Today wasn't too bad, I suppose. But then again, I wouldn't know because I've been stuck behind this computer since 4:30 this morning and didn't quit until 8:30 this evening. I've sort of let everything go today. Jacob made dinner tonight, chili, and I think Kristin stepped in to make sure he didn't burn the house down or anything. Heaven knows I wouldn't have time for that. Plus, it just might make me cry.
Still haven't gotten my exercise in yet (now that it's nearing 9:00) so I think I'll walk on the tredmill for a little while before I hit the sack. I actually read today that taking a leasure walk before bed might help you sleep better, so here's to wishful thinking. With my luck it will just wake me up and I'll never get to sleep.
Jillian is still at Grandma B's, and I can't get over how quiet it is without her. It's just weird.
Well, I'm signing off. I still got some walking to do.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Day 2: I'm still here, I can feel it in my sore neck muscles
Another day and we're all still alive...
Got up very early this morning to get working (about 4:30). I'm so far behind schedule because my computer crashed last week that as long as I don't think of everything I need to have done by this Friday, the anxiety attacks aren't so bad.
Believe it or not, the FHE from last night did some good. We discussed a plan on how we could make our days go smoother around here and created a schedule. The morning went great. The kids were up and pretty much completely ready by 7:00. At 7:00 we were suppose to start "family time" (this involves scriptures, prayers, and of course eating). By the time we got everyone in the same room at the same time, it was pushing closer to 7:10, but we had breakfast together, family prayer, finished a chapter in the Book of Mormon, and did some socializing ALL before 7:30 when Ben and Sam had to leave. (Plus, the animals were taken care of without me saying anything AND most the beds were made...Jilly was still in bed so I'm not sure how to count that one) It was quite nice. No yelling, no hair pulling, no whinning...and the kids were just as good. This gave the middle kids plenty of time to do whatever until it was time to leave for school at 8:15.
I continued to work like a made woman, choosing not to exercise until later. After a 14.5 hour work day, I called it quits because my shoulders and neck were killling me. Earlier in the day Jon called to say he was sick. He stopped by the house for a few minutes in the afternoon after his doctor appointment (strep) to pick up his boots. His mom took him to the doctor and she picked up Jillian and is planning on keeping her for the night. It was nice and quiet here, but I kept finding myself wondering what Jillian was up to.
The afternoon didn't go as well at the morning because I was too busy staring at a computer screen, so my house is no cleaner, but I didn't hear fighting, and at least some of the kids claimed they got their homework done. This will get better. I'm still praying that the teachers will allow an extension on the science fair projects because they're just not happening. Oh, and I just learned that my Friday deadline was basically moved up to Thursday evening. Nice.
I finally stopped work at 7:00 to watch Biggest Loser. I'm behind 2 days on the bike, so I rode for 22.5 miles on the bike watching the show. By about mile 17 I think my feet and butt went numb, so it wasn't so bad after that. Ben challenge me to double that. I told him if he got all his homework done I would....I'm safe for now.
It's late. I'm tired. And there's a new day just hours away. I'm actually doing okay today. If the kids are as good tomorrow as they were today I might serious consider pulling the "Kids for Sale" ad...Okay, I didn't really do it,..but if it paid well....
Thanks to all for the love and support.
Gaye and the gang
Got up very early this morning to get working (about 4:30). I'm so far behind schedule because my computer crashed last week that as long as I don't think of everything I need to have done by this Friday, the anxiety attacks aren't so bad.
Believe it or not, the FHE from last night did some good. We discussed a plan on how we could make our days go smoother around here and created a schedule. The morning went great. The kids were up and pretty much completely ready by 7:00. At 7:00 we were suppose to start "family time" (this involves scriptures, prayers, and of course eating). By the time we got everyone in the same room at the same time, it was pushing closer to 7:10, but we had breakfast together, family prayer, finished a chapter in the Book of Mormon, and did some socializing ALL before 7:30 when Ben and Sam had to leave. (Plus, the animals were taken care of without me saying anything AND most the beds were made...Jilly was still in bed so I'm not sure how to count that one) It was quite nice. No yelling, no hair pulling, no whinning...and the kids were just as good. This gave the middle kids plenty of time to do whatever until it was time to leave for school at 8:15.
