My Blarg.

Forgot to include my picture of them!!

The first day of school went great! They didn't cry, they weren't scared, Emily was really excited, Nick seemed a little more reserved, he may have been nervous. It's awesome that they started with a couple of friends from Preschool. I also went to pick them up for the first day, so they could see Miss Elizabeth from daycare/preschool and show how she is going to pick them up from then on, talk to the teacher so she knows about that. First thing Em says to me when she sees Elizabeth is "can we go in Miss Elizabeth's car??" Why yes, yes you can :) Jacob decided he wanted to go too, which I think hurt his mom's feelings just a little. She's having more trouble letting go than I am. She managed not to cry when we had dropped them off though. Elizabeth and I had gotten to the school for pick up a little early so we had some time to chat. SHE cried that morning because her oldest just went into 6th grade...so it was his last first day at that school. Sap ;P

Now drop offs take place at the playground because they start with a short recess. As soon as we pass through that gate *zooom!!* my kids are gone. No goodbye, no hug and kiss, nothing. If I linger long enough they come back. Yesterday the first thing Emily did was run over to her teacher and wrap a big hug around her waist. It was sweet, but my mom pointed out, it's also a good way for Emily to become a favorite. Is she manipulating? We shall see...
I guess Jacob had trouble letting go the second day, he was crying and wouldn't let Amber leave. So she ended up crying, then ran out of gas and cried some more. Today went smooth again though. As I tell someone else's story. I guess I ran out of my own...

I guess I should stop procrastinating and go finish cleaning the apartment. *sigh*

So I was feeling I might have been stood up when I finally saw their truck. I didn't REALLY think they'd flake, but they WERE late, so I had reason to be paranoid :P
Amber (and Roy, the dad) brought a picnic! They packed sandwiches for all of us, including a ham one for....oh. Yeah, it was a really really sweet thought and I totally appreciate it, but yeah.
Not five minutes into eating her phone goes off and she's like "whaaat?!" confused like and answers.
"Hey, what are you doin'? I'm at Jacob's school. Why are you in Chico? A surprise? For me?"
Insert Roy facepalm.
"Did Roy know about this? Did he know of a certain date and time?" The conversation continues and it's clear. The playdate is over. Boo.

In the long run it's ok, we're all pretty beat, not sure how long we would have lasted anyway :)
She promised we'll try again another time, when she makes sure Roy hasn't booked anything else for her. Men. :P

Is it really only 5:30? Feels like it should be bedtime. I'm beat. Didn't get to sleep last night until around 1:30am...which is REALLY late for me. Then up at 7am to get the kids off to school. Trying to set their clock before real school tomorrow. Hope they sleep well tonight. Morning was a real bugger, getting Emily out of bed. Prying her out is more like it...I had to physically pull her out of her bed. Only to have her climb back in after it was made!! But once she was up she managed out the door fine.

Still working on getting the damn apartment cleaned. I should be done tomorrow, depending on how much work, at like, real work, I have.

We're off to meet Amber and Jacob soon. Jacob is their bestest friend and Amber is his mom :)

Went to the old place to clean today. SO much more to do. I got my room, the kids' room and the hall all patched, wiped down and vacuumed. Tomorrow is the dreaded bathroom :( Possibly the dreaded kitchen too, depends on how much time I have.

I am so incredibly stoked right now. Not only did both of my kids get picked (out of a 'lotto' drawing) for the best school in town, but their bestest friend is going there too! Tonight was their orientation, meet the teacher, check out the class and playground, teacher-parent questions and such. They seem pretty excited. My mood is noticeably elevated by the fact that they got in and now also knowing that their friend is there! His mom and I and the kids are going to meet again tomorrow so they can play in the playground. Yay! I heart her, she's awesome. We both held up our families by talking. Finally I'm making friends with a friend of the kids' mom! I'm so awkward and shy that it's very difficult for me to be social. Luckily she seems pretty social and we seem to click.

