Sad

I'm not very happy right now. The Pink Princess is being very difficult and I don't know how to help her. She is mean and cruel and cranky as all get out and while I love her, I don't like her very much right now.

Today she was supposed to have a piano lesson after school. I picked her up at 2:45 and we headed to my Mom's house (about 5 minutes away), and had a nice after school snack. Her lesson was supposed to start around 3:30 - we had the luxury of being flexible because my Mom doesn't start her full schedule until next week - but my Mom was late. She didn't get home until about 3:50. By then, The Pink Princess had started playing and was pissed off (sorry but I really can't think of a "nicer" word that would appropriately describe her behavior) that she needed to stop for her lesson. She started screaming. I tried to get her to calm down but of course she wouldn't. I told her that if she didn't do her lesson she wasn't going to be able to have her playdate on Friday. She started screaming that she wanted a playdate. I told her to calm down so she could have her lesson - otherwise no playdate. She didn't calm down. So we left. With her screaming and kicking the back of my seat all the way home. The Purple Dragon decided to scream too because she wasn't very happy about having to leave Grandma's house.

My Mom suggested that maybe we stop piano lessons for a year. It's tempting. But I feel like if we stop she'll never start again. The Pink Princess thinks that life should be fun and only fun. I agree that life should be fun, but there are some things in life that you just have to do. Like practicing piano. Like cleaning your room. Like helping out around the house. I know she's only 6, but I'm not asking her to do that much. I usually help her with everything anyway... seriously, HOW HARD CAN HER LIFE BE? Besides, there are a lot of huge benefits to learning to play an instrument -- did you know that learning to play an instrument can help you learn math? It's true. Maybe that's the answer... she hates math too. I'll just tell her to keep practicing so the math gets easier. I don't think she'll believe me though.

King Isepik is going to be home soon, and I think I am going to walk out the door when he gets here. It's not a very nice thing to do to him, this I know, but I really need to get out of here. I've been miserable and crying for the past hour or so and I think I need a change in scene.

Besides, I am supposed to go to a "missionary shower" this evening, and I haven't bought a gift yet. Lovely. I did get a card. Maybe I'll just write a check.

The Princess' kindergarten teacher once told me that a lot of these "gifted" kids go through all the "teenage" issues when they are young. The comfort in this is that they are supposed to be a "dream" when they are teenagers. I do trust her teacher's experience but the other part of me is seriously wondering if that scenario is the case for The Princess -- or if I am just going to be dealing with a tsunami for the rest of my life.

Oh, and I should clarify something. I said that the present for The Purple Dragon's birthday was for the family -- it's more for The Princess and The Dragon. But sort-of the family. But mostly them. Though I will probably enjoy it too. I'd tell you what it is but I have to go get ready to leave... TOODLES! <--- For Cathryn

The Latest Poop... er, Scoop!

We have been making great strides in toilet training at our house. As I have mentioned before, The Purple Dragon has been very stubborn about going potty. A few weeks ago she began having success at peeing in the potty, but we still had accidents. No poop at all. She was absolutely positive that she could not do it. She said that maybe she would when she was 6. :)

So over the past week or so, she has been more consistent - except for the poop. While frustrating, I'm not stupid - I'll take what I can get. It was just going to take some more time.

We went to Wal-Mart yesterday so I could buy The Purple Dragon more "pull-up" type diapers. As soon as she saw me putting them in the cart she started yelling "No diapers! I want real underwear! I don't want those! Real underwear!" Again, I'm not stupid. I headed straight over to the underwear aisle and we bought some Tinkerbell underwear instead. Nevermind that we already have Dora, My Little Pony, Scooby Doo, and probably a few other pairs of underwear at our house. If she wants underwear, underwear she is going to get.

She was so proud of herself! She loves wearing her new underwear! And today... POOP! She said she had to go potty, ran up to the bathroom, and a minute later was yelling "I did it! I put poop in the potty!"

We are so proud of her. Now she's begging to wear her underwear at night (we haven't had a dry night yet... not even close). I'm telling her after she puts poop in the potty a few more times I'll let her wear her underwear at night. I think I'm going to regret it though. (Too much laundry!) Then again, she's pretty willful. Maybe she'll be just fine.

