i never thougt about this stuff when i was a teenager

so today i am feeling thankful that my job has such good benefits. i have always been aware of this, due to dom's medical issues that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars...but today i am REALLY thankful.

It all started back a day or so ago..... i work 12 hour night shifts from 7pm to 7 am 3 times a week. this week they were straight in a row....

oh and my new working out being healthy endeavor? well that includes a one hour trip to the gym at work every morning after work...

anyway, i get home after the second night, exhausted from all the stuff going on because well work wasn't any different than usual but working on the cardiac step down unit as the charge nurse wears on your nerves. your mind and your body and i was TIRED!

anyway i got home stinky and tired, got in the shower and he ( he meaning me husband) casually enters the bathroom and says " so i think i need a dentist appointment......tomorrow".

well, this is coming form the man who pretty much refuses dental work except in an emergency and the last time involved drilling, antibiotics, titanium screws, and about $1500.00.

so obviously he has chosen to tell me while i cannot chase him with a bat.

"well, jerm whats wrong?"

"well you remember a couple weeks ago when i got the beef jerky stuck in my gum and i wanted to get toothpicks and floss because other food kept getting stuck there and bothering me?"

"yes....."

"well, it never really got better and now it is hurting pretty bad and i can squeeze it and get blood out".

"ummmm...."

"and i know i should be taking better care of my mouth and i know we made a deal the last time that if you would just get it taken care of for me that i would never let it happen again, and i would go and get my teeth cleaned every 6 months...."

i get out of the shower and request to see it.

AAAGGGGHHHH!!!!

it is the size of a lima bean in his mouth, swollen and bloody and the gum looks infected!

"uh, yeah you have an abscess. i will call the dentist."

so the story is anti climactic.. i call the dentist he gets in the following day, they clean and clean and clean. he has some bone loss, but it can be fixed. penicillin, pain meds and prescription strength mouth wash, plus a visit next week to drill and fill.

and only about $80 when it is all said and done, dental work and prescription included.

so today i am thankful for the fact that i do not hold grudges about previously made promises and also that we have good benefits.

oh yeah, and when i was 16 and so in love with this man, (which i am still SUPER in love)
(abscess and all) i never thought i would be happy to have good dental coverage:)

what are you thankful for today?

i am still a woman

*note: i should mention here that i am HAPPILY married to the same man for 8 years now...*



So, i have been married to the same man for over 8 years now (much better than being married to multiple men in 8 years) and our son just turned 7. i often find myself walking around the house ( well, wait, i guess i don't often find that, i often find my self at work, but when i am home...) in sweat pants.



Now, don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a good pair of sweatpants, (especially this particular pair dark gray with pink GAP on the side). but i am laughing at the fact that i never, ( yes i am saying NEVER) ladies, ever wore sweatpants before i had a child. i didn't even own a pair.



Now i have many pairs. They are warm and comfy ( both necessary in this 10 degree weather we're having...)



But then i pass a mirror and realize i haven't even combed my hair.



And i have been awake for 8 hours.



I did however manage to wash my face...



with water.



There was a day....many moons ago...when my husband would never have seen me this way. let alone any one else. I would get up early just to BE READY for the day with makeup and perfectly sculpted hair.



Now i am happy if my teeth are brushed. I have let myself go.



Not all the way but close. I realized it maybe a few months ago and have made some steps toward being me again. I guess i thought that being a mommy and wife, working full time and trying to maintain relationships with friends and extended family meant something had to go and apparently it was me. (not to mention the 120 lbs i put on during pregnancy-whole other story there- but i still weight that much and my kid is 7!)



So, my new years resolution this year is to get me back!

I love shoes and handbags and hair dye and painted nails, and pedicures and whatever. I like looking nice.

So here we go, lets make the outside and the inside beautiful! want to come along for the journey?

I promise the whole blog wont be about that, but just some here and there....

So i am reading these other blogs that i love and have learned two things, one is courtesy of big mama which is i need to get some scarves....you can learn all you need here http://thebigmamablog.com/index.php/2009/01/16/the-real-fashion-friday-edition-47-how-to-tie-one-on/

and number two is that i need to have some common things that you can come to expect when you log onto my site.

I hope this isn't copying too much, but i would love to have an awesome site that people come to...so any ideas for a theme/repeated event?

So 2009 is a year for a new me in many ways? what are your resolutions?

jineen

getting confused

Just a little note here that being as i share a blog with my husband and also have this one on my own i tend to get a little confused when i am thinking about what i want to post on each one. I don't want to be different on each one, and certainly not any kind of fake, just that this one is a little more private and a little more ....just me. That being said, i was logged in under our together one and left comments at some sites i love to read that were really more of my sites to read and not his. anyway, if you were confused and found sea-anno and not this site, that is my explanation. and for your reading pleasure here is the story i posted on there but thought would be funny on here as well.

his bum is now a mac machine
yes, there is a story behind a title like that:) (tho i fear some of the details may be a bit much it must be told the right way to get the full effect, so brace your self)

So thursday night is my last night of work , and not only that i get to go in at 11pm instead of the usual 7pm. I didn't get much sleep due to the fact that the house next to us is being deconstructed. so sporadically in the last few days men have been there taking bits and pieces down. lots of noise, approx. 10 feet from my head.anyway...my alarm goes off at 9pm and i have one hour to get ready for work.

i get up and being that i am a woman and this particular day is one that the cramps have subsided, i need to go to the bathroom and "clean" any mess and "rearmor" my underwear. takes a minute or two. just when i am finished i hear a somewhat frantic noise coming out of my husband and down the hall to the bathroom where i am just getting off the pot, underwear down.

