The one thing we managed to get done last week during the time that Hubby took off of work besides getting the kids registered for school was take a trip to the zoo (hence the uptick in animal photos). I dubbed these two the Yin and Yang Monkeys.
Tag: MC
Done, Done, Done and DONE!!
I. AM. DONE! Not mostly. Not kinda. But done. What was really just supposed to be a kinda big, but not major project of moving stuff from one space in my house to another turned into this crazy, spider web of smaller projects that kept spiraling out to pick up other small projects along the way. It was kind of hellish and hard and tiring and a shit ton of work, but I ADORE the end results and I’m so stinkin’ pooped, I want to sit and not move for a month.
Trying To Reset
Today is the first semi-normal day I’ve had in weeks. Hubby is finally back at work. There are no appointments or people coming out to the house. There are no projects to be started or worked on (yet). After weeks of overwhelming stuff, I just kind of don’t know what to do. Yes, I absolutely needed a break and I’m finally getting one. But as often happens in these situation, I’m now antsy and feel like I should be doing something.
A Little Frazzled
As if things weren’t crazy enough around here, I got to add spending a chunk of my day yesterday in the ER with Hubby. Apparently it was his turn to enjoy the fun filled time of getting poked and prodded.
Crazy Mode
It is officially recital weekend and I’m in crazy mode. Yesterday was all about running around and getting some last minute things taken care of (why it takes until last minute before she realizes she needs some of these kinda important things is beyond me). Today won’t be much better because I, again, managed to add another thing to my to do list when I offered to make the recital bouquets for BG and her dance friend.
Evolving Traditions
From the time my kids were old enough to do puzzles and play games, Hubby and I have tortured our kids on Easter by forcing them to do a scavenger hunt to find their baskets. It took a time or two for them to get the hang of things, but they absolutely fell in love with the tradition.
Halve Some Cherries
Again, I was denied my fun and my cake skills as BG requested a super simple box mix with store bought icing cake with no theme. No fun for me, but it was her birthday and is what she wanted, so it is what she got.
The upside is that I didn’t have to spend days working on it like I usually do when I’ve been given a challenge. I pretty much had this one baked and decorated in an evening. It has been a while since I’ve done one this simple. I will use box mixes, but almost never use anything other than homemade icing unless it is for my cream cheese cupcakes, so doing this one was really strange for me.
Cherry chip cake with cherry icing. It was stupidly sweet, but she was thrilled and that is all that mattered.
The older they get, the less fun they allow me to have. I think I’m just going to say screw it and come up with a cake idea I like and just make it for the hell of it just so I can play.
Too Cool!
So over the moon excited! The design that MC and I put together is the one they chose to use for the club t-shirts and the finished product came in today.
I’m so thrilled with how these came out. They are every bit as cool as I imagined. It looks like they still tweaked the design a bit, probably to ensure there were no issues with the actual print process. For the most part it is exactly as we designed it.
Repost… Death By Chocolate
I’m reposting this as this is, again, what MC has asked for and what I spent my evening working on putting together. No real creativity required, but it is still, and probably always will be, a family favorite. I did not take the time to make the individuals and just did this in a large 9 x 13 pan because I’m serving Hubby’s sister and dad this time and the individuals are just a ton of work that I didn’t have time for today.
Finishing Up and Gift Giving
Today will, hopefully, finish what is left of my shopping. I have one or two things left on my list to take care of, but the last big thing is what the kids do for each other. Continue reading “Finishing Up and Gift Giving”
And Done!
At least with the decorating part anyway. I still need to get back to work on my nutcracker project, but I think I’m going to need to take a day off to just rest tomorrow. Trying to do all of this over the last week while battling a very nasty cough has just worn me out and I think I need to be done for a bit. Tomorrow is doing to be a veg day where I just sit and soak up all the pretty that is my house for the holidays. Continue reading “And Done!”
Anger and Fear
One part of my supercalifuckyoulistic day yesterday was when MC told Hubby and I that a kid on the bus singed he hairs on his arm with a lighter, split open the seat with a pocket knife and proceeded to try to burn the foam inside. Yeah, it was that kind of day.
