Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a fantastic 2008!


Thanks for all the good wishes for a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

Belated Merry Christmas to all

Well, as the title says, a belated Merry Christmas to all! We had a wonderful time with my family Christmas day. I was able to see my sister & her family, my grandmother (91 years young!) and my parents. The aliens had a great time with their cousins. The time with Grandma, Sis & her family was way too short, as always. Don't think I'm leaving Mom & Dad out, I am blessed to get to see them much more often.

I hope everyone's Christmas was as blessed as mine.

Finals are done......YEA!!!

Well, finals are done & came off without incident, thankfully. Many courses gave the option of taking you grade as it stood as your final grade for the semester. Other courses didn't give the option, they simply canceled the final exam - you get what you get. Still, most instructors opted to go on with final exams as scheduled for Tuesday - Thursday, it was only the Monday classes that got all messed up.

Now that finals are done, I can finally finish Christmas shopping. The aliens are in school for three more days so I have plenty of time to shop without worrying about what to do with them while I sneak presents into the house, I can boldly walk through the door & wrap like a crazy woman so it's all done before they arrive home.

I'm also babysitting a friend's dog while she's off visiting family & getting married. His new name is "Puddles". Puddles gets so excited every time he sees the aliens that he goes on my carpet! I now, thanks to my shampooer, have the cleanest carpet on the block. He's a little dauschaund/yorkey mix & is the cutest little thing. I'll have to post a picture. We really do love having him, at least the aliens & I do, the cats are still not sure about this "thing" that sits on their sofa with their people and gets attention that should be for them. It's kinda nice having a dog around the house again.

Imagine getting this email....

December 9, 2007

CAMPUS ALERT: POLICE INVESTIGATE ANONYMOUS THREAT IN RESIDENCE HALL
Details: University officials are investigating a threat posted late Saturday evening in a campus residence hall which included a racial slur and references to the Virginia Tech shootings.

Final exams were scheduled to begin on Monday 12/10 but due to - get this "weather conditions" - campus was closed & the dorms were in lockdown. First, the weather was fine, no ice, no snow, no rain, just clouds. Second, if they were only worried about weather, why were all the dorms in lockdown mode & only essential campus personnel here? One of the references to the Virginia Tech shootings was that they only had one shooter, implying there would be more shooters here.

Every dorm entrance had at least two police officers posted inside and there were patrol cars everywhere. I only stepped on campus long enough to check on a friend & give her a Christmas gift. Thought it was best I didn't hang around her dorm to study.

Exam schedule resumed as usual today but all of the Monday finals are rescheduled for Friday so many students won't be going home as early as they had planned.

Security has been increased all over campus for the duration of the week but I'm still a bit jumpy about being here any more than I need to be. However, here I sit in the library studying for final #2 tomorrow afternoon because school was closed for the aliens today (ice storm) and I'll get NOTHING done at home.

Feels like a comfort food night tonight - pour cream of mushroom soup & sliced fresh musrooms over chicken with rice & sprinkle on some onion soup mix. Bake for an hour & feast for a couple of days (don't have time to cook everyday so I cook about 3X a week & we eat leftovers).

Stay warm all!

Ramblings........

I'm supposed to be spending my free time right now studying but have avoided it. I just can't seem to get motivated today.

I'm not really tired but I do have a lot to do... laundry, shopping, clean the house, study, unpacking (haven't done much with all the homework I've had).

My mind just keeps wandering off on random things.... Dad & his recent bout with cancer & heart problems ..... my cousin's son having health & substance abuse issues ........ missing my older sister...... wishing my younger sister lived closer ........... how I manage life with two kids having ADHD ............. how I manage my own ADHD .............. I really want a Boston Terrier (or any dog for that matter) ............ will Grandma still remember the boys & I from Thanksgiving or will she have forgotten who we are by Christmas? ............. wish Mom & Dad would move Grandma closer to us ........... a new kitten would be nice since I can't have a dog ................. what kind of curtains to you put in a teenage boys room?......... how do you decorate a kitchen with burnt red-orange appliances & hunter green cabinets? ................. will I be able to afford a washer & dryer soon, hate using the laundry-mat ........ What am I gonna cook for dinner? ........ still wondering where my older sister is & is she OK? .............

