Vacation Time

You won't see much from me in the next week. I'll be enjoying myself down in Savannah, Georgia with family and friends!  Lots of fun in the sun!  Now back to packing.....................

Weekends with RA and fibromyalgia

Having RA and fibromyalgia means I have to plan my weekends a little differently than some people.  My kids all do sports and scouts and any other activity that interests them.  Although, I do try to limit them to a couple of things per season.  By the time you've gone to a couple of games on Saturday and then maybe get to the library and then if something special is going on, your day is gone.  For Sunday, if it's a scout meeting day, the afternoon has vanished from you and the morning is usually spent playing catch up for anything that really needs to be done. 

So planning has become key to my weekends.  Unfortunately my planning skills could use some work!  I'm not always sure what we're having for dinner and I'm always behind on the dishes and the laundry.  The one thing that I am always sure of is that I love spending time with my family and friends!  Everything can wait until I can get to it.  It usually means that I spend half of the week playing catch up but that's ok, since everyone is in school or at work.  I'm slowly learning that I need to have my family pitch in more when it comes to doing the chores, even though it makes me feel guilty.  I feel like that's my job and their job is either to go to work or school and do their best at that.  But, I'm working on it!

Everything in my life seems to be a work in progress.  I have a feeling that my life is always going to be that way and that's fine.  I'm going to eventually learn to adjust my attitude to whatever works at this time in my life is how I'm going to do things. 

How about you???????????????

Baking Day

Today has been a HUGE baking day!  I am no where near finished, but am taking a break.  So far I have made 4 batches of banana bread and 4 batches of pumpkin bread.  Some are for the staff appreciation breakfast at our school on Friday and the rest are for here.  I am hoping that some will make it into the freezer for our trip next week.

Next I will be making a batch of cream cheese chocolate chip cookies for the luncheon at school tomorrow.  I would also like to share some of these with a few friends, so even though one batch makes a lot of cookies, I may end up doing a double batch. 

I also want to do some muffins for the breakfast and some brownies and cookies for here.  Maybe some chocolate pudding pies as well................   Can you tell I'm hungry????  That's making me think of Apple Slab Pie and since I have some apples, I may have to whip up one to stick in the freezer for when we get back from vacation.  Head on over to Life As Mom at http://www.lifeasmom.com/ and you'll find Jessica's recipe for the pie.  Believe me when I say it's awesome!  I can eat a whole one all by myself!!!  But that's for another day................

Back to the baking.  Let me know what you enjoy to bake!

A New Day, A New Beginning

Ever have one of those days when you think "why can't everything go as planned?"  Well, that was my day yesterday and I'm chalking it up to a learning experience!

That being said, I was able to accomplish so much more today, because I wasn't wallowing in anything.  If something didn't go as planned today, it was "okay, next.....".  Yesterday made me realize that life is life and there isn't anything that can change it.  Not saying that it won't happen many, many more times in my future, but I'll be trying.

It's been a busy day planning and starting to pack for my trip next week.  It's going to be a long 16 plus hours drive to Savannah with my husband and the kids.  It will be sooo worth it when we arrive!  Just seeing everyone, having fun, celebrating a graduation and hanging out.  Who could ask for more?  Exactly what life should be about!

Since I have RA and fibromyalgia, I am trying to do a little packing each day, so I don't get too overwhelmed at the last minute and stress myself out.  I know something will still happen and I will get stressed, but I am trying.  I have a stack of juice boxes and a bag of some snacks ready to go.  I am planning on getting sheets and air mattresses together later tonight.  Tomorrow I will start some baking and get the swim suits and towels together.  Then some of the toiletry items.  See, I have a plan! 

I have the big Arthritis Walk this weekend on Sunday, so that will take most of a day away from me and I am so okay with it!  A day to hang out with friends, meet new people and raise awareness for a good cause! Lets get our walking shoes and go!

A Rainy, Busy Monday

Today's weather seems to match my mood!  After a super busy weekend, filled with soccer and softball games, shopping and a trip to Howe Caverns, all I really wanted to do today was relax.  However, that word should never be anywhere near a mom's lips.  :)  

I took my oldest to the dentist this morning to have his last baby tooth pulled out.  Since he has braces on (for the second time) they wanted this tooth out sooner than later.  I decided that they should give him the medicine that would make him sleepy and not remember anything.  He's terrible when it comes to stuff like this.  Afterwards was such a comical sight!  He kept asking the same questions over and over again, said he was seeing 2 of everything and doesn't even remember calling home to tell his dad that he was okay and just waiting to come out of la la land, before he came home.  I was laughing hysterically!  I think that the best part was when we were on our way home and he asked what something was.  Since I couldn't see where he was pointing, I was getting confused.  Then I realized that he was talking about the road!  He couldn't remember the most basic stuff and then he said that his brains weren't working!   :) 

That was the bright part of my day.  The kids had a special persons' luncheon today, so I thought I'd be nice and send my husband, since I get to eat with the kids whenever I want to.  And someone had to be with the one that was still kind of in la la land.  The lunch was over at 1:10 and they had to leave to school to get home, so I could take the younger 2 to the dentist for a cleaning at 2:00.  At 1:40 my husband still wasn't home with the kids, so I called and he STILL hadn't left school!  He said our youngest wasn't down yet and he just sent our daughter to find him.  Now it was the youngests' lunch that ended at 1:10, so he had him, but I guess he didn't bring his stuff with him.  But why my husband thought it was a good thing to wait a half hour before sending someone to find him, is the question?????   So, now I'm home and my husband had to drive the kids to the dentist, since he couldn't come home first.  Maybe he'll start to realize what a mom's life is like???  ok, so maybe not so much.........................

