Boys Will Be Boys?

So yesterday DD got home late from work. She was on the computer after dinner, before getting Little Mister to bed. I was entertaining him (still) and told her she should be doing that since she hadn't gotten much time with him in the past three weeks. She took him upstairs to put him to bed, and they were goofing around. She was trying to get his blanket sleeper pjs on him, and I think she had the feet on first and was moving his arm around to get it in the sleeve when he jerked away from her giggling and playing. The next thing I know, I hear him screaming bloody murder over the monitor. He wouldn't move his arm at all without screams. We took him up the street to the ER. We had to wait for almost an hour and a half before being taken to a room.

They thought that it was a "nursemaid's elbow" situation where his elbow came out of the socket. The doctor had to wrench it back in. She tried it the first time, and it didn't work. So she had to do it again. I thought I was going to pass out because it was so gross and he was screaming so much. PS, I don't do well in medical situations. She said to give him a few minutes and then he should be fine and like nothing had happened because 98% of the time, that it the scenario. Of course, with him, it wasn't. Ugh. He still wouldn't move it without crying. So that kept us there another two hours while they x-rayed, poked/prodded and monitored him. We were wondering if it was his wrist/hand, but they x-rayed his elbow. It looked fine on the x-ray. So they finally put his whole arm in a splint thingy and sent us away. He is completely miserable and can't/won't move it at all, and even the slightest movement makes him start to cry. They told us to take him to the pediatrician or an ortho doc on Monday.

We left the hospital, and bless his little heart, he was trying to sing along to "We Are Young" by Fun that was on the radio.  Too cute.  We got home around 1:30. Finally got him to bed shortly after 2.  Jessica just went into work so she could get off early because she knew she couldn't sleep for 3 hours and then get up and go to work. I couldn't get to sleep because Jessica's evil cat was throwing herself at the door (because I was sleeping with Little Mister and wouldn't let her in). Then Tim woke up and called me a little after 3 because he was confused as to where I was. I finally went into our room because the bed in the other room is horrible, and Little Mister was taking up the whole space. About 20 minutes after I finally fell asleep, Little Mister woke up screaming with his night terrors. I got him calmed back down and back to sleep and then finally got about 2.5 hours of sleep before he woke up crying again and then was up for good.

I tell you, I am feeling every minute of my 42 years today.

Jessica finally got home from work about an hour ago and took him down to Oregon because they were scheduled to spend the next two days with her dad (a 3 hour car ride... good luck with that).

I told her that I'm surprised we haven't had a visit from child protective services yet. He is 27 months old and has had two x-rays on his feet, one on his head, a CT of his head (not even a month ago), the x-ray last night on his arm, three ER visits (including one ambulance ride), paramedics have been to our house four separate occasions, a neurologist visit, a urologist visit, and countless doctor appointments. His medical chart is going to be huge. And the fortunate thing is, that even with all of that, he is totally healthy and has no major problems. Everyone last night just kept telling us that stuff like that is expected with boys. Seriously?

I don't know how parents handle major medical issues without losing their minds. I bow down to all of you who have to deal with it. I can't even imagine.

He was adorable when we got home and he was excited over the news that we were going to bed...

10 Things

Shimelle started a wonderful tradition over at her blog, where she documents 10 Things on the 10th of each month.  There are no other rules.  Just 10 things.  Hmmm.  I always get so excited about the possibilities, that I end up flustered and can’t figure out how to narrow my ideas down to one topic (I tend to be that way on most things, unfortunately). 

So this month, I decided that I would come up with a list of ten things that I want to blog about for future 10 Things posts.  That will take away some of my own personal drama.  LOL. 

1. Favorite Holiday Traditions:  Our family doesn’t have a lot of them, but I’d wager a guess that I could come up with ten that we currently have or add in a few that I’d like to incorporate in the future.  Do you have any holiday traditions to share?  It could be any holiday, really. 

2. Favorite recipes:  Since I’ve been wasting spending a lot of time on Pinterest, I’ve bookmarked quite a few recipes that I’d like to try.  There are also several I have tried, so I could mix it up. 

3. Good Causes:  Toward the end of the year, I always receive so many requests for last-minute funds/donations to all sorts of worthy causes.  One of these days, I’d like to pick some of my faves and write up a bit about each.  Do you have specific causes you favor?  Or volunteer activities that mean a lot to you? 

