Chapter 2
We're off like a herd of turtles!
Our first stop: 10:55am Walgreens. Got the kids out, hauled them into the store and spend $1.52 picking up the prints I ordered online. I had the hives photos printed to show the doc just in case. Luckily, we got in and out of there without too much whining and begging for candy and greeting cards. Gracie just loves greeting cards!
Next stop: 11:10am Baby Group. Occasionally, I go to a breastfeeding support group at the hospital. Today, it was jam-packed with mamas and babies! We could barely get in the room! It was sure great to see everyone, I haven't been there in quite a while. I whipped out the pictures of Libby's hives to show the Lactation Consultant and get her professional opinion. She was shocked and horrified. She said to quit feeding Libby everything, only give her breastmilk. I said "everything?" She said "everything! no crackers, no cheerios, no baby food, nothing". Well, that figures since she's a lactinazi. I should have figured she would recommend that. Since she freaked out, all the mommies in the room wanted to see the pictures... it's like a train wreck, gotta look! So, they did. The consensus in the room was that Libby is allergic to something. Libby didn't have any hives at all at this point, and she was sleeping peacefully in her stroller while mamas talked, babies cried and toddlers squealed. In the meantime, Gracie is running like a wild child, screaming with the toddlers, crawling under chairs and throwing a football. Not sure where the football came from, but that's my girl!
Now it's 12:10... and you are thinking this blog post is going to take forever, she's got another 12 hours in her day! Well, true. But you don't have a baby screaming or a three year old trying to fly, so kick back and keep reading.
Where was I? Oh yes, Back in the van after baby group. By the way... Detour from the topic again... When I park, I put frozen water bottles in the carseats and then cover the carseats with a blanket. Keeps their seats cool as the van heats up to a lovely 500 degrees inside. The buckles on those car seats could burn a child, even if its not in direct sunlight.
So, it's 12:10... I stuffed the kids in their nice cool carseats and we headed to the ATM. I grabbed a couple of 20s from the magic money machine and we then ran through the McDonald's drive up. It was close, Gracie was hungry. McDonalds has the worst fast food. Yuck. Wait, Wendy's might. It's truly a toss up. I got her a happy meal with juice and then I pulled over to open it all up for her.. yay, fed and happy without taking her out of the carseat!
She ate her "meat cookie" (life is better when everything is a cookie!) and drank her juice. She didn't want her fries, so she threw them at me. I think she meant to throw them TO me. Yeah, that's it. She was sharing. Sounds plausible, let's just go with that.
I caught some. Some got stuck in my hair. I ate the ones near me while I drove and talked to my husband on the cell phone. His day was busy and hot too. I made my way through the crazy Friday before a holiday weekend traffic over to Katie's in-laws house. I'm 4 hours late for my "sure, I'll be there" promise. Maybe they won't notice. Gracie wants to see the moving truck so we headed over. Got to the cul-de-sac and there wasn't a truck, so I just did a loop-dee-loo and headed home with my crying starving baby. The one who didn't throw french fries or inhale a "meat cookie" in one bite.
Almost 1pm now and we stop at home for a break. I need to feed Libby and try to make Gracie go potty and change their ice bottles for fresh ones. These are now cool water bottles. We had our little break and hit the road again. Never going far, but we're going!
The pediatrician's office opens at 1:30 again after their long lunch break so I headed there. They were supposed to email me a lab work order for Libby to be allergy tested, but I never did get it. So, we're out and about, I'll just stop in and get it. The doc got a new receptionist, wow, she's new all right. Must have just fallen off the turnip truck! I'll spare you the story since this blog post is already really long...
In fact, I'll leave you in suspense at this point. More to come about what we got done in Chapter 3 of the Great Accomplishment Friday series. Stay tuned!
Showing posts with label Mini-van. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mini-van. Show all posts
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tested the Car Seats
Yesterday afternoon, we were on a street with heavy traffic; we had a green light but couldn't go because there wasn't room on the block in front of us so we sat stopped behind another car at the green light, then
BAM!
Got rear-ended. Keith was driving, I was in the front passenger seat, Libby in the middle row left side, Gracie in the 3rd row right side.
Omg, I was instantly sent into a nervous tizzy, Keith just hit the hazard lights and said "Calm Down", Gracie and Libby were fine. The girls didn't seem to really even notice that we got hit. Of course, I was on the verge of total panic! The lady who hit us was all apologetic, like I cared to hear that, I gave her the stink-eye and turned away from her. I didn't care if she was sorry, sincere or otherwise.
