Blogging For Our Beautiful Shayla Yu Ping

Time to get caught up here again!!!

2012-02-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

I have sat down every day this week to update this blog. There is no reason why I haven't. I just have put other things in front of it. Time to update.

Last time I check in here, it was January 25th. What have we done since? What has gone on since? What has not gone on since? It's been an enjoyable January in fact. It's been a fairly decent month. We have had plenty going on, but not so much that we haven't had the time to get things done. Mind you there is always more to accomplish than time allows. However, things have considerably calmed down. Almost to the point of not knowing what to do with myself. Not that I can't create stuff to do in minutes,but I have tried not to as I have not been feeling well for some time now.

Thursday was a fairly slow paced day. I had a wonderful lunch with a great friend who I enjoy immensely. Lunch was good, but the conversation was better. It was good to see her. Unfortunately, I felt awful. I was very dizzy from a sinus infection that just wanted to drag me down. After lunch I came home to be with the kids as Bill had school. Shayla had an after school class today. She loved it. It was a musical class. It was then homework, some TV watching, dinner and bed.

Friday morning Bill took the kids to school and then took Jezebel to get her stitches out from her surgery. I got up, got myself ready and headed out the door to visit my friend Maura in Norwood. We met at her new home which is lovely. She showed me around and showed me her future plans for changing the place up a bit. I loved the house though. It was very unique. The changes will be great too though. We then had lunch at Conrads. After lunch I dropped her off to pick up her husband's car which was having some work done and then I headed home. It was great to see her. We had a nice time catching up. I came home and did a few things around the house because it was going to be a busy weekend. I don't even remember what time I passed out on the chair, but I think it was much earlier than usual. Between the sinus infection and the drive to and from, I was wiped!

On Saturday, we all got up and got ready for lunch at Nancy Chang's in Worcester. We were meeting a few other adoptive families for a little luncheon to celebrate Chinese New Year. It was great to see our friends. The kids had a great time. The adults did too. It was too fast as always. Everyone had plans later in the afternoon, so everyone had to leave around the same time to get to those commitments. I was really disappointed in the restaurant. That I have to be very honest about. The place was empty. The food was good per everyone else. I could barely eat, so I am not a good judge of food. The buffet was kept up nicely. I thought the service was terrible though. All the waitress had to do was fill and refill our waters, ask if we wanted drinks and clear our table. She did finally clear our table, but I cleared the table twice before she got around to it. The kids wanted to do crafts and their plates were all over the place. I got so annoyed by it, I finally picked up all the plates and cleaned the table of any sticky stuff so the kids would have room. I am sorry, but when the restaurant is dead like it was, we have a small party going on and we aren't all ordering different things off of the menu, I don't think it's hard to keep our table cleared. The woman was very nice. She just was not the least bit efficient. She did give us all our own checks which was nice. We were an easy crowd too. Not demanding or anything. I did call on Monday and told them that the buffet was kept nice, the waitress was sweet, but that the service was really lacking. To be honest, the manager Elaine didn't give one thought to what I had to say. I was really disappointed by that. I won't get into it, but this Elaine came over during the luncheon to ask me a question about my weight loss because I mentioned that I can't eat and wouldn't be having the buffet. She agreed to charge me for a cup of soup. I thought that was nice. However, I don't feel like she handled the whole thing as she kept eyeing the food in front of me and saying "You can't eat?" Well I was trying, but no, I really could not eat without wanting to throw up! I was embarrassed. Anyway, when I called on Monday, she proceeded to tell me she stopped by the table three times to see if it was clean and if people were happy. She assured me the table was clean and everyone was happy. Where was I? I never even went to the restroom! So as far as I am concerned, I won't be returning there at all. She could at least pretend to care! She didn't. She made me feel like I wasn't being truthful. Furthermore, she gave me a hard time for not telling her that day while I was there. Not for nothing, but we had plans and I didn't want to address it right then. I didn't need anyone to witness the conversation between her and I. I would have thought she would appreciate that. Well there are plenty of nice places to go, I don't need to frequent this place at all.

We all headed out the door to our own places to be. We had to do a few errands. We then ran home where I had 5 minutes to brush my teeth and head back out to get to Anita's house. We had tickets to see "The Amazing Jonathan." I headed down the highway to Anita's so I wouldn't be late and Bill fed the kids and got them to bed. Anita and I basically left immediately so we could get into town on time. We flew in without a hitch. I had traffic all the way down, so this amazed me. We parked and went right in. We met Anita's two friends from work there. We had a great time. The show was fantastic. We then had dinner at a local pub. Jacob Wurth I think is the name? I had a great Pumpkin Bisque and did great with it. I ordered a salad, but wasn't feeling it, so I brought it home. I also had some corn bread. That was amazing. I don't ever eat bread, never mind something like that. It was good and I did well with it. We then took a cold walk to the truck and headed back to Anita's. I jumped in the truck and headed home. I was exhausted and yet I stayed up till 3:00 am checking on emails and such! Dumb me.

On Sunday, Bill took the kids to Sunday School. We then headed to Pier One and then down to Mansfield to see our friend Trisha and her kids Thomas and Julia. We had some soup and the kids played while us grown ups chatted. It was nice to sit and visit. Sadly I could not eat the soup at all. I felt too sick. Everything felt like it was getting sick and I was very nauseous. However, I had a great time regardless. Once home we gave the kids the quickest showers which we usually don't do. However, they needed something. Then it was off to bed for them.

Monday was busy. I had a 9:00 am ultrasound to check my gall bladder. Bill took the kids to school and I headed off for my test. I then had a lovely lunch with Bobby-Jo. It has been forever since we have seen each other. She looks fantastic. We chatted about a lot of things. It was so good to see her. I then headed home because Bill had school. I grabbed Shayla on the way home and then she did her homework. Bill got a text that school was cancelled. It worked out great because Daisies was at the Fire Department tonight to discuss some safety stuff. So Bill was able to take her there and I was able to stay home with the kids. Score!

On Tuesday, I worked the desk at school from 9:00 am - 11:00 am. I always enjoy that as I get to see all the kids. I don't mind helping out. After taking the kids home at 11:15 am, I headed to the dentist to fix a broken molar. I was then home for the rest of the day. Bill had school. We spent the day at home doing home work, the kids played and I did a few things at my desk. It was a good day.

Wednesday was an open day. I love open days. Bill took the kids to school. He didn't have school today either. We spent the day at home. I didn't feel very well at all. I spent the day making phone calls and that sort of thing. Cleaning the house. Organizing things. Nothing pressing, but things that needed to be done. I wish I could have been out doing a few things, but just could not bring myself to do it. Just as well, the next day I had plenty to do.

On Thursday, I had a HIDA scan. I slept in a little in the morning. Bill dropped the kids off and got the little ones at 11:00 am. I headed off to the HIDA scan at 1:00 pm. They did not take me in for 45 minutes or so, but once they did they hooked me right up. I had to lay there for two or so hours. The first scan is 90 minutes. I was frozen stiff. I could not handle how cold I was, but what choice did I have. I did fall asleep for a few minutes. What else could I do. If I was warm, I could probably still be sleeping there! After the first 90 minutes, they injected me with a hormone that gets your gall bladder to squeeze itself. Unpleasant at best. Very nauseating. It passes quickly, but never quickly enough. I had to lay there for another 30 or so minutes. I was out of there about 45 minutes or so after that. It was freezing out and starting to snow. I headed to the babysitter's house to get Yamira and Manny. They had a great time making a Valentine Day craft. We then headed to pick up Shayla who was having a play date with a friend after her after school special. She had a great time and I was so thankful to my friend who agreed to pick her up and keep her till I could get there. We then dropped off some Girl Scout cookies and headed home. After dinner, they went to bed and I did some work at my desk. Everything went pretty well. It was a long day though, but it went well. I did get a call in the evening from my sister in law though. When I saw the caller id, I was a little shocked. Worried too. I guess my mother in law fell out of bed yesterday and smashed her hip. Her son in law lives with her. He found her that night. She never called anyone all day long as she didn't think it was a big deal. So Bill's sister called to tell us that she had surgery today. Nothing like being told a day late! That is the way his family is though. We were cordial to each other. We despise each other intensely unfortunately. Not the way I would like to have it, but it is what it is. Bill was at school, so I had to tell him when he got home.

Today was a great day and yet an awful day as well. I woke up with a burning belly. It was horrible. I tried some Mylanta, but that didn't really help. I firmly believe the stuff that I was given for my gall bladder was really hurting my belly. It affected me all day. I tried to have a protein shake, but I dumped on it. Dumping is awful. You get exhausted, feel sick all over, like the flu. You have to lay down or you end up throwing up. It affects everyone differently. I had to lay down. It renders me helpless. Thank god Bill was home. He went to get the kids at 11:10 am and took Yamira to therapy. He also dropped off Girl Scout cookies to our sweet Kirsten. I really wish I could have taken Yamira, but I was truly too sick. After a 10 minutes nap, I was good as gold. Wish I could explain this "dumping" thing. It's horrendous. I was so hungry, I decided to try a little tomato soup. I dumped again. This time I threw up. After throwing up, I felt a little better. I was able to go back to doing what I was in the middle of doing. I then made lunch for the kids. I basically waited all day long for phone calls from various doctors. I did get to talk to my Endocrinologist this morning. He is a sweet man. He has put me on a new medication to see if some things can be regulated. He did tell me that I am suffering from a few things. Hopefully some can be somewhat remedied, and yet some of it will never change? We are not sure.

I put two calls into unemployment today. They never called me back. Very upset about that. We got a terrible letter yesterday telling us they have over paid us in a big way and want all of the money back. Needless to say, maybe that is why I am so sick? I am hoping it is a mistake that can be remedied. Who knows with them. Waiting on a call back all day long and nothing. So maybe Monday? I can only hope. Until then, I am trying to keep calm about it.

This afternoon, I finally got a call from my GI doctor. I seem to have a lot of gall stones and my efficiency rating is now 21%. It was 71% two or so years ago. So not I need to meet with a surgeon to see if I need to have it removed. There is no guarantee that if it's removed, I will eat better. We do think that my extreme nausea and vomiting that I have been doing since the beginning of December may be due to this. However, we can't be sure. It seems like there are a few things that going on. Nothing we can quite nail down and say for sure. So until then, I am just supposed to try and keep eating. Wish it was that easy. It's not like I am not starving. I am. Just every time I try to eat, I can't eat. I often feel like throwing up. I can't help it. It's very frustrating. It does a number on you mentally in addition to physically. I have to say that the last few days, I thought I was turning the corner. Today showed me that I wasn't. However, it's not fair to really say that as yesterday I was given the drug at the HIDA scan. So hopefully that is just the problem? Maybe I will feel better tomorrow? I hope so as I want to eat. I did have a little Italian Wedding Soup tonight. I did get that down, but it wasn't easy.

Bill's mother is in the hospital and seems to be recovering decently. I called his sister to tell her that he could not visit his mom since I had been sick all day long. I called her because I knew she was there visiting her mother. Of course she didn't really care. Not surprising. The last thing I wanted to do was share that I had been sick, but I felt she should know so she wouldn't think it was that Bill didn't care. It's a two hour ride and between dropping the kids, picking them up, therapy and another pick up, Bill just could not get down there. He will go tomorrow to visit I am sure. I am certainly planning on being well tomorrow. Like I can dial that up? I will do what I can. I can't stand being sick like this. It's killing me. I can't be a decent mom at all if I am constantly throwing up. I feel incredibly awful about it. I am doing the best I can. I truly am.

So now the kids are in bed. I am going to go and file some things and clean up a bit. I would love to watch a little TV tonight as well.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Mama Out!!!!!!

Lunch for Chinese New Year.

The ladies and Manny.

Thomas and Julia.

100 day project.

Dragon sticker book from our friend. So sweet.

Happy Chinese New Year - Year of the Dragon

2012-01-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, we kicked off this week with the Chinese New Year. It's a very important holiday for the Chinese. It's a time for chasing evil out the door and welcoming in good luck, prosperity, health and happiness. As a family we celebrate it in various ways. We typically will go to Chinatown on the weekend and watch the lion dancing and peruse the shops. We have in the past gone to dinner with others who have adopted. This year we are going to lunch with some great friends of ours. We are looking forward to it. We give the kids red envelopes with money inside them. Typically we get the kids a hair cut and a new Chinese outfit. However, Ping has one that has yet to be worn, so I didn't buy her a new one this year. We also put up a few decorations. Last year I prepared a big thing for her classroom. This year I ordered materials, but they didn't come in. I figured they were not going to, so decided to not worry about it. Mind you then I felt awful about not doing something. So I geared up to pull some things together and today in the mail came the stuff I ordered. Yay!!!! So tomorrow Shayla is going armed with some Chinese New Year stuff. I am glad as nothing has been discussed in her classroom so far.

I have been very impressed as Yamira has come home two days in a row with Chinese New Year stuff. So glad they are discussing it in her class. I believe Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and Chinese New Year along with a host of other things should be discussed. Why not include everything. I am a little angry at the amount of excluding that is done. The kids couldn't have a Halloween parade because they didn't want some people feeling left out. Either include it all or include nothing. Please do not pick and choose. I would feel this way even if my child was not Chinese. I have always felt this way. Include everything. Why not? It just makes for a more well rounded and knowledgeable child.

Okay, enough about that. It has been a challenging week. The kids have been great. We haven't had so much to do that we are exhausted, I have just been sick. Now I don't want to share any of this as it seems like all I do is bitch and complain. Yet on the other hand, this is my blog and this is my way of documenting our lives. So I sort of feel like I need to put it all here. Lastly, I don't want people to think I don't care about things as I haven't been myself at all lately. I hate it. It's really wearing on me. So as much as I don't want to share, I feel like I have to give a heads up to people as well. If you think I am out to lunch lately, well then you would be correct. I am, I hate it and I am so sorry. I do not want to tell you that I don't feel well. I want to feel well. I want to tell you I am better than fantastic. That would be lying though. So I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

So our week in review really starts at Wednesday because I think I checked in last Tuesday? Wednesday was a fine day. Shayla had a play date after school with her friend Olivia. Manny and Yamira napped during most of it. They then played by themselves and watched a little TV while Olivia and Shayla did home work, had some snacks and played in the play room. Bill was home for the day as he doesn't have classes on Wednesday. He does have online classes and homework though. He ran out to do a few errands for the house. It was a pleasant day with no running around.

On Thursday, we had the furnace cleaned. Oh joy. That is always a cheap proposition. In all reality, it isn't that bad. I am glad to have it done. We do it once a year to keep things running smoothly. I had a lunch date with my dear friend Christine who I have not seen in forever. I got to meet her youngest son who is just the sweetest doll. Lunch was too short. I had to get back so Bill could get to school. It was so nice to see her, but given that it's been a year, we have so much to still catch up on. Hoping to see her and her darling family soon,. Once home, Bill headed to school. I picked up Shayla and she did her homework before having dinner. We then all headed to Pump It Up for a birthday party that Manny was invited too. I had to take all three with me as Bill had school. I did ask permission to bring the other two. I was going to have Shayla and Yamira do some stuff while Manny bounced around, but the mother said she had plenty of room and they should come and play. It was so nice of her. I don't like to have to take the ones not invited. I hate it, but I didn't want Manny to miss his first birthday invitation. Anyway, we went and the kids had a blast. Bill actually got out of school early and met me there. I could have technically just brought Manny, but who knew that he would get out early? He never does get out early, but it was his first night of this class semester and so he did.

Friday was Professional Development Day at school, so the kids were home. I took Yamira at 9:30 for therapy which went well. We then did a few errands and headed home. From 1:00 - pm-2:00 pm, we waited for the mobile vet to come for an appointment for Sophie. They called and said they would be late, so I stayed home and Bill took the kids to the library to watch a show. They had a blast. The vet did not come till close to 3:30 pm, but that was fine as I was home. I just feel bad that I wasn't able to take the kids to the library and enjoy the show with them. Sophie was brought out to the van and blood was drawn. I am still waiting on the results. I have not liked her behavior, hence the call to the mobile van. Sophie was born outside, so you can't put her in a cage and take her to the vet like I can with my other three. We have to literally have the vet and her assistant come here and catch Sophie in a box. I hate it with a passion, but want to make sure my girl is healthy. The rest of the night was quiet for us. Bill was on call at 6:00 pm. He was busy with a few calls.

Saturday morning Bill worked from 6:00 am - 12:00 pm. Shayla had a play date here with her friend Lindsay. They had some snacks and played in the play room. They seemed to have a great time. They were so quiet that I thought they had left the building!!!!! It was snowing out, so I was concerned Lindsay may not be able to come over, but she was and Shayla could not have been happier. Once Daddy was home, Shayla and Dad headed to Walmart to stand watch at the Girl Scout cookie booth. She had a blast. It was cold, but she didn't complain. She runs hot, so she doesn't mind the cold. When they got home, Bill cleaned the driveway while Ping played in the snow and built snow people. I was inside as it was too cold for my taste. Manny and Yamira had a wonderful nap. The then got up and all three played and had dinner. Bill gave them a bath while I headed out to Flip Flops in Holden. I met my friend Janice and Ayi Meri there. I had a salad which I basically kept wanting to throw up over because of this damn nausea,. Meri and Janice both got a great looking dinner and better looking drinks. I had an awesome time. We closed the place. Me and my ice tea. Rocking it out.

Sunday we were going to go furniture shopping. I felt awful though. The kids seemed very tired and needed their naps after Sunday School and the football game was on. Bill was really game for furniture shopping, but I said we would stay home. Very, very unlike me. See what I am saying here? Not go out and do what needs to be done is not me at all. Anyway, we stayed in for the entire day. I puttered around the house. The kids played and Bill watched the game. The Patriots won, so we are now off to the Super Bowl!

Monday brought on a host of appointments and things to do. I had an 8:30 am appointment with my GI doctor. That went okay. She accused me of being late. I wasn't. That is not how I like to start off an appointment at all. She said she had limited time for me as she didn't want her 9:00 am person delayed. It was 8:40 am. I walked out of there with time to spare and no next patient even there!!!!! I then headed to the lab to pick up a kit for a test. I then headed to the Solomon Pond Mall and Target for some returns and a few things for the house. Then I headed to the Endocrinologist for an 11:45 am appointment. Then I had to go to their lab for multiple blood work. They said they would call me when they have the results. After leaving there I headed to Mekong for Chinese envelopes and some favorite drinks and snacks for the kids and then I went to Ayi Meri's to pick up a bowl of beef stew that she and Uncle Joe saved for me. Nice, huh? Yeah, I am lucky. I then headed home. I was exhausted. Just a long morning. I still had to get Ping from school, get dinner on the table and get Ping to Daisies. All of which I did do, but not before trying to fall asleep. I didn't, but not because I didn't want too. My dear friend Kirsten brought Ping home for me after Daisies. I was so grateful. I hated the thought of dragging Manny and Yamira out the door again an hour later when they could be in bed and trying to fall asleep. Ping came home and she went to bed shortly after. I don't even remember what I did at that point. I have been feeling like I am not in my body. I feel like I am watching my life from across the street. I am not sure if it's due to the sinus infection I have or from all the vomiting I have been doing.

I had a 9:15 am appointment at the ENT doctor, so off I went to that. I have a sinus infection. I already knew this, but needed it confirmed. So out the door I went with a prescription called into CVS. After stopping at CVS, I went to the bank, Walmart and then to get Manny and Yamira from school. I spent the rest of the afternoon at home until I accidentally tried to pick up Ping at school at 3:00 pm. Totally spaced that she had something after school till 3:45 pm. See what I mean when I say I am out of it? Better to try and pick up twice than not at all though, right? I went back at 3:45 pm to get her. She then came home and did her homework. I then fed all the kids because my friend Renee offered to take Shayla to EAR at school. This was the first night for first graders to go to EAR. I felt bad about not taking her myself, but it would have been hard for Manny and Yamira to sit there while Ping read books and took some tests. So Mrs. Renee picked Shayla up and brought her there and brought her home. Shayla was so excited to go. She had a blast. I then tucked all the kiddos into bed. Did a few things at my desk and then vegged in my chair. I just am not getting a lot done here and it's maddening to me. I don't know how to get out of this funk. I did clean the kitchen, dining room and bathroom and did a bunch of other things, but again I don't feel like I am me at all.

Today I slept in. I was thinking it would help. It really didn't. I am still in a fog. I did have some soup. It did nothing for me. I couldn't even get through it all. Bill got the kids to and from school and fed them lunch. I showered and came downstairs and have been here puttering around on and off the computer for a few hours. Bill picked up Shayla from school and those two are still out. Bill needed a hair cut. They needed to go to Walmart and head to a few other places. They should be home in any moment and then it's homework, dinner and bed. In the meantime, I seriously feel like I am going to throw up. I swear I am ready to throw myself at the nearest hospital and just tell them to check everything. This constant nausea is horrendous. I am hungry, I got to eat something and first bite in I am miserable!!!!!!! That plus the cloud that is sitting in my head!!!!

I did call to check on Sophie's test results. I have yet to hear back. I did call to check on mine and only one came back. The test couldn't be preformed due to poor sampling. Seriously? So now I wait to hear what I should do next.

If you are a person that likes to think good thoughts for someone else, please think good thoughts for me. I need to get out of this fog, get past wanting to vomit every day and get back to my life. I hate being a passenger.

Thanks for listening.

Mama Out!!!!!!!!!!

Posing at Pump It Up.

Having fun.

Riding the bouncey.

Sitting on my legs and crushing them. She is bothered by this, no?

Olivia and Ping.

Lindsay and Ping.

Ready for GS cookie selling.

Lazy ladies.

Hat Ayi Meri made Ping. She loves it.

So cute.

Where is January going?

2012-01-17T14:15:00.001-08:00

First it is "What are we doing for New Years Eve" and then it's "Yes, I would like an appointment on the 23rd, how did we get to the 23rd already????" This month has flown. It's been a cold month too. I guess the month flying means that summer is approaching faster and faster? That is a good thing. I love the longer days with light. I can't stand the darkness of winter. The older I get, the worse it seems to be getting for me. I am craving sunshine.

So the last time I stopped in, we were just barely passed New Years. We are well under way now. I wish I could say it's been memorable, but it really hasn't been. For some reason, things have slowed down. I am grateful. However, I am finding that I don't have as much drive to get things done as I usually have and that bothers me. I wish I could find a balance. I am working on it now. The hardest thing is that I truly have not felt well for some time. Last week I started on a new medication. A patch that you wear. I took it off yesterday. I am not sure if this patch has anything to do with me not feeling well at all though. Some people have suggested it might be my gall bladder. I did have issues with my gall bladder before I had surgery, so who knows. I am going next week to one of my doctors and I am going to see what I can do to get to the bottom of things. I can't take it any more. I am constantly nauseous. I have been throwing up a ton. I will be fine and then I go right down the shoot in minutes. There is no planning involved here. Very upsetting. I have tried to be patient. I have tried to laugh it off. I can't do it anymore. I have barely eaten in 20 months. I am sicker than ever and I my mood swings are awful. I am so short on patience and then within minutes, I am absolutely fine. I wish I could put my finger on it, but I can't. I need help. Not sure where to even turn at this point. It's not as easy as just "going to the doctors!"

Okay, let's move on. We had an okay week. Nothing fantastic to do or report, but nothing dreadful either. That is a good thing, right?

Bill worked on Tuesday from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. So that left me in charge of everything. That is fine with me as I am fairly used to it. The day went fine. Poor Manny and Yamira have been really sick with a cold. So the goal of the day was to stay rested and happy. So a long nap followed lunch. Then Shayla came home and did homework. The kids then played and then it was dinner time and Daddy came home.

Wednesday was a good day. Bill had a dentist appointment. So he dropped the kids off at school, did a few things and was able to pick up the little two after. The kids napped for a long time as they were exhausted from these terrible colds. These guys get colds often, but not like this cold. This one was bad. Terrible coughing and lethargy. Shayla came home and did some homework and then I headed out for dinner with my good friend Cheryl. I had a great time. Wish we could have stayed and chatted for hours, but she had to help her daughter with homework and I had to be home for Bill. Bill had the fire department at 7:00 pm, so I walked in and he walked out. The kids were in bed, but not asleep. So I gave them all kisses and hugs and then did some stuff at my desk.

Thursday brought an early oil change on my car. Bill took it to the dealer. He then grabbed Yamira and Manny from school. We fed them lunch and had them nap. We were going to go do a few errands, but they were still not feeling very well at all. They were so lethargic and Manny's cough was horrendous! I ran out for a 4:00 pm massage. It's been forever since I have seen my friend Molly. We have scheduled and rescheduled this massage a million times. I was determined to go come hell or high water. So off I went and it was wonderful. I will say that I don't ever want to get another massage at 4:00 pm. It's the middle of the day for me. I still had a ton of things to do at home. I rather go at 7:00 pm or so. However, it is what it is. It was scrumptious. I came home with a renewed energy to get some stuff done here. I have had a lot of little projects to do around the house. I have some huge ones too that I need to tackle, but I truly have not been feeling well enough to tackle the biggies. I will get it all done.

On Friday, I got up because I had a date with my girlfriend Maura in Norwood. Unfortunately, she called to cancel because she wasn't feeling well. I certainly understood. I did miss getting to see her though. I will see her in a few weeks instead. So I completely changed my plans and made arrangements to go to the mall alone. We needed a host of items and getting them with the kids in tow was not going to happen. So I left at around 1:00 pm or so and headed out. I went to DSW, Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, Clarks, Gymboree and a few other places. I went to Sears I think twice and JC Penney maybe three times. I finally had to move the car just so I could purchase some big items and walk right to the car. What a pain it was. However, I got a ton done. I was exhausted, but it felt good. Once home, the two little ones were in bed, but Ping was still awake. Needless to say, she needed to see all of the purchases. She got a new coat. The other two did as well, but they didn't get to see them till the next day. We put Ping to bed and then I came downstairs to watch a little TV and have dinner. I didn't feel well though. I was still feeling like I was going to throw up at any given point. So dinner was a bust.

On Saturday, everyone sort of slept in. The kids had breakfast and by early noon, we headed out the door to do some furniture shopping. We had the Leapster, the Didj, coloring books, crayons and other assorted stuff with us. We went to Cabot House and Circle Furniture. After that, we were cooked. We had dinner plans anyway, so we made our way home. A quick dinner and a tuck into bed and we were off. Our sitter for the night was our wonderful neighbor. She didn't have to do a thing for the kids. That is my kind of babysitting. We went to Bootleggers in Lunenberg. We have never been there before. I was looking online at restaurants one night and fell on this one. The menu seemed varied as did the pricing. When you are meeting friends for dinner for the first time, you don't know what they like to eat, what kind of restaurant they like and what kind of budget they have. So I was just trying to find one that would suit everyone. Mind you I thought it was Leominster and not Lunenberg. The decor was great and the place was decent. I wouldn't necessarily return, but you can't base anything on me since I barely eat and have not been feeling well enough really to be a judge of the easiest stuff. Regardless, it's not about the food. It is about the company and they were fantastic. We had a great time. We let the evening get away from us with many laughs. I felt guilty we were out so late! Well worth it though.

Sunday we were supposed to go furniture shopping and I am so disappointed we didn't go. However, the kids went to Sunday School in the morning and seemed really tired from this cold that was still kicking their rumps. So we decided they would nap, Shayla would do some projects she wanted to do and I would work on some paperwork at the house. I had bills to pay and some other assorted things. Most of it got done. The guilty of wasting the day out at the stores bugged me. However, it was so cold too. I hated to drag everyone out. There will be another day, right?

Monday was Martin Luther King day and we had a busy one at that. Shayla and I had a Girl Scout Cookie rally to attend in the am. After the two hour rally, we had lunch with some great ladies and their beautiful daughters. We had an awesome time. Later that afternoon we were going to go out, but Manny and Yamira ended up napping so late, that we never got anywhere. It was just as well because I was fighting the desire to vomit. I ended up laying down on my chair and covering up because I couldn't take the nausea. Bill went out around 5:00 pm to pick up our little Jezebel because she was spayed today. She also was micro chipped and had a few extra stitches put in for a weak wall in her belly. So that poor little baby came home with a huge cone on her head. I called the doctor to discuss it since Jezzy didn't want to wear it. We decided to get out the small kennel we had for her when she first came. We put her in there after giving her the pain meds she was sent home with. I put the cone back on and watched her try to sleep which was awful. How do you sleep with a huge plastic cone on your head. Poor baby. However, we could not risk her ripping out her stitches. I sat back down to do a few things as I wasted an hour or so napping. I got more done, but not everything I wanted to. I am not sure what my problem is. I am very frustrated as I am not feeling well and I am incredibly slow lately. I can't seem to get anything accomplished in a timely manner. That is so not like me. It's disturbing. After doing a few things, I chose to watch TV. Somewhere around 1:30 am I decided to go to bed, but not before checking my emails. Don't ask me how, but all of a sudden it was 4:00 am and I was asleep at my desk. I had slept at my desk for a few hours. Head down on glass desk! Who does that? I hauled myself upstairs to bed. Somewhere around 5:30 am, the phone rings and it's the school saying there is a delay.

