the last week of January

I'm thinking I'm not enjoying 2009 very much! Much to my dismay, a few of our lice friends decided to stick around, so we're still working on that issue. We've also had colds & pink-eye. I'm training to be charge nurse at work & am definitely not enjoying that very much. The rules change every day, so I'm having trouble knowing what I'm supposed to do! I also have assertiveness issues, so I tend to get walked all over alot of times. I'm also a little freaked out by the recession because we have alot of debt & have not been very good at getting out. I think both of our jobs are safe, but the ability to get any extra hours/overtime is becoming limited. Lastly, I am not getting any of my emails, which is driving my a little crazy because I just know there is something important in one of them I am missing, even though I rarely receive anything that important!

Now for some less dreary talk. I have officially watched every episode of the OC! I started watching episodes when I worked @ ETMC my friend Tracy's daughter had all the seasons on DVD so we watched them on slow nights. When I quit there, I was happy to find all the episodes airing on SoapNet, so thanks to the DVR I began watching where I had left off & finished this week. I have also gotten caught up on Lost & Grey's Anatomy. I guess there is a perk to not getting extra hours at work after all ;)!

I bought a purse on eBay this week. I have been looking for a new one for awhile because the lockers at my new job are 1/3 the size of the lockers at my old job & I'm having trouble squeezing my giant purse in there. I looked on Fossil.com & loved many of the purses on there, but not the price, so I searched eBay & was able to find NWT Fossil purses for much cheaper! This is the purse I chose - a Fossil black & white tote. I'm very excited, I hope it comes soon & I hope my friend Camillia approves! I also hope it fits better in the locker & I can fit all my stuff in it, all of which I assure you is necessary that I have - LOL!!

Cute Sophie talk of the week - when she is watching Dora the Explorer on TV, if you ask her what she is watching she says "Du-du-du-du-du-Dora" like in the theme song. She is such a cutie-pie! But she won't even think about sitting on the potty, so potty-training isn't going too well!

I bought a study guide for the MAT which is the test I need to take to get into graduate school. If I can take this test in the next couple of weeks, I may have time to try to get accepted for the fall, otherwise it will be next spring.

I bought a couple of other books to read for fun. I've not had an interest in reading very much since nursing school, but I'm trying to get back into it. My friend Jamie got me interesting in the Shopaholic series which I have read the 1st two, so I bought the 3rd one now. I'm also excited that they have made the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic! The other book I got is The boy in the Striped Pajamas which I started reading one night at work I was sitting in the nursery with a baby & the mom had left the book on the crib so I picked it up & before I knew it I had read 6 chapters so I just had to buy it & finish it. I've heard this book also has a movie coming out. These may be the 1st 2 movies where I have actually read the book 1st!

That's all for now, hope everyone is having a good 2009 so far!

the not so good Monday

I was hesitant to post about this because, even thought I know it's not true, I feel like we are the only people who have ever had this & it means we are not a hygienically acceptable family, but here goes. (whispering) we have lice. I would like to post about this not only so that we can have laughter in this not so funny time, but also to offer some words of advice to anyone that this may happen to in the future.

