Tis the Season

My sister the overachiever is writing something she is thankful for every day on her blog. While I think that's nice (and am anxiously awaiting my specific entry-no, that's not sarcasm, either), I'm not that dedicated or ambitious. But I am perfectly capable of counting many of my blessings in ONE post! This isn't all-inclusive, think of it as a Cliff Notes version of my gratefulness!

1.  I'm grateful to God for all the many blessings he has bestowed upon me. Life isn't always easy, but God is good all the time.

2. I'm thankful for Jamie. I don't know too many other people lucky enough to meet their soulmate at the age of 18, but I did and will be forever grateful that he's put up with me for almost half of my life! He is the calm in the eye of the storm (yeah, that's me--force of nature is being kind, I think). He is such a hard worker and awesome provider. And he thinks Tony Parker and Tiger Woods were jackasses for cheating on their wives. I'm a lucky, lucky woman to be married to him. And I know it.

3. I'm thankful for my children. Motherhood did not come easily to me, but I think my struggle with infertility makes me appreciate my children that much more. Chase and 'Cassie are the greatest gifts of my life and if I've done nothing else, to be their mother is enough.

4. I'm grateful that my Dad and Mikki are more than my dad and my sister, they're also my friends. That's a rare gift and I treasure it very much.

5. I'm thankful for my friends--who are the family I've gotten to chose.

6. I'm thankful for my volunteer work. I learn so much more from it than I actually give...

7. I'm thankful for Sherman. He reminds me daily of the virtues of gentleness and patience.

8. I'm thankful for Diet Coke. No, really. I'm pretty sure it runs through my blood.

9. I'm thankful that I'm relatively healthy and able to manuever around w/o assistance. Everything but my thyroid works and I'm okay w/that.

Life is good. And I am grateful.

The Kitchen of My Dreams (I guess I'm officially a grown up since I now dream of things like kitchens...)

The kitchen is FINALLY finished! While most of the decisions were relatively easy (the granite, the faucet, the backsplash), it took me DAYS to find the sink I wanted. But the final result was worth it all!

Because we've replaced every appliance but the refridgerator since we moved in, had the floors refinished last year, and the cabinets were in good shape, it was a relatively easy reno. Still, living without running water for three days in the kitchen completely sucked. I'm so glad to be finished. I'm also thrilled that all the things Jamie questioned: namely the tile backsplash (he wanted granite) and white oversized single basin sink (why not a double stainless bowl?) are among his favorite features! The sink IS amazing. I'm so looking forward to holiday entertaining now...

This morning this kids were particularly funny. Cassie came into my bed for a snuggle and some Dora watching. When Chase made his way in, she popped out with "hey, duuuuuude." Chase and I cracked up. A bit later Chase asked me if he and Cassie would still get presents when the Santa gig was up for her. I said yes. Then he asked if he would have to buy his kids presents when he was grown up. I said yes again. He said, "Man! I hope I get suckers who like $30 presents."Seriously. This from the kid who wants about a million dollars worth of Legos...

Cassie is demanding "noodles" for dinner. Last night I found pumpkin spice pudding at Schnucks. I mixed a box with 1 C of skim and 1 C of lite cool whip. Chilled & served w/more cool whip, it was a nice alternative to pumpkin pie! I really am cooking more and stressing less. The granite hides far more than the hideous white laminate and the tile is so much easier to clean than drywall. I am a happy, happy mom!

Stinky, Stinky

So I've been up to my elbows in crap lately. Literally. On Thursday, we discovered the hard way that Cassie has chronic constipation. Remember my Holy Shit entry? Doesn't hold a candle to the mess I found Thursday...she's now on a daily dose of Miralax. Which means we've gone from constipation to diarrhea...SIGH.

Saturday night, Jamie and I were watching the game (WELL DONE TIGERS!) and I pointed out that the kids were entirely too quiet upstairs and that Jamie should check on them. Jamie because I'm the bigger football fan. He waited until a commercial break and discovered that Cassie had helped herself to leftover wings, which Sherman consumed. Chicken bones are as bad as it gets for dogs, but he seemed fine.

So after a nine and a half hour day at the Emmanuel UCC Sausage Supper serving up a record-setting 400 carry out meals, I came home to discover the worst craptastrophe of my life in the laundry room. The dog, the cage, the laundry room itself--all poo-covered. Despite the lightening, the dog went outside. Eventually the crate did as well and I hosed them both off. Yes, in lightening. You do what you gotta do. Then the dog and I got a shower to ensure he was fit for indoor living.

