Random Happenings

What's going on these days at the Kelley house you ask? Oh, you didn't. Well, I'll tell you anyway.

Last week was Spirit Week at school. They had pajama day, crazy hair day etc. Here's a picture of Blake on mis-match day. I think his favorite was pajama day. I've sent an email at work trying to institute pajama day Fridays. We'll see how that goes.

Mothers Day was great. The boys cooked breakfast for me and got me a pretty new locket necklace.

Tim and I celebrated our 16th Anniversary yesterday. Blake took a picture of us right before we went out on our hot date Saturday.

And last but not least, here's a picture of the stink eye you get when you keep bugging your hubby. This happens to be a favorite way for me to pass the time.

Playing catch up

Wow, where does the time go? How did it get to be March already? I am woefully behind in my blogging and blog reading. The laptop has been down and out so I haven't been online as much the last week or so. Never fear, hubs is researching and if he has his way, we'll have a new one soon.
In no particular order, here is what we have been up to.

1) Blake got called up during assembly on the 100th day of school on Friday and got an award. They draw names out of a big box of things they call "paw"sitives. Kids get them for being caught being safe, responsible or respectful. I can't believe he's been in school 100 days. I think they cheated and counted the weekends..LOL

2) The very next day of school (today) he got a naughty slip sent home that we had to sign and send back to school. This is the first one of these he's gotten. He got in trouble for saying Ï hate table number 1" He knows better than to use that word. You win some, you loose some I guess.

3) I am dealing with carpal tunnel. WAY to much typing at work and I suppose some of it could be from my online "work"at home. *ahem* A few braces and some therapy later and hopefully it will get better.

4) We are going to get the trim on the house painted. I still need to pick out the colors but it needs it badly so I'm excited. I'll post before and afters when it's done.

5) We have 2 new additions to the house. The Saturday before last, Blake's grandparents took him to a pet fair. He walked in the door when he got home with these guys. Introducing Spikey and Swimmy. It's a good thing we love the grandparents because not just anyone could get away with that. They are African Dwarf Frogs and are completely aquatic. It's kind of like taking care of a Beta or a goldfish. Very easy and they don't eat bugs.



They made it a whole week so on Saturday we upgraded there digs to this. The other container was way to small for 2 of them. Blake had fun picking out the gravel and the stuff to put in it.

Look closely and you'll see Swimmy.

And here is Spikey.

6) Last but not least, I get to go see Wicked on the 20th. I am SOOOOO excited. I'm going with my friend Mindy and I know we're going to have a blast. I've read the book and have the soundtrack and can't wait.

Slowly but surely

Tim is healing up slowly but surely. He's still pretty sore but that makes sense when you have a big ol incision in your belly with 13 staples. I think he has a new respect for all you mommies out there that have had c-sections.

I have to admit that I have enjoyed being home with him every day. I'm working from home this week. It's been so awesome to be here in the morning to get Blake ready and walk him to school. It does make my heart ache as it reminds me of all that I miss. Him with his cute little back pack and seeing his excitement when he sees all his friends. I know it's a small thing but it means a lot to me.

Anywho, I'll stop sniveling now. No news from the doctor. The week has gone by quickly though. So much to do, so little time. I've cooking now for the last 2 1/2 weeks every night. We haven't gone out to dinner once. This is big news in our world. We used to eat out on average 3 times a week. We're trying to turn over a new leaf and I mean that quite literally. Lots of green veggies going on at this house and only lean meats and fish. We bought a George Forman grill and he and I have been bonding. Tim is usually the cook in our family but I've taken over for a time. If you have any great low fat ways to cook fish, pork loin or chicken please share. We're trying to stay away from noodles and rice right now.

Random Happenings

I'm determined not to let the volume of things that I need to get done in the next 16 days stress me out. I refuse to be stressed this season . Does it really matter that I don't have the tree up yet? Not in the big scheme of things. Right? That's what I thought too.

Tonight I am attempting to make fudge for the first time. So far, it's coming out a bit too gritty from the sugar. I'm sure there is some trick or maybe it's just my recipe. The kind I'm making is called Dreamy fudge and it has marshmallows, evaporated milk, butter and sugar and then you add either peanut butter or chocolate chips after you take it off the stove. I tried the chocolate kind first and after hubby gets done making dinner and cookies I'm going to try the peanut butter. Hubby is going to make cookies and then tomorrow we're going to make up goodie bags and deliver them to our home teachers etc. That's the plan anyway. Wish us luck and that the fudge is edible.

