Feeling a bit better physically. I was feeling really achy last night and did some inverted yoga poses and got the baby to move up a bit, but when I turned over, my ligaments *screamed*. I felt better after that stopped though.

Today I did absolutely no work. For some reason I can't get motivated to do this job :(. I messed around w/ laundry all morning and then went to a LLL eval meeting, which was great! I'm going to be the group greeter for a while. It was very social and nice to have lunch with all these women and I got invited to a Creative Memories party on Thursday night which should be fun as I have all the equipment but haven't used it in over a year!

In other news, Tom got a full time job on probation at the place where we live which would mean free rent until we move, plus salary and benefits! Woot! This would SAVE our asses big time if it works out, which I am sure it will. He's a hard worker and very meticulous.

Emma's in a foul mood and very oversensitive. Doing her spelling homework was disastrous and ended in tears. She apparently is having kid problems at school and feels picked on/bullied if a kid so much as looks at her cross-eyed, from what I can gather. I think we need to some "standing up for yourself" role playing!

whew

I'm still spotting a bit, but saw the midwife and she got a good strong baby heartbeat and my cervix is closed and long - just fine. She said to see her Friday, but that everything seems fine other than that the baby is laying very low.

Thanks for all the good thoughts. I won't feel completely better till the spotting stops, but hopefully soon.

Spotting

I'm spotting. I'm very scared. I called the midwife and she is going to see us today for a heartbeat check and a cervix check. Think good thoughts.

I really think that everything will be fine, but I've never had this before, and especially this late in pregnancy, it's a bit freaky.

TGITWeekend

Busy week this one was. I worked a ton of hours, which didn't leave a lot of time for blogging, especially since I tend to procrastinate reading email and other people's blogs when I don't feel like writing or cleaning.

On Thursday, I had a little meltdown at the gym in the morning, because I've been having some problems with one of the girls' team coaches having an ego/power trip problem, and it's slowly been affecting not just me, but the kids, the other coaches, and even the parents are starting to notice. I had mentioned it a few times to my boss, but it really was reaching a point where he needed to address it with her, because she obviously has/had no respect for me, or my position at the gym, and is actually quite threatened by it.

My boss was really great, and addressed it right away by writing a detailed memo to *all* the coaches involved. He also talked to the one who works with her the most, and she was quite frank about her frustration level, and also admitted that this coach is playing people on purpose and was really enjoying thwarting me and pulling everyone's strings. BAH! ::::fume:::: And here I have been, trying to be nice and non-confrontational and non-threatening to make this all work.

Anyway, I feel like my boss is behind me now, and this woman knows what the expectations are (again!), so we'll see how it goes. At least everyone got their feelings off their respective chests.

On Friday, I had an awesome yoga class, as I do every week. A psychotherapist came for half the class. She used to be a mw and a doula, and she works a lot with birth issues/fears and postpartum issues. We basically went around the circle and talked about anything we were worried about.

It was interesting for me, because I was one of the few there who already have children, and to hear all those first time moms stress out about the birth for so long...LOL, I'd forgotten what that was like. I told them - not to minimize the importance of your birth experience - but it's one day out of your life :) It's everything that comes after that is the challenge! It led 7 of us to go out to lunch at the wonderful Mexican place and have a rousing discussion about sex and breastfeeding, circumcision and our husbands' penile issues, if any ;), elimination communication/diapers and dealing with unwanted advice. I enjoyed myself so much! I'm finally making friends and I hope we all stay together once the babies come. I know a few of us will, because we're thrown together all the time because of LLL, but I really like all of them so much!

It's kind of cool, as I think about the path I've taken so far. I used to really get up on my soapbox about parenting and birthing all the time, but now I save it for when it's worth it and when people ask for information or it comes up in discussion. I'm so comfortable with my choices, I don't feel compelled to defend anything anymore. Like I told one preggo first time mom - if someone has an issue with your decisions, make THEM show you the proof. Don't feel that you have to defend your choice (not to circumcize). She really got into that idea. I hope it's helpful.