So now it is clearly Tuesday. Bill hangs the phone up and tells me about the delay. Thank god about the delay as I thought someone had passed away. It was that bloody early. I told Bill that the delay means that Yamira and Manny don't have preschool. That is all I can remember. Then I wake up at my alarm says it's 11:00 am!!!!!!! How can this be? I was going to drive Ping to school for 9:30 am and work the buzzer as I was the volunteer for today. I was so upset. I was beside myself. Come to find out that while I was sleeping, Bill took all three kids to school. He never heard me say that the two youngest don't have school if there is a delay. Talk about stupid and embarrassing. So I fly into the shower thinking it is so awfully late, just to have Bill ask me what happened to my alarm as it's not 11:00 am, it is only 10:00 am. Still very late, but not as late as I thought it was. When I changed my alarm to sleep a little later and had the conversation with Bill, clearly I messed up my clock. No wonder the alarm didn't go off. What a mess. I rather a call at 6:30 am please so we can be a tad more coherent! I supposed had one not been sleeping at their desk, they would have been able to make a little more sense out of things! What a day. Anyway, Bill did an errand while I fed the kids and had them nap. He then headed out to school and I got Shayla after her new dance class that she had today. It's only for two days. She had a ball. The kids played, had dinner and have gone back to bed now. I am mad at the way this day has gone down. I have made some progress in things. I have caught up here. I have made many business calls, but I still am way behind in some things I need to do. Right now I sadly have to go and put all my receipts with my MC bill. That is an hour to an hour and a half project. I hate it, but it must be done. Only way to know if there isn't fraud and only way to know where the receipts are for returns and such. So I am off to do that and maybe watch a little TV for the night?

Have a great night.

Mama Out!!!!!!

Girl Scout Cookie rally.

Ping and Molly Rose.

Ladies who lunch.

Poor Jezzy.

Happy New Year Resolution break week?

2012-01-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

I am just kidding. Isn't it about now that we forget our resolutions though? I am so glad that this is the second year in a row that at the top of my list is NOT "Lose weight." It was a little upsetting that I failed to obtain that resolution year in and year out. Mind you, I think for women this is at the top of the list every year. I don't think I have heard more than maybe one person in my lifetime say "I am totally happy with my weight." Now that I have been at both ends of the spectrum, I say embrace your weight. If you are 10-25 lbs over weight, enjoy your life. Eat what you like, but watch on the other days. Enjoy your food. That is what we have it for. I enjoyed it way too much, clearly. However, now I can't really enjoy it at all. I can't eat 90% of it and when I do, I get sick. I throw up or just get a regular old stomachache. So I say enjoy. If you are really overweight, well get to where you can be more comfortable with yourself. If you are overweight and healthy, then go with it. Just live with it. You don't have to be a size 2. That isn't normal. Embrace your curves. I know, easy for me to say, right? I am just sharing what I have learned. However, I know that until you have walked that same road, it's not going to sink in.

So it's been a week since I have last checked in. I don't think we have done anything really exciting or worth reporting. I have been trying very hard to cut back on activities. Not that I don't love them. It's just hard to maintain living like that. I only have so much fuel!!!! Mind you tomorrow I may start up again. For right now, I am trying very hard to keep a steady pace instead of a break neck pace. It's better for me and for the kids.

Last Tuesday I volunteered at school in the morning. I sat at the front desk and manned the buzzer. It's an easy job. It doesn't bother me at all. I love seeing the kids and all the teachers and parents. However, I can't help but wonder if they need me. There are two other buzzer people. Again, I don't mind volunteering, but feel sort of stupid. After a quick run home with the kids, we all went to pick up Ping early from school and dropped the kids off in Worcester to a babysitter as Bill and I had an appointment. They did great. They had a nice time. Their babysitter is a sweetie. If anyone ever needs someone, please let me know. She is truly terrific. Bill and I drove to Norwood for his appointment and then straight back to get the kids. We then had to go home, pick up the Envoy and drop it off for some service to be done on it the next day. Then it was dinner and bed time. Talk about a late night. I hate putting the kids to bed late. However, sometimes you just get stuck with things being that way.

Bill took the kids to school in my car on Wednesday. After getting Manny and Yamira from school, I took the car and met a friend to poke around a store I have never been too. We had a great time. As always, time flew by way too fast. Before I knew it, I had to get Shayla from school. I could spend many hours at this store. There were so many nooks and crannies.

Thursday was a pretty low key day. The kids went to school and I cleaned and organized some things at home. While the two youngest were at school, Bill and I did a few errands. After getting Shayla at 3:00 pm, we headed out to get hair cuts for me and the kids. That wasn't a load of fun as the three of them were off the wall. I have no idea why. Could not sit. Could not stop yelling. Could not stop talking to hear themselves talk. Just crazy. We then did a few more errands. We could have gone home and got dinner on the table, but it was a little early. I wanted to get a few more things out of the way while Bill is home and not in school. So he drove and I jumped out at the store to get a few things. Sometimes it's the easiest way for us to get things done!

Friday was a busy day. I got a pedicure with a friend at 10:00 am. That was fun. I then picked up Manny and Yamira at school and fed them lunch. Yamira and I then headed to therapy which she loves. She does really well at therapy. She enjoys her therapist a lot and so it's a joy to bring her. We then headed home for the day. I spent the rest of the day organizing some things in the house.

On Saturday, we went to a small holiday party in Worcester. The place having the party is the agency we did our home study through for Shayla. We were there for maybe two hours. A quick in and out. We had lunch, did a craft, had dessert and left. It's never long. Just nice to belong to the group. We then stopped at Rotmans to look at furniture. We were not there long as Manny and Yamira were very much over due for their nap and it showed. That and they seemed like they were getting a cold. So we took them home and put them in for a late nap. We were home for the day. Bill was on call from 5:00 pm till 6:00 am, so we needed to stay home.

Sunday brought Sunday School. We then were going to go furniture shopping, but I wasn't in the mood to drag the kids. I had plenty to do around the house and the kids clearly had a cold at this point. Who needs to drag tired and sick kids looking for furniture? So we stayed home and I started weeding out my 2011 bills. I didn't finish, but made a big dent. I also cleaned out my bathroom drawers and cabinets and put some stuff up on Freecycle.

Today was a busy day. I slept in. I have not done that in some time. I didn't really sleep well though. Bill took the kids to school. When they got home, we fed them and had them go for a nap while I ran out and met my girlfriend Marghrit for lunch. It was so good to see her. It's been since September since I have seen her last. We met at Peppercorns. Lunch wasn't great at all, but the company was awesome. It was a short lunch as she had to get her girls and I had to get Ping. Ping had a play date with her friend Riely today. They were so quiet! They had a snack and did their home work. They then played for a few hours, had dinner and I took them to Daisies. I then picked up Bill and we finally went to get the Envoy. It had been gone for 5 days. It was only supposed to go for one day. Needless to say, sharing a car hasn't been fun. However, thank god he wasn't in school or it really would have been difficult! So we picked up the truck and the $900 bill and came home. I put Manny and Yamira to bed and Bill picked up Shayla. He then headed off to a Masons meeting.

Well I am off to post a few pictures and maybe watch a little TV. I wanted to work on my filing cabinet tonight, but I just am not in the mood. I hate that. It is what it is though!

Have a great week.

Mama Out!!!!!

Holiday party.

Shayla and Riely.

Happy New Year 2012!!!!!!

2012-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well it's about time I show up here. It's been weeks. It's been the month of December though, so can you truly blame me? Who really reads this anyway? Heck I don't even read it. As I have said before, it's more so I can keep track of what I have done in my life since my brain left my skull many years ago. Somewhere around the time Shayla joined our family.

So here we are at a new year. I would like to say that I will begin blogging more regularly. However, I can't promise that. I have a lot of resolutions this year. Speaking of that, I need to write them on my blog as I do every year. I think I have kept this blog longer than most people I know have kept theirs. Most people just blog for a short time and then drop off. I understand it. You get busy and it's just one more thing to do. If nothing else, I know some people love to see the pictures. Not everyone is on Facebook. Hard to believe, but oh so true. I just said to Ayi Anita today, maybe this is the year you will get a FB account. She resoundingly said "No way." I get it, but sure wish she would get an account.

So let's see here. What have I done since I was here last. Rather, what have we done?

I can barely remember. Looking at my book for the 8th, I have a blank day! I was supposed to have lunch, but it was cancelled because my girlfriend's little one was sick. I so believe that day was spent just doing things around here and errands.

Friday was a great day. I took Yamira to therapy after she got out of school. Later that evening I had a Tastefully Simple party in Clinton. It was a very small party. However, it was nice as it was very intimate. The hostess was very sweet and she had friends and family. Most of them trying TS for the first time. I was home by 10 pm or so. I stayed up till approx. 2 am putting all the orders in as it was so close to Christmas. I didn't want to risk them not getting their orders.

The next day was great as well. Tough one, but overall really great. We got up, got ready and jumped in the car and headed to Clinton. I wanted to confront the videographer that I hired to do an adoption video for Ping. We get there for 10:00 am as promised. I told him I was coming. I knock and knock and knock. Finally someone from inside screams they will be right out. So I wait and wait and wait some more. I go to the car and wait some more. Jeff from Jascas Videography comes out of his house. Now mind you his business should be called Jack Ass Videography because he is a jerk. He doesn't have a clue what he is doing. I can't believe anyone has ever hired him. I should never have hired him. Chalk it up to one of my biggest mistakes ever!!!! So he comes out of the house as he is tucking in his shirt. Clearly he was out all night or was still sleeping. He looked awful. I have had suspicions for some time now as he can never remember stuff, but this just confirmed to me that something is up with him. Anyway, he walks out and says to me "Got my $50 bucks because if you don't, you aren't getting this disc." Well that immediately pissed me off. So we got into a huge argument. He told me he was going to have his neighbor "a cop" come over. I told him to "please do." Then I told him to call the police because if he didn't, I was going to. He went in the house all while screaming at me. Finally I go knocking on his door again and I yell loud enough for him to hear "Did you call the police because if you didn't, I will." Finally an officer arrives. Jeff comes back out screaming. The officer tells him to go in the house. I asked the officer if he was a friend of his because I wasn't sure if the "friend" was the one coming. The officer replied to me "oh no, I have arrested this guy before." I am NOT surprised at all by this. Not in the least. Jeff starts spouting lies. He looked like a jerk. I just kept my composure. Meanwhile the kids and Bill are sitting in the car. Finally the officer comes to me and says "I have to ask you to leave. I am sorry. This guy is a jerk." We tell him that we completely understand and want to go. We just came to get a video he owes us. Jeff comes back outside yelling some more. What an ass! After more words are exchanged, the DVD gets whipped at me and I am told that I am beyond blessed and I should be aware of it. "Gee Jeff, thanks!" I get in the car and off we go. What a morning! We then head to the bank, head home for the little ones to get in a nap and head off to Kirsten and Roger's cookie party. We had a ball. The kids made cookies and I got to meet a few of their friends who were super duper nice. A great time was had by everyone. Once home, we put the kids to bed and I did some online ordering for Christmas!

On Sunday, we were going to go to a Living Nativity in Rutland. Unfortunately, I was exhausted and not feeling fantastic. Our friends were not up to it either. That and it was cold out and we were just not in the mood to freeze while watching the whole thing outside. So we stayed home and had a nice day here. We were able to put up and decorate most of the tree. That was a huge weight off my shoulders! Still had more to do, but we did a good portion of it.

I had Monday off of everything. The kids had school. However, I didn't have any appointments that I needed to get too. So I got some more ordering done and decorating accomplished.

On Tuesday, I had my annual physical. Whoopie! Not so much. I still go to my doctor in Norwood. What can I say? She is easy. It is a pain to drive there and back, but that is all I had for the day. So I went and talked with her and had my physical. I then had blood work and headed home in time to get Ping from school. We spent the rest of the day at home. Did some homework and some other stuff. The regular routine stuff that needs to be done nightly.

On Wednesday, Bill and I went to the school for Shayla's holiday concert. So cute. They did a great job. I didn't feel good at all. I had a terrible stomach ache. I had lunch plans too. So Bill took off to go to his dentist and I went to Michaels to pick up something that I needed. I get to Michaels and as I am doing a return, I am really feeling ill. I am sweating. My mouth is salivating. My stomach is turning. I excuse myself and run to the bathroom where I promptly threw up. It was awful. What an awful time to have to do that. What an awful place to have to do that. So I go back to the register and apologize for taking off like that. I then jump in the car and call my lunch date and cancelled. I wasn't sure at this point if it was all surgery related or if I had a bug. I was suspecting bug because I don't usually throw up anymore unless I eat something too fast. The belly pain I had too was stomach cramps. More in line with a bug. Anyway, I just wanted to be home! I spent the rest of the day doing things around the house. I felt awful, but not awful enough to linger on the couch all dang day. Especially with a holiday approaching. That night I had plans to get a massage. I have been dying for one. However, I cancelled. I was afraid if I had a bug, I would pass it on to my friend. She is a sweetie and I didn't want to risk it. That and my stomach was queasy and I didn't want to have to run to the ladies room in the middle of a relaxing massage. I was so disappointed I couldn't go.

On Thursday, I had plans for lunch with my sweet friend Christine. However, due to still being sick I had to cancel. I really was looking forward to seeing her. I haven't seen her in some time. However, I didn't want to risk infecting her either if it was a bug. So I cancelled and spent the day inside. Why breathe on anyone, right? Talk about having all of my fun dashed for the last few days. It worked out though as I had plenty to do here. Again, felt well enough to do stuff here.

On Friday I was feeling better, so I met Christine for lunch. She was available as was I. We had a nice little lunch in Littleton. It was so good to see her and so good to have a conversation without interruptions. Unfortunately, she had to get back to work. So it wasn't nearly as long as I would have liked. There will be other times for sure. We need to plan a dinner with her son and Shayla as they are buddies. That way they can entertain each other and us ladies can chat. That night we were going to go to Bright Nights in Springfield with Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe, but they were busy painting. It was just as well. We had plenty to do around the house and even though I was feeling better, I wasn't 100%. I still was not sure if it was a bug or not. Very frustrating. I can't tell if it is surgery related or bug related. I don't usually react the ways I had been reacting when it's just my belly. That is why I believed it to be a bug. That and I volunteered in school for a few days and there has been a terrible stomach bug going around. Not everyone is getting it though. My kids and Bill didn't have anything. Usually a bug hits the family. However, given how weak my system is, maybe I just was the one that was lucky enough to get it. Who knows!

On Saturday, we had plans to go to Village Haven in RI for Lucas' birthday. So we laid very low at home so that the kids wouldn't be so exhausted to go out. We left around 4:00 pm to get there for 5:00 pm. We had a great time. There was a small group of us. Meri and her family, her parents and her sister in law with her kids. Then there was us. I had some salad, some chicken soup and a baked potato. I felt great. I was thrilled with how well I was doing. The kids were pretty well behaved. It was a fun night out. That was till I stupidly had a few bites of ice cream. I was instantly ill. After we all left, I just put the car seat back and laid there. I just kept concentrating on my breathing. I was so sick. I didn't want to throw up. I thought for sure I was going to. I did okay though. We actually quickly stopped to get some chicken fingers and then headed home and put the kids to bed. Fun night out. I need to remember that I can't eat ice cream. I know this, but thought it was such a small amount that it wouldn't matter!!!!

Sunday was great. The kids went to Sunday School and then had a nap. At 2:00 pm,. we piled in the car and headed to New Hampshire to my friend Meg's house for a cooking making party. We arrived in great time. We had dinner and then proceeded to play with dough. Lots and lots of dough. The night flew by. Before you knew it, we were back in the car for the journey home. Unfortunately, Manny and Yamira never sleep in the car. I have no idea why they don't. They only have occasionally. So not only is it late, but it's later for them as they don't even rest in the car. Once home, we put them straight into bed because I had them change into their pjs before we left Meg's house. For once my brain was working!!!! We had a wonderful time at Meg's. Her family and friends are wonderful. We felt so comfortable there. Like we had known all of them forever.

On Monday, I took the kids to school and manned the desk from 8:30 am - 11:00 am. I then brought Manny and Yamira home. They had lunch and napped. Then it was time to get Ping. Ping had Daisies that night. She was so excited as it was a pajama party. I dropped her off at 6:00 pm and my sweet friend Kirsten brought her home so that Bill could stay home with the little ones as I had a Tupperware/cookie swap to attend to that night. I took off for the cookie party and didn't get home till after 11:00 pm that night. I had a fantastic time. Had a little crackers and cheese and a cookie or two. Conversation was great. Can't wait till the next gathering. Not sure when it will be, but I am sure we will all be together again.

On Tuesday, I had a mammogram. Fastest one ever. I have in the past been over an hour. I don't think I was there more than 20 minutes. My how things have changed body wise! I then headed to get the kids and Bill and we went to visit the kids biological dad. They had a nice visit. We sat on the couch. Bill studied a little in between chatting with their step mom and I organized my new calendar for January. We have to be there, but I like to give them their space. It went well. I was concerned as Yamira had what I would say was a stellar day in bad behavior. So taking her to see her dad wasn't something I wanted to do. However, she was really well behaved. When we got there, we were shocked at the 15 or so people there. Come to find out they were holding a bible study. I thought they were all there for the kids. The kids dad like to drag us all over his town showing them off to friends and family. I get that. He loves them. He is proud of them. However, he never checks with us to see if this is okay. On every occasion, we have gone and done what he has asked us to do. When we arranged this visit, we had a disagreement. He wanted to see the children on Christmas Eve as his parent were coming from NY. I told him that we could not do that day. We had a full day. He was upset. Then he wanted to tell me what day we would do and what time we would do. So we got into a small argument. I am trying to keep a good relationship with their dad, but I do not have to follow his rules. As it is, we let him see them whenever he wants and we let him call whenever he wants. The last thing he is in a position to do is demand when he will see them. He had his middle daughter stay home from school that day just to see the kids. I felt bad that she missed school, but we couldn't bring the kids over after she was out of school. Bill had a final and I didn't care to go alone. I don't mine going alone, but after the little argument, I felt it was best that we both be there. The visit was fine. The kids had a great time. They each got a puzzle. Manny got a truck that immediately broke and Yamira got a set of checkers. After a few hours we headed home as Bill had to go to school. Last day before break. The rest of the day brought naps and Christmas prep. Bill was on from 6:00-10:00 pm that night.

On Wednesday, I had a cranial sacral massage scheduled. That went well. she comes right to the house. I am not sure if it's helpful, but it does seem calming. Other than Ping and I going to the dentist at 3:30 pm, I was home for the day doing some more Christmas stuff. We were at the dentist forever. I was less than thrilled about that. We were there for over two hours for two cleanings. Why? We then ran to Michaels to get something. Once home, Ping ate dinner and everyone headed to bed. I was going to sit down and watch a program, but forgot. So when I remembered, I dvr's it. I watched it later in the evening. It was "Home for the Holidays." It's about foster parenting. It's cute, but way too glossy for me. Life isn't really like they present it. There is a lot of stuff in between.

Thursday was a busy day. At 10:15 am, I attended Manny's holiday party. I then brought the kids home. I ran to have lunch with a good friend locally while Bill took Manny and Yamira to the dentist. After lunch, I grabbed Ping and headed home. That night I went to dinner at The Mill with some wonderful ladies. It was a great night. I usually don't have so many lunch dates and now a dinner date on top of that, but Bill was out of school now and so I could attend. Yahoo.

On Friday, I attended Yamira's holiday party. I then brought the two kids home. After lunch, Yamira and I headed out to therapy. I then did a few errands and also a lot of stuff around the house. I cleaned and did some wrapping. Did some organizing of the house and at the desk. Caught up on bill paying. It was a really nice leisurely afternoon. Other than getting Ping at 3:00 pm, we spent the rest of the day in just getting ready in anticipation of Christmas Eve the next day.

It's Christmas Eve and I have slept in. What? Who sleeps in? Where is Jill and why has she been so relaxed the last two weeks or so? Sure, I have had my moments or a day here and there. However, I really made a 360 from the first week in December when I was over the top stressed about getting everything done. I have never been this relaxed. Never. I am not exaggerating. Anyway, I slept in a little. I then got up and cleaned and tidied and got on FB and checked my forums. All that jazz. Nothing crucial. At 4:00 pm, we headed to Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe's house. We had dinner which consisted of a fine roast and some yummy squash that Bill made. We sat and laughed and exchanged gifts. I gave Meri a hand crafted Jewish star for their tree. She seemed to like it. I hope. I have had it since November. Got Joe some "Elf Beer." Bill got two funny tees. Shayla got a killer dragon jewelry box that she was absolutely over the moon with. Yamira got a beautiful blanket that Ayi made and Manny got an outfit and some pjs. We gave Ryan a wooden Menorah which I thought was great till I saw that they already had one. That was really a bummer. Gave Lucas' a big craft box which he seemed pleased with. Meri gave me a home made hat, but she gave it to me prior to this night. Pictures in said hat will follow at some point. A great time was had by all. The kids totally got annoyed with each other and we got annoyed with them. However, it was a nice night. We came home, put the kids to bed and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to Ping as the other two couldn't stay awake. Bill then waited awhile so they could sleep before he put everything under the tree. I sat on the computer basically doing mostly nothing. I was on FB, checking out forums and looking up condos. I will get to that in a few. Ended up going to bed after 2:00 am!!!! I do feel bad I never got to church as I always go on Christmas Eve, but it just didn't work out this year for us.

Christmas Day came early. Wait, no it came late. Embarrassingly late. Here is the thing. Ping started in on "Can you get up now, I am hungry?" I have no idea what time that was, but it was earlier than normal. I look at Bill and he is still asleep. I pass out again. She must have walked downstairs to watch TV. I am not in the slightest bit concerned as the gifts are in the locked family room. All of a sudden Yamira says "Mommy, Daddy wants you to get up. " I was in a fog. I don't remember anything after that. I don't know what time that was. At some point, I literally bolt up out of bed and look at the time. It's 10:45 am. I kid you not. I can't even see straight. I run to the top of the stairs and yell to the kids that I am so very sorry. They are just sitting there and watching TV with Daddy. How odd is that? How patient are they? Ping yells up the stairs "Mommy, I am so sorry I woke you up too early, please forgive me?" WHAT? Seriously child? Forgive me!!!!! I jump in the shower because I can't see straight. I rush to get ready. I finish getting them ready and we head down for gifts. They are all thrilled. They don't notice that it is a tiny Christmas. They love their DVDs, books, stencils, ottomans and clothes. Not one word about no Wii, DSi or anything else. I am thrilled. We jump in the truck once loaded and head to Ayi Sarah and Brad's homestead. We usher the kids in and feed them and set them up with coloring books and DVDs. Sarah and Brad go to great lengths to clean their office so that our kids can be there. This isn't easy. Mind you they are neat people. They aren't cleaning a mess. They are cleaning because they are running a business. A tea shop with gifts and a tea rental business. The last place you want to bring three young kids. However, Sarah and Brad have embraced our children as they have embraced me for so many years. So they do this so the kids have a place and we can go and visit them without too much worry. The kids were handles little gifts left and right from Sarah's wonderful family. The kids were thrilled. I sat and chatted and opened a few gifts as well. This year I bought gourmet fortune cookies from a great company and bagged them up for gifts. People seemed to love them. They tasted wonderful and had special sayings that I created. They were dipped in chocolate and crushed peppermint pieces. I thought they were awesome. Also they don't need to be dusted. What could be better than that. Anyway, the day was over before I could blink. We piled the kids up, gave out kisses and hugs and headed home to our ranch. We put the kids into bed as they were so exhausted. I then sat down and watched some TV while Bill played on his iPhone. It was an easy day. Just the type you want, right?

I could not wait till Monday. I was thrilled it was Monday. I was thrilled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was behind me. Don't ask me why as I can't give you an answer. It has nothing to do with the most wonderful friends that I adore. I just was not into the season this year. I was into seeing my friends as I adore them. However, I just was not feeling holidayish at all this year. I just wanted it done and behind me. Some call me "Grinchy." Feel free. I don't care. Some people go on and on about "Jesus being the reason for the season." That is fine if that is how you feel. I am just being honest and sharing how I feel. I am not "FEELING" it and a few others I know don't either!!!! It's okay. It's not a refection on anyone. It's ME. I have given this a ton of thought and really want this year to be different. I want it to be about quality and not quantity. I don't want to exchange with anyone anymore if they don't want too. I have three kids! It's a hardship for most. I don't want people to feel like they have to buy for me or for Bill or for the kids. I know this may sound very odd to anyone who is still even reading. Here is the thing, I have been exchanging with my friends for years. Why? I have been asked why several times. Because we always have. Because we had small or no families. Because we love each other. Is it something grand and expensive every time? Hell no. Sometimes yes. However, life changes. I have three kids now. Buying for five is a hardship. So I am willing to stop exchanging with everyone and have spoken to my very closest about this. The jury is still out. One still wants too. The other two want to think about it. That is fine. I just want to release the stress of my friends. Maybe it's not stressful. What if it is though? So that is one big change. The other is that I would love to book a condo in Florida or Mexico or something and just go away. Do away with going anywhere. Why? It's funny because 99% of the people I have talked to said that staying home in their pjs with just their significant other and kids are all they want to do. Instead they often have to trek out. I am the complete opposite. I don't know if it's because I am an only child or an extrovert. I want to be around the hustle and bustle. The lights. The decor. The many conversations. The glorious food I can't eat anymore. I want to feel the warmth and love around me. So many people have said that it is up to me to create it. I get that. I don't "expect" others to give that to me. However, as most people know, people are not going to get out of their ruts, routines, habits or what have you. If your mom is alive, you will be seeing her. If you see your sister every year and go to church, you will see your sister every year and you will go to church. You are not going to come to my house for a meal and conversation. It is what it is. So why not just pick my family up and get out of dodge, so that I have zero expectations. I would think that would be best! So I will look to do that in the future. Still mulling it over.

Okay, so back to Monday. I was thrilled it was Monday as it was a free day to to whatever. So what did I do? I started to take down every single decoration that we had in the house. The house was de-Chrismased in hours. I also did a bunch of other things. I just wanted it down and put away. I didn't want to look back. It was great to be home and just spend the day tending to things. Manny and Yamira got in a great nap. Ping played. We did stuff around the house. It was great. We had a nice unexpected dinner at The Mill with our friend Trisha and her two children. They had been boarding up at the mountain, so they ran by for a quick dinner. It was great to see them. We had to be home for 6:00 pm as Bill was on call from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm.

On Tuesday, we did errands. Errands galore. We started from one end of the earth and went to the other. We went to Worcester and Westboro and everywhere in between. We started at 10:30 am and got home after 7:00 pm. Long day for the kids. They were horrible. That is our fault. However, we had to get this stuff done and we had to be together for some of it. We did do a little furniture shopping. We have absolutely got to get furniture for our family room that we are still not using. It is driving us mad. It's hard with Bill in school though. We don't get a chance to shop together. He has school, I have an appointment, the kids are tired, etc. Anyway, it wasn't a good day as we pushed way too hard. We did get a ton done. No furniture bought, but we did get other things that we needed including a dishwasher!

Wednesday was a busy day. Bill took Jezebel for blood work and I had a 9:30 am appointment at the house to switch something out. Yamira and Shayla both had 10:00 am play dates here. The girls were thrilled and had a great time. It went by very, very quickly. Then Manny and Yamira took a nap before we headed to our friend's house for dinner. We went to the Gaul residence for 5:00 pm and had salad and home made pizzas. I had pizza. First time in nearly two years. I could actually eat it. It was fantastic. We had a great time catching up with Audra and Terry and the kids had a ball playing. It was a great vacation day.

Thursday brought a few errands, but mostly we stayed home. Bill ran out to get a few things we needed. I wanted to stay home and get the rest of the Christmas tree ornaments down and the tree down as we were having guests the next day. After the younger two napped, we went shopping for furniture. Still we didn't buy anything. I have found some stuff I love, but it's pricey and we have four cats and three kids. Doesn't make sense to spend a lot of money. The cheaper things that I am okay with, I really am not so okay with. They don't do anything for me. So I am in a quandary. Bill doesn't care. He says "call the Cayman accounts and get the money sent!" Okay honey. Whatever.

Friday was a great day. We had our new dishwasher installed and then our dear friend Stephanie and her daughter Lexi came for a visit. She has never been to our house. The got here about 10:00 am. We showed them the house and exchanged gifts. Ping got an adorable rock craft. Yamira got Benderoos and Manny got some awesome slippers and a crane pick up toy. I got a beautiful scarf and some crazy holiday socks as a joke. We gave wine and some crafty stuff to them. We then went to lunch at The Mill. I have been to The Mill a lot lately, no? I had a salad and Shepard's Pie. Unfortunately, two bites into the salad and something was wrong. I was instantly sick. I was feeling like I had when I was at Michaels just two weeks before. Needless to say I didn't eat. I brought my food home. Stephanie and Lexi went home to Connecticut and we came home. We spent the rest of the day at home. The kids napped while Shayla played. Bill did a few things for me and I did some organizing. Ayi Meri came by to give me her Christmas gift to me. She did not have to get me anything as she made me a beautiful hat. However, she got me the most adorable hostess apron. I love it. It's so cute! It has cherries on it which I love. She also got me two dish towels in a fall theme. So needed. Thanks Ayi. Can't wait to wear my apron! Bill was on from 6:00 pm-10:00 pm again. It was a nice and fairly relaxing day. Sadly I felt miserable for most of it. Is it surgery related? Am I sick with the bug again? So upsetting. You have no idea. I am hungry and yet can't eat. I throw up everything. I get stomach cramps. It's just getting tedious.

