Dinner and Cleaning

     Two topics for tonight: dinner and cleaning. Why? Because those are the things that are on my mind....and really the most exciting things that have happened since I last posted...my life is sooo exciting, lol.

     First off, dinner. Last night's dinner to be exact. My mom and I made it (she comes over to see the little one every weekend) and it was easy and yummy! We made beef stroganoff. Oh, and I should probably start by saying that I am NOT a cook. A baker, yes; but not a cook (unless I have a detailed recipe that I can follow, lol). We sort of looked at a recipe to get an idea of what to do and then just sort of made our own. Here are the things that we did.....it is really easy:

• Cook package of stew beef (we browned and then cooked it in a pressure cooker for about 45 minutes and it was REALLY tender)
•  Sautee onions and mushrooms in butter (yes, we used REAL butter, lol)
• Mix up two packages of brown gravy and pour into the pan with the onions and mushrooms once they are cooked
• Once the beef is done, put it in the pan also
• Cook egg noodlesBefore serving, put in sour cream to taste (we didn't put sour cream in the whole thing b/c my dh didn't want any in his so I have no idea how much to put in the whole thing, but I probably put 2 TBSP in a bowl full for myself).

     That's it! And using the packaged gravy makes it so much easier than trying to make your own. If you try it, let me know what you think. I thought it was really good...just want to know if my taste buds are off or not, lol.

     Now for the cleaning part. Sean decided twice this weekend that he was going to help tidy up the living room! The first time, my mom was putting his blocks away and he started bringing them and his books to her. It was so cute! Then today he helped to clean up his legos (ok...mega blocks). He had dumped them all out and we built him a big ole tower to tear down (his favorite part of legos). Then, when we started to clean them up he started to help us! It was so cute, and actually helpful....we could send him to get the blocks that were too far away for us to reach. I'm just wondering how long this will last, lol.

Nap Time....or Lack Thereof

     I have been wondering for a bit now if it was time to start transitioning Sean to just one nap per day. I am now pretty much convinced that it *may* be time to start. My only hesitation comes because I still really do need him to take two naps a day for my own sanity, lol.

     But I think it may be time to start seriously thinking about it at least, because today he only took one nap. But not the nap that you would think....nope, not my child. He decided that he was going to take an hour and a half long morning nap, and then completely skip his afternoon nap. We tried....we tried like hell to get him to take that afternoon nap. Sean, however, was not having ANY of it, lol. He almost went to sleep a few times in the hour that we tried, but just wouldn't give up the ghost.

     So, from about 10:30 (well, my Mom said 10:34 exactly) this morning until a few minutes after 7 this evening Sean did not sleep at all. He was awake for eight and a half hours straight! Wow. And here's the kicker: he didn't get cranky (well, besides his normal I-want-to-come-in-the-kitchen-and-you-aren't-letting-me crankiness) until probably the last 5 minutes before bedtime. So I am doubly amazed at that. Usually if he doesn't take his second nap he is a bear the whole entire day. I'm glad he decided to change that aspect up today, lol. Oh, he did try to fall asleep in the car on the way back from Target around 5:30, but we sang the "Hot Dog" song and got him to sing it and he stayed awake. I'm really glad I only live five minutes from Target, lol. I don't think he would have made it any longer in the carseat.

     He is now peacefully sleeping in his crib, and has barely moved since we laid him down. Here's to hoping that he sleeps all night, lol.

     ......I still don't think I'm ready for him to be taking only one nap though...especially not if it is going to be a morning nap!

So much to do, so little time.

     So, I broke my streak of posting each day. Oh, well. I think I can be forgiven, lol. It has been a stressful week, after all.
    
     First off, my husband is doing much better. The ER doc was able to talk to the psychiatrist on call on Wednesday and they figured out a medicine to give him that knocked the panic attack out. He has been feeling a little anxious since then, but is able to control it, and it is no where near as bad as it was Wednesday. They also sent him home with two prescriptions in case it happens again. I'm hoping it doesn't though.
    
     But now to the title of this post. This last week, I have been kind of restless. I have so many things that I want to get done, and so little time to do it in. When you add in work (I work from home), housework, and taking care of Sean and the dogs, I just don't really have much time to do the things that I WANT to do. And by the time Sean goes to bed and the kitchen and living room are cleaned, I just want to sit down and have some down time without actually doing anything. Plus I have to catch up on my Facebook games, lol. Ok, well, I don't have to catch up on them, but I want to. It is one of the things that lets my mind stop working because it really doesn't take a lot of brain power to plant crops, make food, or other such things....at least not on Facebook.

