Hiding

Is anyone else out there afraid to turn on the TV these days? Watching the news has become heartbreaking. Recession. Depression. Stocks. Hamas. Wars. Hunger. Poverty. Jobs. Truly, it is a scary world out there. Makes me glad I have a cozy home to nest in, nutritious food to make for my family, a husband who is providing as best he can. Surely, I am blessed.

In other news, your prayers WORKED. Mother-in-law called me this morning to say that she is thinking about moving in with Mr. R's sister instead. Relief is not quite the word I'm thinking of, lol. Mom-in-law is a nice enough woman, but when I say we are packed to the gills here, I mean it. Missy would have had to share a room with her grandma, which is tough for a 13 year old girl. Mom-in-law of course had to give a bit of a smarty-pants comment when she told me her big news: "I decided Sissy (Mr. R's sister) needed my help more than ya'll did."
Ummm, when did I ask for your help? You called US begging for a place to stay. As far as giving us money, all it would do is cover the extra water, power and food she would have consumed while here. She has lived with us before, and let me tell you, I can live without $500 monthly power bills, thankyouverymuch. That being said, she will never be homeless, as she is my husband's mother and my door is always open. But I really resent her twisting the situation to make it look like we're in desperate need of her social security check. At Sissy's home, Mom-in-law will have her own bedroom, which is really best for everyone. If she's going to be paying rent, she really should have her own space.

Also, keep Mr. R in your prayers. He is on his way to Texas. This is a great run. It's a plant load which pays extra, plus it's light in weight so the fuel costs less, plus from Florida to Texas is more than 1000 miles, which is great money. So if you're in Texas, please buy some plants!

8th Anniversary

Yes, everyone, this is the hospital I work for. Florida Hospital Orlando, the main campus. I think we're up to 2000 beds now, but not certain. It is my job to obtain authorizations for upcoming surgeries and diagnostic tests by contacting insurance companies either by phone or website.
Well, as of today, February 26, 2009, it is my 8th anniversary of being an employee at FH. This is very definitely the longest job I've ever had (besides wife and mama of course!) and it's been quite the ride. I've had days when I've wanted to call in dead, days that I've never been prouder, days when I wonder who the heck is running the joint, and days when I can't imagine working anywhere else. Sometimes all these emotions happen on the same day, too! LOL...I'm eternally grateful to FH. One, for giving me a chance when all I had on my resume was waitressing, one year of college, and tons of maternity leave from grocery store jobs. Two, for allowing me to work from home when I found out my son was going to have an educational handicap. And three, for partially paying for my continuing education at Herzing University.

Since I've worked at Florida Hospital, I've managed to get two people hired on (a lady I barely knew, she's a housekeeper at Orlando) and my brother-in-law Paul who works in collections at the Maitland campus. To say I believe in the FH spirit is no joke...my coworkers became my family, especially in the midst of my Bucket being diagnosed with autism. So, Florida Hospital, thank you for being not just a job, but a place where I put down roots, made friends, and gained a career all at the same time. Happy Anniversary to us!!!

Walk in the Word Wednesday

Proverbs 22:6 (New International Version)

Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.

This one meant a lot to me last week when I was so ill. Missy was such a good girl. She went to school, cleaned the house, brought me drinks, made dinner, and did her best to keep up on the dishes. Her brothers, not so much. Not sure if it's the gender or the age, but those two were pretty useless. Looks like I have more training to do, huh?

In completely separate news, I need prayer, STAT. Mr. R's momma just called fifteen minutes ago wanting to move back in with us. She lived with us for a year, about three years ago. And it was NOT GOOD. I only had one rule when she moved in, and that was, NO SMOKING!!! Well, not only did she smoke in my house when I wasn't home, endangering her grandchildren's health, but she bragged about it to her friends about how stupid I was. Nice, right? I've forgiven her, but I'm not so sure I want to drag myself through it again. However, if we don't, she'll be homeless. And I can't let my husband's mama be homeless.

Other issues: We only have three bedrooms. The place where we had her bed last time, is now my office. Uh oh...

