Christmas Eve

Well, here it is. Christmas Eve already. Hard to believe it's been a year already. It's been a hard day so far and I still am at work.
I have this philosophy. Christmas really is for the children and it will be what you make it. I really miss George and there have been several moments through out the year that I have said or almost said George would like this or I need to tell George. I know that George looks down on us and has sent us a few messages from the beyond.
But it's also been a good year in other respects. Brian has flown past his one year marker and is still cancer free! Even though we lost Grandfather this summer, it brought all us kids together for the first time about 11 years! All of us in the same room! It was wonderful. Emily finally got into the school that I have been fighting to get her into since she was ready for Kindergarten and is doing so well!
Work is busy, as we are still growing by leaps and bounds and there is always so much to do!
But there are other things this year that haven't been so good. Things that I don't want to dwell on, but I have to remember to take the bad with the good.
I wish every one a very Merry Christmas and have a very Happy New Year full of blessings!

Update

I haven't posted in forever. I know... I've been slacking. But in my defense, Em went back to school and I have been dealing with a lot getting the house ready for her first communion. It was a great day.... What the hell was I thinking? Having 40 people here was great but it was crazy. It was busy. We hadn't done some of the little things around the house in years, painting the woodwork, etc. We redid the bathroom. That took 2 weekends. Plus the yard. Getting everything picked up and planning the food. Cooking. And of course it was the day after Halloween!
I'll send some pics soon.

Huh?

About four months ago, Brian and I got a new cell phone plan. It has been fine, however, at the time I never thought about how much I would be using my new phone for texting. I have texted before, but this time around I seem to be texting more and more. So, we just went for the free phones.
Yesterday was my birthday and I have been telling Brian I really wanted a new phone for my birthday. So, last night, before dinner, we went out to look at new phones. We are not eliagble for an upgrade, so anything we looked at would be full price. My dream would have been the new my touch from Tmobile, but at $500... well you get the idea.
So, we went to the Tmobile store... well ... booth in the mall. It turns out the phone I was willing to get was no longer carried there and the new version is a bit different and I don't like it. I was talking to the guy and he kept telling me the phone was the same. I was telling him it was different. The new version is sleaker, smaller, thinner and the qwerty keyboard is smaller. Not what I wanted. So, we walked down to Radio Shack.
The sales man there and I talked for a bit and I was going to settle on another phone. He informed me that you didn't need to buy just a regular Tmobile phone, but you could get one of their pre-paid phones and it would work. The savings was astonishing. So, while I am looking at the phone, he took another customer. Brian than runs into someone he knows and we are talking.
The guy never came back to me... stupid sales person. Bri's friend suggests I go to Best Buy. So, I do. There is the phone I want in prepaid for less than half of what I could buy it with out it being prepaid! No brainer in my opinion!!! Brian and Emily went to get the car and meet me. I called him and told him I was ready and that I had bought my cell. It's pretty cool. It has a full qwerty keyboard and some other cool features. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get my music from the memory card to the ring tone section. The manual reads like greek. I'll figure it out at some point.
I will have to post something soon about my experince with the DSL company. It's utterly crazy! But maybe when I am less astonished and upset.

Without Technology

I am finally back online. Not that I was completely off line, as I have some internet on my cell phone and I have a 13 year old computer to check my email and stuff. But being able to blog, check facebook regularly, etc, was not something I could do.
I bought a computer back around Black Friday after my Dell died. I had the Dell for five or so years and after that the port where you plug in to charge to computer died. Since the Dell was more than five years old, and Best Buy couldn't fix it. It would have cost me more to send it back to Dell to see if they could even fix it at all. But at that time, I decided to just get another computer. So, Best Buy had a sale on something called an Emachine.
All in all, I got what I paid for.
I've been thinking about a new one and I picked it up today. I am very pleased with it. The only down side is that I have Windows Vista again. I hat Vista. I wish there was something else.
So, lots of catching up to do!!! Yeah!!!

Waste of time?

Well, it's all over. We came from the hospital yesterday afternoon. The doctor said that what ever was going on is gone now. We had to do a sleep depervation study the first night there. Basically we had to keep Em up until 2 am and then they woke us up at 6 am. Then we had to keep her up for a while. It was worse on me. At least she could take a nap at some point during the day. So, we slept for a long time last night!!!
It feels good to get home and be here.
But, there is nothing wrong with her EEG!!! Everything is now normal. Well, as normal as Emily will ever be!LOL

Anticipation....

