2010 April

Other lawn mowers in the sea

April 30, 2010 by Diana Leave a Comment

Apparently, these other lawn mowers are much better than ours. Because after our counter offer, the woman interested in our home rejected it and within hours had a contract on another home.

Then after getting this news, Sam called to inform me that they had denied his transfer until after July 7th. So he will put in for it again after that. He’ll still get it, but it just will be a little longer than we thought. In the meantime, he’s looking around for other jobs where we’re moving just in case.

And to top it all off, a lady that was interested in me nannying for her and bringing Bella – 4 days a week, paid vacation, close to where we want to live – called me and talked about her position. Turns out, not only were we WAY off on pay, she doesn’t pay taxes on her nannies. Nice. Can I just tell you – this is illegal. Regardless of how wonderful you think you are being by letting your nanny have no record of income or social security benefits for the time she works with you, it’s illegal. So that ended our conversation.

However, Bella rolled over today – from belly to back! First time ever, in any direction. I tried forever after to capture it and put it on here, but she never would do it again. She simply would smash her face into the carpet and scream in anger. While blowing bubbles. If you’ve never seen a baby blow angry bubbles, it is one of the funniest things ever. Sam and I love it so much.

I am actually thankful the way things turned out – because if one of those three things – house, transfer, job – had worked and the rest hadn’t, we’d have been in a real mess. So we’re just starting from scratch again. House is still on the market, we know we don’t want to include any personal property in the sale, we’ll have the summer to spend with my parents here, and I can look around for a job that fits our needs.

On a side note, you may have noticed less blog posts on here, as well as less commenting on my end on your blogs. I am so sorry – in all honesty I do read all your blogs, I just don’t have time to comment. I read them on my Droid and once in a while it will send a comment through but for the most part it just deletes them after I hit publish. I barely have time these days to write these posts. I hope it gets better, but for the next few months it will be sporadic. Thank you for all your faithful commenting on mine though.

And giveaways? Yeah, those have pretty much stopped. I do have one coming up in May, but I’m going to start being very picky with the ones I do and only do them every so often. They are hard to write up, a pain to track and I’m tired of contacting companies whose products turn out to be bunk and telling them I won’t do a review or giveaway of their product. So high quality, fun, interesting ones only from now on.

Thanks for reading – and sticking with me through my crazy blogged life. I promise to do the best I can on keeping up with all of yours.

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged With: Apologies, Frustration, Life as a Nanny, Life Misconceptions, Motherhood, Moving, Something New

I want your lawn mower.

April 29, 2010 by Diana Leave a Comment

So… remember the posts I wrote about friends and what a hard time I had after moving from New Jersey? This post was supposed to be a kind of “grand finale.” A ending that was magic, made you think, “That’s amazing, how special.” But after this week, it may have all changed. I’m not at liberty to say why yet, only that I can’t post on it until I know for sure whats happening. I’m sad and yet I know things happen for a reason. Hopefully it will all work out.

On a happier note – our home showed today and within hours we had… OUR FIRST OFFER! ::head explodes:: We are so excited and waiting to hear back after we countered. A short sale means all kinds of different rules and negotiations. The weird part?
The lady asked that we include our lawn mower in things she wanted.

Yes. The lawn mower. A push one on wheels we bought specifically for the front yard to save on gas and (what else?) be more eco friendly. So after some laughter and my realtor saying it was a definite first for her, we agreed. After all, we can buy another one. So could she, but if that’s what the selling point is, then lady, the lawn mower you shall have.

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged With: Daily Life, Head Explosions, Moving, Real life, Something New

Friends, or lack thereof – 2.

April 27, 2010 by Diana Leave a Comment

First part of this (didn’t know it was going to be this long) story.

6th grade came and we all headed to middle school, which meant a new school again. This time I went with most of my friends, and although I had no best friend, I got along with almost everyone and enjoyed my classes. But I felt completely out of place outside of my classroom – there were 6th graders making out in the hallways, gangs, punks that would run by and shove you into a locker, and someone called 911 on a daily basis for a while. We had a suicide that year and it was broadcast over the school intercom and everyone freaked out crying. I was in way over my head.

