Happy Birthday Jesus

I never blog anymore but in case anyone is out there (Janet :-) I felt I really should at least put up some Christmas pictures! The bottom 2 are at Fiesta Texas. We've had passes every year since Sean was 4 but never gone to the Holiday in the Park. What a mistake. We had such a great time. The weather was great--in the low 60's--the crowds were small, and the Christmas show excellent! Christmas has been very low key this year. We had Don over briefly for Christmas Eve tamales before he had to run back and play Santa for his undeserving daughters. We went to church and my MIL met us there but somehow I just didn't get much out of it this year and it was a little unorganized *sigh*

Today we hung out forever while I painted the wall to the office (our former loft that we enclosed last year but Mike just textured a few days ago). The outside is done so now I've just got to finish the inside. While I painted he put together a pool table his mother bought the boys then we went to her house for Christmas dinner. Now I'm just ready for some sleep.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Why is it that I feel the need to start each Not Me Monday with the fact that it's been forever since I've done Not Me's. Oh well, a dedicated blogger I'm not.

I did not stay up past midnight most nights last week finishing Halloween costumes for my boys despite the fact it's only been 3 weeks since I actually had an organ removed and I should be resting.

I did not say, yet again, next year I'll have taken a sewing class and this will not happen because I could whip up the costumes in a few hours if I wasn't sewing by hand.

I certainly did not tell my oldest child he had to stop wanting to be things that are hard to buy at the store, certainly not, especially since it was my idea to surprise him with a Sonic the Hedgehog costume!

I know I did not run around at the last minute trying to create a Scooby Doo costume even though Connor had originally said he wanted to wear his monkey costume from last year. Of course I couldn't possibly just buy the darn $40 costume from Target. No I must spend countless hours and gas to drive around and find a fleece outfit I can convert thus saving a few dollars (of course I can remove the spots and then it's just a warm outfit :-)

After all that, I know I didn't go to the Halloween party at the gym because DH complained that he couldn't work out if I stayed home--to rest considering the late nights, surgery and the fact he'd been out of town the preceeding weeks and I'd been alone to take care of the boys.

I certinaly did not NOT post the cute pictures of the boys because the one that best shows their costumes also includes me and I really hate how I look. I'm never that vain!

I did not skip church Sunday, after going to the party at the gym, then go to both Sean's makeup soccer game AND our church's Harvest Festival. I didn't use the excuse that I was too tired to make the 9 AM service and the 11 AM was cutting it too close to the soccer game.

Finally, I didn't respond to many people who asked how I was doing, that I was still waiting for the med's to kick in because I was told they would make me hyper, warm, and skinny but instead I was tired, cold and fat! I would never put myself down that way but since it elicited a laugh I said it several times...

11 Days Post Surgery

So, having my thyroid out was not the most pleasant experience of my life. I do not like general anesthesia and it does not like me. It was really scary to not be able to wake up that first day. So scary I didn't even take any pain medicine until the following morning. Once I finally woke up I was afraid to get that out of it again. I do not like IV's nor do I like getting up every 2 hours to potty because of constant fluids. I do not like being woken up between my 2 hour potty breaks to be stuck and drained or checked for signs of life :-) The good news is there is no cancer. Of course, that makes me seriously wonder if the pain was worth it. The med's are weird. At first I felt energy and was hot (maybe a little too high a dose but nice after years of fatigue) but now I'm cold (it is cooler but not cold here) and tired all day but awake at night. I see my endo this week so I'll ask her about the dose.

Not sure how I'm doing overall (besides the not having cancer part of course). I think I'm up and around too much and tire myself out just trying to do the normal day-to-day stuff. Forunately, I'm doing okay because Mike decided to take care of me the days after my surgery by leaving the house with the children all day. Yes, it was quiet but the first day especially was a little scary being all alone and feeling that bad. I made it through though. Now I'm back to being a single Mommy while he's out of town all week for the next several weeks. Fortunatly, Connor has preschool 2 days of the week and my plan is to come straight back and rest while he's there. Wednesday he has a birthday party but hopefully my rest on Tuesday will have me up for that. Not looking forward to Wednesday evening either when I drop Sean at ckarate as Connor always wants to play on the playground--not sure I can keep up right now!

I actually seem to feel more tired this week than last. Possibly because after 2 years of drought it has rained almost every day for the last several weeks. It's cool, humid, muddy, damp and I'm sure the mold is off the charts. Not to mention, everything is blooming NOW even though it's October. Probably thinks it's Spring weather somewhere other than South Texas. Silly plants but oh, the pollen is evil!

Well I'm off for more Mommy chores. We're in the process of reclaiming and repurposing some rooms so I've got lots of moving of stuff to do!

