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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. |
| Thanks so much for your awesome Christmas gifts. You "get" me. There are few people in my life who do. I'm so thrilled to call you friend. Love, Susan |
| You don't see The me that is me, The kindness that is Kevin, The love that is Liz, The joy that is Jason, The togetherness that is Tammi, The pain you inflict, or The havoc you wreak. It's all about you, you think, But it's really not. Will you learn that in time to salvage the shipwrecks of these relationships? |
| I stayed in my jammies until 7 pm. Then I went and took a shower and got into clean jammies. I also did laundry and cleaned a bit but I spent a good chunk of the day on the computer. Still need to wrap some presents and clean 3 bathrooms and vaccuum. Tomorrow, tomorrow. There's always tomorrow. |
| I am more than the number on my scale. I am more than my grey hair or my slightly crooked tooth. If you only focus on these externals, then you'll miss who I am. That's your loss, not mine. It's also your choice. Don't blame me for your perceived imperfections. I am me, the person I am now. I like me. I think I'm pretty damned wonderful as I am right now. If I lost weight I might be more beautiful in your eyes, but would you still not see the me in me? |
| in the car playing with my phone. I might be able to not lose this blog entry. LOL It's slow going just using my litle keys. I really want to get a full size keyboard for this thing. Vacation was fun. We got lots of sleep, not exactly what people get on a cruise ship for! We had rough seas getting to Grand Cayman so the pools were closed. Then in Grand Cayman our tour was canceled due to windy conditions so we didn't get to swim with the stingrays. At least in Cozumel we had sun and got to do the dolphin encounter. Key West is such a tourist trap. We took kiddo to the pirate museum and the shipwreck museum. More later. Kiddo is having issues in the back seat. |
| Been sick. I've decided to stop blogging about being sick, so I don't have much to blog about. It's just little niggling stuff...sinus infections, strep, coughs, head colds, etc. Nothing debilitating, just annoying and enough to sap all my energy. Barely the basics are getting done. Christmas presents are bought and shipped. Just got kiddo's left to wrap. Got a house to clean. Visitors coming after Chistmas and staying through New Year's. Yippee! I can't wait!!!!! I'll be offline pretty much until after the Holidays. Vacation. Cleaning. Spending time with family. Detoxing from techical life. LOL I will check e-mail once in a while. Let me know if I still owe you a return e-mail about anything. Lots of things are falling through the cracks. |
| He came home from the hospital yesterday with tons of antibiotics to take. Turns out he had a bit of pneumonia in both lungs. We're expecting a full recovery. Hopefully sooner rather than later since he's quite a grouch when he's ill. More later. Got a sick 5 year old squirming on my lap as I type. Fun, so fun. It was so much easier to have him on my lap when he was SMALL! Toodles.... |
| And I'm buzzing on energy right now. Sick, again. It never ends. I told my husband that psychologically I was a great teacher, but physically I can't handle being sick all the time. It would be such a fun job if I wasn't getting freakin' sick all the time.Send healing energy to my father in law and mother in law. FIL is in the hospital. I'm not sure what's going on, sounds serious but not life threatening. Gotta get some lunch then go get kiddo from school and take him to the park. What I really want to do is to take a bath and take a long, long nap. Didn't sleep well last night, what with a stuffy nose (could only breath through my mouth) and sleep apnea. Poor hubby, he didn't sleep well either. Toodles! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| So far 6 hours into the trip. Stopping at IHOP soon for dinner. Hopefully, traffic willing, we'll be at my wonderful mother in law's house by 9. We're all exhausted. Thanksgiving day with hubby's family, Friday lunch with my mom, friday dinner with my best friend & family, Saturday drive home. Sunday...relax. Oh, and go set up my classroom (1.5 hours probably) for work on Monday. Not much happening. Still tired from the antibiotics. 3 days left. Still coughing a bit, not as often but still as strong, if that makes sense. Feeling disjointed, writing disjointed. 