Tupperware

I'm selling Tupperware, or at least I have been attempting to sell it for the last month. I'm really needing a boost so I opened an online party in my hubby's name to see if it'll help. It's HERE .
So if your interested in buying some Tupperware just go to that link above and check it out. I'm doing a secret host(ess) thing and will give the hostess credits to a name that'll be randomly picked from everyone/anyone who orders, maybe I'll through in a little something extra as well. Anyway that's the end of my plug for my Tupperware business.

It's been a while

I've just been busy the last few days. I got the new job and started it already, the last three days have been orientation. I work tonight and tomorrow night at the old job and tomorrow day and Monday at the new job. So Monday night I'll be rather loopy and sleep deprived, but I'll be just fine I swear. 40 hours of work in 3 days time isn't so bad, really. It's not something I'm going to make a habit of though, 'cause I like my sleep.
Nothing else new has happened this week. I like the new job so far, kinda felt a little odd at times 'cause I came in at the end of an ongoing situation between the lady who was orientating me and another coworker. That came to a head yesterday and the administrator got in on it. It's a small nursing home and there are usually about 6 CNA's on the day shift along with 3 nurses the don and adon and housekeeping staff...basically the total staff is small enough that everyone knows everyone and everything and everyone gets sucked in to everyone else's drama. This seems to happen at every nursing home I've been at so I just figure it just what happens when you work with women. Women fight dirty and some can be rather catty, it's always fun.

Made it through the weekend...

Now only one more week of Spring break to get through. I put in an application at a nursing home near here. I've only worked for the company I'm currently working for a couple months now but it's gotten old quick. They asked me to work 11-7 Friday, I was fine with that. Well 30 minutes after I get home I start getting phone calls from my supervisor. She wanted me to come in at 3 and work from 3p-7a (I had already agreed to come in an extra hour early), yea I told her I didn't think so (I was a little cranky 'cause I hadn't slept yet and the thought of working 8 hours getting a just a few hours sleep and then working 15 hours just did not sound good to me). Then I finally get about 2 and a half hours sleep she calls me back asking if I can be there at noon for OT training. This was at 10:45, it's a 20 minute drive to the place so I figured I would just get up and go, she said the training was only gonna last 30 minutes. So I get there and wait for 20 minutes for this lady who is suppose to show up and finally my supervisor calls her and she's not coming in tell 5pm. I'm real happy about hearing this. So I go home eat lunch and get another hours sleep, spend a little time with my family and get ready to be there at 5pm...get there at 5pm and the lady does not show up till 6pm (the time I had originally agreed to coming in). I just love how organized this company is. So basically I've decided this is it, I cannot be at beck and call for them for the little amount they pay me. I cannot just drop stuff and come in, I have kids I have to arrange and plan things and so need nearly a days notice to do such.
So I applied at the nursing home, spoke with the D.O.N. for a minute who said to call her this afternoon and she would see what we could do. I make more money working at a nursing home and will feel more appreciated.
Okay back to the title, lol. Still having the influx of children at our place, I'm getting real tired of the bully tendencies of the neighbor boys though. It's stressing my dd out who is feeling like she has to protect everyone (herself, her brother's, the girl up the street and the boys' own sister and our property) from these boys. She's only ten, this is a tall order she's putting on herself. She's not coming and getting me the instant these boys start their shit like I've told her to (damned independent children I'm raising here...they all are like their daddy and I and try their best to work out all their problems and everyone else's without asking for help). It's not mental bullying either(or not just name-calling, laughing and teasing) these boys have been getting a bit physical as well(kicking, pinching and scratching) and all these girls are doing is minding their own business. I think it's mostly a group thing, 'cause I've noticed on a one-on-one basis these boys are all right and polite. When they are all together though, then they start shit. If my kids are outside either their daddy or me or both are outside and we see and hear everything so I know the girls are not making it up as I've had to go and break up the fights. If this spring break week is what summer is going to be like then it's gonna suck.

I Passed!

I passed the NET test, next step is orientation next month. It wasn't too bad, 'cept for the math part. Not too much to add to that. Now I'm trying to figure out how to pay for it and excited for classes to begin.






