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 |  My journal. Rated GC for an occaisonal four-letter word or two. |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Hmm...one day I'll write a newer introduction. Maybe I should make a static item of all my different introductions.  New Introduction, October 31, 2005 It's time to update this introduction. Since June 2005, I've packed up and moved from Armenia to the US, found a house, waited a month for settlement, moved in, found a preschool for my son, got settled in, and maybe found my sanity. Maybe. I'm just now getting back to writing. Read on for more about me and life in the US. Original Introduction: I live in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia nine months out of the year. The rest of the time you can find me living out of a suitcase in the US or on one of our travels somewhere. This journal started out as a description of my life in Armenia, but I've amended it since I've realized that life there is very similar to life everywhere. I don't have a car, clothes dryer, microwave, or dishwasher but I've learned one doesn't really need those things to have a fulfilling life. Some days I'm just estatic over a slow trickle of hot water which can mean the difference between being smelly for another twenty-four hours or being clean. By the way, DH=dear husband; DS=darling son; MIL=mother-in-law. You get the picture. |
| Just when it's time to freak out, the universe steps in. In the huge pile of mail that accumulated while hubby was away, was a check for $700 from the mortgage company. They had miscalculated our escrow amount and over-collected. Woo hoo! That's half the AC repair money right there! Someone, who I don't know, must have clicked through from a TWare banner ad and placed a small order. Granted, it's not much, but it does restore my faith in my ability to pay my bills. Hubby is home! Kiddo is thrilled. Life is good. |
| New stuff went on sale through June 23rd. Lots of it is discontinued items, so if you want something, now is the time to get it. Here's where to find it: Go to: http://my.tupperware.com/SusanSmithThompson Click on Shop Scroll over "Category" Click on "Save 24-40%". That's the stuff on sale through the 23rd. Sorry for the convoluted instructions. I couldn't find a way to link directly to it. Me, I'm getting the Super Cereal Savers because I can store one of those huge bags of cereal from Sam's Club in there. And I'm also getting the Silicone Wonder Mat Jr because it fits in the toaster oven tray and now I won't have to line it with aluminium foil when I make fish sticks or chicken nuggets. Imagine, baking just a few of the cut and cook cookies on the Silicone Wonder Mat Jr...snacks will never be the same. And if you were planning on ordering, today would be a good day to do it. I'm just shy of making the goal to the next level of host gifts for the Mystery Host Party. You could win some fabu prizes. I'll be submitting the order later tonight. |
| Help me pay for my $1200 AC repair. Yikes, it's getting hot! |
| Good morning, I've already put kiddo's wet sheets in the washer, and I'm hoping and praying he doesn't wet our bed as well. Last night he insisted on NOT wearing a pull up, which I felt compelled to honor. Who am I to not let him try out some independence? He got up a little after 6 AM, changed his wet clothes, crawled into bed with me, took up my pillow and most of the bed, and started to snore in my ear. I gave up and folded the clothes in the dryer to make room for the clothes in the washer to make room for the wet stuff. Then I came downstairs, made some tea, checked e-mail, and decided to write to you. Part of this e-mail may double as my blog entry today. I'm too lazy to rewrite it, same stuff. Psychologically, I'm in a much better place this morning, though I really wasn't in a bad place yesterday. But spending too much time without having adult conversations really does drag one down. I went to my Tupperware sales rally last night, even though I was feeling sick. Someone else drove, so I just had to make it up to Concord Mills and back. My nose was a little stuffy, though it was all in my throat and the back of my nose. No fever (otherwise I'd a stayed home). And that fuzzy headed feeling...stuffed with fluff, a bit spacy. Well, this morning it's all shifted to my chest, which feels kinda full. And I'm coughing up this nasty stuff. Once I finish this e-mail, I'm heading up for a hot, steamy shower ALONE since hopefully kiddo will still be asleep. Besides, he took a bath at Carter's house last night, and came home wearing Carter's pj's. It was so cute. I won two things at the sales rally, a money bag (woo hoo) and a fridge smart container. Since we don't use those, and I have another one to use as a sample (different size) I'll probably give this one away during a raffle at Tracy's party. By the way, you need to babysit on Wednesday the 24th so I can do her party. And you need to babysit on Monday June 19th so I can take a Reiki class. And I'm not sure that I'll make my sales goal this month, so it would be good for you to take some catalogs into work, if you're interested. If I make my goal, I get more almost free stuff. AND I WANT IT!!!! LOL If I make all three monthly goals, I get a FREE pan! Potty break, maybe more later, maybe not. Love you! Susan |
| Three book reviews edited! Two book reviews written and uploaded for editing. One more to do and then I'll be caught up. I've two more in the queue but they aren't late. Got a cold. Kiddo has a red circle around his vaccination spot, well, around one of the three. He's been pretty low key and not wanting to go out. Many bursts of energy followed by long periods of rest. Good for me! *waves* Until tomorrow |
| Kiddo was pretty low key. He got vaccinations at the Dr's office yesterday and has been lethargic. No fever. His cough is getting better. I'll be putting him down to bed soon, and probably heading that way myself. No editing or book review writing done today...it's getting embarrasing. (And the computer was hibernated before I could finish. Too many open windows and projects kept me from finishing last night.) |
Can you get your act together and write 30K words in three weeks? Try it! You might like it!
