Ode to Sleep

My dear, sweet, precious sleep! I so desire to be one with you. I lay in bed each night begging you to take me into your embrace and fill me deeply with all that you are. Yet, each night, you push me away. Why, oh why must you always resist me so?

Being sick is no fun!

I think I'm starting to feel a little better. Since Monday, I have been feeling less than well. It started on Monday with really sharp upper abdominal pains, like I have had in the past. I am not sure if it is gallbladder related or just gastroenteritis. Either way, it's not fun! I haven't thrown up since Monday night, but I've still had some stomach pains, though not nearly as bad. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!

On another note, I'm trying to get my resume all put together and fill out some job applications. Can I just say that I really, really dislike doing all this? I know it's necessary, but I just want to be done with boards (which I still have no idea when I will be able to take) and have a job. I reeeally want a new vehicle, so the sooner I can start saving up for one, the better!

Girl's Trip!

I just got home from a nice little get-away with my girlies! I took them, along with a friend of mine and her daughter, to Kings Island. We left Monday afternoon, went to KI all day on Tuesday, and then came back today.

It was hot as Hades, but it was still a good time. We had to take lots of breaks and find a place to go inside and cool off a bit, but since it was a Tuesday, the park wasn't crazy busy and we got to ride every ride, some more than once. There were a couple of rides that we would have liked to ride (Vortex and The Crypt) that were closed the whole time we were there, but that's okay.

I left Bella with another friend of mine while I was away. She did really well, but she'd never spent the night away from home before, so she wasn't really sure what was going on. My friend told me that Bella was really missing me because she was pacing around her house looking for me and she didn't eat hardly anything at all. :( She sent me this picture of her looking pitiful:



And posted this pic on fb saying that she had finally fallen asleep:



AWW, my poor little baby girl dog! She thought I abandoned her. :( She was super excited to see us pull up to get her!

Oopsie!

Sooo, I may have tried to trim the bushes in my front yard last night, and I may or may not have made them look worse. :/ They are out of control. I really want to just have the three majorly ugly bushes that are in under the front window (that actually look like one crazy, large bush) removed completely. My thought was to just take my hedge trimmer and trim them across the top and in front to make them look like a rectangle. At least it would look more orderly even if they are still hideous bushes.

However, it is not as easy as it sounds or looks! I got the front half trimmed down and then realized...I can't reach the back half of them! There is a huge lilac bush on one side, and the porch on the other, so I can't get behind them or in between them at all.

On top of the ugly bushes, the lilac bushes need trimmed back as well. There is another one on the other side of the house that is growing out over the driveway and in front of the garage door. I really wish I knew what I was doing or had someone to show me how. But, I suppose my only option at this point, other than leaving them to look like crap, is to hire someone to landscape them for me. :(

Nails

Just ditched the french mani/pedi for some fun summer colors. I love the look of the white tips, but it's a lot of work to do and I just didn't feel like dealing with it tonight, but also didn't want to let my piggies go nekkid. So, I did a blue-green on my toes and a bright pink on my fingers. I was going to go with the same color for both, but then decided to mix it up. May go back to the tips when it's time to redo!





**UPDATE**

I guess didn't get away with not messing with the tips after all. My 11 year old has been begging me to do hers, so I did. At least it didn't take nearly as long as it does to do my own.

Yum!

I really like me some eggplant parmesan, but I've never tried making it myself before. So, I decided, why not? Tonight, I made it for dinner and it actually turned out really well. Especially for my first time making it. The kids, however, are split. One likes it, the other 2 don't. Oh well. I thought it was quite tasty!!

It's Friiiii-day!

Well, my younger daughter is heading around the block to her friend's house for the night. Tomorrow they will be going to an amusement park and staying overnight, so she will not be home until Sunday sometime.

This, of course, means she won't get to play with her softball team in the first game of the tournament. But, she's ok with that (and so am I). She will then have a game on either Monday or Tuesday evening, depending on if the team wins or loses tomorrow's game. I think her team will go pretty far. They've only lost 1 or 2 games all season. Last night they came back at the end of the game from being down 3-1 and winning 4-3.

However, my older daughter is more than making up for her sister's absence by having 2 of her friends spend the night here tonight. Three 14 year old girls in my house at once? I think I might just hide out in my room for the night and read or watch movies!

Tired!

I am all messed up with my sleep pattern lately. I can't seem to get to sleep before 3 am or wake up before 11 am. Grrrrr! Even now, I am laying in my comfy bed, crazy sleepy (as I've been for hours now), but I just can. not. fall. asleep! It is quite frustrating to not be able to get to sleep when you're so tired! I think my main problem is not being able to turn off my thoughts which prevents me from drifting off. My brain needs a power button. *sigh*

Games

Baseball is finally over for my son as of last week, but my daughter still has some softball games left. One tonight and then tournaments starting Saturday. Now, I guess it's time to figure out what they're going to keep me busy with in the fall!

Doggies!

So, when I originally thought about getting the kids a puppy, I had a chihuahua in mind. They're so tiny and cute and can be carried around anywhere we go. But, I also like boxers and have wanted one since I was a kid and one of my friends had one.

