The Week In Review - Birthday Week

It's a special day today.  My oldest son R turns twenty-something.  I don't want to think of the number too much.  It reminds me of my own age, something I've been trying to ignore lately.

It's been a pretty good week, as weeks go.  Public schools were off, so traffic was a bit lighter.  So was work.  There were lots of kids that didn't come for tutoring because they've gone out of town for spring break.  It was a bit unnerving, trying to figure out things to do when there was nothing to do.  My boss gave me a list of parents he wants to meet with in the next month, so I called a bunch of them to make appointments.  I couldn't call all of them; making appointments too far in advance means parents forget and reschedule, and I didn't want that to happen, so I made appointments for next week.  That means I had to stretch out the list to make it last as long as possible.

My boss's wife, MM, has again made comments leading me to believe that she wants to spend less time at the office.  It bothers me, not because of the work, but because she won't just come out and say it.  I was hired, supposedly, to assist her with her work because the workload was overwhelming.  What I'm seeing, is that she wants to walk away and leave me in charge.

Honestly, as I observe and learn more, I find that a lot of the workload could easily be lightened by changing some procedures.  MM is very set in her ways; she's been doing things a certain way for the past 11 years, and she isn't about to change them, no matter how much better another method might be.  I've tried showing her different things she can do to reduce her workload, but she looks at it with total disbelief and shrugs it off.  It became a bit frustrating for me this week, especially.  We bill our customers once a month for the next month's tutoring sessions.  It takes a long time to do, because MM wants all the invoices done by hand, then entered into the computer.  The system could easily print off the invoices - I even showed her how simple it is - but she refuses.  The part-printed/part-handwritten invoices are so sloppy looking and unprofessional, yet she won't look at any other option.  I worked the entire time on that yesterday, and I'm still not finished writing out the invoices.  I tried entering the invoices into the computer as I wrote them to show her how much more effective that would be, but she wouldn't accept that either.  I wrote them by hand, she checked what I wrote and entered the information into the computer.  I just shook my head; she creates more work for herself, but as my daughter wisely pointed out, it's her business.  She's the boss.  She decides how she wants things done, and I have to do them.  But it's no wonder she's burned out, with the amount of extra work she makes for herself.

We had no Awana this Wednesday because of Spring Break, but my son told me there would be youth group.  I got out of work, rushed to the house and went to church.  Turned out youth group had been cancelled, but my son never got the text message from his youth pastor.  Poor Pastor D, he was so apologetic.  It was for the best, though.  E got some schoolwork caught up.  It's been a busy school week but E's done really well.  He took his science exam this morning and got a 94%.  I was pleasantly surprised; it was a tricky test, and though he studied for it for two days I didn't know if he'd do well.  Praise God, he aced the test and we breathed a sigh of relief that it's over!

We had a mini celebration for R's birthday.  We gave him his gifts this morning: his sister A got him volume 3 of the cartoon Animaniacs, E got him the game Vanquish for the X-Box, and I got him the complete set of Megaman cartoons on DVD along with the new Kirby game for the WiiU.  He was all smiles.  Then we went out for lunch to a nice restaurant in town.  For dessert, my daughter made these incredible cupcakes.  They're dark chocolate with a Nutella frosting.  The best part was inside the cupcake - she filled them with an Oreo creme filling she made from a recipe she found on Pinterest.  It was like eating an Oreo cookie, but in cupcake form.  Oh my word, they are beyond delicious!!  She stayed up till late last night after work baking and decorating them, and her brother appreciated it.  He even took some to his friends for them to try.  I think he was proud of his little sister for the yummy treat she baked, and she was beaming because we couldn't stop raving about them!

It's a gorgeous day out - hot but not humid, sunny and breezy.  That may change, as the weather forecast calls for thunderstorms this afternoon, but we're really hoping that won't happen.  My daughter is going to an outdoor wedding this afternoon, and no one wants to go to an outdoor wedding under the rain.

That's it for this week - so far anyway.  Here's to wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.  God bless!

Monday, Monday

I feel like I'm starting off the week right.  I'm getting back into my groove.  It's a good way to start the week, especially on the day everyone hates.

