A positive turn

My husband told me this morning that he received a verbal offer today.

Yeah!

The company is now doing a background check on him.

The Hubs decided that he will put in his notice once he clears the background check.

He doesn't want to submit his resignation until he completes the check "just in case" there's some unknown glitch.

The Hubs is just being cautious.

That's just the way he is.

I am really happy for him.

He sounded happy when he told me.

I'm hoping that this will be a turn for the positive for us. For our family. That good things will start happening.

Not to say that horrible things have been happening. But we've had a bunch of large bumps in the road this past year. It's been difficult for both the Hubs and myself.

But with all the hairpin turns that have way-laid our plans and diverted our energy? I am ever so grateful for what's most important. The kids have been growing like weeds and been so healthy (except for a few minor illnesses). We have a roof over our heads and enough food to fill our bellies. The kids have lots of new friends and love their school. We've been enjoying being around my folks, my sisters, my nephews and nieces, and the rest of the extended family. I mean, family gatherings are loads of fun for each of us.

We're surrounded by love. And that warms my heart.

A day for 3

Today was a lovely day.

A day where the kids and I spent the entire day together.

I was able to sleep in until 8am.

The kids made themselves breakfast.

I cleaned & did laundry.

The kids straightened their rooms then folder their laundry and put it away.

The Bear and I went to the store to grab some lunch. I walked. He scootered.

The kids watched movies, read, and played on the computer.

I was able to take a 45 minute nap.

We ventured out to Barnes & Noble to get a screen film and cover.

We ended up spending about an hour inside the bookstore. Me downloading books and the kids browsing and reading some books.

We then dropped by Rubio's for some fish tacos!

We ate outside & enjoyed the setting sun.

Lovely day for the three of us.

Just what I needed.

Obstacles a plenty

It's been a rough week for me here.

Probably one of the worst weeks since I moved out here.

Everything seems to be going wrong.

So many days where things aren't going well.

Not just at work.

Just doing everyday tasks has been...difficult.

I'm feeling overwhelmed.

It's been mentally and physically exhausting.

I cried on Tuesday night.

I cried on Wednesday night.

I cried last night.

[sigh]

But it's now Friday night -- the weekend!

I can finally get a break.

All I need to do is hang with the kids while I finish up chores.

I'll have time to re-group.

Take some time to just be.

Making Mommy Laugh

As I'm sitting here surfing the web, my kids are having a "butt war" behind me.

What this game consists of, I don't know.

But they are getting along and laughing up a storm, so all is well.

Isn't that all that matters?

How to spend a sunny afternoon

The kids and I headed out to a local lake today to attend a birthday party.

It's been cloudy every morning this week. The sun has broken through every day but it's stayed pretty cool.

Today? Today? It was beautiful from the get go. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!

A sunny afternoon at the lake was JUST what we needed.

You always see new things at the zoo

Since I'm doing the single parent thing, the kids are in a summer program now that the school term is over and they've just completed their first week.

While they had fun all week, my daughter is the one who gave the most memorable moment of the week.

Mom, we walked all over the place. We got to go into the petting zoo. There were a LOT of goats. And there was this one that was facing away from me. All of a sudden, its bottom hole opened up like a flower. And then all these little pellets plopped out onto the ground. It was so weird looking. Then its bottom hole was empty. 

She was cracking up like crazy after she said this. She just makes herself laugh and that totally kills me. Because I start laughing like this when I say something that tickles my funny bone.

So the next time you're at the zoo. Don't look at a goat's bottom because you might see it open up like a flower. HA-HA-HA!

Getting enough?

As parents, we all now how precious sleep can be.

Now that I'm basically running the show, I'm the all-around go-to person. I have to cook, clean, buy supplies, and do anything else that needs to be done. It's quite physically and mentally taxing. No break for the weary! So I love to grab naps on the weekends. Oh...it's lovely.

My kids? They love their sleep. Well, when they're finally asleep. Both do NOT take naps during the day. Even when we're on vacation and they stay up late and we're out and about all day. At night after they get into bed, they are typically out. O-U-T.

On school nights, the kids are in bed between 8:30pm-9pm. I wake them up between 6am-6:30am. That's about 9 1/2 to 10 hours of horizontal time. I end up having to invest a few minutes to wake them up with sweet nudges, kisses, and a soft voice. They are so cuddly and warm when I wake them, I sometimes am so tempted to just curl up beside them and fall asleep. But alas, we've got places to go!

Last night the kids went to bed like they normally do. I usually spend the rest of the night watching tv shows/movies online while I'm surfing the web. Around 10pm, I sense another presence in the room. I turn around and there's my Bear! Totally surprised me.

Me: Hey Buddy. [in whispered voice]
Bear: Hey Mom.
Me: What're you doing up?
Bear: Oh...I think I've had enough sleep.
Me: You have?
Bear: Yeah...what do you want me to do?
Me: What?
Bear: Do you want me to change or...
Me: Buddy? It's still night time. It's only 10 pm.
Bear: 10 pm?
Me: Yes. You've only been in bed about an hour.
Bear: Oh...
Me: Do you think you can get back to sleep?
Bear: I don't know...
Me: You want to sleep in Mom's bed?
Bear: Yes, I do.

So I ended up with a sleeping partner. He was out like a light once he was in my bed.

I just am so amused that he thought it was already morning. After only 1 hour of sleep! Crazy kid. He cracks me up.

Turn key and nothing...

This afternoon my car greeted me with a dead battery.

While most would see this with grumblings of the inconvenience this snafu put into my life, I am not seeing it that way.

You see, my car got the kids to their day camp on time. It was an early arrival day because they were going on a field trip to the city zoo today.

My car got me into work on time.

My car got me back to pick up the kids.

My car got us home so that we could quickly eat dinner.

My car got us to a local park where we attended a meeting with the Bear's new football coach and the rest of the team staff.

My car got us home and into a nice spot behind a fire hydrant so no one could park in front of me.

This is when the snafu happened.

I got out of the car and took a better look at how much space I had in front of me before I felt that I was too close to the hydrant. I figured I had another foot or two that I could move up. I handed the Princess the housekeys and the kids walked into towards the townhouse. Me? I got in the car to move it forward. I turned the key and....NADA.

Nothing happened! The battery was as dead as a smashed bug under your foot. I couldn't even press my clicker to lock the doors!

I was able to call my BIL who was available to switch out the battery. The kids and I walked over to their townhouse (which is about a block away) and my BIL and I got the dead battery out of my car. We headed to CostCo and discovered that they didn't carry my specific battery. Where to go next? Where to go? We drove over another 8 miles over to the Kragen (now O'Reilly) and found my battery. The guy behind the counter looked up my info and found that I indeed could get a discount on a new battery if the old one was not "chargeable". So we waited and waited for the machine to tell us that my old battery was indeed DEAD. We waited about 30 minutes. It was almost 9pm before I was able to buy a new battery.

I was ecstatic when the guy found that I had the Hubs had indeed purchased my old battery from Kragen. And it had a guarantee for like seven years. The Hubs got the battery in Aug 2009, so it lasted just under 2 years. So I only ended up paying $31 for a $95 battery. Woohoo!

My BIL got the new battery installed via flashlight power and my car now works! I am happy, happy, happy!!!

So while some might consider a dead battery a huge hassle, I am looking at today as a blessing. I was able to do all the things I needed to do and get to each place safely. I think that's all that matters. Don't you think?