I bought a 3-step lice ridding kit: step 1 - lice killing shampoo, step 2 - lice & egg comb-out gel with comb, step 3 - home lice control spray. We started the delousing process by having the girls wash their hair with the lice killing shampoo (step 1) - you apply thoroughly to dry hair, let it sit for 10 minutes, then lather & rinse it out. Then onto step 2 - I found a place with good light which in our house is our desk lamp. I sat in the desk chair & had Zoe sit on a pillow on the floor. She has thick hair like her mommy so I knew she would be the hardest so I wanted to get her out of the way 1st. I separated a small piece of hair out, coated it with the gel, & proceeded to comb through it with the little plastic comb that came in the kit. Guess what I began to notice at this point - THE LICE ARE NOT DEAD! So step 1 was pretty much a waste of time & money - we found out during some reading on the Internet that the lice are becoming resistant to the pesticides in the shampoo! That's OK because I was determined to make step 2 work. By the way, Theo did step 3 during this time, washing the kids bedding & spraying their beds, pillows, etc. I look at my comb & all that is on there is the gel that I put in her hair. So I go on to another strand & I can see a louse (I guess that's the singular form of lice). So I comb through that strand, but cannot seem to get the little guy onto the comb. I keep working for several minutes & finally get it - YEA! one down, one million to go. I go to put it in a plastic baggie, since this is how the kit suggested we do so we can throw them out, but I can't get it off the comb. I tried using a tissue, but Theo brought me a brush that I used to finally get it off the comb & into the bag. So now after maybe 10 minutes I have 1 louse in the bag. Still OK because now I've gotten some practice & it's going to go faster! I repeat this for several more strands & was going a little faster & had about 4-5 lice in the bag. Then I noticed a louse on the strands I've already done. This is when I began to LOSE IT! (Theo says I had already lost it at this point). Theo found a video on the Internet with instructions on how to comb the lice out of the hair - it had a few good points, one thing I noticed was they were using a metal comb instead of a plastic comb, so Theo went to the store to see if they had any different combs (& to pick up McDonald's because I sure the heck was not going to make dinner tonight)! While he was gone, I continued the combing out process & by the time he got back I had like a dozen lice in the bag! We took a break to eat, but I was feeling a little nauseous from looking a crawling lice so I didn't eat too much.
At the store, Theo did find a comb kit Acu-Life Ultimate Lice Comb. It has 2 sizes of metal combs that you can interchange on a handle with a magnifying glass on it, tweezers, & a brush. He also bought some hair clips to separate the hair. I tried the metal comb on Zoe's hair & it definitely worked better. It actually got more than 1 lice at a time with the eggs - hooray & the clips worked great too! We also tried another thing they did on the video which was to use a cup of hot water to dip the brush in to get the lice off. It worked better than the Kleenex-plastic bag plan. Theo also decided to try brushing through Kalli's hair with the long brush & see what he got, no separating into strands or clipping. He got tons of lice out of her hair after brushing through it several times. So we decided to try that on Zoe's hair, while I did the separating, combing, & clipping routine on Kalli's hair to make sure to get the rest. We had also seen on the video to use olive or vegetable oil to coat the hair (instead of the gel), we tried olive oil which worked so much better! I decided to use the smaller comb to comb through Kalli's hair. There were only 2 lice left on her hair after Theo combed through it. Some nits, but no more lice jumping back onto the parts I had already done. Theo also tried heating the water to boiling in the microwave with a little soap to cut the olive oil, which made it easier to get the lice & nits off the comb & kill the lice. We had finally found a plan that worked after more than 2 hours of trial & error, it was almost the kids bedtime but it was definitely moving faster now. Kalli is completely done after a mere 30 minutes. Then I did Zoe, which took a little longer because she has so much more hair, but to my pleasant surprise there were no live lice left in her hair! Theo did Tad's because Theo had already shaved his head down to 1 inch long to try to make it easier. Next we had to wash out the olive oil. Last we put bedding back on beds & tucked them in hopefully lice free.
Now we had to do Sophie, mom, & dad. Luckily Sophie thought what I had been doing to the girls looked pretty interesting, so she didn't fight us too much. 1 of us entertained her while the other 1 combed & then we switched. She didn't have too many lice in her hair so it was easy. Theo did mine & I only had a few, then Theo only had a couple - WE WERE DONE!
I should have taken pictures of our adventures, but I was too stressed out to think of it.

Now to summarize what worked for us:

Supplies:

• lice-killing shampoo
• metal lice comb, 2 sizes preferred
• olive oil
• cup of hot water, with a small amount of dish soap
• Kleenex or towel
• hair clips or bobby pins
• plastic Ziploc bags (optional)
• home lice control spray

Instructions:

• even thought it didn't seem to work, I still recommend using some kind of lice-killing shampoo to start - you can only use this once then repeat in 7-10 days
• coat the hair at the scalp with olive oil, as you comb through the hair it will bring the oil down to the ends of the hair
• comb through the hair several time with the long comb to get the bulk of the lice out, dip the comb in warm water, then wipe the comb on a Kleenex or towel
• in a bright lighted environment, separate the hair into small portions approximately the size of the comb, comb through the hair, dip the comb in warm water them wipe it on a Kleenex or towel, clip or pin the hair out of the way
• shampoo the hair twice to wash out the olive oil
• wash all bed linens & recently worn clothing
• spray any bedding that can't be washed, pillows, mattresses, furniture, etc.
• wash all lice removal equipment in hot water or soak in cup of hot water & dispose of any Kleenexes or disposable cups in plastic bags or outside trash can
• check affected family members daily, if any lice or nits seen repeat above steps excluding the 1st step

Hope this is helpful to someone! Have a great lice-free day!

the fun Saturday night

Hubby & I went out on the town tonight, did some shopping, some eating, some more shopping! The kiddos were having a sleepover @ Nana & Pawpaw's. I know I definitely had more fun than he did!

First we went to Target. We browsed the clearance racks & endcaps and found a few good deals. They had alot of 75% off, but most of the stuff we found was 30% or 50% off. I was very proud of my Christmas panties for 75% off that I can wear year-round & no one will know - teehee!

Next we went to the Children's Place. I had a $10 coupon from my Place Perks, 15% off my entire purchase coupon, shopped the monster sale 30% off already reduced merchandise & save a bunch! They are having a $1000 sweepstakes here, you can enter once daily & you can join the birthday club where they will send you coupons on your birthday & your children's' birthday.

Then we had dinner @ On the Border where we threw caution to the wind & saved absolutely no money, I even got a grande margarita! & they didn't even card me, I guess I look so old now with my gray hairs!

Last we went to CVS where they have their bonus deals such as double packs of Cheerios, Cheez-its, Mrs. Fields cookies, etc. with some coupons & extra care bucks so we saved bunches!

Want a free sample of Quaker True Delights? Go here. Enjoy!