After 6th, we moved. To a completely new town, in fact, the one I am currently living in. Again, I was enrolled in a Christian school and my mom taught while my dad worked 2 jobs. That, hands down, was the worst year of my life. I was new and most of my classmates had been with each other for years. I was odd, wore huge glasses, had buck teeth, high water pants, liked to draw and write stories, and wasn’t interested in boys. I was immediately shunned.

One girl and I became instant friends that year, A was really the only thing that kept me from going insane. She and I had the same insecurities, and the same thoughts about our teacher (who was the devil), and the same taste in music and movies. I spent hours at her house talking with her. We did everything together. However, neither of us was secure enough to stick up for each other when something happened. I was friends with a boy who had recently moved from England, and he was “going out” with another girl in my class. One time at a dance we were talking, and he left to go back inside. His girlfriend and her best friend walked up, snapped me on my bare legs with a rubber band and said, “You better stay away from him.”

In between all of this, I had my brother and sister to play with and talk to. We had a creek behind out house we loved to play in, pigeons to care for, dogs, my parakeets from New Jersey, and books. Oh, my books. I found Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables and fell into a imaginary world where I was a spunky tomboy that was able to tell people off I that were horrid to me. Only I couldn’t in real life. The scene where Laura’s sister Carrie is punished by the teacher for rocking in her seat – so Laura rocks it for her – is one of my favorite book moments ever.

In 8th grade my mom was able to stay home, so we moved to the public school. Where, once again, I was completely different and left to myself. I simply didn’t have any good friends that year, A was still at the Christian school and we didn’t see each other a whole lot. The only part that really stands out about that year was this: There was a girl named Robbie that was new, and she was really pretty. All the boys were in love with her, and most of us girls were super jealous. I was at my locker one afternoon when I heard a guy say, “Hey!” in a really friendly tone. I turned and smiled at one of the most popular boys in school, who took one look at me, smacked his buddy on the arm and said, “OMG, look, I thought that was Robbie!” They both walked off laughing.

Really, it does sound awful. This was just my friendship side of life though. My parents were wonderful and supportive. I had friends at church and my siblings. I shared a room with my sister and we stayed up till all hours giggling at stories I told her. Family time was something that was a huge part of my life then, and now.

9th grade was high school. Since all the same kids went, I didn’t feel so out of place. I became friends with Jennifer (not my guest blogger), who was sweet. I thought she was about the best thing since sliced bread, until I found out that she had made out with my very first boyfriend and he broke up with me to go out with her.

Being betrayed, ignored, and constantly moving from my friends left me with a wall that almost no one could climb to be good friends with me. Until Brandi and Jen. Brandi was my best friend sophomore and junior year of high school. We were obsessed with ‘N SYNC – I remember we actually had a fight over me signing a letter “Justin’s girl” one time. We made up dance moves to their songs, talked about everything, and spent tons of time at each others homes. One of my best memories with her is waking up early to leave with her family on a day trip – and setting her CD player to, um, 72? on the volume so that it woke us up to, “It’s Tearin’ up my Heart” and her little sisters completely freaked out and started crying from surprise. We got in trouble for that too.:)

Jen (my guest blogger) was like my other half. She was this crazy, funny girl that would do anything for a laugh. We had so much fun together that at times I thought I would die from laughing so hard when I was with her. The same sense of humor, we found the stupidest things funny. One road trip to a basketball game (we were cheerleaders) we did everyone’s name flipped – so Mary Sims became Sary Mims. Only then we did our Booster Club moms’ name. Shelly Whitler. Yep. Welly Shitler. We told everyone we knew about it – and when it got back to Shelly she was very unhappy.

For my 16th birthday we went camping in the woods, and my dad took us to a lake on our boat. Cheerleading, choir, sleepovers, car rides, long talks – she dealt with her problems by making herself the opposite of what she hated. I loved Jen, she was truly one of the best friends I have ever had. We had our differences, at times I felt ignored when she found a friend that she hit it off with, and she told me how left out she was when I started dating Sam. But we had spent so much time together, and shared so much, that it seemed like no time had gone by when we got back together again.

