I Named Him Frank.

Man, I can't wait for school to start again. I love my kids but the boys are making me crazy! They are fighting constantly and I have to spend every second of every day separating them, making them share and trying to keep them entertained. It's time for Mommy to have a break! Why DO they call it Winter break anyway? It's certainly not a vacation for me! LOL

My house is a wreck. Although I have washed most of the dirty clothes and actually folded quite a bit of it. And most of the dishes are clean. And I vacuumed yesterday. It's just cluttered with toys everywhere. I need to have a chance to find homes for all of the new stuff. Thatw ay the boys know where they go when it is "clean up"time!

I got a fabulous new toy for Christmas. A Dismember-Me Plush Zombie! So much fun to play with when you are frustrated or irritated with someone! Here is a picture:

I named him Frank.

He is having a romance with Jenna's Smurfette right now. Pictures, and the story, will appear here soon. Let's hope the angry mob does not appear before I get a chance to document their lurv.

Catch ya on the flip side.....

Exciting Times

Between all of the wonderful exercise (Wii Fit!) and the dieting (marginal) and the lack of sleep (terrible twos, anyone?), I am having spastic moments lately. Squeeing and cooing over things and acting like a dork. Course my daughter probably doesn't see much different than normal, hehe.

I am very excited right now because I have been approved as the Hattiesburg Budget Meals Examiner for Examiner.com. I am in the process of writing my first article for them and then will be off and running. I think this is a great next step for me as a writer. I need to step it up a little and get ready for when both boys are in school and I can really get serious.

So, now I will be writing for Associated Content, Helium, Demand Studios and Examiner. I also have been approved to write for Bukisa and several other small sites but have not had the time to tackle anything yet. It's starting to get to the point that I am going to have to schedule my writing time instead of just writing when I get a chance. I really need to start doing more for each of the sites I write for and Examiner is going to expect at least 3-4 articles each week.

What all of this means is that I need to start working on a blog schedule as well. I will probably try to write here at least 3 -4 times each week but will definitely not be able to handle every day posting (not like I was doing that anyway).

I am just so excited by the fact that I may actually be able to contribute more financially to our family. And be able to build up my resume at the same time. One day soon I may just end up writing for some of my favorite magazines. You never know what the future holds! I may even attempt more in the way of poetry and even some fiction one day soon....

Wish me luck as I embark on the next stage of my writing career!

Merry Belated Christmas!

I took an unannounced break from the blog to spend some much needed time with the family. My wonderful husband was able to swing four days off from the restaurant so he was home for the holidays with no interruptions. It was awesome.

We had a great Christmas and the kids had fun with all of their new toys and stuff. We got a Wii and Wii Fit for a family gift and Jenna and I have been working out every day. Love it! There were lots of other great presents but I really see no need to document every one. I will say a big THANK YOU to any of my family reading this!

I will be back later with another post, I just wanted to say that I hope all of my bloggy friends had as wonderful of a Christmas as we did. I will be by to visit everyone sometime soon!

Turn Around Tuesday - Baby Face

I am participating in Turn Around Tuesday over at The Soccer Mom's Guide to Wicca. It's all about sharing great posts with each other so that we can all enjoy some new blogs.... Well, unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to troll the blogoverse lately but I do have a post from my daughter's blog that I would like to share. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while may remember me mentioning this post and directing y'all over to giver her some support.

The reason this particular post, Babyface, is so interesting for me is that it reminds me of what it really is like to be a teenager. It makes it easier to interact with her when I am reminded of the feelings and emotions of that angst ridden time. Jenna is a wonderful writer, she loves putting words together and did a wonderful job in this post of pulling you in to see her side of things.

So, hop on over and take a look at Babyface. She would love some comments! And if you would like to participate in Turn Around Tuesday, click the button below and check it out!

Takin a Quick Break!

I baked 3 kinds of bread on Saturday, I baked approximately 70 dozen cookies yesterday and today I still need to make fudge and two kinds of candy.

I am exhausted!

Tomorrow I will pop in with a post and try to visit you all this evening/ tomorrow. For now, I am going to put my feet up and take a deep breath.....

Thoughts o'Mine and a Giveaway

Do you ever feel like you are living your life way too fast? The past few months have sped by so fast that I have been left breathless and with my head spinning. There are times I would give anything to be able to slow down, take a deep breath and just go for a walk. I love my husband, I love my children and I love my life but boy is it tiring!

