Why I love Sears

I ordered my new washer and dryer earlier this week and they marked them down some more yesterday. I called to ask if they'd adjust it for me and VOILA! I am now $70 less in the hole for these wonderful appliances.

Fixed it

It's the reflux again. I don't know why I didn't think of it before now but while I was waiting in the dr's office, it started in with that lovely pain and choking feeling. DING DING DING We have a winner. I feel like my whole life is "better living through chemistry".

Still coughing

Ugh...it's been a while and I'm still coughing and it feels like somebody is sitting on my chest when I try to take a deep breath. Going back to the dr. today. Really hoping they'll fix it.

3 days and counting....Sears delivers the washer and dryer tomorrow and I pick up the keys. Yahooo!

Moving on up

4 days and counting. I'm doing laundry here for the last time. There are boxes EVERYWHERE. The work party at Ian's school was canceled on Saturday. We ended up spending most of the day packing and later we went out for dinner with my mom.

I got a weird phone call on my cell phone earlier. It never rang which is strange all by itself. Then, there was half of a message from Sears. It was some kind of confirmation call about delivering the new washer and dryer. But, the time and date were cut off of the message. I tried calling them back but it's a hideous voice mail tree and I can't seem to get a person. Sheesh.

Priceless

Hearing your kids singing Aerosmith's Crazy at the top of their lungs with the CD in the car.

Moving right along

7 days and counting....

I picked out my new washing machine yesterday. I wanted those gorgeous orange (excuse me, I mean SEDONA) front loaders that Kenmore puts out but I found one for half the price that has all the features I wanted (excepting the color, it's boring old white) so they'll be delivering it on Wednesday.

Packing is going reasonably well. I have almost everything that I can pack ahead of time out of the kid's room. I've gotten most of the pictures off the wall and into boxes and I'm aiming to go through our closet this weekend and donate what we don't need anymore.

The kids are going to Grandma's tonight. Bless that woman, would you please, God? She's tickled to have them so close and both old enough to stay with her and they just adore her. J and I will be volunteering at Ian's school on Saturday afternoon to fulfill our work party obligation towards his tuition. That should be fun since we'll actually get to meet some people.

Feeling better

I saw my mom today. She seems ok but she's not talking about whatever it was that she had to do. I don't want to pry or be obnoxious so I'm keeping quiet but the curiosity is killing me. Went over to the hospital where she works and got boxes. A TON of boxes. I filled up the entire back of the wagon and then Ian's seat too. And if I need more, I can get more.

Thus far, I have packed up all the top shelves of the kitchen cupboards. I also got most of the kitchen appliances packed. I did a few boxes of books in the kid's room as well. I feel much better now that I have boxes for packing and something to show for it. 9 days and counting. The movers come on Friday the 3rd but I'm going to start bringing loads of small stuff over on Wednesday morning when I pick up the keys.

Friday, I'm taking the kids up to my MIL's house. Ian has a half day at school so we'll head up after that. They're going to spend Friday and maybe Saturday night with Grandma and Grandpa and they are very excited. J and I will be at Ian's school on Saturday volunteering on the work party. I'll probably do more packing in the morning on Saturday.

Mothers are complicated

I am so depressed and worried. I was supposed to work at the school thrift store today. My mom was supposed to watch Lily. We had it all arranged a month ago.

And then something happened which I am completely in the dark about. Out of the blue, my mother called last night and said she "had something she had to take care of" today and wouldn't be able to watch Lily. That was it. That's all I got out of her before she hung up. This is not like her unless it's really about my sister who is constantly messing with everyone's lives. That's what it was the last time there was a mystery. Everyone else got dumped to deal with my sister's unending parade of crises.

I'm not bitter much, but I am worried about my mom. She's either not home or not answering her phone and either way it's weird and unsettling. I usually talk to her 2 or 3 times a day.

We got it!

Ellie called me this morning and said we were approved and ready to go. YAHOOO! The movers are coming on Friday, the 3rd and the apartment complex agreed to let us move out by the 5th without any penalties. Everything has just sort of fallen into place. Now, to get some boxes....

She liked us, she really liked us!

Barring any weird complication (like say, J's company telling her they're going to fire him) we will be moving in to the new house starting on February first!

The woman who owns it has lived in the neighborhood since 1963 and has owned the one we're going to rent since 1971. The house was built in 1956 and has that great enormous living room and dining room setup that ranch style houses had back then. The bathrooms and bedrooms are pretty small but how much room do you need for a bed? There is a very big covered patio (probably about 5 times the size of our balcony) in the back yard and a big flat grassy area for the kids to play. There is a lawn service so we're off the hook for grass maintenance and I have the green light to container garden to my heart's content. The garage has an entire wall of storage cabinets and the kitchen, oh my. I can't even begin to describe it's wonderfulness. There is a *5* burner new gas cooktop and a lovely oven that is set into the wall next to it at a comfortable height for a grownup and out of reach of the little people. The kitchen cabinets are blonde oak as is the floor leading in from the entryway to the kitchen. All this for a hundred dollars a month more than they are going to charge us to stay in this moldy apartment.

I am beyond thrilled.

