Thursday, January 20, 2011

Catchin' Up

Hi there! Remember me??? I can't believe it's been a week without blogging for me!!! Ugh, so now there's tons of stuff to catch up on....

Sleep issues: Yep, still having 'em! My Hero sent me my blue light machine and miracle of miracles, it got here in four days!! My mail - in four days!!! It got here last Friday and needed to be fully charged before using it, so I got to use it on Saturday and have used it every day since then. I wasn't expecting instantaneous results, but still hoping for them anyway, lol! I do feel better having used it but my sleep isn't what it should be yet. Instead of waking up at 1am-4am and that being it, I wake up numerous times in the night, toss a bit and drift back off. Repeat. I'm still getting up around 5am, which is still too early, but an improvement. I am also taking a teeny, tiny Melatonin pill at 8pm. Not sure if that is helping or not either. No vivid dreams as one follower mentioned I might have, but I'm the one that almost never remembers dreams anyway. I might have 2 or 3 a year I actually remember. So the jury is still out on the light. I do however feel much better after a 30 minute session (I have two a day - in the late afternoon and after dinner). I feel refreshed and more "upbeat", so that part does work!

The Bella: After updating her chore chart (more of a behavior chart at this point) and being consistent with it, we have seen drastic improvement. I don't fuss and fuss at her anymore. She gets a warning, and then if the behavior doesn't improve she gets a "sad face" instead of a star. All star days gets her play time with Thomas on the Wii (they are both Mario freaks!!). A weekly accumulation of stars earns her a special treat (trip to the post library, going to the playground, etc). She is doing much better at school, with no more behavioral issues and an improvement of doing her work independently. The biggest thing with her is not engaging in her fussing and tantrums. You say what you need to say, and then go into what I call Ignore Mode. She's a performer, and if she doesn't have an audience, she'll usually just stop. This is harder for Thomas as he'll go on and on and then she'll go on and on, etc etc etc! A final warning, then follow through. When you do have to follow through, the tears and fussing is enough to almost make you lose your mind though!!!! UGH!! But, seeing you hold your ground is making an impression. We are fully stocked in Excedrin. Just sayin.

The weather: I'm hating it. We finally got a break in the constant rain, rain, rain, but it was replaced by continuing dark, cloudy skies, cold temps and the most unbelievable thick fog that lasted all day and night!! As of last night, we were back to rain. Every. Stinking. Day. Winters here just suck and there's no way to "look on the bright side" because there is no bright anything!! I don't think I'm ever going to take blue skies and sunshine for granted again.

Thomas: He was gone again last week for yet another school in Germany. While it was nice to have the truck at my disposal every day, it would have been nice to have him around. I did take out the trash this time though!! Last trip he had, I had it all piled up by the front door for him to deal with when he got home, lol! Yes, a week's worth. Yes, the dumpsters are right across the street. Yes, I'm lazy. Yes, I hate taking trash out that much! So what if I had yet again waited a whole week to deal with it....at least I DID deal with it, right??? I also had to give the Bella Beast a bath every day, which has become his dealio. I was seriously considering shaving her head because the absolute trauma of washing it every night was more than my very frayed nerves could cope with. There is a deployment opening in Kosovo, leaving next month for six months, which he is being considered for. As far as deployments go, six months is nothing for us....but six months of baths?? Yep, she might be bald. I'll let you know if this actually happens, and with the way things come up and then get cancelled at the last minute, I'll believe it when it happens!

The house: Last Friday, even though I was an overtired Zombie-Couch-Potato, I had to just suck it up and clean the house. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a neat freak. I have to have things immaculate, uncluttered and organized. My house was none of the above. Seriously. Bad, bad, bad, gross, gross, gross!! And I had Stamp Club girls coming the next morning!!! This was no time for a full-on, no messin' around clean, but I had no choice. I made my list of things to do, gave a whimper at it's length, and got to it. I even hung up all the pictures!!! And it was worse than I thought it would be, as we have plaster covered cement block walls and even cement nails are a b!itch to use!! I still have some things to hang upstairs, but I ran out of nails and picture hangers. We now have both so sometime SOON, I'll finish the upstairs and take some pictures. I have to say the house looked and smelled fantastic!!!! And I'm finding it so much easier and less overwhelming to maintain the house, than it was to clean everything all at once!!