Sort of Back

Not a full length post today. Just wanted all my bloggy friends to know that I didn't fall off the face of the earth. That sickness...hoo boy, it got me. I went from having a mild 99.3 fever to hitting 102.7 at the doctor's office. I was so nauseous that he gave me phenergen, plus an anti-biotic to kill the sinus infection, plus upper respiratory infection, PLUS bronchitis.
I have another doctor appointment today to get cleared to go back to work, in an hour. My fax is coming in right now, and my voice is still not completely back yet. My doctor may only clear me for online work, and not phone work, not sure yet. Plus, I'm supposed to be covering for a coworker who is on vacation today! Hahahahahaha!
Anyway, on a scale of 1-10, last week I was a 3, and now I'd say I'm a 6 or 7. Better, but not great. I'm still coughing horribly, scratchy voice, lack of bladder control, vertigo, nosebleeds and horrifyingly tired are my symptoms today. We'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow

Will do the Walk in the Word post tomorrow. Very sick. No voice, fever, chills, cough, sneezing so hard I wet my pants, and no one willing to help me at work so I have to keep making phone calls anyway. My voice is toast.
Pray for my health, please. This ain't cool.

What Do You Do With A Kid Who Won't Obey?

I am writing this post in pure frustration. My oldest son, Tiger, is driving me insane these days. I constantly get e-mails about him being rude and disrespectful, not following directions, and "forgetting" to turn in assignments. Yesterday, there was no school, but they still had their Monday chores. I let them play all day after the dentist (which went fine, by the way) because it was their day off, but at 4pm, I reminded them that they needed to start their chores like any other day. Bucket had room cleaning, putting away laundry, and litter box. (They all have room cleaning and laundry Monday-Friday, since I'm not on a regular laundry schedule, I just wash stuff as it gets dirty.) Missy had her room/laundry, plus the living room. Tiger had the bedroom and dumping the garbage.


Our garbage men are on our street at the crack of dawn. Literally. Every Tuesday morning, I am wakened by the sound of men laughing and cracking jokes at 5:30am and the air brakes of the garbage truck. Not my favorite way to be woken up, but at least it's not on Saturday. I was listening to them this morning and realized that they didn't brake in front of my house. I leaped out of bed, ran to the front window, and saw...NOTHING. No garbage cans in front of my house. They passed my house and went down to the next. My mouth was hanging open. I ran to the chore chart, noticed that it was Tiger who had not done his chore, and barged into his room and woke him up.

"You forgot to put out the garbage!" I yelled at him.
"Sorry Mom" he mumbled.
"Tiger, we only get one garbage day a week. That crap has to sit and fester for another week!"
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." was the reply.

So here are my ideas of discipline.

1) Making him write sentences "It is my job to dump the garbage on Monday nights" 25 times, possibly more.
2) Beat the living snot out of him.
3) Put him in charge of all things garbage. Make him my personal garbage boy. Eat, live and breathe garbage. Not only put him in charge of dumping the garbage from the side of the house, but responsible for every garbage can inside the house, putting in new garbage bag liners, plus pulling the garbage cans in, plus recycling.

What would YOU do?

200th Post!

Wow, peeps, I can't believe this is my 200th post. I never thought when I started my little blog that I'd still be here. I felt like it was an online diary, nothing more. Now I realize it has been so much more than that. I've kept up with old friends like Miriam and Chris, my friends from my days at Flagler College in St. Augustine. I made a few new friends, like Jenni and Michelle. I learned a lot about fashion from Kasmira and Sal, plus I learned about God from many other lovely ladies like Kelly and Terry. There are many more, but you can check out my sidebar to see who else I read throughout the day. I'll be updating that again later, because there are a few more that I have bookmarked, but not updated on my blog. I also deleted a few who just never update their blogs, as that gets kind of boring.

