Question #2

Diane asks "How did you and Tom meet? The first time and then again fairly recently, right?"

We apparently met once several years ago at a party my friend Danielle had (she lives here in Rochester and I've known her since I was 15). Neither of us remember the other, but he remembers David and Emma and Soren. I think Soren was pretty little then so I was probably oblivious to just about everything except mommyhood at that time.

We met again last winter Solstice at Danielle's annual Solstice party (do you see a pattern here with Danielle?) It really was a blatant attempt on her part to set us up. I had just started dating Justin in late fall 2002 and Tom had been divorced for about two years. There was definitely all kinds of energy there, but I had just started dating for the first time since separating from David and four hours seemed insurmountable with 2 kids.

However, he called me after he left Danielle's that night and we talked for a long time.

Earlier that evening we had gone out to the pier at Ontario Beach Park and the next day we got together and had dinner at a great Mediterrean restaurant and then we started emailing and calling each other and building a friendship over the next 9 months.

What's interesting is that Tom was horrible at typing and it was a huge effort for him to type long emails to me, but he perservered!

The girls and I came up to visit in August to go hiking at a local park here in Rochester and when he left after dinner that night, I cried. I went home and told Justin that I wanted to explore things with Tom and he came to admit that he had spent the weekend with his 18-year-old intern from work. Soo...that was pretty much the end of that!

Tom and I started driving back and forth every weekend and I got a cell phone so we could talk at night. I had an epiphany during a therapist appointment in October and moved here November 1, 2003. We stayed with Danielle and Mike for a few weeks until we found a townhouse and got married on Winter Solstice, Dec. 22, 2003, and managed to conceive on our wedding night.

So here I am, in Rochester, with a new husband, pregnant with my third child, my house still on the market in PA and poor has hell ;) But happy!

Hormones, yeesh!

I forgot to mention that I have been crying all day. It started with a short article in Reader's Digest. Then another short one in the the newspaper.

At yoga, we were talking about "sounding" and the mom who is pregnant with her second set of twins got all teary, which got me going, which got the instructor going, which got Alyce going!

Then, I was reading RD again and started crying AGAIN! Yeesh!

Ahhhh... Friday

Thank God. I don't have to work today and it was a yoga day! Yoga was great and I went out to lunch with Alyce and another yoga preggo lady, Patty, afterwards to Selena's, which is a scrumdillyicious Mexican restaurant in the same plaza as the yoga studio.

We had a great talk about prenatal tests and birth and pregnancy classes and such. I spent the morning being nauseous from my antibiotic and Mucinex and am going to try a Neti Pot I've decided. I'm tired of my teeth hurting while I walk because my sinuses are so impacted. Alyce also suggested turmeric/honey "pills." Interesting! It can't hurt I guess.

Emma has gymnastics and then we're off to buy birthday party invites and such. The thrill! The excitment! Hopefully I'll get to nap first while she's at practice ;).

Question No. 1

Annalise asks: "what do you think you'll be doing in 10 years time?"

It shocked me to realize that Emma will be ready to turn 18 in 10 years and headed off to college or something, most likely. Soren will be 15 and I'll probably be beating the boys off with a stick, as we are already ;).

I'll be 41 and the baby will be turning 10. I don't know for sure what I'll be doing, but my goal is to be homeschooling or have enough money to send the kids to a good alternative school. I'll also be living in the woods again, if not the mountains someplace, and I'll be a journalist again. I want to be working for a newspaper locally and also freelancing for a glossy magazine like Time or Newsweek by then. I'll have my BA and maybe even my Masters degree in media studies by then too.

I'll have a real house again with enough bedrooms and bathrooms and a decent yard and Tom and I will have been happily married for 10 years.

Hopefully in 10 years this darn bronchitis and sinus infection will have succumbed to antibiotics and I'll be healthy again too ;).

Tired...

I still feel like crap. Work sucked and the kids were all rotten beasts. No, really. They didn't listen, were spacey and cheeky. I did a cartwheel and I guess my sinuses are still full of crap because it actually hurt my teeth when I landed. My teeth still hurt too.

