tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57582965070836506472024-03-06T00:05:48.159-08:00Things to ponder...Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-60420311964157174452012-06-26T09:52:00.000-07:002012-06-26T17:52:43.382-07:00On being a S.A.H.M.So I don't know about you, but I am starting to see a pattern. The only time I actually have time to blog is on summer break or winter break. I think that says something about how busy a teacher's life really is.<br />
<br />
Another summer has begun. Yay!! I had hoped to be earning some extra income by teaching summer school but things did not work out as planned so I get another 8 weeks of being a stay-at-home mommy. This is my second full week of summer vacation and I am already getting restless. Don't get me wrong; with a four year old and a one year old I am always busy, but the ways in which I am spending my days are not exactly the most exciting. The kids are having a BLAST but I am a bit bored. <br />
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A typical schedule is beginning to look like this:<br />
<br />
Wake up when Jillian wakes up<br />
Change her diaper<br />
Feed her (this is about the time Jackson bee-bops down the stairs)<br />
Feed Jackson<br />
Clean up<br />
Squeeze in a cup of coffee<br />
Begin the process of getting ready for the day which can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours - depending on how destructive Jillian is feeling that particular day.<br />
Complete some sort of morning activity (coloring, walking around the neighborhood, playing on the church playground, story time at the book store, library, bubbles, patio fun, play dough, paint, etc.)<br />
Lunch Time<br />
More Clean Up<br />
Naps (Ahhhh...the best hour of the entire day!) This is usally the time I can actually get something done like laundry, bill-paying, facebook checks, appointment calls, etc.<br />
Prepare for afternoon activity (pack many snacks, several drinks, sun screen, bug spray, diaper bag etc.)<br />
Park, pool, sprinkler, black top fun, or shopping<br />
Dinner Time<br />
More Clean Up<br />
Bath Time<br />
Play time downstairs aka destruction of play area (which is also our living room)<br />
Kids go to bed<br />
More Clean up<br />
Sleep<br />
Repeat!<br />
<br />
<br />
During all of this I feel as if I am spending the entire time picking up after them. I know this sounds like a complaint but honestly it's not. It is simply how it is. Any tips from other stay-at-home mommy's on how I could make things less mundane would be welcomed! <br />
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On a side note I think I will start keeping a log of My Lessons on Being a Stay-At-Home Mom. Here are just a few from the list I am compiling. These are MY lessons and directed toward myself, so don't worry, I am not trying to advise you on how to be a stay-at-home mom. If you will remember, I learned my lesson during potty-training time. I have no business thinking I know anymore than other mom's out there.<br />
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<u>MY lessons (more to come as I continue to learn)</u><br />
#1 Don't worry about rushing to the book store for story time at 10am. Your kids aren't going to pay attention anyway. <br />
#2 Keep the kids out of the house- it's much less work for you and much better for the safety of the house!<br />
#3 Don't bother to pick up the toys during nap time, they just get pulled right back out before the afternoon activity begins<br />
#4 Don't worry about carrying your phone with you everywhere you go. No one ever calls you until you put it down during dinner, bath, and bedtime, at which point; you will miss 2 to 3 calls and they will all leave messages griping at you for not answering your phone. So really, don't worry about it between the hours of 8am and 5 pm.<br />
#5 If you turn the t.v. to an educational show (like Sesame Street or Super Why) you will feel much less guilty about letting your four year old watch too much television<br />
#6 Your toddler could care less about t.v. so you better find something else besides Big Bird to act as a baby-sitter long enough to do the dishes. Turns out that Crayola comes in handy here, although you should be prepared to find "colorful" diapers later in the day. <br />
#7 Always, always, always, have plenty of goldfish, fruit snacks, or crackers on hand.<br />
#8 There is no such thing as too much sunscreen.<br />
#9 A little dirt in the diet never hurt anyone.<br />
#10 The dirtier your children are the happier they will be.<br />
#11 An extra nap in the car is totally worth the waste of gas!<br />
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<br />Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-54037560742001238282011-07-26T19:43:00.000-07:002014-10-27T09:25:17.819-07:00The Story of Stumpy...our Five Legged CricketSo anyone who knows me is aware that I am not fond of anything classified as a creepy crawly. If it creeps, I don't like it. If it crawls, I don't like it. If it JUMPS or FLIES, I REALLY don't like it. My husband takes tremendous delight in this particular character trait of mine. In fact within the past three or four months he has accosted me with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaphidophoridae">cricket spider</a> (the very worst kind of creepy crawly), the shell or jacket of a dead <a href="http://derek.broox.com/photos/vics-graduation-karis-birthday/6471/">June Bug</a>, and just the other night he threw a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2011-05-11-cicada-great-southern-brood-13-years_n.htm">cicada</a> in the shower with me! I am perfectly aware that these little creatures are harmless but they are ugly and they scare me. So a few weeks ago I sat down in the bathroom and gasps when I noticed a little <a href="http://www.vtaide.com/png/cricket.htm">black cricket</a> tucked into the corner between our bathtub and the wall. I gasped but didn't really freak because it was only a little cricket and I noticed it wasn't moving much so I figured I would get Charlie to come get it out of the bathroom in a few minutes. Well, believe it or not I forgot about the little thing until later that night when I went back into the bathroom and saw it again, this time just a few inches away from it's original spot. Charlie had already left for work so now I was on my own. I tested it's bravery (as I have learned some bugs are more brave/stupid than others) by putting my flip flop close to it, waiting to see it's reaction, ready to strike if the little booger decided to jump straight at me. Rather than jump it just moved an inch or so away, and that's when I noticed that he was handicapped. Now this, of course, changed everything.<br />
<br />
I do HATE creepy crawlies but I have a soft spot for ALL things injured. I once cried (really cried) after killing a lady bug and then noticing another lady bug left all alone not far from the scene of the crime. All I could imagine was that I was the reason this little bug would now be alone, what if I had just killed the love of her life? Or what if it was her child? Or mother or father? Oh, I was so distraught! It didn't help that the Titanic theme song "My Heart Will Go On" was playing on the radio at the time.<br />
<br />
So here I was looking at this little creature who was missing one of his back legs and thinking "Oh, poor little guy." Should I put him out of his misery? After all, how could a cricket of all things survive with a missing leg? I was completely puzzled about how and or why he had found his way into our bathroom in the first place, he must have been separated from his family somehow. Poor guy. So I decided NOT to put him out of his misery. What if one of his buggy family members came to save him? Or what he had an escape route in mind and he was just waiting for me to go to bed so he could travel without fear (I don't think he knew about Sammie...who just happens to be a fierce cricket huntress...if she had any idea that this bug was in her house then he would be DOOMED!) So I turned off the bathroom light and went to bed so that this cricket could do what he needed to do. I didn't think about him again until the next night.<br />
<br />
This time, he was in the opposite corner of the bathroom just sitting. I noticed him but again decided he was obviously no harm to me so I would leave him be. The next day he was in the bottom of our bathroom closet. The next day I saw him sitting by the bathroom trash can. At this point I started thinking that we had a phenomena on our hands. This cricket was never-ending. He obviously had a passion for life and did not plan on giving up easily. Surely he hadn't eaten since the time he got lost in our bathroom and had his unfortunate accident. His buggy family had not come to his rescue. He HAD to be in pain, and scared, and hungry. I should put him outside right? But how would he survive? So about week and half after first noticing the guy I asked Charlie if he had seen this cricket living in our bathroom. Charlie said yep and he agreed that this insect must really want to live. So we decided to call him our pet and give him a name. Stumpy was the obvious choice of course. I went to sleep that night satisfied with our decision to accept Stumpy as part of our family. The next morning as I was in the bathroom I let my eyes roam the room looking for our little friend. He was gone. Nowhere to be seen. I assume his time had come. I am convinced that Stumpy was listening to our conversation and that perhaps all he needed before crossing over was a little peace. Once he had been given a name he was free to go. I miss Stumpy. I had made a little game of looking for him and yes even smiled when I found him a new a place. Now Stumpy is gone. I hope he is happy wherever he may be. R.I.P. Stumpy.Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-8732442041121487982011-07-13T19:34:00.000-07:002011-07-13T19:53:04.614-07:00Potty Training....a Lesson in HumilityWell I think I can say it out loud now. I think I can say it out loud and REALLY mean it. I will never watch or listen to another parent again and think or say "they should do it 'this' way..." or "they're doing it all wrong..." Yes it is now fully confirmed in my mind that I will NEVER again have an opinion about what parents are doing right or wrong with their own children. What brings on this very strong conviction? The daunting realization that I have been blessed with the most strong willed child I have ever known. <br />