I woke up once in the middle of the night, and prayed that God would take any unnecessary thoughts out of my head so I could go back to sleep.  It worked.  I dozed off till 6:00.  I got up at 7:00, after spending some time with the Lord, and got my day started.  My cousin was bringing the kids over today, since there's no school (Martin Luther King Jr. day).  I figured they'd be here between 8:30 and 9:00, so I had to get moving.  I had already decided what we were gonna have for lunch/dinner: spaghetti with meat sauce, breadsticks, and salad.  I needed to get the sauce in the crock pot early.  I don't care for sauce in a jar, so I make my own.  It's so simple, yet so much better (and healthier) than anything in the stores, and it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.  A couple cans of crushed tomatoes, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, one dried bay leaf, sofrito (made with onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro), olive oil, salt and pepper.  Throw all the ingredients in the crock pot, and in 3 hours you have sauce.  Done.  The meat gets added later.  For breakfast, I decided to make pancakes.  I like buttermilk pancakes, again from scratch, because in my opinion they are just as easy to make as the boxed version, only they don't taste like a cardboard box.  I made a batch, along with bacon,  Oh, my kids love me, and now you know why.

As I was finishing whipping up our breakfast, the kids arrived.  They were actually late; it was after 9:00 when their dad dropped them off.  They brought bags of cereal that they had for breakfast, as we sat down to our pancakes.  Once I got the dishes in the sink the kids immediately asked to play a board game.  They brought Monopoly Jr., which they'd gotten for Christmas.  Over the summer I babysat them everyday, and we played at least 2 board games daily.  They loved coming over to my house because I took the time to play with them and teach them games.  I believe board games are so much better than video games; they're more interactive, and require more thinking.  While video games can be good for motor skills, so can card games.  The best part is, with board games you're looking at your opponent in the eye, rather than at a television screen.  I'm not opposed to video games; I just think there's better stuff out there.  So we played a game of Monopoly Jr. (totally fun), then my son R came out and started playing on his Wii U.  And they were gone.  For the next 2 hours.  Oh well, at least I was able to keep them focused for a little while.

I took advantage of those 2 hours and got some cleaning done.  Yesterday, as I was folding laundry, I tried to plug a light into the wall and accidentally knocked down my Dyson vacuum cleaner, the one that's been out of commission for the past few weeks.  I'd tried taking it apart to figure out why it wouldn't stand upright or work properly, but to no avail, so I had it in my room as I tried to decide whether to get it fixed or not.  As I picked it up to put it back where I'd had it, I realized what the problem was.  A piece, conveniently located right in front of another piece that I had taken apart and put back together, was out of place.  I moved it back to where it was supposed to go, and voila!  The vacuum cleaner was upright again.  Since it was already late at night I hadn't tested it, but I did try it out today.  It works like a dream.  To think I'd done so much to try and fix it, yet in one split second it was up and running.  All I could do was shake my head.

My daughter stayed home from work today.  Her throat is sore, her voice is gone, she had a low grade fever, and her sinuses are hurting.  Sounds just like what her brother had.  The good thing is that she's been able to nap during the day.  The bad thing is, she's gotta work tomorrow.  Hopefully she'll feel better in the morning.

After cleaning up I browned the ground beef and added it to the sauce, then made the breadsticks and spaghetti.  I like Pillsbury breadsticks; they taste good and are less messy to make.  As I was pulling the salad fixings out of the fridge, the kid's mom came and brought them pizza.  It's easy to see what their favorite food is: they went at it like piranhas.  I made the salad with a few sweet peppers from my garden, and my one lone tomato which had finally turned red.  It was a tiny little thing, but it packed a lot of sweetness!  I'm hoping it won't be the only tomato I get from that plant.

