Every Monday I give the house a good scrub because we're horrendous slobs over the weekend. Every weekend, without fail.
So this is me, procrastinating. So far all I've done is almost catch up on laundry. It's really pretty satisfying, folding and sorting and putting it all away, but still I procrastinate. I'm down to the socks now. Socks. I don't even match them. I find two with a similar shape and fold them together. Right now I'm wearing a pink Hilfiger sock on my left foot and a grey nameless brand on the other. Screw it, life's too short to match socks.
Olivia's home sick and oh my God she's a whiny child. It must be karma. She doesn't even have a fever anymore, but she's like, "moooom can you move the coffee table closer so I don't have to sit up to get my water? Mooooom can I have a new straw, this one is an hour old. Moooooom I'm tired of Cartoon Network, here's the remote, change the station please."
Screw that. My head almost popped when she asked that last one, SHE HAS THE REMOTE RIGHT THERE.
She also thinks I should make her cookies. What? No.
Okay, I exaggerate. Really, she's being very sweet and quiet, other than those requests. She's snuggled up under a jacket -- because a blanket was too much, she said -- in panties and cuddling with the boxerdog (who is an asshole and a wonderful dog at the same time today). And since I refused to change the station, she's still watching Johnny Bravo on CN, and every now and then she sighs wistfully and mentions her concerns about what she might be missing on Nickelodeon.
What else can I do now to put off the laundry?
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Rambling update
I'm going to divide this post up so readers can skip over topics they're not interested in; this is going to be long, and I realize I'm boring and ramble a lot, but I seem to get a lot of page views even when I go months without posting, so I guess someone somewhere is interested.
Family stuff
I can't believe we've been here over a year now. So much has changed for us! I realize I say that A LOT. But it's so true! I came here with three grieving, insecure, unsure kids, all of them had regular meltdowns. Now they're happy, fight no more than any other kids (I realize this is still a lot because kids are asses), are generally happy, get along with other kids, and all three are more respectful and secure overall. Seth has even started sleeping with the lights off, and hasn't wet the bed in MONTHS! Every day, I'm reminded that moving here, and being with Greg, is the best possible thing that we could have done. His stability makes my crazies feel less crazy and has brought the kids to a really good place.
For the anniversary, we took a family vacation to the beach. It was awesome; Greg and I fished a lot, even went deep sea fishing with his dad and Seth one day. The kids had a blast, and now I'm plotting ways to move to the coast. Jamaica was my first choice, but since apparently THAT isn't going to happen, I could live with the coast of Texas. Though I doubt that's going to happen, either, haha.
Luke and Liv call Greg "Dad" a good chunk of the time. Seth refers to him as his dad, but calls him Greg, and Greg loves it all. We didn't tell the kids to do any of it, they just do. As Seth said a few months ago,
"Greg. Even though you're our step dad, you love us as much As a real dad. And even though you haven't known us for long, you love us and support us just like a real parent. And we love you."
I guess Greg has earned it, in just a year. He's amazing.
Potential Baby Stuff:
I had my tubes untied July 9th, and it was just moderately successful. Only one tube was able to be reconnected, and they were only able to salvage about 2cm of it. Our chances of conceiving normally and having a live baby out of it are only at like 30-50%. We're going to keep trying until January, and if it hasn't happened yet we're getting IVF. I've wanted another baby for a long time, and always regretted getting my tubes tied in the first place, and Greg wants to have a baby baby of his own; he loves our kids, he always refers to them as his, ours, never just mine, but I completely understand. And I want the experience of having a baby WITH him, too.
Geeky Gamer shit:
We're playing FFXIV and really having fun! We've been looking for a new MMO to play together for awhile. We tried Rift but just as we were ready for endgame content, our guild kind of fell apart. Also, I just couldn't really get into it. Then we tried Tera, I loved the combat (Aiming and moving rather than just sitting in one spot hitting buttons, it was fun!) and the graphics (Bright! Happy!) but the game was too cutesy for Greg (Google the Elin. Barf. I guess there were aspects that were too much for me, too). I tried going back to EQ2 for awhile but none of our friends were playing anymore and Greg couldn't stay into it, too much had changed. We each got a toon to max level and then lost interest. But now FF is out an we're both really into it! I love having something we can do together regularly without spending a whole lot of money. For $30 a month, we have nightly entertainment! The graphics are good and just bright and happy enough, and there's just enough "cute" factor to keep me happy without making Greg gag over the cuteness. The dungeons are a lot of fun, too. There's some thinking involved with some fights, even at low-levels, so we're not just sitting back and clicking here, either, but it's not quite as involved as Tera's combat system.
