Monday, April 16, 2012
Aw crap
Toddler vomit thwarted my plans for posting last night. So I've screwed up my attempt at NaBloPoMo. I will keep at it with a post today. Sorry.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
What is wrong with...
Ok. So the 9yo came down after her shower tonight and asked me if there's really a boy that goes around on Friday the 13th killing people. I was...surprised. I said no, it's just a movie, don't worry about it, it's not real. She says a girl in her class saw the movie and told her about it. She's pretty concerned about it, but I think I convinced her to go to sleep and think about other things. I can only hope she won't wake up freaked out about what her classmate said.
What parent lets their 8/9yo watch Friday the 13th!? I have never seen it, because I know what kind of movie it is and I don't want to see that. I'm not a fan of horror movies and I doubt my kids will be either. They frighten easily. But ok, it's not my business what you let your kids watch..but is it too much to ask that you counsel your child NOT to scare the other kids at school, maybe you say this was a special thing, watching this movie, and something we don't need to talk about with everyone else. I know that's asking a lot of a child, to keep something to themselves, but it can be done.
Am I wrong? Are 8/9 year olds watching these movies now? Am I delusional thinking parents can do better? I don't believe in telling anyone how to parent, because we all have our own methods and our children are all different and respond in different ways to different things...but come on. Is it not a generally good idea not to let young children watch horror movies? Hmmph. I'm not pleased.
What parent lets their 8/9yo watch Friday the 13th!? I have never seen it, because I know what kind of movie it is and I don't want to see that. I'm not a fan of horror movies and I doubt my kids will be either. They frighten easily. But ok, it's not my business what you let your kids watch..but is it too much to ask that you counsel your child NOT to scare the other kids at school, maybe you say this was a special thing, watching this movie, and something we don't need to talk about with everyone else. I know that's asking a lot of a child, to keep something to themselves, but it can be done.
Am I wrong? Are 8/9 year olds watching these movies now? Am I delusional thinking parents can do better? I don't believe in telling anyone how to parent, because we all have our own methods and our children are all different and respond in different ways to different things...but come on. Is it not a generally good idea not to let young children watch horror movies? Hmmph. I'm not pleased.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Video Games
How about a post about my video game obsession? Do you know how often I get onto XBOX Live and start a game like Halo or Black Ops or Gears (of War 3) and hear...YOU'RE A GIRL? It's absurd. I'm a girl...woman to be exact..and I LOVE me some xbox FPS. I also really enjoy the lego games. All of them. I think the first batman was my favorite but I like playing all of them. Right now my obsession is Gears of War 3. Horde mode. I cannot get enough horde. I have stayed up until 2am trying to beat wave 50 and succeeded...and also stayed up until 2am trying and failing. I play with my youngest brother, which is part of why I love it. He lives far enough away I don't get to see or talk to him in person that often, so this is a really excellent way for us to catch up, make fun of other players, and have a great time.
As I've discovered, I also play video games to release some aggression. Well the FPS games anyway. Horde specifically. It's fun to chase the badguys around and shoot 'em up and it's a great way to ... get my feelings out... about things going on in my life that aren't as awesome as maybe they could be. Anyway. It's fun. You should try it.
As I've discovered, I also play video games to release some aggression. Well the FPS games anyway. Horde specifically. It's fun to chase the badguys around and shoot 'em up and it's a great way to ... get my feelings out... about things going on in my life that aren't as awesome as maybe they could be. Anyway. It's fun. You should try it.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
School stuff
Whew. Tonight was a bit of a marathon. Tonight was Sophie's school musical program. She's been working on it for awhile now and tonight was the night. We got to also check out the school's new Concert Hall which was really nice and had comfy chairs. In years past we've had to sit in the elementary school gym on bleachers...not so comfy. The musical was "A Kid's Life" and it was really cute. She had a great time and Lexi enjoyed watching it. Grandpa came too (the girlfriend is out of town or I'm sure she would have been there, too). The best part is that this school knows what it's doing. Everything about it is run smoothly including the musical programs. They're always on a Thursday night, so there's very little reason for any student not to be able to make it. And they're short. Thirty to forty-five minutes at most. It's pretty awesome. I'll have videos to post tomorrow, it's too late tonight to convert and wait..so, tomorrow.
Theme song: A Kid's Life
Let The Games Begin
Ghost Story
Jump Rope Rock
So we went to McDonald's immediately after the husband got home from work so we could eat and then off to the program and then we headed to DQ afterwards for some 'hey, good job' ice cream.
I didn't have any.
I'm back to tracking my calories. I clearly have no self control.
Theme song: A Kid's Life
Let The Games Begin
Ghost Story
Jump Rope Rock
So we went to McDonald's immediately after the husband got home from work so we could eat and then off to the program and then we headed to DQ afterwards for some 'hey, good job' ice cream.
I didn't have any.
I'm back to tracking my calories. I clearly have no self control.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
No Video Games
So because of the recent headaches I've stopped playing xbox. I'm trying to give my brain a break, if its the games/TV/late nights...I wanted to eliminate all those things to test my theory. It took a few days for the headache to really fully go away. It's gone now. I'm really hopeful that it was just a migraine trying to eat my brain and that it wasn't related to anything really. I miss my video games.