I would give anything to have my energy back. I'm so tired of being tired. I hate having to nap to get through the day.

I did make some progress today. I put away one and a half baskets of laundry and I discovered that there is a factory card outlet in town, so I can get Emma's birthday supplies. The bad news is that the gym doesn't accept American Express, which was how I was going to pay for the party :-O.

I did have fun going to the Dollar Store after work with Emma though. Soren had one of those stretchy tatoo necklaces and it broke today so I was there in search of a new one, which they were unfortunately out of, but Emma had a blast browsing and came home with yet another stuffed animal (a blue (!) horse) and some crappy makeup ;). She was in a great mood. Her gymnastics team had a pizza party and she had a blast. Of course *I* didn't get any pizza which I felt resentful about, but I survived ;).

I got to teach Soren's class tonight and aside from the fact that everyone was horrid and cheeky, she did a pretty good job! I wish I could spend more time one on one with her teaching her stuff. She has some real potential if she could separate herself from me long enough to participate in some of the classes!

Anyway, just meandering on about nothing. I guess I'll go to bed since I work twice again tomorrow.

Questions?

In the interest of getting people to leave comments, I'm going to take a leaf out of Emily and some others' blogs and open up the floor to questions! If there is anything you want to know about me, this is the time to ask :)

The diagnosis is in...

My mom has lupus. She is pretty shook up, and I know it's serious, but I'm not convinced that it is causing her blindness, or even that it is necessarily the right diagnosis, as she also has scleroderma, which can cause a false positive test.

I hope that they continue to do tests to figure out what is causing the eye problems. At least lupus is mostly treatable, although certainly not easy to deal with.

I went to LLL today and got drafted to volunteer already ;). The leader apparently knows a bfing advocate when she sees one ;). It will be good for me to meet people and get out of the house though! It's a huge group and I'm sure they need help. I'm also going to get together with Krista in the next week to think about ways to advertise the homebirth circle better, since they need new blood. Woohoo! Krista is a cool lady - has a 2 yo named Aidan and is full of energy and spunk. It's hard to be in a funk around her!

Stuck in NY

I forgot to mention two important things.

One is that David had his hearing on Feb. 12. He had a 2nd DUI, which broke his probation, which meant he got charged for the simple assault that he was on probation for. He received 30 days of in house detention, although he can go to work. He can only use the phone for 10 min. per day and will not be able to see the girls during this time. I haven't told them yet, because he's talking to his probation officer to see if he can get a waiver to see them for a bit.

The second is that I finally heard from my mom, oddly enough, as I was on my way to my sister's house for dinner. She called because she is going blind. It's possibly from her skin cancer or diabetes medication, because the doctors have ruled out that it is degenerative. She is very upset and scared. I don't know what to do for her. She also apologized in her backhanded way I guess. I am going to call her tonight. I feel terrible and wish I could do something.

Other than that, I started my antibiotics which are making me nauseous and gave me diarreah! Oh joy LOL! At least I don't have pregnancy constipation for a couple of days ;).

Off to save Tom - he's trying to get the girls ready for bed. I made HUGE inroads in cleaning today :) Yay me!

Today

We made it back around 8 p.m. last night. Went to the doctor today and I have atypical bronchitis and Soren has a double ear infection ;). Ain't vacation grand? Now that I'm all updated, I'm off to take a nap!

Day 10 - Friday, Feb. 20

We drove all day through Missouri and into Chicago. We got to my sister's in Naperville, IL around 8:30 p.m. We had a wonderful dinner with her and her kids and spent the night. We spent a restful day hanging out, chatting and napping Saturday and the kids had a blast! They loved seeing their cousins, who are: Whitney, 17; Brandon & Tyler, 14; and Lindsay, 13. They just built a huge house which is gorgeous and amazing. I got progressively sicker and so did Soren, coughing and complaining of an earache. We left around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night and got as far as Toledo, OH around 4 a.m.

Day 7 - Tuesday, Feb. 17

This was the day we were heading out on our car trip across the U.S.! I was anxious to get going but Tom and I had a little tiff about it. He wanted to stay an extra day to let Gary and Sandra go out to dinner so we could watch their kids, but as much as I wanted to do that, I knew we needed the driving time with two little kids traveling with us.

