I think it's done

So yesterday I got my gold crown - on my tooth! I think it's done. I was supposed to go back today if it was bothering me at all. I called and told the receptionist I think it's ok. Darn tooth. It's been bothering me for well over a year now, and it's done.


I am down to the wire on reserving a room/house/condo for our Disney trip. I've searched and searched for the best deal. Seeing that we'll spend 2 days not in the parks, I wanted to find a condo or townhouse where we could be more comfy. I need to make a decision quickly. The options are not going to be available for long.


Pepper is loving her "frog". I found treats that I can cram in there and basically she can't get them out. This keeps her occupied most of the day. Maybe that's mean on my part, but it lets us get school work done without worrying whose shoes, coat or toys she's destroying. She throws it around the living room - chasing it - and we love the entertainment. :)  Poor Chicken.


I've reserved her kennel for our trip. She'll have a private "room", get walked 6 times a day and someone will read her a bedtime story. LOL  Spoiled?  Actually, part of my justification is that perhaps we'll avoid her learning any "tricks" from the other dogs.


I ordered a few things from the Disney store online for the kids for the trip. I think I'll give them the gifts for Valentine's Day. :) We need to start a count-down calendar. <3 p="">

There are so many church functions quickly approaching and I need to get on the ball with them before our next business meeting!

MORE SNOW!

My kids are totally lamenting being homeschooled right now. Local schools have been closed more than open the last couple weeks between the snow and extreme cold temperatures. I'm sure they'll be upset tomorrow when I have their schoolwork laid out.

I'm supposed to go to the dentist tomorrow morning, but I don't know if I'll make it. It's the last step of getting a permanent crown on the molar that I had a root canal done. Bleh. I'll be so glad when it's done. It's been a long time coming, and as much as I like our dentist, I hate going.

Church was busy today. When DH has to work day shift, it gets crazy. But I got up early enough to get things done. I made bread pudding in the crockpot today for the "pre-Sunday school snack". Meh. I didn't think it was that great. But people ate it and said it was good. I think they just liked it b/c it was warm.

I got the breakfast stuff set up and then posted stuff on the bulletin board and then taught the adult SS class. I led the singing since DH wasn't there, and taught children's church. And then drove home - uphill - on slippery roads. I was really afraid I wouldn't make it.

Can I just say that it's always a challenge for me to teach the adult SS class with my MIL sitting front and center. She participates in the discussion, but also tends to monopolize the conversation. And when she disagrees with me it's awkward. But it's once a month, so I'm not going to let it bug me.

I started watching The Blacklist this week. I think some of the killing is gratuitous, but I like the story line.

I guess I need to fix supper. 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

I think I've posted this recipe before, and I know I've shared it with specific people. But this is a super yummy recipe, and it couldn't be any easier.

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

2 pounds individually quick-frozen chicken breast tenderloin fillets
1 1.4-oz. package fajita seasonings
2 1/2 cups (1/2 package) frozen pepper stir fry
Juice of 1 lime (approximately 1 1/2 T.)
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
12 fajita-sized flour tortillas
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese
Fat-free sour cream, for garnish
Shredded lettuce, for garnish
Diced tomato, for garnish

Place frozen chicken tenderloins in crock pot. Sprinkle fajita seasonings over top. Add pepper stir-fry, lime juice and chicken broth. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Spoon some of the chicken mixture onto a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and garnish as desired with sour cream, shredded lettuce and diced tomato.

Makes 6 servings.

SNOW!

It's snowing here! We're in the 8-12 inch range on the map. I don't think we'll get quite that much, but Baby and I won't be going to get our hair done today.


After running around yesterday, I'm fine with that.

Procrastination

I am a procrastinator. I leave many things until the last minute. There are some things that I don't. But I'm forever washing my hair 15 minutes before I'm supposed to leave. I can wash, dry and style my hair AND put on my makeup AND throw on my clothes in those last 15 minutes. But it's annoying to me, my kids and probably my husband who never complains, bless his heart.

We were supposed to have our homeschool review a couple weeks ago on the coldest day of the season. Everything here was closed and people were being advised to stay home. So I did. And the review is today. You'd think I'd have everything ready to go, but I don't. So I made the appointment for the latest one she had left. 4:15. So here's me - in my head - calculating 45 minutes to get there, 15 minutes to get ready, half an hour at church to make my copies.... I'm trying to figure out how much time I have to get things done. Argh!

So I'm off to get my kids busy on today's work while I finish up putting the review stuff together so I'm not literally leaving it to the VERY last minute.

I'm so proud of myself.  (sarcasm)

Last week was the monthly business meeting. We decided to turn the nursery into a welcome center/other room. So I took the kids down on Saturday and I purged and packed the toys and had the kids lug them to a storage area. DH came down and carried a table upstairs. I went to Walmart and the Dollar store and here's what the old nursery looks like now.  This was after church. The coffee was gone, the water for tea - gone, the sausage/egg/cheese muffin things - gone. There were a few donut holes and cranberry muffins left.

