Hello School

The kids are all in school. It has been a year since I woke them all up with my soft voice and kisses to get them off to school. They are used to being at their dad's so they did everything themselves, including get breakfast. We tried to come up with something for lunches, but I really need to do some shopping. It is so nice to have them with me and feel like a full-fledged mom again.

I took Andrew and Claire in to their new school, found out who their teachers were, and showed them their rooms before most anyone else was there because we were not able to go to Meet the teacher night. Andrew has a male teacher, Mr. Wu. I did not get to meet him because he was not there yet. When I told Andrew that his teacher's name was MISTER Wu, he smiled. Like he was excited to be taught by one of his own kind. That should be good for him. Claire's room is just upstairs from his.

Isaac was all set for class. I don't know what his schedule is, but I know he got computer lab for his first class. I am really pleased with that. Emylie, on the other hand, had not been fully registered because the office staff was in meetings all Thursday and Friday. She missed her whole first period class while the tried to get her schedule worked out. She was not able to get PE, but she does have Pre-AP math and English, regular science and social studies, and most importantly, Art. She did not really want a music class, but she ended up getting choir. She was actually excited about that, though because her friend, Megan from church has choir too. I hope they make Emylie an alto. She will do really well with that.

She went to school with no intention of concealing her bald spots, which are quite pronounced. She said she didn't want to hide it, so she wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of questions later. She would rather get it all out of the way right now. She's gutsy.

Oh, when I picked the kids up on Saturday morning and they all saw my hair, the first thing Andrew said is: "She looks sort of like a goth girl." I said: " know, that's why I painted my toes so dark." Crazy kid.

Goodbye Summer

Now that the temperatures are up to Texas normal, summer vacation is nearly over. It has been a long, wonderful summer. Because of a Texas legislation changing the time when school could start, we had two extra weeks of summer. This will go on record as the longest summer vacation my children will have--until that inevitable one puts off going to college in the fall for whatever reason.

I got the kids registered in their new schools yesterday, though there are many details to wrap up. Claire and Andre will be going to the same elementary school. Emylie and Isaac will be going to the same middle school. Claire said she is kind of excited to go back to school, and she doesn't even care that it's a new school. Emylie, on the other hand is having horrible separation anxiety from her friends. The funny part is, she is the only one who already has a really good friend in the ward who will be going to school with her. Her issue is not really finding new friends, it's leaving the old ones, and she is worried about being disloyal to her friends by liking the new ones better. She is stressing herself out and her bald spots are much worse now. We are worried about her.

Speaking of hair, seeing as I am pregnant, and I knew I would be cutting my hair, and had decided how I would do it, I decided not to wait until the late trimester to shock everyone with my new look. I did it myself, of course. I would put up a picture, but I don't have time before I go to work.

Let's Go to the Mall

In honor of the Texas tax holiday, I spent my entire kids' school budget for school clothes and supplies (plus a little more) over the weekend. I had a really great time, I got good deals and lots of stuff for the kids. They should be set for a while.

Mikey and Lexi were here over the weekend. Lexi and I went early to the stores before the crowds picked through the clearance racks. Mike and Mikey met us for lunch. Lexi and I had a great time trying on clothes and looking for deals.

After we were done with our shopping, we went to the Aquatics center and swam for a couple of hours before it closed. It was a long full day. Friday was pretty packed for me as well. I woke up at 5:30, got to the stores by 7 and in two hours had the majority of their school supplies and wardrobe before I had to be to work at 9. Then I drove an hour+ in traffic to pick up M and L. On the way back we stopped at the Galleria mall. I had never been there. It is definitely a more upscale mall. Still we were able to find 3 dresses for $30 at Limited Too. This is really an awesome city to shop in.

In keeping with the theme, I wanted to share a video. It is from How I Met Your Mother, which Mike and I have grown quite fond of. Robin Sparkles is a Canadian teen pop star from decades gone by. One of the cast manages to dig it up. Do a google search for How I Met Your Mother slap bet to watch the full episode. In the meantime, enjoy this video of Let's Go To the Mall with Robin Sparkles

Numbers

104 is the number I am thinking of. It goes with 76% I am talking about temperature and humidity. Texas can be a miserable place. I am not looking forward to my electric bill, I'll tell you that. Until last week it has actually been a very mild summer. We had not had a day over 100 degrees all summer, and we have had a fair bit of rain. It is supposed to rain today and temperatures are supposed to cool off.

The next number I am thinking of is 2.54. That is how much I paid per gallon to fill up my tank yesterday. Race Trac is cheap gas, but Exxon is only 2 cents more. In other parts of town the average is closer to $2.65. So there are some advantages to living in Texas.

The final number I am thinking of is 16. That is how many weeks pregnant I am. If I were to go to the doctor and get an ultrasound, the sex of the baby could be determined. My belly has exploded, but certainly not enough that I am obviously pregnant to the general public. Yesterday I weiged in at 115, but this morning I am 117.5, which suprises me. I doubt that more than 116 of that is solid gain.

I went swimming with my husband and our friends Scott and Arren for two nights this week. That little bit of physical activity has really helped boost my energy levels. I am working up to actually being able to exercise.

Couple Time

I was excited about having a whole week without the kids and told my husband that we were going to do something and go somewhere every night, because these last weeks before school starts will be the last that we have since the kids will be with us during the school year.

Instead, Mike got called into work most nights because the network or yada yada was down. He was up until midnight for three nights in a row. The good news is, he is paid hourly, not salary. He is also able to initiate whatever needs to be done at the office and then monitor it from home.