We didn't end up leaving till mid-afternoon anyway, and unfortunately, I woke up with a cold, so wasn't in the best of moods. I drove first and we made it to Flagstaff, AZ before stopping for the night.

I'll sum up the rest here, because I slept most of the way except when I was driving. I got really sick and then so did Soren! We drove through New Mexico on Wednesday and stopped in Santa Fe for dinner because I was *dying* for New Mexican food, which for the record, is not Mexican. It was amazing although I couldn't taste very much because my sinuses were totally clogged.

We made it to Colorado Springs late that night and stopped. When we woke up in the morning, I could see the Rockies, but not for long, because snow started moving in. The clouds coming in over the mountains were amazing! We got moving and drove through Kansas all that day.

The only exciting thing that happened that day was that we blew a tire in a fantastical manner while I was driving outside of Salinas, KS. We're lucky that the truck handled so well. Losing a tire with that much force at 70 MPH is not something I'd care to repeat. It took us 5 hours to get out of Salinas, because the spare was flat and we had to have a tow truck come and then we made it to the WalMart tire shop with minutes to spare before they closed.

We at at IHOP and kept going, stopping somewhere in Missouri I think to spend the night. I honestly can't remember! Wait, let's see, it was west of St. Louis, some major city, but I can't remember where ;).

Day 6 - Monday, Feb. 16

Gary's day off. We all went to Red Rocks Canyon which was amazingly gorgeous. We did some hiking with the kids, which was a little nerve wracking. Joshua has a tendency to almost fall off the edges of things and Valentina didn't have a clue how high we were at times! Yikes! I'd fogotten what it was like to hike with little wee ones. Soren is pretty cautious and stayed right with me. Emma is good at climbing and requires some supervision but is pretty careful.

We went to the gift store and both girls bought cacti to bring home. They're really cool! It was a wonderful time and there is a 13 mile drive through the park that we did which was stunning. I saw a wild burro too :). There were tons of people free climbing, which was fascinating to watch, although a little scary.

We came back and got ready to go to another Cirque show - this time Mystere, at Treasure Island. I liked it much better than the O Show, which was a water show. This had a lot more tumbling and gymnastics in it, which I love, and it was hilarious. Much more comedic. We were in the third row - just amazing seats. I was so impressed with it.

Afterwards we walked down to the Bellagio, through the Mirage and saw the fountain show. Going through all those expensive shops and everything was so much fun!

I was wiped out by the time we got back to the car, but it was worth it :).

Day 5 - Sunday, Feb. 15

We slept in quite a bit and then we hung around in the morning. Gary had to work in the afternoon, so we piled us, Sandra and her kids into the new truck and went back to Hoover Dam. The kids were great and really enjoyed seeing everything. Sandra had never been there, even after living in Vegas for 7 years, so she enjoyed a chance to see it, since she doesn't drive at all. I'm sure it was nice for her to get out of the house with the kids! It was a nice and relaxed trip.

Day 4 - Saturday, Feb. 14

Valentine's Day. It was pretty quiet. Tom worked on the truck, checking everything out. We had plans to see "O" that night at 10:30 p.m. so I took a long nap during the afternoon. Vanessa did have a double ear infection but was feeling better, so the kids played a lot. It was so nice to have constant sun and be able to sit outside! I can't really remember what we did that day, honestly - Oh we, picked up the truck and went with Gary and Sandra to Joshua and Vanessa's gymnastics and ballet lessons, respectively.

We went to the Bellagio for the show and got to watch it from the control room, which was really cool! Then we went home and crashed, as it was a long day for me!

