Beautiful morning

It is a BEAUTIFUL Tuesday morning in Cape. Zachary and I just returned from a visit to Dr Olson (the dx is a bad cold!), and Z is now down taking a nap. Poor little guy has felt so rotten for the past few days, I decided to take him in this morning. Now at least we know it is nothing serious...just something we have to live through for a few more days! Nicholas had a visit thursday at school from Ms Connie, the educational consultant that we hired. She phoned Sunday evening, and luckily she thinks that his "problems" will be easily overcome. She had several suggestions that we could implement immediately, and a few others that we will do over time. We are hoping to be able to meet Friday after school with our principal, kindergarten teacher, and Connie, to discuss her findings. Please pray with us that the school (mainly our teacher!) will be open to her suggestions. We don't want to move him away from Trinity, but if they won't help us meet his needs, we may have to. In a nutshell, Connie says that Nick is a very "tactile" learner, and the the current teaching methods aren't really reaching to him. She thinks he may have a visual processing deficit, which we will be getting checked out by a specialist. Also, he seems to have a motor processing issue, which she thinks some more OT will help overcome. Basicially, we need some time to focus on what is causing his problems, so that he won't get discouraged at school. LUCKILY, she agreed with me, that removing him from kindergarten would NOT be the correct thing to do. He understands, and is learning, but the way our teacher teaches is not really good for him. More importantly, he is socially well adjusted, follows directions, and is enjoying school. Her professional opinion is that removing him from class would definitely do much more harm than good! Yeah! Mom was right! We are hiring a tutor, and hopefully she will be able to go to school, and help him there. Another thought is for her to come to school right after dismissal, and do the work in an empty classroom for an hour or so, a couple days per week. We want there to be some separation between school and home, so that he doesn't get too overwhelmed. Again, we'll be discussing this Friday.....

Today, however, we plan to enjoy the afternoon outside after school. It's almost fall!!! My favorite time of year!!!!

Still working....

On that paper!!! It was due yesterday, and I still have a lot to go! Nick is sitting behind me at Bryan's computer watching WonderPets, and I keep getting distracted! ha! (I kind of miss the wiggles these days...singing ducks and turtles are a little harder to watch!!!) Lacie, our new kitty, is hanging out here in the office with us, and Bryan, Zack, and the dogs are out in the living room watching the Polar Express (I know, it's only september....!). I need to get on the ball and get halloween costumes lined out, and even start getting ready for Christmas. I'm off this year, so mom and I have to decide who is cooking...

that's about all for today...it's blessedly boring at our house tonight. I love nights like this.... :-)

Another Monday!

Why do I dislike Monday so much? I think part of it (when I've been off the weekend) is that I just don't want to leave the boys. The guilt is a bit better since Nick has started kindergarten, but I miss my zacky so much! And Monday is such a hectic day....Nick has tae-kwon-do after school, so it's pretty late before we all get home. Oh, and I guess I always procrastinate doing my homework until Monday night, also. (like tonight! ha!)

Other than that, it's just a usual day around here. Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary. I've come to appreciate that!!! The dogs behaved today while we were gone (no more torn up carpet...we won't even go there!), the dishes are all put away, the laundry is running, the kids are bathed, fed, and in jammies...I just still have that paper to write. I don't want to! I have this stupid mental block about it, and I'm just going to have to get over it and start writing. I know that. (I feel like I'm in high school again!!!) Well, that's for later....

What is going on with my friends? Adrienne is still in shock with her news of baby #3 on the way! congrats!!! My prayers (for what it's worth!) are with Nadia and Uylee with the loss of his father, and thanksgiving for their little #2 coming in march...they are in such a difficult place right now, and I wish I could be there with them to help... Steph is helping her little man deal with the loss of his beloved grandma-it's so hard on the children to deal with death...he missed her so much! For thanks and praise, there is Tracie's beautiful baby girl (their 3rd blessing!), and the anticipation of Mindy's little girl! Yeah! She made it! No preterm labor for that little munchkin!!! Just waiting to meet her! :-) My dear friend Cheryl has been named Zonta club 'woman of the year'--she is so very dedicated to helping women breastfeed their little ones! She's such a sweetheart!!! And, for now at least, all is going well at work. I'm back in my department, and we are plunging forward with some new ideas we got at our seminar last week. Dad is doing well, and getting stronger everyday.

Now, it's time to put my little buggers to bed, and then get started on that paper! Transitional leadership...wonder if I will ever be able to utilize what I'm learning about???? Maybe at least in the PTL!!! ha!

Zack's and Dr Uhls...his first photo!

Beautiful (almost!) Fall day

It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL outside today! Mid 70's (about 5 degrees above my optimal, but still nice!!!), sunny, breezy...and I can't let Nick go outside and play. Gee, do I feel like a bad mom! His allergies are so bad right now that I just can't risk it. Poor kid was up half the night coughing. I started giving him his Zyrtec again, with a little Histinix for his cough. Hopefully he will rest better tonight, and be all ready for school tomorrow! We are getting ready to make a run out to the mall--hopefully that will cheer him up a little bit. A cookie or pretzel should do the trick!!! ;-) We have a department store that is closing, so I thought I'd run by just to see if they have anything good on clearance... I wasn't planning to clothes shop this weekend, but I hate to miss any good bargains! We're trying to be on more of a budget these days, since we will have quite the bill from Zack's teeth, and the educational consultant we hired for Nick! It will be worth it though, if she can help him out with school!