     Today, for instance, all I really wanted to do was read. I just wanted to go hide in a room, curl up with a book and read. I love to read, but lately I really only get a chance just before I go to sleep. And sometimes that is just not a good idea, because I wind up staying awake much later than I intended. If the book is really good or I am really into it (I have been known to get really into books that maybe never made the bestsellers list, lol) I can read for hours and think only 30 minutes have passed. But since Sean was born.....well, since Sean became mobile really, I just haven't had nearly as much time to read, which is probably my favorite thing to do.

     Another thing that I would like to do is scrapbook. I have at least 6 scrapbooks that I am working on or need to work on. Scrapbooking is something that relaxes me and I love being able to preserve the memories so I can share them with others. I have so much scrapbooking material that it isn't even funny. And I have a whole bunch of pictures that I need to get scrapped. Besides the fact that my husband bought me a wide format printer so that I can do digital scrapbooking and print them out at home. And I don't have time to learn how to do that, either. Ugh.

     And those are only two of the things that I really want to do with my time. I also like to play World of Warcraft with my husband, but haven't done that in a while. I want to write a book....I even have several ideas for several different stories, but can't seem to find enough time to actually get them written out. And I know that some people are going to say, "well, just stop spending so much time on the computer". The problem with that is I work from home on the computer. So in order to get paid (and not get fired) I must be on the computer. So during the day when I pop over to Facebook it is usually just for a few moments to give my mind a break from the (mostly) idiotic emails that I have to respond to. And when you take into consideration the fact that Sean likes to interrupt me many, many,many.....many times during the day while I'm trying to work, it means that I still don't get much work done and sometimes have to work at night or on the weekends too (which I'm going to have to do some of tomorrow). And it isn't like I can say no to Sean, especially when he brings me a book and wants me to read to him.

     So, I guess it shall remain that there are a lot of things that I would rather do than the ones that I have to do each day. Maybe eventually I will be able to do some more stuff for just me....and hopefully without any guilt about being selfish when I do.

Buzzed

     Ok, so had I written this post a few hours earlier it probably would be longer and make much more sense. However, I am writing it now and not then, and well, .....I'm a little buzzed at the moment, lol. I think it is kind of sad that I am buzzed off of half a glass of wine, but oh well, lol.

     Anyway, today has been waaaaayyyy stressful. As I posted yesterday, my hubby had a procedure on his neck that didn't go too well because of the anesthesiologist not actually getting him sedated. So, anyway, apparently he woke up swinging (as in fist) around 2am from a nightmare about it and thus began a day full of panic attack for him. And consequently a stressful day for me. He couldn't really get any of the doctors to help him and everyone kept saying to go to the ER. Long story short, he eventually let me take him, where he sat in the waiting area for 2 hours and then in the room for a while. They tried one thing first and it didn't work, but finally figured out something that got the panic attack to stop (thank GOD!), and he is now home sitting next to me on the couch (asleep, lol). But it was a really bad panic attack. He does have PTSD (not from military but from childhood) and has had a procedure done in the past similar to the one yesterday in which no anesthesia was used, so he just kept reliving both of them all day long. The ER doc finally got it figured out around 7:30pm and let him go home (and gave him a script to fill, just in case it comes back tomorrow or something). So, although I was mad at the ER doc at first, I am now very grateful that he finally did take the time to figure it out for my hubby. So in short, that has been my stressful day.

     And now on a humorous note,  I kept trying to put an "e" in almost every word in the previous paragraph except those that actually have an "e" in them, lol. Told you I was a little buzzed.....I am thinking bed is in order here soon.

Rough Day

     That is a bit of an understatement. We had to get up at 5:30 this morning because my husband was having a procedure done on his neck and had to be at the surgery center at 7:45. But, Orlando traffic being the unpredictable creature that it is, we left the house at 6:30...and of course we were there by 7. But had we left about 10-15 minutes later, we would have probably just made it at 7:45.

     So we get there and they take him back for prep pretty quickly, which leaves me alone in the lobby to keep a 13 month old happy for who knows how long. I must say, though, that I was rather impressed with Sean, as he did very well. He only got cranky the last 10 minutes or so that we were there, and that was because he was tired and wanted a nap, but since we were out he refused to sleep because he might miss something.

     And the procedure didn't go well for Mike. He was supposed to be sedated for it (hence the reason we went to a surgery center), but for some reason it didn't "take". He told the anesthesiologist that he didn't feel any sedative and she just kept saying it should kick in in minute. Well, it never did. He said he felt everything and screamed in pain and the doctor just kept going. And it increased his pain by a lot (which is normal....it did the last time he had this procedure done).
    