Day 3 - Friday, Feb. 13

The next day we headed out again with the kids to look at more cars. We looked at one that we had seen parked along the side of the road and the owner was there. He was a little too interested in getting rid of it quickly, so we decided to wait on test driving it and go look at one that Tom had a good feeling about. We drove out toward Hoover Dam, and it ended up being the one we bought. We didn't look at anything else. It's a 1984 Suburban, blue and white, and the guy took impeccable care of it. He and his wife had retired to Las Vegas from California and had just bought a new truck to haul their boat with, so didn't need it anymore. It has a ton of new stuff on it, and the only thing that doesn't work is the windshield wiper pump, which he probably didn't realize, as he probably rarely needed to use it since it rains about once or twice a year in Vegas. He even has water in the reservoir rather than antifreeze stuff, so we'll have to drain it before it freezes!

We ended up running around trying to corral our money to pay for it, as we had to pay cash and ESL had held the check we had deposited because it was personal. We ended up borrowing cash from Gary and writing *him* a check. Argh. What a PITA.

Anyway, we ended up heading out to Hoover Dam , which was very cool. We walked quite a ways and the kids were troopers about it, although probably glad to be out of the car and not looking at used cars anymore! We learned quite a bit about the dam and Emma was fascinated that she could stand in two states at once (Arizona and Nevada) and be in two different time zones. She said it made her feel funny.

Day 2 - Thursday, Feb. 12

After a good night's sleep, we got up the next morning and had a hearty breakfast. Lest I become repetitive, *every* meal that Sandra made us was hearty. She was determined to make me gain weight before I left, I'm sure of it. She is from Ecuador and is a fabulous and organized cook. Their house runs like clockwork - I am so envious. I really came home feeling like I need to get my act together after a few days with her!

Anyway, after breakfast, we went out car hunting with the kids and hit a bunch of used car places. We also drove down the Strip to see all the casinos, which was really interesting! We saw a couple of Suburbans we were interested in, but only drove one. We ate lunch at El Pollo Loco, which is like the McDonald's of Mexican food. It was OK though.

We headed back to Gary and Sandra's, but missed Gary, who works evenings at the Bellagio , where he does technical work for the "O" show. More on that later! When we got back, Vanessa was complaining of an ear ache and was taking a long nap. We hung out with Sandra, and I think I took a nap.

That night we just stayed around and hung out. We looked over AutoTrader guides and Tom called a couple people about 'burbans that were listed.

We're back!

I wish I could have blogged but didn't have much computer time. Just enough to clean up my email now and again!

Last Wednesday we flew out of Buffalo at 6:30 a.m. EST. We got to Las Vegas at 12:45 p.m. PST, after changing planes at BWI, which went without a hitch. The kids were *amazing* on such a long flight. The Southwest Airlines staff were great with them too and had a great sense of humor the entire time. Emma won a deck of cards in a riddle contest they held, which thrilled her to death.

Tom's friend Gary met us at the airport and helped us get our luggage out to the rental car shuttle. We got our car with no problems and then drove to his house. The thing about LV is that all the houses look exactly the same. It's really weird. I don't know how anyone ever tells theirs apart from their neighbor's. Inside, their house was beautiful.

The striking thing is that they have zero clutter. I want to cry now that I'm home and looking at my house - I just can't get it under control. We have too much stuff for one small house with four people. If we don't find something larger I am going to wilt. Unfortunately, we also have to find something cheaper, so we'll see.

Anyhoo, Gary and Sandra have three children: Vanessa, 5; Joshua, 4; and Valentina, 2.5. They are all cute as can be, and my kids and theirs got along famously for the most part. The biggest problem we ran into was that Vanessa is about 5 inches taller than Emma and Emma kept forgetting that Vanessa is the same age as Soren so had too high of expectations for her a lot of the time. Plus they both had the bossy biggest sister thing going on.

Joshua immediately fell in love with Soren. They are all dark with black hair and big brown eyes and Soren's fairy red hair and blue eyes was a striking contrast. Joshua told his mom, "Soren is soooo beautiful..." Very cute! He apparently cried for two days after we left, poor lovestruck chap.

I forgot one thing! I got a call from a recruiter about a community producer job that might be work at home so keep all body parts crossed! This would be wonderful and full time with benefits and I asked for a good salary so we'll see.