<br />
Now you may be thinking "Oh, Rachel you only have two kids (one of which is still too young to have a will of her own), you don't know what a strong-willed child is." Let me quickly remind you that other than my sisters three children and and the many other children I have come to know since the time of high school baby-sitting, summer day camps, volunteer work, etc. I have been a full time teacher to appx. 200 students. 200 kids whom I have had in my classroom for 180 days at a time. 200 kids that I grew to know and love. I have dealt with a huge variety of personalities. The charmers, the hams, the smart ones, the not-so smart ones, the angry ones, the terribly sad ones, the overly excited ones, the rude ones, the quiet ones, the LOUD ones, the annoying ones, the obnoxious ones and the best-all-around ones. Now each year I consider myself lucky to have 2-3 best-all-arounder's out of a group of about 22 students; so I should be very aware that these are few and far between. And yet I somehow still expected my son to be one. <br />
<br />
I have been anticipating the exciting task of potty-training for many, many months now. In fact, I would have bet money that Jackson was ready to begin way back in December. I wasn't ready in December but I was pretty sure that he was. I made the decision to wait until this summer, he would have just turned three (the recommended age for potty training) and I would have loads of time to dedicate to this adventure. Because I knew it was coming, I did what all modern mommies do. I read several books, every magazine article I could get my hands on, and everything that popped up when I googled "potty-training". I asked everyone I knew how THEY did it and listened to the advice of my sister, my mom, my best friends, and even Dr. Satterwhite (a well-known local pediatrician) who has two wonderful pod-casts available on the subject. I was so prepared and thought it was going to be a piece of cake. A walk in the park. A few days of messy puddles and I would only have one baby left in diapers.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhksrDWLwXG4Eh8GWiPOITFSm3_faE8V3TWC5baZHCBXjTbQeEOSFyBdp9QhCrQZxLEeIRrRqVYz-KG-QTEq1DP-UQ7nS4GNMiI6WftKnnDU_K0KZqGnzmCPdU-6lqUFFtDgTrT8SWiYY/s1600/More+random+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhksrDWLwXG4Eh8GWiPOITFSm3_faE8V3TWC5baZHCBXjTbQeEOSFyBdp9QhCrQZxLEeIRrRqVYz-KG-QTEq1DP-UQ7nS4GNMiI6WftKnnDU_K0KZqGnzmCPdU-6lqUFFtDgTrT8SWiYY/s320/More+random+030.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXwHE67cx6v-jsNq07sNwkfEM5DxHPOKfSGw5zy2d2q-GgKW6OSRHIVSoR09Y0r_m1dLDBImOD8S2K4wKLK6XKVb1FYU2hiAXsqEpvUJIqXRsKL8GDjHxzQxz4do-mjNKO7NjZE0t56ZD/s1600/Jackson+on+potty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXwHE67cx6v-jsNq07sNwkfEM5DxHPOKfSGw5zy2d2q-GgKW6OSRHIVSoR09Y0r_m1dLDBImOD8S2K4wKLK6XKVb1FYU2hiAXsqEpvUJIqXRsKL8GDjHxzQxz4do-mjNKO7NjZE0t56ZD/s320/Jackson+on+potty.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><br />
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As the time approached I was spending time with a dear friend who is currently potty training her own newly-turned-three year old. She has not gone through all the trouble I have to prepare so as I watched her change his pull-up for the up-teenth time since she has started training him MONTHS earlier. The thought went through my mind, "she's doing it all wrong". I didn't say anything because I DID learn a while back to keep my opinions to myself as far as parenting goes. Now I know just not to have any opinions at all. From here on out I will watch and observe others and simply think "huh...I guess that works for them." At the time however I was thinking; doesn't she know your not supposed to use pull-ups? They are the same thing as a diaper. Doesn't she know she can't just let him run loose without constantly reminding him and asking him? Doesn't she know that she needs to be rewarding him every time he DOES go to the potty or perhaps taking something away every time he DIDN'T? Oh I was so knowledgeable on the subject, I wanted to share my worldly knowledge with her but as I said earlier I have learned to keep my opinions to myself (insert laugh here). <br />
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I began on a Friday morning. The plan was to have a potty training boot camp. We would not leave the house for two maybe three full days. Jackson would be pumped with salty snacks to keep him thirsty and tons of fruit juice to ensure that he would have to pee frequently. We went straight to big-boy undies. No pull-ups/diapers for this family. I even recruited my niece Katie and nephew Matthew to help. Matthew would be a wonderful model and Katie would be great at helping me with Jillian. After all, since I do have an infant in the house there would be times when I would not be able to wait on Jackson to pee on the potty so they were there to help make sure Jackson was never left unattended. These two days of boot camp were somewhat successful. He DID pee in the potty several times and he did get super excited about singing the pee-pee song and being rewarded with m&m's. But he never once said "I have to go potty", almost four weeks later and these magical words still have not been spoken. Although he never liked being told to go pee pee on the potty, by day three he absolutely HATED it. He would get so angry that he would start screaming, yelling, crying, stomping his feet and repeating over and over again "I'm done, I'm done, I'm done." Of course he was not. It quickly got to the point that when he DID finally pee he would cry or scream the entire time it was coming out and he would rock back and forth saying "no, no, no, no." As soon as he was finished I would get super excited and give high fives and he would say "I want M&M's".<br />
<br />
After day five I was extremely frustrated and thinking "why isnt this working?" rather than things getting better each day they were actually getting worse. He got to the point he was AFRAID to have any kind of bodily function. This was VERY bad news for us because we already knew that he was afraid to have a BM. He actually held it in for TWO WHOLE WEEKS not long ago, just because he thought it was grose and he didn't want to. TWO WEEKS! who does that? So now he was/is afraid to pee and so had another opportunity to show just how stubborn he can be. He sat on the potty for three hours once, I was DETERMINED to win this battle of wills. Nothing. He held his pee in for 15 hours straight one day. 15 HOURS! When he finally did pee on that day it went EVERYWHERE and he was totally traumatized by the mess it made. So only went once more within that 24 hour period and screamed the entire time. On day five I realized that I had been so focused on him peeing in the potty that I hadn't noticed the fact that he had not had a BM since the first day of the training. Here we go again. So on day seven we gave him a suppository and sat him on the toilet. He completely FREAKED out. He gave himself a hemorrhoid. We were getting ready to head to the ER when it miraculously seemed to correct itself but since then the boy has been pumped with whole grains, apple juice and miralax on a daily basis. With all that he still only allows himself to go once every 2 to 3 days. Our doctor, and common sense says that we need to back off. At least until he overcomes this fear of his. The doctor's theory is that he will get it when he ready to get it. She says "he won't go to kindergarten without being potty trained." I cant help but wonder if Jackson might just be the child to prove her wrong on this one.<br />