Okay, so writing this title gave me the song in my head. Emily started to see a new neurologist last summer. He wanted us then to go for a video EEG in his hospital. We were getting it all set when my loving husband decided that I wasn't paying enough attention to him and he grew a tumor.
So, now, we are scheduled to go into the hospital on Monday. She's all wound up about it. We have to be there a minimum of three days and as many as five. We won't know until we get there.
Em has done this before and she's not too thrilled about it. Neither, am I to tell you the truth. But, at least this time we will be closer to home and I can let my mother or husband stay with her for a while and go home each night for a while. At least to get a hot shower and check the mail and so on. I will be bringing my computer and I am thinking about my scanner too so that I can work on some history things. I guess I need to call and find out if I can do that. Plus, it's so much to carry. At least the scanner is light!
I'm hoping this will be a better experience than the last one. We were in Albany and even though my mother and husband took turns staying, it was rough on all of us. And we were there a week. I hope we won't be this time.
I'm thinking that I'm going to buy her the Hannah Montana movie to watch.... over and over again while we are there.
Boom boom clap. boom de clap de clap.

The Family Co- Historian

I have, partly by volunteering and partly by nomination, have been elected family historian of the Richter Family. It's kinda cool.
So, check out the new blog I created and send emails to the address I created.

Blog: www.richterfamilyhistoryproject.blogspot.com

Email : richterfamilyhistoryproject@gmail.com

Please send me stories, comments, pictures, whatever to these places.

Thanks! Lets make this fun!

Internet will let you find anything, my foot!

Since Grandfather passed away, my mother has been going through paper after paper in trying to sort it all out. We came across some cool things. One of which was my grandmother's original birth certificate and adoption papers.

I have known most of my life that she was adopted. I think it's kinda cool. But this paper work has the names of her birth parents. As I was told, her mother either died at or right after child birth. But we are still trying to find out information about her father. We would love to know if there is more family out there. So, off to Google I go. I have very limited information to go with. But I have something.

I've been working with Ancestory.com and not finding too much. It's becoming very frustrating. I want the answers but unless I take a crash course in Danish and learn where the family was living prior to coming to the US......

Anyone who has time to kill on the computer and wants to help should email me and I will share the information.

My Family

I guess in the modern days, I come from a big family. Not quite as big as my brother in law who is the oldest of 8 or his mother who is one of something like 14 kids, but we are big enough.

We lost my grandfather a week ago. After a very sudden and tragic heart attack and car accident, he went to be with my Nana. Of course the entire family gathered here for the funeral.

My husband and I were married almost 11 years ago. ( and yes sometimes it feels longer). We were married on New Year's Eve and Grandfather celebrated his 75th birthday a few days later. It was great that as long as we were all together, that we celebrated his milestone. That was the last time all my aunts, uncles and cousins were in the same room together. Well, all of us that there were at the time.

We have grown a bit since then. Marriages and kids have swelled our numbers.

So, since we were altogether, this past week it was kind of exciting, even if the circumstances were sad.

Yes, I am the oldest grandchild. Have been all my life. Even my husband is younger than me. I keep thinking that having us all in the same room would have made Gradfather swell with pride and love. All of his grandkids, spouses and great grandchildren together. He is smiling now. I know that he is.

So, for the fact that there are 31 of us, including the parents, we are a motly crew. We love each other.

So, I will end this with a message to each of them...

Aunt Chris and Uncle Mark... Wonderful to see you again. Don't melt in AZ!!!

Aunt Gail and Uncle Rick... Too long since we last saw each other! Miss you!

Uncle Steve... remember that you are considered the "cool" uncle!

Aunt Debi... Thank you for everything. You were a rock for the siblings at the hospital!

Wendy, Tom and Ali... Thank you for being there. It was great having you be part of everything!

Josh... Miss you! Hope you didn't torture Jeane too much in the car.

Brandon and Gabe... Damn it! Stop growning! You are not allowed to be taller than me!

Court, Jim, Caden and Zane... I'm glad we got to spend so much time together! The boys are just too damn cute!

Karen, Steve, Nathaniel and Gabe... It was wonderful having you with us for all that time! Don't be strangers! Come again!

Jeremy and Jeane... You guys need to come east again! We will take you anywhere you want to go!

Kat... Thanks for the chocolate! I am so jelious of you being in England. Stay out for a while so that I can save my pennies and come see you!

Cody... Happy Birthday! I can't believe that you are over 21!

Brett.. my youngest cousin... rememeber to enjoy your last year in high school. After this you will be expected to think about the rest of your life and begin to plan it out. Choose wisely and I know you will.

Mom and Dad... thanks for all the help this week. I hope that you know everything we did was for you and what we thought Grandfather would have wanted.

I have one last thought.

Besides, my aunts, uncles and parents... I am the one who got to spend the most time with grandfather.... the privelge of being the oldest... There were times I really hated him. Things he said, things he did. I know why he did or said them. However, even though we had a falling out and I had told him that sometimes he needed that filter on his mouth, I still loved the man. I may have seemed to have a "good handle" on my emotions this week. I really don't. I know what it's like to loose a parent... especially under tragic circumstances. I just knew what needed to be done and was able to push it aside a bit and get it done.

