I thought that tomorrow is Friday the 13th!?!?

However…for some reason…today has been more like I would expect tomorrow to be.  Does that make sense?

Okay…let me back up a little bit…

We got Caleb to sleep in his new ‘big boy’s bed’ last night (twin size).  He loves his new bed…and he seemed to feel a bit better last night, but…when I woke up this morning, my Mom told me that around 1am he climbed into bed with her.  He came downstairs this morning and his cough, which was previously just a stuffy head cold…has now moved into his chest and he is SO congested. 

So, I of course decided that he needed to go back to the doctor and find out how bad this is…since he’s prone to serious infections and such…so I’m not willing to take any chances with my little one.

Anyway…Jason’s legs were STILL hurting this morning and he was very slow to get out of bed…but eventually managed it and went to work.  I had a 7:45am appointment for Caleb’s annual review with his teacher and therapists at his school. To which I was late for…due to traffic and all.  Not a good way to start off the day.

As soon as I arrived at the meeting…my boss called my cell phone…to which I replied by turning it off without answering it…hey, I WAS in a meeting.  However, it got a bit worse after that…I was a bit disappointed by what I was hearing in the meeting.  Caleb had been progressing quite well when I went in for conferences last month…and today I learned that he has regressed in the past couple of weeks…enough to have to put a few things back on his list of goals that I thought we were past…but due to inconsistency over the past two weeks with his performance in class…we had to leave a few things on.

Anyway, that was a bit disappointing…but, it wasn’t the worst part about the meeting.  That occurred when my Mom interrupted it in tears.  She had gotten so upset by the kids’ behavior this morning that she was crying and HAD to talk to me right at that moment.  I couldn’t believe it…and had to excuse myself for a moment…after being late to begin with.  Talk about embarrassing.

Well…she wound up talking to one of the counselor’s and I was able to rejoin the meeting.  Once the meeting was over…I went to talk to her and she’d already left.

I called my boss back and reminded him about the meeting and told him that I was on my way into the office.  I then called my Mom to find out if she was alright.  Well, I was told that she didn’t have time to talk to me right then and we’d have to discuss it later.  Umm…yeah.

So I get to work…and things start to settle down a bit…well, at least for a few minutes.  I got 4 phone calls from my Mom in an hours time.  She had apparently dropped Caleb’s medicine on the floor this morning and emptied the entire bottle (liquid)…so, I had to call the pediatrician and have a new prescription called into the pharmacy.  Not a problem…except that my insurance won’t cover the second prescription because they were issued too close together, which of course means that we will have to pay full price for it…and this made her angry…at me?!  I don’t understand…but, oh well…not much I can do when I’m 30 miles away right?

So…while I’m on the phone with her, she informs me that Jason just walked through the door and had been sent home by his boss.  He was in too much pain to work and his boss told him to take the rest of the week off to rest and recoup. *sigh*

Oh…wait, there’s more!

I spoke with Jason after finishing my conversation with my Mom.  He then informs me that he got into a fender bender while driving home from the bookstore.  Nothing major…or serious, just a scratched bumper…but geez…like we needed that?!

Okay…I’m sorry y’all…I shouldn’t dump on all of you…but, I just couldn’t believe the things that have gone on today.  I think that someone switched the days on me…and didn’t inform me of it!

I’m going to go home now…make myself some tea…go outside and put up my Christmas lights…and then hopefully things will seem brighter.

I hope that y’all had a better day than I.

~Maria

6:30pm

I realize that my earlier post sounds just plain awful…but everything is okay. REALLY!

Mom and I are fine…and Jason is okay…he still hurts a bit…but he’ll  be fine.  He has me to take care of him!!

Sorry for the big rant y’all…it was just one of THOSE days.

Thanks for putting up with me though!  

We now have a new addition to our family!!

We welcomed Toby…the tabby into the family yesterday!  He is SOOOOOO cute!!! He looks sort of like this…

He is very playful and loves to pounce!  Not exactly one of the most cuddly…want to be held type of kittens though.  He will cuddle for a moment…but then he’s off to go attack a piece of furniture or something!

