I am so upset at my oldest daughter right now and figure it is better to hash it out on here than let it simmer. She is 10 and so beautiful and stubborn and sensitive and selfish! It is amazing that my little girl can be such a selfish, disrespectful thing. She always wants more or something better or to prove that she is better than her younger brother and sister. How fabulous to try to prove that you are better than your 6 year old sister?!?! No matter what my husband and I tell her she doesn't listen. We are both full-time students so things are tight financially. However, we have some pretty wonderful family members so our kids haven't wanted for much. Plus things are a little more comfortable for us now that I am working part-time. My daughter has to complain about what she doesn't have or how so and so gets this. I am seething mad at her attitude right now. She doesn't even see that there is anything wrong with it! I just want to beat my head against the wall!
This all started because my youngest REALLY wanted the new Alvin and the Chipmunks ~The Squequel and the older one complained because she was going to get the little cardboard 'poster' that was covering the 2-disk DVD set. This is the girl who is crazy over Twilight & has 1 Twilight and 4 New Moon posters. It has all been so ridiculous! I swear it was almost better to not be able to afford anything except the basic necessities because then there was none of this. How do you teach your kids to be thankful and unselfish? We are involved in various charities and very involved with our church family. Okay, I think I have beat this dead horse enough. I will try to repeat "This too shall pass!" I need a t-shirt like Josh Groban has!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Long time no see!
Well, hello there stranger. It has been so long! I have a crazy busy life and I have missed posting! The job I took in the New Student Orientation office at the U is great but I realize that maybe it wasn't the best idea to take the lead position that required me to work 20 hours a week. The reason I say this is because I am not having enough time to study for my classes. All my kid-free time is spent at work or in class. Of course, my oh so insightful husband warned me of this but I said, "No worries, I can handle it!" I have been handling it alright but I don't think that I have been giving either thing enough attention. My Systematic Botany class is worth 4 credits and I NEED to get a B! I am not delusional enough to think I will get an A. I need Hermione Granger's little time travel necklace from Harry Potter!
The good thing is that we are in the last stretch of the semester so it will be over soon. For my degree we have to do a senior thesis and I present my draft proposal next week. I am a little frightened but also excited. I have to work hard this week and practice, practice, practice! We present in front of our classmates and all the faculty and committee members. We had presentations yesterday and the questions after the presentation are the most frightening. Actually the questions are good because you get a slew of ideas from a ton of very intelligent people. My project title is WETLAND PROTECTION PRIORITIES FOR AVIAN SPECIES OF CONCERN IN THE GREATER FAIRBANKS AREA. Wetlands are near and dear to my heart so I am super excited about this. Plus my project will actually be useful to the agencies around Fairbanks to save the places with the highest value. I have a fabulous committee who have been on top of things and really made this a great experience.
On the home-front we have been having especially challenging times with our oldest daughter. She has been blessed with a seriously strong willed personality and feels like we shouldn't tell her what to do and everything we say is wrong! It really comes down to a total lack of respect for us but I don't think she sees it as that. I have tried to be fair but we really need to crack down on her. My husband argues with her because he wants her to see what she has done and admit that she is wrong. Honestly, she would rather die than admit that she is wrong in any way! What a predicament we are in. I refuse to argue with her because it's like banging my head against a wall. I will explain what she did wrong and let her tell me how she wasn't wrong and then I inform her that she WAS wrong and give her an appropriate punishment.
I have had no time to pursue my internet social fun. :o( I miss playing on twitter, Facebook and FOJG! I am hoping that I will have a bit more time this summer but time seems to race away from me at lightening speed! I am looking forward to meeting some of my best Grobie buds this summer while the family and I are in Indiana.
Well, I suppose this is long enough...it's good to be back! Oh yeah, Happy Spring!
The good thing is that we are in the last stretch of the semester so it will be over soon. For my degree we have to do a senior thesis and I present my draft proposal next week. I am a little frightened but also excited. I have to work hard this week and practice, practice, practice! We present in front of our classmates and all the faculty and committee members. We had presentations yesterday and the questions after the presentation are the most frightening. Actually the questions are good because you get a slew of ideas from a ton of very intelligent people. My project title is WETLAND PROTECTION PRIORITIES FOR AVIAN SPECIES OF CONCERN IN THE GREATER FAIRBANKS AREA. Wetlands are near and dear to my heart so I am super excited about this. Plus my project will actually be useful to the agencies around Fairbanks to save the places with the highest value. I have a fabulous committee who have been on top of things and really made this a great experience.