I cried almost all the way home from the train station the other night. I cried when I read Jeane and Court's blogs. I can't even go near my father's blog. I get misty when my residents, many of whom knew Grandfather come to me and express their condolences. I get weepy when I meet friends and neighbors... almost all who have a story to tell about the judge. I well up everytime I turn on my computer. My desktop background is now the pictures of the cousins.

I love you all. Thank you for all being here. Let's not let it be 11 years again!!! Promise!

It's been a week

I haven't blogged in a while, even though there is a lot of things going on.

Tuesday the family got a phone call that my grandfather was in the hospital following a cardiac event and a resulting car accident. I rushed to be with my mother and help with her family. We have had one day of viewing and there is a second one today, the funeral tomorrow. All and I mean all of my family is here. There are 30 of us all together. It's been wondeful and quite tiring at the same time.

I'll write more after everything is settled.

My money pit

When Em was about 6 months old, Brian and I started to look at houses. We talked a lot and worked around and around on a lot of ideas. We talked about building, renivating and just buying. We looked at a lot of options and long story short we ended up renting a house that we bought. It belonged at the time to some old family friends and as much work as they had done, it still needed a bit more.
After looking and looking on line, we decided that the closet thing about our style of house was an American 4 square. Essentally, 4 rooms downstairs and 4 rooms upstairs. We have a full attic and a partially finished basement. I hate the house. Really hate it.
Now, think about your house. Think about the house that you grew up in. I mean, like my parent's house. Three bedrooms. How many windows are there? My parents, not including sky lights have 19 windows. That' including the attic and the old sun porch that has tons of windows. My house, including the basement and attic has 25 windows!!! and 4 doors. That doesn't leave a lot of wall space.
Well, it was right for the price. It needs a lot of work for it to be my dream, well not dream house, but better than it is now.
We have been working on the kitchen. Brian and I decided to get rid of the never used breakfast nook and a few other things. Yesterday we finally put the floor down. That was the last piece that needed to be done.
We also built a patio in the back yard and a few other things.

Kids say the damnst things

This past weekend we were away camping with some really good friends. We went up to Cantine Field for the fireworks and the carnival. Our friends have a four year old little boy and Em loves him.
Now, neither Brian nor I have ever really censored our mouths around Emily. We would rather that she know when saying bad words are appropriate and when they are not. She for the most part understands that they are grown up words and that she shouldn't use them.
Well, Em was anxious to get to the rides and she had no desire to stop and look at all the junk booths full of over priced glow sticks and other crap. But our little friend thought it was all soooo cool he wanted to see it all.
At one point we were well in front of our party and we stopped. Em turned to me and said "They are being a pain in the ass. What the hell is taking them so long?"
Okay. I needed to remind her that she was using grown up words, and that it wasn't okay. But it was all I could do not to laugh. I scolded her, agreed that they were being a pain in the ass and taking too long for her. Then I sent her to hold Daddy's hand so that I could turn around and release the laugh that I was holding in, well bearly.
Em's speech therapist wrote a note on her report card that Em's vocabulary was well above her peers, even though she still has issues with tense and grammar. She says things like I sleep good last night. But the best part is that she understands what a lot of words mean and uses them correctly.
It's really funny to listen to her say things like she was jelious or that something was rediculous. She's right. She knows what it means.
Em started with her new sitter this week, a lovely woman named Jenae. Emily is not a few hundred feet from my office and I have been picking her up. I get there and she doesn't say Hi Mom! or Let's go home. It's why are you here so quick? That's a great sign!!!

Fourth of July

One of the things in the last year or so, is that Emily has really begun understand that holidays are more than about gifts or parades. We have found that we need to start explaining more than it's a day off from school. She gets that Christmas is really Jesus' birthday celebration. The up coming 4th is no exception. I explained it's the day we celebrate the birth of America. That concept was hard. How does a county get born? Who is it's Mommy and Daddy. So, I tried, It's the day we celebrate when America became a grown up country and no other country had to help it or run it. That was better.
But with the up coming holiday weekend, marks the end of Em's summer vaca.
We decided to find a new sitter. I found one through an internet sitter service. I called, left a message. The woman called back.
Her name is Jenae. Irish. Her husband is Patrick. Son Liam. Son Gabe.... see the pattern? Daughter, Shannon. There is a family member in our family with the same names... good sign. I think this will work out well.
Still working on the house. We are finished a patio over the weekend. We will be away this weekend so, no projects. Maybe Monday!

Father's Day

There was a time that Father's DAy was worse for me than Mother's Day. Between Brian, his father, mine, my grandfather, and Em's Godfather, I was buying a LOT of cards and gifts. But this year is a little sad.
Tomorrow, Emily will get her Bible from church, the first step in her First Communion for Nov. Brian is then going to meet up with his mother and sisters and go to his Father's grave. Then we are invited to dinner at my mother's.
Brian really hasn't talked about it much, but this is the first year without his father.
Well Happy Father's Day to all the dad's and make sure you give your father a hug and a kiss. You never know when he won't be there.

