Category Archives: My crazy life

Dec23

Holiday Blessings

Posted on by
Standard

2013 kicked our butts. The first half wasn’t too bad, but the 2nd was rough. Illnesses, acts of God and unemployment all hit our family within an 8 week period. All these things sucked- and some of them will continue right into 2014. But despite all the bad, we were bound and determined that the good would shine through this holiday season. And it really has!

pageant

The Christmas Pageant

The only time the Christmas songs aren’t on in our house is if we’re asleep. The kids are more enthralled with Buddy, our Elf on the Shelf, then any year before. Tales of Santa and Buddy and the reindeer are all that we talk about about and videos from Santa yesterday cemented how closely he keeps track of us- especially when the Bean found out she hasn’t been good enough for the Nice List yet.

093

Best of all, when we talk about this past year, my kids don’t talk about the stressful stuff. They remember our trip to FL last Feb, learning how to play Uno, reading Harry Potter and going to the Outer Banks and learning how to play laser tag with their cousins. They remember how fun it was to go camping in the rain- not that the Hubs was sick the whole time with mono & the flu. When they think about our shed being destroyed, they don’t think about the headache of dealing with insurance, they think about how awesome the tree was that fell and how now there is a tree fort in its spot.  Yup, I did lose my job and the budget cuts we made stink- but if you ask my kids about it, they’ll talk to you more about how I pick them up from school every day on time then they do the fact that we don’t go out to eat anymore. If that’s not a life full of blessings, I don’t know what is.

052

To all those who celebrate, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends and more laughs then you can count!

Nov24

Thankful

Posted on by
Standard

Today officially kicks off our Week of Crazy. My brother is getting married on Friday (yeah!!!!), so tomorrow after school we have the final dress fitting for the Bean and haircuts to pretty ourselves up, Tuesday night we have parent-teacher conferences, Wednesday is the rehearsal dinner, Thursday is Thanksgiving, Friday is the wedding and Saturday is my niece Lala’s 3rd (!!!) birthday party.  And then on Sunday, we all collapse.  Say a quick prayer for my sanity, won’t you?

I’ve really slacked this year with my 30 Days of Thankful postings (slacked = haven’t done it at all), which is a shame because I have so much to be thankful for. So here in they are, in no particular order:

> It’s 15 degrees outside. Today I’m thankful for my house, our fireplace, cozy blankets and cuddly cats.

> My family’s health. While 2013 hasn’t been the best year for us, my family (close and extended) has stayed healthy. I know that can change in an instant so I thank God for that every day.

> The kindness of friends and family.  From the minute I shared news of my layoff with my friends and family people went above and beyond to help in every way possible- from showing up at my house with chocolate, cheesecake and booze to passing my resume on to anyone they thought could help. I must have done something amazing in my past lives to be surrounded by so much positive energy and support.

> The Hubs. Oh how I love that man. He’s a giant pain in the butt in so many ways, but in all the ways that count, he’s steadfast and steady, encouraging and supportive. I picked a good one when I picked him.

> The kids. I joke about them a lot on here. I tease them, I share funny stories and I vent about the frustrations of raising two very smart, very busy, very independent kids. But they are my everything. There aren’t enough words that I could find in all the languages in all the world to share how much I love them. So I won’t even try. Just know that they are loved beyond all comprehension.

> My family. Living in NY means we see my family a lot and the Hub’s family as much as possible. And I wouldn’t have my life any other way. I can’t imagine a life where seeing our parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family frequently wasn’t the norm. The Hubs and I had to make some changes to ensure we could stay in NY and raise our kids with family all around around and it was one of the smartest things we ever did.

> My friends. The ones I’ve had since 3rd grade and the ones I’ve had since Scorch was 3 and everyone in between. Each of these smart, funny, empathetic, kind and lovely women are some of the best blessings in my life.

> Books. When life got hard, it was a relief to slip into a world that wasn’t mine. Whether it was a book that had me counting my blessings because at least that didn’t happen to me or it was a book that simply allowed me to escape into a whole other person living an extraordinary life, books have been a lifelong blessing.

I’m sure when I end this post, I’ll think of a million other things to be thankful for (like my various part time jobs, our critters, my comfy bed, good music, etc).  While I might not have had the time to look for all the lovely in my life lately, I know it’s there and I never take it for granted. So bring on the craziest time of the year- I can’t wait to celebrate all that is good!