Feeling very melancholy I guess........ maybe chocolate will help (and a new kitten)

Finals Time

It's time for finals again so I'll be studying for the next week or so.... pray for me!

Dolphin Trainer

This is what Alien#2 now wants to do with his life, he wants to be a dolphin trainer.

Last Thursday his 5th grade class of aliens went to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for a field trip. While visiting the dolphin area, the tour guide asked if anyone wanted to learn how to train a dolphin. My little alien raised his hand and did the required "Oh, me! Please, oh oh, me!" Next thing he knew, he was putting on a set of coveralls & dangling fish in front of dolphins!

He had a great time & couldn't stop talking about all the cool things he did.

The Girlfriend

I've been so busy with school projects & the Thanksgiving weekend that I haven't had much time to post. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we sure did.

Last Tuesday was Alien #1's choir concert. After the concert, I was introduced to "Sadie". My little alien is growing up! He grinned so huge I thought his face was going to stretch out of shape permanently. I also got to meet her parents, as did Alien #1

I was taking the aliens out for ice cream after the concert and asked if Sadie would like to join us. Her parents said that was fine. Just then, the obnoxious female friend of both the alien & alien's sweetie got wind of the trip to Dairy Queen. Well..... long story short........ the loud-mouthed friend came along. Oh, well, the aliens & girls had a great time. Boosted Alien #1's ego a bit when a couple of kids from school saw him leaving with two pretty girls.

Ain't puberty grand???

Giant Man-eating Bunnies

Nothing kills a good night's sleep like a kid waking you up in the middle of the night talking about giant man-eating bunnies in his bedroom. Then he crawls into bed with me & starts to snore. Oh, well, at least the bunnies didn't follow him.

BUSTED!

This post is in red because I'm seeing red right now! Last summer a friend (with my permission) gave the aliens pay-as-you-go cell phones with a couple of rules to go with the phones. The biggest rule: NO BUYING ANYTHING FROM THE WEB

What do I find when I check the online accounts for the aliens? You guessed it! They've been buying things. Worse yet, the oldest one has been texting someone at 3am!

He is sooooo busted! The phone is now mine.

Dishes & Meds

Yes, I finally found my dishes on Saturday! I finally feel like a semi-normal human now. That's as good as it gets for me, I'll never be completely normal........ if there even is such a thing.

Got a call from Alien #1's teacher a bit ago - seems he LIED to me this morning and didn't take his ADHD meds! This is the second Tuesday out of the last three that he has done this. I hate when he does that because he' gets soooooooo obnoxious and out of control. This poor teacher is the sweetest thing and is always so kind and understanding. She was so upset when she called me I thought she was going to grind her teeth down to nubs trying to keep it together. Poor thing.

His reasoning for not taking his medicine? "I didn't think I needed it today."
Why?
Can you be less obnoxious, sit still, focus, and get your work done on Tuesdays and not other days of the week?
What the heck makes Tuesdays so special?
Is Tuesday the day designated to make everyone in your life miserable because you have absolutely NO control over yourself?
What gives???
Guess it's back to mommy handing out the meds every morning - I really thought we were past this.

I need chocolate! ;)

Elephant Poop

Today's interesting (and gross) fact courtesy of Alien #1:

Ten adult elephants can produce one pound of poop in one minute.

Just couldn't live without that little tidbit of info could you?

Happy Friday everyone!

Boxes Everywhere!

Well, we got moved last Saturday and I still can't find my plates & bowls........ there are boxes everywhere! I finally found my tea kettle & my pans but still no dishes. I think someone hid them as a joke. Not funny people!! Have you ever tried to eat a steak off a paper plate? It's not a pretty sight. Oh, well, I'll find them eventually. Most of my glasses are missing too....... *sigh*

The cats, Holly & Charlotte, have settled in quite well and are loving their new home. Playing tag on the stairs seems to be the new favorite game for them.

It's getting along toward the end of the semester & everything is coming due at once. Huge paper due tomorrow, another one due Tuesday with a presentation on Thursday. Clinical observation report due the following week....... AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Whew! I feel better with that out of my system. Better get back to work. Bye for now.

General Update

Just to give a general update on things so you know what's going on in my crazy life, I'm creating this post.