I was up early on Saturday. Bill was on call from 6:00 am - 12:00 pm. So I was up early with the kids. It's funny, but I have slept on my chair every night this week. It stinks. I hate doing that, but I have been passing out without knowing about it and not waking till around 6:00 am. That is when Shayla starts bounding down the stairs ready to watch TV. She was one to always stay in bed till 7:30 am. Now she is my early bird. So frustrating. Anyway, I got up and showered and got the kids ready for the day. Shayla had a 10:00 am play date. So the two younger ones played and watched TV and then had a good nap. We had plans that night! It was New Years Eve and we were heading over to the Christoforo residence for some Chinese. I still was sick all day and that was disheartening. I had thrown up a few times. My belly still ached. Again, what can I do? What is it? There is nothing I am eating that seems to be setting it off. I am trying to narrow down and think hard as to what is going on. We went to Rebecca and John's for 6:30 pm. Bill was on call, but he could respond from there as they are right in town. Needless to say, there were no calls. So he stayed put all night. We had Chinese food and chatted all night. The kids had a blast. Our friend Ashly was there with her boyfriend and two gorgeous daughters. It was so nice to be together as a group because it had been too long. Before we knew it, the night was over. We had to all get home. The kids were toast! Believe it or not, I had Chinese and did fairly well with it. How did that happen? So damn unpredictable my belly! Great night with absolutely awesome friends.

I was going to get up early on Sunday. I did get up early, but it was because I didn't feel well. After about 20 minutes, I went back to bed as everyone was still sleeping. Bill had to be to work for noon. So I got up and got ready and hung out with the kiddos while Bill got ready and headed out the door. We had a really low key day. They were exhausted. They had long naps. Ping won't nap. I didn't feel well in the afternoon again after I ate something, so I actually had to lay down. It was that or throw up again. So I laid down and passed out. Ping was watching TV and doing crafts, so it was fine. I hate wasting hours like that though. I got up and did a few things and then Bill came home. We fed the kids late and put them to bed late because the naps ran so late. Normally I would have woken them up, but figured they needed it. Bill and I finally got every last Christmas box into the attic. Yay. That is done. We also got a few other joint things done together. I wanted a few things hung up, so I had to show where. Dumb little projects like that. Bill was on from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm and again from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am. However, all was quiet. Just as well as he was tired. I sat at the computer all night long. I paid bills, ordered some clothes for Manny who has barely anything and ordered a few other things. Before I knew it, it was 4:00 am. I am not kidding. I knew it was late. I just couldn't help it. I had energy to burn and was unwilling to go to bed.

Somewhere around 9:30 am I got up today. We had plans at 11:30 am with Ayi Anita and her sweet man at the Yard House at Legacy Place. What a zoo. The place was packed within 10 minutes of us being there. We had a great lunch. I gave Anita a beautiful charm for her bracelet and some of her favorite candy. She gave the entire family a years pass to the Boston Aquarium. So flipping cool. It's for 6 people. We can not wait to go. Not sure when we will get there, but we need to make a date. I have to get her back her charm bracelet too. I have to have her charm sodered. I do every time I get her a charm. So I will have that done and then I will set up something with her so we can visit. Ping kept saying "Mommy, why can't Ayi Anita come over on a Saturday and spend the entire day like she usually does." It was so cute. Ayi usually comes for the day as it's an hour drive both ways. This time we went down to her area. Thought it was best to limit the visit since we were meeting her boyfriend for the first time and we do have three overwhelming kids. That and it's not fair for Anita to always come here. We had a really fun time. We went to Au Bon Pan to get soup for me after as there was one right there at Legacy. We also went to Whole Foods. Anita is so lucky to have this place right around where she lives. We didn't do any shopping because the kids were toast with no nap. Shayla did go to the two little errands, but Bill sat with Yamira and Manny and let them watch a DVD while we ran in and out to get stuff. We then headed home. Bill cooked dinner and I have literally been on this computer updating this blog for hours. Like maybe 5 hours. Granted I have answered emails and FB posts. I have put the kids to bed and pulled out their clothes for tomorrow. However, for the most part I have truly been glued here to this blog.

Now I have to upload pictures. That is so darn time consuming. As always, if you want to see more pictures, please come see me on FB. That is where they all are.

I hope you have enjoyed the update. Hell, I hope someone read it just so it was worth all this time!!!!!

Here is to a new and very happy and healthy 2012 I hope.

Mama Out!!!!!!!!

The tree I decorated for Mom and Dad.

Manny and his cookies.

Our tree.

School concert.

My sweet Christine.

Sister love.

My wonderful Megan.

School party.

Beautiful Skyler.

Missing friends. So cute.

Me and one of my all time favorite people Ayi Meri.

Meri and the Jewish star I gave her.

Christmas Day.

Rocking it out on Christmas Day.

Opening gifts.

The three with their perches.

Ready for bed.

Me with Daddy.

Gorgeous Stephanie and the crew.

Happy as can be.

Me, Stephanie and Lexi with the beauties.

Awesome Ashly and Manny. He adores her. She rocks.

Some of the people I love. Ayi Anita.

Family.
Liking her charm.

Like I have the time to update?

2011-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

I am very overwhelmed with the holiday approaching and yet instead of sitting down with my next project like I intended, I have decided to update here. This should probably be the first thing to go. However, I am so far behind and I hate that. Believe it or not, it weighs on me. So maybe I will feel better if I update here? It's worth a try I suppose.

Where did I leave off? Oh god, the 23rd of November? It's December 7th! Oh god, better pull out the calendar so I can remember what I did. Even with my calendar, I really can't remember all of the details. Not that it matters what we do on a daily basis, but I do try desperately to remember so that I can look back at this blog as a record of our lives as a family. Mommy needs a new brain and more memory for Christmas!

November 24th was a Thursday and I can say for certainty what we did. It was Bill's birthday and it was Thanksgiving day. Bill cooked a delicious turkey with all the trimmings. Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe with Lucas and Ryan joined us as did Ayi Sarah and Uncle Brad! It was a great day. It was so nice to spend it with our good friends. I will admit that Bill forgot the stuffing. I will also admit that the day started off roughly. I was annoyed with a video I have been working very hard on. I was showing Sarah, Brad and Meri and Bill wanted me to help heat up the food while he cut the turkey. When I didn't jump up and help, he got a bit perturbed. He doesn't normally get annoyed with me. He had every right as I wasn't helping. However, I really wanted to show the video so that I could get the opinions of my friends. After that incident, the day went quite smooth. Food was delish. We topped off the day with cupcakes for Bill and pie. Once everyone left, I cleaned the house. I love a clean house. Nothing makes me feel better. Well, there are some things, but that is up there at the top of the list.

The next day was Friday. Bill was asked to work. So he worked from 6:00 am - 6:00 pm. I took the kids to a holiday fair in Princeton. We got there for noon. It opened at 1:00 pm. Very disappointed that I didn't look at the hours. That was just stupid of me. Anyway, we hung out in the car and then ventured in. The kids did phenomenal. I was so proud of them. Not only because they waited an hour in the car, but the craft fair was very different than the ones I usually attend. There was a little something at every table, like a gift shop. You pick what you wanted and on the way out you paid. Usually you go to each crafter's table. This wasn't like that at all. Everything was high end and nearly all of it was breakable! We were there for quite some time. After we left, we went home and had lunch and Yamira and Manny had a nap. We spent the rest of the day at home. I did a whole bunch of stuff in the house.

On Saturday, we ran and did errands. I can't remember where we went and what we got, but we had errands. I know because I had to be home for two friends to come over. It was a last minute thing where we were available and they needed the escape! Where did we go during the day though? I know we went out as a family. Darn it all. Hate when I can't remember! Oh well. Oh wait, just asked Bill. We went to Natick to look at furniture. We were there for what seemed like an eternity. We didn't buy anything. Not that we did not want to, but we have to look at a few other places!

On Sunday, Bill worked from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm and then from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm and then from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am. Needless to say, he had a long day. I was going to take the kids to church next door for Sunday School, but we did not get there. Then we were going to go in the afternoon as they were going to be doing some crafts. I thought that would be a blast. However, between being out on Friday and then all day Saturday doing errands and furniture shopping, I just decided it would be better for the kids to spend a quiet day watching TV and playing while I worked at my desk.

Monday was a busy day. I had a post op appointment for my para gland surgery. Bill took the kids to school and then I picked them up, fed them lunch and took them to Mrs. Rebecca's house. Shayla followed later on the bus with Hannah. They had a ball. I ran into Brighams for my appointment and then straight home. I am healing well. In a few weeks my stitches should dissolve and my neck scar will look better. I did get some delicious pot roast soup at Au Bon Pain in the hospital. That was divine. I picked up the kids, brought them home and gave them dinner. I then took Ping to Daisies. Busy day.

On Tuesday, Bill brought the kids to school. I picked up Yamira and Manny at 11:10 am and brought them to the library to play with Miss Ashly and Skyler and Teresa. They had a great time. Then it was home for lunch and nap. Then off to get Ping. I believe we stayed in the house for the rest of the day. I know that with Christmas approaching, I was trying to make a lot of phone calls and place orders online for gifts. Shhh.

Wednesday was a busy day. Bill took the kids to school and then Sasha to an appointment to have some blood drawn. She had to have her white cell count tested. She is fine. Thank god! I had a few appointments in the morning and then I had a 12:30 pm appointment to have some cranial sacral work done. That was a great appointment. Necessary, very necessary. Other than getting Ping from school, we spent the day at home. God knows what I did that day, but I am sure it was spent in my office working on Christmas stuff.

On Thursday Bill took the kids to school. I did a few errands. I met my girlfriend Renee locally for lunch. It's always great to see her. I dashed home so Bill could get to school. At 3:00 pm I picked up Ping and we headed home for her Chinese lesson with Mrs. Ding. She loves to see Mrs. Ding. Ding is a friend of ours. Her son went to school with Yamira. He is in another school right now. However, he will be back at Yamira's school next year. Ding needed a full time school for her little guy as she attends school herself. Ping is learning quite a bit. It's hard as she doesn't speak Mandarin at home because we don't speak it. However, she is learning. She loves Mrs. Ding's iPad more than anything. She would play with that all day if we let her. Ding's one Matthew plays with Manny and Yamira while Ping is learning. It's always nice to see them. Ding is a sweetie. After Ding left, the kids had dinner and hit the sack. I had a lot to do that night as I had a big weekend ahead of me.

I got up at 6:15 am and showered. I then jumped in the car and headed off to Stratford, Connecticut where I met my friend Stefanie at the train station. We boarded the train to New York city. We had a great day. We walked around Times Square, Rockefeller Center and Fifth Avenue. We went into Michael Kors and Coach. We had lunch at a really nice place. Wish I could remember the name of it. I had a cup of soup and an ice tea. We then dashed off to Dylan's Candy Store and then to the train. We had "signal" issues on the way home, so the train was a little late. I then jumped in the car and headed for home as Bill was on call at 10:00 pm that night. I was over an hour late getting home. Thank god there were no calls. No only did we have train issues, but I hit bumper to bumper traffic due to construction. I was in that for longer than I cared to be. However, the rest of the way home was a breeze. So nice to have a great day out with a friend. Unfortunately, I also developed laryngitis. I have been feeling not so hot the last few days with throat and head issues.I finally lost my voice on the train ride home. I still talked all the way back into Connecticut though. Shocking for many I am sure. Once home I actually did a lot of stuff at my desk. I know it was 11:00 pm, but had a few things to get caught up on and felt guilty for being gone all day. When I did finally decide to sit and watch TV, I passed out.

On Saturday I slept in a little. What a mistake. I wanted to bring the kids to the library for 10:30 am to see Santa. Unfortunately, since I wasn't feeling so hot, I really felt like I needed the rest and I had a long day ahead of me. So we didn't go. I felt really guilty. The kids didn't even know about it. So they were not upset. I was just upset with myself. At 11:00 am, Ping was supposed to be at the Heifer Project in Rutland. At 11:00 am, Bill asked me what time he was taking her. Needless to say, that set off a "shit" storm. Not sure what else to call it. I told Ping it was too late to go as Daddy wasn't showered. She cried hysterically, so he showered really quick and dashed off. That left me in the lurch with two kids that had been up but were not changed and a whole lot of stuff to do. I was less than happy. That and Yamira had gone into my office at some point when Bill was not looking and took the wishbone and broke it. Not only was I mad about that, but I was further infuriated because she lied to me three times about breaking it. She did not do it and she kept pretending that I had no idea what I was talking about. Very upsetting. The worst part of the entire thing is that I could not find the broken pieces and I was frightened the cats would find them. Especially the kitten and possibly try to bite the bone and then choke! To say I was livid would be a true understatement. Once Bill was home, we jumped in the car and headed off to Newport for the Polar Express train. I had managed to pack up the kids with no nap and a whole bunch of snacks and a sandwich while Bill was gone. I was furious that the day was going like this as there was no need. I had told Bill over and over and over that Ping needed to be in Rutland for 11:00 am. Anyway, we darted off to Newport. We were there early. I was so pleased. The train was adorable. We had hot chocolate, a chocolate chip cookie and then met Mrs. Clause. The kids had a few Christmas tattoos put on and then we met Santa and they had a picture taken with him. They had a blast. After we left the train, I got angry again as Ping darted off to walk to the car with Daddy. She left my side and nearly got hit by three cars. I lost my temper and yelled in the middle of Newport. Bill then came around the corner to pick us up as we were on the curb. He nearly was killed by a bus who was charging the other way. There was nearly a collision. Instead, the bus driver started screaming at me. Oh joy! We then headed off to Chelo's to have some dinner with our friends. There was a whole group of us that went on the train. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would start the day off better though. We didn't get home till late. The kids didn't go to bed till after 10:00 pm. Unfortunately, the two little ones do not nap in the car. I have no clue why. Ping does, but they never do. So they were very, very tired. As was I.

The kids got up early and headed off to Sunday School. When they got home, I dressed them up and we headed over to Heberts Candy Mansion for a picture with Santa. Santa was a grump! However, we got a few photos. None of them were great, but at least they got to sit on Santa's lap. They had the night before, but those photos were terrible. After we went to Heberts, we dashed to Elsa's to get me some soup. Never been there before. Not going again. The soup was horrible. Bill got sick from his soup. We then grabbed McDonalds so we could dash home and put Manny and Yamira down for a nap. They got to nap for an hour before we woke them up. We then jumped in the car and headed off to Connecticut. I know, back to Connecticut! We went to the trolley museum. We met Mrs. Rebecca and her son Matthew there. We had a great time. We walked through the trolley museum, sat on Santa's lap, took a trolley ride through the lights and then took another trolley ride called a sleigh and went through the lights as well. That is an open trolley car and it was freezing. Me being Mom of the year forgot the kids hats and mittens. Needless to say, they were freezing. We all were. We had a great time and it was so good to be with our friends. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for soup to go and headed home. The kids didn't get into bed till after 10:00 pm. Again the two younger ones don't nap, so they were exhausted.

On Monday, I volunteered at the kids school from 8:30am - 11:00 am. I man the front desk. I buzz people in and out. Not a tough job. Actually it's good for me to do it because it helps them and it forces me to do absolutely nothing but say hello to people and read a magazine. I had so much to do though at home and after being away for days, I was literally shaking from stress. At 11:00 I left and headed home and headed to the bank with Manny and Yamira. I then came home and fed them and had them nap. They so desperately needed it. They napped for quite some time. Before I knew it, we had to pick up Ping, head home for homework and then get Ping back out to Daisies. I literally dropped Ping off in the parking lot with my friend Renee and dashed home. Bill came home moments later and I dashed back out for my Tastefully Simple party in Boylston. I had a great time with my hostess and her friends and neighbors. I got home at 10:00 pm and proceeded to stay up till 3:00 am. That was just dumb. I got the party orders in, a deposit made and a whole bunch of other things accomplished. Doesn't matter though as I was still behind in everything. Not matter where I borrow the time, there is so much to still be done. So disheartening. I finally headed to bed because I had to be up at 7:00 am.

On Tuesday, I was up at 7:00 am getting ready so that I could volunteer at the desk at school again. I was only there from 9:00 am - 11:00 am. The morning went by fairly quickly. Unfortunately, Yamira had a very tough day with impulse control. When she was supposed to "shake her tail" in the circle, she pulled her pants down! UGH. Her teacher was less than thrilled. What made it worse was that she then proceeded to lie about it. That is very upsetting. Yamira knows better. She does have impulse issues, but this isn't something she normally would do. Needless to say, it wasn't a great morning. However, Yamira was very remorseful that she did this. She was so upset that she disappointed her teachers and me. So she sincerely cried all the way home. That is actually a good thing. It's healthy. It means that she is really starting to care about her behavior and how others feel about her. So even though I wasn't proud of what she did, her response to it was good and appropriate. I did tell her I was disappointed in her, but I didn't really beat her up about it because to be honest, she was beating herself up about it enough. I did not need to add to it. She apologized several times and said she would have an "excellent" day tomorrow. Once home, I gave them lunch and had them nap. Neither napped well and I am not sure why. They were up way too early. I did a few things while they were sleeping, but it's like holding a match to an iceberg. Once they were up it was time to get Ping. We headed home to do homework. Shortly after I gave them dinner and we headed out the door for a church in Worcester. Every year I attend a memorial service for those who have died and used hospice. My mom literally only used hospice for a day. However, I make a donation every year in her name and my father's name. I attend the service every year as a way to honor them. Bill had to go to school, so it was either up to me to find a babysitter or to take the kids with me. So I took them with me. The service was from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm. When we got there, we sat down and I handed the kids their coloring books and crayons. Within minutes, the fire alarm went off and we had to stand outside in the rain. It was a false alarm. I knew it was. I didn't thing a huge roast was being burned in the back! It was a church. Not that a fire can't happen. We immediately filed back in once the fire alarm was reset. Unfortunately it went off again, but was reset again quickly. I was not going back outside. Well, I would have, but didn't want to. My three were the only children at this event. This event used to be filled to the brim with people. The place is always packed and finding seating is very difficult. Not so this year at all. There have always been children too. There were no children. There were a few kids that looked to be 12 or so, but no young kids. My three did fabulously. I was so unbelievably proud of them. They rocked it. Given the event, the hour of the event and the weekend they had, I was shocked. I was so unbelievably amazed!!!!! After the service, they each had a cookie and we headed home for bed. I did a few things after they went to bed, but I was feeling pretty awful by then. I had a sore throat and was exhausted. Somewhere around 9:00 pm, I decided to heck with it all and sat down. Thought I might catch up on a little TV. That didn't last long. I was asleep in no time. Ended up sleeping on my chair all night which is stupid. To be honest, I didn't really "sleep" at all as I didn't feel well. I just kept waking up. I could hear Bill snoring in our family room. I could hear two TVs going and all the lights were on. Bill finally got up maybe around 6:30 am? Then Ping came down to watch TV.

So now we are at today. It is Wednesday the 7th. When Ping came down, I headed up to shower. Shayla had an 8:30 am eye appointment. Bill took Manny and Yamira to school after I begged him to get up several times. He didn't want to move. Neither did I! However, I had to get Ping to this appointment. So off we went in our own cars. Ping did great. She passed her eye test. Her eyes needed to be dilated. That really upset her. She hates the drops. I know they sting, but really? It's only for one minute. However, because she put up such a hellabalu, we had to sit there for forever waiting for her eyes to dilate!!!!! So frustrating. Once the second exam was over, we dashed quickly to the Solomon Pond Mall, where I had exactly 45 minutes to do a few errands. That was incredibly stressful of course. I would have taken Ping to school right after her appointment, but it was a half day and it was after 10:00 am already. We dashed from Solomon to the school to get Yamira and Manny and then we headed home. I brought the three kids in, but headed right back out as I had lunch plans with two friends I have met through CASA. I have not seen them in years. We had a really fast lunch unfortunately. Susan had to head back to lunch and Jaime had to pick up her sister. It was so good to see them, but lunch was way too fast. I then came home to Ping playing with her best friend Lily. Ping had a play date with Lily here while Yamira and Manny slept. I spent the day on the phone trying to get some stuff that I had ordered fixed. There were a few mistakes with some Christmas orders. I then paid bills. I did some Tastefully Simple stuff too. I can't believe it is 10:45 pm and I have yet to quit. Sure I could, but then things would not get done. I cancelled some things for tomorrow and the next day as I have got to get a few errands done and I have got to get some decorating done here. It's stressing me out to no end. I have a few more presents to order too. Well I need to get some pictures uploaded at this point so I can call an end to this night as far as the computer it concerned. If you would ever like to see more photos, please friend me on Facebook. I would love to sit and watch the news tonight. Someone said snow tomorrow? NO. NO SNOW!

Hoping you are enjoying your holiday season. Can not wait for the new year to usher in. I need to make some important resolutions. I think I need to cut back. That is going to be my first resolution. I think. Maybe. We shall see.

Mama Out!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Bill.

Me and Stephanie.

The tree in Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center.

Dylan's Candy Store.

Polar Express.

Our gorgeous bunch.Polar Express.

Taking our tickets.

Me and my honey.

Me and my honey.

Me and Ayi Meri.

Santa.

Yum.

Yum.

Yum.

Santa at Heberts.

Insisted on picture with the animals.

Trolley fun.

Yamira and Rebecca.

Santa in Connecticut.

The girls.

Me and my guy.

Open air sleigh trolley.

Beauty.

Handsome devil.

Lazy bones.

Memorial service.

Good coloring.

Pretty tree at memorial.

Best buddies.

"LET ME OUT!"

Happy Birthday Sweetie

2011-11-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

While you lay on the floor in the other room snoring honey, I figured I would listen to some Christmas music and catch up on my blog. I should go to bed as we are expecting company and I have to do a little big of cleaning around here. However, I was in the mood to stop by here and add an update to it since I have a few moments. The music is relaxing and I can hear the cat's water fountain going. That and your snoring. It's not too loud though. So it's fairly peaceful on the first floor tonight. So let me catch up and I will then wake you so that we can go to sleep.

It's only been a little over a week since my last stop here. So that isn't really as awful as I have been lately. I am no better at remembering what I have done since I was last here though, so does it matter if it's been seven days or fourteen? I don't think so.

If I remember correctly, I was here on the 14th which was a Monday. Last week is a blur to me as always. I just checked where I left off and even though it says Monday, it looks like I wrote out everything up till Thursday. Maybe that is why I felt like it had not been so long since I last checked in. It truly hasn't been that long. So I will start from Friday and go forward from there.

On Friday morning, Bill took the kids to school. When he got home, I was ready to go as we had to drop his car off to have some work done. We have always had an exhaust issue with the Envoy. It's gotten louder and enough is enough. So we dropped it off and told them to fix it. We then headed alone to Worcester to do a few errands. It was nice. We were in the car alone and listening to the music and actually catching up on some things. I couldn't help but take the opportunity to remind Bill that many years ago, I said to him "What if we never have kids?" To that he replied that he thought we might get bored with each other as we have been together for several years. We did laugh at this. It was a meaningful conversation, but it wasn't a heavy one. It wasn't a conversation where he was saying that if we didn't have children, he was going to be downright bored and would have to move on or anything. He meant it, but was also joking when he said we would be bored with each other. So anyway, I took the opportunity to remind him the other day when it was just the two of us not being interrupted and having a conversation that it is his fault that we don't get to enjoy our quiet time more. Of course we had to jointly laugh. We are constantly blaming each other for the changes in our lives. Bill wanted three kids. We adopt three kids. Three kids are a lot of work. I remind him he was the one that wanted three. They he will go down the path of "yes, he wanted three, but he wanted to hand pick them.
" Clearly he would have picked non interrupting, bathroom using and non whining children. Ha. It so doesn't work like that. The point to the story is that we actually had a little alone time in the car and it was nice. Even if we were not talking, we were also not listening to three humming different tunes. That can get to the best of parents on any given day, trust me! We did a few errands and then headed back to get Manny and Yamira. After a 10 minute break at the house for lunch for them, we headed off to Yamira's therapy. Bill and I sat and read while Manny played and Yamira met with her therapist. Once we left there, we headed to the dreaded social security office. I was so grateful we were not going to be there long. The place was not all that crowded. Needless to say, the wait was agonizing because they always have to move me to another line. So frustrating. We left there with no minutes to spare as we had to race home and gather Shayla. After getting Shayla, we did three more errands. One of them was getting the truck that was never fixed because they didn't supposedly have our phone numbers to get permission to fix the truck. To say we were disappointed is a true understatement. We knew what needed to be done. We booked this appointment weeks ago, so we were really shocked to find out that we had to lose the truck on yet another day to get it fixed. I certainly thought they had our cell numbers as well. Needless to say, we grabbed the truck and we all headed home. It had been a very busy day indeed. I had a party that night, but it had been cancelled. Just as well as it was a busy day. However, Bill was on call for the night. It was dinner and bed for the children once we arrived home.

On Saturday, I got up and headed out to do two errands. As I am backing out of the garage I realize that the hair appointment I am heading to in 15 minutes started 10 minutes ago. I messed up on the time. So I made a quick call and put the pedal to the medal to get to the salon. After a quick cut I headed off to get some gas. I could not figure out the pump for all the tea in China. What made it worse was the cold air that was ripping through my body. It was unbearable. I finally figured it out and got my gas and flew on home. After everyone had lunch, the two young ones took a nap and I took Shayla to the Dumplings at WPI for 1:00 pm. She had a wonderful time as always. There was a decent sized crowd on this day. The kids learned a lot about the Chinese festivals and holidays. It was fascinating. We ever got to watch some cool cartoons. It was just as well that the little ones stayed home. They wouldn't have been able to follow as it was in Chinese and we had to read the English captions very, very quickly. It's a hard time because the kids sleep at the time the Dumplings get together. The last few times they have come, they have not been well behaved. I felt really guilty not bringing them, but they were totally fine with it. Bill worked around the house, the kids slept and we hung out at the Dumplings and did a few errands. Before I knew it, I was blowing down the highway as Bill was on call at 6:00 pm and I completely had forgotten about that. It all worked out. I was home before there were any calls. Phew!!!!! Some dinner and bed for the kids and all was good.

On Sunday, I slept in a little while Bill brought the kids to Sunday School. However, I had a 10:00 am appointment with the videographer doing Shayla's video. So I did have to get up and get ready so that I could meet him at his house. What a flipping disaster. I can't say enough how much I regret ever meeting this man. He doesn't have a clue to what he is doing. He quoted me one price and ended up doubling it. He keeps having to make changes and can't remember to save the changes. A month ago, I literally spent 8 hours with him trying to get through some changes. All I should have to do is hand the man pictures and video clips and music and he should be the creative guy behind putting it together. The stuff he has made me do is incredible. I found all of my own songs. I had to watch the video and literally time each song, each segment for photos and each segments for videos and match everything up. This had taken countless hours of my life. He wanted to meet on Sunday to view the final copy now that he has put the music on it. I get there and he still has yet to put the music where it goes. I was livid. I had a Tastefully Simple party to do that day. The last thing I needed was to sit in his office and do his job. He said I didn't have enough songs to get to the end of the video. He should have told me that a long time ago as I would have added more. He wants to know if I want the music to stop or just fade into the background so we could hear the audio. Seriously, this is HIS job. Why am I figuring this all out. We are 10 minutes of music short. I take the time line he has that I prepared and I cut the music from this video and that video and this one and that. So I got the music to fit the entire CD. Why do I have to figure this stuff out. This is his software and his damn job. Finally he told me that I could go as I had a party to do and that he would take care of listening to the video, making sure it was correct and fixed in the places it needed to be fixed and then he would call me. I couldn't wait to escape. I was fuming.

Once I got home, I immediately had to run to the ladies room. For whatever reason, my stomach had started to punish me from the day before. When I went to the videographer's home, my stomach was a mess. I just tried to keep it together. I was happy to be home. Between that and feeling like I was going to throw up all of a sudden, I was nervous as I had a party that day. Sure enough I threw up maybe four times. No clear understanding as to why, but I did and it was less than pleasant.

Somewhere around 2pm, I headed off to the party. This was at a friend's house. I was concerned due to the time it was scheduled. It's very difficult to get people to come in the middle of the afternoon, but my hostesses wanted it at this hour for their own reasons and so I went with it. At this point in time, I have promised myself that if I know the day or time isn't going to work, I am not doing the party. It's not worth the time or the expense to me. Thank god the hostesses were at least friends of mine. So I get to the party and I immediately have to get to work as not everything is prepared yet. Shortly after the guests arrive. All three of them. Well actually there were 3 others, but they are really friends of mine and were there to be supportive for me in addition to attending the party. I have done some wonderful parties in the past, but this didn't go off well. I was rushed as some people had to leave. That is more than fine. Like I said, this was an awful time to get together, so I more than understood. It was a shame as the kit feeds 25 people and there were only 6 or so there? So I gave my presentation and then proceeded to do a little cleaning up. I received three orders, packed up the car and took off for home as I was blocking the hostesses driveway which I clearly wasn't aware of since it is a 2 car wide driveway and thought there was plenty of room to go around me. Mind you I didn't know someone was waiting on me to move! So I felt badly and took off out of there as soon as this was told to me. I headed to the Mill to grab a piece of chicken and headed home. Needless to say, I had my chicken, but my intestinal issues continued for the rest of the night and into the wee hours of the morning and woke me up in the wee hours on the other end of the morning. Far from fun! I tried to watch a little TV Sunday night, but I couldn't sit still for some reason. Needless to say, I finally sat still when I passed out from exhaustion, but then was right back up with stomach issues within hours.

