2011 is here

And I'm finally blogging.

We started off the year in Australia taking our boys on "the trip-of-a-lifetime." We were gone for 3 full weeks. It was fun and they saw so much of Australia.

Now we're all home and getting back into the swing of the regular routine. School resumes (for them) tomorrow and I have 3 appointments tomorrow as well.

Laundry is the bane of my existance and still is...esp. after such a long trip! the fridge is completely empty, so I have to fix that tomorrow as well! And hubby has already left on a business trip!

I am going to try to blog more this year. It's a good way to organize my thoughts, etc.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Yes, I live in an area where this holiday is common knowledge. I even know two Cinco de Mayo babies!

Christmas craziness

I don't know why I do the things I do sometimes....I decided on Saturday (5-6 days before Christmas) to make a tree skirt for our 2nd Christmas tree. Now I've known for two years that we have a 2nd tree and that it doesn't have a skirt. But this year I decided to purchase a skirt at Target. But, they were not on sale and I do NOT go out shopping the day after Christmas for 'specials.'

So, that left a few options:

1) buy the expensive skirt
2) go out frequently to see if the skirt I liked was on sale and still available
3) buy a cheap skirt (yuck)
4) or make one.

Guess which one I chose -- of course, option #4. So, Saturday evening I spent time at Hancock Fabrics picking out felt, ribbons, rick-rack, seed beads, bugle beads, colored felt, metallic threads, etc., etc., etc. I had a great time.

Now I'm working to get the basics done on the skirt. All of the embellishments will have to wait until after the holidays, but I will get the fancy stuff onto the skirt. I'll try to post a picture when I get it finished.

Have all the gifts been wrapped yet? NO! I'm too busy creating a masterpiece of a tree skirt! ha Thank goodness I'm the only girl around here. They guys aren't stressed that there is only one wrapped gift. They're guys! As long as there are gifts to unwrap on Christmas Day, they'll be fine.

Thank goodness for small favors!

Second bedroom painted!

I took advantage of the holiday weekend to paint my oldest DS's room for him. Getting the boys to do the bedroom swap was agreed to, in part, due to the promise to redo both rooms.

I think we did a fine job. The walls are a nice medium blue, not too dark and not too light (to look like a baby's room). We've put in the Indianapolis Colts bedding and have put up all but one of the posters. I ned to purchase a poster frame for that one. We are looking into going to Ikea for storage options. I'm excited about the updates. I think my DS is too. My DH said that he's pretty sure DS likes it, but is too embarrassed to say so.

I'll take my kudos however I can get them.

Summer's here!

We got the annual check ups done on the boys today. My oldest DS is now 5' 9 1/2 " tall, the youngest is 4" 6 1/2 " tall. Oh my. I'm soon to be the shortest person in the house. But that's o.k.

We're changing medication for my youngest for ADD or ADHD. The doctor has called it both. I don't know which to believe.

I'm busy sewing these days. I have made a dress (that's too small) and a skirt (that I had to take up!) and next I'm going to cut out a shirt for my youngest DS and a tunic top for me. Mom is on her way over so we can go to Hancock Fabrics and check out a serger for me.

We're letting the boys overdose on Wii today and tomorrow. Then Saturday we have an outing planned. Next week is a week off for everyone (not the DH though :-( ) and the week after that oldest DS will go to a gifted program for 1/2 days for a month. It'll keep us from killing one another during the summer. Youngest DS and i will do home schooling during that time as well.

I need to purchase curriculum for next year, as I really feel like I"m being led to home school for at least one more year.

We'll see what happens.

Vegas

Well, I can now say that I've been to Las Vegas.

My DH had a software symposium there this week. After the summer of last year and having no time whatsoever for each other, I invited myself to go along with him.

We stayed at The Venetian (http://www.venetian.com) as that was where the conference was being held. My, oh my, what an elaborate place. When friends here at home heard that I'd be going, they made suggestions about what I should do to fill my time while my DH was conferencing. I settled on spending a day at the Canyon Ranch Spa (http://www.venetian.com/CRS.aspx). That was the best advice I was given and I'm sooooo glad I took it!

I have come home refreshed, relaxed and more rested than I've been in quite awhile. The hubby and I had time to have conversations without interruptions; we had dinner out with his friends; we took in a show and saw The Blue Man Group (http://www.blueman.com/land_search.php). I also did a lot of reading and had many fiction books on my list to work my way through. I've just about completed the Newpointe 911 series by Terri Blackstock (http://www.terriblackstock.com).

My mom came over and took care of the boys. She was happy we'd returned, as she was exhausted after keeping up with the boys for 4 days. She is set to have cataract surgery on 4/15. My dad is to have an upper Gi procedure this next week. If there's scar tissue discovered it will be removed. If none is found, his swallowing problems will not be fixed surgically.

My DH is off to Scandinavia tomorrow for another week of travel. He'll be at JAOO in both Copenhagen and in Oslo (http://jaoo.dk/ruby-cph/conference/); (http://jaoo.dk/ruby-oslo/conference/). Too bad my passport isn't up-to-date! ha. I couldn't be gone that long with upcoming surgeries for the parental units though.

