Wednesday, May 30, 2007

One step closer to Iraq

I just read on Lisa's blog that TC left for Oklahoma and Arizona. I knew it was happening but it still sucks.

(For those of you who don't know,TC is my sister's brother-in-law. He was also best man at her wedding so we walked down the aisle together. I think he is a very complex guy and I find him to be so interesting. He is also extremely funny in a low key way. I kind of forced his wife Lisa to start her own blog a while back because I thought it would be helpful keeping TC in the loop while he is away. Not that he will be driving a tank and typing on a laptop but......he can check in every now and then.
Lisa turned out to be a very amusing story teller so I am glad I twisted her arm a little bit. Her blog also keeps me in the loop because we don't see each other very often and I miss out on lots of things. Trent is a very funny child so I love hearing about what he is doing.)

Anyway,if you get a chance,please read Lisa's post. Being a military wife is difficult and she could use some support right about now since her second son is due in a few months and TC will not be home for this joyous event.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Busy weekend

I only have to work until 12pm tomorrow and for that I say YAHOOOOOOO!!!!
I do miss my co-workers at the hospital but I don't miss working all weekend,every weekend at all. Nope....not at all.

So,after work tomorrow I'll come home and relax for a while. Then we are heading to my sister's to watch a UFC pay per view at her house. I am always at work when Rich and Lillianna go over there but this time,I can actually go and hang with the family.This is the part I have missed most of all.

Sunday morning I can sleep past 4:30am again. It's lovely to not have to get up so early and spend the day at work. At 5:30pm we are meeting our friends,Kristy and Jerry and going out for pizza. We have been friends for 17 years but next week they are moving to Georgia. It will be weird without them. Thank goodness for unlimited long distance and the internet.

Monday I am planning to go to the pool if it's pool weather. It's just nice to have most of the weekend off now. I love doing family things.

Have a great long weekend everyone!

A blessing in disguise

This post is over at Dotmoms!

Food cravings

I know that people who suddenly crave red meat are told they must be low in iron but what does it mean to crave pumpernickel?

I grew up in a bakery and I loved all breads. My least favorites were cissel bread which has caraway seeds in it and pumpernickel bread. In the past few weeks,I've been eating Snyders's pumpernickel and onion pretzels. I'm obsessed with them and I don't know why.

Yesterday,I had to pick up a couple of things at the supermarket and I couldn't get pumpernickel bread off of my mind. I thought this was kind of odd but I just couldn't shake the need to eat some pumpernickel bread so I bought a loaf. The next step?.....the cream cheese aisle. I finally decided on a light Philadelphia cream cheese which I thought would compliment the bread perfectly.

As soon as I got home I toasted two pieces and spread them with cream cheese. It was delicious,just like I knew it would be. I can't wait to make the same thing for breakfast this morning.

Putting pregnancy cravings aside,do you ever have weird cravings for things that you never liked before? Do you ever wonder why? I sure do.

(I just googled pumpernickel and here is what I found. I thought this was hysterical and may be the reason I feel gassy this morning!)

Etymology of pumpernickel

The Philologist Johann Christoph Adelung states about the Germanic origin of the word, in the vernacular, Pumpen was a New High German synonym for being flatulent, a word similar in meaning to the English "fart", and "Nickel" was a form of the name Nicholas, an appellation commonly associated with a goblin or devil (e.g., "Old Nick", a familiar name for Satan). Hence, pumpernickel is described as the "devil's fart", a definition accepted by the Stopes International Language Database [1], the publisher Random House [2], and by some English language dictionaries, including Webster's Dictionary [3]. The American Heritage Dictionary adds "so named from being hard to digest."

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Remember when we were young?

Last night,Lillianna had a concert at school. As a surprise,I called my friend Amy on my way to work yesterday and asked her what her daughter Mollie was doing that night. Since she had no plans,I asked if she would like to come to Lillianna's concert. Without asking her daughter,she said she'd love it.

Lillianna and Mollie have been best friends since they were 3 years old and met in nursery school. Even though we live one town away from each other,the girls have remained the very best of friends. They have been in the same dance class for 6 years and have shared many fun times together.

I told Lillianna that we had to leave early for the concert because Amy had called me and asked if I could return Mollie's sweatshirt that she had left here last week when she slept over. So,Lil thought that's why we were going to Mollie's. Well,we did return the sweatshirt and as Lillianna explained that she had to go because she was in a concert,Mollie said,"Ya,I know....I'm coming with you!"

They hugged each other,jumped up and down and screamed. Lillianna gave me her look that means,"Why didn't you tell me?" I just smiled innocently and said,"I told you. You're on a need to know basis!" I love surprising her.

On the ride to school,Lillianna told Mollie that she had found her photo album of when they were 3 years old and they were making chocolates at our house. I said,"You guys were so cutie-pie little then." Then I thought a minute and said,"In a few years you'll look back at this year and say,'Remember when we were 9? That was so long ago!'" The girls just laughed.

