A New Semester

I started my Spring 2008 college classes. Wow. I'm really in for it! I am taking Shakespeare, Historical Literary Commentary, US Literature and British Literature. My books are all very hefty. I'm going to get some beefy arms carrying these books around. Luckily, I only have two classes a day.

All of my classes will be very time consuming, demanding, and dense. I should really only take one class at a time, but I'd never graduate if I kept that pace. I also need to finish an incomplete that I took in a history class. I should be able to graduate in December of 08.

All this college stuff all week has me pretty wiped out. Ok, not really. I'm blaming college but really I have a chest cold. I don't wanna go to the doctor about it so I'm just denying that it's very bad. I've been drowning myself in hot tea, sucking on cough drops, and resting as much as possible.

In fact I was going to head to bed early last night and catch a couple extra hours of good sleep. But, no.... my oldest daughter called me at 11pm. "Moooom! I need help!" She was in the parking lot at the mall as she'd just clocked out. But, she left her keys in the store! Why doesn't she put her keys in her purse? I have no idea. Teenagers do weird things that I just cannot understand. Me, being the wonderful supporting mom that I am... I said to the airhead girl "I'm sure the mall cops will drive around the parking lot sometime and you can flag them down and they can let you back in the store for your keys. Goodnight."

Nothing like making your kid sweat! But I didn't head up to bed, I made a hot tea in a to-go cup, put my shoes on, and headed out on a rescue mission in my jammies. But I wasn't very far when she called again, "Mom! Guess what! You were right! The mall cops helped me get my keys! I am on my way home now!" Yay. So I flipped around and went home too.

And that's how I ran the Momathon this week!

Playing Blog Tag! Six Inconsequential Things

I've been tagged! Shelley over at I Miss My Sanity (I miss mine too, Shelley) tagged me. That's what I get for stalking her blog. This tag game is Six Inconsequential Things About Me. I'll give it a shot.

The Rules:
Link to the person that tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Non important things.... hey, I'm full of those! My teenage princesses could bust out 666 non important things-habits-quirks about me. In one breath. They'd love this game. Let's leave them out of this, shall we?

1. This one would be a quirk. I cannot stand it if someone's front jeans pockets are messed up. If the pocket lining is sticking out a little or the pocket back is a wee little bit out of line (meaning the inside of the pocket is all screwed up) I just get the willies! And I shout "Straighten out your pockets!"

2. Habit. I shut off at 11pm. Always have. Like a switch on a timer. I need to be home and cozy in my pajammies by then. Holiday Schmoliday! If it's that late, I'm done. I have a habit of ruining a good long fun night out with my hubby. Even when we were dating, he'd have to take me home at 11 and then he'd go back out. When I was young and silly, I worked an all night shift at Hardees... glorious job of mopping floors all night. I worked one shift and quit. I just have to shut down. I'm not admitting to being asleep, but I definitely don't function well and I'm certainly not socialable.

3. Quirkish Thing. I am scared to death of needles. Medical needles not sewing needles. I love to sew! Poke me and you're as good as done. No, I don't get violent, I usually just have a panic attack and pass out. Being pregnant was fun. NOT! I'll do anything to avoid a needle, which is not necessarily a good thing. I'm currently kind of afraid of Manic Mom at the moment.

4. Thing. Red is my favorite color. I was really excited when we moved here and the school colors are Red and Black. Yippee! We were living where the school colors were green and white. Green. My least favorite color. I would never ever wear green.

5. Thing. I have a stroller fettish addiction fascination. I own three strollers and I only have one baby. I've had my eye on another new stroller too. I don't just like any old stroller... no, I like the expensive kind! Just in case I ever go for a walk, I'd like to choose a stroller from my own little fleet.

6. Quirk-Habit-Thing Toss-Up. I don't like dogs. I like cats. But I love my dog! And Only my dog! Simple reason really.... she's really a cat trapped in a dog's body.