All that and a bag of chips

So everyone is sick now. J is coming down with a cold, Ian has a UTI, Lily has a fever and a cold and I have my lovely hack. Ian's issue has me freaked out because the NP that we saw wants to do a VCUG test on him and I don't think it warrants that since he's 6 and never had one before. I mean if this was a recurring problem, it would be different. I have to decide if I should cancel the appointment or not. I think I should probably call his regular pediatrician and see what she thinks.

I need some good landlord vibes. We decided not to stay over here in the "corporate ghetto" side of Rancho Cordova. I've been looking for a house to rent on the other side of the tracks and closer to Ian's school. I found several that look good but one in particular that I really liked from the outside. It's even yellow. I always wanted to live in a yellow house. I spoke to the lady who owns it and she was very nice and is obviously very particular about her tenants. We make way more than we need to qualify and she said that she "could tell" about people on the phone. Her last tenants lived there for 11 years. I'm meeting her at 2:30 p.m. to look at the house and I'm crossing my fingers that it goes well. The house is in a very nicely maintained older neighborhood that looks perfect for us. I spent an hour and a half driving through all the streets over there to check it out. It's a little over a half mile to Ian's school and J could ride his bike to work (it would be a 5 mile round trip). :::fingers crossed:::

Hack and wheeze

I guess I've been sick for about a week. Not REALLY sick, but I had this nasty hacking cough that just won't go away. I was coughing so much the last two nights that I woke J up out of a sound sleep and he was worried that I wasn't able to breathe. I dragged myself and the wee bairn (at half past naptime) to the Dr and he gave me some cough meds (which will stun a horse by the looks of it) and an inhaler.

Oh. My. Goodness. I had noticed that I couldn't walk very fast last night on the treadmill. But, I had no idea how bad it really was. I feel like a new woman after two puffs on the inhaler. I guess that's what I get for waiting until I had the cough for 9 days before going to the Dr. He said it is some kind of weird virus and that it might take a month to clear up completely.

I just read a post from a friend of mine and she's doing better and that made my day. Then, I read a post from another friend who has been getting some unkind responses to her blog which made me feel terrible. These friends of mine are mothers with a LOT on their plates right now and they are both people whom I respect very much and who both were so willing to help support me in the past when I've had too much to manage. (Adria and Becky, if you're reading, this means YOU!) And for everyone else, THINK before you comment on someone else's blog.

Me and my bad self

Apparently, I am more motivated than I thought I was.

Here's what's left:

Finish grocery list and organize coupons. (CHECK!)

Pick out new haircut for Saturday's appointment.

Sort and wash the laundry. (CHECK in progress!)

Pack for weekend at J's parents.

I still don't want to do any of it.

Making a list, checking it twice

Yep, I have a list. A long one. Of things that need to get done before Saturday. I am, however, lacking in motivation at this moment.

To do:
Call slum lord leasing office to explain that I don't want to sign another lease because we still have outstanding items to be fixed from our move in July. Elaborate that I think our rent should stay the same even though we're going month to month due to the water damage all over the ceiling in the kids room and in the wall next to the fire place. (CHECK!--left message on slum lord leasing office answering machine.)

Call and cancel text messaging on my phone. (CHECK--sort of. J has to put my name on the account and said he'd cancel when he called)

Finish grocery list and organize coupons.

Do the Costco shopping and get gas. (CHECK!)

Get the oil changed in the car. (Check!)

Get copies made of the receipt for my phone so I can send in the rebates. (CHECK!)

Pick out new haircut for Saturday's appointment.

Do the dinner prep work. (CHECK!)

Sort and wash the laundry.

Pack for weekend at J's parents.

Call my brother back. (CHECK! Tried but he didn't answer.)

Pay bills. (CHECK!)

Like I said, a LONG list. But it's all good since I hear blissful silence coming from Lily. I think she finally fell asleep for her nap.

ICKY weather

It's one of those nasty, icky, drippy, drizzly kind of days. The sky is gray and the ground is wet. Lily and I have thus far frittered the morning away watching movies and being grateful that we don't have to be outside.

I have a strange cough that started on Sunday and seems to be getting worse. I think you're supposed to give it a week before you go to the dr but I don't seem to have any kind of cold with it. I feel like I'm having a hard time taking a really deep breath and it woke me up last night.

Speaking of last night, I don't know what exactly was going on but around midnight we woke up to what sounded like a SWAT team helicopter landing on our roof. There were spotlights and all kinds of whoosing copter blade sounds. It was all very dramatic and over in about 5 minutes and quiet the rest of the night. Still, it was a strange thing to wake up to. I couldn't find any mention of it on the news today.

Too much cake

I am officially never allowed to have an entire cake in this house again. My mom made me a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (YUM!) for my birthday and I think I ate about 80% of it myself. It was delicious but now I'm starting to LOOK like a cake. I really let things go over the last two weeks and I've gained about 6.5 pounds. I should also mention the doughnuts I had and the massive amounts of Chinese take out, the list goes on and on. The thing is that I know I can lose it quickly if I nip it in the bud right now. But it has to start today, no putting it off.