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This whole experience has caused me to spend quite a bit of time reflecting on other times in which Jackson has shown his strong will and stubbornness. The first example I can think of is when he said "I love you" at 18 months old. I was so super-excited that I yelled and clapped and gave him a big hug and asked him to say it again. He did not. He didn't say those three simple words again for another 18 months. Another great example, when he was a little over two he took all of our DVD's and scattered them all over the living room floor. I didn't really care, because I am apparently a SUPER laid back mom about many things that I never thought I would be, but I insisted that when it was time - he had to clean them up. He didn't want to clean them up. So he looked me straight in the eye and said "no". 45 minutes, three time-outs, and one spanking later I eventually had to physically wrap his fingers around the movie and pull his arm until it was placed back on the shelf. We had to do this with EVERY movie. It was a ridiculous fight but I won that battle and now when I say "pick up the movies." He picks them up. Another example; he just recently started saying Amen at the end of each prayer. We have been saying our prayers for meals and every night before bed time since he was a tiny baby. The boy can say words like triceratops and tyransaurs rex but when we told him to say "amen" he just refused. And last but certainly not least is his separation anxiety, since he was about 8 or 9 months old he began totally freaking out everytime I left him. I know this is VERY normal for young children and everyone says "it will pass, it will pass." Well Jackson has gone to the same day care since he was 6 months old. The morning routine is always the same, he sees the same faces every day but had JUST gotten to the point where he stopped screaming every morning at drop off before we pulled him out for the summer. Now after spending all day every day with his mommy (his favorite person in the entire world) I can only imagine how horrible drop-off will be when he begins again in August. <br />
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He didn't' want to say "I love you" because he knew how badly we wanted him to, he didn't want to pick up the movies because he knew how badly I wanted him to, the same with saying "amen" and now apparently he won't pee or have a BM because he knows that it is what I want more than anything else out of him! I got him to pick up the movies with sheer determination and a stressful battle of wills, he finally started saying "I love you" and "amen" because we stopped asking him to; we stopped caring about it. So now with this potty training business I realize that I probably could settle in for an epic battle of wills that could last days or perhaps weeks. A battle that would probably involve a bladder infection and a trip to the E.R. due to being overly compacted. Or I could stop caring, stop asking, and stop letting him know how important it is to me. The bad news is. Since he now understands when he IS peeing I just can't bring myself to put him back in diapers. Besides he could use the continued practice of pulling his own pants up and down every time we change him so what does that mean for us? Pull-ups. Yes, the one thing I was so determined to not use. I am now living the life of the dear friend. You know the one that I wanted to share my worldly advice with. Last week she kinda laughed about my whole potty-training ordeal and said that when I told her about the potty training boot camp she knew it wasn't going to work for Jackson. She said that after hearing about how long he went with a BM (two weeks) just because he didn't want to, she knew he would buck-up when I put him through boot camp.<br />
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Ahhh....so here I am. Eating my own words and thoughts. Hence the decision to no longer form opinions or make judgements about the way other parents do things with their own children. I will no longer sit back and think that I could do it better. I have had a wonderful lesson in humility and most importantly I have learned that I am the very LAST person to think they know squat about potty training. <br />
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On a separate note, in addition to potty-training, Jackson continues to be my daily test from God. He wraps me around his little finger with his magical smile one minute and then has me ready to give him away to first taker the next. He comes up to me at least five times a day just say "mommy, I want a hug." He jumps up and down with excitement every time he discovers something new or happens to see something he is particularly fond of. He sings songs and sways back and forth with no rhythm at all in the cutest way possible. He has a heart of gold and would never hurt anyone (intentionally) and has his own little heart broken by just the smallest insult or injury. If someone he considers a friend says something hateful or gets a little too rough his little face will just crumble, his shoulders will sag and you can just tell he is heart broken. So he is such a sweet sweet child. However, if I am anywhere near him when we go out in public he acts like a completely different child. He won't acknowledge others, he gets mad when people say hi to him, he doesn't play with others, in fact he is so up my rear that I am lucky if he leaves my side for more than five minutes. He gives the impression of being a whiny little brat. It absolutely mortifies me and at the same time breaks my heart to see him act like this. I just wish he could show EVERYONE the amazing person he is rather than acting like such a terd (my favorite term of endearment for my little man). <br />
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So as I battle with my three year old I look across the room to see the sweetest and brightest smile imaginable from our sweet sweet Jillian. She is such a little blessing from God. Her smiles are endless and now to make it even better she has learned to laugh. She can roll over in all directions like a little pro, she is trying to scoot with her little legs and forearms, and is now eating out of a spoon! I love her so much. And her favorite person in the world? Her brother. Every time he walks into the room she starts kicking her legs and squealing. And he is so incredibly sweet with her. <br />
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Despite my ramblings about toddler troubles, believe me when I say I am having a blast being at home with my two babies. I love them both more than words can say. So here's to keeping my mouth shut and to no longer thinking I know what's best for every child. I will never again say "my child will never (fill in the blank)". I said my child would never wear pull ups. I just bought a value box with 96 pull-ups yesterday. Eating my words today. <br />
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<i>Charlie walked in on the middle of my blog and asked to add his own comment... </i><br />
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This is no longer Rachel blogging............it's Charlie. I love potty training. Between sitting down on a wet urinated spot on the couch and cleaning poop off of the floor like your child was a family pet, the joy never ends. Diapers........things of the past. We have upgraded to "pull-ups". I realize that "pull-ups" are just another word for Diapers but it's what makes me sleep at night. After all, the commercial says "I'm a big kid now" so it must be true.<br />
<br />
<b><i> <span style="font-family: georgia,bookman old style,palatino linotype,book antiqua,palatino,trebuchet ms,helvetica,garamond,sans-serif,arial,verdana,avante garde,century gothic,comic sans ms,times,times new roman,serif;">While we try to teach our children all about life,<br />
Our children teach us what life is all about.<br />
~Angela Schwindt</span></i></b>Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-41502878335541964642011-04-15T05:57:00.000-07:002011-04-15T05:57:09.877-07:00Mother of TWO!!So I am a bit surprised. When I anticipated this maternity leave I imagined being at home with a sleeping baby and more time on my hands than I would know what to do with. I envisioned little Jillian sitting peacefully in her little bouncy or swing or whatever type of contraption she enjoyed while I sat at the computer to blog, play on facebook, work on my photo books, etc. But somehow the majority of my maternity leave is over (I go back to work in two weeks)and this is the first time I have even thought about blogging. I did get one photo book completed but that was only because I had a shutterfly coupon that expired by a certain date; so I stayed up until 11:30pm the night of it's expiration just to make sure my book was complete and the order was placed. I have spent quite a bit of time on facebook but...don't we all?<br />
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I also envisioned using this time to exercise and loose some weight so that when I went back to work everyone would comment on how great I looked after just having a baby. If you could see me now, you would know exactly how that little fantasy played out for me. Let's just say there is a reason I became a member of calorie counter.com just this morning and why I recently placed an order for some diet pills. <br />
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Little Jillian truly is a very sweet baby. She smiles a lot. However, she IS a baby and like Jackson, she too seems to be what I like to call a "text-book baby." She does everything the books, magazines, and movies tell you she'll do. She fights sleep to the point of exhaustion, she requires a new diaper about once every hour or so, she is only entertained in one spot for about 20 minutes (ergo my vision of her sitting peacefully for hours while I play on the computer), and then if you throw acid reflux on top of all these typical baby antics you end with a sweet, chunky, little bundle of work. I am convinced that these people who brag about their babies sleeping through the night from day one, or NEVER spitting up, and hardly ever crying are delusional. They are simply people who live life always looking on the bright side. So they PRETEND that everything is perfect and then try to convince everyone else of the same thing. Well I am a VERY honest person; With myself and everyone else. So let me give it to you straight. Babies are HARD, they are difficult little creatures that take your sleep and all your energy. <br />