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| Maybe I'll sleep if I can get all these thoughts swirling around in my head onto paper, so to speak. I know I'm behind in writing anything when I start blogging in my head. Had to take kiddo to the Dr. today. His cough got worse and NONE of the OTC stuff I had was working. So off we went at 5 pm for a 5:40 appt...which ended at 6:40 because they were running late. Hopefully the prescription cough medicine (which also has some antihistimine) will give him some much needed relief tonight. I'm exhausted. I went to bed later than usual and then he was coughing all night and woke up up several times. At one point he wandered into my bed and coughed in my ear all night. Got some organizational atuff done and connected with a few friends. Taking care of myslef by not alienating myself as I ususally do when under stress. That pattern doesn't seem to be working for me any longer, so I'm going to try something new and reach out to others to connect. Speaking of old patterns not working....coffee and iced tea seem to be on their way out of my life. I bought a small iced tea this afternoon and didn't even finish it. Chocolate chips the other day didn't cut it either. What am I going to do without my crutches of chocolate and caffeine when I'm stressed? LOL...get healthy? lose weight? feel better? The laundry is churning and the dishwasher is running. No matter how tired I am, I shine the sink and reboot the laundry before going to bed, especially since hubby is away. The rest of the house is going to hell in a handbasket, especially the bathrooms, but we've clean clothes and room to throw dirty dishes. How do we manage to go through so many spoons a day??? From an e-mail I sent today: I now have a sick kid. We just got back from the doctor's office and now are awaiting the pharmacy to fill his cough medicine. Poor kid has been coughing non-stop due to something, we know not what. Allergies are rampant here and Claritin doesn't seem to be helping and no one has Children's Sudafed on the shelves. I'm ready to cry, hell, I am crying. They did a rapid culture for strep and that was negative, thankfully. It never fails, every time my husband goes out of town for a long trip (longer than a weekend) we're in the Urgent Care or Dr.'s office due to illness and something always goes wrong with the house. Last time all the smoke detectors went off due to low batteries. But, on a positive note, my son just took himself to the toilet and is wiping his own butt. woo hoo! Crap, I hate crying. It wouldn't be so bad if ALL of my projects weren't backed up or over due. OK...I'm better now. LOL....sheesh. END OF E-MAIL And now I'm off to bed. I'll get cozy with a couple of Tylenol PM (I always feel crappy after crying) and maybe I'll get up bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to work my sorry ass off. |
| Hot dogs are cooking. That's what he wanted tonight. I wanted to go to the sports bar place for a good salad, but I'm too tired to keep up with him at a restaurant. So, hotdogs, cukes, carrots, dip, and leftover green beans. Gotta go to the store tomorrow since we're running low on fruits and veggies. We went to Reedy Creek Park again today. He wanted to go hiking and got his backpack all ready. So, around 11, we left. And came back at 2....hot and sweaty and smelling like bug spray. We took a LLOOONNNGGG hike. I had to carry him on my back part way. I was tuckered out by the end, so I know he must be exhausted. But I'm the one who wanted a nap after we got home, not him. The nature center is sooo cool, very child friendly. We'll be going back again. You can even rent a fishing pole and fish on one of their two lakes. He's building a huge castle right now, in the middle of the hallway. I've done no work today except nurture our child. Love you, Susan |
| Munchkin finally dropped off a few moments ago. I had to go sit next to his bed and out he went. I let him sleep with me Fri and Sat but I want a break. I want to be ALONE! Do you realize that when you come back, I'll have been a month with no real alone time? Those few hours in the morning while he was at school were so precious to me and recharging myself. No worries today. We went to Quaker Meeting and then over to Reedy Creek Park afterwards. Thuja and her two kids and Joan wandered by later. Munchkin had fun playing with the kids. We're going to go back and go hiking. I told him that we'd need to pack our water and some snacks and our bug spray (do we have any?) in our backpacks and walk some trails. Then later, when I told him we'd go out for a walk and deliver the Tupperware flyers, he went and filled his backpack with snacks! LOL I got frustrated when he wouldn't go to bed. Just kept putzing around. He lost his reading privileges tonight. I was kinda snappy at him. Turns out I was mostly hungry but didn't realize it. And believe it or not, my diary free chocolate chips didn't make me feel any better. I got into them because I felt stressed, but soon put them away. Bagel crisps and hummus are really doing it for me right now! Not sure what we'll do tomorrow. He's been napping in the afternoon, but I think once he recharges, he'll stop that. I'm avoiding the pool for as long as possible. Once he knows it's open, then we'll have to be there all the freakin' time. I'm still so far behind on all of my projects. It's causing anxiety and insomnia. I've been waking up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep, but too tired to get up and do anything. And it's not caffeine. I've cut way back and have been drinking herbal tea (peppermint or red raspberry) or water. I'm hoping that without him snoring in my ear I'll sleep better. Love ya, Susan |