Tag! You're It! to you six bloggers:

Beth at Life in General

Yaya at Steve, Alicia and the Kiwi Girls

The Caffinated Librarian

Just A Mother of Two

The Literary Rockstar

Desirae at Burnt Cookies

On the subject of Carseats.....

I was reading Burnt Cookie's blog about her car seat dilemma and had to share my carseat excitement. Finally, the third kid, and I find a good seat! Third time is a charm.

My older girls had infant car seats that literally looked like 5 gallon buckets with a baby sized notch cut out of the side, so you could fold the kid in half and stuff her in the bucket. We always called it the pickle bucket.

Then they grew into their big baby carseat which had a bar that came down in the front and you clicked the bar down and the shoulder straps, etc. That was a pretty good seat, except that the underside of the bar had the protruding metal clip on it and I was always konking the girls in the head with it. They had plenty of carseat head bruises before they were done with that seat.

My how carseats have changed! For the better!

I have my tot riding around in the Evenflo Triumph. It's a good seat! Looks like a deluxe lazyboy. The teens were jealous at first because the baby has the best seat in the van! Really, look at that comfy thing! I want one for me! And it goes from 5 - 40 pounds so I skipped the pickle bucket seat. Although, the basket carrier looks pretty comfy too, not at all like a bucket.

Here is a picture of how Gracie rides. The rest of us don't have it quite as good, but we're getting over our jealousy little by little. No one else in the family can put their toes in their ears either. We've all got a lot to learn.

Top Ten Signs that I've Been Breastfeeding TOO Long

1. My boobs sit in my lap.

2. I need a really big chair because we need a lot of room since my baby is almost 3 ft long, er, tall.

3. When someone offers the baby milk, she comes running to mommy.

4. My teenagers say "Gross Mom, put your boobs away!"

5. I've become immune to biting, twisting, yanking, and pinching. Doesn't even phase me anymore.

6. The teething scars are starting to fade.

7. The baby wants me to nurse her toys.

8. Bras that don't open for nursing really confuse me.

9. I wrote "Cow Milk" on my grocery list. (Did I think I might accidently buy some mommy-milk?)

10. The baby hugged my boob and said "Ahhh Hug BoBo!" (yes, she named my boobs "Bo-Bo")

Guess this last one counts as a double sign that I have been breastfeeding TOO long! I wonder if I'll get the hint or if I'll have to join a 12 step program to kick the habit. Do they make a patch for this?

Cheetos for Breakfast

It's finally Friday and it has been a very busy week. This morning I woke up with a headache and sore throat. Not good for mommy!

This morning I offered my littlest princess oatmeal with raisins for breakfast and she said "no" and gave it "the hand". She went to the kitchen and pulls off the counter a bag of Cheetos, brings it to me and says "some some Beeeez!" Translated that means "I want some of this please". You know what, I don't feel good. I opened the Cheetos. She's happy and quiet. I'm ok with that!

Apparently, she doesn't have a sore throat too.

We've had such a busy week. I've been busy buying and selling college textbooks on half.com and ebay and amazon. Decided to sell my baby backpack carrier that I just had to have and I've never used it; I posted that on Craigslist.

Craigslist. Lemme tell ya, there are some idiots out there. And they all want to buy my baby backpack. One guy wanted to trade me for one item on his long list of crap. Another person wanted me to deliver it 40 miles away. Another person wants to know what it looks like - scroll down! I posted 4 photos! Finally, I get someone who sounds reasonable and wants to buy it. Yay! Oh never mind, she just read what town I'm in and I'm really far away. Who are these people? Don't they read the ad? Forget it! I'll keep it and hand it down to someone who has a baby and wants it. Someday.....


All my online bargaining has included trips to the UPS store to mail stuff, trips to Barnes & Noble to hunt for books and compare prices, trips to the college bookstores to hunt and compare. I think I'm winning the college book war with the bookstore though. I got my daughter a brand new Chemistry book for $59 and the bookstore sells it used for $101. That was my big score of the week!