On the good news front, the side effects of the meds has dwindled dramatically so I am once again a coherent human being (well, some of the time, at least). It's a relief to not feel like you haven't slept in two weeks.

Ian is back at school and delighted to be there. He has been complaining that his teeth are hurting him on one side so I've got to get him into the dentist soon. I can only hope he hasn't inherited my rotten teeth.

Lily is deeply immersed in the passion of being two. Everything is the best thing in the world or the most grievous tragedy known to man. She's got that amazing two year old conflict going on which sums up nicely as, "NO, ME!"

It's my party

Today is my 30th birthday. The drug induced fog is keeping it from sinking in, I think. Hopefully, the fog will lift in the next few days before I have to up my meds again. I'm not complaining, mind you, because my head doesn't hurt and what better present could I get than that. Well, my teeth hurt but no headaches. I can't believe that ANOTHER one of them is going bad. That's going to bring the count up to *5* needing major dental work since October. Blech.

My mom and I went out for lunch with Lily and J and I went out for dinner while mom watched the kids. Then we came home and had cake. Next up is bedtime for the wee bairns and a Battlestar Galactica marathon with our newest Netflix DVDs. Life is good.

Slug girl

So. Very. Tired.

I saw the neurologist yesterday and I really liked him. We upped some of my meds and I am just exhausted from them today. Thankfully, this feeling usually only lasts a few days.

::yawn::

Lily in cloth

It's been a funny morning. She obviously doesn't remember being in cloth diapers at all. Every time she pees and figures out that she's suddenly wet, she comes running over, "MOMMY! Clean diaper! Clean diaper!" I guess this might prompt potty training, after all.

Cost cutting

The dentist stuff has driven me back to student mode. I'm putting Lily back in cloth diapers. I'm reinstituting cereal night and sandwich night on the menu. I really don't want any more credit card bills. I liked having everything paid off and I want it to stay that way. But, I refuse to give up Starbucks. I draw the line there.

Volume discount?

It was back to the dentist today. I had broken another tooth last week and went in to have it checked today. It turns out I need an inlay (meaning the cavity is too big for a filling but doesn't need a whole crown) on that tooth AND the one next to it since the filling in it was leaking and had caused a new cavity to grow. Today's cost: $1100

These medical bills are killing us. Add to this all our copays. And the $1500 medical deductible (which began anew on 1/1) which means I'll end up paying for almost all of Lily's ER trip and Ian's last urgent care visit for his ear infection. That doesn't even include the root canal ($160) and two crowns ($1600, give or take) that I had done last month. It feels like every dime in savings and extra ones coming in are being siphoned off to pay for medical bills. We were better off when J was a student, medically speaking. We had really good medical coverage with Medicaid. We didn't have any dental, but really, it feels like I'm practically paying all that out anyway.

I still have at least one more cavity to be filled ($110) and that's if the dentist doesn't find anything else when I finally get in there for the actual exam instead of some other (!#)*%!!$#@ broken tooth emergency.

What really kills me is that this issue isn't unique to our family. It seems as though everyone I know is dealing with this issue. And yet, the influential political majorities neglect to include the crippling costs of health care for American citizens and focus instead on abortion and the WAR ON TERRORISM. It gives me such an isolationist complex. We can't even take care of our own people. Something is wrong with this picture.

The new year is here

So far, so good.

Lily is still le enfant terrible. I think it's something to do with turning two and being a girl and still not quite over being sick. Ian spent a few days with Grandma and Grandpa and developed some weird hives type rash that I can only attribute to the antibiotic he took for the ear infection. He had a strange rash that was similar the last time he took it. I can only hope it will be cleared up tonight by the massive doses of Benadryl he's had today so that we can avoid hanging out at the urgent care center tomorrow.

The weight loss front is still following a slow, but steady, downward trend. That surely beats the alternative. I also officially have a "healthy" BMI. I'm down 31 pounds from where I started and have 24 to go to reach my goal. As I am not going to reach my goal of 135 by my birthday on Friday, I have revised my next goal to 135 by February 1st. I think I can manage that.

Everything feels sort of strange and out of kilter from the holidays right now. We're out of our routine and I think it's making us all behave in odd ways. The kids are awfully grouchy which really is unusual. I mean, they bicker a LOT, but they're usually fairly happy. All the sickness is taking it's toll, I suppose.

I've never been one for new year's resolutions mostly because I think it's kind of silly not to try to do the best you can at whatever you're trying to achieve whenever you're trying to do it. But, I'm going to give it a whirl this year. Thus, I resolve the following:

To try to resurrect my online mom's group,
To be more thoughtful of my family and those around me,
To finish off this weight loss gig, and
To keep a positive outlook.

I've noticed that my blog tends to look like a litany of complaints much of the time and that really isn't my intention. It does serve the role of impartial confessor for me. And while I don't know how much of it J actually reads, I'd venture that it would depress him to think that I just come here to vent. Thankfully, Ian doesn't know about it so I don't have to worry about his feelings on the content included herein. Which brings up an interesting point, really. How much time can you spend worrying about who and what you're blathering on about in your blog? Is this really more of a diary than something else? I haven't made my mind up exactly why I have this blog. That probably has something to do with it's rambling nature.