Anyway, today I worked all morning and my girls helped me do ALL the envelope stuffing, stamping and folding and sorting for 4 hours, plus my boss' daughter and her best friend helped too. So he took us out for lunch at Wendy's after work, which I thought was so sweet. Our personal/work lives don't intersect at all, except for the fact that Tom is going to replace some siding on Mike's house, so it was nice. I'm soooo not religious though and they are, so I was a bit unprepared to say grace before we ate at Wendy's, but Emma took it in stride. I don't think Soren even noticed; she was too busy playing with her kid's meal toy ;).

I came home and napped while the girls put their laundry away. Tom is still working and I hope he gets home soon, because I'm starving! I need to send him to the store for food.

Tomorrow we're going to Cummins Nature Center, about an hour from here, where they're having a maple festival and pancake breakfast! It is supposed to be mid-60's F, so we can hike their gorgeous trails :).

Is it Monday again?

I can't even remember what I last blogged about last! I do know that I forgot to mention that I felt the baby move for the first time last week, which is typical for me - 14 to 15 weeks. Little butterfly wings!

One night I swear it JUMPED. If Tom had been awake, he might have even been able to feel it, that's how hard it was, or felt, anyway.

The weekend was good. I worked Saturday morning and then the girls and I tackled errands. We had a bunch of places to go and it took us all afternoon. By the time we got home, I was too tired to do much. Sunday, we hung out and then Emma went to a gymnastics meet with her friend Stephanie. I was going to take her, but I had forgotten that I had homebirth circle at the same time, so I made arrangements to meet them there. Sadly, by the time I got there, the meet was over and they were starting awards. I don't think Emma's forgiven me yet. I don't really blame her :-/. In the evening, Tom, his brother, and our friend Bob, took Tom's dad to a hockey game. The girls and I tagged along, as it was our first hockey game, and we really enjoyed it! Now we're Amerks fans. (www.amerks.com). I'm using Opera, and blogger acts really wierd with it. I don't have the energy to figure out the html right now, sorry!

The meeting was great though. There were quite a few people there, many whom I knew, and I talked a bit about how worried I am about giving birth in this house and how I've even entertained the idea of birthing in a hospital just to feel like... well, I don't even know. It's not something I'd really do.

The women were so kind. Several offered to have me birth at their homes and to leave during my birth with their families! Others have offered to come and help out with my kids. In the meantime, Danielle and Mike put a bid on a house in another part of the city. If all goes well, they will close in May and move in July, and we'll rent from them for the forseeable future. that means I *definitely* have to homeschool because the schools in the city are untenable, but that's OK.

It's a great house, and if I felt like it was my home, I could birth there comfortable. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that all works out.

Otherwise, I'm looking for proofreading jobs. I like the new gig, but I realize my head isn't in a good place to write well right now, although I normally wouldn't admit that. Editing I can do though, and am looking for something. My friend Alyce might be able to hook me up, as she used to proofread, and I'm going to keep looking online for jobs.

I have to work at the gym a lot this week, so I'm anxious for Sunday, so I can chill out a bit. Of course, I need to work to make enough moola for rent so I shouldn't complain ;).

Today, I went to the La Leche League meeting. It was great also! I'm really making some friends there and hope to volunteer with them soon. Maybe even become a leader. Oh, if only I could work from home and be home all the time! I'd be busy but so much happier and I miss volunteering! I saw so many new babies today. It finally is starting to feel truly real to me and made me start to feel anxious to meet this one when it comes.

I had my AFP test last week and should get results this week. And hopefully an ultrasound in a few weeks. I am so anxious to find out the gender. For all my natural birth beliefs, I can't help wanting an u/s this time around, if just for that! Silly, I know.

I got the latest Ina May Gaskin book today too and am looking forward to reading all those birth stories. One good thing about hooking up with LLL again is their library! They got a bunch of new books in today too. Yay!

TGIF

I've been so busy this week. I don't know how I'll get through next week. I'd forgotten how challenging it can be to juggle two jobs. I'm trying to fit in 20 hours at my new job, and 15 at my gym job, and still be available as normal for the girls and do the housework I usually do. I'm not doing a very good job so far. Especially on the house stuff. It's just piling up in the corners.