Babycakes and I had a playdate with her new babysitter. That really went well and I feel great about the new sitter, her kidlets and how it'll go. It's going to be hard to go to college 4 days a week without my baby attached to me. I have separation anxiety just thinking about it! What a relief to have her with a trustworthy sitter. I am a natural worrier and I'll be doing enough worrying without that added stress of feeling uneasy or just not confident that I placed her in the best care. I'm so happy with this arrangement!

The teenager is back is school. It's been a struggle getting out of bed each morning for both of us, but we're doing it. I can't believe I took a wrong turn on Tuesday morning and got "lost" taking her to school. I say "lost" in quotes because I knew where I was. I did! Sorta. I just couldn't find my way back out of that neighborhood.

My husband has been calling me all week asking me to do little favors. Really? But, I did do a few. We went to Home Depot and got him a turkey fryer that will never see a turkey. He's going to brew his own beer. He's pretty excited. I'm dreading the mess he will make and abandon. You know it'll happen. So he's been full of little favors that he needs done for him, like filling the propane tank so he can cook his beer. Just little favors like that.

Between chasing the toddler, dealing with craigslist responses, getting ready for a new college semester, starting high school for the 2nd half of the year, and getting ready to brew beer..... I've come to the point where I'm letting my toddler eat Cheetos for breakfast.

Christmas break ends tomorrow!

Back to school! Finally!!! It's mid-January for Pete's sake! Christmas break has been going on far too long! The school had 3 half days and let out on Dec 19th, so the break was just a few days short of a full month. Tomorrow I send one of my girls back to school. Back to a schedule. Back to a routine. Back to getting out of bed before noon. Back to normal!

Ah, but you realize what this means for me? Back to driving the mom-taxi at 7am in my pajammies. Back to arranging my baby's naptime around school pick-up time. Back to nagging about homework. Back to thinking about lunch money and dress code. Back to keeping the days straight so I can answer the daily question "Is it an A-Day or a B-day"?

My oldest daughter and I both start back to school in a week. And my husband went back 2 weeks ago. I'm glad we aren't all starting back at once. I need to adjust. I can only get back in the groove of getting this family out the door one person at a time.

Mornings are chaotic and I'm never at my best before coffee. And with the baby still waking up 3 times a night for nursing.... I am surprised I can get anyone out the door at all! But they all wake up saying "Mooooooom, Where's my....." My husband might be the worst one of the bunch. And then my daughter usually thinks the 15 minute drive to school can be magically done in less than 2. "Moooooom, hurry! I'm gonna be late!" You know, because it's always my fault that she can't get out of bed even though I nearly pull all my hair out trying to get her up for an hour. Pre-coffee. Maybe I was trying to shake her dresser awake. I usually give her the benefit of the doubt and let it slide while she complains and I stop for each and every stop sign all the way to the school. I have to look in the mirror 17 times to make sure I did remember to bring the baby. Seriously, I'm not with-it before the coffee kicks in.

So I have 4 days of driving the early morning mom-taxi before I have to start school myself. Then of course, I'll have to have myself put together and the baby ready for the sitter. Some mental preparation is necessary for a feat this great! I'm not saying I'm gonna brush my hair or anything but starting tomorrow sleeping in is history.

I'm going vertical early in the morning and kissing Christmas break laziness goodbye. Hmmm.... I like my laziness but I'm glad to see the kid get rid of hers! Ah, the dynamics mommy-hood!

Zoo Photos

This is a winery on the way to the Wild Animal Park. I had to take a picture to prove to my sister that it did not burn down. She was very concerned about the vineyard!

This is the duck that was chased by my little princess until the duck decided, Enough! And he bit her. Quack! Quack!
Flamingos. So pretty! Why do they smell like monkey poo? Birds are her favorite, so we didn't even go near the monkeys. Only smelled like we did.
I thought this flower was very pretty! A puff of color!

Big Red MaCaw birds giving each other some love. We spent most of our time in the aviary looking at birds.
Gracie yelled "Quack!" to every bird in the aviary.

