Thank you all.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Oh, for those of you who care about the ongoing issues with DH's niece, she got a Kindle for Christmas and just about burst everyone's eardrums with joy.  She was told, specifically and in detail, in front of us, that her mom has it passworded and she WILL be monitoring it.  DN lost it about 2 weeks later due to inappropriate texts to 2 different boys.   They apparently were extremely explicit and my SIL called the boys.  One was sorry and said he didn't know DN was 12.  Other one said they were just goofing off....

DN is also having extreme issues with her teacher.  Who's holloring across the room about calling her caseworker.  AT 12, that's embarrassing.  And the teacher isn't following the guidelines spelled out in the EIP (or is it IEP?) and says DN is lying when she's not. 

And BIL is being a douchecanoe, bigtime. 

[Works4me]

Beth - I also find it harder to deal with depression during the time of year when there is less sunlight. For me it usually starts after we chage off of daylight savings time and get better around the time we go back on DST. December and January are the darkest months with the least sunlight. Wonder if that might have something to do with your depression worsening especially as you live in Wisconsin which is pretty far north. Just a thought you might want to explore.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Yeah, we've talked about it.  My vit. D levels were just barely above normal when we had them tested last spring.  I was ok, for the most part in Dec. and a chunk of Jan.  I am doubling up on my vit. D - to 4,000 units (or however it's measured) a day.  I told my doctor I was doing this and she said to keep it up until the sun comes back. 

I'm getting periods every 22 days or so.  Which, sadly, is on the frequent side of normal.  And there's a distinct tie in to when I ovulate.  I'm MUCH bitchier then.  And some periods, it lingers.  We upped my meds from 50 to 100 because my PMS was lasting 2 weeks, almost a year ago.  So I suspect if I go back on the pill, it will steady my hormones and possibly stop the PMS surge. 

I don't particularly WANT to go back on the pill but I can't handle weekends like the last one.  It was that bad.  So I'm willing to try bcp again.  DH got snipped after DS was born so this is the longest I've been bcp free since my mid 20s.  And my periods were once a YEAR then.  And always when on vacation.    Nothing like having your period up North in a small cabin with no shower/bath facilities.  There was a toilet and running water but no shower. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

I'm feeling MUCH better today.  Full of energy and happy.  I'm only at work until 1pm too. 

And I bought "Where's My Water" and "Where's My Perry" for the Kindle.  The kids are going to flip.  We're talking about getting 2 Google version of the kindle for the kids to play on.  At $69 each, it might just be worth it...  It would definitely stop the fights about whose turn is it to play on MY kindle.  And we'd block everything so all they can get to is the games.  Which at 3 adn 4.5 is all they want anyway. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Still doing better today.  It's sunny somewhat, so yay! 

Did some odds and ends around the house, feels like progress even though you really can't SEE any progress.  Odd but whatever. 

Spent some time with BIL's wife yesterday.  We talked about assorted stuff.  She's on Lithium.  She's working on reading the books I recommended.  I don't know if they're helping or not but at least she's reading them.  She's having a real hard time making an appointment with her therapist and keeping it.  And she's kinda annoyed with my DH as he finally remembered to tell his brother about gog.com (good old games) where for like $5 or so, you can download old video games that have been updated to work on modern computers.  End result, BIL spent the weekend online playing a game.  DN was out of town with friends so it was just them and apparently they didn't talk/do much together in 3 days.  He didn't have much to say to me when I dropped her off on Sunday afternoon.  I had Cabe with me so we went inside to see the dogs.  They have Mastiffs. 

[anciana]

Beth, glad to hear you've been feeling better. Please, still call Liz and go see her, maybe even more so now that you're feeling better, as you might be able to access your situation differently.

Yes, making even a little bit of progress (regardless wheather we're the only ones that can see it can be such a boost. I know that I managed to take care of few things that have been bugging me seems like forever and it felt soooo good

Sorry about your BIL's family situation. I know you want to be there for your SIL and help her any way you can, as well as their daughter. It seems like a very difficult situation, it is bound to affect you, but there's only so much you can do. You are doing so much better overall, keep it up and your example might help your SIL see that things can change for the better. Good luck!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Thanks.  It helps to hear that. 

