Update on Crazy Life - Installment 2

Mini Me missed Motor Mouth the week he was in Tulsa

with Grandma DonnaMomma and Grandpa FlyGuy.

We picked upMotor Mouth in Branson last weekend.

On the road, we pulled up the map on our iPhones.

8 hours 27 minutes!!

We thought it was a 5 or 6 hour drive. Ooopsy!!

Traffic was so bad leaving Chicago on a rainy Friday,

it took us almost 2 hours to get out of city limits!

The morning we left, our roof sprung a leak!!

They HAD to come into our unit and of course,

the bedrooms were a MESS!! I got a ride home from work

to tidy up for 20 minutes. Adrenaline rush!!

We pulled into a great condo in Branson around 2:30 am.

We chilled and had a nice, relaxing weekend
until after lunch on Sunday, when we drove back home.

4/5 weekends we've been on the road, traveling.

Our 2 month old car hit 5,000 miles!

It had 15 miles when we drove it off the lot...

On Monday, I got to see my dear friend, MAM.
MAM had their 2nd baby and I hadn't met him.
He is so adorable and wonderful.
It was amazing to see MAM again. I missed her!
(this is a pic of MAM with Baby #1,
they look so much alike, I figured it's like meeting #2)

Tuesday, I attended the Cultivate09 Conference.

It was for people who do church marketing.

I do Christian school marketing so, close enough.

Great conference. Lots of info.

That night, J flew out to teach a class on set design

at WFX Charlotte, in North Carolina.

While J was out of town,
I had to have my stitches removed.

I took the kids with me. They were troopers!!

...And THAT, is why I haven't blogged lately...

What I Have Going

I'm in the process of reading these 3 books...

I am going to read this book

then review it for Thomas Nelson.

They sent it to me for free to review.

Mini Me has some speech delays.

Gotta help my baby girl!!

I learned last week that a LOT

of moms deal with anger.

We expected about 45 people to attend a

moms meeting on anger management

 in moms and children.

Almost 100 women attended!!

Adventures in the ER - Painted Toes

I was sitting on a carpet when my foot was slit by a piece of glass. I tried to stop the bleeding, but blood dripped on the newer, off-white carpet!  My friend hopped on the Internet and read how to get blood out of carpet - a bowl of lukewarm water and mild detergent.

I ended up going to urgent care. 90 minutes later, I had received an x-ray to ensure no glass was in the wound, 5 painful shots of local anesthetic, 1 tetanus shot, and 2 stitches. I've never been awake while getting stitches!

Please note the condition of my toe nails while a very HOT doctor stitched me up. Let this be a lesson to you - Always have pretty toes. You never know when someone might see your toes!!

Like my MIL - She had pretty toes for her impromptu ankle procedure today!

What Should They Have Told You?

Our Calling All Mom's ministry at church held a session entitled: "A.N.G.E.R. Management - Anger in Moms and Children", taught by the supremely knowledgeable and practical Mindy Meier. We were hoping for 35-40 ladies. We got close to 100. 

That evening, I purchased 'She's Gonna Blow: Real help for moms dealing with anger', by Julie Ann Barnhill. Julie starts off talking about the first time she spoke on anger at a Hearts at Home conference. She was hoping 12 women signed up for her session. 1 out of 5 attendees signed up, she had to speak twice on 2 days! 

People. Women make it seem like being a mom is the greatest, most wonderful thing in the world. It is. But it really isn't at the same time. Why do we have to perpetuate this myth that momhood is perfect and easy. It's time we came out of the cleaning closet and are honest about life. Honest about ourselves.

I wish someone had told me how frustrating and, at times, anger-producing being a stay@home mom is. Maybe I would have gone in to it prepared, instead of beating myself up about being a horrible mother.

What do you wish someone had told you? At any stage in life at all. What do you wish people had told you?

Motor Mouth in Tulsa

My baby is with his grandparents for his fall break from school. This is one week I can hardly wait to see the end of. I miss him. I really miss my baby.

Finished for Friday - And It Ain't Over!

Once again, I finished...Almost finished my week.

