Our Life in Pictures - Project 365 Week 2

This past week has been a real roller coaster!!! I'll just let the pictures explain it!

Sunday 09 January - The tradition continues!! Sam made his "Poppa Sams' Famous Soup" for dinner on Sunday! It's basically veggie beef soup, but the kids love it, and he likes to make it, so I don't say any different. Today I had a sore throat, but went to church anyways. I felt better after church.

Monday 10 January - SNOW!!!! I guess Mother Nature decided that North Carolina needed more than one snow this winter. Our first snow was the day AFTER Christmas! (Way to be Mother Nature! Sheesh!) The kids had a blast playing in the snow, and having THREE days off of school! Sam got time off work as well. Fun was had by all. Except for me. My body decided that it wanted to ache everywhere that day.

Tuesday 11 January - Yet another day off of work and school. For Monkeys' birthday he got a big whopping 86 bones, so, he went and bought a bunch of legos, and Buggy wanted to buy a board game for the family with her savings. It turned out that the coupons we had weren't valid any longer (even tho they expired that day) and Monkey gave the rest of his money to his sister so she could buy UBuild Mouse Trap. It's a pretty fun game! Not much like the original tho. This day my ears started feeling clogged up.

Wednesday 12 January - What a better day to celebrate than our xBox/DVD player to go out! :-| I'm NOT a happy camper about this! Now, we can only play the Wii and watch Netflix. I'm hoping that taxes will come in soon and we will be able to get a new xBox. Either that or we can call Microsoft and they will send us a new one. We've had it for a while, but, it's not like we ever go online with it or anything. We use it for playing games and watching movies... that's it! Today, my sinuses felt like they were ready to explode. I just wanted to lay on the couch and do nothing. Sam slept almost all day. He finally got up when dinner was done and as soon as I was done with dinner I went to bed.

Thursday 13 January - The laundry my husband did while I was sleeping Wednesday night. He sort of instructed me that I needed to have it all folded and put away. I sort of told him to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, and even that I had to squeak out. Thursday I woke up with a squeaky door mouse voice. Sam got Monkey up and mostly ready for school while I was still sleeping. Sam got ready for work and left. I got Bug up for school and she came and laid down with me before she had to leave for school. Today I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck and I stayed in bed all day. I called and got a doctors appointment for 5pm. I was going to drive myself, but, when it came time to walk out the door, I felt very weak and light headed and asked Sam if he would take me. They were out of flu tests because of the storm we had earlier in the week. One of my two favorite doctors was there and he guessed that I more than likely had the flu, as well as both a sinus infection and ear infection!! I was given 4 prescriptions and shot of antibiotics in the booty and instructed to stay in bed until at least Monday. Turns out I'm not a very good listener.

Friday 14 January - Today was pretty boring. Sam got off early because of MLK Day on Monday. He spent the majority of the time that he could have been at home enjoying being off early running around getting medication for me. I felt pretty good, so I decided that I was going to make dinner and participate in our Family Meeting. This turned out to be a very bad idea. I did make dinner, and it was pretty darn good! I sat down while I was waiting for dinner to cook and tried to participate in the meeting. My mind was severely clouded by snot and I couldn't concentrate AT ALL! By the time I had dinner out of the oven, my body said "Hey! You're supposed to be in bed lady!" and started to wear out. I overdid it. I ate my dinner, took a dose of my cough medicine and was back in bed and asleep by 7:30!

Saturday 15 January - I must have been sleeping really well, because I woke up with Bug and Sam in bed with me, and Monkey laying on my side of the bed in his sleeping bag! Sam had also folded the laundry and put it away while I was sleeping! I didn't hear a sound! I tried to get out of bed and make breakfast, but, I only got as far as making my own breakfast and I had some angry tiny humans ushering me back to my bedroom. Every time I tried to come out of the bedroom someone would give me the stink eye and tell me to get back in bed. Sam and the kids cleaned the majority of the house today! We had told Bug that she could go spend the night with her friend, but, she wasn't there at the time she told her to come over, so, while Sam and Monkey went to watch Tron: The Legacy in 3D. Bug was pretty upset that she didn't get to go, but we didn't buy her a ticket because she was supposed to be spending the night with her friend!!

