The weekend was really great, until it kept snowing and snowing, and our cul-de-sac was not getting plowed. The streets around our cul-de-sac were plowed, but alas, ours was apparently invisible. Finally, Sunday afternoon, the snow plow man put on his glasses and SURPRISE! Discovered a cul-de-sac and houses under all that snow. Unfortunately, our house was still invisible to the man because he decided to plow all the snow into our driveway. So, between shoveling our own driveway and carving out a place for our driveway, our Sunday was pretty busy.
We must have gotten about 2 feet of snow over the weekend, and the snow on Sunday was wet and heavy. I was being a helpful wife and shoveling the driveway with John. I was doing alright as long as I didn't fill up the shovel like I usually do with the nice powder. But, I got a little overzealous and tried to push as much snow from one side of the driveway to the other and ended up loosing the battle. I came to a halt, and decided to just start running to push the shovel. WORST IDEA EVER! Apparently my weight, at a run, was still lighter than the amount of snow I had accumulated, and I went down, face first. It was over so fast! One minute I was standing, well vertically leaning, and the next I was face down in the ice laughing. "Luckily" I landed on my hip and not my enlarged uterus because I think it would have ended in an ER trip. My hip on the other hand was not all that happy.
So, moral of the story, if it's wet heavy snow, DO NOT push more than you can handle. And also, call to complain to your city public works when they aren't doing their job. Hopefully the woman I spoke to today will relay the message onto my nemesis, and we will not not to deal with him and his hatred for our driveway again. Otherwise, I'll have to start listening for him and run out of the house and get mad at him myself.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Oh where, oh where, could my little phone be...
As much as I love my daughter, her memory could be a little better. Yes, I know, children have short memories and attention spans. Well, that shouldn't apply to helping mommy find her phone which was hidden from her. The best part is, I ask Tori "Where's mommy's phone?" and she looks around for a minute, throws her arms up, and attempts to say something, which only sounds like gibberish to the rest of the literate world.
So, after searching her usual hiding places, shoes, toys, Tupperware, drawers, etc, all I find is chex cereal, lint, random toys, her missing forks and spoons, a twig (where did that come from?!?!), and the dog's favorite chew toy. Excellent. No phone.
My next option was to beg a friend of mine to call my phone. He does. Five times. Do I hear anything? No. Apparently this time Tori decided to hide my phone in the black hole in our house. I was unaware we had such a thing, but, now it explains where all our socks end up.
Looks like we will not be running our errands today after all. Instead, I will be tearing up my house trying to find my bright pink phone. I thought getting a bright cover would help me find it in cases like this, but, I was wrong.
So, after searching her usual hiding places, shoes, toys, Tupperware, drawers, etc, all I find is chex cereal, lint, random toys, her missing forks and spoons, a twig (where did that come from?!?!), and the dog's favorite chew toy. Excellent. No phone.
My next option was to beg a friend of mine to call my phone. He does. Five times. Do I hear anything? No. Apparently this time Tori decided to hide my phone in the black hole in our house. I was unaware we had such a thing, but, now it explains where all our socks end up.
Looks like we will not be running our errands today after all. Instead, I will be tearing up my house trying to find my bright pink phone. I thought getting a bright cover would help me find it in cases like this, but, I was wrong.
It's over, for now
Last night, I stumbled in the door at 8:30 to find my daughter still awake with a poopy diaper, and the husband playing video games. For once, I didn't care. I had just finished my last final after waiting 2 hours for a computer to open up (with an appointment, mind you) and freezing my butt off in the 5 degree weather. I was thrilled to be done. If only I knew I don't have to go back eventually to finish school.
It seems like a never ending battle. I get time to take classes, only to find out that I have to take another semester off, perhaps two, because my husband will be gone, and we can't afford to pay for child care. The school offers child care, but not for children under 2. The base offers child care, but it's at least a year wait, and if you cannot put your child in day care the moment they get to your name on the list, you are never allowed to use them again. Stupid? I think yes.