Saturday

Roundtrip drive to Michigan

Sunday

Host an Open House at work

Thursday - And this is the meat:

- Agenda for PTO meeting

- Document design/prep for leadership summit (30+)

- Host Leadership Summit

- Document prep for women's meeting (100 ladies)

- Run sound & take photos for women's meeting

Friday

Host full-day open house with tours

And to round it out....

Saturday

Roundtrip drive to St Louis

- Alone with 2 kids!

19 And Counting!!

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Duggar family from Arkansas. Jim and Michelle are parents to 18 children, pregnant with their 19th child and their oldest son's wife just gave birth to the 1st grandchild.

The family has a show on TLC currently called 18 and Counting. They were just on The View. Apparently, there is some negativity out there about this family because the mom is pregnant again. I don't get it. The Duggars - before their reality show - were able to afford their children and their lifestyle, without the aid of government assistance. If you can afford to have children without relying on the government, go for it. None of my business.

The Duggars OWN their 7,000 sq ft home - no mortgage. They own all of their vehicles - which includes a tour bus for traveling on vacations. And they can afford to take family vacations. If you can do all of that and have 18 kids, go for it. None of my business.

The Duggars' kids are remarkably well-behaved and seem happy, healthy and well-adjusted. I have 2 kids and I'm not sure they are all that well-behaved, happy, and well-adjusted. If you can do that with 18 kids, go for it. None of my business.

So I don't get why people have to say negative things about this family. Are their ideas mainstream? No. Are they trying to get people to join their way of life? No. Let them be. Enjoy the show or don't watch it. They aren't in divorce court, headlining scandals every other day. They are proof good does exist in this world. And, quite frankly, I could use some more of that in the news.

Bronner's Christmas Store

Coke machine at Bronner's - Love it!

One of my favorite places is Frankenmuth, Michigan. My sister and I loved going there. I was glad to finally have the opportunity to take J there on the weekend. We were just 30 minutes away from where we met my parents to pick up Mini Me. It was a no brainer!

I'm so glad J loved the town too!! We did a quick drive through town, then walked all through Bronner's Christmas store. It's the largest Christmas store in the world! J loved it so much, he wants to bring his mom. Grandma Barbara would love Bronner's and the little town of Frankenmuth. I wish she could see it with us one day.

Crack Stopper

CRACK STOPPER

What an amazing invention!!

I'm just confused...

Does it work on butt crack or crack addicts?

Either way, it sounds hopeful!

Knowing Me, Knowing You - Oct '09

Time once again for that monthly interview project started by my friend Shan, over at Tales from the Fairy Blogmother. Why don't you join us, answer the questions yourself and then head on over to Shan's blog to link up? It's fun!

1. Crunchy peanut butter or smooth?
I refuse to eat peanut butter unless it is in the West Indian beverage, "Peanut Punch". Or, the odd Reese's peanut butter cup - but even then, I can seldom do more than 1.

2. Do you do any volunteer work?
My motto since age 11 has been: "Give more to your community than you receive." To that end, I have been a volunteer for 28 years. I tell teens they should volunteer at a place they think they want to work. If you think you want to be an attorney, volunteer at a law firm. If you think you want to be a nurse, volunteer at a hospital. See what it is really like, talk to those doing the job. It is great experience for a future resume and you help others in the process.


Currently, my volunteer commitments are light: I am the PTO secretary for my daughter's school, the communications director for the mom's ministry at church, and I volunteer in the 'crawlers' nursery 1 Sunday/month.

3. What's your favourite cold weather drink?
Tall pumpkin spice chai tea latte from Starbucks.

4. What is your favourite holiday?
I don't have one. It used to be Thanksgiving at my MIL's but then my FIL started doing some side work for Satan and they would be out-of-town every Thanksgiving. I liked Christmas at my in-law's as well but now that everyone is married and has kids and there are other in-laws and family they have to go to, we can't all just hang at my MIL's all day and have everyone come to us. I did enjoy Labor Day this last time because I relaxed the entire weekend.

5. Okay quick - you gotta hop a plane right now, to anywhere with anyone - where do you go and with who?
A family member has a beautiful resort type property somewhere warm. I don't remember where it is, but I saw a picture of it and that is where I would go with just my husband.

So, what would you do??