Kid stuff:
Liv is playing basketball. She sucks. And she doesn't seem to enjoy it, though she says she does. I think she has stage fright. She acts all stiff and self-conscious while she plays. Seth is playing Soccer and thank God the season's almost over. His last game is Saturday, and then there are playoffs because his team is #3 (SO CLOSE to #2) in the league. He also sucks, but the rest of the team is good enough to make up for the weak spot. He is just afraid of the ball. It must be genetic because I was always the girl ducking when the ball came her way, in all the sports. Then we're taking winter off, because so much happens in the winter; Luke's birthday, Liv's birthday, our anniversay, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year. There are holiday parties and it's just TOO MUCH to add practices and games into it and to schedule around them. But in the spring we're going to start Liv in ballet and Seth wants to take some kind of martial art, and I'm not sure yet what Luke wants to do. I think he wants to play basketball again, which is fine because even though he sucks, too, he seems to enjoy it and put more effort into it than the other two do into their team sports. Also, it's cheap. Cheap matters. A lot.
All the kids are doing really well in school. Liv is terrible about turning her homework in (OH MY GOD WHY DO WE EVEN DO ALL THIS WORK IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE IT IN YOUR FOLDER? FOR GOD'S SAKE TURN IT IN), but the teacher says she's sooo creative and insightful during class, and thinks outside the box better than any other third grader she's had. She has trouble focusing and is fidgety and distractable but the teacher also thinks this is a maturity thing. She's a year younger than most of the other third graders because she started at 4 in AZ, so she's more on the maturity level of a 2nd grader and the difference at this age is fairly high. But she's also popular. Other kids seek her out and when she plays basketball at school, even other little girls who don't like basketball play it, so they can be playing with her. Apparently when she's at school playing, she doesn't suck, so I really think it IS just stage fright.
Luke got himself moved into honors math. He was soooo bored in normal math, he was acting up and refusing to do the work. The teacher pulled his scores from last year's tests and was like, "oh. We need to move the kid up." And I was like, yes. Yes we do. But also, he needs to be held accountable for acting like an ass; I don't care how bored he was, disrespect is not ok. But ever since he was moved he's done really well! I'm very excited for him. He's learning to play violin, too. Slowly, because his bow broke and slacker mom took a week to get a new one ordered, and the new one isn't here yet. Sometimes he seems glad and sometimes he seems impatient about it. Probably a little of both. I don't think he's nuts about the violin yet, but I hope it gets better when he gets his new bow and is actually able to play it.
Seth is having a REALLY great year! I haven't had to pick him up from school early due to behavior even once. We haven't had any melt downs at home or school. His grades are high and his teachers haven't had anything but praise for him so far! He went to camp with the 5th grade and had a blast. I guess he had a rough time at night because he missed me, but overall he was really good. We've been running together in the mornings. I get up at 5:15 and we're out the door by 5:30. We don't make it far but I think the running helps him a lot. Also, the one-on-one time. He talks a lot, when we walk. Yesterday he slipped his hand into mine and thanked me for doing it with him. He makes me melt <3 I love that he's not embarassed to hold my hand or kiss me on the cheek in public. Even during the day in places his friends will see, I get kisses on the cheek. His sensory issues mean I still can't give HIM a kiss on the cheek, but I'll take what I can get.
NaNoWriMo, Twitter, whatever:
I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year! 50k words in 30 days, and I am determined to make it this year. I made it the first year but ever since there has been too much going on in November for me to do it. Last year we were wedding planning and adjusting, the year before Karl was sooo sick, and I was working full-time and going to school full-time. This year, I have no such excuse, though eventually I DO need to start school back up.
I'm on Twitter! My updates all usually come as pictures through Instagram, but if you're interested, I'm @teediddlyhee on Twitter.
And that's about all I have to say, and I'm too lazy to wrap this up nicely. Later.
Family stuff
I can't believe we've been here over a year now. So much has changed for us! I realize I say that A LOT. But it's so true! I came here with three grieving, insecure, unsure kids, all of them had regular meltdowns. Now they're happy, fight no more than any other kids (I realize this is still a lot because kids are asses), are generally happy, get along with other kids, and all three are more respectful and secure overall. Seth has even started sleeping with the lights off, and hasn't wet the bed in MONTHS! Every day, I'm reminded that moving here, and being with Greg, is the best possible thing that we could have done. His stability makes my crazies feel less crazy and has brought the kids to a really good place.
For the anniversary, we took a family vacation to the beach. It was awesome; Greg and I fished a lot, even went deep sea fishing with his dad and Seth one day. The kids had a blast, and now I'm plotting ways to move to the coast. Jamaica was my first choice, but since apparently THAT isn't going to happen, I could live with the coast of Texas. Though I doubt that's going to happen, either, haha.
Luke and Liv call Greg "Dad" a good chunk of the time. Seth refers to him as his dad, but calls him Greg, and Greg loves it all. We didn't tell the kids to do any of it, they just do. As Seth said a few months ago,
"Greg. Even though you're our step dad, you love us as much As a real dad. And even though you haven't known us for long, you love us and support us just like a real parent. And we love you."
I guess Greg has earned it, in just a year. He's amazing.
Potential Baby Stuff:
I had my tubes untied July 9th, and it was just moderately successful. Only one tube was able to be reconnected, and they were only able to salvage about 2cm of it. Our chances of conceiving normally and having a live baby out of it are only at like 30-50%. We're going to keep trying until January, and if it hasn't happened yet we're getting IVF. I've wanted another baby for a long time, and always regretted getting my tubes tied in the first place, and Greg wants to have a baby baby of his own; he loves our kids, he always refers to them as his, ours, never just mine, but I completely understand. And I want the experience of having a baby WITH him, too.