IEP

IEP.... the three most horrible letters and at the same time the three best letters in my world. For those of you who don't know, the IEP stands for Individual Education Plan. This is Emily's plan of action for the next school year. It's all the things that will tell us what's going to happen next. It's the set up for her PT, OT, Speech and other therapies.
Well, this year I hired someone to help review the information and help advocate for me to get Em the best possible services. It was worth every penny. This past Wednesday was IEP day.
Pat, the advocate and I show up at the school about 10 minutes early. We get down to the room on time and find out that the 9:00 meeting has just gone through the door and we are the 10:00 meeting. Okay. So, we are waiting a bit. We finally get to go in around 11:15.
Sit in the room with the meeting for almost 2 hours. The half an hour that they scheduled for Em was not enough. And the only thing we resolved was that we need more meetings to set up for September and that summer school is in place for now. It was exhausting.
I'm glad that it was so intensive though. At least I think that I was finally heard. That my daughter at 8 can't even read the word Pizza or Mommy. That kills me. Oh! We also decided and I put my foot down so hard that I thought I would break the floor, Emily will not be going on to 3rd grade. At this time she's functioning at a high kindergarten level. Wow, right?!
I hope and I pray that all the wonderful readers of this blog never have to go through this. Remember that when your child asks you, yet again what the letters for Mommy are... you could have a child like mine. She can't spell Mommy.

There's nothing really going on

I haven't blogged in a while as there is nothing really all that exciting going on in my life. We went to Pa for Memorial Day weekend, camping. Nothing really exciting there. Since we've been back all I've done is work, homework, cook.... etc. Nothing really else.
It's coming up on a busy month... yet again. It's seems that as summer approaches, everything kicks into hyper drive. School events, brownie events, church events, family events... it doesn't seem to stop.
Maybe something will happen in the near future that will be worthy of writing about...
But if nothing else... here's to boredum!

Meeting Famous People

Last night Brian and I went to Woodstock and saw a show. There is a local radio station, an independant station in Woodstock. They play very cool music. We found out about 2 weeks ago that the coolest of the coolest people was going to be preforming there. Henry Rollins. The man is a singer, in bands such as Black Flag and Rollins Band. He's an actor, author and spoken word artist. He is funny as hell and so hot!
So, of course, we had my mother and father babysit. We got tickets.
Henry can talk for hours. And hours. But last night he did about an hour set. He was entertaining and funny and wonderful.
Bearsville Theater is the coolest place. It's in this complex where the radio station is and Utopia Sound Studio. Side bar, Utopia is where they recorded Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell, as well as REM, Patti Smith, Phish and too many others to list.
The theater person states that there is going to be a meet and greet after the show. I talked Brian into staying. I LOVE Henry and I want to meet him.
Okay, I knew, having kinda met him before, that he was no where near as big as he appears in movies and so on. But until I was standing next to him, I had no idea how small he really is.
But he's still so hot!!! Sorry Brian, but he is!
Isn't it cool to meet famous people?

Mother's Day

Okay, so Sunday is Mother's Day. I was hoping for something vaguely like a commercial. You know, sleeping in, Dad and little one bringing me soggy cereal and stuff in bed. Then a big mess to clean up. As it is, we are going to have brunch with my in laws that morning and that's all the plan.
Brian asked me what I want for mother's day. I don't know. It's been a hard choice. I don't want or need any jewlery. I don't want flowers. I hate to garden and hate flowers. They are too much work.
Brian's father always had a great joke, he would say that he had been called a mother too. A mother ----er. :)

Hair Cuts

Friday, I went to get my hair cut. The first time in a while. It really needed it. It was time for something different. Some of my friends at work and I sat for a while on the computer and we went around and around as we looked at pictures. I finally picked one. So I took the plung.

It came out great. Upsides, nothing to do to it. Downsides, I have to think about color again. When my mother saw it she asked why I dyed it dark again. I didn't. It's almost 90% natural color! For the first time in years! That won't last long.

Preoccupation

Okay, so I haven't been blogging in a while. I promised my mother that I would blog about the importance of a rite of passage that I need to attend to. I really don't feel like it. I'm 35. I'm due for my first mammogram. Okay, I really don't want to do it. Sorry, something about having my boob squeezed between glass plates in a cold sterile environment doesn't do it for me. Just like the annual Pap. Now, if the tech or the Gyn looked like... oh... I don't know... Johnny Depp.... that would be soemthing different. But I need to go.
My maternal grandmother died from ovarian cancer. Something I have to watch out for considering all my Gyn issues. The genetic marker for ovarian cancer is the same for brest cancer. Plus, my father's little sister is currently under going aggressive treatment for stage 4 breast cancer. Her older sister had it. Plus there are more distant aunts in the family with a similar history. So, I need to go and get a base line.
My OBGYN is a friend from high school (talk about a weird situation there), but it's something I need to do.
Plus now there is my other excuse for not blogging in a while. Recently, Brian and I got reaquanted with an old friend who shares my OBESSION with reading. She's as bad as me. Puts a book every other day away. Recently she has lent me nearly 25 books, mostly the same author. So, I've been reading a lot. Then there is the writing.
Okay, so a few years ago I was writing again. A lot. I had printed a few things and put them in a binder. I lent one to my sister in law. She lost it. She moved recently and found it. I re read the dribble that I wrote and it is dribble. So, I've had this piece sitting in my head for a long time and I always get to one point and get writers block. I've tried several different approaches and so fare nothing has worked. Until this time, I hope. I'm two chapters in and I think this one might work. But it's still dribble. Gotta go. Came up with the next scene while writing this!