My Mother, La Comedienne

My Mom has been caring for Mini Me for almost 2 weeks, as Mini Me is on fall break from school. Personally, I would have loved a fall break when I was a child, but it seems we had things tougher back then.  At any rate, my darling mother sent this P.S. to me at the end of an e-mail:


P.S. I think both of your children have the gift of gab. If Motor Mouth talks more than Mini Me, non-stop, you got something going there. I wonder who they took after?
Love Mom
---------------------------------------------------------
And you wonder why I am the way I am.

Mini Me On My Mind

It Was Cute With Grandpa But...

Motor Mouth is headed to the Art Institute with school. That was fine until I realized he might walk past his  favorite exhibit... I can only imagine it now...

Diagnosis: Multiple Sclerosis - MS

A few years back, I started getting these shooting nerve bursts. The bursts went from my head to my fingers or down my back. One time, I timed it and they were happening over 20x/minute. I had MRI's done, x-rays, went to chiropractic, and more. No one was telling me what they thought it was.

I went on the internet and did some research. Turns out, my symptoms most resembled MS. I asked my doctor if that is what they were looking for and he confirmed. It was shocking to me. I started studying MS. Annette Funicello has been battling it for decades. Did you know Montel Williams has been living with MS for many years?

Then one day I saw where people were complaining about the side effects of Paxil. See, I lean toward the side of neurotic. When we were best friends many years ago, my now husband described life with me as a roller coaster ride. Um...whatever.

A few months before that, I gotten it in my head that it would be good to take Paxil. My doctor thought it was a good idea too. There I was, living life on Paxil. For 3 months. I'm sure a placebo would have had the same leveling effect. But then I read you can't be on anti-depressants if you want to adopt. So I got off. Weaned off like I went on - gradually stepping down in dosage.

The withdrawal effects of Paxil? Same as the ones I was having which were strangely similar to MS symptoms. Whew!! It was just withdrawal. Within a month or so, I was fine again. Whew!

That all happened about 7 years ago. I thought I'd share. You never know who you can help when you share your story.

Urban Child Care

The other day, I took Motor Mouth and 2 of his school friends after school to meet their Dad. We travelled on the city bus. 2 buses, actually.

Waiting next to a dinosaur leg

Giving love on the bus

Like her new glasses? Isn't she adorable!!

Boys will be boys!

Protestors next to Ralph Lauren Polo Grill

More protestors

I had to explain why people strike and picket

Creepy, pedophile looking guy

I steered the kids away from him and gave him a

"I got your number, buddy" look

Climbing the bus pole

I should have taken pictures of all the kids enjoying an ice cream snack before their Dad picked them up. Oh well. You see one kid eating ice cream, you've seen them all.

Mini Me in Canada - Day 4

Mini Me is having a blast with my Mom and Dad.

Mini Me has a polka dot dress. She told me Granny ruined her dress. Turns out, my Mom has a polka dot scarf. Mini Me thought my Mom cut her dress to make a scarf! LOL!!

My Mom has been working the girl to the bone! Mini Me has been doing 'school work'. Each time she gets a sheet finished, or a right answer, Mini Me wants an organic cookie treat. Thanks for spoiling her Mom!!

Mini Me in Canada - Day 3

A PET STORE??? MY mother took Mini Me to a PET STORE?? My mother never once took me to a pet store. The closest we came to visiting a pet store was our bi-annual family visits to the African Lion Safari reserve about 30 minutes from my home town.

Seems they went to the mall and Mini Me got chocolate ice cream too.

Mini Me is having a great time but the facade cracked this morning. Mini Me started crying on the phone with J. She said she missed us all. Whoooo Hoooo!!!! I was getting a bit miffed that she wasn't missing us.

Mini Me in Canada - Day 2

My Mini Me and my brother's Mini Him were together on Wednesday. Sounds like they had a blast! My brother's Mini Him is about 1 1/2 years younger than my Mini Me. 


I can hardly wait to get pictures because Mini Him is uber tall and I suspect they look like twins with the same coloring. Mini Me's eyes are no longer bright blue like her Grandpa's but they are a lovely shade of gray. Mini Him still has blue eyes, like her Momma (pic of Mini Him). 


I know my Mom is in Grandbaby Heaven right now!