Homework?

Lets's talk about homework.  Nope, not my kids.  You see, I am enrolled in a FNP program (Family Nurse Practiotioner).  As one might expect this program isn't for the faint of heart.  It is difficult at every step.  One of the difficulties lies in the fact that it is primarily an online program, and although this may work for some people, for me it is horrible!  I need to have classroom time!  Where I am unavailable to all mankind.  Let me elaborate...I have a deadline.  To meet that deadline, I needed to do an enormous amount of  homework yesterday.  So, my only goal was to do my homework and NORMAL chores.  Here was part of my day:

Got up at about 5 - 5:30 am.  Get Kali and John up.  Attempt to wake up Tiffany.  Attempt to wake up Tiffany.  Attempt to wake up Jessica.  Attempt to wake up Tiffany.  Attempt to wake up Jessica.  Repeat repeat repeat... (okay you get the picture).  Wake up Tyler, hear Katie crying because I got out of bed and I didn't get her up with me.  Realize Kyla is up from the One Direction music distorting the sound of the blaring speakers.  Go back to attempt to wake up Tiffany and help Jessica with her hair.  Ask who took care of the dogs...and everyone says they think someone else did it already.  I realize no one actually took care of them and assign someone to do it.  I then have a negotiation with Tyler to get him to get off the floor and put his clothes on, while his naked butt is in the air and he is slapping it (ask Bill about this one).  Then Kyla is very mad because Bill had the audacity to turn down the music and tell her to get dressed, so I intervene (which I shouldn't have, but did anyway).  Then I yell at Tiffany to get up or I will pour water on her, while John tells me he needed his cross country uniform washed for a meet TODAY.  Then I get asked approximately five times what they can have for breakfast.  There happens to be a list posted on the refrigerator with ideas for breakfast so they would quit asking...it didn't help. :)   We somehow manage to get most of the kids dressed and I finally get to sit down for the marathon hair braiding session...(Katie, Kali, Jessica, Tiffany and Kyla all want their hair braided for school today).  Bill puts the finishing touches on lunches and asks if the dogs are all in...to which he is told yes!  Two of the dogs have to come with us in the morning for some social time, but for some reason no one grabs leashes so after everyone is in the van, John runs back into the garage to get leashes.  Then we manage to get loaded and leave at 7:18 only 18 minutes late and as I am backing down the driveway I hear the distinct sound of Zeus, who is very clearly outside.  Pull back into the driveway, get dog in the house, and leave again...at 7:20.  Drive down the street, tell the kids to quit asking for songs, I am actually going to listen to my music this morning, only to realize I didn't brush my hair...great.  Pull pony out and put it up while I'm driving.  Get about 2 miles down the road when Kyla says, "Mom, no one gave me my medicine today."  Arrgggghhhhhhh #&*!*^%%$.  Go back home, get medicine, and re leave at 7:35.  Kali is fuming at this point because if she doesn't get to school by 7:15 she is mad, at 7:30 you should fear her!  Manage to drop Kali off at 7:43 (Nascar here I come), then John and Kyla at 7:46, and Jessica and Tyler at 7:52.  Go to get Polar Pop and gas.  Drop Tiffany off for work TWO hours early with strict instructions to do her schoolwork and NOTHING else.  Head back home with Katie reading to tackle my homework.  After all I only have one child at home for a few hours.  Get home, let all dogs out.  Feed rats.  Set my homework out and get myself prepared.  THEN...(you knew this was coming didn't you), the phone rings...it's the doctor's office saying I have to take Kyla in to be seen for her knee.  I'll spare you the rest of the details but let's just say that homework was not involved. 

People often say to me and Bill, "I don't know how you do all that you do."  I usually smile and say it's not that bad...but since school is back in session all I really want to say is..I have no idea how the hell we do it either!    SMILE....things have got to get better...right??  And, yes, I should be working on my homework rather than blogging right now!

Vehicles...yes really!

So I am sure that alot of people consider a post about vehicles as rather materialistic or just plain silly.  But I'm hear to tell you that I USED to judge people based on what they were driving....and this my friends is coming back to haunt me in a very BIG way.  You see I am FORCED by necessity to drive my van.  And I am not talking about your average decked out minivan, that most soccer moms drive.  I am talking about a huge white, no comfort, door panel broken, 12 passenger, smells like the back room of McDonald's, with room for the kids, and most of the dogs, van!    Our (read "my") van houses much more than my wonderful enchanting seven angelic children.  It houses enough pet hair that we could create a whole other dog, blood and sweat from when the kids either picked scabs, got bloody noses, or the thousands of times I have picked them up after sporting practices.  It also houses enough germs to wipe out the greater Peoria area from the multiple picked noses, or the hacking of little coughs that are always left uncovered.  I can't forget to mention the windows so covered in writing and fingerprints that everything looks a little blurry when you look out, or the multitude of shoes (none matching), books, cups, garbage, and everything else no one but me can see. 



