Ford Minivan Vs. Jeep Wrangler

Yeah, my minivan lost that battle. On my way home from work I was hit. I was waiting in the turn lane for my green arrow. I always watch for cars trying to beat a yellow light, or ones that look like they aren't going to stop. Last night was no different, everyone was stopped when the light changed. I was almost through the eight laned intersection when I saw the jeep out of the corner of my eye. He rammed right into me.

I was the only one in my car, and was fine. The driver of the jeep was fine. A wonderful woman waited to be a witness. Jeep driver was cited.

He said he was a bit distracted and when he looked up, he saw a green light and assumed it was his. Unfortunately the light he saw was the one for the turn lanes, not his. He had to have gunned it because he hit me pretty hard. I didn't even see him until it was too late. I was too busy keeping my eye on the PT Cruiser that was in the right hand turn lane across from me.

Here comes the funny part. His jeep was fine. Barely a scratch on it. My car?

Head light gone
One third of the bumper gone
Windshield wiper fluid container ripped in half
Front corner panel all messed up
Dent near the rear of the van where the jeep landed after he bounced off of me

And don't get me wrong, when I say gone, I don't mean crunched. I mean it is no longer attached to my car. It was sitting in the middle of the road.

Why did this have to happen the one week I took a swing shift for training and Ryan is out of town? I will tell you why, because we just paid it off.

When I told Ryan I was able to drive it home he response was, "Oh bummer, I was hoping for a new one." men . . .

-Sara

Oh Brother

Oh man, my poor brother.

I put him down as a reference on my job application. I am not a full time employee, but I do get paid to do data entry for him as well as monthly reports. Normally I don't list the work I do for the family businessses on my employment history (I have always been the number/computer geek for both my mother's and my brother's salons since they opened), but I threw one of them on anyway to avoid the two year gap in my job history - which is a whole other topic I shouldn't get on my soap box about. Staying at home with your kids for a few years shouldn't make you unemployable.

The job I almost have involves a few different steps in the application process. Yesterday I filled out yet another job history. This form didn't have a spot for what my position was, just what type of business. I didn't call him to give him a heads up because it wasn't like I made up a story and needed to fill him in on everything. I was confident he would tell them the truth. Yes, she's my sister, she runs my reports.

My new employer calls my brother (keep in mind we share a very uncommon last name) and asks him to verify my employment. He says yes, she works for me. Then he was asked to verify I was working as a hair stylist. No, no, no, no. Me as a cosmetologist is absurd. Instead of saying, no, she does data entry, he froze up. He knew it was unlikely I was claiming to be a full time stylist, but he didn't want to rat me out if for some reason I had. He told my employer that he would need to call the manager of the salon because he couldn't verify that part.

ACK!!!!!

He calls and yells at me! No dude, I simply said it was a hair salon, not that I was a stylist. Sheesh. If I just went through three weeks of unpaid training and I get denied over my brother trying to cover me, I am going to FREAK OUT! I guess it is my karma getting me gain for asking my baby brother to be my alibi all those teenage years.

Another lesson learned. Give the guy a heads up.

-Sara

Traveling Man

How you know your man travels too much.

In the beginning you asked for detailed itineraries including flight numbers, hotel information, and nightly activities.
After awhile you simply marked trips on the calendar by writing the destination city and a thick arrow through the week.
Now you find yourself asking questions such as "Oh, you are leaving tomorrow?" and instant messaging your spouse "Are you in Toledo? - No, I am in Toronto, Canada - Oh, I knew it started with T."

In the beginning the kids gave long goodbyes and well wishes. They asked to call Daddy at least once a night.
After awhile a short hug became a sufficient farewell and phone calls were reserved for nights mommy said, "Do I need to call your father about this?"
Now the kids wander the house spouting phrases such as "Wow, you are home still? Cool."