As of today, both of my older children are out of school for two weeks. That could possibly mean a bit of a break for me. Maybe I will get a chance to bake my cookies, breads and candies for Christmas. And maybe I will get a chance to wrap all of my Christmas presents before Christmas Eve. Don't laugh, it could happen!

Darling Steven and I were discussing the children last night and he was inexplicably struck with a slight case of baby fever. What I mean is that he refused to look at a newborn in the store because he didn't want to start cooing and making kissy faces! In the process of discussing this, the possibility of another child was brought up. We have decided to revisit the issue in another year and see where we stand financially and emotionally. Are we ready to go there again? No idea. But it will be interesting to find out!

So, over the next year I want to get myself to the point with my health (both physical and mental) where I can make a reasonable decision about getting pregnant again. If I thought about it right now, the answer would be no. With my High Blood Pressure and other issues, pregnancy on purpose is just silly. But, I am willing to try to get myself to the point that I can decide yes or no without my health being a deciding factor. We will see what happens in a year.

One of the things that I want to work on over the next year is my spirituality. I have been feeling discontented with some aspects of my life and restless. I need to discover what the root of this is and decide what path I need to be taking in my life. Both spiritually and otherwise. So, I have been doing some reading and be bopping all over the internet. One blog that I stumbled upon was Magickal Enchantments. This blog is run by a woman who also has an Etsy shop that sells items such as oils and incense, herbs and candles. Her wares are not only for use by Wiccans or Pagans but would be appreciated by many people of other faiths as well. Here is a little blurb from her shop:

Since the days of old people of all cultures and traditions have used herbs, flowers, symbols, and the elements to make charms and amulets to aid them in connecting to a higher realm, to banish negativity and evil forces, to empower themselves and to honour life's journey.
Every herb, flower, tree, and stone carries it's own energy to aid in these workings, meaning that Mother Earth and all her creatures are sacred and connect to a higher source.

The Magickal Enchantments blog is having a giveaway right now that I would absolutely love to win. She is presently giving away a Custom Spirituality Kit that contains a custom blended oil, a custom blended herbal sachet and a crystal specific to the intent decided to be right for the winner. Each of the items will be made to the winner's specific spiritual needs. It sounds awesome to me. If you are interested in entering the giveaway, head on over to Magickal Enchantments and check it out. The giveaway ends on New Year's Eve. You can also check out her Etsy shop here.

I haven't had a chance to post about the Christmas party yet, or about Braeden showing up the other kids in his class, or about Jenna rocking her AP American History test today (that means she is bring home a 98 on her report card!) or even about the cool fudge recipe I found. with the help of some friends on Facebook and Twitter..... I suck at prioritizing my time so that I can actually blog in a timely manner. One day I may just get around to doing everything I need to do. Then I would probably die of boredom. hehe

Anyway. Everyone have a great weekend. I will be baking for the next 3 or 4 days and may not be posting!

Here is a nice holiday wish that I read on another blog and loved and am now adopting for myself,

Happy Yule/Peaceful Solstice/Merry Christmas/Joyous Kwanzaa/Happy Hanukkah/Enjoy the holidays with peace and love whatever your beliefs!!

Customer No Service

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful, sweet and supportive comments on my ranting breakdown of a post yesterday. Today was a better day for me emotionally. Even though Braeden brought home bad reports from school (again), it wasn't as earth shattering as it was yesterday. It's all about perspective and finding that balance.... hopefully I can keep my balance on this tightrope walk that is raising an exceptional child.

So, I mentioned the other day that I was having some issues with customer no service. And if you follow me on twitter then you may have an inkling as to what it is all about! LOL Over a month ago, I ordered a Christmas present for Jenna. I am not going to say what it is, cause she reads this blog (Hi Jen!) BUT I will say it cost several hundred dollars. I put this item on my Mother's Sears card and am paying her back in cash. So, we ordered it and waited for the package to arrive. All of the other items I ordered at the same time arrived within a week or so. No sign of this specific package yet and no tracking number sent to us.