I was a cheerleader (I’m on the left, Jen right), dated guys I wasn’t supposed to, and tried my best to fit in. I was determined not to be classified as a “dork” anymore, and one of my ways to do that was get plastered at a guys house at age 16, and then lie about it when my mom came to get me.

And then Jen, and Sam, left for the military, and I was alone in my small town, graduated from high school, unsure of what to do with my life. I missed having a friend that would do just about anything with me – whose idea of a good time was to rewind the asparagus in the mouth part of Ace Ventura over and over until we couldn’t breathe from laughing. I was beyond lonely and missed my friends.

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Click here to read the last part of this. It’s much happier. I promise. And you get to meet “E”.

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged With: Friends, Real life, Reasons to save for for therapy, Why I do what I do

Make new friends, but keep the old – 1.

April 26, 2010 by Diana Leave a Comment

I’m not a brave person – in meeting new people. I don’t really enjoy it, although once I get to know someone I’m fine. It’s the initial, “I want you to meet so and so” that scares me. My sister has a million friends, and I was very cautious about getting close to anyone - ever. I usually only had one good/best friend at a time, and we’d hang out with each other until both of us were so sick of the other there had to be a break. I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about living here with no girlfriends, and wanted to write about it. Maybe it will help me get past this fear.

I think it stems from when I was 8. Up to that point, I had lived a pretty ideal little life. We had moved once that I could remember, and being only 5 it didn’t really matter. I started first grade in a small town in New Jersey, where I had also been born. I wouldn’t say I was popular (because really, at age 6 who is?) but I had a lot of friends and loved my school.

I was a straight A student, loved to write and draw, I lived next door to one of my best friends, J, a boy with an imagination that rivaled my crazy one, and down the street from my other best friend, E, who was smart, funny and the one who always made us stop and think about things. We loved the Little Mermaid and making up our own clubs. I had a little brother and sister that I directed in plays we wrote. We had a tire swing, a huge field behind our house, a neighborhood pool, honeysuckle bushes, and fireflies.

I vividly remember my school, my 3rd grade teacher that I thought was simply the most wonderful teacher ever. I still can recall songs we learned from Mrs. Apple – our music teacher with the rolling piano. She went from room to room with that thing. I rode the bus with all my friends, we passed notes and made up stories, sold lemonade on weekends and shucked Indian corn into a jar and made people guess how many kernels there were. We didn’t know the number, so whoever was closest to our guess won.

I was in an environmental club and Girl Scouts with kids from school. E was in most of my classes, and we were inseparable after school and on weekends. I loved her mom, her sister, her dad, her house - she was like the twin sister I’d always wanted. (Everyone wants a twin at some point right?)

My dad was always really sick there. He spent all summer in his room with a humidifier and tissues stuffed up his nose from allergies. New Jersey was like being in hell and he couldn’t escape. I used to come home from school, sit on his bed and chat about my day with him. He was so miserable, and I was too young to really understand New Jersery couldn’t be a long term living situation.

One morning my brother, sister and I were watching cartoons and my mom and dad came in. They turned the TV off and explained that we were moving. I remember they were sad and answered all of our questions as best they could. My dad had found a new job in Colorado and we needed to leave, because summer was coming. I wasn’t going to be able to finish my 3rd grade year there, but almost. A girl in my class threw a surprise going away party for me and everyone in my Girl Scout troop gave me a gift and card.

I don’t remember much after that. I do recall him going first – driving out and taking my two parakeets with him. I also remember my last day. I spent it at E’s house playing. I knew she was sad and I was too, but I really didn’t know how to tell her that. I just wanted the day to be over so I could stop feeling so upset. My mom called for us to say goodbye because we were leaving, so I hopped off her tire swing, shouted, “Bye!” as she walked towards me, and got in the car. Mom turned around with this look on her face of, “That’s it?” and said gently, “Don’t you want to go talk to her?” I shook my head and didn’t go back. Later on down the road I cried and cried about never being able to see her again. I have always felt bad about leaving like that.

The memory of that is still so painful I can’t even write this without crying – 18 years later.

