Menu Plan Monday 8/1/11

As part of my household overhaul, I'm also planning my weekly meals.  The whole idea of this is to keep things S.I.M.P.L.E.  I have to keep telling myself that. Our lives are chaotic enough with work, kids, homework, sports, church, so why torture ourselves?  I'm making that change in my life, because I just can't take it anymore!  So here is my menu for the week!

Monday - Dinner with Friends

Tuesday - Mike has to work Court so we are having soup

Wednesday - Grilled Chicken Salad

Thursday - Smoked sausage with kraut and corn

Friday - payday and no tax weekend so probably shopping and eating out! 

If you run out of ideas for meals for your family, hop on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie and see what others are having!  Hope everyone has a great day!

Organizing Project Week One

So I've decided that my house and family need a huge overhaul.  Last school year, we were all so unorganized and we were forgetting stuff and deadlines and I felt like a total failure of a mother. So I decided that since Mike will be working nights, we are taking the kids out of daycare so they can come home afterschool, I'm going to make some major changes.  We moved in our house 5 years ago and it's been the same since, UNORGANIZED, and I'm D.O.N.E.!!!!  So I decided to start simple....the buffet in the dining room.  Here are some before and after pictures of said buffet. 

Next week, I'm working on the living room.....the bookshelf and all of the magazines I let pile up underneath the coffee table and end tables. 

Wordless Wednesday

                                              

How Much More Can I Take?

I really don't know the answer to that question.  I guess only God knows.  I started having headaches back in January and been seeing doctors and having MRIs and CT scans and seeing more doctors.  A neurologist told me that he didn't think whatever was going on in my head was a big deal and he would let me know.  I haven't heard anything.  The neurosurgeon I wanted to see sent me to an ENT, I wasn't sure why, but I guess he knows what he's doing.  So I went to see the ENT on Tuesday and he showed me the scans showed me where all of my spinal/brain fluid was leaking around my brain and where it shouldn't be.....around one of my eyes around the optic nerves, not good.  Now excuse me for not using the correct terminology, but he also told me that the pressure on my brain was elevated, causing the pressure headaches.  I said so is this serious and he said YES.  It could be treated with diurectics and if that doesn't keep the fluid down, then they will have to place a shunt in there so it drain into my stomach.  The only way they can test the pressure is to do a spinal tap.  Also, he informed me that if the pressure gets too bad, then my brain will bust through my skull, again, not correct terminology, and they will have to do surgery, remove that part of my skull so that can REMOVE that part of my brain that has broken through! Okay, wow....I'm at a loss for words.  I go see the neurosurgeon in two weeks and he will have the final say on what to do about this.  I'm scared, every time I have a little bit of pain in my head, which is all the time, all I can think is what if there is too much pressure and bust a vein and have an aneurysm and drop dead?  I don't know even know if that is real possibility, but that's what I keep thinking.  I'm ready for some answers, but I'm scare of what those answers might be.

So in the meantime of all of this, Sarah, the 5 year old, has been diagnosed with ADD.  I knew she would be like this, her daddy is.  That's okay, but we had a rough year of kindergarten.  Her doctor said she was borderline because she only has problems in school, nowhere else.  So we have started her on medication.  Who knows if anyone will even read this, just don't give me crap about giving my kid medication.  But since school has been out, she has been having meltdowns about everything!  Being hot, cold, hungry, sleepy, tired, legs hurt, blah blah blah.  She goes from 0 to 60 in about 1 second!  It's driving me crazy!  I want to choke her, but of course, I'm not.  But it sends me over the edge and hiding in my bathroom crying.  Hopefully she will calm down when we get in a routine. 

