Marie's Musings

Musings from the mundane day to day life of a mom of 9 to more serious ponderings of the day.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Sleep

It seems like thats all I want to do lately. Not sure if its the pregnancy, or just a combination of factors. I did attempt to go to bed early, before 10 pm even, but getting up at nearly 5 am didnt help. Plus Zemirah was up once last nite too and Ezekiel made his nightly trek into our bed as well.

Whatever it the cause, Im pretty tired this morning, already fell asleep for a nap at like 630 this morning already but I still feel pretty exhausted.

Things on the agenda today: funeral vistation, doctor appt and defitnely laundry. Oh and halloween ... finally nailed down all the costumes with mininumal cost. Reused what we could. Zemirah will be the clown, this costume has been worn by all the kids before her :) Ezekiel will be superman(thanks to a clearance buy last year), Ariana will be a skeleton, Elijah darth vadar, zechariah - a scuba diver, Nathaniel - a sheriff/cowboy, Josiah - a vampire and katarina (who is staying home to pass out candy) a pirate. Its wickedly cold here in minnesota, strong cold winds make it feel absolutely frigid out there.

Thats all for now folks
MJ

Monday, October 30, 2006

Rough couple of days

Ive avoided writing this post for a couple of times already, not sure exactly how to write about it. We lost one of our clients on Sunday morning. It was totally unexpected and he was one of my favorites. Its still a little bit shocking to think hes just gone.

So emotionally its been a tough week, I came off from babysitting the extra kids and went straight into 4 days of work. The last, working the day after he died was extra hard. Plus I worked until 11 the night he died, thankfully he did not die on my watch. Im not really sure how I would have handled that. Its already been some time of 2nd guessing, did i miss something, should we have known. But i dont think so, I dont think there was anything anyone could have done.

He will be missed!

MJ

Friday, October 27, 2006

Back to 8

And boy does my body realize it,shortly after the extra kids left yesterday, my body was just completley and utterly exhausted. Still today, I feel a bit weak and just really really tired. I guess it didnt help that I had to work last nite and then the next 3 nights as well.

But God is good ... all the time. I survived the week, trust me, there were days I didnt think I would. Im really happy to be back to my normal daytime crew of 3 in the morning and 2 in ther afternoon. Now if I can only find the energy to start some laundry and do some of the dreaded folding.

MJ

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

God knew

He knew exactly what I needed. Thruout the day yesterday, I was sure that I could not handle all the challenges thrown at me this week. i was positive that I would never make it til Thurs when the extra kids will be picked up. So I cried out to God several times thruout the day,not very specifically asking for something but just to help me. He did .

The evening seemed a little calmer with my husband cooking supper and the house in some semblence of order. But the thing that benefitted most of all was sleep. The baby Im watching this week slept all night long, in his swing but asleep. Im praising God for this, he knew I needed that full night of sleep to make thru the day. A bonus cappchino that I bought to break the lunch money for the kids added to my enjoyment of the morning. God is good .. all the time.

Today hubby has an interview. Im praying that if this is the right place for Andrew to be, God will make it abundently clear to the manager.

Thats all for now folks
MJ

Monday, October 23, 2006

Calgon Take me Away

There are days when I wish those words were true. That you could just wish on a bubble bath and me taken away for awhile. Days like this where Im tired, no rest in site and a ton of work sitting before me. Im sure, this too will pass, but for now Im a tad bit grumpy.

A coworker of mine mentioned that she spends 20 dollars a week on groceries and does 1 load of laundry a week. This, compared to my 20 loads of laundry a week and 100 dollars a week on groceries seemed miraculous. I found myself wishing for those kinds of costs and amounts of work. What dawned on me shortly after though was that shes alone. She lives by herself and I wouldnt want that even for 1 load of laundry a week. yes its a lot of work somtimes living with this crew but I'm rarely ever alone unless I want to be. That is a blessing in itself.

Well, laundry is calling my name and a million other projects and if i sit sleep will over take me. With 5 kids age 5 and under here today, not a good plan.

