It's been a while

I just looked on my blog and realized that I haven't blogged in a week! Sometimes I find myself thinking that the kids did something so funny a few days ago, I think I need to blog about it. Well, I forget and then I don't do it and the funny just slips right out of my mind! I hate when that happens!

But tonight I do have a couple of funnies for you. This morning when I was dropping Davis off at school, I had to take the snacks inside to his teacher. She started telling me how funny he is and how he just cracks her up. She said that the other day she had to leave the room for something and while she was gone he told the whole class that she was going to retire because she'd been there for so long and was tired of it. Then she took her break one day last week and ran to Sonic for a drink. When she got back, he said "Ms Kim, I'm sorry but you missed happy hour"! He's such a fanatic about happy hour at Sonic. I've never seen anything like it!

Then this weekend he and Claire went to my parent's house for the weekend (ie, Dove hunting weekend). Well, Saturday morning Davis woke up at 4:00 a.m. and proceeded to wake up my dad and my brother to tell them to hurry up and get up - it was time to go dove hunting. HUH?!?!? WHAT?!?!?!?! Are you sure this is MY son that you're referring to? MY son that I literally have to peel out of the bed in the mornings because he's too tired and doesn't want to go to school! I think aliens came down and replaced him with a clone.

Labor Day

We all get sooo excited over "having a day off". To me a day off means sleeping in late, watching TV all day and just doing whatever I feel like doing. Labor day means that we don't LABOR TODAY! Well, guess what? Both of my kids have been home with me ALL.DAY.LONG. And I'm going NUTS!!!! Davis was up at 6:00 this morning - he NEVER gets up that early. I practically have to peel him out of the bed during the school week. Claire didn't sleep very long either. I have been laboring all day long!

Then they kept coming into my bedroom to tattle on each other. Then there was the screaming and crying that pierces the silence. I finally gave up on that "extra" sleep I wanted and got up. Well, at some point mid morning, I was watching TV and dozed off a bit. When I got up, OMG! My house looked like a tornado had run through it! Claire had gotten her stool, pushed it up to the kitchen counter and dumped out 2 cartons of cherry tomatoes. Did I mention that she also spilled milk that was left in a bowl from their breakfast AND she also got my cherry pitter and pierced a hole through some of the tomatoes. Needless to say she got her hiney spanked and had to go in time out. Lunch time couldn't come soon enough.

Well, after a quick trip to town to get a few groceries from our wonderful Supervalu, they were both eating lunch by 12:00. Nap time was very soon after. Thank goodness they both slept about 2 hrs. It was extremely peaceful!

After they both got up from naps, they had snacks and I practically had to push them out the door to play outside. What's up with that!??!?! They're usually busting a gut to get outside to play. Well, at one point they came back in and started playing really well together. That's when Davis walked into the kitchen and announced that since Claire wanted to dress up, he helped her. (she got one of those little dress up kits for her birthday) She had on the earrings, the bracelet, the shoes, the ring and the necklace with shorts and a t-shirt. Boy, was she cute!

What did he just say?

I had the funniest thing happen to me on Monday. My friend Millie had a baby girl last Friday and we went to see her on Sunday at the hospital. Well, another friend of ours, Laura, left something up there so I agreed to bring it back with me and take it to her. Monday afternoon I picked up the kids and went by her house to drop it off. I let the kids play for a little bit then we had to head out for home. Instead of driving all the way back to town, I cut over to Boyle and took a back road home. Well, at one point I have to swap from one back road to another. The one that I swapped over to was really narrow and the grass on the sides was growing in toward the road. As we are meeting a truck on this little, narrow road, and it feels as though the knee deep grass will swallow you up, my little man (5 yrs old) quips up in the back and says "Hello?!?!?! Don't these people know how to bush hog?" I thought I was going to fall out laughing. He may look a good bit like me but he thinks and acts like his daddy most of the time.

Sharing my recipe with THE GIRLS!

