Summary

Well, we have had quite a vacation here in AR. We have had such a good time here that we don't want to ever go home. I never realize how much I miss my family until it is almost time for me to leave them :(

Well, here is a rundown of our vacation....

I got the stomach bug (that had taken over the house) the night before Christmas eve. It was pretty bad, and the recovery took a few days, but luckily, it stopped with me, so my kids and Jess never got it. But luckily, I had my hair done a day prior, so I was not too upset, because really, one can't be too unhappy if they have fabulous hair!!

Christmas morning was pretty awesome for me and the kids. They got the rest of their "Santa" stuff as well as a Wii from the Joheims! They also got some cool games to go with it which just made them even more excited! I got the wii fit from the joheims, and some pretty cool cooking utensils from Jenette (my sisters MIL), so we were all pretty excited and I am just so grateful that Southwest Airlines allows two bags per person so we can take home all of our treasures and not have to worry about extra charges!

Christmas morning also brought a good ol' family fight, and not to get into to much detail, but Mere, Jess, and I found ourselves standing around their island in their kitchen trying to figure out how to cook a turkey and a ham! Well, thank god for my dad and cell phones because we called him, and he told us, and even though the other parties of the fight came back, we were able to get dinner ready without their assistance!

The next few days brought alot of shopping, visiting, and running around. We went out the day after Christmas to get some deals...the kids each got a new wii game, I got a new purse (to go with my new hair!). We also went to the movies and saw "double features" which only made me realize how much I love having older kids. Mere, Jess and I got to see two grown up movies, while Maddie, Colin and Sydney saw two kids movies. I was most excited because the last grown-up movie I saw in the theatres was Ocean's 11!!!!

Lastly, my babies turned 10 and we had quite a celebration! We went to Panera for breakfast, swam all morning, and then went to golden corral (yuck!) for dinner where we were joined by some of Meredith and Jess' friends. Once again, I was thankful to have 10 year olds because I did not need to do anything for them, I just sat and ate my dinner and enjoyed the company! We wrapped up the night by having cake at the house (Maddie got her Chocolate on chocolate cake and Colin got an INCREDIBLE peanut butter cake from coldstone!) where the kids played and the adults talked and everyone had a great time.

Now it is New Years eve morning, and tonight me, Mere and Jess are heading out to some party where there will be an 80's band playing and we can dance the night away! Janette is watching all the kids (brave woman) so we can all go. Then we only have one more day here and then we head back home to "reality". GOOD TIMES!

-Meg

I remember....

To my babies...

I remember the day I found out there were two of you growing in my belly and all the emotions that go along with it.

I remember the morning you were born. I had to wake up at 5:30 a.m., do my hair and make-up, because I knew there would be a slew of pictures being taken all day.

I remember checking in at the hospital and finding out I was "bumped" and that I would have to wait three extra hours before I would meet you.

I remember walking down the corridor to the O.R. and being so nervous, and shaking so much that I had no idea how I was even making it down the hall way.

I remember Maddie being pulled out and I not being able to hear her cry, but being reassured that she was ok.

I remember two minutes later, when Colin was pulled out, and I heard the loudest and most beautiful cry I had ever heard!

I remember a few hours later when I was in my room and I got to see you both and I was amazed at what I had created.

I remember over the past 10 years watching you two grow into such strong, opinionated, self-sufficient, and gorgeous little people who will always be my babies!

Madeline and Colin, I love you more and more every day!

love,
Mama

unmotivated!

This just about describes my attitude toward blogging these days. These last few months have sucked..I mean really sucked! Between working at both jobs, going to school, keeping up a house, and trying to spend time with the kids in the middle, I barely have time to breathe let alone blog! I have been keeping up with the blogs I read, but I just couldn't get two seconds together to write...there was always a test to study for, dishes to do, laudry to load, etc.

But now I am done with school (for the sememster) and I will be leaving for AR in a few days, I have some much needed time off to get caught up on all the things I have been slacking on for the last few months.

I will truely be looking forward to leaving on Sunday morning and getting to spend the holiday with my sis and her family.

