It's strange, but.....

Even after 11 years, I still sometimes want to smoke......

There, there's my random thought for the moment.

A Productive Week-end

I was lazy, but productive. I know, that doesn't make sense. But I was. I still have a 10 pound weight limit because of the hysterectomy that I had a week and a half ago. Sometimes it's hard to behave, because there's plenty of shit to do around here, but I know that I won't heal right if I don't be good and take it easy until the doctor clears me.

So yesterday Jon and the girls went to the Dutcher's. I feel bad; I should have gone, because I like their company and miss them, but I am sooooo much more productive when I stay home. I got the next 3 weeks worth of lesson plans done. All sorted, filed, printed, laminated, organized, uploaded to my yahoo group, and ready to teach the little munchkins. I think it's my favorite part of my job, besides being able to be with my kids most of the time........

EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I'm watching Untold Stories of the ER, and this lady is in there because she feels something moving in her head. OMFG, it's a JUNEBUG!!!! I would go nucking futs;, they'd have to seriously sedate me........ BLECH!!!!!

Wow, I suck, lol

I just got busy. That's all. I finished my college classes at the beginning of December. I got an A in ECE and a B+ in Sociology. I was pretty happy with that.

In my sociology class I had to do a 5 page paper on ADHD - Medication vs. Non-Medication. Then I had to do a power point presentation on the same topic. I had never used power point before & really enjoyed it. So much so that I ended up using it on the big project that I did in my ECE class. Got an A on both presentations, lol.

Jon got laid off. Sucks donkey balls, it does. They usually have a 2 week shut-down during the weeks of Christmas and New Year's, so we were expecting that. But not a longer one, that's for sure. The shop that he works for (Shape Corp) makes auto parts, if that tells you anything. So hopefully we'll be fine on his unemployment.....

Heather is doing ok, but could be better I think. We took her off of the Prozac a couple of weeks ago, and since then she's been soooooo, well, bitchy. Yeah, she's 10, lol. Bitchy and frickin' MEAN. I ask her to do something around the house and she flies off the handle. I don't know if it's the Prozac withdrawl, hormones, or both, but it's gotta change.....

Taylor's doing very well. She's such a good kid. I hate to compare my kids and make one sound bad and the other good, but it is what it is, I guess. Heather has good moment's/times, too, but I guess the bad overtakes the good, and that's sad. Anyways, Taylor is getting all A's in school. She seems to be bored with it at times, but we'll see how she does. She's one of the youngest of the 3rd graders, so I don't want to push her anymore than what she can handle.

And I'm doing good. I had a hysterectomy last Tuesday. I've had frequent and painful periods since forever. The only time that it was ok was when I was on the pill. I had my tubes tied after having Taylor, so I wanted to be done with the pill. I had an ablation done, where they scrape the cervix to try and start my periods all over again, and hopefully regulate them. As it turns out, I was in the 3% that it doesn't work. Figures.

So I've been trying to take it easy. Katie and Judy have been my LIFESAVERS!!! They're my assistants and have taken over for me and kept me in line, lol. I have restrictions, no lifting, rest all the time, etc., and they're making sure that I'm sticking to it! It's a pain in the ass, but I have to stay healthy, so I appreciate their mother hen status right now.

But it is amazing at how tired, worn out, and sore one can get after surgery. Katie took me grocery shopping at Meijer the other day, and OMG, I was SOOO tired after that. But I'll live...

Ok, I'm going to stop now. Damn, I could type forever; it's been so long since I've blogged. But I feel that my life is getting back into a mode where I can slow down a little, so hopefully I'll be back soon!!

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

Today was my birthday. 36 years old. Holy crap, probably half-way to death, lol. It was a pretty good birthday; busy as usual.

I volunteered at Ealy Elementary for the Book Fair from 9-12. Heather & Taylor each picked out a book, I picked up a couple of stocking stuffers, and got a few cheap books for daycare kids for Christmas.