AND during all of this, in April, my mother had gastric bypass surgery.  She was doing fantastic and went back for the 3 week post-op appointment, they told her they found cancer.  At the time they were not sure of the source, so that was scary.  After weeks of testing, they came to the conclusion that it is fallopian tube cancer.  Less than 1% of women who get cancer in their reproductive organs get this type of cancer.  The doctor told her her prognosis was good, so that was wonderful news.  So she had her ports put in earlier this week and started treatment today. I got to go see her during treatment and take her some lunch today.  She is such an incredibly strong woman and I feel so selfish.  I called her this morning whining about Sarah not having shoes when we got to daycare and I had to drive 10 minutes out of the way to walmart and buy her some and take them back to daycare and wah wah wah....I was like how selfish am I?  Here I am whining to my mother about "not catching a break" all the while she is on her way to the first of 12 chemo treatments.  I am so sad over her having this beast inside her body.  She is my best friend and I can't imagine her not being in my life for one single day.  I'm not thinking she's on her death bed, but it just makes me realize that she won't be around forever and I will have to go on without her and it makes me so sad.  I try to be strong for her, but she is the one having to be strong for me! I cried when I saw her getting her treatment because she just shouldn't be there and she is the one telling me it's gong to be alright.  I'm such a weinie and it makes me mad.  I'm certain she will kick this beast and be just fine.  I pray and pray every day.

TORPEDOS against TORNADOS

On April 27, 2011, the state of Alabama was hit with 23 confirmed tornadoes and destroyed many many towns in Alabama. The county I live in was completely spared, but there was devastation all around us. Some small towns were basically wiped off the map. You can look here for all of the coverage, many sad stories and many stories of praise. Someone contacted Charlie Sheen and asked him to come to Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Roll Tide Roll) and well.....he did and he has set up a site for donations. I think this is pretty cool, I think.....not real sure. Of course you can also donate to the American Red Cross and many other legitimate organizations to help out the citizens of Alabama who have lost everything. Check out Charlie Sheen's donation site below.....

TORPEDOS against TORNADOS

Monday Minute 5/2/11

1 - Where aside from a toilet have you taken a dump? Explain.

My pants......I was in Walmart and Sarah was just a baby, and I felt the rumble and I was like oh no, this CANNOT be happening!  I cannot go to the bathroom in Walmart with two little kids with me, so I left Walmart and left my cart where it was and tried to get home as fast as I could and I don't think my butt was on the seat at all on the drive home, and I pulled in the driveway and I didn't make it......I left the kids in the car in the driveway and I had to go in and clean myself up! It was awful and when I got back to the car to pull it in the garage, Maggie said, Mommy did you fart? 

2 - At this point do you really think that Magic Johnson has HIV/AIDS?

No.

3 - Would you wrestle a member of the same sex, nude, in pudding for 10 minutes for one million dollars?

Oh my.....no.....absolutely not.....

4 - Squash just doesn't sound very tasty. What say you?

not really, but it's good cooked with some butter and onions!

and finally...

5 - Is it worth the effort?

Depends on what "it" is.......cleaning house?  no



Update

Not much has been going on with me lately.  Just working, waiting for school to get out because I'm tired of fighting with the kids every morning about getting up and getting their butts in gear and tired of not wanting to do anyting in the evenings because sitting in rush our traffic is so exhausting and then fighting with the kids to get their homework done and everything else done that they have to get done in the evenings. 

Sarah is playing soccer and Maggie is playing volleyball this year at the YMCA "where everyone is a winner!" LOL!!  Anyway, I've really enjoyed it because their games are on different days as oppossed to when they both played soccer and I had to run between two soccer fields because Mike was working.....that was stressful.  Spring sports should be over in about a month.  Then school will be out and two days after school gets out, we are headed for our Caribbean vacation!  I CANNOT wait! 

I finally have an appointment with a neurologist and then the first of May, I am scheduled for a hearing test and an ENT appointment.  I'm really excited about the neurology appointment because I can finally get some answers about what's going on with my noggin!! 

YAY!!!

I Have a Hole in My What?

Did that get your attention? 