In other news, The Pink Princess found a penny outside today. The Purple Dragon was sad because she didn't have one. Fortunately, I had another one so I gave it to her. The Princess said, "I think my penny is lucky!" The Dragon promptly replied, "I think my penny is YUCKY too!"

I received my last two rebates yesterday! Yeehaw!

We have decided on a birthday present for The Pruple Dragon. Sort-of. Sort-of for The Purple Dragon anyway. Well, it's for her. But it's also for our family. I'm way excited. Her birthday is September 12th. Should I tell you what it is or should I make you wait? Hm. :)

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes...

King Isepik woke me up this morning so that I could get The Pink Princess ready for school and on the bus. That being completed, I came back home and curled up on the couch to rest for a few more minutes before starting my day. During this time, The King came downstairs and kept looking at me rather strangely. I wondered what was wrong, but didn't say anything. As he was walking out the door, he hesitated, then came over to give me a hug good-bye. But before he did so he asked if I was going to 'fight him off.' I gave him a strange look and said something along the lines of 'no, why would I?' He then proceeded to say that when he attempted to wake me up this morning I attacked him. He told me to "relax, calm down and wake up" which apparently I did and then thanked him for waking me up. I started laughing because the only part I can remember is him saying "wake up" or something to that effect and thanking him. I have absolutely no recollection of my "attack." Poor Isepik!

I had a fantastic dream last night. I'll tell you all about it, but first I must preface it with the following:

The King has worked really hard over the past couple of years in order to complete his degree from James Madison University. He was informed earlier this summer that he has enough credits to graduate. The big decision has been whether or not he should walk. At first he didn't want too, but me, being the supportive wife that I am told him that IF he wanted to, we would make the trip out there. College graduation is a big deal, and I am really proud of him, so if he wants to walk, he's walking! Anyway, as it stands, everything is completely up in the air and while we have finally confirmed that he CAN walk in December (please let JMU be correct on this - they've made so many other stupid mistakes) he isn't sure if he wants too. There is a chance that if he does, a lot of his family might make the trip to Virginia in order to watch him (HMMM - I wonder what the "ticket" situation is like?). That would be COMPLETELY awesome, and of course, we'd love the opportunity to visit some of our old friends while we were there. The downside is that The Pink Princess will still be in school during the scheduled graduation date, so we'd have to decide how much school we are willing to have her miss. Also, I'm not sure how much vacation The King has available to him through work. And, to top it all off, plane tickets aren't exactly on sale right now and I don't know if they really will go on sale because it's so near the holidays. As it stands, it's going to cost about $1500 for us to fly out there, and that would be leaving on a Thursday night and returning on the following Sunday (a very quick trip). This isn't counting hotels and a rental car and any other expenses that we might incur.

SO ANYWAY! Being very frustrated with the prices of flights (but still VERY willing to spend the money because this is a very BIG deal and I am OH SO PROUD of The King), I wondered how much a trip to Disneyland would cost. Something I'd love to do, and something The Pink Princess has been begging to do. I was able to price out a trip with something like 6 nights in a hotel, plus a 4-day "park hopper" pass, plus a "character breakfast" for just over $1000. Wow. And just for fun, I decided to see how much it would cost to rent a mini van for the trip to save on the wear and tear of our vehicle. I haven't done a lot of searching and bargain hunting (something I love), but I was able to find one for less than $400 including all taxes and surcharges and UNLIMITED miles. Which is a VERY big plus.

So this is where my dream comes in...

Last night I dreamed that we went to Disneyland. It was a complete surprise for the kids - we had planned it out so that it was a gift from Santa. We purchased a couple of small gifts for the kids, but the big present was the trip to Disneyland leaving the NEXT morning. I had written up a cute letter (can't remember all the details) but it explained everything that we were going to do (including renting a mini-van -- on loan from Santa of course! I wonder if I could get a red one?), and pictures of things that we were going to see, etc. I really can't remember all the details but I woke up feeling so happy. It was awesome. Maybe that's why I was fighting The King off... I didn't want to leave "the happiest place on earth." :)