Monday arrived earlier than it was supposed to in my world. Like I said, I woke up early with a terrible stomach rumbling and assorted issues. I went back to bed. Bill took the kids to school. I don't remember when I woke up. I didn't sleep in all day. That would have been nice, but I did not. Actually, Bill left for school at 9:00 am, so I got up and got ready to get the kids at 11:00 am. We then headed to the store for some soup and then home for lunch and a nap. For the kids that is. We spent the rest of the day at home. I got Ping at 3:00 and came back to the house to do some homework and to make some business calls and to do some Christmas research. We left at 5:45 to head to Daisies. Ping had her Investiture this night. So all of us piled into the car and headed to church. I brought Manny and Yamira some stuff to color and their Leap Frog and Etch A Sketch, so they were kept fairly busy and quiet. They spend some quality time loving on Roger, so they were happy campers. Bill joined us right before the ceremony started. It wasn't worth going home for 20 minutes. That is why we just stayed. The ceremony was cute. The girls are fantastic and seem to be very well behaved. They received a few badges and even I got a pin for being the nut mom. Ping even got a badge that says "Nut Mom." Appropriate, no? After the ceremony we had cake and headed home for bedtime. It was late. We put the kids to bed and I settled in at the computer to do a few things and then tried to watch TV. Very jiggy lately, so it's hard for me to just sit and try to watch TV. Finally passed out on the couch at some point.
I did wake up in the middle of the night and crawl upstairs.

On Tuesday, I jumped out of bed as I was manning the front desk at the elementary school for 9:00 am. So I packed up my catalogs and off I went. Sitting there is a joy. I love seeing the kids and I love having the time to just sit and smile and make small talk with the kids and administration. I even get a little catalog peeking in as well. Once 11:00 am rolled around, I collected Manny and Yamira and we headed to the bank and then to the library to play with Ashly's Sky and T and Rebecca's Noah. They had a blast. Before we knew it, we had to leave. Everyone had to get to appointments, lunch or naps. I fed my two and put them in for a nap. Bill took off for school. Before I knew it, I had to get Ping from school. The kids basically played for the afternoon with all of their stuff. I did some Tastefully Simple work at my desk as well as a few other things. Calling in prescriptions, making files and responding to emails. All that jazz. Then in was dinner and bedtime. I continued to work at my desk for a few hours and then sat down and watched "127 hours" which I found quite boring. Wanted to get it sent back to Netflix though, so I was determined to watch it. Interesting, yet boring. I passed out right after and woke up first thing on the chair as Ping was coming down the stairs. So I got the snacks, drinks, coats, tooth brushes ready and their fluoride and vitamins. When Bill came downstairs, they had already eaten and were ready to go. I sat down and decided to have a bowl of cereal. I have never done that. Do not ask me why I thought I could have a bowl of cereal. The first four bites were heaven. The fifth bite was the worst mistake ever. I put the bowl in the kitchen, walked upstairs to my bedroom and crawled in bed to avoid throwing up. I passed out. When I woke up, I was fine. However, I didn't end up feeling all that good for the rest of the day. I was still experiencing stomach issues. This happened last year during the week of Thanksgiving too. What the hell was going on? I do not want to be sick. Here I was thinking I was eating better, but clearly the last few days has me severely doubting that! Anyway, I jumped up and showered. I came downstairs and put together a list of things to do and headed out the door. I had to get cat food and return soup and go to the bank. As I was backing out of the driveway, I see my videographer on my door step. My first instinct was to ignore him, but I was so shocked to see him. He is an odd guy. He is nice and then he isn't nice at all. He is so poor from the way he talks, it amazes me that he has a house. I suspect that he is a heavy drinker. He can never remember what he has said to me. I hired him nearly a year ago to work on Ping's video. I got his name from a friend. I did not do a lot of research as it was just an adoption video for Ping. How hard could this be. Good flipping question. It's been an absolute nightmare. Anyway, he hands me the "final" copy in his opinion and asks me for another $100. I tell him that I can't give him that money at that moment. So he asks for a couple of dollars to get him to the store. WHAT? You are that hard up? He has two jobs. I just don't get it. Hence, I think there is something in the background that I do not know about, but am suspicious about. Anyway, I gave him a check for $50 as he would not take no for an answer. That angered me to no end. I took the video, asked for my original stuff and he didn't have it. That really was upsetting. He has some stuff that we got in China!!!!! I want that stuff back and I want it back now!!!!! He told me to watch the video, that it should be in perfect condition and he will talk to me in a day or two. I couldn't get out of my driveway fast enough. I headed off to do my errands. Later on I came home and got the children and up and into bed. I came downstairs and started to do a little cleaning for our company tomorrow or should I say today since it is 2:00 am. I then sat down to watch the video. I literally sat there crossing my fingers that I would not have to change one thing. I was prepared to accept it the way it was and not be picky. I bit my bottom lip for the first 20 minutes and then just lost it. Who the hell is this guy? He never turns down the music so you can hear the video clip. How many times did I tell him on Sunday that he NEEDED to do this. He also mentioned that he had to "cut" a song in and it sounded smooth. Smooth like a Japanese knife I tell you. What a flipping joke. So I pop out the CD and just shake my head. I need my originals back and I need to find someone to finish this G D project for me as this guy is a complete moron. You know he is a nice guy at times, but again, suspect he has issues. So one time he will be friendly towards me and then he will bully me for money. It's awful. I want to avoid him like the plague. Now I am stuck. I just need my materials and we are going to have to have a serious chat and I so don't want to do that. What other choice do I have here? Really? I handle everything in this house. It falls on my shoulders. UGH. Stay tuned.

After watching that awful DVD that will never be done, I watched two DVR taped shows and then shut the TV off so I could come turn on some Christmas music, check in on FB, my other two forums to see what was going on there, check emails and to catch up here on my blog. Well it's now 2:00 am. If I do not get some rest, I am not going to get up and clean the house well. That isn't cool. So I need to post some photos and get upstairs.

What a crazy couple of days. I can't stand myself. I have been so angry with people. To be honest, it's been well directed and deserved anger. However, I hate feeling this way towards people because it's not in my true nature to feel this sort of anger. Is it because I have been taking a special medication for a few days? Does it have to do with what the medication does to your system? Is it because my belly has been so poorly behaved? Could it be because of some poorly behaved people who should be doing their jobs? Who knows. All I knew is that I hope this anger is replaced by peaceful thoughts again soon as I hate myself several times a day now. Send me some fairy luck dust. Thanks so much!!!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving my dear friends.

Mama Out!!!!!!!

Dumpling salute?

Dragon drawing.

Loving these trees this year.

Biggie and little.

Jezzy.

Special loving time with Mr. Roger and Phoebe.

Doing the special hand gestures.

The crew.

Sky and Yamira at the library.

Leaving the library.

Time to catch up here

2011-11-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

There is plenty to be done around here, but Ping is doing homework in my office and Yamira is playing with her annoyingly loud Leapfrog. Needless to say, I can't think straight. So I figured I would do my best to get caught up here.

As usual, I can't really remember what we have been up to. Mostly because I have had so many issues to contend with for myself lately. Doctors appointments and surgeries and pills, OH MY! When I left off last it was the second of November. Here we are at the 14th already. Where is this month going?

Thursday plans ended up changing. Just as well as there was plenty to do around her. Missed seeing my friend, but we will plan another time to get together. Ping did have tennis that afternoon.

Friday was a busy day. I had a pre-op appointment at Brigham and Women's. Bill was home for the day because he doesn't go to school on Fridays. So he dropped the kids off and picked the two youngest up after their day was over. Then he took the two to Yamira's therapy which she did great at. She has had a couple of good days at school and I have been immensely pleased.

Well after I posted that last paragraph, I was pulled away for a few days, but now I am back and am determined to get this posting done before the end of the day which is midnight, right? I should have a little bit of time. Mind you I need to go get Ping soon. She is at a play date. Okay, where was I?

To finish up Friday, we had a babysitter for Manny and Yamira. My neighbor came over while Bill and I took Ping to the Chinese Acrobatic show at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. It was a great show. I am not a fan of acrobatic shows, but it was really amazing. I felt really bad that the younger ones didn't come, but they never would have made it as the show started at 8:00 pm. As it is, Shayla kept passing out during the second part. We didn't just take Shayla because it had to do with Chinese Acrobats, it really was because she is older and thought she could stay awake. Next year we will take all if we go again.

For some reason today I am very shaky and can not concentrate. It's too bad because the house is quiet. Yamira is watching a movie. Manny is sleeping and Ping is out! Yet I can't seem to streamline anything I am doing. I am getting things done. I had a bunch of ordering to do, but nothing is really working for me today. So frustrating.

So Saturday the 5th was a decent day. I did a few errands by myself in the morning and then I was going to do a Tastefully Simple party that evening, but it was cancelled. So after doing a few errands out I decided to stop at a craft fair. I picked up a couple of really cute things. I then headed home. I was able to score at the very last minute, three tickets to tea with Clara. So I met Kirsten and her beautiful Molly and my girls and they attended tea at the Hanover theatre. They ate a sprinkled cookie, listened to the Nutcracker which Clara read and then colored a Nutcracker cookie and had a picture taken with Clara. It was an hour long. It was so cute and fun. I took Ping two years ago and it was a nice time. I was so glad I was able to get us tickets even though I had only known about it since last night. I made a call and got a call back, so it worked out perfectly. It was a nice time!

On Sunday, we went to Lowell for a photo session with a photographer. Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe gave us a nice gift certificate to a photographer for the adoption of Yamira and Manny. So two or so months ago, I booked this appointment. I shopped for the perfect clothes for this appointment and it was now here. We went to Lowell and spent nearly two hours taking photos at the photographer's loft. It was a difficult day with the three and trying to get it all done, but it's done. Yay. We headed home after the session so we could give the kids dinner and baths before bed.

On Monday, I woke up to discover my left foot wasn't working. It was very, very upsetting. Another health problem. Just what I need. Over the last two weeks or so, I noticed that I was tripping over my right foot. I also noticed my balance was off on my right foot. I thought at first it was my boots as they are fairly new. I am not used to wearing them. So I thought that because I am in sneakers every day, I just need to get used to my boots. So the next few days I wore sneakers. I was still tripping or stumbling. I thought it was maybe because my sneakers are old and stretched out. So for the next few days I wore my newer sneakers. Well at this point I noticed that my right leg was feeling somewhat numb. Very disturbing. It has taken me awhile to figure it out, but on Monday when I woke up, I stuck my feet out and started to point and flex and circle my feet. I could do that on my left, but my right foot was dead. I could point, but I could not flex. So I got up and got ready and called my neurologist somewhat in tears and begged them to fit me in. What a stressful day. My neurologist is going to India for 2 months and so I had to wait to see if they had a cancellation or to see where they could fit me in. That coupled with the possibility of dragging the three kids was overwhelming to me. Needless to say, it was really a tough day. An appointment was finally made for Wednesday. I had done a lot of research and had spoken to others who have had weight loss surgery to see if they were familiar with this. I and others thought this was "Foot Dropsy." After much research, I discovered that crossing my legs for hours upon hours a day is not helpful. So I stopped crossing my legs immediately and started exercising my foot. Another thing I had noticed over the last two weeks, is every time I struck with my right foot while walking, the right struck much harder than the left. I thought I was walking fine and Bill agreed, but also agreed I was very loud with my right foot. He too thought it was the older sneakers! Well as you know now, it wasn't that. By the time Wednesday came around, I was so much better. I will get to that when I get to Wednesday. Let me finish up with Monday first.

I spent most of the day in a tizzy. I was upset and scared. I was going to cancel my dinner that night with a friend, but decided not to do so. I dropped Ping off at Daisies that night and Bill met me there. He grabbed Yamira and Manny and went home. I headed off to O'Connors for dinner with an an old friend by the name of Cheryl. I am so glad I went. I had spent the day running around picking and dropping off kids, running around doing returns and waiting on calls. I thought I would be awful company by the time I got to the restaurant, but I had such a lovely time. I have known Cheryl for years. Our mother's were in each others weddings. They had coffee weekly. We had played together for years. However, like a lot of things, my family moved and we didn't see each other as much. Flash forward to adults and we ran into each other here and there, but never had a large opportunity to chat. So the last time we ran into each other, we said we would do dinner. Took forever to schedule, but we did it. I had a great time. It's amazing because we both look a lot like our mothers and here we are years later getting together like they did. Wish I could tell my mom. She would be thrilled. Cheryl is every lucky as her parents are still with her. Anyway, the night ended well.

The next day I had to go to the kid's school and cover the desk for two hours. That went great. I then brought home Manny and Yamira and we stayed home for the day till it was time to get Ping. I believe the rest of the day was spent doing homework and hanging out at home doing some stuff around here. I was trying to get as much done as possible before my surgery on Friday!

On Wednesday, I took Shayla to her cranial facial clinic appointment at 8:45 am. Twice a year she gets to attend these appointments where she meets with two doctors and a speech person. The appointments are often long and this was no different. Ping was really upset when I told her she wasn't going to school for the rest of the day. She wasn't going to get credit for it and while that isn't that big a deal, I didn't want to have to go back and get her at the end of the day. I took her and the other two at 4:30 pm over to Rebecca Christoforo's house. She is my savior lately and I am so very grateful to her. She watched the three and gave them dinner while I went to see my neurologist. My appointment went well. He felt the same way as I did. It was due to not having enough meat on my bones! So I can't cross my legs anymore. I had improved about 75% before I saw him. I still had a way to go, but I was doing very well and had more sensation. There is something called "Slimming Poroneal Syndrome" or something like that. It's when you have lost a lot of weight and you start crossing your legs and you can't because you end up damaging your poroneal nerve. There is a lot more to it than that, but I won't bore you with all the details. The doctor said he was going to have me go in for a nerve and muscle test over the weekend. I was so pleased he was willing to fit me in for this test before leaving for his trip. In fact, now that I think about it, he left yesterday. He is a great man! So I left the appointment, picked up the kids and headed home. All I had to do was put them in bed because they had had dinner. Go Rebecca.

On Thursday, Bill had to leave early for school to meet with his adviser. I stayed home to do a few things and then got Ping after tennis on Thursday. That was her last tennis lesson. We came home and after a little playing, had some dinner and went to bed. I wanted them in bed as soon as possible as I had a ton of things to do before the next day because I had surgery. I swore I was going to go to bed early! Of course I didn't. It never fails, I never get to bed on time!

I was lucky that I was able to switch my surgery time because originally they wanted me there for 6:00 am. That was too early for anyone to watch the children. Rebecca was willing to drive me in. Ashly was willing to drive me in. They were willing to do whatever they needed to do to help me. If they took me, Bill could stay home with the kids. I know this may not seem like a huge deal, but it completely immobilized me for days. Who was going to take me? Who was going to watch my kids. I am so incredibly blessed to have a few friends who were more than willing to help. I have other friends that would have helped and tried to help, but they couldn't due to having other things going on. So again, I was so very lucky that I was able to get to the hospital later than originally planned. We got up at 6:00 am and got ready. We then got the kids ready and dropped them off to Rebecca at 7:20 am. We then headed off to Brigham and Women's. We were a little late, but not bad. Once there, they sort of whisked me through all the channels and before I knew it, my surgery was over. I was okay. In a little bit of pain, but not bad. They took out one of my para glands. They asked what kind of pain meds I wanted. I didn't want any really, but decided to take Tylenol 3 with Codeine. I thought that would be perfect because at least it wouldn't make me feel like I was out of it. Needless to say, I ended up not being a fan!!!!

They checked my vitals and told me I could leave. I felt a little off, but was okay. We headed straight to Rebecca's to get the kids. They had a wonderful time at Rebecca's house. They always do. They would have been happy to have me leave them there! Anyway, we piled them in the car and headed home.

Once home I figured I would lay down. No such thing. Not only was I up and moving around, I was up till 3:00 am moving around. Not sure why. I thought I would be asleep for the rest of the day, but nope. So odd. All in all, I felt decently.

The next day was Saturday and there were no plans to be had. I purposely didn't book anything because I wasn't sure I would be up to doing anything at all. Needless to say, I felt worse than the day before. Not sure why. I guess everything was settling? I had the worst headache. I didn't expect to have such an awful headache. I figured it was from the anesthesia. I wasn't sure. Who is really to ever know. I kept taking my pills, but never felt really a lot better. It took me till Saturday night to discover that the Tylenol 3 with Codeine had some serious side effects like nausea. I kept trying to eat, but I couldn't. So as much as I felt like I needed them, I stopped taking them so I could try to eat a little. Talk about a bad cycle. I feel awful, I take a pill to try to dull the pain and the pill makes me feel worse. Needless to say, I spent the day at home just drifting from room to room to pick up a little here and there. I didn't want to do nothing at all and yet at the same time, I couldn't do very much either. What a waste of a day!

I woke up on Sunday expecting to feel wonderful. Nope. I don't get why two days later I am not feeling grand yet. A bit unrealistic I suppose. I really did hope for the best. Figured if I exercised my neck like I was supposed to, took regular Tylenol and kept focused, I would be feeling grand by now. Well the Tylenol 3 seemed to still be plaguing me and the headache was worse. However, I was powerless to do anything. Who would I call? I had booked Bill to work at the station from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm and then home from 6:00 pm-10:00 pm coverage for the station. I know I shouldn't have booked him as I was supposed to be recovering, but we really could use the money and Bill loves covering shifts. Unfortunately, to make matters worse, my awesome neurologist who wanted me to come in for a test over the weekend had called the other night and he wanted me to come in today at 1:00 pm. So there I was feeling awful and having to scramble to find a babysitter because I had booked Bill to work. Why do I do these things to myself? So I asked Ayi Kirsten and Uncle Roger to watch the kids for me at their house while I ran to have a muscle/nerve test done at St. Vincent's hospital. So I dropped the kids off at 12:30 and made my way to St. Vincent's. The test was fairly easy, but it wasn't without pain. It wasn't horrible. There were electrodes that made my feet react. I could deal with that. The harder thing to deal with was the needle the doctor inserted in 5 places to test my muscles. That was pretty bad. However, you have to do what you have to do. He did say that I clearly did have some neuropathy palsy or something like that. Basically my nerves and muscles are not responding as well as they should due to malnutrition. We agreed that my right foot has improved even further. So at this time, we are not going to do anything. I need to not cross my legs at all though anymore. So after 20 years of not being able too as I was too heavy, now I am too thin to do so. The irony!

So I headed back to Ayi Kirsten's house to gather the children who were not fabulously behaved and headed off to Burlington Coat Factory to do a return. The last thing I wanted to do, but it needed to be done. Yamira and Manny had not had a nap, so unfortunately, their behavior was less than stellar earlier for our friends and then for me. Made for a difficult afternoon. Was grateful to get home for the day.

On Monday, I stayed home. The kids went to school and Bill went to school as well. I was lucky as his first class was cancelled, so he was able to get the kids to school and pick the youngest two up at 11:10 am. I actually got up really early as I wanted to call the surgery center to see why I felt so awful. However, I at that point knew I had a sinus infection. After talking with the nurse, she said to call my ENT person or general doctor. I called my ENT and they got me in to see a doctor I had not seen before. Regardless, he gave me a script for an antibiotic. I was grateful. I then headed off for CVS. The day was pretty miserable as I just felt horrible. I had to get to Daisies early as the fall product was in and I had to double check everyone's order, but I was truly lucky to have some great people help. Mrs. Dorman had her son split up all the orders. Renee's son Andrew was a gigantic help as I sat on the floor and read out the orders as he double checked everything. Manny and Yamira played nicely while Ping was doing her Daisy thing. Then Daddy came and we all went home. Daddy went back to get Ping at 7:00 pm and then he went to his Mason's meeting. I was glad to have the day over. I am so grateful for the help at Daisies as that was a huge blessing. We have an awesome Daisy troop!

Tuesday I still felt pretty awful. I had to run to St. Vincents for a blood test. Needed to have my calcium drawn. Every day it is something new with the medical community and me. Sick of it to say the least!!!! After I picked up Yamira and Manny, we went to the library and played with Noah, Skyler and Teresa. It was nice to chat with Ashly and Rebecca. The rest of the day went fairly well. At 4:00 pm, my friend Ding came over with her son Matthew. While Matthew, Manny and Yamira played, Ping and Ding worked on Ping's Chinese. I am so grateful to Ding for spending time with Shayla. Ping loves Ding too. So she really looks forward to her visits with her. They work on writing and talking and stories. Mrs. Ding big popular draw is the iPad that Ping has got to get her hands on each week! She loves it. Sorry Ping, not in our budget for now. After her lesson, it was dinner and bed.

Wednesday was a crazy busy day. There are two half days this week due to school conferences. So Bill dropped the three off at school at 8:15 am. I picked them up at 11:15 am. I get them all released together. Ping would rather stay the extra 20 or so minutes, but it is not worth if for me because I have to literally sit around for another 45 minutes waiting on her just to be dismissed. I hate her missing the time on her card, but it's just not worth it. Anyway, we rushed home and I fed them lunch. We all jumped back into the car and headed back to school. Bill had a doctors appointment, so I had to take all three to Yamira's conference and Manny's. When we pulled in, we saw Miss Ash who was there early, so she was sweet enough to sit with Ping, Manny and Yanira at a table while I talked to Yamira's teacher. Yay Ashly. Yamira is doing quite well at school both academically and behaviorally. I am more than pleased. Then we went to see Manny's teacher. Manny is young, but is doing very well. He is a ball of energy. Hoping he really grows by May. Then we rushed home and met Bill. Manny and Yamira took a nap while Ping and Daddy delivered the fall product to the neighbors. I ran back to the school and met with Ping's teacher. Ping is doing excellent on all fronts. She is getting speech and we feel like it's really helping. So three great reports. I was thrilled. I then headed home and Daddy headed off to school. When I got home, I called the pediatrician's office. Manny has been claiming his arm hurts him. He seems to be complaining less and less, but he is still favoring it a bit. They asked me to bring him right in. So there we are in the pouring rain, pouring back into the car to head into Worcester. The doctor that saw him is someone I don't know, but she was nice. She thought he may have popped out his shoulder by accident and it may have just popped back in. She said to keep an eye on it. Not much else can be done. Even if an x-ray confirmed, there isn't much you can do. Not like he would wear a sling at the fine age of three. So we left the office and I made two stops for my Tastefully Simple business and then we headed home for dinner and bed. What a long day.

Today has been a long day as well. I was really looking forward to today because I didn't have a ton of things to do outside the house. I was excited to be in the house doing stuff all day long. Unfortunately, I am not sure what happened, but I didn't get nearly the stuff done that I planned on getting done. I got some stuff done and I am plugging away now. I am a little disappointed more isn't done, but what can I do. I am getting caught up here and that was important to me. I have some pictures to upload. I need to go through and match up some receipts to a bill and a host of other things. I have tomorrow to do it too and Saturday I supposed. Just wanted to get ahead of the game today. Some days just can't be explained I suppose. I did stay in bed today because I knew I wanted to work late at my desk tonight. I can't believe how late it is already. Bill did most of the running around. I did go out around 4:00 pm to pick up Ping. Yamira had a play date today with her friend Chelsea and Ping had a play date with her friend Peyton. Bill picked up Yamira. I picked up Ping and then we went to Walmart. We were literally out of Pull Ups. That is not good at all. After a quick and wet trip to Walmart, it was home and dinner here. I just put them in bed and now I am going to try and finish up a few other things I need to absolutely get done.

I know this was not the most well written posting. A lot of them are like that. There is just too much content and my brain is all over the place. However, this time around, I had so many interruptions, I am not sure it even makes sense. I hope so.

Mama Out!!!!!!

The acrobat show.

Amazing.

Amazing.

Very cool.

Tea with Clara.

Tea with Clara.

Tea with Clara.

Tea with Clara.

My chicken.

Piggy.

Library fun.

Sit and watch TV or keep on trucking?

2011-11-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have decided to keep on trucking. I have all of my Tastefully Simple orders in. I have scanned some important papers and sent them off to where they need to be. I have picked up birth certificates and been to the Social Security office today. I keep thinking if I stay up till midnight, I will get it all done. Will I? No, because it does not work like that. I knew this was grossly behind and thought I would feel better if I could cross it off the list, so here I am.

The last time I was here I had just had nose surgery. That feels like it was forever ago. Must be living dog days or cat days here. Anyway, the next day I did a bunch of things around the house, but laid low as I was shaky still from the anesthesia. I was also somewhat sleepy. So I did what I could.

Thursday was a busy day. I was one of the chaperones for Ping's class field trip. It was spitting rain and cold. However, they did not cancel. It was raining two weeks ago when we tried to go. They didn't want to disappoint the kids. So off we went in two buses to Tougas Farms to apple pick. The kids were wild on the way there. They were so excited. We got there and loaded onto wagons. Almost everyone took off their coat to put down on the wet seats so they didn't end up with wet buns. It was so cold and there we are with no jackets on! We got off of the wagon and learned about picking apples. We then walked through the trees and picked six apples each. Despite the cold and misting, the apples and the orchard were so pretty. The apple trees looked like they were out of a Hallmark movie to me. So juicy, red and wet from the rain. Each parent had six children they had to care for. My six were well behaved. They were a joy to pick apples with. Shayla was one of them. We then walked across the road and each child picked a pumpkin. Amazing how some of them thought the biggest was the best and yet could not carry the pumpkin, let alone their pumpkin with apples! We then headed to get donuts and cider, but since it was so muddy and cold, the teachers got it all to go. So we headed to our buses. Unfortunately, our two drivers jumped in one bus and headed off to coffee. Nobody was happy with that. Most of the kids were on the other bus, but our kids plus us had to stand in the freezing cold. They should never have left. What if there was an emergency? That was upsetting to say the least. We finally boarded the bus for the trip back to school. We got there in time for me to get Manny and Yamira. I brought them home and gave them lunch and they had a nap. I actually had to lay down with a blanket for a short time as I was so frigid it felt like it was shaking my core. I warmed up and was good to go for the day. I picked up Ping after her tennis lesson and we came home for the night. It was a long day for Ping and so it was coloring, dinner and bed for everyone. Bill was at school. I wanted to go out to dinner that night, but I couldn't as Bill wouldn't be home. Just as well I suppose.

On Friday, Bill took Sasha to have a hair cut after he dropped the kids off at school. I honestly can't remember what we did that day. I have been trying to cut back on leaving the house so I can get some stuff done around the house. So I probably did some stuff at my desk. Boring, but necessary. Oh I remember. I am the Fall Product Manager for Girl Scouts, so I put in all of the orders. That took like seven hours for me to figure it out, check numbers, make calls and put the stuff in. So glad I got that done. So glad for two very helpful people. Karen Dorman, Shayla's leader and Lisa who is in charge of the entire thing. I was able to email and call her and get it all done that night. Bill covered the football game for the fire department at night.

Saturday brought soccer at 9:00 am. I took the little ones towards the end of the game as it was really cold out and they get bored easily. I then left the kids with Bill to bring home and did a few errands. There were tons of things to do that day, but I cancelled everything and we stayed home and did some things around here. It is nice to have days like that. The kids relax and play and we get caught up on some stuff that we often need two people for. The next day was due to be very busy, so it was just as well.

On Sunday, I took the kiddos to Sunday School and Bill worked at the station all day. He went in for 6:00 am. He worked till 6:00 pm and then came home and worked from 6:00-10:00 pm too. Then at 10:00 pm, he was on night coverage till 6:00 am. Busy day for him. After Sunday School, we came home. The kids played, had lunch and then Yamira and Manny had a nap. Ping played with some of her stuff and then they all got ready for the Halloween party at the church. So we went there till 6:00 pm or so. Had no intention of staying for pot luck, but we did. The kids really wanted to. Then we went home and gave the kids a bath and tucked them in for the night. It was a busy day. They were all so beautifully behaved at both Sunday School and the party. I was very proud of them!

I was supposed to have lunch on Monday, but had to cancel. I forgot that Bill goes to school early on Mondays. Can't have lunch with two little ones and chat if it's just supposed to be a lunch for two mom's. Spent the day at home. Other than running back and forth to get the three munchkins, I stayed home and worked at my desk. I have to write down what I do because frankly, I have no clue what I can do that keeps me so busy all dang day. I am sure it was preparing for Tastefully Simple and a bunch of other stuff. Like I said before, I am trying to stay home a lot more. I know one thing. I baked sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls. Trying to be a little domesticated. I am over it already. Ping did have Daisies that night. So we all headed out for 6:00 pm and then Bill showed up around 6:30 pm or so for the two youngest while I hung out at the meeting. It was really more of a Halloween party and celebrating Juliette Lowe's birthday. She founded Girl Scouts.So the girls were there for 1 1/2 hours. They ate donuts off of strings. It was so much fun to watch them, but stringing donuts is no easy task!!!! They also did a bunch of other things and had fun snacks. I enjoy her troop immensely. Great leaders and great girls.

On Tuesday, the kids all had a 1/2 day of school. Bill picked them all up at 11:10 am. We get Ping out at the same time as Manny and Yamira. She isn't a fan of us doing that, but if not it is truly another 45 minutes for the process of buses, walkers and picking up parents to get done. It's not worth waiting as I have done it before. She also loses a little bit of time. However, it is worth it for us. Yamira and I hopped in the car immediately and headed off for her OT appointment. It was her last one. Her therapist thought that she was less sensory affected than she had been. We will miss her. Wonderful therapist. We then met Daddy in the parking lot. He took Yamira and headed home for lunch and naps. I headed to my 1:00 pm appointment with my nose doctor. They removed a benign cyst. Thank god it wasn't something major. I was relieved. I then headed home as Bill had to get to school. That afternoon the kids played and then we headed out to the flu clinic. That went really fast. Ping freaked and screamed. Manny and Yamira did fine. Then home to bed. Ping never recovered from her Kindergarten shots, so that is why she freaked. However, once the shot was done, she realized it was a piece of cake.

Wednesday was spent at home. I prepared for my two upcoming Tastefully Simple parties and worked on a few business calls and such. For some reason, Bill and I both started to lose our voices that afternoon. Now Manny and Ping have had little colds, but we didn't really have any symptoms with the exception of the voice thing. I was really hoarse.

