Mid-Week Updates

This is what I stare at when I have time but don't want to use it for anything productive - you know, like cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, or vacuuming. Gah, I hate most of those things. Instead I stare at adorable pictures of kitties with goofy captions on and off all day between spurts of working. Admit it - that kitty is adorable. You can waste time, too! Click here to see more. There are almost 200 pages of these kitties. Most of the content is appropriate, but be careful because a few of them are questionable. Luckily most of the questionable stuff is flagged as such and you can't see it unless you click, so it's MOSTLY safe. And totally adorable and silly. You're welcome.

:D

This week has been another fairly slow week and I'm realizing that I could really get used to it. It was a 4 day weekend for Soren, so he enjoyed that. We spent Monday morning running errands and then he headed to a friend's house on Monday afternoon while I prepared for work. My On Stage class went well, considering it was a day off from school and the kids were all kinds of hyped up. However, they ALL showed up, which was surprising. So we were able to start blocking the show. I have to re-think a few things, but I'm hoping it all turns out in the end. On Monday night I TOTALLY DITCHED MY FAMILY! Bwahahahaha! I went out with Marie (have I mentioned her before? She's my friend who lives in my dungeon erm. . . basement). She took me to dinner (though she really just paid for herself because I had a coupon for a free meal for my birthday haha), then we went to World Market, Target, and Borders. I didn't get home until late. But whatever. It was all good!

Tuesday was faaaabulous. It's make-up week at the performing arts school I work at and I did not have anything to make-up on Tuesday! This meant that I did not have any work! Hooray! For the first time all month my calendar was one big blank square. Actually, it's more of a rectangle shape. Hee hee! Anyway - this meant I had a lot more freedom with my day. I spent the morning mostly on the phone with friends who needed to chat for one reason or another. Then I headed to my friend April's house to keep her company and bring her books and movies. She's on bed rest for like, too long.. I won't even mention how long because it sounds so depressing. She needs entertainment. So I brought her things (including myself haha) to entertain her. It was a wonderful visit and I must make sure to clear an hour or two every week to go sit on her bed and chat! After realizing how late it was getting, I headed home and pulled into the parking lot just as Soren's bus stopped. Wonderful timing! Especially because the bus stopped traffic which made the left turn into the parking lot MUCH easier. I then cooked dinner - creamy chicken enchiladas - for the fam and for a friend who has been sick. When Alan got home, I went out to drop the dinner off and then came back so I could have my creamy chicken enchilada. MMmmmmmmmmm. Afterwards, the boys and I played Fluxx and watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Quite shortly thereafter it was time for bed for everyone.

It was easy for me to see that I could so quickly go back to not working 4 jobs. I am more determined than ever to quit one now. The others I shall keep and we'll see how next school year goes. If I decide to leave more behind, I will.

Yesterday I had my water aerobics class in the morning and then I had to play a teeny bit of catch up with my web design work - nothing major. But after I caught up, I had other things to do, so I spent most of my day at the computer. Soren got home from school and . . . . ugh - he's 9 years old and stressing about college and the SATs. This worries me. We had a long talk that, once again, made me grateful to be home when he got home from school. Just adding to the determination to let go of one of my jobs. After he recovered from that, we had dinner and he and Alan were off to basketball practice. Then it was GIRL'S NIGHT! WEEEEEEeeeeee! Didn't do anything terribly exciting - except hook up my VCR and watch an audition tape with me singing and dancing. Then it was just chit chatting. So that was groovy! After the girl's left I read for a bit and then went to sleepy land.

Today is Thursday. My morning and afternoon are fairly open (which means I have web design work and housework to do), but I do have to work late this afternoon and then Soren has his Pinewood Derby tonight. I'll get a few photos tonight and post them. He didn't do well in the time trials and so he's turned on his "well I don't care anyway" attitude. Gah. I don't remember being a teenager this early!!!

Dear Mom and Dad - I'm sorry that I had to act like a teenager when I was a teenager. Please forgive me.

(Maybe that will help. I apologized, right? So that means that I won't have to pay for how I acted as a teenager by having one do the same stuff I did, right? Cuz I said I was sorry. Right? Please? Anyone?)

*giggles*

Oh - I'm slowly working on changing my layout around. I've added a few blogs that I read to my sidebar. If you read this and want to be added, just let me know! I don't know who all reads this and/or how they found me and/or if they want me reading their blog, but I'm a pretty open person. So just comment or email me or whatever and I'll list your blog on the side and then, of course, I'll read it because I officially have a link to it.