Well, in case you don't know (and you may not even care and that's okay), I have had a headache most days for the last 3 months.  I've probably only had a handful of days that my has not hurt as some point.  I didn't have an internist so I found a great doctor to see and get myself established with her and see about getting these headaches resolved.  I've been been to the doctor about my headaches, I've had them as long as I can remember.  Sometimes bad enough to keep me down a day or so, but I just chalked it up to migraines so I would take something over the counter to help.  Well, the doctor gave me some Imitrex for migraines and said she would set me up for an MRI.  So I had that done and they called me to tell me I had what they call "right petrous apex cephalocele".  I apparently have a hole in my skull, a birth defect, and I have a spinal fluid leak thus causing the headaches.  And I have a headache as I'm typing this. 

I mean 40 years ago, they didn't do ultrasounds and unless I had a heart problem or an obvious birth defect, they wouldn't have known it.  Good luck finding this condition on Google!  I couldn't find anything except studies.  Apparently, it's not a very common thing to have!  I know I shouldn't have Googled it, but it hasn't increased my worry about it, it has just peaked my curiosity. 

So after the MRI, they send me for a CT scan, which confirmed what the MRI showed and they are sending me to a neurosurgeon.  Not really liking the idea of having to see a surgeon, because, well.....they perform surgery and this is my noggin we are talking about.  I have to call today to follow up because I still don't have an appointment date and time from them.  So I'm left wondering what they will do to fix this hole in my skull.  I'm getting a little anxious, well, a lot anxious!  I haven't gotten any answers from anyone yet really, except what my ailment is from a doctor who is not qualified to tell me any more than that and that's okay.  I've been having dreams about getting my hair cut really short before surgery, surgery that I'm not even sure is going to happen, except the fact that they are sending me to a surgeon.  I have a husband and kids to take of and I just want to know something, anything.  I've been waking up crying because in my dreams I'm crying because I'm nervous about surgery, once again, not even sure I'm having surgery.  I'm not a big baby by any means. I'm like all moms I know, we get sick and we just keep right on going.  So I don't think my anxiety is unwarranted. 

I am going to call the doctor's office today in hopes of getting an appointment so I can get some answers.  It's been over a month and I would like some answers.

Valentine's Day

I had a good Valentine's day this year.  Not that I've bad ones in the past.  Mike always gets me the most thoughtful gifts and cards.  This year he got me another charm for my Pandora charm bracelet.  We got the girls some cute little t-shirts from Justice that smell like candy and chocolate.  They loved them.  We took them to eat their favorite meal....Mexican....but they don't really eat Mexican, they share a bowl of cheese dip and each get an order of flour tortillas to dip in the cheese dip.  Who cares, they eat it and they love it.  Then we treated them to Dairy Queen.  YUMMY!!!!  Anyway, here are a few snapshots from the night.

Sarah always has to be the goofy girl - I was like that when I was a kid too.

She trying to be a sexy 5 year old - whatever that is.

Sarah's Yummy.....

Maggie's Yummy....



FINALLY Some Snow in Central Alabama!

Where I live in Alabama, we don't get alot of winter weather action.  We have had a pretty busy winter this year, at least everyone around us has.  We did have to leave early one day because we had a couple of hours of freezing rain and traffic was a nightmare.  It took one girl in my office 6 hours to make a normally 2.5 hour drive!  Glad that wasn't me!!!  So since last week they have been talking about us getting some snow and I just blew it off.  The county neighboring us to the north gets it, but never where I live.  Here, 5-10 miles can make a huge difference.  Arkansas got pounded with a foot and a half yesterday and we were getting that same storm last night.....I was hopeful, but not going to be disappointed if we didn't get any.  Around 7 it started snowing big fat snowflakes and it was so pretty!  It snowed off and on through the night and this is what we woke up too. 

It's not a huge snow event, but it's huge for us.  it was so pretty!  Everything was white, the sky was gray and there was just a little color here and there.  The sun is supposed to make its appearance sometime today and most of it will probably be gone.  Alot of area schools were delayed a couple of hours and one idiot school system was actually closed.  Really?  Glad you thought that was a good decision to make!  Any loo who, there you have, the big snow of my town this year.  It will be in the 60s and sunny this weekend....thank you very much and good night! 