I am also looking forward to next semester when I will be taking classes online allowing more time for me and my babies!

Lastly, I am looking forward to sunday when the babies and I head back to the roller rink!! hahaha

-Meg

Roller World

I remember the first time I ever went roller skating. We lived in Colorado, I have no idea what the name of the rink was, and I stayed on the "kiddie rink" the whole night. And, although it looked nothing like the movie Zanadu, I remember watching the other people (other people meaning my VERY cool sisters) and wanting to go that fast, and look that good, but still trying to manuever my first grade body to not fall.

Well, as I got older (and we moved back to MA), I still continued to go roller skating at Roller World in Saugus. I would go for Girl Scout and school parties. The place would be packed with kids, the snack bar would be filled with smoke and adults (back then nobody was EVER worried about second hand smoke) and it would the event of the school year. I even graduated to Saturday nights when all the really fly people went...oh ya, I was that cool! I can remember at one point taking lessons with my BFF at the time every Monday afternoon. I got so good that I could skate backwards, do the crossover as I turned the corner, and I mastered "shoot the duck". I would always come home with blisters on my feet, but I loved it so much. I loved the music, the lights, and all that went along with it.

Well, about 11 years ago (when I was staying in a place called Project Cope) we got to go roller skating one sunday night, and once again I had a blast. I felt like I was a kid all over again. The surprising thing was that I could get right back up on those bad boys and skate that I had just done it the day before. It truley was just like riding a bike....you never forget!

Well, last night the kids had a school party at a local roller rink and since I had the night off, I told them we could go. Now they had gone a few times before with their old after school program so they were so excited. I wasn't sure if I would skate or not, depending on my foot, but I knew the kids would have a blast. Well, before we got there I decided my foot was feeling good I would give it a try, I mean how hard can it be (just like riding a bike, remember?)

So, we showed at promptly 6:00 and we were the first ones there, but we didn't care, we went in, got our skates laced up and the kids were ready. I have to admit, I was a little nervous standing up, but I faced my fears and just did it, and you know what, IT IS NOT LIKE RIDING A BIKE!! Sure, I got up and remembered how to move, but I had no recolection what so ever on how to stop, skate backwards, and I could forget about shooting the duck. But the most important thing was that in all the times I skated, I had no idea how many leg muscles were used! I was so sore, I thought I was going to die. And to top it off, the good ol' blisters are back.

All in all, we had a great time. There wern't many people there, only about 30, but that was problably for the best because the kids each fell about 26 times and there was no fear of anyone running over fingers or causing a 7 kid pile-up. The kids were so impressed by my skills, but Maddie was annoyed by my dancing (per usual) and we decided that we are going to go to these whenever they come up!

-Meg

I know my body...i think!

My body always lets me know when I need to slow down. About 5 years ago, I was working 35+ hours a week, taking 4 classes and trying to take care of the kids. Well, one day I woke up and it looked like I had swallowed golf balls. I went to the doctor and she gave me an antibiotic (sp?) and that was that. I took it for a week, and literally the day after I finished the medicine, the golf balls came back. I went back to the doctor and she told me that I was running my self ragged and my body was trying to tell me to slow down. Great...like I have the time to slow down. But, out of fear of being completely out of commission, I started getting more sleep, eating more soups ( it builds antibodies), and took advantage of my off time. I eventually got better, and I figured I had learned my lesson.

Well, a few days ago, my right foot started hurting, ALOT!! Now, I have gotten this thing called plantersefeciatiaus (no clue how to spell), which is usually something that happens when I wear flip flops too long (sound crazy) and the bottom of my foot hurts and it goes away after a day or two. Well, this time my toes are hurting, and it has been 4 days. Not normal AT ALL!

So this morning I went to the hospital to see what is going on. Well, after xrays and talking to about 20 medical people, I figured out the diognoses...an infection in my foot, the follow-up plan....stay off my foot for at least 24 hours!! WHAT!! Like I have the time!

So, the good news is that I don't have to work until tomorrow, so at least I didn't have to call in sick and be a jerk! The bad news is that, once again, I didn't listen to my body so it told me in an extreme way to SLOW DOWN! Which is what I am going to have to do. I don't know how, but I have to work on something.