As I sat down to eat my lunch I took a look at the Bare Escentuals website to see about my order.  I hadn't gotten an email yet but I kind of hoped there would be an update about it shipping (there wasn't).  What I did see that caught my eye:  10% off everything on their website, and free shipping.  Why do they do this to me???  It's like they knew there was something I'd wanted to order but hadn't, so they enticed me with an incredible offer.  I have to admit, I debated back and forth whether to place the order or not.  I went through my makeup, reviewed my budget, and ultimately I got it.  It's a set of 5 eyeliners in different colors: bronze, green, taupe, plum, and gold.  This set normally sells for $29; one Lasting Line eyeliner on its own sells for $16.  This particular set was already on sale for $13; with the discount and tax I ended up paying just over $12.  That's about $2.50 per pencil.  I couldn't let a deal like that slip away!  Besides, I currently have 2 black eyeliners and 3 brown ones.  I also have one called Forever Brandy, which is a sort of burgundy/purple shade.  One of the brown ones is a bronze color, but that would be the only repeat.  I'm excited about having pencils in different colors because, at my age, black is harsh against my skin.  I'll still wear it, because I love black eyeliner, but it's too dramatic for anything other than special occasions.  Lighter colors are more flattering, and these colors will be a perfect fit.

As I was putting the lunch dishes in the dishwater, I asked my 8 year old niece if she'd gotten homework over the weekend.  She said that she had, and that she'd done all of it except for Reading Plus.  Reading Plus is a computer program the kids in public school use to improve their reading skills.  She knew she was supposed to do Reading Plus at my house, but she hadn't mentioned it to me.  When I asked her about it, she said, "I was going to tell you."  Uh-huh.  Like 5 minutes before her grandma picked her up?  Yeah, right kid.  I had her sit down and get to work.  She could have finished quickly, but she's so easily distracted!  Her brothers played on their tablets to keep them quietly occupied (as if it's possible to keep two little boys ages 5 and 7 quiet), and she was almost done by the time her grandma came to get them.  It was sad for me to see their grandma; she had been grandma Maria's primary caretaker for almost 30 years.  Her mother had helped her raise her daughter, and she in turn had cared for her mother in her declining years.  While she smiles and loves on her grandkids, there's definitely a sadness in her eyes, and I'm sure an empty spot in her heart.  We all know grandma Maria is with Jesus and she's no longer suffering.  It's the one comforting thought we have.

Once they were gone I fed Molly, then went to the front yard to trim some trees and bushes that were getting overgrown thanks to last week's rains.  Tomorrow is trash day, so I wanted to get as much debris inside the garbage tank as could fit.  I filled it up but good!  It took me an hour but thankfully the weather has been superb, in the low 70's with a nice breeze, so yard work was actually pleasant.  I had my dinner and rested a bit before taking my shower.  I cleaned up, picked up, and now I can try and plan tomorrow's school day.  Honestly, I have no clue what we're gonna be doing.  E has finished all his assignments; unless there's something he needs to change or correct, he's done, but he has 2 days of school this week.  I'm pretty sure his teachers won't be having any live lessons, since they have to finish grading everyone's final exams.  I'm waiting to see if I get any emails from his teachers, otherwise we're gonna have to figure something out.  Shouldn't be too hard, right?...

With that I will bid everyone a good night, sweet dreams, rest well, and remember, Jesus loves you.

Throwback Thursday

I don't typically do Throwback Thursdays on Facebook, or Flashback Friday for that matter.  I've put up a couple of pictures of myself with my kids, who then proceed to chide me for posting their childhood pictures on Facebook.  Today's throwback is more about remembering.  No pictures needed.

I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night.  Between a stuffed up nose that barely let me breathe, and a couch that, while comfortable, isn't my normal sleeping arrangement, it was 1:30 in the morning before I was finally able to lie down (not completely flat, or my nose would get all stuffy again) and get some sleep till about 7 am when the orchestra in my yard started their morning chirp.  I don't hear the symphony in my bedroom, but in the family room...my word, are those birds loud!  There was no way I was going to get anymore sleep, so I got up and checked on the kids.  They slept like angels on my bed.  Little sweethearts who had no idea that their beloved great-grandmother, whom they've lived with all their lives, is now in heaven.