On Thursday I woke up and could barely speak. Bill could be heard better, but felt run down. There had been a call in the middle of the night, so he was tired. I had a 10:00 am appointment with Yamira's therapist to discuss how we feel she is coming along. Her therapist is wonderful. I then did a few errands and headed home so Bill could get to school. Ping had tennis after school, so we picked her up at 4:00 pm and then we headed to the salon for three hair cuts for them. Then home for homework, dinner and bed.

Friday was a busy day. I overslept. Manny had a party at school. Bill asked me at 10:17 am if today was the party. I was in shock. I was still in bed. I could barely talk. I was probably still sleeping because of the cold I was trying to fight off? Anyway, Bill ran to the school and saved the day. I could not have gotten ready fast enough. I felt really bad about missing it. However, it's usually me that goes. I got up and got ready as I had an appointment with my neurologist at 12:30 pm. He is the sweetest man. I really like him. I had my prescription upped and another prescription for PT. Hoping that helps. I then came home and got ready for the evening. I had a Tastefully Simple party that night. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I could not sit and relax after since Bill was on at 10:00 pm for the fire department. I would have loved to sit and chat since the host is a friend. I had a great time though. Sadly, my voice was horrendous for the party, but I made it through.

On Saturday we headed to soccer for 9:00 am. It was Ping's last day of soccer. It was bitter cold. We were all freezing. I forgot mittens and hats for me, Yamira and Manny. What a dunce I am. Thank god for sweet Tamara who had extras of everything and a blanket. I enjoy going to see Ping at soccer because she loves it and a whole bunch of her friends play. It's nice to see the kids and the parents. It's just usually too cold to chat much. Last year was a much better season. Oh well. The kids don't seem to care. Just us parents watching on the sidelines. Once we left soccer, we headed home for lunch and the kids changed into their costumes. We then went to the haunted house at the library. It was cute. We were there for less than 30 minutes. We headed home and the little ones napped while Ping relaxed. I prepared for my Tastefully Simple party that night. At 2:30 pm, it started snowing like crazy. We knew we were in for snow, but we really didn't know how much till Friday night. I didn't cancel the party because I thought the snow was due to come in around 6:00 pm or so. Neither my friend nor I would want anyone out in a terrible storm. However, it came in at 2:30 pm. I left at 5:00 pm to get to the party. What is usually a 20 minute ride took me an hour. The roads were horrible. I do not mind driving in snow, but the snow was so heavy, that trees were all over the streets. So I was a little scared that I was taking my life and that of my cars into my hands! I got to the party and barely anyone came. However, the few that came were great. I was thrilled to see my good friend Kirsten and her husband and beautiful girls. We had a nice time. My voice was horrendous and got worse as the night wore on. After finishing up, I jumped in the car for the ride home. That was even worse of course. I was going to go the long and safer way, but then decided to go the way I came. What a mistake. There were more trees to dodge and narrow roads. I should have gone the other way, but wanted to get home so that Bill could get to the fire department. Needless to say, there was a tree all the way across Salisbury in Worcester, so I had to literally turn around and go all the way back to where I was and go the long way anyway. Should have listened to my other self. It took me an hour to get home. I walked in and Bill walked out. He brought his uniform, a change of clothes, coffee and food. It was a long night for him. He was out for most of it. We had been out of power until I arrived home. For some reason, when I pulled into the driveway, the power popped on. It was on for most of the night, but flickered badly and I had zero TV and phone and spotty internet. Ping came down around 2:00 am and we both passed out on my favorite chair. When I woke up, I got her up and we went upstairs to bed. We lost power again around 4:00 am or so?

On Sunday, we got up around 7:30 am. I was exhausted because I had not slept all night long. It was too hard to sleep. Felt like I had to keep an eye on the house due to breaking trees. They kept scraping the house. We had no power. Facing the day with three kids and no power was a little scary. I know, I am a wimp. Sunday School was cancelled, so we didn't head there. The snow was deep and heavy as heck. We had a tree across High Street, so we couldn't leave the house. Me and the girls had reservations at the Asa Waters Mansion in Millbury for tea at 3:00 pm. I thought for sure it would be cancelled. It wasn't. So Bill who was supposed to be home for 12:00 pm called around 10:00 am because the guy coming in at 12:00 pm called in that he wasn't showing up. Needless to say, Bill was asked to stay. I don't mind at all, but we had reservations and I hadn't found out if it was cancelled yet. Well I called several times and there wasn't a message. However, Bill found another number on his own. He called it and it said the tea was still on. Do not ask me where he put my original husband. LOL. He wasn't kidding when he said he needed an answer on whether he could stay. Anyway, I told him to come home for 1:00 pm as I wanted to leave early. Well that never worked out. He kept going on calls. He was stuck at the hospital at 1:30 pm and I had to leave in 30 minutes. So I called Ashly and asked her if she would take Manny for me. Not only did she take Manny for me, but she and Bobby and Bobby's dad came over and plowed for me and got rid of the tree that was across my driveway. By then the tree across High Street was gone too. So after about 30 minutes, me and the girls headed out and Ashly headed out with Manny. Bill was so grateful and relieved as he simply could not leave. Sure enough as we were leaving the house, there was another town for yet another call.

The girls and I got to the tea shortly before 3:00 pm. Mrs. Kirsten and her two beauties were already there. All the kids were in costume. We thought since so many people didn't have power, that the tea would be small. I think they had one cancellation. It was packed. We could not have been more wrong. We had a wonderful time. The kids ate tons of sweets, we had tea which was very yummy, we listened to a Halloween story and did a little parade around the mansion. It was cute and well done as always. It was so nice to be out. Poor Kirsten had no power, but she and the girls were troopers for showing despite that. Bill actually had someone offer to cover him, so at 4:00 pm he left the station and went and got Manny. Bill was going to work for 6:00 pm, so it was great he got out. He was exhausted as he didn't sleep all night long. Not only did he get out of staying till 6:00 pm, but he was doing the 6:00-10:00 pm shift too, and the man covering offered to do that for him. So sweet. Bill was thrilled. He was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. Once home, I actually put dinner together quickly and we put the kids to bed. It was a long day for everyone. We found out at dinner that the kids didn't have school the next day. Bill still did or so we thought.

Monday comes and Bill heads off to school. He calls 20 minutes later to say that school had just been cancelled. What a waste of a drive. Oh well. At least he was coming home. So we all jumped into the car and did a bunch of errands together. Basically Bill drove the car to the curb and I jumped out and did the errand. I had a ton of returns to make. It was nice to have car to curb service. We stopped at the new Wegmens in Northboro. We walked around there for 30 or so minutes and then headed home for lunch and naps. Bill headed outside to work on breaking down some of the tree branches and Ping headed out for some winter fun. I headed out with Ashly for a last minute pedicure. We tried a new place in town. I thought it was great. Nice for some girl time too. When I got home, Ping had made three snow people. One had a pumpkin head. One was supposedly the kitty Jezzy. So cute. The little ones were up and then it was dinner and bath time. I worked on some Tastefully Simple stuff and tried to watch a movie which I passed out during.

Tuesday Bill dropped the kids off at school and then took Sasha to the vet to get a teeth cleaning. I headed out to Clinton to meet a TS hostess so that I could give her the packet of stuff to make. I then picked up Manny and Yamira and we met Miss Ashly and Mrs. Rebecca and the kids at the library for a little play time. Yamira had a great day and was so proud. However, she didn't want to play long. I think she was hungry and tired. Manny had an accident, so I called Bill to bring a pair of pants to me. At that point, Yamira wanted to go home with Daddy and so I sent Manny and Yamira home for lunch and naps. I hung out a bit longer to chat. I then headed home to make some important business calls. Bill had the day off as Quinsig cancelled classes again, so he was home all afternoon. He worked in the attic a little bit as we had a ton of junk up there from when some roofing was done. He went and picked up Sasha at the vets and made chicken, rice and corn for the kiddos. I cleaned and did a bunch of things for Tastefully Simple. It's time consuming to get orders in and double checked and payments straight and banking ready to go to the bank. I forgot how time consuming it was. We gave the kids baths and put them to bed. Later on as Bill was passing me in the dining room he belly bopped me. That is where I bounce off his belly like a trampoline. We were just playing with each other. Well Bill has not been listening to me as I keep telling him that he can't rough house with me like he used to. Needless to say, I flew across the room, hit the radiator and broke an outlet plug in half. I bruised my arm, leg and back. It knocked the wind right out of me. So not fun at all. I know it wasn't intentional. Told him that I have zero strength and my balance is all off. This is not the first time I have lost my balance. I have a few times lately. When I brought my TS box into the party on Friday night, I was all over the place swaying as my core isn't very strong right now. Need to really change that. When will I have the time though?

Now we are at Wednesday. I overslept. So mad at myself. So, so mad at myself. Ping and Yamira were yapping this morning and I kept waking up. When Bill took the kids to school, I passed out due to the silence and slept hard. So when I woke up, I bolted from bed and showered. I then headed to Leominster City Hall to finally get Manny and Yamira's birth certificates. I have been waiting on them since March! So I got them and headed right to the Social Security office to get them new numbers. That was a mess. I was put in the wrong line due to the computer. The woman is processing things quickly until I say "That was quick, when do I get the new number?" She said "You did not want just replacement cards?" Heck no. So I had to sit back down and wait on someone else to call me. I was there for an hour and a half. I felt like I needed a shower by the time I left there. The place is old. There are so many people that are in and out of that office. Always surprises me to hear some of them discuss food stamps while they have Uggs on their feet, are carrying a nice cell and Dsi's for all of their kids. Not trying to be judgmental here, but clearly they are cheating the system or they don't have their priorities straight. I was glad to be out of there. I won't know if we are granted new cards for two weeks. It is up to Social Security if they want to issue us two new cards. I find that bothersome, but can't do anything to change it. Anyway, I drove home like a bat out of hell as Bill had to leave to get to school. I had to turn around and get Ping from school and head to the bank. We spent the rest of the day at home. The kids colored and played with their trucks and princesses. They had dinner and off to bed they went. I finished up some Tastefully Simple orders, did some other paperwork and now I am here trying to get caught up on the blog. It's now 11:00 pm and I have yet to sit down to watch TV. I want to catch the news, so I am off. Well I guess I lied. Never left. Posting pictures and then crawling into bed. I am exhausted all of a sudden.

Hope you are having an excellent week. Hope your power was restored if you have been out. Enjoy your Halloween Trick or Treating West Boylston residents.

Mama Out!!!!!!!!

Scarecrow project for first grade. Guess who did the project? Bill. He had to do it because we needed the hot glue gun. He did a phenomenal job and Ping was so happy.

Apple picking with my six.

Beautiful.

Eating.

Ready to hit the Halloween party at church.

Donut munching.

Donuts at Daisies.

Mummying our friends.

Mrs. Kirsten and Molly.

The girls.

Mrs. Renee showing off her Brownie outfit.

Tastefully Simple shipment.

I carved this bat cat.

One of my creations.

Another creation of mine.

Everyone had to join me in making this maple apple crisp.

Crisp.

Manny and Yamira warming up at soccer.

The team.

Medals.

Scary monsters.

Storm damage.

Our tea girls.

Treats.

Ping and Yamira with their transportation.

Love.

My gorgeous ladies.

Crazy kids.

Ping's snow folks. Little one is the kitty.

Our little one and a biggie.

The outlet.

Twins of a different culture per Ping.

Are you wondering if I have dropped off the face of the earth?

2011-10-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Nope. No such luck my friends. Just busier than usual. I find that hard to believe, but it's the truth.

I wasn't going to update today. In fact, I was not going to have to update because for the last week I have been trying to do it. Today I had some surgery and thought for sure that I couldn't get it done today. However, even though I am still woozy and not worth much around the house here, I decided to give this a try. I can sit on my rump and I can recall (badly) and get my blog caught up. It will make me feel better when it's done, right. If I don't seem to be making sense, please ignore me.

So, I have not been here since September 29th! I haven't stopped in since October. That is pretty pitiful. Let's see why?

Well Friday the 30th was a big day. We went to the Big E in Springfield with the Stand family. The weather was gorgeous. We had a great day. The kids were really overtired as it was a long day, but they had a great time. We walked around looking at all the crafters and we also went into the state buildings. It was my first time there. It was pretty crowded as it was the last weekend, but it was manageable. People have told me that they can eat their way in and out of that fair. They are not kidding. I didn't eat anything, but had a few samples of cheese and other assorted things. The corn on a stick and the potato stations called me, but I did not dare!!!! We didn't get a chance to catch any shows and we didn't do any rides and yet we were there for the entire day. Looking forward to going back again some day. It started to pour rain right as we were leaving. It is so nice to have a great family day with another family you love.

Saturday brought soccer at 9:00 am. I didn't attend. I felt awful I didn't go. Bill took Ping. He is her coach. It was just too cold and rainy to take the little ones. It's hard as they are old enough that they want to run around like Ping does and it is hard to contain them. That coupled with cold and wet feet, I just decided to keep them home since we had a busy day ahead of us.

Soon after Ping came home, we fed them lunch and put the little ones to bed. Ping and I jumped into the car and dashed the rain drops at the Fall Fest. I saw a bunch of friends there and scored 4 Halloween costumes for four dollars. Talk about luck. Great idea of recycling costumes. I got a purple dragon for Ping. How perfect is that for a dragon loving girl. I got Yamira a red and black spidery witch type costume which she loves and I got Manny a Pablo from the Backyardigans and a pirate costume. He loves both of them. I loved looking at all the scarecrows on the common too. After an hour or more we headed home.

The younger set was up and waiting for us. We all got ready and left for the Autumn Harvest Moon Dinner in Taunton. We went last year and had a ball. It's a Chinese holiday. The dinner is at a nice Chinese restaurant in a huge function room which you don't see often. There is a buffet, a DJ for the kids and all sorts of silent auctions and raffles. It's a great time. I won tickets for Story Land in NH. A moose tour in NH. Seekonk raceway tickets and Zoo New England tickets. So that was fabulous. They were all silent auction items. We left late and so the kids zonked out in the car. Everyone had a ball.

Sunday brought a 10 am appointment for me and Sunday School for the three. Bill takes them down and hangs there for an hour while they do their crafts and so much more. My appointment was to meet with the gentleman who is doing Ping's video. We needed to change a few things. Thought I would be there for an hour to two hours. Six flipping hours later, I left. He didn't save all of the changes we painstakingly made. He thought he did, but didn't. What a long day. The video is still not done, but I am doing the next part. I have to get all the music together. It was at least a fairly quiet day given how hectic we were for the two days before that.

Since we were going away Thursday night, I had a ton of my plate to do, so I had Bill bring down all of the Fall/Winter clothing. God I loathe that job, I really do. Unfortunately, the containers just stared at me when I walked by. I had too many other things to do between shuffling the kids back and forth to school a few times and Shayla having an ice skating lesson and then Daisies after. That was the last ice skating lesson for a short time. Not for this reason, but can I just say that people are so rude. My six year old held two doors for a woman and her son. Neither said thank you at either door. How rude is that? I was appalled to say the least. Why don't people have manners anymore. When I was growing up, I had to have impeccable manners as did my husband. Anyway, I have decided not to carry on with lessons because I am trying to take a different approach to things this year. We spent approx. $4,000 in extracurricular activities last year between gymnastics, swimming, skating and what not. Diasies is cheap and wonderful, so no complaints there. Anyway, between the amount it cost (which doesn't bother me that much) and the time it takes to get to these things weekly (which bothers me the most) I have decided to cut way back this school year. So far so good. I didn't sign anyone up for any long commitments. Ping is doing soccer and Daisies. She also had ice skating. Now she is doing tennis and it's only a few weeks. So I dropped ice skating for that. Soccer ends in two weeks. Yamira has two types of counseling which keeps us busy. Manny at this time does not have an outlet. I will find him one. I am also looking for different things for Shayla. Not just sports stuff. However, there aren't a lot of offerings for what I am looking for. Maybe in the spring there will be more? Bill is in school and I signed up again to be a Tastefully Simple consultant. It's just too much to run them to activities every single day practically and for the entire year. So I am changing things up and it's working so far. Anyway, I never got to the clothes that day and that bugged me, but I am only one person!

On Tuesday, I got a hair cut in the morning after the kids went to school. Then when school was over for Manny and Yamira, I dropped Manny off to be with Daddy and I took Yamira to her OT appointment. After OT and lunch, Manny and Yamira had a nap and I headed off to my ENT appointment to see if I still had this cyst thing in my nose that is abnormal. I was lucky that Daddy had the day off from school, so I could go to the appointment alone. They did find that the "growth" was still there and wanted to remove it. It does not look normal and yet it doesn't necessarily look awful. I am anxious to hear what it is. Will know soon. The rest of the day was spent at home. I finally got going on all the Fall/Winter clothes. What that means is that all three kids have to try on almost all of their clothes to see if they fit. If they are the same size and maker, they don't. However, they have to try on almost everything and that takes forever. Two hours and we were not done, but most of it was done. I also have to clear out all the Spring/Summer clothes in their bureau and pack them up. Then I have to split into piles of what will fit next year for all seasons, what we won't ever wear again and choose to give away through Freecycle or hold for another special little one if we are ever so lucky. It's just an awful task. I wanted to get it done though as I figured it would be cold in Vermont. Mind you it was the best weather ever!

Wednesday I had a few appointments. I had one at 9 am and one at 10 am. I also had to make a few business calls. In addition to that, I wanted everything clean in the house, everything organized, all calls made, all clothes packed and so on and so forth. I got a lot done, but still knew I would have to get a lot done tomorrow.

Thursday was here before I knew it. I got us all packed and did all those last minute things that have to be done. Bill was at school for the day. I let the kids stay up. We got a deal with the hotel that if we paid for three nights, the fourth was free. So it made sense to go on Thursday night. Unfortunately, we didn't leave till like 10:00 pm. Bill came home and packed the car. We got the very tired kids in and drove away. It took forever for Ping and Manny to fall asleep. Yamira made it nearly all the way. None of my kids sleep well in the car. Ping did when she was younger. They all can do a short nap, but nothing long term unfortunately. We were running out of gas quick. I thought Bill got gas during the day. I was wrong. So we got off the highway only to find out that there were not any stations open for miles and miles. That was a little concerning. We are on these quaint back roads and I wasn't ever sure we would get a cell signal. I said to Bill "Um, do you think AAA could even find us???" We did finally find one that was open 24 hours. Of course the bright lights, the cold breeze from the door opening, the door slamming shut all woke up the beauties. An hour later or so we arrived at Smugglers Notch in VT. We were sort of hell bent on not returning to VT after last year, but I got a great deal. In addition to the four nights, they have an indoor pool, a fun zone, babysitters and a day care center! Can't go wrong with that. So Bill ran in and got the keys that were left in an envelope and we went to our room. Nice place with a kitchen, dining and living room combo and two bedrooms and two bathrooms. We put the kids right in bed as it was 2:45 at this point. Bill brought everything in, but we left the stuff in the suitcases. It was just too darn late to get into emptying everything.

We woke up on Friday fairly early. Bill and I were dead to the world, but the kids were greeting the day like any other day. Bill got them breakfast, I unpacked and hit the shower. At 11:30, our babysitter showed up at the room. I had booked a babysitter through the hotel so that Bill and I could go ziplining. I have always wanted to go, but never have. So the babysitter was there to watch the three. They ate, the younger two napped and they went for a nice walk to play at the day care. They had a great time. So did we. There was about 10 to a group. There were two groups. We got all geared up and then we did a practice zip. After that we boarded a van and off we went into the woods to begin our adventure. It was fantastic. I wasn't scared. I was a little anxious that the equipment would hold me, but after testing it once, I was good to go. It was a gorgeous day out. Everyone had a blast. I am so glad we did it. Once we were done, we headed back to the room, talked to the babysitter and sent her on her way. We then all jumped in the car and went to get a few things I forgot. Socks. How did I forget socks? That and Bill forgot his razor. After getting some supplies, we had dinner and then went back to the hotel. Shayla was bummed as she really wanted to go to the fun zone, but it was late. They all passed out in the car within five minutes of us driving away from the restaurant. We put them to bed and turned on the fireplace. Bill did a crossword puzzle and I sat down and devoured a whole People magazine. Pure bliss!!!!!

Now this is a family vacation so I was very leery on doing this, but I did it. I had booked the day care for the entire day for Manny and Yamira a week before we left. I decided that we needed a little alone time with Ping and her with us. That and we were taking Ping to Canada. Can't go to Canada without a birth certificate or a passport. So Manny and Yamira could not have come with us anyway. They never would have been able to nap and they would not have as much fun as they would at the day care. So we dropped them off at 9:30 am and headed to Montreal. The day care is a state of the art facility. There were only maybe three kids there and three adults. They were so excited to be spending the day there. Yamira actually said "When you leaving mom?" Nice, eh?

The drive to Montreal was supposed to be under two hours. We got to the border with no issues, but then we hit horrible traffic. We had a small issue at the border too. The woman asked us to put the back windows down. We didn't care. She asked why we had two extra car seats. That was fine. However, she started to question us about Ping. Clearly she is adopted. She asked where her adoption papers were. I said they were at home. She said she would let it go this time, but in the future, we needed to have her adoption papers with us. That is bull. Absolute bull. If we had Yamira and Manny with us, she would not have known they were adopted and we would have been waved in. However, because Ping is Chinese and looks different than us, she felt she had the right to ask where her papers were. Not for nothing, but you can't get a passport without having all those papers submitted. So as we drive away, Bill is saying "she is probably right" and I am yelling "hell no she isn't." I have been meaning to call them to straighten it out. I would have debated there, but wanted to get in to have a nice day. The US declares her adopted and a US citizen. They took all my Chinese paperwork and held it while everything was verified. Do you know how scary that is as you can't replace that paperwork!!!!!! Anyway, Bill finally agreed. He didn't really get what I was saying, but I have a way of going on and on till you get it or say you get it. Too funny! So we sat in traffic forever on the bridge. Ping was less than thrilled. We went straight to the Notre Dam Basilica where Celine Dion got married. We wanted to tour it. It was closed as they were having a wedding. I knew it. I told Bill the night before that the one day we were going, it would be closed. So we peeked in and then headed off to find a bathroom. We did a little store shopping, had lunch and then walked down to Chinatown as it was only 5 minutes away. We bought two hats for Ping and some special candy made right in front of you called "Dragon Beard." Ping was of course delighted by the candy and the name of it. We then stopped at the fire station so that Bill could look around. It was in this huge building. It was so weird and the fire engines were very European. Then we walked to an store that featured all Indian products. We bought a bench and three cushions to go into the play room. I want to make the play room very ethnically diverse and this fit in perfect. The room is basically done except for a TV and one empty wall. We then packed the car and headed home. What a fabulous day. Just gorgeous out and we had such a nice time. We got back to the day care to a group of about 30 kids. The day care closes at 4 or so usually, but because it's a busy weekend, they feature a kids night on that Saturday during Columbus Day. So while parents are attending a nice wine and cheese event or wherever they have decided to go, the kids from 5:00 pm - 9:30 pm get to decorate pumpkins, go out to dinner, go out to the fun zone and have ice cream and movie time. Ping wanted to have ice cream too when we got there, so we left Ping there and went to the room to empty the car. Bill walked up to get them 30 minutes later. We immediately tucked them into bed. They all had a fantastic day! Score.

On Sunday we got up and headed out to a craft fair we usually enjoy. Well dumb us didn't remember that Hurricane Irene devastated a lot of Vermont. So there we drive the two hours to the craft fair just to have to keep turning around at the road is washed out. You would think there would be signs, but there wasn't. So it took us 5 hours to get the the craft fair that was actually awful. Hardly any vendors. What a day in the car with three little ones! We headed home another way and had dinner and then Ping went to the fun zone with Daddy while I tucked in the two tired cherubs. I then proceeded to pack all of our stuff while I waited on Daddy and Ping. Once Ping was in bed, I sat down and devoured another People magazine. Yummy! Finally got caught up as I was five magazines behind.

On Monday we packed up the car, checked out and headed to a great place for apples and cider donuts. The kids and Bill had a hot dog soaked in apple cider, apples and donuts. I ran across the street to a convenience store and found soup. It was really good. We then got on the road to head home. We had to get the kids home, fed, in bed and ready for school the next day. The ride home was awful due to traffic. Took us forever. However, the weekend was wonderful.

On Tuesday, Bill took the kids to school and I proceeded to get ready as I was manning the desk at their school from 9:00 am-11:00 am. I folded a bunch of things to help out and then I brought Manny and Yamira home. They get out at 11:00 am so it was perfect. I dropped Manny off with Daddy and took Yamira to OT. We then went home and they had lunch and took a nap. I spent the rest of the day emptying out suitcases, catching up with phone calls and doing some paperwork. We got Ping at 3:00 pm and came home to do homework, a few other things, dinner and bed.

On Wednesday I drove to Kimballs Farm to return something and purchased two gifts. I then met my sweet friend Kirsten at Panera in Worcester for some girl time. We had a great lunch. I then had to go home as Bill had to get to school. The kids and I went and got Ping from school and then did a bunch of errands. We ran to Target, Green Thumb and Babies R Us. We then came home and I fed the cherubs dinner and tucked them into bed. It was a long day of running around.

Thursday Bill took the kids to school. Right after school I took Manny to the doctors for some shots that he should have had in August. Not sure why he didn't. Anyway, the poor little man had four. He was a trooper. He screamed for three. Got two lollipops and was a happy boy by the time we were in the car. So proud of him. We then headed home for lunch and nap time. Ping started tennis today, so I had to pick her up at 4:00 pm vs 3:00 pm. She had an absolute blast. We then went straight home to meet with Miss Ding for some Chinese lessons. Ping did great. She loves Miss Ding and her iPad! I am surprised Ping has yet to ask for one for Christmas. There is still time and the answer will be the same. No way!

On Friday, Bill and I took Neesha and Sasha to the vets. Sasha was fine, but Neesha was a hissing and snarling mess. She isn't like that usually. Not sure why she was that way, but she regrettably was. She and Sasha had blood work done and shots. We were there for nearly two hours. I was freaking out as we had an appointment at the house and we had to get Yamira and Manny. We were right on time to get them from school. As for the appointment, they were running late too. Thank goodness I reached them on their cell. Once we got the kids, we drove home and literally walked to Bill's car so we could do a quick errand to Walmart. That took forever so Bill had to drive Yamira and I to Yamira's therapy as there wasn't any time to go home! He then went home and put the stuff in the freezer, came back to get us and we headed off to do a few more errands. I hate days like thing. We had some snacks for the kids, so they were not starved, but we did not get home till after 3:00 pm as we still had to pick up Ping at school. Just makes for a long and aggravating day. However, you have to do what you have to do. After the kids went to bed, a few girlfriends came over for snacks and good chit chat! Great night.

Saturday started off with soccer for Ping and then Tower Hill with Ping for a small Daisy event. I felt awfully guilty, but decided to skip soccer. I had a bunch of things to do here and we had a full day on tap. I did feel so awful about it, but I am trying to stop doing so much. It is getting out of control. I had to get myself ready, Manny and Yamira ready, cut and plate a dessert, pack up lunch for Bill and the kids and toys for the kids to play with while hanging out at grandmas's for the day. That took up the two hours I had. I met Bill in the next town and we parked his truck for the day. Ping changed in the car and then we headed down the highway to his Mom's in Foxboro. I went in and said hello, got the kids their lunch and left. My mother in law said "Are the kids going to be okay with their lunch." I said "yes, and if they are not, their Dad is right there on the couch!" She is 82 and very old fashioned. She is sweet, but these comments drive me batty. I left for Norwood as I had a Girl Scout Reunion to attend. I had a wonderful time. It was so nice to see the ladies after all these years. Our two main leaders were there. They were wonderful then and they are still wonderful. They brought tons of albums and charts and old camping gear. It was hysterical. We had soups, breads, salads and desserts. We did a craft and we read special memories we had printed out from one of the hostesses. She also put all of those memories in books for the ladies. The craft I did took the longest. This is why I don't get involved in these things. As usual, I shoot for the longest way I can possibly do a project. So I sat there alone for a good portion of it. After saying goodbye, I headed to "Fancy That" to give Sarah her long awaited birthday present. We chatted a bit. I couldn't stay long because Bill was with the kids alone at his Mother's house and he had been there for hours and the two little ones were awful as they hadn't napped even though Bill tried to get them to nap. I was surprised they were not fed dinner, but it wasn't offered. That was very disappointing because we had an hour drive ahead of us. While there the MIL said to m " I don't know what my husband would have done had I left three of my kids home alone with him." I know she didn't mean it meanly, but she put her hand up so Bill didn't hear her say it to me. Am I a jerk because I left them in his car and went off for the day? I never do that. It was frustrating to hear. When we first got there she said "I was wondering when you were going to get here?" It was 1:00 pm! UGH. Anyway, we got the kids in the car and once home they had a quick dinner and off to bed they went. Tired little buggers.

Sunday morning came and Bill headed off to the station for Open House. I feel asleep the night before on the chair, so I never did get upstairs to get any real rest. The kids were watching a program and as guilty as I felt, it had been a busy couple of days and we had stuff to do today so I didn't take them to Sunday School. Bill usually takes them. When he can't, I will. However, I just didn't take them. Again, guilt. However, it is all too much sometimes. I took a shower and we went to CVS, dropped off some TS catalogs and then headed to the Open House. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing a few things around here that absolutely needed to be done. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel after surgery on Tuesday, so wanted to get as much resolved as possible. Didn't get it all done, but got some stuff done and felt good about how my desk looked.