So, that brings me to the end of this week! I notice in my Saturday picture that Monkey is starting to really look like a young adult. *tear* Before too long, I'm not even going to get hugs in public any more!! *gasp* I'm sure that someone is going to try and keep me from going to church tomorrow, but, I don't think a wild heard of bandicoots could keep me away! Bed rest or no bed rest, I'm not missing church! (Okay, really, it depends on how I feel in the morning.)

I just want to get out of bed!!

So, you may not know this, but, I've been stuck in bed since Thursday. I started feeling a little under the weather last Saturday, but, didn't really think that it was that big of a deal. It was REALLY cold on Saturday while we were selling cookies so I just thought that I was achy because of that and walking around for what seemed like 11 thousand hours while Bug sold Girl Scout cookies. Monday my throat just hurt, Tuesday my head started hurting, Wednesday I felt pretty icky, and then by Thursday I felt like I had been run over by a Mack Truck! I spent almost all day Thursday in bed, only getting up to go potty, get food, or let the dogs out. I was finally convinced that I should go to the doctor, so, I called the doctors office to make an appointment. By this time I had almost completely lost my voice and I could barely speak above a scratchy whisper. My favorite receptionist answers and I squeek out who I am, and she tells me I sound terrible, and that she was assuming I was calling for an appointment. I told her that I was and she gave me a 5 o'clock appointment time. (There was one at 3, but that would leave Monkey here by himself until who knows when!) Sam got home JUST in time to change over and drive me there because I was feeling very faint and dizzy. We ended up showing up about 20 minutes late to the appointment, which stunk because then we had to wait quite a bit. One of my two favorite doctors was there and he said I didn't have strep, but my throat was completely raw, that he thought I had the flu, but they were out of tests because of the snow storm we had earlier in the week. I also have an ear infection AND a sinus infection. So, he put me on 4 different prescriptions, a shot of antibiotics in the booty, and mandatory bed rest until Monday, and possibly longer! I felt okay yesterday, but I stayed in bed anyways. Sam came home about 1 and had to pick up the rest of my meds for me. He finally got back about 3 and Monkey came home as well. Monkey and I then laid in bed for a while and watched a movie called Dragon Hunters. What we got to watch of it was a pretty good movie! We will have to see the rest of it so I can write up a lil ditty on it! My best friend J and her husband had borrowed my car because he needed to get on base, but couldn't find his registration for his car to get a temp base pass to turn all of his stuff in. No big deal, I was on bed rest, not going anywhere! Last night, I felt pretty good, so, I got up and made meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I felt okay still, but then we started our family meeting and it quickly went down hill from there. I couldn't concentrate because my head was so full of gunk. I ended up eating dinner, taking my meds, and going back to bed around 7:30. I woke up this morning to the entire family in our bedroom. I must been sleeping REALLY well! Today, I'm taking it easy again, tho I really don't want to! I want to be out there helping everyone clean... wait... what?!

Late nights with dogs...

So, tonight I'm sitting here, unable to sleep, listening to my husband snore in our bedroom because he's not wearing his CPAP mask, watching our dogs sleep, and reading up on some blogs.

There are three blogs in particular that I really like to see them posting.

One of which I've met before. She's on my facebook. We (all of us Jacksonville girls) went and had dinner together, and on the 21st, I hope to see her again at our next "girls night" with her adorable little girl. Her name is Mrs P... or Rachel. She's SO sweet! Some days, when I read her blog I'm so angry! But not at her... never at her! But because of the situation that she's writing about... because of lost friends, and lost things, and the biggest reason lost husband. Rachel... I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way, but, I hope to never be in your shoes, because I don't know that I could be as strong as you are.  I <3 you!!