On the 20th of November I got an email stating that my item was ready to be picked up. Okay. #1 We asked to have it delivered. #2 The store address listed for pickup was my home address. What? SO, I called Customer Service and spoke with several people AND called the local store to make sure that it was not there waiting for me. No dice. CS said that this was a new way of doing things and that the item was being shipped to my local store and would then be shipped to me from there. Fine.

The day after Thanksgiving, still no sign of the item. I called again. Was told that it had been received at the store on the 25th and I should get it by the end of the next week. Fine.

The following Friday arrives. No package. I call again. I speak with someone who tells me that they have no idea where my package is. But that they will forward the info to a recovery department. I then ask to speak with a Supervisor. Same story. Wait 3 days and the recovery department would either call or I would have my package. I waited 3 days. Then I called again.

This time, the CS rep went out of her way and discovered that the item was supposed to be at a warehouse in California. She then called the warehouse and was told they had no record of the order. She asked them to physically check the warehouse to see if they had one of the items to ship out to me. She then told me that she would call me back when she heard back from them. This was last Friday.

I waited until about noon on Monday. Meanwhile, I had tweeted about my frustrations with Sears and one of the Sears Homestore reps on twitter contacted me. He told me that if I was not satisfied with the outcome of the CS calls that I should send him my info and he would forward it to Sears Cares which is a separate customer service division within Sears. So, on Monday I went ahead and sent him a Direct Message with my info.

About a half hour later I got a call. I explained what was going on (again) and he checked into it. Told me he would contact the warehouse in CA and call me back. Fine. I expected to hear from him the next day. Maybe.

Ten minutes later he called me back. The basic gist of this was that the warehouse still had to locate one of the items. If they had the item in stock they would ship it out. It would be 3 - 5 days before they knew if they had the item. Then it could be as long as 20 days before I received it. WHAT?!? I ordered this thing on 11/14 specifically so that I could get it in plenty of time for Christmas. And so that I would not have to stress out and so that I didn't have to rush around trying to get it here in town. I asked the man if he really thought that I was getting the item by Christmas. He stuttered a little and said no. I then told him to cancel the order and I would reorder the item in another color since they could not just send me a different color without me doing that. He canceled the order and I hung up.

I was mad! I tweeted the results and the fact that I was disgusted that they did not even offer a free upgrade on shipping for the new item. Or anything. Just a sheepish "I'm Sorry".

About 10 minutes after I tweeted this, I get a call from the same man at Sears Cares. He is sending us out a $50 Sears card to help make up for the "inconvenience" that we experienced. Great. But I better get my package before Christmas anyway.

The new item has been ordered. It has been shipped and I have a tracking number. Hopefully this will be the end of my GAH! moments with Sears. I have never had issues with them before and was really surprised at the lack of communication between one CS rep and another. And the fact that they actually seemed really confused as to what was going on with this item. Maybe it is just the fact that it is Christmas and busy. I don't know. But I was really disappointed with my experience. Yes, they tried to make up for it. But not until I was a bitch. And not until I spoke with approximately 6 different people and two different departments. And tweeted with a third department!

Honestly. What ever happened to great customer service and caring about your customers? I guess it went the same way as the corner stores and mom and pop places. Sad.

Tune in tomorrow for stories about Steven's Christmas party at work. Highly amusing. But I will wait until tomorrow to post about it because I think I have rambled on enough for tonight!

What the Hell IS Normal Anyway?

**My Christmas Party/ Customer No Service post has been delayed due to a need to rant a bit.**

For those of you who are new to my blog, you may not be familiar with the super fun times that my middle child has given me over the past four years. He is one of the sweetest and most lovable kids ever, but boy is he a handful. He has given me trouble since the day he was born... colic, reflux, sleep issues, behavior issues, walking late, sensory problems and speech disabilities have all combined into one giant anxiety ball for me. I have struggled to figure out exactly how to handle all of his issues and make decisions on whether to push for a diagnosis or let things ride, tried to back off and let him find his way in school and social settings, tried not to be defensive and irritated when people treat him differently or look at us as if we are bad parents because of his behaviors and have truly tried my best to teach him, love him and raise him to be who he is.

This is an ongoing struggle for me every day.

We used to be part of a play group here in our area. I used to try to take the boys to meetups and to play with other children, do crafts and have little trips. I kept trying even though it was not working very well. I wanted, maybe NEEDED, to have them in a "normal" social setting. To act like and play with other "normal" children. And I wanted to be able to make friends with other Mothers. Mothers of "normal" children.