NOT my van...but pretty close!



Believe it or not, and even with all of this, I really do like our van.  For one, we can all ride together - believe me it wasn't fun going multiple years always riding in separate vehicles.  We have been able to take trips to Disney and for the most part enjoy it.  We have carried cross country teams, slumber parties, lots of babies and children and pets.  We have cried, laughed, ate, played, and slept in our van. 



 

BUT - drumroll please - it SUCKS to park.  Parking decks are a no go for the most part, and if I do actually try to navigate it, I hold my breathe thinking we are going to surely take the top of the van off or be on some crazy you tube video showing us sitting there stuck.  And, everytime I try backing out of a parking space and someone with a cute little convertible, (who has obviously never driven anything bigger than a matchbox), has parked incredibly close, I envision running over that cute little car instead of desperately trying to avoid hitting it. 

Now we do have two, yes two other vehicles.  One is my husbands work car, little, cute, stick shift, over 200,000 miles on it.  He drives it most everyday to work and it would only hold three kids.  The other vehicle we own is a GMC Denali pickup.  This was a present I gave to Bill for our anniversary two years ago.  And while I could choose to drive it, it is so nice that I am scared to wreck it, and  it wouldn't solve my parking dilemma as it is as tall as the van. 

So, I circle parking lots looking for places to "pull through" so I don't have to back up, and I hold my breathe as we drive into and through parking decks hoping that we don't end up on you tube EVER! 

Really, why can't they make cute BMW convertibles in 12 passengers? 

Life

So much changes in the blink of an eye.  My life this past six months has been turned upside down, inside out, and back and forth.  Most people who know us, probably don't recognize much of a change, however for the people close to us, they know better.  On December 1, 2011, my mom, Debbi Whitman, passed away.  No, she wasn't sick, no we weren't prepared, no we had no idea anything was wrong.  Barely more than a week later one of my sisters had a devastating loss of a baby.  Then within a couple weeks, I was hospitalized for chest pains.  We found out I have lung nodules.  (They are small and just being monitored right now.  Hopefully, just some weird thing from the soil).  Now as if that wasn't enough, I was in the middle of changing jobs.  As you can imagine with all of that, I was shaken to my core.  No, I didn't have a nervous breakdown, but I really wanted to...no seriously, I really wanted to!  

This time in my life has been a time of deep relection and sadness.  I am starting to feel like the clouds are slowly lifting and life is returning to a state of more balance.  It is still hard to talk about my Mom, and often times I find myself still thinking of calling her just to tell her about some silly thing that happened to me or one of the kids.

I am on a journey of not only recovering from grief but rebuilding a better family and life, as my mom would have wanted me to do...  Love you mom!!

Feeling Blessed

Well somedays go much much better than others. My husband has been gone for 2 days and nights, which around here feels like an eternity. When this happens I find myself easily losing my perspective...aka Mom gets crabby! Tonight while I was trying for the 18th time to give everyone medicine, get them to go to the bathroom, get pj's on and let the dogs out, I found myself once again getting really frustrated. I am the queen of order. While this suits me well for many things, going with the flow is not one of them.

In the moment I really just wanted a nanny, a drink, and a big piece of chocolate...and bed. However, since there was no one knocking on my door to fulfill my every desire I continued on. Giving orders, giving medicine, and hurrying everyone along. I was on a mission and would NOT get sidetracked! I happened to glance at my youngest son and saw what I thought looked like a small lump on his armpit. Talk about a stop in your tracks moment. I attempted to palpate it and he started laughing really hard. I was furious...I didn't want to alarm him...but I was freaking out! Finally, after about 10 - 15 minutes I got the bright idea to check his other side and to check his older brothers armpits....all identical! HOORAY...and yes, I really DO have a nursing degree! After reflecting on my night I gained a little perspective. Yes, everyone needs to go to bed at a reasonable hour and yes, they all need their medicine, but it's better to let them go to bed later knowing you love and appreciate them and feel what a wonderful blessing each of them are! So, here's to taking time to squeeze and pray with/for all my babies even when Dad is not home.

Finally trying again.

Well hello world! As some of you may know, I started this blog a long time ago and only posted one "blog." Why you might ask. Well, we were tied up with attorneys and mediators and back and forth garbage for quite some time. I did not want to add more fuel to the fire, so I decided to ride out the wave without fanfare and start over...which brings me here.

We are almost at the end of mediation, feeling pretty good mind you, when the mediator switches what was meant to be a restriction for "theo", and turns it into a restriction for both sides. Not fair right? Nope! Well pretty much nothing in child custody battles are fair at least not when you are going through them. I hope and believe that truth and justice will prevail in the end...but I'm starting to think that the end is a very sketchy very long distant time from now. It doesn't really help me with the here and now. Anxiously awaiting a time in our lives without the drama of theo and all that entails....

Hoping to write more very soon!