Another woman who is amazingly strong, even tho she has her days is Karie. Her husband was stationed at Camp LeJeune, and misfortune struck while he was deployed. From there they spent time at Walter Reed, and eventually moved up north (if I remember right... stupid sleep deprivation! LOL). She also lost her love... You can see her struggle sometimes... but... you can SEE her grow! You can see how strong she is... how she is willing herself to survive the unsurvivable!

The last blog I smile when I see a post from is Katie! They were handed the short end of the stick... and that's no joke! I can't wait for a day when Ben posts! THAT will be a glorious day!! I'm praying for that to happen someday in the VERY near future!!

These 3 women, they are so different, but yet very much the same. They are strong, beautiful women. They are doing something I couldn't ever IMAGINE doing. They are taking what has been given to them, and making the best of it. You guys are so much an inspiration to me... to just live life with what you got! You never know how many tomorrows you have. Thanks guys! <3

Free Association ~ my beginning

So, my momma has been doing these for some time, and I figured that it's high time I joined her. She hadn't done it in some time, but revisited it today, and I thought I would finally join her. If you guys would like to do this as well, you can here.

1. Speech :: talk
2. Meredith :: boss
3. Consensus :: majority
4. Attack :: of the killer tomatoes
5. Sue :: Lantz
6. Voted :: polled
7. Epic :: awesome
8. Checking in :: on base
9. Dishwasher :: must have
10. Underneath :: it all

Our Life in Pictures- Project 365

So, inspired by Rebecca Jo, I decided that I would start doing a picture a day. I wasn't that successful this past week, completely forgetting 2 of those days to take a photo, but, I'm going to work harder this upcoming week!

Sunday 02January2011
I think I really like the idea of Sam making dinner for us all on Sunday! It gives me a much needed day off from cooking! Not that I have a whole day off tho, because I usually still make breakfast and lunch. But it's the thought that counts, right? :-) He made chicken salad, and man oh man, was it good!!

Monday 03January2011-
Yes, this was one of the days that I forgot to take a picture! It's not exactly my fault tho. My best friend J was having surgery in the "big city" which is about an hour and a half or so away. So, her surgery was at 6, which means that I needed to be up NO LATER than 3:30AM to be at her house by 4:20, which is when she wanted me to pick her up. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't get out of bed until about 3:55, and I was at her house by 4:15. Yeah, I was slacking, but I did brush my teeth and hair! The rest of the day was filled with going to Krispy Kreme (we don't have one here in Jacksonville), dropping off prescriptions, driving home, picking up prescriptions, making sure that J is comfortable at home, coming back to MY home, and taking a nap before the kids got home. It was a day, lemme tell ya! :-)

Tuesday 04January2011
Tuesday, my friend Keona and I went thrifting. It was a good day had by all! We found some really cool stuff, but, only ended up buying a little bit. I bought a book for Sam that we had been wanting for $1, and Keona bought a pyrex pie dish (For $1 might I add!!!) and some TV trays for her living room. While we were at one of the little flea market/thrift stores I found a PeeWee Herman talking doll. Sadly, he didn't talk any more, but I got the biggest laugh from seeing it.

Wednesday 05January2011
This was another day that I forgot to take a picture. Jillian had pink eye! (YIKES!!) She ended up snuggling with "Mr Stuffy" for the majority of the day, and lounged in her pajamas as well. Mr Stuffy is a pink and purple dragon that I made for her a couple of years ago for Christmas. She loves that thing, and I can honestly say that I don't mind at all that she named it "Mister" even tho it's pink and purple.

