Friday, November 30, 2007

OUCH!

As you know we had some trouble with our furnace the other day. While I was waiting for the serviceman to arrive, I thought I should straighten the house a bit. So I picked up some things in the living room, cleared the dining room table, and then went downstairs and straightened the basement. As usual, Emily followed me through the house repeating "Hepp you Mommy?" When I was done, and the house looked decent, I decided to vacuum the basement. I pulled out the vacuum cleaner, and Emily says "Ouchie Mommy?". I told her no, no ouchies today. Just cleaning. Somehow I don't think she believed me because as soon as I turned the vacuum on, both she and the dog ran upstairs!

This all stems from an incident several weeks ago. Someone broke a picture frame in the living room. As usual, Emily was eager to help me clean it up. I had already picked up the big pieces, and wanted to vacuum the little pieces. I was afraid she would hurt herself on the glass, so I told her over and over, "No Emily! OUCH!". Well she got the idea alright. I don't think she will ever go near a vacuum cleaner again!

By the way, the furnace just needed to be cleaned and is working fine now.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Why Put Off Till Tomorrow? Because It's Cold!

I had a very busy Holiday Week with several trips back and forth from Indiana. We returned home Saturday afternoon and I had to work the next three nights. So basically my house has fallen apart again and today was the day to put it back together. I had plans to do laundry, go grocery shopping and straighten some of the messes around the house. But alas, I discovered late this morning that the furnace is not working. We had the same problem 2 years ago, though on a much colder day, and it was just a matter of cleaning a sensor. Stupid technology these days. Who would think that the furnace wouldn't work because a sensor is dirty? So I packed up the baby and went to Grams where it is a bit warmer than my house. We had lunch and now here we sit waiting for the furnace guy to call. I am thankful at least that it is a decent day. The temperature outside is in the upper 40's. The house right now is in the 60's. Last time we had a problem, It was bitter cold outside, the furnace stopped working overnight, and we woke up to a house in the 40's. Hopefully in a few hours the house will be nice and toasty again.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

What would you do?

The boys have both been needing haircuts. I try to let it grow a while before the holidays, so when they get it cut, it looks nice for pictures. It has been growing, and it is definitely time to get it trimmed. I had a chance to take Austin before his religion class last night. We ran to Supercuts, and they got us in right away. The lady asked Austin how he wanted it done. He told her to ask me. So I told her, HE wants a buzz, but DO NOT buzz it. I said I like it longer for the holidays so he can part it and comb it to the side. I told her to just clean it up a little bit. I left him with her and sat down with a magazine. That was my first mistake. He came to me a few minutes later with damp hair saying he was done. His hair did not look like it had been cut at all. It wasn't even combed! I tried to part it to the side with my fingers to see if it looked any different, and I couldn't believe she called this a haircut. I tried to be nice about it, although my instincts said just leave and go somewhere else. I told her she needed to take some more off because his hair grows really fast. She said she would have to pull out the clippers then. I told her OK. He went back to the chair, and I picked up the magazine again. This was mistake number 3 ( #2 was not leaving when my instincts told me to). When he came back, he was all smiles, she buzzed it. It's not a short buzz, and it actually looks a little awkward. Kind of like it does those few weeks as I try to grow out his buzz at the end of every summer. At this point, I was so frustrated I just wanted to get out of there. So I paid her the $9.95 and left.

After I got home, I was still steaming about this. I made it clear to her when we came in that I did NOT want her to buzz it. I did not feel that I was giving her permission to buzz it when she told me she needed to use the clippers. Now, I have to wait a few more weeks for it to grow out again, and hopefully get it trimmed just before Christmas. It doesn't look bad, it's just not what I told her to do.

Jeff said I shouldn't have paid for the haircut, but I was in a hurry and did not have time for a confrontation with the hairdresser or management. I feel like I should call Supercuts and complain, but what will that get me? A free haircut next time I come in? I don't think I want to go back there. At the same time, I have a clipper at home, and if I wanted it buzzed I could have done a better job myself for free.

So I am just wondering, what would you my loyal readers do? Would you have left without paying? Even though pressed for time, would you have stopped and complained to the hairdresser or management? Would you call to complain after the fact even though your not likely to get any satisfaction anyway? Or would you have handled the situation completely differently?

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Go AWAY Santa!

Today we went to cut down our Christmas Tree. There is a very nice tree farm in Indiana we have been to once before. After you cut down your tree, they shake the loose needles off, and then bale the tree. You load it onto the horse-drawn wagon, and then you and your tree ride back to the Christmas village. There you will find a gift shop with all kinds of ornaments and other Christmas decorations. This is also where you pay for your tree. With the weather so nice today, it was a busy place. The line went all the way to the back of the store. I stood in line while Jeff's mom took the kids to the "Good Eats" barn for some treats and hot cocoa. Jeff took the tree to the truck. While in line, I had plenty of time to window shop. I couldn't help myself and had to make one impulsive buy when I found myself giggling out loud. I found a small sign that looks like it should hang on a doorknob. I think I will hang it on the railing at the stairway that goes up to the bedrooms. It read, "One thing I have learned in life is that if you want something really badly, you have to keep your room clean all week!" My kids smiled and pouted when I showed it to them.