I applied for a technical writing job in the city too, so if I get that, I'll leave the gym and do that part time and write for this newsletter part time. I can make more money doing it and I enjoy it so much more.

The girls are doing well. The school counselor talked to me about Soren yesterday and she is blossoming in her friendship group and seems to be blooming in class to. She read me Max's Bath last night and she did a great job!

We read a bunch of Shel Silverstein poems too.

Emma was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark which she was very into.

Tom and I watched Thunderheart after the kids went to bed.

It certainly wasn't Val Kilmer's best performance but Graham Greene was great. "Federal Bureau of Intimidation..." LOL!

Anyway, I'm slogging away finishing up some research this morning and hope to do some writing this afternoon after I get back from yoga. I'm hoping yoga helps my back, which kills me every morning when I wake up, but improves throughout the day. I'm also showing signs of sciatica in my left hip already, which doesn't bode well, since I'm only at 14/15 weeks.

Rambling back to the kids...I also met with Emma's new teacher yesterday, who emailed me Tuesday and Wednesday to let me know how things are going and seems much more organized in general! Emma likes her and is making friends already.

She had some interesting feedback about Emma being bored in math because she takes everything so literally and doesn't think outside the box, so she's going to try to teach her some more adavanced skills so she can work with numbers in a more creative way. She also needs to work on her writing mechanics - the content is great - but it's not legible :-/. This has been an ongoing problem. I need to get her some printing workbooks so she can practice and really work on getting her letters nicer and get spaces in between words. I hate to harp on her, because fine motor skills are NOT her thing, but I don't know what else to do.

In other news, I had a lovely chat with my friend Katherine yesterday, who homeschools her 3 girls. I originally called to get her husband's recipe for catfish, because the girls love it and wanted me to make it, which I did. Then we ended up chatting for over an hour about the girls and homeschooling and dance and gymnastics and what we were doing. It was wonderful!

I'm trying not to think about being homesick so much today.

catching up

Hmm..it feels like forever since I've blogged, but it hasn't been that long I guess. Thanks for the bday wishes for Emma! Her party at the gym was great. It was so well organized and I didn't have to do a thing, which was a blessing. Just take pictures. My scanner still doesn't work though :(. It was good for me to see her with all her new friends and realize that she's doing pretty well with that.

The new job is writing a newsletter about failed loans through the Small Business Administration. It's about 20 hours a week and will help out financially quite a bit. I'm a bit anxious, since I know nothing about banking, but the owner said he will train me on that. He needs someone with research and reporting experience, and that I have plenty of, so hopefully it will be a good match. I suspect he's a tad more conservative than I am though ;). He also does the occasinal editorializing in his newsletter that bugs me, but hopefully I can avoid that!

Anyway, Emma and Soren were home from school sick yesterday. Emma had terrible diarreah and Soren threw up Sunday on the way home from PA and then had a sore throat all day yesterday. No fevers in either of them though, so they were off to school today. Tom took them, because Emma was so nervous about starting in her new classroom. Apparently the teacher was there waiting for her though and all the kids were bugging her yesterday about where the new girl was! So hopefully it will be a good day.

I'm still feeling weepy and homesick and miserable. I went to the house this weekend and just cried the whole time I was there. I spent a good bit of the weekend with my mom. I took her to the grocery store, and realized she's still consuming a whole lot of salt, even though she's not supposed to and is convinced that she is NOT eating salt ;). Yeesh. She took the girls and I out to dinner Saturday night after they visited their dad for a few hours and I had a real Philly cheesesteak, which was yummy. Soren didn't eat at all that night, or all day Sunday and then had her throwing up episode in the car. Fun, fun! My mom is pretty depressed and gave me a lot of guilt for not being there anymore.

I really do feel badly about it. I'd like nothing more than to go home, especially for the kids' sake. They miss their old house and friends as much as I do.

Emma was 8 yesterday! We went to dinner, which was yummy and she has to kiss a moose. It's part of their singing the birthday song thing ;). She was a good sport about it and ate a ton of ribs and cake!

All the kids were remarkably well behaved. What was I thinking, getting pregnant again, when everyone is now suitable to go out in public? Heh.

