Blissfully Unaware of the Chaos the Surrounds Me

Drinking my Dinner . . .

because I am too tired to put food into my mouth. So a vodka/juice/Fresca cocktail it is!

Between the catch-up from our three-day camping (rainy) trip, the Fair (x 2), our backyard camping adventure, cleaning up the disaster that is my house, countless loads of laundry (6+) and today's field trip to Six Flags Vallejo? I am beyond certifiable. That doesn't even go into the fact that my Final Budget Hearing is on Thursday. And I've been out of the office for the last week. Freakin' A. Beyond good times there, people.

I. Am. Officially. Overwhelmed.

But here are some pictures that help make it all happy. Right?

(Please note that (a) I hung with the cool/brave kids at Six Flags, (b) "our" Shannon came and hung out with us for the day, (c) Halle really loved the fair and (d) all of the above contributed to how tired I am right now! Good night!

Camping, Round Two . . .

This time in the backyard, just steps away from my flush toilet, full kitchen and the hot tub. It was kind of cold last night but there was no rain. And if there had been? This fair-weather camper woulda grabbed up my kiddos and hauled 'em into the house. Just because I could have.

But instead, my two favorite kids in the world and my favorite doggy too; cuddled up close to their Mama and we slept (cozy) in a three person tent. Wall-to-wall air mattress. And it was good. Telling stories and making memories. I'm grabbing onto these everyday/special day moments. They are what fill me up.

Rainy Days Camping . . .

We just returned from Dylan's 6th grade environmental camp. And like most things, our school doesn't do them in the traditional sense. So we don't go to Woodleaf where there are cabins. Nope. We pack up 55 kids in the pouring down rain and drive through the pouring down rain. And we drive some more. And ultimately, we arrive in the rain forest. (No, really!) 

God blessed us with some periods of clear(ish) skies. Most importantly, on about 10 of the 12 miles that we hiked on Thursday. It didn't rain until about the last 2 miles into camp, so it was a major, major blessing! It also stopped raining long enough for us to set up camp, and although it had poured all night and much of the morning, it cleared long enough for us to actually take down our muddy and wet camp.

Laying in my tent at night, listening to the rain pound down on the canvas just above me, gave me lots and lots of time to think. Here's some of the thoughts that I encountered:

• I really do love to camp.
• I really am a fair-weather camper.
• But the inclement weather didn't kill me.
• I love that our 6th grade teachers are so committed to their program that they would undertake something this labor-intensive, in the pouring-down rain.
• Although I don't agree with everything they do or how they do it? I love, love, love our staff.
• And although there are 100 things our school could do better? They got it right in 6th grade. 
• I remembered how much I love kids. Yep, even kids that are not mine!
• I realized that not only do I like these kids, for the most part, they like me. Even though I can be a real hard-ass at times. (There are definitely a couple of kids that DON'T like me. And actually, the feeling is mutual. But I won't name names. Or even initials!)
• I remembered how drama-filled 6th grade can be for girls.
• I don't mind being the mom that these girls come to, crying about their hurt feelings. I love to give them a hug, tell them "chin up" and "let it go". And I love that at the end of the day? I don't have to live with all that drama. At least not for several years!
• I miss tent camping. Although sleeping on the ground really does get harder as you get older. 
• I really wish that the drive to the North Coast was just a little bit shorter. And straighter.
• I am a little bit of a control freak. Coordinating a food plan that was pre-determined by someone else? Was a little hard for me. But not as hard as it was for my dear friend, Robyn. The difference there? I'm medicated! Otherwise, it could have made me bat-shit crazy!
• I am a badass Mom. So are all the other Moms who made the trip. Badass Moms rock!

Altogether? Amazing trip. The kids loved it. All the boys in my car declared it was their favorite field trip ever. That made every muddy, wet minute worth it. 100x over.

