My Last Baby!

Is now enrolled in school… He starts kindergarten in two weeks (all day kindergarten too!) it’s so bittersweet. Bitter because he’s my last, my baby, and he’s going off to school already… Sweet because I’ll have time to get to the things I haven’t had the time to do for the last at least 5 years… And uninterrupted time to write… this one item is what’s keeping me looking forward to school starting. Writing is a slow process when you can’t concentrate because when you put your headphones on to work, you can’t get a single song played without at least 3 interruptions.

So while I’m sad to see my baby leave for school (I must admit, he’s excited, he’s been ready to go for a year,) I’m glad for the opportunity to get some things done.

 

Side note, I’m still working on the final scene in my short story, I know where it’s going it’s the having uninterrupted time to get it out that’s the hard part today. I made 3 pages.

Writing Music: Bryan Adams, Theory of a Deadman, Nickelback

Count down till school starts…

I have one starting school on Aug 8, and the other two on the 10th. Starting the 10th I’ll have some previously unheard of time to get things done…

• Time to get on the treadmill without worrying about small children sticking their fingers in it while I have my music cranked up…
• Time to clean things around the house and have it last more than 12.3 seconds.
• Time to work on my writing, uninterrupted. I have no clue what it’s like to be able to concentrate on what I’m doing without being poked or prodded every 2 minutes for something like “Can I have a drink?” or “Can I go to the bathroom?” cause I make the child ask permission to use the bathroom /sarcasm. 

I’m excited. I’ve never had any kind of time like that. I worked until after both the girls were born and when the boy was born the younger girl was in part time preschool a couple hours three days a week, and she had just started it.

I’ve been blessed

with kids who enjoy reading… mostly. It’s taken me 9 years to find a book that will draw in my middle child, will interest her enough that she will curl up and read without being forced to. The key? Ramona. I swear, this kid could be Ramona. Seeing her curl up with a book and discover the world that unfolds at your fingertips as you become engrossed in a good tale thrills me.

I’ve lost my mind…

I signed my kids up for fall sports this morning… 3 kids, 2 sports, 3 teams. How on earth will I manage them all?  I have no clue, but I’m sure I’ll manage.

Camping for a week, In Payson…

We’ve been trying to make a habit of going to Payson for the week of July 4th. It’s not really camping, as the campground is right outside town (like, really, it’s across the highway from the Home Depot) but it’s cooler up there, and it’s a get away from nasty, ebil oppressive heat that I live in.

It was warmer this year, and because of fire danger we weren’t allowed to have campfires, but we still had a great time. It rained most afternoons, and cooled things off. The kids had a blast running around playing in the water and playing with their cousin.

Next year Hubster won’t be with us. At least not if things go as scheduled. We’ll see how things go, I’m able to take the trailer up, set it all up, take it down and bring it back, so we can still go… I’m also working on other plans through the next year…  We want to enjoy time with Hubster while we can.

A month of single parenting, over half way there.

We’re doing pretty good, the kidlets are in swimming lessons, so we go out most mornings and do that. We run what ever errands we have while we’re out then I come home and hide from the heat inside my air conditioning (it’s supposed to hit 110 today!!)

I’m making good progress on my rewrites, I’m working on the FINAL SCENE!!! More then a little bit excited there. I still need to write up the synopsis and and my cover letter before I can submit it but I should be able to get all that done in the next week or so.

I talk to Hubster regularly, or at least I text him and communicate. It helps. Hearing his voice helps more, but the best was when he was deployed and we were on webcam on Yahoo! Messenger. We didn’t have voice, but I could see him, and see him moving. If you have to do a separation, that’s the best way to do it.

I’m still not sleeping worth shit, and I won’t until he’s home but I knew that would happen too.

I’m learning that I have to cut the toxicity out of my life. People who only cause trouble aren’t worth my time, and especially when I’m down one of my major support systems (Hubster,) I can’t handle it. My latest elimination is my sister. When she said that she thought Hubster would be more worried about replaceable material items than the safety or her child (and at the same time my children) it was the last straw. I’ve blocked her of Facebook, and my cell phone. I may someday speak to her again but I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her.

I can’t do anything about the way Hubster’s family treats him (and believe me, it’s not good,) but I expect, and demand better from my family. Honestly? It’s a weight off my shoulders. This was the second fight she’d picked with me since Hubster left.

I’m reminded once again how thankful I am to the friends who support me. They don’t support me blindly, if I’m thinking of doing something stupid, they council me against it. But when I need them they are there, and they don’t pick fights because they’re bored or just don’t have enough drama in their lives.