But, regardless, even with my college and books being paid for (thanks to my grandparents), we just cannot shell out about $500/month, maybe more (that is half our mortgage, to put it in perspective) to put Tori and her new sister in daycare. And if I worked instead of going to school, I may be able to make that much money, but, it defeats the purpose of putting them in there in the first place since I would be working, not taking classes. So, it may be awhile. I'm thinking of waiting until the GI bill covers my school in 3 years, because then they give you a small housing allowance, money for books, as well as pay for your tuition. So, hopefully the housing allowance will be enough to afford day care. Otherwise, I guess we're in the same situation as before.
My only dilemma with waiting is that some of my classes I have worked hard in may expire. I don't know what the rules are on that, but I have heard math and english expire after so many years. This sounds a little ridiculous to me because unlike the sciences, math and English haven't changed much in the past couple hundred years. Sure, new words are added to the Webster Dictionary every year, but, is that really relevant to the essays we're required to write? No. It's all the same, just different teachers and methods. And math is the same way. Sure I don't really remember the quadratic equation or how to figure out the sin and cosin or a line (is it a line those are even used for?) but, I can use a calculator, and do basic math in my head and paper, and in life, that's all that is really applicable. Despite what you high school math teachers tried to convince you.
So, moral of the story is, I may have to start from scratch, but, it will be completely paid for, and I will have daycare available, if not kids starting school. I'm not looking forward to having to start over, so I'm pretending like it's not an option. Maybe I'll just cry when the advisor tells me that, and he'll help me out. It never works with speeding tickets though. Don't try it. They just get more mad.
It seems like a never ending battle. I get time to take classes, only to find out that I have to take another semester off, perhaps two, because my husband will be gone, and we can't afford to pay for child care. The school offers child care, but not for children under 2. The base offers child care, but it's at least a year wait, and if you cannot put your child in day care the moment they get to your name on the list, you are never allowed to use them again. Stupid? I think yes.
But, regardless, even with my college and books being paid for (thanks to my grandparents), we just cannot shell out about $500/month, maybe more (that is half our mortgage, to put it in perspective) to put Tori and her new sister in daycare. And if I worked instead of going to school, I may be able to make that much money, but, it defeats the purpose of putting them in there in the first place since I would be working, not taking classes. So, it may be awhile. I'm thinking of waiting until the GI bill covers my school in 3 years, because then they give you a small housing allowance, money for books, as well as pay for your tuition. So, hopefully the housing allowance will be enough to afford day care. Otherwise, I guess we're in the same situation as before.
My only dilemma with waiting is that some of my classes I have worked hard in may expire. I don't know what the rules are on that, but I have heard math and english expire after so many years. This sounds a little ridiculous to me because unlike the sciences, math and English haven't changed much in the past couple hundred years. Sure, new words are added to the Webster Dictionary every year, but, is that really relevant to the essays we're required to write? No. It's all the same, just different teachers and methods. And math is the same way. Sure I don't really remember the quadratic equation or how to figure out the sin and cosin or a line (is it a line those are even used for?) but, I can use a calculator, and do basic math in my head and paper, and in life, that's all that is really applicable. Despite what you high school math teachers tried to convince you.
So, moral of the story is, I may have to start from scratch, but, it will be completely paid for, and I will have daycare available, if not kids starting school. I'm not looking forward to having to start over, so I'm pretending like it's not an option. Maybe I'll just cry when the advisor tells me that, and he'll help me out. It never works with speeding tickets though. Don't try it. They just get more mad.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Someone needs an attitude adjustment
My hellacious child (can you feel the love oozing?) has decided to make today the worst day ever. On top of having to have 2 finals to complete by Thursday, a mountain of laundry to wash and another to fold, dishes and wiping down the countertops, sweeping and vacuuming, and a scattering of toys across my house to put away, my daughter has decided to throw tantrum after tantrum. The total for timeouts is now up to 5, and it's not even noon. I know she got plenty of sleep last night, but whatever the case, she is not in a good mood.
Needless to say, I will not be able to run my errands today before a friend stops by at 3. I may not even have time to take a shower because instead of having the house picked up before nap time so I can shower, I will be using her nap time to clean.
- I tried to have her help me pick up her toys, and put all the letter magnets back on the fridge, but instead she threw them at me. So, that was a time out.