Today is the kid birthday party at the gym, but we're going to the museum first. Should be fun!

Soren just told me that she wants to homeschool and stay home all the time. No gymnastics. No activities. ;). Talk about antisocial!

Emma's field trip went well today. The cupcakes were a hit. She had her last day with Mrs. M. which seemed to go well. Her new teacher seems excited to have her and she met the class of kids after school today.

We're going out to dinner to bugaboo cafe with Danielle and the twins after I am done with work and tomorrow we're going to the museum AFTER I ::::drum roll:::: start my new freelance job!

Yep, I got it. I'm very excited although a bit nervous about it. Wish me luck!

Noooooo!

This day has been hectic. I taught my two classes at the gym, which went better than I expected (of course. I always enjoy teaching once I GET there!). I came home, made two more batches of cupcakes for school tomorrow and had a lovely chat with my friend Barbara about the whole school situation.

The school called and told me that Emma would be in Mrs. Pettifer's classroom. She will start Monday. Then, the nurse called to tell me that Emma had been in her office twice with nausea, but had no fever and seemed relaxed. I suspected emotional turmoil. Then Soren showed up in her office with a sore throat. Soren DID throw up last night at a friends but it was attributed to running around playing hard and then eating too fast. Argh!

So anyway, then I called to set up an appointment for my phone interview, laid down for about 10 minutes and the phone rang again. It was the school parent social worker, calling to say that Emma had thrown up in the bathroom and could I come and get her :::sigh:::.

It ended well though. I got to talk to the social worker about what was going on and she was very supportive. Then I got to meet Mrs. Pettifer, who seems very kind. We are going to meet next week about Emma and her boredom with math. Emma will meet her tomorrow morning, assuming she doesn't throw up anymore. She still has no fever, and she said she was feeling upset, so as I thought, it's probably nerves over the whole school thing.

Tomorrow I am volunteering on a field trip to see Miss Nelson is Missing!. That should be fun, although I don't relish hanging out with the soon-to-be former teacher for 4 hours.

I don't know if I'm going to work or not. I guess it depends on how the kids are over the next hour. My boss is thrilled ;).

Catching up

Karen and "baby" Catherine, who is no longer a baby, came to visit for 2 days over the weekend. It was lovely to spend so much time just the 3 of us, although I wish the girls had been off school, as they enjoyed Catherine very much and I think it gave Karen a break to have them play with her and keep her occupied.

I love to hear C. talk - she is so cute and has such a personality. The last time I saw her she was very quiet and shy and she really warmed up this time. She reminds me a lot of Soren at that age, although she doesn't have the tantrums that Soren had (has?), thankfully for Karen's sake!

I've been struggling with homesickness - literally, I feel like a homing pigeon, like my house in PA is drawing me and I just *have* to go there and I'm desparate to get out of here. It felt much worse after Karen and Catherine left, and I spent much of the day fighting tears. Actually, I spend just about every day fighting tears lately. And losing, for the most part.

I can't wait to go home this weekend. I might even stay through Monday, because I am so lonely for my old friends.

Anyway, enough of that, or I'll be a blubbering idiot again, and I don't have time this morning, because I have to go to work. Which incidentally, is going to suck. Wed. and Thurs. mornings have been my office hours, but the woman who taught toddler classes during that time is due with her baby next month and isn't teaching this session. My boss waited till the last minute to find someone to replace her, and *I* eventually asked one of our coaches who has been off for awhile, and she initially said yes, but then backed out at the last minute. Sooo, I have to teach these classes. And I really don't like teaching preschool classes. Not that I don't think the kids are adorable and cute and funny - but I'm enjoying my break from damage control now that Soren is 5, and I'd rather not spend time keeping 8 kids from killing themselves for an hour. I much prefer teaching children that are a bit older. So the next 9 weeks of mornings will pretty much not be something that I'm looking forward to.