It's been a week. Thank GOD for Words With Friends and DrawSomething.
I don't have much news. Tonight was church night (Awana) for the 9yo, which she loves. So I don't have to run (yay) and I feel like the night is mine. Without video games..I'm at a loss. So it's been words with friends and I've started reading Bossypants by Tina Fey. So far, so good, but I've been interrupted so much I hope I'm not missing anything hilarious. The 4yo came with me to take the other to church, cuz daddy was golfing. Then we came home to swing a bit before it got dark and cold outside. She loves to swing so much. I soooo much want her to learn to pump and swing herself soon. I love pushing her, but it's super boring. What? I'm sorry, its boring just pushing a kid on a swing. I could be DOING things during that. Reading, WWF, writing this. Come on. Mama gots things to do.
Perhaps tomorrow something exciting will happen. Or I'll win my battle with eZPublish. Both highly unlikely.
It's been a week. Thank GOD for Words With Friends and DrawSomething.
I don't have much news. Tonight was church night (Awana) for the 9yo, which she loves. So I don't have to run (yay) and I feel like the night is mine. Without video games..I'm at a loss. So it's been words with friends and I've started reading Bossypants by Tina Fey. So far, so good, but I've been interrupted so much I hope I'm not missing anything hilarious. The 4yo came with me to take the other to church, cuz daddy was golfing. Then we came home to swing a bit before it got dark and cold outside. She loves to swing so much. I soooo much want her to learn to pump and swing herself soon. I love pushing her, but it's super boring. What? I'm sorry, its boring just pushing a kid on a swing. I could be DOING things during that. Reading, WWF, writing this. Come on. Mama gots things to do.
Perhaps tomorrow something exciting will happen. Or I'll win my battle with eZPublish. Both highly unlikely.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Babysitters
I was having some trouble coming up with what to write about today. Yesterday evening wasn't that great and not much happened today, so...hmmm. This weekend we have friends coming to visit and we'll be headed out to dinner. My girls are really great, really well behaved, but I know that we're going to want to relax and take our time, and talk for awhile when we're out. And the girls will eventually get bored...and vocal about that boredom. So, we need a babysitter.
Awhile back I joined care.com ($35/month yikes) for a couple months, to find some local reputable babysitters. It turns out most of the sitters on there are college students or day care women. So we picked a couple and tried them out, and the girls loved them. Today I called the first one, and her phone is no longer her phone...so..I guess she's out. So I tried the second, and while luckily her phone is still her phone..she's unavailable for this weekend. So...I'll be calling grandpa later tonight, to see if he's available.
I'm always torn when I call my dad to babysit. I know he loves the girls and would do anything for them, but I also know he has his own life. And girlfriend. She's wonderful by the way, and awesome with the girls. But I feel like I'm using him when he babysits, I couldn't pay him, it'd take a wrestling match to get him to let anyone pay for dinner, let alone pay him to watch his precious grandchildren. And I feel like maybe they had better plans (that he wouldn't tell me about) that I'm preventing him from. Sigh. Anyway, I'll call, he'll say yes - even if he previously had other plans - and hopefully we'll be all set.
The other thing is that babysitters are EXPENSIVE. Most of them say anywhere from $7-$15 per hour. If I recall, I babysat A LOT in high school, and I made somewhere between $2 and $5 per hour, never more than that. And the $5/hour people..those were the "rich" people and you hoped they'd call you again. I'm not complaining really, well sort of...shouldn't I be glad to pay ANY amount for the care of my precious cherubs? Turns out not. So we limit the paid babysitter to a rare occasion and use the grandparents as much as possible otherwise. Another great reason for the in-laws to move to town..another grandparent set to rotate in :)
Perhaps tomorrow I'll have a better post idea. Or something dramatic will happen! Ooooo! Unlikely.
Awhile back I joined care.com ($35/month yikes) for a couple months, to find some local reputable babysitters. It turns out most of the sitters on there are college students or day care women. So we picked a couple and tried them out, and the girls loved them. Today I called the first one, and her phone is no longer her phone...so..I guess she's out. So I tried the second, and while luckily her phone is still her phone..she's unavailable for this weekend. So...I'll be calling grandpa later tonight, to see if he's available.
I'm always torn when I call my dad to babysit. I know he loves the girls and would do anything for them, but I also know he has his own life. And girlfriend. She's wonderful by the way, and awesome with the girls. But I feel like I'm using him when he babysits, I couldn't pay him, it'd take a wrestling match to get him to let anyone pay for dinner, let alone pay him to watch his precious grandchildren. And I feel like maybe they had better plans (that he wouldn't tell me about) that I'm preventing him from. Sigh. Anyway, I'll call, he'll say yes - even if he previously had other plans - and hopefully we'll be all set.