Slacker

Okay. I admit it. I've been slacking off. By the time I get home, get through the normal routine of everything, the last thing I want to do is sign on and blog. Besides, there really hasn't been much to talk about.

Emily has been off of school this week and has been going to work with Dad and E-pa. Plus, we have all been sick.

BUT... Brian. That's another story. His incision from his surgery runs from the bottom of his breast bone to the top of his pelvis. I don't know what he did, but at some point this winter, he herniated the incision. It was small to begin with. But, while he was sick this week, he coughed and it' worse. We are going to see the surgeon on Tuesday to see if this is something that needs to be repaired or not.

Other than that, nothing new is going on here. I've embedded a picture of Emily with her new cousin Jameson.

It's too quiet... What are you doing?!

Emily got up and crawled into bed with me at some point after Brian left for work this morning. It's not that uncommon on a Saturday morning. She woke me up to change the television channel for her. I got her something to eat and laid back down. I must have dozed off. I woke up and it was quiet. Too quiet. You know that quiet. I called for her and she told me that she was in the bathroom. I got up and found her in the bathroom, standing by the sink with a pair of scissors in her hand. Okay. I left the scissors on the counter. That was my bad. But her hair was neatly piled in the garbage can. There was basically nothing left on her head. She cut her hair off.
The conversation goes like this.
Me (calmly) What are you doing?
Em (pause) I cut my hair.
Me (Still Calmly) Why?
Em I wanted to look like you.
I stopped here and looked at her. I had her turn around. It was short. It was really short in the bad. (How in the hell did she do such a good job in the back?)
Me Emily, you know that you shouldn't have cut your own hair.
Em. I know. It was bad of me. Don't be angry Mommy.
Me If you wanted short hair all you had to do was ask. You have an appointment to get your hair cut this afternoon.
Em Why can't I cut my hair? Why can't you cut it?

This then leads into the conversation about needing to go to school to learn to cut hair. I cut a few really odd long pieces, got her in the shower and called Daddy.
The hairdresser was able to fix it, do the degree that she could. There is one spot just above her bangs that is spikey. It's longer on one side than the other.
She's not going to be able to see a movie for at least 4 days. Plus... I had to tell her that she wouldn't have long hair again until she was at least 10. That put it in perspective for her.
Up side... Daddy has a much easier morning routine now!

Tugging on the insides

First I would like to congratulate my cousin and her family on the birth of their new baby! I'm thrilled for them.
But, my mother called tonight to tell me that the baby was here and I was thrilled. Em got on the phone so that my mother could tell her about the new baby. That of course brings up the same conversation over and over again.
About 6 years ago, while in nursing school, I got sick. I had a choice after 9 months of treatment that really wasn't a choice. Surgery or surgery. They were able to fix my problem. But the problem was that we would never be able to have any more children.
Emily doesn't understand why she is an only child. She wants to have brothers or sisters. We have talked about the fact that God said that all we needed in our family is one little girl. But listening to two of cousins being pregnant right now... well one now... is kinda hard.
I love babies. I would love to have another one. But the factory is closed. No more children.
Sure, we could adopt. We could, but it's so hard and there is something about it that I'm not that interested in. I like the idea of a simple natural act, bringing out a natural child. Plus, I have enough issues with Em and I know where she came from. Plus, we really can't afford it. So, Em will remain an only child.
Then again, I'm not really that interested in the late nights, early mornings or diapers again. So... I guess I'll just have to wait for grandchildren!

