Yes, this is my child

Beautiful drawing by Ariana, isn't it. She says it's a picture of herself. See those lines coming down by her legs? That's her pee and poop.

Lovely. Apparently the 4 year old mind is obsessed with body functions. Thankfully I know other 4 year olds who are as well. I don't feel so bad then.

Girlie, yet Not

So, while my daughter may love to wear dresses and play Princess dress-up, she is a tom-boy. There she is this morning playing dinosaurs and the dino family is having to escape an earthquake. Then a tornado came and wrecked what was left of the dino family's house. It's quite amusing to listen to her and see what's in that imagination of hers.

Black Friday

Let me say that I have never gotten up early to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I think all those people are nuts!

I stopped by Best Buy on Wednesday afternoon and the first two people were settling in line for Friday's opening. Um, really? I couldn't resist, I had to drive by at 9pm Thursday to see how many more were in line. They were lined up back to Dunham's, waiting in 18 degree chill. Is it worth it? I suppose it's more of a camraderie type of activity too.

I worked my first Black Friday in retail last night. Ugh, what a mess. Why can't people make an attempt at hanging things back on the hanger or even just putting the shirt you just tried on the right side out?

Cards for Soldiers

Let's Say Thanks is running again this holiday season. Xerox has a program where you can send a holiday card to a soldier serving overseas for free. You select a card and can either write your own message or select one from their large list. Please take a moment to say thanks.

Gobble, Gobble

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ariana's Thankful For...

Blessed Be

For me, Thanksgiving is a time to be reflective on what I am thankful for in my life. I have a wonderful husband and two awesome kidlets. We have fantastic friends & family. We are able to put food on our table and clothe our children.

In the big scheme of things, I'm thankful to alive. To breathe free air. To live in a time that allows me to speak my mind without censure (well, pretty much).

Blessed am I, I am rich with love and family.

Commercial

I have fallen in love with one of the new McDonald's commercials. It's the one where the kids walks in with his boombox and eats/jams to the music. The dad is hilarious!

Here is is on YouTube.

Jaw Dropping

Let me start by saying I have never watched The Bachelor before, honestly. I find the premise of this show to be ridiculus. However, after seeing the preview of an episode the other week where a woman was not given a rose and she's hyperventilating and freaking out...I had to tune in. At first, I felt horribly guilty at finding this woman's misery amusing. Then I thought about how she (and all these others) signed up for this show, knowing that they would be competing with 30 other women for one man. Who gets to enjoy the fruits of all those women.

And a guilty vice was born, I had to watch the rest of the season (like 4 episodes).

The situation with this particular woman was so weird. He kept telling her that he really liked her as a friend, and she didn't pick up on that clue. Over and over. She'd reply that the best lovers start out as friends, blah, blah, blah. He didn't give her a rose that episode and she leaves sobbing and she can't breathe. He has to come out to console her. I found it ludicrous.

Hello, the "Bachelor" hasn't stayed with the woman he picked in all the seasons. The only couple that is together is Trista and Ryan from the Bachelorette. (By the way, Trista just gave birth to their son a few months ago and suffered from HELLP Syndrome). What is it that makes these women believe they will be the one that stays together. I know, I know. The hope of finding your true love, and so on. But, finding it on TV? Yes, it can happen. But really, how good are the odds?

I also didn't really care for this Bachelor too much, but his decision redeemed him. He came off as this loveable, funny, kind guy, but I found him kinda dumb. That was at first glance. I find it refreshing that he didn't choose anyone since he isn't "in love" with someone. And didn't do the whole, "let's take the time to get to know one another better, but still take the ring" route.

There is talk already that he does propose on the aftershow. That there is some big shocker. We'll just have to watch and see.

I so cannot watch next season.

PTC

We had parent-teacher conferences for Ariana on Monday evening. She's doing well. Her teacher went over the list of things they watch for and she's hitting the marks appropriately. She's got a nice circle of friends, and is writing her letters (upper & lower) very well. Lately everything is this word starts with " ". When we are driving around she's spelling words she sees along the way.

One of her favorite things to do at school is to visit the library and do arts & crafts. She also likes to play kitchen and puzzles. The classroom also has computers that helps the kids learn to read, which she enjoys doing.

She continues to have issues with being hard on herself, but it's improving. It helps her to see her friends asking for help. Ariana starts taking the bus to school on Monday. She's excited about it and can't wait to sit with her friends on the bus.

Antlerless Deer -- Check

Jason tagged a nub buck yesterday. Thank god. ;)

From Ariana

Here's some "helping" from Ariana:

kergeiyigyeiytri yegertqassghytuuyytyytekuyuii uvttiuirtiuytir4yrtoyjjjjjjjyuyuvdh

m
mcllgbkflhkc'lhklkh jdddddkj/jfjfjkgfasdfdssdff agbffghgfg,kfhh




jhfghgkjgkfgjhfgjhghghhcjhfcjhffdhfjfdh nfhjhfjh


All I hear is this, "Mom, I can do it myself."

