120 hour shift

Yes folks you read that right. My poor husband is on a 120 hour shift. That means he will not be home for yep 120 hours- he will spend 5 straight days running calls and maintaining a firehouse schedule.

What does this mean for our house… Well it means deep cleaning and reading of course. We are about halfway done with this shift. All three kids are battling colds so they have stayed home from sports this week but other than that our regularly scheduled madness lives on.

Homeschooling all three kids by myself because Daddy is not home to help. Ran errands today: five stores including two weeks of grocery shopping completed. Deep cleaning the kitchen: stove has been cleaned, fan above scrubbed, fridge and freezer cleaned out, washed fridge, washed floors, washed the walls, dusted, cleaned the windows, cleaned the blinds, reorganized the cabinets and countertops, and cleaned light fixtures. Tomorrow we tackle deep cleaning the living room, two birthday parties, and dinner with the firehouse family.

I am exhausted. Sunday will be our day of rest… It is much needed.

Friends that “Just Get It”

I am so beyond lucky to have a few amazing friends!

I was lucky to find one of those friends in jr high. She and I are still friends 20 years later. We experienced boyfriends and high school dramas together. Today we have children the same age. We may not get to spend our days hanging out like we did once upon a time but one call and it’s just like old times.

Another one of my amazing friends I met when I was in what can only be called the “transition” phase of my life. I was alone and very afraid. She was there for the good times and was the only one who stayed for the rough patches. She and I have switched our rolls time and time again. No matter the distance or time that passes we are always there. She is truly an amazing friend and I feel so blessed to have her.

The third I can only describe as a kindred spirit. She speaks in terms others do not always understand, maybe that is why we “get each other.” We are so alike. I can send her some random thought and she knows exactly what it means. Having someone who can understand your nonsense is always important!

Cherish your friends! Find those friends that matter. Don’t focus on those faceless phony people who claim to have your back but judge your every step. Cherish those important friends who just get it.

Date night change of plans

Every parent looks forward to that glorious night when someone takes your kids for the night. It happens every once every three to four months for my husband and I that we can manage a night with no kids.

Of course last night all three children were all settled in at my in laws. We were home, enjoying a quiet night at home. We were just about to snuggle in bed and watch a movie when….

The phone call came, “Mommy I don’t feel good I want to come home.” So of course I had to get up, get dressed, and drive the 30 minutes to go get my boy. He then spent the night snuggled in bed between mom and dad. Yep that was our date night.

Nightmares

Nightmares…. We all have them. They wake us from our slumber usually in tears, night sweats, and totally shaken. They can cause a minor interruption in our sleep to a completely restless night.

Last night was a restless night of sleep for me. It started with minor bad dreams focusing on people from the past who I do not associate with. Then progressed to dreams about my children being hurt in an accident. Finished with an all out nightmare with my husband being killed in a fire at work.

I woke for the third time with tears streaming down my face. I decided at this time sleep was not going to happen for me. Do you ever have those nights where you just can’t get good nights sleep? Your dreams get progressively worse the more you try to sleep.

I envy those who do not dream. I have such vivid dreams almost every night that I wake up wondering if they were reality or just a dream.

Celebrity Suicide: I Don’t Care

Thank you for this wonderful post. I do not pay attention to a lot of the celebrity gossip. So her passing was news to me. I may not care about celebrity suicide but I do care about every item you shared. Thank you so much for sharing

Lazy Days are They a Thing of the Past?

It feels as though in today’s fast paced society taking the Lord’s day as a day of rest has gone away. I really think think the Jewish faith may have it right! We as American’s have lost the ability to just be. To sit still and just be. I posted a few days ago about my fears of having to be still for and MRI and I realized that this is a problem!

Today I tried as much as possible to remedy this. I took the day off! We started our day at Sunday school and mass ( something I do not consider it to be “work”). Then we enjoyed a leisurely lunch with grandma. We came home, the kids asked what we had to do today and my response was “nothing.”

They looked at my almost shocked, no chores, no errands to run, no places to be. We may have to stay active and busy during the week, but I have decided the most running will be done on Sundays is to church and Daddy’s firehouse. Let’s see if I can make this last! The kids and I have all enjoyed a quiet day at home!

Be Still

Wait! You want me to be still? For how long? An hour and a half! No music, no books, no moving, just be still. How the hell am I suppose to do that?!

I have to do an MRI of my neck and brain. I have chronic migraine headaches and tension in my neck. Due to family history (I won’t bore you all with details) I have to sit STILL for these MRI’s. I am sure this is caused by the stress of my lifestyle. My husband works on average between 100-120 a week(not in two weeks one week). I home school our three children and they each participate in two to three activities. Yes I am crazy!

Well here is the issue- as it is hard enough for me to schedule one day for my husband to be home with the kids I have to do them both at once. Not to mention the insurance copayment for us is less if I do them both at once…. So instead of sitting still for 45 minutes twice which is doable maybe- I have to sit absolutely FRIGGEN STILL for 90 minutes!

How the hell am I going to do this. I can’t sit still for 5 minutes. I am always going, my brain doesn’t turn off. I can’t sleep at night unless I take a medication for anxiety. Yes I am that kinda crazy. I have OCD and ADD, along with being premenopausal thanks to an early hysterectomy at age 27! Yeah this will be a walk in the park!

Stranded for the Day

We live in WI where the weather is nice this time of year… Averaging around 20 degrees or so.My van is being repaired for the day and my husband is on a 72 hour shift! Ahhhhh I am stranded in the house with my kids and animals!

To make matters worse my oldest child; the helper child, the one who instinctively knows what I want done without a word being spoken, he is gone for the day! So it is me left to manage the dogs and entertain the rugrats!

Bring on the coffee and the chocolate! To hell with counting calories today. There are some days you just need some added comfort of peanut butter M&M’s and a hot cup of coffee.

My 20s (The Asshole Years)

I love this and could not agree more. I was one of those who married young. I found my partner in crime/ best friend/ soul mate/ all the cliche things you can insert at 19! I had my children in my twenties. I voiced my opinions. I made more mistakes then I care to admit but I learned from every moment of my ass hole twenties and cherish them.

Though I still dress awesome at 30+ my style has just changed a little. 😉

Yes! My Son Just Said That!

I was reading my ten year old son’a book report last night. He recently read the book “The Giver.” I had him write a book report on it. He was to finish the book report with the most important lesson learned from the book.

For those of you who have not read this children’s novel I highly recommend it. Read it before it becomes a movie this year! I will give a brief description here- I won’t ruin it for you.

It is based in the future, everyone and everything is the same. No one can be different. Weather never changes. Jobs are assigned. Family units are assigned.

My son took an immediate interest in the book. He read a few chapters a day and had it finished in no time.

He wrote his book report and turned it in yesterday. As I finished reading his report last night I was so proud. His final sentence was, ” The most important lesson I learned from this book was how important our individuality is, once we loose what makes us different we loose what makes us special.”

Yes that is one proud mom moment!