Been a while

I know, I know. It's been a while since I last posted, but it's been crazy. I know it's not a good enough excuse, but let me tell you abit about what has been going on here.
I was sick. Again. I had some sort of stomach thing. Trust me when I say it wasn't great. I seemed to have come down with it after Em's party. (Which was great. We all had a blast).
But the day after I went home from work sick, I went back to work only to be greated by my friends from the NYS Department of Health. Yeah!
We knew they coming. It's something we begin to work on harder than normal around Thanksgiving.
For those of you who have never been through a state inspection let me try and explain it to you. In order for our facility to state that we are regulated and live and strive to a certain standard, we are required to have annual inspections. This means the state sends in a team of 3-5 people to look through everything. And I mean everything. They make sure that I pass my medications correctly and to the letter of the rules ( which were written before I was born and are so grey that even a lawyer can't figure them out). They look at all our paperwork, all our charts, our personel paperwork, our water temperture, out food prep, out freezers, even how much salt we have in the salt shakers! There is nothing and I mean nothing that doesn't get the scrutiny of the inspectors. They have the ultimate say in if we stay open. They can shut us down in a second.
We are being watched the entire time. They ask us about decsions and other statements we made a year ago. It's hard to remember what has happened in that time. They ask what happened each and every time a resident falls. Why didn't we do this or that or why did we do what we did.
Now, ask yourself, a year ago a work you did X. Do you remember doing X? Do you remember if you did uvw first? Or did you do lmn? Did you still come to X? Now do that for about 50 or so people? Answer those questions. Then still take care of normal day to day operations, prepare for the next doctor day, order medications.... you get the idea. It's the least fun thing about my job.
In the past I have been through state inspections, JACHO inspections and the like. But, I was never anything more than a pawn. I was the one still working on the floor and maybe had to open a room or answer a question or two for the inspectors. Now, it's my butt and licsence on the line.
WHAT THE HELL DID I GET MYSELF INTO?
I wish I knew. All I can say is that the stress at work has ebbed a bit, at least we aren't worried about them coming back until next year. But now the corrections have to be made and work around them.
Sigh. At least they were plesant!

Birthday Parties and Colds

Last week I had a nasty head cold. It wasn't plesant, but almost expected in the winter. Now Brian and Emily have one. My house sounds like a TB ward.
My little girl turns 8 on Sunday. My mother convinced me that this year we need to have kids party in addition to the regular party that we always have. So, I decided that if we are indeed going to have a kid party we were going to do both parties in one weekend. What the hell was I thinking? It's planning two parties, trying to do the normal week stuff, work around two Valentine's Day parties and deal with the illness in the house. Plus we are having company on Saturday for the weekend.
When Em doesn't feel well, it's kinda expected that she whines and carrys on. She's little yet. Now her father, a grown man whines even louder. It's almost embarrasing. He moaned and groaned all day yesterday and is so whiny that asking him to help me pick up and clean the house is out of the question. I might as well ask him to reshingle the roof. I might get better results there.
Em is back on her Mary Poppins kick. Why can't I have the magic power to snap my fingers and clean the house like she does?

Nyquil for Mommy please!

Thursday night Emily came down with a low grade fever. She was miserable, and was in bed within a few minutes of when we got home from Brownies. She crawled into bed with me sometime during the night and when I kissed her forehead in the morning to say goodbye, I noticed she was buring up. Her fever was 103.4 I got my mother to watch her while I went to work for a while. I got her to the doctor, as I am always afraid with high fevers that she will seize. She has some sort of lung infection along with a head cold. Okay, so Tylenol and antibiotics. But since she's allergic to Motrin, it makes it hard to keep her high fevers down.
I gave her Tylenol and we were resting in my bed. She suddenly had to vomit because of the coughing and I was tucking her back in when I noticed she was really, really hot. I took her temp again. 104.5. Great. I called the doctor and well, needless to say, after a really really long night, she doing much better. Okay, so it's been two nights. But it feels like it hasn't stopped.
Now, Brian has it. What a baby! He doesn't do well when he is sick.
I went out today to do some shopping for Em's parties and the phone kept ringing. "Where are you? When are you coming home?" I was trying to stay out as long as I could. I needed the break. Then I get home and find out that Brian is being obbsessive about his temp. 103! I need to call the doctor. I need to go to hospital.
No, take a cool shower, take off the fifteen layers of sweats and get into bed. And STAY THERE!!!!
I need to move out until they are all better. It really is like having two kids.

The coolest coffee maker.... EVER!!!

Mom and I were in Bed Bath and Way Beyond the other day. First my Beyond tangent. I understand the bed and bath part. Even the kitchen stuff makes some sense. But, exercise equipment? Candy? There are somethings in that store that just boggle my mind.
But, anyway, we were walking in the store and I saw this really cool coffee maker that I have seen several times before. I said to Mom, how cool it was and that I would love one.
Mom and Dad bought it for us as a belated anniversery present.
It's called a Keurig. Basically, it has this big tank of water that heats up fast. Then you place in this cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. It's shaped like a coffee creamer but five times the size. You shut the machine up and it pierces the cup. Then you push a button and it passes the heated water through the cup and out into your mug. One instant hot cup of coffee. Then, change the pod for the next person.
So, I like Hazelnut but Brian preffers French Vanilla. Great. No more compromise. Em can have hot chocolate and if we have my mother in law over, instant brewed tea. No pot to clean.
It even has an auto off. It's great. No fuss, no muss.
I was telling my coffee addicted boss about it and he was telling me that his father bought him one a few years back, but then the pods for the coffee where harder to find. His father found him an insert that allows you to use regular coffee. Still perfect.