My oldest son went to a place called Falcon's Rest Manor last week, as I've mentioned before. He took some pics with a disposable camera and I thought I would share my favorite.











Well this pic is kinda small so it isn't showing up right but it's really a cool picture. Given also the story my son told me that this place is haunted by a confederate soldier all these little statues add to the feel of the place.

Kids, Kids and more Kids

I should be straightening up getting ready for dd's little friend to come over. I hate cleaning up after people who are able to do it themselves though, even when those people are my kiddies. I love them but I'm their mom not their maid and this gets so old so quickly. We had kids coming by and calling till after 8pm last night, so we're gonna have to set some ground rules there. We are not used to this if ya didn't know. We've either lived where there were no kids nearby or where there were no kids at all. So having all these kids coming over from the time they get off the bus till they finally get the hint that our kids either need to eat, go to bed or do homework and can't play is kinda annoying. The neighbors next door aren't bad, their kids go to bed at the same hour ours does. The ones a couple doors down stay out till it's too dark to see. They're nice kids though and I don't mind them over, just gonna have to set some rules for everyone to follow at Mrs Jackie's house (like no coming over after 6pm on a school night and no calling after 7pm on a school night, Fridays and Saturdays we're real flexible). I love that my kiddies are making friends now, though I think dd may end up stretching herself kinda thin. She's trying so hard to make everyone happy and they are always wanting her to play with each of them and it stresses her a bit I think. Just need to get all the girls playing the same thing, only thing is one of the girls has CP and, while she can do many, many things and is a great kid , she does have her limits and tries to get everyone to do what she wants. Once all the new wears off dd, they'll all settle down and not demand her attention so often I think(hope). I don't want anyone feeling left out but dd needs learn that she cannot be everything to everyone, she'll burn out so quick(speaking a little from experience) and not want a thing to do with anyone.
My oldest is now 4-5 hours away on his field trip...I'm a bundle of nerves, lol. I don't like them riding with someone else that far away. The fifth grade took charter buses to go explore a cave in middle tn. They left at about 4:30 this morning and should be back around 10pm tonight. Yea I'm picturing bus crashes and remembering reports of buses full of kids having accidents and everything. I'm sure he'll be fine, and I know I can't keep him at my hip forever. Growing up sucks though and I wish , sometimes, they would stop doing it for a couple years. I met his friend he's always going on about this morning. He didn't seem like the sort I would picture my son making friends with. He's kinda of a rough and tumble boy and my oldest son isn't. A friend is a friend and my oldest son is getting ready to go into middle school and he'll need all the friends he can get 'cause middle school is the worst. Elementary and High School are okay but kids can get real ugly in middle school.
Well I need to do a 10 minute tidy before the invaders reach the moat and breech our strongholds....I mean before the kids come home.

Well...

I met my neighbor's wife yesterday, I met her husband a few weeks ago. Her daughter was waiting for the bus to go through so she could play with the kids. She said her daughter doesn't usually want to play with anyone but all of a sudden was ready to play with my kiddies so that's great. She seemed like a nice person and her kids seem great so every things good there. They have a pool so now my kiddies are all excited for when it gets warm enough to swim. We ended up with 12 kids in our yards yesterday afternoon and that was a blast just little kids running all over the place, lol. There were my four, her three, a little girl who lives at the end of the street who came down to play with my dd and another little girl and her two brothers that live two houses down from us came by and a boy who lives across the street. The neighbor's wife (I think I'll just call her J 'cause "neighbor's wife" is a mouthful), J and I were talking about setting up like a community bbq/picnic/meet-n-greet type thing. We live on a dead-end street and nearly everyone has kids all about the same age (ranging from like 5 to 16 so far that I've seen/met) so it would be nice if we could all meet and get to know one another so that we can watch each other's back so to speak. It sounds like a good idea to me, even though if we go through with it I'll probably be a nervous wreck. No probably to it, really, I will be a nervous wreck. That's okay though I'll be doing it for the kiddies and I'll do anything for them.

I like this quote

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self- confident and more and more successful." Mark Victor Hansen


I got this in an email today, I thought it suited my current mood.

Let's Get Dirty!