After that we dropped off Nana and went to Kohl's. The kids had seen toys they wanted yesterday but I made them come home to count their piggy bank money before buying them. They had more than enough. They each had a roll of quarters and two rolls of pennies for the tax. I had them pay the lady, separately, take the bag and receipt, all on their own like big people :) I also bought them $5 stuffed animals they have now fallen in love with. I call it the back to school stuffed animal. I'll make it tradition! ;)

We took our time getting there and getting back and I think Nana knocked back a couple of stiff ones while we were gone cuz she's far gone drunk now. It makes me so angry! She acknowledged the subject of drinking yesterday. She's on Weight Watchers too and said she counts her drinks at night and doesn't drink as much as she used to. It seemed to be true. Last night. Tonight it wouldn't surprise me if she just plain lost count. Luckily I have the kids to keep me busy until bedtime, so I don't have to hang out with her when she's like this. It seriously infuriates me. And I knew this was going to end up being one of my big stressors once I moved in. But I can deal.

For those who don't know, I just moved into my mom's house. I had very few entries while living as a resident manager. I was severely depressed, especially in February. So in the black abyss that there is a week I don't remember. At all. Since then I got on a medication that has helped immensely, but I kept having episodes of frantic inability to be a parent. I finally determined....I can't parent my kids on my own. I needed help. I was not about to go find a guy who wanted to step in, that's not how I choose guys, and frankly, anyone who WANTS to enter this chaos at this point in my life can't possibly be mentally sound :P
So mom has let me move in. There will be more costs, more than what I had RMing, because all was paid for there, and I have to learn to cook. Which is one of the reasons I wanted to move in. She was also very clear about not being a built in babysitter, which I didn't expect at all. I also need someone else to help me stay on track. No, I'm not capable of doing that myself.

So how has it been? Trying. Neither of us gets a break now. My mom's freedom is totally gone. We were counting on Deadbeat to come down and take them out for awhile but when 10am came and went, I had a feeling it wasn't gonna happen. I called him and left a message at his landline. I called his cell and, shocker, it's turned off, again, for non-payment. Nick was so excited to see him, he had on his Raiders hat, he was sitting on the box outside waiting and Deadbeat called back. He said he didn't have the money to come down for a few hours. He couldn't have told me that yesterday when I called? I told him the kids were excited about the move, they were hanging out and having fun so could the visit be Sunday instead. He said sure. Apparently later he decided it wasn't worth it to drive down? He sounded like he was almost getting back at me. What he doesn't seem to get is that he is taking it out on the kids! I had him tell Nick on the phone. When Nick got off the phone he said that daddy told him I wouldn't let them see him. WTF?!? He's fucking lying to them now??

So we went to Wal Mart to get Back to School supplies. Luckily they had a list because I was gonna send them to Kindergarten empty handed. The trip was intended to get new lunchboxes and we ended up with a cart full of supplies. My mom pointed out that schools are supplying a lot less than they used to. By the time we got home I wanted to curl up and go to sleep. But that wasn't an option. My mom tried to lay down in her room but I think the yelling and arguing of the kids kept her from napping. I felt bad. I took them with me to the old place to grab some things, but that wasn't much of a break for her.

Em got in trouble at the dinner table and was sent to her room. She fell asleep pouting. Now, unfortunately, she has woken up and will probably be awake until 11pm or later. But Nick got to watch one of his movies with just mom and me and I think he liked the one on one time. It's going to be tougher to do that with living here.

Heading to bed, my feet are killing me.

Once home the kids wanted to build it build it build it!!! I compromised with opening the boxes the next night. They so badly wanted to help, Em grabbed a pole and started yanking. It hit me. I told her to stop but she's going through a phase where she doesn't stop the first time she's told, so she slammed it into my knee with the next yank.

At Ikea, seeing how tall the bed was, I realized it might be TOO tall. So we arranged for the maintenance people come cut it down with a pipe saw on Friday. Which meant I couldn't build it until then. Luckily the kids were having a blast...
Cardboard sliding and

and "cardboarding" - it's like snowboarding, only not ;)

This made my house a scary disaster for days.

Thursday night I moved their beds, standing them up on their sides, to get them out of the way. Somehow I knocked one of the heavy steel bed frames loose and it went falling....right. towards. the. FISH TANK!!! It was like slow motion, and I knew the fish were toast. It was like it was choreographed...and landed against the wall perfectly around the tank. It was amazing...thank you guardian angel!!

The next day I was measuring the bed height, to figure out how much should be cut off. I pieced together two poles and the headboard and measured. When I was done, I popped out the poles....and again in slow motion, saw the heavy ass headboard falling toward my foot. I braced for impact. It hurt. And bruised immediately.

Despite the injuries I had already endured, I forged ahead with my plan to build this bed....even though the instructions say to have two people. And I did it dammit, all by myself!!
Towanda!!