 

Nov3

This, That & a Minor Miracle

Posted on by
Standard

When I thought about being unemployed one of the things that freaked me out the most was thinking I’d have eons of free time to fill up. I could very easily go the way of the sloth and do nothing but read all day and I was worried that I’d do just that.  Turns out, I have nothing to worry about because so far I’m finding being unemployed has made my schedule a 1000x crazier then it was before.  Before, I had a set schedule that varied little from day to day.  I knew what I was doing at any given hour during the day and there was comfort in that routine. Now there is no routine and I’m flying by the seat of my pants, yet my days are booked between meetings about freelance work, PTA meetings, meetings with my CPA, meeting with a financial adviser about what to do with my 401K and random interviews.  And when I’m not doing that, I’m cleaning my house- only to have the kids wreck it in 0.007 seconds after they get home.

And frankly this lack of a routine is making me crazy.

This is the week I start my part time job, find out more about one of the freelance jobs I’m doing and find out if I got a full time job I interviewed for last week. So by the end of this week I’ll have some idea of what my new schedule will be even if it kills me, so help me God.

~*~*~*~

Halloween this year was amazing. Good lord, as crazy as 5 and 7 can make me, they are the best ages in so many ways. This year my kids were beyond excited about Halloween- they both completely got into the spirit and were old enough not to be exhausted and miserable by the end of the night. We went to a friends house for dinner, then 6 couples with 13 kids total hit the road and did the trick or treating thing. The oldest kids were 7, the youngest was 13 months old and they all rocked it with a lot of laughs, good manners and down right giddiness over the good candy.  Scorch was Harry Potter and the Bean was the Red Power Ranger and part of me wanted to freeze them right then and there at this age so they’ll always be this happy and excited.

~*~*~*~

Scorch had his first sleepover at a friends house this past weekend. I admit, I was nervous that I was going to have to head out at 11 pm to pick him up. He was at one of my best friend’s homes with people who love him dearly and he knows well, but still, I didn’t think he’d last the night.  When I went to bed, I had both phones right by my pillow so I could grab them when the phone call inevitably came during the night.

But it never came- the sleepover was a complete success!

Such a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but a HUGE testament to how far Scorch has come. If you had told me 2 years ago when Scorch’s anxiety started that he’d spend the night somewhere other then our house or his grandparents, I would have called you crazy. We were lucky enough to get that child to sleep in his own house at that point in time- and when we did, sleep typically happened after hours of trying and usually didn’t last all night thanks to nightmares. Yet here he was, spending the night at a friends without any issues.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again- getting Scorch therapy was *the* best thing we’ve ever done for him and watching him live a completely normal, ordinary life as a result is a miracle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jul22

Seriously? Today Stunk.

Posted on by
Standard

I had a big blog post planned out in my head about my recent birthday. It was a good one- I promise. But then, today happened.

Freaking Mondays.

First, we had to take our car into the shop for the state inspection and an oil change. The mechanic’s have wi-fi so I figured I’d sit there for an hour, work and come out only about $50 poorer for my troubles.  Yeah- not quite. On the way to the mechanic’s I rolled down all 4 windows and when I tried to roll them back up, only three made it- the 4th was stuck.  So my quick and cheap visit to the mechanic ended up taking 2.5 hours and costing me almost $300.

But, you know what? Things happen- what can  you do? We didn’t have a choice but to fix the window and better it happen today when the garage had the parts. We were supposed to get rain tonight and I didn’t want to have to jury-rig some redneck window cover to tide us over, so fine- we can deal.

Sure enough, this afternoon it started to rain on my way to get the kids from school. Then, very quickly, the rain turned into a wicked storm with huge thunder boomers, lightening, winds and torrential rains. I had drugged our dog, Crazy, before I left (she’s storm-phobic) and let her out to pee. I was going to be gone 30 minutes tops, so I figured she couldn’t get into too much trouble.

I’m an idiot.

This is what we came home to (along with a lake of dog pee & a huge pile of vomit that went down our heating vent- didn’t take a picture of that. You’re welcome):

Those are scratch marks in my door jam and wall taken by light of the flashlight because we lost power.