4. Things That Have Been Inspiring Me: Again, Pinterest has a load of inspiration, but there are other sources of inspiration as well.  Different music, videos, blogs, magazines, designers, artists, etc. 

5. Music That Conjures Up Memories of My Dad:  My dad and I were never very close, but it bothers me a lot more lately.  He committed suicide three and a half years ago, and there is just a lot left hanging around in the corners of my mind.  I have some songs on my playlist that always remind me of time spent with him when I was young.  I’d like to explore that further.

6. Poems I Need to Write: Sometimes, I think I have too many ideas, and that is why I never get anything accomplished.  If I listed out a bunch of my poem ideas, they’d be there, germinating, and I might be more inspired to complete them.  Same goes for stories.

7. Good Books: I’ve read some great books in the past couple of years, yet anytime someone asks me about something good I’ve read, I can’t remember specific titles.  I’d like to have a fun list of them to look back on in the future.

8. Letters to Grandbabies: Ali Edwards posts occasional letters to her kids.  They are really wonderful, and they provide a great snapshot of what is going on in their everyday lives.  I’d like to start creating those for Little Mister and Coco so  I have them saved.  Since I am saving those for future posts, I’ll just share a couple of quick scrap layouts of the boys. 

 

9. Topics I’d Like to Learn More About: There are so many things I’d like to learn about, it isn’t even funny.  Maybe if I sketched out a top-ten list of those, it would be easier to make the time to tackle a new topic every now and then.

10. Creative Projects I Want to Tackle: Like number nine above, there are tons and tons of creative projects I want to do at some point. Most of the time, I end up just creating a new scrapbooking page or something in lieu of starting a new creative project because I just freeze up when I think of all that I want to accomplish. 

Ugh.  Looking at this list makes me wish I didn’t need time to sleep.  Life would be so much easier if science could solve that little issue for me. 

What about you?  Do you create lists for yourself?  Do you have a to-do list that is a million miles long?  How do you juggle everything you want to do and still maintain your sanity (and a reasonable sleeping schedule)?

Scrap Happy

Welcome to the next stop on the blog hop.  If you are participating in the hop, you should have arrived from Pie for Breakfast.  If not, you may want to participate in order to win a prize from Scrapworthy Lives. 
To enter the giveaway from Scrapworthy Lives, be sure to comment below! You can earn one entry per blog. So that means if you visit everyone’s blog and comment on each of their blogs, you can get 13 entries! All entries must be posted by Friday, June 3 at midnight Central Standard Time (Chicago, IL, USA). Stephanie will ship anywhere in the world. The winner will be announced on Sunday, June 5 on Scrapworthy Lives.

This blog hop is all about happiness.  For me, being the self-appointed memory keeper is a happy thing.  Also, scrapping, as a hobby, is happy-making and I can lose myself in a sensory overload of colored papers, funky ephmera and elements and photos.  There are times that it is just a simple way to relax and focus on good memories. 

Do you ever have one of those days (or weeks/months) where you just need to find quiet time to sit and *not* think about all that is going on in the real world?  Like you can just block it out and be happy for a few minutes?

Last week, we had a medical crisis with our cherished little mister.  He had an ear infection coming on that we weren't aware of.  He was kind of cranky on Thursday, but was otherwise normal.  To make a long story short, he ended up having two febrile (fever-related) seizures several hours apart.  It was terrifying.  The first seizure was completely scary.  The paramedics arrived and once they were sure he was stabilized, they sent us to the pediatrician (who diagnosed the impending ear infection).  The doc gave him an injection of antibiotics and told us to come back for a follow-up on Friday.  I took little mister home, and he seemed okay.  He ate a small dinner, played around a bit and went to bed.  But then around 11:30, I went to lay down with him, and his fever spiked again causing the second seizure.  Since the paramedics had already been there before and the fever wasn't being controlled with tylenol or ibuprofen, they thought it would be best to go to the hospital.  I totally agreed.  We ended up in the emergency room around midnight after our first-ever ambulance ride.  Luckily, he was okay and the doctor released us after a cup of apple juice, a big dose of motrin and less than an hour of time.  His very relieved mom arrived from work right as they were going to discharge us (she had to have a co-worker drive her the 40 miles since she was a mess).  Even though the entire day's events was completely stressful and overwhelming (after the first seizure, I would just start crying without notice), the outcome was a happy one.  He was okay.  He is a healthy kid (aside from the occasional earache), and he has bounced back remarkably. 

