De-stressing

As I've said before, I'm one to let the stress build up till I explode. I really felt like exploding today, so I'm working on de-stressing while Mark has the kids out to the store this evening. It's quiet and I'm listening to music. I love guitar music, so I'm listening to something I checked out from the library. "The Ultimate Most Relaxing Guitar Music in the Universe" is the title. I like it so far. I really started loving guitar music when I found a guitar lullabies cd for MG when she was a baby. It was so pretty and relaxing.

I'm also reading my all time favorite children's fantasy book. This is the book that first got me interested in reading. My fourth grade teacher read it to us... one chapter per day. It was so exciting that the entire class was hanging on every word and we would beg Mrs. Doig to go on and read another chapter. I've been reading this book by Christmas-tree light at night. It's pretty miraculous that I actually have the book in my hands. A couple of years ago I kept thinking about this book but had no idea what the title was. I posted a question about it on a librarian's list serv and someone out their in cyberspace recalled the title. It was out-of-print, so it was difficult to locate a copy. I finally found one on e-bay, plus I found out that there was a sequel, so I have both books! Have you ever heard of it?

Follow That Star

I feel really drained after taking care of sick kids for the past week. I've had lots of help from Mark, but it still left me feeling tired and a little down. I am happy to say that MG is much, much better and MB is beginning to get a little better. MG was so much better that she ate alot for her Christmas dinner last evening. Both kids had stomach viruses and colds with MG's cold turning into bronchitis. Yuck is an understatement. I had a touch of the stomach virus too, but it lasted only one day thank goodness.

Now I need to be a little selfish and have some "me" time. I really do. When I saw that beautiful star in the sky on Christmas morning, I had the urge to jump in the car and go follow it. I know that's silly, but I wonder what I would have found. It looked so close by. :) I think that I'll get Mark to watch the kids on Sunday or Monday while I go get my hair and nails done or something. Maybe that would make me feel better and a little less crazy.

Christmas Star

Early this morning before anyone woke up, I was lying on the couch and looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise, so the sky had just lightened to a soft blue. There was a single morning star in the sky. It was so bright and beautiful. It really felt magical and made me think about the star that the shepherds and wise men followed to find baby Jesus in the bible story. It was a nice peaceful time for me before the kids woke up to find their Christmas presents this morning. *

The Fun and Funny this Christmas

Since it's been not so fun for us and the kids since they're sick right now, I wanted to share a few fun things that we did and a couple of funny things that happened.

A couple of weeks ago, MG went to a gingerbread house making program at the library. She had such a good time. She would not let me help her, and insisted on doing it all herself.


When the kids were first getting sick, I took them out Christmas shopping with me. I was a little stressed out when I bought a cd set for my father-in-law. When I got home, I discovered that I had bought him this Country Songs cd set. I really didn't mean to get love songs. :) You would think that I would notice the pink case and the words LOVE SONGS in bold on the front...duh!


The funniest thing that happened while the kids have been sick took place last night when I was half asleep. Someone was whining at the bedside. I immediately thought that it was one of the kids with a fever, so I put my hand on his forehead to see how hot he was. It was a fuzzy forehead... it was my cat Abner!

Despite the kids being sick, there have been some fun and funny moments. :)

All I want for Christmas...

is for my two kids to get well! I took MG to the doctor on Friday because her temperature was 103.9 at 2AM that morning! That's the highest it's ever been, so it scared me. She has mild bronchitis and is on antibiotics now. MB has a cold, too. Poor things. I hope that they feel better on Tuesday morning so that they can enjoy the special day. :)

Smells Like Christmas

I've been remembering some of my early childhood Christmases. My favorite memories are of my Dad going to find us a Christmas tree. He would go to my great grandmother's farm to choose a cedar tree. We were excited and kept looking out the window for his return. Then, once the tree was inside, it's wonderful spicy scent would permeate the house. I especially remember the smell of the cedar tree as it was warmed up by the old fashioned Christmas lights. It smelled so wonderful and is something that I will never forget. Whenever I smell cedar, it smells like Christmas to me.

Sick Again

My kids are sick again. Boo-hoo. I'm hoping to get them better by Christmas. It's never fun being sick during the holidays. I won't be posting much while they're sick. I worry so much about them when they're not feeling well.

Today: The TEST

Today was the test. I didn't get depressed even though the day went like this-

1. MG woke up on an off starting at 3:30 AM with non-stop coughing.

2. I got the kids dressed to take MG to preschool even though she was sick...because I had to drop off some items to their Christmas party.

3. After that, I was going to drive the kids to McDonald's for breakfast. As we were stopped at a light, MB barfed all over himself and his carseat. I kept my cool & parked and changed him since I try to always carry an extra set of clothes-whew!

4. This evening we looked at our electric bill & since it was snowy on that day, the meter reader didn't come out and they estimated it. Uh, they charged us $100 extra with there crappy estimate! We're conservative with our heat & I know that we didn't use that much more, so we get to argue about that tomorrow. GRR...this is almost what made me lose it today. I was very good about keeping my cool all day until this. Sigh...It does feel better to get it off my chest.

Money

We've really been feeling the effects of the rise in cost of electricity and gas prices here. The electricity went up about 75% in our area, and then I'm spending alot on gas getting MG to and from her preschool. I've got to think about ways of reducing our bills. So here's my boring post about money woes and ideas to help the situation.

1. Find a closer preschool for MG. I love the one she is at, but it is a 30 minute drive from here. But then there's the issue of a closer one being more expensive! UGH!
2. Can't do anything about the heating with electricity issue, but will go without air conditioning more often in the summer.
3. Put up a clothesline to use the clothes dryer less.
4. Try to work 2 extra hours per week at my job. I have to get this approved, but it's a possibility since we are short staffed.
5. Potty Train the kids...completely. Diapers and pull-ups are a huge expense.
6. Plant more veggies in the Summer.

Those are the best ideas that I have right now. I think that it'll make a difference. Once the kids are in school, I will need to work more hours or try to find a full time job. We're getting close to January... time to start thinking about new year's resolutions. :) Anyone else out there having problems because the huge rise in costs of electricity and gas?

My Side of the Bed!

One night last week during the wee morning hours, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I came back, this is what my side of the bed looked like. Funny picture, huh?

Snow Fun!

We had an early December snow. We played out in it yesterday and today. It's funny how we bundle little kids up so that they can barely move. Whenever MB fell down, he couldn't get back up because of the layers and layers of clothes! They had so much fun. :)

Do you think that I'm acting better?

That's the question that I asked Mark the other night. I wanted to know if he could see a difference in my behavior and attitude since I started taking meds for the depression again. He said that, yes, it has made a difference. I really do feel better. I've been getting out and doing more. I hadn't realized just how much I was moping around the house and couldn't bring myself to go places. It really helps me to be more positive. The biggest change is that MG's behavior has become better too. I'm much more tolerant and patient and have lost some of the anger problems.

I haven't written as much because I've been busy doing extra holiday related things. Plus, my work has been busier because one person is on medical leave and at the same time, my department has taken on some new job responsibilities. There's also some weirdness going on at work, but I'm really not going to worry about it or think about it at this point. I've got more fun things to think about.

Hope that you guys are all doing ok. If the kids get to bed earlier tonight, I'll catch up on reading your blogs. :)