The tree, decorations, present wrapping and the rest will get done eventually. I will be over here not stressing about it and enjoying the season. Even if I have to talk myself into every day.

Catch up blog...

Not to be confused with a Ketchup blog..hehe :o)

Well, I made it through my first week at Kaiser. Much to my surprise, I am already feeling quite comfortable. The people are plenty nice and the job is going to be a real challenge and I'm feeling up to it. The commute isn't too bad because I'm driving during non peak hours. Now if I could just figure out a way to power the car without gasoline..hmmmmm.

I am missing my laptop terribly. I had to give it back because I guess "technically" it belonged to my previous company. WHATEVER..lol I miss sitting downstairs on my couch surfing the web and getting my blog fix. Now I have to share the desktop with hubby *gasp* and he is not very good at sharing. I can say that because he admitted it. He dislikes it so much that he's contemplating getting a laptop using his own hard earned and saved money. We'll see.

I love my in-laws. Did I mention that? They are the best. We so enjoy being with them and they are the best grandparents in the whole world. Blake loves them so much and looks forward to seeing them as often as possible. We have a weekly date with them on Friday nights and tonight they came over and we played Pinochle and had KFC. It was a perfect night. We are truly blessed to have them in our lives.

And last but not least, someone turned the heat up over here. I don't know what the official high was today but my car said 101. Say what??? It was 60 degrees earlier in the week. It has been a crazy spring for sure. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend and then back to normal next week. Whatever that is. Thank heavens for air conditioning. I am not a happy hot person.

Oh, one more thing. My new boss is British and has a very strong accent and I'm finding it very difficult to keep from trying to mimic her when we are talking. I have no idea why. Something is not right in this head of mine. Big surprise I know.

On to the next adventure

Yesterday was my last day at my job downtown. It surprises me how close I actually got to several of the people there in only 7 ish months. One gal in particular. She and I could not be more different in so many aspects and yet we have so much in common in others. I truly believe that there are those people that we meet that we feel like we have known forever. I think that these are the ones that we knew before and in some way our spirits recognize each other. I have a few days off before starting the new job and I am wishing that it was more like a few weeks. I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Today was a fabulous day. My sweet hubby got me a wonderful Mothers Day-Anniversary gift. I spent the majority of the day at a wonderful spa being pampered and relaxified. I started with a massage and then it was on to the Japanese style soaking pool which I had all to myself for about 40 minutes. Then I had a 1 hour facial in which I nearly fell asleep. Who knew that a face massage could be that relaxing. I then finished it up with a fabulous pedicure. I could barely walk when I was done but in a good kind of a way. Hubs then said he would pick the boy up so I could take a little nap before they got home. Thank you honey bunny, that was the perfect gift.

Tomorrow, I am taking Blake to the doc to talk about allergies. The poor child has been suffering this year. I'd really like to get him tested and see if I am just making it up or if he really does have allergies. He actually prayed tonight that he wouldn't get a "poke" at his appt tomorrow. I'm also going to get the last minute things for Mothers Day and then spend some time working on a few projects around the house.

That's about all that is going on around here for now. Peace out.

Is it just me?

Or are there others out there that think we should just leave the time alone already? Daylight Savings Time is a double edged sword. While I enjoy the extra daylight it really messes my sleep schedule up and it takes my body awhile to adjust. I needed to be asleep last night but instead I was wide awake and watching the clock. I am exhausted this morning. Getting up at 4am is soooo NOT fun sometimes but it's worth it. End of whining.

M.I.A.

It was brought to my attention that I have been missing in action. I promise that it's not on purpose. I've just been really busy (aren't we all). I'm slowly but surely working on my 100 things about me post in honor of my 100th post (don't count this post). I'm starting to realize how lame I am..LOL

I'll be back soon.

P.S. Random thought alert...I'm so thankful for the principle of fasting and for the priesthood. When you feel helpless (like I do when it comes to the outcome of my mother-in-laws kidney transplant) I'm thankful to know that I can fast for her which isn't something tangible but worth so much more. I'm also thankful that she's accepted a blessing from a good friend before she goes to the hospital.