On the home-front we have been having especially challenging times with our oldest daughter. She has been blessed with a seriously strong willed personality and feels like we shouldn't tell her what to do and everything we say is wrong! It really comes down to a total lack of respect for us but I don't think she sees it as that. I have tried to be fair but we really need to crack down on her. My husband argues with her because he wants her to see what she has done and admit that she is wrong. Honestly, she would rather die than admit that she is wrong in any way! What a predicament we are in. I refuse to argue with her because it's like banging my head against a wall. I will explain what she did wrong and let her tell me how she wasn't wrong and then I inform her that she WAS wrong and give her an appropriate punishment.
I have had no time to pursue my internet social fun. :o( I miss playing on twitter, Facebook and FOJG! I am hoping that I will have a bit more time this summer but time seems to race away from me at lightening speed! I am looking forward to meeting some of my best Grobie buds this summer while the family and I are in Indiana.
Well, I suppose this is long enough...it's good to be back! Oh yeah, Happy Spring!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Stress
It is amazing how many places stress can come from. I have been just a bit over stressed as of late because of my extremely busy schedule. I may have bit-off-more-than-I-can-chew but I won't admit it yet! I have to give myself a bit more time to get used the the new routine.
I was so cranky this morning! I could feel my eyebrows getting lower and lower in my frown! I felt like the grumpy old troll on Dora the Explorer that was playing on our TV this morning. So my husband being the wonderful man that he is, took some of the stress from me and lightened my burden a bit. He was going to take care of the kids tonight and let me do my homework. I was feeling better and my day went on and I was looking forward to having uninterrupted time to do my homework (which I am WAY behind on). I came home to a quiet apartment and set to work getting a snack and doing some minor chores on the computer like checking email. I settled in to start my first assignment - reading and writing a one page response paper and then the family came home. This is when chaos ensued.
I think my husband has good intentions but he gets stressed at the way the kids are behaving and begins to yell and then I REALLY can't concentrate. I go down to lend a hand and it gets worse because I apparently added some more stress by telling the kids they had to do more homework that he wasn't planning on having them do. My 8 1/2 year old son begins to get worked up and starts crying about having to do his reading homework that is not due until Monday. We are busy all weekend and ALWAYS forget about it and end up doing it after church services on Sunday night. Not the ideal thing to do!!! In my husband's defense he is going to be cooking dinner and cleaning it up.
I have a full evening of work to do and when there is so much yelling and commotion I can't concentrate. It seems to have calmed down and I have turned up my music :) Nothing a little Josh Groban can't fix! Right now I'm listening to the Chess soundtrack...I love that play/concert!
I was so cranky this morning! I could feel my eyebrows getting lower and lower in my frown! I felt like the grumpy old troll on Dora the Explorer that was playing on our TV this morning. So my husband being the wonderful man that he is, took some of the stress from me and lightened my burden a bit. He was going to take care of the kids tonight and let me do my homework. I was feeling better and my day went on and I was looking forward to having uninterrupted time to do my homework (which I am WAY behind on). I came home to a quiet apartment and set to work getting a snack and doing some minor chores on the computer like checking email. I settled in to start my first assignment - reading and writing a one page response paper and then the family came home. This is when chaos ensued.
I think my husband has good intentions but he gets stressed at the way the kids are behaving and begins to yell and then I REALLY can't concentrate. I go down to lend a hand and it gets worse because I apparently added some more stress by telling the kids they had to do more homework that he wasn't planning on having them do. My 8 1/2 year old son begins to get worked up and starts crying about having to do his reading homework that is not due until Monday. We are busy all weekend and ALWAYS forget about it and end up doing it after church services on Sunday night. Not the ideal thing to do!!! In my husband's defense he is going to be cooking dinner and cleaning it up.
I have a full evening of work to do and when there is so much yelling and commotion I can't concentrate. It seems to have calmed down and I have turned up my music :) Nothing a little Josh Groban can't fix! Right now I'm listening to the Chess soundtrack...I love that play/concert!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Time
I am starting this entry without a title because I am unsure what it will be. My life is so busy and I feel like I am already behind. Classes started 2 weeks ago and I am so blessed to be able to do the things that I am doing. I just haven't gotten into the right rhythm yet and don't feel as productive as I should be.