The counting committee has another table set up against another wall. We have several elderly people who help count the offerings who can't go up and down the stairs very well. So it's very convenient now for them to use this room at the back of the sanctuary.

Last Friday the kids were in a piano recital. Baby had a couple little bobbles but did fine. Little Boy was nervous as all get out but did great!  They picked their own clothes out, and looked a little underdressed compared to some of the kids, but they were comfortable. And I don't care, for the most part. And they matched without knowing it. lol

Gotta go. Stuff to do. Before it gets late.

Reality

I know better. I know better than to think my mother would reply much less email me copies of the pictures I asked for. I know better than to hope that somewhere in her black, self-centered, spiteful heart she could do something kind for me. So why do I even bother? I don't know. I feel defeated and sad and stupid. And it bugs me that I keep checking my email to see if maybe she sent them. It would take her five minutes to scan the pictures and hit send.


Our refrigerator is not working correctly. DH vacuumed a PILE of dog hair from underneath it. He thinks one of the fans is not running. I'm hoping he can figure it out and fix it.


I'm exhausted. Staying up too late and getting up late... It's taking its toll. Pain is my constant companion anymore. Psoriatic arthritis stinks. I had a tiny psoriasis flare on my elbow. I really can't complain. Most people have huge patches; I usually don't have any. So that tiny spot the size of a dime isn't really enough to even mention. But it was an ugly, itchy reminder that I do indeed have an autoimmune disease that will surface at will.


I'm continuing to do my shake diet. I've had a couple people tell me that they can tell I'm losing. I guess that's a good sign. I want to get some water pills and try taking one once or maybe twice a week.


My kids are taking turns fussing about school. and piano. and clearing the table. and picking up after the dog. and about each other. It's draining.


So the lady didn't call yesterday about Sunday school and VBS; she got stuck in a meeting. She's supposed to call me today. Little Boy is going with his grandparents to get his hair cut this morning. The kids have piano at 3. Baby leaves for dance at 5:45. The business meeting at church starts at 6:30. And somewhere between schooling and refereeing I get to clean out the fridge and freezer.


Thankfully we have a fridge/freezer downstairs. It's not as packed full, but it's not empty, either. :(


Maybe I'll be busy enough to not worry so much about the email I didn't get.

Busy Busy

First off, my husband found my calendar planner! WooHoo! He found it where I had looked at least a few times; I had even moved everything that was in that area! Thanking God! So my brain has been restored!

Yesterday I emailed my mother. Shouldn't be a big deal, but I was all nerves as I hit "send". I've asked once before for her to email me a copy of a couple of very old family photos with no response. Now that I'm compiling this family tree file, I really want her to send them. I sent her a picture of the kids at Christmas since I didn't get cards out at Christmas. I sent her a pdf file about my great great grandfather and his son almost getting blown up in a mining accident. And I sent her a document with the basic information I've collected about that part of the family. And I asked again if she'd email me the pictures.

I doubt I'll ever see them. I want to cry.

But I've got to get my act together. I have a meeting today at the mill with the public relations lady and the lady responsible for retirees. Our church wants to give a picnic to the retirees. The mill used to do this, but has not for a few years now due to budget cutbacks. I want to try to get as much information about what they have done in the past and see if this is even feasible. Exciting!

And then this afternoon I have a phone appointment with a lady from our state SBC who is going to give us curriculum for VBS.

Somewhere in there I need to do a lot of other things - like school!

Gotta run!

Brain Damage

I really need some prayer. I have misplaced my pocket planner. I was using it to copy information onto wall calendars. I have both wall calendars, but I can't find the one I carry in my purse. It has names and contact information for all our doctors, hair people, etc. I have GOT to find it. I'm very frustrated right now. It's HERE somewhere. And I HAVE to find it.

Sucked Back In

AAaaarrrgghh! I've been sucked back into Ancestry.com.  I've started compiling my research in an extensive way. Starting as far back as I could on the Robbs' side of the family, I've started listing every relative I've located. I'm working through my direct line and then expanding from there. I have a 30 page Word document so far. It includes pictures of people, documents, headstones, newspaper clippings, information from censuses and city directories and any other information I've come across.

I was feeling pretty good about how much I've done in just a couple days when I realized there are several other "lines" in my tree! Yikes. This is going to take some time.

But for now, I am Robbs descendent 3.7.4.3.1.3.2.

Dentist Day

I had a root canal done in September. It was traumatic. Going to the dentist is always traumatic for me. I'm such a baby. But I was in so much pain I HAD to go. The actual root canal wasn't bad. It was quick and painless until the numbing wore off. Then I felt like I had been punched for several days. Today the dentist took off the temporary crown and made an impression for the crown. And put one of those little metal caps on it. blech

But it's almost done, and I'm home. And my face is almost defrosted.