While I was lying in the hospital bed, holding my sweet boy in my lap, he grinned at me, and all was right with the world.  I know I can't capture those exact feelings in a scrapbook layout, but I still found myself fondling his tiny hospital bracelet and thinking about how I should keep it for memory's sake. 

Once the crisis was over and we were all rested, I just wanted to sit at the computer and veg out on scrap-craft-related websites and not think about all of the fear that had been coursing through me the past couple of days.  Creativity has a strange way of calming me down.  Imagining all of the projects I could create, looking at inspiring works of art from other people, and giving myself colorful escapes somehow feels very therapeutic.  I didn't accomplish any amazing layouts or document the experiences we had in any meaningful way (yet), I did end up feeling calmer and happier.

Here are a few sites that just make me happy in a colorful, frilly, paper love way. 
Pink Paislee
Crate Paper
October Afternoon
Sweet Shoppe Designs (digital scrapbooking)
... and of course... Pinterest.  Where you can really lose track of time and find tons of things that are visually appealing and pin them to your own boards for times when you need a little inspiration or happy-making.  :)  I have color palettes, sketch ideas, gorgeous layouts, quotes/sayings, and photo ideas saved for future reference. 

If you have any other drool-worthy sites worth sharing, please do so. 

Your next stop on the Blog Hop will be... Abstracts Mixed with Extracts

If you've lost your place or haven't visited all of the blogs, here is the full list for your reference.

Scrapworthy Lives
1200 Some Miles
Take a Picture and Remember This
Scrap Your Life
My Life in Photos & Words
This Kalil Life
Fun Mama
Scrapping Mojo
XNomad’s Blog
Nuggets
The Constant Scrapper
Pie for Breakfast
Scraps & Sass
Abstracts Mixed with Extracts


I'd love to hear about how scrapping or other forms of creativity make *you* happy either in or out of adversity.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

What a Difference a Year Can Make

Do you ever stop to think about how much your life may change in a year?  Or even six months?  Do you document those changes or tuck them away in a corner of your mind to think about during quiet moments? 

It amazes me when I stop to think about time zooming by so fast.  It has been four and a half years since I left my Seattle job.  Three years ago I went back to finish the last few credits of my AA/BA.  Two years ago I started my MFA program.  And also two years ago, around this time, my MIL started having a series of heart attacks and other medical problems (she's a lifelong diabetic) that kept her revolving in and out of the hospital so many times I lost track.  She finally stabilized about a year ago and now she and my FIL are living in an adult family home so that has calmed things down quite a bit.  Also, two years ago (in May) was when DD found out she was pregnant and that kicked off a whirlwind of life changes.

Last year, at this time, I was getting over a back injury, and making the decision to quit my job (that I hated [so it wasn't a really difficult choice]) so I could stay home and take care of little mister.  Looking back at my blog last April, I was still struggling to find time to write, and I was concerned that my DD would move out. 

Now she's moving.  The finality of it hasn't quite set in yet.  I have been through her departure once before, so I recognize the familiar feeling of the empty nest.  That is always tough.  But this time, it will be amplified because not only do I have to worry about her out on her own, but I also have to worry about little mister.  I worry about the neighborhood they will be living in because it is scary.  I think we've watched FAR TOO MANY crime shows like Law & Order (all of them), CSI, The Closer and then the reality/documentary type like Lockup, and the First 48.  They just totally feed my imagination with all of the things that could happen and all of the nonsensical violence that is out there.  I just have to stop watching those dang shows and have faith that they will be safe, and that things will go smoothly for them.  I will miss hearing little mister, early in the morning, over the monitor as he tries valiantly to wake his mom up for the day, but at least at this point, I will still have him every afternoon/evening while DD is at work.  I know that will change one day as well.  He will go to daycare and I will need to find a job with a paycheck, but for now I will just savor each of the days that I have with him so I have them to hold me through the missing.

And now this year, we are awaiting the arrival of our second grandson, Conan.  My step-daughter is due on April 18th, so she is counting down the days and getting frustrated by the wait. It is a different feeling because they live across state and we won't get much time with the baby, so that will be hard.  Emily lives down the street from her mom over there, so she will get the majority of the grandparent benefit with him.  It will be interesting to see how the year ahead changes, and I will have more pictures to reflect on next year.

