Camping In.

We've just spent the past 90 or so hours camping in our own house with a kerosene heater for heat, lanterns and candles for light and the great outdoors for refrigeration.  It's been interesting. I took a bunch of blog notes and when I have time, I'll blog the full update. 

I've got to go to work right now.  Only 3 more days, supposedly, of this hospital job, but I'm sure the boss is going to ask me to stay a while longer.  We'll see. 

Doing what we can to prepare.

We're in the midst of an ice storm here, so if I disappear from the internet for a few days, that's why.  Our electricity keeps ominously blinking on and off.  We expect it to go off at any time and stay off for several days when it does.  I made stovetop oatmeal cookies and a pot of chili, we've started charging the batteries and making sure we know where matches, candles and flashlights are.  It's frustrating.  I wish I could know a time and a duration.  It would be easier to deal with if I knew there was an end in sight.

Uh oh.  There it went.  What timing.  I had just sent an email to work to let them know that I might have to suddenly quit working.  (I can only work a short time on my laptop battery.)

Please pray it passes soon!

Ice!

We've got freezing rain today. Our electricity will probably go out. It usually does. Hopefully it won't stay out long enough to lose everything in the fridge. I'm supposed to work this evening for my new/old work-from-home company but I'm going to go ahead and do at least some of it this morning, just in case. We got a lot of cleaning done yesterday and I'm feeling pretty good about that. There was no school, the county schools were out and we were too. Today though, we may go ahead and do school. I don't think anyone is going to want to play out in the ice! We tried to make an emergency run to the library last night, but we forgot that Monday is the night that they close early, so we didn't get to stock up on books to get us through. I guess we'll just have to read what we have here. ;-(

Random thoughts.

Okay, I have no idea what I'm going to blog about today.  I'm not working at either job today since I worked at both yesterday, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 then a short break and from 7:00 p.m. to midnight.  Not surprisingly, both of my hands were numb/asleep when I woke up this morning.  Carpel tunnel.  Soon though, I'll be back to one job and something about the position of my work desk and chair at home makes carpel tunnel less of a problem.  Actually, it normally doesn't bother me at all when I'm working at home. 

Anyway, today is going to be a big cleaning day.  We've got the social worker coming on Friday and maybe a field trip (it might be cancelled due to weather) tomorrow and some other things going on this week and we need to do a major overall on the house.  It's a mess.  Really bad.

Anyway, about the social worker.  We are struggling with the decision to stay in foster care or not.  It is hard to know what to do.  I can change my mind about 12 times an hour if I'm thinking about the subject and frequently do.  I want to do it, but it's scary.  The only decision I've made about it is to go ahead and do our recertification and then take it as it comes for a while.  Once I get this job behind me and hopefully other things calm down and I am able to think again, I will think about it and decide.  Everyone else in the family says "It's up to you." 

Hopefully soon we will get school on a better track.  We're getting it done right now, most of the time, but nobody's enjoying it much, we're just plugging away at the basics and not doing any of the fun stuff. 

Okay, that's all the random thoughts I have right now.  Time to go to the grocery.

I did it!

I told her that I was quitting and, I only agreed to work every 3rd weekend until Memorial Day. :-) (With pay!) I really don't mind the weekends as much there and it will be a nice little added bit of money each month. I may give that up after Memorial Day or if I like it, I may keep it. We'll see how it goes. For now my work schedule is absolutely insane, until February 6 when I will be mostly done with the hospital job. The kids will be on their own for most of their schoolwork, but they can handle that now. I do feel much better about life now.

Today.

I have to resign my position. I'm not good with these kinds of business-y meeting things. I don't like any kind of confrontation or any situation where I have to break news that's going to make someone unhappy. I'm such a people pleaser, I'm afraid I'll agree to work every Saturday for no pay or something, just to make the meeting go smoothly and keep my boss from being unhappy. She's a very nice person and I'm afraid, with the budget cuts, that they won't be able to hire anyone else to replace me. I feel guilty about that, but in the interview process, you really can't know how it's going to work out ... or just exactly how much you are going to hate a particular job. I think I knew on the third day, the first day after orientation. I should have quit then, but that wouldn't be giving in a fair chance. Now I think I have.