In the beginning you continued to cook fabulous meals from scratch and ended up with way too many leftovers because you forgot you only needed to make dinner for yourself and the small army of children who don't appreciate lemon pepper chicken with asparagus.
After awhile you got the hang of preparing smaller more kid based meals (such as mac n cheese, spaghetti and hamburger surprise). You only ran out of the vegetable a few times on nights he was in town.
Now you get asked, "What are we having for dinner tonight? - Oh, the kids and I already ate cold cereal and hot dogs, you have to fend for yourself."

And finally
In the beginning you slept many nights downstairs on the couch because you couldn't bare to be all alone in your king sized bed.
After awhile you began to appreciate the extra stretching space.
Now you whine "Move OVER!" anytime he is occupying more than a quarter of the bed.

-Sara

It Would Be Fun!

Last night I was in bed next to my wonderful husband. We started talking about our sweet kids. They only came up because we had spent the evening away from them. After picking them up from the sitter's we had the chore of carrying each sleeping child into the house. There is something completely adorable about sleeping kids. They are so warm and cuddly!

In the middle of our conversation, he started accusing me of having a favorite. I started smiling. My favorite is usually the one in my lap. This time, however, he was talking about my third child. It isn't that she is THE favorite, I have a different bond with each, but she is my child I never thought I would have the opportunity to have. I was a divorced woman for crying out loud. I didn't think I could find another man, let alone one who would marry me and produce MORE children. It sparked a conversation about the hospital stays for each pregnancy. That's when he said it.

"It truly would be fun to do again."

My heart skipped a beat. Did he say what I think he said? Did he mean it would be fun to have another baby? He has always said no more babies. But he just said . . . then he clarified -

"It would be interesting to see if you freak out about the epidural again."

That is my man. Another baby? No. Guessing whether his strong, confident woman would LOSE it again? Yes, that would be fun times. Thanks babe. I love you too.

-Sara

Boys Being Boys

My son rummaged through his Valentines and was excited to find six temporary tatoos. One of them was an image of a Bratz doll. He handed it to me and said -

"Can you save this for me? I want to use it someday, but not right now, maybe this weekend." Then, he added in a whisper, "Because I like Bratz too, but please don't tell anyone."

Gender rolls - looks like we are in the girl-stuff-is-icky phase. Poor thing. He lives in a family where you are allowed to like whatever you like. Ryan's favorite color is purple, Grandpa used to take dance lessons, and Uncle is a stylist/salon owner (I should probably add - straight). My son himself used to be in a competitive dance duo. Too bad the rest world isn't always as accepting.

-Sara

Lunar or Looney?

SingleBFF wants everyone to know that she isn't really a moron.

Now that I have added the disclaimer I can tell you about last night.

SingleBFF came over to watch AIdol and the lunar eclipse. She was going on and on about having never seen one before. When I took her to grab some food (it was a non-cooking sorta night), she reminded me every ten minutes that we had to look outside at 8:28 PM.

In the middle of watching our shows, I decided I better find out exactly what time it was to start. Past experiences told me to verify her information. My instincts were right, she had seen the start time in Eastern - we are Central. I rushed outside to find the shadow was already halfway across the moon.

"Hurry, get out here!" I called to her, but when she got outside her excitement deflated.

"This isn't it. It is suppose to be really bright flashing lights."

I gave her my standard what-are-you-talking-about looks. I frequently hand them out to her.

"An eclipse isn't bright lights." You would think after three years of hanging out she would come to realize I am always right, but no, she argued with me

"Yes, I saw it on the news. Flashing lights, it is supposed to flash."

I couldn't contain myself. It was hard to laugh in zero degree weather. She immediately went into defense mode and launched into countless reasons how she knew what she was talking about. It took me three interruptions and a SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE before she would listen to me.

Eclipse - shadow - moon, earth, sun alignment - she looked like a deer in headlights. She didn't really care about a shadow. She sat at my window the rest of the night waiting for flashing. What a gooberhead. She still swears she saw flashing lights on the news. My best guess is they showed a clip of a time elapsed eclipse. When I approached her with the theory her flashing lights were merely glitches in a recording of an eclipse, she blew me off.

Teenagers! LOL, I wonder what her excuse will be when she hits twenty . . .