Geeky Gamer shit:
We're playing FFXIV and really having fun! We've been looking for a new MMO to play together for awhile. We tried Rift but just as we were ready for endgame content, our guild kind of fell apart. Also, I just couldn't really get into it. Then we tried Tera, I loved the combat (Aiming and moving rather than just sitting in one spot hitting buttons, it was fun!) and the graphics (Bright! Happy!) but the game was too cutesy for Greg (Google the Elin. Barf. I guess there were aspects that were too much for me, too). I tried going back to EQ2 for awhile but none of our friends were playing anymore and Greg couldn't stay into it, too much had changed. We each got a toon to max level and then lost interest. But now FF is out an we're both really into it! I love having something we can do together regularly without spending a whole lot of money. For $30 a month, we have nightly entertainment! The graphics are good and just bright and happy enough, and there's just enough "cute" factor to keep me happy without making Greg gag over the cuteness. The dungeons are a lot of fun, too. There's some thinking involved with some fights, even at low-levels, so we're not just sitting back and clicking here, either, but it's not quite as involved as Tera's combat system.
Kid stuff:
Liv is playing basketball. She sucks. And she doesn't seem to enjoy it, though she says she does. I think she has stage fright. She acts all stiff and self-conscious while she plays. Seth is playing Soccer and thank God the season's almost over. His last game is Saturday, and then there are playoffs because his team is #3 (SO CLOSE to #2) in the league. He also sucks, but the rest of the team is good enough to make up for the weak spot. He is just afraid of the ball. It must be genetic because I was always the girl ducking when the ball came her way, in all the sports. Then we're taking winter off, because so much happens in the winter; Luke's birthday, Liv's birthday, our anniversay, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year. There are holiday parties and it's just TOO MUCH to add practices and games into it and to schedule around them. But in the spring we're going to start Liv in ballet and Seth wants to take some kind of martial art, and I'm not sure yet what Luke wants to do. I think he wants to play basketball again, which is fine because even though he sucks, too, he seems to enjoy it and put more effort into it than the other two do into their team sports. Also, it's cheap. Cheap matters. A lot.
All the kids are doing really well in school. Liv is terrible about turning her homework in (OH MY GOD WHY DO WE EVEN DO ALL THIS WORK IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE IT IN YOUR FOLDER? FOR GOD'S SAKE TURN IT IN), but the teacher says she's sooo creative and insightful during class, and thinks outside the box better than any other third grader she's had. She has trouble focusing and is fidgety and distractable but the teacher also thinks this is a maturity thing. She's a year younger than most of the other third graders because she started at 4 in AZ, so she's more on the maturity level of a 2nd grader and the difference at this age is fairly high. But she's also popular. Other kids seek her out and when she plays basketball at school, even other little girls who don't like basketball play it, so they can be playing with her. Apparently when she's at school playing, she doesn't suck, so I really think it IS just stage fright.
Luke got himself moved into honors math. He was soooo bored in normal math, he was acting up and refusing to do the work. The teacher pulled his scores from last year's tests and was like, "oh. We need to move the kid up." And I was like, yes. Yes we do. But also, he needs to be held accountable for acting like an ass; I don't care how bored he was, disrespect is not ok. But ever since he was moved he's done really well! I'm very excited for him. He's learning to play violin, too. Slowly, because his bow broke and slacker mom took a week to get a new one ordered, and the new one isn't here yet. Sometimes he seems glad and sometimes he seems impatient about it. Probably a little of both. I don't think he's nuts about the violin yet, but I hope it gets better when he gets his new bow and is actually able to play it.
Seth is having a REALLY great year! I haven't had to pick him up from school early due to behavior even once. We haven't had any melt downs at home or school. His grades are high and his teachers haven't had anything but praise for him so far! He went to camp with the 5th grade and had a blast. I guess he had a rough time at night because he missed me, but overall he was really good. We've been running together in the mornings. I get up at 5:15 and we're out the door by 5:30. We don't make it far but I think the running helps him a lot. Also, the one-on-one time. He talks a lot, when we walk. Yesterday he slipped his hand into mine and thanked me for doing it with him. He makes me melt <3 I love that he's not embarassed to hold my hand or kiss me on the cheek in public. Even during the day in places his friends will see, I get kisses on the cheek. His sensory issues mean I still can't give HIM a kiss on the cheek, but I'll take what I can get.
NaNoWriMo, Twitter, whatever:
I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year! 50k words in 30 days, and I am determined to make it this year. I made it the first year but ever since there has been too much going on in November for me to do it. Last year we were wedding planning and adjusting, the year before Karl was sooo sick, and I was working full-time and going to school full-time. This year, I have no such excuse, though eventually I DO need to start school back up.
I'm on Twitter! My updates all usually come as pictures through Instagram, but if you're interested, I'm @teediddlyhee on Twitter.
And that's about all I have to say, and I'm too lazy to wrap this up nicely. Later.
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