Feeling Good

Right now my dinner is simmering on the stove (tortilla soup), my kids are sitting on the front porch reading stories together, and Matt is studying. I'm doing laundry, the dishes are mostly done. We have had a good day, and it is just good. This feeling doesn't come very often. When it does, I don't want it to leave. It doesn't matter that I have laundry to fold, or that there are toys still on the living room floor. Or that our room is still a mess after moving in, with boxes still in it and things not organized. Because those things don't matter. Days like this matter.

Baskets

Since being in Texas, I have not gone many places by myself. I'm just not very familiar with the freeways (which are totally retarded here) and going anywhere with two kids is just not usually the greatest thing. But yesterday I mapquested where the nearest Marshalls was. We had had a gift certificate for two months, and I wanted to use it. So we all got in the car and got on the freeway, and hoped that I would go the right way on both of the freeways that I had to take to get to it. I only went the wrong way once. I came home without any problems. I had bought some baskets at Marshalls to help me be organized in our new home.

Being organized has always been a difficult thing for me to do. For many reasons, and I won't go into them here. So, I came back from the store with four new baskets, none of which matched, and have put them to use. The result is that no longer are the lids to my plastic rubbermaid stuff sitting in a box on my kitchen floor, but are in a huge basket on a shelf. And Lucy's diapers are no longer shoved onto the changing table, but are nicely in a basket so that hopefully they will not be pulled out and strewn all over the house. The plastic bags in which to put the dirty diapers are also in a basket so that they also will not be all over the place. Matts vitamins are in a basket (i don't think he likes that very much) and my shelves look so much better.
So, now my crappy little kitchen is that much more organized and looks so much better. Not a very exciting blog, but a big step for unorganized me.
The other exciting thing about these baskets, is that the large one you see was only $7, and the other three were only $5 each. I love things on clearance.

My amazing deal

I have been on the search for a new denim skirt for several months now. The last one I bought was about six years ago, right after I came home from my mission. So, the other night I was able to go to the PX (military department store) by myself. The real reason was so that I could look for some new pjs for Lucy. And get Matt a new lock. As I walked in, I saw at least 6 racks of clearance clothes. So, of course I have to look. I found a denim DKNY skirt, that was marked 50% off. It also said size 6, but it looked big enough to fit me.



So, I wandered into the Juniors section and found another denim skirt, much longer, and $3 more than the one on sale. I tried them both on, and although I loved the long one, since the weather in Texas gets much hotter than it does in Germany, I went for the shorter one, and of course it was cheaper. And it did fit me, even though it said size 6. In a regualar store, the price of the skirt would have been $89. The military price was $66. Then it had the %50 off sticker, and so I thought it would be worth it, since I wouldn't be buying another one for a while. I was paying for all of my items, and he rang up my skirt and it rang up for $16.50!!!!!
I was so excited! I love it when things like that happen. So, I got an $89 skirt for $16.50. Matt just did the math for me, and I got the skirt for 82% off of the normal price..... I love deals.

Texas has really strange weather

At the end of this month, we will have been in the United States for four months. Since we have been in Texas we have experienced almost every season. When we arrived, it was warm enough to wear sandals and shorts. A few days later, it cooled down, and we wore warmer clothes. At thanksgiving, it wasn't too warm or too cold. It was probably in the 50's and the 60's for most of December, with some rain. January we have had freezing rain, and ice. It was so cold that we had the heater all the way up to 75. February hasn't really been all that warm, but for the first half of it I was in California, where it is usally mild weather. When I flew in, I was wearing flip flops, and it was 40-something degrees outside. But yesterday, it was in the 80's and we went to the park, and my arms actually got some color on them. My point to all this rambling, is that because of these extremes in the weather me and my poor kids have been sick on and off for the last four months. At first it was just colds. At christmas both of them ending up with ear infections and we spent time at the ER and urgent care during our short visit to California. Andrew has been to the ER since we've been in Texas, and Lucy has had a few fevers since we've been here, but nothing too high or scary. We are just not used to being in the US. Our poor immune systems are suffering, and the screwy weather isn't helping us!! At the moment, I am still recovering from something that I picked up while in CA, Andrew is coughing so much he wakes up at night, and when Lucy coughs, it just sounds like she is so congested! You might say, why don't you go to the doctor? The doctor can't do anything for a cold, and whenever I've taken them before, they just tell you a bunch of crap like "it can take up to two weeks for the symptoms to go away." Great. So they will be coughing for two weeks, and they don't give me any medicine that I can't just buy over the counter. So, a total waste of time. I guess I'm just tired of kids being sick, and now that I'm sick too, I've had it. If only they would find a cure for the cold......
It doesn't help that over the counter decongestants for kids NEVER work. Neither do cough suppressants. Total waste of money..... I do do the herbal stuff. I put peppermint oil and oil of oregano in a vaporizer and that REALLY helped Andrew's cough last night. And I should be giving them both the elderberry syrup a little more consistently.
If any of you out there have suggestions that have worked for you or your kids, let me know. I'm hoping that once we are over this round of colds that we can stay clear of sickness for the remainder of our time here. Its only 10 more months....thats not asking too much is it???