I only needed help with the mattress, everything else I did myself :D

Oh, I DID break my pinkie nail though....

So I'm making ranch from a packet using Silk and Veganaise. I have one of those nifty shaker mixer things now, finally. I *think* you know where this is going by now >.<

So I'm shakin' the cup and the kids get into it, "Chicka wahwah, chicka wahwah"...which comes out SHicka, which sounds like shake...ah...
I guess.
I was saying "Shake shake shake....shake your bottle." (which, btw, I came up with when the kids were babies LONG bofore that stupid Crystal Light commercial)

I switch arms, the kids start saying "Shake your booty", so I paused and started to sync the booty with the arm....and

))*SPLAT!!*((

All over the cabinet, garbage, floor, me. I forgot it builds up pressure when you shake. Duh.

I cleaned it up and said, "I need to go blog about this."
*pout*

I just ran across some of these - some are about a year old...the last one was said tonight :)

------------------

Watching Mickey's Clubhouse - opening song:

TV:" Welcome to Mickey's Clubhouse! C'mon in!"
Nick: "No, we're at mama's house..."

----------------------

Watching Transformers - during action scenes...

"Come here and shoot them!"
"Yeah, can you come here?"
"Hurry!! Hurry!! Shoot 'em!"
"Yeah!"
"I'm gonna hide!"
"Me too!"
"Batman and Robin, can you come help?"
"Hey mom, Batman and Robin is coming!"
"Yeah, they're here now!"
"Batman and Robin, hurry!"
"yeah, get out of the TV now!"
"You coming? Yeah? Good!"

---------------

"You look tired."
"Yeah....." Nick says, staring off into space, "but I'm not tired."
"Oh really? So you're just spacing out for no reason?"
"Yeah....." he says, continuing to space, "no....I'm not spacing out! I'm just taking a break!"

---------------

I split a fruit roll up between the kids.
"What about you?" Em asks.
"Oh, I don't want one."
"Why"
"Because I got them for you guys."
"Aww, thank you...." Em says. "You're nice."
"I try," I smiled. :)
"You're good being you."
*heartsqueeze*
Then suddenly she crashes around my waist in a big hug. Then Nick gives a big hug.

They're very polite kids :)

------------------

One night Nick had a bad dream. He and Emily came to me but i was so tired I barely woke up, told him he was ok and to go back to bed (I know! Horrible mom moment!!) They ended up sleeping on the couch together, spooning so Em could hold and comfort him (wish I had gotten a picture!!) She's been very "mom-like" lately, in both good and not-so-good (read: bossy) ways. Apparently when Nick first woke, he climbed into her bed. Then they tried me. They left my light on, which shines into the living room. Turns out one of the night lights in their room had gone out, as well as Nick having a bad dream.

-----------------

"I'm angry with you!" Nick says.
"Well I'm angry with YOU!" I reply.
"No! I'M angry with YOU!"
"Can't we be angry with each other?"
"Yeah," he says, calm and thoughtful-like.
"How about we both say sorry and not be angry at each other anymore."
"Ok."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
*hugs*

----------------------

Referring to my faded hair in back, Em says, "Lookit, you're white."
"I know, that's because it used to be red and it faded. I need to color it black again."
"Or you can color pink!" she says.
"Pink?"
"Yeah! That would be pretty coo'..."
-----------------------

Commercial: "Is that  cool or what?"
Nick: "What."

He still says this, if I say something like that "...is that ______ or what!"
---------------

After finishing dinner Em said "Check. This. Out!" :D

---------------

Picking up kids from P's, Nick answered the door and told me to go away, go home!
That made me sad, I didn't know where the hell that came from!
Then I said "Not without you."
"Oh, ok." he says coming outside and shutting the door....without gathering his stuff o.O
------------------

311 Song: "aww shit."
Nick: "Oh shit!"
Me: "Nonono....you don't say that..."
Nick: "But those guys did!"

*end of my listening to my CD's in car*

------------------------

Nick lightly hitting my arm "Mama! You can jiggle!"
Yeah. Thanks.

---------------

I dropped bottles from upstairs for refills, Em loaded them into buckets, took them to the bathroom, filled them from the sink, loaded them into the fridge drawer where they belong! :)

---------------
(last year)
Woke up to "ok, now wipe your butt..."
Kids were in their bathroom cleaning up after Nick had pooped his pants. Em was helping him. It was cute yet disturbing at the same time.