Keith said his neck hurts, but he saw her coming in the mirror and tensed up. He said she was dicking around with either her cell phone or her ipod. I told him he needs to go see the chiropractor tomorrow and bill it to her insurance.
I think I should buy the girls new carseats too. I'm not sure, but I think you are supposed to. And I'm moving Gracie back up to the middle row instead of so close to the back bumper. I'm still a basket case.
The back plastic bumper got dinged, but nothing serious. The hatch door still works and everything seems fine. We are all ok, and most importantly:
The Girls are OK!
Evenflo Triumph Deluxe Convertible Carseats: Pass!
BAM!
Got rear-ended. Keith was driving, I was in the front passenger seat, Libby in the middle row left side, Gracie in the 3rd row right side.
Omg, I was instantly sent into a nervous tizzy, Keith just hit the hazard lights and said "Calm Down", Gracie and Libby were fine. The girls didn't seem to really even notice that we got hit. Of course, I was on the verge of total panic! The lady who hit us was all apologetic, like I cared to hear that, I gave her the stink-eye and turned away from her. I didn't care if she was sorry, sincere or otherwise.
Keith said his neck hurts, but he saw her coming in the mirror and tensed up. He said she was dicking around with either her cell phone or her ipod. I told him he needs to go see the chiropractor tomorrow and bill it to her insurance.
I think I should buy the girls new carseats too. I'm not sure, but I think you are supposed to. And I'm moving Gracie back up to the middle row instead of so close to the back bumper. I'm still a basket case.
The back plastic bumper got dinged, but nothing serious. The hatch door still works and everything seems fine. We are all ok, and most importantly:
The Girls are OK!
Evenflo Triumph Deluxe Convertible Carseats: Pass!
Friday, July 24, 2009
To Vacation, or not to vacation.. hmmm...
We were so busy in May and June, that the laziness of July has been extra sweet!
Our original plan, as usual, was to drive to my husband's hometown in South Dakota to attend a family reunion, stop by my Grandma's house in Wyoming for a bit and then drive home. It's 1685 miles one way, then back again. It's a long drive! And we do it every year with the whole family and the dog.
But on the heels of two graduations, a wedding, moving the big girls out, painting and reorganizing the house, teething, and all that went with the excitement of June... we decided not to go on vacation at the end of July. It's just too much work!
But, wait. Did we just cancel our vacation to go back and see family and friends because we are too lazy? By golly, we did. That's just LAZY!
After a few relaxing weeks, we decided we've recovered enough to go ahead and treat ourselves to a much deserved fun vacation after all. We will trek across the desert and over the mountains and across the plains! Crammed in our mini-van for 30 hours at a time! We will pack it up and move it out! North-Eastern Bound!!!
It is a lot of work, but it's always fun and we always have a great time. We don't get much sleep for a week, but sleep is over rated anyway.
The vacation is back on the calendar! Look out, inlaws and outlaws, here we come!
Our original plan, as usual, was to drive to my husband's hometown in South Dakota to attend a family reunion, stop by my Grandma's house in Wyoming for a bit and then drive home. It's 1685 miles one way, then back again. It's a long drive! And we do it every year with the whole family and the dog.
But on the heels of two graduations, a wedding, moving the big girls out, painting and reorganizing the house, teething, and all that went with the excitement of June... we decided not to go on vacation at the end of July. It's just too much work!
But, wait. Did we just cancel our vacation to go back and see family and friends because we are too lazy? By golly, we did. That's just LAZY!
After a few relaxing weeks, we decided we've recovered enough to go ahead and treat ourselves to a much deserved fun vacation after all. We will trek across the desert and over the mountains and across the plains! Crammed in our mini-van for 30 hours at a time! We will pack it up and move it out! North-Eastern Bound!!!
It is a lot of work, but it's always fun and we always have a great time. We don't get much sleep for a week, but sleep is over rated anyway.
The vacation is back on the calendar! Look out, inlaws and outlaws, here we come!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A Very Long Day - The Good, The Bad and The Cute
This is gonna be long cuz my day was as long as a busy week:
I got to sleep from midnight to 4am and then Libby decided it was playtime. She never does that! Anyway, got back to sleep at 6am to 7am, when really I should have gotten up at 6 so I wouldn't have to rush, but I went back to sleep when I had the chance.