I've been feeling crappy for the past couple of days. Achy, a little nauseated, and my sinuses hurt. I think it's a touch of the flu, only I'm not getting it full-force because I got a flu shot this year. Also, the last few weeks I've had terrible acid reflux. So far, Tums pretty much takes care of it, although sometimes I have to chew a couple every couple of hours because it just won't go away. I've got to get back to the gym to try to lose weight; I know that's alot of my problem. Although I still have to take it easy at the gym; between having carpel tunnel surgery and then I got tendinitis in my elbow of the opposite arm. Over-compensation at the gym is what the doctor said, because I was pushing harder with my left arm and strained it. Honestly, getting old sucks!!

I then went and voted. It only took about 15 minutes to get through, so not too bad. And I got a sticker!! lol

Yesterday was my last physical therapy for my carpel tunnel surgery. I didn't think the therapy was going to do much good; I just didn't have faith in it. But I've changed my mind; the incision actually feels much better. I had alot more scar tissue than normal, and more pain in it than normal, too. Guess I'm a slow healer, so the therapy helped alot.

I then went to Wal-Mart for paint for the fence in the front yard. Notice I said for paint, but walked out with clearance Halloween stuff. How can I say no to cheap stuff? lol

I went to class from 6-9:40. Intro to ECE class. I had a book presentation to give. Basically I did circle time with my class. It went well, I think. I got my mid-term grade back; I got an 85 out of 100. I'm averaging an 88% in the class, so I'm pretty happy with that.

Came home and tried to do some work, but I was feeling crappy. I fell asleep on the couch with Critter, watched Barack Obama's acceptance speech and John McCain's concession speech. It was about 12:00 a.m. when I fell asleep during Obama's speech. Sorry, but my patriotism was tired, lol.

last weekend

We had our daycare Halloween party last Thursday evening. Nothing like 25 or so people in your house to make you exhausted, lol. It went pretty well overall. The kids were wild, and that sucked. But they're not usually like that, so I'll keep my job, lol.

On Saturday evening I went to Mom & Tom's and spent the night. On Sunday we had birthday celebrations for me, Jon, Taylor, my brother-in-law Justin, and niece Kelsey. We made really good food; cheese and crackers before dinner. I made the cheese ball out of cream cheese, Old English Spread, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and nuts. Then for dinner we had lasagna, garlic bread, salad, jello. Dessert was spectacular. Mom made a blueberry & peach cobbler, I brought cheesecake, and Grandma made an apple pie. We were stuffed!! We played ping pong, and my sister made an ass out of herself, as usual, lol.

Today I went to court for an ex-parent who owes me money. She called this morning and wanted to know if she was going to jail because she couldn't make it. I'm done being nice to people who owe me money and promise over and over to pay. We had a vehicle repossessed, my house was less than 4 hours from being foreclosed on (our atty. saved it at the last minute), and we had to file for bankruptcy. I've lost over $16,000 in the past 6 years that I've been doing daycare, so what I really want to tell parents who don't pay is "HUG A NUT!!!". Everybody has problems, and I'm sorry that I can't feel bad for them anymore.

Crazy Days

I had my ECE class on Tuesday night. I'm doing really well in getting my assignments in. They're not due on any specific day, as long as they're turned in (or done, in the case of the oral reports), and I'm ahead of schedule. Which is good, because I have a big project to start working on that's due on the last night of class.

For this last Tuesday, we had to construct blocks. There were all sorts of do's and don'ts, but I won't go into them. I got a 99 out of 100 points. Dammit. My edges weren't all taped down securely, so kids could be able to rip them apart. Duh, they're handmade!! Anyways......

Then we had mid-terms the other night, too. I think I did pretty well; the material that was on the mid-term was pretty well covered. This is the first semester for this particular instructor, and I think she's a little strict/hard, but she's new and going by the book. That's ok, it takes all kinds....

Wednesday night's sociology class went well. I didn't study for my weekly quiz and got a B-. So I should have studied; I would have got a better grade, but I guess I did ok.

I allso had physical therapy on Wed. for my carpel tunnel surgery. Therapy is going really well; better than what I expected, actually. I had alot of scar tissue, and it's doing much better. And it just feels better where the incision was. I was healing alot slower than what I thought that I should have been before therapy, so I'm glad that I've continued to go.