--------------

Nick running on lawn, fell down...
"Well I wasn't expecting that!"

---------------

Holding a Fun Dip from his Valentine's goody bag from school Nick says:
"Will these make us bounce off the wall?"

The first one is not a real surprise. See, Emily has been making these faces when she's arguing or disagreeing or even just kind of thinking in a "hmm, not today, maybe tomornow". So the other night she was disagreeing about something, like going to bed or taking a bath, and I realized our expressions freaking matched. Like I said, I shouldn't have been surprised...it just never occurred to me she was getting it all from me. I blamed kids at school, heh! ^_^

Tonight after Nick ate dinner, finally a good amount, he had to, well, go potty after, but couldn't. Actually he still hasn't after like four tries. Anyway, his belly was all bloated so I rubbed it like he was a Budda.
"It's all big aand round," I said.
"Yeah! Just like you's!"
Hm. Thanks.
Later he told me he didn't want me to get bigger or for Daddy to get bigger and I said we are all done growing up. Then he said he doesn't want me to get bigger so I need to stop eating, so I won't get bigger.
Hm. Thanks.

Last night:
"Is Patricks spelled D-A-D?" Heart. Break.
"No," I said, "but Patrick IS your dad." (supposedly...but we won't go there...)
I hate that the kids love him.

And I was having such a good day....

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

I walk in and immmediately dropped the BOX of returns I had. The the cashier in returns fumbled and dropped every other thing she touched. Then I nearly took out a whole shelf of shampoo. The moment I KNEW would clutz me out - reaching for a stack of clear storage boxes, with my arms already full - went slicker 'n' snot. Lady in front of me at check out dropped pretty much everything she pulled from her cart. Except her eggs! She was happy those were ok. Then returned a call from Jannine...she found a bunch of checks in my recycle bin!! O.o
So now I get to deal with a major WTF...

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

I have to rant it I just have to! I pull into Walmart. It's raining. I'm aiming up the middle aisle cuz, well, you never know. Before I can go up the aisle, or even PASS it, the ol' biddy from on coming traffic has to move. She is basically parked in the whole area designed for foot crossing traffic, at an angle that prevents ANYONE by. So I couldn't have passed on the middle lane option anyway!
Naturally, she's waiting for someone to leave. I see no movement from anywhere and begin to wonder if she is actually waiting or just hoping something comes available.
Finally the people in the 1st spot by handicap begins to back up. Prime location, totally understand, right? She finally parks her fuckin' boat and I head on for my neverending search for a parking spot. Three cars down I find my spot! Three. Fucking. Cars. Down. Three!! Are ya really gonna get that more wet by walking past THREE FUCKING CARS?!?!


And now I still half to actually deal with this store....

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

cleaning up puke in the middle of the night!! (maybe don't read this if you're eating or have a weak stomach)

Okay okay, it's only 10pm...but to the kids it's the middle of the night. Nick barfed all over his bedding. The post-nasal drip from his cold gags him when he's coughing. Actually they both have that problem. But somehow, no matter what I've tried, I can't dry that kid's snot up! I've tried (NOT at the same time) nose drops, Claratin, Benedryl, Motrin, Tylenol, Cold & Flu syrup, Long-Lasting Cough syrup, Runny Nose & Cough syrup, Nyquil AND doc prescribed cough syrup with frikkin' Codeine in it!! I got out the snot sucker bulb and got very little if anything. Because it'snot coming from his nostrils!! And after all of that, nothing. Well, currently he looks a little stoned - being tired AND on a night time cough syrup. He wasn't useless though...he helped change his sheets.

But he didn't come to get me, I just happened to be checking in on them, Em is a log, snoring, and Nick popped up. I felt his back and thought he was really hot and sweating because it was damp, which freaked me out because they keep getting temperatures too. But no, it was just puke. Or water. Or puked water. I think he didn't want me to get mad at him so he stayed there. Ew. Poor kid was gonna sleep in his puke! And he's not even 21 yet!
Oh yeah, earlier he threw up on the carpet too. It's swell.

On a lighter note: I dyed my hair and it really brings out the....baggie dark circles under my eyes. YAY!!!

