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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

storm then calm...is another storm coming?

So..Monday and Tuesday, the children basically treated me like paid help, not anyone deserving of their respect...not even listening to me at all and yelling at both me and each other. Today is almost a complete turn-around. Was it because I explained how it made me feel or was it that dad refused to sign off on their allowance papers, therefore they have NO allowance for last week, nor do they have poker chips to exchange for computer time????

And....does today's good behavior mean that tomorrow will be good or do I need to prepare for another storm of crappy attitudes and behavior from them?? I know they are getting excited about our upcoming trip and I know they are getting stressed about the school year that will be starting soon, but c'mon...I didn't make the laws that said they HAD to go to school and I am the one that is helping them get ready...both in practicing their math and in the more mundane things like....making sure they have clothes that fit, all supplies ready to go, etc.

Because of the last 2 days, NOTHING has gotten done around here. I have to finish the 2nd wall in the garage before I can even think about getting my freezer, but I've already be researching various meals that can be made ahead and frozen, how to make freezer jam, and all kinds of cool things (yes, sometimes I get ahead of myself). Sewing is on hold because there is too much other stuff going on, and today, my back is all tight and uncooperative, even though I just saw the chiropractor yesterday morning!!

What the heck is going on and when can I get a dang break???!!????

Monday, July 20, 2009

And *THIS* is calm???!!????

So, the last post was about all the chaos that has been going on around here. I'm happy to report that everyone seems to be feeling better and relatively back to normal. So.....that means that I'm back to my hyper, WAY-to-many-activities-going-on self. Here is what has been accomplished....but to me it doesn't look like much:
-1 wall in garage sealed and primed
-1/4 of second wall sealed and primed
-6 loads of laundry washed and dried (will be folded today)
-freezer inventory taken, meals tentatively planned out for the next week
-main body of patchwork jacket finished (lining still needs to be dealt with)

Today is shaping up to be a not-so-great day since both children are "moods" and the dominant theme is "annoy each other and see how mad we can make Mom." Well, at least they have both taken their vitamins and medicines, sigh.

After several hours of research and exploration, I have come up with some new, inexpensive ideas for products that I think (hope) will appeal to the masses and actually sell. I ran the entire list past my accountant (my husband) and we narrowed it down to those that I could actually make using items that I already have stashed away (as opposed to purchasing more supplies). I've put out a plea to other mom-friends, so hopefully I will get some feedback and "donations" for one of the products.

I jokingly told hubby that I would call these new items the "'P31" line (as in Proverbs 31) since they seem to fit..at least some of the verses, not all of them....he was amused. The only thing is that if I get started with that, I will feel challenged to make products that can at least be linked to the numerous verses. How interesting that would be....an entire product line based on the Proverbs 31 woman....daunting, but not impossible.

Ok. Now that I have some direction with the business, I can "relax" a little more and get to work on the house...lol. I *need* to finish the second wall (it's the one that the new freezer will be going up against) and I need to clean a bit inside. I suppose that I could get the laundry and vacuuming finished today, but who really wants to do that kind of work when there are creative ideas just floating around all over the place???

Well, the children have 20 minutes before I drag them in to do their schoolwork (yeah yeah, bad mommy making them do summer school, but at least they will be prepared for the upcoming school year!), then we have to do the weekly dump run, take Bek to the doc (followup from the pneumonia), run to the grocery store, and back home. That makes today a fairly calm day all in all. Of course, then there's trying to get dinner put together and eaten in time to get Tom to karate class tonight.....argh.

And I wonder why I thought this was a calm, typical life.....I suppose, in hindsight, this IS calm when compared to the sick, sick, surgery, sick time period....I want a nice long massage and a nap....

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

sick, sick, surgery, sick

That pretty much wraps things up for the last 4 weeks. My son had pneumonia, then I had bronchitis, then my husband had shoulder surgery on Thursday, and now my daughter has pneumonia.

In the middle of all the chaos, there are swimming lessons, school lessons, housework, errands, and brainstorming to come up with new ideas for my Etsy shop. I'm more than likely going to be putting most of my things on sale in the near future because they aren't really selling. I'm going to try and come up with some more small and useful items instead of fancy things. The logic behind this is that, in the given economy, useful things, that are at least cute, would sell better than the rest of the items that I have made.

I don't know yet, what my new items are going to be, but I'm working on it. One thing that I might try are reversible over-all bibs. I may also make some flower pens that will be sold only at the local craft fairs...maybe with a journal or something. Another idea that I'm toying with are mother-daughter apron sets with either hot pads or dishcloths that coordinate...still toying wiht this thought right now.

And in the middle of all this, I'm working on clothing for the children and entries for the county fair.....like I actually have any free time to do this, but still......