And one day, I was sitting at a table, watching my child wander apart from the other children and spend the next 15 - 20 minutes lining up cars along the edge of a bed, when I realized.... I was totally alone. Alone in the middle of all of these women. Not one of them had any clue what I was thinking. What I was feeling.

Just like Braeden was alone in the middle of all of the other children. And no one (including me) had any idea what he was thinking or feeling either.

And I realized that by trying to push him to act "normal" and play with "normal" kids... I was just pushing him into more aloneness. Even in the middle of a crowd, he was still separate. Still different. He didn't know HOW to play with these kids. And when they reacted badly to his overtures, he went off by himself and went back to what he knew made him feel better. Lining up cars.

So, I stopped taking him to the play dates. It was a relief in many ways. There were no more screaming fits when we went to a new home. No more screaming and fighting when it was time to leave. No more wondering if the other kids, and Mothers, really wanted us there.

When Braeden started school I worried about how he would interact with the other kids. But, he has done really well in some ways. I think it is because he is in a structured environment where he knows exactly what is expected out of him. When they go out of those normal areas, that is when he has problems.

When I picked him up today, he was in the middle of a full blown crying fit. One of the other boys had hit him. He was all blotchy and snotty. He really had his feelings hurt more than anything, he had no idea why this boy had hit him. And I think, honestly, the little boy had no idea why he did it.

And as I watched his teacher comfort him and wipe his face, I started to get angry. Not at the teacher. Not at the other kids. Not at Braeden. But at myself.

Here was my sensitive and loving little boy, crying his eyes out and so heartbroken.... and I was just wondering if it was "normal" for him to be such a big cryer. Was it "normal" for him to react that way. Or was this another sign that he was not "normal".

His teacher told me this morning that the school's behavior specialist had decided to implement some new things with Braeden. But she did not give me any details. So, I called and left a message for her to call me back. Because I have no idea what she is planning.

I am in the process of setting up more testing and evaluations for him to see what steps we need to take next.

And I really just want to cancel it all and say STOP! I just want my little boy to be happy. Is all of this really necessary? What is "normal"? Really? And why is it so important to me all of a sudden? Since when?

I used to tell my daughter that the only normal people in the world were really abnormal because nobody was really "normal". Everybody was weird in their own way. I used to revel in being different. But I guess the difference, for me, is choosing to be different and odd versus being that way and having no control over it. I want my son to be able to fit in if he wants to. I want him to be able to choose to be different. Does that make sense?

So, I am spending my afternoon feeling lost and scared. How do you parent a child when you have no idea what to do? How do you decide when to get help and when to stop? How do you know if pushing for more "normal" behavior is just making your child into someone they should not be? I told his therapist that I did not want to lose who HE is in the middle of treating his behaviors.

I don't want to wonder who he might have been and what he might have been like if I had done things differently. Being a parent is so hard.

so..... tired.... must.... sleep.....

Look for a post tomorrow all about ass grabbing at Christmas parties, Customer No-Service Centers and all of the extremely tiring stuff I have been up to.

Boy do the holidays wear me out......

Sleep tight, jelly bean.

THIS

...is a post.

I always have these great ideas for posts while I am doing something like washing clothes or wiping asses. And then they get sucked out of my head by the demon children.

So.

Here I am.

With nothing to write about.

Cause I am boring.

And my life is boring.

And my kids are soul sucking demon children with direct call lines to the devil. And Santa.

And my daughter is a grammar nazi blog beyotch. Who is reading over my shoulder and correcting my spelling before spell check can even highlight it.

Go away evil child.

The zombies will eat your brains.

(She says thats not nice. But really... she has a big, juicy brain. Of COURSE they will eat her brain.) (Dib.)

Anyway. Back to what I was writing before the evil grammar nazi child interrupted me.

*clears throat*

*coughs loudly to shut up the grammar nazi again*

(I know. You just wish you could see what my blog looks like before I use spell check...)

um.

What was I writing about again?

Cheese.

I love cheese. I love cheddar and parmesan and mozzarella and....

Oh.

You think cheese is boring? WHat about cheese fonbdue? *sutup Jenna*

(I am leaving my misspelled words and ham fingered typing just to irritate her)

(Of course she DOES know my password for blogger so if it shows up fixed... blame her)

ANYway.