11 miles to dinner! More later....much family drama to come, promise! LOL ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| I'm feeling beat... *my co-teacher had back problems today, so I really had to hustle. I didn't mind in the least, but I'm worried about her. *my mom is freakin' crazy and is creating all sorts of drama. She must not realize that she's about to push my brother over the edge and he'll cut off all contact FOREVER instead of the next six months (until he comes back from Iraq.) I just don't understand how her mind works, and I may never, and that's fine, but I'm tired of coping/dealing/managing the fallout. *my garage door went BOOM. My savings account is bleeding and I'm going to need to work full-time soon. I might be handing out stickers at Wal-Mart or stocking toilet paper at the grocery store (both fine jobs, by the way -- just not what I want to do with my time.) Better go. Still need a shower and to make lunches for tomorrow. Switch the laundry. Crap, just found out kiddo's drawer is bereft of long pants. Wonder if they are in the washer, dryer, or the laundry pile? |
| Just caught up on readng blogs and e-mail. Still, oh so tired. I think the meds are working. I'm coughing less gross stuff, but still coughing regularly. All I want to do is sleep. But that doesn't get the laundry done or the trash out or the myriad of other things that make this house run. Not to mention editing or doing any of my projects. *sigh* I'm so sick of this. This 12.5 hour/week preschool job is kicking my butt. I'm so tired of being sick all the time. Though the little colds I've had pale in comparison to this monstrosity. I'm depressed, frustrated, disappointed. |
| Actually, went to Urgent Care since my Dr. didn't have any sick appts for this afternoon. Once I decide to FINALLY go see the Dr, I ain't waiting! It takes so much to get me there to begin with! Cough still an issue. Fortunately, the nice PA-C who saw me says the cough isn't bronchitis or any type of lung infection and that the gunk I'm coughing up is actually from a sinus infection. So, antiboitics and a triple blend of antihistimine, decongestant, and cough suppressant are in my future. Can't wait for hubby to get home with my meds. I'm gonna suck 'em down like candy. I just can't take any more of this crap. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go do a Tupperware show at a crafts fair. Just set up at a table, take orders (I hope), etc. I'm so freakin' tired, I can't get motivated to get organized. Gotta figure out what I'm going to display and organize the Cash N' Carry products. I don't even know how much to charge for 'em. Fortunatly, my friend does know this stuff and will help me out.Gotta run. Kiddo is coming in and I need to put dinner in the oven. cough, cough....  |
| Yes, sick again. It's been since last Tuesday night. I won't go into details, but hubby did have to take kiddo to/from school on Friday. Thankfully he was able to change his schedule around. I've never been so sick so often before! I hear from other teachers that the first year is the worst 'cause you're always sick. All the little buggers have runny noses and coughs so it's no wonder that I can't stay well. It's just so freakin' frustrating 'cause I've got things to do! Things I want to do, even! All is well here. I've been weepy alot this week. I've also been writing in a paper journal fairly often, working out family issues. The cracks in my mom's relationship with all of her kids are spreading and fracturing. My brother, the one in Iraq, has cut off contact with her and my other brother has all but; he sees her/speaks to her not very often. I don't even know if she'd received my brother's e-mail cutting off the contact (just sent this week) 'cause she never talks to me about him and their issues. She never talks to be about anything of substance. Just pretending that all is well makes all well, in her world. It's so hard on the rest of us, including me. I'm off to make lunches and head to bed. Finally starting to feel better and it's time to go back to deal with the kidlets and their germs. Yes, I take my vitamins. Yes, I wash my hands all the time. No, I don't stick my fingers up my nose or rub my eyes. Yes, I had my flu shot. Yes, I get plenty of sleep, most nights. *sigh* |