BANG BANG BANG

goes the bathroom door"i don't know if your finished in there, but dom swallowed something."

well, folks, as you well may have guessed, that is never a good phrase to hear. and for that matter not one you really expect to hear regarding your seven year old, who is for sure by this time too old to be putting things in his mouth that don't belong there.

So i snatch up my underwear and rip open the door to see buckets of drool pouring from my childs mouth and my husband is carrying him by the underarms and i am not sure if he is breathing.as i grab him from his father, he looks up at me and i know he is breathing because he says...

"am i going to die?"

i try to keep a straight face as i look at him and see all that drool and realize he is ok, while his father shares with me that he has swallowed...

a penny.

i tell him to take some deep breaths and he tells me he is going to see jesus.

pretty dramatic for a 7 year old, don't you think?i give him water to drink and tell him he feels like he is choking because a big thing has just passed thru his tiny throat and he is feeling something called a carotid sensitivity.

now, you may be thinking why would she tell a 7 yr old this? well, you just dont know my son. he LOVES and i mean LOVES a good explanation. and the more big words, the better!

So any way, he is dramatically "gulping" air down and water and i am washing my face talking all the while to distract him and also to try and get ready for work, which i am still not decided if i am now going due to the fact that he may need a trip to the E.R. ( more on that in a minute).He continues to ask if the penny will kill him and i continue to assure him no. Now he knows i will not lie to him, even if it is bad news, so he says "am i going ot the hospital?" knowing i will tell him the truth.

I get my stethescope and listen to him breath for a minute or two, then listen to him swallow water and decide the penny is not in his lungs but rather in his tummy, thus no hospital trip tonight.

Just then the phone rings and it is work calling to beg for help due to the fact that we are short staffed and i will be in charge and the nurse who is now in charge needs reassuring that everything will be ok. i coddle her for 10 minutes and look over at my son who has calmed down a bit now, but is still not completely convinced that he will not become an angel tonight.He is still drinking water and has now grabbed his book on human anatomy and is searching thru it for a picture of his stomach and intestines so he can "track" the penny thru his body.

i am walking out the door promising he'll still be alive to see me when i get home and he is holding the page open to see intestines.

The story ends with me leaving for work 10 minutes late and driving 70 mph to get there on time.

Of course if you know us personally, you may remember this same story occuring a little over a year ago, last winter when he swallowed a glass marble.I swear to you folks, he never never put things in his mouth when he was little.

never.

now all of the sudden we can't keep stuff out.and of course his medical issues being what they are, he went to the hospital and had several xrays until it was decided the marble was in his tummy. where it stayed for 3 weeks before he finally passed it. (and for the record, wanted to wash off and keep as a momento).

so i repeat myself, i guess his bum is now a mac machine waiting to spit out some money. I just wish it was a little more than a penny :)

here it comes

i am not quite sure where the time has gone.....i swear over a month ago i made up my little (or actually long) to-do list and started off december with good intentions. all the shopping would be done, the tree would be up and decorated by the end of the first week and the house would be continuously filled with the aroma of some delicious thing being baked....

so now it is december 20th and my fabulous list is only half done.

the tree is up (decorated this morning), no baking has been done, shopping for dom is done, but more for jerm and the others in the family. cards were sent out (everyone got haircuts, cleaned up, picture taken, transformed into card, addressed and stamped) doms room completely cleaned, my room comepletely cleaned. (i know the cleaning part was several hours in each room)

so what can i do? i work sunday night and monday night and i still have many things to be done and I AM TIRED!!!

i guess i haven't quite recovered from my 80 hours in 7 days of work....

so at least for today....drop off donations at goodwill, get milk, pick up at least one of the several gift cards on the list, more wrapping paper, and sleep.