The principal of the school called me back on Monday night and Emma IS going to move to another class, although the principal tried to make it seem like *my* problem and not Emma's. I told her I'd have a final chat with Emma and get back to her, which I did and after a lot of angst over leaving her new friends in her classroom, she really did feel that she'd be better off with another teacher, which shows incredible strength and maturity on her part, I think, so I left a message for the principal yesterday. Joy. She'll finish out the week in her current class, which is good, since her birthday is tomorrow and she wants to bring cupcakes in for her classmates. I feel terrible about the whole situation really.

Anyway, as I said, tomorrow is her birthday, so I'm making 3 dozen cupcakes to take to school, and then she wants to go out to dinner tomorrow night. Friday they have no school, so I'm taking them to Strong Museum and then she has her birthday party at the gym Friday evening, which should be fun!

Then we get to go home on Saturday. Woot!

Looking up

I forgot to mention that I had a meeting with the principal and Emma's teacher on Thursday and it went so-so. I should have an answer about moving Emma on Monday, but of course now I'm having some second thoughts after seeing her with her friends this week. She won't really get to see her classmates if we move her.

Anyway, Karen has arrived with Catherine, and I'm already feeling much better. Catherine is so adorable and chats with us so much. The girls really enjoy her and are having a good time. Karen also brought me some maternity clothes and baby stuff. The girls are having a blast digging through all the toys and books.

It's just good to reconnect with Karen again. I've missed her so much, and it feels wonderful to just hang out and talk again. I wish we lived closer, but after driving across the country, driving across NY doesn't feel like much of a commute ;).

I also found a rose in my front seat this afternoon. I guess that's a good apology!

I forgot...

I had the most vivid dream last night that I was traveling when I had the baby, and somehow I was unconscious or mentally unavailable for the birth, but when I woke up the next morning I had this gorgeous baby, but I had no idea what the gender was.

I asked Tom what it was, and he told me it was a boy, and we named it Thomas Austin. (Not a name we've even talked about!). I nursed the baby and the sensation of letdown and nursing was sooooo real! Wow. I was really moved by it when I woke up.

Argh!

As Saturdays go, this one started out well. I got up, got the girls up and got us off to work with a minimum of fuss. Tom was working at a site all day, so we came home, and I got a few things done. I made us lunch, let the girls play for awhile in their room and then got them to clean it up and put laundry away. Then I reconfigured Emma's gift bags for her party next week and started dinner (BBQ ribs on the crock pot, rice and caesar salad). Then I laid down with Soren for about 45 minutes.

Danielle brought the twins over around 4 or so in order for her and Mike to have a date, which was fine. Tom hadn't shown up by 6 p.m. although I had expected him much earlier and was really pissy when I called him. He acted all resentful and said he had planned on looking at more work but he'd come home anyway, because I explained that I was alone with all 4 kids and thought he'd be home for dinner, not just to eat what I cooked, but to help me out with the kids. He got all huffy so I told him not to bother and hung up.

Things just went downhill from there. I got the kids eating and meanwhile Tom came in all in a huff and slammed in and out a couple of times for good measure. I ignored him and he sat at the table with an empty plate until I told him that if he was going to sit there, the least he could do was eat what I had made.

I had also stuck a strawberry shortcake in the oven, so I cleaned up, served dessert and then started to finish cleaning up since Karen and Catherine are coming to visit tomorrow. I threw more laundry in, swept and mopped the floor downstairs and took all the throw rugs down to wash them. When I opened the washer, I found a pile of fluff. I had made the bad decision last night to wash the nest chair cushion, which then proceeded to tear and explode in the washer. I don't know where to replace it without buying a whole new chair. So I have this wet cushion, with fluff escaping everywhere in my laundry room until it dries and I decide whether I can sew it. Anyway, on top of that, Tommy fell asleep in our bed, which was great! I was happy to keep them overnight and give Mike and Danielle a much-needed break. However, he also had a massive accident IN our bed! Totally soaked.

So, I stripped the bed, dragged the sheets downstairs, only to find that one of my lovely children had left crayons in one of their pockets and a whole load of laundry was covered in red and green wax. ::::scream::::

I am currently in the middle of spraying everything with WD-40, soaking with dishsoap and getting ready to wash, as the Crayola site instructs one to do in such a horrific event.