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Adding Jillian to our family has made one thing very clear to me. Mothers from earlier times are truly super women. They are Gods in their own right. How on earth any woman could be happy with a houseful of kids while the hubby stays gone all the time is beyond me. How did women find joy in life? Seriously, when I think of being a mom in the 1950's when it was common to have 4,5, or even more kids I am flabbergasted. They had to deal with babies and toddlers BEFORE all these wonderful modern novelties. They didn't' have everything right at their fingertips. If I need to warm a bottle I stick it in the microwave and WALA! I have a warm bottle in 30 seconds. If the baby has a dirty diaper, I take it off of her and throw it away, her new diaper will keep her clean and happy until it's time to <i>throw it away</i>. If she seems gassy, I give her Mylicon and WALA! She is no longer gassy. If she cries too much, I give her gripe water and WALA! She is calm. If she spits up too much when she is laid on her back I buy a fancy crib wedge and WALA! She is inclined. If my soon to be three year old won't sleep I "Google it" to find a solution. If I feel sad and lonely and like I am the only woman in the world going through this, I go to babycenter.com and immediately feel better after "chatting" with other moms going through the EXACT same thing! The list goes on and on. Being a mother is hard (in my opinion)but being a mother before "modern" times must have been TORTURE!!!! So my hat is off to all you wonderful and amazing women who paved the road for my own trip through motherhood.<br />
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I would continue with my ponderings but my bundle of work just started fussing so I will go feed her, burp her, change her, and then take little man to school for the day. I will then go to the grocery store for formula, diapers, bottle liners, etc. After her NEXT bottle I will start her laundry and finish Jackson's from yesterday. Later I have to sit down to pay all the medical bills from her birth that I have been putting off and I then I have to call my OB about permanent birth control. Hopefully I will find time to blog a bit more but I wouldn't count it;) Until next time...Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-27688777569549139382010-12-16T18:35:00.000-08:002010-12-16T18:35:59.606-08:00I'm back...for now!:)So my diary habits continue. Just as a young girl, I continue to go through my little bouts of journal keeping but then inevitably loose interest for quite a while. It has been 9 months since my last blog. The only reason I am here tonight is because I decided it was time to clean off my long list of "bookmarked" sites and found the link to my own blog. I have since spent the last 30 minutes reading over all my older posts which I thought were quite interesting. It's funny how quickly one forgets things; which is of course the whole point of journaling right? So you won't forget things that have happened? <br />
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We took our house off the market in October after 8 long months of waiting. Nothing ever happened. Not even one offer. Now is just a really bad time to try to sell a home. We have instead decided to put all of our energy into preparing for the arrival our new baby in February! That's right. I only have eight more weeks before the scheduled C-section. Jackson will meet his new baby sister, Jillian Rose, on February 10th. I will spend the next couple of weeks (out of school for winter break) setting up her room and transforming Jackson's room into a "big boy" room. I am excited about the final outcome for each but sure do dread the work!<br />
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Jackson has grown so much since my last blog. We made a HUGE discovery in early fall that truly changed his life. The allergy medicine we had been giving him for a little over a year was having a huge impact on his moods and his personality. When we took him off the meds in early October he turned into a whole new child. He smiles more, laughs more, talks more and generally enjoys life a bit more. I feel horrible that we let a whole year of his life pass just thinking he was a brat. Now we know it was largely due to his reaction to the allergy medicine. Now, this is not to say that Jackson is a perfect child now. No. He is your very typical two year old but he is much nicer to people and his language has improved DRAMATICALLY since being off the medicine. Today he came up to me holding his toy dinosaur and kept saying over and over "See-tops", "See-tops", I just humored him by nodding and saying "yeah" until I realized he was trying to say "Triceratops". He is so smart:) Last night in the bath tub he held up a clump of bubbles from his soap on the tip of his fingers, looked at it very closely and then said "humm...interesting." Three months ago, before taking him off the meds, I was beginning to think he would NEVER talk. <br />
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He is not at all interested in talking about the impending arrival of his new sister. He usually just refuses to acknowledge the subject whenever it is brought up. This makes me a little nervous about his reaction when she DOES arrive. Let's all hope and pray that he is more accepting once she actually gets here.<br />
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All in all things are going well. Perhaps this is the beginning of one of my journaling moods. I do have some pretty funny stories to share...Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-16905845595907095282010-03-26T20:13:00.000-07:002010-03-26T20:13:29.759-07:00A lesson in PatienceI am so bad at waiting. I have always been REALLY bad at waiting. Sometimes my impatience pays off because it means I get to the front of the line quicker (on most occasions). I must clarify though that my dislike of waiting doesn't really mean that one could call me impatient. Depending on the subject; I am probably one of the most patient people you will ever meet. With children and the elderly I have the patience of a saint. With my own son I have so much patience that it may indeed end up biting me in the rear. But when I put my mind to something and when I have decided that I want something accomplished, I am really bad at waiting. <br />
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The most recent example of this is in the decision Charlie and I made about putting our house on the market. Poor Charlie. He always seems to get caught in the fire of it all. We decided we were going to do it and I immediately turned into a cleaning/repairing/staging monster. We had our entire house ready within 4 1/2 weeks and the list of accomplishments is incredibly long. Just to name a few; We pre-packed our home and filled an entire 10X10 storage unit, removed two doors and then repaired the frames they were attached to, added a handle to the oven door (it was broken off one day when Charlie decided he wanted to do a little dance move using the oven handle in the same way a ballerina would use a bar to keep balance), replaced the carpet at the bottom of our steps, replaced the back storm door, painted our hallway and stairwell, removed wallpaper from the guest bath, repainted the guest bath, stripped the master bathroom ceiling to make it smooth and repaint, and cleaned just about ever corner of this house. We did this all while working full time and being parents to a toddler. The list is longer (significantly so) but I think that gives you an idea of just how focused I can be when I set my mind to something.<br />
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Then we moved on to the task of looking for a new house. Although our own home hasn't sold yet we were told that it was very important that we start looking for houses now because as soon as we get an offer on our townhome we have to be ready to IMMEDIATELY make an offer on a new house. Of course that means I spend HOURS on-line looking at and reading about homes on the market. One house in particular captured our hearts immediately. The only thing that deterred me from looking at it in the beginning was that the location was not exactly what I wanted. But once I opened my mind to a different area we finally paid attention to a home that my Realtor had suggested for us MONTHS ago (before we had even decided to put our house on the market). It is beautiful, cozy, charming, unique, and perfect for us. So in fear of loosing it as the market hits it's busiest months Charlie and I made a contingency offer. Now we are waiting.<br />