The deer got to hear, "Good dog, Sanny" and a nice pat on the back.

Quack!

This morning's thick fog finally lifted so Gracie and I got out today. Yay! We were both getting way too bored at home.

First we went to the college. Elevators freak her out so in my infinite wisdom decided to let her walk the stairs while I be-bop the stroller up or down the stairs - whichever way we were going. Well, that's sure a lot of work!!! I worked up a sweat because every flight of stairs Gracie would go up for a while, then down, then up, then down.... and I only had one hand to manage the stroller on the stairs so I could hold her other hand.

I finally decided she could scream all she wants in the elevator.

We stood in line behind 30 or so people. That was fun! Gracie threw her toy a million times and said UH OH and then someone would pick it up and give it back to her. She'd search out her next victim and do it again. Fun times! I was just glad she found something to do so she quit fussing about waiting in line forever. Tuition paid, mission accomplished!

After we left, we stopped at In-n-Out for a bite. A Double-Double is diet food, right? Gracie had fries and lots of ketchup.

I decided she put up with enough of me that she deserved a trip to the SD Wild Animal Park. It's only about 10 miles from the college and it was still pretty early in the day. So we went there. It was awesome! A weekday in January is a great time to go - we almost had the place to ourselves! We had a blast - saw lots of birds (her favorite) and quacked at ALL of them! Gracie chased a duck till she finally caught it and then it bit her. She really pouted about that. So we went into the petting area and pet the deer. Gracie is more like a sheepdog running and herding them. Back to the aviary.

She slept all the way home. I wanted to! I'll post pictures later. But we had a great time together and we both really needed an outing.

Yay! I got my Grades!

Finally got my grades for my Fall 2007 classes. I'm happy dancing today!!!

A Education as a Profession
A Post-Colonial/Post-Modern Fiction
B British Literature The Early Period
B US Literature The Early Period
B Western Literature

Got my 16 yr old's grades, but they weren't anything to brag about so lets just say she got the "Mom-Glare" and daddy cut her internet time back by 2 more hrs a day. She has one more week of Christmas break and then its back to school!

We are still waiting on our oldest daughter's grades. Hope they are brag-worthy!

Only 51 weeks to go

How was your first week of 2008? I got through it! only 51 more weeks to go.

My puker felt better for a day. Now she's got a cold and her tonsils are the size of Texas.

I started my diet. I only started it in my head though. So far its just been a mental diet as I work on "getting rid of the Christmas Candy".

My baby punched me in the nose yesterday. Oh the joys of motherhood! I now have a mark across the bridge of my nose. Looks like I was partying too much for New Years Eve! I really need to come up with a better battle story than "my baby socked it to me".

I've been busy this week buying and selling books on half.com. So far I sold four and bought five. I have a bunch of old books listed so I might be able to sell a few more before college starts. I have a few to buy yet too. Anyone want my Western Reader? I bought The Complete Works of Shakespeare - and I knew the minute it arrived! There was a very loud THUD at the front door. Since it didn't fit in the mailbox, the mailman dropped it at the door. As soon as I heard the THUD I hopped right up and squealed "Shakespeare!" My husband had the most bewildered look on his face. I haven't seen him look that confused and frightened at the same time for quite a while. I wonder what he was thinking?

I've also spent this first week of 2008 being a good granddaughter. I was appointed "Party Invitation Designer" and I've been doing my best to accommodate my 99 1/2 yr old granny's wishes for the perfect party invitation. So far, I've made 15 invitations. And she hasn't approved any of them. I'm going bald from pulling my hair out. I'm following all her instructions for layout and color. So I decided she doesn't know what she wants, I'll throw out some other creative options. She didn't like those at all. Back to the original design. Tweek. Tweek. Tweek. No. No. No. Seriously, I'm about ready to .... to.... ah, who am I kidding. I'll make another one.