Also, I got a wonderful box from Karen today with my cloth diapers that I had passed on to her and she passed back to me (Now you have to wait a couple years to get pregnant again Karen!). It was so neat to see those again and some clothes that she sent back that are being re-recycled. She also sent me Charming Opal which I have wanted ever since it came out! I *love* Toot & Puddle and think the illustrations are so adorable.

So...now, I'm really leaving!

Whew!

We're all packed except for some music to take along for the kids to listen to. Danielle is lending us a portable DVD player for our trip back and a portable carseat for Soren so we don't have to check the huge carseat. I still will have to pick up a seat belt adjuster while we're in Vegas for Emma since she's so teeny though.

I am so ready to just get out of here but I have to clean up a bit first. This place is wrecked! I don't know if I'll be able to blog while I'm away. I hope so! If not, we'll be home in about 10 days.

Back from the mountains

I haven't packed anything yet, other than for our trip to PA. We successfully got to PA Saturday morning, although it took us 5 hours because it snowed most of the way through NY. Unfortunately, I didn't get there in time to make it to the bank, which I need to do to change what kind of account I have and to change my last name on it.

I did manage to go to Kid to Kid and I scored maternity pants! I got 2 pairs of Old Navy jeans, one of which are capris with embroidered flowers on the pants bottoms; a pair of Motherhood Maternity khakis; a pair of cargo shorts and a pair of sweat pants for work. I also got Emma a fleece sweatshirt, a denim jumper, also with embroidered flowers on the hem that came with a pink shirt; a pair of pajamas, a really cool pair of Osh Kosh pants and a khaki skort. All for $61! They have so many great clothes and baby stuff for such good prices.

My friend Erica went shopping with me and we had lunch at Bonfatto's, where they have wonderful hoagies. Then we went back to her house and I took a rest before I visited my dad. I had a nice visit with him and then went back to Erica's and we had raviolis and sauce and salad for dinner, then made decaf coffee with a bit of Godiva liquor in it while we watched White Oleander.

During dinner we had a really interesting discussion about raising children (she's childless, but her sister is pregnant with #5) and La Leche League and parenting thoughtfully. It was really good for me to re-articulate my beliefs about a lot of things, just for my own sake and to remind myself of how I want to parent.

The movie was very good but very intense and brought up a lot of memories for me of being in foster care and a group home and rehab. The acting was superb. It made me think a lot about the fear and uncertainty of my adolescence. It certainly was not in a city environment, but the feelings are the same - both on the part of myself and I believe my mother, who tried to sabotage foster care placements in much the same way Astrid's mother did in the film. It was really just so well done and researched.

This morning I picked the girls up around 10 a.m. so we could get back in time for the twins' birthday party at the East Rochester YMCA, which was just an amazing place. More on that later. When I went to pick up the kids, I initially thought they were playing in the yard with some other kids, but it turned out to be my kids after all, wearing outerwear that I hadn't seen before!

I don't know if I've mentioned this lately, but I haven't talked to my mother since my birthday on Dec. 23, although I emailed her twice after that. We had a fight on my bday and I hung up on her because she was so rude. Anyway, the girls have been wanting to call her, and I told them I wouldn't keep them from calling her (because my mom ruined my relationship with family members by not allowing me contact with them because of HER issues with them when I was a kid), but I explained that I felt that it the ball was in her court to call us and apologize for her actions, and that to punish the girls by not talking to them because she was upset with my life choices was immature.

Anyway, on the way to PA, Emma asked if they would see her this weekend and I told her she needed to ask her dad since we only had planned time for their visit with him and since it was his time, they needed to arrange other visits with him. I really didn't think she'd ask him, because it is well known that David and Betty have never liked each other and never will, but apparently she did. Blessings upon his head, because he put aside his utter distaste for Bettyness in the world and took the girls over there and even went out to Ruby Tuesdays with the girls and Betty.

So anyway, she got Soren a brand new coat, that is *really* cool. It's purple with a big fuzzy hood on it that zips off, and the inside liner zips out into its own lighter jacket and is reversible - waterproof one one side and fleece on the other. She got her a matching hat and mittens to go with it and a bunch of clothes.