- I asked her to not unfold the blankets I had just folded and put away on the couch armchair, and while looking at me, she slowly pulled the bottom blanket out, unfolding all three of them. Time out number 2.
- I asked her to come out of my room so I could shut the door (she's not allowed to just hang out in there), and she just continued to play in the dogs bed. Time out number 3.
- I handed her some books to put away on her shelf, and she ripped out a page. Time out number 4.
- I sat her in her chair for a snack, and instead of eating her banana and oranges, she threw them at the dog, who wasted no time engulfing them like I hadn't already fed her. Time out number 5.
Needless to say, I will not be able to run my errands today before a friend stops by at 3. I may not even have time to take a shower because instead of having the house picked up before nap time so I can shower, I will be using her nap time to clean.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Baby name updates
Well, it seems that agreeing on a name with my husband was not as difficult as I thought. I mean, we did go through A LOT of names, but we have both agreed on a very pretty name. Annelise. It's a German name that is originally spelt Anneliese, but I think I prefer the American spelling leaving out the extra "e". I don't want to give her some odd spelling that no one can spell. I remember a lot of people in school having odd spellings, and they were constantly annoyed with people spelling their name wrong. Although, my name is spelt "correctly" and it was still spelt weird at times. I mean, come on, how hard is Tiffany to spell? Haha.
Anyway, now the battle is over the middle name. I think John likes Annelise Mae the best, which is good since the other option was to give her my middle name, Nicole. I don't know if that's a good idea or not. I mean, it is passing it down, which is neat, and since it's not a first name, it's not going to cause any confusion. But, I would like to give her her own unique name, like I did with Victoria.
In other news, we are all doing well, and trying to study to finish our finals this next week. Both of my classes are online, so I have to finish my finals by Thursday. I have to write a 5 page essay, which I have given very little thought on since I still have NO idea what I'm going to write about. It doesn't have many requirements, we just had 3 different styles available. And, none of them have called out to me as something I'd like to write. I like how there isn't many guidelines, but at the same time, guidelines do help you narrow down all your ideas. So, hopefully today and tomorrow I can figure something out and have it done before Thursday. I don't want to wait until the last minute.
My other final is an art test with 50 accumulative multiple choice questions. It's open book, so I just want to browse through the book and take it as soon as I can since I've been working on art the last couple days. I surprisingly really liked my art class. It opened my eyes a little to not only the history of art, but how it's created, and how it's critiqued. And the book was surprisingly interesting. It had a lot of pictures, which really helps explain the different types of art and shows you the variables in each style.
And John has already taken his Chemistry final last week, but he has his math final on Tuesday. So, he's been studying a couple chapters a day to make sure he understands all the formulas and things that could show up on the final. I am SOO glad I finished all my math requirements. I hate it. Mostly because ever teacher teaches differently. I've only found one teacher that I REALLY was able to understand math from. I actually enjoyed that class, and since it was an algebra class it did help me out a lot. But, for the most part, since I don't use any math in my daily life besides calculating out how much 2.5 lbs of apples will cost at their set price. Haha. Not too difficult. ;) Plus, cell phones have calculators on them, so if ever I don't even feel like doing that, like Tori won't stop talking, and I can't concentrate, I can just do it on my phone. My phone even turns into a scientific calculator. In case I ever wanted to calculate sin or cosin, I'm set. Haha.
And of course, Victoria is doing really well. Running around, throwing her toys around the house, playing with the dog, and eating lots of carbohydrates. it's her favorite food type. Bread, plain pasta, dry cereal, etc. And she just discovered vanilla and chocolate ice cream. At first she refused to eat the vanilla ice cream with the chocolate syrup because she didn't recognize it (that's how she decides what to eat these days, only recognizable food), but John outsmarted her and she decided she liked it. Although I don't know if it was a good idea. Haha. Now she LOVES ice cream.
Oh yes, and it's snowing today. FINALLY. It's been super cold (like high's of 30, at best) but we have no snow on the ground. The little we got a week or two ago melted during a slight "heat wave" of 40 degree weather. So, anyway, time to actually go out and buy Tori her snow suit. I bought her shoes already. I just need to get her some snow proof clothing. Hopefully Walmart will have some cheap options. Although, if I get a better quality one, it'll last for this next kid. But, with the holidays upon us, money isn't exactly abundant. We'll see.