I continued to work like a made woman, choosing not to exercise until later. After a 14.5 hour work day, I called it quits because my shoulders and neck were killling me. Earlier in the day Jon called to say he was sick. He stopped by the house for a few minutes in the afternoon after his doctor appointment (strep) to pick up his boots. His mom took him to the doctor and she picked up Jillian and is planning on keeping her for the night. It was nice and quiet here, but I kept finding myself wondering what Jillian was up to.
The afternoon didn't go as well at the morning because I was too busy staring at a computer screen, so my house is no cleaner, but I didn't hear fighting, and at least some of the kids claimed they got their homework done. This will get better. I'm still praying that the teachers will allow an extension on the science fair projects because they're just not happening. Oh, and I just learned that my Friday deadline was basically moved up to Thursday evening. Nice.
I finally stopped work at 7:00 to watch Biggest Loser. I'm behind 2 days on the bike, so I rode for 22.5 miles on the bike watching the show. By about mile 17 I think my feet and butt went numb, so it wasn't so bad after that. Ben challenge me to double that. I told him if he got all his homework done I would....I'm safe for now.
It's late. I'm tired. And there's a new day just hours away. I'm actually doing okay today. If the kids are as good tomorrow as they were today I might serious consider pulling the "Kids for Sale" ad...Okay, I didn't really do it,..but if it paid well....
Thanks to all for the love and support.
Gaye and the gang
Monday, January 11, 2010
New Year, New Adventure: Day 1
It's the beginning of 2010 and I figure it's a good time to start posting again.
The main reason? Well, I figured that since Jon will be blogging regularly to journal his experience at the fitness ranch, I ought to do the same, only I will journal about my experiences here at home without him.
Day 1
I sent Jon off early this morning after a late night. He (we) was up until after 11:00 or 11:30 packing (and I'm surprized there's anything left in our room with all he took). So after getting to bed WAY too late, we were up WAY too early (somewhere around the 5:00 AM hour). He got all the kids up, said his goodbyes, Jillian sleepily shuffled herself back to bed, and we sent the rest down to exercise while I dropped him off.
We met two trainers, Austin and his wife Eve, when we got there and they were quite pleasant to talk with. I left knowing Jon was in good hands.
As for me, I got home shortly after 7:00 to make sure the kids were ready for school. I ended up helping with a few lunches to move things along, lectured some kids on getting their late work turned in, we had another family prayer, and slowly children started disappearing. Now if this all happened quietly, it could have been nice, but nothing happens quietly around this house, so I was entertained with the sound of children and the hustle and bustle of getting out the door for the next hour. (Why is it that no matter how early you get the kids up or how prepared you think you are to start the day, there is ALWAYS drama getting kids out the door? Today Jacob lost track of his backpack and we finally found it in the bathroom....go figure.)
Once they were gone I walked/jogged 3 miles on the treadmill and planned to do 10 miles on the bike, but work called to say my computer arrived. Yes, my other computer died on me last week and instead of sending the replacement to my home, they accidentally sent it to the Sandy office. Fun for me. So, sweaty and all, I jumped in the car to go retrieve my computer. Kristin is still here so she stayed with Jillian. Grandma Brady said she'd take Jillian today but after waking Jillian up to ask if she wanted to go to Grandma B's, without opening her eyes she lazily replied, "No, thanks," and drifted right back off to sleep.
What I thought would be a quick 1 hour trip into the office turned into about 4 or 5. I decided loading all my necessary applications while in the office would be faster, but I didn't realize how long that would still take. But I'm not up and running, which makes me happy, but I'm a bit overwhelmed because I have some major deadlines this week that I MUST get done.