-Sara

Guilt be Gone

The vote is closed. 91% would rather have their husband out of town for a week on business than having them at home all week sick.

When the doctor told Ryan it would take rest to get better or the next step would be a hospital visit and an IV, I got excited to keep him home for the week. Then reality set as I remembered how much of a pain in the buns a sick husband can be. I sorta felt quilty for wishing he was simply out of town. Nice to know I am not alone :)

Check out the new poll on toilet paper.

-Sara

Spoiled by Technology

I was leaving job training and clicked my unlock button for the car on my key ring. Nothing happened.

I clicked it again. The lock didn't pop up. Weird, maybe the battery in the remote is dead.

Now I start to panic . . . my car won't unlock . . . HOW AM I GOING TO GET IN MY CAR!!!!

After about three seconds I felt like a complete moron. I have a KEY on the key ring! For Pete's sake. As I jammed the key into my car, I realized it was a motion I haven't done in over eight years! No wonder I nearly freaked out. Thank the Lord above I didn't rush to someone for help. That could have been completely mortifying.

I jumped in my car and went to start it.

Click, click, click. Great, battery was dead. The locks should have been the first clue.

But . . . TA DA!!!! . . . technology to the rescue! Ryan bought me a portable car jumping kit. Okay, okay, maybe most people don't need one of these contraptions, but I do. Maybe I have a wee slight problem turning my lights off. Sure, they turn themselves off after a few minutes, but it adds up if you have kids in and out of the car looking for the crap they left in it. Then there is the teeny tiny problem with having a door cracked and the inside lights stay lit. Hey, if you had two babies in your arms in zero degree weather and you have to get behind the door and kick it on the far edge just right to get it to shut (most of the time it's impressive, you should see me do it on a thin layer of ice), you might have this problem too!

But back to my amazing contraption - I never knew these jumper thingers exsisted, but I am SO glad I had it. Totally worked. About the size of a kid's lunch box it fits under my seat (ooo, speaking of lunch boxes, I had the most ultra-knarly smurf one in second grade). It being extremely light, I just whipped it out, hooked it up, turned it on, and 60 seconds later my engine roared! Ahhh, I love being independent.

What have we learned?
1. My next van needs automatic doors
2. I love technology, even if it spoils me rotten

-Sara

Seriously . . .

Completely true -

SingleBFF has never stepped foot in a public library. Her reason? Her mother told her it was expensive.

My mother named me and my sister after songs. When I did a search for the lyrics, we found out my sister's song was about a dog. She should listen to the words more often.

Before my oldest daughter could talk, she could sing the theme song to Star Wars using baby talk.

I have four children. I was adamant about getting to hold them first. Even with my position on the topic clear, I only got to hold one of my babies before anyone else. Each of them were held for the first time by a separate person. Those other three people are on my $h1t list.

I didn't drink until I was 21.

MomBFF had twins three weeks before I had my third child. Not only did each of her babies outweigh my singleton, but she had the nerve to show up in my hospital room looking skinny. I instantly hated her (this was before we started hanging out).

SingleBFF was my dance student years before we became friends. She was an eight year old on one of my first competitive dance teams. Later she became a coworker assisting me in choreography. One day I explained how to line up the dancers in order to hide the crappiest ones. A few years later we had become true BFFs and were watching the old dance videos. Guess where SingleBFF was standing? In every single one of the spots I had mentioned . . . busted.

-Sara

Family Fibs and Fun

I got chewed out yesterday for not having my phone charged. Seems everyone was trying to get a hold of me about a family get together planned for tonight. Here is the thing - today is the one year anniversary of my father's death. Call me crazy, but I am not that interested in turning the 16th into a holiday. As a huge number geek I usually notice, but I refuse to attach negative emotions with a day of the month. I was hoping for an uneventful day of cleaning and laundry. I can celebrate my dad on his birthday next month.