I've been posting the invites on flikr and my sisters have been posting comments. One of my sisters thought she'd be "helpful" and help my Grandma pick one, so she posted mean negative comments under most of the invites. And a glowing positive comment under the one she liked best. Did I come unglued? Well, yes I did. So, I deleted her comments and told her not to be mean and negative. She responded with "I'm not trying to be negative. I'm just trying to get her to hate them". Are you saying "huh?" to yourself and scratching your head? Me too.

Here are a few of the designs. Some of these are kind of rough - such as one needed the sepia toned down and another one lacks the No Gifts phrase. But they were rejected so I didn't continue to polish them up. The photo of the town is real. And it hasn't changed much. The baby photo is her in 1908. Pretty cool!

My Precious Public Puker

Just another day in the life of Me!

I grabbed the little shopping cart monster and one of teens and my long list and headed off to Sams Club. All we have left to eat in the house is candy. And we've been living off of it for three days.

On the way I stopped to ship some books that I sold on half.com. Score!

We get to Sams Club and Lexie says... don't drive around the parking lot so fast.... Mom, just pick a spot... quick twirling around.... geez, just park.... (I park)... I don't feel so good.... My response is "will you get the stroller out? Why are you just standing there? Come on Lex lets go" Lex says "I don't feel so good... I'm gonna throw up....

I'll let you imagine the noises she made..... ewwww!

So she's standing behind the van in the middle of the row puking. And I'm screaming "ewww eww ewww! Don't let it splatter on me! Go puke between the cars! Ewww!" She wanders between the cars and pukes some more. Thankfully I couldn't see her puking - which is why I wanted her to hide cuz I didn't want to join in.

Me: "ya done? Let's get back in the van and go home" she says "oh no, I am not getting back in the van!"

oh no.

So I tell her to just chill out in the furniture section and I gave her my bottle of water. She rinsed and spit in the parking lot. Ok she says.

Well, little one is a shopping cart monster and screams and cries if you stick her in a shopping cart, which is why I needed to bring a teen, so I had to push her in the stroller and pull the cart behind me - like a train. No worries, I still managed to talk to my sister on the cell phone while running up and down the aisles throwing diapers, meat, and frozen pizzas in my cart at break-neck speeds. I got my shopping done in no time, never once consulted my list, collected my puker and drove very carefully home. Didn't want to rock the boat.

She just ate a handful of candy and asked if we had any beef jerky leftover. Grabbed a soda and headed to her computer. I think she's recovered already! Teenagers!

Lex is the Queen of Puking in Public. I've pulled over so she could puke on the side of the road, she's hurled in gas stations, she ralphed all over main streets in several towns, and she shut down Hallmark once - she puked in the entrance trapping people in and barring others with her puke barricade. She's puked at school, in class, in the hallway, in the quad, in the gym.. she's not particular. If she gets a little queasy, she'll blow. I've never even heard of anyone who pukes in public as much as this kid. She's precious. But she pukes.

Happy New Year!

I am looking forward to a lot of things in 2008 - here are a few:

My children will turn 19, 17 and 2.
My sister will turn 40 and I will sure have a good time with that!
My middle daughter will begin her senior year of high school.
I will graduate with my BA in Literature and Writing.
The baby will wean and potty train.
I will QUIT breastfeeding!
My grandma will turn 100 yrs old and have the biggest bash ever!

I have some hopes for the new year too:

I hope to lose weight and look great at my grandma's party.
I hope to keep my wits about me as I mother a college girl, a high schooler and a fit-throwing 2 year old.
I hope to declutter my house.
I hope to get through another year safely and healthy.
I hope to be a good wife and mother and college student.
I hope my computer never crashes.

Yes, yes... my resolutions and my hopes for 2008 are all about *ME*! I didn't want to bore you with my political, social and environmental reform hopes.

It's so hard to believe 2007 is over already. It was a good year overall. Sadly we lost three of the family elders in 2007. But we also gained a few new babies in the family too. Better yet, I did not give birth to any of them! And so, I mark off another year and sit here wondering how they go by so fast. How do they go by so fast?