Then I was on a roll."And when you're 60 you can say,'Wow....remember when we were only 40? We looked good back then. We were so cute,weren't we?'"
While the girls were laughing I added,"I'm sure you'll still be having sleepover birthday parties with each other when you're 90!"

Then one of them said,"Then we can bring a casserole." Both girls were hysterical by then. I asked them what they meant by that. You never know if casserole is slang for something nowadays,you know? That just got them laughing even more.

Finally Lillianna said,"You know.....a casserole.........That's what old people bring each other,Mom......casseroles!"

Then I started to laugh. Kids have a funny way of looking at things. I guess if I start bringing casseroles every where I go then I'm old,right? I hope my string bean casserole doesn't count because I've been bringing that every where I go for years!

Friday, May 18, 2007

An unexpected visitor

I was singing to the radio and sipping my coffee on the 35 minute drive to work this morning when my car suddenly filled up with the scent of Old Spice. I looked around to see what could possibly cause that smell. I didn't see anything but it smelled like someone dropped a bottle of this after shave in the back seat of the car.

After Dad died almost 20 years ago,I took his Old Spice bottle and saved it until about 2 months ago when I did a huge cleaning and decided most of the after shave had evaporated. Reluctantly I threw it away. His memory isn't in an old dusty bottle and I think I finally realized that.

As I inhaled that familiar smell,my eyes got teary and I said,"Hi Daddy......I miss you." The smell of Old Spice lasted for about a minute and then it suddenly disappeared. Daddy's birthday is in 3 days. I guess he just wanted to pay me a little visit. I love when that happens.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Another happy day

Saturday was my last day working at the hospital. I will definitely miss a lot of people but overall,I was thrilled to be out of there. Sunday was the first time I could sleep past 4:30am on the weekend. It was lovely!

Mother's Day ended up being the best day of all. We went to my sister's house for a delicious gourmet breakfast.Peter made frittatas,waffles,sausages and a whole lot of scrumptious food. I had made home fries and bacon at home and brought it there. I'm not a sausage eater but they had this delicious chicken and apple sausage that had a little kick to it. I highly recommend it! We had so much fun being together and enjoying the yummiest meal ever.

I loved passing by the restaurants on the drive to Kara's house and seeing all the lines outside waiting to get in. There was no line at Kara's house which is good 'cuz I HATE waiting.

We left there around 1:30pm and drove home. I got Lillianna ready for her dance recital and we left home at 3:30pm. Her recital started at 4:30pm and she was a bright and shining star as usual. I had my tissues handy because I have yet to get through a recital without ending up in a pool of tears. I'm known for being a tad emotional. She was just amazing,if I do say so myself.

The recital ended at 7:00pm and we had made plans to go out for dinner with Lillianna's best friend,Mollie,and her family. Lillianna and Mollie have danced together for the past 6 years and her mom,Amy and I are good friends. Rich actually graduated high school with Mollie's dad. It's really a small world.

We went to a fun restaurant where I had only been for breakfast but their dinners and sandwiches were great. The girls sat at their own table next to us. They were thrilled. Mollie has an 11 year old sister and the three girls get along great together. We laughed and talked until 9:00pm and then we headed home. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

In fact,this whole week has been great so far. I've been working every morning at my ophthalmic tech job. So far I have had co-workers thank me for staying late for them so that they could go to lunch and one new tech told me she loved me today because I helped her figure something out. She's really funny because she actually used to work at Lillianna's dancing school so I knew her from there. When I saw her at work I was all confused. She's still learning the job and she was grateful for my help.

The doctors are thrilled that I added in more hours at this job and it's a great feeling to be appreciated. I guess I forgot how much I liked the doctors and co-workers at this job. I'm glad I'm back.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

What's for dinner?

Whenever I asked that question as a child,my mother always had an answer. I rarely have an answer. How the heck am I supposed to know what's for dinner every night? I hate to cook and I hate to plan a menu a week ahead. I don't like being in charge of feeding my family 7 days a week.

When I asked Rich what he wanted tonight he said,"Something simple." His idea of a good meal and Lillianna's idea of a good meal are not the same. I have a completely different concept of delicious too. I think if we all ate the same food this job wouldn't be so darn difficult but I will basically prepare 3 different meals tonight.

Now do you see why I never have an answer to that question?

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Stupid! Stupid!! Stupid!!!

I hate when I do something stupid!

I've been dealing with my diabetes since November 2005 and I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. I bring my test kit and snacks wherever I go just in case I have problems with my blood sugar. I think I've done really well so far.

So why does my brain take a vacation every now and then and I act like my blood sugar isn't an issue? It's always an issue. It doesn't control my life but I have to be aware of it all of the time.

Today,I had a 10am hair appointment. While I was under the dryer,my blood sugar suddenly dropped and I felt dizzy. I didn't have my test kit or any snacks with me because I ate breakfast before I left. So Stupid!!

I didn't want to bother Karen,my hairdresser,because she was doing someone else's hair while I was under the dryer. I got up and grabbed a Dum-Dum lollipop (how appropriate for me!) and ate it as fast as I could hoping the sugar would help.