Wow, can't really believe I remember this all. This has taken I don't know how many hours to catch up and I have yet to get onto photos. Oy Vey!!!!

On Monday, I had a full open day. Yay. Bill took the kids to school. I got up and started working on a bunch of things for TS. I sorted nearly 200o photos. I don't even remember everything I did. Bill was at school the entire day, so I had pick up at 11:00 am for Manny and Yamira and pick up at 3:00 pm for Ping. After doing homework with Ping, I fed the kids and we headed off to Daisies. I wanted to get there early to greet the parents as I am responsible for the fall product sale this year. Bill met me there. I didn't feel so great, so we left with Manny and Yamira and Ping came home a little while later with Kirsten who offered to drive her home. Somewhere around 8:30 pm, I hit an absolute wall. All of a sudden I was super duper tired. So I decided to sit and try to watch some TV. That seemed like a waste of time because I could do some stuff while watching TV, so I got a lot of those pictures that I started on earlier figured out. They aren't done, but they are nearly done! I passed out mid program at some point and woke at like 3:00 am.

This morning I got up early and got the kids up early. We dropped the kids off at 7:50 am. I didn't know that Manny and Yamira couldn't be dropped off because they were preschoolers. However, due to the fact that I was having surgery, they took them. Thank goodness for that! Bill took me to the surgical building and after some quick paperwork, I was hooked up and ready to go. I woke up about 30 minutes later. I felt okay, but really wanted to sleep longer. Got to grab sleep when you can, right? I felt like I had a ball of nails in my throat. Surprisingly, my nose didn't hurt badly as I was having something removed from there. Bill came and got me after he picked up the kids. We stopped at Panera so that I could get some soup. I was told no hot food, but I had to give it a shot. Had to eat at some point during the day. I have yet to have it. I had soup that I had from yesterday. So I will have that tomorrow I suppose. I fed the kids while Bill did homework and proceeded to try and nap for an hour. Did not work. I thought the kids will nap and I can nap for some if it so I feel good for the rest of the afternoon or at least better than I was as I was tired and woozy. The phone kept ringing and the kids ran in and out, so no nap for me. Bill left for school and I came downstairs. I had to wait for Ping to come home. My sweet friend Renee was bringing her home for me. In addition to that, my awesome contractor was coming to pick up our family room furniture as I sold it to someone. They were coming for 2:30 pm, but did not get here till after 5:00 pm. I am not complaining as I am so grateful that he was sending his men, but I could have tried sleeping for nearly an hour more. Oh well. With the exception of talking with Renee when Ping came home and the guys coming to get the furniture, I have been up and slowly doing things. This blog seriously has taken me hours. I am just grateful it's caught up. Pictures take forever, so I think I am going to take a short break and then come back to them. The day has gone fairly well. I am tired and woozy. I am moving slowly and my nose is dripping blood, but in all honestly, I am not really in any awful pain or anything. Tomorrow I will get my meds even though I won't take the pain meds as I don't think I need them. However, I do need the nasal spray I am supposed to do every hours since leaving the center and I need to take a preventative antibiotic. Bill was going to go at 1:00 pm, but forgot. When he got home at 9:30 pm, I found out he completely forgot my meds all together. So I will get them or he will tomorrow. Frustrating for sure, but it is what it is. Well I am going to go see if I can't catch a little TV. I will be back to post pictures soon.

Well since it is Wednesday I figured I would add in what is on tap for today. I am determined to work on the 2,000 photos and get them into their respective albums. I am determined to get cracking on the Girl Scout fall products that I am in charge of and I am planning on now getting some photos uploaded here. So I better go and do that now.

Mama Out!!!!!!!!

All decorated for fall. There are now pumpkins that have been added.

Sassy girl at the Big E.

The Big E.

Harvest Moon Dance.

Harvest Moon Dance.

Daisies earning their soccer patch.

Me and Bill ziplining.

Me repelling down.

Lunch in Montreal with my sweetie.

My beauties.

Too gorgeous for words.

Girl Scout Reunion.

Open House at the fire station.

Pirate.

Two patients.

Strong like bull.

Here we are at two weeks gone again!

2011-09-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

I guess I think I am going to improve on updating this. However, I am not improving at all, am I? So here I am, hooked up to Spotify and blaring music that I love. I find music to be a huge motivator for me. I am a huge lovey dovey sappy music lover. So it doesn't have to be something peppy to get me going at all.

This is a beautiful time in my household. It's 10:00 pm at night. My kids are sleeping so soundly and Bill is in the other room watching TV. So I can just sit in my office and do what I want. Love it. I love my kids. I love when they are awake, but I have things to do too. So this is a beautiful time of the day for me.

So in review, this is how the last two weeks have gone.

Sunday the 18th was a tough day. The kids started Sunday School, so Daddy took them to church for an hour. When they got home, Yamira acted up so badly, that I had a terrible argument with her. She did something she knows she shouldn't do and I was really angry and hurt she would do that. Bill and I don't usually argue at all about the kids. We do really well on providing a united front almost every single time. However, he was upset that I was so angry at Yamira, so we had words. That is pretty rare. Shortly after, Bill left to get Uncle Joe for a beer brewery tour and I headed out with Ayi Meri to Start on the Street. We had a great time. I ended up getting a few things. It was nice out and so it was nice to walk around and look at what the vendors had to offer. Once the fair closed, we headed home for dinner. Bill was on call that evening. The day was saved by getting out for a few hours, that is for sure.

Monday brought a busy day. My friend Maura's birthday was this day, but I wasn't able to see her as she was working. I was supposed to see her Saturday, but I was too sick to go. Anyway, Bill took the kids to school and I headed off to physical therapy for my neck. I find that therapy seems to be helping. It's only 30 minutes, but it's worth it. At 9:30 am, I had an appointment in Shrewsbury, so after a quick errand to grab a paint sample, I headed to my appointment. I then rushed to get the kids as Bill leaves for school earlier on Mondays than on other days. I fed the little ones and gave them a nap and then we headed off to school to pick up Ping and to head to skating lessons for her. After a cold hour at the rink it was home and dinner for everyone. I then had to put the three in the car again and dash off to Daisies for Ping. Her first Daisy meeting for the school year was at 6:00 pm, so all parents were asked to stay. Bill came in around 6:30 pm and picked up the little two. They were in bed by the time Ping and I got home. A little bit of homework for Ping and off to bed she went.

On Tuesday, I was supposed to walk with a friend, but it was raining. Needless to say we didn't walk. It was just as well. I had plenty to do here. I made a few business calls and then headed out to do a few errands and have some blood work done. I then rushed home to pick up Yamira as she had a occupational therapy appointment in the afternoon. Unfortunately, she didn't get a nap in and she is a kid that really needs a nap. The rest of the day with the exception of picking up Ping was spent at home. I had a ton of phone calls to make here. I do not get why I have so many phone calls all the time, but I seriously do. That and I wanted to work on my "to do" list. That night though, I took the three to Bill's class for pediatric assessments. That was a disaster as they were so tired and not at all listening. However, we did it for the sake of the class needing children.

Wednesday brought another appointment. I went to see the nurse practitioner at my ob/gyn office. I had never met the NP before, but she was a sweetheart. She suggested that I have a test to see what was going on with me. So I set that up and headed off to my physical therapy appointment. I was going to go on Thursday, but cleared my schedule to attend a field trip with Ping. After pt I did a few errands and headed home. I spent the rest of the day at home with the exception of getting Ping at school. Just as well as I was out all morning long.

Thursday brought rain and with that the cancellation of Ping's field trip. We were both so disappointed. No fun trekking in the muddy fields though. At least not for me! So after getting the cancellation, I went back to bed. Bill took the kids to school and picked them up at 11:00 am. I needed the rest. I can sleep in sometimes, but I also make up for it on the other end of the day! I can't really remember what else I did that day. I want to say that I ran out to do some errands for Yamira's party before Bill went to school, but I seriously can't remember. Getting old here!

Friday was a crazy day. I got up first thing and headed out to pick up a million things for Yamira's party which was the next day. I was all over Worcester. I feel like a cab some days. Errands without the kids is so easy though, so I really can't complain. However, juggling the three kids schedule, mine and Bill's is no picnic. I was supposed to have someone come at noon to clean the furniture, but they had to cancel. Just as well, I wanted to get the entire house set up for the party and didn't need to have to worry about wet cushions. Bill took Yamira to therapy and sat with Manny while she was talking with her therapist and I had an ultrasound test. I then did a few other errands and then I picked up the special jumbo cupcakes and also got some really cute and special cupcake chocolate lollipops for each kid to take home after the party. They had a really cute label on them that said "Thanks for coming to my party, love Yamira." The party was cupcake themed, so I thought the pops were adorable!!! I then rushed home in the pouring rain, so Bill could go out. He had something to do. Can't remember what it was though. I started the intense cleaning that needed to be done and I got everything set up. Bill helped me finish up everything and then I sat down to relax for the rest of the night. Nearly everything was done for the party.

Saturday came and I actually slept in a little. Once up though, I sprung into action. I did a lot more cleaning and organizing and hiding of stuff. Can't have all this miscellaneous stuff hanging around like back packs, right? I got out all of the containers to put the snacks in. I decided to not have pizza as every single party has pizza. No offense. I have had it too, but I am done with it. So I did some chips and dips and crackers and cheese spreads. Also had stuff for the kids. Popcorn and Chex Mix and cookies. Nothing orange though. Go ahead and laugh. I love a good Dorito, but I do not appreciate orange fingers in my house. The party started at 2:00 and everyone pretty much came right at that time or shortly after. The kids played in the playroom. We then decorated cupcakes and opened gifts. I felt sick all day long. No clue why. I had 2 crackers and felt sick from then on. It was awful as I haven't been that sick in some time. I felt like I had to throw up. However, I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. To be honest, I was really disappointed with the party. Yamira had a lovely time and got some adorable gifts. However, I am not hosting another party at my home. I refuse. The cupcakes were great. The kids seemed to enjoy making them and eating them. The adults seemed to have fun. It was pure chaos. I love my friend and their children. However, maybe due to the weather being rainy, a lot of the kids were screaming, running, twirling and more. I don't even want to go into it. Mind you, my kids were not sitting with their hands in their laps. I am not saying my kids were not some of the ones driving me crazy. They so were. However, it was really hard to watch all of the kids and every time I turned around there was something else. All I can say at this point is I am done. I am done due to the expense. Maybe I will host something small elsewhere. I have hosted big, but it's time to really cut down. I love a good party. I love putting all party stuff together. I love a theme. I love the fun. I am just done for right now. The play room is for having fun, but there was food brought in there. I never allow food outside of the kitchen/dining area. The toys were thrown everywhere and the crayons were thrown everywhere. Food and drink was being wasted like crazy. I am not pointing at anyone. Like I said, my kids were there too. I just can't do it anymore. Maybe a friend or two out for lunch is the way to go? I will say that I loved having 90% of my closest friends there. That was awesome. I love a good GNI, so the women are always welcome. Just not 20 kids at one time. Before everyone left I started cleaning as we had plans that night. I cleaned for two hours after as well. I picked up and organized the play room and cleaned all the other rooms as well. My sweet buddy Anita and I then hit the store for a new jacket for me. I can't wait to wear it. While I was out at the store, Bill was at a Girl Scout sing along with the three kids. He said it was nice, but the two younger kids were disasters. Of course they were. They were exhausted and it had been a long day. Needless to say, everyone went straight to bed once they were home. Anita, Bill and I sat around and chatted. I love my Anita. So glad to spend some time with her.

I got up Sunday and was really gung ho about taking the kids to Kids Fest. However, they were not well behaved. Bill took them to Sunday School. They came back and just wouldn't listen. So as much as it hurt me because I wanted to go, I decided I was not going to waste the money or my time with going. So I went to my friend Ashly's house for a 31 party. It was nice to be out for a few hours without the three kids. Especially since the day before was a killer. I stayed a few hours and then headed home so Bill could head out to grocery shop. He left late and Ping insisted on going, so she went to bed way too late for my liking!

On Monday, I headed to pt while Bill dropped the cherubs off at school. I ran around and did a bunch of errands all over the place before heading home. I picked up Manny and Yamira and we headed off to get Ping. I had a 3:30 pm appointment, so I rushed over to Ayi Meri's house to drop the three off and then sped off down the highway for my appointment. I was meeting with the NP from the ob/gyn to go over my test results from my ultrasound on Friday. The ultrasound showed nothing, so she had me head down to the lab for some blood work. Once I got out of there, I rushed to Ayi Meri's to pick up the three and then headed home to feed them so that I could get Ping to Daisies on time. I am also the Fall Product Manager, so I wanted to be there early to catch a few parents. The little ones played, while I caught some people for signatures and then Bill walked in. I was going to give him the kids, but he was on call. So I left with the kids and after an errand, Bill went back to get the paperwork I left behind and to pick up Miss Shayla. I had already gotten the little ones into bed, so we got Ping upstairs as soon as we could and then sat and watched a little TV after checking emails and such.

Tuesday was a wacky day. The kids had a visit with their biological Dad at noon. I wasn't home in time to take them as I got stuck on an errand. So Bill took them over to visit. Originally I was going to take them and we were going to do some school clothes shopping. However, their Dad already bought them clothes, so I thought they were just going to go to the park and have lunch. So I told Bill to just sit and study in the car while they did their thing or sit in the house if they were there. It didn't work out like that. Their Dad wanted to drag them all over to have them see his sister and sister and law and so on and so forth.To say that Bill was unhappy was an understatement. It was just poor communication all around. I know their Dad wants to share them with everyone, but it wasn't what we had intended. So there is Bill driving all over two towns and he really needs to be studying. Well we will get that better hammered out for next time. Little Manny got a truck and a train set plus some clothes that were way too big and not something I would normally put him in. However, it was so sweet of their Dad to get them something. Yamira got some ponies and some clothes. Some she won't be able to wear as they were way too old for her. I have a feeling the clothes came from an ethnic section in town and that is fine with me. However, I can't have Yamira wearing some of the stuff she came home with as it's not age appropriate. Again, sweet that she got some stuff from her biological Dad. I appreciate all of his efforts. Bill rushed home and gave me the two because he had to take off for school. We had to walk out minutes later because I had to get Ping at school. We spent the rest of the night doing home work, having dinner and baths and getting to bed at a reasonable hour. Nights are really hard around here without a second set of hands and Ping sure misses not seeing Daddy all day long. It's been so hard on her. After she went to bed, I signed up as a Tastefully Simple Consultant again. Shoot me. When am I going to find time to do this? Ah, it will be fun, right? Looking forward to it.

On Wednesday, I left the house early. I had a bunch of errands to run. I went to Shrewsbury and had to be in four different places in Worcester during the day. I met my sweet friend Marghrit for lunch. We were there less than an hour because she had to grab her girls from school and I had to grab my Ping from school as well. So I ran home, grabbed the little ones, went to school and picked up Ping and then we headed to ice skating for Ping. We then headed home and had dinner, read a story and hit the pillow.

Today was yet another day like all the others. Some days just don't seem to end. Case in point, it's after midnight and I have been sitting here for hours catching up here and answering emails and doing some other things. I had a 9:30 am appointment here for the couches to be steam cleaned. They are still drying! Dying to see how they come out. After the gentleman left, I fed the kids lunch and put them in the car for two appointments. I had to drag poor Manny because Daddy had school. So off to occupational therapy we went. Yamira didn't have a good session. She was being silly and not paying attention. I on the other hand had to walk out of the main office and then I went back in and found a quiet room to hide in. There was a mother there who was waiting for her son who was in therapy and her other son would not stop crying and screaming. It was unbearable. She would say "Shhh, calm down." I was livid. It was very rude and disturbing to watch her sit there with no sense of responsibility to anyone else nearby. So I got up and told Manny we were finding somewhere else to sit. It was either do that or give her a piece of my mind. Take your kid out of the damn office. He is disruptive. So rude. This carried on for a full hour with not one break. I could not believe it!!!! I could not wait to get out of there, that is for sure. We then raced across town to Yamira's therapist's office. She had a good session there. Not sure how, but I don't think Yamira pulls any punches with her therapist who is very nice and helpful. Manny was a mess at this point. No nap and he was talking so loud, the people in Indonesia started complaining!!!!! I was spent between the two. Once we left there, we had to race to my friend Renee's house because she was sweet enough to pick up Ping from school since I was going to be a little late. I ended up being later than I though. The therapist is never late. This was the first time ever. Figures. We grabbed Shayla, ran to the bank and then home for Shayla to sit with Miss Ding to learn some Chinese. That went well, but Manny and Yamira were really, really miserable and would not leave them alone so that they could concentrate. Upsetting for sure. Her son Matthew came over as well and the three of them played, but Yamira could not stop harping on this and complaining about that. I had put her in time out a few times. It was just a really miserable afternoon. While Ding was here, I did a few things and tried to keep everyone calm. I failed at it, but I did try!!!! After Ding left, I made the kids dinner, gave them baths, cut their nails, read them a story and plopped them in their beds. I can only hope tomorrow is a better day. I need to get myself to bed. I have been staring at this computer for far too long. Now I have a few pictures to upload before I call it a night.

I hope your September has gone well and that you can ring n a new month with less things to do and more time to relax.

Mama Out!!!!!!!

New clothes.

Daddy and Ping dancing.

Daddy ready to give plaque to Mr. Donahue.

The Donahues.

Silly Mommy.Silly Ping.

Art in the Park.

Sweetest of friends.

Having fun.

Pediatric assessment.

Happy Birthday Yamira.

Beautiful Skyler.

Ashly and Rebecca.

Anita and Kirsten.

Marghrit and Ding.

Armig and Noushig.

Presents.

So sweet!!!

Happy Anniversary to the Stands.

Me and Bobby-Jo.

The kids.
Our friends.
The pops.

Sing along at Girl Scouts.

Another two weeks gone in a flash

2011-09-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

I have had many things on my to do list lately. I seem to knock one off and add three more. I am finding that a lot of people in my life right now are having the same issues. Welcome Fall? I would rather be a Fall Festivals than staying around the house working on the endless list. I would rather be apple picking somewhere new with the family instead of running errands. They are such a necessary evil though, are they not? I would rather burn all the paperwork in the backyard than fill it out, but that isn't very adult of me now is it?

I truly didn't want the kids going back to school. The only thing that I thought to myself would be that I would have more time to get some things accomplished, especially in the morning while they are at school. Now the first two weeks of school hasn't been that bad. I have met up with one good friend for a good chat in the am that lasted till the afternoon. Hey, we had a lot to catch up on. I also had a great lunch with a friend in the same week. This past week I did some errands with yet another good friend and we had lunch. So it has not all been work. However, just because I am out and about doesn't mean that my responsibilities at home disappear. Quite the opposite. I often have to work even harder and later just to get everything accomplished that I didn't do while I was out catching up with a friend.

The kids are loving school and Bill is adjusting to being a student. Unfortunately, nights around here are hard. Between going through the endless paperwork some of them come home with from day to day, the homework, the repacking of snacks and lunch, the dinner that I have to throw on the table which is very disappointing to me as I don't cook, plus the bedtime routine of bath, reading books, fluffing up pillows and securing stuffed animals, it makes for a very long day. Mind you, I don't regret it. I don't begrudge it. It's just very time consuming. That stuff isn't really hard. It's the endless interruptions that come with doing that stuff and the other things that have to be accomplished. Like cleaning. I have to clean the kitchen, bathroom and dining room daily as those are the most used rooms. If the house isn't tidy, my brain isn't tidy. Some people will get that and others won't. That is okay. If you get it, you can empathize with me. Then there is the paperwork that has to be done around here whether it is car stuff which we have had a lot lately or for insurance stuff. Right now I am currently working on getting things ready for Yamira's birthday party. On top of that I am chasing down an almost fixed pressure washer that we desperately need. I want to order all the photos I haven't ordered over the last few months. I want to get some stuff put away in the kids rooms and I want to order some event tickets. Nothing special in general, but all stuff that takes time and there is only one person in this house that does it. That is me. It's okay, I am a control freak and I am organized. I just wish there wasn't so much all the time and I didn't have to wrestle with myself as to taking a Sunday off to do stuff or go out and play with the family. Just feeling a tad overwhelmed lately I suppose. Anyway, I need to get to updating this blog as it's been heavily wearing on me. It's nearly been two weeks since I have last check in.

I left off on Labor Day Monday. Now what did we do after that? Hmm, help me out someone! Okay I can now remember. It was Bill's first day of school. Bill dropped off the kids in the morning at school and then we headed off to my favorite auto body place to leave my truck there for some cosmetic work. We picked up the rental which we fondly called "POS" and headed off to find an address to get a cat carrier off of Freecycle. All Bill and I could do was laugh. The car was a true "piece of shit." Here we are in Worcester, using the gps on our phones to find out where we need to be and we are running around in circles. We finally find where we need to be and approach this horrible rocky road. Bill got out and looked at the steps of three people's homes before we found the right one. We found the cat carrier and laughed all the way down the street as we jostled from side to side. I said to Bill, it's like we are just starting out in life again. The Taurus we are driving has a brake light that doesn't shut off. You have to shut the door by sticking your hand outside the car and using the outside handle and it has a bucket of rust. That and the car carrier that we drove all over for was about as pretty as the car! Oh well. I can wash it and remove all the "live animal" stickers, right? I wanted another one as we have four cats and while we don't need four carriers, given the recent hurricanes and tornadoes we have had here in MA, I wanted to try to get four in the event of a terrible emergency! We then went to do a few more errands and Bill dropped me off at Walmart while he went to get his truck at home to pick up the two little ones at school. He then came to get me at Walmart. After a quick stop at home, we headed to their biological dad's home for a short visit. He is a very nice man. He tries really hard and that makes me so very happy. We get along well with him and his wife. He has a bigger TV than us and the Wii. Bill played on the Wii, I sat on the couch vegging and the kids played with their Dad. We didn't stay long as Bill had to be to school and I had to pick up Ping from school. It was a great day overall with many laughs. Bill took the POS to school and left me with the truck. The POS doesn't have three car seats in it.

Wednesday was a great day. I met my sweet girlfriend Kirsten at the Northworks in Worcester for lunch. We sat and chatted for a few hours. I then headed home with the POS and grabbed the truck. Bill headed off to school and I headed off to get Ping at school. We then went home and the kids watched a movie while I cleaned out the backpacks and got stuff ready for the next day. Yamira and Manny were in a mood this afternoon. Not sure why, but it was not remotely enjoyable. At 5:00 pm, we piled into the truck and I took Ping to a birthday party for twin friends of hers. I was going to drop her off as I was told I could do so and then take Manny and Yamira for dinner somewhere. I didn't feel so hot, it was pouring and their behavior was awful, so I wasn't really in the mood to do that. I got up the courage to ask another woman I know to bring Ping home. I hate, hate, hate asking people to do me a favor. I hate putting people out like that. However, she said she would be happy to do so. I was so unbelievably grateful. So we came straight home. I fed the little ones and put them to bed. Bill then came home a little earlier than he expected and shortly after Ping came bounding in. She had a great time. Parties are so hard in general. They are hard to plan. They are hard to have in the middle of the week and they are hard to explain to everyone when not everyone in the family is invited. Not that they should be. It's just hard to explain while all of us attend some and only one of us attends others. All in all, a great day.

On Thursday, I had physical therapy for my neck and head and then I met my wonderful friend Lisa at Starbucks for an iced tea date. We got there at 9:45 am or so and left around 2:00 pm. It's not like we didn't have anything else to do. However, there was a lot to catch up on. It was nice to see just her. I adore my children and she adores hers, but there are so many interruptions when all the kids are around! After I left Starbucks I headed home so Bill could get off to school and so I could get Ping from school. I had to give him the POS and I had to take the truck. All we have done is switch cars. This was a really great morning, but a toughie. I told Bill that I would drive the kids to school in the am. Unfortunately, I had to use the truck for that, but then because he was getting the kids at 11:00 am, I had to take the POS to PT. So I dropped the kids off, rushed home in the pouring rain and headed out to therapy. The sad thing is that I didn't know you could only shut the door handle by putting your hand outside. So there is Bill running alongside the car with just jeans on and I am driving and swearing. It's funny now, but it wasn't then. Bill is trying to show me how to shut the door and I just keep rolling slowly out of the driveway while yelling. I felt awful, but it was getting late. Bill was drenched and nearly went to therapy with me because his hand was on the doorknob. I made it to therapy but I was 15 minutes late. So I got a 10 minute therapy session to the tune of $20.00. The flooding was so bad, it really kept me from getting there on time. That and the POS! Like I said, all we did was switch cars every day. Bill was in school till 9:00 pm that night, so I missed the Open House at the school. I felt really guilty about missing it, but I did contact all teachers and tell them that I wouldn't be there. Regardless, it's an awful feeling you get when you are not doing right by your children, but the children were not included and so I wasn't going to take three with me. Meri had offered to babysit, but it was only the first week of Bill being at school. I didn't think I should start depending on people already. It's okay though. I am only one person, right? At least I try hard. I may fail, but I do try.

Friday was an equally busy day. I had PT again. I got there on time and got the full 30 minutes. I walked out of there very relaxed and yet very spacey feeling. I didn't like that at all. I ended up being exceptionally tired. I have not felt well in days. I was wondering if I may have a sinus infection? My head was bobbing like crazy and that was disturbing. PT was supposed to be helpful. No guarantees, but I certainly didn't expect to be worse. Anyway, I did a few errands and headed home. I went back out to take Yamira to therapy. She loves going. I don't mind taking her at all, especially as I do feel it helps. We spent the rest of the day at home. Bill doesn't have school on Fridays. Wahoo! At 5:30 pm, Meri came to pick me up and we headed out to use our birthday Groupon that we purchased in April. It was wonderful. We each had a facial and a seaweed wrap. Now I didn't care for the seaweed wrap at all. I have always wanted to try it, but it did not do much for me. The woman who did it was wonderful and did some massaging. That was excellent. Best facial I ever had though. She was wonderful and I will go back again for another one at some point. Groupons are great for me due to being able to save some money, but on top of that, it lets me try places I may never have given a chance. Needless to say, it was a very relaxing night. It was good to be out with a friend too.

Saturday was a busy day. We had soccer at 9:00 am. Ping was excited soccer started finally. She has been talking about it for months. We then headed home so she could take a shower and we headed out to WPI for Dumplings. We love going to the Dumplings. I love watching the Chinese students unselfishly give their time to our kids. This time we discussed Chinese tea culture. It was great. The two youngest were not well behaved. In addition, I got really sick and felt like I was going to throw up. I didn't. Thank goodness. We then headed off to do a few errands and then went home for the night. We had another party to attend, but it was cancelled due to flooding from all the rain we had during the week. It was an adoption party in Oxford. Just as well. We had more than enough stuff to do.

Sunday was a waste of time. I was so angry at how I spent the day. I had not felt good all week for the most part. I was super tired every evening. I couldn't get through watching a simple show. That is not like me at all. I was also dizzy a lot and my stomach bugged me a lot as well. That isn't unusual though. If I am dizzy or nauseous, my stomach also acts very wacky. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but thought it might be due to my sinuses. I had wanted to go out apple picking and to a few fairs, but I was too tired and sick feeling to go anywhere. So what did I do? I actually took a nap at 12:00. I then got up and napped again around 3:00 pm. What a waste of a day. I didn't go anywhere I wanted to and I didn't accomplish one thing at the house. Very upsetting, but I was too sick to do anything else. The kids played all day and watched movies. That night we went to give them a bath and the tones went off, so I got stuck giving the three a bath alone. Not a big deal at all, but when you aren't feeling good, it's not fun. Oh well, it's my job.

On Monday, Bill took the kids to school and I went straight to PT. That went okay. I told her that I walked out of there feeling really spacey and was wondering if this was going to work for me. She proceeded to tell me that she didn't finish the entire procedure she did with me on Friday and because of that I might have a lot of "junk" stuck up in my head and it could be throwing me off. She could not be more accurate. I walked out of there feeling much better. Yay for getting to the bottom of that. I still didn't feel the best due to suspecting I have a sinus infection, but I no longer felt like I was bobbing as badly as I was. Once I got home, I made a doctors appointment for the next day. Decided instead of booking it with my GP, I thought I would go see my ENT doctor. She wasn't going to be available, so I was told I had to see the nurse practitioner. I was fine with that. While the kids napped, I made a few more calls. Bill went to school early. Monday is his early days. At 3:00 pm, the little ones and I piled into the car to get Ping and then we headed off to Auburn for Ping's ice skating lesson. I had a hard time watching her as the two little ones were really distracting. So I am not sure how she did. I did ask her and she said good, but she says good to almost everything. She is truly a happy girl most of the time! After we left the rink, I drove home like a bat out of hell so that I could quickly feed them dinner. They had maybe 30 minutes to eat and then we were back in the car and off to Daisies. The two little ones played while Ping did some work with an older Girl Scout and I listened to what was coming up for the year. First one of the school year, so parents attend. Bill then came in and grabbed Yamira and Manny and headed off. I forgot to mention that my computer had been acting up for a few days, so I was given the name of someone right in town to call. I called and they came and picked up the hard drive. When I got home from Daisies, the couple were here dropping off the hard drive. I was so grateful to have it home so quickly. It just needed a good cleaning. That was good news too. However, it wasn't cheap. Oh well, what can you do? So it was a crazy busy day with appointments and such, but all in all a great day!

