Weekend Jitters

Well, this weekend should be interesting. It's take-the-girls-to-their-dad's weekend. Normally, Ted would take them and stay the weekend with some friends of ours. If I'm feeling up to it, I would go, too. That part hasn't happened yet, but I keep hoping. This weekend will be different. I am taking the girls while Ted stays home. He hasn't been feeling well and since one of our friends that we stay with is pregnant, he doesn't want to expose her to whatever it is he has.

I haven't seen these friends since we moved and I really enjoy their company. I just wish that Ted could enjoy it, too. He is also missing out on a day to be able to visit his girls. All three of them (Ted, Leora, and Abby) are a bit bummed about it, but we will see them next weekend. I know he misses his girls and his friends and I feel bad that we had to move away from them.

Then comes the Super Bowl.

That will be interesting in my house. I have been a Bronco's fan since childhood and Ted is a die hard Seahawks fan. He likes to tell me that I am not a real fan since I don't know the names of all the players, but I tell him that doesn't matter. At least I'm not a bandwagon fan.

Because of all the snow we have here, I am taking the girls out of school early so we can get out of the snowy area before it gets dark. We'll be coming back on Sunday early enough to avoid all of that since I want to get home before the big game.

That takes care of Friday and Sunday, I'm just not sure what Saturday will be like. I know that my friend will be home and not at work, but we've never been able to hang out that long, ever. I'm excited to be able to see her, but I'm also nervous. It's been awhile since I've done any socializing at all. I'm also nervous about not being home should a migraine hit. Especially since I won't have Ted to run interference or drive should I need him to.

I know the weekend will be great, I'm just hoping we will all be able to enjoy it.

More Photos

I did some more playing around with the pictures I took last month.  Here are a few of my favorites.

New Title

If you have been following me at all, you know that I haven't been very good at making this a daily blog.  Life just hasn't been good enough to me these last few weeks to allow for daily computer use, so I haven't been very good about posting.  With that in mind, I have changed the title of my blog.  Let me know what you think, please.

And to finish, some photos, taken with my phone, of Spokane Falls.

 

Alliteration

The subject for today's musings is brought to you by The One-Minute Writer.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 2014

Today's Writing Prompt: Alliteration

Using the first letter of your middle name:
Write as many words as possible in 1 minute, that start with that letter, that describe you.

This could be interesting. My middle name is LaDawn. I'm going to try for the 60 seconds.

Loveable

likable

literary – as in I like to read

listener

little – as in short

Well, that didn't go as I planned. I thought I would be able to come up with more. Anyone else give it a try? Let me know how you did.

Dreams

I keep having dreams of being back in high school. It's very creepy as I am way too old to be going back there. Besides, I graduated.

Maybe it's that I regret a lot of the stupid things I did back then. I was a good student, until the first time I skipped class. I knew at the time it was stupid, but I did it anyway. The only reason I can give for it is that I had a broken teenage heart. My boyfriend has just broken up with me. His reasoning still baffles me to this day. “I give more affection to my friends than I do to you.” I couldn't go to any classes after that. I spent the rest of the day in the school auditorium crying. I even missed the bus back home and had to call my dad for a ride. He was pissed. I remember my brother asking me what was wrong. Dad answered, “She knows I'm mad at her.”

After that, ditching became too easy. If I didn't want to go to class, I just hid out in the auditorium. I still did pretty good in my classes, just not as well as I had been doing. It wasn't until senior year that things fell badly. I was in an advanced English class and I really didn't like the teacher. She was one of the hardest ones in the whole school and we clashed, badly. I have never had such a bad mesh of personalities. I wish I had not let it affect me so much. The first semester went ok. I at least passed that one. The second semester was much worse. I actually failed. That meant I couldn't graduate. One of the requirements was 4 credits in English and I only had 3 ½. The worst part was that I didn't find out until graduation morning when I showed up to practice the walk. When I couldn't find my name on the list saying where I was to go, I went to find out. I was so depressed. It was also my birthday and I was looking forward to being able to say that I graduated on my birthday. I had all kinds of family visiting for that graduation, too. Since that didn't happen, we just had a birthday party.

Since I only needed the half of an English credit, I asked my guidance counselor what I should do. She recommended doing an individual study with one of the teachers. I asked my favorite one from junior year. I visited with her 3 days a week and passed. I still like to consider myself part of the class of 1999, but I am actually part of the class of 2000.