Why is it,

that children go on a fruit kick, actually a single fruit kick, as in they will eat only one fruit but tons of it, like 6 bananas a day. And then when you give in and buy enough to last several days so that you’re not going to the store every day, they quit eating them, won’t touch them if their lives depend on it. I had 3 hands of almost black bananas from just such an event. when I discovered that he wasn’t going to eat them I knew that the bananas were going to turn before they got eaten. (I don’t eat bananas.. ewww.) So today I made banana bread. I have 3 loaves in the oven now. I will send one to work with Hubster, give the second away (debating between Father in Law and my Step-Mom at the moment) and keep the third here for the family. I love putting things to use when ever I can.

Soccer games today

Kids 2 and 3 each had a game today. Kid 2’s game was at 9:15 and it was a chilly 40 degrees out there but they did great. Wiping up the field with the other team and winning 3-0.

Kid 3’s game was at noon, and it had warmed up quite a bit and was pushing 70 by the time I drug the hobbling Hubster out to the field. We cheered and cheered as a large group of 4yo’s ran from one end of the field to the other, often kicking the ball in the wrong direction.

A good time was had by all, and now it’s back to regular life.

4 year old boys.

I have one. and he is a hoot. He is the youngest of my children and there is 4.5 years between him and his next oldest sibling. I will state that he is a bit advanced for his age, It’s normal for him to wander around the house counting to 100, or spelling the names of everyone in the house. He plays the computer and video games that his older sisters (ages 9 and 10) play, with as much ease and skill (unless it requires reading, He’s being stubborn about actually reading) as they do.

This morning he is going through my games cabinet (which is not small, and packed) and pulling out one game at a time, playing it by himself for a little while, before putting it away and getting out something else. He told me this morning as I was walking by the cabinet where he was pulling out a new game that he couldn’t play chess, as he had already played it, and he has already gotten his 34 points and won the game. After further investigation, I discovered that 34 points in any game means you win.

This makes me wonder several things.

1. How do you score points in chess?
2. How did he arrive at 34 as the magic number for winning?
3. How on earth did he manage to score 34 points when he was playing Yahzee by himself?
4. Monopoly?
5. Life?
6. Candy Land?

I could see it when he was playing Ants in the Pants, but he has played a large array of games that are way above his age level today, and I guess, if you don’t know the rules, you just make them up.

3 year Blogoversary

This is kind of a blow my own horn post. I’m looking back at how much things have changed for me over the last three years since I started the blog.

Let’s see… where was I in my life 3 years ago?

• I‘d moved to the Third Circle of Hell only 6 weeks earlier, while the winters were nice and warm, I missed real cold weather. Shorts in January is nice but not when you have heat so hot you step out into it and your brain bakes instantly and that heat lasts from April through October.
• I owned and was managing a women’s message board, it was very very stressful and I was not easy to get along with.
• I had one child in second grade, one in kindergarten and one still in diapers.
• I was totally obsessed with knitting.
• I was still trying to get my house unpacked from the move.
• I was renting my home.
• I was still putting up with my sister treating me like the mud she didn’t want to track inside her life.
• I knew no one other than my in laws in my new town.
• I was reading at a rate of about 200 books a year.

 

How is my life now?

• I’ve been living in the Third Circle of Hell for over 3 years now, I still dislike it, but don’t totally hate it, except when it’s too hot to think. Having solar panels on the house helps, it means I can afford to set the air conditioner at a temperature low enough that I don’t get heat migraines. (but still not low enough to actually be comfortable.)
• I gave up the message board and not only don’t I own one, I don’t frequent them either. I’m far less stressed and in general, a happier person.
• I have one child in fifth grade, one in third and one who will start Kindergarten in the fall. I’m completely through with diapers, can I tell you how happy I am about that? But I’m also –><- this close to hormonal girl stage. Wish me luck.
• I am still a big knitter, but I’m not totally obsessed, I do other things too. I’ve also designed and sell a couple of my patterns. It’s not much but it is rewarding.
• I still have a few boxes in the garage, but it’s storage, not waiting to be unpacked. And it’s not the same garage.
• I’ve bought a house (ok, so Hubster and I bought a house, on his salary, so what?)
• I actually have pictures on the walls, and my own curtains hung (I have refused to hang things up just to pull them down a year later when we moved, so most of my stuff got put away until we bought the house.)
• I’ve cut communications with my sister for the most part. If she calls me for some reason I’ll speak to her, I’ll even be nice, I don’t snub her. But I also don’t put up with her talking down to me or treating me badly. I like who I am and my life and I don’t need her approval to be happy.
• I’ve written two books. One that has been submitted to publishers, and though not accepted I did get some very helpful feedback. The second (which has nothing to do with the first) is still being edited and will be submitted to publishers this year. Book 3 (sequel to Book 2 ) is in the planning stages.
• I have good friends, both in town and through out the country.
• This year I plan on reading far less, editing and writing take up much of the time I was spending reading, I‘m ok with the trade off.