S-h-o-p-p-i-n-g

Have you been shopping lately?

I truly do not enjoy shopping. Anything that involves money gives me angst. If I had a money tree in the basement, or could access it through my iphone, I'm pretty sure shopping and I would get along a lot better.

Some people find it therapeutic, I find it stressful. Some people get a thrill out of bargain hunting, I'd rather pay top dollar just to get what I need and get out! Funny thing is, I have even been able to get out on an occasional Monday or Friday morning for 2 hours with NO KIDS! Hard to imagine shopping without children, isn't it? Still, shopping and me are like gin and wine . . . . they don't mix (hmmmm.....concerned about my alcoholic simile???)

So, this morning was one of those occasional Friday mornings that I hit the road with an exact amount of time and some vague ideas of what I was looking for (those of you who are Dave Ramsey addicts, you may not want to read on). Armed with birthday cash and the promise of upcoming warm weather and a baby shower to plan, I headed to Paramus.

Target. I think I enjoy this store more when I am with someone else. Probably because of the one I was at, yuck. Not the contents of it, just that "cold" store feel. My real plan was to pick up a couple of shirts, a pair of pants and SHOES for school. With the warmer weather, the same brown courdory pants and black dress pants really need a time out! And the black ballet flats I have been wearing for 4 years that baby powder just doesn't do the trick for anymore? Yup, time to go! So what did I leave with? A shirt and a pair of pants, candy for the baby shower, and an overdue birthday gift for a friend. Ugh. I had time for one more store. NY and Company. Another cardigan . . . thinking this needs to be returned . . . since my school wardrobe consists of ALL cardigans!! Tangerine and cobalt blue certainly are the colors of the season . . . what did I leave with? Black, grey and khaki. Neat.

Are there "cute" things out there? For sure! Did I spend more time looking at spring clothes for my girls? You bet! Will not buy though until I really get down, out and go through all those hand me downs (guess that means it is time to put away last summer's clothes?!?!?!) Do any of us really "need" more clothes? Certainly not, but the occasional pick me up for the new season I think is okay. But when I walk through these stores, I can't help lately to think we are so caught up in ourselves and our appearances . . . don't get me wrong, I COULD find plenty that I "need" . . . . but that is another conversation for another time . . . =)

I haven't even gotten to my reactions of the mirrors in the dressing rooms. ICK. What is THAT all about?? Who needs a rear view, side view and front view?? No thanks! Is there an app to fix this????

So, I think I'm done with shopping again for awhile. Guess I'll continue to get up and look in my ho-hum closet and pull out the same old, same old. Maybe for next year, since it looks to be I'll be needing to dress up a bit more, I'll have to find myself some personal shopping assistants, preferably over the age of 6.

My next trip is to Michael's, and possibly JUST a shoe store . . . or maybe I'll just go to Ditto . . .

If I do find a money tree, or an app for that, think I will spend it on other people . . . and will stick to my black yoga pants and zip up sweatshirts.

hammering 4 habitat

(excuse picture placement . . . not sure what was going on!!)

For our 5th grade MAD (make a difference) project this year, we are working with Habitat for Humanity. As teachers we sometimes can be caught grumbling and groaning when MAD kicks off in October. We know it is a LONG haul to the finish line in May.

I must say though, this year has been a bit different.

Oh yes, there are still the groans and grumbles and the frustrations with 5th graders who can't focus or write a cohesive paragraph, but working with Habitat just seems like a right fit this year.

The kids were asked early on, what will you build? As a class we have brainstormed, researched, listened to speakers, made Habitat gingerbread houses, and just recently, earned money and participated in the Hammering 4 Habitat event. Students currently are working in groups to write proposals to bring to Donor Day in order to fulfill whatever the goal of that group is (birdhouses, benches, key holders, heartwarming baskets, etc.). In May we will be going to worksites to clean homes and then attend the dedication service where a family will receive a new home.

Truly being a willing servant and serving others in order to ultimately serve Him is when my heart is most content.