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Waiting to find out if they accept the offer which gives us a maximum of three months to sell our home. This is the part I am really bad at. The sellers are out of town and won't be back until tomorrow. They want to be able to look at the contract personally before accepting anything. So we have to wait. We have to wait on them to return, look at the contract, and then let us know their decision. I just want to know right now. I understand there is no real true rush because we still haven't sold our own house but I still want to know. So I have to remind myself that I am a true believer in that everything happens for a reason. If this is the house meant for us then it WILL BE. If this is not the house God has in mind for us then it won't happen and we will be led to the right one. I can be patient. I will be patient. I have to be patient...Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-57524083468793583052010-03-15T19:15:00.000-07:002010-03-15T19:15:42.644-07:00The adventures of home stagingSo you haven't heard from me in about 2 1/2 months but I promise I have a really a good reason. Charlie and I decided to put our house on the market. Have you ever tried to sell a house before? As a true HGTV junkie I consider myself an amateur professional stager (yes I realize that is an paradox but I still choose to use it) so I went into this whole ordeal with great aspirations!<br />
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We began with a VERY long list of "to do's" and knew from the beginning that we would need to hire some outside help. We found one guy on craigslist which scared me just a little. You hear so many horror stories about people being ripped off through craigslist plus this guy was pretty rough around the edges. During our first conversation he apologized for not being able to hear me too well but his "bird just wouldn't shut up" because "she likes to talk whenever I'm on the phone." Randy was his name. Randy ended up being quite the perfectionist and charged an amazingly reasonable rate although he did show up on Sunday slightly hungover and in a hurry to get home by 2:00pm for the NASCAR race. Randy worked in our house for 2 1/2 days and charged just $200. Would I invite Randy to join us for a family get together? Absolutely not. Would I hire Randy to paint another room in my house? Without a doubt.<br />
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Then there is Bobby. He has his own business and makes GREAT money. He worked in our house for five full days and made $1500.00. Now Bobby's schedule stays pretty full so imagine that he makes at least that much each week. Bobby must make about $6000.00 a month. This just confirms it. If I ever remarry, a prerequisite will definitely be that he must know how to fix things. Would I invite Bobby to join us for a family get together? Without a doubt. Would I hire Bobby to paint another room in my house? No...I will call Randy!<br />
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So while working full time and being essentially a single mom half of each month I somehow managed to get it all together. My husband was a little help but...bless his heart. I now refer to him as the Amelia Bedelia of men. He tries to fix things; he really does but somehow he ALWAYS finds a way to make it worse. I kept leaving task for him that would involve no power tools or innovation of any kind. For some reason he chose to ignore my list and instead tackle the large jobs that inevitably led to more jobs for Randy or Bobby. Living through this experience with Charlie made me realize just how much he is NOT like my dad! I do love him dearly though.<br />
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Now we just have to keep it perfect for lord knows how many months while we wait for someone to come along and make it possible for us to find our "dream" home. Or...our "meets the needs" home since really our dream home will probably always remain right where it is...in our dreams! LOL Now that my life it back to normal I can blog again. Yay! <br />
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I will keep you all updated. (although "y'all" is an official contraction in the dictionary I still can't bring myself to use it in my writing, it just feels wrong!) <br />
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Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-76956722179739808832009-12-30T18:23:00.000-08:002009-12-30T18:25:05.375-08:00ObsessedMy friend has turned me into a monster! After being influenced by her obscene sense of perfection I have become obsessed with making sure all of Jackson's toy parts are being kept together. For the past three days we (Jackson and I) have spent the majority of our time just sitting at home and he has thoroughly enjoyed taking EVERY SINGLE toy off the shelf and out of it's designated home and placing it somewhere else in the house. Each night after he is asleep I have gone downstairs to put everything back where it belongs. Before, I would have simply gathered all the toys and their scattered parts up by the handful and placed it all in a basket or just haphazardly on the shelf. Now however, everything has to be together! I just spent the last thirty minutes looking for one half of a plastic egg, a blue plastic cup and two wooden balls. The plastic egg was found in the guest bathroom in the sink (I guess he must have reached up on his tip toes and dropped it in there!), the blue cup was on the dining table (I had forgotten that he had it in his hand at dinner time so when I took it away I just put it on the closest surface), one wooden ball was under the stove which prompted me to fetch the broom in order to sweep the ball out. This inspired me to do the same under the fridge which quickly produced all the missing pieces to his magnetic car thingy that attaches to the front of the fridge door and plays very loud and annoying music. Since I had considered all the missing pieces a loss cause I bought him a new magnetic fridge thingy for Christmas, so now we have TWO loud, musical thingy's on the fridge! The other wooden ball is still MIA and I fear that I will be unable to sleep peacefully until it is found and returned to it's rightful place. Thanks a lot Jessica!;) <br />
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BTW: For those of you who did not see my Facebook update...Jackson said "I love you" today for the first time! He said it three times just like this: "I la ew" <br />
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<i>“We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being.”</i><br />
<i>--Thomas Merton </i>Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-46626768870817732972009-12-27T18:07:00.000-08:002009-12-27T18:08:15.062-08:00Christmas memoriesWow, what a crazy couple of weeks! Since my last post I made it through the last two days of school (before break) which I can tell you was not an easy feat. A room full of overanxious first graders makes for a very interesting and quite tiresome adventure. Add the first snowfall of the winter on top of that and you have yourself quite a mixture for pure chaos! On that last day before break I was reading a story out loud to the class when one student raised his hand and says "Ummm...it's snowing outside." I paused and then looked at the handful of parents who were standing around the room and could easily see out the window (unlike myself) and asked "is it really snowing?" They all said yes and before I could take my next breath the entire class had dashed to the window to begin their song of "eews and ahhs". From that point on it was just a matter of keeping order until it was time to go home! The good news was that the snow meant we were dismissed early and I had plenty of time to clean my room and get it all ready for the new year!<br />
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The snow was beautiful and amazing...it's been a long time since I can remember seeing so much white, fluffy, and soft snow! Jackson was not impressed at all, I am not sure if he disliked the snow or all the clothes I made him wear. Maybe next year he'll enjoy it more. So for the next several days I shopped, wrapped, cleaned and took care of unwanted but necessary chores (like groceries and oil changes). Then Christmas Eve finally arrived and it was time for our big family party which I hosted for the first time ever! I am officially all grown up. I am married, have a child, own a home, have a career and plan and organize the family Christmas party...yes, it is done. I am now an adult.<br />
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The party was a smashing success, with lots of yummy food, fun games, Christmas carols,and lots and lots of laughter! I believe my favorite part of the party was the snow ball toss which involved throwing marshmallows at one another...what fun! I also really liked the part when we were all sitting together and singing Jingle Bells.<br />