From the looks of it, we've lucked out w/a case of basic gastroenteritis from the spicy wing sauce. Which, while awful, is a whole lot better than the bowel obstruction or bowel perforation I initally feared. He's had quite a bit of ice and 6 tablespoons of pumpkin and seems so far, so good.

Despite all the crap, my house smells great right now because my sister introduced me to the Scentsy. You can check it out here: https://d3.scentsy.us/Buy?partyId=3732657. I'm currently using a full sized warmer in the kitchen and its cinnamon vanilla scent is so much better than the pervasive combo of toddler & retriever diarrhea. Walking into my house, you'd never know that I've been up to my elbows in crap the last few days. Thank God for my Scentsy...check it out in the link above. Even if you don't have my stinky combo, who couldn't use a little sweetness in their life?

SERENITY NOW!

I'm having one of those weeks. My sweet angel Cassie has turned into hell on wheels. On a good day. Chase has been grounded for the last two days for not listening at bedtime. Hopefully the third time is the charm b/c he did it AGAIN tonight and I grounded him again. Pretty sure the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result. I wonder which of us is insane...perhaps both. Tomorrow is an early release day. I'm not sure who I punished more...suspect it was me!

On the bright side, the Halloween costumes are ready. Made Cassie's (well I made an orange & black tutu & a bow for her hat) and bought Chase's (Harry Potter). I'd go as a witch myself, but I believe my children would tell you I'm witchy enough when it isn't Halloween.

I did the 30 day Shred AND walked the dog for 30 minutes today. And yet, I'd like to sign up for boxing right now...definitely one of those weeks!

One of those weeks...

So I picked out (and paid for) my new countertops last week. Have a new sink (going w/polar white granite composite) and faucet (oil rubbed bronze pull down) tentatively picked out, and a referral/reference from a neighbor for a tile guy (have the tile for the backsplash all picked out as well). Now I'm just waiting to hear from the granite company about a templating date...

It is a crazy, crazy week: church sausage supper this weekend and a miles long to-do list almost every day. I started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred last week. Level 1 kicked my ass and I couldn't do level 2. I'm alternating it every other day (which means I'm doing it today at some point, 26 minutes 46 seconds of hell) w/some other form of cardio. Yesterday it was Zumba on demand. I don't think I'm as coordinated as I once was...although watching Cassie in dance class yesterday really made me miss dance. Perhaps I'll see about a parent class while the kiddos are in class. It would be fun.

A sure sign of the Apocolypse may have occured today. I bought another Christmas present for Cassie. I have three things (pjs, Beauty & the Beast movie & Belle doll) for her upstairs in the guest room closet. For a somewhat notorious procrastinator like myself, that may be a true sign of the Apocolypse. Or maturity. I'm going with Apocolypse though. I'm making a concerted effort to keep them together and not forget about them (they're in plain sight of the wrapping paper). I bought some stuff after Christmas for her bday and forgot about it until well after her bday. She loved the "just because" presents but I'm trying not to do THAT again! I haven't started on Chase b/c he wants Harry Potter legos and I'm hoping to find some Black Friday deals for that. And of course I haven't started on the rest of the fam--I've got to get through Halloween first. I bought tulle to make part of Cassie's costume today but I think I'm going to break down and buy Chase's. By the time I factor in fabric + pattern + several hours of my time, I might as well just buy his Harry Potter costume! Still need to find orange & black striped tights for Cass, Dad picked up a hat today. She wants to be a mean, scary witch. I'm making a sparkly orange, silver & black tutu to pull over one of her leotards, plus orange & black striped tights & a witch's hat. Don't know how "mean & scary" she'll be...but she does love her tutus. Joann's fabric had black footless tights in my size 50% off today--HELLO? That's so a fall/winter staple & not just a Halloween thing. I just wish they'd also had some in her size! That place + Costco in one day is like shopping heaven. Just throw in Target & Ikea  and I'd never need anywhere else to shop again...

My three hours of freedom are over--time to pick up a princess from preschool...

When I Grow Up...

I've been spending a lot of time figuring out what I want to be "when I grow up." Once upon a time I wanted to be a teacher. I showed a knack for marketing and got a marketing/pr/communications degree instead. Subbed the second semester of my senior year and realized I probably should have gotten that education degree. Instead, I took a marketing and pr job. It was a GREAT job. But I was miserable. So I got another marketing/pr job. That was really more of a technical writing job for a field that bored me to death. I was even more miserable. At the time, my dying grandfather gave me some advice I've never forgotten. He said, "Christi, I worked in a job I hated my whole life because I didn't have a choice. You are smart. You are educated. You don't have to do what I did." Three months after he died, I quit the job I hated and started working on a Masters in Teaching and my teaching certification.