Here is how it went down - my sister caught me on instant messenger late last night. She was whining about my phone and then told me to call my brother. She claimed everyone was concerned about MomL, and we needed to have a hangout night to keep her from being alone. The hiccup was MomL didn't want to play hostess, and my brother didn't want it at his house unless I could come.

WHAT? I mean I am AMAZING, but really? This whole plan hinges on me? Is anyone else buying this crap? I don't think so. I tried explaining I was not interested in having a tribute night, but if it was important to the rest of them, I would go. Lastly I had to tell my sister fourteenth times that I would call bro, and I knew she still didn't believe me, but I signed off the instant messenger anyway.

Not five minutes pass and my brother calls me via Ryan's cell phone. Either he is the smart one in the family, or my sister tag teamed and gave him the heads up I was home.

He says the hangout night is all for my sister's sake. She is the one that gives us a call every 16th of the month making sure we realize what day it is. My brother confesses he told her it was about MomL so my sister would come, and fed her the line about it only being at his house if I go as a ploy to make sure someone contacted me since he wasn't having any luck.

Sheesh. Do all families work undercover?

In the end I went - kid free even, woohoo! - and had a good time. We talked so long about our bizarre idiosyncrasies, MomL was feeling normal and left out. My sister pointed out that anyone who would see the signs and still choose to marry into our world is crazy in their own right. She felt better.

And it didn't end up being a tribute night. Dad only came up a few times and no tears were involved. If I had known it was going to be that simple I wouldn't have put up a fuss. Oh well, lesson learned. Make the fuss afterward, not beforehand :)

-Sara

Toast I can Trust

All I want is a good toaster. I am tired of struggling with the temperamental machine all morning. When I moved in with Ryan, he didn't even have a toaster. Mine didn't survive the move. I mentioned to him my kids were warm breakfast lovers, and within the next few days, he brought one home after work.

This little thing was great for the first few months, but for some reason the outside coils stopped working. I was constantly flipping toast all morning until both sides were golden. Infuriating. I begged for a four slice toaster.

Once again, he came home with a new toaster. Once again, it was fabulous . . . for the first few months. The four slice machine truly looked like an upgrade. We have the intensity dial as well as three buttons including a setting for bagels, frozen items, and a cancel button. I was a toast making fiend!

Now, however, I am ready to chuck the thing through the wall. This time it is the inside coils that are going out (which renders the bagel setting completely useless) and the outside coils take forever to warm up. I have become the flipping fool again. It wouldn't be so bad, but on totally random days, it works just fine. Those days produce black toast.

HELP ME I AM GOING CRAZY!!!! Who out there has a great four slice toaster? I am even willing to spend some serious clams if it will make my mornings less complicated. My MomBFF swears by her toaster oven. Anyone use one of these? I am a creature of habit which makes me skeptical. Drop me a line, let me know if you have the same issues. Guess I better start reading the reviews on Amazon.com, ugh.

-Sara

Karma Will Getcha

If you are trying to conceive do me a favor, stay away from September through January. These months will produce babies born June through October. Trust me, you don't want to be big and pregnant during those scorching summer months. You will melt no matter where you are.

So if you are like me, and during your winter pregnancy you made fun of your mother by calling her "not so bright" for being pregnant all summer with your sister and karma repaid you by giving you two babies in July which caused a huge apology to said mother and THEN got slammed with a late August baby to boot, then this blog is for you.

I am highly concerned about parenting three kids who will be on young side of their class. For my daughter, I worry about her being a just-turned-fourteen-year-old taking classes and mingling with 18 year old boys. Lord help me. She is my kid that refuses to wear her clothes more than five minutes at a time. I hope that ceases by high school!

My boys are tiny, especially the baby. He sporadically falls off the weight chart at the doctor's office. Our doctor started to lecture me, but I reminded him I am only 5'4" and Ryan isn't much taller. Being small, I worry about bullies and even more so if they are the young ones. As it stands the baby will be a few weeks away from his fifth birthday on the first day of kindergarten.

On the bright side - at least I don't have to worry about kids wanting to drive to school until their junior year.