Today was super-crazy-busy. I finally got a DHS check, so I went to the dollar store and picked up some necessities and some things for goodie bags. (We had a Halloween party tonight for the daycare kids.) I then went to Pet's Mart because I found fleas on Jerrie and Hoover. EWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! Doesn't it figure; the 2 indoor cats is where I see the fleas first. I stopped at the pet adoption center and visited the kitties. OMG, I could just take so many of them home!!! There was one, especially, that tugged at my heartstrings. He was part manx, and HUGE with this little stub of a tail. But, 3 is enough, and I think even Katie would kill me if I brought another one home, lol.

I then went to Office Max to get ink. Then Fazoli's to pick up a gift card for Jon. Mom is giving it to him for his birthday. I then stopped at Farm Bureau. We hadn't had car insurance for several weeks, and it cost over $800 to re-instate without lapse.

I then stopped at Meijer and made them profitable, lol. Two carts and $300 later, I got out of there.... Came home and put stuff away, well, kind of. It got a little nuts with 25-30 people in here for the Halloween party. We didn't do much, just a craft and snack. But it's so cute to see the kids in their Halloween costumes. And the snacks were yummy. Brad made a pumpkin dessert, Katie made cupcakes, and we had fruit and dip. My house is seriously trashed, but I don't have any kids tomorrow night, Saturday, or Sunday, so I'll get it back together eventually..... (that and Katie will be here tomorrow, my knight in shining armour!!! lol). Or my cleaning lady, right hand, right brain.... something like that.....

Tyler & Ashley

Chey

Taylor & Brianna

Kailynn, Danielle, Taylor

Emma didn't want to leave, so I bribed her with food, lol.

Taylor's birthday week-end

We rented a room at the Best Western. Actually I decided on a suite because it had a refrigerator and microwave. We stuck 3 of the girls (Taylor, Kaylee, and Kailynn) on the queen sized bed, Heather took the floor, and Katie & I had the king sized bed. Two tv's helped tremendously, lol. We took the kids swimming a couple of times, ordered pizza from Pizza Hut (yummy!!), and played games.

They had fun and Taylor had a really good birthday.

Kailynn, Taylor, Kaylee, Heather

Eating my favorite pizza

Taylor & Kaylee

Kaylee helping Taylor learn to swim

Emma & Katie

Kaylee & Taylor in the hot tub

Grandma & Papa Stark stopped with Taylor's gift

I bought these balls at the dollar store...... WRONG CHOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

Kaylee & Taylor

My Baby....

My baby's birthday is today. Taylor is 8. Holy crimony, where did the time go???

I had her via a scheduled c-section, which turned out to be a good thing, because she was breech. I loved our time in the hospital after her birth. It was not only great bonding time, but I got to sleep, was fed 3 square meals a day, other people changed my bedding, read when I wanted to, and more.

She's been such a joy in my life. She's a really good kid, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She's a friendly person, and has many friends at school. She gets along with everybody. She's not perfect, but she really is a great person.

So happy birthday, baby girl. Mommy loves you........

She thought this thing sticking to her butt was the funniest thing ever!!

Taylor loves her tubbies.

She was falling asleep while eating popcorn. When trying to take the bowl from her to put her to bed, she would wake up and throw a fit; she wasn't ready for bed and wanted that popcorn, lol.

That's just my silly Taylor....

I love this picture; she's so sweet.....

Hmmm, wonder what happened to her shirt? lol

She fell asleep in the Elmo chair while watching a movie.

Brushing her teeth.

She loves her Daddy....

Cute little conehead.

Fun Day with the Brownies

Taylor had a Brownie outing today; we went to Lewis' Farms in New Era. They have a corn maze, a giant inflated pillow to bounce on, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, and more. (Of course I had to buy some fudge and strawberry preserves). The kids had a blast, and Taylor was one wore out puppy by the time we got home.

One big-ass inflatible pumpkin

This camel was funnier than hell, trying to sniff Taylor.

Taylor and her donkey friend

Taylor & Emily

Taylor on the big bouncy pillow

Emma & Taylor looking like a ghost

Taylor feeding her friend

Monday, Oct. 20, 2008

Today was a busier day than usual. The a.m. kindergartners had no school and the rest had a half day. So we served 11 at lunchtime and were very productive, lol.