Maybe the reason I keep dreaming about being back in school, is that I never went to college. I keep thinking I would like to, but it just has never happened.

I even went so far, once, as to get grants and a loan. I registered for a few online classes. This was the summer that my girls were one. That is also the year that things fell apart for us, financially. I had to drop out and we moved to Kansas to try to start over.

I really want to go back. I just don't know what I want to go for. The only thing that has been consistent is the thought of something medical; receptionist, records, or coding, I'm not sure which. I've also thought of becoming a massage therapist.

All of these stem from the desire to be able to help people. I've thought of being a doctor, nurse, or x-ray tech, but I don't think I could be that close to people in pain. It tends to make me hurt and that would make it hard to do my job. Even being a masseuse might not be possible, but I think I would like to try.

Maybe once I get a better handle on these migraines, I will pursue this further.

Food Oddities

The subject for today's musings is brought to you by The One-Minute Writer.

MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2014

Today's Writing Prompt: Food Oddities

What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

I can think of a couple of things that I have eaten that some might find weird.

I'll start with the oldest. When I was in grade school, my friends and I would do something that could have gotten us in trouble. There was a cactus patch just the other side of the fence at the back of the playground. We used to take turns slipping through the fence to get the prickly pear fruit that was on the other side. While not the easiest thing to eat, especially for kids with no tools of any sort, we enjoyed it. I haven't had any in a very long time, but I remember it tasting very good.

The other thing I like to eat that most find weird is peanut butter and pickle relish sandwiches. My ex was really grossed out by it, but he put up with it while I was pregnant, thinking it would go away. My mom used to make them for me as a kid, so I knew that it wouldn't. I still prefer pickle relish to jelly as an adult.

Now this next one grosses me out as an adult, but I loved it as a kid. My grandma used to make us kids a snack of peanut butter, butter and syrup sandwiches. What a sweet, sticky mess that was! We loved it. Thinking about it now, I know I would not be able to stand it.

I'm sure I've eaten other weird things, but those are the ones I remember.

A Catch Up Post

I know I haven't posted in a few days and I'm very sorry about that.  The weather has been constantly changing around here.  Not big changes, but it's enough to make me miserable.  I've gone into more detail about that here.

I was feeling ok this morning, but I ran out of time to write anything.  Today being a school day, I had to get my girls up and out the door.  It is now 6 1/2 hours later.  I've only just now managed to start laundry.  I haven't done anything else except relax while listening to a book in the hopes that my migraine would go away.

The girls will be home in less than an hour.  I'm hoping that they have little to no homework, as I'm not really sure I can deal with that right now.

Time for me to go lay down again until they get home.

Education

The subject for today's musings is brought to you by The One-Minute Writer.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2014

Today's Writing Prompt: Education

What do you think is the most important thing for today's kids to learn in school?

POSTED BY SONNET FITZGERALD AT 5:00 AM 0 COMMENTS

This is kind of a difficult one. I really don't think that any subject is more important than any other. However, I do think that my girls are learning many valuable things in their current school.

They are learning that if you take your time and do it right the first time, you don't have to do it over again. They are learning that they are responsible for their own actions. I've tried teaching them this one myself at home, but I think having someone else tell them what I have been saying has hit home better. We still have moments of “this is how I am”, but they are getting fewer.

In their previous two schools, the classes were so big that I think they kind of got lost in the shuffle. We are now in a very small town. So small, that the 2^nd and 3^rd grades are combined and there are still only 12 students in their class. With such a small class size, the teacher misses nothing. Shannon has always done well in school. She is now excelling. She is being challenged in a way that works very well for her. Fiona has never done well. She is now doing much better. She is still struggling, but her teacher is finding ways to push her to do her best.

Their homework must be completely correct before their teacher will accept it for a grade. She will look it over and have them make corrections. This has to happen before recess or they miss it. The same goes for classwork. Acting up in class can also result in missing recess. This one is hard on both of them, as they really need to burn off steam, but I think it is working.

They also have a daily homework journal, where the teacher can write notes to me if needed. There is also a weekly progress report that highlights what was done during the week as well as what is coming up.

Unusual Weather

The subject for today's musings is brought to you by The One-Minute Writer.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014

Today's Writing Prompt: Unusual Weather

You look outside: Ah, it's snowing! But look closer. Those aren't snowflakes falling from the sky!

What's it snowing at your house?