Ok, ladies, for those of you who enjoyed the Crab Bites, here's the recipe. (Just in case you're having company this weekend or you want an excuse to have company this weekend!)

1 - 6 oz can crab, drained
1 - 5 oz Old English cheese (it's in a glass jar & is usually close to the Velveeta)
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 Tbsp Mayo
1/8 tsp garlic powder
seasoned salt to taste
English Muffins, about 10

Mix ingredients until smooth. Spread on halves of English muffins and cut each half into 4 pieces. Bake at 400 degrees until warm and bubbly. Serve while warm.

Enjoy!!!

Funnies

I had to write about what I saw on TV tonight. I was flipping through the channels and came across the movie RV starring Robin Williams. I've seen it a few times before and it's pretty good. But I have to say that the funniest part in the movie (to me that is) is toward the end of the movie when Robin Williams character has to go talk to the whole Alpine Soda Company so that he can get them to agree to merge with the company that he works for. By the time he gets to this particular meeting, he's been through hell and back! Needless to say, he's fed up with his boss and his job.

When he gets to the meeting, he goes through his presentation and then tells them that it would be a big mistake to merge. Then his boss fires him and starts pushing his daughter. Well, his son (the kid with the short man syndrome) gets pissed and grabs the guy by the hand and pulls a swift karate move on him and flips him on his back. At this point this little girl (one of the Gornicke family members that they've met on the trip) is sooo impressed by what he's done. The camera zooms in on her and she smiles and says (with a southern/Texas accent) "My Hero". Everytime I see that part, it reminds me of a friend of mine. It just makes me think that that's probably what she was like when she was a kid. I absolutely get cracked up! I wanted to call her tonight and tell her but since it was after 9:00, I knew that she would be asleep.

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what I would do if I had to work one more day this week!!! Thank goodness today is Friday and I have Girls Night Out tomorrow night! I am soooooo ready to just hang out with the girls and have a few adult beverages. I get off in about 2 hours and then I must go to WW.

Anybody ever joined Weight Watchers? I have several times and it works as long as I stay on the program. Does anyone have any good low-fat/low-cal recipes that they would be willing to share? I would really enjoy trying some different things.

As for the rest of the day, everyone wish me good mental wellness for remainer of my day so that I don't go postal and bite somebody's head off! Like someone in particular that just pissed me off a little while ago. I wanted to knock her frizzy head off! Ok, I feel much better now!

OMG! My house is a wreck and it's 3 days until GNO!

Yep, I did it. I invited my whole Girls Night Out group to come to my house on Saturday night for homemade lasagna and the works. I don't mind if the house is in some sort of "organized chaos" but my kids have NO IDEA what that is!!! In their eyes, if the house is clean, it's their job to mess it up. Thank goodness my husband lets me get a maid twice a week. Do you think they would arrest me if I duck taped the kids to their bedroom doors so that they couldn't mess up my house? It would only be for 3 days or so. Naturally I'd take them down to go to school and all but they couldn't mess up the house. Just joking!

Seriously though, we are trying to teach our children to be more responsible and to pick up after themselves but nothing we do is very effective (well, only if you count their Daddy threatening to get them with the belt - THAT WORKS!). But you don't want to have to spank them just to get them motivated - there has to be something else. Anybody got any ideas? I just want a somewhat straight house. I'm not asking for perfection...

Happy Medicine - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Continued

On with the story...

One of the ladies in the School of Nursing called the Office Manager of my dept and then she called my husband. My husband, a farmer, is up on a ladder in a grain bin working and had to drop what he was doing to come get me. Well, in the meantime, a co-worker of mine and a family friend, drove over and picked me up and we met my husband half way so that he could take me to the Clinic. By the time we got to the clinic and saw the nurse practitioner, my BP was back to normal. They checked my sugar, my iron, and even got the results from blood work that was done back in May at the hospital. Everything seemed to be normal! My cholesterol was a little high but nothing dangerous yet. I'm working on losing weight so that should help that number.