MJ

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Laundry totals

Monday's total was 4, 1 folded. Tuesday total was 3(although my darling friend Gina I think did a load or two as well), she folded like 4 or 5 :). She rocks! So far todays total is 3 and with working and running to the bank, not sure I will get another one done.

But it is making a significant dent in the dirty laundry. There is hope after all! Really I was waiting for the laundry to mutiny and take over the house.

Not feeling great today. Work was stressful as well, hoping that added stress event is gone tonite!

Thats all for now
MJ

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Morning all

This morning ezekiel thinks its fun to be pretend to be darth vadar and thus its rather noisy round here with him chasing everyone around.

Another gloomy misty day here in minnesota but thats okay, thanking God for it anyway.

Didnt get to do the corn maze last nite, since they canceled due to rain. Im kinda bummed cause the date they rescheduled it for has logistic issues. And of course k still wants me to go, maybe have to send the father instead :0

Todays adgenda: babysitting, laundry and hopefully a nap. Plus work, the fun stuff of course.

I set a goal for myself, I want to get 20 loads of laundry washed this week by friday. Thats really only 4 loads a day, so its doable. I washed 5 yesterday but i didnt get the 5th transferred over to the dryer, so i can only count 4.

MJ

Monday, October 16, 2006

Monday Morning Mutiny

Okay its really not that bad but hey it was another m word. Although Im thinking of putting one child out in the rain if he keeps up his whining streak. Everything, and I mean everything is cause for a whine fest from not finding lunchmeat(even though it was there) to not having ziplock bags for his lunch.

Its a cloudy gloomy rainy day here in minnesota, so at least I wont feel guilty bout staying in with the little ones all day. Plans for today: Laundry, more laundry and well even more laundry. i need to get caught up on it and get all the summer clothes out of circulation and par down on some of what we have I think. It feels like we have clothing coming out of her ears.

I might go to a corn maze with katarina tonite, if it doesnt get canceled cause of the rain. Im sure it wont be long and she wont want me coming on school trips anymore, so i best take advantage fo the time. Plus then i should get to meet her new friends,which I have wanted to do.

Weekend was good, not enough family time for my liking but somtimes thats just how it is.

MJ

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Diagnosis

The verdict, a sinus infection. So the doc put her on zithromax,which by the way is my favorite prescription. Its so simple, one dose a day for five days, even i, can remember that one! She had one dose yesterday, the first dose is a bigger one, but by this morning her fever was only 99.2. It made that dramatic of a difference, 103, to 99 in less than 24 hours, Praise God. Im so glad she is feeling better, shes a much happier little girl.

The birthday party we were scheduled to go to, got canceled. We werent sure we could make it anyway, with the sickie. So we have a free day other than worship practice for andrew this morning. Im looking forward to it, and even better i have both today and tommorrow off!

Got some logistics worked out with switching shifts, so thats a relief off my head. I was concerned since i mixed up which weekend i had off and I was scheduled to work the weekend I have planned to go out of town. But i managed to trade shifts, so as long as the trade is approved, im good to go.

Well thats all for now folks
MJ

Friday, October 13, 2006

Got a sickie on my hands

Zemirah woke up from a nap yesterday running a 103 degree temp. She had been fine that morning, then sorta seemed extra tired at moms group and voila instant temp. So now i need to call and warn the other moms, and aplogize. She realy only had a cold before.

The temp goes down with meds but then comes right back up again. Poor thing is miserable and hardly wants to eat when her temp is up. Yesterday she just layed in my lap and moaned, it was so sad.

Well the babe calls, gotta run
MJ

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Long but good

I had training in the twin cities today. So I had to get up pretty early, in order to accomplish all that I needed to do:Shower, get kiddos up, clean out the van etc etc etc. One coworker canceled, but my other coworker, sara, was able to ride with me. It was a welcome change for a long drive, to have company along.