The other thing is that babysitters are EXPENSIVE. Most of them say anywhere from $7-$15 per hour. If I recall, I babysat A LOT in high school, and I made somewhere between $2 and $5 per hour, never more than that. And the $5/hour people..those were the "rich" people and you hoped they'd call you again. I'm not complaining really, well sort of...shouldn't I be glad to pay ANY amount for the care of my precious cherubs? Turns out not. So we limit the paid babysitter to a rare occasion and use the grandparents as much as possible otherwise. Another great reason for the in-laws to move to town..another grandparent set to rotate in :)
Perhaps tomorrow I'll have a better post idea. Or something dramatic will happen! Ooooo! Unlikely.
Monday, April 9, 2012
My five
(A really long time ago) @Chookooloonks tweeted this question: "5
best decisions of my adult life so far: go to law school, move to
London, marry @marzjennings, adopt Alex, quit law. What are your 5
best?"
My five:
1. Getting married at 19 to my highschool sweetheart. Everyone always says it was young, but I don't see it that way. We were old enough legally, mature enough (mostly) and we had it planned out. So it worked for us, perhaps it wouldn't have for you, but it worked for us.
2. Having babies after being married for awhile (and stopping after two). Waiting to have kids until we'd been married at least 5 years was great. We were able to do a little traveling, have our own interests and time and do things on the fly, when we wanted, however we wanted. Kids throw a giant wrench into all that, which we knew, so we didn't want to jump into that too soon. I think we waited the perfect amount of time to have kids, and between our two kids (nearly 5 years).
3. Taking my current position which meant being able to work from home, doing work I really enjoy. It was a risk, what if it didn't work out, what if I was awful at working from home, what if my old job wouldn't take me back (they no longer exist)...so many what ifs. I'm glad I went for it, best career decision so far I think.
4. Savings. Saving in a 401k started early for both of us, saving with Edward Jones IRA accounts. Planning what we spend, and buy and do, so we can retire when we're ready and not when we can or have to.
5. I don't know. I can't think of anything right now...I'm sure I will eventually. Right now though, all I can think of are all the things I'd like to do still, like the things on my life list and the organization things my house needs. some day.
I guess these would be my five SO FAR. I hope I make other great decisions in the future. Although, I think #1 and #2 will stay on whatever future lists I make.
My five:
1. Getting married at 19 to my highschool sweetheart. Everyone always says it was young, but I don't see it that way. We were old enough legally, mature enough (mostly) and we had it planned out. So it worked for us, perhaps it wouldn't have for you, but it worked for us.
2. Having babies after being married for awhile (and stopping after two). Waiting to have kids until we'd been married at least 5 years was great. We were able to do a little traveling, have our own interests and time and do things on the fly, when we wanted, however we wanted. Kids throw a giant wrench into all that, which we knew, so we didn't want to jump into that too soon. I think we waited the perfect amount of time to have kids, and between our two kids (nearly 5 years).
3. Taking my current position which meant being able to work from home, doing work I really enjoy. It was a risk, what if it didn't work out, what if I was awful at working from home, what if my old job wouldn't take me back (they no longer exist)...so many what ifs. I'm glad I went for it, best career decision so far I think.
4. Savings. Saving in a 401k started early for both of us, saving with Edward Jones IRA accounts. Planning what we spend, and buy and do, so we can retire when we're ready and not when we can or have to.
5. I don't know. I can't think of anything right now...I'm sure I will eventually. Right now though, all I can think of are all the things I'd like to do still, like the things on my life list and the organization things my house needs. some day.
I guess these would be my five SO FAR. I hope I make other great decisions in the future. Although, I think #1 and #2 will stay on whatever future lists I make.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Easter
Happy Easter everyone. Today turned out to be a pretty great day. The girls woke up and found their baskets and were thrilled about the dry erase boards and decorative foam stickers for those. They had fun hunting for the plastic easter eggs that I hid filled with m&ms and then we kind of just hunt out for awhile. Got a text or two from my brothers and headed to lunch at dad's house (he and his girlfriend, whom I love, prepared everything). Pork chops were delicious. DELICIOUS. And steamed veggies were excellent, I started smelling broccoli and my mouth watered..so good. And then PIE that my brother brought. It was really fun, visiting, and the kids played with their cousin and we hung out, and some of us napped and we watched the Masters which turned out to be a bit more interesting than we thought it might be. The girls really really had fun running outside with my brother and brother in law and playing hide and seek. And it turns out that the 4yo is much more cunning and crafty than her 8 and 9yo cousin and sister :) She's a wily one, that's for sure.
My original hope for today was to go to church. Honestly, that's my hope for every Sunday, but it just doesn't seem to work or happen for us. We like to sleep in and catch up on sleep from the work week and getting up for church prevents that. Also, the 4yo in particular hasn't been a fan of Sunday school (nor is the husband really), so I've ended up taking the 9yo to Sunday school and the husband brings the 4yo later for big church, and both girls sit in there with us for that. It's an ok arrangement, but I do wish the 4yo would agree to Sunday school and the nursery so I could focus a little better during the sermon. I also really really do not want to be easter, christmas attendees, where we only show up for holidays when we think God is watching. I'm not that person. I believe EVERY day, not just holidays.