Looking forward to answering that question this year . . . what will we build?

to finish the morning, a trip to the historic falls

friends

Huh. Not sure how December and January came and went . . .and February . . .

I did decide it was time to clear pictures off of my camera.

Yikes . . .

So a few posts that are a bit outdated, but good memories never grow old, right?

So I begin with a post about friends.

Or should I say the girls of Stanley Court (okay, a small shout out to Rick and Matt =).

These friends are like no other. Drop my kids off so I can go food shopping? Done. Stop over on a Friday afternoon for a glass of wine? Check. Saturday afternoon out of the blue play dates? Yup. Hand-me-downs times a thousand that are bursting out of my house? Done and done again! Someone who listens, understands and never judges me for my thoughts, questions or concerns? Yes. Warm winter weather before Christmas trip to NY Botanical Gardens? Awesome!

So here are just a few of my favorites =)

happy. fun. thankful. friends.

to the moon and back

In the car today, picking Jenny up from school:

Kirsten - You know what I learned about in school today, Jenny?

Jenny - What?

K - A heartprint

J - A what?

K - Ya know, when I give you a kiss or something, I give you a heartprint . . .

Putting Kirsten to bed tonight:

K - Mommy, I love you.

Me - I love you more

K - I love you most

Me - I love you mostest

K - I love you to the moon and back

Me - I love you to the moon and back to the moon and back

K - I love you to Jesus and back.

Love precious glimpses like these. . .

50 %

This is not the post I intended as my "come back after a while" post . . .

BUT, I am at school, and need to write . . .

Jenny is a busy girl. If she is busy, that probably means I am busy, too.

I often catch myself thinking about that next "phase," and wonder if I am ready for the challenges that come with that. Currently I look at my best friend's life, and often wonder how she does it all . . . a full time teacher, mom and wife. Her girls are involved in like a gazillion sports, and she is so extremely dedicated and motivated to her life as a teacher that I often wonder how she does it. AND she has even added to her "mom plate," a "dating" child =) .

I can look at my brother and sister-in-law, and think about when I was 5 months pregnant with my first child. 1st grade was a LONG way off, why think about that? I do clearly remember those "baby days," and truly cannot imagine going back to those days, as they presented their own challenges . . . although the joys were very abundant as well!

So, back to Jenny and my reason for writing.

Jenny's teacher e-mailed me with the results of Jenny's spelling test . . . 50%.

Ugh.

This week we had a lengthy Bible memory verse, nightly math facts, our reading log, a slacking responsibility chart, a broken Valentine's Day teacher's present (an orchid that got stuck in the bus door!!) and spelling. Add in to that some dance, GEMS, and meetings and basketball games for Mommy, and we have got ourselves a full week.

I was pretty certain last night in the hour between dance and GEMS with a bowl full of mac and cheese, that she had these words down. We practiced and then I had her practice the words she had gotten wrong . . . and she was all good . . . or so I thought . . .

I'm pretty sure Jenny's 1st grade spelling test is not going to define her future as a student, but, it has caused enough angst in my heart today that even my phrase "it's all good" is not really cutting it!

So, today after school I will wipe the tears of frustration away, and next week we will study a bit longer!

ill be back. . . .

February?

Not sure how that happened.

I have to apologize for not keeping up on the thoughts and lives of my friends, I just seem to be having a slightly difficult time keeping up with my own thoughts and daily routines! But I know that my friends love me for who I am, and not for what is on my blog! Besides, I started this whole blogging thing to keep a record mostly for my kids since I am really bad at writing stuff down and holding on to things (no offense to all of my dear friends! I love that we can listen and love each other through these "posts".)

Why should a blog make me feel stressed, or apologetic? Hmmm....need to work on that.

Thankfully I'm not judged by the "updates" on my blog, or the comments on others. This is why facebook would be a disaster for me!

Right now I'm taking one day at a time.

bringing in the new year

Happy 2012, I think.

I didn't think I wanted to remember the "bringing in" of this year with a post, but figured it is a memory and a story that I will be telling for quite some time, so here goes.