Tuesday morning I slept in while Bill took the cherubs to school. I then got up and showered and headed off to my appointment with the nurse practitioner. I was fortunate enough to get the tool shoved into my sinuses. Truly that wasn't a big deal. I really wanted that as I wanted to know what was going on with them. I did have a sinus infection and so a prescription was written for me. The NP was very sweet. Unfortunately, something else was found. No idea what it is. We have to wait for the inflammation to go down before we can do a more thorough investigation. Looks like I have a cyst or polyp. They want to look at it more. If it grows, it can really do a number on my sinuses. They also want to make sure it's not something else in my body that is causing this. This was very upsetting to me as I feel like all I do is battle health problems now. However, there is nothing I can do about it now. I headed home after a few errands and then we all headed off to get Ping while Bill headed off to school. I took the kids to Walmart and ran into Miss Ashly. Good thing too. The NP called as promised and told me after talking to my ENT doctor, that they all agree they need to look at this new problem closer. Just made me really nervous. I got off the phone and felt faint. Here I am with two carts and three kids and I had to dash off to sit on a bench to calm myself down. I was grateful that Ashly was there so she could keep the kids talking and from jumping out of the darn cart. Between not eating all day, having the sinus infection and getting news that is disturbing, my brain just short circuited I guess and there you have it. I recovered quickly and the kids and I did our quick shop. It seemed like it was forever, but we got through it. Brought it all home, put everything away and I fed the kids. I also gave them baths as the next day was picture day. Once a book was read and they were tucked in, the night was over. I did a few things downstairs, but was too tired to do much of anything.

We got up extra early on Wednesday so that I could get the kids ready for their pictures. I made sure two nights before that I had their outfits ready and ironed. Now I just needed to get them dressed and coiffed! We dropped off the kids together and ran to Walmart quickly. We then went home as we had an appointment at the house. I then jumped in the car and called my friend Renee to see if she wanted to do a few errands before having lunch. As luck would have it, she was ready to go and was willing to go. So I ran to her house, jumped into her truck and off we went to the Burlington Coat Factory. We stopped in the Christmas Tree Shop quickly and then we had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. I had a fabulous time. We headed home so I could be in the door by 2:30 pm as Bill had to get to school. Bill left and off we went to get Ping at school. We spent the rest of the day at home. I had a bunch of things to do at my desk. Ping had school work. The kids played in the playroom. So it was a good afternoon. I spent most of it really angry. I had a great beginning of the day, but the rest of the day went bad. Bill had locked Shayla's room as Yamira has been going in there and disturbing things. Well I couldn't find the key and we needed to get in there. Bill was at school, so I couldn't reach him. On top of that, when Ping got in the car, she had an unusual smell to her. It was really awful and bothersome to me. It was perfume/lotion and I am allergic. I had Ping wash her hand three different times with three different things. Then I had the poor girl take a shower. Still didn't help. Then I had her use mechanics stuff. That helped a little, but not much. It was awful. I sent off an email to her teacher as I wasn't sure what happened. Ping did tell me that at pick up in the afternoon, a Kindergartener gave it to her. She promised never to get into something like that again. Thank god. Between being allergic and having a sinus infection, it was the last thing I needed. In addition to that there was a whole debacle over the kids photos today. Very upsetting. I called Lifetouch directly and told them what I wanted. They told me how much to pay for each kid. I nicely typed out three letters last night saying what pose I wanted, what background I wanted and what photos I wanted. What a mess. Because it wasn't a "package" the photographer did not know what to do. So two checks were sent back and one was taken. I had to call Lifetouch to talk to them about it. They were going to get to the bottom of it and call me back the next day. Just a pain in the ass! I just didn't need that on top of everything else. I was told Manny's photo wasn't taken because there was no package. So after calling and getting the package ordered and me sending in a nice typed up letter to let them know, getting up early to make sure the kids look great and then finding out this? Very angering. It was resolved the next day. It was just really upsetting.

On Thursday, I headed to PT in the morning while Bill took the kids to school. I felt great after. Clearly doing the entire procedure she is doing from belly up to my head is working. At least I hope it is. That and now I am on an antibiotic, so I feel better there. My head is clearer and I am not so tired. Unfortunately, my stomach can't handle this stuff at all. So that has been hard and the newest and most exciting thing that I have acquired now is Thrush. Yes folks, I have Thrush yet again. My tongue is burning and I can't eat. So between the belly that wants to hold nothing and my mouth that wants to eat nothing, I am really struggling here! So I used some medicine I had at home and also called in to my doctor to ask for a troche prescription. We had a meeting at the house at 9:30 am. That went well. Bill and I grabbed the kids and did a few errands. Then Bill headed off to school and I went to gather Ping. We spent the rest of the day at home. Again, I am trying to catch up on the endless assortment of stuff I have to do at home and the many calls I need to make.

Friday brought a 1/2 day for the kids. Not really for Manny and Yamira as they go to school a 1/2 day anyway. I ran a few errands in the morning and Bill picked up the kids from school. He was only getting two and I was going to get Ping a little later, but Ping was brought out and so Bill took all three of them. He then headed to CVS and Walmart. When they got home, Yamira got a very special call from a Princess because it was her birthday. She is now a proud five year old. Ping and I jumped in the car and I brought her over to her friend's house for a play date. I then ran to pick up my car. Oh how I will miss that good old POS. Funny enough, as much as it sucked, it was nice to drive around with a "beater" for a change. Something that I didn't have to worry about getting a scratch or a dent on. It had too many to count, who would have noticed one more? After getting my car, I headed to Webster to get something. I then stopped in Price Chopper and got two soups and some strawberries for myself. I approached a woman and her daughter as she looked Chinese. I quietly asked if she was adopted. The woman was very nice. I told her about how we attend the Dumplings at WPI and if she was interested, I would have her added to the list. She said she thought it would be wonderful and to please add her. She probably thought I was a nutcase. I don't approach everyone that has an Asian daughter, but it just worked out that this lady was right next to me and it was comfortable. Believe it or not, not all adoptive parents are receptive to chatting about their child. So you never know how you are going to be received. I have since sent her an email with the information that she needs if she is interested. Once out of Price Chopper, I stopped to get gas and went to CVS. I also made a few calls from the road. I am not a fan of that, but I knew the minute I got in the house, I would be accosted by the little ankle biters. They would want attention and deserved my attention. So I thought making some calls before heading home might be a good idea. Sure enough, the minute I got home, Yamira wanted to open gifts and who could blame her. So we opened gifts and they all had dinner. After dinner and bed, I sat down to try to watch a little TV. I passed out and didn't get a lot watched. I need a day where I can just catch up with some shows. I don't watch a lot, but I do have a few on the DVR.

Well it's been about two hours since I started this post, so I am going to finish up by sharing some photos. First though, today was not a bad day. We got up early and headed off to Shayla's soccer game. We then came home and put the two youngest ones down for a nap after they had lunch. We then headed to a retirement party. That was nice, but it was bitter cold out for me today. So I wasn't comfortable. On top of that, I am not sure what I ate as it wasn't much, but it made me really sick. I have a feeling it was applesauce, but I could be wrong. We took two cars to the party because I was leaving at 5:00 pm to get to my friend's house. I was so looking forward to having dinner with her and some of her friends. Unfortunately, I got really sick to the point of having terrible stomach pains and worrying I was going to throw up. So I got up and rushed to the car and rushed home. I did not even get a chance to properly say goodbye to anyone. I would have liked to leave in a better fashion, but I was just too sick to do so. I drove home hoping to god I wouldn't throw up. Once I got in, I slammed some Mylanta down my throat, called my friend Maura to tell her I couldn't get there and crawled into bed. Before I knew it, Bill was home with the kids. He put them to bed for me since I was too sick to get up. I woke up around 9:45 and really felt great. So I got up. I came downstairs to find Bill snoring on the chair. I decided to pay some bills and to catch up here. One less thing to have to do tomorrow. Tomorrow we have a few things going on, but who knows what we will get done.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this update. I hope you are enjoying the Fall weather. I love Fall, but I am not a fan of being cold. Love the leaves, the apple picking and the pumpkin selecting though.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mama Out!!!!!!!!!!

Cool shades.

Gorgeous fashionista.

Soccer time.

Sweet siblings.

Daddy on his first day of school.

A fancy block of tea.

Diana. Such a cutie.

Beautiful girls.

Loot.

Special call from Ariel.

She likes her gift just a little.

Joy.

Labor Day and here I am laboring over my blog

2011-09-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well I should have blogged on Sunday, but did things around the house instead. We encountered Hurricane Irene this day. We were truly very fortunate as we didn't suffer any damage or even lose any power. I was so grateful for that. We did have a lot of debris in the yard, but other than that, we made out perfectly. We were supposed to attend a party, but we didn't go out at all. Never know if the storm is going to turn nasty and it's better to be home and out of the way of trees and such.

On Monday, I had to go to Boston to meet an Endocrine Surgeon at Brigham and Womens. First I had to have an ultrasound of my neck and then I headed upstairs to meet the surgeon. He was great. Really nice guy. He said he isn't sure from the ultrasound if the gland I am having an issue with is on the left side, but he believes it is. Regardless, I booked surgery and a 4D ultrasound for Thursday. Once home, I got the kids outfits ready because their first day of school was the next day. I got the backpacks ready, the snacks and the supplies. It was a busy day between the driving back and forth to Boston and then doing so much at night to get the kids ready. They had a nice bath and they were into bed at a decent hour.

On Tuesday, Bill and I got up and showered and drove the three chickens to school for their big day. It was Manny's first day at school ever. He is just starting preschool. Bill and I then proceeded to go to Lowes, AC Moore, Target and a few other places and then we ran to pick up the two little ones. I dropped Manny and Daddy off at the house and took Yamira to her occupational therapy appointment. I then dropped her off and headed off to my physical therapy evaluation which went great. I headed home for all of 15 minutes before rushing off to Leominster for a mani/pedi that was wonderful, but not enjoyable. Too busy of a day to do something like that, but wanted to use up my Groupon! I then met Bill and the kids in Princeton because Bill had to drop off the truck for brakes and tie rods. That cost nearly $1,000. Such fun!

Wednesday was a much nicer day. Bill dropped off the chickens at school while I waited for an appointment at the house. I spent the entire day at home just working on things in the house that needed to be done. It was a great catch up day. We picked up the truck in the evening. Thank god they only had to keep it one day. Three trips to school during the day does not make things easy.

On Thursday, Bill took the kids to school and I headed to MGH to have my 4 D ultrasound. Easy peasy. After a quick run through at the gift shop, I hit the pike and was home in no time. I spent the rest of the day at home. Bill mowed the lawn and I did some stuff inside. The kids had a great day. They have had a great day every day. I am so pleased. They love their teachers. Once the kids were in bed, Bill headed out to a soccer meeting.

Friday was a great day. Bill took the kids to school and I slept in a little. I haven't been sleeping well. No idea why. I had lunch with a friend and then I headed home to get Bill and the kids and off to school to get Ping. We then headed into Boston to do an errand and then to Worcester to do a few errands. Turned out to be a very late night by the time we got home and got the kids fed and in bed. A lot done, but I hate when we are running that late. The kids were so restless in the car. Who can blame them.

On Saturday, we headed out with Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe and their kids to the Spencer Fair. The weather was gorgeous. We had a fabulous time. The kids were fairly well behaved and enjoyed seeing the animals and riding the rides. We were there for nearly eight hours. It didn't feel it though as the day went by fairly quickly since we were enjoying our friends.

Sunday we spent the day at home. The construction over the last nine months has really put a dent into things at the house. It's the little things. The is so much patching and painting to do. There is furniture to pick out. There are things to dispose of. We are trying to get the playroom up and running to the best of our ability. We are nearly there. We need some seating and need to hang up some photos. It's looking pretty good. Bill had to work the next day, so we just stayed home and did house projects.

Here we are at Labor Day. It's been a good day. Bill had to work at 6:00 am and he isn't due home till 6:00 pm. The kids have done well for the day. I have made some phone calls about things. Put together some things to return. Basically gearing up for the work week. My big man goes to school tomorrow. It's his first day. Do I have to pack him a snack? Kidding. Off to get a few more things done. I have a feeling Bill will be a little late as there was just another call. Oh well. It is what it is.

Mama Out!!!!!

First day of school.

Second day of school.

Lazy ladies.

Sweetness.

Off to my doctors appointment.

Meri and me at the fair.

Acrobatics.

So cute.

Crazy yellow kids.

Too many hats.

Love llamas.

Puppets anyone?

Lucas and Ping.

What kind of move is that Ping?

Ready to be rounded up!

Heading on to a ride.

Flying around.

Buds.

Some of my favorite girls.

I should be fired by my children for not blogging!

2011-08-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I have been here last. Not due to lack of caring. We have been busy with the last few weeks of vacation. So now I am going to do what I can to get the three people who read this all caught up. Not a large following, but that is okay. I really do it for my own early onset dementia issues. For those that do follow, I am most grateful. Thank you.

So let me get my trusty calendar and try to remember what we have been doing!

On Wednesday the 10th, we packed up the car and headed off for Hershey Park. The drive was supposed to be six hours. Hahahhahhhaaa. It was nine hours with traffic. We stopped at a rest stop for lunch. I brought everything, so we just needed a bench. That was all of fifteen minutes. Then we stopped for dinner. We were at Cracker Barrel for one hour. That place is horrible. I thought maybe I could get something good there. I could not have been more wrong. The kids were fine with what they ate as was Bill. However, I was not happy. Oh well. Anyway, we then hit bumper to bumper traffic for hours. We finally checked in at the hotel around 9:30 pm or so. It was a nice hotel. Nothing grand, but the room was nice. It was narrow, but decent. We immediately unpacked and put the kids to bed. They were exhausted from the ride and it was three hours past their bedtime! Of course they didn't want to fall asleep. It's hard to share a hotel room with three kids. You can't have the lights on or they stare at you and yet you don't want to sit in the dark for hours before you are ready to go to bed. Vacationing takes on a whole new meaning with kids.

The next day we got up early and headed down to breakfast. I actually had a piece of toast with a little peanut butter and jelly on it. Not only did it go down well, but it sat well. That was a big thing for me. Sounds dumb, but it really was a big thing. Anyway, we packed the car and headed off to Bird in Hand. We had lunch at a local place and then we took a buggy tour. It was fantastic. The weather was gorgeous. It wasn't too hot. We took one of the longer tours. The one where you get to stop and tour an Amish farm. We got off the buggy and walked around the property and saw the cows. They were dairy farmers. We met two adorable children who live there. I asked if we could take a photo and they said they didn't have a problem with it. Amish do not let you take photos of them. However, some do. You have to ask. It's just the respectful thing to do. They were really cute. They were selling root beer, pretzels and home made cookies. We then piled back into the buggy. Yamira and Ping had a grand time because they got to sit up front with the Amish driver. Once the ride was over, we headed back to the hotel.

A little back story here. I have belonged to a forum for years now. The forum has changed considerably over the years. However, there are about 20 or so women that are still friends and so we have our developed our own forum. Actually, one of my good friends did it. So now we check in there daily and share our lives. We have seen wedding, divorces, sicknesses and deaths. The best thing we have shared and the reason we were brought together is because we all had an interest in Chinese adoption. Most of us have adopted from China. Not all of us, but that is okay. Things have changed over the years and futures have been changed. Anyway, we are all very good friends and there were about 8 of us that decided we would meet at Hershey Park and spend the day if not a few days together. We were very fortunate that one of the husbands works for Hershey and so our dear friend was able to get us all a free ticket to get us into the park. A huge savings. Anyway, back to the story at hand.

We headed back to the hotel because there were a few people that had since checked in and I was dying to meet everyone in person finally. So after a quick trip to Target for some snacks, we pulled into the hotel and sitting outside was my friend Kim, Tina and Karen. It was so great to meet them and their kids. We have all known each other for years, but now we were meeting in person. We let the kids play and chatted a bit. We also waited for one or two more to check in. Soon Tara came and we all headed out to dinner for the night. By the time we got out of dinner, Valeri had checked in. All of the women left the kids back in the room and we headed outside to chat. It was a beautiful night and I had an awesome time. It was so nice to talk to these women face to face vs type to type!. Everyone had a few drinks and chatted. I sat there with my new green tea which totally stunk. That is okay though as the company was fabulous. After a few hours we headed to bed. The next day was a biggie.

The next morning, everyone drifted down to breakfast. I had another piece of toast and scored. Shortly after eating, my sweet friend Christina who I have never met came into the hotel with her sweet son Tristan. It was so good to finally meet her and her son. She lives close enough that she could make the drive. Not close, but close enough. We all decided to pile into many cars and head off. We had Tara and it is her hubby that works for Hershey, so we didn't have to pay for parking. Thanks honey!!!!! We all parked and entered the park. Then we all sort of drifted apart. It was too hard to stay together because everyone's children are different ages. However, as the day went on, we all hooked up here and there. I would take someone's older child on a ride if they would watch Manny because he was too young. So it worked out well. Hershey is HUGE and therefore we didn't see much of it. I was sad we couldn't do more, but there will be other years. I got to do a few roller coasters, but most importantly I got to spend some time with my friends and that is what I was really there for. To be honest, the park isn't the greatest place to be to chat. Too much commotion. Next time we need to find a place that has activities, but a lot of down time as well so we can just chat.

Everyone drifted back to the hotel at different times and everyone ate dinner on their own. A few of us brought the kids to the pool after, so we were able to hang out more. However, everyone was dead tired.

The next day, everyone met downstairs for some major picture taking. Then everyone with the exception of Karen and Tina left for home. We along with Karen and Tina and their families went to Turkey Hill Farms to tour their place and have lunch. We then stopped at a few stores before heading back towards the hotel. We stopped at a place to have dinner and then everyone went swimming. The pool was nice, but incredibly small. After a major pooping accident by Manny and Ping, we wrapped it up and headed for the room.

The next day we saw our friends for breakfast and then we headed to Chocolate World. It was pouring and Chocolate World is inside and it's free to park, so we thought we would go there for a few hours. We had a nice time. We rode through the inside of the place and then did a little bit of shopping in the gift shop. We then said goodbye and headed home to Massachusetts. It was a long and painful ride home. Both Yamira and Manny wet themselves so bad, their clothes and their car seats were soaking well. Needless to say, the ride home was long. I could not wait till we got home!!! We got home around 10:00 pm and put the kids to bed immediately. We then started the unpacking process.

On Monday, Bill had to work from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, so it was a tough day. We were all overtired and there was much to be done. Having an extra hand to help would have been great. However, working is good too. I took the three for their physicals for school. That went remarkably well. I was pleased. We then spent the rest of the day at home. I wanted to do a little cleaning and unpacking still. So it made sense for us to stay home. I also had a ton of calls to make.

Tuesday Bill had to work from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm as well. So nothing was getting done quickly as I was the only one around. Again, working is good. No complaints. It wasn't a bad day. The kids got their naps in and that is important. I got some calls done and some stuff on my to do list done.

Wednesday was a great day. Well sort of. It started off well. We were invited to a birthday party at Sophie's house. It was gorgeous out. The kids wore their bathing suits and jumped in the bouncy house, jumped in the little kiddie pool, had pizza and drinks and ice pops. They had a great time. Meanwhile, I had nothing to drink or eat as we had absolutely no milk in the house. After the party, I had to run a few errands. While driving up the street, I kept reminding myself NOT to drive into the garage. The kids were yelling about how thirsty they were and I lost my mind. I drove right into the garage with the car carrier on top of the car. I was so upset. So we had a good day, but it went downhill very quickly. We borrowed this carrier and I make it a policy not to borrow anything. I was so mad at myself as I don't usually do something so stupid. However, I did. What can I say. Bill came home and took the carrier off the car and I called and reported the issue immediately to who I borrowed it from. The rest of the story is awful, so I am not going to go into that. The rest of the evening went fine.

On Thursday, I met my friend Audra for lunch. I had a great time. It was so nice to have a one on one conversation with her without the kids around. I then did a few errands and went home. That night I took the kids to the family reading night at the library. All three of the kids won a prize for reading all summer. They were thrilled. We didn't end up reading, but we instead ended up talking with all of our friends. Bill grocery shopped while we were there as we had yet to get to the store since we had been home from Hershey. I am glad we went to the library, but Manny was so poorly behaved, it was ruined for the rest of us. Once home, the kids went to bed.

Friday was a busy day. Bill took Sasha to get her hair cut. I took the kids to get their hair cut. We then went to get an inspection sticker for the car. Unfortunately I did not have the right registration, so I had to run home and then run back. Good thing it's 5 minutes from the house. Anyway, got the sticker and then went home because I had an appointment at the house. We spent the rest of the day at home. I had plenty to do here and needed the time during the younger ones naps to get it done.

Saturday was a fabulous day. We met my good friend Christine and her son Mason at Kimballs Farm. Bill took Yamira, Ping and Mason miniature golfing and then we had lunch. After lunch we went on the bumper boats. The weather was gorgeous as was the company. We then found a Chinese supermarket on the way home, so we stopped in there to get a few things for Ping. We spent the rest of the day at home.

Sunday was a great day as well! We had our family reunion. At 9:00 am I took Ping to her horse riding lesson. That was an hour and a half long. Then we raced home, Ping changed, we packed the car and headed to Hubbardston. The first thing we did was put our tokens in for the penny table. It's a kids thing. You buy two envelopes per kid and get tokens. You then walk around the table and put your number in for what you want to win. Then everything gets drawn and the kids win stuff. It's a lot of fun. We then had lunch and the kids played some of the games and then searched for pennies in the big penny pile. We then had our annual meeting and auction and headed home. It was a tough afternoon as it was pouring and so the kids were crowded inside with the adults during the meeting and auction. Also, there was a pie eating contest. Guess who won? Yamira! She loved it. They all had a ball. It was a great day.

On Monday, Bill took Jezebel to her doctors appointment. She was finally ready to have her rabies shot. At 10:00 am, I had an appointment at the house. I then ran to Saint Vincents hospital to have an endoscopy. It went well. No strictures were found. A little gastritis, but that was really to be expected. I always felt that I had it. Meri came and picked me up and brought me home. Thanks so much Meri!!!! That evening, Meri and I went to see "The Help." Great movie. Tearjerker, but wonderful. It was a great way to finish the day.

Tuesday was a gorgeous day. A little cooler than I thought it would be, but it was nice out. I was grateful because I had plans with Meri, Joe, Lucas, Ryan, Ashly, Bobby, Skyler and Teresa at Davis Farmland. We all met up around 11:30 am and walked around and fed the animals, took a hayride and then had lunch. The kids then played and then we went to the splash park. I had a great day. Unfortunately, I have a cold and was feeling like garbage that day. Manny started with the cold and then I got it and Ping got it. Then finally Bill and Yamira. We all still have it. Anyway, it was a great day spent with great friends.

Since the summer is coming to an end for the kids, I booked us a pirate boat ride in Hyannis. I booked it for my family and for my sweet friend Christine and her son Mason who were staying down the Cape. After a 9:00 am appointment, we left so we would not miss the boat like we did a month or so ago. We got there in plenty of time. We all boarded the boat for an hour and a half boat ride. It was so much fun. I still didn't feel good, but the kids had a blast and that is all that matters. It was beautiful out, but a little cool for a boat trip if you ask me. We had a blast though. Unfortunately we couldn't stay long as Bill was on call at 6:00 pm. So we rushed home. The kids were exhausted so it was a quick dinner and bed.

Thursday Bill attended a school orientation while I had an appointment at the house. After lunch, I put the two youngest down for a nap and did some research on the computer. Bill then came home and I took Ping to the sneak peek at school. This is an opportunity for the kids to see their classrooms and to meet their teachers. Since the two youngest know their classrooms and their teachers, I let them sleep. I took Ping though because she didn't know her new teacher or where her classroom would be. I then took Ping to a birthday party at Pump It Up. I stayed for a short time, but then I headed off to do two quick errands. Once the party was over, I brought her home and headed out to eat with a few wonderful ladies. I had a great time. All in all, it was a great day.

Yesterday wasn't a bad day. Seemed like a long day, but a decent one. I took Yamira to therapy and then did a two hour shop at Walmart. Do not ask me why we were there so darn long. We went to one of the big ones. We have one in town, but wanted a few of Ping's favorite things and they are only at the bigger Walmarts. She has to have her "saucy noodles." Once home, it was lunch and nap for Yamira and Manny. I paid some bills, made some calls, did some research and basically answered a very difficult email and a very difficult phone call. The day was basically wasted and that really angered me. On the other hand, this cold is taking a toll on my head, so my energy level to actually do things around the house isn't high. It was a long and exhausting day.

Finally, I am current. It is now Saturday. Wow this has taken forever and I have yet to add photos. That is the worst part of blogging because photos take forever to upload. We met Meri and Joe with Lucas at Holden Days. We walked around some and then came home for lunch. I have been texting, blogging and Facebooking all day. In addition, I have helped Ping with a school project, done some research on the computer and did a little playroom set up. The kids are now upstairs taking a shower and a bath. I need to get up there to clip nails, clean ears and so on and so forth. I will be back to finish this up with some photos.

We are expecting Hurricane Irene tomorrow. I pray both my family and all of my friends make it through without so much as a scratch. I hope it's one of those storms where everyone complains about the newscasters and how they had it all wrong!

Mama Out!!!!

Ready for our buggy ride.

Having fun in the front.

The Amish children.

On you mark....get set.....GO Ping, Olivia, Yamira and Lia.

Such a delight.

Enjoying a drink or two.

Us at the park.

Some of the wonderful women there. Sheryl, Valeri, Kim and Christina with me and Tara in the back.

Me and Ayi Christina.

Come here and let me eat you.

The Claw. Very cool.

The children.

The ladies with the exception of Christina.

Olivia and Ping.

The ladies again.
Lia and Yamira. Love this photo!

Turkey Hill.

Milking.

Ping putting scents together.

A favorite of mine.

Threatening no?

The last of the crew at Chocolate World. Karen, Tina and me with our kids.

On the chocolate ride.

Butterfly tattoo at Sophie's party.

Pinata time.

Reading night friend.

Library friend.

Mason at Kimballs.

Sisters.

Kimballs fun.

At Kimballs.

Me and Christine.

When is that tooth coming out?

There it is. All out and ready for the fairy.

Said I should get lunch started. This is what Ping put out before I got to the kitchen!

Horse lesson.

Penny table.

Penny hunt.

Ready to brush the donkey.

Petting the cow.

Miss Ashly.

Gorgeous crew.

Fabulous set of bookends.

Ping the doggie.

Racing.

Racing.

Bubbles.

Dragon on her arm.

Mermaid.

A bearded Manny.Getting ready to go.

Driving the ship.

Nasty pirate.

Treasure.

Ready for grog.
The crew.

Nice boat.At Holden Days.

Lots of catching up to do here

2011-08-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

There is so much to do tonight, but I know I have to get caught up here or I will just get farther behind. Happy August everyone. I am not a fan. It's not that I don't like August, it just means that summer is nearing it's end and yet the beginning of July it is just beginning. We are talking one month apart people. I still have tons of things I want to do and I want to get them in before all the fairs and apple stuff comes a calling. I have got to start shopping for backpacks and school supplies soon and that is really depressing to me. However, I can't wait for the next two years to come. All three will be in school all day long. Yay. At that point, if not before I want to get my Masters. I can't seem to give up that dream. That would be a nice time to adopt again. Okay, that time is not here yet, so I should stick with the here and now.

The last time I checked in it was July 29th. So I guess I should check back to see what I did in the days that followed. I know that Friday was really busy. That Saturday ended up being busy, but not that much was accomplished. We went to JC Penney to get a few things. I basically jumped out and Bill sat in the car with the kids. Much easier that way. I went to Sears as well. We did a few other little errands like Toys R Us to use a coupon Ping got for her birthday. We then headed down to the Cape for a Pirate Cruise. Unfortunately, the traffic was really, really bad. After sitting in traffic for over two hours with two kids that hadn't napped, we called to say we wouldn't make it and turned around. Ping cried. We were all disappointed. It cost a fortune in gas, but we could not make the boat. The boat was to leave at 3:45 and we had not even reached the bridge at that time! Anyway, I will reschedule that trip for next week or something. I felt really bad. We turned around and stopped at another Sears and JC Penney. Just what everyone wanted to do. What can I say? I had to get a few things that I couldn't get at the other stores.

On Sunday, Bill worked all day. My uncle stopped by for a quick hello and signature and then I took the three kids to a Native American Fair in Grafton. I met Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe with little Ryan there. It was hot out, but it felt good. It was cheap to get into. It cost more to get out of there since I bought a few things for the kids. We watched some ceremonial dancing. It was fun, but the kids were not well behaved. After about two hours, we headed home. It was nice to spend some time with our dear friends.

On Monday, the three went to Vacation Bible School. We had to run down after 2 hours to change Manny, but other than that, they were there for the morning. They had a blast! I had a 9:00 am meeting with our financial adviser at the house. He is a great guy. By the way, having a financial adviser doesn't mean you have a boat load of cash. You can have $10.00 and if you want to make it $20.00 and you don't know how, he is the man to speak too. At 12:30 pm, I went to St. Vincents for a neck MRI. That was quick and painless. We spent the rest of the day at home. I had calls to make and we had things to do around the house. It was a busy day for everyone.

On Tuesday, Bill took the three to VBS for 9:00 am. I had a 9:00 am appointment at the house. I then had a 12:30 pm appointment here as well, but they didn't show till 2:00 pm. The kids had a great day at VBS, but Manny and Yamira's behavior wasn't great. Bill had to go down and pick up Manny. He was able to calm Yamira and she behaved for the rest of the time. Thank goodness. After a nap for the two youngest, we all headed into Boston. We took the kids on a scenic boat ride at 7:00 pm. I got tickets through Living Social. It was pouring, but it was a truly wonderful experience. Boston Harbor looked wonderful. The boat wasn't crowded. You could bring food and such. There was a bar and great music. We will absolutely do it again. Can't wait.

