There Should Be A Law...

One of my older sister's told me there should be a law where no one is allowed to die at holiday time. My mother-in-law lost her battle against uterine cancer on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007, between 9:30pm-10:00pm. She had just moved from the hospital to a nursing home. She and her husband agreed this was just temporary until she regained her strength.

I think she subconsciously knew it was time to go because she insisted on going to the nursing home instead of her home. If she had gone to her home they would have had to bring a hospital type bed into the home, etc.

When we were down for the family get together Allison thought Grandma was still sick. I told her that Grandma went to heaven. "Why?" she asked. I told her that she went to be with Jesus. "Why?" I told her Jesus wanted Grandma to be with him now.

Matt is doing okay. I think Art is having a more difficult time. He has to go through all her things - clothes, projects she was working on (mini scrapbooks, quilt), bathroom stuff (wigs, meds, make-up). I can't even imagine.

I think I would be a wreck if I wasn't on my happy pill.

Thanks for all your support!

Happy Birthday Allison (Yesterday)

My baby girl is 4 years old!
She's got attitude.
She's got spunk.
She's got lots of love.
She's got my heart forever!

Bittersweet holiday

Thanksgiving was an odd one this year. We drove down to Roseburg at 10am Thanksgiving day and had lunch at Shari's (next to our motel). Then we went to the hospital where Royce was and visited for awhile. Then it was back to the hotel for children's naps. Then back to the hospital to visit. Then finding a place open for dinner. We ended up at Apple Peddler. The food sucked. Then back to the motel for bedtime.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/weddingfirstdance

Quote of the week

"I'm talking to myself and you're interrupting me!"

--Allison

Have You Ever?

Have you ever accidentally hurt your own child? Allison was dilly dallying getting into her car seat. She was standing in the car doorway with her hand on the car (the area between the front and back doors). I was putting things in the front seat. Then I closed the front door and immediately saw her fingers being crushed. I opened the door at once and immediately she screamed in pain. I felt so horrible! We went back into the CDC and got an ice pack to put on her two fingers. Thank goodness we were somewhere that had ice packs; otherwise, her fingers would be the size of Matt's big toes. Her two fingers look fine now with just a slight mark of redness.

But man, the guilt a mother feels when something like this happens. Sucks!

Happy Birthday, Sister! (Her b-day is really the 9th but I've got time now to write this)

It started with me holding up doll clothes to Mom's protruding stomach.
Then Tim poked you with a safety pin while changing your cloth diaper.
Then I pushed you down in your crib and when asked by Mom and Dad what happened to you I told them I don't know.
Endless days of playing 'house' and playing at the Piper's house.
Our big move to small town Council.
The 'Golden Gate' bridge in our backyard.
What? I stole your friend, Sharla?
Living in a one room shack for a month.
Trekking on over to Washington into a two bedroom apartment.
"It's your turn to pick up dog poop!" "No, it's your turn!" screamed both of us.
Beautiful Oregon. An even tinier apartment.
Lice. Yuck. Sucked (heh, heh - literally and physically).
Our own house! Our own bedrooms - finally!
Now you know why I was acting crazy in the bedroom?
Birthday parties. Sleepovers. Fights. Hugs.
Goodbye. You're off to Montana while I stay and room with Jill for a few months.
I'm in love. You're in hell.
I'm a Beaver. You're a party girl.
"Problem, Jim?" (I always had issues with people's breaths)
I'm literally on my own in an apartment.
You come to live with me. Thus, I become the ultimate sucker.
You move on and I move on.
We marry.
We mature.
We forgive.
We love.


I can't believe I'm 33 and you're 28!
Happy Birthday! I love you!

Conversation with Allison

Allison: "How old are you?"
Me: "For real?"
Allison: "Yes."
Me: "33"
Allison: "Pretend I'm 34 and you're 33. I'm your mother because I'm older than you."

Later....

Allison: "I'm marrying my baby."
Me: "You are marrying your baby? What does that mean?"
Allison: "It means that you put your baby under your shirt, dress, skirt, or pants. Your baby stays in your tummy for a while. Then you lift your shirt and pop, your baby comes out."
Me: "Oh. Okay."
Allison: "Do you want to marry your baby?"
Me: "Sure."
Allison: "Okay. Put Maura under your shirt."
I put my baby doll under my shirt.
Allison: "Let's put blankets on our stomachs to keep our babies warm in our tummies."

Getting to Know Meme...

I stole this meme from my sis.