On the way home I stopped at WalMart to get Science Fair poster boards (for the three that are due this week.....which haven't been started...can I cry now). Had some trouble juggling the boards at the checkout so the cash moved them to the side while I purchased the rest of my stuff. It wasn't until I was 5 miles up the road that I realized I'd left the poster boards with the cashier and had to go back and get them. Of course, the kids had called on my way home and I said I'd pick them up on the way home, so I had to go get them first, turn back and go to the store, the head home again. Jacob fell asleep on the way home, and I think Deanna was close. I then tried to encourage the kids to do homework. Not sure how that went. I think I had to remind Jacob about 5 times before he finally finished his spelling page but at least he got it done. I'm not even sure if the other kids had even started homework. I ended up spending another 15 minutes with the older two explaining that a ZERO on an assignment means that are NOT done with their homework. Then Jacob wanted to read but I had to get Dani from play practice, so Kristin took over with the reading.
I'd promised Dani some time out together, so we ran over to the shoe store to buy some moccasins for her play (she's going to be Sacajawea). Then we ran over to the library to get some books for her science fair project. While I was there I decided to check the shelves for a book Deanna has checked out. I've looked EVERYWHERE for it and it's over a month overdue. I figured it was worth a try to see if it got returned but never checked in. I found the book (or should I say books) on the shelf. There were 6 copies: 1 hard and 5 soft covers. I thought it was a soft cover she'd checked out so I left the one copy and took the rest up to the front desk to see if any of them could have been the book she had checked out. No luck. I was about ready to just walk away when I decided to go ahead and grab the hard cover, just in case. Guess what. That was it. She checked the book in and removed all the fines. So now I'm square with the library and I can rest easier at night. (May sound funny, buy Jon knows how I stress about those things).
We picked up pizza on the way home (easy dinner). It was pretty much chaos when I got home. Ben was doing listening logs for his orchestra class so we had to listen to 2 hours of Christmas and orchestra music he found interesting. There was a mess on the table and homework scattered about, so dinner ended up being all of us standing or sitting around the one clear end of the table and eating.
After that we had Family Home Evening (FHE). Perhaps I should rephrase that. I attempted Family Home Evening, but I think what I managed to get out of it was Family Stress and Chaos Evening. The older kids were okay, but the younger ones would not sit still. They laughed and played and wrestled and fought and toss things around to the point that I was about to go crazy. I must confess. At one point I'd lost it when Jacob and Jillian were on to their third fight over something she'd taken from him. Jacob was very emotional tonight and he said, "Mom, I'm having a bad day." I told him I was too but let just be glad it's almost over and hope the rest of it is good.
At this point I decided ending FHE was probably ranking #1 on my list of "good things to do". I then sent kids to brush teeth, say prayers, then spent the next 45 minutes playing kid hockey, shuffling them back to their beds after clever escapes. Of course, when you get a kid from each room sneaking out while you're shoving another back in, it's pretty easy and fun on their part. Had to make the girl's bed again and thought I'd be brilliant and wash my sheets. Now here I sit at 10:00 at night with no sheets yet. What was I thinking?
Well, I'm still alive. My kids are still alive. And my house is still standing (although I think that one might be pretty easy to do since all the junk laying around the house is probably what's keeping it up).
I'm not sure if I'll ever be hip on the one parenting thing. I can definitely see the wisdom of partner and tag team parenting. But we're all excited to see 'Dad' start his new life. I had visions today of a fit and trim man walking back into our home in a few weeks. It should be exciting.
Good luck Jon/Dad!!!
The main reason? Well, I figured that since Jon will be blogging regularly to journal his experience at the fitness ranch, I ought to do the same, only I will journal about my experiences here at home without him.
Day 1
I sent Jon off early this morning after a late night. He (we) was up until after 11:00 or 11:30 packing (and I'm surprized there's anything left in our room with all he took). So after getting to bed WAY too late, we were up WAY too early (somewhere around the 5:00 AM hour). He got all the kids up, said his goodbyes, Jillian sleepily shuffled herself back to bed, and we sent the rest down to exercise while I dropped him off.