So, now I am stuck home today, and lets just hope I am better tomorrow!

-meg

Something funny

O.K., so I know that the last few of my blogs have been really serious and somewhat depressing, so I figured I would put in some humor here to lighten the mood. I really should be studying for my exam on Tuesday, but I am being bad and blogging instead!

As you know one of my jobs is working for Joann's Fabrics. My mom and aunt became friends with the store manager (because they are there more than anywhere else) so they helped me to get the job, and I am very grateful for it because it is a good supplement for when I can't always sub. I personally think the main reason was so they could get the discount, but that is neither here nor there and not what this blog is about. Now, don't get me wrong, I really like the people I work with because we have fun and try to make light of the insanity of the place in order not to go insane. Also, I have never worked in "retail" before, so when I accepted the job, I figured that it would be a pretty easy job that consisted of working a cash register, putting stuff away, and cutting fabric for the old ladies. Now, I also figured that since most old ladies are nice, this would be a pretty stress free job as well. Well, boy did I think wrong. These old ladies are CRAZY!!!! They will fight with other ladies as well as the employees for what they want. They get mad when something is on sale and they can't use their coupons, and when they do use their coupons, they have about 17, and want to use them all, even if it entails 17 different transactions. They stop you (even if it is clear you are running to the bathroom) to ask you where something is and expect you to walk them to it and then have a 15 minute conversation with them about the best kind to get, even after you tell them you know nothing about fabric. They get mad if there is a line over 3 people at the cutting counter or at check out, and they will ask if we can get some more employees to come and help (as if we are hiding them in the back and not that we don't have anyone else there!!).

So I figured I would put some of my favorite situations here to make you laugh because they sure made me laugh....

--As I was checking fabric for an 81ish, female guest at the register (ya, we have to unroll every piece of fabric to make sure nothing is in there, since it is a long walk from the cutting counter to the register) I found four rotary cutter replacements and two pairs of small scissors tucked into her fabric roll. Now for those of you that don't know, those items, all together, cost about $100 dollars. When I asked her if she wanted them, she said "No, I have no idea how those got there!" Of course they must have jumped into the fabric on their own! It just made me laugh that this old woman was trying to lift this stuff!

--On FL drivers licence's there are about 100 number, and each one has some significance to the person. Well, your date of birth is in there, how many years you have had your licence, how many times you have renewed, the office number of where you had it done, etc. Well the last number is how many felony's you had, and I had this other (very old) woman come through my line and write a check. Now, not many people write checks anymore, but when you do, you have to show your license. Well, as I was writing down her info, I realized that her year of birth was 30, and that her number of felony's was 9! Holy crap! I almost fell on the ground then. Talk about a shocker. I wish I could have asked what they were all for, but that would have caused me to loose my job, and then my mom would be mad because her discount would be gone, and how would she make stuff...you get the hint!

--I had a woman come through my line with a Dooney Burke bag, fingers, wrists, and a neck full of gold, and designer clothes. She was buying some summer napkins and paper plates that we had marked down 70% because it was after the season. Now, they were only $1.99 to begin with, so with the 70% off they should have been around .60 cents each, and she had two of each, so we are talking about $2.40 total. Well, it was the first day of the sale, so they new discount wasn't in effect yet, so they were only ringing up at 60% percent off. Now, I know that a sale is a sale, but really we are only talking a matter of cents here, and she put up the biggest stink and even after I figured it out, and fixed it for her, she was still yelling that our store is terrible and she will never come back. Now, if she had a $100.00 order and that happened than I could totally understand, but in the end, it was only a matter of 16 cents!!!! SERIOUSLY!

So, this is my life, and as I said, I love the people I work with, but some of the crazies that come in my work, I could definitely do without!!

--Meg

Breaking the rules!

My poor babies. I run them ragged between all my duties of a working/school mom, that I sometimes forget that they are only 9 (well almost 10) and their little bodies require more than mine does. But when it catches up with them, it is alot more severe than when it catches up with me!