Got up and showered and changed everyone and nursed and pumped, etc. Gracie was extra hungry this morning and ate 3 bowls of oatmeal! And I was really rushing her along, but that child does not have "hurry" in her vocabulary!
Finally got out the door at 8:45 with the two littles, their two diaper bags, my school bag, my purse and of course, my coffee!
I took Libby to her sitter first, then I took Gracie to her sitter and when I pulled up I just knew something was wrong. There were 3 vehicles out front, one was her husband's car and he should've been at work by now. I had a bad feeling. So I took Gracie to the door and the paternal grandparents and the girls all came to the door. The sitter's mother suddenly passed away yesterday, so things there were in the hands of the grandparents. Gracie likes them (they’ve met before) and they offered to keep her for the day even though they didn't know she was coming, but I felt like that might be asking a lot since they most likely just threw arrangements together within the past few hours... I don't know but I thought they had plenty to manage already. I got back in the van and called Libby's sitter and went right back there with Gracie.
It had been 15 mins since I dropped Libby off and returned with Gracie, in that time Libby was settled into the swing with her blanket all snuggled up around her and she was fast asleep. Awwww!
I got a tank of gas and cussed at the pump cuz gas keeps going up. grrrr. And I hopped on the freeway! It was 9:35, not bad considering my goal is to be on the freeway by 9:30. Just when I thought I could make up that 5 minutes in the fast lane, the whole freeway plugged up and became a mile long parking lot. I’m lucky it wasn’t further because those tend to become 5 mile jams in no time! I finally got past the source of the problem, a mangled up mess but no ambulance, so it must have been a non-injury accident. I like to tell myself that.
After I got past that, the road opened up and I flew to the college. I dropped it down to 80 in that spot where I always see a cop or two. I cranked up a Boston cd and drove fast in the far left lane. I never do that! Got to San Marcos in record time! Parked and hiked up the hill to class, got there on time!!! Wow! How’d I beat the clock!!! I did it!! I’m like Mario Andretti in a mini-van! It was now 10:30am. Long day already and I was just getting started.
You know how when you are hurrying and hurrying and then you get to your destination and you still feel like you should be going fast? I did that. I was all caffeinated and had been rushing around for over 2 hours trying to get to this class and I couldn’t shake that hurry feeling. I sat still and listened, tried to learn about Jacques Derrida and his literary theory of deconstructionism. When we broke into groups and analyzed a short story, I totally aced the little project and felt great being a valuable part of the group discussion. Not bad since I only read ¾ of the story that we needed to pick apart; I fell asleep before I got to the end last night.
After class, the student union had a table set up just outside our classroom and they were giving out pizza. Score! Free lunch and it was good too! I have an hour for lunch, and today I decided to use my hour hiking back to my van to swap out my books instead of carrying them all. The college campus is on the side of a hill, so when I say “hike” I really mean it! It’s a long walk on an incline, or decline, whichever way you are going.
During my walk, I met up with a nice gal that I’ve run into a couple of times before. It’s nice to meet good people. Today we exchanged phone numbers and she showed me a picture of her baby. She mentioned to me before that she has one baby the same age as Libby; today I learned that her baby is actually her third, but the first two did not survive. I spent the rest of my walking time counting my blessings.
I also found out that she just moved to America last June and she only knew three words in English before she arrived here. I would have never guessed that she wasn’t a native to Southern California. There are some amazing scholars on campus, very intelligent people; I hope some of it rubs off on me. I am in awe of some of the students I meet. Sure, I can fake it a time or two, but there are students on that campus who amaze me.
Then I went to my Psychology class. Today’s lecture was all biology though. And I was totally lost. Genes, DNA, chromosomes, Mitosis, Meiosis, huh? Yeah. Wish me luck!
Now, at 2:15 pm I scurried on home and kept the driving to a reasonable speed. Kept the volume down too. No need to be Mario Andretti all the time. I saw three cops in “the cop spot”. They were all writing tickets too! I wanted to stop and do some birthday shopping for my daughter’s birthday tomorrow (just call me the last minute mommy) but since I started the day in a size C cup and I was now busting out of a DD, I decided shopping could wait until tomorrow. My boobs haven’t figured out how to handle school days yet.
When I went to pick up the Littles at Libby’s sitter, she invited me in for coffee. A mutual friend of ours and her baby were over visiting too. So I sat and fed stubborn little Libby (who only drank one ounce from her bottle all day) and visited with the mamas. It was great to get some caffeine in me again. Got my second wind!