On Wednesday, Bill dropped off the kids at VBS and went to get my car an oil change. He then did a few other errands for me. I did a bunch of errands in the afternoon while he stayed home with the kids. At 4:30 pm, I jumped into the car and headed to the MFA to see the Chulily exhibit. It was wonderful. Stressful, but wonderful. First of all, it took over two hours to get there. So much traffic into Boston. Secondly, I ended up in Hyde Park per my GPS. I was supposed to be there for 6:00 pm and here it was nearly 6:30 pm. Then my friend was told we may not make it in. I rushed from Hyde Park over to the correct place and parked the car in the garage and then ran to meet Anita and a work friend of hers. We got in and had time to spare. The exhibit was wonderful. It was nice to spend some time with my sweet Anita as well.

On Thursday, Bill Ping to VBS. We kept Manny since he has been a handful at VBS and we kept Yamira because she has been so poorly behaved. She was a little sad, but quickly got over it. We headed into Boston so that I could do a quick errand. That is three times into Boston in one week. That is a lot of driving. A lot of gas too!!!! Anyway, we made it home in time to grab Ping from VBS and then we headed home. We spent the day at home getting ready for vacation. At 6:15 pm, Bill took Ping to her first horse lesson. She had an absolute blast and can not wait to go back for another hour and a half. So glad she had fun. She came home, was put to bed and then we did some more packing and I did a boatload of cleaning. I hate to leave a house that isn't fresh smelling and looking. We have someone check on the house and the cats several times a day and so she shouldn't have to walk into a mess. Not that the house is ever truly disgusting to others, but it can be to me.

On Friday, Bill went to get some tickets from someone he used to work with and then we tidied up a bit, finished the last of the packing and headed out for Lake George, PA. The kids were very restless in the car, even with the video going. They don't sleep well in the car. They cat nap, but that is it. We arrived around 5:00 pm or so and immediately unpacked and headed downstairs for dinner. Our sweet friend Stephani and her daughter Lexi came while we were waiting, so they joined us for dinner. We then went to the room so they could unpack and then Stephani and I headed downstairs to chat the night away. It was good to have some one on one conversation. I think we headed back up around 1:00 am or so?

On Saturday, we got up and headed down to the water park. We played there for a few hours, then we showered and had lunch at Pizzeria Uno. We then dropped off Bill and the little ones so they could nap and we went to Walmart to get a few essentials. We stopped at a store and poked around as well. Just us four older girls. When we returned, the little ones were just waking up from their nap. We got ready and headed into town. We stopped at one or two stores and then had dinner. When we walked out of the restaurant, it was pouring. So we grabbed the kids an ice cream and then walked right to the truck. Wasn't worth getting soaking wet and it was late. We headed back to the hotel and put everyone to bed. Stephani and I then headed back out the door for some more girl chit chat.

On Sunday, Bill and I took the kids to the water park again. Yamira didn't get to swim. She lost the privilege due to lying. She also went into Stephani and Lexi's room and got into their nail polish and spilled it. Then she lied about that too. I am not sure why, but Yamira was so poorly behaved most of this trip which was so upsetting to both Bill and me. So she watched us swim. We then headed back to the room to shower and feed the kids and had them nap. Stephani and Lexi got up early and headed out to see the races at Saratoga Springs or so we thought. Unfortunately, due to some behavior on Lex's part, Stephani changed their plans. So we were shocked when they came back to the room before we even headed out for the morning. We were not due to see them till late in the afternoon. When we left to go to the pool, they headed out to the races to at least do some betting for fun. We all met up in the room later in the afternoon and then headed out for a boat ride on the Minnie Ha Ha and then dinner. We again walked out to pouring rain. We then headed home, put the kids to bed and Stephani and I headed out for our nightly gab.

Yesterday we got up early and took the kids to the pool. We stayed there for less than an hour. We went back to the room, packed up the last of our stuff and checked out. We all went to a local souvenir shop and then we went to ride go carts. That was a blast. I took Yamira, Bill took Manny and Shayla went with Stephani while Lexi got her own car. They stayed to play mini golf and so we said our goodbyes and headed into town because I wanted to get a braid put in my hair. After a quick stop at McDonalds, we headed on home. We were home by 6:00 pm.

We had a wonderful time. I loved visiting with Stephani. It's been too long. I have to say that I felt very anxious for most of the trip. I am not sure why that is, but I felt like I needed to be home and doing stuff around here. There are so many things that still need to be accomplished due to the construction and such. So I had a hard time shutting off my brain. I so wish I could be like others and throw my cares to the wind. However, that is not me. Regardless, it was nice to be away and be forced not to be home. If home, I have to do stuff. If I am away, I am able to just concentrate on what we are doing for the day.

Today I got up early and took Yamira to therapy. I called on the way home from NY to see if I could get her an appointment. I felt it was necessary. After her appointment, we went to the bank, got gas and headed to Walmart. I ran into a friend there who offered us her "Whopper" for the top of the car for extra storage. So at 3:00 pm, while the kids napped and Ping did her craft stuff, Bill went over and loaded it on top of the car. So grateful she is letting us borrow it. Thanks Jennifer!!!! I have now cleaned the house again and caught up on some stuff. The next few days are going to be busy, so I won't be able to check in. However, I will soon.

Enjoy your week!

Mama Out!!!!!!!

Loving sisters.

Loving sisters here too!

Chief.

Ceremonial dancing.

Birthday at Toys R Us.

Dancing on the boat.

Three chickens.

Scenery.

Boat.

Tired after the boat ride.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Horse ride.

Doodles and Ping.

Swim time.

Scooby.

Dinner.

Handsome man.

The bear.

Swim place.

Raccoon.

Minnie Ha Ha.

Beautiful boy.

Yeah, so she is good looking.

Prison.

So pretty.

Scooby.

The gang.

Me and that pretty friend of mine.

Summer is moving too fast for me

2011-07-29T19:56:00.000-07:00

I am really annoyed it is nearly August. Where did July go? In some ways it seems like a long month, but it just flew by. I don't want the kids to go to school yet. I have backpacks to buy and school supplies and I don't want to even deal with that yet. I still have tons of things I want to do!

Yesterday is a perfect day of not wanting the day to end. We went to Southwicks Zoo with Ashly and Bridget. We had a wonderful time and I thought all of the kids behaved quite well. It was gorgeous out. We could not have picked a better day. There is a lot of shade at this zoo which was nice. It's a really pretty zoo and very clean. It wasn't so big that you felt like you were missing anything either. The kids had a blast. Ping didn't want to leave after we had spent most of the day there. We left and headed off to JC Penney to grab something and then home for dinner. I thought for sure they would be tired little bears, but they still seemed so hyper. What is with that? They gabbed through dinner like they had been stuck in a chicken coop all day. Needless to say, they went to bed without much trouble. I read them a few books and then it was lights out. I spent the rest of the night doing a few things and watching a little TV as I was pretty tired. Great day though.

Today was a good day. I took Ping to her skating lesson at 10:00 pm. It was open session, so I got my skates on as well. God I have not skated in like 20 years. My skates were too tight, so they hurt. However, it was nice to be back on the ice and Ping said it was awesome to be able to skate with me. So we had a nice morning. Bill took Yamira to her therapy today and took Manny along as I wasn't home. After a few errands, I ran home and made a call to the Lowell Parking Clerk who had called me when I was out. She voided my parking ticket. Yay. I then got to preparing lunch for the kids and prepared a few snacks for Bill. When Bill got home with the two youngest, the kids ate and Bill and I headed into Boston to do an errand. We had our wonderful neighbor babysit for us. It was so odd driving down the highway without one singing, one humming and the other mimicking the two others! It was so quiet. I actually read my People magazine on the way in. That was great! Bill listened to his music vs a kids movie and we were both quite content. We went to EB Horn and then to the fire station before heading home. Manny threw stuff and bit Yamira's cheek. He knows not to do that, so he was not a good boy. He got a time out. Yamira lied and that made me really unhappy and so I spoke to her about that. Ping was good, but started to get antsy right before we got home. We fed them dinner and then I read them a few books before we tucked them into bed. Bill and I measured the new bathroom for a shower door and did a few more things around the house before settling down and watching TV for me and a nap on the floor with Jezebel for Bill! Now I am here getting caught up. Maybe I will go to bed early for once? Nah!

Enjoy your weekend!

Mama Out!!!!!!

Precious.

Beautiful color.

So sweet.

Flamingo.

Baby in for the ride.

Climber.

Come on and smile for me.

So cute.

Love giraffes.

Carousel fun.

Go to bed or get this place updated?

2011-07-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Clearly you can see which choice I made. I promised myself I would go to bed on time as I am taking the kids to the zoo, but here I sit. I will try to make this quick so at least I will be in bed by 1:00 am?

I left off on Friday and now I am trying to remember what we did from Saturday on. Saturday we didn't have any set plans. We worked around the house organizing and cleaning. I did run to JC Penney as they were having a killer sale. Unfortunately, I need to return a good portion of what I bought. Boo. Oh well. Other than hitting up one or two places including JC Penney, it was a subdued day. I did get some cleaning done in the new bathroom. I promised to finish the rest of it on Sunday and yet here we are at Wednesday and I never got back to it. Not out of laziness, just being kept busy by other things.

On Sunday, we stayed home as well. The kids did a bunch of different crafts. They seemed to enjoy spending the day that way. The three of them all made a cute craft for Miss Wendy, their Sunday School teacher. She had emergency surgery on her appendix, so we wanted to make something for her to brighten her day. I also read a lot of books to the kids from the library. I am trying to double up on the books so that for 1 or 2 weeks, I won't feel bad when we can't get to the library because too much is going on. The kids are loving the books and I have to say that I am as well. I am glad I am participating in the library reading program for the summer. I recently fell in love with the book "The Wishing Tree." So cute. Anyway, I think I read about eight books through out the day. We got the kids in bed at a good idea and then I went about doing a few things. Around 1:00 am a fire call came in. Recovery of a dead body. Bill headed off to the call. Ping ended up waking up and coming downstairs. Then she wouldn't fall asleep down here. She wanted to wait for Daddy. I told her no way. We went to bed. She had a hard time sleeping. About the time we feel asleep, Daddy came home and we both woke up. So a bad nights rest, that is for sure!

On Monday, I was going to take Ping to skating lessons, but I got a call that they were cancelled. Ping was disappointed. I was as well, but I was so tired, it was okay. We were all a little tired. We laid low today. The kids did more crafts, I did some stuff on the computer and Bill ran out to do a few errands. Not an exciting day, but we couldn't seem to get any pep in our steps, so just as well.

On Tuesday, I had an appointment, but it was cancelled. Bill took Yamira to her OT appointment and then came home to grab the rest of us for an appointment for Jezebel. I went into the appointment and took Ping. Bill took Yamira and Manny to Lowes and Target while I was inside with Jeze and Sasha who was there to have her backside looked at. The appointment went fine. Bill came and got us and we ran to do a few more errands and then to the library to pick more books out. I took Ping in as she is easy. She picked out some prizes she would like to win and then we all headed home. The younger ones napped while Ping did a few projects. At 6:30 pm, we hopped in the car and headed to Build A Bear to meet Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe, Lucas and Ryan. Yamira and Manny had gift certificates that they got at their adoption party, so we wanted to bring them over there to make their animals. We then stopped at a place to let the kids run around before heading home. We did not get home till after 10:00 pm. Needless to say, they all went to bed way too late. We had a nice time though.

Today they all slept in a little. Not a lot, but a little. While Bill fed them breakfast, I took a shower and then greeted my appointment at 10:00 am. Shortly after the gentleman left, I took the kids and headed to a place called One Stop Fun. It's a place that has everything, but we were there to use the inside gym which has all these cool tunnels and slides. My friend Bridget met us there with Emma and Sophie. The kids had a blast. I had to drag them out of there finally at 4:30 pm. We came home, Bill fed the kids dinner and then he headed off to the station, while I gave Yamira and Manny a bath and Ping a shower. I then read them three books and tucked them into bed. Since then I have been working on a large Shutterfly order. It's finally done. So pictures are uploaded and blog is updated. Now I must get to bed. Going to post a few photos first. Will share something funny before I get off. Ping yesterday said to Daddy "Come on big hairy fire department Daddy, time to get up and feed us. " So cute. She really is noticing when he has to go to the department and when he doesn't. If he goes once a short shift is over, she asks him why he is heading back out the door. It's hard to get that things aren't scheduled when it comes to the life of a fire fighter!

Have a great rest of the week!

Mama Out!!!!

Neesha kissing the baby.

Puffing up his doggy.

Puffing up her colorful bear.

Warming their hearts.

Washing their new buddies.

Ball pit.

Ping in the ball pit.

Climbing fun.

Ball pit for Manny.

Stupid to be blogging at this time.....

2011-07-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

However, it's getting later and later in the days too. I just have to get it done. If just one person reads it, it's worth it, right?

Every time I think I am all caught up, I check the date and I freak. How do I let so many days go between posting? Lately I have felt really miserable, so I have been putting it off. However, I am feeling okay right now, so I might as well take advantage.

I left off on Monday the 11th, so let me try to remember what we have been doing since them. I am sure it's been a lot of something, right? It's probably easier to start with today and go backwards. However, why shake things up like that.

That Monday I covered by saying that Bill and Joe took Shayla and Lucas to the Tornadoes game I believe. Lucas got to run with Twister and so he won a ticket to Coco Keys. Very exciting!!!!

On Tuesday, I brought Ping to soccer and ran around doing some errands while Bill watched the little ones at home. At noon, we grabbed Ping and headed off to Hyannis. We had reservations at 2:30 to board a train for a scenic ride. We got there with barely 10 minute to spare. We hopped on and sat from Hyannis to the bridge and back. The kids enjoyed it. The two youngest had never been on a train before that I know of. However, they had a hard time focusing on what was going on outside. To be honest, we saw a lot of trees! It was nice to go though. We didn't get home till late because once we left Hyannis, we actually made a detour and went to the Natick Collection where I jumped out of the truck and ran into Vera Bradley to get a lanyard for both me and Ayi Meri. I then ran out, grabbed the girls because they had to use the ladies room and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory so I could pick up a salad and some chicken rolls that I had ordered. On the way home, we stopped at Wendys for Bill and the kids and then headed home and put the kids to bed. It was a full and a very busy day. A nice one though.

On Wednesday, I dropped Ping off at soccer and did a few more errands around the area. We then went back at noon to grab her and we drove into Boston to board a boat ride for a scenic tour. We got to the Galleria Mall in Cambridge 10 minutes before that took off. Talk about stress. Manny and Yamira were pretty poorly behaved since they hadn't really napped for three days in a row. The tour as nice, but their attitudes made it difficult to enjoy. It was a gorgeous day out and I am glad we went. We then headed over to E.B. Horn for me to run in and put my rings in for an adjustment in size. However, since they have to go down so far on size, it's easier to just get new settings. However, that led me to talking about changing things up a bit. I went alone as Bill and the kids sat in the car driving around so we wouldn't have to park. I stayed as short a time as possible and then ran back to the car and then home for dinner and bed. Another busy day!

Thursday was the last day of camp for Ping. She had a great four days at camp. After I grabbed her at noon, we went to do a few errands together and then went home. I was going to go back out at 2:00 pm for a drumming session at the library, but Ping was exhausted and the other two were sleeping. Frankly, I was so behind in doing stuff, it made sense to stay home, but was a little disappointed we didn't get to the drumming. That night I had dinner out at "The Mill" with a great bunch of ladies. It was nice to be out and relaxing in the nice weather. We sat on the deck.

Sadly, I can't remember what we did on Friday. I have nothing in my calendar. Bill was on call from 6:00 pm, so we were home for the night. However, during the day, if I remember correctly, both Bill and I did errands separately. I ran out for a few and then he ran out for a few. Okay, I only forgot the most important thing. It was Ping's birthday!!!!!! After breakfast Ping opened her gifts and was very happy. Other than that, it was a low key day. We were supposed to go to the zoo, but we got up too late to go, so we will go another day.

Saturday was a great day. The weather was gorgeous. We ran to the bank and to do a few other short errands and then we drove to Norwood to see Sarah and Brad and then to attend our friend Maura's cookout that she was co-hosting with her friend Dana. It was at Dana's house. It was great to see Sarah and Brad, but the kids were so wiggly that I had Bill go outside and hang with them so we could chat a little before we had to leave. However, while there, the kids all got awesome gifts and so did I. It was so nice. Manny got an awesome Fire Department scooter. Yamira got a beautiful tea set that I can't wait to display. She can't play with it now as I would be afraid it would break and it's a special keepsake. Those gifts were for their recent adoptions. Ping got 4 dinosaur puppets for her birthday. She was beside herself with excitement. I got a two gorgeous tea cups that are already hung in our living room. I also got some awesome cocktail napkins that have hot air balloons on them. I love them. I also got a beautiful sun catcher that I can't wait to hang. Just haven't decided where to hang it yet. Anyway I had a fabulous time and am so grateful for our beautiful gifts. After chatting a little, I grabbed Bill and the kids and we headed over to the cookout. The weather was gorgeous. The kids had tons of things to play with. They had squirt guns for outside, so they ran around in their bathing suits all day. The food was good. I was plagued terribly with stomach issues that day, so not only was I miserable physically, but for some reason, I was off mentally too. I was very, very crabby and I hate when I am like that. It's rare, but it is intense. I was just feeling very run down by everything going on in my life. It gets the best of me at times. I am so glad we went though and that we had a great time. It's so nice that Maura and her husband Patrick are living in the area now. Missed them when they were in Phoenix.

Once home, I had a ton of things to do. I had to iron, set out outfits and do a bunch of other things because Ping's birthday party was the next day. Made for a very long evening.

On Sunday, we all got up and got ready to head off to Ping's party. I was still in a rotten mood. I have no idea why and I hated it. I am normally very happy go lucky, but my hormones are off due to my surgery. Makes for some very intense moments. We got to Animal Adventures somewhere around 1:30 pm. It was a hot day. The place wasn't air conditioned and it was jam packed with people. However, everyone came and I think everyone had a nice time. Manny was miserable this day. Like more miserable than I have ever seen him. Very poorly behaved which ruined things for Bill and I. Then Yamira started to act up as well. However, Ping didn't notice and she was really happy. Animal Adventures went out of their way to accommodate us. We were not supposed to have more than 25 or so people. We had nearly 50. The staff was really great though. They were dying from the heat, but they trudged on. After our tour with the animals, we went outside and had cupcakes. We then left and came back home with a few friends to open gifts. I had intended to come back to the house and let Shayla open her gifts in the A/C. However, Manny and Yamira were so badly behaved, we came home and those two went to their rooms to calm down while we sat outside in the nice weather and opened gifts while sitting on blankets. There were a few people who really wanted to see Shayla open her gifts, so those friends came back. It was great. We all stayed outside and just relaxed for some time. Then I got up and said I had to head in as I didn't know what the two youngest were up to and they all had to eat. Everyone had to eat, so they headed home. All in all, it was a great day.

On Monday, I got up in a great mood. I think I just needed that breather the day before. I headed off to my doctor's office for a bone density scan. That went quick. As I pulled in my garage, the Neurologist that I was supposed to be seeing in late August had a cancellation and asked me if I would be willing to go in at 1:00 pm. I jumped at the chance. It worked out beautifully as Bill was home and could stay with the kids! So I jumped in the car and headed back out. I met with one doctor doing her fellowship there. She was very nice. She didn't see anything very serious. She thought I might have something called "Essential Tremors." That is what Katherine Hepburn had. Then I got to see the doctor I was there to see, the head Neurologist. He was wonderful. Very sweet man. He thinks I may have a pinched nerve, but he is not entirely sure. So he has me scheduled for a neck MRI. That is next week. Hopefully I will be fine and nothing major but a pinched nerve will be found. Crossing fingers. Pinched nerves are usually very painful, so I have a hard time believing that I have one, but stranger things have occurred. Hopefully that is all it is. So cross your fingers for me please. I spent the rest of the day at home making some business calls. At 6:00 pm, three friends came over, we jumped in my car and headed over to my friend Bobby-Jo's house for a Thirty One party. We were there for a few hours. In the last hour, I developed a sore throat. It came on and increasingly got worse. I couldn't wait to get home. By the time I got to bed, I knew something was definitely up.

On Tuesday, I woke up with this awful sore throat. It was different than a normal sore throat though. I could not get what was going on, but I knew this wasn't a virus, summer cold or an allergy issue. I didn't believe it to be anyway. It was a sore throat that was similar to the one I had with Mono back in the eleventh grade. My throat not only burned, but so didn't my esophagus. I took some Tylenol and plunged forward. Bill took Yamira to OT for me so I could get a few things done at home. I watched Manny and Ping at home and then Ping and I met my friends Renee and Jennifer with their children at the 99 Restaurant for lunch. I had a great time. I couldn't eat much because I felt awful. Everything tasted so odd to me. I had a hard time with a salad. The other thing I got was immediately packed to bring home for Bill as it was too greasy and I didn't want to be sick. My intention was to go to Home Depot and Rocky's Hardware and a few other places after leaving lunch, but the girls were having a nice time, that Renee invited us to her house. We would have gone to the playground, but it was blazing hot outside. So we went back and sat inside the cool house and chatted while the girls played. I had a great time visiting with them both. We left around 4:30 pm and headed to Rocky's to get some paint samples. We then headed to the library for some more books and to return the ones we had. We then headed home as Daddy was on at 6:00 pm. The kids had dinner and went to bed. I then proceeded to clean up a lot and pack a few bags as we had plans the next day. Unfortunately, I was really feeling very sick. I was starting to feel like I had the flu. However, I couldn't sit or I wouldn't have been able to leave in the am the next day. So after I sat down, I literally fell over into a coma. Not the best sleep I have ever had, that is for sure.

We got up early on Wednesday and got the kids ready so that I could take them to the Lowell Music Series. We got there in plenty of time. We grabbed a few free snacks and had a seat on the lawn. There was a musical man that played fun songs and entertained the kids. Ping and Yamira had fun running around with their new found friends. We were there for an hour and then we all got on the trolley for the trolley ride. The three loved that ride. Very short, less than 10 minutes, but the trolley is nice. I had Manny sit in the stroller which angered him, but it's hard when you are alone with three kids who like to go in three different directions. I was there alone and I felt it was best to keep him in his stroller. After the trolley, we walked back to the car where I was greeted with a parking sticker. I was so angry that I immediately called the number on the ticket. Imagine my amazement when I was greeted with a busy signal. Figures. What else is new? I stayed in the area for a good 30 minutes as I really wanted to discuss how I got a ticket. I put more than enough money in the meter, but the meter was empty when I returned to the car and it shouldn't have been. My guess is that it was a faulty meter! So aggravating. Anyway, we headed to Billerica to meet two friends and their children at Manning Park where there is a splash pad place. The kids had a ball. We packed our lunch, so I fed them their stuff and they just ran around. Unfortunately, I was just getting sicker and sicker. I felt awful at that point, so while I was there, I booked a doctors appointment for Friday. Figured I would give it till then in the event that I felt better overnight. By the time I drove home from Billerica, I was miserable. It was a very long day. The ticket didn't add any enjoyment to the day either. I did call when I got home and I told them that I had called for a very long time. She asked if I had the number correct. Um, yeah I did. She just didn't want to admit that they take their phones off the hook. She told me to send in the ticket and request a hearing. That is what I was going to do anyway, but it's cheaper to pay the ticket than to waste the gas going back to Lowell. Bill fed the kids and I laid down as I had a ton of stuff to do before the next day and I was really feeling like I had the flu. After resting for a very short while, I jumped up and ironed a few outfits for the kids the next day. I did a few other things and then settled in to watch the news at 11:00 pm.

I got up on Thursday and was beyond miserable. My throat was horrendous. My esphogus was horrendous. I couldn't even sip Gatorade, it was that painful. I kept popping Tylenol to lessen the pain, but taking a Tylenol felt like I was trying to swallow a bowling ball with spikes. I knew something was really wrong. This was not normal. I got ready, got the kids ready and we jumped in the car to head over to the mall to get their pictures taken. I like to have them done in July as Manny's birthday is in May, Ping is July and Yamira is September. I didn't want to cancel the photo shoot as it was planned and I had prepped for it. However, I was truly weak and could barely speak. On the way to the mall, I called and cancelled my other two appointments for the day. I hate, hate and hate doing that, but I had to. I then called my GP's office and asked that I be looked at today. She said they would take me at 1:30 pm. So we went in the mall and had the photos of the kids taken. We ended up being there nearly three flipping hours. I had the kids change once. Ping did change a third time into her Chinese dress. The kids were horsing around and not looking and Ping was smiling like she had a gun to her back. Not sure what that was all about, however, we did buy a bunch of photos. I then ran down to the food court to get the kiddos some food and I grabbed a burger for Bill. I didn't know I wouldn't have the time to run home for food and drinks because of my appointment, so I just grabbed something for them at the mall. So they ate as we raced down the highway. We all entered the room and waited for the doctor when they called my name. I wanted the younger two to meet my doctor. I have talked about them so much, I just wanted her to see them in person. It was more here seeing them than them seeing her. Bill took the out to the waiting room and she looked at my throat. She thought it could be a number of things, but mainly Thrush. A fungal infection of the mouth. Yikes. She said it's due to my compromised immune system. Between not being able to eat and being low in vitamins, she guess that this was due to that. I am so much better on my vitamins now and I am even eating better. I don't think it has anything to do with that. I think it has to due with my Hyperparathyroidism. I had to take a drug two weeks ago that would highlight my Thyroid and my glands. I could be wrong because it was an injection and not a drink, but I am betting my money that what caused it had to do with that. What do I know. I just think I would have had this a long time ago if it was because I was so immune depressed. Regardless, she gave me a prescription for lozenges and she also did cultures and had me go to the lab for blood. So we all headed to the lab. Thank god they took me quickly as the kids were losing it. It was a long day for them. I don't blame them. On the other hand, I felt so awful, I could barely deal with the bitching and moaning. Once we left the lab, we headed home, but did a few errands that had to be done on the way home. We didn't get home till 6:00 pm and we had left at 9:30 am. We fed the kids, read them a book and put them to bed. At that point, I started taking my medicine. I spent the rest of the night trying to do a few things around here. Not that I wanted to, but I had to do so. I was miserable, but did get a few things done.

Today we got up and I took the three kids alone over to Hannah's birthday party. We had a nice time. There were only a few of us. Unfortunately, I felt weak and that made me miserable. My head was fuzzy, but I didn't want to miss the party. We left around 12:30 and after getting gas for the car that was on empty, we headed home. It was too hot to be out or any length of time. The kids had lunch and then while Ping did a few craft projects, the little ones slept. Bill headed out to get me a prescription and to get his car washed. I had called the doctor as instructed and left a message that I was still miserable. I got a call at the end of the day from the nurse instruction me to head to CVS for some liquid penicillin. So Bill brought that home and then cooked for the kids. Do not ask me why, but while he was out, I started cleaning like a crazy woman. I had been so sick all day and then I got a burst of energy. I ended up cleaning two bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room and then my office. I did bite off more than I should. In between that, I read a book to the kids and put them to bed. Bill had to run out on a call, so he didn't get to put them to bed. He started, but didn't get to finish. At 11:00 pm, I just melted from exhaustion, so I sat down to watch the news and then I got interested in watching a movie. So while watching the movie, I put some photos in frames and did a few other sitting projects. Now it is literally 3:00 am and I am doing my blog. Good grief woman, you will never get out of bed in the morning and you have stuff to do!!!! I better go find a few pictures and get them posted so that I can go to bed.

Sorry the post is boring, but glad you follow our lives. I totally appreciate it. Stay cool and have a wonderful weekend.

Mama Out!!!!!!!

Ready for the train.

Sweetie.

Daddy and Yamira.

Daddy and Manny.

Our little model.

We are now in Sandwich.

Beautiful girls.

The train as we left.

All of us.

Ready to go.

Beautiful. Never seen before.

Another shot of the sky.

Three little chickens.

Tour guide.

Duck boat.

Me and my family.

Handsome lad.

Charles River.

Handsome dude.

Famous Citgo sign.

Daddy and his girl.

The flag on the boat looked so pretty against the water.

Me.

Big crew.

So cute.

Soccer.

School buddies.

Soccer time.

Loving gifts.

New scrubbies for all.

Ping's aquarium light.

Gift opening at Sarah and Brad's.

Chickens at Sarah and Brad's shop.

Ping and her awesome dinosaur puppets.

Yamira's tea set.

Manny's new fire department scooter.

Sarah and Ping.

Maura's cook out!

Our three chickens.

Me and the crew.

Everyone listening.

Forgot the name of this little guy.

Kangaroo.

Awesome. Bear family.

Sweet.

Alligator.

Crocodile.

Bearded Lizard.

Lizard.

Snake holding.

Lemur.

Snake.

Big snake.

Turtle petting.

Cake.

Molly and Ping.

Party friends.

Party friends.

Gifts.

Friends.

Lunch with the ladies.

Enjoying his milk.

Manny.

Enjoying the concert.

Twirling.

Playtime.

Love.

The crew.

Trolley.

Trolley.

Trolley ride.

Splash fun.

Ping at my doctors.

My doctor's office.

My Thrush. You wanted to see it, right?

Hannah having an awesome muffin.

Hannah opening gifts.

Manny wearing a head band.

Love this of Yamira. Just so sweet.

Neesha licking Jezebel.