Updates

Let's see, it's been quite the busy week. This post is more of an effort of memorization so I can remember what I need to put in my letter to Jerry. So much stuff is buzzing through my head, I always forget something. This is my list.

I actually finished our taxes on the 14th, which is fairly odd for me since I usually finish the first week in February. Procrastination is a way of life for me right now. It seems every issue that rears its ugly head is more important than the last and thus pushes everything else backwards. At the last minute, taxes became the MOST important issue - DONE! Check.

We (although not together) celebrated our fourth anniversary on Wednesday. I bought a bottle of wine I did not drink and a movie I didn't watch to celebrate the evening. Let's see, Ben was not very hungry and wanted cereal so we partook of raisin bran and soy milk, bathed Ben and fell asleep around 9:30pm. Isn't romance wonderful? (hee-hee)

Started a yoga class on Tuesday. Ninety minutes of yoga in a 103 degree room with 40% humidity. Aside from the obvious, sweat, the heart was a pumpin for pretty much the entire class. Who knew Yoga could be a cardio work out. Now you have to realize, I live in a very hot area and frequently work in the yard, walk and play with kids in this kind of heat. But wow, when you attempt to control your breathing (all nasal) as well as contorting your body into different poses - whew! I love it! Skin felt great, body feels alive, brain is more alert! Lots of water and electrolytes is a must. Anyway, the second class on Thursday was much better since I knew what to expect and frankly it didn't feel quite as hot either. I think I have finally found a workout routine I actually like. Will keep you updated.

Fixed a leaky sink (replaced fixture) in the kitchen last week but one small connection on the reverse osmosis was a problem, so I've been emptying a bowl of water every day. I forgot Thursday night and didn't realize until 2am last night (Friday). The particle board underneath was somewhat wet so Ben and I went to the hardware store to purchase a new replacement piece of plywood. After pulling up the old wood, I found the original cabinet bottom had rotted through and we have a mold issue. This is definitely something thats been around for a while - not just my little leak problem. Yick! Mold creeps me out. Anyway, Ben and I went back to the hardware store so I could get bleach, gloves and an air mask so I could get to cleaning. Decided to procrastinate again and spent some quality time with Ben, bathed him and read some books before putting him down @ 9:30ish. I'll work on the mold issue tomorrow when Bekah comes home.

Thought the washing maching issue was solved a couple weeks ago but guess what? - it has taken a crap on me again. Time to replace. More $$$$$ =(

Backyard is taking shape - weeds are disappearing a little bit each week. Storage has been utilized so clutter is also vanishing. The gazebo awning does need to be replaced since the sun did quite a number on it. Didn't even last a year! Moe (tortoise) has been out & about and still comes when called for dinner. Kind of scared me one evening when I was weeding by myself and felt a slight nudge on my leg (sitting on ground). I thought I was alone - Moe had come back out of his home to visit. Who knew reptiles had personality?

Truck did not pass emissions - need to make appointment for service. Recheck emissions, register.

Trees are growing wonderfully in the backyard (grapefruit, mandarin orange & jacarunda). These are the ones planted the same day Jerry went over seas. Ben wants to plant some more "stuff" but obviously other issues are pending. Maybe next weekend. Ben is a gardener. He loves to dig holes, water plants and even help weed. I love it - he's getting so very tall and looks like Jerry more and more each day!

Bekah is becoming closer & closer to teen-hood every day. She's one month away from the big thirteen! Moody, snotty, attitudinal. Also, much more helpful, aware, self-confident. I completely forgot (selective memory) teenage years can be such a contradiction. She can be so very sweet and loving one moment and snotty and disrespectful the next. I miss her so much when she's at her Dad's house, snot & all. She'll be back tomorrow and the house will feel better.

I'm sure there's more but this is a good start. Hopefully, I can keep up with the blog (once the mold is gone) a little more regularly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another year has come and gone... wow!

New Years Eve found Jerry and I spending a quiet evening at home watching movies. We rang in the New Year with bottle of champagne and watched the ball drop (recorded earlier) in Times Square. We were in bed by 12:30am.

Jerry arrived early for Christmas (by two days) and was able to help pick out the Christmas tree and enjoy pre-Christmas festivities. Watching Christmas movies is a favorite in our family - well at least for me. My sister K and my mom decorated the tree (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you) on Christmas Eve while I wrapped gifts. Mom went to bed around 2ish and K left around 5am to catch what was left of the sugar plum dreamland. I fell asleep on the couch bathed in the lights from the tree. Lucky for all of us Ben didn't wake up until later so we were able to snooze a bit longer. (1st Christmas present!)