Of course, I ran out of WD-40, so had to ask Tom to go get more, even though I don't think we're techically talking yet. And I *still* have to wrap a present for a birthday party that Emma is attending tomorrow. Incidentally, even though we're not talking, Tom vacuumed the whole house and cleaned the bathroom. I, on the other hand, got to clean up pee and soak the bed with Febreeze, mop, make dinner, clean up, and deal with two major laundry emergencies in one day.

I really just want to go to sleep.

Will someone please shoot me?

TGIF!

Well, after my rant this morning, I called the real estate agent, and am going to sign the papers to relist the house with a new realtor office next Saturday when I go to State College. Then I called my insurance company to find out how they will pay my midwife and how she should bill. Then I had to run to Danielle's to pick up money to get a new toner cartridge for her printer, then run back and print out her billing for Februrary. Then I had to dash to yoga, and of course I was late ;).

Yoga was great, but this was the last week of the session. I need to talk to the owner of the studio and see if I can get on a payment plan to do the next session. I *really* want to do it, but with my money woes, I just don't know if it's possible.

Then I ran home, ate something fast, and ran to pick the kids up at school, ran back to Danielle's neighborhood to hang out with a new friend of mine, then went to my midwife appointment with Tom and the kids. We finally got to hear the heartbeat! It was 160. I can't remember if that is high or low, although I remember faster is supposedly supposed to indicate a girl. It was cool to hear it, although honestly not as cool as the first time I did this ;). Plus, the appointment was just so short because none of us had any questions and there was nothing to really say. I did gain 4 pounds this month.

After that we went to the mall to get a birthday present for one of Emma's friends and I let her get her ears repierced as part of her birthday gift. She chose to let them grow shut this winter because one kept getting infected. She got little aquamarine stones and they look very cute.

Then we went to Friendly's and I ate so much! The girls ate well too although Soren was a grump all evening. She was clearly tired when I picked her up at school - she literally looked like she was half asleep when she walked out of class. She was impossible for pretty much the entire time we were out tonight, and was definitely jealous of the attention Emma was getting for birthday stuff. Sibling rivarly is such a pain!

When we got home, I immediately smelled cat pee. Argh! Our cat has been pissed (pun intended!) ever since we moved and had kept his peeing mostly to the basement, but he attacked our nest chair tonight for the second time, so I'm trying to wash the pillow. It really is too big for the washing machine, but I stuffed it in there and am hoping for the best ;). Wish me luck! I have to buy more Nature's Miracle, because it worked great in the basement, but he peed in the girls' closet while we were gone and I didn't have enough left to get rid of the smell and I don't want him to pee there again. If I could keep him out of the basin I would, but there is no way to make it happen. I hate this! And being pregnant, I smell everything so strongly, and have to get the smell out.

Again, though, we're broke, so I have to wait to get to Petco. Yes, I know, we went out to dinner tonight - I used the Amex card. Bad me. I feel so guilty about Emma and Soren - I want to be able to buy them things and do things like we used to. ::sigh::

Stupid people

I swear, I don't know how some people hold down jobs. Does it seem that customer service now equals rude, inefficient people who make you feel two inches tall and constantly infuriated when you hang up the phone? That has so been my experience lately and I'm tired of it!

I had this problem with the mortgage company this week, whom David and I left 3 messages for and he never returned our call. Then, even though we had been told that our house would be foreclosed on on Feb. 28 if we didn't get all our paperwork in, and we were trying to confirm that it had been received, the guy couldn't figure out why I was so frantic to get ahold of him. Duh.

Then, today, I called the child support office because I noticed that my check had been *mailed* instead of direct deposited, which is a major problem since my rent is due tomorrow, and I don't have enough to cover it. So I called to ask if there was a problem, because I did change accounts, but a test had gone through OK from them, and they said that direct deposit doesn't start till 3/11. Huh? Then when I was trying to find out why they don't let you know this so you can plan better, she got all snippy with me and I called her on her attitude, which made it worse, so I finally just said whatever and hung up. Yeesh!

I have so much to do and I'm in a rotten mood now. I can't even afford to buy butter.