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Christmas day began as it should in every household. We all woke up and lazily made our way downstairs, the Cinnamon rolls were placed in the oven and then we all sat down in our P.J.'s and began tearing into presents. Well Jackson at least tore the paper on one of his gifts, after that he just wanted to play with the new toy and let mommy and daddy do all the work. So for about two hours we just opened presents, played with new toys, and enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls! Then we packed up and made our way to the mountains. It was GORGEOUS, as we passed over Balsam Mountain I was in awe over the beauty of all the trees covered in ice, it was truly a Winter Wonderland. We made our way to the in-laws home which had lost power so we all sat in the dark and opened a few more wonderful and totally unexpected gifts. Charlie got a new iPod and I got a new fancy camcorder! Then we made our way to Franklin which is still as pretty and as quint as I remember it. Aunt Karen's was a blast as always, we played Guitar Hero and I got to sing the Karaoke part...I had no inhibitions and made quite the fool of myself. But that is of course the best part about being with family, if they laugh at you they aren't afraid to do it out loud which in turn gives you the confidence to laugh with them! So with a tummy full of grits and eggs, a slight headache from the glass of wine which was 22% alcohol, and a baby ready for a nap we got back on the road Saturday afternoon and headed BACK to the in-laws which is always an interesting time (for lack of better words).<br />
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We made it back home today around 2pm and have spent the rest of the afternoon doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...it was a wonderful Christmas!<br />
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<i>My husband insists on adding something to the blog... </i><br />
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Charlies thoughts are as follows:<br />
1. I sure do love those cookies at my mothers house. They were like "crack" except legal.<br />
2. slap neck turkey.....gobbagobbally goo. To know me is to know a child.<br />
3. I have more technology than I ever would know what to do with....Ipods, GPS systems, walkman stereos, its insane.<br />
4. I hate godzilla..........he destroys cities.<br />
5. There's a party in my tummy....oh yeah oh yeah. <br />
This is the first time I've ever bloged. Let me know how I did. I think I have the idea of it but blog is a made up word. Who knows what the poop it means. It could be code for slap yo mama. Time will only tell. Peace out home boys. Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-1464303841832796772009-12-16T12:29:00.000-08:002009-12-16T12:29:25.275-08:00Credit Card MayhemWhy is it that credit card companies are so good at keeping up with your due dates but when it comes to THEIR due dates and time schedule they are all over the place. Today I am dreading a call to a credit card company that claims to be receiving my payments late. I have set this account up as an automatic debit through my bank and can easily verify that my payment to this particular company is mailed each month on the same date (at least 8 days before the due date). Never once has this company considered that THEY could be wrong...it must be me or my bank! So tonight I will spend a predicted hour or more on the phone with one person after another trying to convince them numerous times that the late processing date is THEIR fault not mine or the banks!!!! Once again...ARGHH!!!!!Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-65247557342291971862009-12-15T17:08:00.000-08:002009-12-15T18:13:36.713-08:00No subject....So someone told me today that I worry too much about finding something "worthy" to blog about...she is right! I started this blog as a type of journal of every day "nothings" so let me get back to the basics.<br />
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Since sharing my Black Friday episode I have been super busy preparing for the holidays. This Sunday my mom watched little man and I got to go shopping all by myself. It was so much fun! I used to always feel sorry for people when I saw them eating in a restaurant by themselves but after this Sunday I will never feel the same way again. I thoroughly enjoyed my peaceful lunch. I went to Wendy's and had lunch at one of those itty bitty tables, you know the kind that have two seats but really there is no way to sit two at that table without putting all your stuff on top of the other persons stuff. Anyway, I had my norm; chicken nuggets, a small ceaser salad and a jr. frosty. This was not a weight watcher friendly meal but I didn't care since I had just weighed in and I figured I deserved the small treat...I mean how often do I really get a day all to myself? There was an elderly man sitting about three tables away, he was reading a newspaper and sucking his teeth....it was horrible!<br />
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Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a severe diversion to smacking, slurping and sucking noises. It is a true problem of mine. Really. In fact it so severe that sometimes I will skip certain social gatherings simply due to my fear of listening to people eat! You might be wondering what I plan on doing about Jackson considering that he is way too young to NOT smack or make other such annoying noises. Well, for some odd reason I can tolerate noises made by babies and very young children. Anyway, this man sucked on his teeth every 5-10 seconds. He was completely oblivious to the fact that he was ruining my peaceful lunch which annoyed me even more. Bottom line; I ate rather quickly and espcaped before I had a mental break down.<br />
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After spending 4 hours and entirely too much money in Kohl's and Target I headed to Walmart for some grocery shopping. As I was leaving I purchased a Starbucks frappuccino (the cold coffee) in a glass bottle. I must have opened the lid as soon as I got in the car without realizing it because three minutes down the road I picked up the frappucino and gave it a really great shake. It took about 30 seconds for me to understand what had just happened. When I shook the bottle, the lid flew off and frappuccino soon covered everything on the passenger side of my car and I do mean EVERYTHING! I couldn't help but laugh at myself. It was a true "Rachel moment"! Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-59427734850173454002009-12-03T17:56:00.000-08:002009-12-03T18:16:07.629-08:00Toddler Talk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdrLocedPQnmh-bx5UYYuuOZUk1qrREccIhlDy5eCyppgri-sFUUcodYD3mjp0F1BCUlcwEqGqj_kjk4sv1JNDIBrUkWDnI8nZR_SAyiA5kH5jPOADo_-I1M_zaE_7lz1YFb7r7t7eK0l/s1600-h/Jackson+upclose+%2817+months%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdrLocedPQnmh-bx5UYYuuOZUk1qrREccIhlDy5eCyppgri-sFUUcodYD3mjp0F1BCUlcwEqGqj_kjk4sv1JNDIBrUkWDnI8nZR_SAyiA5kH5jPOADo_-I1M_zaE_7lz1YFb7r7t7eK0l/s320/Jackson+upclose+%2817+months%29.jpg" /></a><br />
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So Jackson has entered a new stage...the one where he is awake entirely too late because he is having what sounds like a very riveting conversation with his stuffed animals. This has been going on for about a week now, the average conversation lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes. He is only 18 months so when I say "talk" what I mean is babble. I think he has invented his very own language that he and he alone can understand. Every once in a while he'll decide to throw in a word from the English Vocabulary but mostly it's just stuff like "ahhhhh" or "la de ma la la" or my personal favorite "ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka". This last strand of words is usually uttered very quickly with no break or pause between each "ticka". When he first started saying "nana" he was using it in the right context because he would only say it after catching sight of a banana (one of his very favorite snacks) now however he says it every time he wants something. Our dog Maggie is usually "ga ga" whereas our other dog Sammie gets no verbal recognition what so ever. No, the only attention he gives poor Sammie is the kind she would rather do without; he particularly enjoys grabbing hold of her short nubby tail and holding it until she pulls away. The sound we hear most often is the one he makes when he's mad which is way too often. When he is mad he says "Agh" in a very short and sharp tone and he usually accompanies the aggravated sound by clapping his hands together in one quick motion. If he drops one of his toys he usually gets mad as if he truly believes those toys jump out of his hands of their own free will, if he sees Charlie gives me a hug he gets mad, if he can't brush his own teeth or crawl inside the dog crate he gets mad. The most amusing source of aggravation is You Tube. Yes, Jackson is a HUGE fan of You Tube. He likes to sit on someones lap and watch music videos or anything involving babies. His very favorite thing of all, in fact I dare say it trumps all other games or toys, is to watch <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oqskfFG0R0">Hank Williams Jr. sing "Cajun Baby"</a>. It is unlike anything I have ever seen, the boy will watch the same video over and over and each time Hank Williams Jr. walks out with his guitar Jackson will grin from ear to ear and usually applaud. So if he is downstairs and wants to be upstairs watching Hank Williams Jr., or if we walk by the computer without stopping or if we take him away from the computer before he gets bored we undoubtedly hear the infamous "Agh" followed by a quick clap of the hands! Although most of his gibberish is kind of cute I really can't wait for him to start using the English language, I truly believe it will make my life much easier. Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-29118396117077220662009-11-30T18:57:00.000-08:002009-11-30T19:05:57.235-08:00People of Black FridayFor the first time in many years I fell prey to the eye appealing and wallet pleasing advertisements of our retail giants. Yes, I participated in what is known as "Black Friday". Just the very term itself sounds ominious. I was told by an associate that the term "Black Friday" refers to the fact that it is still dark outside when we begin our shopping; however Wikipedia (the all knowing source of everything) explains that "the term 'Black Friday' originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit)." Whatever its true meaning; Black Friday is indeed a day that will not soon be forgotten by any who is so brave as to venture into the king of all retail stores...Walmart. <br />