Headache Day

I woke up with a terrible sinus headache. I'm hoping it'll go away eventually today.

Last night I started crocheting a hat. It isn't going well. I don't know if it's because the yarn is so dark I can't see what I'm doing? Or if I'm just terrible at following directions? Or just terrible. I'm going to try again later with a lighter color and see.

Last night I also put plastic on Baby's windows. Her room is always colder in winter since it's over the garage and has windows on two sides. I had to get it done while the kids were next door; I'm not telling her it's done. I'm afraid she'll poke holes in it if she knows it's there. I'll try to get to Joel's one of these days.

Today is busy with piano and ballet. Joel will have to go with me to Allison's lesson. He's not happy. But it can't be helped.

DH is working another double today. sigh  I sure miss him when he's gone all day. Thankfully it's warmed up a little. It's 9 degrees with no wind right now.

Gotta go take the dog out and feed the kids. Baby is still in bed. I'll have to wake her up. She's usually up by now; hoping she's not getting sick. 

Too Calm?

The fact that I wrote yesterday's post without mention of something HUGE in our lives is a bit amusing to me. Yesterday my husband was called into an executive meeting on his day off. He found out that the mill where he works is being bought by another company. From past experience, this isn't a bad thing. Maybe because it's already happened twice in the last 10 years I'm not freaked out.

One great plus is that if this sale goes through, the current CEO will be out. This man is an anchor. And not in a good way. He was also the head of the schoolboard where I taught. His wife is a sweet lady, but his sons were all jerks. I'm hoping they've grown up, but I doubt it.

I personally have issue with a man who thinks it's acceptable to take a multi-million dollar bonus while the company is going through bankruptcy. This same man approved the decision to do away with picnics for the employees and Thanksgiving and Christmas bonuses. I mean, REAL bonuses. Not the $10 Christmas bonus that has taxes taken out of it. But then we heard that the favorite mill had a steak dinner for it's employees.  Yeah. I strongly dislike that man.

My husband said that he personally would have rejected the bonus, but if he HAD taken it, he would have turned around and spent it on the workers. I love him so much.

ANYway. We're trudging forward.

I called off my homeschool appointment. I have another couple weeks. What a huge help. Trying to get the kids' work rounded up and copied and my planner in order *proocraaaastinator* (in a sing-song voice). I'm hoping the stress will just keep rolling off me. ha

My kids are not thrilled that they have a piano recital coming up the end of next week. Or that Mom and Dad keep pestering them to practice. And I have to admit, I'll be happy to hear them working on new songs. But I am so proud of them. And a bit jealous. I wanted piano lessons so badly when I was a kid. We never had the money. I know I could take lessons now, but I just don't think I'd have the patience/attention to do it. :/

It's cold outside. I've taken the dog out twice now. I'm thinking an inside pee pad isn't such a bad idea.  haha

Reclaimed Space

Last summer I had a "yard sale", but because of weather it ended up in my garage. And because I didn't sell everything that first weekend, I had a repeat sale. And then it was hard to get it packed up. I was hoping to sell some of the stuff later. And with nice weather, it wasn't crucial to get the car back in the garage.

And then there was today. No, we're not as bad as up north. But -26 is cold enough. DH told me that he definitely could never move north. I can't say I'm disappointed! As much as I love my family and friends, I don't want to live in the frozen tundra, either. So when the kids went next door to G&Gs house after supper, DH and I cleaned up the "good" side of the garage. The OTHER side??? YIKES. It will take a long time to clean THAT heap of junk. But we did it.

We were almost done, and DH was really cold. I walked over and put my hand on his cheek. My hand was quite warm. He was flabbergasted. "REALLY???" lol I told him I did NOT want to feel the temperature of HIS hands. He's cold all the time anyway.

So he got his vehicle in the garage. I'm so glad he won't have to go outside in the morning to start it. I'm supposed to have my home school review tomorrow. I don't think I'll be going. There's going to be a make-up date, and I will have more time to finish getting stuff together. And I'm not going to feel guilty about it. It seems like Christmas came quickly, and the New Year and now this. Wednesday the kids have piano and Baby starts back to ballet. And Thursday I get to go to the dentist for a crown on the tooth that I had the root canal done in September. I just think I have enough things to worry about, and I'm just going to call and say I'm not going to make it. They've closed schools and other businesses here, so it's not like I'm being all that silly. :P

The barometer is changing. I can feel it in my bones. (And I saw it on our home weather station.) Hoping I can get a good night's sleep. I'm so glad the garage is "done" for now. :)

Church

People. Drive. Me. Nuts.