And just a little FYI, if you're traveling 101 in the North Coast? According the boys in my car, the fact that the Arcata Chevron had a milkshake "machine", was one of the coolest parts of the entire trip. f'real milkshakes, to be specific. One of the boys even said he was going to ask his mom if they could come back this summer so he could get another milkshake. (I'm thinking they aren't worth the 9+ hour round trip and fairly certain they exist in other gas stations as well.) But it was funny nonetheless. And yes, I had one too. It was pretty delicious!

Now, back to getting all of our gear dried out and put away. 

When Big Hair . . .

can win an election:

With 23 + candidates for only 6 spots, the pressure was on . . . but Dylan (and his crazy hair) did well. He is very, very excited to serve on Student Council next year.

And I am very excited for him. And darn proud. You go, buddy! This is just the beginning!

(It should be noted that Dylan got his hair cut on Saturday morning. Good thing they didn't need to have a run-off . . . because that campaign got cut short!)

Quiet . . .

I feel like I've forgotten something. It's remarkably quiet around here at the moment. Dylan is on his computer. Halle is watching the Fresh Beat Band (which is truly one of the most horrendous shows ever). I wrapped up my work pile a while ago. We have Open House at Dylan's school tonight so it was a 1/2 day.

And I really, really feel like there is something that I should be doing.

No clue what it would be though!

I have an itch to pull something out and be creative. But then I would have to clean it up. Isn't that I terrible reason to not do it? It's just that we won't be around much this weekend and I'd rather have the house reasonably pulled together. Please note; I didn't say "clean", just pulled together. Kinda.

OK. I'm going to go do some laundry or something. I guess.

Drugs That Work . . .

are a very good thing. My headache is gone. My nausea is gone. My triple-vision is gone. Hallelujah, I'm healed! Or something like that.

Because I was so miserable, I failed to post some photos of our wedding shower fun. It was a great time celebrating Lauren, or at least it was until the last few minutes when Halle flew off the deck and landed on her face. It was very sad and bloody, as seen (minus the blood) in the photo:

But the photos before that showed a lot more fun . . . 

(Yes, Lauren and I were unintentional twins. Well, a skinny and fat twin, anyway!)

So there. A happier post of fun things done in the midst of a killer migraine. While doing the above-mentioned fun things? Dylan was off with my Mom and Les doing his own fun things . . . 

(Yep. That would be my 12-year old driving.)

(And shooting.)

(And standing in the snow in his shorts. Weirdo.)

Torodal (sp?) ...

is a good thing. It's what they gave me last year when I had my tonsillectomy and it's what they gave me this morning. I'm still functional and I feel a lot better. Not totally better, but getting there. And I didn't get any hives from it, which is even better. Especially since I'm still in a bit of a Benadryll fog. Almost 24 hours later.

Headaches, Reactions and Benadryll . . .

oh my!

I have been fighting a bad headache since Friday. On Saturday morning, I finally took two Tylenol w/Codeine and it helped. Since I was pilfering from the medicine cabinet and didn't want to to take all of someone else's prescription, I caved and took some of my own prescription for my migraines . . . Vicodin . . . on Saturday night. I began itching almost immediately. John assured me that since I had taken Vicodin numerous times before with no side effects, that it was likely unrelated.

Um, OK.

So I ended up taking another last night because I was losing the battle to this ridiculous headache/moving towards a migraine.

And I got very dizzy. And began itching. And broke out in hives. And thought about ripping my skin off to try and scratch more deeply to assuage the itching.

So I ended up taking two Benadryll. Not a problem if you are most people. But Benadryll kicks my ass. Actually, to be clear, 12 milligrams of Benadryll kicks my ass. (That's less than a normal child's dose.) Last night I had to take 50 milligrams.

Result? Amy done passed out last night. And I still cannot safely drive myself. Or talk without slurring. (Hopefully I am typing sans slur!) 