Now that I'm awake again, I realize that maybe I don't want the entire trip to be from Santa because it's SUCH a big deal I want it to be from us. But maybe Santa could provide a few of the surprises. I just don't want my kids to think that everything big and wonderful comes from Santa. I want them to know that their parents love them A LOT and that we worked really hard to provide fun things for them. In other words, I don't want to create a world in which "Santa gives us all the cool stuff and you don't give us anything!" because we all know that THAT isn't true. On the positive side, I realized that this trip would be very cool because it would also eliminate all the "stuff" that my kids tend to get for Christmas. Sure, they'd probably bring home some souvenirs, and they would still get presents from other family members, but the influx of gifts from us would be minimal. That is a definite plus. And the memories they can keep FOREVER.

But, the bottom line is, all of this is only a dream and it's highly unlikely that any of it is going to happen. And that's ok. We will get to Disneyland eventually and we will have a grand time when we do. So now the only question that remains is... Are we going to Virginia?

Don't Waste Your Money Paying For Checks

Let's face it, ATM cards are really the way to go. But sometimes you still need checks. If you are one of the lucky few who actually gets free checks from their bank you can stop reading.

I had to order checks today. I'm on the last book of checks that my bank made me pay $20 for. Ouch. I usually buy my checks online and get super good deals, but when you are first opening a bank account it's simply not an option.

But I digress. As I said, I had to order checks so I started hitting all of the online check-selling websites I could think of. What was going on? All of them were charging $10 - $20 for a box of checks? Where were my good deals? I was afraid I was going to have to order checks from my bank again, which was something I really didn't want to do. I Google'd... I pondered... I panicked... I searched some more. I was not having any luck.

I finally was able to get 4 boxes of duplicate checks with pretty pictures for a grand total of $23.89. That's including shipping, tax, processing fees, etc. I'm pretty psyched about it. And I won't have to order more checks for a few years. (The last box of checks lasted me an entire year).

Do you need to order checks? Would you like a good deal too?

Go to: www.artisticchecks.com
It doesn't let you enter the code until page 3 or 4 of your order confirmation, but the code to enter is AB2559. You can then go back and change the lettering on your checks to something pretty if you want... for FREE. And it will discount the price of your checks significantly. For duplicate checks 1 box is $7.95, 2 boxes is $8.94, and 4 boxes is $16.89. Non-duplicate checks are less expensive. There is a handling fee of $1.75 per box, but the rest of it is so inexpensive, it's still a really good deal.

Before I found this site, the same order was going to cost me approximately $43 before shipping and other fees. I'm happy! Oh, and if you haven't ever ordered checks online before, it's pretty safe I think. I've done it many, many times and have never had a problem. And I've ordered from this company before too.

And I obviously have a very boring life because this can't be very fascinating to read. Oh well.

Rebate Status

As of today, I have received my rebates from all but 2 companies, and I have confirmed that one of them should be mailed within the week. Dubby wanted to know which ones I received, and who didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

RECEIVED:
DirecTV - Portable DVD Player
Behr - $70 Cash Rebate (for paint)
LG - $100 Cash Rebate (for washer and dryer)
Bulls Eye 1-2-3 - $5 Cash Rebate (for primer)
The Home Depot - Coupon for 10% off my entire purchase (Bonus! I received 2!)

IN PROCESS:
The Home Depot - $55 (free appliance delivery)
The Home Depot/Wagner Paint - $20 (Paint Roller - don't waste your money!)

So there's the status for you!

WHY?

Why do people post questions online that they REALLY want an answer to in a timely manner in places where it's very obvious that they are NOT going to get an answer in a timely manner... IF EVER?

The Purple Dragon and The Pink Princess were busy spinning each other round and round in our rather large family room when The Dragon managed to spin herself into the corner of a vent. Ironically, it's the new "return" for our AC unit that we had to add in order to get the AC to work efficiently. 2-3 weeks ago, it was just a flat wall with nothing sharp to run into. The Purple Dragon is now the owner of a goose egg that is a little bloody on top. Yuck.