I just got back from digging up 3 types of irises, monkey grass, 3 types of lily, cannas, iron cane and hostas with the promise of more when they start coming up. The lady I got them from said the interstate is getting ready to go through her backyard and she'll be damned before she lets all her flowers go to the bulldozer. So I get to benefit from it. I got all these plants in my van and now I got to figure out what to do with them all, lol. I was just planning on getting a couple dozen irises, now I have about 3x that amount. So I'm going to be out playing in the mud the next couple of days getting these all in the ground. It's going to be so pretty I'll have to show pictures when they all get going good. Taking my tiller and those heavy buckets and bags of plants up and down my hill is going to be a work out, I can feel my poor arms and legs already. I love it.

Snowballs, kids and yards and such

Well the snow is gone already. Yesterday Hubby and the kids were having a snowball fight with what little snow was left and one of the neighborhood kids came by to play as well. He's a year or so older then my oldest. My dd is making friends with every girl on the street, or at least trying to. I'm so glad my kids are so much more outgoing then I am. Of course this forces me to come out of my shell as well 'cause I won't let them even go into someone else's yard unless I've met the parents. I have a feeling this summer my yard is going to be full of kids and my kids are going to, well at least try to, be scattered across the neighborhood. Not complaining 'cause this is what I wanted for them. I want them to have a sense of community, of belonging here. Never know maybe with my bunch let loose the street we live on will become a tighter knit community then it seems at the moment. Doesn't help the cold weather keeps most people inside.
Tomorrow I'm going to go and dig up some iris bulbs to plant around my ditch. I'm going to turn the ugly thing into a pretty water feature. I think the water will stay in it until maybe the hottest part of the summer. It also gets runoff from a good sized pond in a trailer park up the road. I figured that out 'cause the pond has some additive in it that turns the water a funky green/turquoise color and after a heavy rain the ditch was that color. I don't know why or what they put in the ponds around here to turn them like that but it just doesn't look right. Anyway I'm going to line the ditch with irises, I may get some bamboo/cane and some cattails. I would put some gravel/river rock in it if I wasn't afraid it would just wash into the neighbors yard. I may pick up some large rocks sometime though to put in it, to make little waterfalls. It'll make our yard stand out that's for sure. While everyone has nice, neat yards, no one seems to have lots of flowerbeds or anything. It's hard to tell just yet but it appears everyone's yards are pretty much low-maintence. I grew up with lots of flowers/flowerbeds and gardens and so to me it seems every house outta have them.

Snow came and new fav magazine

Well the snow showed up about the same time the kids were getting off the bus yesterday. We ended up with about 3 inches or so that all already beginning to melt off and it's only 10:40am. I'll probably still have Hubby take me to work tonight just in case there are slick spots, I don't do well on ice and try to avoid it as much as possible. The snow is pretty as long as I'm in my nice warm house looking out the window.
I've been following the Eat Clean book as close as I can and I'm proud to say I've lost 4lbs so far. It's only been 2 or 3 weeks so I'm proud of it. At first I thought it was water weight...then I went up a little over a pound the other day only to go right back to the lower weight a day later and stay :) So I can say it's working(I also thought I looked a little slimmer in the mirror last night, Hubby agreed but being the smart man he is he usually does agree, lol). I need to find or buy a measuring tape and take my measurements 'cause I know I'll plateau off on the weight but continue to lose inches...it's what I usually do. I'm trying to get Hubby into the clean eating but he's iffy. His excuse is "I want to eat food that tastes good" I came back with what's so bad about fresh veggies and fruits. He doesn't like the whole wheat pasta, so I'm either going to have to find a brand that doesn't taste like cardboard or find some other compromise. He does like brown rice and wild rice and says whole wheat bread is okay so that's a plus.
Oh in the title I said I found a new fav magazine...it's called Clean Eating (their website is www.cleaneatingmag.com) it's got beautiful pictures of the recipes and I like the articles. If your on a special diet(gluten free, wheat free etc) the magazine has recipes that go with those as well. So it's going to be one of my regular reads like Self and Fitness magazine.

