ryann to bed.  This is around 8:00-8:30.  Big kids go down between 9:00-9:15.

Wednesday: I teach my kids at home while fielding phone calls and doing paperwork for the CM job.  I have to go and get my big kids from their PE class at our local court club along with a friend’s kiddos so I have to get Ryann down for her nap early so I can wake her at 3:20 to get to the court club at 3:30.  Then all kids to our place till B comes to pick up her two kids (4ish).  At this point I am trying to figure out dinner and this is done by 5:30-6:00 when Jon comes home.  Then see above for the after dinner routine.

Thursday-Friday:  I am at home doing school work with the kids when I am not transporting them to class at MCP.  Ryann has to be at preschool on Thursday.  I also have to get Shea and Annie to MCP on Thursday.  All of this is supposed to happen at 9:00am.  Then I come home to Shawn and we work.  Then at 11:30 I go pick up Ryann.  Then I take Shawn to school at 1:30 and pick up Shea, bring him home and start him on work.  Then I put Ryann to bed for her nap.  Then I go and get Shawn and Annie at 2:30 from MCP.  We do about an hour more of work and then wrap it up…and then…see above for dinner/after dinner routine.

So, this is why I don’t feel that anyone cares about my day.  It is the same damn thing every week.  Who cares, right?  I can’t even remember any funny or interesting stories.  Ooo, wait…nope never mind…nothin’.  But there was this one time…nope, just kiddin’…nothin’.    Sometimes I feel like a broken record.  I feel like I am often saying the same thing over and over or reliving the same day.  “Annie, did you feed the dogs?” “Shea, you need to put away dishes” “Shawn, did you practice your guitar?” “Ryann, NO!” “Babe, could you please put Ryann to bed tonight?”  Yikes…Does this even make for good reading?  Does anyone else deal with this? 

On a wicked awesome note…all of my big kids tested a whole grade level ABOVE their current grade level in math…cool, right?

Okay…off to do: the after dinner schedule…see above.

Finally...First day of preschool!

Okay, Ryann’s first day of school.  At this point it almost seems ridiculous to tell the story…sorry it has taken me so long.  Alright, my friend came over to get some good pictures of her first day since my “point and shoot” (which I think all my photography friends call it) is rather unpredictable.  She looked super cute and we got her to school, although it was without Jon because he just couldn’t handle having to take her to school.  He was kind of a mess!  Actually, I was doing fine until I saw him…then I started crying.  I think it was so hard for him because she is his last one to go through this process.  We got to school and walked in with our backpack.  She was pretty excited.  We put her backpack on the hook outside of the classroom and she went into the “calendar” room to find her nametag and hang it up.  While she was doing this J and I were in the doorway taking pictures and supporting her through this process.  There was another mom behind us for 5 seconds, maybe.  With attitude she says “excuse me” and pushes past us.  I guess she didn’t really care about her daughters first day of preschool.  I cursed her under my breath and went back to saying goodbye to Ryann.  She was at the table with the other kids coloring a picture and she said “No, Momma. You stay here?”  I replied with “No Baby, you can do it.  I will be back and get you soon”.  I waited until she got distracted with her teacher (who is super awesome by the way) and then took the long walk back to the car without my baby.  I must admit the 2.5hrs without her was bitter sweet…missed her like crazy.  When I went back to get her she was with the other kids outside playing.  She of course yelled “Momma!” and came running, which always makes you feel good.  At this point I found that she was not wearing shoes and this made me wonder…hmm what happened?  Came to find out from the teacher that she was trying to use the bathroom and had trouble pulling up her dress and then pulling down her panties.  Her shoes got a nice amount of pee in them along with her dress.  Her hair was crazy and she did have some snack on her new dress.  Honestly…she was the cutest I have ever seen her.  Her smile said it all and I knew that she had a great time.  The whole way home she talked about learning her letters, her name and showed off all of her pictures that she colored.  Heartwarming, to say the least. 

That was the first day of preschool.  Sorry it took so long!  I had a feeling I was going to get a little behind on the ol’ blog.  My days are filled with either work, teaching kids, driving kids, doing laundry, telling someone “No, you can’t play the XBOX”, doing laundry again, answering what is for dinner, or cooking a meal.  At this point, the big kids are in Idaho with Angel.  I drove them on Friday and we will get them back on Monday.  I must admit it was a nice little break, but kinda weird.  It was very quiet while Ryann was napping on Saturday.  I got behind on laundry because I boycotted this weekend.  Well, let me clarify…I did three loads of wash but I haven’t folded a single item. The clothes are dry and sitting on top of the dryer in my laundry room…Yikes.  Anyone want to come and fold them?  Alright, time to tackle another week. Happy Sunday and I hope you have an amazing week!