Six months into that, I found out I was pregnant. With an ectopic pregnancy. I consider myself incredibly lucky that we caught it in time to treat it with methotrexate instead of surgery. But the whole thing was a pretty dark time in my life. I ended up dropping out of the Masters program, subbing part-time, and focused on trying to conceive a viable pregnancy the rest of the time. 11 months later I missed my best friend's wedding in Mexico because I was in the middle of a miscarriage and the doctor didn't want me travelling out of the country. Fast forward a year to a new ob/gyn, a round of clomid, and my grandmother's funeral--and Chase was conceived. Getting pregnant with Cassie was even more involved: we moved from an ob/gyn to a reproductive endocrinologist and from clomid to injectible meds and assisted reproductive therapies. If I add it all up, for six years, getting pregnant was very much like a full time job for me.

So now I find myself at age 35 with a marketing degree I have no desire to use and a knowledge that when my sweet girl is in school all day that I'm going to need something else to do. I know I don't want to get back into the corporate life or work full time. That much I know--I've always known that. I'm slowly formulating a plan and am so excited about the doors opening for me--doors that I didn't even know existed until I finally made a phone call and gave voice to the thoughts I'd been afraid to speak for so long. More than that though, I'm finally at peace with what the future holds. Despite lots of logistical questions and a distinct feeling that Jamie thinks I've lost my mind, I'm feeling good about what the future holds and confident that things will work out how they're meant to work out. Once again I'm finding that God laughs when I make plans...but I'm also finding that his plans are always so much better than my own!

Family Vacation

I can't type that title w/o the National Lampoon's Vacation music (by Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame, no less) echoing in my head. While we did have our inevitable Griswold family moments (like walking 1/2 a mile uphill through fog in FREEZING temps to a "scenic outlook" where we couldn't see 5 feet in front of us, much less the two states and panoramic view promised), the fun far outweighed the not-so-fun.

The bulk of our adventures preceeded the trip. 72 hours before our departure, Chase came home from a playdate sobbing and holding his arm. He fell off a rock wall in the waning light of dusk. He could wiggle his fingers, but my mommy sense told me that my baby's arm was broken. We headed to the ER (note to self: no more bragging that we haven't needed an ER visit for over 300 days when questioned about our "fast pass" status) and my suspicions were confirmed. He has a buckle fracture on his left arm/wrist. We visited Dad's orthopedic the next day, so he's rocking a green cast and the envy of his friends.

We spent some time at my sisters right before we left. She blogged about it, so I'll just link you to that. http://www.hodgefamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/

I spent all of Saturday morning doing laundry and packing and we left right at 1. We made it to Harriman, TN just outside of Knoxville. Sunday morning we had a short, rainy drive to Gatlinburg. First up was Ober Gatlinburg. We had lunch and played a bit, but couldn't do the outside stuff because of the rain. So we headed down the mountain and hit the aquarium and touristy museums. Monday we ventured into the park and did Cades Cove. That took about 1/2 the day--we spent the rest of the day back at Ober Gatlinburg (the boys rode the chair lift to the top of the mountain) and in town exploring. Tuesday saw us climbing Clingman's Dome (it was cold and foggy), exploring Cherokee, NC (not impressed), and visiting Newfoundland Gap. Then we headed to another entrance to the park that my Dad recommended and did some nature walks--that was probably our favorite part of the trip. A quick trip back into town for a trip up the space needle and a fabulous dinner at the Peddler. I didn't really want to come back Wednesday--which is surely the sign of a good vacation!

From top: Dancing at Ober Gatlinburg, outside the aquarium, in the park in front of the Smokies, on the outlook at Clingman's Dome, the view from Newfoundland Gap, playing in a stream in the park.

We got home Wednesday night. Thursday found me catching up on laundry (while Chase caught up with his friends) and Friday we headed to the Pumpkin Patch to celebrate the last day of cycle break!

Tomorrow Chase heads back to school with his actual third grade teacher (who went on maternity leave the third day of school) and Cass heads back to dance class, which she missed very much last week. I've enjoyed the last three weeks with the kids, but am looking forward to getting back to our normal routine. My volunteer activities are kicking up, so 7 hours a week of "kid-free" time is appreciated! I have a call scheduled during dance class tomorrow, but Tuesday morning, I'm hitting the nail salon for a fill and pedi. It's been too long!