In June of 2006 we moved to a new town to be closer to the university I'm attending. Apartment turned out to kinda stink, "quiet lifestyle" was a joke. I've never had such a loud building to live in. So, knowing our lease would be up in October, I just let it lapse knowing I would find a new place for the aliens, critters, & myself before the 10/15 deadline. HA!

We ended up staying with a friend of mine 45 minutes from where we were living and commuting for the last two weeks. EVERYTHING had to go into storage. Thankfully, a couple from our church allowed us to store things in their third garage port which was currently not in use. We're very blessed my friend opened her home to us while we continued to look for someplace to live.

Yesterday I paid the deposit (ouch!!) and signed the papers for our new townhouse just a few blocks from where we were living but in a much quieter area. I can't wait to move in on Saturday. We're attempting to round up men & trucks from the chruch to help out because Alien #1, my main muscleman, will be out of town at a youth convention in Peoria, IL for the weekend.

I can't wait to get into our house & clean, unpack, organize, & decorate. Not that any of that will happen soon, I'm still in college full time. If I'm not in class or taking care of the aliens, I'm studying. Now I need to find a better part time job to help pay the bills around here. With Christmas coming, I'm sure I can at least find something to do over the holidays to earn some cash.

I just handed a huge project in today for one class & had a major exam in another. Monday I have part one of a big project due in one class, a midterm exam in a different class, and still another group project to compile and edit by Wednesday. Did I mention I will be busy moving all day on Saturday?? I'm not sure there are enough hours in the day but I'll manage to get it all in. Somehow I always do. :)

Huge Aliens @ home!

The aliens have really grown since I last posted anything about them. Alien #1, now 13, is already 5' 9 1/2" and alien #2 is 10 years old standing at 5' 1"!

Alien #1 is now taller than I am. He thinks this is funny. I think it's great! I no longer need to stand on chairs to reach things. :)

We are now hamsterless but have acquired three fish and a snail in addition to the two cats we already had. Check back later for pictures.

We have $8 worth of goldfish in a $50 aquariam setup. That's a story in itself. Charlotte, our cat is a good fisher........ well, some other time. Got to go get the aliens from school & transport to evening activities. bye.

Hello Again!

Well, I've been gone so long, it's like I'm starting over again. I don't even know if any of the others I used to read on a regular basis are even blogging anymore. Oh, well, I know Burfica is & I can stop over and read her blog.

So, I thought I'd give my blog a bit of a new look & change the name. I welcome comments on any posts & look forward to finding new blogger friends to read up on.

Anyway.... check back for alien updates (my two boys) & more.

Outrageous water bills??

Are your water bills too high? THIS could be the reason. (Pet lovers will enjoy this one!)

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great summer. I haven't posted in forever - between moving & trying to get the aliens registered in a new school district, it's been a little busy at my house.

I'm now 20 minutes from work/campus, not an hour and the aliens have gone from being in one of the worst school districts in the state to one of the best. The aliens started back to school last week, it was my turn this week. University classes started up full swing yesterday and I'm on day two of classes and already I can feel the sleep deprivation kicking in!

I managed to help both aliens get their homework finished off last night but by the time the dinner mess was cleaned up & they were asleep, I was ready to drop. It didn't help that alien #2 is breaking out with hives of a mysterious origin which prompted a run to the ER (no urgent care facilities around here) to get something better than Benedryl to help clear it up. We get to the ER & my choices are steroids (NOT) or Benedryl. So I choose the Benedryl. The Doc also gave my little alien something unexpected - Pepcid! It seems that it has antihistime properties that "work on a different level than Benedryl" as the Doc puts it. So....... the Rx he wrote is for Pepcid & Zyrtec (a heavenly allergy medicine - doesn't make you sleepy). Hopefully this will keep the itchies & scratchies at bay until we can find the cause of the problem.

Alien #1 is growing again - well, at least his feet are. He turned 12 in July and his feet are now a mens size 11! The scary part is the doctor keeps telling me he'll "grow into" his feet. What does this mean? A 7'3" kid????? YIKES!!!