We met two trainers, Austin and his wife Eve, when we got there and they were quite pleasant to talk with. I left knowing Jon was in good hands.
As for me, I got home shortly after 7:00 to make sure the kids were ready for school. I ended up helping with a few lunches to move things along, lectured some kids on getting their late work turned in, we had another family prayer, and slowly children started disappearing. Now if this all happened quietly, it could have been nice, but nothing happens quietly around this house, so I was entertained with the sound of children and the hustle and bustle of getting out the door for the next hour. (Why is it that no matter how early you get the kids up or how prepared you think you are to start the day, there is ALWAYS drama getting kids out the door? Today Jacob lost track of his backpack and we finally found it in the bathroom....go figure.)
Once they were gone I walked/jogged 3 miles on the treadmill and planned to do 10 miles on the bike, but work called to say my computer arrived. Yes, my other computer died on me last week and instead of sending the replacement to my home, they accidentally sent it to the Sandy office. Fun for me. So, sweaty and all, I jumped in the car to go retrieve my computer. Kristin is still here so she stayed with Jillian. Grandma Brady said she'd take Jillian today but after waking Jillian up to ask if she wanted to go to Grandma B's, without opening her eyes she lazily replied, "No, thanks," and drifted right back off to sleep.
What I thought would be a quick 1 hour trip into the office turned into about 4 or 5. I decided loading all my necessary applications while in the office would be faster, but I didn't realize how long that would still take. But I'm not up and running, which makes me happy, but I'm a bit overwhelmed because I have some major deadlines this week that I MUST get done.
On the way home I stopped at WalMart to get Science Fair poster boards (for the three that are due this week.....which haven't been started...can I cry now). Had some trouble juggling the boards at the checkout so the cash moved them to the side while I purchased the rest of my stuff. It wasn't until I was 5 miles up the road that I realized I'd left the poster boards with the cashier and had to go back and get them. Of course, the kids had called on my way home and I said I'd pick them up on the way home, so I had to go get them first, turn back and go to the store, the head home again. Jacob fell asleep on the way home, and I think Deanna was close. I then tried to encourage the kids to do homework. Not sure how that went. I think I had to remind Jacob about 5 times before he finally finished his spelling page but at least he got it done. I'm not even sure if the other kids had even started homework. I ended up spending another 15 minutes with the older two explaining that a ZERO on an assignment means that are NOT done with their homework. Then Jacob wanted to read but I had to get Dani from play practice, so Kristin took over with the reading.
I'd promised Dani some time out together, so we ran over to the shoe store to buy some moccasins for her play (she's going to be Sacajawea). Then we ran over to the library to get some books for her science fair project. While I was there I decided to check the shelves for a book Deanna has checked out. I've looked EVERYWHERE for it and it's over a month overdue. I figured it was worth a try to see if it got returned but never checked in. I found the book (or should I say books) on the shelf. There were 6 copies: 1 hard and 5 soft covers. I thought it was a soft cover she'd checked out so I left the one copy and took the rest up to the front desk to see if any of them could have been the book she had checked out. No luck. I was about ready to just walk away when I decided to go ahead and grab the hard cover, just in case. Guess what. That was it. She checked the book in and removed all the fines. So now I'm square with the library and I can rest easier at night. (May sound funny, buy Jon knows how I stress about those things).
We picked up pizza on the way home (easy dinner). It was pretty much chaos when I got home. Ben was doing listening logs for his orchestra class so we had to listen to 2 hours of Christmas and orchestra music he found interesting. There was a mess on the table and homework scattered about, so dinner ended up being all of us standing or sitting around the one clear end of the table and eating.