After a small snack, we continued to walk around. They have a small petting zoo with a few young cows. You can see some real reindeer, and a few peacocks and other unusual birds. We had the dog with us, and he found all these animals and new scents very interesting. I was surprised at how well he behaved. He sniffed at the cows through the fencing, and they met nose to nose, but his tail wagged constantly. I think he would have liked to have jumped in the pen and played with them. Then we took some pictures as the kids played on a wooden train and tractor.

Finally we headed over to the wreath barn to look at the different wreaths and swags. As we finished looking there, Jeff and I were ready to leave. Katelyn, sounding very disappointed insisted she wanted to see Mrs. Clause. So we stopped by Santa's house so Kate could say hello to Mrs. Clause who had been standing outside. Next thing I know, we were in line to see Santa himself. Now I was going to skip this step today because I had caught a glimpse of Santa earlier, and lets just say he didn't look like I remembered him. He was a little scruffy looking today. But Katelyn did not hesitate to go sit on his lap and talk to him when our turn came. After she was done, Kyle went in. I kept telling the kids they could go together in the hopes of getting done sooner, but they each took a turn. Shannon and Austin looked slightly embarrassed and each offered for the other to go first. Austin graciously went and sat on Santa's lap for a few seconds while he said hello, and then Shannon. As each of them left, Santa handed them a small candy cane. Now I have been coaxing Emily for this moment for a while. Showing her pictures of Santa and telling her who he is in the hopes that his face would become familiar and maybe I could get a picture of her on his lap this year. What happened next, only a video camera could do justice to.

Kate kept offering to ask Santa for a candy cane for Emily. I didn't really want Emily to have one. So I told her no, Emily could have one only if she went in to see Santa herself. She had to earn it. And since all the other kids went to see him, I tried coaxing Emily to go too. but she wanted no part of it. Next thing I know, Santa gets up off his chair and comes walking towards us with a candy cane in his hand. Emily screamed, so I bent down to comfort her. She buried her head in my chest, wrapped her arms tightly around me and continued to cry. Santa gently offered the candy cane. I thanked him and accepted it. I tried to get Emily to at least look at him, but she would not remove her face from my chest until he was gone. Then, as quickly as she had started, she stopped crying. She took the candy cane from my hand and asked, "Mommy open?". She may not have gone in to see Santa herself, but I thought she had earned it anyway. If that Santa had approached me anywhere else besides our Christmas Tree village, I probably would have screamed and ran to hide too.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

I HATE OHIO

I have never found Ohio to be a very interesting state. Sure, they have some good amusement parks, but do they have anything else to offer in Ohio? All I can say is Ohio and I do not have a very good history. We just can't seem to get along. I remember many years ago, (I'm gonna guess and say about 8yrs) my husband and I took our 2 (or was it 3) young kids to Kings Island. We borrowed my in-laws' minivan for the trip. On the way home, the van broke down. The transmission completely locked up. We had to spend an extra night in Ohio, take an extra day off work, rent a car, and have the minivan towed home for repair.

Lets move forward a few years. I believe it would be late 2004. We took a trip to Niagara falls with my parents and my grandmothers. I have both Grandmas and 4 kids in the SUV. My parents took my Dad's MR2. The trip was great! We all had a really nice time. Coming home we passed through Ohio. It was getting late in the afternoon, and we really wanted to get home that night. I was trying to push it as far as I could without stopping, but in Ohio we hit road construction and heavy traffic as rush hour approached. After being stuck in traffic in Ohio for a few hours, I really wanted to keep pushing it to Indiana before we stopped for dinner. But the kids were getting hungry and crabby, so what can you do? We decided to stop at Ryan's (a dinner buffet) about 100 miles from the border. Kate was 2, and miserable. She was hungry and tired and so was I. This made both of us a bit crabby. Then Austin, who would have been 8, insisted on carrying his own plate of spaghetti which of course ends up all over the floor. If I remember correctly, we may have even had a few spilled drinks. It was just one of those nights where if something could go wrong, it did. I was getting quite frustrated as every minute spent there was that much longer until we would get home. Finally dinner is done and we are on the road. As we are leaving Ohio an hour and a half later, we come to a toll booth. I reach for my purse and have the sudden dreadful realization that it was left at the restaurant. I have to turn around and go back for it. I frantically call 411 for the phone number to the restaurant so I can verify they have it, and make sure they will be open when we get there. I explain what happened and the manager said they will wait for me. To make a long story a little shorter, we did not make it out of Ohio that night. We got my purse, and a hotel room. Again, I missed an extra day of work. We finally made it home the next afternoon.