Anyway, to get back to the real point of this post, I went to ParentCenter.com to get some quick info on what to do (answer: put ice on it, something we were already doing), and to find out what symptoms to watch for over the next 24 hours. It was very informative, basically what we thought (yay us!), and quick and easy to find. However, all the reader "comments" were along the lines of "my baby fell (blah blah blah) and she has a huge bump (blah blah blah) and it hasn't gone down at all since she fell and that was three weeks ago (blah blah blah) and I'm really concerned (blah blah blah) so please could someone tell me what I should do? (panic panic panic)"

Maybe I'm an idiot for thinking this, but if you are REALLY that concerned, why not call your pediatrician? Call Ask-A-Nurse? Go to the ER? At the very least, make a visit to your local health clinic the next time they're open? Why expect an answer from a random website? Let's say that they actually DO decide to reply... when is it going to be? 3 months from now? Maybe when it's too late? Get real, pick up the phone, get in your car, and DO something. If you're not going to take action, your simply not that concerned.

And that, folks, is my soapbox for today, like it or not. :)

Happiness Is...

Happiness is an ice cold drink after a long, hot, sweaty afternoon.

Happiness is a good, long talk with a friend.

Happiness is being understood.

Happiness is knowing that someone is talking SH** about you and NOT CARING.

Happiness is grocery shopping without any kids.

Happiness is a 3-year olds kiss.

Happiness is the smile on your husband's face.

Happiness is the sound of your 6-year olds laughter.

Happiness is also known to be found in chocolate.

Okaaaaay...

I'm planning The Purple Dragon's 4th Birthday Party. Her birthday is September 12, which is basically right around the corner and she wants a "puppy" party. But that's not what this post is going to be about.

I was doing random searches for "puppy" stuff... party ideas, games, songs, cakes, party supplies, candy... you get the idea. And somehow, somewhere I stumbled into this blog entitled "gorillabuns". I'm going to advise most of my readers NOT to read it, because frankly there is some rather strong language that I don't think you'd enjoy. However, it's whacked, it's strange, it's slightly demented, and it's hilarious, particularly because I have children that have recently gone through many of the stages that this woman writes about. King Isepik has enjoyed it, and I daresay that Gail just might get a giggle out of it, but to everyone else I say read at your own risk.

I am still coughing. My Mom thinks maybe I should get a chest x-ray, but I know they won't find anything wrong. It's just me.

Couch Potato

I thought I was getting better. I SHOULD be getting better. I slept all through the night without my coughing waking me up. This is a good thing. The bad part is apparently I was still coughing because I woke KING ISEPIK up. Oops. Maybe I was just so exhausted I completely zonked out. Frankly, I am tired of coughing. I can do one activity (maybe) a day, and then anything else I try to do I can only complete with lots and lots of coughing attacks. Not fun.

My activity on Thursday was to take The Pink Princess shopping for school clothes. My Mom watched The Purple Dragon for me. We got several cute outfits and a new pair of shoes. Hopefully with what we bought and the few items that she has that still fit, we're set. She'll probably get a new outfit or two for Christmas, and one or two more for her birthday in March, and that will help cover the several inches she will grow during the upcoming months. I bought things on the large side though, so that will help too. After that I was completely exhausted.

I stayed home during the daylight hours on Friday, and allowed the kids to have some fun in the wading pool. When King Isepik got home, The Pink Princess and I went to Wal-Mart. The Princess had to buy two presents for upcoming birthday parties, and we needed some groceries/household supplies. Needless to say, when we got home I was again wiped out. King Isepik cooked a delicous dinner, and then he left to go gaming (role-playing). I was stuck with the kids, but I handled it fine. The King deserved the free time - he's been taking care of the family for the past couple of weeks. For the most part, anyway.

Today The King and I spent several hours watching "psych" on USA. It's a pretty good show - quirky, yet funny, and strangely addicting despite also being somewhat dumb. We like it. It's a series, but they were rerunning the first season today.

The Pink Princess went to a birthday party at "The Little Gym." She seemed to have a good time and came home happy. Always a plus.

The Purple Dragon stayed home with us and played with Play-Doh. She loves Play-Doh and was very happy.

That's all for now. There's just no excitement in my life at the present time. How exciting can a couch be? (Maybe you shouldn't answer that!)

Almost Alive...

