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    Stepford Mom

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Monday, April 02, 2007 @ 08:15 AM  
    Has anyone checked Lisa recently? I'm beginning to wonder if she's been "altered" so as to keep up with her life. Just reading her posts makes me tired.

    btw...Lisa, if you're having troubles sleeping and it starts to become a regular thing, go to the doctor's quickly. Your sleeping habits are just that - habits. And if you get into the bad habit of not sleeping well, it becomes a perpetual nightmare. I suffered with insomnia for 6 or 7 years before I finally got help and it took a good year of prescription sleep aids to get me back on track. The prescription ones (like Ambien and Lunesta) are much better than the OTC ones because you don't wake up groggy and lethargic. During the worst of it I was getting a lot done (what better time to balance the checkbook than at 2 am when no one's around to bother you?) but I was miserable and cranky and getting highly depressed come bedtime because I just knew I wouldn't be able to actually sleep - the only time in my life when I actually dreaded going to bed. I remember going several days at a time not sleeping and there were several weeks where at least 2 or 3 out of the 7 nights I spent on the kitchen floor, sorting coupons and cleaning out my purse.

    Kadie threw up again this morning on the ride into Ms. Tracy's. We got most of it in the airline baggie, but missed enough to warrant a shirt change. I've been giving her Sudafed at night during the week but I stop on the weekends because I don't want to overmedicate her and it seems that it's the combination of the nasal drainage and the car rides that activates the system purging. So, on the weekends, when we don't go anywhere in the early mornings, I don't give her the Sudafed. Of course, I should have given it to her last night, but forgot - and paid for it.

    It's supposed to be about 80 degrees and sunny today, although it rained last night so that means it will also be humid. Ugh! I'm glad I work in an air-conditioned building. We found out the other night, while talking with our neighbors, that they don't have AC in their house. Around here, that's like saying you don't have indoor plumbing. I couldn't imagine it. It's an older house and they have a lot of repairs to make to it, including new windows. They're not planning on putting in the AC until they have windows that'll keep it in. Makes sense, but I wouldn't have bought the house in the first place.

    Kadie spent a good portion of Saturday playing outside and at Chick-fil-A but was housebound with colder, ickier weather on Sunday. We tried keeping her busy, helping us out with chores and whatnot. She actually got up after we put her to bed and asked to go put her blocks away downstairs. I had forgotten about them and was pleasantly surprised at her request. While it might have been a ploy to just spend a few extra minutes up, I wasn't about to discourage her desire to help. And she didn't dally about it either - she went downstairs, went right to the blocks, put them away and then went right back upstairs. Ah! The brief moments when you say, "Well, hey, we must be doing something right!"

    This week is full of activities - some family, some work related. We all get our teeth cleaned on Wednesday and Jeff is going to stay home with Kadie on Friday (we have no daycare on Good Friday and I have no leave to take off with them). I mentioned coloring eggs as a father-daughter activity, but I don't know if it'll happen. Our neighbors have invited Kadie down for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. They have 3 kids - the youngest being about 7 or 8 and named Katie - and they're one of the ones with a dog, so Kadie should have lots of fun. I plan on getting our taxes done with week - yea! Hang on a sec while I do a couple of handsprings...okay, now that that's out of my system...

    I guess it's time to get to work. Hope everyone has a great week!

    1
    Reply by Grateful on April 02, 2007 @ 09:54 AM
    Good Morning Sunshine!

    Well, I don't seem to be so busy these days...I am starting to put my foot down on the weekends, and make them something more than two more work days.  We took the kids up to Marge and Ray's yesterday, to play with the other grandchildren.  It was a beautiful day, but not overly warm and the wind was brutally ccccold.  After we left Marge and Ray's we took Ugly Betty, and bounced our way up into the mountains for a lovely Sunday drive.  Michael wanted to see where the snow level was, and to check on a tree that he hopes to get for firewood.  I think that his downed tree is safe, since we had to maneuver Ugly Betty around several large trees that have crossed the road.  She climbed like a champ, although we had a few banged heads rockin' around the cab. 

    We drove by a small lake/large pond, and the frogs were singing so loudly, that it echoed.  We just had to stop, and climb out into the lake on a large tree that had fallen way out into the water.  The kids were having a ball...the frogs were not so impressed with Z's rock throwing, and fell silent on our side of the lake, but the frogs on the other half were still singin' away.  We spent some time picking up other people's garbage...it is absolutely disgusting how some people leave their campsites.  We came home with a whole bag of cans and miscellaneous garbage.  Yuck.  We headed back home, with sleepy kids...next time I will have to pack a picnic lunch, since we were all really hungry by the time we got back home.  After lunch, kids crashed for a late nap, and I tried too...by the time I finally fell asleep, Z came in to wake me up.  Boooo!  I was grumpy and tired last night, as a thwarted nap is worse than no nap at all.