| and since I didn't tag anyone, I thought I'd do part of it and share eight things that you don't know about me. 1. I'm afraid of the dark when I'm outside the house. Navigating through the house during a blackout is not a problem. 2. I love to take baths, though I rarely make the time to indulge. 3. I dyed my hair for the first time in September. It's a demi-permanent, so it will wash out and I won't get that ugly line. I swore (when I was younger and had no grey hair) that I would let mine grow in and never dye my hair. Oh, the folly of youth. 4. I love to read Nora Roberts books. And Janet Evanovich. And Sue Grafton. And whoever wrote the VI Warshoski books (yes, I know I butchered the name) and Ellis Peters. Love mysteries. 5. I do Reiki. Reiki permeates my life. 6. I'm secretly glad I don't need to keep taking kiddo to the ear doctor and audiologist again for 4 more months. 7. I hate beets and cilantro (and flat-leaf Italian parsley). Can't swallow 'em. 8. Swallowing usually isn't a problem.  |
MaryLou  wished that I would update my blog, so I am.I realized that I've only had one blog entry since I started my new job! Considering that I've been sick almost every single freakin' weekend since then, I'm wondering if that was a good idea. In case you missed it, I now teach preschool three mornings a week. Twelve 3-year olds. Twelve germ-laden mutating petri dishes. Another teacher told me that being sick the first year of teaching is standard, then you develop some sort of immunity. The whole class was toxic on Wednesday with coughs & snotty noses. Spraying the room with Lysol won't help much as the 2-year old class uses my classroom on Thursday and Friday. Hmm...guess I could on Sunday, but I wonder how long it would take that nasty smell to get out of space? Lysol is toxic too. I can't believe how much working three mornings a week has totally messed up my plans. Between driving kiddo to school and work, those days are shot. Thursday is generally my day to hang out and then by Friday, I've got another cold! Migraines have also been an issue. If I wasn't sick, I had a migraine. I am working with my Dr. on getting 'em under control, so no worries. Kiddo is doing great adjusting to his hearing aids. He got a great report card at school. Three tardies the first trimester though...one was a Dentist's appt. And the day we had his conference, he was late! (Thursday of this week.) That wasn't my fault, at least. He woke up with a pulled groin muscle and almost didn't go to school at all that day. He's fine now and even made a goal at soccer this morning. MaryLou is egging encouraging me on from scroll. She says I MUST blog everday. Sweetie, I don't even get to shower every day, nevermind blogging. Good luck with that fantasy!My dad is down visiting. He's taking photos at the dirt track and since it's only 15 minutes from my house, we get to visit with him too! He travels all over the northeast (Ohio, NJ, NY, MD, DE, VA, and NC) so it's always fun when he's here. I love when he comes to visit. He just slides right into the routine, unlike other guests, and doesn't mind a bit of dust or mess. Most importantly, he doesn't try to "help" me out (which drives me freakin' crazy!) I've sold next to no Tupperware since Sept. Buy some! Sheesh...just too busy to think about it even though I need the money. We got a new bed. Our old futon frame was about to break. There were ominous creaks when there shouldn't be! So now I've got my first ever new bed! In my life! I've been on futons for forever. OK Mary, that's enough for now. Got lots more to say but no energy. Gotta do the dishes and put kiddo to bed. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
It's my 11th wedding anniversary today. We're too sick to celebrate.  Monday is my 4th WDC birthday. Woo hoo! *toddles off to bed* |
I needed a little frivolity today. |
| It's been an emotional roller coaster of a day. Worst part? Morters or rockets landed 1000 feet from my brother's office in Baghdad today. He ran over with the aid bag to see if he could help. Medics were on the scene and as soon as it was secured, he went back to work. He witnessed one dead person, parts of whom that should never see the light of day. There were also 11 injured. My brother is a sensitve soul. This will, actually, I don't know what this will do to him. I'm afraid of who he'll be when he comes home, that he'll have lost something special and cherished over this stupid war that our moronic president and his big business minions have gotten us into. It ain't right. |
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