Honestly, I haven't been a huge fan of the Sunday school classes I've attended either. I think what I'm looking for may not exist. And I'm a little hesitant to find a new church or anything, because we like this church, we believe what they believe and we were married there, same pastor even. In fact, his daughter is whose shower I'll be attending next weekend...small world. I guess what I'd like from my Sunday school, and I'm probably not being fair here..is to come out of it with clues about how to get through the week. How do I respond to X and do I have to forgive X and what about forgetting X and I guess...real life situations that I struggle with every day. And maybe I just haven't attended enough, or the right class to find that. They do seem to offer more focused classes at Sunday evenings. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for something that fits me in that time slot. Look at that, sorta solved things a little myself.
My future fears about not attending church are for my girls. Not only their spiritual futures, but also for their personal futures. Will they meet the right man for themselves if they aren't regularly involved in a place filled with men that believe what they believe? I met my husband at church...so it's a match I'd sort of like for them to make as well.
Ok enough of that...I exhaust myself sometimes.
I woke up at 6 with a charlie horse in my calf as well. Holy mother of all that is holy...OW. I've sort of changed my running technique lately, to run more on the balls of my feet, it was feeling like less work and less impact than the heel toe stomp. Maybe my calves just aren't ready for that, but I am going to keep trying it. I really need to start doing longer runs so I can make sure I'm ready for my 5k in July.
You know what else is funny...or interesting. At the same that I hope people read my blog, and like what and how I write it, I also hope no one reads it, because its a great way to just blurt and ramble and get what I'm feeling out of me. Huh.
My original hope for today was to go to church. Honestly, that's my hope for every Sunday, but it just doesn't seem to work or happen for us. We like to sleep in and catch up on sleep from the work week and getting up for church prevents that. Also, the 4yo in particular hasn't been a fan of Sunday school (nor is the husband really), so I've ended up taking the 9yo to Sunday school and the husband brings the 4yo later for big church, and both girls sit in there with us for that. It's an ok arrangement, but I do wish the 4yo would agree to Sunday school and the nursery so I could focus a little better during the sermon. I also really really do not want to be easter, christmas attendees, where we only show up for holidays when we think God is watching. I'm not that person. I believe EVERY day, not just holidays.
Honestly, I haven't been a huge fan of the Sunday school classes I've attended either. I think what I'm looking for may not exist. And I'm a little hesitant to find a new church or anything, because we like this church, we believe what they believe and we were married there, same pastor even. In fact, his daughter is whose shower I'll be attending next weekend...small world. I guess what I'd like from my Sunday school, and I'm probably not being fair here..is to come out of it with clues about how to get through the week. How do I respond to X and do I have to forgive X and what about forgetting X and I guess...real life situations that I struggle with every day. And maybe I just haven't attended enough, or the right class to find that. They do seem to offer more focused classes at Sunday evenings. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for something that fits me in that time slot. Look at that, sorta solved things a little myself.
My future fears about not attending church are for my girls. Not only their spiritual futures, but also for their personal futures. Will they meet the right man for themselves if they aren't regularly involved in a place filled with men that believe what they believe? I met my husband at church...so it's a match I'd sort of like for them to make as well.
Ok enough of that...I exhaust myself sometimes.
I woke up at 6 with a charlie horse in my calf as well. Holy mother of all that is holy...OW. I've sort of changed my running technique lately, to run more on the balls of my feet, it was feeling like less work and less impact than the heel toe stomp. Maybe my calves just aren't ready for that, but I am going to keep trying it. I really need to start doing longer runs so I can make sure I'm ready for my 5k in July.
You know what else is funny...or interesting. At the same that I hope people read my blog, and like what and how I write it, I also hope no one reads it, because its a great way to just blurt and ramble and get what I'm feeling out of me. Huh.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Random thoughts
So far blogging every day hasn't been so bad. Other than the day a migraine tried to thwart me, it's going pretty well. I'm not even using all the pre-started posts I've got yet. Today is nothing special so my plan is to ramble until I'm done rambling.
Random thing I love: our pop can box from the Can Shed. We used to save up all our empty pop cans and take them to the store to return and get our deposit when we could no longer get past the boxes of cans in the garage. Typically about $12 worth. Over spring break this year the husband decided we should just get this box from the can shed. It's like the ones you see at the grocery store, fill it up, return it for $$ and get a new empty one. Genius. I'm not kidding, it's genius, we love tossing our cans in it so much we may be drinking more just so we can. It's so much better than hoarding all those 12-packs and hauling them back.
My headache: I'm headache free at the moment,I've taken 9 ibuprofen a day the last couple days. Today, none so far. I'm staying away from video games for a little bit, a week or so, and I'm trying hard not to stay up so late that I don't get a decent amount of sleep. I had trouble this morning sleeping past 8 after going to sleep at 11:30. But I did get up and get my running time in before anyone was up, which was really nice, since I take Sunday off from running, I'm done for the weekend.
I think maybe this headache thing was a combination of late nights with video games ( looking at you gears of war 3 horde), an attempt from a migraine to eat my brain and trying to keep track of all the weddings, shows and school things coming up. So hopefully, this restful week will help and I can play my new Lego Harry Potter game soon.