Those are scratch marks in my door jam and wall taken by light of the flashlight because we lost power.

The poor dog had gotten herself stuck in the bathroom and completely lost her damn mind. It was something out of a horror flix.  I had to close the door of our bathroom and clean up the entire mess in the hot, damp room by the light of the flashlight.  Seriously people, I didn’t sign up for this when we got this mutt.

But damn it, I’m an optimist. It could have been worst- all the damage is repairable. The vent and floors can be easily cleaned and at least it was limited to this one area of the house. Yes, I wanted to vomit now myself (but couldn’t because no power = no running water, so I couldn’t flush the toilet).  Yes, I needed a full shower after stepping in unmentionable things (but couldn’t take one because of the no running water situation).  Yes, it was hotter then hell inside our tiny, windowless bathroom and I was sweating like a pig while breathing through my mouth.  But things could have been worse.

They got worse.

This is what I saw when I went to let the dog out after cleaning the mess from hell:

Yes, that is my patio table smashed to a million pieces.

Yes, that is my patio table smashed to a million pieces.

 

I freaking, fracking give up. I’m DONE with this day. D-O-N-E. Done.  The wind picked the table up, literally flipped it over and this is what’s on my back porch now. So after I got done cleaning up the dog pee and puke, I got to deal with this.  At this point at least the Hubs was home to help out.  I wish I could say that we handled all this with grace, as a unified couple- us against the world style. But, let’s be real here.  All we did was bitch at each other, biting each others head’s off, sniping over the whole freaking mess all the while yelling at the kids to STAY OFF THE DECK so they didn’t step on any glass. All of which caused Scorch to have a mini-panic attacked worried that he was either going to catch his sisters cold, get sick from the smell of the dog puke or end up with glass in his foot.  Which, at least that didn’t happen. No child, parent or dog ended up in the ER today, although one of us may have threatened to tie the dog deep in the woods tonight and leave her.**

So- how was your Monday?

**And no- we would never hurt our dog. We may fantasize about it on days like today, but if we haven’t sent her over the Rainbow Bridge yet, I think she’s safe from us.

Jun25

Awards, Summer Fun & Honey Boo Boo

Posted on by
Standard

School got out last Thursday and we had one busy, busy week leading up to it. Field Days for the Bean, a field trip for Scorch, and a ceremony where Scorch was awarded the Citizenship Award for his class for his manners, kindness and ability to follow the rules. I always knew my kid was awesome but it was so very nice for other people to recognize that. The kids don’t know they are getting an award so the look on Scorch’s face was priceless when his name was called. But what got me all teary-eyed during the ceremony was how excited the other kids got when someone was called up. High-fives, cheering and lots of clapping- it did my heart good!

Now summer is officially here and it’s awesome. The kids are going to the same camp they went to last year at their school and they were beside themselves yesterday when we arrived.  The kids basically kicked me out the door and ran off without a backwards glance when I dropped them of- you can’t ask for much more than that. Both kids have come home each day smelling like sunshine and sweat with matching skinned knees, exhausted and happy.  Camp starts an hour later then school did, so it feels like we have all the time in the world in the morning now, which sets us all off on the right foot.  I do love this schedule!

~*~*~

For the past 6 months, Beaner’s been asking to put pink, purple, red, blue and green streaks in her hair. I’ve put her off, telling her it’s against the rules at school (which it may or may not be- but the excuse worked on her so I stuck with it) but now that summer is here, we went for it! However, when talking to our hairdresser about this eons ago, I clearly misunderstood her.  She has these tubes (they look like mascara tubes) in her salon that come in all sorts of colors. For whatever reason, I thought she had told me that she could put that on the Bean’s hair and it would last 2 weeks or so.  Perfect- it wouldn’t damage her hair and it would wash out rather quickly- I was sold.  That is, until I realized that was I wrong and that the color in the tube only lasted until you washed your hair the first time.  That’s not what we were looking for.

So that’s how the Bean ended up in foils, sitting under the dryer at the salon last Friday.  Honestly, I was ready to die- I felt like Honey Boo Boo’s mom. I mean- who DYES their 4 year old’s hair?! But I had already committed  to it with Beaner, so I was stuck.  Thankfully, my hairdresser reassured me- telling me that the color wasn’t permanent (2-3 months max) and that it wouldn’t damage her hair in anyway.  So I bit the bullet and we went for it.