When I got home, I carried Libby, two diaper bags, my school bag, my purse, hats and blankets. Gracie carried a rawhide bone as big as she is for Sandy. The sitter gave it to us for our dog; it was gag gift for her Chihuahua and she wanted to just get rid of it. I have a really happy dog! So we get in the house, and get all this stuff out of my arms while Sandy is wagging her tail like mad carrying a bone as big as Texas in her jaw smacking into everyone, and what is that on the table? A package? For me?
One of my internet friends sent me a package! I opened it and it was CHOCOLATE! A Big bar of chocolate, homemade brownies (more like fudge, mmmmm), princess snack cups for Gracie and a teething toy for Libby. A sweet card topped it! Too sweet! Thank you so much, Jen!
I decided it could be fend for yourself night for dinner. Gracie fell asleep, Libby wanted to be held, Keith finished off the leftovers from last night and Katie and Lexie were both working. Pretty easy to blow off cooking tonight!
I did put Libby down for a bit. She was happy and enjoying her exersaucer. And then, she started to fuss. So of course I scooped her up to see what the fuss was about and in doing so, I discovered what the fuss was about. Ewww! Poopies everywhere! In the exersaucer seat, on her blanket that I stuff around her in the seat because she isn’t really big enough for it, on her jeans, her shirt, and filled her onsie. It was even in her sleeve! She saved it all up for mommy! Gee, thanks, Libbers. I’ve got a very poopy load of laundry going right now. I might have to wash it twice. Not sure how she can get so much of that nasty stuff out of her little bitty baby body all at once. Amazing!
Katie eventually came home from work, she was pale and sniffing and clutching a bottle of orange juice. She said “I hab a code.” Poor girl. She went to change and she said she’d come back for some chicken noodle soup, but she didn’t come back out of her room. I think she fell asleep.
Gracie fell asleep too. I guess throwing a wrench in her day was exhausting. Glad she took it all in stride. And Libby is asleep. Otherwise I’d never be able to type this extremely long post (wordcount: 1,611). Lexie isn’t home, she’s busy working her fingers to the bone trying to make ends meet and pay her bills (car insurance, texting, and lost library books).
It’s 8:30 and time for a beer. Ok, half. I am breastfeeding, I can’t overdo it. Today was one long long long day! Seems like this morning was a week ago!
I got to sleep from midnight to 4am and then Libby decided it was playtime. She never does that! Anyway, got back to sleep at 6am to 7am, when really I should have gotten up at 6 so I wouldn't have to rush, but I went back to sleep when I had the chance.
Got up and showered and changed everyone and nursed and pumped, etc. Gracie was extra hungry this morning and ate 3 bowls of oatmeal! And I was really rushing her along, but that child does not have "hurry" in her vocabulary!
Finally got out the door at 8:45 with the two littles, their two diaper bags, my school bag, my purse and of course, my coffee!
I took Libby to her sitter first, then I took Gracie to her sitter and when I pulled up I just knew something was wrong. There were 3 vehicles out front, one was her husband's car and he should've been at work by now. I had a bad feeling. So I took Gracie to the door and the paternal grandparents and the girls all came to the door. The sitter's mother suddenly passed away yesterday, so things there were in the hands of the grandparents. Gracie likes them (they’ve met before) and they offered to keep her for the day even though they didn't know she was coming, but I felt like that might be asking a lot since they most likely just threw arrangements together within the past few hours... I don't know but I thought they had plenty to manage already. I got back in the van and called Libby's sitter and went right back there with Gracie.
It had been 15 mins since I dropped Libby off and returned with Gracie, in that time Libby was settled into the swing with her blanket all snuggled up around her and she was fast asleep. Awwww!
I got a tank of gas and cussed at the pump cuz gas keeps going up. grrrr. And I hopped on the freeway! It was 9:35, not bad considering my goal is to be on the freeway by 9:30. Just when I thought I could make up that 5 minutes in the fast lane, the whole freeway plugged up and became a mile long parking lot. I’m lucky it wasn’t further because those tend to become 5 mile jams in no time! I finally got past the source of the problem, a mangled up mess but no ambulance, so it must have been a non-injury accident. I like to tell myself that.
After I got past that, the road opened up and I flew to the college. I dropped it down to 80 in that spot where I always see a cop or two. I cranked up a Boston cd and drove fast in the far left lane. I never do that! Got to San Marcos in record time! Parked and hiked up the hill to class, got there on time!!! Wow! How’d I beat the clock!!! I did it!! I’m like Mario Andretti in a mini-van! It was now 10:30am. Long day already and I was just getting started.