    I slept better last night, although did not get to bed until after eleven.  I can get into small periods of insomnia, but am usually pretty good at getting past it.  I have resorted to Tylenol P.M. and Ambien a couple of times, but don't like to take the medication.  I am usually pretty good at self-hypnosis techniques, assisted by the "rain" in my room.  Once in a while my head just gets so busy, that I have a hard time moving past the buzz.  This new job prospect has me really excited, and it is hard to concentrate...I keep running over interview questions...wanting to be prepared.  I also started walking again this morning, which should help as well...AND, (as I sit here drinking a cup of coffee!) I am limiting my caffeine intake by switching to tea.  I have not had coffee in several days, and no headache. 

    So long story even longer...the house is picked up, but seriously needs to be scrubbed...I did not get much done this weekend, so today must be the day...although I am certain that I am receiving a call for an interview this morning. 

    Have a wonderful day today...I wish that our weather was that warm, but you can keep the humidity, thank you.  It is currently 21 degrees outside (-6C) and very frosty.  It actually looks like it may have snowed last night...can't tell.  Don't work too hard!  HUGS!


    2
    Reply by Heatherdawn on April 02, 2007 @ 01:07 PM
    (A reply to comment #1)
    This may sound weird, but it's something I remember from the Carol Tuttle site: to quiet the voices in the head, wear an eye patch over one eye. I think the method was to switch eyes every 5 or 10 minutes, or maybe it was to leave it on one for a full 30 (if you can stand it that long) - you could try both and see which works. The idea behind it is that your brain uses both sides to have those internal conversations and when you block the stimuli going to one side (i.e. the eye patch), it shuts things down so you can sleep.

    I had to ditch the woosher, though I loved to use it. Once we stopped using the baby monitor, I didn't like the idea of not being able to clearly hear Kadie. She has since learned to get up on her own (it wasn't until after we moved into this house that she would do that - normally, she'd sit in bed and call for us until we came to get her), but now Jeff doesn't want to block out any sounds that would alert us to any kind of danger. So, our compromise is to have the bedroom ceiling fan running. It provides a little noise (and a lot of cold air - but I love that; it's Jeff that huddles down and moans) but not so much as to drown out anything. If it weren't for the fact that Kadie talks in her sleep (and Jeff sometimes does, too) and the cat insists on running around at night and yowling, I'd probably be getting pretty good sleep now that we're out of the city and in a house that's not paper thin and poorly insulated...have I expressed my gratitude for having moved out of our last house lately?

    You are lucky to have playmates for Zach and Bri so close by. Although we have neighbors, they don't really have any kids that are Kadie's age. The only family around us has the 3 kids (8, 10 and 12 - approximate ages) and they basically just tolerate her. We were down there the other night when the middle boy was outside playing with a friend. They moved between football, soccer, baseball and a form of basketball that involved using a football (I don't know...don't ask me). Kadie kept trying to get into the games, running back and forth between the two boys saying, "throw it to me." It basically amounted to several games of keep-away. I don't think Kadie really understood that, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it broke our hearts (Jeff's and mine) to watch her try to play and not be able to. She really is such a social butterfly. At least they have the dog that comes running whenever Kadie goes outside.

    re: the picnic lunch. I have a gallon-sized Ziploc bag in each car that is filled with a variety of nonperishable snack items all in their own little baggies: pretzels, peanut butter crackers, prunes, granola bars, cheerios, etc. It's an absolute necessity for our commutes (especially on the way home) and it has saved Jeff and I from a few hunger pangs as well.

    And, last but not least, about the tea...if you haven't tried it yet, pick up some white tea. It can get just as dark as the regular black tea if you let it steep long enough (so the name's a bit of a misnomer), but I find it has a very pleasant taste and it's the least processed of any other kind of tea so you get more of the antioxidants that tea's so good for. You can get it in regular or decaf at any normal grocery store.

    Hope you guys warm up over there. 21 degrees is much too chilly for April.


    3
    Reply by Dave on April 02, 2007 @ 01:21 PM

    I begin to suspect it will stay cold until all my wood is burned up (and I stil have a lot since I filled the wood shed last year)  We started April by getting snow.  About half the daffodils followed their precocious leader's example and opened.  The others are chorusing, "neener, neener," this morning.  IT'S APRIL DAMMIT!  80 degrees is probably the warmest it will get here all summer and then only a couple days.

    I know how you must miss winter having lived in Alaska.  How about we trade and you take our house for the winter and we'll take yours, then switch back for June, July, August, and September.  No need to thank me.

    Dave



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