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I along with my mother and sister must have experienced a temporary lapse of insanity. Not only did we decide to go shopping at Walmart on Black Friday, we actually thought it a brilliant idea to show up as early as 2am to ensure our rights to all desired purchases. We entered the store with the appearance of three women on a mission. I could almost hear the Charlie's Angel's theme song playing in my mind as we swept through the front doors armed with a map,strategy and steel plated debit cards. Oh yes, we were a force to be reckoned with. We marched our way through the store alternately finding the items we intended to buy and figuring out a way to sneak them into our carts before 5am. Unfortunately, thanks to the well trained soldiers formerly known as Walmart associates we were forced to wait with all the other anxious (a.k.a. insane) shoppers. So mom headed to her post (pillows, crock pots and towels), my sister staked claim on her territory (the pajamas) and I was the lucky one who got to experience the ticket procedure. <br />
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I decided that since we had arrived at our destination 3 hours before the sale began I might as well go wait for something that was really worth waiting for. I got in line for the Samsung camcorder (originally $259 on sale for $149). When I found my line of people I was pleasantly surprised to find that only four people were in front of me. The first lady in line was the epiphany of a sheltered country girl (well to be honest she was a perfect picture of a what one might call a "redneck") She was sitting on the floor of Walmart in her P.J.'s and was wrapped in an old tattered blanket. I never did answer my own question about why she would be wearing P.J.s. She said she had been in line since 12am so I really don't understand the point of her pajamas. I mean, it's almost as if she put them on with the sole purpose of wearing them to her overnight stakeout. Anyway, she seemed a bit challenged (in more ways than one) but she was a very sweet lady. Let's call her Hazel. <br />
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Next in line was a young girl probably around the age of 14 or 15, she seemed to have a bit of a hip-hop style going on. Her hair was in braids and she wore a khaki colored jacket and a huge frown. I don't' think I heard her speak at all. Let's call her the silent one.<br />
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Then there was an elderly lady who was also very quiet as she slept most of the time. Every once in a while she would open her eyes and make a comment about not letting anyone take her spot. Let's call her "mama" since her 40 something year old son showed up the last hour and called her by this name several times.<br />
<br />
Directly in front of me was a very patient and doting husband with two little boys snugged tightly in their beds at home. His wife was on the other side of the store waiting for a T.V. and some sort of game system. He was in our line waiting for one DS. Did I mention that my line was combined with the DS wishers? I'm not sure why but I want to call him Tim. I have no idea what his real name was but Tim seems to suit him so Tim it is. <br />
<br />
Behind me were three separate ladies, with no apparent previous connection but they all seemed to hit it off rather nicely as they chattered non-stop about husbands, kids, nieces, nephews, shop lifters, Christmas trees, doctors, taxes, donuts and the President. The ladies.<br />
<br />
So the eight of us; Hazel, the silent one, mama, Tim, myself and the ladies all became fast friends. It is something I have never before experienced but somehow in that long wait to spend our money we formed a sort of unexplainable bond. I had a sense that if I needed someone to back me up in the crazy mass of people I would soon be encountering; any of the these people would be willing to provide that. We swapped stories, shared buckets as seats, and held each others places in line (before the bathroom passes began). It was enthralling to see how quickly friendships could form. Although I don't know any of their real names I do indeed feel as if these people of Black Friday could be added to my list of short-term friends.<br />
<br />
When 5 am finally rolled around Hazel excitedly pulled out her check to hand over to the clerk. You could tell she was anxious to move on with this purchase so that she might partake in some of the many other fantastic deals being offered. I was so mesmerized by the sheer volume of movement in front of me that I almost missed what happened with Hazel. When 5am struck the shoppers of Walmart turned into a raging mob. I was reminded of the movie "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and the crazy frenzy that everyone experienced when searching for the Golden Ticket. Everyone in that store was on a mission to find their own golden ticket. And Hazel's check was being declined.<br />
<br />
After waiting five long hours, sitting on the floor, and refusing to even go to the bathroom Hazel's check was declined. She didn't get her DS's. They told her they couldnt' hold them for her and sent her on her way. She went quietly but just before she turned I saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. Mortification. I am sure she was completely mortified and more than that...frustrated. I felt so bad for her (my new friend). I wanted to help so bad but knew I didn't have the money it would take to do so. She walked away and disappeared into the sea of shoppers. Poor Hazel.<br />
<br />
I bought my camcorder and then quickly located my mom. We made a new plan of action as I left my buggy behind and headed down the toy aisle "cartless". This was of course, a much smarter strategy since the aisles were now completely jammed by all the carts that had gridlocked themselves into place. I piled my arms as high as I possibly could and then rushed to meet mom at the jeans. We did it; mom and I. We got everything we were in charge of...now we just needed to find my sister to let her know. At just the precise time she came whipping around the corner and yelled my name. She never slowed down as she rushed towards us, cheeks flushed, hair frazzled, and wide eyed. "I got it" she said "I was a crazy person" and I couldn't' believe my eyes when I looked in her buggy to see that she did indeed have EVERYTHING, not just her list but all of ours. She had accomplished what seemed like the impossible in about 10 minutes. She is amazing. So we got everything we wanted with the exception of a few items that were gone by 5:03am. <br />
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I think I will remember the people of Black Friday for quite some time. I am not sure yet if I think it was all worth it. Three days later I am still exhausted from staying awake for more than 24 hours but I already can't wait to try it again next year! Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-41473424799042164252009-11-24T17:20:00.000-08:002009-11-30T12:53:01.139-08:00Broccoli and Christmas TreesYesterday, I stayed home with little man who has his third bout of pink eye within the last five or six months. I have to admit I was kind of glad. Not that he has pink eye of course, but that I got to stay home with him. I was feeling quite domestic yesterday so decided to experiment with a broccoli and cheese soup I have been wanted to make for years. I was moving along quite confidently when I discovered I was missing one small ingredient...the broccoli! However, a very quick trip to the store solved my problem and I was back in the kitchen within 20 minutes of my discovery. The next step in the recipe said I needed two cups of diced potatoes. I cut the potatoes into small squares...assuming this is what "diced" means. I put all the ingredients in the crock pot to wait until the "potatoes were tender" so I could add the finishing touches. Four hours later I wondered why this recipe (which was passed around at one of our teacher luncheons many years ago) didn't mention WHAT or how to "cook" the soup. I thought I had been clever by using the crock pot. For those of you who did not know this; potatoes take a very long time to become tender when using a crock pot. I recommend a pot over a stove burner set to medium/high. But who am I to give advice? Rachel may be my first name but "Raye" is not my last.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next on my <place w:st="on">Holiday</place> agenda is to set up and decorate the new Christmas tree I bought over the weekend. I was quite pleased with the deal I made until my sister informed me that she got her tree after Christmas a couple of years ago for just $10.00. Not so pleased anymore. I am however, anxious to set it up and get it decorated. The office staff at school set up their tree today and as I walked by to admire it I noticed the box it came in sitting on the floor. The box said the tree was 7.5' tall. This is the same height as my new tree. The tree in the office is quite large, my new tree is supposedly the same size, new question to ponder...will it fit in my living room? Guess I will find out on Friday! <br />