Speaking of school....I have been procrastinating SO MUCH!!! I have a HUGE paper due...tomorrow...that I haven't even started on. Don't even know what it is supposed to be about. I think, just maybe, I might be turning this one in late! There has just been so much going on in the "rest" of my life these days.... Beginning to wonder if I'll graduate or not....?

Off to other things.....

Oh WHAT NEXT????

Okay, so my life is getting even better. Seriously. What could be better than sick kids, a crappy job, a dirty house, schoolwork that never quits, and a husband that must believe in the laundry/dirty dish fairy???? Well world, get this. Monday afternoon Zachary, sweet loving little lump of fat love, shoved his butt thermometer down my EAR! All the way. I was laying on the floor (sick!) and the boys were playing. I'd already had wooden blocks tossed on me, had trucks and cars driven over me, but I was thinking all was pretty much well. We were in the nursery, so there's nothing in there that can hurt Zack. Well, mom didn't realize he has now grown tall enough to reach the top of his changing station. Where i keep all the diaper stuff. You know, wipes, diapers, butt cream, and, of course, KY and the butt thermometer. He'd been sick just last week, so it was laying right there. But, of course, I didn't think he could reach that high. Boy, was I wrong. So, I guess he thinks...mom is sick, I'll take her temperature. How sweet...NOT!!!!! We use tympanics with Nick, so I'm sure he was just doing what he had seen me and dad do. Oh, the pain! Just searing right through my head. And then I'm laying there, thinking, I KNOW that did not just happen to me. I must be asleep, right. Sure, I'm dreaming... but then I reach up, and there is the good old vicks speedread just sticking out of my right ear. Now, can anyone out there explain just HOW things like this happen to me??? I mean, I watch my name is earl, so I know about KARMA, but I've never really screwed anyone over badly...certainly not stuck a thermometer in anyone's ear! So why me? And of course, I'm glad he did it to me, instead of himself, or his brother (or even the dog....actually even stupid dog). But WHY??? Ouch, it still hurts! So this is on top of the head congestion that I've already had for a week. Today I called in sick again, and went to my own GP. He says he thinks it's small enough to heal on it's own (monday there was too much blood in there for the ER to tell), and expect the dizziness to last for another week or so. But he gave me some decongestant to hopefully help with the pressure.

So, there's my week so far. Hope it helps all of you all out there feel just a little bit better about yours.

Am I in purgatory or what?

Okay, so the work thing is going bad. REALLY BAD! Word is out about my school, and my plans to "move on." To that end, the powers that be in the lab have decided to move me out of my department, and make me a "multitasker." He (idiot director) wants everyone to cross-train eventually, and I get to be the lucky one to try it first. CRAP! I like where I'm at. Everyone is nice back there (not necessarily smart, but fairly pleasant to work with...), we get along, we listen to the radio (although I'm usually outvoted and have to suffer with the country crap that the others listen to!), we talk, we get our work done with no problems. Tuesday I have to move out into the mainframe lab. CRAP! I hate it out there. It's noisy, it's hot, the people are idiots, the phone rings all the time.... And what do they tell me??? Well, apparently I'm a good multitasker, and that's why they are going to try this thing with me first. Again, CRAP! So being efficient has come around to bite me in the ass again! Needless to say, I've begun looking for another job. I'm still applying for the college of nursing job, but just in case, I have to start looking elsewhere. I've applied for a couple pharm sales jobs, and a chemistry job in industry, so we'll see what happens.

So school... Well, that's kicking my a@@ so far. It's not hard, but I haven't found a good time to fit it in yet. So, I've been staying up until midnight, 1am getting things turned in. And since I get up at 5 to get ready for work, and Z still nurses at about 2am (yeah, I know...he's 16 months...he'll give it up someday...), I've gotten about 4 hours of sleep all weekend. That combined with


I'M SICK!!!! SICK, SICK, SICK!!!! Nick has the stinking flu, and I think he gave it to me. He was running 104/105 Thursday night (so I was up ALL NIGHT!!!!), and still has around 102. It's not the pukey flu, thank God, just the respiratory kind. Yeah right, JUST the respiratory kind. He and I can both barely swallow, have a cough you can hear down the block (and of course, after 2 kids I pee on myself half the time when I cough!!!), and ache EVERYWHERE! And of course I had to work all weekend. Fun. At least, so far, Z hasn't caught it. I'm crossing everything I can cross that he won't. And I think Nick is finally turning the corner. He was up playing a bit this afternoon, and actually ate some supper. Maybe this week will be better than last.

So, I'm off to "school" now. I have to do an assignment about communication. I think it will be pretty easy, just takes some time. At least I'm starting it now, instead of 10pm! Dad is doing bath tonight, so by the time Z is ready for bed, I should be done. Then I can actually go to bed at a decent hour!!!!! YEAH DADDY!!!! Sometimes he comes through for me after all! :-)