I am bored. How come so few of you comment on my posts? Am I really THAT boring?!?

(Lie to me, please.)

If I ever write a post (not a giveaway) that gets a lot of comments I just may keel over. In a dead type way.

Jenna says to stop using her lines. But, she needs to stop reading over my shoulder and commenting out loud.

Just sayin.

NOW she wants to know if I love her. What? Why are you getting all wishy washy touchy feely on me now? I am TRYING to be a bizatch here. God.

I am not even repeating the insulting comment she just made about me. Cause she is MEAN! Mean I tell you!!!!!!!!


(MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. This is ME, the DAUGHTER PERSON! I HIJACKED THE KEYBOARD!!! MUWAHAHA!!! I told the Mother-of-Mine that she is no longer chief bitch. 'Cuz I out-bitched her. And she is sour. 'Cuz I now have her crown.)

*Sounds of a scuffle as the keyboard is wresled away from the Daughter Person*

Haha. SHE misspelled that word up there. SHE did, the grammar nazi! LMAO as she throws herself ont he ground and beats her head on the floor....

OK.

Now, I promise.... really I do.... I promise to have a real post for y'all tomorrow. Really.

*wanders off in search of Jack and coke*

New Moon Madness

I swear, I wrote this post in my head a week ago and then completely forgot all about it! That happens to me a lot. What I need is some kind of special brain reading computer software that can translate my thoughts directly to the blog! Of course, that might get me in trouble... LOL

We went to see New Moon (the newest Twilight movie) on Thanksgiving night. Jenna and I and my MIL and my nephew went to a late showing. It was packed and full of swooning Rob Pattinson/ Edward fans. I am not an Edward fan. I totally love the hawtness that is Jacob. And let me tell you, Taylor Lautner did a great job!

The movie itself was okay. They did a good job of translating the book into movie format, I had wondered hwo they would handle it. New Moon (the book) was told so much in the thoughts of Bella that I wasn't sure how they would handle it. But, they did a good job. The acting of Rob and Kristen left much to be desired, IMHO. But, that follows right along with the acting int he original Twilight movie so it was no more than I was expecting. Taylor (Jacob) without his shirt completely stole the show! It was a decent movie, followed along with the book nicely and had great scenery. But, not a truly epic film and not something that made me want to rush right out and buy the DVD. My poor nephew was disgusted by the movie. Too sappy for him (he is 13) but he did love the special effects and werewolves so it wasn't a total loss for him.

I have a real problem with Bella and have had since I read the first book. She is not what I consider a good role model for young girls. WAY too dependent on her man. WAY too hard on herself, she has a poor self image and a definite problem with being strong and standing up for herself. The story is decent, but I would have liked it better if she had stood up for herself and told Edward to stop whining and being all emo and just bite her already!

What made the movie hilarious was the reactions of the crowd watching it! The first time Jacob took his shirt off, the entire female audience started clapping! LMAO At the end of the movie, it ends on a total cliff hanger. Like right in the middle of a line basically. I won't give it away to those of you who have not seen it yet. But, a lady behind me reacted quite loudly to the ending by saying "God Damn It!" right after the last line! The entire audience laughed hysterically. It was too much. She must not have read the books.

So, while half naked Native American hawtness made the movie worthwhile for me, it wasn't a movie that I would have chosen to watch if I had never read the books. I know many people may disagree with me over that opinion, but hey.... free country, my opinion. And, that said, I will probably go see the third movie(and the fourth if they make it) just so that I have seen them all! LOL

Any of you seen it yet? What did you think?

ITSNOWEDITSNOWEDITSNOWEDITSNOWEDITSNOWED

It snowed, it snowed, it snowed, it snowed, it snowed, it snowed, it snowed, it snowed, it snowed!!!!!!!!!!! In Mississippi. It started snowing, mixed with rain, and at about ten we went out to watch. There were huge flakes, and the DD and I went out to play in it. The boys were asleep, so they missed out.

Jenna and I were total dorks, giggling and running around. Jenna made a snowman, we had a snowball fight, caught snowflakes on our tongues (and in our eyes), Jenna made a snow angel, and we basically had a great time.