We've got four wedding invites this spring/summer. Two are on the same day so we have to choose and there are showers for all of them of course. I've squared away one gift, mailed it today because I can't make the shower. I wrapped up another gift for a shower next weekend and I'm throwing my sister in law a baby shower at the end of the month so I'm workin' on making sure all those details are worked out.
Sophie also has her school musical and school spring pictures next week as well as some MAP testing I need to make sure she gets enough rest for. I'm sure it'll super storm the night before. Today I finished grabbing a few things for Easter baskets, although I could kick myself for not picking up the new baskets I saw at the dollar store earlier this week. They're long gone today of course. Since grandma and grandpa already brought them a bunch of candy I went with dry erase boards for their bedroom doors, foam sticky things for them to decorate those with, two candy items only, dry erase markers, and little notebooks, and two pair of Easter socks for each of them. Next year I'll get new baskets...or maybe just one if the oldest figures out the sham this bunny laying egg hiding thing is. Please let her figure that out....
Update: Sorry about no picture of the genius can box and the no paragraph breaks prior to now. Apparently posting from the iPad means no breaks.
Random thing I love: our pop can box from the Can Shed. We used to save up all our empty pop cans and take them to the store to return and get our deposit when we could no longer get past the boxes of cans in the garage. Typically about $12 worth. Over spring break this year the husband decided we should just get this box from the can shed. It's like the ones you see at the grocery store, fill it up, return it for $$ and get a new empty one. Genius. I'm not kidding, it's genius, we love tossing our cans in it so much we may be drinking more just so we can. It's so much better than hoarding all those 12-packs and hauling them back.
My headache: I'm headache free at the moment,I've taken 9 ibuprofen a day the last couple days. Today, none so far. I'm staying away from video games for a little bit, a week or so, and I'm trying hard not to stay up so late that I don't get a decent amount of sleep. I had trouble this morning sleeping past 8 after going to sleep at 11:30. But I did get up and get my running time in before anyone was up, which was really nice, since I take Sunday off from running, I'm done for the weekend.
I think maybe this headache thing was a combination of late nights with video games ( looking at you gears of war 3 horde), an attempt from a migraine to eat my brain and trying to keep track of all the weddings, shows and school things coming up. So hopefully, this restful week will help and I can play my new Lego Harry Potter game soon.
We've got four wedding invites this spring/summer. Two are on the same day so we have to choose and there are showers for all of them of course. I've squared away one gift, mailed it today because I can't make the shower. I wrapped up another gift for a shower next weekend and I'm throwing my sister in law a baby shower at the end of the month so I'm workin' on making sure all those details are worked out.
Sophie also has her school musical and school spring pictures next week as well as some MAP testing I need to make sure she gets enough rest for. I'm sure it'll super storm the night before. Today I finished grabbing a few things for Easter baskets, although I could kick myself for not picking up the new baskets I saw at the dollar store earlier this week. They're long gone today of course. Since grandma and grandpa already brought them a bunch of candy I went with dry erase boards for their bedroom doors, foam sticky things for them to decorate those with, two candy items only, dry erase markers, and little notebooks, and two pair of Easter socks for each of them. Next year I'll get new baskets...or maybe just one if the oldest figures out the sham this bunny laying egg hiding thing is. Please let her figure that out....
Update: Sorry about no picture of the genius can box and the no paragraph breaks prior to now. Apparently posting from the iPad means no breaks.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Deal? Deal!
READ THIS!
I made my own chore chart. If I do them all, I get two dollars. If I do some, I get one. If I don't do any, I get zero. So, Deal?
P.S. I'm starting the chores next week, cause it's in the midle of this week already. Deal? Deal!
Clearly she believes we've struck a deal. I couldn't even see the chores she'd selected for herself, they're so small on her chart. And her use of this notebook paper makes me feel like it's pretty unlikely she'll duplicate the process next week. Part of me is inclined to let her try this, or maybe I should have her help me make her chart in a more repeatable format. Of course, my printer doesn't work right now...so...she may be on to something.
The other part of this is how funny she is. She's not trying to be funny, she's serious most of the time if its not an obvious playtime activity. She knows chore chart time is coming (summer) and she's trying to head it off with easier chores like make bed, brush hair, brush teeth, nice to sis, kind to dogs, help family. I think it might be time to add in some slightly more difficult tasks. Empty and reload dishwasher, wash windows. I love that she's left off 'clean room'. She's hilarious and smart and beautiful and I wish she's stop growing up already. I'm not ready for ten...or twelve...or...or...teenager years.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Half assed
Sorry, I'm not feeling that well at the moment so this post is a litt half-assed. Today started out awesome. I took the day off so I could go to a tailor with a couple dresses. Took the kid to preschool first, so after the tailor I got stuff done at target and the dollar store. Picked up the kid and went to get a couple bridal shower gifts across town. Came home, had lunch, fixed a work thing....and got a headache. Tuesday I'm pretty sure a migraine tried to eat me, so I'm a little afraid its still trying. So my plans for laundry and organization went out the window and I took a nap, sort of. Someone kept asking me if she could get me anything, or play the computer, or go outside, or, or, shhhh mommy is resting. She was sweet though, I'm not complaining. I did manage to finish most of the laundry, and the rest will work out later. Tomorrow I promise a better post.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Working from Home
I started this post months ago, after I read a dooce.com post about her making a video about working from home. I hadn't watched it yet, and honestly, I can't remember if I ever did. Oh, hold on, let me go refresh my memory, so my opinions make sense.