You know how when you are hurrying and hurrying and then you get to your destination and you still feel like you should be going fast? I did that. I was all caffeinated and had been rushing around for over 2 hours trying to get to this class and I couldn’t shake that hurry feeling. I sat still and listened, tried to learn about Jacques Derrida and his literary theory of deconstructionism. When we broke into groups and analyzed a short story, I totally aced the little project and felt great being a valuable part of the group discussion. Not bad since I only read ¾ of the story that we needed to pick apart; I fell asleep before I got to the end last night.
After class, the student union had a table set up just outside our classroom and they were giving out pizza. Score! Free lunch and it was good too! I have an hour for lunch, and today I decided to use my hour hiking back to my van to swap out my books instead of carrying them all. The college campus is on the side of a hill, so when I say “hike” I really mean it! It’s a long walk on an incline, or decline, whichever way you are going.
During my walk, I met up with a nice gal that I’ve run into a couple of times before. It’s nice to meet good people. Today we exchanged phone numbers and she showed me a picture of her baby. She mentioned to me before that she has one baby the same age as Libby; today I learned that her baby is actually her third, but the first two did not survive. I spent the rest of my walking time counting my blessings.
I also found out that she just moved to America last June and she only knew three words in English before she arrived here. I would have never guessed that she wasn’t a native to Southern California. There are some amazing scholars on campus, very intelligent people; I hope some of it rubs off on me. I am in awe of some of the students I meet. Sure, I can fake it a time or two, but there are students on that campus who amaze me.
Then I went to my Psychology class. Today’s lecture was all biology though. And I was totally lost. Genes, DNA, chromosomes, Mitosis, Meiosis, huh? Yeah. Wish me luck!
Now, at 2:15 pm I scurried on home and kept the driving to a reasonable speed. Kept the volume down too. No need to be Mario Andretti all the time. I saw three cops in “the cop spot”. They were all writing tickets too! I wanted to stop and do some birthday shopping for my daughter’s birthday tomorrow (just call me the last minute mommy) but since I started the day in a size C cup and I was now busting out of a DD, I decided shopping could wait until tomorrow. My boobs haven’t figured out how to handle school days yet.
When I went to pick up the Littles at Libby’s sitter, she invited me in for coffee. A mutual friend of ours and her baby were over visiting too. So I sat and fed stubborn little Libby (who only drank one ounce from her bottle all day) and visited with the mamas. It was great to get some caffeine in me again. Got my second wind!
When I got home, I carried Libby, two diaper bags, my school bag, my purse, hats and blankets. Gracie carried a rawhide bone as big as she is for Sandy. The sitter gave it to us for our dog; it was gag gift for her Chihuahua and she wanted to just get rid of it. I have a really happy dog! So we get in the house, and get all this stuff out of my arms while Sandy is wagging her tail like mad carrying a bone as big as Texas in her jaw smacking into everyone, and what is that on the table? A package? For me?
One of my internet friends sent me a package! I opened it and it was CHOCOLATE! A Big bar of chocolate, homemade brownies (more like fudge, mmmmm), princess snack cups for Gracie and a teething toy for Libby. A sweet card topped it! Too sweet! Thank you so much, Jen!
I decided it could be fend for yourself night for dinner. Gracie fell asleep, Libby wanted to be held, Keith finished off the leftovers from last night and Katie and Lexie were both working. Pretty easy to blow off cooking tonight!
I did put Libby down for a bit. She was happy and enjoying her exersaucer. And then, she started to fuss. So of course I scooped her up to see what the fuss was about and in doing so, I discovered what the fuss was about. Ewww! Poopies everywhere! In the exersaucer seat, on her blanket that I stuff around her in the seat because she isn’t really big enough for it, on her jeans, her shirt, and filled her onsie. It was even in her sleeve! She saved it all up for mommy! Gee, thanks, Libbers. I’ve got a very poopy load of laundry going right now. I might have to wash it twice. Not sure how she can get so much of that nasty stuff out of her little bitty baby body all at once. Amazing!
Katie eventually came home from work, she was pale and sniffing and clutching a bottle of orange juice. She said “I hab a code.” Poor girl. She went to change and she said she’d come back for some chicken noodle soup, but she didn’t come back out of her room. I think she fell asleep.