Porcupines

I love to read. Almost anything. The book that I just finished reading is called "How to Hug a Porcupine" by Dr. John Lund. It is amazing. It is a "self-help" book, but one of the best that I have ever read. I admit that I am a big fan of these type of books. I have several and have actually read some of them. This book talks about toxic personalities and how to deal with them, and if you are a toxic personality, how you can change. As I was reading, I realized how many things I did that fell under the classification of a "toxic personality". And then I learned how I could change those things. It talks about how we need to focus on becoming the best selves that we can, and how to not become a pincushion to those around us that are Porcupines. And after the two weeks that I recently spent in California, I have never needed this book more. It has given me the guidelines I need to specifically change things that I was already aware of that needed to change, but I just didn't know how to do it. And it also has taught me how to deal with a major Porcupine in my life. I am going to start rereading it tonite because the first time through it I couldn't put it down. Probably because I felt like I couldn't get enough. It was so revealing about so many things that I have experienced and felt my entire life and this book helped me to understand, to accept and to start to heal. I highly reccomend this book to anyone that has a difficult personality in their lives. Or just to have help in dealing with criticism, whether giving or receiving, in your own lives.
Some other books that I have recently read have been Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Courtesan, Mr. Darcy's Story, and I'm trying to read Marie Antoinette, but the porcupine book was too interesting to not finish first.
I will not be a pincushion anymore!!!!! Yay!!

People that work on airplanes

So, having recently flown a few times, I must say that I am getting tired of how the people that work on airplanes look when I walk on all by myself with two small kids. Having been a server in a restaurant for several years, I do understand that having small children around is a little more stressfull. In fact, some other servers would ask the hostess to not give them any kids on their station. Which mostly was because the bill would be smaller, and therefore their tip would also be smaller. That server was a little money hungry. And yes, children make more of a mess. So, I walk onto an airplane, Lucy in one arm, enourmous gigantic carseat in the other, a backpack on my back, purse over my shoulder and NOT ONE of those people that work on airplanes offered to help me. They just stared at me from the back of the plane. The woman that did help me was another passenger on the airplane. In fact, the people that are the Most Helpfull are those that are travelling also, and offer to carry a car seat or push the stroller through some dumb spinning door that they have before you can get into the baggage claim area. Again, I understand that people work for tips, BUT COME ON. What happened to just helping people because you can see that they need help??? Especially a mother with young kids?? Or what about the elderly that need help? People just walk right past. So, if anyone that reads this happens to be a person that works on an airplane, please take note. Just because you don't get a tip for your service doesn't mean that it isn't appreciated. And for all those that will be flying with their children, don't expect help. They will probably just stare at you as you try to do it all by yourself.

I'm not feeling too well today and that is why I'm in a bashing mood. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better.

I'm back

I just got back from California today. It was long and short all at the same time. The highlights were going to my favorite store, Trader Joe's, eating In-n-out when i could, seeing all of my bro's and sisters. I saw my best friend whom I had not seen in almost three years. And her son who was born the day after Lucy. It was an interesting trip. Maybe someday I will discuss it more in detail. I am glad to be back after two weeks. I hope that I don't fly again for a while. Or at least not in the winter......

Tomorrow I will write something a little more interesting.