Maybe it was opposite day?

Our house has some quirks…

• The floors creak and squeak. No one will ever be able to sneak anywhere out of that house without all of us hearing them. (and that means YOU kids… when you get older)
• There’s a light switch in the master bedroom that doesn’t control anything in that room. For days it was ”is anything happening now” with that light switch. I kept seeing that commercial in my head. The one where the guy is asking his wife to pay attention as he flips the switch… then you see that it controls the garage door of one of his neighbors. That’s what I was afraid of. Then one night we realized that one of the outside flood lights wasn’t turning off. We couldn’t find the light switch for it anywhere. Oh wait – let’s try the one in the master bedroom. Yeah – that makes sense. It turned it off… of  course.
• All of the air vents are low to the ground – so furniture arranging is like playing a game of Twister… “if we move the couch over here and the TV over here and the table over here… we can redirect the flow of air so that it hits you if you sit over here” Is the low air vent arrangement an 80’s thing? ’Cause I was a mere wee-babe in the 1980’s… so I don’t remember. (shut-up all of you)
• We have two garage doors and only one little clicker thing to automatically open the garage. Can you just go out and buy another one? I don’t even know. I actually have my own personal garage door openers… see the photo of the two kids up there? Yeah – those are my garage door openers. When I turn into the subdivision, I call home and ask for a garage-door-opener. Lately it’s turned into a little event where the kids want to climb into the driver’s seat with me and steer the car into the garage. (those garage-door-openers are getting quite pushy)
• Every single… and I mean EVERY SINGLE electrical outlet in the house is upside down. That may not be such a big deal… until you plug in a glowing dolphin nightlight in the girl’s room. The poor dolphin looks like he’s a gonner… usually when fish swim upside down it’s time to flush them down the toilet. (I know, Skylar, dolphins are mammals… but it’s funnier this way)

Still… with all it’s quirks, I LOVE it!

My Sweet Precious Angel Daughter

Disclaimer: I’ve had this blog entry saved for months and months. (Mack is now 6) I debated on whether or not to post it… but it is rather funny. I would like to apologize in advance for the crudeness.  I will be starting the “always be a lady” lessons very soon, I promise.

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She and I are walking around Target the other day.  I smell something stinky and say to her, “did you toot?” (sorry for the gross factor) She says “no.” “But Mackie, it smells,” I say. 

Her reply, “Maybe it’s your breath.”

She’s FIVE.  She’s a girl.  Where did she get this from?

I’m blaming her brother and her father. 

I’d bottle it!

My friend’s husband is going to school to become a teacher. He needed a kid to work for a project in his class. He asked me if he could use one of my kids. I replied, “Just one? You can have both!” (he only needed one) He’s going to be working with my son on reading and comprehension. (a total win-win, in my opinion)

So yesterday was the first session. They headed to the local university library. On the way, my son takes a sip from the water fountain and says, “I just drank college water! I feel smarter already. They should have this water at my school… it would make tests a lot easier.”

I beg you.

Today is officially the first day of summer. And you know what that means right? TOES. Lots of ‘em. Everywhere on display. I’m not a big fan of toes and feet. (unlike some people I know… and you know who you are) I like a good sandal just like everyone else… especially when the weather warrants it. 

What skeeves me out the most?  Women whose toes hang out over the front of their shoes.

Are their toes too long? Is the shoe too small? Either way, I don’t like it.

If you’re going to wear sandals, keep your toes INSIDE THE BOUNDARY OF YOUR SHOES!

Thank you.

Social Butterfly

Some Good News:

My Mom has been able to get OUT of the rehab facility to visit with others. On Sunday, she spent the entire day at my sister’s house. She got to hold the sweet baby, eat normal food, socialize in a relaxed atmosphere and feel like a regular person. She hasn’t done that since December. She hasn’t been out of a hospital bed since December. My heart did a dance of joy when I heard that news.

It was also the first time since I moved to Atlanta that I felt a wee-bit homesick. If I were still living in Florida, I would’ve been there to see it. Still… I’m happy.