Taylor had a pizza party for cheer leading (end of season). It was at Goodrich Park in Whitehall. It's such a nice park, right on the lake with some new play structures. Of course the girls ended up playing football with the boys. Taylor got tackled pretty good, but came out fighting!! While she was there I went to the gym. Only got 25 min. on the treadmill, but it's better than nothing! I then stopped at Plumb's for milk & pop. (Katie doesn't have to call me and moo into the phone now..... That's either her way of calling me fat or telling me that we need milk, lmfao. I know, it's the milk, but I still think it's funny.

Came home and Judy was telling me how good Ethan was at cleaning up. He usually gives her a hard time, so that was nice to hear. But just as she was telling me, I looked over to see Bretten BITING Ethan on the arm; I mean RIPPING into the boy!!! If it weren't for Ethan's long sleeves, I'm sure Bretten would have drawn blood. As it was, he broke the skin AND left scrape marks. I have NEVER had such a bad bite in my daycare!! I felt sorry for Ethan, that had to of hurt like hell!! We put an ice pack on it and he had a pop tart for snack, so it was all good for him then, lol. His mom was ok with it; Ethan's 2 year old little brother is a biter, too, so she was understanding. Bretten is 4, and should be over that stage, but he's only been here for a couple of weeks, and he hadn't been here in 4-5 days because he had been sick. He's never been in daycare before, so it's been a bit of a tough transition. He'll be fine, though, as long as he keeps his fangs to himself. :)

I guess I'll go lay down, maybe I'll be sleeping by 1 if I go now......

So Taylor says today at lunch....

My Mom gave us some donut holes yesterday. After lunch, Taylor looked at them and said, "I wish I was a donut so that I could eat myself".

A little disturbing, I thought..... lol

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Got woke up at 11 this morning by the phone. Got up and showered and started homework. I have to make blocks for my ECE class. And reading, holy cow is there alot of reading!!

Met Mom in Rothbury to pick up the girls. We had an awesome day; they didn't fight, Heather was super good, and I got alot of homework & more reading done. Made dinner, Taylor showered, and got them to bed.

On Extremem Makeover Home Edition they had a woman & her family on there from North Carolina. She's a childcare provider, too. They got a 5000 square foot house and a 500 square foot daycare that's attached to their home. So Katie, Judy & I hatched out a plan.... Have them build a house here on our property for us, build a house on Judy's property for Katie, and build a mother-in-law type apartment for Judy. She said that was fine with her; she'd give up her property for that. Man, that would be nice....

So it was a really bland day, but I feel like I got alot done homework-wise.....

Saturday Stuff

Taylor had her last football game to cheer for today. They had it at the Tri-City's Field, which turned out to be 45 minutes away. Strange since all of the other games have been more local. My Mom & Grandma went to go see her, too. Grandma Great hadn't been to see her yet, and I'm sure she enjoyed it.
I had Riley & Bronson today, so I had to stay home. They were turds; they hadn't napped (they're 2 & 3 year old brothers). I spent most of the day cleaning. It's getting too cold to hang the rugs out on the porch after washing them, though, because it's getting so cold. It only got up to about 53* today. Not too bad, unless you're trying to dry rugs.

Mom & Grandma came and got the girls after they ran errands. The girls are spending the night with Mom & Tom tonight. They're going to church in the morning, too. They enjoy going. I guess I should take them, but we're either doing something, going somewhere, or once in awhile I get to sleep in. Maybe I'm just lazy...... I just don't think that you need to go to church to know what you believe in. Of course we're talking about kids, and they will eventually make their own decisions...... I guess it's one part of parenting that you won't know if you did ok until much later.......

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I stayed up way too late and paid for it. I dragged butt today. I thought I didn't have much to do as far as errands, but was wrong once again. Katie got here and I went to the gym, the post office, and Ealy to drop off Heather's Oxybutinin (for daytime wetting).

Came home and showered, then went to Nat. City and Meijer to get groceries. Food prices sure are outrageous. Only one cart this week and I still spent $250. And I only got a few things that weren't on my list.