My parents are in Florida so I took yesterday off with Cabe (they watch him on Tuesdays) and after we took Keira to school we went to the Museum, then out to DH's work.  Had lunch with DH.  Then home to veg until we had to go pick up Keira. 

I'd managed to score a cancelled appt. with Liz yesterday for 6pm.  But DH had problems with traffic - it started snowing around 3pm and it was ugly when I went to pick up Keira and it only got worse.  So I had to cancel.  Keira's school is closed today so she's at MIL's again.  I think we shoveled about 6 inches of heavy snow this morning and are to get another 2-4 today.   

Kids, mainly Cabe, were up alot last night.  No clue why but I'm glad I went to bed earlyish.  Had weird dreams, including one where DH was in therapy.  Told him about it this morning before the kids were up.  He was amused because it included him kissing his therapist, while in his Mom's living room.  And her knowing my therapist.  And his Mom's house was much closer to my parent's house.  Bizarre.  If dreams are supposed to reflect your sub-conscious, mine is definitely odd right now.  Or, as DH said, sometimes a dream is just a dream. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

I was IMing with BIL's wife while playing Words with Friends last night.  She relayed DN's weekend.  According to DN, the MOM was the one who locked herself in her room and drank most of the weekend.  Apparently there's a divorce in the works. 

I asked L (BIL's wife) if maybe this would make DN think and she said it is/has.  It gave DN a chance to see that while her own family is dysfunctional, the supposedly "normal" families aren't necessarily better than hers. 

I made meatless lasagna last night, w/ those precooked noodles.  I didn't have moz. cheese so I used Munster.  It worked, more or less. 

And we shoveled.  And then I shoveled more.  My next door neighbor snowblowed our sidewalk.  A thousand thank you to him.  It was thick and heavy snow - about 6-8 inches when I cleared a basic path on the sidewalk yesterday morning - enough to legally get us in the clear and then he finished it up later on.  So all I had to do when I got home was the inch or so that had fallen during the day.  My snowblower isn't working.  So now I have 2 non-working snowblowers; 2 non-working lawn mowers and 1 working lawn mower and 1 working rototiller in my garage - along with 2 cars.  I think this summer I will deal with all of that and it will involve getting 1 lawn mower fixed (for up North) and getting rid of 1 lawn mower and 1 snowblower.  Anyway, I'm rambling. 

I feel ok today.  It's pretty blah outside.  Gray skies, lots of snow and some wind.  Dinner tonight is leftover chicken and mashed potatoes.  And I need to hardboil a few eggs for Friday.  And I'm going to try to go to bed early.  The kids are not sleeping well and it's taking a toll on me. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Cabe's not peed though 2 nights running.  Yay!  Please God we've turned a corner on that. 

Keira's asking for new paint in her room and a dog.  Her room is light green and when I painted it before her birth, I figured she'd want pink around age 5 or so. 

The official party line on pets is that everyone in the house must be potty trained (Cabe, I'm looking at you here) and must consistently STAY IN THEIR ROOM AT NIGHT! before we will discuss it.  Which buys us a year or more, the rate we're going.    I'm not opposed to another lab mix but not now.  And we'll probably paint Keira's room this year.  We've got a bunch of painting to do as DH painted a lot of the rooms white when he moved in, like 13 years ago.  And they've not been painted since then.  I did the kitchen (I pulled wallpaper off), the small bathroom and both kid rooms 3-6 years ago.  So the hallway, livingroom, big bathroom (I started pulling wallpaper off that), our bedroom and the office can all use a coat of paint.  And the laundry room is an ugly shade of pink.  I have problems bringing myself to think about painting that, to be honest.  Too much crap to crawl under, over and behind to do it easily! 

[Wisconsin Beth]

The weekend was extremely productive in decluttering.  See details on that thread.  I'm not reposting it all here.  Too tired. 

The PMS bitch is rearing her ugly head, starting yesterday around lunch.  I turned into this raging, insanely angry person I don't recognize.  On the up side, once this period is over I can start my bcp and see if that's going to work like I hope it will. 