Hair

It’s actually really subtle, and you really don’t notice her hair unless she’s standing in the sun.  She’s absolutely thrilled and I’m hoping I can ride this wave of thankfulness for a while yet to come!

 

Jun5

End of Year Crazies

Posted on by
Standard

Is it wrong that the last things my kids hear before bed every night is “Good night, I love you & I don’t want to see you again until morning.”? Because 9 nights out of 10, that is what they hear.  Here’s hoping their health insurance as adults covers therapy.

~*~*~

I forgot about the particular brand of crazy the end of the school year brings for the kids. They have about 2 more weeks of school left (!?!?!?!) and it seems like there is some special event every other day gearing up to it- parades! concerts! art shows! field trips! and the list goes on and on. They are having a blast and we’re so very thankful for the  amazing year both kids had, but all this excitement makes for hyped up, slightly anxious, entirely exhausted kids at home.

All I have to say right now is thank God for sports that keep them busy, early bedtimes and lilacs (because I really love lilacs).

lilac

Apr14

The Fall

Posted on by
Standard

So today we woke up and it was snowing.

And I cried.

The end.

Well, not really. I mean, I wanted to cry, but I didn’t because I kept repeating to myself “It won’t last. It won’t last.” And it didn’t- by late this afternoon the sun was out and the temps were almost in the 50s. So the kids and I went for a walk. We have this gorgeous little creek that borders our property that’s completely inaccessible in the summer and fall due to all the bushes and prickers. In years past, Bean was always too little to walk it, so this is our first year truly exploring it and we’re down there as much as possible since we know the window of time to enjoy  it is closing.

And we have a ball! The kids love seeing the fossils, playing in the water and hunting for signs of wildlife. Today, for example, we saw a snake. I didn’t scream and run away, abandoning my children, so clearly I win! That is, until I broke our favorite part about the whole thing.

See that cute little bridge, made out of the small tree trunks? Yeah- my kids love that damn thing. Scorch goes across it by himself and the Bean inches carefully across it, holding my hand.  The fall to the water isn’t that far- a foot, maybe 2- nor is the water deep, but the bridge offers up a fun thrill.  We crisscrossed it a few times today and, on our last time on the way home, one of the logs broke and the Bean and I took a dive into the water.  Thankfully she fell on me and while she got wet from the water splashing up on her, I got the brunt of it.  Neither one of us were hurt- just muddy and wet and laughing so hard we cried. Scorch didn’t think it was nearly as funny and he was downright ticked I wouldn’t let him get in the water with us.  I had to explain to him a few times that freezing night time temps + snow this morning + water= FREEZING.

Thankfully clothes wash, bodies warm up and hot chocolate fixes most everything- including the fact that I broke the stream.

Apr7

Mom! Mommy! Mommy! Hi.

Posted on by
Standard

Before I had kids, my friend Jo and I would frequently hit up a local walking trail with the dogs.  It was a great way to exercise and get all the latest gossip.  Well, Jo and I are now have two kids apiece- 3 of whom are all old enough to go for an easy hike.  So we threw her youngest into a carrier and took the other three out on the trail.  In my mind, I figured the older kids would run ahead and entertain themselves and Jo and I could get back to our gossiping ways.

Yeah, clearly I’ve never spent any time with my kids before ever.

The walking trail borders a few small lakes and streams. So I spent the whole 2.5 mile walk telling my kids- repeatedly, every 10 steps- why they couldn’t go in the water. Evidently the fact that part of the lakes/streams were still frozen wasn’t good enough.  Nor was the fact they had on sneakers, not rain boots, and if they got their feet wet they’d have to walk back in wet shoes.

All I could think about was this scene from the The Family Guy where the poor mom just wants one freaking minute alone. And it doesn’t happen.

I mean- come on. Would you want to go swimming in that water?! Crazy kids.

Mar26

This Crazy, Boring Life

Posted on by
Standard

I keep waiting for something funny/ clever/ sweet to happen so I can share it here, but so far, I got nothing. Our days are a blur of work, school, swim lessons and karate- with the occasional snow day and sick day thrown in. We’re in the thick of signing up for summer camps and finalizing vacation plans- which is both wonderful and surreal considering the snow is still falling outside.