I thought about Great-Grandma Maria, a woman who always cared about the needs of others before her own.  She raised her 10 children, plus several orphans that she felt sorry for.  She helped raise grandkids and great-grandkids.  She rarely complained about anything, and always had a good disposition.  Sad as it is to say goodbye, I can't help but celebrate her long life.  She is no longer in pain, no longer suffering.  For that, I can rejoice.

The middle child got up at 8:30 looking for breakfast.  Thank God I always keep a box of Cocoa Puffs in the house, because he has lots of allergies and is somewhat of a picky eater.  The other two kids got up an hour later.  My son R was playing on his Wii U and he let them play along - boy were they excited about that!  As they played I put away some more Christmas decorations, but I was moving slow.  I'd taken some Tylenol Sinus which states that it's a non-drowsy formula, but that never is true with me.  All sinus medicines make me drowsy, or at least leave me feeling drained.  Add to that my lack of sleep and it's easy to understand why everything I did was in slow-motion.  After playing video games for a little while, the two older kids did some homework.  I think it's ironic that so many parents say they could never homeschool their kids, meanwhile my niece, who is in third grade, got two homework packets plus assignments on Reading Plus and Reflex Math, both programs on the computer.  Her brother is in second grade, and he also got two homework packets.  Their mom says the kids come home each day with no less than 6 pages of homework, each.  I'm so thankful I get to be my son's teacher, and his assignments are nowhere near as overwhelming!

Their mom came to pick them up just as they were sitting down to pizza.  She told me that the funeral for Grandma will be on Sunday, and the burial on Monday.  She looked like she was running on auto-pilot; there are so many preparations to take care of, that she hasn't really sat down to grieve.  I know the time will come, the realization will hit, and the grief will manifest itself, but for now she is trying her hardest to be calm, for the sake of her kids.  I admire her resolve to protect her children.  I also feel for her and her mom.  They've been Grandma's primary caregivers for as long as I can remember.  They will feel the loss most profoundly.

After they left, I finished making lunch.  White rice, pinto beans, ground beef and tater tots.  This is my family's favorite meal of all time.  It's also really simple to make, which is good when I have lots to do, like today.  I wanted to finish getting as much done around the house as I possibly could so I could get some rest.  I finished eating, and began taking the lights off the Christmas tree.  I heard a truck stop in front of my neighbor's house across the street: it was FedEx.  Molly began growling at the door, and I laughed at the fact that FedEx can't even deliver a package to our neighbors without her getting upset.  I was actually calling her away from the door, saying, "That's not for us, Molly!" when my daughter says, "He's coming this way."  Sure enough, the FedEx guy was coming to our door.  "Hmm," I wondered, "what did R order?" Because if it had been my daughter's package she would have said so, and I knew it wasn't mine.  I hadn't ordered anything.  I was sure it wasn't mine.

It was mine.

My daughter got the box and said, "It's for you, Mom.  It's from Bare Escentuals."  I couldn't figure out what they were sending me, unless...the sweepstakes?!  But no, it couldn't be, because they would have advised me first, not just shipped a box to me.  Then my daughter says, "Maybe it's that order that you called to cancel."  No, couldn't be that either.  The duplicate order was caught in time.  That's what the customer service rep had told me.  Well, there was only one way to find out.  I had to open the package.

There it was, all the product that I'd received on December 24th, the shipment I'd called to cancel.  It had shipped anyway.  What's more, the packing list showed the order total: $0.00.  My daughter quickly told me I had to call them, but I checked my credit card statement first.  Maybe they'd charged me after all.  I wouldn't complain; after all, I'd be paying for one order when they'd shipped two.  But no, there was no charge on my credit card.  So, I called and explained to a new customer service rep what had transpired since December 23rd.  She listened, read the notes on the order, then told me that, while they had tried to cancel the second shipment, it had obviously not been cancelled.  Since this was a replacement shipment it went out as no charge, so therefore, Merry Christmas, the order was free!  I could not believe it!  That's two shipments of $116 that I got FOR FREE!!!  We were elated! Once again, I raved to the rep about how much I love Bare Minerals and how happy I am to receive so much great product!  Since the original order was half mine and half my daughters, and since we'd both already gotten our half the first time, we decided to swap.  She got what I'd ordered, and I got what she ordered.  Oh, I am so thrilled!!  The first thing my daughter said to me was, "Now you really don't need to be ordering anymore makeup!"  I have to agree.  I have enough to last me for quite a while.