Hi, my name is Amy

But you can call me Amy.

Never in my life have I gotten a bikini wax.

When I am nervous my heart beats really fast.

The last song I listened to was I can't remember.

If I were to get married right now, it would be in Hawaii.

My hair is getting long.

When I was four, I don't remember what I did. I guess I just played.

Last Christmas Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus stopped at our house and took pictures with my children and in-laws.

I should be getting ready for bed.

When I look down I see my sexy legs.

The happiest recent event was lying on the football field being tickled by my children.

If I were a character in Friends, I’d be Phoebe because she's comfortable with her quirky self.

By this time next year, I will have gone camping.

My current distress is forcing myself to exercise.

I have a hard time understanding tragic events.

There are these girls that make me smile.

If I won an award, the first person I would tell is Matt.

I want to buy some new bed sheets.

I plan on visiting San Antonio for Christmas.

If I could spend the night at any house, it would be my parent's.

The world could do without Paris Hilton & Britney Spears.

The most recent thing I bought myself cinnamon stix from Auntie Annie's Pretzels.

The most recent thing that someone else bought for me was lunch at Ixtapa.

My middle name is Schultz.

In the morning, I get the kids ready for school.

Last night I played with Allison and Isaiah.

There is this guy I know who is amazingly talented.

If I was an animal, I would be a sea otter because I would get to lounge in the water all the time.

A better name for me would be Aim (my oldest sister calls me this).

Tomorrow will be an early start since I'm doing the Race for the Cure.

Tonight I am going to bed early (hopefully).

Nasty Undies

Matt brought some clean laundry up to our bedroom to put away. He found a pair of my underwear and threw them at Allison saying, "Ew, nasty undies!" Allison, on the bed, asked if they were nasty. I, sitting at my desk near the bed, replied that they were clean. So what does she do? She throws the underwear at me. So I throw them back at her. Thus began the game of Nasty Undies. My goal was to get the underwear to hit her somewhere on the head. Her goal was to just hit some part of me. She was gut rolling every time I got her in the face. Each time we threw the underwear we would say, "Ew, nasty undies!"

Now you know our sense of humor! Hee hee.

Communication 101

Isaiah said 'Daddy' tonight for the first time!

He says the following:

cah = car
dah-ee = doggie
ma-ma-ma = mom

He signs more, water, eat.

He grabs for my hand when he wants me to come with him.

He puts his finger to his lips and nose and says, "Shhh."

He points to the parts of his face when we ask him to. For nose, he touches his nose and then sticks his finger in his nostril. Then he points to my nose and then tries to put his finger in MY nostril.

He hits or head butts my head and then laughs hysterically.

Cheap Ass Craigslisters!

I put seven items on craigslist for sale and listed them at a decently inexpensive price considering the quality the majority of them were in. After a week and a half, I sold four of the items and I had to reduce the prices. I am sorely disappointed because the toys are in such excellent condition that they are worth more than what the cheap ass craigslisters paid.

Who cares if I'm one of those cheap ass craigslisters!

Okay, I'm over it.

B-day

Instead of going to Spokane for a sisters weekend, I decided to stay home and celebrate my birthday with my family. The morning started out with Matt taking care of Isaiah (he woke up early) and then all of us getting ready to go to Corvallis. There was no "Happy Birthday, Mommy." or "Happy Birthday honey". Instead there was the usual "You need to get dressed." and "Where are your shoes, Isaiah?"

I mention this minute little fact to my mom when she called me. So when Allison got on the phone with her Allison listens for a while and then she says to me, "Happy Birthday." Gee, thanks, Mom. She tried.

Finally, in the car, an opportune moment occurs for me to tell Matt, "You forget a lot of things." He gives me that look of "what are you talking about?" I'm not about to tell him that he hasn't wished me a happy birthday. He finally gets the hint and asks me, "Did you see the card on the back of the love seat?" Yeah, right. NO! I did not see it. If I had we wouldn't be having this conversation. I, I, I.

That's how my birthday started but it ended nicely. We made it to Corvallis and ate lunch and played at the park. Then we watched the Beavers stomp Idaho State. Then we went on the field and played around. We hiked back to the car and drove home.

This is a good start to another year!

Is your body smarter than yourself?