Hindsight
One of the many projects that has been sitting on my to do list has been to dig through all of my old photos to find my favorites to print and hang on the walls. I’ve been terrible over the years of just moving them from my camera to my computer and not ever really doing anything with them beyond posting them on FB or adding them to my background or screensaver. Continue reading “Hindsight”
Dance Time
My daughter, BG, dances. For her, it is really just about doing something fun. She does most of the options available to her, tap and jazz, but her favorite is ballet. Last year, she got to do pointe for the first time. I was thrilled for her, but found out quickly that, for her, it was probably way more work than what she wanted to put in for something that was just supposed to be fun. After about week 2, she came out of class in tears. Continue reading “Dance Time”
Nearly A Year
It was slightly less than a year ago that OC decided that he wanted a life unhindered by parents and rules. It is past the one year mark since I cut ties with the majority of my family. I have learned a lot in that time. About me. About my kids. About what is important.
Challenge Accepted
MC is in science club this year. It will be his first time, but after just absolutely falling in love last year during his pre-AP biology course, he decided he would rather do that than robotics. One of the things they do is have students submit ideas for their club T-shirt. Apparently, since I was the one to do the shirts for his robotics team a few years ago when they went to worlds, he thought I should work on this as well.
Honestly, I was thrilled. MC looks up to Hubby so much. I’m still there for him and we talk, but he just has this amazing, special relationship with his dad. It isn’t often that I get to feel that with him as well. Between this shirt and other comments he made about the things they will be doing in the club this year and wishing I could be there to work on them with him, just kind of melted me.
Part of what made this so much fun is that we really worked on it together. I pulled all kinds of images and ideas from the internet, then we sat down and went through them, setting aside what we liked and discarding the rest. Once we narrowed it down, I started working on the design. When I got to a point where a choice had to be made, we talked about it, tossed around ideas and options and figured out where we wanted it to go. It was kind of awesome.
Since any of the students can submit a design, they gather submissions and then vote on them, so we won’t know if ours is going to be the one yet, but I was pleased with what we came up with.
I don’t know how long they have given everyone to get their ideas submitted or when they will make their decision. However it turns out, this was still a fun project. I am over the moon that MC wanted me to do this for him. Being 15 he is getting less and less likely to want or need his mom for things so I am going to soak up every second that he gives me.
Coping and Cleaning Out
The last couple of weekends have been really hard and really busy. After OC decided to not be here anymore, Hubby and I needed to clean the toxic waste dump that was his room. It smelled horrid as he never did laundry or cleaned up even slightly. When I say didn’t do laundry, I mean he hadn’t done it since he got back from my parents the first of July. Not once. I’m sure there were even some things buried in his closet that had been there for much longer. There was trash and junk and pretty much everything you could imagine shoved in every nook and cranny. Continue reading “Coping and Cleaning Out”
The Hits Keep Coming
Yesterday was an exercise in extremes around here with regards to the kids. Hubby got this heart meltingly awesome text from MC basically saying what an awesome dad he is and that MC appreciates and loves him. It was random and out of the blue. It isn’t something that MC has ever done in the past and his displays of affection aren’t that common, as is typical for a 14 year old. It made me cry at how utterly amazing this kid is and that he has this huge squishy heart. Continue reading “The Hits Keep Coming”
Reflections on Family and Relationships
The importance put on family is something I have spent a lot of time thinking on, not just lately, but for a very long time. With some of the issues with OC and also with regards to my own parents, siblings and in-laws, it has been something that has kind of always sat in the back of my mind. Why do we put different standards around family relationships versus all other relationships? There are times where you are forced to put up with or tolerate behavior and treatment from family members that would never, ever be considered even remotely okay with any other person in your life. Why does blood grant that privilege? Recently, I’ve been forced to face this question head on and come up with some real answers for myself and my immediate family. Continue reading “Reflections on Family and Relationships”