All in all, I'm glad I got away with just my DH. Seeing his friends from conferences is always fun because they are nice guys, who are so welcoming when one of the wives comes along. Too bad they live all over the country. I guess I'll just have to continue to invite myself along to conferences periodically!

March....So far

Today (12th), my Mom and Dad went to see the neurologist that ordered & oversaw the Video/EEG study -- where Dad has NO seizures. This dr. thinks that the medication my dad has been on (Lamictal) is NOT a good fit for him. That's what Mom and I had finally decided. The doctor gave my dad lots of quizzes and my mom said he passed them all with flying colors.

The doctor said that in about a month, my Dad should be able to return home -- checking out of the nursing home.

That information was a huge shock to me. My mom and Dad are both thrilled, I'm more worried than either of them. Probably because I'm their only support here in town, and I've just begun to feel like we've found a new "normal" for all of us. But, I cannot be the one to rain on their parade. We'll take it a day at a time and see how it goes.

With the Lamictal no longer in the medication mix, I think my dad will: 1) have fewer "spells" 2) will be less manic -- I say that because the manic behavior showed up after that became the only anti-seizure medication he was taking and 3) may possibly allow us to reduce the amount of anti-psychotic that he is on. We'll have to discuss all of that w/ the psychiatrist.

My DH has been on the road for a week and a half. He had a 40 hour layover here at home over part of the weekend, but it wasn't enough time to do more than sleep and trade out dirty clothing in the suitcase for clean clothes. He's returned and I'm glad of it. I don't like doing the single parent thing. The boys will be thrilled he's back home.

Spring Break is next week. We hope to have some R&R for all of us. We certainly deserve it! After school resumes, the DH has a conference in Vegas. I've never been there, so I've arranged to go with him. 3 days of no crisis management, of no kids following me around, no medical emergencies to handle.

I"m looking forward to it. A friend told me that the spa at the hotel we're booked into does great massages, manicures, pedicures, salt rubs, etc.

I think I'm worth it...Vegas (and spa) here I come!

Part of today was spent with one of the best elder care attorneys in the state. We learned heaps of things about how to protect as much of Mom and Dad's assets as we can and still provide a way to pay for nursing home care for my dad when it becomes necessary. I never would have imagined how many legal documents it would take to set all of this up correctly. I will be forever indebted to my lawyer friend for finding the elder care lawyer. She says she didn't really do alot by finding him. She is so very mistaken.

So, today, 4 days before Christmas, I feel like my head is again above water on the parent front.

As for my house, I'm able to breathe a bit easier there too. A dear lady from church came and helped me take control of the kitchen, living room and dining room of MY house today. We'll actually have a Christmas tree up for Christmas! We'll decorate it tonight as a family. We'll get time together which has been so rare lately and get the tree ready for Christmas.

Another good thing that happened today is that I was able to attend my oldest DS's Christmas party at school. I've done so few things at his school this year, that I was very glad I could be there for this today.

Post-Thanksgiving Thanks

Well, it's been awhile, again, since I last posted. My oldest DS's football season is over. They didn't win that many games, but he learned a lot and had fun. That's the good part of sports. My youngest DS is about to start basketball season. This will be his second year to play. I hope he has fun too.

Our youngest DS had surgery on his neck (again) this November. He'd had 3 surgeries in 7 weeks back in 2004. We thought we were finished, but I guess we weren't! His neck was very swollen near his thyroid gland. We saw 3 doctors in 3 days for him, had a CT scan done, saw a 4th doctor who eventually operated and removed a 3rd Branchial Cleft Cyst. I'm glad that there was something to remove this time. There had NOT been back in 2004.

Due to my dad's MRSA infection, he could not see my DS until he was completely healed. That took about a week, but both DS and my Dad managed the separation just fine.

Last weekend (prior to Thanksgiving) my dad's mom, my grandmother, had her 100th birthday celebration. Wow, that's a lot of living. She's in good health, relatively speaking, and said at the party that her grandfather lived to be 106. We'll see if she sets a new family record!

My other thanks is that my friend from Australia, Trisha, and her family arrived and we are to have another full week with them before they return to the land down under. We've visited quilt shops, clothing stores and still have places to tackle before they leave. Of course, we're having great fun trying out Mexican food restaurants and they are having fun eating good Tex-Mex.

The sad bit across the holiday weekend is that my brother and his family did NOT come for Thanksgiving -- even after he'd told my Dad that he would come. My brother needs to understand that we were very fortunate to have my dad with this this Thanksgiving after the suicide attempt in June. My heart aches for my parents because my brother is not balancing his life very well. I understand wanting to have your own family traditions and such, but it's sad that his tradition seems to be not spending holidays with his parents (and therefore, my family) and as a result, losing contact with us.

I am sad about this, but it's his choice. I wish that things were different. But I'm sure we can all say that about something in our lives.

So, for today, I'll be happy that I have friends from the other side of the world that are able to come visit. I'll count my blessings -- one more time! -- and be happy for the many, many God-given blessings that I have.