Credits: Sara Gleason - Template; Sweet Shoppe Designs Collab - Kibou for Japan Kit

Long Time, No Post

So it has been awhile since I was able to post.  I had blamed it on the lack of computer before, but now I have no excuse.  LOL. 

Things have been incredibly busy.  Little man went to the doctor for a checkup and then had to go back a couple of days later to confirm that he had double ear infections.  Bah.  I think he’s finally getting over that now. 

We went to the Fair on Tim’s b-day.  The weather wasn’t great, so we didn’t stay long, but Kennedy did get to see his first farm animals.  He liked the baby pigs. 

 

Tim was on vacation last week, so I didn’t have much time to be on the computer or do anything else.  We did some odds and ends things over the course of the week, and it doesn’t seem like I accomplished many of my personal goals/to-dos, but it was nice to have him around a bit more. 

School is going full swing at this point.  Things this quarter are a bit different.  It isn’t poetry.  I’m taking my elective this quarter, so it is creative non-fiction.  So that is different and I’m kind of excited to have a change of pace. 

Also, I’ve been doing a lot of reading in the last couple of weeks.  Since I am not working and have no money, I decided to utilize the libraries.  I forgot how much I totally love the library.  We’re only three blocks from the library, so little man and I can walk over to pick up books.  They also have puppets you can check out, which is so much fun.  I’m also very excited about the fact that they have these great boxes/tubs of materials you can check out.  They are themed (ex: dinosaurs, roar, trucks, etc.), and the boxes have puppets, books, toys, and other things.  I can’t wait for little man to get old enough to enjoy those!  I also got a county library card so I can check out other books that the city library doesn’t have.  Too exciting. 

I just finished reading “The Financial Lives of the Poets” by Jess Walter.  It is a fiction book about a guy in his 40s who seems like he is falling apart at the seams.  It really doesn’t have much to do with poets other than the main character refers to a website he’d started that was attempting to combine financial information with prose.  But it is funny and touching, and I couldn’t put it down.  I started reading the first couple of pages the other night at almost ten o’clock, and I read it straight through.  I highly recommend it.  :)  I haven’t read a book that good in awhile. 

Tim just got a Kindle the other day.  I’m jealous.  But he has a 50-minute commute on the train (each way) every day, so it will be good for him to take back and forth.  Hopefully I can borrow it from him on occasion.  ;) 

We are starting to talk about our trip to England/Italy in January.  No real details yet, but I think he wants to do the touristy stuff and go to Rome, Venice and Florence.  Maybe this time I will actually be able to see the Sistine Chapel and more of Venice since I was sick the last time. 

Here are a couple of other pictures of little mr. that I hope to scrapbook soon.  They are just too precious though, so I wanted to post them now!  :D  He’s getting so big, it is just breaking my heart that he’s growing up so darn fast!

What is everyone else up to?  Kids back to school and fun on the horizon?  Any creative projects lined up?

Mixed Review Thursday

Today has been a mixed bag of happy and unhappy.  Poor Little Man isn’t feeling well.  Teething has really upset his system.  He has had messy pants and now got a rash (his first diaper rash) and he has a slight temperature.  :(  He went to bed early, and I’m hoping that he will feel better in the morning.
On the happy note, I finally got a new computer.  Yay!  It is an HP Pavilion Elite desktop.  Since I have such rotten luck with laptops, I decided this was the way to go.  At least for now.  We got everything set up and most everything is installed.  I still have to load Photoshop Elements, but otherwise I’m good to go. 
Tomorrow is Tim’s birthday.  Since I’m broke, I can’t really get him anything, but he knows that I would if I could.  We are going to head out to the Puyallup Fair in the morning.  It is the 8th largest fair in the country (down from 7th).  It is about six blocks from our house, so we can walk over.  Since it starts on a Friday, they let you in for free before noon.  We’re going to do that because, after living in Puyallup most of my life, we aren’t that excited about the fair.  The one good thing about the fair is scones!  We always have to get some.  If we don’t go during the 16-day run, we usually can find someone willing to buy us a bag.  I’m making a deal with my mom… I’ll buy a bag for her tomorrow, and she will buy us a bag when she goes in a week or more.  :D  My big plan is to take some pictures so I have some stock photos for creating some art.  And, I’m hoping that Little Man will be up to the trip.  We won’t be there long, so if he’s not up for it, Jessica will just have to miss out.  :p
Tomorrow I will talk to the prof about this upcoming quarter and see what guidance she can give me.  We scheduled a call since I wasn’t there to find out how she operates when everyone else met in NJ.  Fingers crossed that it will go well. 
Tim just ran up to get some Chinese food from our favorite place.  Yay!  It has been a long and busy day and cooking was not at the top of my list.  I was reheating something I’d cooked for Jessica earlier today, but he didn’t seem excited about that, so he made the run.
Well, I guess that is it for now.  More updates and photos to come later…