Blog Changes

Long past overdue, I'm making some changes to the background and layout. It may stay like it is, but it's likely to change. Hoping I don't confuse anyone while I "play". :)

Family Tree and Diabetes

So I've been working on my family tree for years now. My husband bought me a family tree program when we were first married, and he and I did extensive work on it. I got completely stumped when it came to my maternal grandmother's mother's family. It got to the point where I couldn't sleep, and all I could think of was finding information on her. I had to walk away from genealogy stuff altogether. And then I had kids. And who has time for anything with two babies rolling around?

In the last year or so, we've picked it back up. We have an Ancestry.com account, and a couple other accounts that greatly help in our search. I've located some of my grandmother's cousins' children, and I keep searching to find anyone who knows anything about that line. I think I found someone last night, but I am having a difficult time finding a phone number. I made a call to someone last night; we'll see if they call back. I have to tear myself away from the computer some nights to go to bed. I am getting a little better about walking away from the computer. Maybe that's because I have so many other irons in the fire? sigh

I'm on a FB page for parents of Type 1 Diabetics. A mom posted today that she's sitting in the ER with her son who overdosed on insulin. He had texted about it to a girl who called 911. The police came to their house at 3 am. He wouldn't be here today if she hadn't called. It's so heartbreaking. And way too close to home. As tiring as it is to count carbs, tell Little Boy to wash his hands and check, make sure his prescriptions and supplies are up to date, get up at 2 am to check his sugar... As tiring as it all is, I know it's infinitely more draining on him. And it makes me wish I could take it all on myself.

I'm sitting here getting teary, and my kids just started fighting. God wants me to stop thinking about it, I guess. ha.

Just a little bit chilly

Schools here were cancelled today. I guess the roads were bad? IDK. Ours doesn't look too bad. Or maybe it was the cold weather? IDK. With the windchill it's 0. That's not terrible either. Or maybe the administration wants an extended vacation as much as the students? Hmm. I know when I taught, that was the case. :)

Regardless, homeschooling trudges forward! 

First Snow of 2014

I guess we're supposed to get a few inches. It's snowing very lightly, and the grass isn't covered yet. It will be nice when that happens.

Baby got a bracelet loom for Christmas. She's been making little rubber band bracelets. The dog seems to like the rubber bands, too. We keep finding them in her poop. yuck.

I haven't accomplished much today. The kids and I have worked on a little school work. I have to get some things rounded up for the homeschool review next week. It seems to have come early, too, like Christmas. Little Boy was almost done reading a book, and it has completely disappeared. I have no idea where it went. I suspect foul play so I've given him a different book to read for his book report. He definitely doesn't seem concerned.

I played Apples to Apples with the kids. Little Boy gets so pouty when he is losing. :( I think we need to play win/lose games more often. He really needs to learn to win and lose gracefully.

After today, DH has one more day of day shift and then he's off for four days. The union pres asked him to fill in for him next week. I convinced him that he needs the time off more than we need the money. He's been working for more than two weeks straight. There are other people who can fill in even though DH is the preferred person.

Need to go check on the kiddos. They're too quiet. Even at 10 and 8, quiet kids can be dangerous. haha

Waking Up

It's been so long since I posted. This past year has been full of blessings and a few challenges along the way. I think many of the challenges have been self-inflicted. And as I look toward the new year, I plan to be intentional and break some very bad habits.

I struggle with many issues that all break down to being very undisciplined. And so I am going to work on these areas a little at a time with the intent of building new habits.

So, one area that is very visible is my house. There is clutter everywhere. We hate it. My kids hate it; my husband hates it. And I hate it. It's how I grew up. Every so often my mom would get tired of the clutter and make us kids all pitch in and clean it up. Basically, move it to another place. That's not the solution. So I've started. Yesterday I unburied the countertop on one side of the kitchen. Today I cleaned out the cupboard and straightened out my son's diabetic supplies. Tomorrow I'll get the other countertops. I just have to keep at it.

I need to get more disciplined with laundry, homeschool stuff, getting up and going to bed at a decent hour. And the list goes on. And of course, my weight.

I started a diet a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. And I've done fairly well sticking to it. 2 protein meal replacement shakes a day and a "sensible" ? meal. It's not fun. And they don't taste all that great. But when I find myself turning up my nose or feeling resentful, I remind myself that I am the one who did "this" to myself. I have seen results, so that is encouraging. I do wonder how long I can keep it up, but for now I'm just sticking to it the best I can.

I'm still hoping we can go to Disney in February. My husband and I need to sit down and look at the costs, etc. I would feel better about going if we had about another $500 saved up. :(  It's aggravating that the money I made from my summer yard sale ended up covering a shortfall in our checking. That could have gone a long way towards the trip. But it happened, and we just have to deal with what is.

Church stuff is going ok. I'm just glad the holidays are over now, and we can focus on 2014.

I don't know if it will be a happy new year, but I'm hoping that in a year I can look back and be satisfied.