Random thoughts and stuff

1) I have to work how many days this week? 5 you say? How is that humanly possible after having so much time off over the holidays? I wonder who made up the work week and thought that was fair. 5 days on and 2 days off. Sooooo not fair. Back to reality...blech.

2) All of us are well finally. No more icky tummies and all that good stuff. YIPPEE. We are thinking of just bleaching the entire house and starting over to kill all the germs.

3) We had a great "camp out" in our living room tonight. We read some from the scriptures, had tickle fights and ganged up on daddy. It's a new thing that Blake started where we get all the blankets and pillows and "camp out" in the floor with all the lights off. Next week we are getting smores fixings.

4) Don't you just wish you could record moments like #4 in your head forever? I wish I could switch on the camcorder in my head and lock the tape away somewhere safe in my little brain. Someday my son will grow up and be too cool for camping in the living room floor and I want to remember everything.

5) We sang this song in primary yesterday that touched my very soul. I think it is called "If the Savior stood beside me". We learned the first verse. The spirit was very strong as the children and the leaders/teachers sang about the Savior standing beside them and if they would change the things they say and do and be a kinder/gentler person. I have been thinking about it every since and hoping that I commit it to memory because it is a great reminder to me. I always want to act as though the Savior were right beside me because he is. That doesn't mean I do all the time but it is my goal.

6) One of my New Years Goals is to work on my food storage so I am making my first trip to the church cannery in a couple of weeks. I have no clue what this means but I think I'm going to come away with some good stuff.


Well, that seems like quite enough rambling for one day.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot

7) Capital One has the worst customer support EVER. I have had to deal with them a couple of times and both times were a lesson in patience. Someone got a hold of our credit card number so I needed to report the card stolen. You would think this would be easy right? WRONG?? I was transferred and put on hold and hung up on etc. One hour later....I think the card is reported stolen and I think we have some paperwork on the way but heck if I really know. The worst part is that they don't care. They could care less if I took my business elsewhere. ARGGHHH!! Ok, I feel better now. Do you think all this complaining has already ruined my goals in #5?

One more get up and then.....

6 glorious days off work. I'm so excited. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed (like who hasn't right) with trying to get everything done for Christmas, create lasting memories, start traditions that will become beloved, feel the true spirit of the season, work, church, being a mommy, etc etc. Is it just me or does it sometimes just seem like it all might consume you if you just stand still for a minute?

Some people seem to make it look easy. Just read some of the wonderful blogs right over there>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> to the right of this post. I was telling my husband the other day that I feel like a messy, unorganized closet. On the outside, everything looks good. All neat and tidy. But if you open the door, a pile of clothes and couple of pairs of shoes might hit you in the head. If you came to my house, you would probably say, "Gee, she keeps a pretty clean, lived in yes, but clean" but if you were to open the cupboard in the kitchen, the closets, or the garage you might run out screaming. In many areas of my life, I am very organized but these tasks have gotten away from me. So, I have decided that next year I am going to make a list of all the projects I want to get done. I will then make a goal of getting at least one done per month. Even if it's as small as organizing under the sink. I'm hoping that by writing it down, I can get it out of my head and on the way to being complete.

I just realized that I'm babbling on and on. It must be time for sleep. If you made it this far, congrats and goodnight.

Yikes and other happenings!!

The Yikes part is that we (Hubby and I) have been asked to speak in the Saturday evening session of Stake conference. WHAT?!?!?!? My first thought was how did they find out about us and who am I going to kick the next time I see them. After that thought passed I remembered to breathe and we were back on track. This will be my husbands first speaking assignment ever. Can you imagine? The good news is that he's never been to stake conference so he doesn't know to be afraid. Unfortunately I have been and I am freaked. They want me to talk about how I encouraged my husband when it comes to the church without pushing him and they want him to talk about accepting the gospel and how that has changed his life. I haven't started it yet and we speak on the 17th. I hope inspiration comes soon.

My new job is going pretty well. It's very busy so the days just fly by. I start at 5am at home and work until 7am and then get on the train. This allows me to leave work between 2 and 230pm. It's worth it to have more time with Blake.