Waiting for the Snow

It didn't snow last night, they changed the forecast for snow sometime today most likely this afternoon. I just saw on the t.v. that the kiddies' school will be letting out at noon. Ya wanna know what the kicker is...we are expecting all of 1 to 3 inches of snow. They way the local news is letting on and the schools are closing you would think a blizzard was coming. That's the way it is down here though, get 1/2 to 1 inch of anything and you better keep your butt inside. People cannot drive on snow let alone ice here. Given they don't get a lot of practice with our one maybe two days of snow we get a year. The snow will most likely be gone by tomorrow afternoon and we're back in the 60s next week. Well not much else to add, I need to call the school I guess to see if I need to pick up the kids or if they will send them home on the bus.

It's March for goodness sakes...

They are calling for snow to come in tonight and tomorrow. I know we won't get much if any at all, but still. It's March, it's suppose to be all warm and spring-like now. We go from a chance of snow tonight and tomorrow to 60s beginning of next week. Maybe this will be Old Man Winter's last hoorah before getting his butt booted out the door till December. I've noticed fruit trees blooming already around here. I know they don't want it to snow.
I'm getting ready to go and sign up for the NET test. I know this isn't exactly the way I planned on getting into nursing but it's a way. How does it go "the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry" or something similar. Also where there's a will there's a way and I have will a plenty. Okay enough with the sayings and quotes or I'll be talking like that all day. I feel that this is a path to get to my ultimate goal(actually I feel like I'm in a damned Labyrinth and have no idea which way I'm suppose to take so I take the way that feels "right" and hope I'm not suppose to turn left). Anyway I don't feel like I'm making a mistake, a little nervous maybe but not that deep down gut feeling that what I'm about to do is going to screw up my life majorly. Well that's it for my day so far. How was yours?

Catching up...

I've not been on since Saturday, so I'll catch up real quick. My nephew is back in the hospital with vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. He has trouble keeping even water down. Hopefully today they will get a hold of his GI doc so they can begin to figure out what is going on. My weekend, other then waiting by the phone for news on my nephew, has been rather uneventful. It was a beautiful weekend, temps in the low 70s, sun shining. I planted some bulbs, bought a rose bush and some raspberry bushes, some glads, hollyhocks and another plant but I don't feel like going to look for it this very minute. I'm going to have such a pretty yard this year. Well it'll probably look even better next year as sometimes it takes more then one season for flowers to get started well.
I'm really trying to eat clean, hubby isn't much help. Well he wants to help, but he doesn't want to change the way he eats. So he's still bringing soda, lil Debbie snacks, chips, candy and other junk into the house. I'm being good so far, and even though I'm tempted I've not gave into it. I told him I don't want to look the same in my 30s that I have in my 20s (I will turn 30 in November and I swear I will look good by my birthday). One of his comments was "Well you did have the kids while in your twenties". To be exact I was 18, 19, 20 and 22 when I had the kids, but I'm 29 now my youngest is 6 and half years old it's been too long to use baby fat as an excuse. Bless his heart though, he does want to be supportive...but shoot all he has to do to lose weight is think about it and bam he loses 8lbs just like that. I'm trying though. I'm trying to exercise on regular basis (well I want to try for everyday but sometimes it's not feasible, but I still should be able to squeeze in 10-15 minutes here and there even if I don't have time for a full 30-60 minute workout). Today is my payday so I'm going to go buy some cucumbers, bell peppers and fruit to cut up for snacks. The eat clean book says to eat 5-6 times a day. My only problem is it also says to eat 5oz of protein each time. I can eat meat maybe once but I'm going to have to find another source for the other times. I like meat but I just can't eat it every meal. I may try tofu "meat". I like veggieburgers so that can be something.

NaBloPoMo for March

If you didn't know NaBloPoMo has changed to where you can post for a month any month (beginning this month) and each month has theme. For March it's Lists. So I'm going to give it a shot.

March 1st 2008:
5 gifts I would like to receive this year.

1. a professional woodburning tool
2. tuition for college
3. a dining room table
4. a dyson vacuum
5. maid service for a month

All right so a couple of those would never happen but it's a start. If I think about it I have everything I need and things I want I would rather get myself. I just don't trust others tastes, lol.