</div>Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-52407942314821672302009-11-21T18:59:00.000-08:002009-11-21T18:59:59.406-08:00On being marriedBeing a teacher is a very difficult job; it is draining and frustrating and way too political. Being a mommy is an even tougher job; it's exhausting and worrisome and quite messy. Being a wife, however, is surely the most challenging job of all! We vow to love one man for the rest of our lives, for better or worse; and so far I have had no problem with the "love" part but I am mighty glad that I never once had to pledge I would ENJOY every second of every day with him (for better or worse). Because the truth is, there are days like today when I would rather be married to the cute little frog prince statue that sits on my shelf as a reminder of days gone by. I am so lucky to have found my true "prince" but if I had known as a little girl that the prince was a really bad morning person who awoke with grumbles and complaints every morning...I have a feeling my dreams may have gone a bit differently. I would like to offer a word of advice for all the sweet young ladies who are about to enter the world of the married. Trust me girls, It's not all it's cracked up to be. There are a lot of "better" days, in fact, my experience has been that there are more better days than worse. But when the "worse" part comes around, don't be fooled into thinking that this vow only covers big catastrophic mistakes from our prince. No. Rather, I have begun to believe that this vow is a stipulation to marriage because God knows ahead of time just how quickly a woman may become frustrated with her husband for the little things. Today the "little thing" that is driving me makes me ask "why?" Why is it that no matter how many hours I have worked at school and at home; he is always 100% convinced that he has worked harder and therefore requires more sleep? I am tired. I am ALWAYS tired. But I continue on with my life and try VERY hard not to complain about how tired I am. My prince on the other hand must have at least 8 full uninterrupted hours if he is to function as a nice civilized human being.... ARGHHH!!!Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-60930604660671032902009-11-18T18:11:00.000-08:002009-11-18T18:13:45.279-08:00If only...I have this wonderful and amazing gift running around my house lately. This gift comes in the form of one small little boy who enjoys taking things out of drawers, cabinets, and closets and putting those things in places you would never think to look. Just recently I found my blush brush in his toy ball popper, two of my lip glosses under my bed and one of my necklaces in the bottom of our toilet paper holder. This little boy loves to throw balls in the house and terrorize my dogs by stealing their balls (and of course hiding them). This same precious gift of mine has been meeting me at the front door for the past two days with arms stretched above his head, which is his way of saying "up"; as soon I pick him up he leans away from me which is his way of saying "down." He enjoys brushing his teeth as long as it's with my toothbrush rather than his own. He stomps his feet and yells at his little broom because it won't fit trough the bars of his baby gate. When I insisted that he put the cheese back in the refrigerator rather than in the bottom drawer of our oven, he slapped the air directly in front of my face and pointed his little chubby finger at me and said "doe"(which is his way of saying "no"). As a mother who is determined to keep the upper hand in the relationship I got down on his level and said in my stern mommy-voice "Jackson, mommy said no. Do not yell at mommy. Be nice." As soon as he heard me say "be nice" he rested his head on his shoulder and smiled from ear to ear and threw himself into my arms. In that moment I wished I could freeze time. My precious little gift, the one that hides my things, terrorizes my dogs, steals my toothbrush, and smiles at my "stern mommy-voice"; is growing way too fast. If only we could capture these moments in time and lock them away in a safe place, if only we could keep our precious gifts wrapped safely in our arms forever, if only...Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-32150155328637184292009-11-15T18:19:00.000-08:002009-11-15T18:19:27.123-08:00The grass is always greenerAs a teenager and later as a young lady I used to think I was cursed with "childish looks". I always looked younger than I really was. When I first started teaching I purposely sought out "grown-up" clothes in an attempt to make myself look older in order to gain respect from the parents of my students. I even worried about my hair style making me look too young. As the years passed and I became more and more familiar with daily moisturizers and winkle vanishing creams, I eventually stopped WORKING at making myself look older. <br />
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Now, just eight years after that first year of teaching I strive to look young and vibrant. I had a parent conference last week. The dad asked me how long I had been teaching and I told him eight years. He gasped in surprise and said "Really? I thought you were fresh out of college!" If he had said that to me eight years ago I would have been a little upset. When he said it to me just last week I beamed and said "Thank you!" It's nice to know that although these lines and wrinkles are screamingly obvious to me..apparently they are not to others.<br />
<br />
<div class="quoteText" style="color: black;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1258340535527">“Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades.”</a><br />
</div><div class="quoteAuthorName" style="color: black;"> <div class="authorName">--Jacqueline Bisset<br />
</div></div> Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-26828657760025411882009-11-14T19:24:00.000-08:002009-11-14T19:39:46.850-08:00A Mother's AdviceI try not to be a "know-it-all". I put a lot of effort into this feat for the mere fact that I despise "know-it-alls". I love advice and I love listening to other moms speak about their own philosophies and practices. I hate it when those moms present these things in a manner that screams "THIS IS HOW IT MUST BE DONE". Almost as if to imply that doing something different will mean the end to any chance my son may have of being a happy, healthy and otherwise thriving little boy. <br /><br />I like to watch and learn. I like gathering a wealth of information on a certain topic and then choosing which bit of information would best meet my needs or makes the most sense. So to all mother's out there who are convinced they have the answer to everything; please stop! Share your thoughts as nothing more than what they really are. Thoughts. Share your thoughts generously in the hope that maybe your words will in fact help another mother who is simply trying to find her way in the madness of motherhood. But always be willing to admit that just because it worked for you...doesn't mean it will work for every other mother and/or child in the world.<br /><br />"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."<br /> -- Lin YutangGoldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758296507083650647.post-3232646846676374362009-11-11T16:12:00.001-08:002009-11-11T16:44:14.027-08:00product of the testing generationAs a teacher I am well aware of just how much time teachers spend "teaching to the test". I am not proud to say that I myself have fallen victim to this almost inescapable epidemic a few times. However as a very early thirty-something I would not actually consider myself a product of this testing generation...a producer perhaps but not the actual product.<br /><br />Today caused me to question this notion. I went to the doctor due to some "uncomfortable pain" in my abdomen over the past several days. I probably wouldn't have gone at all but I happened to be off work for the day so thought I might as well have it checked out while I had the chance; rather than waiting until it got worse and then taking time off work. I have to say that almost every time I go to the doctor I leave feeling extremely flighty and quite stupid. The nurse asked me the anticipated question "so what brings you here today" and I felt my mouth open and my lips begin to babble some silly nonsense about how I had been feeling strange the past few days. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to get the words out, I had no idea how to explain the pain. <br /><br />I found myself wishing their was some kind of multiple choice answer. A, B, C, or D. I can teach my kids how to use adjectives in their stories all day long but when it's my turn to describe something in detail I am left dumbfounded. I am pretty certain that I am not the only person who has had this thought before. So it leaves you wondering about our future. What will the world be like when the true testing generation is in charge...humm.Goldin Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04683623191757523795noreply@blogger.com0