The resident cats, Holly and Charlotte "Twinkles" are enjoying their new, more spacious home. We are having problems with Charlotte refusing to use the litter box. If anyone has any tips or tricks to fix this problem, I'm open to suggestions...... actually, I'm begging for help on this one. I'm using an all-natural plant extract solution in their water to alleviate anxiety (due to the move) and the pet soils cleaner from the pet store to clean where she is doing her messes. I don't know what else to try - help! I don't want to have to get rid of alien #2's new kitten.

I hope everyone out there in blogger-land is doing well & with summer winding down, I hope to catch up on all your blogs soon.

10 Words

I saw this over at Burfica's blog Don't Eat the Tomatoes. She gave me a letter and I'm supposed to come up with ten words that start with that letter & a short explanation of what that word means to me & how it relates to my life. So.... Burfica gave me the letter "D" and I thought about it for a few days and here's what I came up with. Here we go.....

1. Divorce - I think this one is self explanatory.

2. Delusional - I actually believe that one day my children will see the carpet in their room again when they clean it.

3. Dependable - If I'm nothing else, I am dependable. This could explain why everyone always wants to ask me to do things (bake sale, watch kids, etc) because they know if I say 'yes' they can count on me not retracting it.

4. Decadent - Referring to chocolate here - need I say more?

5. Demanding - Sometimes I feel life as a single mom is way too demanding. However, with lots of prayer & a little help from my friends, I muddle through.

6. Deadly - Ask any deer, me & my old Buick are a deadly combination. I'll admit, I haven't hit one in a long time but the three hits in three months still seems to qualify me as deadly when it comes to the deer.

7. Doughnuts - This sounds so silly but every time I smell fresh-made doughnuts I am reminded of when I was working a part time job at a bakery when Alien #1 was just old enough to start talking. I had come home from my 3am - noon shift & picked him up to go run some errands. I didn't bring home any doughnuts that day. The whole time Alien #1 kept saying, "Mama doughnuts" to which I kept replying, "No, sweetie. Mama didn't bring home any today." Finally at a long stoplight I turned around to look him in the eye and tell him one last time that NO I did NOT have any doughnuts (a little frustrated by this time). When I said my piece, he again said, "*sigh* Mama (big sniff like he's smelling something), doughnuts!" Ahhh... Mama finally understood - I SMELLED like doughnuts! Well, the way I remember it was cute, guess you had to be there.

8. Dirt - I love having a garden. Planting the seeds or plants into the ground and smelling the fresh warm dirt & feeling in my hands is one of life's' simple pleasures for me.

9. Dandelions - Call them weeds if you will but their sunny little faces are much welcome after the drab grey melting of the snow. I still pick them when they've gone to seed and make a wish before blowing the seeds into the wind. My boys call them wishing flowers.

10. Desire - There is a tremendous desire for my family and I to draw closer to the Lord daily. The stress going through a terrible divorce, my 3 car accidents, losing one family friend after another (5 in all) and then Grandma B, two near fatal accidents for my father, raising two children alone while working and going to school full time. If I didn't have God in my life, I simply wouldn't have made it through any of this. I'm not saying my life is any harder than anyone else's, as a matter of fact, by comparison my life is a lot easier than some people I know. I just have a tremendous desire for us to draw as close to God as we can, it's the glue that holds us together, mind, body & soul.

Finals are done!

Wow! It's been almost an entire month since I've posted! First off, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! With this last month full of studying & finals, it's been hard to post, but the semester is done! Finals are over!!! YEAH! Not to brag, but....... (here comes the bragging) I aced every class, ha! not bad for an old lady. ;) In all honesty, after being through such a bad marriage & with things being really rough trying to raise two kids on my own, I really felt I had to prove to myself I could do it. Now that I know I can, life somehow just seems a little brighter. I can raise two kids alone while working two part time jobs and attending college full time and still make the grade. I had to prove to myself I could make it.

Now, I'm packing to move. I found an apartment closer to school & work so the next month is going to be busy with weeding out the garbage, having a rummage sale & packing to move. Our new place is so much closer to the university & my work. I'm going from an hour drive to about 20 minutes each way - big difference. I'll also be so much closer to my friends which is great. The aliens will have a much better school district too so we all are better off.

So, I'll try to keep my blog updated a little better but no promises........ Hope everyone is doing well.