I got my blood tests back after several weeks and the test showed that I am not allergic to any of the things they tested me for. This test proves a few things to me 1) I don't have any other food intolerances or issues and 2) I need to go back be tested for the genetic marker for celiac. I know for a fact that I cannot tolerate gluten or dairy because it does undesirable things to my digestive system and my face breaks out in acne. Not pretty when you are 30! I knew that the gluten or dairy allergies wouldn't show up because I have not eaten them in 6 months. I want to be sure that it isn't celiac. The genetic test will tell me whether I have the marker for it and whether I should go further into testing for it. I am so sensitive to gluten and have to be EXTREMELY careful not to 1) contaminate my food with gluten and 2) unknowingly eat something with gluten in it. I have been so careful and am feeling a ton better.
I talked to my best friend tonight and it is so difficult to keep in close touch because we live a gazillion miles apart and have a 3 hour time difference. Not to mention how jam packed our lives are. She lives in Mississippi and I am in Alaska. I (along with my family) will be in Indiana for 2 months so she is going to try to come up. That would be so fabulous! We haven't seen each other in about 4 years. I hadn't told her about my Dad dying in November and I even started crying. I haven't cried about it in awhile and telling her brought it back.
I am getting a little stressed about my schedule but I have to get in a good routine. Well I have to get busy doing something besides this :)
I got my blood tests back after several weeks and the test showed that I am not allergic to any of the things they tested me for. This test proves a few things to me 1) I don't have any other food intolerances or issues and 2) I need to go back be tested for the genetic marker for celiac. I know for a fact that I cannot tolerate gluten or dairy because it does undesirable things to my digestive system and my face breaks out in acne. Not pretty when you are 30! I knew that the gluten or dairy allergies wouldn't show up because I have not eaten them in 6 months. I want to be sure that it isn't celiac. The genetic test will tell me whether I have the marker for it and whether I should go further into testing for it. I am so sensitive to gluten and have to be EXTREMELY careful not to 1) contaminate my food with gluten and 2) unknowingly eat something with gluten in it. I have been so careful and am feeling a ton better.
I talked to my best friend tonight and it is so difficult to keep in close touch because we live a gazillion miles apart and have a 3 hour time difference. Not to mention how jam packed our lives are. She lives in Mississippi and I am in Alaska. I (along with my family) will be in Indiana for 2 months so she is going to try to come up. That would be so fabulous! We haven't seen each other in about 4 years. I hadn't told her about my Dad dying in November and I even started crying. I haven't cried about it in awhile and telling her brought it back.
I am getting a little stressed about my schedule but I have to get in a good routine. Well I have to get busy doing something besides this :)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Thankfulness
I want to dedicate this post, on this day to my most favorite gluten free blog. She really is a dear and well, a goddess! No, I have never met her other than on the lovely pages of her smart, sassy, witty & delicious blog. As I have previously said I have discovered that I have some food 'issues'. I hesitate to say allergies yet as I am in the process of waiting for the results of my blood tests. I began searching the internet for gluten free recipes when I stumbled upon the reality that I may be gluten intolerant (praying hard that I'm not celiac) and low and behold, what do I find? A Gluten Free Goddess!! She has allowed my culinary world to be opened again. And because she has more allergies to food than what you would ever dream, her recipes are perfect for me! What brought me to post about this today you ask? I was wanting to use up some pumpkin pie stuff in my fridge when I decided to look up a few recipes. I went to her blog and as I was perusing I started reading some of the charm that is Karina and then started further perusing the chocolate chip cookie recipes and my heart swelled with gratitude. As I sit here with a stomach who is trying to decide whether it likes the breakfast I ate, I am contemplating making some, OH SO GOOD, chocolate chip cookie/vanilla brownies! Of course, it doesn't hurt that the temps here have been between -20 & -30 degrees F (and lower!) for the last two weeks. It is not hard to imagine why yummy warm brownies would warm me a bit. Soooo, I just wanted to give a shout out to the culinary & literary goddess, Karina, who inspires me even when I get down because of all my food 'issues'!
Just in case you want to check out her blog, allergy laden or not, go to http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ (I am still trying to figure out how to put the actual link in!) Thanks Karina!
Just in case you want to check out her blog, allergy laden or not, go to http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ (I am still trying to figure out how to put the actual link in!) Thanks Karina!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Potpourri
Wow, a lot has happened in the last week! This post is going to be a bag of potpourri with all the things I want to say.
