Mom to the Screaming Masses

The 3 Month Post Surgical Checkup

It's been a bit less than three months since I had an endometrial ablation, but I've had three periods since then, so I'm calling it 3 months.

Yes. I said I've had THREE periods since the surgery that was supposed to decrease or remove all monthly Slaughterhouse Nine references, but If you know ANYTHING at all about me, you'd know that I never do anything the right way.

Easily squeamish? Are you Male? Anyone related to me by birth, death or marriage or anyone that might have trouble looking me square in the face after some intensely personal info that's below this fold - why not go read some Easter Basket ideas, School Lunches don't have to be Junk or how Food can be as addictive as Cocaine. I'll be here tomorrow with a good story that you'll want to read. Pinky promise.

What Makes Me Happy

My beautiful local friend Katherine graciously awarded me with the "I Make Someone Happy" award!

I'm to list ten things that make me happy. Alrighty, then, sometimes I need a kick in the bum.

1. My husband bringing me a cup of iced coffee every morning. He just recently started doing this, and I can't tell you how much it has helped me get a crack on the morning. However, I'm not chipper about it at the time. AT ALL.
2. Cooking. I love cooking. Love mixing raw ingredients and creating great stuff from what seems to be nothing. After watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution,  I am now more than ever convicted that I haven't done enough to feed my children the best I can. I vow to work on that.
3. Icy cold Blackberry Lime Slurpees
4. Being able to run and not feel like I am drowning. I am UBER slow, though.
5. The fact that I received a tax return this year and am able to use it to buy my kids new shoes, Easter clothes and eyeglasses. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure can rent it for a long time. For once, making less than we've made in five years paid off.
6. My upcoming trip to the Cayman Islands with just my hubby. It's our annual paid for by his job, kids free trip - and I canNOT wait.
7. Taking my kids to dinner and seeing my two oldest, the former Vietnam war combatants, sitting next to each other VOLUNTARILY and talking. AND laughing.
8. Getting to the bottom of a really hairy situation that would have had long term, negative repercussions, and doing it without losing either my mind or my cool.
9. Being able to buy a new purse. (Yes. I'm shallow. I'm ok with that.)
10. Being in bed at 9 p.m. with a new book to read.I know that 11 is more than 10. Sangria and guacamole and tacos with my hubby.

I swiped this part DIRECTLY from Katherine. She said it way better than I ever could. What blogs make me happy?  Lots and lots of them.  All of you who are reading this.  I don’t want to start listing for fear of missing someone important.  And all of you are important.  So I can't just start naming blogs, because then I will miss naming someone and hurt someone's feelings and I can't stand that! Play along with me, though - what makes YOU happy?

Sometimes, The Posts Just WRITE Themselves

I knew this would be a bad morning when I heard thunder. At 5 a.m., followed by my husband BOUNDING of of bed to greet another day. I rolled over and went back to sleep. When the alarm went off, I rolled over and laid there for a minute, thinking of how rotten rainy Monday mornings are for school drop off. The line moves slow, people forget how to let their kids off correctly, and it's just s-l-o-w.

You can't realistically practice "drop and roll, kids!" in the pouring rain.

Going downstairs in time to say good bye to my husband and daughter - he was driving her to the bus stop to avoid the absolutely TORRENTIAL rain - I made breakfast for the little girls, only to discover we were out of butter for the frozen waffles that my obsessive child insists on every.single.morning. (2 whole wheat waffles with butter and low sugar fruit preserves. Every morning, without fail) I woke up the kids, and went back downstairs to pack lunches. (I usually do that at night, but was too tired last night. Rookie move failure #1). As the news station reported flood conditions, 3 of the 5 remaining kids came downstairs and thankfully, began to eat without incident. I made lunches, cleaned up the kitchen, and then suddenly realized it was 7, we'd need to leave in 15 minutes, and Riley was nowhere to be found.

The Closest I Will Ever be to Becoming a MultiMillionaire

Friday I deposited a check in the bank.

As an aside, this was the first time in forever that I've deposited an actual, paper check. My husband is paid via direct deposit. I am paid mostly via paypal or online and I transfer it to my account, so visiting the bank is not the norm. But I went and deposited the check on Friday afternoon, and the teller told me that the money would credit that night.

Which was good for me, because I'd planned to do some errands on Saturday. All soccer games were canceled so it was a perfect time for me to buy the new school shoes, jeans, eyeglasses and Easter clothes that I really wanted to do while my husband was at work, so that we could spend Sunday together.

Except that, on Saturday, when I checked the account, my deposit had not yet credited.