Came home and napped. Got up and cancelled my Dr. appt. with the dermatologist. (I ended up with acne in my 30's - go figure). Jon took Tay to cheerleading tonight, while I stayed home and beat kids. :)

Speaking of kids, I just checked on a couple of daycare kids that are sleeping. Tyler keeps getting out of his pack and play and goes to sleep with his brother, Ethan. I've tried discouraging it in the past, but it's so cute that tonight I just left them.

Can this week go any slower????

Not that I want it to fly by, it just seems like I've been running around and getting nowhere. I stayed up until 3:30 this morning and got through a little bit of my to-do pile. Wait, one of my to-do piles.

On Tuesday, Taylor went to the Fruitland Township Hall to learn about voting. They also cleaned up the playground for a service patch. She then went to cheerleading. I almost didn't let her go to both; that's alot of stuff to do in one day, especially with a full day of school. But she did good, and, of course, went to bed REALLY good.

I had class that night. I did another presentation; this one on the pros and cons of homework. I got some of my grades back from last week's presentation, a written report, and something that we did in class, and I was happy with the grades.

Yesterday, I went to physical therapy, then to Sociology class. That went well; especially because we got out early. :) He's not supposed to let us out early, but imo, if we get through the lessons and we're not failing our tests, it should be fine.

Katie's here; I can hear her car, lol. Guess I'll go get dressed; I have to go to the gym. No really, I have to, says fat girl....... :)

Just because I didn't have enough that I want to accomplish in a day....

I started a new MySpace just for daycare/parenting. Go to myspace.com/atonoffunchildcare to join!!

I also started a new webpage - check back later, too, there will be more!!

http://www.freewebs.com/atonoffunchildcare/

busy Sunday

I got up at 6:30 Sunday morning. Ugggg, there's something that I didn't want to do on my day off......

Got ready and was at my Mom's by 9. We packed up and headed north to Scottville for my cousin's baby shower (it's her 3rd kid, but that's another story). The food was the bonus (isn't it always?). We had ham & turkey sandwiches, cheesy potatoes (YUM!!), cherry & orange jello (with fruit, of course), pickles, and punch. We didn't have cake; my Mom made cupcakes instead. On the chocolate cupcakes I put a cream cheese frosting (which is the best!!), and the white cupcakes had chocolate frosting. Heather helped decorate them. She's not one to be in the kitchen, so that was nice. The girls were good; only had to beat them once. We had the shower at the Senior Center where my aunt works. It was a nice place, with a ton of space.

We stopped at my sister Deanna's after we left the shower. They painted their walls and had their wood floors re-done a few weeks ago, so she wanted me to see them. Then she had some stuff in her basement to give me. She was going to have a yard sale, but never got around to it, so she gave me a TON of clothes, mostly for Katie's baby, Elijah. And some toys, and a comforter set, a shelf with daisies, and a cool lampshade nightlight for the girls room.

We stopped back at Mom's, packed up the Durango, and finally got home around 4:30. I was exhausted. Came home and ate some of my Mom's cheesy potatoes (those will go right to my ass, I'm sure), and took a nap. I set my alarm for a half hour later. When it went off, I shut it off and fell back to sleep, only to wake up an hour later. Great, that put me behind. I just spent the rest of the night getting the girls fed, bathed, and ready for bed.

Here's where I was naughty. I stayed up until just after 3 because I was cleaning. I got a TON of stuff done!! Of course I'm dragging ass really bad today.....

Our Day

My Mom called me this morning at 9:15 and just so happened to wake me up. EVERY TIME, no lie, that I'm able to sleep in, that woman calls and wakes me up. But she got a surprise today, because she also woke HEATHER up!! lol That's my girl....

So I faced reality, got up and showered. I started taking Melatonin to help me fall asleep faster, but I'm dragging ASS even more in the morning (yes, that can happen, Katie), so I think I'm done with that. (Just in case someone thinks that I'm a druggie, Melatonin is produced naturally in everybody; it's a chemical that helps you fall asleep. Heather takes it to help her fall asleep because of the stimulants that she's on during the day for her adhd).

So after my shower, I did some laundry and cleaning up, then sat down to study. Next thing you know, I'm sawing logs. I have no idea what happened; I just know that I took that Melatonin last night and it just didn't wear off, apparently. I woke up at noon, just in time to get ready to leave for the football game that Taylor was cheering for. We got there about 45 minutes early, then the game before us ran a half hour late, which sucked. We finally got through our game, which they won 46 to 0. Holy spanking of the other team....