First of all, it has been freezing!! Brrrrr :) It is bearable but it makes me REALLY appreciate summer.
My wintermester class is almost at an end and I am a little sad. I have enjoyed every minute of it!
I have a new job! Yeah, like I need another thing in my schedule. This job was too good to pass up. Plus, they basically called me and said, "This job is available and we think it would be perfect for you, are you interested?" I worked my first day today and it was great! I am going to be the student lead in the New Student Orientation office at the U. In the posts to follow I'll explain more about my duties as I learn them :)
I had made a doctor appointment to establish care and get help with some of the things bothering mainly what appears to be a gluten and dairy intolerance. I laid it out for the doctor and he ordered a blood test to test me for allergies that included a celiac panel, soy, eggs, peanuts, dairy, and some of the local seasonal allergies. Thankfully there aren't many of those but once we go back to Indiana I will be miserable again. We only have 6 species of trees in Alaska. Indiana, yeah, lots more! I will find out about my results in 10 days and I'll post about that too. I just want to have a base and go from there. I am having my son get a celiac panel also. He was tested for the main allergies but I want him specifically tested for gluten. He has been on a mostly GF diet for several months now. I say mostly because he is a cheater and eats some things that he shouldn't. He complained of his stomach hurting for months and when I suspected that I had a gluten intolerance and it hurt my stomach I decided to try it on him too. He hasn't complained of a sick stomach since then.
Until later.....TTFN!
First of all, it has been freezing!! Brrrrr :) It is bearable but it makes me REALLY appreciate summer.
My wintermester class is almost at an end and I am a little sad. I have enjoyed every minute of it!
I have a new job! Yeah, like I need another thing in my schedule. This job was too good to pass up. Plus, they basically called me and said, "This job is available and we think it would be perfect for you, are you interested?" I worked my first day today and it was great! I am going to be the student lead in the New Student Orientation office at the U. In the posts to follow I'll explain more about my duties as I learn them :)
I had made a doctor appointment to establish care and get help with some of the things bothering mainly what appears to be a gluten and dairy intolerance. I laid it out for the doctor and he ordered a blood test to test me for allergies that included a celiac panel, soy, eggs, peanuts, dairy, and some of the local seasonal allergies. Thankfully there aren't many of those but once we go back to Indiana I will be miserable again. We only have 6 species of trees in Alaska. Indiana, yeah, lots more! I will find out about my results in 10 days and I'll post about that too. I just want to have a base and go from there. I am having my son get a celiac panel also. He was tested for the main allergies but I want him specifically tested for gluten. He has been on a mostly GF diet for several months now. I say mostly because he is a cheater and eats some things that he shouldn't. He complained of his stomach hurting for months and when I suspected that I had a gluten intolerance and it hurt my stomach I decided to try it on him too. He hasn't complained of a sick stomach since then.
Until later.....TTFN!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Today is my baby's birthday
Well, technically she is my baby, just not my youngest baby! My oldest daughter Madyson turned 10 today. How on Earth am I old enough to have a 10 year old? Oh yeeeaah, I am 30, hehehehe. I've also been married for 11 years. She has always had a somewhat mature, bossy, commanding personality. I always said she was a high maintenance baby and people thought I was crazy. If you have a high maintenance child you understand! Maybe it comes from being the oldest but I figure with our families that she had it coming, LOL! We have many commanding personalities among us! **whistles innocently**
We celebrated her birthday with 7 of her friends plus her younger brother & sister. Dad had to work this afternoon so he helped set up and high tailed it out of there. I can't say that I blame him as we did have a plethora of preteen girls in one small space :P Actually my husband can handle them better than I can most of the time! We did manage to have a pretty good time snacking, making bracelets, playing twister & freeze dance, eating cake and ice cream and opening presents. There was even a cake and ice cream chasing ruckus that I had to calm down quickly!
All-in-all it was a great day and a memorable birthday for Madyson & Mommy!
We celebrated her birthday with 7 of her friends plus her younger brother & sister. Dad had to work this afternoon so he helped set up and high tailed it out of there. I can't say that I blame him as we did have a plethora of preteen girls in one small space :P Actually my husband can handle them better than I can most of the time! We did manage to have a pretty good time snacking, making bracelets, playing twister & freeze dance, eating cake and ice cream and opening presents. There was even a cake and ice cream chasing ruckus that I had to calm down quickly!
All-in-all it was a great day and a memorable birthday for Madyson & Mommy!
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