The big yellow bus

We decided at the beginning of the school year that I'd drop off and pick up Ariana from school each day. Well, it looks like she'll be riding the bus if I get that job. So, I'm thinking we'll get her started riding the bus to school for now. She really wants to ride to school with her friends, and plus it allows me to let Phoenix sleep midday rather then breaking up his naps into two shorter ones am & pm. The bus will take her to school and I'll pick her up. Perfect. This bus only has the 4K kids on it, so no worries about bigger kids.

Should be easy, right? So why do I have a small set of anxiety over this? She's growing up way too fast. She's in that stage where she is so independent yet still wants to occasionally snuggle with mom. She's moving to a little girl into a young girl.

Masochistic

I have come to the conclusion that I am one of those people who must always have 10 million things going on. I'm sure my husband won't be surprised at my revelation. He'll most likely laugh at me.

I'm a stay at home mom. Which means that I do daycare, I cook, I clean, I chauffer, I keep track of everyone else's belongings, etc. Of course, Jason helps out but the brunt is mine. My kids are very active. No really, VERY active. I don't have quiet kids who sit and entertain themselves. I've got runners, jumpers, climbers, etc. In other words, they are a handful.

So, I'm back working part time for Nov & Dec. I am helping out at my most recent place of employment (women's shelter). They've got one who just had a baby this week, and another who did in Sept and has resigned. So they are shortstaffed and in need of assistance covering some evening shifts. I was looking for some part time work, so why not. I work there Monday and Tuesday evenings, 8 hours a week.

Then I applied at Old Navy and got hired on the spot during my interview. So, I'm working two nights a week and both weekend days, 15-20 hours a week. I go in for my third day tomorrow. It's fun, and the benefits are nice. This is my first experience working retail during a holiday, so I'm sure it's going to get nuts asap.

I also have the Disney travel job which isn't a great deal of time daily unless I have a trip to work on for a client. It's more of a do lots of work over a day or two, then it's quiet until the next client or that client goes on their vacation. So, while it's not major work I still count it as work.

Then I have my volunteer things. I volunteer with an online Disney community as a message board guide. I also stay involved with the Preeclampsia Foundation. My online duties have scaled back over the last year or two considerably. I stay pretty active with working with the state members, gearing up for the Walk-a-thon in 2008, and other various projects. I am currently working on a newsletter article about one of our WI gatherings.

I'm not writing this all for people to feel sorry for me or to pat me on the back. It's something that I realized about myself. While I like to stay busy, I have a tendancy to take more than I can handle sometimes. And then I stress out. I know that I cause my own stress sometimes. Hell, alot of times. And of course when I'm really stressed, I'm not a fun mommy, wife, whatever. Letting go of the little things is something I've worked on for years. I can do it with certain things, but others just drive me up a wall and I can't let go. I'm going to work harder on that.

December is going to be a lovely month. ;)

What it could mean

Many of my friends & family know that I am currently on the list of eligible candidates for a probation/parole agent. My chances of getting interviews are extremely high as I am currently ranked in the top section of the listing. As much as I would love to work within the county I reside in, that most likely won't be happening for a while to come. It looks like I'll have to accept a position in a neighboring county and after a year I can hope for a transfer if my home county has a position available.

What many don't know is that I interviewd for an area county in July, and was offered a postion. We didn't tell a great deal of people at the time, but I unfortunately had to turn down the position. It was a difficult decision and one that caused a great deal of personal anxiety. The timing was just not right for our family.

Well, I've got another interview scheduled for next month with a county next door. If offered, I will most likely take the position. It would mean a one hour drive to and from work each day, but hopefully it wouldn't be for more than a year or two. This is an unbelieveable opportunity for me, and I hope the interview goes well.

To turn down the position in July caused me to doubt myself and my abilities. I was fearful that another position would not come along and I had lost my one chance. It felt like I was giving up on my dream. I cannot express the relief and happiness I felt when I got the letter last week asking for an interview. I literally sat in the van at the mailbox with tears streaming down my face. I called Jason as soon as I drove into the driveway.

I have a month to go before the interview, so hopefully I won't psych myself out. Going back to work is obviously going to mean huge changes for our family and it won't be easy. But I'd be doing a job that I enjoy (hopefully) and we'd be having extra income that would be very beneficial. It does make me sad to know that I'll have to put the kids back into daycare. I was hoping to stay home with Phoenix until he was two, but he's a pretty social kid so I'm sure he'll do well. I think Ariana will have the more difficult time of it.

The fear of the unknown is powerful. Will driving 60 miles each way daily have a major impact on our lives? Will I be able to spend time with my kids each night or will I see them just as they are getting ready for bed? Will I be able to get up at the buttcrack of dawn again to get to work on time?

So many thoughts.