After we moved, I was enrolled in a Christian school where my mom was also teaching. In 4th grade now, I had a hard time adjusting. I got D’s for the first time ever, and my parents were shocked. I lied to the kids in my class about being allergic to the cotton that was swept from the trees into the air so that they would cover my eyes and walk me around like another girl in the class. Only the next day I ran out to play and everyone wondered where my allergies had gone. Pretend FAIL. I had one friend that I played with – I don’t even remember her name. I missed E and J more than anything, and kept their letters to me in a box I had, along with all my valentines, Christmas cards, notes, and pictures from New Jersey. This one is from E. I had a hard time writing anyone back knowing I wasn’t ever going to see them again.

My mom was pregnant that year and I got another little brother. We moved into a bigger house in the same area, but I switched schools. For 5th grade I went to a public school. I liked my teacher, and wanted so much to be friends with her daughter Christy who was the same age as me. She lived right up the street. I was at her house one day and her mom asked me if I was staying the night with the rest of the girls. Since I was the only one there, I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. I saw Christy shoot her mom a dirty look, sigh and say, “I’m having a slumber party for my birthday tonight. Wanna come?”

When someone says it in the most sullen, uninviting tone ever, your response should be, “No thanks.” But I was so desperate for a friend I agreed and ran home to get my things. I spent most of the night being ignored by girls I didn’t know. I was so shy I couldn’t talk to any of them, and Christy pretended she barely knew me.

That same year I was placed in Gifted and Talented, which meant for part of my day I would leave my class and go to a different one to learn other things. I didn’t like that. It made me stand out and I had to readjust to another class with new kids. Somehow my parents found out I was eligible to test to enter a private school for gifted kids. I know they were excited, and looking back I should have been too, but all I could think of was if I passed the test, I’d have to be in a new school again. So I purposefully flunked it.
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The second post

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged With: Friends, Moving, Real life, Why I do what I do

Butt Lift FAIL

April 25, 2010 by Diana Leave a Comment

Gives new meaning to the phrase, “Legs a mile long.”

Drink it in.

And then strip down naked and thank the Good Lord for your body – post kids or not. It could be worse.

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged With: A funny, FAIL

Solids isn’t just what goes in.

April 24, 2010 by Diana Leave a Comment

*disclaimer – I would not be eating while reading this. Enjoy!*

We started Bella on rice cereal. And it was, quite frankly, very cute. Just as cute as every other baby that was filmed and cooed over and smiled at. Except it was Bella, and she’s ours so… That’s right. Even cuter.

I was so proud of her, eating like a big girl in her new booster seat. We now have it on a chair at the table so she eats dinner with us. We are only doing rice cereal for a while, the first time didn’t go to well (barfing) and she has a little rash so we’re watching.

First solids caught on video:

Yes, I call her beast. And no, she isn’t sleeping through the night. I was promised that by a good amount of people if we started her on solids, but it was wrong. Kinda like when everyone told me by 14 weeks I wouldn’t have morning sickness anymore. Hello Zofran in the delivery room.

The next day, I changed her like usual after she woke up in the morning. I’m not saying her dirty diapers smell like a bed of roses, but it wasn’t too unpleasant since she was breastfed. I got used to it and so did Sam – after he gagged a few times.

But this time? Oh, this time was much different. There were chunks and it smelled like something had died in her diaper. OMG. It was too much. The putrid wave hit me as I opened up the diaper and after almost passing out I honestly thought about just chucking it in the garbage can – no matter that it cost me $25. I didn’t want that thing sitting in her changing pail until wash day. I wanted it gone. I couldn’t believe a little rice cereal and she produced that.

Sam said, “I can’t change her anymore, she has adult poo now!”

I talked myself out of throwing the diaper away and sprinkled a lavish amount of baking soda/lavender oil mix over the diapers in the pail. Which made it worse, it was like perfumed poo. Like walking into a restroom that is heavily Febreezed but you still know what happened right before it was your turn.

And now we’re doing rice cereal 2x a day, and I’ve got to find something to cover up that smell in the pail. Usually it isn’t too bad, but once in a while it really takes the (poo?) cake.

Ideas?

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