She got Emma a very cute fleece scarf and a trapper's hat that matches the shearskin coat I got Emma for Solstice. She got her a really cool fleece sweatshirt and pants and a bunch of other clothes too. Apparently she also got me a couple of gifts, but when I got home and unloaded the bag, it appears that she held them hostage at her house rather than send them with the girls. How immature. I know she wants to wait until I am forced to come to her house when we finally talk again so she can make it some big guilt-inducing ordeal where I have to ooh and aah over whatever she got me. Ugh. The whole thing is disgusting. I'm so glad that I am not talking with her right now.

Aside from Betty-horror, their Dad visit seems to have gone well. They had their first legitimate overnight with him last night.

So anyway, after 4.5 hours of driving, because we had to stop at fast (hahahahaha) food McDonald's for food, we had to drive to the north of the city to stop home to pick up the boys' bday present, and then drive all the way to the southeast end of the city, at least a good 20-25 minute drive) to get to the party at the YMCA. We were quite late, but got there just in time for pizza, cake and presents. The Y gracefully allowed the kids to go back into the playroom afterwards even though the allotted party time was up, and the room was amazing. The entire floor was filled with mats that could be jumped on, rolled, moved, etc. There was a rock wall and a huge climbing mountain that could be slid back down and all sorts of climbing stuff on the walls.

On the way home from the YMCA, we started talking about buffalo wings, and ended up talking about prostitutes. It went something like this:

Emma: So where are we flying out of?
Kelly: Buffalo. Southwest doesn't fly out of Rochester.
Soren: Are there buffalos in Buffalo?
Kelly: (laugh) nope! but that is where Buffalo wings got there name.
Soren: Buffalos don't have wings! Do they?
Kelly and Emma: No...
Kelly: But that Jessica Simpson thinks they do.
Emma: Who is Jessica Simpson?
Kelly gives brief explanation and wonders aloud how she got famous, because it certainly wasn't for her talent.
Emma: Maybe she got famous for her prettiness. Do you know that a lot of people go to see Britney Spears because they think she's pretty?
Kelly (in a fit of not thinking before opening mouth): I don't think she's pretty. She wears too much makeup and she dresses like a prostitute (side note: Not that I care, I just was shooting off my mouth).
Emma: What's a prostitute?

Egads. It turned into a whole explanation and philosophical discussion of women's rights and laws and then I realized that we were going to Las Vegas, where I believe it's legal and that led to a discussion of why the government makes laws about how people use their bodies...then we ended up explaining to Soren how babies are made (again) because Emma asked a question about whether prostitutes have a lot of babies.

Wow. I guess kids learn about this stuff somehow. I think I am glad that they are comfortable asking me questions. I think.

So, after 5.5 hours in the car, just today, and 10.5 hours total this weekend, we're home again and planning to watch Practical Magic before the kids go to bed. I hope it's not too terribly mature. Emma has her heart set on watching it.

Anyway, I better pack tonight, or at least start. Argh!

Oh, and my child support *still* hasn't been deposited. I'm freaking.

Too much to do!

I woke up feeling annoyed and resentful of everyone in my family today. If I weren't pregnant, I'd swear it was PMS.

Soren was home sick yesterday and still had a fever last night, but it had broken by this morning, so I sent her off to school, which she was extremely unhappy with. Emma was pokey as usual, although for once she beat Soren to getting dressed, which was a minor miracle.

Tom now has Soren's cold, so he spent about a half hour in bed moaning before he dragged himself out of bed. I made him chocolate mint coffee, which he loves, but the smell of it makes me gag ;). It reminds me of Andes mints, which I despise, and before I've eaten anything in the morning is not a good time to be having to deal with it.

The baker's rack that we bought is bent, so Tom wasn't able to put it together, but it's been sitting in the middle of the living room for 2 days with parts strewn all over the floor. I as politely as possible asked him to put it away and take it back to Target this morning, but I swear if I have to work my way around the darn thing one more time, I am going to pick it up and throw it in the back yard.

Did I mention that I'm feeling cranky?