When my blood sugar drops,I'm just very quiet and focused on feeling better. I sucked so hard on this lollipop,I could've been recruited for a porn movie! I finally bit into it and swallowed all the pieces. Then I grabbed another pop and sat back in my chair.

One of the hairdressers went by and said I looked really tired. Karen looked at me and said,"You have no color left in your face. What's wrong?" I told her my blood sugar was low. She asked me what I needed and did I want her to run next door to the sub shop and get me anything. I said that I'd be okay and I'd go get a soda at CVS which is across the parking lot as soon as my hair was done.

I just wanted to smack myself in the head. Why didn't I pack my peanut butter crackers or a granola bar? I know better than to leave the house without snacks.
When this happened last year at the American Girl store in NY,I vowed this would never happen again. Here I am....moron of the month!

In the end,I managed to survive until I got to CVS and bought a bottle of Coke. I opened it and drank some before I even made it to the register. As soon as I got home I had chicken and veggies.

I feel so much better now but I'm kind of mad at myself. I know I can never be without back up snacks. I will take a lunch box with me all the time when Lillianna and I go to the dude ranch in June. I do not want this to happen again!

The countdown is on!

Sunday was my last Sunday at work and tonight is my last Tuesday! After this,I just have to work my last Saturday and then.......I'm done! I've worked 4 1/2 years at this job and I'm not sad to see it end.

Like any job,there have been good days and bad....people that I enjoy working with and others that are more challenging. Through it all,I think it's been a decent job and it fit my needs at the time. Now,things are changing and I had to make the decision to leave.

I started this job when Lillianna was 5 years old and in kindergarten 3 hours a day.
It was impossible to work while she was in school. By the time I arrived at my job,it was time to turn around and go back to pick her up from school. That's when I took a job where I could work nights and weekends so she could be home with Rich while I was at work.

A few years ago I went from per-diem to part-time so that I could pick up dental insurance. That was a great bonus for us since Rich's job didn't offer that. As I said,this job was a good fit for me at the time but a 5 year old child is very different from a 9 1/2 year old child and Lillianna's needs have changed.

She has so many weekend activities that I have been missing because I work every weekend. Rich doesn't enjoy these things the way that I do but he's the one who has to be there with her because I'm not home. I missed birthday parties where the moms hang out and chat while the kids roller skate. I missed selling Girl Scout cookies at cookie booths with her. Rich went but I don't think he loved it.

I don't have Lillianna's friends sleep over on the weekends because I'm not here although Mollie,her very best friend,has slept over a time or two on the weekends but her mom and I are good friends.She knows Rich. Most moms are uncomfortable with just dad being home and I can't blame them. I would be too.

So,I'm very excited about our new life which will begin next week. I am picking up more hours at my ophthalmic tech job but I'll be home every day by 2:30pm to get Lillianna from school. On the Saturdays that I decide to work,I'll be home by 12:30pm. We will still have the whole weekend as a family and I won't be working every Saturday. This will be the first time in many,many years that I won't be working on the weekends. I can't wait.

We are all looking forward to a more connected life together. This tag-team parenting is not fun or healthy for us anymore. We need to spend time together as a family and just enjoy one another. Feeling so disconnected has taken it's toll on us and we need to begin a more harmonious life.

So,just tonight and Saturday and then I'm done. Yahoo!

Monday, May 07, 2007

Date night

Lillianna had her dress rehearsal on Saturday from 2:30pm-5:00pm so I had to take off both jobs in order to make this all happen. I didn't want to work in the morning and then come home at 1:00pm. I wouldn't have had enough time to curl her hair and get her ready. Formal portraits were being done that day instead of the week before at the dance studio so she had to be picture perfect.

After the dress rehearsal,we drove Lillianna to Plymouth for a birthday sleepover which had actually started at 1:00pm. We got her there by 6:30pm and the party was still in full swing. She gave us a hug and ran off with the rest of the girls. We asked Suzie and George for a suggestion on where we should go for dinner then we headed to downtown Plymouth.

We parked the car and then walked around looking at different restaurant menus and deciding where we wanted to go. We decided on Mama Mia's which we used to go to a lot when Rich worked at his old job because there was one right around the corner.

We were seated immediately which was a relief since we were both starving. Rich and I don't date much but when we do,it's such a nice treat. Our last night out,just the two of us,was in November. We don't have any couple time because of our work schedule....okay,my work schedule! This will all be changing next week after I work my last day at my night and weekend job. I can't wait.

After dinner,we walked around near The Mayflower ship and Plymouth Rock. It's right before tourist season so it wasn't very crowded,thank goodness. I hate crowds.

On the drive home,we stopped for ice cream at a yummy place that Rich knew about and I got my favorite soft serve low fat coffee ice cream. It was delicious and it was the perfect end to a fun night with my husband.

I fell asleep on the drive home and went straight to bed since I had to be up at 4:00am to go to work on Sunday. I think we are going to have to make lots more time for date night. We both deserve it!

How often do you get a date night with your spouse?