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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

tired, mindless ramblings

So, for a week DS has been sick, and yesterday, they finally said that he has walking pneumonia. Wow!! First, it was nothing but a virus and would go away in a week, and now it's pneumonia!! So, my 9yo is on zithromax, tussinex, and prednisone....wahoo! Needless to say, the past week has not seen much in the way of solid sleeping for me, hubby, or our son. His coughing has finally started calming down a little, so hopefully this stuff is on it's way out of here.

I was supposed to work on the garage again this week and I need to call the insurance company about hubby's surgery, we do schoolwork in the summer and are already behind because of DS being too sick to ge tout of bed. I have to figure out how to install a sheetrock ceiling most likely by myself, though I don't see how that is possible....have gotten word from the neighbor that he would help and a friend said she would help if needed....but don't even know when I'll actually get to it.

I'm supposed to be sewing clothing for myself but haven't been able to focus long enough to even get pattern pieces laid out correctly. I'm also supposed to be helping both children with entries for the county fair (DD has made a wodden frog model, a race car, and a decorated hat, DS has only made a race car, but he has been sick AND he's still deciding what else he wants to do), and I have made progress on that goal.....in fact, I will be helping DD build a birdhouse today.

I'm too dang tired to do any of this, but hey, it's what you do as a mom, right?? I started crying last night and hubby said that it would all be okay....I told him that it wasn't crying about our son (though I was extremely worried when he got to 104.8), but out of total exhaustion and the need for uninterrupted sleep and maybe even a vacation...because the next thing coming up is DHs surgery and I'm not prepared for that either.

Ah well, maybe today I'll actually get something constructive done around here

Sunday, June 14, 2009

I'm In The Paper!!! Wahoo!!!!

http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090614/LIFESTYLE/906140302/1024/LIFESTYLE/Tips-on-Thriving

Yep, that's the article where you can learn how I've cut the family budget! Complete with picture of me right on the main page, and several smaller shots of clothing that I've made for the family.

It's interesting to see how the savings add up, but then you have to subtract our charitable donations, karate classes, gas for the cars, money we put into savings. Really, when you take all that into account, the savings diminish quite a bit. However, we continue to put money aside for the children's college as well as for our retirement. Right now we are saving for our vacation at the end of July, not to mention the work that we want to finish up on the house this year (would be nice to have the garage sealed and insulated and possibly a start on hubby's office now that he's chosen how he wants it done).

I think I can cut even more out, but I'm not sure where......might actually end up destashing a bunch of my craft supplies and fabric because I'm just not using them anymore and that would bring in more money to put towards savings and such.....who knows....but it will be interesting to give it a try!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Sheetrock dust, coughing, and 4 years going away

So, hubby is going to have surgery on July 2nd to (hopefully) repair his shoulder. His current status is that he can barely lift that arm, and definitely CAN'T do any work in finishing the garage. So.....

For the past few days, I've been pretty much covered in cobwebs, sheetrock dust, and spackling compund! I've moved around several piles to sort through and have actually managed to take a massive load to the dump - including 2 boxes of "stuff" that has been sitting untouched since we moved here back in 2005!!! There is still a lot to do, and an outsider would say that I was going about things sporadically, but there is a method to my madness!! See, when we moved in, the garage had no floor, just a too small dumping of gravel. SO we had the floor poured and then just piled things wherever. Now, it's time to kick it up and get things finished (I'm tired of having a building permit stuck to my garage door). Ok, so I started on the walls easily reached without having to move too much - some already have their second coat of spackling compund and just need to be sanded. Then, in the idst of clearing out boxes of "stuff" I thought that it would be best to get the corner area finished (spackling, primer, maybe even paint if I could be so lucky!) because that area will pretty much stay as the "Christmas storage area" and it makes no sense to me to stack the boxes there, then have to move them again to get the priming and painting done. I should have the second coat of compound up there today and possibly the primer done in that area....if I can get that far, I will go ahead and shove the boxes closer to the corner so that i can reach the other wall.

So...that kind of explains the 4 years going away...we haven't even looked inside some of the boxes shoved in the garage since we moved in! So WHY are we keeping them?? Granted, it IS a good thing I'm going through each one because I found an antique quilt from my Dad's family shoved in the bottom of one, not to mention my Barbie collection (getting passed to my daughter), but also the collection of International dolls that my uncle sent to me when he worked in the travel industry (he passed away in 1995). Outstanding!! I thought these were things that, lilke our large extension ladder, never made the move from NY to VA!!! It was a happy day for me yesterday...lol.

Of course, all this work is helping keep me distracted from the fact that my son has been coughing since Monday night. ALL the docs we've seen or talked to (4 so far, all at the same practice) have said it's nothing more than a virus and they've seen LOTS of children with the same symptoms: high fevers, cough, sore throat. Well, that doesn't actually reassure me, but thanks for the info! Yesterday I called the office and practically begged for something to help with his cough since he has had 15 minutes coughing jags, usually around 1am....he now has Tussinex to take at night, so hopefully we will ALL get some sleep. I suppose I should be happy that it isn't whooping cough or croup or pneumonia, or bronchitis......though they didn'g check for whooping cough or bronchitis...but according to the professionals. it's "just a virus".....if the tussinex doesn't help calm the cough down, he'll be back at the office...which kind of stinks since he's supposed to be in gifted/talented classes next week - Civil War history....perfect for where we live.

Ah well...maybe all this manual labor will help me keep dropping pounds....not as much lost as I would like, but sweating and lifting has GOT to be doing something!!