My parents were already here at home, Jerry came early, Bekah was dropped off by her Dad early and both sisters (KandC) arrived mid morning to open gifts. By the time all had arrived, breakfast pastries were cooling on the stove and the aroma of coffee filled the house. Merriment ensued and everyone had a great time.

Jerry cooked the Christmas feast and decided to make turkey, ham, and even roast beast. My mom made a traditional Polska (polish) sausage and kraut as well. It was a wonderful time had by all!

Typically, I'm quite the obsessive compulsive Christmas decorator. Lights and holly, mistle-toe and candles. It just didn't happen this year. My house wasn't decorated or even spic & span but having Jerry home was the best Christmas present I could possibly ask for. Even though he's the one who had to point out that small tidbit.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas Season and a Happy New Years Eve! I pray 2008 finds all with peace of mind, joy in your spirit and love in your heart.

Catching Up

Tis the season to be busy... and moody. I have been attempting to clean my house so I can move furniture to make room for a Christmas tree. Why does everything hinge on a clean house?

Anyway, during the past couple of weeks since Thanksgiving I have been keeping up on the daily blogs I visit. However, I believe it is fairly evident by the lack of blogging on my part... the blog is suffering. I plan to remedy this situation although I'm not sure how.

I wanted to introduce my little family. The picture is of my children and me (bad picture). Anyway, Ben is obviously the youngest and very much like Calvin of the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. He was actually almost named Calvin. He is quite bright and makes attempts at being sly. Scary thought - he gets better at stealth as each day passes.

Rebekah is my first... and tallest. She wears the same size shoe I do! I feel bad for her because once her foot grows a tad more all of the very cute shoes in her collection will find their way to my closet. Oh come on, I have to put a positive spin on it. Anyway, Bekah is the greatest help right now intervening with Ben.

After a request from my sister to post child are, I will soon begin a new blog page with both Ben's and Bekah's art. Will post a grand opening date once I have a little more time to get organized. I am hoping to start at New Years.

Quitting NaBloPoMo

Well... I took some time this weekend for me... in a manner of speaking. I watched movies with Bekah and Ben, cleaned my kitchen (although you couldn't tell now), took naps, caught up on HGtv, cleaned my bedroom, watched an entire movie start to finish in one sitting, finished another book and finished laundry (again). Look at the dresser - there is actually wood on there!

I did not blog all weekend and actually didn't even turn my computer on. No surfing, didn't check email and didn't blog. So... in order to keep from losing my mind I quit NaBloPoMo.

Ben has been so much better since I've been watching his sugar intake. I have Kris (daycare provider) watching the sugar as well. By the way, did you know grapes have sugar in them? Natural yes but still sugar. I think the deletion of a usually ever present parent is the biggest impact but I think he's adjusting well. I know he's sleeping longer and better.

We lay down on the big king size bed every night to read a pile of books. His current favorite is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. Ben loves the cute story and laughs in all of the right places. His personal reading time of 10 minutes or so is usually spent looking through a "word" book. It's a picture book with all sorts of scenes in which the things / people are labeled so kids can learn the names of common household items. There is a grumpy cat in every picture he loves to look for.

I am still sick but on medication which of course makes me drowsy. It also makes me cough which wakes me up throughout the night but as long as I get better so be it. So I better get to it if I want to be any sort of useful tomorrow.

Home-made pumpkin pies, from scratch, were the efforts of tonight - pictures & instructions to follow. =)

Thank you JJ for commenting on the last blog post. It's nice to know family in other parts of the country is keeping updated. I've never been the greatest correspondent so hopefully this will suffice.

Cries from the room down the hall...

...As I sit here, attempting to relax and suffer quietly with my sinus issues, I hear cries from the room down the hall. The room in question would by our bedroom and the cries are coming from Ben (who would have guessed). He is playing XBox with Bekah and yes, I've heard her "cries" of frustration as well. She is helping out today in a big way since my head like a balloon full of lead snot (sorry). My eyes are like little slits due to the light sensitivity and the computer screen isn't cooperating either. But I missed blogging yesterday so I'm feeling slightly guilty about the whole NaBloPoMo thing. Oh well....

Anyhow, Bekah had a friend over last night and they were up until 2am or maybe 2:30am. I'm not exactly sure because I was up to get some Tylenol for the headache I thought was due to lack of sleep. It's actually been a very good day for the family - went to church (10 minutes late) this morning, stopped at the grocery store to stock up on good wholesome veggies & fruit and then home for nap time. Once again I got to sleep longer than Ben because Bekah kept him occupied until I struggled out of bed.

Yesterday was a great day as well - my punkymood indicated I was content. Did laundry, washed dishes, picked up around the house (although you'd never be able to tell today) and mowed the lawn (with the neighbor's mower - different story, different day).