Well, as you know, I ended up getting a boxer. I love her and she's so cute and lovey, albeit very energetic and excitable. She will cuddle with me, and I can even get her to sit on my lap sometimes. The problem with that is....she weighs 60 pounds. Which just so happens to be more than my 7 year old son.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I do NOT want to get rid of my Bella, but I do want to get her a buddy and, at the same time, myself a lap dog. I know it's not gonna happen. It's hard enough trying to juggle three kids and ONE dog, let alone adding another. But, I can't help it, I still want one.


Image found here: http://www.lefkimmi.co.uk/web/content.php?page_id=27

Play date

I took my youngest 2 kiddos and Bella on a play date today with a friend, her daughter, and their 2 dogs. We went to a dog park, then walked a trail. While we were walking the trail, there was a little place where the dogs could get into the creek. Her dogs got in and swam around, but Bella is not the biggest fan of being in water, so she went right up to the edge, just far enough to get her paws all muddy, but didn't get in.

After the dogs dried off, we went back to their house and had lunch, then took all the dogs to a car and pet wash and gave them all baths. Those things are really pretty cool! It was only $5 and it was SO much easier to bathe her there than at home in the tub! I really wish there was one of these places close to my house, but so far, I haven't been able to find one.

Movie time

I finished up the book today that I started in on yesterday. I also picked up the movie this evening from the library when I went to select my next book. So, now I think I'm gonna lay in bed and watch it!

**Update: The book was much better than the movie. They changed up too many things in the movie, including the entire purpose of the "story". I hate it when a movie is so much different than the book it's based on. Why can't they just stick to the original story line? Sigh.

Summer Reading

So, I just started in on my third book of the summer. So far, it's decent. I need to start looking for my next couple of books because this one will probably not take very long to read. Ahh, it's so nice to be able to read leisurely again!

Snot, snot, go away!

I seem to be suffering from some sort of summer cold or allergies. I started out fine yesterday, except for a few sneezes in the morning. Then I was pretty much fine until late afternoon, when my nose started getting stuffy and running. (Still not sure how it can be both stuffed up and running at the same time, but whatever.) I think I'ma have to go pick up some lotion-y tissues to save my nose. Hopefully this doesn't last long!

Right now, I'm getting ready to take my oldest to an orthodontist appointment, then the kids are begging to go to the pool. I bought the pass and have only been able to go once so far so, I guess I should probably take them today if it doesn't rain.

Balls!

Once again tonight, I have 2 kids with ball games on the same night. And, pretty much at the same time! Which means, once again, I won't get to go to my son's game. This happened two nights ago, as well as several other times. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't force my oldest daughter to play also, like I thought about doing. I'm not sure how that would work! Sheesh! Oh well. Guess that's just how it goes.

Clean carpet, yay!

I had my carpet cleaned on the first floor today. They were looking very dirty. It hadn't been cleaned professionally in 2 years, so, it was needed. They look SO much better now! With 3 kids and a dog, they take their fair share of abuse.

So, I just need to deal with a bunch of stuff sitting in my kitchen for the next 24 hours until they dry, including the sectional sofa. Oh well, it's worth it!

Now, to find something to do with the kids to keep them off the carpet. They want to go see Mr. Popper's Penguins. So, I think I'll take them to the cheap theater here in town to see a matinee. :)

I made it!

I survived nursing school! This afternoon was our pinning ceremony. The school only holds actual graduation ceremonies twice a year, so ours isn't until October. At first, they told us that it would just be the students and faculty for the pinning, but after some people complained they let us each bring up to 4 guests. So, I was able to take my kiddos with me. :)

Oddly, I don't feel as relieved as I'd hoped I would at this point. Maybe it's because I don't really feel "done" because I'm still going to continue to get my bachelor's degree. I can still take the boards, find a job (hopefully), and work while I'm going to school. I may try to find a part-time job while doing that, but I don't know. I will probably have to take whatever job that will hire me to get started. I just hope I can find something in a department I don't hate!

Even though I'm done with this part of my schooling and will officially (after passing NCLEX) be an RN, I still feel kind of overwhelmed with all I still need to do. However, it does feel good to be this far!

Jump, jump!

The kids and I went to visit my grandma, SIL, and nephews yesterday. We went to lunch then back to my bro and SIL's house because my girls heard they got a new trampoline and wanted to jump. :)



The kids have been asking for one for quite a while now, maybe I should think about it, it's great exercise!

Bella Dog

I've been working on some commands with Bella. The newest one is "roll over". She never really got the hang of that one for some reason when she was younger, so I let it go and started trying again. Seems like she's getting it now.



Now, if only she were this obedient outside...

It did, however, take a couple of tries to get it right. Here's a "roll over" outtake:

14

14 years ago, today, my life changed forever. At 1:12 pm on Monday, June 9, 1997, I welcomed my first baby into the world. I did a lot of growing up in that moment. More than I'd ever thought possible. But, I wouldn't trade her for the world!

She weighed in at 8 pounds 3.5 ounces and 20.5 inches long:



(And yes, I know my glasses were ridiculously large. Ugh!)

And now, well, I don't think she'd appreciate me telling you what she weighs in at, but she's around 5 feet 2 inches tall. ;)



(She wouldn't let me take a picture of her today, so I had to steal one from her facebook.)

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl! I love you!