It was a whole lot easier getting the house back in order after receiving that wonderful little gift.  I believe God sent that to us to brighten our day just a little.  We are still kind of in shock about Grandma, even though we knew this day was coming, and that it would arrive sooner rather than later.  And while we are saddened by her loss, there is also relief.  Grandma was very ill the last 9 months of her life.  She'd always been an energetic, independent woman.  In the end she was bedridden and miserable.  She had multiple bowel perforations that could not be operated on due to her age and her ailing heart.  She had 3 heart attacks this year; how she survived them is nothing less than a miracle.  She was too weak to walk, too sick to eat, and all she could do all day was sleep.  Now she is in heaven, where there are no more tears, no more sadness.  She can walk again, dance even.  How much better she must feel!

I stopped for dinner, but I can't say if it tasted good or not.  That's one of the things I hate most about being congested - my taste buds don't function like they should.  My nose has been stuffy on and off all day.  The sneezing has been powerful too.  I'm almost afraid of sneezing and my nose flying off my face.  Of course, that might bring some relief :P.

There are still one or two items that need to be put away, along with all the outdoor decorations, but I'm too tired to finish that today.  I took a hot shower hoping it would clear up my sinuses.  I should be able to get everything done tomorrow, along with grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning...I sure do hope I feel better tomorrow so I can get everything done.  My kids are asking that I watch them play their NintendoLand video game.  I think I'll do that for a little while before I head off to bed, Benadryl in hand.  Good night everybody.

Another Birthday Celebration

I think every mom remembers the day her babies were born.  God made it easy for me; He gave me 2 sweet children who share a birthday so my memories would be even more delightful.

Today my daughter A turns 25, and my son E turns 15.  I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that my baby is halfway through his teenage years, and my daughter has lived a quarter of a century.  Then again, I can't believe I've lived over half a century, but let's not focus on that.  Both of them were Christmas presents, but they are not twins.  They came 10 years apart.  I worried when my daughter was growing up that she would resent having to share her birthday with her brother, but she never did.  Her brother would tell the world the story of how he and his sister have the same birthday, so it was never an issue with him either.  I'm so glad; I didn't want my kids to be mad about having to share their birthday, and they've always been so mature and loving about it.  I really do have great kids.

I was in the dining room enjoying a cup of coffee when my son woke up.  There were birthday presents waiting for him on the kitchen counter, but he wouldn't open them until his sister and brother got up.  My daughter didn't take very long to follow.  She was a little less patient than her younger brother - she wanted to tear into her presents right away!  I had to issue a disclaimer before she opened my gift to her:  after we'd visited Ulta and I saw what makeup products she really liked, I went ahead and placed an order for them for her birthday.  I got her the Naked Eyeshadow Palette by Urban Decay and the Starter Kit by Bare Minerals in medium beige.  That was back in November.  In December, her dad took her to the mall so she could pick out her Christmas gifts because he didn't know what to get her.  He likes shopping at Macy's; she doesn't care for the clothes there, but she did know they have makeup, so she went to the Sephora section, where she asked her dad to get her the Naked 2 Basics palette.  She also got the consultant to color match her for Bare Minerals powder foundation, and asked her dad to get that for her, too.  The color the consultant matched her with was golden medium.  Her dad immediately complied, and she brought the products home for me to wrap for her.  I kept my cool and wrapped her gifts, knowing full well she would want to exchange whatever I'd gotten her that were duplicates.  The eyeshadow palette I'd bought her wasn't the same one but it was similar enough that I figured she wouldn't want it, and the Bare Minerals starter kit was definitely the wrong color so she wouldn't want to keep that either.  I thought about going to the store and exchanging it myself, but I started second guessing what she would want and if she would want to keep part of her present, so I left it alone.  I figured she could decide what she would keep and what she would exchange.  I told her as much before letting her open up her gift.  The gift bag contained several different items.  I'd gotten her some lip pencils/lip stains that came in the cutest dark purple clutch.  The colors are just what she likes, neutrals and reds.  She also found an Urban Decay eye lid primer and eye liner pencil which she loved.  Then she opened the box with the Naked palette.  Her smile went from big to gynormous.  She wanted that palette and had intended to get it for herself; now she didn't have to because Mama had gotten it for her.  Score!  Then she opened the Starter Kit.  We both agreed, there was no reason to keep it.  The products were either wrong, or she already had purchased them herself.  I told her she could take it to Ulta for an exchange, and she immediately started planning what she could get.  She also asked if we could go to the Bare Minerals store that we have locally, and I told her that we could, which made her even happier.  I felt so much better after that.