I have to take the girls to PA tomorrow, which is part of what's making me feel overwhelmed. I have a ton of packing to do for Las Vegas, because we're leaving on Tuesday. I have to finish the girls' valentines to take them in to school before we leave. I'm feeling so guilty that we won't be here for valentine's exchange at school because it's such a fund day! The kids need more of those and here I am dragging them across the country instead. Of course, *that* should be fun and educational too, but mom guilt never ends.

So, I have to pack for PA, Vegas, and go to the bank, pay my rent and go to yoga. The last is no hardship, but I've gotten lost both times I've gone so far, so I'm already stressing about it.

I think that part of the reason I'm so cranky is that I talked to MBNA, the company that holds my Mastercard, yesterday and they cut off my credit limit because I was late on a completely unrelated bill. I have been w/ this company for *14* years and never had a late payment, never asked them to reduce their ridiculous 18.5% interest rate and have been a stellar customer. Despite all of my troubles in the last 3 years, I have kept a pristine credit report. I miss *one* farging bill and they cut me off, even though it's not *their* bill that I missed. I was so insulted and furious that I blew up at the 18 year old punk kid on the other end of the phone, told him to f*** off and to cancel my f***ing credit card ;). I felt somewhat vindicated when I hung up. Of course, they didn't cancel it, so I have to call them again today.

In the meantime, I transferred my entire balance to my American Express card at 4.9% interest for as long as it takes to pay it off. Woohoo! So if anyone out there has MBNA, switch! I cannot believe the way they treated me. Oh, and David is late on the same bill, and they haven't cut *his* credit limit off! :::slow burn::: Probably because he makes more money than me...but then again, he doesn't pay his bills on time. Who knows.

My good customer service experience yesterday was with Land's End. I bought Emma a new coat in turquoise and it came yesterday. Emma was *thrilled* because her old coat has been getting too small and I've been too broke to buy her a new one. When we got over to my in-laws, I realized it had a slit in the collar (and I didn't open the box with scissors, I swear, so it wasn't me!). Emma was absolotely devastated. She had herself convinced that they wouldn't have the same color in her size, etc. and was sobbing by the time we got home. I called LE the second we walked in the door and they were SO nice. They are sending a new one out today (same color, woohoo!) and sent me a prepaid postage so I don't have to pay to ship the old one back. Emma was very happy and they told me to personally apologize to her which I thought was very sweet.

In other news, I've been job hunting for something more in my line of work and interest and I got a notice for a narration job yesterday! It sounds really cool actually. I've never done any recording like that, and I won't apply for it, but I never thought of that as a career! Full time with benefits too. Hmph.

:::sigh::: Tom just walked in and asked me if I thought I'd made a mistake by coming here. I guess I have been pretty negative lately. I don't feel like I've made a mistake - I love him dearly and Rochester isn't that much different than anywhere else. But I am homesick. I miss my job, the girls' schools, my house and my friends a lot. And I try to remain upbeat in front of the girls all the time. Sometimes I do just want to go home, but I want to take Tom with me. It's hard to uproot from the only place I've ever known.

Well, I guess I better shower, pack up the sleeping bags, ship them to Vegas and get my rear in gear.

Yesterday was hairy. I worked from 9:45 to 12:15 p.m., ran to Danielle's, worked there till 2 p.m., then the school called when I was on my way home, hoping for a quick nap, to tell me that Soren was in the nurse's office with a fever and a sore throat. I headed to school, meanwhile calling the doctor's office that has been giving me the runaround with accepting us as new patients.

Being under the gun, so to speak, they decided to take us on, and asked if I could have Soren there at 2:45 p.m. since strep is going through her classroom! Great! I got to school, picked up both kids, since I wouldn't make it home in time to meet Emma at the bus stop, called my boss to let him know I might be late, and rushed off to Irondequoit (the neighboring suburb) to take her to the doctor.

They got us in and out, ran a rapid strep, which was negative and will send it out. Then I ran home, Soren fell asleep, grabbed a bunch of food, threw Emma and Soren back into the car and drove to work. The poor kid had a fever of 102.5F, so I dosed her with Advil and we went to work and I parked her in the office with her sleeping bag, some yogurt and a water bottle while I ran out to teach my class. She fell asleep immediately and slept till Tom picked her up at 6:30ish.