-Sara

Discipline Poll

The first poll was such a great hit, I thought I would see if I can turn it into a running gag. This time around the question was "What method of discipline do you use with your children under the age of three?" More than one answer was accepted.

Time Outs - 66%
Spanking - 33%
Reasoning - 33%
Distraction - 66%
None, they need to express themselves - 16%

Hrm . . . I think I am picking up a second running gag . . . JM was that your vote?

Make sure you vote in the new poll concerning husbands :)

-Sara

Sweets and Smells

Sometimes this man of mine really makes me swoon ~ even if I giggle a few moments later.

Ryan came home from Germany bearing gifts. Last time he brought back T-shirts. This time it was something way more practical - chocolate!!!! Good stuff too. After he finished handing out small bites of candy to tiny hands, he told me there was one more present and to consider it an early Valentine.

It was a very large bottle of expensive perfume. He explained it was the only stuff he found that wasn't available in the United States. It smells wonderful! Then he made the mistake of looking it up on the internet. It is scheduled to be sold in the States by mid-March. I told him it was still special and I love him!

But dang it, now I can't send him those ruby ring links I have been gathering . . . although my birthday will be around the corner soon . . .

-Sara

Not Enough Time

I was going to write a blog about the severe crush I have on my ex-karate instructor, but I have to clean the family room before I hit training. This job is seriously cutting into my blog time!

Maybe I should just do a quick milestone blog.

My 7 year old - wait, she turned 8 last week - just hit the multiplication tables at school.
My 6 year old is reading chapter books.
My 2 1/2 year old is starting to memorize board books.
My 18 month old is talking like crazy! We are up to - mama, dada, papa, uh-oh, spongebob (bumbah), up, help me (hep me), nuh-uh, oh no, sippy (ippy), butt, eyes, and block (bock)

I have never had an early talker. If you don't consider this early, please don't tell me. Let me live in my ignorance. My other kids didn't talk until after the age of two!

OH!!!! And I have lost 7 lbs! Not as much as I hoped, but I am excited because I went off the diet while Ryan was in Germany and fully expected to gain some weight. When I went back to the routine, I found I had lost 1 pound without trying! Woohoo! I guess I really am shifting the lifestyle. Very excited.

-Sara

Friday Freak Out

It was Friday. Ryan was on his way home from Germany. I had started a blog about my father's accident. MomBFF invited me to the gym with her and a male coworker of hers, we will call him John.

I decided working out was far better for my emotional state before heading to work training than obsessing over a blog about a plane crash especially since Ryan would be on a few of them all day. I left the blog half done and headed for the gym.

I had lifted weights and was finishing up my workout on the elliptical machine when one of the TVs in the room caught my eye. It wasn't the soap opera playing; it was the crawl underneath -

"BREAKING NEWS"

I only caught a few words the first time it went past - evacuated . . . emergency vehicles . . . other planes still landing and taking off.

I yelled, "WHAT!?!" and stopped pedaling. MomBFF kept going and looked at me like I was crazy. My heart jumped into my throat as I tried to process what I saw while waiting for the crawl to start over.

- Its a local news crawl
- They mean our airport
- Calm down, wait for it, wait for it

After what seemed like an eternity of "stay tuned from more coverage" and "breaking news live at noon" advertisements in the crawl, it came across again.

"A plane landed at Epply (our local airport) after reports of a fire . . . "

MomBFF watched my heart attack come on and mentioned, "Landed sweetie, it says landed, everyone is fine." But I didn't really hear her.

"Surrounded by emergency vehicles, the United Airlines plane has not yet been evacuated. . ."

Severe panic mode - Ryan flies United.

I now understand panic attacks. They suck arse. It was a full tense body, stomach on the floor, heart in your throat, ears ringing, feeling of running in circles sort of thing.

THANK GOD FOR MOMBFF - "Chicago, his plane hasn't even reached Chicago yet. He flies into Omaha later tonight, remember?"

The freak out was over. I was left feeling sick to my stomach and the tears welled up. I kept composure until I hit the locker room where I sat letting those silent tears run their course. I came back out to find John yelling at me to quit slacking. I told him to stuff it as MomBFF filled him in on the drama.