Turns out, my Mom is now quite the social butterfly. She was out to dinner with friends last night too! Can you imagine the impact that is having on her spirit? She needed that boost… she needed a ‘reason’ – you know? I think she’s getting it & I am SO happy. FINALLY. (knocking on wood-throwing salt over my shoulder-crossing my fingers-saying a prayer) Please let this be. Please, please.

Good News is an amazing stress reliever.

Oh – what do you make of this?

The other night I heard a story on TV about a person who passed away. Not a big time celebrity but someone I had seen and enjoyed. So as I’m falling asleep, I said a few words in my head about them – hoping they are at peace. Last night that person turned up in a dream and gave me a hug.

And it was after the really disappointing part of my dream which made it even better… apparently, I was trying out for a part in “High School Musical” and Edie McClure (secretary in Ferris Buehler’s Day) told me I was too old. How dare she?! She’s no spring chicken herself!

Yogurt Spit

Can someone please tell me how to open a container of yogurt without it saying “puh” and spitting its contents all over me? If I’m going to be doing all this healthy crap, I really need to know this.

I’m not a fan of yogurt as it is & have been forcing myself to eat it… but, this is something that could really make me crazy.

I have been able to tolerate the yogurt because they sell it with little cups of stuff to put in it. I prefer the ones with oats or granola. That way I feel like I’m actually eating something…and not just spooning the equivalent of baby food in my mouth. Bleh.

I also don’t like eating plain ice cream. Not that I eat ice cream anymore… but when I did. It had to have something in it. (preferably pretzels – yum) The husband doesn’t like pretzels in his ice cream. That doesn’t make any sense to me. So if I was preparing ice cream for the both of us, I’d hide a few pretzels in his bowl. It amused me.

Okay – so when did it all of a sudden become the middle of June? What happened to May? Wasn’t it just May? The months are flying by! No big plans for the rest of the month for me… my MIL will be making a visit up here the last weekend of the month.

Yeah. (so many comments are going through my head, but I’m restraining myself)

Well – I finished my yogurt while typing this post. What time is lunch?

I conquered crochet!

Here’s the scarf I made for Mackie. I only took it apart about six times. Turns out I was doing the wrong stitch.

Mack LOVES it. She’s been sleeping with it. (until I told her it would be best to hang it up)

Remember that hawk who visited our bird bath. Well, he’s been back and brought some friends. We think he’s scaring all the other birds and animals away lately. Yesterday he landed on our deck.

And he just sat there so that pictures could be taken…

Today I hope to get some scrapping done. We’ll see how that goes.

Belated

I missed my blog-aversary.   

I’m really surprised that I’ve been able to keep it going for a year. I’ve never been able to write in a journal for very long or keep a diary. I start them thinking that it’s such a good idea & then I get non-committal. I did find the Hello Kitty diary I started during the summer of 1983. Not much in it – although I did mention seeing the movie “Annie“ with my grandmother and sister.  (still love that movie & now so do my kids)

Marti: (English Major) Are you supposed to italicise movie titles or put quotation marks around them? I can never remember. And I know how you feel about grammatical errors. I also need some help getting my blog list back on the front page. I have no clue how to do that. Grrrr…

I’ve come to realize that I come up with brilliant blog entries or clever titles while I’m trying to fall asleep at night… and then I can’t remember them in the morning. That sucks. I need to try to be more brilliant while I’m conscious.

It’s been fun connecting with friends and family through this blog. I love being able to express myself this way. And the support and friendship has truly been amazing!

Thanks for laughing with me… and at me.

Like a good anti-depressant.

Spending time with friends is definitely good medicine. How can you not have fun with these girls? (have you ever seen such a happy woman holding a gun? and look at that baby belly - so cute!)

Oh – and that room we’re standing in – the one with all the loud video games and the air hockey table and loud obnoxious glow-in-the-dark carpet? Yeah. That used to be my office. They turned my office into a game room. In a weird way, I think it’s kind of appropriate.