Gotta love this Alabama weather!

Really? Seriously? What the.........?

The walls of sickness are closing in on me! 

My boss is at work with a nasty nasty cold, thankfully, he is staying in his office, but STILL!  I don't want his nasty cold germs and he would be sending me home if I were sick like that.

Then to top that off.....A lady I work with who works on the first floor (I'm on the second floor) didn't feel well when she got up this morning but came on to work, that's not a problem.  We have all done that.  Well, she was upstair in our TV room eating her lunch and I just happen to be walking down the hall, stopped in someone's office to chat, she comes out of our bathroom up here and said she needs help, she has poo poo'd and thrown up all over the bathroom and all over the toilet!  I'm the luckily one who got to fetch paper towels and garbage bags for the clean up, while another co-worked helped her get cleaned up and she mopped the floor and clean the toilet area.  In the meantime, the sick co-worker needed help getting down the stairs so she could slip out the back door and go home. She had poo all over her skirt.  As she was leaving, she HUGGED ME to thank me for helping her.  I got back upstairs and helped the other girl finish cleaning up. 

While all of this was going on, folks were coming upstairs to the kitchen for lunch and everyone was like was is that smell?  I mean, the stinch was HORRIBLE and no amount of spray helped, it probably just worsened it. 

I went in the kitchen to get something to drink and the fear of getting sick set in and I totally had a panic attack!! 

The next thing I know, SHE IS BACK AT WORK!!!! What the hell?  Really?  AND she has been in my office because she left a nice thank you gift for me, meaning she went shopping after she went home and showered and changed!!!  I'm freaking dying!!!!! 

I want to crawl in to a bubble right now!!!!  I almost hope I get sick so the sickos that come to work will know NOT TO COME TO WORK WHEN YOU ARE SICK!!!!   It's not fair to expose everyone to your germs and plus I have kids at home to think about! 

I want to just run the streets screaming!!!!!! 

I'm not feeling so well..........

Getting To Know Me

This is totally random, but who cares!  I don't blog much, but I feel like I don't have anything funny to say, I don't let people bother me too terribly much, I just live a normal life, a husband, 2 kids, a dog, a cat, mortgage, and two car payments. 

Just in case you are interested, here are a few facts about me.

• I love raunchy comedy.  For instace, I've seen the movie Bruno with Sacha Baron Cohen, who I think is hot hot hot.  It had to have been the funniest movie I have EVER seen!  I laughed until I couldn't breathe and Mike and I kept looking at each other like "Did we really just see that?"  It was CRAY-Z!!!!
• I love tattoos.  I only have a little one on my ankle, but I want another one.  I don't know what's keeping me from getting another one.  Mike doesn't care and people say who cares what Mike says, well I care, he's my husband.  I know this sounds corny, but I found a cool pencil drawing of Tinkerbell that I want on the back of my neck and I told him he could go to Disney World (our 2nd favorite vacation spot) every night if I got it!!  He liked that idea, but not sure I'm willing to let him go EVERY night!!! 
• My favorite vacation spot is Grand Cayman. That place sucked me in the minute I landed there for the first time on December 26, 2008.  My in-laws live there, right on the ocean, and there is nothing like getting up in the mornings and sitting on the patio watching the cruise ships come in while I'm sipping my coffee.  Hopefully we will be going back for trip number 4 this summer!  I'm so ready!
• I was voted Most Unique my senior year.  I really wasn't quite sure WHY I was chosen, didn't think I was much different than anyone else.  The kicker was the guy that was voted with me was a "special" kid!  I mean he just wasn't real smart, he was 20 when he graduated!  Like I said, I really didn't understand why, maybe it was the asshole I was dating at the time.  Not sure.  But looking back, I have a specific memory of being at a church valentine's day party with a bunch of friends from school in probably the 6th or 7th grade and there was a Christian band playing.  Of course, us girls thought they were cute and no one would talk to any of the band members. I'm sure they were in their early 20s, but not sure.  I was like, crap, if no one else will do it, I will.  I calmly walked up to the band members as they were taking a break with my posse behind me and said "Hi, I'm Kool and this is my Gang!"  I thought it was pretty funny at the time and still do! 