Anyway, wish me luck/courage today. Lots of it.

Spur of the moment decision.

The other day, I just decided, spur of the moment, to email the owner of my old company and ask/beg for my old job back.  Within a couple of hours, I got a call back and within 2 days, I'm working again!  I'm excited about it.  I know I had reasons for leaving this job, but they seem insignificant now, considering that I don't have to get dressed up and go out in the cold to do it.  Now I just need the courage to tell my boss at the hospital that I will be leaving in 2 weeks.  Since I've already started the at-home job, I'll be working both for a while. 

Today.

Okay, I'll try blogging today.  I'll see if I've got anything. 

Hmmm.

We've been doing school this week.  We're working on an Africa study from CurrClick, last week's free product, or maybe the week before.  Anyway, it's going okay.  We still haven't really gotten going good since the break.  It seems to take a long time to hit our stride again. 

One funny thing, the kids were working on a thing yesterday about predators, scavengers and prey yesterday and my daughter wrote her definitions of each type of animal on her paper, but after every single one she wrote "(poor prey!)".  It was funny.  I wondered if, by doing a pre-printed worksheet unit if they would feel like they couldn't personalize it, but I should have realized they'd find a way. 

Still not really feeling like blogging.

I'm still here, I just don't feel like blogging.
 

Silliness.

I just found this funny this morning, so I copied!

To find your ROCK STAR NAME take your first pet & current car:
Winkie Windstar

To find your GANGSTA NAME take your favorite ice cream flavor and your favorite cookie:
Heathbar Nutter Butter
(call me Heath!)

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME? Your favorite color and favorite animal:
Black Dog

Want to know your SUPERHERO NAME? Just add the word "The" plus your 2nd favorite color, and your favorite drink:
The Blue Tea.

Your NASCAR NAME. Take the first names of your grandfathers:
Ralph Ludwell

If I ever go into WITNESS PROTECTION you can find me with this name. Your mother’s & father’s middle names:
My mom doesn't have a middle name!

TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME? Just take your 5th grade teacher’s last name and add a major city that starts with the same letter:
Hunt Houston

Of course, if you find me in witness protection I will assume it was because you were using your SPY NAME. Add your favorite season/holiday to your flower:
Fall Marigold

Tell your kids their CARTOON NAME by taking your favorite fruit, an article of clothing you’re wearing right now, now add "ie" or "y":
Peaches Gownie

And lastly, your ROCKSTAR TOUR is heading across the northeast...it's called
("The” + Your fave hobby/craft, your fave weather element + the word “Tour”):
The Read Sunshine Tour

I don't feel like blogging.

I don't know exactly why.  I think sometimes I just either don't have anything on my mind or what is on my mind is too personal for a public forum or maybe that my mind is filled with junk.  These books I've been reading are like brain junk food, so maybe it's that.  Maybe I should get some quality literature at the library next time I go?

Back to School.

We're starting back to school today, kind of.  I printed out the lists and I've begun the nagging process to get them started on their lists.  I work on Mondays now so it's an independent study day mostly.  They have a list of things they can do on their own, but also their Dad is here to advise if they need help.  I didn't make new lists, I just printed out new copies of the old ones.  I just couldn't think how I wanted to restructure so I didn't yet.  I ordered All About Spelling for my youngest and I'll add that in when it comes and I also need to figure out what to do with the oldest now that he's finished the computer class. 

With the stressful month I've just had, it's been hard to get my mind on it, but we've been off from school long enough and it's time to get started again.  Tomorrow night we've got a homeschool meeting to try and plan field trips and outings for this spring and hopefully we'll think up some good things to do.  