One of the many amazing things about these two is that we talk just about every day & when we’re together there’s never run out of things to say. It was soooo sad to say good-bye to them! I miss them so much already!

(besides – I have to say nice things about them… they know way too much about me!)

We had a lovely, intimate, baby shower for our Jules. Jen used her Martha Stewart bird stamp so beautifully & I baked cupcakes. (Seriously – and they were edible!) Julie received the coolest diaper bag I’ve ever seen. We all fondled it – it feels like buttah.

Jen and Jules both have much more excellent photos on their blogs of our day together… they know how to use that flickr thing – I am blog-tech challenged.

Not only did I get to see my girls, but I also got to spend time with the most beautiful baby on the planet.

Am I lying? I don’t think so.

I also spent a good amount of one morning trying to get all five kids to look at the camera at the same time. Now *that* is exercise!

Mom is doing okay. We saw her on Sunday, finally. She was still in ICU but was in a lot less pain than the day before & her spirits seemed relatively high. The kids were great & got over the awkwardness of seeing their Noni hooked up to so many tubes pretty quickly. (they still don’t know about the leg – she keeps it covered) She has since been moved to a regular room & will hopefully be transferred back to the rehab place in the next few days.

Anyway… we drove back on Sunday afternoon after stopping in Lake City meet the MIL for dinner and pictures and more pictures.

Here’s one conversation from the trip back:

Me: “Mackie, stop licking your stuffed animal.”

Girl: “It’s not a stuffed animal, it’s my baby.”

Me: “Well, stop licking your baby. And put his pants back on please!”

(for the record, she was licking the face)

Even after the drive home, I came home feeling calmer and much more relaxed. Ahhhh… I took Monday off work & stayed off the computer too. It felt good. Besides, I needed time to master my crocheting. Cough.

But that’s tomorrow’s post. xoxo

Hold that thought.

Nothing can be easy or simple when it comes to my Mom’s recent health issues. She did not have surgery yesterday. The cardiologist wouldn’t release her until he can determine if her heart can handle it (quadruple bypass surgery May 2004). She’s scheduled for a stress test today & if she passes, the surgery will be this afternoon. It’s a simple (cough) “routine” surgery. She’s having her gallbladder removed. Because with terminal cancer, bad circulation, diabetes, an amputated leg… this would be the logical next step.

The worst part of all of this… yes, there’s a worse part. Is that when my Mom found out about the *immediate need* (that’s sarcasm, folks) to have her gallbladder taken out she was on her way to my sister’s house for a normal dinner with family. The first time in six months that she would’ve been eating a meal someplace other than in a hospital bed. My Dad was driving her to her doctor’s appointment since the rehab/nursing home place didn’t provide transportation. He gets the call on the way there saying that she needs to be admitted right away. That was Tuesday. It’s now Thursday morning and her gallbladder is still safely tucked away inside her abdomen.

I do want you to know that I appreciate your thoughts and prayers… and will be holding on to them a little while longer.

In the meantime, I had a follow-up doctor’s appointment yesterday. I also discovered that it’s a lot easier to remove your make-up at night after you’ve cried a bit during the day. (my beauty tip of the week – you can thank me later)

Apparently I’m a bit stressed out.

I know what you’re thinking… Jen? Stressed?? What could she possibly have to be stressed out about?!

I know, I know… but it’s true! My doctor even gave me a couple of prescriptions for it and recommended I do this thing called “exercise.” From what he told me it’s the only thing that *doesn’t* come in tablet form. Crap.

In other news – the whole family will be driving down to Florida tomorrow. It’s my Mom’s 57th birthday. The kids haven’t seen her in a while & I think they could all use some time together. We’re going to be staying at my sister’s house which means I’ll get to love on that baby some more. (oh – and maybe Jamie will read this blog before I call and tell her that we’ll be staying with her…’cause I’m a planner like that)

I’ll also be driving down to Orlando on Saturday to host a little baby shower for Jules. I can’t wait to see her and Jen! I know that seeing them will do me a lot of good!

(Laughing is exercise, right?)