So... yeah - enjoy your Thursday!

Birthday Girl

Tomorrow I turn 30. I think I like numbers that end in 0 or 5 because I couldn't ever admit that I was anything but 25 until now. I am totally ok with being 30. It's just a number. Besides, I'm obviously not THAT old when my two friend buy me this for my birthday:



Yes, no joke. For girl's night this week we went to the mall, walked into Build-A-Bear, and that is what I walked out with - my own little monkey all dressed up. I have awesome friends! We also sat around eating cheesecake dribbled with chocolate and watched Blue Harvest (the Family Guy spoof of Star Wars). I have such awesome friends!

This week has been good! I only really worked 2 of my 4 jobs. And my most recent job? I focused on one account this week and it went live yesterday. WOOHOO! I decided, seeing as it's my birthday tomorrow, that I would not request any additional accounts until next week. HUZZAH! Soren and Alan are both home today. It's a 4 day 'teacher workday' weekend, so that is why Soren is home. Alan is home because he took the day off to chill out with me (not knowing Soren would be home hahahaha), so we're all about to run out and get me my birthday present (a new mouse for my computer... why yes, I am a nerd! Thanks for asking!), pick up some groceries, and just generally goof off.

In other news, I am selling my desk to put some money aside for various things including a summer trip to Arizona and Utah and a laptop. I need to post it on Craig's List and see if I have any takers. I'm going to replace it with something from Ikea that is smaller. My desk is a beast. I love it, but it's just too big and bulky.

That's really all! I'm going to enjoy my day today with my boys pampering me. Tomorrow is pretty full of basketball, so that's why I'm getting spoiled today! Hooray! And tonight we are heading to a friend's house to play Guitar Hero and Rock Band with them! SO FUN! Should be a great day!

Sickness strikes again!

Not me this time. Nope, this time it was my baby! Soren came home early from school on Friday with a temperature of 100 or so. We went over to CVS (drugstore) to pick up some over-the-counter meds and a thermometer (ours all had recently died). He spent almost all of Friday afternoon/evening in bed, his temp topping out at 103. Then on Saturday he spent, literally, all day in bed - most of it sleeping.

Now, anyone who knows Soren knows that he does not sit still well. He gets that from me. He likes to be up and going, even when he is sick. So this was quite abnormal. His temp crawled up to 104 yesterday evening and he was so miserable. He asked for a blessing, so we called a friend and Alan and he gave Soren a blessing. After that Soren asked for medicine and said he wanted to go to sleep.

In the middle of the night Soren came in saying there was a ticking sound - like a bomb - in his pillow. He also said his blankets were getting bigger. He was very scared. Alan tried to go in to his room and show him that everything was okay, but we think maybe his fever was causing him to freak out a bit. It was still at 104. Soren ended up in bed with us. I was stuck in the middle of my two boys. It made for a cozy night of little/no sleep. For me, anyway.

Upon waking up this morning, Soren looked and sounded loads better. His temp was down to 100 again and he had energy and a smile. I even got a pic of his hair in a mohawk, but he begged me not to post it. He's back in bed now playing his Gameboy. I will be heading to church alone today, as I have obligations and Alan's aren't quite as imperative for him to show up for as mine. If Soren's temp rises again, we'll be taking him to a clinic.

I spent some time yesterday working on my personal website in between checking on Soren and attending a voice recital for one of my students. I managed to get the basic design done. You can check it out here, if you'd like. I also arted for the first time in quite a while and came up with this:



So that was fun!

I'll hopefully be updating my site with some goofy computer graphic art I do as well as some tracks of my singing. We'll see how that goes.

Ok, it is time for me to eat and get ready for church! Au revoir!

SNOW!

Pretty, no? It will not be pretty tomorrow, but it is pretty now! I love the snow**!!!

Thank you to all of you who called, responded, or just thought and prayed about our little family this week. I know the Lord is watching over us as I have been blessed with an immense feeling of peace. Whatever will be, will be. As President Hinkley said:

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers."

That is what we are doing. Moving forward. Which is why my week has been busy, busy, busy! I've managed to revise one website, put together 3 more websites (one went live Monday, the other twoh went live today), pick out a show and cast it (On Stage Class), get a student ready for a recital this weekend, teach 2 voice lessons, teach one musical theatre class, juggle girl's night AND Soren's basketball practice (Alan had to work late and missed it), pick up another book, finish watching the first season of Jeeves and Wooster and started watching the first season of As Time Goes By. Yes, I have an addiction to British sitcoms. It's a weakness.