Ok. I'm back.
Considering she works with her husband (or did until the separation), has an actual assistant and I believe she also has child care at least part of the time...it's really more like she has an office in her house. Working from home means something different to me. Obviously she faces the same child/time management issues, at least part of the time, but working FOR someone FROM home is very different. I should make a video. But I'm not going to, because I'm NEVER ALONE.
So, I agree with several of her points and have a few of my own.
First, it's important to set a schedule and stick to it. My schedule starts with getting the oldest ready for school. While she eats breakfast, I take the stupid dogs out. They're cute, so I'm allowed to declare them stupid. Once she's on the bus, I'm at my laptop, working. The younger one gets up later unless its a preschool day (which won't matter next year because woohoo for afternoon preschool).
Second, I think its important to shower/cleanup and get dressed. In something other than yoga pants or pajamas. I typically shower before I get the second kid up, get her up, feed her breakfast and then back to work. I don't shower right now on preschool days. I just don't have the time to get one kid up, on the bus, shower, feed the second one (who is the slowest eater on the planet) and get her to preschool, not on time anyway. So those days...I shower after my nightly exercise instead. I don't love it, but it's what I have to do. Next year she's going to afternoon preschool, so it won't be a problem.
The video recommends a separate space..but that just isn't possible for me. I don't have child care for the preschooler and I can't leave her alone anywhere in the house, so I work at our family desk, and she plays. Both of my kids (nearly 5 years apart) have been great about mommy working during the day and they self entertain really really well. And yes, I turn on the TV sometimes, in the afternoon because she's so great at playing and she's ready for a rest so the TV is on, with something appropriate. LazyTown, Olivia, or Max & Ruby. Hmm I'm not sure how appropriate Max & Ruby is...where are the parents? Anyway...I would love my own space to focus and work, but once the preschooler starts Kindergarten, I'll have that, so for now, this works for us.
An assistant. I'm not even going to address this because I don't think I'll ever make enough to hire my own assistant, since I work for someone else right now. I also don't need one, a nanny or maid, yes, but an assistant for work, no. So I'm sure its necessary if you work for yourself at home and travel a lot and have a lot going on, but for me, not so much.
I also workout after the kids are in bed. I don't have the motivation to do it in the morning (except some rare saturdays when I want my weekend free) so I do it at 830 at night M,T,Th,F,Sat. It works for me.
The other part of working from home are the perks. There are plenty. The refrigerator is RIGHT THERE! It's too close, but also, yay, it's close. I don't spend anything on vending machine food or soda, I have my own. I'm here when the oldest gets home from school, and I'm able to get the youngest to and from preschool. My bosses have been great and the company is very flexible about schedules. I also feel a little bit more pressure to perform and complete work in a timely manner. I keep very close record of what I do and when so that I know I'm delivering what I need to be since no one is hovering over my shoulder. My biggest pet peeve is when people hear that I work from home and assume I eat candy and surf the web all day. I get paid to do actual work, and I work hard at it. Sure, my schedule is flexible, but I am WORKING.
I guess that's it. That was quite a ramble. Whew.
Ok. I'm back.
Considering she works with her husband (or did until the separation), has an actual assistant and I believe she also has child care at least part of the time...it's really more like she has an office in her house. Working from home means something different to me. Obviously she faces the same child/time management issues, at least part of the time, but working FOR someone FROM home is very different. I should make a video. But I'm not going to, because I'm NEVER ALONE.
So, I agree with several of her points and have a few of my own.
First, it's important to set a schedule and stick to it. My schedule starts with getting the oldest ready for school. While she eats breakfast, I take the stupid dogs out. They're cute, so I'm allowed to declare them stupid. Once she's on the bus, I'm at my laptop, working. The younger one gets up later unless its a preschool day (which won't matter next year because woohoo for afternoon preschool).
Second, I think its important to shower/cleanup and get dressed. In something other than yoga pants or pajamas. I typically shower before I get the second kid up, get her up, feed her breakfast and then back to work. I don't shower right now on preschool days. I just don't have the time to get one kid up, on the bus, shower, feed the second one (who is the slowest eater on the planet) and get her to preschool, not on time anyway. So those days...I shower after my nightly exercise instead. I don't love it, but it's what I have to do. Next year she's going to afternoon preschool, so it won't be a problem.
The video recommends a separate space..but that just isn't possible for me. I don't have child care for the preschooler and I can't leave her alone anywhere in the house, so I work at our family desk, and she plays. Both of my kids (nearly 5 years apart) have been great about mommy working during the day and they self entertain really really well. And yes, I turn on the TV sometimes, in the afternoon because she's so great at playing and she's ready for a rest so the TV is on, with something appropriate. LazyTown, Olivia, or Max & Ruby. Hmm I'm not sure how appropriate Max & Ruby is...where are the parents? Anyway...I would love my own space to focus and work, but once the preschooler starts Kindergarten, I'll have that, so for now, this works for us.