After that we had Family Home Evening (FHE). Perhaps I should rephrase that. I attempted Family Home Evening, but I think what I managed to get out of it was Family Stress and Chaos Evening. The older kids were okay, but the younger ones would not sit still. They laughed and played and wrestled and fought and toss things around to the point that I was about to go crazy. I must confess. At one point I'd lost it when Jacob and Jillian were on to their third fight over something she'd taken from him. Jacob was very emotional tonight and he said, "Mom, I'm having a bad day." I told him I was too but let just be glad it's almost over and hope the rest of it is good.
At this point I decided ending FHE was probably ranking #1 on my list of "good things to do". I then sent kids to brush teeth, say prayers, then spent the next 45 minutes playing kid hockey, shuffling them back to their beds after clever escapes. Of course, when you get a kid from each room sneaking out while you're shoving another back in, it's pretty easy and fun on their part. Had to make the girl's bed again and thought I'd be brilliant and wash my sheets. Now here I sit at 10:00 at night with no sheets yet. What was I thinking?
Well, I'm still alive. My kids are still alive. And my house is still standing (although I think that one might be pretty easy to do since all the junk laying around the house is probably what's keeping it up).
I'm not sure if I'll ever be hip on the one parenting thing. I can definitely see the wisdom of partner and tag team parenting. But we're all excited to see 'Dad' start his new life. I had visions today of a fit and trim man walking back into our home in a few weeks. It should be exciting.
Good luck Jon/Dad!!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sleep Tight, but don't mention anything about bed bugs
When it's time for Jillian to go down for her nap, someone will usually bring her in to me to say good night. We exchange our bed time pleasantries "Night, mommy!" "Good night, girl" "Sweet dreams!" one of us will usually say, we blow kisses and Jillian giggles, and then she quitely goes down for a nap. Today however, after exchanging our usual sayings, I added, "Sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite." At this comment she looked back at me questioningly, a bit bothered. Thinking maybe she didn't quite understand this new phrase I said, "Don't worry. Just have sweet dreams!" Jon then carted her off to bed only to see his 2 year old daughter's face become more stressed. "Daddy?" she whimpered, "Bugs eat me?"
I've now been warned that Child Protective Services will be called if I ever mention bed bugs again. And all this time I just thought it was another pleasantry my parents and I used to exchange at night. Sheesh. Now I know better....
I've now been warned that Child Protective Services will be called if I ever mention bed bugs again. And all this time I just thought it was another pleasantry my parents and I used to exchange at night. Sheesh. Now I know better....
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What a racquet
Well, cross your fingers, knock on wood, and rub your lucky rabbit's foot. Jon has not been accident free for over 2 weeks now, possibly 3. We're excited about that and Jon's relieved that no back muscles or blisters are keeping him from enjoying the pleasures of exercise. Just last weekend Jon and I were able to play several hours of racquetball. Friday evening we went to play and I thought I started out playing a pretty mean game, until Jon showed that he had too many tricks up his sleeve and pulled out a win. After that I fell apart and Jon managed to trounce me the next 4 games. Very discouraging on my part, but at least it was exercise. Saturday morning proved that I must have snagged a decent night's sleep because I came back full force. Although I still didn't beat Jon at any of the 3 games we played, the 3 games stretched over 2 hours and one game even went into overtime, where Jon finally managed to pull off the upset 23-21.
Just in case anyone's wondering, Jon is down 45 lbs and I'm down 21. We're still working hard to eat healthy and get in exercise. We actually started riding the bike most mornings too, and I have to admit we're a bit saddle sore.
Just in case anyone's wondering, Jon is down 45 lbs and I'm down 21. We're still working hard to eat healthy and get in exercise. We actually started riding the bike most mornings too, and I have to admit we're a bit saddle sore.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Someone's talking!!
Deanna has really taken on to this reading thing. I can't believe the progress she's made this past year and past few months. However, dispite her improvements, keeping up with words of the church hymns during sacrament meeting still posses a problem for her. She used to have me tell her the words as she was about to sing them, but I think sometimes she finds it difficult to sing and listen at the same time. So, recently she's resorted to reading the entire song first before we even start singing. However, this means she's reading during the course of sacrament meeting, and she prefers to do it out loud so I can correct her if she gets it wrong.