One of those nights we went to a movie before he had to go in. It was a pre-release screening that we got tickets to because Mike's friend works at a local radio station. The movie was horrible, with no redeeming value. There were a lot of bar and party sceenes. About 1/3 of the way through, a guy sat right next to me--when there were 3 other seats before the aisle--who smelled very strongly of alchohol and cigar. I thought the movie was suddenly in smell-o-vision. I felt like I was there and it gave me a major headache. The guy kept leaning into my space and trying to engage conversationally. I was virtually sitting on Mike's lap and breathing his shoulder to avoid the creep. I leaned over and said something about it to Mike and his friend when the movie was over. Mike's friend said, "be nice, he's my business partner." Ugh! I left in a bad mood. It was a super bad movie with a terrible environment The rest of the nights I was alone.

I was excited about having all day Saturday with my husband, but while I was at Target shopping for a swimsuit (since I had gotten a $50 Target gift card from my electric company for enrolling in one of their special programs) Mike got a call from the same abovementioned friend who reminded him that the Rush concert was that night and if he could help the radio station work their booth from 4:30 to concert time he could swing a worker's pass for him to get into the concert. One ticket was all they had to offer.

I did not have the heart to keep him from seeing one of his favorite bands, so I was alone for the night, yet again. I could not even call anyone while I was by myself because my purse was stolen on Friday and I had no cell phone, and my newly installed home phone had been left off the charger the day before. Mike gets emails on his phone, so I was able to write him on the computer and do a sort of impromptu IM. By intermission the phone had enough juice for him to call and talk to me for a minute. He was sweet.

We have no kids again this week. Maybe it will be better this time.

Eeet's Aliiive!

There's something in my tummy. It is starting to move--not enough that anyone else can feel it, and not enough to be easily distinguished from intestinal gas--but it is my baby and it is alive.

Today is my day off, and I just got done coloring my hair. I got it just right this time. It is the same color as my nieces'. I left the light streaks at my temples out of the color for a really natural highlighted look. I often trim it just after coloring it, but I don't think I will this time. I am just letting it grow until I get my late-pregnancy whack. I haven't done a major chop since my divorce three years ago.

I am not liking my job at all now. I got to use a little creativity and help customers in a meaningful way when I was out on the floor. Being stuck behind the register all day really, really stinks. The customers are fine. The people I work with are fine. Doing the same thing over and over is for monkeys. But I am not even that good at it. If I was interested by working with money and computing machines, I could work at a bank--and probably get paid a little better.

I am not one to complain, but most of all, I am not one to spend a lot of time on things that don't interest or challenge me. I think I could probably make better use of my time by employing myself with the skills I have been trained in for years, like music and dance. We'll see.

I Feel Fat

Saturday I took Emylie and Lexi to the mall because this week is Lexi's birthday--and school will be starting soon. We had a good time, but it is a huge mall and I was worn out half-way through. I could feel my ligaments stretching under its new weight and I felt so fat. This morning I broke the 114 lb barrier, and I did not even eat a major meal the night before to account for the weight.

In fact I did not have nearly enough to eat yesterday. We got back from the mall at 2:00 and ate lunch. Mike had been working with a friend all day on replacing the timing belt in his BMW (yeah, Dove, he's a beemer guy : ) ). They were in the reconstruction stage and their big fat hands were not working to get a little piece screwed back on to the flywheel since the fan blade was in the way, so they requested my petite dexterity. My hands got good and black.

Then I took the kids to the Aquatic center, which is a really cool community pool. It has a couple of waterslides and a big waterworks wading pool. It is a full rec center as well. We went ahead and got a membership like we have wanted to do for over a year now. It has a weight room, etc. as well. The kids had a great time. It was all in the name of Lexi's birthday.

Then, she wanted Mexican, so I made chicken enchiladas, fixins for soft and hard tacos, as well as taco salad. I had the kids help with that a little bit. I also needed to make a cake. Our friends Scott and Arren came over because it just isn't a party without them. Megan, the other girl in the girls' primary class came as well. She had been at the pool too.

It made for a really long day. Mike sweat it out in the garage all day, but got the project all done with no glitches. He was wiped out. I was no better.

This morning as I was getting ready for church--the 8:30 meeting--I was still ridiculously fatigued. Raising my arms to put on my makeup felt like I was doing a total muscle failure workout--to say nothing of curling my hair. Then it occurred to me that my thyroid might be whacking out--probably not, I have not noticed any hair loss. I just did too much yesterday and I am still recovering.

Sorry, no pictures. I don't even think about that anymore. Sad.

Back to Work

I have had two days back at Bed Bath and Beyond. I am no longer the towel lady because I trained my replacement well. Instead I work all day long at the customer service desk. The days are longer when you are in one place. Even if it is pretty busy.

My old pants (required uniform) barely fit, and I only have one decent belt that I can wear over my little poochy. Poor smooshed baby. The hardest part about the whole thing is that they do not give me a lunch during my 9-3 six-hour shift, and because I have to man the front the whole time, breaks are not scheduled. A second person often comes in in the afternoon, so that I can at least go to the bathroom and eat a banana or breakfast bar.

I told them I would be there through Christmas, but I don't know how I will do. Tuesday was better than Monday--in a way, so maybe it will keep getting better.

At fourteen weeks, the baby's movement becomes noticeable. Maybe I have felt something, but I have also had a lot of gas.

I had a dream last night about breast feeding, which I think I have done once before already and it was a girl both times. It is the boy's name I have picked out, though--not that I have even mentioned it to Mike. Of course, it doesn't matter what I have, it is going to upset the balance of the sexes. Either way, the child will be too young to be a playmate with any sibs. The boys are currently the youngest, so that might be better, but with the span that already exists, I don't think it will matter. There will be a nearly 8 year difference with Andrew, 9 with Mikey, 10 with Claire. By the time the baby is Andrew's age, Claire will be graduated from High school. Isaac may get back from his mission about the time the child is baptized.

I have today off, so it is time to go hang out with the kids.