Next stop? The doctor. Then the chiropractor (normally, I would reverse those, but I am taking what I can get this morning). And hopefully a massage at some point. Although if the doctor follows her normal protocol, I will get a shot of some goodness and be comatose for the remainder of the day. Thus rendering the chiropractic visit and possible massage useless. And impossible since I will be laying horizontal for the next 18 hours while I sleep off this mind-numbing pain.

Sadly? John was up most of the night with facial pain . . . he's diagnosing himself with a sinus infection. I'm so far gone in this headache that I can't even summon up an attempt to help him with Halle today. It sounds good, but I'm just not functional enough at this stage in the game.

Happy Monday! Hope yours is celebrating without hives!

Weekly Beyond Random . . .

If I'm only going to blog once a week, then all you get is crazy-random-all-over-the-place nonsense ramblings. Sorry about that!

First, although not the most important (I just have the permalink copied and pasted and want to use it before I forget about it), this isn't the newest discussion on the Web, but it does interest me. A lot of my girlfriends (and myself) find ourselves following Mormon Mom blogs. (Note some of my links on my sidebar :)) I have lots of theories about the Mormon church, the first and foremost being that they place a value on families that I don't see in a lot of other Christian (or otherwise) church communities. Secondly, I know that sharing their faith is a component of the Mormon Church doctrine. They (meaning the Church) would be stupid to not utilize the "real-life" aspect of blogs to reach out to others outside the faith. You can't go into the Temple, but you can read any number of Mormon Mom blogs that speak of their Temple with reverence and awe and respect. Some while crafting/baking/playing with homemade felt dolls with their perfectly dressed and matching six children. Who wouldn't want some of that? 

All that being said, I know some pretty messed-up Mormon families. Most of them don't blog :) But more importantly, I know of a lot of great Mormon families, lots who do blog, who live real lives. Ones that have struggled. Some even have (gasp!) kids who don't match on daily (or ever) basis. Some even have laundry sitting on their couch waiting to be folded like I do. But most are pretty darn committed to their faith and their families. That is something that is very appealing to me . . . whether you are LDS, Buddhist, Catholic . . . you name it. I value faith and families. I don't get too caught up in how you celebrate them or what kind of church you profess in. What I do know is, behind every Mom blog? Is a mom who is doing everything she can to hold it together. On a daily or moment-by-moment basis. So if you do it well? I like to read about it? Sometimes when you don't do it well? I like to read about it even more! 

Now moving onto all other sorts of random . . . 

Our Shannon got engaged this week! Congratulations, sweet girl and wowzer, your ring is gorgeous! Now onto planning an easy getaway wedding weekend for you. I'll have to have a new Pinboard named for you!

Halle and I are going on "Color Adventure Hikes", where she bosses me where to go and we search for certain colors. This week we've done purple, red, green and grey. Today is yet to be determined. If I were really, really good; I would be taking photos of all of our color find and making a little flip-book for her. I'm considering it.

Dylan is gone to Eagle Lake this weekend with my Mom and her SO. I'm glad that he gets special time with them, driving the big truck on all the lake roads, shooting his 22 and riding the quad. But, I am a little annoyed that in all these years, I've never even been invited to the cabin. I'll live, but still . . . 

We (meaning John) got our Expedit bookcase put together and in the office yesterday. And I got my new shelf installed as well. (Again, John did it . . . not me!) So almost one year later, I'm finally figuring out how to make this office set-up work for me. Now if I could convince John to ditch his big roll-top desk and mimic my set-up, I'd be loving it! 

We have a wedding shower for Lauren today and I love, love, love the gift I had made for her! It's a Collage Wall from Bay Photo of some of their engagement photos and I think it turned out amazing! I should take a photo of it before I wrap it. Which, of course, I should already be doing since her shower is in two hours. It's also turning cold and windy, so the dress I am planning on wearing might now work out. We'll see on that one.

Speaking of clothing, yesterday, Halle wore an all-lavender outfit. She also wore an outfit to school this week that contained no red. Could the red tide be turning? I am hopeful, but as a friend told me this week, it could be worse. Their son was dressed as Luke Skywalker for an entire year. Every single day. So I can handle the red when compared with that!