My son then opened his present from his sister:  a book with all kinds of trivia about his favorite show, Doctor Who.  He loved it!  Then he opened Mom's gift.  From the moment he knew his dad had bought him the Wii U for Christmas, all he kept asking for was the new Super Smash Brothers game.  Of course I was going to get it for him, but I also got him a Pacman game, and I wrapped both of them together, so when he picked up the package it didn't feel like a video game, it felt like a book.  He opened it and just about exploded when he saw he got the game he wanted so badly.  When R woke up he opened his gift: a set of pins based on the Pokemon video games.  What was funny, was that R put them inside a box of crackers and wrapped the box, so when E opened it he wondered why his brother was giving him crackers for his birthday!  Once he realized it couldn't be crackers, he found the pins and was absolutely surprised and excited!  His sister opened her present from R next.  It was a video game called Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.  She likes those sorts of solving games so it was perfect.

Their dad had called the day before inviting the whole family to breakfast.  He called bright and early to wish them a happy birthday and ask where they wanted to go.  Living in the South, the answer to that is easy:  Cracker Barrel.  I don't know of any other place in our area that makes down home Southern cooking in a casual country environment.  My daughter hung up and we started getting ready.  I wasn't enthused about going, but I'll do anything for my kids, so I got dressed and was putting on my makeup when my daughter said, "Dad just called; he's already at the restaurant waiting for us, and he says it's packed."  We had to quickly get ready so we could be there and try to find parking which he said took him forever to find.  As soon as we drove up into the parking lot, two cars pulled out.  No waiting for us!  Better yet, I parked the car, we got out, and my son got a call from his dad:  they'd just seated him.  He waited 40 minutes for the table, we waited nothing.  God's gift to my children!  We sat down and their dad gave them their presents:  A got a lovely pen and a Michael Kors bag, and E got new headphones and a coin bank with over $180 in it.  They both loved their gifts!  We were so glad that the service was fast and the food delicious - we were starving!  We had a really nice, relaxing time, for which I'm very grateful.

Once we got out of the restaurant, we went to the mall for our Bare Minerals excursion.  Our Bare Minerals store is in an outlet mall that's fairly large, so the boys could go look at stuff while the girls looked at makeup.  My son E is wanting to get a longboard so his brother took him to see some.  A and I went into the Bare Minerals store and had a field day!  They were having an incredible sale!  I'm not even joking, I got stuff so cheap I'm still pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming!

The first item we saw when we walked in was the Hot List.

The original price on this kit was $49, and it had been reduced to $24.50.  At half price this was a good deal.

The 5-in-1 eyeshadow primer alone costs $18.  This kit brought a bronzer, eyeshadow duo, highlighter and lipstick as well.  I was thinking about it when the sales clerk said that everything on the tables in the aisle were 50% off the last sticker price.  I was like, Excuse Me?!  That meant all these products were just $12.25!  She said yes, and I immediately grabbed one and told my daughter she needed to do the same!  I then proceeded to go kind of nuts.

The Eye Color Trio contains two high shine eyeshadows and a small eyeliner.  The eyeshadows are on sale on the website for $9.50 each.  I got this set for $9.75.

The Finishing Touches kit brings a mini mascara, mini lip gloss and mini hydrating mineral veil.  I paid $4.75.  I've been wanting a hydrating mineral veil, and the rest is just bonus.  But the best was the last item I got.