The kids want to blow bubbles. I usually make them go out side because, as history has shown, they can't go more than five minutes without dropping or knocking over their bottle. Well, "but the teachers blow bubbles inside at school."
Thanks teachers!
So my first thought was the bathroom, no carpet. Then, wait! The kitchen!

I need to sweep and mop it....so why not have them soap it!! :D

My kids are being so cute today. I know, right?! I totally don't say these things!!

Well, they were gone most of the day (Nana's, Dad time, Nana's again) I had to go to the store too, which is hit and miss on behavior. To my amazement, they were good!! They rode in the car-cart vrooming and iiirking, sometimes loud, but still being good.

When we left there was a bitchin' double rainbow to the East, super bright! Still pouring rain, but clear to the West. Like, blue sky, orange clouds and setting sunshine, also very bitchin'. I don't think the kids have ever seen a rainbow so I turned the cart facing it, even though we had to be in the rain, and they were so in awe!

"Whoa! That's bootiful!!"
"Yook it's got pink and red and green and yeyyow!!"

A dude in a car stopped for us to cross, even though I wasn't really ready to but he was holding up traffic so I ran across. I walked really fast to the car, getting drenched. The kids were squeeling and giggling because they were bumping and bouncing and had a rainbow that they were still commenting on, but no windshield so the rain was hitting them, but they were having fun. The giggles are infectious...every person we passed giggled at them too :D
"It's SO bootiful!!"
"Wow! A rainbow!!"
"I see purple! And blue!"
"Maybe the Tinkerbell fairies made it!!"

Emily actually asked me where it came from. I explained the rain/sun thing and told her it was kind of like when they play with the hose...but those apparently aren't nearly as cool as this one :)


Currently they are playing super heros, Nick is Superman in his cape, Emily is wearing her Batman cape, but I'm not sure she's actually Batgirl...I did hear them frantically call Spiderman, on Nick's Spiderman phone of course, in a panic.

"Yes!! We need you!"
"Hurry up! There's bad guys!"
"C'mon! We need you's help!"

I got them some candy hearts and they found some of them to be "spicey". So pink, purple and orange make them "strong" and white, green and yellow make them "mean"...those are the spicey one's for the bad guys. Nick wanted a water, so he brought me the new 8 pack case thing.
"I'll bring it to you, I can carry it, cuz I'm strong! I can carry it because I'm Superman!"

Later Emily comes out with her stroller, sighs and says, "It's getting so yate..." It was only 5:30, but I guess they had a big day :)
I realized it was pretty much dinner time so I asked, "Want pizza for dinner?"
"Hm," she touches her chin and looks up, "maybe tomorr-no, k?" she says.

Their mater-of-fact speaking lately is cracking me up...days like today make all those shitty days worth it :)

Yet another month from Hell...
Started it off by being sick as shit, with sick kids.
At the end of the week I served my 3Day notices, only to mail out the ORIGINALS the following Monday. Therefore, those who didn't pay, I can't fax them to the lawyer....cuz I don't fucking have them!!

I also spend one FULL day trying to straighten out my online billing vs. what came out of the bank...with no solution whatsoever. That was a genius fucking change....online billing, auto payments, so easy, saves paper, checks and postage! So far I think I have spent more than half of my time dealing with those.

And on that subject...Cal fucking Water DELETED ALL of our accounts!! AGAIN!!! Yet, there were auto payments coming out of our bank. I gave the poor girl on the phone an earful. But she was also arguing with me! Saying someone must have called in to cancel them. Um, no....And telling me I have to go back in and set them up again. This was a given but fuck! Not only do I have to do that FOR THE THIRD TIME, but now we're going to start getting past due notices and fucking shut off door hangers!! This is what JUST happened in the last month. I told her I REALLY don't have the time to re-enter all of our accounts every other month....
So I had no way to get printouts of the bills that I now need for the owners. She agreed to email me what I needed "what's the account number?"
"Honey, there are over 25 account numbers, let me fax them to you." Turns out there's like 37. So that problem is solved but she let me know they still don't know why they were deleted and the "Help Desk" is working on it. So you are.....the NOT helpful desk?

There was the previously mentioned modem issue.

It seems my private line is not working. A-fucking-GAIN!!!

I went to my shrink appointment....only to find that I was a fucking WEEK early.