Celebrating Life

Today I was able to actually get my computer up and running.  Whew.  I have ordered a new desktop computer, but I am horribly impatient.  It still says that the order is "sent to fulfillment" which frustrates me because I want it to be shipped already.

I was going to add a new blog post yesterday, but instead, I was a good girl and I completed my first writing packet of the quarter.  I sent it off late last night, only to find out that it wasn't due until next week.  Doh!  At least it is out of the way.

Yesterday I also ran across an adorable digital scrapping kit.  It is called Celebrate Life (Cinzia Loosemore), and I thought it was just too good to pass up.  I used one of the "quick pages" today to create a little something.

Since the pictures are so small... and I'm totally in love with the latest picture of my little sweetheart, I'm posting the big picture below it.  I had an 8 x 10 printed for Jessica today.  She is very excited.  I also got a small stack of about 25 photos to give to my grandmother so she can take them around and show off her great great grandson to her friends.

Little Man at the Garlic Festival

I'm wishing that we had something fun planned for the Labor Day weekend, but sad to say, we do not.  We will just have to make the most of our time and try to have some fun or relaxation.  I can't believe the summer is already gone.  Labor Day weekend signals the end of summer as we know it.  The week after, the Puyallup Fair will start, and our lives will be disrupted for 16 days (traffic and parking issues), and then summer will really feel like it is over.  Fall is just around the corner.  You can already start to feel it in the air.  *Sigh*

Do you have anything planned for the three-day weekend (assuming that you have the holiday)??

Birthday Season

Last week, we were sucked into the vortex of the birthday season, where the birthdays will hit, one after the other, for several weeks.  My BIL's birthday was the 20th, Jessica's is tomorrow, and then my FIL's is just around the corner on the 3rd, Emily's is on the 6th, and Tim's is on the 10th.  Whew. 

Jessica is going to be having the full b-day week.  She went to Oregon to visit her dad & family.  They had a one-year memorial for her cousin, Adam, who died unexpectedly last year.  Then they had a birthday celebration for her Monday night.  Last night, my mom, sis, brother and SIL came over for dinner.  Today it was my grandma's turn to come by, and then tomorrow, will be her actual birthday.  I think we have a couple of days' break in there because she's working, but then Sunday she's planning a birthday gathering with a few of her friends.  Oh, to be turning 22.  I feel so old. 

Last week, I dug out her baby book and looked through it.  I was appalled at all of the blank pages I'd left.  I wrote down some of the most important things in the beginning, and had a separate sheet of notebook paper full of words/phrases she said before she was two, but I was a complete failure after that.  I guess life took its toll and I had a lot of craziness to contend with so it got pushed to the side, but I still feel horrible.  I guess that is why I'm always on her to make sure she's documenting everything for little man.  She looked at me like I was crazy today because I told her she should write in his book that he has his first cold.  He got it from his uncle in Oregon, who seems to have a cold every time Jessica is down there.  Bo is 2 1/2 and goes to daycare, so I'm sure that is the reason, but now little man has it and is pretty miserable.

I feel horrible that I don't have any $ to buy much in the way of b-day gifts for Jessica and Tim.  :(  That *is* the downside of being a stay-at-home gran with no real income.  Bah. 