After talking to the NP, whom I went to college with and we were in the same sorority together, she determined that the Lexapro I HAD been on and hadn't been weined off of, was the culprit of my high BP. She said that when meds like that work their way out of your system, you can have some pretty funky side effects.

Well, she did give me a prescription for Zoloft (which I've taken before) and so far, I'm feeling ok. Thanks to the fast acting and quick thinking of the faculty and staff at the School of Nursing, I'm feeling much better. I think I need to bake them some muffins and other goodies this weekend. They'll probably need them with school starting back!

Has anyone else ever had any bad reactions to medication that they'd like to share? Sometimes sharing similar experiences can help others. Your story could also help others in the future should they have something similiar happen.

Happy Medicine - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Well, for those of you who read my post on Sunday night about my need for happy medicine, it couldn't have been more ironic that I wrote about that the night before I had an "episode" on Monday. I'm not talking about an irrational, crazy state of mind kind of episode. No, I'm talking about withdrawal symptoms from stopping taking my Lexapro COLD TURKEY. I didn't stop taking it on purpose, I didn't have a regular prescription for it and only had samples from the dr. I.E., I RAN OUT OF MY MEDS. I have taken other anti-depressants before with no side effects and no withdrawal symptoms either but this time was very different.

I was feeling sorta bad Sunday night but just thought it was because I was tired. So I decided to sit down at the computer and do some blogging. I felt better after I sat in front of the computer for a while so I figured that I was just tired. I went to bed about midnight and some time during the night, my husband woke me up to see if I was ok. I told him yes and asked him why. He said that he woke up and heard me breathing REALLY heavy. I told him I was fine and went back to sleep. I should explain something here as well. My husband has been telling me for about a week or so that I have been snoring at night. My explanation was that I was really tired. He thought something was wrong because the only times that I have snored was when I was pregnant with our 2 children, I was sick or EXTREMELY TIRED. Anyway, when I woke up yesterday morning, I thought I had dreamed it but later found out that it was for real.

I got up yesterday morning and felt ok but not great. I figured I was just tired because I didn't go to bed at a decent time. I got my little girl ready for daycare and myself ready for work and we left. I got to work but I still didn't feel quite right. I was dizzy and light headed. I wondered if it was an inner ear problem. I figured that I would just be a little dizzy for a while and would be ok later. Since I work for OIT (Office of Information Technology) at a 4 yr University here in MS, I am sometimes going around campus to work on computers or sometimes to even replace them. Well, yesterday morning, I had to take 2 of our student workers and go to the School of Nursing to replace some computers in the classrooms. I had already told one of my co-workers that I wasn't feeling well and he said to just make sure that the students did all of the lifting and moving around of the computers and just to take it easy. He knows that if I say that I feel bad, then I mean it. I'm not a faker and most all sick time I've taken this year was either for my husband or my children. As many of you mommies know, as a mommy, you're not allowed to be sick!

Anyway, after I got over there, I still couldn't shake how I felt. I found one of the nursing instructors and asked her to take my blood pressure. She took it and it was a little high. It was 130/98. If you know anything about blood pressure, the bottom number is a big deal. My blood pressure is usually 120/70 which is normal (give or take a point or two). The only other time I've had high blood pressure was when I was pregnant with my first child and had preeclampsia. Otherwise, my BP has always been normal. She said that she would check it later on for me to see if it was still up. I continued to work (ie, instructed the students what to do) and I tried to take it easy and sit a good bit to keep my BP from rising anymore. Well, I went to lunch with some friends and sat the whole time. I was feeling ok because I was sitting and not getting up and down. I started feeling bad after I got back from lunch.