Gracie fell asleep too. I guess throwing a wrench in her day was exhausting. Glad she took it all in stride. And Libby is asleep. Otherwise I’d never be able to type this extremely long post (wordcount: 1,611). Lexie isn’t home, she’s busy working her fingers to the bone trying to make ends meet and pay her bills (car insurance, texting, and lost library books).
It’s 8:30 and time for a beer. Ok, half. I am breastfeeding, I can’t overdo it. Today was one long long long day! Seems like this morning was a week ago!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Shakin' at Shakey's!
No, I didn't forget about my blog. I've just been busy. 2009 is already whipping right along!
Yesterday was my little brother's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday, Little Bro. He doesn't know I have a blog, so he'll never read that, but I hope he had a good one.
The mom-taxi is now a full time job. Soon to become full time plus overtime. I have to drive Lexie to school. Pick her up. Drive her to work. Pick her up. All while dragging the littles along. You know how when you are getting ready to go somewhere with two littles someone has to poop their diaper? Imagine that four times a day! Welcome to my world.
College starts soon. The 20th. I'm taking three classes: Sacred Texts, History of Literary Commentary & Theory II, and the third class is still up in the air right now. I need an upper level DD general ed course, which I've already taken and aced. Sigh. The joys of transferring from 4 previous colleges in 3 other states plus California. I tried to get into an online course, but it filled within the first hour that registration opened and I missed out. So, I signed up for two other courses as possible substitutes for the online course, and I will decide which works best in my schedule. So far, I've decided neither works best. I filled out a waitlist form and I emailed the professor of the online course. I'm getting nowhere fast. In the meantime, I have to choose between the two classes that I am registered in and drop one.
My schedule stinks. I have one literature class at 10am - 11:45am and the other literature class from 5:30pm - 8:45pm. Nothing like spreading it out over one long day! Add the hour long commute, and it's a long day. I'm thinking of going twice, head to campus in the morning, attend my class or classes if I can't get in the online course, and then head home. Pick up the kids from their sitters, drop them at home. Then head back to campus. I'm not sure how else to do it. Two trips to San Marcos in one day?
Somehow I'm going to have to juggle my class schedule with my taxi schedule. Hmmmm...
I'm having babysitter issues. This just makes college much more fun! The sitter I have been taking Gracie to, where she recently got a snazzy new haircut, is so upset over the haircut incident that she might not watch Gracie anymore. I can't get ahold of her and she isn't returning my calls. Great. Now I need part-time temporary daycare for my not-potty-trained yet 2 yr old. I dare ya to find that!
For the baby, I arranged for her to go to my daughter's friend. This sitter just had a baby this week and she's 17 yrs old. But, she doesn't work, doesn't go to school, she's available! And she has all the baby stuff: Swing, bouncy seat, high chair, exersaucer, changing table, pack n play, etc. She's available and she's all set up. And she said she'd do it. Again, with the part time temporary stuff, add the word infant and no daycare will come near me. But, now that this girl has her own baby, she is feeling a little overwhelmed and not so sure about watching one more. Ay ay ay.
Neither sitter wants to watch both. I know, it's kinda crazy, but that's fine. Crazy I can deal with. But, lack of babysitters is something that is going to send me over the edge! Anyone out there need a nanny job? It's part-time and temporary! But they are soooooooo cute!
We had a 5.0 earthquake the other day, later downgraded to a 4.5. Not sure how an earthquake gets "downgraded" but there you have it. Even the earthquakes are suffering in this economy. There was a big jolt and then a shake and rumble. I got scared! I was holding Libby, so I leaned over her so nothing would fall on her; nothing fell, but that's what I did. The whole house shook and I looked up and swore it was swaying. Keith was teaching and he said he spread his arms out wide to keep his balance. He was only 5 miles from the epicenter and our house is 40 miles away. Katie said she didn't feel it. Lexie felt it! She was at work at Shakey's Pizza and just got her ten minute break, so she grabbed a soda and sat down and that's when it hit. Right when she sat, so she wasn't sure at first if she was just so tired from working that it felt like an earthquake or if she really felt one. She said people didn't seem to react. So she looked around and the hanging lights were swaying. Lexie said "We were shakin' at Shakey's!"
Not to be overlooked, my oldest is nursing a broken heart. Well, not really broken... what do you call it? Disconnected. Her boyfriend left on Monday for boot camp. Eight weeks of no cell phone, myspace, email, texts, or old fashioned getting together at Starbucks. She misses him terribly. It really hit me, look at this generation of kids. They are in constant connection with their peers. Constant! The girls sleep with their phones!