Came home to Riley, Bronson, and Bretten. OMG, 3 boys, lol. They were in the process of demolishing the playroom. That's fine; they got along pretty well, no major issues. Bretten has been here for only a week after being cared for by Grandma. He's doing a bit of crying because he misses his Mom, but he's adjusting quite well.


Once his Mom gets here (a little after 12), I'm going to bed. I have to get up early to go to a baby shower in the morning.......

Fire Station

Katie & I took kids to the fire dept. tonight. It's Fire Prevention Week and they always have an open house. They showed how they took the roof off of a mini van, tons of handouts, hats, stickers, etc., food (Pizza Hut, yum!!), Ronald McDonald doing magic, and fire truck rides.

The kids had fun and were really good. We took Heather & Taylor, Katie's son Matthew, Ethan & Tyler (daycare kids), and met another daycare Grandma (and Brianna). Here's some pics.....

Heather volunteered to do magic with Ronald.

The van that they tore the roof off of


The look on the kids' faces when they tore the windshield off


In the fire truck for a ride. Taylor & I got to sit in front & she was the horn blower.
They liked Ronald McDonald's magic tricks

Brianna pretending to dial 911 for an emergency
They were mesmerized at Ronald

Too cute!! Ethan, Tyler, and Matthew wanted NOTHING to do with having their pic taken with Ronald!! lol

Ronald was fun!!

Monday and Tuesday madness

Yesterday flew by; I'm not sure what happened. I had a physical therapy appt. in the morning for the carpel tunnel surgery that I had appx. 6 weeks ago. I actually learned alot. Came home and did stuff, lol. Heather, Taylor, and I had dental appointments after school. All of our teeth looked good. The girls need to brush longer. Funny thing is, I had just had that conversation with Heather the night before. Let's just say that she did NOT want to talk about that, lmao. Went to bed at 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. Got up at 6:30 and was soooo fricking tired. Don't know why...... Oh yeah, it's because I got my new Palm Pilot on Monday and stayed up all damn night playing, figuring it out, and setting up my calendar & stuff.

I went on a field trip (excuse me, it's called a "study trip" now) with Taylor's 3rd grade classmates to Camp Pendalouon. It really is an awesome place, and the counselor's are GREAT!! They are so enthusiastic and are so patient with the kids and all their questions. They learned about Native Americans and how they lived back in time.

During one session, they had set up logs held up in between 2 trees and gave the kids tomahawks. No really, a real tomahawk, which made us parents scratch our heads. Anyways, the kids went to the logs, took 7 steps (that had to do with how many rotations the tomahawk would make), and threw it. All the kids either had their tomahawk stick in the wood (a few), but most hit the wood and fell to the ground. Taylor's, on the other hand, flew 3 feet OVER the wood pile, and almost hit a squirrel 20 feet away!!! OMG, it was so damn funny!! That poor squirrel probably shat itself while running away crying!!! We had a good laugh from that.....

The kids also learned about how Lumberjacks worked and got to do some hands-on stuff, too. They cut wood, dragged logs with the tools that the lumbermen used, etc.I went back into Whitehall to pick up Heather's meds from Walgreens, then took some to the school. Came home and was exhausted, so Katie sent me to bed (not that I went kicking and screaming, lol). I woke up about an hour later when the kids got up from their nap.

I had my Intro. to Early Childhood Education class tonight. We can turn in homework early, so I had done a written report (one of 2) and one of the oral reports (one of 4), too. Last week in class, our instructor told us that we had to read chapters 1 through 5 in one of the 3 books. Hmmm, sounds like alot, 5 chapters. Until I opened it up and saw that it was the WHOLE DAMN BOOK!!! lol OMG, that was alot of reading (on NAECY'S principles). I admit, I only got about halfway through it. Turned out ok, though. Thankfully next week's homework isn't so lengthy.

And that's it. I'm trying desperately to catch up, but probably will go to bed soon, and it's only midnight. 3-4 hours of sleep the past 2 nights have caught up with me........