I'm going to have to hit Tim up for a new computer for my b-day.  I'm using his right at the moment, but it is a nightmare and I hate to use it.  It is soooooooooooo slow, it isn't even funny.  But my laptop has been acting up forever and now the cord won't stay in, so I basically can't use it until I can somehow rig it to stay in and not budge one millimeter.  Unfortunately, since I used Jessica's laptop cord, it also messed hers up, so I can't really use that.  As much as I love the convenience of having a laptop, I may just have to go back to having a desktop PC.  The amount of power and speed of processing I need, I just really can't get in a laptop and/or if I could, it would be unaffordable.  So... I dunno.  I just know I need to have something.  I have assignments due next week and then will be starting on the Blackboard portion of the quarter.  Jessica is starting back to school in September as well, so we need something reliable.  Ugh. 

I'm starting my elective module/quarter.  It is Creative Non-Fiction.  Should be interesting.  I am just having a hard time deciding which direction to go with it.  There are so many different options.  I know most people focus on the memoir, but I don't know what I'd really want to address in a memoir.  I have been thinking about writing something about women and art, but I'm not sure that I am ready for that.  Eventually I'd loev to write something about the American culture and how our systems impact us.  Travel is another option, but again, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that.  I guess I will wait to hear from the prof for the course.  I sent her an email several weeks ago asking a few questions and looking for some suggested reading, but I haven't heard back from her yet.  Hmmmm... what to do?  I am kind of frustrated because I'm not sure about the first assignment and how much I need to submit.  If it is 3500 words for the first submission... I might be in some trouble.  Yikes!

If you had to write non-fiction, which direction would you go with it?

Saturday Blahs

Our nice weather has disappeared, and the rain has returned.  I don't know if it is the weather, or what, but I'm feeling a little blah today.

It could be because the residency in NJ started last night, and I am not there.  I dunno.  I feel out of the loop currently.  I guess it isn't a big deal, but I'm going into my "elective" module, and it would have been nice to be able to talk to Minna face-to-face to get a better understanding of the expectations and how she works.  Now I will have to settle for an email response when she gets time to respond.  Still not a big deal, but I'm just at the point where I want to hurry and get this degree completed.

Little mister is down for his afternoon nap.  He's actually awake now, but he's playing quietly in the crib, so I'm going to let him entertain himself.  While he was napping, I downloaded one of Jessica Sprague's Photoshop Friday 'lessons' and I just followed the directions, used the template, and put together a layout.  It is all her magic... but it was nice to be able to pull it together quickly.

You can find it all at Jessicasprague.com.  :D

Now I've got to run and grab him.

Happy Saturday.

Make a Card Monday

Kay Werner does a MACM each week on her blog.  I needed a birthday card for tomorrow, so I decided that I would take a page from her play book and create a card.  I got the idea for this card from Paper Crafts magazine, and just put my own spin on it.  I found the cute patterned paper in my stash, I used a couple of stamps, and then made the felt flower embellishment.  Inside, I stamped "Celebrate you" to finish it off.

Of course now that it is done, I would have done some things differently, but I will save that for next time.  I am inspired to start another creative project of some sort instead.  It is my "day off" (which is really never a full day off), so I need to make the most of the last few hours I have before Tim gets home and expects me to cook dinner or something.  ;) Tonight, the plan is to back up all of my photos and digital scrapbooking goodies onto the external hard drive so it is all safe and sound.  I'm also creating a separate CD with photos of little man  just in case I have a problem with the external hard drive (which has happened several times in the past).  I don't want to lose pictures of that special little one!

Here is a quick peek of him today.  He is so precious.  He looks a little goofy because he's teething and his gums are sore, so he's keeping his tongue moving across the bumpy terrain.  Poor baby!

What are you up to this week?

Scrapping

It has been ages since I created a scrapbook layout.  But I figured that it was time to commemorate little man's six-month b-day.  :D  I love him soooooo much.

Credits: Stars/moustache/brown ribbon – Dani Mogstad “He’s the Man” [sweetshoppedesigns] ;Papers, black/white striped ribbon, frame, button, bird doodle, pinwheel, cloud doodle – Allison Pennington “Summer Catch”[catscrap];Photo mask “CS Tornbits3” – creashens [catscrap];Fonts: Rebekah’s Birthday & Pea Breathe Easy; Green glass alpha/6 – Angie Hinksman (scrapartist)

Confession Tuesday

I have to confess, I think I have been in a bit of a funk the past week and a half.  I am extremely UN-motivated.  I'm not sure what it is.  I'm trying to focus on positive things and find inspiration around me because otherwise it is too easy to continue the funk.  I think I need to get out of the house more often.