My computer: We have had issues with my computer since we moved here. We thought it was the tower and were planning on replacing it (not that I wanted to!!). It would keep crashing and crashing and we couldn't figure out what the heck was going on! I paid for a registry cleaner and that seemed to work - but didn't. We loaded all kinds of protection and anti-virus software and that seemed to work - but didn't. I took off all kinds of files and programs I didn't need and that seemed to work - but didn't. Then it would work flawlessly for a couple of weeks and just when I thought we'd licked it, it would crash again!!!! UGH!!!! I've cleaned the disks and compacted them (or whatever it's called) and as a last resort, un-installed my Magic Jack. I did that last night and so far.....lol....it hasn't crashed again, and it was getting to be continual the past week or so. Another reason I haven't been blogging!! It's crazy but your computer has to actually stay up more than two minutes to blog. I really need and want to have my stateside phone capabilities, so I don't know what the answer is. Alex was calling me almost every day and I so miss hearing from her!! I'm going to give it a bit and see if indeed that was the culprit, and if it is, then I'll figure something else out. If it's not, then I have no idea what else to do that I haven't already tried. Kicking it and cussing it out hasn't worked!

I think that's just about everything. It's so hard to remember my name these days, much less what has happened over the past week! Other than Stamp Club, I haven't done any stamping. I miss it!! I have so many new goodies to play with too (another post coming) and I'm dying to ink up my new Magnolias and use my new Copic colors!!! So like the housework, I may have to force myself to just get up there and do it. I'll keep you posted....

14 comments:

Rita said...

Oh my, Jeannie! You have been busy--and been dealing with a crazy computer, to boot. I get so frustrated with electronics that don't want to work--or work for a while and then decide they just dang well have changed their minds. *sigh* My son says if anything can go wrong with one, it will be mine. They run theirs for years and never have to deal with the viruses and flukes and annoyances he has to remove from or fix in mine. :)

Glad Bella is motivated. It is so true. If you don't get pulled into the game and they have no one to play drama with--it is no fun and then they don't get anything out of it. (I was briefly a day care teacher in one of my job incarnations.) I hope she gets lots of stars and praise and does well in school--hurray!! :)

Would love to see pictures of the house when you get everything done. Let us know about the computer stuff and whether Thomas gets that deployment or not. Hope to see some more crafty stuff, too. ;) Have a great day over there!! :):)

STILLMAGNOLIA said...

I have missed you my friend...but now I know what you have been up to. I hope the sleeping issue changes soon. I came home from school yesterday sick. Feeling a wee bit better today so I will try school again.

Sueann said...

Whew! I am tired just reading about all you have been doing.
Computer issues really suck and I hope you figure out yours and soon!!
So glad to hear Bella is improving on her behavior. That is excellent news. Sticking to your guns is 90% of the battle I am sure. So good luck on continued success.
Would love to see pics of your new home. Can't wait!
Hugs
SueAnn

Intense Guy said...

I've heard others having trouble with Magic-Jack... Maybe they have newer/better software you can try?

6 months in Kosovo? Now there is yet another place the USA should be avoiding....

Ann On and On... said...

Well, I feel caught up. (I haven't blogged since Christmas.) :D Thanks for typing it all out. I hope your computer problems are gone.

Kristina P. said...

I wondered where you went. Now I know!! And I'm sorry about the weather. That's so miserable.

Mrs. M said...

So happy to hear the great news about Bella. Now, if we could just get you to get some rest.....

AliceKay said...

I hope you get some much needed rest soon. Sorry to hear about the dreary weather. (want some snow?)

I'm glad Bella is doing much better. That must make things a whole lot better for you, too.

Hang in there, my friend. *hugs*

Catherine said...

I'm SO glad things are turning around with Bella! The trash thing cracked me up! You're literally within 10 yards of the dumpsters!! LOL! I bet after a week or two (hopefully less), you'll see results from the magic light. *fingers crossed*

Anonymous said...

I sure hope you start to get more sleep soon with your light thingy. Im so glad that Bella is doing good since she started the little chart, that is just great. I tell you kids are just something when they turn on the drama with the crying and fussing. I hope you have a peaceful weekend HUGS

Sylvia said...

Sounds like you have life back under control Jeannie! I have missed seeing you around! Hugs!

Mimi said...

Sounds like there is a lot going on! I'm going to ask my Dr. about a light, maybe insurance will cover it.

I didn't sleep last night other than drifting in & out a little, but I never fell asleep. It's maddening!

xoxo

LadyStyx said...

Hope things are looking better for you today. That's alot to have to deal with... enough sleep or not!!

Mary said...

That weather does kind of suck...hope it gets better soon!

I'm horrible about keeping the house clean when Eric is gone...I think I need professional help...as in a maid...for free :o)

I used Ambien, when I was pregnant, but meds like that don't affect me like they do other people. I just slept great...had a weird dream or two, but the sleep was worth it!