Mom wants another kitten as well as Toby.  I told her that would be fine…but I don’t want a house full of cats!  I have four kids…a dog…and her…plus Jason and myself…now a kitten…this makes for a very full home!

Thanks to all of you for being so understanding on my lack of posting & visiting lately.  Things have just been hectic!!  I know it’s the season for all of that…but it’s been that way at work as well…just total chaos!  I just want to scream “Calgon TAKE ME AWAY!!” Ya know?

I’m a bit tired this morning…Caleb has yet another ear infection…poor baby.  He finally slept last night…but for some reason I kept waking up every hour on the hour…feeling sick to my stomach.  I hate that!  It makes for a very restless night.

Does that ever happen to any of you? 

Anyway, Jason posted last night…briefly.  His back is better…but his legs are hurting him pretty bad for some reason.  Stop by and say HI if you get the chance.

I hope all of you are having a good week!!  I’m going to visit sites at lunchtime…I’ll try to finish rounds then.

Happy Hump Day!!!

~Maria

Hi y’all!!!

Sorry that I don’t have a post prepared for today…I know…I’m a slacker!!   However, I’ve been EXTREMELY busy today…and I will be tomorrow as well.  So, please forgive me if I don’t get a chance to get around to all of your sites between now and then.  I will try…but I can’t promise anything.

Until then…

Have a great week my friends…and to those of you who’ve sent Christmas cards…THANKS SO MUCH!!!   Yours will be in the mail soon!!! (I’m behind…sorry.)

~Maria

I BAKED?!

Scary isn’t it? haha

No seriously…do y’all remember me telling you about my last attempts to bake a dessert?  It was last year at Thanksgiving…I was trying to make canollis…and couldn’t do it to save my life!

Well…y’all would be QUITE proud of me.

A co-worker of mine brought in a batch of orange-cashew biscotti.  You know…like the kind you can buy at Starbucks for outrageous prices! It was wonderful! She made it herself…I was a bit shocked and excited about the thought of that. 
The reason being…I thought that it would make a wonderful surprise for Jason.  He LOVES coffee…and Starbucks…so, I thought it would be really cool if he had biscotti to go with his coffee…without having to pay the ridiculous prices.

She talked me into trying to make it myself…to which of course I replied with “I can’t bake”.  Well, after a while…she finally talked me into attempting it.  I decided to make honey-almond biscotti.

Let me just say that…it turned out just like the picture…and tasted as good as I’ve ever had!!

I walked around for about 10 minutes last night saying, “I can bake…I CAN BAKE!!”

I know…I’m nuts…buy hey, I was proud of myself okay.

I had Jason try some…he loved it and I brought some into work…and they all said that it was fabulous!  Woooohoooo!!  I am a happy little clam!

I learned something new y’all!

If any of you are interested in making some yourself…you can find TONS of recipes on the internet…but, start here. There are over 50 recipes there…and they are wonderful!!

Okay…now that I have shared my little baking adventure with all of you.  Thanks for the encouraging words regarding the LOAD of filing that I have been working on…and have to finish today.  

BUT…today IS FRIDAY!!! YAY!!

Happy Friday everyone…and have a wonderful weekend!!

~Maria

Are you SURE it’s only Thursday?

Thank you…Thank you…Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya know…I really do lve all of you!  Y’all are just way TOO sweet to me…and Jason, who is feeling a bit better btw…and is back at work now.

My Mom is still very distraught about her kitty …and wants to get a kitten VERY badly (reminds me of a little kid actually…hehe).  So, I told her that Saturday we will go together and pick out the newest member of the family.

The kids are now BEYOND excited about this whole kitten thing!!  In fact, they are giving me advice on which kind of kitty they want! Oh yeah…they have put in requests y’all!

Jason even gave me his suggestions as to what kind of kitty to get.  No more persians…I was told (by all of them).  Hmm…well, okay…not a problem.  The majority of them want a tabby…”a kitty with short hair…that doesn’t shed too much”…they said.  (oh brother…as if the golden retriever DOESN’T shed…haha)

I look at it this way…Mom and I will decide which kitten we want to take home with us.  We’ve had many years of experience with kitties…especially while I was growing up.  Living out on the farm…we had cats around to keep the rodents away.  Well…at one point, we had over 60 cats at the house!  Yup…SIXTY!  I know…ridiculous eh?