Anyway, now the battle is over the middle name. I think John likes Annelise Mae the best, which is good since the other option was to give her my middle name, Nicole. I don't know if that's a good idea or not. I mean, it is passing it down, which is neat, and since it's not a first name, it's not going to cause any confusion. But, I would like to give her her own unique name, like I did with Victoria.
In other news, we are all doing well, and trying to study to finish our finals this next week. Both of my classes are online, so I have to finish my finals by Thursday. I have to write a 5 page essay, which I have given very little thought on since I still have NO idea what I'm going to write about. It doesn't have many requirements, we just had 3 different styles available. And, none of them have called out to me as something I'd like to write. I like how there isn't many guidelines, but at the same time, guidelines do help you narrow down all your ideas. So, hopefully today and tomorrow I can figure something out and have it done before Thursday. I don't want to wait until the last minute.
My other final is an art test with 50 accumulative multiple choice questions. It's open book, so I just want to browse through the book and take it as soon as I can since I've been working on art the last couple days. I surprisingly really liked my art class. It opened my eyes a little to not only the history of art, but how it's created, and how it's critiqued. And the book was surprisingly interesting. It had a lot of pictures, which really helps explain the different types of art and shows you the variables in each style.
And John has already taken his Chemistry final last week, but he has his math final on Tuesday. So, he's been studying a couple chapters a day to make sure he understands all the formulas and things that could show up on the final. I am SOO glad I finished all my math requirements. I hate it. Mostly because ever teacher teaches differently. I've only found one teacher that I REALLY was able to understand math from. I actually enjoyed that class, and since it was an algebra class it did help me out a lot. But, for the most part, since I don't use any math in my daily life besides calculating out how much 2.5 lbs of apples will cost at their set price. Haha. Not too difficult. ;) Plus, cell phones have calculators on them, so if ever I don't even feel like doing that, like Tori won't stop talking, and I can't concentrate, I can just do it on my phone. My phone even turns into a scientific calculator. In case I ever wanted to calculate sin or cosin, I'm set. Haha.
And of course, Victoria is doing really well. Running around, throwing her toys around the house, playing with the dog, and eating lots of carbohydrates. it's her favorite food type. Bread, plain pasta, dry cereal, etc. And she just discovered vanilla and chocolate ice cream. At first she refused to eat the vanilla ice cream with the chocolate syrup because she didn't recognize it (that's how she decides what to eat these days, only recognizable food), but John outsmarted her and she decided she liked it. Although I don't know if it was a good idea. Haha. Now she LOVES ice cream.
Oh yes, and it's snowing today. FINALLY. It's been super cold (like high's of 30, at best) but we have no snow on the ground. The little we got a week or two ago melted during a slight "heat wave" of 40 degree weather. So, anyway, time to actually go out and buy Tori her snow suit. I bought her shoes already. I just need to get her some snow proof clothing. Hopefully Walmart will have some cheap options. Although, if I get a better quality one, it'll last for this next kid. But, with the holidays upon us, money isn't exactly abundant. We'll see.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
And the gender is...
A girl! Good news is, I don't have to spend a trillion dollars on clothes for the next few years. I'm sure as soon as this next one starts catching on that she's not getting "new" clothes, I'll have to start supplementing the used ones, but hey, she'll probably hate me at some point anyway, so, why not make her wear clothes she hates while I'm at it!! Haha.
Anyway, since I named Victoria, I am being reminded I promised John he could name the next one. The only problem? He wants to name her Maylene. It's not the ugliest name I've ever heard, but I definitely am not a fan. Especially when her older sister is named Victoria Elizabeth... I mean, I'm jealous of her name, so, I can only imagine what a younger sister would feel like if she was named Maylene. And it's not even a family heirloom name. It's just a name he pulled out of his butt. So, anyway, hopefully I'll be able to persuade him into changing his mind. The only problem? Every name I come up with, he hates. I literally shout it out, and before I can even take a breath and wait for a response, he shoots it down.