I am thinking that I am not going to be going to my residency in August.  That will postpone my degree for a few months.  That is frustrating.  I just received my "grades" for the last two modules.  One professor didn't give me a grade or credit for the January quarter.  I'm not sure what that is about, so I will have to find out what is going on and then get it taken care of.  I did the work, I deserve the credit.  Just because he didn't communicate with me, that isn't my issue.  I emailed him several times and never heard a peep.  That will mean that I will have to go back to England in January.  Now I know that seems like it isn't really a bad thing, and it isn't, but that wasn't in the plans.  But August just seems like it has had too many things against it all along.  I think that I was meant to go to England.  First it was my job stalling my August trip, and now this (combined with the lack of alternative childcare for little man and transportation issues). 

I got all teary-eyed today because little man is making his first foray into the crawling world.  He's been "practicing" his crawling posture the last couple of weeks.  He would get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth.  Then he would scoot his knees forward a bit, but didn't know what to do with his hands.  Today, he actually figured out how to move his hand forward, but couldn't get much farther because he still had his weight on his right hand.  It will come... soon.  Then there will be no stopping him.  He's just growing up so fast.  It is sad.  This week, he will be six months old.  The other day was his first experience with his pool.  :)

I've run across some amazing blogs lately.  Very inspiring.  I need to take all of that inspiration and use it to motivate myself to get things accomplished.  I think that I'm suffering from too much inspiration.  It is like I get over-stimulated in the creativity department and become immobilized.

We're going to be working on Tim's parents' house to get it ready to put on the market.  It is going to be a huge undertaking, but it is a necessity.  I got to pick paint colors and decide on what needs to be done to make it look better, so that was fun.  I felt like I was on a show from HGTV or DIY.  The realtor came in and looked around and agreed with most all of my ideas for changes.  The only thing he didn't agree with was putting a new counter and tile floor in the kitchen.  He thinks that we should just do vinyl flooring and then leave the countertop as it is so someonme can do their own thing.  I can kind of see his point, but there aren't a whole lot of selling points on the house (small rooms, outdated cabinets/tile/fixtures, yard that needs lots of TLC, etc.) that I thought it would be better.  We'll see how it all works out.  Jessica looked at it the other day and heard my ideas and now she wishes she could afford to buy it.  It is too bad something couldn't be worked out. 

Lots of things to do... I should stop wasting time writing this and get busy with a new project.  LOL.

Confession Tuesday

• Sometimes I dislike people immensely.  Not all people.  Just some.
• This is my last Tuesday at the “job.”  My soul is singing.
• I’m craving KFC like a minx.  I don’t know why.  It reminds me of “So I Married an Axe Murderer” though because the  dad goes on a tirade about conspiracies and KFC putting a secret chemical in that makes you “crave it fortnightly.”  Probably true.  It scares me that I want it. 
• I am dreading the day when Jessica will move out on her own and take Kennedy.  For some reason, that just hit me today.  I don’t know what I will do.  I mean… I do, but it will leave a big emotional gap.  How do grandparents handle it when they don’t see their grandkids all of the time? 
• It is the last Tuesday of April and my goal to write  a poem a day was stalled by the first Tuesday of April.  Sad.  At least I have a lot of good ideas and a note or two and plan to work on them once I have the time and am more focused on writing/school (aka after my last day of work). 

Lollypop, Lollypop, Oh Lolly, Lolly, Lolly…

What is it about that song that makes kids laugh and/or giggle?  It is strange.  I wonder if it is universal, or just kids in our family.  When Lucian was younger (and at our house more often), he would be upset about something and we found that singing the Lollypop song would make him smile and eventually giggle. 

This morning, Jessica was trying to get Kennedy to smile.  He’s young enough that he doesn’t quite do it regularly.  She decided to sing that to him…

He loved it… obviously.  :)

Bad Grandma

Everyone has been giving me a hard time and threatening to revoke my Grandma card because I have no pictures of Kennedy.  I misplaced the camera (hiding in a bag), so luckily I found it this morning so Jessica could get pictures during the day.  I still have to upload/send to get printed, but at least I have a few to share (stolen from Jessica’s Facebook page). 

He-who-sucks-on-fist Angry face Bobby on guard

  Deep in thoughtContemplating squijjy facewatch that finger!