I have today off from work. Most insurance companies are closed on federal holidays, and I end up just sitting around doing nothing. Well, I decided (not sure if I'm brilliant or insane) to take all three kids to the dentist today. Nicola is going to come to the dentist after Bucket is done so he doesn't have to sit for two hours in the waiting room while Tiger and Missy are being worked on. I am so blessed to have a friend (and boss!) in Nicola. After the dentist, I'm going to swing by her house and pick up her son so she can get some work done, since she's covering for me today. All in all, should be a great day. I'm going to finish cleaning my dining room and hopefully get some filing done on my day off. Tonight is Mexican Monday, so we're going to have some chicken tacos, some sweet tea, and just enjoy a slower paced day.

I Haz a Babeeeee

Guess who Auntie Sarah is babysitting today?!?! That's right, it's sweet Baby A, who is now 3 1/2 months old. She's smiling here, but right after I took this, she took a huge dump, peed on my bed while I was changing her, and then threw up all over this cute outfit.
Oh well, I needed to wash the sheets anyway, right?
I'm scarfing down a quick meal of leftover hamburger with A1 sauce (pretty much the only condiment I'll eat besides bbq sauce) and a glass of water, before I start more laundry and...ha...work at my actual job?
I need to buy a Pack N Play for her, because I have no where to put her down for a nap. I tried to make a pallet on the floor for her, but Roscoe keeps trying to sit on her. And I won't leave her on the bed. So she stays in the car seat, and sleeps fitfully, poor thing.
Her mama will be here by about 1pm. Hopefully by then, she can be nursed and laid down in a proper crib and have some sweet baby dreams.

And yes, both of my ovaries and my uterus are screaming. My hormones and I, we are loving having Baby A here to visit.

Walk in the Word Wednesday

Howdy, peeps. This is my first installment of Walk in the Word Wednesday, and I am super duper excited.
I prayed last night that God would tell me which verse to use, and I found it this morning while I was reading my Bible. Considering the depression I've gone through lately, I found this poignant and reverent.

Psalm 6

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish.
How long, O Lord, how long?
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave?
I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

Ok, that is the entire 6th psalm. I don't think I'll normally do an entire psalm, but it's not very long.

Recently, I was pretty sad. To this day, not even sure why. My soul was definitely in anguish, that is for sure. The part about flooding my bed with weeping and drenching the couch with tears struck a chord. Has anyone else around here been so sad that they did this? Also, the part about agony in the bones. I've posted here about the pain I've had in my left hip, plus I also sprained my ankle right before Christmas. Believe me when I understand joint and bone pain. I may have read this when I was a teenager and blown right past it, but as an old lady of 33 (ha!) it means a lot more now.

But! Despite the pain, despite the tears, we have HOPE! My enemies (not necessarily people, but my own depression and pain were my enemies at least for me) will flee. Not just creep away quietly, but they see God and they run like the dickens. When God is on my side, evil does not stand a chance. He is merciful and good.

What or who are your enemies today? Is it a person, or is it an idea? Is it a situation in your life? What does this verse say about conquering your enemies? It is certainly not to rely on your strength, but to rest in God. I don't know about you, but I could use the rest. I'll put my feet up and let my Heavenly Father take care of that garbage for me. Thanks, Dad!

Nothing To Say.

My life. It is...boring! (picture me laying across a chaise with my hand up to my head, peeps.)




Still no reschedule for the reversal. Mr. R is adamant about not going until summer. Spring Break is too close, plus he wants to do some spring time planting. That's cool. Easier to get a sitter in the summer anyway. Shockingly, I am not freaked out at all. I already requested the time off work and was approved, but that time will not go to waste. I will help Mr. R with the planting, enjoy some time off with my kids, and not think about FH! Besides, I get 7 weeks of vacation anyway (No, that's not a typo. I really get seven weeks. Seniority, what can I say?) So I'm not worried about my vacation time. It will happen when it happens.

So, I was thinking about starting something new on my blog. I have treated this a lot as an online diary, which is fine and dandy. But I wanted to get a bit deeper. So...

Introducing...

Every Wednesday...

WALK IN THE WORD WEDNESDAY!!!