Med passer training, was pretty straightforward and the "two hour" test I had been dreading was pretty much common sense. I spent more time making sure i had the right number to question I read. It was 50 questions and I passed with only one wrong. You were allowed up to 12 wrong or 25%. Comforting I know, the person trained to give meds being off by 25%. So far it seems doable . Im sure it will seem much more complicated when dealing with a real person and real meds for 6 different people.

Got done early with the test, my coworker finished up right behidn me. So we were on the road by 245 and home by 4 pm. I was relived to be home an hour early, with home group pending tonite. Got the house all spic and span with the kids help. Despite no one showing up tonite, Im actually not too disapointed. Im rather exhausted from a long day of training and driving. And the bonus is now I can relax with the kids and hubby in a clean house. And I dont have to run around as much tommorrow morning cleaning for moms group. A blessing for sure! Besides the house needed it badly anyway.

Tommorrow starts my actual work week, but only 2 regular days besides today.

These are the evenigns I enjoy. The ones where the kids are playing either together or alone but fairly calmly. No one is wrestling or chasing each other thru the house or even bickering. Nathaniel is practicing typing with Zechariah looking over his shoulder, Katarina is reading on the couch, Josiah is in the kitchen finishing up homework, Elijah is playing castle and imgainext and watching Nathaniel, Ariana is fluttering between people and Zemirah is playing at my side coming up occasionally showing or talking to me. Andrew is working on worship sets, so occaisonally we get some song interspersed among the other noises.

God is good all the time!
MJ

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Its quiet now

I sit here with the sun shining brightly in the window and I think wow this is nice. I can here the radio in the background, look out the window and just hang out here in the living room. The little ones are movie watching downstairs and the big ones off to school.

It wasn't all roses this morning, a few thorns popped up. Ezekiel wanted something done with his oatmeal, heck if I could figure out what, so he was whining. Zechariah could not find his backpack and despite having 45 min to find it, he went out the door complaining he didnt have it. Nathaniel's standard morningrant, i dont have any clothes.

Despite the fun of the morning routine, its peaceful now.I dont feel sick or exhausted, which is a huge praise to God right there. I managed to sneak over and get a cappachino this morning before the kids went to school. So im sitting here enjoying my computer time and french vanilla cappchino (and gasp ... even some donuts) Shhh dont tell the kids, or they will be at my side in a heartbeat.

Today's adgenda, getting as much of this house in order as possible. I have to be in training all day tommorrow, leaving at 7 am and not getting home til at least 5 pm. And we havehome group here, sooo thus the work needs to be done today. Not my favorite chore, hopefully some friends will behome to gab with on the phone while I work. It always goes faster that way!

MJ

Monday, October 09, 2006

Morning all

Im a bit cranky this morning, back ache, tired, most likely from working late last nite. But I get a breather for a couple of days anyway, dont have to work at the home again til thurs but i have training wednesday. I wasnt feeling very good last night and found my patience with the clients at a much lower leval. Their screaming and yelling that is their only way to communicate isnt so tolerable when you arent at the top of your game.

Andrew has today off, hes going fishing with a teen from our church this morning. I told him he could do whatever as long as I got a nap :) The important things in life you know.

Today im pondering my response to a situation.
We borrowed something from someone. In the beginning, it seemed like it was a gesture of helpign out another person who needed something. It was mentioned off hand later, that compensation was expected for this thing we borrowed. Not so directly though, just like if you can that would be great. Well we dont see the people we borrowed this from very often if at all, so sorta out of sight out of mind. I forgot bout getting something to them then. Well,last nite when I was at work, the person showed up and asked for the money. Idont think that frustrated me so much, i understand wanting the money, even if it hadnt been clear in the first place when we borrowed the thing. But the fact that he asked for even more money cause we didnt get it to him right away. I felt fleeced by someone I really had thought was just helpign us out. My husband agreed to get it to him next week and didnt argue about it atall. Im not sure my response would havebeen the same. When I got home from work(granted its now 11 pm) and he told me, I was furious and very much hurt. Maybe my reaction was so strong, cause i was tired.