This deluxe size original foundation is twice the size of a regular jar of product.  The regular size is $27.  The deluxe is normally $39.50, but they had it for $29.50.  My main intention for going to the Bare Minerals store was to get foundation, because the one I have is getting low (it was a small trial size).  I could get the regular size for $27, or pay $2.50 more and get double the amount, which should easily last me a year.  The decision was simple - I had to have this foundation!  Everything else I got was icing on the cake, and I couldn't be happier!  I have to admit, there were more things in my basket that I eventually put back because I realized I was getting carried away.  I'm thoroughly pleased with my purchases, though.  I think I got some great items at dirt cheap prices!

From there my daughter wanted to go to Old Navy, which was right by where the boys were.  Since it was her birthday I said okay, though I'm honestly not a huge fan of Old Navy.  I've found a couple of things there but most of the clothes are, in my opinion, a bit too young for me.  That quickly changed when I saw the cutest plaid pencil skirt in hunter green and dark blue, reduced from $29 to $17.  I also found a tank top that matched the green perfectly, for $3.99.  I tried the skirt on and couldn't believe how perfectly it fit - you'd have thought I was the model they used for it!  I can't wait to wear my new outfit tomorrow for church!

We came home after that because E wanted to have some time with his best friend CS.  CS is IV's son, and the boys have been close buddies for a couple of years.  My son wanted to play Super Smash Brothers with his best friend more than anything else on his birthday, so we got home as quick as we could so they could have some time together.  They laughed so much, I couldn't help but laugh with them, even though I don't have any idea what they were laughing about!  While they had their fun, my daughter played with all her new goodies and I folded and put away laundry.  Afterwards A, R and myself played the Logo Game.  It's a funny sort of trivia game and I knew R would enjoy it.

My daughter wanted to go to Ulta today to get her starter kit exchanged, but by the time we realized it, it was almost 6:00 and we hadn't even had dinner yet.  We decided to leave it for tomorrow and went to pick up dinner, and each got to pick what they wanted:  A wanted Chipotle and E wanted KFC.  I had Chipotle as well; I like their bowls.  The meat was spicy and the food was filling.  I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast so I was pretty hungry!

I think that's enough excitement for today.  I'm gonna get my makeup off and get my face exfoliated, then I'm gonna spend the rest of the night with my precious gifts, my kiddos.  I am so thankful to God each and every day for giving me such wonderful children.  I know I'm truly blessed.  Good night everyone.

364 More Days Till Next Christmas

Is it too early to start the countdown again?  I love Christmas, and it feels to me like this Christmas season was shorter than usual.  I guess it's because Thanksgiving was later.  Anyway, I still have my tree lit because it's too pretty to keep it in the dark.

And speaking of dark, I woke up to a gloomy day.  Looked like even the sky was sad that Christmas is over.  (But we don't need to stop celebrating Jesus.  We can celebrate His coming every single day of the year).  The day started in the mid 60's and cloudy, with a chance of rain in the air.  The cold weather we experienced in November has calmed, and our days have been pretty mild, though this week it's been warmer than usual. I sat down with my bowl of cereal and coffee, and my mountain of pills.  (Well, not really a mountain, more like a small hill.  There are no mountains in Florida ;-)). I take One A Day Vitamins for Women because they have iron, which I need because I tend to become anemic very easily.  I've tried taking just iron but it causes severe pains in my kidneys and legs.  I do eat pretty healthy and make sure I get iron from foods, but apparently it isn't enough, or my body doesn't absorb enough.  If I have too much iron it's bad, and if I don't have enough it's also bad.  My doctor recommended taking the iron with a vitamin supplement, and that seems to be working well for me.  I also take 2 Omega-3 pills per my eye doctor's instructions.  I suffer from dry eyes, which is why I wear glasses and not contact lenses.  I tried contacts for years but my eyes ended up burning by the end of the day and no amount of eye drops would sooth them.  Turns out it's because of the dry eyes.  I can take prescription meds, or I can take omega-3 fatty acids.  My eye doctor explained that dry eyes is caused by insufficient oil in the eyes.  Omega-3's replace the oils that are missing.  Taking Omega-3 has helped greatly, though I'm sure if I took more it would be even better.  Honestly, I forget to take one at night.  I also take additional vitamin C per my doctor's instructions.  The multi-vitamin I take contains vitamin C, but I take 500 mg more because I'm prone to bronchitis whenever I get a cold, which leads to asthma and could lead to pneumonia.  To help boost my immune system I take the extra vitamin C, and it really has helped me a lot.  The last pill I take is Allegra for my allergies.  I've tried other maintenance medicine but for me and my family Allegra works better than any of the others.  E was on prescription medication for his allergies, and it didn't work as well as Allegra which is an otc medication.  That's not to say the other medicines aren't good; each person's body and metabolism are different, and what works for me may not work for everyone.  I had tried Claritin, Zyrtec, and some others, with disappointing results.  A friend who has severe allergies recommended Allegra because it works so well for her.  I'm thankful to God that she did; it has worked wonders for my family.  My advise to anyone would be, find what works for you.  Your needs are not the same as everyone else's.  We are individuals.  No "one size fits all".