Our week after Christmas up in BML is always filled with fun, food, drink and usually snow. This year was no different. Noticeably this year, the age of the girls has been so great, and we are able to do so much as a family. Needless to say, we were having a great and dare I say uneventful week!

Our New Year's Eve celebration always starts early. By early, I mean like Mimosa's for breakfast, beers around the campfire at the bottom of the sledding hill, and then high balls followed by Boulderdash and champagne (celebratory, of course!) This New Year's Eve though, things took a turn as I took my 5pm shower and began to prepare the girl's dinner and a plethora of fun New Year's Eve appetizers. The only problem, was that my stomach was not saying "fun." I tried to turn it off, but after our "kid New Year celebration," I was ready for bed, thinking sleep was my best bet.

At about 10 p.m., not really having slept, I found my way to the bathroom and threw up (sorry, no nice way to put it!). Thinking I now had infected the entire household, I was thankful that I should now start feeling better. But, 15 minutes later, with a lot of sharp stomach pains, I headed back for round 2 . . . then round 3 . . . then round 10 . . . . then I lost count. Every 10-15 minutes, I was violently throwing up. At about 1 am, "other" things began happening as well. At about 2 am, I told Matt to get my mom. Long story short, still throwing up, mom and dad called our EMT BML neighbor, who came over and as a group, it was decided an ambulance needed to be called. While this is happening, I of course could care less about what I look like, what I am wearing (which wasn't much!), and the words coming out of my mouth (along with everything else coming out of my mouth!).

Let me stop one moment and explain what it means to call an ambulance to BML. 30 minutes, and 3 EMT's (one without teeth) were at our door. Cathy, Tim and Kenny (no teeth). It is about 3:30 now, and I am shivering, close to dehydrated, scared. I put clothes on, and began to walk to the door, when I needed to get to the bathroom, quick. Matt came with me, and thankfully did, because he caught me as I passed out on the floor, and then puked up the ginger ale mom had made me drink.

So . . . in comes the stretcher. Please imagine 3 rural Indian Lake EMT's (one toothless, remember?) and a stretcher. I remember apologizing for not being a lightweight! There were some others helping, but I don't remember a ton of that. Thankfully, because dad told me they almost dropped me on my head.

So, into the ambulance I go, and "snuggled" in for my 70 mile ride to the NEAREST hospital. Yes, 70 miles! Mom and Dad followed, Matt stayed with the girls.

We arrived at Glen Falls Hospital at around 5am. After being admitted, a nurse put in an IV (again, almost passed out, thankfully my mom held my hand through that!) and gave me anti-vomitig medicine and 2 bags of fluids. After some other tests and evaluations (in an ER full of New Year's Eve domestic and alcoholic involved "incidents" - like a husband/wife taser incident), and when I was able to keep ice chips down, we left the hospital . . . .exhausted, a bit in shock, and ready to move on with the year, at 9 am.

When we walked in the door about an hour and a half after leaving the hospital, grandma Meenen, who also slept through everything, looked at me and said in classic grandma . . . "What's the matter Gnome, don't you feel good?"

So with that said, in a nutshell, I became very aware of some blessings . . .

1. My kids slept through everything.

2. My Mom will always be my mom and will help me when I am sick, even though I am almost 34 years old. AND she bleached and cleaned our bathroom after being awake all night.

3. My parents for helping out with my kids so much New Year's Day.

4. My dad for driving behind the ambulance who was hauling on dark wooded roads really early in the morning.

5. Temps just above freezing and little precipitation that early in the morning.

6. Indian Lake Ambulance Corp - they really did care, and they helped me feel "comfortable" on our journey together.

7. Our BML neighbors.

8. Doctors who care - the ER dr. who called New Year's Day, after his shift had ended, to check on me.

9. My loving husband who really meant " . . . in sickness and in health . . . "

So, let's hope the entrance of 2012 is not any type of foreshadowing for this year.

Like I said, a story I think I will hold on to for quite some time!