I am not a very interesting person, just kind of goofy, but I am who I am.  Take it or leave it!

Cruisin' to Cozumel

Mike and I took a 4 day cruise from Mobile, Alabama to Cozumel, Mexico from December 9 to December 13.  It was a great trip, but cold as the dickens when we left, but we knew it would warm up at some point in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.

Hanging out ready to get the heck out of there!

Atrium of the Carnival Elation

Back of the ship - it was pretty chilly, that's why I'm covered up with a beach towel.

Beautiful sunsent on the first night!

All you could eat sushi - we were in heaven!

Dinner on Elegant Night - We looked pretty hot!

YAY! Cozumel!  It was a beautiful little island!

After two of these and two shots of Tequila and

groping by the waitress at Carlos & Charlies...

Here I am!!!!

The beginning of a VERY rough day at sea!

Notice the relative wind was 47 mph, it got has high as 70 mph!

It was like a crazy movie or something!  People were puking everywhere, there were people walking around carrying their little barf bags around looking for a place to dispose of them.  The people like me, who weren't in their rooms throwing up OR in the hallways throwing up, were just lounging around drinking or  reading, watching TV, hanging out in the hot tubs.  All in all it was a great trip.  Hopefully the next time we go, we can take the girls with us. They would really enjoy all the fun activities on the ship. 

Happy New Year and My 2011 Goals

I don't remember the last thing I blogged about, but one of my goals this year is to blog more.  There are so many goals I want to reach this year.  Not resolutions, that is stupid.  There are things I've been needing to do and just too darn lazy to do them.  When I'm not working, I want to chill out. I don't want my entire life to be work away from home and work when I'm at home.  But I'm going to make these goals fun goals and maybe a little selfish, but whatever. 

I got this idea from HotPants and Karen at Karen's World.  If you want to join in, click on the button!

Here is my list of goals for 2011:

• Write in my journal every day
• Use coupons more
• Reorganize my scrapbook area
• Read more
• Read the Bible
• Send nice picture cards for Christmas
• Stop drinking Mountain Dew
• Organize pictures on my computer
• Get my hair cut and colored every 8 weeks
• Buy a new outfit once a month
• Wash my face every night
• Brush my teeth every night
• Spend more time with my friends
• Attend all Proverbs 31 meetings at church
• Use my vacation time wisely
• Quit buying cheap make-up
• Concentrate more on my job
• Plan a vacation
• Make my bed every morning
• Finish Twilight books
• Watch Twilight movies (I know I'm behind)
• Host a party
• Blog at least every other day
• Lose 30 pounds
• Work on my scrapbooks once a month
• Go to gym and/or Zumba 3 days a week
• Get one credit card paid off
• Organize my office
• Organize my house
• Have kids' pictures made professionally
• Do 5 craft projects
• Put some kind of window treatment in living room
• Take the kids to the park more in the Spring
• Save my swagbucks for a Kindle
• Take the kids to the Zoo
• Work out on Wii at least 2 times a week before work
• Get a tattoo
• Send birthday cards to friends and family
• Redecorate Maggie's room
• No more sarcasm when Mike asks me a silly question
• Keep kids school stuff organized so I don't miss anything
• Keep purse calendar and phone calendar updated
• Drink more water
• Let my nails grow a little and keep them painted
• Lend a hand more/be more helpful
• Plan vacation
• Shower first thing on Saturday mornings
• Wake up early on Saturday and Sunday mornings for "me" time
• Have more patience
• Walk around downtown Birmingham at lunch
• Eat more salads
• Keep 2011 goal log

Good luck to me!!