Just to throw in a funny about Miss Sophie - a car was coming towards our road, but turned before it got to our house. Sophie said "That was close - whew!" rubbing her had across her forehead! What a cutie-patootie!

the dr. appointment

Miss Sophie had her 2-year check-up with Dr. M last Tuesday. We had a long wait in the waiting room in which I had to deal with the antics of my very spoiled daughter. She told children that were trying to play in the vicinity of her that this was her toy or to "Go away!" If any children or adults tried to sit by me or talk to me she would yell out "That's my mommy!" I of course got onto her many times using her full name "Sophia Noelle", but have wondered how I have let her become so bad! I, along with the other members of my family, have created a monster! I do keep telling myself we have also created a little girl who is so darn cute & smart!

She weighed 26 lbs which in in the 50th percentile, I can't remember her height but it was in the 75th percentile. I am actually relieved that she is in the 50th percentile because she eats like a bird! She only had to get 1 shot, the Hepatitis A vaccine.

the time for another Not Me! Monday!

Let me try to remember some things I didn't do this week:

• I did not absolutely insist that I didn't want to get put on stand-by @ work (that means I have to stay home but can get called in if they need me), then when they told me I had to be put on stand-by actually get excited about it, only to get absolutely crushed when they called me back an hour later to tell me I had to go ahead & come in!
• I certainly did not sulk & whine at work because they told me I had to go ahead & come in & it was my 4th 12-hr night shift in a row & had a really crazy busy patient load acting like I was the only nurse EVER that this has happened to only to have many of the wonderful people I work with jump in & help me so I wouldn't have a panic attack or a nervous breakdown! I would not ever do these things because I am normally such a calm, cool, & collected person!
• I definitely have not spoiled my 2-year old to the point of her not letting any other children or even adults sit by me or talk to me without yelling out "That's my mommy!"
• I really did not just yesterday finally get my Christmas tree out of my house still having other Christmas decorations up when it's almost the middle of January!
• I really, really did not sleep almost 24 hours straight after the above mentioned horrible night at work & was STILL TIRED so had to take a long afternoon nap!
  

the time again for Not Me! Monday

It's that time again to blog about all the things I did, I mean did not do this week:

• I did not get really excited thinking about my older 3 kids going back to school today because they are driving me absolutely crazy!!
• I definitely did not tell my co-workers I would call & see if they needed any help last night, & then when I woke up did not call partly because I was not feeling very well but partly because I just really didn't want to go to work!
• I really did not contemplate leaving my Christmas decorations up for another week because I dread having to take it all down & try to make it all fit in the storage containers again!
• I certainly did not unsubscribe to a email newsletter like I resolved to do this year only to subscribe to 3 more in it's place!

What things did you not do this week?

the New Year's Resolutions

OK, so I do this every year & I don't think I actually keep any of them but I'm doing it again anyway!

2009 New Year's Resolutions

• Probably the #1 resolution everyone says: Lose Weight! I'm not really sure how I'm gonna do it, but I have a couple of ideas I'm gonna try - drink more (or actually any) water. I go through a 12-pack of diet coke in a couple of days, so I think I'm gonna have to cut back! I also need to cut back on sweets, & french fries. So that's a start I guess. Also I'm hoping this next resolution will help with this one......
• Exercise! I actually have a membership to Curves, so now I just have to go! See how easy that is......
• Next is Go To Church! I need to find a church home, drag myself out of bed on Sunday mornings, & go.......
• Another big one is Finances. With the economy questionable, my overtime hours @ work are questionable, I need to be frugal. I already do coupons & search out good deals, but I just need to cut back on some things like french fries (see above)......
• I have already mentioned on previous posts how many emails I have in my inbox, so I need a plan for this too. Unsubscribe to newsletters that I don't read......
• Get My House Organized! This is hard because it is SO disorganized I can't figure out where to start, I think I just need to try to do a little bit every day.........

So here's the daily plan: unsubscribe from newsletters, drink a glass of water, do some cleaning, , drink some water, cook some healthy food at home, drink some more water, go to Curves, followed by more water & some more cleaning unless it's Sunday then I need to add some church in there & picking up the Sunday paper to get the coupons.

That sounds a little overwhelming right now, but it's better than the news crews doing a story about the morbidly obese lady whose house has fast food bags all over the floor & then she has to file bankruptcy.................

the New Year's Eve party

Several years ago we started a family tradition at our house of an annual New Year's Eve party that includes staying up all night, lots of food, & movies. The kids absolutely love it & I have come to look forward to it myself every year! It is also better than having to get out on the road.

This year I let the kids each pick what snack food they wanted. Zoe picked cookies to bake, Tad wanted ice cream, & Kalli decided on M&Ms. I wanted chips & dip and threw in some baby carrots for good measure. We rented 3 movies - Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears a Hoo, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was a great party! We had pizza & chickenstrips (the kid's favorite) from Papa John's for dinner, then watched movies & snacked for hours! The carrots actually got finished off - Sophie insists they're beans, that girl sure can argue! We watched the New Year's Rockin' Eve countdown & blew bubbles @ midnight. As far as staying up all night - Kalli went to sleep @ 1am, Tad & Sophie @ 2am, I could have stayed up later since I am a night shift worker but I decided to go to bed @ 3am & left Zoe & Theo to duke it out to see who won (they are both still asleep right now so I'll have to let you know who won later)! I just love partying with my little party animals!