Lots going on today

So Connor started his new preschool today. I ended up moving him to the church Sean went to. It's a bit more of a drive (about 5 minutes farther away) but I'm happier with it. He has one teacher instead of two but only 4 other kids. They may get 2 others but I still prefer the smaller class to a larger class and 2 teachers. Interestingly enough, when I picked him up early at the other MDO there was only 1 teacher in there. Another teacher asked his teacher to cover her class while she took a child to the bathroom as she was alone but of course she couldn't as she was alone as well. I'm pretty sure it was an everyday thing as I knew the other teacher had kids that needed to be picked up from school about that time. I also noticed the one day I picked him up at 3 the asst director was in there so there were 2 adults when the other parents came, hmmmm.....

Anyway, I sent an email because I hate anything that resembles a confrontation--even telling someone I'm pulling my kid out because their new classrooms are awful--and even then I feel guilty as if I did something wrong. Maybe I'm just too overprotective as obviously there were lots of kids still going there. Anyway, my decision is made and if people don't like it I guess I'll live with it!

As for me I had my pre-op appt today. The good news is they are giving me the medication the day after my surgery so I won't have to wait for the pathology report to come back. I hope the level they give me is enough to fight off the fatigue I've read about but at least I'm starting with something so that should help. I didn't realize I had to do so many tests at the hospital. I ended up with X-rays, an EKG and bloodwork. I still have to get a flu shot (I'd held off just in case but the doctor said get one ASAP) I managed to finish everything else in time to quickly eat a late lunch and go get Connor. The lunch isn't sitting well with me but I need to get the boys out for a walk for Sean's school project. It's cool and rainy so it will be a different kind of walk. Off we go!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I am not writing my first Not Me's in eons because I've been too lazy to keep up with my blog.

I certainly have not been trying to keep Connor asleep when I take Sean to school so I can put him in my bed and snooze with him. Not me, I'm up bright and early doing Mommy chores every day.

My downstairs is not an utter disaster because I watched my friend's son this morning and rather than plan lovely activities for him and Connor I let them pull every toy out of every basket, drawer, container...

That said I did not realize the other day that there are toys in 10 rooms in our house and if you count the Elmo toilet seat in the half bath downstairs we officially have toys in EVERY room in our house. So much for designating a toy room (the former dining room) and a game room (WII, Playstation, DVD player etc.)

I am not feeling sleepy after being up for only 5 hours and would not gratefully take a nap if I was willing to let Connor have one. However, since I don't want to be up until 11 reading him stories we will avoid naptime for either of us today!

I am not planning on visiting another MDO this afternoon so I can move my son out of the dark, loud room his current MDO thinks is an appropriate environment for 50 or so children for 5 hours.

I am also NOT still concerned about what our friends who teach at that MDO and are members of the church will think if we do pull Connor out. Okay I'm lying, I do care but I really really don't want to care so much about other's opinions of me. Especially when it comes to the good of my kids.

Finally, after all my complaining about the lack of rain, I am not secretly disgusted by the amount of mud in my backyard and glad the sun is finally shining today. Noooo, we desperately need water even if my yard is too far gone to benefit from it. I'm a giving soul who worries about the good of the community not the fact that the mud is being tracked in and the dog, who hates the house, is lonely enough to try and come in now--sorry, no muddy paws in the house now when you won't come in when you're clean. (I should note we have a patio and detached garage the dog can go in so she's not out in the elements!)

MDO, what have they done

I was so excited to go to Connor's MDO orientation last night. We changed churches because his previous MDO only does 3 hours for 3 year olds and is pretty pricey for those 6 hours a week. I thought I was so lucky to get into another program which has a great reputation and is for 5 hours twice a week.

During the summer I received some mail about new classrooms but didn't think much of it. I'd been shown large bright rooms with windows and bathrooms when I picked up the application and dropped off my first check back in March. Last night they proudly (???) sent us over to the old sanctuary to see the only classroom that was complete with the assurance the rest would be done before the following Tuesday. We walked into a room with windows at only the entrance and what looked alot like office wall dividers creating "classrooms". That would be dividers slightly higher than my head where they stopped. That's right no ceiling except the sanctuary ceiling WAY over my head. So essentially Connor will be in a large open area with some dividers and however many kids they are from 18 mo's to 3 years. I didn't count the other class sizes but his has 18 kids in a small space!

I'm so frustrated I've barely cried even though I desperately want to. I've gotten on one waiting list and have a call in to another MDO. If I'd had any idea that this church was going to preempt the MDO rooms to expand it's Pre-K and Kinder (higher tuition perhaps?) I would have NEVER applied. MDO programs are impossible to get into in my part of town and now I'm stuck trying to decide if I should send him to what feels like a large basement full of screaming kids--without nearby bathrooms BTW--or keep him home until I can find somewhere else, which may mean all year. Oh, shoot, NOW I am crying. To top it off they've already got over $300 of our non-refundable money and want another monthly payment of $175 by the 15th of this month.

Sacramento Pictures

First stop in Napa



Patty, Kathleen and Michele taking pictures



All of us at an olive oil shop