So when my body is stressed it tries to tell me by giving me awful looking cold sores or painful canker sores. But I thought I could trick my body by stopping these sores with medicine. Why in the world would the body give itself another stressor? I mean, come on! Hello? The sores just make me even more stressed because I'm in pain! Anyway, I'm veering away from my point of this post. So, I stopped the cold sore and the canker sore. But, mwoahaha!!!!! I wake up one morning to a rash on my stomach. At first I thought a swarm of mosquitoes had bitten me the previous night. But I think I would have noticed a bunch of bugs under my shirt. Anyway, the rash is extremely itchy! But I will myself to not scratch, not even around the patch (hey, I was being a poet and I didn't even know it). I say patch because it is basically a patch of bites with redness all around and it's even a little tender to the touch. Weird. Being my usual self, I have to show someone my physical problem. So I show Matt and he gives this look of dismay and tells me I need to go see the doctor. But typical me I try to wait it out. I give it seven days and then I call and make an appointment. Unfortunately, my regular doctor cannot see me right away so I see the nurse practitioner (that's a whole other post in itself). She tells me this rash is SHINGLES. What? It can occur when the body is under stress. How can one's body be smarter than one's self? Go figure. So now I know what to do if I get shingles again. I can fix it with medicine. If I do that, I wonder what my body will do to me next. Mwoahahahahaha!!!!

Dilemma

What would you do?
It's your birthday weekend.
Spend the weekend with your favorite sisters?
Spend the weekend with your favorite husband and children?

What would you do?
You already have a dog.
Buy two of your favorite dogs (1 1/2 and 2 yrs old) that are for sale?
Buy a puppy of these favorite dogs that are for sale?

What would you do?
You have a bitter mother-in-law sick with cancer.
Send good thoughts, emails, and cards?
Send a book about deadly emotions having toxic effects on the body?

Happy (Belated by 15 minutes) Birthday, Grandma! 85

A Birthday Poem

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider
climbed up your birthday cake,

Along came some wind
and made the spider shake,

The wind picked him up
and dropped him on your plate...

Now the Itsy-Bitsy Spider
is something you just ate!

Thank you Hallmark birthday card.

Hope

I woke up yesterday morning and went outside to get the newspaper. As I read the first article on the front page, the words, "Three-year old twins from Oregon, their parents and grandparents were among nine people aboard a sightseeing plane that crashed and caught fire Thursday in a heavily forested area outside Ketchikan, Alaska." caught my attention. Three-year old twins - I automatically thought of any twins I knew of that were three years old. There is a set of twins in my daughter's class. Then as I read the names of the twins, my heart sank and I ran up the stairs and asked Matt what the names of the twins in Allison's infant room class were. We both realized that the family in the article was the same family we knew from Allison's class.

I was in shock and had to talk to someone about it. So I called a friend who knew the family as well and we both tried to process the reality that the boy twin and the parents were killed in the crash. Only the twin girl and her grandmother survived out of the family. I keep thinking how awful for this little girl to be left behind. I can't even imagine if my whole family was killed and I was the only survivor. I have to stop thinking about this subject because then I start questioning my faith. Why did this happen? I know if the little girl survives (she's still in critical condition) she is going to be a stronger person. I know some good will come out of such tragedy.

Time Flies

Has it really been nine months since I've last posted in this blog? Holy cow! I'm so sorry. Well, to sum up the past nine months - I quit my at home computer job and began subbing at the CDC. I loved working with the children so much that I decided to pursue an AA degree in Early Childhood Education. I took two classes during winter term and decided going to school, working part time, and having a family is too much for my mental state. So instead of taking classes, I continued subbing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for three months. Then I applied for a teacher position the end of June. Yay - I got hired as a support teacher in Transition A room (2-3 year olds). I am excited for the new school year. Allison will be in preschool and Isaiah will be in the toddler room.

Enough about me! Matt built the kids a beautiful play house! It only took a couple of months to complete. They love playing in it. Allison picked out the yellow paint for the interior walls. The exterior matches our house and the shed including the red door.

Isaiah started walking everywhere a couple days before the 4th of July. Now he's running and chasing Allison. They have been devouring the strawberries growing in our backyard. We hang out at the parks a lot this summer. No vacations for us this summer. We did manage to go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium with Matt's parents and I took the kids up to Seattle to hang out with Amaya and Logic. We are still trying to go camping some time. Matt painted and put up crown molding in the living room and dining room (which is actually the play room). He also painted the downstair's bathroom but I didn't like the color (too poopy) and so at this moment in time he is repainting it. I am hoping he'll be able to clean out the garage before the rain starts so I can park my car in there.

Well, I think I've got you up to date on us. Hopefully, it won't be another nine months before I post again.

Love!