(oh yeah, i did manage to be sure every bill is paid in advance so no bills for at least 2 weeks:)

let me know where you are in your list (don't worry i wont be mad if you are perfect and have it more together than me and i wont laugh if you dont)

i think we can makeit, but even if we dont...
here it comes

nearly christmas

I check the blogs i like to follow on almost a daily basis, and when i do not see a new post for several days, i feel disappointed. i like to hear the things going on in those lives that i feel connected to through this machine. i have even been known to request an update if more than a few weeks go by, (yes jodie i am talking about you ) and yet when i realized that i myself am not as faithful at keeping up......i guess i need to request an update from myself. these past few weeks seem to have flown by. all the planning and arranging so that the holiday season is just right seems to have eaten up all of my time.
I am almost sad that i have been running around like a nutcase missing out on the every day things.
so i am happy and proud to report the christmas and birthday shopping for dom is done. (his birthday is jan 3rd) and aside from batteries, we are ready for him. two side notes about that number one: i always plan to have all his stuff seperated and wrapped far in advance and yet every christmas eve jerm andi find ourselves up to 4 am wrapping and taping and arranging under the tree, maybe this year...
number two: dom didnt really ask for anything for christmas this year initially....he just simply made an announcement one day..

"mommy"

"yes dom"

"i am going to be santa claus this year"

"huh?"

"i said i am going to be santa claus this year"

"oh really? tell me more about this...." (obviously he has a plan and a reason as usual)

"well when i watched that movie (tim allen in "the santa claus") i decided that i could do a good job and i want to be santa. i know how ot do it"

"how?"

"well i wait until he gets to our house and then once he is on our roof i just push him off."

"what?"

"don't worry mommy, it isn't mean cuz he doesn't get hurt, he just disappears and then i look in his coat pocket and find the card and then i am santa"

"honey, that sounds like a ton of fun, but you do know that is ust a movie, santa needs to do his job and you should probably stay asleep in your bed."

"we'll see mommy, we'll see"

i must add that he walked around the house with his belly sticking out as if he were pregnant, though he is a very lanky child so there wasn't much to show. and now he asks me daily if i see any kind of beard growing on his face.

ahhh the holidays.

so i am sorry for not writing more often, and i hope everyone else is feeling as ready for christmas as me.

i am pleased as punch!

ok, so that is a terrible title. and it doesnt fit me well seeing as i am not a little old lady and i am also much happier than that. i have just discovered that someone besides me reads this.....
pipsylou you have made my day :)

i am just getting home from my third 12 hour shift ina row and i have cleaned so much poop up these past few nights i feel like i can still smell it even after my shower, perfume deodorant, lotion, face wash and more deodorant and powder just in case....

ok so i know i am just tired, but i swear do these fig newtons kind of look like...
no they dont i just have poop on the brain....

any way, i keep promising some new and enlightening update and i am just not getting it done, such is life i guess....

the holidays are here andi am trying to tell myself since my son is 6 almost 7 (next month!)
that htis will be the year that focus is on jesus birth...that this year along with all the other stuff we are really gonna help him learn and focus on the true reason of Christmas..

and yet i continue to religiously scour the toys r us website and add to our mound of toys hidden away waiting to be wrapped, fuss over haircuts and hair dye (for me) so we look super happy in pictures, collect addresses for cards...plan plan plan,the tree will go here, the lights will be arranges like this, oohh i know just what kind of cookies to make...

how do you have a balance? how do you say yes we are gonna do the santa thing and also do the jesus thing, when you know in your heart where your focus really is? i mean God knows, why am i ashamed to admit it, He already knows, and He knows i am human, He gave me that quality.

so here i am, tired, apparently unable to remove the smell of fecal matter, thinking about toys and yearning for Christ.

i guess that isn't too bad of a place to be,

maybe i really am pleased as punch:)

neglectful me...

i know, i know, i haven't written in 3 weeks. though i don't see much evidence that anyone reads this thing anyway, i feel somewhat guilty that i haven't been faithful.

So many things have been going on....

i would love to update, and i truly will take some time to do just that, but htis post has another purpose. I am sitting here lookiong at recipes deciding what i will cook for our very first Thanksgiving at home. yes, i know 8 years of marriage and this is the first time i am cooking? well, let me tell you it will be interesting.

first off, our oven is broken, not stove, just oven. so a turkey is out...well boston market is my backup. no one evn eats turkey except me, so a roasted chicken it is.

next....

i am realizing that some serious grocery shopping and list making is needed. thankfully ( no pun intended) list making is my specialty.

So i am beginning the plans of thanksgiving. it is a week in advance and i think i can get it done. I have some good recipes and new and old favorites to try. once i have compiled the entire menu i will let you know, as well as added decor and whatnot.

my prayer request for today is, as i am planning, and preparing, i am reminded of all the homeless people in our world. mostly i am thinking of hte ones in delaware (where i live) and the ones i have met before in the hospital. they come in for a warm bed and meals just for a day or two. there is no planning for them, there is no menu, food prep, list, or even thanksgiving day parade. i see into their eyes and the humanity behind them. whatever brought them to this place, whatever situation they are in, they are suffering. a basic human need is not being met. they are hungry. when was the last time you went to bed truly hungry? when was the last time you wondered where your last meal was coming from? not who was gonna cook it or who was gonna complain, but wondered would it even be there?

Dear Lord, i truly pray from the bottom of my heart that these people find their thanksgiving.

if you feel you can donate in some way, if you cannot, pray for these people, our brothers and sisters.

this year, i am truly thankful.

jineen