Oh yeah! Bekah got her hair cut and so did Ben! Bekah's hair is an above the shoulders bob with side bangs and Ben proudly shows off his new "Papa Hair". I'm not a huge fan of the military buzz cut on kids since it makes them look so much older but he is the man of the house now. He still looks cute and he rubs his hand on the top of his head when he says "Me have Papa hair". Jerry would be proud.

Bekah just came in to inform me Ben doesn't know how to drive very well on XBox. No kidding - he is only 3 after all! I can't drive very well on video games - I'm more of the Splinter Cell kind of gal. Bekah would like some real competition so I told her if we could get Ben into bed at a decent hour I'd come in to play. Hoping the ibuprofen starts to work by then.

I am signing off for the night in order to spend some time with kids in the room down the hall. By the way, the sounds I hear now are carefree and jubilant. I hear the laughter of children.

P.S. Mandy Lou - I have to admit this to you. I really, really want to whine about feeling crappy and sick. Ugh!

Oh so very happy & relaxed

I was stuck in traffic for an hour today. This was the most wonderful time I have had in a long time. No arguing with Ben, no Bekah arguing with Ben, no chores, no TV. Are you catching on? This is not the actual reason I was Oh so very happy. Jerry called and we actually talked uninterrupted for an entire half an hour. We talked about his training, my traffic, his bunk (very small), Ben, Bekah and everything in between. I never thought traffic could be so relaxing.

Jerry should be able to come home for Christmas which makes me very very happy. Christmas time is my favorite time of year. Not the gifts, shopping or rushing people but the reason for the season, giving spirit, happy children and (hopefully) cooler weather. The best part is all the sparkly decorations that make Christmas a very romantic time of year. I can't wait.

My sister (K) is here with popcorn, candy and Ratatouille. This movie is great. very funny, once you can get over the fact of a rat in the kitchen. Ewwww. We're having quite the relaxing evening... a glass of wine would make it a touch better.

I am hoping to have bad traffic on the way home tomorrow too!

Bath Night

It was a pretty good night. On our way home I called Bekah to find out if she could start dinner so we could possibly go for a walk tonight. Dinner was made a few minutes after we arrived home but it was way to dark to do anything. So... I decided it was time to face the music and get Ben into the bathtub. I readied myself for the ultimate battle and he actually went willingly. I think the promise of bubbles had something to do with the compliant attitude. Hey, if it works... why not?

So here I sit ready for bed, blogging away and just noticing there is a scheduled outage @ 11pm PST. I guess I'll sign off early tonight and get a good night sleep.

Good night!

*No monkeys were harmed in the making of this blog.

Round Two... {ding-ding}

...And mom comes from the corner wearing purple Eyore PJs while Ben wearing red Spiderman... throws himself into the ring kicking and screaming!

Round Two, Week Two and it seems everything is a battle. I do battle over meals, dental maintenance, nap times, diaper changes (yes, he's only 3), bath time, play time, quiet time, bed time and everything in between. I'm stern and he fights. I'm consistent and he screams. Absolutely everything is a fight. It seems the behavior isn't getting better or any easier. The worst part; when he's angry at me he calls for his Papa.

Bekah put him down for me tonight since I was somewhat losing ground (and my mind). She is very good with him. I could also talk about all of the times she eggs him on and acts like she's 12 years old. Wait. She is only 12 years old. She's just a kid learning to step up to the plate when Mom needs a pinch hitter. She's my baby girl.

My daughter is a lot like me although the lovely olive skin is from her father. She loves to read (almost to a fault), is quite creative, good in school and just a great gal. If I were 12 years old I'm pretty sure we'd be friends. I would definitely be the geeky one though. Although she doesn't realize it she is very self assured. She has morals, standards, and fairly wise in her young age.

She loves to be involved with her family and even spend time with me periodically. When I have out of town trips on her days off she'll tag along for the day. We make a day of it by stopping at the scenic views (there are lots in Arizona), having lunch and sometimes calling it quits early for shopping. Don't worry, I am definitely cherishing these moments because I know at any moment it could all be over.

This evening my young referee called foul and rescued me from even younger child. I so want to stay down for the count, close my eyes and possibly get a little rest. Tonight I just want to curl up in a ball and cry for however long it takes in order to get it out of my system. Is it so bad to give up a round once in a while? I'm not betting on the game so no one can really accuse me of foul play.

My best bet might be to load up on the electrolytes and get back into the ring. It's just too early to give up the crown. Besides Bekah was able to get Ben to sleep so I should probably catch up on some much needed rest because the morning always comes to soon. {ding-ding}