Susan's Mystery Host Party Everyone who places an order* before June 10, 2006 will be entered into a drawing to win these fabulous host prizes! Personal Salt & Pepper Shaker ($2 value) Ideal Lit'l Bowl ($4.50 value) Fix-N-Mix Bowl ($18 value) when we hit $100 in mystery host party sales HALF PRICE OFFER** when we hit $200 in mystery host party sales ANOTHER HALF PRICE OFFER** at $400 in mystery host party sales A THIRD HALF PRICE OFFER** at $1000 in mystery host party sales When we get to $500 in mystery host party sales AND 2 or more people date their own catalog party ADD: Ideal Lit'l Bowl set ($13 value) Summer Carry-All Set ($122 value) Summer Dining Set ($115 value) Place your order today! E-mail me with your phone number and a good time to call, and I'll call you to take your order. Pay via Pay Pal or Credit Card (I need all payments before midnight on June 10th to count towards this party.) See my website for the current full line catalog and sales flyer! (e-mail me and I'll send you the URL) * Internet orders do not count towards this mystery host party offer. Only orders placed directly with me. **From the full line catalog, not the monthly sales flyer |
| My mom, who was visiting for 10 days, left on Wednesday. My son finished preschool on Thursday (yesterday.) My husband leaves for Pakistan today for two weeks. I have: 5 book reviews to write. Two due this weekend. 1 book to copy edit. 1 magazine to copy edit. A Tupperware business to run. Plus, keeping kiddo well fed, dressed, and reasonably clean. Yikes. |
| All natural ingredients in their natural form. Salt, fat, and potatoes. Thank goodness McDonad's perfected the anti-migraine hashbrown. Two for a dollar even...a bargain at half the price. And to wash them down (yes, them, because you can't eat just one) an unsweetened iced tea. Yummy and medicinal, all at the same time. Imagine this...pulling out of the McDonald's parking lot, driving one handed because the other hand, while grasping a half eaten hashbrown, is holding onto Grandma's Mother's Day flowers balanced precariously in the front seat. woo hoo! Living dangerously I am. Feeling as good as I was, I would have sacrificed the flowers to save the hashbrown.  |
| Oreo Cookies a haiku White creamy goodness Crunchy chocolate cookies Under stress? Grab some!
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| Part of the reason I'm behind is 'cause I sat and read a book yesterday. I was hooked! And even though I didn't have the brain power to edit, I could have cleaned. |
| My regular e-mail account isn't working. My mom is coming in tomorrow and the house is filthy. I'm behind on my paid work. I'm behind on my volunteer work. I'm still sick...sort of. Not 100% yet. I just want my damn e-mail to work!!! grrrr |
| I'm sick. And he's so understanding. He made dinner. He cleaned up from dinner. He's taking the trash out. And all he asks of me is to keep kiddo out of his way while he's working. He doesn't like to say it too often, but he shows it every day. I am loved. |
| Please accept my apologies, dear readers. It's been quite hectic around here. I took my Reiki 2 class, and now I'm going to work backwards and take Reiki 1, just as a refresher. My mom is coming into town in 10 days and I'm hoping that she can take the class with me. My body and my mind are adjusting to the energy work. I've learned that I need to take better care of myself and to trust myself. Today, I took myself out to get my hair cut, the first time since Christmas. And I bought myself a new outfit for Tammi's Bridal Tea on Saturday. (Oh yeah, I'm flying to Baltimore for the day on Saturday to attend.) I even said NO to something someone asked of me and didn't feel guilty. I felt disappointed in the situation, because I wanted to help, but I didn't feel guilty about saying no. I've picked up a job as a fiction editor for an erotica site. Little pay but it is the first rung on the ladder if I want to continue in this field. And I do. I like it so much better than writing for pay. And, as you can tell by previous entries, I've started selling Tupperware, my new hobby. My hobby finances my editing right now. Oh well. There's so much to learn, it's a bit overwhelming. Gotta run. Kiddo needs a shower. Toodles! *waves* |
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