Lucky for me I only have ONE website left to work on this week, my musical theatre class for today was canceled, Cub Scouts was canceled, AND Alan got home from work early today! So, he's downstairs making clam chowder and I'm going to get some laundry done. I also got a paycheck today, so that always makes me smile!

Life moves forward and it's better for me to move forward with it, so that's what I'm doing. I am planning on slowing down a bit, though. I've decided to only take one project at a time from my new job instead of trying to juggle 3-4 projects at once. That will reduce my stress considerably. I may even get more done that way, too! That is my goal, anyway.

That's really all from this side of the world. We'll know more about the infertility situation at the first of next week. I will update as we know more.



**This feeling is reserved for initial snowfall. All feelings related to traffic and school closings due to snow are in no way related to the love of snow. Statement may be retracted if snow continues for prolonged periods of time. Statement may be null and void if school cancellation causes problems with any of the plays I am directing. I reserve the right to add to this addendum and/or retract the statement altogether.

A Request for Prayers

I know this is an odd way to make this request, but it's much less emotional than calling all of you. We recently received some bad news regarding the fertility treatments we are pursuing at this point. If you could please keep our little family in your thoughts and prayers, we would really appreciate it! I will update as we find out more. We are going to get a second opinion, so we'll let you all know how that pans out.

Thank you!

Long Week

This was my first week back to working everything. It has come to my attention that I can't really handle how much I've agreed to, so it's been a very long week. I'm still trying to figure out how I finally made it to Saturday. I won't go into detail, but let's just say I'm extremely grateful the week is over.

Last night I went to see P.S. I Love You with my friend, Merianne. I do not think I have ever cried so consistently through a movie ever in my life. I then repeated the crying when I explained parts of the movie to Alan. And I'm still emotionally a wreck this morning. All in all, though, it was very therapeutic. Especially after my week.

Yesterday was Colonial Day at Soren's school. It's a huge event for all 4th graders. They are required to come to school in costume and they spend the day doing things that were done in colonial times. The classrooms are literally transformed. I have a picture on my cell phone of Soren's classroom, but I have yet to figure out how to access those pics for download. I do, however, have two pictures of Soren:





The first one was the best smile I could get out of him. The second was his attempt at being a poor beggar colonial child, but I was laughing too hard and he cracked up while I was taking the picture. Trying to put that costume together was one of the great stresses of my week. Lucky for me, I have good friends who helped me and I work for a theatre.

I am hoping this week will be much better than this past week. I'm ready for things to relax and for me to not be such a ball of stress.

On top of all of the everyday stress I suppose I should mention that we are in the middle of another cycle with clomid (fertility drug, for those unaware) in yet another attempt to add a member to our family. This hasn't been stressing me out at all. No, of course not. And it has not added any sort of strange hormonal changes or anything. Haha! So add that to my week and. . . yeah.

I leave you with this. For those of you who already understand the 'joys' of infertility, I hope this touches you. For those who have no idea what it is like to deal with, this is a little glimpse of how it feels sometimes.



Lest anyone think I am not grateful for the miracle I already have, I should mention that I am - beyond words - very blessed to have my sweet miracle. And as time goes on I realize what a miracle he actually is to us. But that doesn't stop the pain of wanting more.

2008? Not sure I'm impressed....

One word can sum up 2008 for me thus far: sick. That's right, ladies and gentlemen! The whole of 2008 thus far for me has been spent with some nasty cold bug or something. I have a doc appt. on Wednesday anyway, so I figure if I'm still sick at that point, I will just ask for something then. However, it is my hope that I will be able to shake this before that point (though that has been my hope since Jan. 1st and it is now the 7th... hmmmmm).

Today is day 1 of "back to normal" life. Alan is back at work (after working two days last week - why did it feel like more?), Soren is back to school (though he went back on Wednesday), and I am officially back to working all of my jobs. Today starts another session of my On Stage class. As of right now I have 8 kids enrolled. That is HALF of what I had last session. This is very happy for me. I can handle 8. However, there is still time for more kids to enroll today and seeing how a lot of people procrastinate, I could have a full class (12) by 4pm today. We'll see. I'm hoping to stick to 8.

Because I've been sick, I've had more time to do things I wouldn't normally have time to do. For example, I finished a book! This is very exciting for me, as I love to read but the past few months just have not had the time, energy, or desire to sit down and finish any books. However - A Thousand Splendid Suns sucked me in fairly quickly and I finished it within a day or two of really sitting down and reading it. I've also almost finished The Golden Compass which isn't nearly as evil and anti-God as a lot of reviews I've read. HOWEVER, I am fully aware that it gets worse as the series progresses. I do happen to have a child in the house who is desperate to read these books, though, and I want to read them all before I even think about letting him pick one up - so that's why I'm reading them. Thus far? *shrugs* It's not a fantastic book, but it's ok.