Boot camping boyfriend gave Katie a promise ring before he left. They are engaged to be engaged! Committed without the official commitment. Promised. Awwww, sweet!
Baby is teething, toddler is bouncing off the walls 24/7, teen #1 is a puddle of tears, teen #2 is busy doing a lot of nothing and yet... off she goes. And she needs a ride.
That's the down and dirty update, come back in a few hours and I'll finish the post when I don't have two kids and a doll in my lap!
I finished my post! Took me 2 full days! You can read it now...
Yesterday was my little brother's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday, Little Bro. He doesn't know I have a blog, so he'll never read that, but I hope he had a good one.
The mom-taxi is now a full time job. Soon to become full time plus overtime. I have to drive Lexie to school. Pick her up. Drive her to work. Pick her up. All while dragging the littles along. You know how when you are getting ready to go somewhere with two littles someone has to poop their diaper? Imagine that four times a day! Welcome to my world.
College starts soon. The 20th. I'm taking three classes: Sacred Texts, History of Literary Commentary & Theory II, and the third class is still up in the air right now. I need an upper level DD general ed course, which I've already taken and aced. Sigh. The joys of transferring from 4 previous colleges in 3 other states plus California. I tried to get into an online course, but it filled within the first hour that registration opened and I missed out. So, I signed up for two other courses as possible substitutes for the online course, and I will decide which works best in my schedule. So far, I've decided neither works best. I filled out a waitlist form and I emailed the professor of the online course. I'm getting nowhere fast. In the meantime, I have to choose between the two classes that I am registered in and drop one.
My schedule stinks. I have one literature class at 10am - 11:45am and the other literature class from 5:30pm - 8:45pm. Nothing like spreading it out over one long day! Add the hour long commute, and it's a long day. I'm thinking of going twice, head to campus in the morning, attend my class or classes if I can't get in the online course, and then head home. Pick up the kids from their sitters, drop them at home. Then head back to campus. I'm not sure how else to do it. Two trips to San Marcos in one day?
Somehow I'm going to have to juggle my class schedule with my taxi schedule. Hmmmm...
I'm having babysitter issues. This just makes college much more fun! The sitter I have been taking Gracie to, where she recently got a snazzy new haircut, is so upset over the haircut incident that she might not watch Gracie anymore. I can't get ahold of her and she isn't returning my calls. Great. Now I need part-time temporary daycare for my not-potty-trained yet 2 yr old. I dare ya to find that!
For the baby, I arranged for her to go to my daughter's friend. This sitter just had a baby this week and she's 17 yrs old. But, she doesn't work, doesn't go to school, she's available! And she has all the baby stuff: Swing, bouncy seat, high chair, exersaucer, changing table, pack n play, etc. She's available and she's all set up. And she said she'd do it. Again, with the part time temporary stuff, add the word infant and no daycare will come near me. But, now that this girl has her own baby, she is feeling a little overwhelmed and not so sure about watching one more. Ay ay ay.
Neither sitter wants to watch both. I know, it's kinda crazy, but that's fine. Crazy I can deal with. But, lack of babysitters is something that is going to send me over the edge! Anyone out there need a nanny job? It's part-time and temporary! But they are soooooooo cute!
We had a 5.0 earthquake the other day, later downgraded to a 4.5. Not sure how an earthquake gets "downgraded" but there you have it. Even the earthquakes are suffering in this economy. There was a big jolt and then a shake and rumble. I got scared! I was holding Libby, so I leaned over her so nothing would fall on her; nothing fell, but that's what I did. The whole house shook and I looked up and swore it was swaying. Keith was teaching and he said he spread his arms out wide to keep his balance. He was only 5 miles from the epicenter and our house is 40 miles away. Katie said she didn't feel it. Lexie felt it! She was at work at Shakey's Pizza and just got her ten minute break, so she grabbed a soda and sat down and that's when it hit. Right when she sat, so she wasn't sure at first if she was just so tired from working that it felt like an earthquake or if she really felt one. She said people didn't seem to react. So she looked around and the hanging lights were swaying. Lexie said "We were shakin' at Shakey's!"
Not to be overlooked, my oldest is nursing a broken heart. Well, not really broken... what do you call it? Disconnected. Her boyfriend left on Monday for boot camp. Eight weeks of no cell phone, myspace, email, texts, or old fashioned getting together at Starbucks. She misses him terribly. It really hit me, look at this generation of kids. They are in constant connection with their peers. Constant! The girls sleep with their phones!