See, I always say that me and the kids grew up together. I mean lets be serious, I was not really in a mature place when I got pregnant, and I had to grow up fast. Sure, physically I was 23, but mentally, I was about 16. So some of my decitions and ways of thinking made people wonder if I was on something or just plain crazy!

I let my kids be kids, but I am very up front about just about everything in their lives, sometimes to the point that some people don't agree, but that is just the way that works for us. I always tell them that we are a team, and we have to be able to work together, and if there is a problem with something, then we will work it out and keep on pushing forward, and that is pretty much what we have done and we have been going good for the past (almost) 10 years.

So, as I am sitting here blogging at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning, my babies just woke up and I am breaking the rules today and letting them stay home. They have had such a busy few months, and I felt so guilty trying to wake them up, so I let them sleep, and then I decided to let them stay home today. Although I have alot today, I have decided that either the kids will come with me or we will just do it tomorrow, all that is important is that my kids get a day of rest that they deserve!

Until next time,
Meg

This is the life

As I sit in my screened in garage, on a warm fall night (ya it's about 80 degrees) with the fan on my face and my kids playing in a good neighborhood, I realize, life is good!!

I know, I know, in my last post I was bitchin and moanin about how busy I was, and that has not changed, and today was no different. I had about ten errends to do before getting the kids from school, then sell pizza at their school (fundraiser), then run more errends, then do our bi-weekly out for dinner (just me and the kids), then mow the lawn, then catch up on laundry. Now I thought for sure that tonight would be non stop, but about 30 minutes ago the kids went out to play with their new friends down the street and so I found myself alone.

Normally, I would take the oppertunity to catch up on sleep (I really don't sleep as much as I used to!!), but I had so much damn coffee today, there was no chance of that, so here I sit, letting all who read know that aside from all the stress in my everyday life, I really like, no, I love where I am at!

Well, thats all for tonight. We have an early day tomorrow...Baseball game at 9 am, which means be there by 8:30...the queen is not happy about it because it is her "only day to sleep in!!", so she will be a joy at the game!

--Meg

what to say.....

Well, as I sit here and think about what I want to blog about, I am at a loss...I know, it's never happened before, but my life is so friggen boring right now that I have nothing to say. I mean, oh sure, I could talk about the papers I have due, or the crazy old ladies that come into my work, or how fresh the kids are that I sub, but really, who wants to here that. I know I don't!

Here is what has been going on...my friends are getting pissed at me because I never talk to them (sorry guys!!), my kids hate the fact that I work so much and when I am not working I am on the computer doing work for school, and my body is screaming at me because I forget that I am almost 34(yuck!!) and that I am 18 and that I can function on 5 hours of sleep a night!

But it's almost over, just a few more months of this crazyness. Once this sememster is over, I can slow down and I can regroup and maybe not be so crazed. Then maybe I can go back to my talks with Jaime, weekly talks with Kama (I am trying!!) and my late night talks with Shaun. Maybe my conversations with my sisters won't have to end with me saying "Well, I have to get to work/school, I will call you when I can". Maybe the kids and I can chill out together and I won't fall asleep. Let's just cross our fingers and hope we get through it!!

On a better note, Colin got the chance to pitch at his game on Saturday and he struck out two kids!! I didn't see it, because I could only stay the first hour (because I had to go to work...shocker), but Pepere said he did great! I am so flippen proud of him!

Well, I am off to bed....

Meg

my email adress

Well, as I was mowing the lawn yesterday, I was thinking of all the things I do and I came to the conclusion that my email adress doesn't really fit my personality (it really is amazing what you think about when you are listening to the roar of the mower), so tell me what you think at what I came up with....

Mom22animals@yahoo

insomniac4life@yahoo

OldLadyonCampus@yahoo

LovetoScrap@yahoo

FabricSpecialist@yahoo

BostoninFlorida@yahoo

CMyGrrulll@yahoo

HotSubTeach@yahoo

RedAntHunter@yahoo

ILoveLaundry@yahoo

Well, that is all I could come up with for now...hope you liked!

Meg