This morning when we got up, there was still snow on the ground. I think we got more than two inches total. I took Braeden outside to play in the snow. He liked it a lot, until his hands got cold. Then he was ready to go in. Malachai stepped outside, felt how cold it was, shivered, and went back inside. LOL. He pointed out the window and said "I watch."

Here's some pictures to enjoy. Be back later.

Our front yard in the middle of the "snowstorm."

Me in the snow. What fun!

Jenna geeking out [note from Jenna, who happens to be typing this as Tracy dictates: That's what I do. I geek out. Yo.].

Lumpy Bumpkin, the Mississippi snowman. Notice the leaves and dirt.

In the boys' play yard. Wanna go for a slide?

Snow angel! The strategically placed snow is actually on the lens. LOL.

Lumpy is a little melty.

Snowball fight with Braeden.

Making a snowball.

"My hands, my handsss!"

"What is this strange white orb I see in front of me? It is cold. It is wet. Food?"

First It Rains - Then You Get A Damn Typhoon

Things are, as usual, crazy here. But more so than usual for the past few days. In between crazy car trouble and new job opportunities and decisions needing to be made concerning both, my two youngest children have decided to become demon children and eat my soul.

Just kidding on the demon thing.

Sort of.

On a happier note, rather than doing his normal Santa visiting routine of standing 10 feet back and hollering out his toy requests (oh, please don't let the big fat hairy guy look at me! Please no touching! No! No sitting on him! Don't let him look at me!) , Braeden actually sat on Santa's lap today. His school went on a field trip to the mall to see the big guy. Braeden sat in his lap. IN.HIS.LAP. And told him he wanted trucks for Christmas. By the time we got home this afternoon, the Christmas list sounded something like this:

A red fire truck
A white bus
A yellow car
A yellow dump truck
TWO purple BIG trucks

And a hundred cars.

Wow. He has really grasped this whole ask Santa and get presents thing.

I wonder when he learned the number 100? Damn school.

Finally A Chance To Sit Still!

So. I think I might have caught up on reading blogs although I did not comment as much as usual. Now I guess it is time to actually post here! OMG. Imagine that! hehe

Jenna finished nanowrimo with more than 70,000 words in a whole new genre this year. For a 15 yo I think she just kicks ass in general. But I may be prejudiced! She is so hard on herself sometimes, it makes me wish I had a magic wand to make the next few years fast forward for her. High school sucks the big one. Go check out her blog post here and give her some comment love, she could use it!

Braeden is back in school after a week long break. He had a great day yesterday and I love his teacher. She is able to make him behave better than anyone else and he loves her. She is the one who brought up the fact that he has some issues and needed to be evaluated again for sensory problems. But, every day when I pick him up, she pats me on the shoulder and tells me that he will be JUST FINE. It really helps with the anxiety to hear that from someone else who deals with him on a day to day basis.

Malachai got caught beating up his older brother with a plastic baseball bat. I have told Braeden for the past year that he was going to regret picking on his baby brother so much! He certainly regretted it on Sunday! LOL Of course, Mal got a talking to and time out. But, I laughed in the bathroom about it. Where no one could see or hear!

I also caught Mal with a tub of cool whip yesterday. He was eating it with his hands and making his toy dinosaur eat some as well. What a mess! And what a sneaky little guy he is.... I never even heard the fridge door open. Time for a new fridge lock that he cannot open.

I am busily planning my last minute shopping lists for Christmas, I still need stocking stuffers and about 2 more gifts. I am also really wanting to get my Christmas Cards done this week but I may end up late with them this year. I am sooooo not in the mood to write them all out! And I think I may just wait until the week before Christmas for the tree and decor to come out this year. It is coming on way too fast. Where did the Fall go?!? I just don't feel emotionally ready for the holidays. I am ready as far as gifts go. Just not as far as enthusiasm. Maybe I need to spend the day tomorrow listening to Christmas music and baking cookies. That usually helps with the mood!

Coming up later is a post about a few more blog awards and I promise to actually give them all away to others this time! One day this week I will be posting a book review and giveaway. I also have a product review to post sometime in the next few weeks. In addition to my regular posts about the kids and my insanity, I plan to try to post about the stress of raising a teen girl, the joys of a dirty little boy and how frustrated I am with my son's psychologist's office. The joys of the season.....