I worked till 8:30 p.m., ran home, let Emma eat dinner and we all collapsed. Today I have Soren home with me and have to take her to work with me this morning. Emma has opted to go to the in-laws for dinner tonight instead of coming to the gym but Soren hasn't decided yet.

I'm ready for a nap already!

I forgot to mention, thanks to Jo, I fixed the link to the table that I found!

I took a hot bath until I was totally wrinkled and feel a bit more like myself. I have to go help the in-laws unload their groceries and break the news that the girls would rather come to the gym with me than have dinner there.

Blah!

After a rare sunny day yesterday it's rainy and gray again today. I am starting to feel like I'm sinking. I always hate Februrary. I know that it's the weather that is making me depressed but I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything. I finally vacuumed yesterday but it took all my energy. I have a skillion loads of laundry to put away (again! Egad, laundry is the bane of my existence...my kingdom for a laundry chute!) and I have to work tonight, which I just don't feel like dealing with even though we need the money. Speaking of which, my child support hasn't come through yet (it was due on Friday) and my rent is due. :::sigh:::

I went shopping for maternity pants last night and it was a total bust. I couldn't find anything at Target or the Bon Ton, so I may try to get to Wal-Mart today. Although the idea of me going to the store is laughable. I am finding that I don't go out unless I absolutely have to anymore, and grocery shop as infrequently as possible.

Last night we had such a healthy dinner - pizza rolls and leftover cake for dessert. Woohoo! Hopefully today I'll feel more like cooking a real meal for dinner.

I feel badly for Tom - I'm moping around and I know it's making him nutso. He doesn't know what to do about it.

Weekend

We took the girls to a Zoo Expo at the Dome Center and Emma made me ride on a camel with her! That will be something to tell the new baby someday ;). Emma thought it was great. The line for the elephant was soooo long and nobody wanted to ride on the camel, so we didn't have to wait at all. I thought it was pretty cool because we could pet its head.

Then Soren rode on the ponies twice, which she loved. I told her she should take horseback riding lessons instead of gymnastics. She looks so natural and she loves horses, although I think a full size horse would intimidate her. I'd love for her to try it sometime though maybe in a year or two.

We didn't end up going ice skating, as I was exhausted on Friday night. I had left my ATM card at Wegman's so we went to pick it up and ended up renting a Spongebob Squarepants video for the girls. I also rented Frida, which Tom and I are going to watch tonight when I get the girls in bed (hopefully soon, as they're bickering yet again). And I swear if Emma says "Geeeez!" to one more thing that I say to her I am going to go out of my mind. Her attitude today has been horrible and now she's fighting with Soren about who is going to sit in the front of the tub while they get a bath and told her she's not going to be Soren's friend anymore! I'm letting Tom deal with it this time ;). They were both impossible at Tom's parents during dinner. Emma nearly had to leave the table because she was so rude to me.

It was Tom's birthday yesterday and it's his dad's bday tomorrow so his mom made her specialty, spaghetti and meatballs, for dinner, along with a crazy cake. His brother got him a really nice flannel shirt that is quilted on the sleeves and lined with fleece, which I've never seen before. Last night we went to the King and I, which is a Thai restaurant. I had wonderful red curry chicken, but unfortunately, my body didn't agree that it was so wonderful :-/. Afterwards, we used our free movie passes from when we saw ROTK to see Big Fish . I really enjoyed it.

In other news, I scored this table by the dumpster today, which matches the coat rack Emma already has. It is a bit scratched on top, but with books on it, who will notice? It costs $30 new, so I'm not going to complain and the kids are thrilled about it. Emma thought it was great to dumpter dive right outside our front door ;).

Tomorrow I *have* to vacuum. My vacuum cleaner died, which I may have mentioned, so I have to use the shop vac, but I can't stand the mess in here for one more minute. And I really want to know why my dining room table always looks like a bomb went off on it?

Anyway, I have to go stop the kids from drowning each other in the tub!