Blake's birthday is soon so I've been busy planning that. He's going to be 5 and has begged us for a couple of years to go to Chuck-E-Cheese so we're going to relent. Yes, we love him just that much. It's such a zoo but he loves it and you only turn 5 once. The good news is that you have to be done with the party in a hour and half and it goes by fast. He's really into transformers right now so that will be his theme.

I can't think of anything else right now. It seems that we are busy most every weekday evening with something. Now that both of us are members of the church, it's amazing how many "good" things can fill your time. I am reminded of a talk by Elder Oaks in the last conference about "good, better and best" It's all about how you can be so busy doing things that are all considered good that you have start picking and choosing the best of these things. That's a tough one and I'm still working on it. It's the whole need to please people.

I'm exhausted

I had forgotten how exhausting learning could be. Today was my first day at the new job. Overall, I would say it was a positive experience. So many new things, new people, new surroundings etc. My poor little brain is full. My whole schedule will be different for the next few weeks so it's going to take some getting used to. I am now officially a "mass transit" rider as well. It is nice to be able to save on gas and wear and tear on the car for sure. I had time to read the paper as I rode in and as I get more comfortable I will be able to read scriptures, books, listen to talks and music on my IPod. It will be a nice bit of "me" time for sure.

I might be M.I.A. a bit for awhile here and there as I get used to the new schedule and try to fit everything in so if I don't make it to all your blogs, don't worry, I'll get caught up at some point. After I am trained, I will be working earlier and getting back to a more normal schedule...I hope.

Ch..ch..ch...changes

As of tomorrow at about 4:20 p.m. My hubby will be the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (well, officially it will be Sunday when he's confirmed but it's close enough to count). He's really excited and so am I. It will be good to see my two older brothers (not by blood but I adopted them just the same) who introduced me to the church. They were here for my baptism 5 1/2 years ago and then when I went through the temple and now for my hubby's baptism. I hope they will get to make it a family vacation in September 08 when hopefully we'll see them again when we "seal" the deal. I think about the last 6 years of my life and marvel at the changes/miracles that the Lord has brought to pass in my life and I truly Stand all Amazed. Anyone sick of really sad puns yet?

I will officially start my new job/exciting adventure/country bumpkin goes to the city on October 1st. I smell a reality TV show in the making. It's a big change but I think it's the right thing for me.

By the way, we decided to go for the cookies/lemonade right after the baptism at the church and then a chili dog feed at a friends house after to celebrate.

I will not forget

What happened on that day 6 years ago when our country lost so many precious lives to such a violent and senseless act. Our country also lost a great deal of our sense of security. We all came together that day and for quite some time after that regardless of age, race, religion or social status. We were UNITED. We mourned and cried together. There was a shortage of American flags, there was a sign in almost every business and car window. Many turned to the Lord to find answers. I'll never forget getting ready for work that morning and hearing about the first plane hitting the towers and then watching and listening the rest of the day as the horrors unfolded. I will never forget and I don't want to forget.

Since then our country is divided again far worse then we ever were before. I truly believe that United We Stand and Divided We Fall. This is what our enemy wants. They love that we don't agree. It's much easier that way. I realize that I'm rambling on and probably not making sense but I just couldn't let the day go by without remembering that terrible day. May God comfort those that mourn this day. May they know that I am out here and I will never forget what happened to their loved ones.

Overheard at my house

This last week the dryer died and my son said

Him: "Mom, I know why the dryer died"
Me: Oh yeah, why?
Him: "Yep, you used it to much"

Why didn't I think of that? I knew that I did too much laundry but now I have proof. What a smart boy :o)

