Too Sleepy...

The tryptophan in the turkey seems to be kicking in. I'm getting so tired I can barely keep my head up. The past couple of days were great with both our families. I'm so thankful that we have been able to see everyone of our nieces, nephews, siblings, parents, and grandparents that are still on this earth. The kids have had a great time playing with everyone and eating lots of good food. Off to try to find a few extra hours of sleep before seeing more family tomorrow.

The Crazy Family

Every family has a "Crazy" Family group. When all the siblings, their spouses and children, get together. There is always one family that walks in and it's like adding 20 extra people, no matter the size of the crazy family.

My family has been designated the "Crazy" Family out of my siblings. We have the oldest, and the most, kids so far in my family. They are a bit loud sometimes. I don't believe my kids are too crazy. They don't jump on or off furniture. They don't break things, maybe once or twice this has happened they try to be careful around other people's things. They aren't disrespectful or rude. I believe we received this title simply b/c we have the most kids, so of course we generate the most noise. 2/3 other grandchildren are under 1yo, so they can't be too crazy yet.

My only hope, someone else either has more kids (doubtful) or their kids grow crazier than mine!

Shopping Woes!

I should have asked my sister-in-law to do my grocery shopping this week. It just hasn't been my week to either find time or find the items I need.

I normally grocery shop on Monday mornings, when I only have 2 kids to drag with me. My kids don't hate shopping, they love it! They believe that stores are giant play places, and thus it is hard to concentrate on what I need to buy. Life conspired against me this week, of course, especially since there is a holiday coming up and I won't be able to find time to shop for 3 days.

Monday I traveled up to a doctor's appointment, which should have been very short. It was, just the waiting time was long. Much easier when you're pregnant, they seem to be able to get you right in. I had hoped to squeeze in one store to pick up essentials - milk, cereal, bread, etc. Alas, it was not to be. I also needed to make phone calls from my mother-in-laws house, since I still have not bought a new one that can make out going calls. I figured that since I did not have much planned besides some weekly cleaning, I should be able to find time to run to the store sometime Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. Never happened.

Monday night, I ran to the store for cereal, since we were out and you can't not have cereal with kids in the house. So, I stopped at one of the stores to pick up the few items I needed from there, after all the kids were in bed and I did my aerobics.

Tuesday morning, instead of going shopping, I waited around for our new hot water heater to be delivered. Installing the hot water heater took most of the day. By the time it was completed, Elizabet was due home in a half hour and then the older two had swim lessons.

The plan then became to head right out after the kids were in bed. But, Matt got home late and I lost all ambition to leave the house. We still needed milk and bread though. So, I headed out to pick them up. I picked up enough food to last us until Saturday am, then I'll have to go shopping again. But...

...I forgot the milk!

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's back to work I go...

It's finally happened. The littlest Princess now sleeps through the night, fairly regularly, so it's time for me to head back to work. I can't really complain. My job is very flexible. I can work any hour of the day or night, doing just about anything, and get paid good money for it as well.

I called the hospital I was working per diem at last. Since I do not have retirement, insurance, or anything else along those lines, they just keep me on the list. Last time, I worked on the medical floor, not my favorite, but doable. Except for the supervisor...She was not very happy to have me on as a per diem nurse. She tried to interview me for a full time aide position. She never bothered to set up an orientation for me, or even give me an orientation packet. Granted, I have worked on a medical floor before, so it wasn't too hard to find the groove again, but she should still have gotten one to me. I printed that out myself. Then I started getting notes about when I was going to hand my packet in to her. Mentioned that she never gave me one, and was told to just fill it out. Never bothered to contact me to see when I could work or tell me where holes in staffing could be filled in. I contacted her when my phone number changed, she never bothered to pass it along. Contacted her when I ended up pregnant with the littlest Princess, and she tried to fire me b/c I had stopped coming to work. Oh well.

I've asked to be set to the surgical floor, which is also the overflow medical floor and the pediatric floor. I'm hoping they'll let me work there. I guess I could work on the surgical floor again, if I had to, which I really don't have to. There are plenty of other medical facilities in the area. Working nights fits my schedule best, and most places need to fill their night positions.

I enjoy working as a nurse. I prefer the surgical floor in the hospital, dialysis or hospice outside the hospital. I've also tried subbing as a school nurse, the kids are fun to work with, but the parents and administration irritate me too much to ever be full time. I plan on working as a nurse in some form for the rest of my life.

Now, maybe I can sell my book and therefore never have to work full time again...

All or None

I've found myself frustrated time and time again while trying to loose weight. Generally it's not what I eat, but how much I eat. I like to eat and I like to eat a lot. I have a very hard time telling myself to stop eating something that taste good. I've been given 2 pieces of advice that I've learned can never apply to me.

First - You only need to take one bite, because only the first bite taste good. The rest are not so good. I tried, but found the rest of the bites taste just as good as the first, sometimes even more so! I've given up on this one.

Second - You only need to take a little bit, don't deny yourself. Once I start, it's difficult to stop. It is easier for me to fast all day than it is to control how much I eat. While I have gotten better at controlling what I've planned on eating for the day, if something unexpected pops up or I decide I'll treat myself just a little, I fall apart. I just have to say to it completely.

I'm going to just ignore these pieces of advice, since they don't seem to apply to me, and continue to deny myself and try to plan ahead!

Crazieness Done!

We celebrated the last birthday party for the girls today. I'm finding it very difficult having 2 girls born 2 weeks apart, although five years apart! We ended up having 3 parties - 2 family and 1 friend for the oldest. I'm not sure what I'll plan for next year, but I'd like it to be a little quieter. The kids had a lot of fun, and the downstairs of my house hasn't ever stayed clean this long, so I guess it was a good thing. I can't believe my baby is actually 6, and the littlest 1! They are getting so big. At times it feels like they are growing up so slowly, especially when they're being punished for the same thing for what seems like the 100th time! Other times, the days seem to fly. My oldest can read already and the youngest is working on walking. I just hope I remember it all.

She can Read!

My Oldest read me her first book this week. It was so exciting listening to her sound out the words and gain confidence as she went a long. Both my husband and I are avid readers. Our children would love to be as well, but Mommy doesn't have the time to spend hours reading to them. Not only am I excited to introduce her to the wonderful world of books and all the worlds they open to exploration, but the Mommy part of me is excited that I have someone who enjoys reading to her siblings! I have a long list of books I'm waiting impatiently to introduce to her, some of my childhood favorites like Ramona Quimby and some new ones I've found like Junie B. Jones! What a great journey we've embarked upon!