So, if anyone would like to help me find a name for our next child, I will be taking suggestions. Hey, I may even try to figure out how to create a poll on here. I'm sure it's do-able. Maybe in a couple weeks of narrowing down names, I can take a formal vote. We shall see. Wish me luck. ;)
Anyway, since I named Victoria, I am being reminded I promised John he could name the next one. The only problem? He wants to name her Maylene. It's not the ugliest name I've ever heard, but I definitely am not a fan. Especially when her older sister is named Victoria Elizabeth... I mean, I'm jealous of her name, so, I can only imagine what a younger sister would feel like if she was named Maylene. And it's not even a family heirloom name. It's just a name he pulled out of his butt. So, anyway, hopefully I'll be able to persuade him into changing his mind. The only problem? Every name I come up with, he hates. I literally shout it out, and before I can even take a breath and wait for a response, he shoots it down.
So, if anyone would like to help me find a name for our next child, I will be taking suggestions. Hey, I may even try to figure out how to create a poll on here. I'm sure it's do-able. Maybe in a couple weeks of narrowing down names, I can take a formal vote. We shall see. Wish me luck. ;)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Thanksgiving
This year, our household hosted Thanksgiving. Originally it was only supposed to be us and 2 other couples. A very calm Thanksgiving with 7 people, including the 2 toddlers (Tori and her friend Claire). Well, a few days before the big event, I found out that it wouldn't just be 7 people, but more like 16. Luckily I always plan on making TONS so everyone gets to take home lots of leftovers, so I only had to run to the store to grab a few extras. Anyway, we cooked our 20 lb turkey over night like my grandma Carol does, and it was absolutely delicious. I had to scrap the bones for some extra meat once everyone left since there wasn't much left. Just a drum stick and a wing. Luckily I had a friend make another smaller turkey so we stole some breast meat.
Anyway, it was an eventful day/evening which ended in a lot of cleaning. Luckily since we definitely don't have seating for everyone, we used paper plates and called it a day, so that made it a lot easier. And we're still working on leftovers of the quadruple batch of potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing. So, it's been a nice weekend of not cooking or doing much cleaning.
Other than that, I'm still pregnant. This week I have my next appointment, so more to come on that. I'm hoping it's a boy, but I have this bad feeling it is going to be a girl, again. Not that we won't love her. I just really don't want to deal with 2 girls and all the drama that will inevitably ensue. Not to mention that they are so close in age that it will constantly be a battle.
And John deploys in about a month. I'm not excited. It finally hit me last night that not only will Tori and I be without him for 5 months, but I will be very pregnant, and delivering our next child alone. Hopefully my mom will make it out here in time (I'd like for her to just stay for a month or two), since I'm freaking out that my friends around here won't get me to the hospital in time. Since they'll have to drive from their house, one to watch Tori, and one to take me. I guess if worse comes to worse, I can just drive myself as soon as labor starts. It's not so bad in the very beginning. But, it's a lot of waiting in the hospital... anyway, I will miss my hubby a lot. And I'm really not looking forward to this next year. At least not before May.
Anyway, it was an eventful day/evening which ended in a lot of cleaning. Luckily since we definitely don't have seating for everyone, we used paper plates and called it a day, so that made it a lot easier. And we're still working on leftovers of the quadruple batch of potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing. So, it's been a nice weekend of not cooking or doing much cleaning.
Other than that, I'm still pregnant. This week I have my next appointment, so more to come on that. I'm hoping it's a boy, but I have this bad feeling it is going to be a girl, again. Not that we won't love her. I just really don't want to deal with 2 girls and all the drama that will inevitably ensue. Not to mention that they are so close in age that it will constantly be a battle.
And John deploys in about a month. I'm not excited. It finally hit me last night that not only will Tori and I be without him for 5 months, but I will be very pregnant, and delivering our next child alone. Hopefully my mom will make it out here in time (I'd like for her to just stay for a month or two), since I'm freaking out that my friends around here won't get me to the hospital in time. Since they'll have to drive from their house, one to watch Tori, and one to take me. I guess if worse comes to worse, I can just drive myself as soon as labor starts. It's not so bad in the very beginning. But, it's a lot of waiting in the hospital... anyway, I will miss my hubby a lot. And I'm really not looking forward to this next year. At least not before May.
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