Spoiled Rotten

Emily and I got into a fight tonight. It's not important what we were fighting about but the majority of the fight came down to the issue that Emily is spoiled rotten. Okay, so part of that is my fault. But it's just as much everyone else's fault too.
Emily was on the phone with my father tonight, begging for something she wanted to do, after I had said no. My father gets on the phone with me and asks me how I can really deny her anything. I think what he really said was how could I say no to that little girl. Especially when she was asking.
She wasn't asking. She was begging and whining. I hate the fact that she has so many people wrapped around her fingers that when I have to be the mean mother and say no, she can just turn her head, bat her eyes and pout and poof! what ever she wants is hers. I hate that. Mommy's word should be finial. But my father taught her how to pout and now she uses it against him.
It's pissing me off. So much so that I nearly slapped her across the face tonight.
And she's almost eight. Can't wait until she's a teenager.

Squeaky Wheels

Last Tuesday Brian and I headed into NYC to have some scans done and see the doctor. Well, we get all the way down there, have lunch and get ready to get scanned. We find out that they changed the appointments and never told us. They rescheduled them for tomorrow. I can't get out of work. Brian has a hard time as well. I called the doctor's office and yelled. They denied the appointment change, but I have written proof of the changes.
So, today they call to confirm the appointments. His scan was supposed to be at 3 and doctor's appointment at 4:30. So, reality states, scan at 4:30 and appointment near six. We were ready for this. But after talking to both Brian and I today and listening to me bitch about the fact that they didn't call me back for a week and continue to deny that they changed the appointments, they call Brian back and tell him that they can get him a scan at 10:30 and an appoitment with the doctor at noon. That's so much better.
Brian doesn't want to go by himself. I can't get out of work. So, his sister, Chris thought she might be able to go. But she's on jury duty tomorrow. Then there was his mother, but she's gone back to work and is working tomorrow. She can't get off. My father can't go. My mother can't. So, his brother in law is going.
I love Brian, but I'm a bit concerned about him going to the right places at the right times and with his French Canadian brother in law who is wonderful but basically useless in NYC... well, it's out of my hands. All I can do is keep my phone on at work and wait for the phone calls.
But after talking to Brian about the change in appointments, I said to him... you were mad at me about raising hell for the appointment change, but the squeky wheel gets the grease. It's worth complaining especially when they are at fault.
Let's just hope this is the start of a better year for this household.

BRRR!!!

Brian and I woke up around 4 this morning and procedeed to have the following conversation (para phrased of course).
Me: Bri?
Brian: Yeah?
Me: Is it cold in here or is it me?
Brian: No, it's cold.
I reach over and place my hand on the radiator.
Me: There's no heat. Did you mess with the thermostat?
Brian: Nope. Did you?
Me: Nope. Can you go down and check the furnance?
Brian gets up and gets dressed, as it was really cold and he sleeps in his underwear.
He goes downstairs, spends a few minutes grumbling and cursing. I get up, cover up Em with a second blanket. I find a few more for our room and get back under the covers.
Brian: Do we have a long lighter in the house?
ME: Nope. How about a regular lighter and a wooden skwer?
Brian goes back down and after about a half an hour he comes back up.
Me: So?
Brian: It lights and goes right back out. I think the thermocoupple is bad.
Me: What time does Home Depot open?
Brian: Not 5. I turned the fireplace on. (We have an electric fireplace. More for looks than anything, but at this point anything is a help)
We go back to sleep under five or so blankets. After a while Emily comes into bed with us and snuggles between us.
Turns out Brian was right, buys the $10 part and is able to fix the furance. But there are two things that make this even funnier. Brian and I haven't slept under the same blanket in our bed in years. He's a big time blanket hog. He rolls and takes the blanket with him. He also tends to throw the covers off. So, we sleep with seperate blankets.
Now, Emily has half Clarke genes. Clarke's run hot. Very hot. Em and Bri are like mini heaters in their own right. So, having Em crawl into bed with me was wonderful. She cuddled up and kept me warm. But she sleeps like her father. It's quite hard to sleep when the other two people in the bed are flopping around like fish out of water.
But at least I can't see my breath in the house any more.