Anyway…I’m writing this from work.  I’ve been attempting to finish my filing (training material…tests…certifications…YUCK!).  Unfortunately…when you have a stack that is literally a foot and a half tall…it takes a LOOONNNNGGG time to get it organized…let alone filed!  Bleh!

Can we just change today to Friday?  Just as a little favor to me…please?

~Maria

I got a call from my Mom this morning informing me that her kitty…Snowball (i.e. Snowy) had died while at the Vet’s office last night.

Snowy had been ill the past couple of days and so Mom took her in for some lab tests.  Her results were fine…but, when the Vet went to check in on her this morning…she was dieing.  She died just moments after the Vet got to her.

Mom is very upset…and understandably so.  However, now she wants to get another cat.  I have no problem with this. She wants to get a kitten…I can just see it now…

Yup…this will be our house if we get a kitten before Christmas! 

Snowy will be missed…but I’m glad that she isn’t suffering anymore.

On a different note…

My poor Jason is at home in pain today.  His back was really bothering him this morning…so he decided to stay home from work and rest.

If you have a chance…you might want to visit his site and say Hi…it’ll make him feel better.

~Maria

Wow…I’m back!!!

I would’ve been back sooner…had the Xanga servers been functioning properly yesterday…but, hey…ya can’t win ‘em all eh?

So…how the hell are all of you?  Did y’all have a good Thanksgiving?  Stuff yourselves to the max?

It was a rather busy day for me…darn it!  It wasn’t supposed to be…but…indeed it was.  This having the title of MOM just never stops…haha.

The kids weren’t to be picked up until 2pm by their Dad…mainly because he had OTHER things to do (whatever).  Anyway…the kids all needed (have been needing) haircuts…so, I did just that.  One by one…they each got their hair cut…styled and then their little bodies dressed in nice holiday styled clothes.  I got done just in time for all of them to dart off with their Dad.  Who promptly brought them back home directly after eating…without letting them even have dessert! (not cool btw)

After the kiddies were gone…I went and laid down for a while. (hey…I’d been working on children detail since 8am …and it was now 2 something in the afternoon…I was tired)  My Mom, by this time…had all of the meal prepared and cooking (it smelled wonderful).  She even brought me snacks…thanks Mom.

Jason was already watching football by now…so, we laid on our bed…watching the big games on T.V. and enjoyed not having to be interrupted every two minutes.  THAT was nice.

Dinner was done and served at about 7pm. Hey…we were attempting to be lazy here okay.  So…as soon as I sat down to eat…the phone rings.  You-know-who is on his way back to the house with the kids. (say what?)  So…I tell him that we just sat down to eat and he says…

“oh…well we’ll be there in about 5 minutes”

Thanks mister considerate!

Anyway…they arrive and the little ones come running into the eating area and see the pumpkin pie on the table and immediately start chanting…

“I want pie…I want pie”

So…my reply was…

“umm…didn’t y’all eat pie over at your grandma’s?  I know that she had pie there…”

“no…Dad made us leave right after dinner”

Nice…thanks again.

Well…I got up…cut a slice of the pie for each of them…with whipped cream on top of course…and they were pretty much content after that.

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful…even if it was a bit cold by the time I actually got to sit down and eat it.  But hey…it’s all in the role of being “Mom” eh?

So…onward to Christmas!!

Our tree is up and decorated…and the stockings are hung  (thanks to yours truly…hey…I was the one with the drill…hehe). 

I didn’t get a chance to tackle the outside lights yet…but I do have them all ready to go in the garage.  Does that count?

I wanted to start with those last night…but Jason was very tired when he got home from work and his back and legs were hurting …so, I decided that we should wait until another evening to begin that adventure.

I do have my giant nutcrackers out in front of the front door though…and the green light bulbs in the outdoor porch lights.  It’ll get done…soon.

Other than that…I’ve been trying to catch up on things at work…and now, I need to catch up on my reading of all of your sites!  (oh my am I behind…sorry)

Have a great day everyone!

~Maria