Other quick notes from the week . . . 

Our Glee concert night got moved and we can't make it on the new night. So I'm bummed. Or as my friend Mindy responded, "Shit! Pissed and bummed." So I put in the refund request. 

Took a quick trip to Roseville with my Mama and my Aunt. We did a little shopping. (Side note: I had $600 in cash, ready to pull the trigger and buy an iPad while we were there. Then, when I was in the Apple store, I realized that work is going to buy me a new laptop in the new fiscal year, so I could choose a MacBook. And really, wouldn't that allow me to sit and web-browse, just like an iPad would? So I decided to wait for a couple of months. Although I still really, really want one. A lot.) We also got to stop and see my Cousin's new house. It was amazing! Love it! Love the floor plan, love the neighborhood, love the community pool/clubhouse. Love that they have traded an hour+ per day in their commute for more time spent at home. Now, if we had a development like that here? I'd be first in line. 

Other items that popped up on my calendar (aka, reasons for not blogging) . . . Ballet. Dentist. Book club. New babysitter. Jog-a-thon. PTA meeting. School facilities meeting. Field trips (x2). Work. Faculty Follies.

I don't even want to look at next week's schedule. Ugh. One crazy (blessedly full) week down, three to go.

 

Happy Mother's Day . . .

to my Mama, my sister, my Gram, my Grandma, my MIL and all of my Aunties! Happy Mother's Day to all of my amazing friends who are such amazing Moms!

Being a Mom has shaped me more than anything else in my lifetime. I am so very, very blessed to have had the experiences and time spent with my kiddos. It hasn't always been easy to balance life and all that it brings, but I think both of my kids know that I would pretty much drop anything to come to their aid.  

Dylan is my first love. He would be so embarassed to hear that direct quote, but it's true. Before I had him, I thought I knew what love really was. But, until I held that little guy, I really had no clue. He was the instant turning point to my life. I was 25 and I could no longer be selfish. I could no longer put myself first. (Isn't that the true call of parenthood? Doing what is best for someone other than yourself?) 

So it is especially neat that I first found out that I was expecting Dylan 13 years ago, today. For the sake of history, I do have to recall that it was the one Mother's Day that I forgot to wish my Mom a happy Mother's Day. I was distracted, but still . . . sorry, Mom!

Along my journey as a Mom, there are so many influences that I am grateful to. Some from my childhood (my Mom, Cindy C., Janet, Liane, my Aunt Linda, my Aunt Karen and so many more); others that met me in my early journey as a Mom, my Ukiah girls (Carmen, Kristi, Charla, Regina and my other Young Moms bible study friends); more still that joined me along the way of coming home to Chico with just my little guy (Linda B. and Kathy especially); those that came with John . . . the ultimate package deal (Crissy, Robyn, Traci and Lynn); so many from our amazing church family (Christi, Susan and so many more); my go-to Mom when I need advice on the stages that we hit as parents (the amazing Lynn Mount); and my girlfriends . . . the ones who tell me the truth, even if it's ugly (Robyn, Ree, Shannon, Janell, Stacy, Marci, just to mention a few).

And I couldn't have imagined how soothing and supportive that the Internet can be . . . wow, I love, love, love and appreciate the 24-7 ability to find resources, support, an inspiring word, a place to vent . . . God bless the web of Moms, nurses, experts and yes, even the assholes that spend time on the Web, giving advice and knowledge and experience. It's the ultimate Mom's group!

And to those girls/women who come in and love my kiddos when i can't be here? My Lauren, Gillian and Shannon especially? You will never know the joy and support and love that you have brought to my life! I love you girls for loving my kids!

Happy Mother's Day! Thank you, John for planning ahead and giving me such sweet gifts today, even though you couldn't be here. And thank you, Dylan for getting up with your sister so I could sleep in. You boys rock!