     But he is asleep now, and has been for a while. Which is good for him. I'm hoping it helps to decrease his pain level.

     However, him having the procedure and then sleeping so much has left me alone to tend to the baby and the dogs. But I did manage to get everything done. Fed the dogs, fed the baby, gave him a bath, put him to bed (finally got him to hold off until 7 since that stupid time change), ate dinner myself, and got the living room cleaned up from Hurricane Sean. Now I am just sitting here dividing my time between working, writing this, and messing around on Facebook. The only thing I didn't get done was to clean up the kitchen. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Fate, Destiny, whatever you want to call it...

Ok, the real reason that I decided to start a blog now instead of procrastinating yet again is the fact that I have some things on my mind that I can't seem to completely work out. And I was hoping that having a place to write them down would help. And what better place to write things down and get feedback than a blog, right? Well, here is what has been bothering me:

About a year and a half ago my husband and I had two really good friends. They were/are a couple, so it was kinda fun for the four of us to go out and do things. And we got along really well. But then something happened with another group of "friends" that were mutual friends of all four of us (and honestly, I'm still not ENTIRELY sure what exactly happened for these other people to basically "shun" us). And between them trying to not get in the middle of it (because it really didn't involve them, and I'm so sorry that they did get dragged into it) and me saying some things in a moment of hurt, we fell apart from them. The last words that were spoken between us was a text trade between me and the female of the couple. I shouldn't have said what I did, I should have tried to be more understanding to their/her position, but I felt that I was protecting my husband at the time.

Anyway, I digress a little. This is where fate steps in. It just so happened that my husband and I went out on Saturday night (which really doesn't happen often at all since we have a 13 month old) and we ran into the couple. Now we had run into them twice before, but we really didn't talk or anything those times other than a "hi" or a head nod. Saturday night we went to a place that we hadn't been but twice since almost two years ago. And it just so happens that they don't go to this place very much anymore, either. Hence: fate.

My husband and I did talk to the guy, which was great. And we all got to say some things that we had not been able to say. And I learned some things that I never wanted to have to learn and that should have never happened, and that I should have been there to help them through. I'm just hoping that we are able to move forward. I really miss these people. They were our best friends. We had named them as Sean's godparents until it happened that we were no longer talking to each other. I want the relationship back. I want them to meet Sean and get to know him and I want him to get to know them. They really are great people and people that I would love for my son to know. I just really miss them both. The guy knows this now, as I told him Saturday night. But I don't know if she knows that yet. I did send them both an email to let them know how I feel, and I'm hoping to get a response. I'm pretty sure he will response, but I don't know if she will or if she will forgive us and us all be able to move on. I truly hope so.

So, fate has stepped into my life in the form of us all showing up at the same place none of us frequent anymore at the same (relatively) time. I just don't know if fate did it just to hurt me or so that we can move forward and be friends again. I am praying for the second outcome.

Here Goes Nothing

     I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now, but just never took the time or knew what to write about. Well, I finally decided that it was time to act, and so I have. It took me forever to come up with the title for my bog, though. Everything I could think of along the lines of this being an insight into my world were already taken. So I used a word that means something to me: anthropology. I am currently working on my second Bach. degree, which is in anthropology. For those that don't know, anthropology is the study of all things human. This blog is about all things "me". So in a sense, it is the study of me, and therefore the title fits very well for me.
     I am a mother and a wife. At this point in time I have been married to my wonderful husband for not quite four years (come January it will be four years). Now, don't get me wrong, married life isn't always sunshine and roses. There are times that I absolutely want to wring my dear husband's neck. Like when trash makes it to the kitchen cabinet, but not into the trash bag that is hanging right beneath it. But I'm sure every marriage has little things like that going on. But he loves me for who I am and he understands me and supports me and I love him. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be back in school (which is something that I love). And if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have my beautiful, wonderful, monster of a son, Sean.
     Sean is my life. He is now 13 months old, and I can't picture my life without him. I have told my husband on multiple occasions that if anything happened to Sean he would have to come visit me in the loony bin. Although I may rant about him at times (like when he refuses to take a nap or eat his lunch!), I still love him with all that I am.
     We also have 5 dogs and 1 bird. That makes things interesting sometimes, but we just can't get rid of any of them. We though about it once, but had reasons to keep each of them. And 4 of the dogs are rescues, so I guess you could say we have bleeding hearts when it comes to animals.
     I guess now that I have given you a little bit of background into me, I will stop rambling. After all, I don't want to scare anyone away too soon.