Stream of Consciousness

A bunch of random stuff that I'm currently trying to process...

I love Jenny. I've loved her for more than ten years, when I met her on the now defunct One Hot Mama discussion board. Jenny has always been my fiercest advocate, a wonderful friend, a cheerleader in times of great stress, and my most loyal comrade in this insanity called Motherhood. Recently, her beloved sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. To raise funds for her care, Jenny is raffling off a full conference pass to Blogher '10, to be held in NYC. A raffle ticket is just $5.

The best part of the spring? Slurpees and Italian Ices.

The worst part? All of the pollen that is suddenly in the air. This bronchitis - which I have, not so humorously, been referring to as Bron Key tus - has been kicking my booty. The allergens which I never thought I had, and the asthma that was just diagnosed (although, hello, I've never had it, but it DOES make sense in a twisted kind of way) have made breathing a wee bit challenging. In boxing class this week, I've been the one coughing her lungs out.  Fuuuuun times.I now have first hand experience with how a leper feels.

People who said that adding spinach to a smoothie doesn't change the taste are right. As long as you don't add too much, you can't taste it. It sure looks weird, though.

I might be more than unreasonably happy that I'm making chicken curry for dinner tomorrow night. My kids are not so happy, but consoled with the promise of Chocolate fondue for Easter dinner.

Recent reading forays: I finished The Help and LOVED it. I'm working on Masque of the Black Tulip  and have also downloaded Sarah's Key. I'll report on all three next week

Jamie Oliver's food Revolution - did anyone watch it Friday night? I agree with him. There is some work that needs to be done. Everyone knows it, but no one wants to do it.

Waking Up is SO Hard To Do

My daughter has a Facebook account. She's joined about, oh, 4,639,865,012 Facebook groups and pages. It's kind of a running joke in our extended family that she needs to go to rehab for Facebook pages. Every day, a new group, a new Fan page.

It's kind of comical. But the other day, when I clicked on her page, I burst into laughter to see that she'd joined a group entitled, It's Morning. Shut the Hell up and be Tired.

It was, I know, directed at my husband.

For it CERTAINLY wasn't directed at me.

Don't Borrow Trouble, for Trouble Will Find You Easy Enough

While I was in Baltimore, my daughter did her Muay Thai endurance round against an instructor. He was tough on her. She fell twice.

She also broke her big toe.

It's Official: We are the Family that The Neighborhood Hates

Every spring we have trouble with a woodpecker. For whatever reason, this bird - and I'm not, of course, certain that it's the same one, for I don't hang out on the roof of the house - chooses our particular chimney to drill excessively. And by excessively I mean for hours and hours, beginning before dawn and continuing until lunch. Thanks to the construction of our house - meaning that we built on - the chimney is now, on the second level, moving through my little girls room. So, I think you can see where this is going.

The damned bird wakes all of us up. And when my one very special little girl isn't happy, the rest of us are in a special kind of hell. Did I forget to mention that the part of the chimney that the woodpecker attacks is metal? Yeah. It's like that.

Luck 'O The Irish

Or the wanna be Irish, at any rate. I've got some Irish in me, so my mom says, but my husband has a LOT of Irish and so I'm mostly Irish by marriage. Whatever. I love love love everything about Ireland and her people. My son is going on a graduation trip to Ireland - thanks to my mom (1, 2, 3- My mom rocks!) and I'd love to be able to go. I love Irish music, Irish food - except cabbage - Irish dance, and definitely Irish men.

Heh.

When Nikolas was in kindergarten I met a woman who became one of my best friends for years and years. We did everything together, talked on the phone all the time and traded recipes. We went out to dinner, had our kids play together, carpooled and in one memorable day, my son convinced her daughter to buy some of his "art" (aka scribbled crayon work) for a couple of dollars.

My son, always scheming.

Some of my favorite recipes came from Gerrie, and the first time I tasted her Irish Soda Bread I knew it wouldn't be the last time. I make it every single year. I send it to my husband's work and with my mom - and then I eat a bunch myself. I was definitely lucky when I met Gerrie.

Enjoy!

The Roughest Days Often Have the Sweetest Endings

Today was an especially harrowing day. I still have no voice, my throat is sore, and when I tried to work out, I felt like I'd been hit by a sledgehammer. I literally could draw no air down into my lungs. My computer died a painful death and had to be taken away to the Promised Land of "Possible Repair at Certain Expense". My sons car had to be towed away for repair. I had to deal with a troublesome situation with a child that I really didn't want to handle, and some money that I had been expecting for quite a while hasn't materialized.

And then dinner happened.