Now I'm doing end of the month Statements. Once I run my reports, I can't input more rent. Ok, I can, but it's a HUGE pain in the ass. *Some* people around here don't give a shit because *some* people around here don't pay their fucking rent until the very last fucking minute. Even having me input it to the computer, but holding the deposit until Friday, or next week even. Fuck. That.
Last month I said I was done doing that, sick of the favors, sick of the extra time and major pain in the ass. My mom agreed.
So today I come in expecting a check on my desk because she knew I was starting Statements. No check. I text her and she says she'll give it to me when she gets back but can I hold it until Friday. I tell her no, we'll disburse it to the owner later. Then my mother tells her to tell me to go ahead and do it that way, that way my mom gets the management fees today. What. the. fuck. What happened to "yeah, no more favors"?? Let the frustration tears commence...
As if I don't have enough "special" handled statements....owners who want direct deposits, or two copies, or *someones* brother-in-law wanting his check AS SOON as it's cut (which I also put a fucking stop too), and owners who SPLIT the properties.

So I start...I did a batch of about 7 before I realized....I cut the checks for the wrong fucking amounts and had to void them and redo it. Pain in the ass. Redo the first one...wrong. Have to reverse it AGAIN and redo it AGAIN. Then realized the program was printing the front pages wrong, which, for some reason, exiting the program and going back in fixes it o.O Regardless, I had to reprint the those I had already done. Then another large rent payment come in. Good that I haven't input anything, but I swear to God, if another one comes in, I'm walking out for the day.
THEN I discover, after doing two batches, that the year end has been closed out. So all of the Cash Flow Statements are showing a Year-to-Date with the income from '08. Year-to-Date should only be, you know, what this month's income is? So fuck me! I have to reprint ALL of the Cash Flows from A-C, plus the batch before that, which I already reprinted, remember?! After I close out the year of course.

Maybe I need Ritalin after all.....

I have internet again :D
The phone was pretty limiting, I can post, but not...explore LJ.
Modem was down and somehow they fixed it remotely...which kind of freaks me out. Like, he said it looked like one of the connections might be loose, yet he was NOT here to see such connection! Connections checked, all was ok on my end. Somehow, he said, they "pushed it through" o.O
Whatever, it works and I'm happy. I guess it shouldn't freak me out that they can check it from wherever, since I'm able to "leave" via said cable. But still...

From teh phone

Believe it or not, I've actually had to WORK at my job this summer...the nerve! ;P
And since most of my updates were typed out while "working", I haven't been able to. So, quick update (even though I'm supposed to be there now, shh...)

- Kids are doing pretty well, growing scary-fast, just started Pre-K and we're starting to, finally, incorporate chores and such around the house to help me out.

- I'm still with the greatest boyfriend in the world - everything is great :D

- Finally seeking legal custody and child support. Recently confronted P about the kids...I don't want them around his place when he's smoking weed, he won't quit. Suggested he be more involved in their lives and, you know, be their dad! His excuse for not doing anything with them is that he's always tired from working (and I'm sure being stoned has NOTHING to do with being tired...) I told him they may be better off without him around, they don't like going to his house and they never have anything good to say about their visits...plenty of negative things though. I told him he can visit them at my mom's on the weekends. Thus far he hasn't. Second weekend in a row. They haven't asked about him. As much as I hate him and know it's best for the kids, it still hurts that he doesn't care about them. And I know, before anyone says it, why did I reproduce with him?? Things were different back then...
Oh, and he owes $2300 in back rent for the house I own that I stupidly let him move into...

- In about three weeks I'll be moving. Again. I'm going to be a Resident Manager at a 16 unit apartment complex. Free rent, PG&E, water, garbage, cable, internet, phone...basically all living expenses except food, gas and clothes. It's going to be MUCH smaller and has way less amenities, but I can't afford where I'm living OR the PG&E bill that comes with it ($300+ in winter and summer!!) I will be able to pay off all of my debts, maybe buy a new vehicle, have an actual savings and afford to eat healthy for once! We will also be closer to the kids pre-school, so we can walk to and from, saving gas and getting exercise.

I'll admit this will be a humbling experience, but that's probably a good thing. I know that I have many MANY things to be thankful for and my "struggles" pale in comparison to so many others. I've been lucky. I wouldn't say I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth...but there was a spoon. Maybe stainless steel. I've never lived in an apartment, always had access to laundry in my own home, I'm used to having a garage and dishwasher and room for too much stuff.

Umm....I guess that's it for now! :)