A week ago we went to Jon's nephew's mission farewell talk. After the sacrament she dutifully opened the hymn book to the closing song and began reading the text to me. The song this day was Called to Serve Him. She began reading, and was doing great, except I had to keep reminding her that someone was talking and she had to keep it down or others could hear her. It was a difficult task for her, but she got better at keeping it down. When she reached the chorus she came to the words, "onward, ever onward", but instead of saying "ever" she kept saying "every". Trying to keep the volume down myself, I tried to correct her and let it know it was EVER, not EVERY. She began to get a bit flustered, but continued saying EVERY. When I tried to correct her again, she said, "I can't hear you! That lady up there's talking."
I tried to stifle a snicker but told Jon what happened. Upon hearing this he started chuckling and couldn't stop. Deanna couldn't understand why dad was laughing. I think I told her he was just enjoying himself at church....
A week ago we went to Jon's nephew's mission farewell talk. After the sacrament she dutifully opened the hymn book to the closing song and began reading the text to me. The song this day was Called to Serve Him. She began reading, and was doing great, except I had to keep reminding her that someone was talking and she had to keep it down or others could hear her. It was a difficult task for her, but she got better at keeping it down. When she reached the chorus she came to the words, "onward, ever onward", but instead of saying "ever" she kept saying "every". Trying to keep the volume down myself, I tried to correct her and let it know it was EVER, not EVERY. She began to get a bit flustered, but continued saying EVERY. When I tried to correct her again, she said, "I can't hear you! That lady up there's talking."
I tried to stifle a snicker but told Jon what happened. Upon hearing this he started chuckling and couldn't stop. Deanna couldn't understand why dad was laughing. I think I told her he was just enjoying himself at church....
Time Flies
So, I've had so many things to say and haven't taken the time to write them down. Now I'm certain I've forgotten most of them. I'll just keep posting as things come up.
Jon and I are still working hard to get ourselves in shape. Seems Jon encounters obstacle after obstacle. His back has been doing better for a few weeks now, but he decided to join me in the blister department a time or two. Last week his ankle was bothering him. Saturday he twisted is arm and it's been a bit sore. But, we're still keepin' on. As of now Jon's down over 35 lb since mid/late May, and I'm down around 17. It's hard to see the change when you see yourself every day, but there is some noticable change if you stop to think about it.
As for the home, it's had to take a little bit of a back seat this past week. Work has been busy for me and Jon's been caught up in errands and such. This week alone he went to Idaho to drop off his nephew and pick up his niece. We ran our car into the shop to get repaired, picked it up yesterday, wasn't done right so we'll be heading back out there again soon. Tuesday he spent the afternoon/evening at Ben's Scout camp.....The list goes on and on. But today he's making some progress around the house (finally got the last of the Christmas lights off the house....as embarrassing as that is to say).
We'll check in again soon when I can remember all the things I wanted to mention revisualize in my brain.
Jon and I are still working hard to get ourselves in shape. Seems Jon encounters obstacle after obstacle. His back has been doing better for a few weeks now, but he decided to join me in the blister department a time or two. Last week his ankle was bothering him. Saturday he twisted is arm and it's been a bit sore. But, we're still keepin' on. As of now Jon's down over 35 lb since mid/late May, and I'm down around 17. It's hard to see the change when you see yourself every day, but there is some noticable change if you stop to think about it.
As for the home, it's had to take a little bit of a back seat this past week. Work has been busy for me and Jon's been caught up in errands and such. This week alone he went to Idaho to drop off his nephew and pick up his niece. We ran our car into the shop to get repaired, picked it up yesterday, wasn't done right so we'll be heading back out there again soon. Tuesday he spent the afternoon/evening at Ben's Scout camp.....The list goes on and on. But today he's making some progress around the house (finally got the last of the Christmas lights off the house....as embarrassing as that is to say).
We'll check in again soon when I can remember all the things I wanted to mention revisualize in my brain.
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