I know I'm looking forward to the meeting.  I haven't seen my homeschool mom friends in almost a month!  A really good friend of mine emailed me this week and reminded me to ake care of myself and really I needed that.  I tend to put myself on the back burner when a family member is having a crisis, not sleeping or eating well, not doing much of anything for myself and the worst thing I did was neglected seeing as much of my friends.  I realize how much I need them, all of them; the church friends, the blog and email friends, the homeschool friends, the family and in-law friends and the lifelong friends.  Wow, you know when I think about it, I've really been blessed.  Thanks to everyone who is a friend to me.  I love you all.  If you do see me this week, please overlook the fact that I have also neglected my appearance this month and my eyebrows are getting way out of control and my roots are showing!

Sunday, January something, 11th that is.

We've got a lot to do today.  Hopefully, we will not see the inside of a hospital today for any reason.  We do hope to see the inside of a movie theater, because I promised the kids we'd go to one today, but we'll see.  We've got several other things on the agenda, including a party for my beautiful new niece's christening.

I've found a new author that I really like and checked out 5 of her books from the library so I kind of want to sit and read for the next few days!   I was reading last night while my gas was pumping, leaning on my van!  That makes pumping gas seem to go more quickly.  I may have to see if the library has any of them in audio versions so I can clean my room while I'm listening.  These books are really not for kids ears, so they can clean their rooms while listening to something else.  Hey, that sounds like a plan.  I'd better check out the library web site.

Home now.

We're home now. Everyone got to sleep in their own beds last night. It was great. Today I've got to work so back to the same hospital I've just spent 3 days at. :-) I wish I'd taken my laptop and tried to do some homeschool planning, but I didn't. I guess we'll start school Monday even if I don't have any time to plan! I didn't mean to take a 3 week break at Christmas, but oh well, these things happen. We will get done in June, it looks like.

One thing that is funny about this break. I let the kids have unlimited screen time for the week after Christmas and then it got extended through the stomach flu and then because of Grandma being in the hospital and now they are sick of screen time (at least the older 2 are) and ready for some limits again. :-)

Why do I say these things?

The other day I said something like "I hope this week's time off goes better than last week did". Maybe I'm jinxing myself. My mom's been sick and in the hospital since yesterday. If this kind of stuff keeps up, I may have to stop blogging my plans! :-0

Anyway, Mom's okay, not as sick as last time, thank goodness and hopefully will be coming home in the morning. *fingers crossed*.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now.

Still here.

I had to work all weekend so I haven't posted much, but I'm still hanging in here. I haven't yet got the stomach flu (knock on wood again). I did make it to church today. I realized this morning when everyone was talking how much I missed this Christmas season, the class party, the kids homeschool party, the Christmas play, the Christmas music cantata, the Christmas eve service (I was too tired from having to work that day). No wonder it didn't seem like Christmas. I missed half of it.

Hopefully, if my calculations are correct, (I'm not sure how the weekend scheduling thingie goes) I have 4 (!) days off. I'm going to use that time to try and find another job, to get my house cleaned up and to plan school. I've also got a bookstore gift card that I can't wait to spend. I hope this week's time off goes better than last week's did!

Well...

We're better I guess. No one has barfed in about 20 hours. None of them are completely back to normal yet though. They've parked themselves in the living room, each taking a piece of furniture and making themselves comfortable with their blankets, their barf recepticles and their Gatorade. I still haven't gotten it (knock on wood) but I'm still worried that I will. I've managed to take a little bit of a break despite the sickness around me. I've watched most of season 4 of House MD and played the Sims 2 quite a bit in between waiting on the sickies and cleaning up some truly terrible messes, keeping the dishes and laundry done and doing a little routine cleaning. One of the kids has taken up residence in my favorite living room chair so I've had to tough it out in my room, at my desk or at my husband's desk in the living room. I should have been using this time to work on the new winter schedules and get a bunch of other things done, but I needed a mental health break, so as much as I could take it easy these past 3 days, I have and I've tried not to feel guilty about it, with some success.

Last Person Standing.

We had 2 more succumb last night, my husband and my teen. Now I'm the only one still standing. I wonder how long I can hold out? Probably until I get to work tomorrow afternoon.

Pray for us.

Send Gatorade.