Trials

I know that trials are a given in this life and my mind does understand why we have them. One of my favorite quotes is "Trials and tribulations are mandatory, misery is optional." That said, it can be so difficult to watch some you love go through them. My poor mother-in-law is very sick. Her kidneys failed in late December 06 (due to diabetes which she has had for a long time) She has been on dialysis since. I had no idea how difficult this was on someone. It would be one thing if she was healthy to begin with but she has high blood pressure, the affor-mentioned diabetes, hardening of the arteries and she has had several small strokes. She has been trying to get on the donor list for a kidney. This process is so much harder than they make it look on TV. Doctor after doctor, test after test. She had a liver biopsy this last Thursday. If it is positive for whatever they are looking for she will need chemotherapy The night of the biopsy she went to the ER and is now in the hospital for high potassium (a side effect of kidney failure) and now she needs her gallbladder out. I just don't know how much more her poor little body can take. I feel so helpless. I wish I could take some of this for her but I know that I can't. So, I pray. That is all I can do because I know that Jesus Christ has felt this pain she is going through and can ease her burden. She just has to be okay in the long run because I just can't bear the thought of the alternative. I have been a member of this family for 14 years and I love her dearly. My son loves her dearly. I have lost my parents already and I don't want to loose her too. If you are reading this and are the praying kind, please say a little prayer for her. I just have to have faith and someone convince her to do the same.

Sweet freedom

Yesterday, I complained about waiting on hold for several hours trying to hook up my wireless router. I wondered if it would be worth it...Well, the answer is a resounding YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Tonight I sit downstairs in the recliner, no longer chained to my desk upstairs, writing my post. As a friend said, 3 hours is a small price to pay for SWEET freedom. I used to wonder what I did without the internet and now I wonder how I lived all this time without wireless capability. I have been missing out for sure. So, that said, thank you Mr. Keep me on hold forever, thank you for my new found freedom.

3 hours of my life that I can never get back

I know that we've all been there. Sitting on hold for the 40th time (for just 2 to 4 minutes the professional voice says on the other end) while I wait for him to fix my modem and my DSL. Let's face it, I'm at his mercy. It doesn't help that he's very polite for the 30 seconds he comes back every 2 to 4 minutes. How can I be mad at him when he's doing his very best. Uggghhh, I dislike holding on the phone. All I wanted was a wireless modem. Is that to much to ask? Should that really take 3 hours to get installed and working? But I digress and with any luck, I will be working from home tomorrow downstairs with my laptop and my walking around unplugged freedom. I would also like to thank the man or woman that invented speaker phone so that I don't also have a kink in my neck to go with the headache from the hold music.

Movie Mania

This weekend was great!! I went out with my very best friend on Friday night and say the movie/musical Hairspray. I would highly recommend it. It was AWESOME. Very good story, great characters, great music and I smiled so much that my cheeks hurt the next day. Then on Saturday, Blake and I went to the farmers market as usual and had a great "mommy" day (much different then the last one) He seems to be back to his happy go lucky self (YIPPEE!!) He then spent the night with grandma and grandpa so hubby and I could have a date night. We made the most of it and had a wonderful dinner and then went to see not one movie but TWO movies back to back. I haven't done that since I was a youngin. We didn't get home and in bed until 1:30 a.m. so when I had to get up at 7:00 a.m. for church the next day I was feeling that I'm not quite as young as I think I am (you can imagine my surprise) First we saw Transformers which surprisingly was a really good movie. Great special effects and it actually had a good storyline. We then saw the new Harry Potter movie which was also pretty good. It was a great date night and worth missing out on a little sleep. Some other things happened this weekend that I'm not sure that I'm going to post about because I want to respect my hubbys privacy but let's just say that if you are a praying person, send some his way because he could use them.

To reward or not to reward

That is the question. I distinctly remember the first time I was able to say to Blake "Do this and you'll get this" and it worked. I could have sworn that I heard the angels singing. Now some would say that you shouldn't have to reward your children for things they should be doing already. I mean, when I was a kid, the reward was that you didn't get a spanking. I would say that so far reward has worked pretty well for us. It really started with potty training and has evolved over time with things like having a good day at preschool (i.e. no hitting, whining, respecting other, taking a nap). Now we have made a whole reward chart with specific responsibilities and each day he either gets a token for the responsibility or he doesn't. At the end of each week we will count the tokens and they will be like points. After so many points, he will earn a prize (which could be a trip to the dollar store, picnic in the park, night with grandma and grandpa etc.) (thanks Ms. Amy for all the good reward ideas) We are hoping that this will help him learn that he has some basic rights in life such as love, respect, food, a home, a bed etc. but the rest of it (movies, toys, going to the park etc) are priveledges and just like everyone else you have to do your job to earn these things. I don't know if it's wrong or it's right but so it works for us :o) (famous last words)