Historic Events and being a mom

I can vaguly recall the past presidental inogurations in my lifetime. I remember Regean, Bush, Clinton and Bush. But I can't remember ever sitting down and really watching them. Why is this one so different?
I don't remember ever discussing any of the elections in school as a child. Emily on the other hand is fully aware of who Barack Obama is. She knew that he was going to be the next president. No clue who Bush was, but BO? Yup.
Is this because the man is of a different race than the other 43 presidents? Is it because he's a bit more relatable as the father of a girl Em's age? Is it something the young staff at her school wanted to involve the children in? I don't know and I don't know that it matters.
Brian and I were in the city at the moment that the swearing in was happening. The radiologist's office set up a computer monitor and was streaming the feed live from DC. But it was the older woman from the Washington DC area in the waiting room that really struck me to heart.
I will paraphrase what she said.
She stated that she hoped that the President Obama will live up to what the American people expect from him. She said at best she hoped that he was a mediocre presdient. Yes it would be nice and wonderful for him to be a very successful but she didn't think it was going to happen.
She went on to state that all the talk around her circle of friends in DC is how wonderful it is to have an African American man in the White House. But how could one single man, no matter the color of his skin live up to the expections that so many Americans, of all races, creeds and beliefs, put upon him.
I thought about this for a while and I happen to agree. I wish President Obama all the luck in the world. He has a hard job ahead of him. Any harder than any other president? I'm not sure. Each president has so much to deal with, from war to bad economies to other issues, that I don't know if you can single one out as having a rougher time than another. Some might have had a bit of an easier time, but come on. This is one of the most powerful men in the world.
Good luck Mr. Obama and godspeed in your endevors.

Mommy who?

I have talked to Em for exactly three seconds. She is way too excited to share her trip on the phone with Mommy and Daddy. I called last night and tried to talk to her. The only thing she said was I'm having fun and that was that. Now, I can't even get her on the phone. Guess Mickey rates higher than Mom! sniff sniff!

Damn it's quiet

Emily left for Florida this morning. We had to have her up and ready to go by 6 am! But she was so excited. Now Brian is at work and I have a Saturday off! So, after getting my hair done, (it was much needed) I am sitting around the house and it's awfully quiet. Of course there is nothing on television to watch. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't feel like doing much.
I miss my Em already!

theprincessemily

What to do... what to do

Brian and I celebrated our 10th Wedding anniversery on the 31st of December with very little fanfare. It happened to the be the day after we buried his father and it had just been a long week by Wednesday night.
My dream when we first got married was to do something big for our tenth. A cruise around the Hawiaian Islands. A week in Paris. A 3 Karat diamond. Something big. But we ended up spending all our spare money on the funeral flowers, suits, etc. It was fine. We had gone to dinner with Mom and Dad and Em and went to bed around 10 as I had to work the next morning.
So, my parents are taking Emily to Florida Saturday for just shy of a week. Brian has his follow up with oncologist on Tuesday. So, I have Saturday and Sunday off and I took Monday and Tuesday off so that we could do something together.
Well, we have my nephew's 4th birthday party on Sunday, so, our plans to get to do something are really limited.
We called all our friends and invited them over for dinner Saturday nite. None of them can make it.
Okay, so Brian has to work Saturday. I can find something to do during the day. We are then off until Sunday afternoon.
Put aside the usual stuff a husband and wife do alone. That's a given and well honestly, after it's done.... then what?
So, here's the list we have gone through:
Movies: Nothing out there I am willing to mortgage the house to see. That's what netflix is for.
Spa: I didn't marry Donald Trump. Too expensive
Skiing: Can't see the point on strapping 2 fiberglass boards to my feet, waxing them up to make them slippery and push myself down a steep mountain.
Casino: The rates for the hotels are out of this world. Plus how long can you sit in the middle of the wood and feed quarters into a slot machine. At least in Vegas there are other things to do.
Out to Dinner: And what to do after we eat?
We have even thought about going to one of those lover's resorts. But $400 for one night. Yeah right.
So, at the moment... Netflix and video games Saturday night. Sleep in Sunday!!!!!!!!!! Go to nephews party then home. Monday morning onto the city, get a room and hit the art! MoMa, the Met... we'll see. I am trying to get in touch with Bri's 3 cousin's who live in Manhattan and meet up for drinks or dinner or something. Broadway is dark on Mondays. Then sleep and maybe shop or something Tuesday morning before the doctor, then home.
I don't know. This keeps happening to us. We have no child, some money and no plans or anyone to share it with. All our friends have other plans. Oh well.

Missing: my baby

I know Emily is growing up. That's a fact that I can't deny. I came home from work today and only had to move my head down to kiss the top of her head. Santa bought Em new bedroom things for Christmas. No more Princesses. Hannah Montana now. It was kinda sad to pack up the last of the little kid things.
So, on we went to Target last night to pick up a new Christmas tree. A pre light 7.5 foot tree listed at $129.99 that we walked away for $12.99. Emily has had a Princess night light that she still uses. So, I decided that we needed to change the kind of night light. So, what's a cool night light that we can utilize in the future? A Lava lamp!
So, Em has a Lava lamp. It's pretty cool.
My parents are taking her to FLorida in just over a week and the night that my parents told her that she was going to Florida with them, Em came home and asked why we weren't going to pack. I had to explain that we needed more time before we packed. Plus, I need to buy her a real suitcase for the first time. She has one of those little bags, the kind you use to go over night to Grandma's but she needs a real one.
Pink of course.
Plus I need to finish the Thank you notes from the funeral. But I can go shopping online for a suitcase.