Thursday 06January2011
This was a very sad day for me. I finished off the last of the home made beef stew that I had made. My goodness was it delish! So tender and tasty! I was very sad that I had eaten it all. :-(

Friday 07January2011
We have taken to reading the Bible as a family in the evenings around here. Both of the kids got new NLT Bibles for Christmas. Monkey has never ASKED to be able to read a book, not that we ever prevent him from reading any time that he wants, but, when he asks to read his Bible after he has already completed his reading assignment for school, I know that I'm on the right track. Even tho he got a mohawk for his birthday, I think that he's an alright kid anyways.

Saturday 08January2011
Saturday Family Funday!! We normally do something on Saturday as a family. Sam was feeling a bit under the weather, so the kids and I went to Lowes for their Build And Grow! Both of the kids LOVE doing Build And Grow, but Bug was a little less than willing to go because she wanted to start selling Girl Scout Cookies immediately at 9AM! unfortunately, I was unable to clone myself to be in both places, so, we made a compromise. Go to Lowes for Build and Grow and we would spend the rest of the day selling cookies. She sold 62 boxes on Saturday.

Eye crusties and Mr Stuffy

So, last night I noticed that Bugs eye looked rather red after she got home from school. I thought maybe she had been rubbing it or got something in it. As the evening went on, it seemed to get worse! So, this morning we get up and go to the doctor as a walk in. Apparently it was a bad day to have a situation such as this. We waited for about 2 hours before we even get we even get back to see the doctor. After that, we have waited for a little while longer.
While we were waiting, I discovered that Bug had pushed the backs of her earrings all the way into her earlobes and they had cut into her ears! Ugh!! Of course, they hurt a lot, and when I asked her why she didn't tell me that her ears hurt, she said that she didn't really feel it. *sigh*
We went to Wal*Mart to get her 3 prescriptions because I needed to pick up a couple of things. I picked up the noodles for our Chicken Noodle Soup later in our menu, along with coconut for Coconut Chicken tonight. It took another 45 minutes to get the medicines. Basically today has just been an absolute day of waiting at every single stop. It's just been murder on my schedule.
We came home and got the chicken out of the freezer so it would be thawed for tonight. I did something very unlike me while we were at Wal*Mart. I got a bag of pizza rolls for Bug and I to share. When we got home I took the earrings out if Bugs ears. It was really bad. I felt terrible for her. It was a very bad thing. Now we have to keep her hair pulled up for a while, and keep it super clean until it heals. This is going to be a long process... I can tell!
Okay, Monk is now home from school, Bug wants to play some games, so, I'm going to cut this short! Hope everyone is having a great day!

New Years Resolutions

So, it comes down to the time when we all make these grand plans on how we are going to change in the next 365 days towards the better for ourselves (hopefully) and for our families (if we have them). Most of the time I really don't make any resolutions. I figure, if I don't make any, I won't have any to feel bad about not keeping. Lets face it, we, as humans, are creatures of habit. We fall into a habit and it's a lot of hard work to get yourself out of the habit of doing it. They say that it takes 21 days to break a habit. Most people quit their resolutions within the first 2 weeks. Just 1 week shy of becoming a habit. Terrible. They also say, that if you write it down, and profess it to someone that you trust, that you are more likely to follow through with your plans. I like the sounds of that.

So, without further ado, here are my Resolutions for 2011

1. Be better at cleaning the house 
* Do dishes before bed. * Laundry is done by Saturday. * Clean bathrooms every week. * Vacuum floors twice a week. * Make bed every morning.
2. Build my Faith again.
* Read Bible evey day. * Go to church every Sunday.
3. Be better organized.
* Keep work spaces in order. * File bills when paid. * Keep clutter off of surfaces.
4. Start paying off debt.
* Cut down expenses as needed. * Look into part time job.
5. Build Charwood Candle Company
* Do a giveaway on popular Blog (on LATW as well). * Find less expensive suppliers. * Get Etsy store front open.
6. Exercise every day
* Get Sam and myself up every morning at 5AM for at least 30 minutes of exercise. * Take dogs on walks in the evening.

On that note, I'm going to end this now, so I don't break my very first resolution! It's Saturday, so, I need to do laundry! :-)