> I have been reading a lot lately. All good books, although nothing has been spectacular. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that complete captivated me and I’m also on the hunt. Any recommendations?

> Beaner is dressing herself daily now- and dictating how her hair is done. Half the time she looks like a hot mess and I love it. Good lord, I hope she never, ever loses her individuality and doesn’t become a sheep, trying to blend into the crowd. There is something absolutely delightful about seeing what she pulls together even if 75% of what she puts on doesn’t make it out out front door (a mismatched bathing suit, boots and gloves are not appropriate for school, sadly).

> I started playing Candy Crush. I have such a love / hate relationship with it.  Mostly hate.

> I’ve been working out 6 days a week and joined Weight Watchers about 7 weeks ago and I’ve lost 12 lbs. Best feeling ever was having to go shopping for smaller jeans. The only downside is that 5x a week I’m getting up at 5 am to work out. I’m freaking exhausted, y’all.

> I tried a new recipe last night for dinner and it was a huge a success! You can find the recipe here- we paired it with fried rice and it was delish. So delish in fact, that I think I deserve a metal for not killing the Hubs when I woke up this morning to find he forgot to put all the leftovers back in the fridge last night and I had to throw everything out. Grrr…

> Scorch has stated reading before bed- I give him 5-10 minutes before lights out. Every single night he fights me when it’s time to go to bed and I love it. I can’t tell him that, of course, but I’m doing everything I can to encourage him. Please, please, please let him always love reading.

Here’s hoping my kids do something awesome tomorrow so I have a coherent post up soon!

 

Jan6

Walking Disasters

Posted on by
Standard

That about sums us up today…

This morning we got up and out a little earlier then usual so we could attend a fundraiser breakfast for the kid’s school. The kids were excited and I was thrilled because there are few things I like better then breakfast out.  But, we didn’t even make it out of the driveway before the drama started. Scorch wanted to bring two lego figures with him to breakfast and asked me to get him a good guy and a bad guy.  All I could find were two bad guys and he was Not Pleased. At all. So he generally threw a fit the entire 10 minute drive over.

When we got to the restaurant, Scorch dropped the hat to one of his lego guys into a crevice of the car and he couldn’t reach it.  This normally wouldn’t be a huge deal, but the Hubs was dropping us off and there was a line of 4 cars behind us waiting to get out while Scorch tried (unsuccessfully) to reach the freaking hat. The Hubs and I finally ended up yelling at him to get him to move out of the car before the folks behind us started honking.  So that’s why I walked into breakfast this morning with a 4 year telling me in a sticky sweet voice how good she’s been and my 6 year old crying. Awesome.

The kids and I got a table, I got Scorch calmed down and we went up the buffet line.  The Hubs wasn’t there, but I decided that we’d be fine. I’d hold the Bean’s plate along with mine and Scorch could hold his.  So I’m ordering my food while constantly muttering “use two hands” under my breath to Scorch. I swear I only took a 2 second break in  my mantra, but that was enough. Scorch got distracted and that big china plate tumbled to the ground, breaking into a million pieces.  Now, if there is anything Scorch hates more then calling attention to himself in a negative way, I don’t know what it is. So suddenly I’m juggling two full plates with a 6 year old burrowing into my side all while trying to help clean up a mess and apologizing left and right.  That was fun.

But the mess got cleaned up and we made it back to the table with our food- just in time for the Hubs to arrive. Finally- man on man defense. So we all dig in and make it 5 whole minutes before disaster strikes again. Just as the Hubs got done warning the Bean to move her cup to the inside of the table, he knocks his OJ to the ground- and, in the process of cleaning that, he dumps the Bean’s water.  As this point, all I can do is laugh. I mean- come on. It’s not even 10:30 in the morning.  I bet the entire wait staff (all 6th graders and parent volunteers) let out a huge sigh of relief when we left.

I wish I could say the day got better, but it really didn’t. The Hubs got a migraine, I was that mom putting her kids in timeout in the aisles of Target and Scorch managed to spill half of my much-loved Starbucks hot chocolate.  But our evening was spent with friends, the Hubs is feeling better and both kids are sound asleep.  Here’s hoping tomorrow is much, much less eventful!