Basically, I am going to choose a verse, talk a bit about what it means to me, and then ask ya'll what it means to you. I am no Bible scholar by any means, and I hope to learn a lot myself in my series here. Any verse is game, although I admit anything in Revelation confuses the pajamas off me. I particularly love Psalms, Proverbs, Romans, and Song of Solomon. I'll probably start off with my strong points and then venture into more unknown territory. Be patient with me. I've been a Sunday school teacher many times, so I can talk about Noah and rainbows and Daniel in the lion's den until I turn blue in the face. I may go there anyway. But let's have fun learning about our Lord, how much He loves us, and see what He has to teach us.

Reschedule

I had to cancel the reversal appointment already.
Ooooh, this makes me so mad! But it's not anyone's fault, it's a money situation. Not only that, but Mr. R insists that we not bring children on this trip. Besides, airfare for all five of us would have ran us $1500, which just knocks us for a spin. We're not rich, you know!
So...sigh. Back to the drawing board.
I hate this doctor's scheduling system. He apparently doesn't have a nurse or staff (I guess that's how he keeps his prices so low) and it's all done electronically. I see days that are open to click on, and when I click on them, it states that I have to pick another date. I wonder if he'll only schedule out so far. I guess that makes sense, but I have no idea. So I am going to call his office again tomorrow. Mr. R and I have decided that we'd really like to go up there the last week of June. He wants to visit his friend James in Kansas before the procedure. Maybe have the procedure on June 30, we can fly up there on the 28th, and fly home on the 1st or 2nd of July. Besides, we have not been alone on vacation in almost fifteen years, and we'd still like some time alone. I realize this is best, but the OCD in me is not happy with the scheduling portion. Lord, please let me get a grip here, I surely need one.
So I guess I should say we are not canceling, merely postponing. We can afford the procedure, but once we added the kids airfare, extra lodging, extra food, pet care...it spun out of control quickly. Besides, I'd rather wait until I have a new baby in my arms and then fly up to New York to see my family with the kids. That would be way cooler than the kids being bored in a hotel room while I do homework, you know?

Well, Never Mind

Mr. R just called me. Turns out his load stops in Alabama first, and he doesn't have to be in Alabama until Monday. Alabama is only one day away, so no need to leave three days early. He's picking up his load in Orlando (it's bread) and then coming right home. So at least he can deal with the tire, and not me. Amen.

My Life in Sesame Street Characters

Things I'm Grouchy About:

1. Headset is still not fixed or replaced, so I have a horrible neck-ache.
2. Flat tire.
3. Mr. R left for Minnesota, so I get to fix the aforementioned flat tire.
4. Still no memory card for new camera...hello, I have a flat tire, I can't go anywhere!
5. 61 accts, and only 7 hours to work because I'm not allowed to get overtime.



Things I'm Grateful For:

1. I have the money to fix the tire, I'm just not wanting to spend the money.
2. I have the money to replace the headset, I just hate wearing it.
3. I have the money to buy the memory card, but I just feel that if you spend $400 on a flipping camera, it should come with the card. I mean, FOR REALS PEEPS.
4. At least I get to clock out early.
5. I have to walk 2 miles to get Bucket from school, but at least it's not hot out.

We Picked the Date

April 6, 2009.

That's the day we reverse the mistake we made back in September 1998. We are traveling to Oklahoma for the vasectomy reversal. And because we're doing it over Spring Break, either Mr. R is going alone, or we have to bring all three kids with us. On a plane. Oh my word. This physician's entire summer was booked solid, and we had hoped to do the procedure then so we could make a little vacation out of it. Looks like other people thought the same thing!

I'm excited, but my organizational side is kicking in. I'm trying to figure out the timing, the hotel, the rental car, what I can do with the kids while Mr. R is recuperating. Logistics are a nightmare here. Not only that, but neither boy has been on a plane before. Missy went to England with my parents when she was 10, but this will be a new experience for my boys.

Inside, I'm excited. Wondering what God has in store for us. Wondering if future children await us. Or perhaps our effort will not bring us children. I don't know. We have a few obstacles against us, but then again, we always have. Obstacles don't scare me. To be truthful, I'm not scared about any of this. Mr. R isn't either. You know, you'd think a guy would be nervous about having his "area" cut into, and having a drain to take care of, but he was very nonchalant about it. Just said that I "owed" him, and that if anyone else was going to take drastic measures to their body again, it would be me. Sounds fair, I suppose!