November 17, 2007 - 2:30 AM. As I have mentioned before, I work nights. I worked last night, came home and napped somewhere between 1-2 hours. Then I got up, made lunch and headed to the kid's school for their awards assembly. After school, we all worked on cleaning up the yard (raking), and the house. Then it was pizza night at my parents house. At 9:00pm we headed home. Finally at 9:30, I can lay down for another hour before I need to leave for work. When I get to work at 11:00pm, I find that it is a slow night. I'm really tired, and secretly hoping they will send one of us home tonight. I often have luck when we throw names in a hat, and I am hoping this could be my lucky night. Around 2:30am one of my co-workers comes by and makes the suggestions I have been wishing for. OK, she got the ball rolling, and I'm going for it! We check with the other 2 secretaries, and they don't want to leave early. Even better, now my odds of getting some sleep are 50/50! Since there are only 2 of us, I suggest we flip a coin instead of pulling names. My co-worker agrees, but is somewhat reluctant because she knows I have the winning streak. I reach in my pocket and pull out a quarter. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to check what state was on the quarter. I'll bet you can guess... OHIO! At that moment, I knew I was not going home. Sure enough, my co-worker won the toss. She is headed to the boats in New Buffalo. I bet she wins big! I am stuck here at work. Oh well, I'll sleep tonight.

Monday, November 12, 2007

High Honors!

Was I worried? Yes, I was! I don't put a lot of pressure on them to get good grades. As long as they are doing their homework everyday, and they seem to be making an effort in school, I am satisfied. They all do very well on their own. But Austin has high expectations for himself, and I was afraid he would be disappointed if he didn't make the High Honor Roll. He has had a few papers come home with grades a little lower than what we are used to seeing. I wasn't sure how many exactly, or if they were for the same class. Thank goodness it all balanced out. He and Shannon both made High Honors with all A's except one B each and GPA's of 3.89 and 3.93. Kyle and Kate do not get "letter grades" yet, but they had very good marks as well.

Yipee!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Medical Alert

I noticed the other day when I was visiting with my grandmother that she had received a brochure from one of those Medical Alert systems they have for the elderly. I wasn't sure if she actually got one of those systems or was just looking into it. I skimmed throught the brochure, and first thought this could be a good thing for her to have. Besides providing her with a "panic button" if she needs help, it also has an inactivity monitor that will notify the system to contact someone for assistance, and it reminds her when her medications are due. Sounds great, right? Then I continued to read about how she needs to notify the system when she leaves the house so it doesn't detect her absence as inactivity. She also needs to notify the system again when she returns. It should be simple. Just push this button and hold it for 5 seconds. But if there is one thing I have learned, nothing is simple.

The next evening, I am beginning to make dinner when I get a call on my cell phone from my Aunt Gini who lives in Florida. I find this unusual and answer the call immediately. She is concerned because she received a phone call from the Medical Alert company stating that Gram was not responding to them. I told her I thought my other aunt was there with Gram this evening, but I would check it out. I RAN down the block to Gram's to find not only Aunt Tricia there, but the house was full of people. Gram was walking around and seemed to be fine. It was my sister and my aunt who were not ok. They were getting frustrated as they tried to figure out how to work this new Medical Alert system. It seems they tripped the alarm as they were trying to set up the box, and they couldn't figure out how to answer the operator from the Med Alert system to let them know everything was ok. I called Aunt Gini in Florida to let her know not to worry, everything was fine. Then I returned home to finish preparing our dinner.

I assumed my sister and my aunt had read the directions, figured everything out, and all should be well again. Oops, never assume. The next evening we all gathered for my cousin's son's birthday party. Due to the amount of kids coming to the party, his wife rented a party room. Gram was there and we were all visiting. Aunt Tricia was talking about Gram's new medical alert system and I asked "Did you remember to notify the system you were leaving home?". No one knew what I was talking about. I explained that if she doesn't push the button to notify them she is leaving, it will detect her absence as inactivity and alert the system. At first no one seemed concerned about it. Finally I told Aunt Tricia "I guess I better keep my cell phone handy so when Aunt Gini calls from Florida, I can let her know everything is ok." I guess she finally realized we were probably going to cause alarm for her sister. She left a message on Aunt Gini's cell phone that they didn't know about this "away" feature and Gram was with us and fine. Problem solved.

Not so fast! About two hours later, my mother, who is on a cruise, calls my cell phone sounding alarmed. "Do you know where Gram is?" she asks me. I laughed. Sure enough the system alarmed, but instead of calling my Aunt Gini in Florida, or my Aunt Tricia who was here, they tracked down my mother on her cell phone, in the middle of the ocean. I told her Gram was with me and explained that she did not notify the system she was leaving the house.