My kids all slept in today, giving me a chance to do some clean-up.  Blog clean-up.  I was "following" some 57 blogs, many of which were inactive for 2 or more years.  I decided I wanted to start fresh.  There are some blogs I follow and enjoy reading whenever there's a post to be read.  I've kept those, and stop following the rest.  No offense to anyone, but if you're not blogging then there's no reason to follow, right?    

The kids were on their own for lunch.  That's because my best friend IV invited me to Ruby Tuesdays to celebrate her getting a new job.  She's been working through an agency for the past year and a half while she looked for permanent work.  She's a pharmacist with plenty of experience, but thanks to Obamacare she lost her job at Walgreens and has been job hunting ever since.  Pharmacy costs have gone up because of the government healthcare and many have lost jobs; the entire department where she was working was either let go or relocated.  It has been really difficult for her, especially because she has health issues; IV suffers from multiple sclerosis and can't be on her feet for extended periods of time.  This new job calls for lots of phone work which she can do sitting down, and that's a great blessing.  I'm glad we were able to have some girl time, talking, thanking God for His goodness, brainstorming ways to help the youth in our church, and looking for ways in which we can serve our great and wonderful God.  I currently serve in children's ministry, but IV has served in youth ministry a few times.  She wants to be more involved now that financial woes have caused us to lose our youth pastor.  It takes a lot of work, but our kids are worth the effort.

When I got home I started munching on the chocolate cookies my neighbor dropped off yesterday.  Ya'll, I need to get a grip, otherwise I'm gonna gain back the 5 pounds I worked so hard to lose, and then some!

Today was also laundry day.  I usually do a load on Thursdays, but not when Thursday is also Christmas Day.  We all need a break sometimes, and holidays are not for washing clothes.  Two large loads, one dark and one lights.  How do four people dirty so much clothing?!

One of the games the Wii U consoles the boys got for Christmas brought was NintendoLand.  My oldest son was showing it to me.  It's like a giant Nintendo amusement park, and every attraction is a game.  He asked if I wanted to play one of the games.  I gave him "the look".  He knows perfectly well I'm terrible at video games.  As a matter of fact, the only times my kids have asked me to play a video game is when they want a laugh, because that's how bad I play.  R insisted it would be easy enough that even I could play.  Hmm, yeah, okay.  He had me play Yoshi's Fruit Cart.  I actually did pretty good; I got 429 points.  Considering he got 445 on his first try, I would say that was a success.  I gotta say, I'm quite impressed with my new-found abilities.

I gotta be honest.  The rest of the day I pretty much vegged.  I wasn't feeling like my usual self today; the ladies will understand what I mean :P.  My daughter picked up Dominos pizza for dinner (yuck, one of my least favorites) and I watched some videos while soothing my back with a heating pad.  After my shower I tidied up the kitchen.  Once I'm done with this post I'm gonna put some clothes in the dryer, then just veg some more.  Tomorrow is a very important day:  my two youngest babies will be celebrating their birthdays, and I need to be feeling my best.  So, good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.  God bless.