At least now, I can laugh about it, that is until the kids come home crying because I wasn't there!   :(

Many more things to do this afternoon, so I guess I'll get a move on listing some things on etsy, check some emails, do some baking, get a loaf of bread together, laundry, make sure I remember to pick up the co-op food order, and think of something to make for dinner.  Or I could take the stress free route and curl up and finish my book!

Customer Service

I love it when I have a question for a company and I receive great customer service when I call!  I had ordered a tractor lawn mower for my husband last week and I knew that it had reached stage 1 in the delivery process.  I have been waiting for a phone call to see when they would be delivering it, but hadn't heard yet.  I called the customer service number that I received in my order confirmation email from Home Depot and reached a very nice customer service rep.  He looked at the tracking info and actually called the delivery company to find out what was going on, all while he kept me on hold.  He kept checking back with me, to let me know that he was waiting for info and asking if I minded holding a little bit longer.  When he received the info, he relayed it to me, along with a company name and phone number of where the tractor is right now.  I guess they are assembling it and making sure everything is okay, before calling to set up a delivery time.  It was so nice to have such a wonderful customer service representative, who seemed very polite and caring and who also seems to love his job!

What a wonderful start to my day!!!

Beginning of a new week

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I hope all you moms out there enjoyed your day.  Mine started with the kids fighting over who was going to make me what for breakfast, followed by the delivery of 1 piece of french toast with nothing on it and 3 strawberries.  At least some of the breakfast dishes were done.  Fast forward to dinner --  I didn't mind making it because we were just finishing up some things in the fridge so they wouldn't go to waste.  Well, nobody even considered doing the dinner dishes for me!  Oh well, some therapy in soapy water is a good thing.   :)

I have been on a roll cleaning today and have been alternating between keeping busy and resting.  I finished an entire book yesterday and I even though I have some spare time this afternoon and would like to read, I'm asking myself if I'm being too selfish???  OK, I'm not even going to give THAT another thought!

This week is going to be busy with softball and soccer, PTA meeting, going shopping to get some jewelry making things for the raffle basket our team needs to donate for the pasta dinner the league has, clean up day for the front of our school, a doctor's appointment and probably a million other things.  Oh, and did I mention that in 2 weeks, we'll be leaving to drive down to Georgia for a graduation??  I need to start prepping for that trip as well.  I have that list started and just have to find the best way for me to do this.  I'm planning on keeping up with this around the house as best I can, keep my shopping trips short and sweet, and plan on baking up a storm, so we have goodies for our trip!  I want to use up some of our stockpile so it will be easier to rotate and know what I have so I can start stocking up on the summertime needs and wants. (smores anyone??)

Speaking of shopping, I am planning on trying to tweak my diet a little.  I need to make sure that I am eating the foods that are the best for my body and keep the processed and junk foods to a minimum.  How am I supposed to give up chocolate????  This is going to be a very long process, but I'm sure in the long run, it will make me feel a whole lot better.  If anyone has any ideas or ways to help me figure all of this out, please let me know.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

To all my fellow moms out there, Happy Mother's Day!  It's going to be a fairly busy day here today, but things should be slightly calmer tomorrow.  We have the sports thing going on today ---- pictures, practice, game, and then sign ups for football for my youngest.  Then there is the campover for cub scouts tonight, which I am NOT going to!!  :)

Tomorrow I'm sure I will receive breakfast in bed and then will go into the kitchen to find a lot of dishes that need to be done.........  Oh well, that is okay.  I enjoy every part of being a mom.  To have your child come in to your room in the morning and give you a big hug and kiss, or to watch them when they finally figure something out that they've been struggling with.  Even when they are acting up, you know that it's because they are just learning what they need to know as they continue to grow and that you are responsible for teaching them all of these things.  Sometimes that responsibility can be overwhelming and sometimes us parents are really tired or busy and we kind of lose it, but then we can teach our kids about making mistakes.  It's wonderful how everything works out and that no matter what the love is always there and that love goes both ways.

Everyone enjoy your weekend and enjoy your family and friends.  That's what really matters in life!!

What was I thinking?????????????

I wasn't feeling the best for most of the month of April, so I have been getting really behind on MANY things.  I had to go through a month of receipts yesterday and balance the checkbook. What a task!  Then I had to pay bills for this upcoming month.  After ALL of that, I went through my receipts for groceries and household items, to track how much I spent during the month of April.  What a shock I had!  I spent WAY TOO MUCH MONEY!  Almost 4 times what I normally would like to.  I'm not sure what happened, but obviously since I wasn't feeling well and had been using up a lot of my stockpile over the winter months, I overspent.  I definitely need to watch what I am doing over the next few months, so I can get back on track. 

I have decided that I need to get my body back in shape, so that I am feeling better long term, instead of all of these ups and downs lately.  I'm just not sure what I am doing wrong, so I'm not quite certain how I can fix this.  I am trying to rest as much as I can and keep my stress levels down, but that's really difficult with kids.  I have also been having difficulty sleeping again.  (maybe from some of these money issues????)

Another decision I have made is that I need to get some extra income into this house.  I have opened an etsy shop, so I can sell some of the crafts that I have made.  Making crafts has a soothing effect on me and my body, so I have decided that that is a good thing.  You can check out my shop at www.etsy.com/shop/jenfitz42

Feel free to share this website with anyone you feel would like any of my creations.

Later this week, I plan on doing a post on the Arthritis Walk up here in Albany on May 22nd.  I'm planning on walking again this year and have a team set up, along with a donation page.

Now off to see what else I can do with this day..............................