I wish someone would take up a collection for me and the kids so I could get out of this fucking debt. With about $10,000 I could be in the clear if I could get my house sold. I'm so frustrated and upset. I've got old medical bills that David never paid, credit card bills that were half his that he didn't pay, and Friends School tuition that they initially told us we didn't owe, and now we do. I have no idea how I'll ever pay it off. My only luxury is the cable modem at $30/month and I'm about to get rid of that too. I can't even get new socks for Emma, because David never helps to pay for their gymnastics or clothes, which is above and beyond daily living expenses like housing and food that child support barely covers. The thing is, I know he's maxed out financially too and I hate to complain because he's doing the best he can, but I'm just sooo frustrated.

:::sob:::

Time Flies...

When you work every night of it! This is Parent Observation Week at the gym. Which I actually enjoy, except for the parents who think that it's fine for their younger children to run rampant in a gym full of much larger kids who are tumbling and cartwheeling and could easily crush a child of 3 or 4.

Not to mention the parents who can't read the signs that say that they need to stay in the bleacher area, and who I have to ask *4* times to stay away from the edge of the cheerleading area. I know that I would not want to get nailed in the face by the sneakered foot of a 100 lb. girl doing a round off back handspring, but to each their own!

Oh, and the parents who allow their children to bring food into the gym, when the signs posted all over the place expressly ask that food stay in the lobby (from where you can still see your child, incidentally).

But other than that, I enjoy seeing the parents and having time to chat with them. Except last night, one of the team coaches called in sick, so I spent the whole 4 hours coaching. I *love* coaching Level 4 and Pre-Team though, because that means I get to hang out with Emma and her posse, who all adore me and whom I adore! They are all so cute and try so hard and are full of bubbling laughter and gossip and chatter.

I made potato soup in the crockpot today, so dinner is already done. Woohoo!

The reason I did this though is that I have to meet with the principal and Emma's teacher today to try to get Emma moved into a classroom where she is more comfortable. I hate to move her at the end of the year since we just moved anyway, but her teacher is so neurotic.

OTOH, I met with Soren's teacher on Tuesday and it went great. They had some good ideas about working on expressive language with her and abstract concepts to see if she can get better at expressing her emotions in healthier ways. She is also doing great "academically" whatever that means in kindergarten ;).

Anyway, it's supposed to be 65F tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to spending some time outside!

Monday Blahs

Actually, I'm feeling very chipper, considering I stayed up past midnight to watch the Oscars. Tom got the TV upstairs in our room to get ABC which was very exciting, since I thought I would have to watch the show on tape later this week.

I cleaned the kitchen, started dinner, got the girls off to school and cleaned their room already. Next I have to tackle my room, the rest of the laundry and the basement. Plus I have a doctor's appointment today at 1 p.m. I am feeling better though finally. The Zithromax must have finally kicked in. My teeth don't ache anymore, yay!

I talked to my mom this week and she *doesn't* have lupus. My feelings about the possibility of a false positive were correct, since she doesn't have any other symptoms. She goes back to Hershey Medical Center on Thursday, so perhaps some of her other tests will be back by then and there will be some answers. They still haven't scheduled a CT Scan and MRI though, which seems odd to me.

In other random news, we had a pretty relaxing weekend. We got Emma's birthday party invitations done and started party bags. The girls stayed over night at Danielle's on Saturday night, so Tom and I slept in on Sunday and then picked them up and went to the Outdoor Store, which his friend Lou had bought us a gift certificate for. Tom got gloves and a ball cap, and I got a lined vest and a heavy sweatshirt and a pair of $90 shoes for $9!

Soren got a little toy, but Emma couldn't find anything. We're looking for moccasins for her, but haven't had any luck yet.

Speaking of Emma, when I got Soren breakfast this morning, I saw that Emma had *carved* her name into our wood dining room table ::::fume:::: I was so furious. I think that my hormones don't help either. I made her tell Tom and apologize since it is technically his mother's table. She was mortifed and couldn't think why she had done it. She carved her name into the wood cabinets back in PA when she was younger too. I don't think she'll do it again now though. She was sooo upset with herself.