In totally different news, I finally got my camera! Unfortunately, you can't do anything with it until you get a memory card. One would think if they spent $400 on a camera, it would come with a memory card, but apparently, thinking is not my strong skill. So now I have to go out later today and pick up a few. I also broke my headset for work. This makes phone calling incredibly painful for my neck and shoulders, so I have to get a new one of those tonight also. What an expensive week!

Service

Mr. R came home Saturday afternoon. I love it when he's home for a weekend! He started his fabulous Superbowl chili, hung out with the kids, and picked a fight with me.

Wha?!?! What did I say? Yes indeedy, I kid you not. I reminded him that he needed to call his mom, and he called me a NAG. You might as well call me the C-word first, I despise the word "nag" and he knows it. Horribly hurt, I finished my schoolwork and went to bed early without saying a word to him. I was angry, but figured I'd be over it in the morning once I got some rest.

Two hours later, I was woken up by my husband's cries of pain. Oh, the vomiting. Oh, the blood. Oh, the mopping of my bathroom floor at 1am. Sigh. We're not sure if he had food poisoning or a migraine, but whatever it was, it was gross. And although he didn't intend to wake me, it's awfully hard to sleep through his puking, because he doesn't hold back. Does anyone else's husband do the puke/shout thing? Never in my life had I heard someone throw up like him. Ok, that's sorta gross. Sorry.

I pulled off his now disgusting pants as he laid on the floor in front of the toilet. Got him a drink of water to rinse out his mouth. Wiped his face with a cold cloth. Started a load of laundry before that nasty crap festered. He eventually crawled into bed, but his stomach cramps were such that he kept rolling around in the bed, effectively keeping me wide awake. I grabbed my pillows and an extra blanket, kissed his forehead (not his lips...not after what I just saw) and bunked in the living room in our old recliner. I slept fitfully from 2am to about 6am, because we have these windows in our living room that are not tinted, and even the January sun in Florida is enough to blind someone in the morning. Exhausted, I started a pot of coffee, did a laundry transfer, and checked up on him. It's funny how a grown man who is older than me can look like a little boy when he's sick. I felt a rush of compassion come over me, love for the man who less than 8 hours ago ticked me off completely. I checked his head...he was sweaty and obviously dehydrated. I woke him up to get some water into him. He looked up at me and said, "Thanks for taking care of me, babe. And sorry I was such a jerk last night."

Isn't that what it's all about? Loving someone when they're not so loving? I could have been a total "b" and told him to clean up his own puke, not my problem. Do your own laundry, loser. I chose to love him when he wasn't so lovable.

The Family Albums

Several months ago, my mother came to me with an issue. Several years ago, my grandfather lived with my mom and stepdad, until he became too incapacitated to be left home alone. My grandfather left a ton of crap in my mom's guest room closet, and my mother just recently went through it. And in the closet was an old Rubbermaid container with 15 family photo albums, dating from the 1940s all the way up until Grandma died in 1993. My mom called Grandpa to see if he wanted them, and he said "no." All they did was bring him sadness, seeing pictures of his wife and family members no longer with us depressed him. And my mother didn't want them, because they smelled so bad (my grandparents both smoked, and then someone decided to put mothballs in there too...trust me, the smell lingers.)

Enter Sarah.

They're mine now. I kept them in the funky container in my room, hoping it would air out, but it didn't. I took the opportunity last night to go through the albums during the Superbowl. As Arizona got robbed, I gently pulled each photo from the damaged page, trimmed the tape off (my grandma decided to scotch tape every picture into the album, and if you pulled the tape off, the picture disintegrated) and filed them in my Creative Memories organizer. I got through five of the albums before I felt like I had done permanent damage to my eyeballs. There are some pictures that I don't know who the people are. Are they relatives, friends? I love looking at the old cars in the background. And although Grandma had seven children, there is not one single pregnant picture. I guess Grandma didn't want proof of her sex life! I will scan some pictures so you can see, but I can't right now, because I'm supposed to be working! Maybe later today...