Boot camping boyfriend gave Katie a promise ring before he left. They are engaged to be engaged! Committed without the official commitment. Promised. Awwww, sweet!
Baby is teething, toddler is bouncing off the walls 24/7, teen #1 is a puddle of tears, teen #2 is busy doing a lot of nothing and yet... off she goes. And she needs a ride.
That's the down and dirty update, come back in a few hours and I'll finish the post when I don't have two kids and a doll in my lap!
I finished my post! Took me 2 full days! You can read it now...
Sunday, March 2, 2008
My Famous Mini-Van
Here is a picture of the old girl, I know I have better pictures of her somewhere in the depths of my computer but this one will due for now. Oh, that's not my house, but that is me.
My mini-van, wait, let me clarify.... it's not really mine anymore. We sold it to ABC last summer for a whopping $2905 cash. It was a 1997 Dodge Caravan with 151,000 miles on it. And it had a salvage title too because we bought it wrecked.
My mini-van is now a TV Star! It's on a reality show Tonight!!! It airs in a couple of hours - and it already aired in the Central time zone and I suppose the east coast too. The show is called "Here Come the Newlyweds" on ABC.
Hope you get to watch my girl make her tv debut!!!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Roadtrip
Today is a travel day for me, the oldest princess, the youngest princess and the furry princess. Should be an interesting journey! I'm so glad that I have the new mini-van! What a relief to not worry so much about what is dying under the hood.
And the November weather rocks! We are so lucky in that respect too.
I am busy packing and wishing I had more time to take care of details. I'll update my blog from the road if I can. I hope I can find wireless internet - that'll be like a needle in a haystack but there's hope.
Have a good week, folks. I'm off to spend a LOT of quality time with my pincesses.
And the November weather rocks! We are so lucky in that respect too.
I am busy packing and wishing I had more time to take care of details. I'll update my blog from the road if I can. I hope I can find wireless internet - that'll be like a needle in a haystack but there's hope.
Have a good week, folks. I'm off to spend a LOT of quality time with my pincesses.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
A New Star is Discovered!
We sold the old gal this morning to the tv people. They were interested in the condition of the exterior, interior, and its driving condition. All good. Price was decent enough for them. So, they forked over the cash, we signed over the title and whatnot.... and off they went.
An explosion isn't the old girl's fate. She will be driven by a blindfolded driver with a passenger navigating through an obstacle course. A competition of sorts. Sounds like fun! It'll air in January if it hits the airwaves - she's destined to live forever. Wonder if she'll get a star on the Hollywood walk of Fame?
An explosion isn't the old girl's fate. She will be driven by a blindfolded driver with a passenger navigating through an obstacle course. A competition of sorts. Sounds like fun! It'll air in January if it hits the airwaves - she's destined to live forever. Wonder if she'll get a star on the Hollywood walk of Fame?
Friday, July 13, 2007
Selling my old van
Well, she's lived a long fun filled life. Time to let her go. I bought some window chalk and we wrote "For Sale" on the windows.
This old mini-van has been my best friend (sad statement about my social life, isn't it). It's a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan SE. When we bought it used and abused from a junkyard in North Dakota. It had been rear ended and it was totaled. So, hubby and his brother and a few beers between them fixed it all up good as new (ah, close enough).
That was six years and 90,000 miles ago. We've driven the girl all over the nation - nearly. She's taken us through:
North Dakota
South Dakota
Colorado
Arizona
Iowa
Missouri
Tennessee
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Montana
Utah
Nevada
California
She's been through rain, sleet, hail, snow, wind, sun, and every thing else I can think of as far as weather.
Tomorrow morning may be the end of our friendship. Our friendship can be bought for a mere $2900. The guy coming over tomorrow to look at the old gal is a TV producer looking for a new star. The Caravan is auditioning for a part as a sexy mini-van in a reality show. (Ok, I made up the sexy part). But they are filming a show in our area and looking for a vehicle just like this one. Hopefully everything will go well with the "audition" and she'll end her long hard life with a bit of fame and possible a big explosion. That'd be cool!
By the way.... I just realized I don't have many good pics of my precious mini-van. But in my defense.... who takes pictures of their mini-van? That one isn't too bad, you can see the old gal and see what fun she's having camping with us.
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