It's all good!

Sorry I haven’t updated about the Mom situation. We are all good. So, the short story is we had a huge cancer scare. Mom had her surgery and it went great. Get this…they pulled a FOOTBALL sized tumor out of her tummy along with 7 liters of fluid. I think she lost like 10+ pounds, which she is obviously happy about :0). Anyway, this tumor was completely benign and in fact it was some rare type of disease called Meigs Syndrome, you can look it up if you want. The Dr. stated that this was only the second or third time he has seen this and he has been a surgeon for over 30 years. Crazy, right? It was so funny, when we got to go back and see Mom in the recovery room, we told her about the news and she said…”Hahaha I told you it wasn’t cancer. I knew I would be fine hahaha”. Leave it to my Mom. Those who know her can probably picture her saying that, she is a tough cookie. She got to go home yesterday and is feeling pretty good…so she says. I can never really tell with her. She never wants to worry my sister or me and will often keep issues hidden till she has to say something. I got to thinking…9 years ago on 9/11/01 she went in for a liver transplant and came out kickin’ and then yesterday on 9/11/10 she went home from a big surgery. I know that 9/11 is often a day of mourning for my fellow Americans because of the terrible and senseless terrorist attacks. Every year I mourn but also celebrate because my Mom is still here. We call it her second birthday.


So with all this that went down on Tuesday the 7th we were also supposed to start the home schooling thang. Obviously it didn’t happen so when I got home we started on Thursday. I still don’t have my friggin curriculum which upsets me because I ordered the stuff way ahead of time! Oh-well, we have borrowed some books and got started with what we could. My stuff should be here by the 15th…we will see. So far it is going okay. There are a few “bugs” that we have to get worked out but really it is a pretty big transition for Shawn and Annie (Shea did home school with us last year) so I expected some issues. I am excited to really get into the swing of things and find my routine. I struggle with things in chaos and when I didn’t have any curriculum to work with, it was a mess. Plus on Wednesday Ryann woke with a stuffy nose and watery eyes. She got worse throughout the day and woke with the same issues on Thursday along with a fever. She didn’t get to go to preschool, which was really sad because it was her day to bring snacks for all her friends.  There were lots of tears.  Anyway, she was sick, grumpy and just wanted Mom to hold her. So I did what teaching I could between nose wipes, a few Dora episodes, and snuggles. When she went down for her nap the big kids and I really got down to business. She is all better now and ready for her next day at preschool.

Okay...I want to thank everyone who prayed for my family and sent good thoughts…IT WORKED!!!

Good thoughts are welcome...

So, I have been struggling lately. My Mom is sick. She will be going in for surgery on this Tuesday. Without going into detail, I am trying to keep my spirits up. Add that fear to my everyday life and I feel like I am going to explode. We were supposed to start our home school curriculum this Monday, but I never got my K-12 curriculum. So, can’t really get started without that. This might be for the best because I will be leaving Monday afternoon to be with my parents the night before Mom goes in for surgery.

I have been making the trip to Seattle/Tacoma area lately, which normally wouldn’t be an issue. I like going home, seeing my old stomping grounds, catching up with friends, and enjoying what the Westside has to offer (trees/The Sound/Mt Rainer…) but these last few trips have not been for fun. First, my Uncle passed away and I went back on a Tuesday and then turned around and left Wednesday afternoon, after the service. It was nice to see family but obviously it was a lame reason to get together. Then, about two weeks later, I went back again for another funeral. This time, one of my best friends from H.S. lost his Dad, and I wasn’t going to miss this time to support my friend and a family that was like my second family… That was also only a two day trip.  Needless to say, I am kind of a mess. I have to work today and I realized that I really have a lot to catch up on, along with seeing my scheduled clients. Motivation is low. Okay, that is all.  If you pray, please add my Mom to your daily prayers...If not, please think good thoughts on Tuesday for her and my family.

Here are a couple pictures of Ryann’s first day of preschool. My friend took “better” pictures because my camera is often a pain in my…neck.

I will give you the story of her first day of school later, it was of course...well, I will tell you later. Nothing major, just a story.  I was told she did great!