This one is almost too easy. Just yesterday, my fiance called me outside to observe the phenomenon. The tree right outside the door was coated in ice from the frost the night before. It had warmed up just enough, and the wind was blowing slightly, so that the frost was coming off the tree. It sounded like either rain or hail on the roof, but looked very much like snowflakes. It was beautiful!

Photo Editing - Day 1

I decided today would be a good day to take the camera out for the first time to see what pictures I could capture.  I found some good ones.  I just hope my editing did them justice.

Falling Down

Falling Down

I hate falling. I'm not the most graceful person alive so stumbling happens often. As does running into things. Luckily, I don't fall down often. Maybe that is why when I do fall, things don't turn out very well.

The first fall I remember happened in early grade school. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I vividly remember the fall itself. Well, the impact anyway, as I was asleep during the actual fall. My sister and I had a bunk bed set at the time. Now this was an old bunk bed that looked like it was made of cast iron. It also didn't have the safety bar that today's beds have. At the time, I would sleep right on the edge. As you can guess, I rolled off. Now the really odd part is that I had my head on one end of the bed when I went to sleep. When I woke up, face down on the floor, my head was where my feet should have been. This is probably a good thing, as my head probably would have hit the dresser next to the bed on the way down. My dad put a 2x4 bar across the next day. So while I never fell off that bed again, I've had back problems on and off since.

The next fall I remember very vividly. It was February 12, 1992. I was 10 years old and in the 5^th grade. It was PE day and we were jumping over the vaulting horse. No tricks, just jumping. Well, my foot got caught and I tripped. When I landed, my arms were crossed underneath me. I heard something snap. Loudly. I knew I had broke something and since my right wrist was on fire with pain, I figured that was it. Boy, was I right. My wrist was hanging lower than my arm or hand. It was creepy looking. I spent 4 weeks in a cast, during which I learned how to do a 1-handed cartwheel. I wasn't happy with my physical therapy after the cast came off. Mom, however, thought it was funny. Apparently, washing dishes is perfect wrist rehab.

The next fall I remember was the summer after 8^th grade. My cousin and I decided to go horse back riding. She offered to saddle the horse for me while I changed my clothes. Knowing that she knew how to the job correctly, I agreed. I then proceeded to fail miserably at checking to make sure it was done correctly. While riding, my saddle slipped. I rolled spectacularly, over VERY rocky ground. I hurt for weeks. On top of that, my already touchy back was in agony. My mom took me to a chiropractor to see if there was any damage done. That is when we discovered I have scoliosis. While it's not bad enough to need any corrective measures taken, it does cause problems.

The next fall that comes to mind was only a few years ago. I was home alone that day. I had a sinus infection and had stayed home from work. I had taken my girls to daycare so I could rest. I don't even remember now why I had decided to go to the basement that day, but it was a bad decision. I fell. There were 13 steps on that staircase and I fell all the way down. My head hit the basement door on the way down and put a hole through the drywall behind it. I never lost consciousness but I laid there for quite awhile, crying from the pain. Though I lived in that house for another year and a half, I hated going down those stairs. Laundry was an even more dreaded chore, as was any other chore that took me down there.

The most recent fall I remember was the summer of 2013. Ted and I had just got done watching his girls' dance recital and were headed back to the car. The ground we were walking on was very uneven and littered with obstacles. I was wearing some low wedged sandals. You would think I would remember to be a bit more careful with all of those stacked against me, right? I guess I wasn't careful enough. I stepped on a small branch and went down. It was almost cartoonish to see, I'm sure, as it was a very slow fall. You know the kind where you can feel your body tense the entire way down? That was the fall. My hip is still giving me trouble from it. I keep saying/thinking I should talk to my doctor about it, but I've been more concerned with getting my migraines under control.

The topic for this random musing was found using a new app I found on the Google play store, called WritingPrompts.

New Year Resolution Photos

Since one of my New Year's resolutions was to start taking more pictures, I decided to start today.  I took 2 of the girls out to spend some of their Christmas money.  On the way there, we passed this house.  It looked amazing.  There was frost covering the big tree.  It was magical!  I wish now that I had stopped then to take the picture.  Instead, I stopped on the way back.  This isn't the best picture, as it was taken from my phone.  I'll have to take the big camera with me on Sunday when I take Ted's girls back to their mom's.  Hopefully, the frost will be there again.

**This picture has been deleted and I can't find it again.  Sorry.**