What i wonder now is how do i turn that anger and frustration into something fruitful? It wont do any good to fixate on this. It really would do more harm than good to not pay them, although that was my immediate response. Fine if you are going to be that way,Im not giving you anything. The person was already angry,so i know that wouldnt be Christlike. Should we have paid them sooner, yes, I admit that. It didnt hit the top of my radar with all the other bills and things piling up, so I promptly forgot bout it. I guess part of my frustation too is that it wasnt clear from the beginning that this was expected. We may have made other arrangements instead. But thats water under the bridge too. So in short, i need to give it God and let him take what I have built up in my head. Its not even so pressing in my thinking this morning as it was last night. So God is good ... all the time!

MJ

Friday, October 06, 2006

Dare I say it

You all know what happens when you say your baby is sleeping thru the night or they are officially potty trained or just bout anything ... usually something occurs to prove you wrong. But today i woke up not feeling sick or exhausted, so IM definitely counting my blessings this morning. Hopefully we are over the rough and thick of the fun first trimester.

I managed to get some b ills paid this morning and lo and behold im not falling asleep in my seat :) Its a welcome change for sure. Im going to start some laundry and begin the process of my bedroom. If you dont see me in say 6 hrs or so send help. Im contemplating tying a rope to my ankle just in case!

I have a full work weekend which im m ost definitely not looking forward to but thus is life. Some logistics to work out with katarina and bible quizzing as well.

Well thats all for now folks, have a fantabulously great day!
MJ

Thursday, October 05, 2006

27 hrs

My work week just started last night but it already feels long. I have 27 hrs scheduled from wed thru sunday nights including 4 hrs of CPR training. I can say Im definitely not looking forward to it. I suspect Monday will be recovery day.

Im tired just thinking bout it :) I did tell my boss that Im pregnant and she seemed to take it okay. My only restrictions are that i need an assist with lifting people. So thats not really a big deal. My coworkers , last nite at least, were great bout it too. One of them was thinking up ways that it could be easier on me when im further along.

well thats enough ramblings for now
MJ

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Only one

There is only one bambino in there, measureing 10 weeks 4 days and im 10 weeks 6 days, so measuring basically on target. Heartbeat was high again, 167. I even got a picture of the little tyke. The ultrasound was pretty short and to the point.

I suppose there is always the possiblity that one is hiding but i highly doubt that.

God is good .. all the time!
MJ

Will we have double trouble or not?

Doc thinks im bigger for my dates than she anticipated so she ordered an early ultrasound just to make sure we dont have any surprises. So Im off to to do that early this morning. My friend, Elaine is covering the kids again, I owe her big time now for doing duty two days in a row!

In other news, still feeling icky but not as tired the last two days. Thankfully that extreme exhaustion is hard to cope with , when you feel like you can do nothing but sleep.

The appt went well yesterday, and I liked the doctor and for that IM extremely thankful. God is good .. all the time!

MJ

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Morning all

I woke up this morning, not quite as exhausted as yesterday, Praise God for that. I have my prenatal appt this morning, thanks to some good friends, I dont have to drag the little ones with. Thats a relief, hopefully i can ask some questions and get to know the doctor. Im really praying that I like her and her doctoring philosophies match to some of mine.

Bit chilly out this morning , reminds you that it is indeed fall. I need to get some slippers, my toesies are freezing.

Yesterday didnt result in much cleaning, I was exhausted or sick most of the day,sometimes both. I cannot wait to get out of this first trimester, hopefully the extreme exhaustion will ease.

Well thats all for now folks
MJ

Monday, October 02, 2006

Monday Madness

i woke up this morning, thinking well I havent felt sick as i get up lately. Maybe im done with the sickies, while im still exhausted, the throwing up seems to have abated mostly. Ha Ha ... thats really funny... i suppose its the reverse pyschology effect. It was bad enough that i just wanted to lay on the bathroom floor when i was done ... eww.

Fun way to start off the morning i tell you.

lets see on todays agenda, paying bills, laundry and maybe cleaning my room. Hopefully ill have enough energy to accomplish at least two out of the three! and if im lucky, a nap would be heavenly.

thats all for now folks
MJ