Hopefully this will be the end of the false alarms, but I'm not holding my breath. I may turn blue!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

GOT MILK?

I recently decided to start walking. I'm trying to get back in shape and thought walking daily would be a good place to start. Now I am a realist and I know there is no way I will get out for a walk every day! If I can get out a few times a week I will be happy.

I noticed this morning we were almost out of milk after breakfast. So I decided I would walk to the local grocery store for milk after I take the kids to school. I bundled up the baby and put her in the stroller. I figure round trip to the store and back should be approximately 1 mile. Good! I took the side streets to the grocery store, and headed down the main road with the gallon of milk in the bottom of the stroller on the way back. As we neared the train station, I thought about the new Dunkin Donuts they opened near there. I haven't had a Dunkin Donuts coffee in a long time so I decided we would stop there before going home. I got my coffee, two donuts for me and one for the baby. I realize this is counterproductive to my walking, but who cares. We pass by my grandmother's house on the way home so I thought we would stop in and have breakfast with her. Then we can head home later to put the baby down for a nap and I can do some laundry! I left the milk in the bottom of the stroller beacause it seems cold enough outside today. After breakfast and a short visit with Gram, the baby is tired and we need to get home. I arrive at the front door, get the baby out and unlock the door. I reach in the bottom of the stroller and grab the gallon of milk only to realize it is dripping!! Sure enough there is a small puddle of milk in the bottom of the stroller. Emily says " Ohhh, messy!" Yes Emily, messy! I run to the kitchen sink which thank godness is not filled with dirty dishes and set the leaking gallon in there. Now what to do with the milk! Thank goodness the old gallon is nearly empty. I pour the new milk in with the old (the expiration dates are only 1 day apart). Milk never lasts more than a day and a half in my house anyway. I think we only lost about 1 glass of milk, but how did this happen? Was the gallon leaking at the store and I didn't notice? Did I hit something with the bottom of the stroller on the way home? Oh well, it doesn't really matter. LIFE HAPPENS!

Welcome To My World

I've decided to enter the world of blogging. (I think) We'll take this journey together and see how far we go.

If you don't know me, I am a mom of FIVE. My oldest just turned 11 and the youngest is ALMOST 2, though we still refer to her as the baby. My husband works for the cable company and often works overtime. The older kids are involved in Baseball, Softball, Piano, Saxaphone, Chorus, Drama Club, Girl Scouts and Chess Club.

I work 4 nights a week (11pm-7am) as an Admitting Associate in Labor & Delivery at our local hospital. People often tell me they don't know how I do it. My thoughts on that? I DON'T! On any average day you will find coats, backpacks, shoes and papers of all kinds thrown around the living room. Not to mention the pile of mail I haven't gotten to yet. The dining room table is usually covered with more papers, cereal boxes, and cereal bowls the kids have forgotten to put in the sink (I'm giving them the benefit of doubt here) until I clear it for dinner. If I haven't swept yet today there will be cherrios, crumbs, crayons, markers, pencils and anything else the baby may have dropped on the floor. I try to sweep at least once a day! The kitchen table...Wait, do I have a kitchen table? I'll find it someday when I am expecting guests over. It's not really that bad. Just more papers, mail and miscellaneous stuff the kids can't seem to find a place for. The kitchen sink always has dirty dishes in it except for about the first 5 minutes after I have finished washing all the dishes. It's like magic how that fills up again! The basement always has kids toys and games pulled out, and various piles of laundry which have been sorted for the wash. Can you ever get caught up on laundry? Not in my world! If you use either of my bathrooms and actually find a roll of toilet paper on the dispenser, you should buy a lottery ticket because today is your lucky day. It seems the kids prefer to keep the toilet paper roll on the sink counter. It is not uncommon to hear someone yell from the bathroom "Will someone please get me a roll of toilet paper?!?", because no one has bothered to replace the empty roll. The kids bedrooms...we won't go there, at least I try not to go there anymore than necessary. They each have clothes hampers, but they don't seem to get the concept of putting dirty clothes in them. They have toy boxes, shelves, and bins but nothing ever seems to find it's place.

Now don't go reporting me to the authorities. It's not like we live in filth. It's just with working nights, catching a 3-4 hour nap during the day, and running with the kids in the afternoon; housework often gets pushed to the side. I have 4 kids in school and all papers the school sends home come into my house x4. I usually spend most of my days off trying to get things organized and catch up on whatever housework has fallen behind. I recently had an uneventful weekend (meaning I didn't work and I had nowhere I had to be) and even my kids were surprised at how quickly the house was cleaned up when everyone worked together.

The point is my life may be chaotic most of the time and my house may tend to be disorganized, but what can I say? LIFE HAPPENS! I hope to enjoy as much of it as I can!