Ear Aches and children

My little one (3 1/2) has been complaining of an ear ache the past two days....and we couldn't get into her pediatrician until this a.m. Well not exactly her doctor, but another doctor in the practice. This morning she woke saying her ear was blocked and she wanted to make it "good" again....as she was pulling on her left ear.

There is nothing worse as a parent than to have one of your kids suffering. She isn't keen on seeing the doctor so I'm not looking forward to going to the doctor's office today at all.

One of the boys

As I sit here contemplating this week's football picks for the pool I am in, I wonder why I'm even bothering? This year especially, I've been hit with a rash of "I don't care" syndrome...and when the picks were due, I wasn't in the mental frame of mind to get them done in a timely manner.

I've held my own in the past and have even been in the top ten, but this year....I hate to admit, I'm in the basement of the standings. Since this is our last week--I'm hoping against all hopes that I will score high enough to win a week and recoop my $35 entry fee. I certainly will not be in the top ten!

At least the Packers are in the playoffs....

Positive Mental Attitude

I remember my mother giving me a book her boss had given her back when I was in high school. The words "Positive Mental Attitude" were in the title somewhere. I need a dose of this PMA on a daily basis of late and I recall reading that book cover to cover. It didn't apply to me much at the time, but it certainly applied to my mom. And as we all shudder to realize as we get older--I've become my mother!

Last week, I listened to the Jean Chatzky radio program on XM radio and her guest that day was Mike Robbins. He talked about his book "Focus on the Good Stuff--The Power of Appreciation." None of the bookstores in town carried it so I will be ordering it today online. I can't wait for it to arrive! He was very motivating and when looking over his website on the book, there are several chapters that appeal to me.

I hope that I can apply his principles here at work. I'll keep you posted.

Finally a day off!

I have a doctor appt. this afternoon so decided to take the entire day off work. Great for my psyche of late and perhaps, great for my house. Great for my house if I get my ass in gear and get doing the things I should do, and not the things I want to do. I want to laze about and not be responsible. I should get my bedroom organized, get the fall gardening finished and cleaned up for winter and bake some cookies. *sigh*

There are plenty of organization shows on HGTV that would have a field day in our bedroom. We live in an old Victorian and I have a bedroom parlour outside of the room we sleep. This parlour currently is an organizational nightmare. The other day we barely had path through to the closet! Neecey from Clean Sweep would be psycho-analyzing me right now--I could use her advice.

It's a beautiful fall day--the sun is shining--I may chuck it all and take a walk.

Slug That I Am

This is the first weekend we've had completely free in months. Instead of putting the house in order and getting caught up on my bills though, I've spent the weekend relaxing and taking time for me. Important for my psyche.

My daughter's volleyball team didn't score well enough to continue through the tournaments. The state competition for marching bands was last Saturday, so we're enjoying having a weekend to ourselves. (The kids from South got 4th place at State.)

Yesterday we visiting a petting farm north of North Lake, Wisconsin. They had miniature donkeys, llamas, goats, geese, chickens and turkeys. Megan seemed to enjoy herself despite the cold and windy weather. We also bought our pumpkins for carving.

Today I've begun work decluttering our bedroom (which really needs an overhaul!) and getting all domestic in the kitchen. I have bread cooking right now in the bread machine. It is the first time we've attempted to make any bread in there in a long time...over a year at least. I think the last time I tried it we ended up with a boat anchor. It sure smells good in the house right now.

Corey put the final coat of paint on our back porch today and is cleaning out the garage. I need to get back at it and work on the pit upstairs called our bedroom....

Marching Band

Yes, I'm officially a "bando." My sophomore is in the Waukesha South Marching Blackshirts and today was their first competition of the season. It wasn't officially a competition, because it was an exhibition. It was an opportunity for the bands to get their feet wet and work out some kinks of competing. All three Waukesha high schools were there, along with Muskego High School and UW-Whitewater. I enjoy the comraderie the parents have--even talking with parents from other schools. The band kids are a super group and are supportive of one another.

Began the day driving to the zoo and turning in my pledges for Juvenile Diabetes. I collected $2250 so far this year. What extremely generous coworkers I have. I hope they find a cure in my lifetime before I die from this disease!

What a perfect sunny day to be outdoors supporting the kids. It is already after 8 p.m. and I have yet to read today's paper! So I bid you good night.

Junk Mail

What is it with older adults, somewhat new to the Internet, and forwarding old jokes? Pictures of that Hallmark nut Maxine, cutesey pictures of puppies and kitties doing whacky things, some old joke about why husbands make better doorknobs....you get the picture.

I finally had to ask my favorite aunt to quit forwarding jokes etc. after not checking my mail for a week, only to come back in 7 days later and having daily messages from my ISP stating I've exceeded my mail quota....out of 127 messages I think 1/3 of them were from my aunt How do you politely tell her you love hearing from her....just no more jokes...please?!

Potty Training

For all the parents out there...you can relate to that moment in time when your child finally made it through a night without wetting their pull-ups....or the day when she made it all day without any accidents. We're well beyond that stage in my home now...she is still wearing pull-ups at night and at naptime, but that is more to use up our stock and not out of necessity.

What motivates one child, will not motivate another. The magic this time around were clothes for her Barbie dolls and the lure of Dora underpants. If only all big tasks in life could be bribed into success with under garments and clothing!