An assistant. I'm not even going to address this because I don't think I'll ever make enough to hire my own assistant, since I work for someone else right now. I also don't need one, a nanny or maid, yes, but an assistant for work, no. So I'm sure its necessary if you work for yourself at home and travel a lot and have a lot going on, but for me, not so much.
I also workout after the kids are in bed. I don't have the motivation to do it in the morning (except some rare saturdays when I want my weekend free) so I do it at 830 at night M,T,Th,F,Sat. It works for me.
The other part of working from home are the perks. There are plenty. The refrigerator is RIGHT THERE! It's too close, but also, yay, it's close. I don't spend anything on vending machine food or soda, I have my own. I'm here when the oldest gets home from school, and I'm able to get the youngest to and from preschool. My bosses have been great and the company is very flexible about schedules. I also feel a little bit more pressure to perform and complete work in a timely manner. I keep very close record of what I do and when so that I know I'm delivering what I need to be since no one is hovering over my shoulder. My biggest pet peeve is when people hear that I work from home and assume I eat candy and surf the web all day. I get paid to do actual work, and I work hard at it. Sure, my schedule is flexible, but I am WORKING.
I guess that's it. That was quite a ramble. Whew.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Marriage Advice
So I started out thinking I'd write about divorce since it seems to be going around a lot..not the discussion, just lots of people seem to be heading down that road. I kinda think everyone that gets a divorce should have to tell someone/everyone why they're divorcing. Irreconcilable differences doesn't do it for me. I imagine my parents would say something like... Mom: I drove my car to crazytown and stayed there (with some details about letting her journal run her life and convincing herself of many things that don't warrant bolting from her life). Dad: I didn't take steps to prevent her drive (not that I believe she would have done what he asked to fix her mental issues). Totally possible I'm biased in this situation.
They're both at fault, perhaps in different ways, but they both have responsibility. Also, what do I know..I wasn't in their marriage. I was just a bystander, and collateral damage when it went kaboom. And I also haven't been through a divorce and I don't anticipate I will, so I'll never have first hand knowledge of what it's like.
So many bloggers I've noticed recently are splitting up. And I'm aware that its completely none of my business...but blogging about it sort of seems like you don't mind if it becomes your readers business. So give us the facts.
Maybe because it's none of my business I should talk about marriage and/or weddings instead. I'm attending a bridal shower very soon for the daughter of the pastor that married us. She's a wonderful girl and I've known her since she was around 2yo. Part of the shower includes writing a recipe or a piece of advice for a soon to be married woman. They've not lived together and have only lived in dorms, so it's a true new beginning. I am also a horrible cook. What advice do i give?
Here are my thoughts. And I don't necessarily follow this advice myself, for many reasons, but I still think it's great advice.
1. Be honest. Always. Don't sugar coat anything and then let it grow to anger because you weren't honest.
2. Do not keep a journal unless you're a writer. A journal of grievances a horrible idea for a marriage.
3. Have your own time. You are still individuals and it's important to do the things you still love that don't involve each other.
4. Talk about everything. Everything, and yes, I know sometimes we glaze over and nod off..but do it anyway. Sometimes the only purpose of talking about everything is just so you get to say it, whatever it is.
What advice would you give?
They're both at fault, perhaps in different ways, but they both have responsibility. Also, what do I know..I wasn't in their marriage. I was just a bystander, and collateral damage when it went kaboom. And I also haven't been through a divorce and I don't anticipate I will, so I'll never have first hand knowledge of what it's like.
So many bloggers I've noticed recently are splitting up. And I'm aware that its completely none of my business...but blogging about it sort of seems like you don't mind if it becomes your readers business. So give us the facts.
Maybe because it's none of my business I should talk about marriage and/or weddings instead. I'm attending a bridal shower very soon for the daughter of the pastor that married us. She's a wonderful girl and I've known her since she was around 2yo. Part of the shower includes writing a recipe or a piece of advice for a soon to be married woman. They've not lived together and have only lived in dorms, so it's a true new beginning. I am also a horrible cook. What advice do i give?
Here are my thoughts. And I don't necessarily follow this advice myself, for many reasons, but I still think it's great advice.
1. Be honest. Always. Don't sugar coat anything and then let it grow to anger because you weren't honest.
2. Do not keep a journal unless you're a writer. A journal of grievances a horrible idea for a marriage.
3. Have your own time. You are still individuals and it's important to do the things you still love that don't involve each other.
4. Talk about everything. Everything, and yes, I know sometimes we glaze over and nod off..but do it anyway. Sometimes the only purpose of talking about everything is just so you get to say it, whatever it is.
What advice would you give?
Monday, April 2, 2012
Organize! Go!
I think I might be addicted to purging and organizing. I don't have a lot of time to do it right now, but I do love to sit and daydream about cleaning out closets and donating toys and throwing away all those mcdonalds toys. Pfft they're not toys, they're junk. And I just this second realized I could maybe use BASKETS in my linen closet to make it a less stupid place. Oh it's stupid. See.