I just want to thank everyone for being so patient and understanding during the last few weeks. I have been miserable and have not had the energy, time, strength or interest to even attempt to update my blog. For that I apologize, and I am going to try to do better.

I still suffer from bronchitis and am still attempting to sleep sitting up at night and am still taking a multitude of drugs. I have an inhaler (albuterl), a generic cough medicine (the equivalent of robitussin with codine), azithromycin (an antibiotic), and I'm on Lexapro for my depression. Fun, fun, fun!

I must say I like Lexapro. I think I'm feeling better (though it's hard to say since the bronchitis is basically wiping me out), but it's helping to control my appetite! BONUS! I've lost a little over 10 pounds since July 19th. WOOHOO!

School starts next week for The Pink Princess - on August 23rd. She will be in 1st grade. The Purple Dragon will start preschool on September 5th. She has two more years of preschool before Kindergarten.

I'm going to go now and try to coherce The Princess to practice the piano. If that doesn't work, I might take a nap because I am still very exhausted.

Um... oh yeah! We have AC! It's nice. I like it. :)

Ouch

I hurt. It hurts to talk, it hurts to look at things, it hurts to walk, and I think my head is about to split open.

So I am going to back to sleep. Nevermind that I fell asleep at about 10:30 last night, slept most of the day (off and on until approximately 4:00), and have managed to stay awake (4 hours, 13 minutes) from that point on.

I am now going back to sleep because it hurts too much to do anything else.

Watch Me Disappear

So I disappeared for a few days. OK, two weeks. I guess I simply didn't have anything to say. Or it didn't seem like it. Or I decided to be pouty because I finally posted some pictures and I didn't get any comments. None. Zero. Nada. Until dear sweet Cathryn complained that I hadn't posted for a while and that it's not right to disappear for two weeks without telling anyone where I went. And I suppose she's right. So you are getting an update of sorts - although brief.

The truth is, I didn't go anywhere. I've been home. And going to the store. And the park. And fireworks. And swimming lessons. And piano lessons. And probably a few other places here and there.

I also realize that I haven't posted pictures of The Purple Dragon's room yet. Most likely that will occur on Sunday because it's 2 AM right now and I want to go to bed, tomorrow we are going camping, Saturday we are coming back from camping and celebrating my Brother D's birthday... so as I said, it will probably be Sunday. And with that being said, if you didn't realize it earlier, I updated my last post and there are pictures of The Pink Princess' room at the bottom. So go check it out if you haven't already.

I've got my yucky bronchitis thing again. Dubby knows exactly what I am talking about, as does my husband. Dianna probably remembers a little bit since her Mom was busy taking care of me in 2005, and Gail might very well remember me hacking out various lung parts when we worked together at TRG. So I'm not very happy, very comfortable, or very energetic. But I am OK. No fever as of yet... just a nasty cough and a bit of a stuffy nose. Camping should be interesting.

I have another bad habit. I "rip off" finger nails and toe nails. I really need to stop. I don't necessarily bite them (I NEVER bite toe nails), but I just grab them and pull until the part you would normally "clip" off comes off. I do it without thinking about it. I thought that having my toes manicured would keep me from doing it and it did work for a little while, but tonight I ripped one without even thinking about it. And then I did another. Then I stopped. Then I bit off a fingernail. Too much info? Sorry. This is what you get when I start typing at 2 am.

I'm going to go to bed now before I start babbling about the other topic that is on my mind. What? Got you curious? Fine. Here it is: Whenever I get this bronchitis thing a strange smell emits from my body. It's the same smell every time. It doesn't matter how many times I take a shower a day (though it does help in the VERY short term), but it always comes back. I haven't asked King Isepik about it yet, so I don't know if it's only something I can smell, or if other people notice it too. It's not a good smell (to me anyway), it's not B.O. (as in the arm pit kind... it is 'body odor though - obviously!), it's just weird. And it's gross. And I hate it. But it does tell me that I've got bronchitis again - it's a sure sign. Too much info again? As I said I should NOT be typing at 2 am.

So this time I really am going to bed. Bet you wish I had stayed missing for a little bit longer now! LOL!

P.S. We're getting AC on the 10th! WOOHOO!