"So? That's nothing to freak out about," he insisted. Men, they are morons, but he did make me feel better. Yelling at someone feels good when you have pent up adreneline.

What have I learned? (I always have to figure out what I learned) Even though I have come to terms with the accident that caused my father's death, I guess I am always going to be overly sensitive when I see the word "plane" on TV.

-Sara

PS Ryan landed at 7ish later that night and made it home fine :)

Almost a Year

****Warning - sensitive material, may not want to read if you are hormonal today, or extra emotional****

After my father died, I found myself poring over memories and experiences. It amazes me how many moments aligned themselves at the end of his life.

We didn't discuss death often, but when it came up there were a few issues that were clear. The first was his adamant stance on open casket. He would NOT have an open casket funeral. When he was young he went to his grandfather's funeral. The image of his dead grandfather lying in the casket haunted him. He did not want any of us to have the image of him after he passed away. One time I told him, "Oh, we will have an open casket. You will be dead. You won't know the difference."

Not a single one of us had to see him after he died. The plane crash made an open casket completely out of the question. Since I make everything all about me, I am sure it was God's way of making sure I kept my father's request.

My father also worried about arguments over his possessions. When my great-grandmother passed away, there was a mad rush over to her house to clear it out. She didn't have anything of great value, but some relatives who got there first seemed to grab items just to grab them. My dad was appalled.

He later asked my siblings and me if there was anything of sentimental significance that we wanted when he died. None of us could think of anything we HAD to HAVE if he were to die. He laughed and said, "I thought for sure you would all say my ring." He was referring to a black hills gold ring with an eagle on the front. Immediately all three of us were spouting - Well yes, we will fight over the RING!!!

Once again, the plane wreck made this point moot. They never recovered his eagle or his wedding ring. My MomL told the funeral director she only wanted the rings if they showed no signs of damage due to the accident. During the wake, I pulled him aside and made sure he knew I wanted the rings even if they were simply a pool of melted gold.

He took me into an office and explained the plane went down around 9:45 PM, he arrived on the scene around 2 AM and the wreckage was still burning. There was nothing left.

I can't decide if everything lining up was fate, or if it is simply me being a pattern geek finding every possible lined up connection. Guess I will never know.

-Sara

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I love snow. I think it is beautiful. Howevah ~ enough is enough. Since the middle of December we have had a yard full of the white stuff.

First of all, I am annoyed I still have Christmas lights still on the house. Yes, we are THOSE neighbors. I will admit, there were two windows of opportunity to get them down when the roof had finally become dry, but both were work days and Ryan always said it could wait until the weekend. The weekend always brought more snow.

At least I got the pop-up Santa out of our yard as well as the lights off the little tree and the rope lights down from our entryway. Those were the only power cords I could free from the layers of ice during our one day of 50 degree weather. The blow-up snow man and penguin are still out there, but thankfully the snow has them buried. The two spiral Christmas trees are still visible, but I tried. Their cords won't budge.

Sigh, I will have to wait yet another week. If it hits March I will really have to hang my head. I have noticed that the other people in the neighborhood don't have theirs down either, but we were the only ones on our street that decorated this year. We look like the sore thumb.

Secondly, why does it snow EVERYTIME Ryan goes out of town? Shoveling really sucks arse. Thank the LORD for Bill. I love Bill. He is our retired neighbor. He was forced into early retirement due to a back injury and is chronically bored to tears. His favorite winter hobby? Attaching his snow blower with extra large blade attachment to the front of his riding lawn mower and obsessively plowing our street. He claims he only does it so HE can get out of the neighborhood, but he can't fool me. He does my driveway as well as five other neighbors. He's a sweetheart.

OH and ONE more snow story. My family cracks me up.

My brother answers a phone call from my mother:
"Hello"
"I am an AMAZING driver, do you know why? I almost got into a car accident."

How he kept a straight face is beyond me.