I saw some baskets when looking through OrgJunkie's 'spring into organization' week features. Delightful Order to be specific. My linen closet is triangular...TRIANGLE SHAPED! WHA?! I know, right? How does one fit large square/rectangle items into a triangular shelf. NOT WELL. Maybe baskets will help. I could roll up towels into the baskets, and use a lower basket on the bottom to hold the sheet sets. It doesn't have to be beautiful, but this makes me feel like I'm the worst housekeeper ever.
We moved into this house without choosing any of the finishes. We didn't build it ourselves, but it was brand new, so I probably shouldn't complain so much. But who wants weirdly shaped closets? The main floor coat closet is also triangular. It's not a big deal there, because it just holds coats and the vacuum. But still, little weird. I believe the missing corner is where a lot of venting occurs.
After that, I want to tackle the basement storage room. A lot of things in this room are things we need to keep, but it's probably close to 50% that we don't.
I'm trying to craigslist that comforter (Garden Nights King from BB&B) but we could really use a sort and purge in here. The freezer has to stay obviously, but the new bike for the 9yo can go in the garage, some of the toys can probably be donated also. We just don't need Littlest Pet Shop, Dollhouses, Polly Pockets, Barbies, Squinkies, ZhuZhu Pets...need I go on? Oy, so much junk. I need the husbands help to sort it all though, a large part of these things are his, from back when we ran our own servers and he regularly built and rebuilt computers. We don't do that so much anymore, so I'm betting that four drawer thing full of PC parts can just go directly in a dumpster. Shhhh I wouldn't do that without telling him.
Anyway, I'm hoping to make one of my spring goals this year "CLEAN OUT CRAP". It's been really easy to do it in other rooms, and I'm hoping my daily visits to orgjunkie and her organizationally spectacular friends will help inspire me and find new ways to organize and get the most out of our space.
We'll see how it goes :)
 |
| Messy triangle shaped linen closet |
 |
| Top of triangle closet |
I saw some baskets when looking through OrgJunkie's 'spring into organization' week features. Delightful Order to be specific. My linen closet is triangular...TRIANGLE SHAPED! WHA?! I know, right? How does one fit large square/rectangle items into a triangular shelf. NOT WELL. Maybe baskets will help. I could roll up towels into the baskets, and use a lower basket on the bottom to hold the sheet sets. It doesn't have to be beautiful, but this makes me feel like I'm the worst housekeeper ever.
 |
| see. triangle shelf. |
After that, I want to tackle the basement storage room. A lot of things in this room are things we need to keep, but it's probably close to 50% that we don't.
Anyway, I'm hoping to make one of my spring goals this year "CLEAN OUT CRAP". It's been really easy to do it in other rooms, and I'm hoping my daily visits to orgjunkie and her organizationally spectacular friends will help inspire me and find new ways to organize and get the most out of our space.
We'll see how it goes :)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
April Fools!
I used to think it would be funny to leave a fake positive pregnancy test for my husband on April Fool's day. Perhaps it was funny a few years ago, but since we've decided not to have any more kids and taken steps to prevent it, I don't think we'd find it as funny as much as terrifying. Our kids are getting to the ages that they're a little bit self sufficient, fun to talk to and have their own great little personalities. It's really difficult to imagine starting over. So...fake positive pregnancy test...not so funny anymore. I never actually did it of course, that'd take research and planning and ...work. Not such a fan of those either.
In other sort of related news, I'm super super excited that my sister in law is having a baby. A baby girl even! I'm so very excited about it, it's a little bit ridiculous. I can't wait to see her in about a month and see her little baby belly and throw her the baby shower she deserves. I am at the same time super pleased they decided to have kids (ok, one kid to start) and also super super excited that IT'S NOT ME! WOO! I always wondered if we'd regret not having more or not leaving the option open...but I. DO. NOT. The Hubs doesn't either.
So...I'm pregnant. April Fools!
After I typed that..I felt wrong..somehow like I'm just ASKING for some miraculous conception to spite me and my happiness with my growing children. So here's a little more..to distract the universe from my mockery.
This also starts my commitment to NaBloPoMo for April 2012..I'm really going to do this, even if I have to schedule posts ahead of time or write something at 11:59pm some nights. I WILL DO THIS. I have a few conceptual posts already saved and waiting for some fleshing. out. So...here we go!
In other sort of related news, I'm super super excited that my sister in law is having a baby. A baby girl even! I'm so very excited about it, it's a little bit ridiculous. I can't wait to see her in about a month and see her little baby belly and throw her the baby shower she deserves. I am at the same time super pleased they decided to have kids (ok, one kid to start) and also super super excited that IT'S NOT ME! WOO! I always wondered if we'd regret not having more or not leaving the option open...but I. DO. NOT. The Hubs doesn't either.
So...I'm pregnant. April Fools!
After I typed that..I felt wrong..somehow like I'm just ASKING for some miraculous conception to spite me and my happiness with my growing children. So here's a little more..to distract the universe from my mockery.
This also starts my commitment to NaBloPoMo for April 2012..I'm really going to do this, even if I have to schedule posts ahead of time or write something at 11:59pm some nights. I WILL DO THIS. I have a few conceptual posts already saved and waiting for some fleshing. out. So...here we go!
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