Speaking of reading, Soren got quite a few books for Christmas and has been devouring the Septimus Heap series which starts with Magyk. He has already checked out the next book from the library and finished it and is desperate (like almost manic) to get to school so he can check out the third book. However, when asked if he was interested in owning the entire series, he shrugged his shoulders. I think it's time for me to stop buying him books and just go to the library more. Why don't I usually do this? Because we never have TIME to go to the library together. Bah, time. However, I am going to force us to make time. This might be easier considering there are a few school holidays coming up.

What else has been going on? Oh - lots of gaming. We've had time to play Wii and it continues to be super fun. However, I have not had the energy to play many of the sports games so I have found myself staring at the TV while I'm cuddled up on the couch playing MySims. Not nearly as much activity, but so fun! I've also played an online game with Alan that we both enjoy called World of Warcraft. It's a great sick-day activity. And let's not forget TV. And movies. We've watched 2 of the 3 DVDs we got for Christmas. Yesterday while I was laying at home hacking up a lung and blowing my nose until it was raw I enjoyed watching Slipper and the Rose with the director's commentary. Now THAT was fun. I also watched all the extras on the DVD. I am still so very much in love with that movie (and can still quote almost the entire thing).

OH - enough about me. Soren had his first basketball game of the season on Saturday! Woohoo! Alan (since he's the coach and all) went and I stayed home (because of the sick and all). However, Alan reported that the boys all played really well and Soren had 6 rebounds! I'm hoping to go to the game this Saturday and take some photos.

That's about it from me! I've got water aerobics that I'm going to drag myself to this morning and then I've got LOTS to do.... hope I survive!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I never did get around to posting about Christmas. Sorry about that. This is probably because my biggest joy was in Soren's reaction to the Wii, but we did get a few other cool things around the house. I don't want to bother with a list, but it was great. We have a few fun games (non-electronic), a few fun movies, and some new clothes (I did break down and buy a pair of jeans for Soren - but they were totally on sale, so I'm justified). We also have more toys under foot, but not too many because Soren doesn't really play with toys very much.

Our Christmas Day tradition of going to the movies held strong and we headed off to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I love these movies. And there is obviously going to be a third movie. I just like how fun and light hearted they are. Purely entertainment. That is why I go to the movies most of the time - not to think or analyze or be preached at . . . just to have fun. This could get me into a huge discussion which would involve my Ethics class from college, but we just won't go there. Suffice it to say - I hated my Ethics class.

The rest of the past week has, sadly, been spent working (Alan and I were both back, nose to the grindstone, on the 26th). We have had opportunities to play the Wii and I can't wait for Soren to go back to school so he can stop bragging about all of his high scores. It might also give ME a chance to play MY game (MySims). Tomorrow is back to school for Soren, and Thursday is back to work for both Alan and myself. We'll miss this vacation a lot.

Last night we rang in the new year with a whole load of people. In total we had 10 adults and 8 children running around the house. Ok, maybe only 7 children were running - one is only 3 months old. We managed to contain all of the activity to the main floor and the upstairs and the kids did remarkably well considering they all (except the 3 month old) were up until midnight. It was funny because at midnight, almost on the dot, they all started to fall apart. By 12:30am, everyone was out the door (except the 3 adults who live here, the one adult who is visiting and, of course, Soren), Soren was in bed, and Alan and I had cleaned up enough for the evening and were in bed ourselves. We had such a great time and I hope all our friends did, too. Something I have been so very grateful for this past year is friends. When your family isn't close, you need friends and I have discovered so many this year.

So, 2008 has begun. Our year will be a crazy one that I can do very little planning for (which I hate). The next few months will be very emotionally taxing on our family, but hopefully it will all be worth it. We've got big ideas about what we want to have happen this year, but nothing is certain.

I do not make New Years Resolutions for many reasons, but I do know that all of here are working hard on bettering ourselves. Little by little we change small habits to create bigger habits that improve our home, our family, and ourselves. I love the beginning of a new year (and not just because it means my birthday is closer - I love birthdays hee hee). I love how fresh it feels. How full of hope and renewal it is. I hope for so much this year and I love that a new number at the end of a date can do that for me.

Love to all! Happy New Year!