After lunch I was called back over to the School of Nursing to look at something else and when I was over there, I was walking around the building making some phone calls and looking at the smart carts, wiring, etc in some of the classrooms. I started having problems catching my breath and had to stop several times to take a few deep breaths. It finally came to a point where I felt like I was going to pass out. I asked the same instructor to take my BP again and this time it was pretty high. If I heard her correctly, I believe it was something around 142/110 (give or take a few points). At that point I was FREAKING OUT! I started crying because I had no idea what was going on and I felt like I was going to pass out.

To be continued...

My friend, AFRo, took the picture above while she and her family were visiting our house back in January. It was taken in my backyard. The windmill was put up by my husband's grandfather and I can look at it anytime I look out my bay window in my bedroom.

I loved this picture so much, I had it printed at Wal-Mart, I framed it and hung it on my wall in my bedroom. I don't think she realizes it, but she is a pretty darn good amateur photographer. It probably helps that she's worked in journalism too.... This picture is the kind of thing that I want to hang in my bedroom. Sure I can go buy some framed wall art but what's the fun in that?!?!? I've had that before, now I'm ready for unique. I think I should take my mucho expensive digital camera that my parents gave us for Christmas and go for a ride. I'm sure I can find plenty around the Delta to photograph. We'll see...

I think I need some "happy medicine"...

I have been out of my "happy medicine" for about a week - week 1/2 and I think I'm going crazy! My kids have been driving me nuts all weekend. Little husband says that it's all in my head - OF COURSE IT IS!!!! It's called chemical imbalance coupled with hormonal imbalance and I'm about to explode! Not to mention that I feel like a freakin' fat cow these days - gonna rejoin WW this week for the 6th (or more) time. Need to make an appointment with the OB/GYN pretty soon too. Birth control ran out this month and don't want any more curtain climbers here. I think I would have to hire a FULL TIME NANNY if I had another one. I have 2 and think I'm going nuts - can't imagine what my MIL went through with 3 boys.

Is it Friday yet?

This has been a semi crazy week. I picked up the kids, Chap & Sister, on Sunday from the grandparents and drove home - 1 1/2 hours. That was not fun. While eating supper the phone rang. Knowing exactly who it was (my parents - grandparents that kept the kids) and knowing that they don't give up, I answered it. I get the shocking news that my uncle's ex-wife had just died of a massive heart attack at the age of 54. Their only daughter was absolutely crushed. She got married a little over a year ago and has an adorable little boy who's 1st birthday was on the Friday before his grandmother passed away. I have a feeling that his birthday will always be a bittersweet event.



Since I work at a college in a small town, all of the students and teachers have been out all week. It's been sorta quiet and slow but not completely. I had plenty to keep me busy - help desk tickets, a training class to teach and of course, the ex-aunt's funeral.



I am just wondering if anyone else out there has ever had to teach someone else about something and they go in thinking, "I know this stuff and it should be a breeze" but once they get in there, the learner throws several curve balls at you that you have never done mainly because it's sorta out of the scope of what you would normally do during a business day. This happened to me today and I felt like such a dumb ass! I thought to myself that maybe I should be the one going to classes to learn this stuff.



Then, this afternoon was getting supper ready, an idea hit me. What if I started a blog site something like this and I post tips on different MS programs that we use on campus on a daily basis? Then I could get faculty and staff to subscribe and they would get an email everyday when I posted a new tip. Right now it's just an idea that I'm thinking about. Let me know what you guys think...Need input.

I'm the Virgin Blogger!

I'm somewhat of a virgin - a virgin blogger that is. I can honestly say that I am not a "real virgin". I can say that because I've been married for over 7 years and I have the 2 children, the stretch marks and the C-section scars to prove it.

I have to say that this week has been one hell of a week. Do you ever feel like if 1 thing bad happens, there are numerous bad things to follow? I have had that kind of week. I'd rather not go there tonight. I think a girls night of margaritas and Mexican food might be a better backdrop for that conversation.

Well, I guess I'm not a virgin anymore. Write it down in your books that I actually created my own blog tonight. Yes, amid the Valentine's cookies and dirty dishes, I actually made it happen. Whooohooo!!!!