"What happened?"
"I was on the interstate" - she drives a very expensive, fast, non-snow friendly car, and she drives like the little old lady from Pasadena (for those who don't listen to 60s music, that is really, really fast)

"And the guy in front of me slammed on his brakes. I hit my brakes and they DIDN'T WORK!" - someone should really tell her that ice can do that when you are going 60 mph.

"There was a wall to the left of me and a car to the right of me. I started sliding all over the place and even sideways down the road, but I didn't hit anyone!!! Aren't you glad I am a GREAT driver?"

My brother politely ended the conversation without taking any shots at her. What a great son he is. He turned to me (the only part of the phone call I heard was his random yas and uh huhs) and said -

"Mom says becareful. The roads are really bad."

Thats my family. They keep me laughing endlessly.

-Sara

Stop the Ride, I wanna Get OFF!

Do you ever have one of those days? The kind of day that leaves you feeling like you have ridden the rollercoaster one too many times and then got on the tilt-a-whirl? And now you are stuck knowing you would feel much better if you just puked up the corn dog and funnel cake, but ew, you don't want to end your experience with dry heaves?

I had one of those today. It is why I am sitting here blogging at 2:30 AM when I should be in the middle of a great dream.

The day started out wonderful. The rollercoaster was treating me well. I got the big kids to school okay. The four babies were angels. I did dishes, laundry, swept, and vacuumed. Next I get the crew all down for naps by the time my sister came to watch them.

Training went well. I am amazing :) I was on cloud nine by the time I headed to school to grab the big kids. Then the tide turned.

Grabbed the big kids, raced home, rushed my son into his wrestling clothes, jumped back in the car, got him to practice with two minutes to spare, went to the bank, got there five minutes after they closed, stopped at MomBFF for cash, grabbed dinner on the run, picked up my boy, came home, fed the babies, tended to so many kid problems my food got cold, took a phone call from my mother asking about lunch with my daughter tomorrow, realized I didn't pick up cupcakes for her birthday, read a book to one kid while trying to change a diaper, enforce a time out, and inspect brushed teeth, THEN after I get three kids in bed, my sister needs help getting insurance quotes, oh now SingleBFF needs help figuring out her maximum GPA capabilities this semester, I find a moment to eat between IMs and after struggling for a half hour to get the fourth child in bed, I get a moment to breath. (I have no idea how you working mothers do it, seriously)

Of course what do I decide to do to wind down? I made the mistake of watching some emotional TV programming. Tears. Tried to go to bed but couldn't sleep. Looked at the clock and decided to grab the laptop. It is 9:30 AM in Germany. Good thing Ryan loves me enough to talk me down.

I have decided the lesson for today is - Don't make a huge life change while your husband is out of the country. If you do, at least turn off the phone, send the kids to bed early, don't answer IMs, and stick to sitcoms.

-Sara

Today is the Big Day

I start training today!! I am super excited. It feels like the first day of school. I am slightly disappointed about the dress code. They told me jeans and t-shirts are fine. I was hoping for an excuse to dress up! I am still going to wear my slacks and button down. And my new shoes! I NEEDED new shoes. Don't we all?

Wish me luck!

-Sara

Quick Update

Turns out I had strep throat. Ryan made me a doctor appointment yesterday after I woke up with pain in my left ear. He said enough is enough and go in to see someone. I did, and now I am on meds. Both babies are on meds as well. They had swollen glands and since I tested positive for strep, they didn't bother testing the babies.

It was adorable. They checked the baby's ears and nose and eyes and throat and sufficiently ticked him off. Then when they went to check me over, he started yelling and swatting at the doctor! He was trying to protect me. So sweet! I love that little guy.

Ryan left for Germany today. I start training for my job on Monday.

It is going to get busy around here! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I have to get back to chores.

We are playing the laundry roll playing game. I am MaryLou from Louisiana, and my babies are BettySue and HenryLee. The older two are Jenna and John. We are getting ready for a week long treasure hunt so we HAVE to get all the laundry done before we can pack. It is hilarious to hear them attempt southern accents.

-Sara