DN (BIL's DD and the one with all the issues) got drafted to help with Tiny Tot swim.  Keira responded AMAZINGLY to her and did so much better with her than DH.  In fact, several other women commented on it afterwards.  We've got 2 more weeks of swim and I've got DN again next week, I think.  She hung out at our house afterwards, we went sledding on a really icy/steep hill and I've still got bruises.  Then Keira wanted her to spend the night.  We worked it out and she did.  Keira was over the moon about it.  We ended up hauling the futon mattress from the basement up to DD's room so DN could sleep on it.  And Keira crawled in with her.    DN said she had a good time and I'm going to take her at her word.  She's 13. 

I, like the idiot I sometimes am, stayed up too late on my Kindle.  So I"m operating on about 3 hours of sleep. 

And since the PMS bitch is in town, I'm going out for lunch.  I've got a bunch of gift cards and enough cash to go to my favorite burger place.  That might be the hardest decision I make today.  Well, that and how to cook the chicken for dinner. 

oh, one last thing.  Cabe's on 5 nights of not leaking/peeing though.    Please God, we've turned a corner on his peeing.  We also started a "poop in the potty prize" bag for him.  He poops in the toilet, he can pick anything out of the bag.  Except the puzzle.  That takes 2 days of pooping. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Today is just yucky.  I'm congested again.  And had a mini-panic attack when Cabe lunged for the front seat when we were getting him out of his car seat.  I'd left the keys in the ignition and the van running at my Mom's this morning.  Screamed (literally) NO at the top of my lungs and hauled him out of the car.  Sorry neighbors.   

[Wisconsin Beth]

On the up side, I did get to apologize that same day to the neighbors.  P didn't hear me at all but the boy (10 ish?) said he heard me in the shower.   

I went to my doctor on Thursday.  Got put on a lot of meds to try to reboot my immune system.  I'm still taking a bunch of it (forgot to bring some of it into work though, darnit.) 

I see Liz tomorrow. 

I think today I'm going to sign up for a gym.  I've got coupons, they're just opening so everything is new and shiny.  Even though we have a treadmill and bowflex at home, I don't make time to use them.  I need to force myself to go and if I'm paying, that usually does the trick. 

The kids did not to go to sleep without a fight last night.  That sucked. 

My sister is having a St. Pat's party at her house next weekend and I'm hoping to sucker her into keeping the kids overnight.  My Mom's taking them during the day because I just need a break, plus we need to prebowl since we're going to my sister's.  And I need to set up sitting for every Sat. night in April.  We have 2 auctions and 2 nights of bowling we want/need to attend. 

My boss, whom I share an office with, is on vacation right now.  So it's really nice to have space to myself at work.  Which I need to get back to... 

And I think I'm going to write a letter to every remodeling show on HGTV and DIY that I can find.  If I write it correctly, maybe they'll pick us to do help with a kitchen remodel.  Esp. if I play up the gluten/dairy freeness of DH, the 2 kids under the age of 5 wanting to help cook, the crappy built-in oven, the not all functioning burners on the stove and the carpet.  Can't hurt any that's for sure. 

[anciana]

Hi Beth   Sorry I disappeared again. Had been dealing with some of my own stuff.

Sorry to hear you're still not feeling better. Hopefully some of the meds will help with your immune system. I think just the spring coming will do us all some good   Glad to hear you'll be seeing Liz today. Hope you have a good talk with her and she can help you over this hump too

I've toyed with the idea of joining a gym or signing up for classes for a long time but I think I've come to a conclusion that I just won't have time so I don't even try, LOL. That's great if it works out for you! Maybe you can try it out for a month or so and see how you like it. Especially if you have coupons so it won't set you back too much. I'm doing well weight wise and all, just wish I could tone a bit and get in a better shape, that's all.

And I hear you on the house remodel. *sigh* Wish I knew myself...

Hope you have a great day today

[Wisconsin Beth]

Not a problem Anciana.  How are you doing?  Is your stuff ok? 

I am feeling better now.  The kids are sick though so I'm not sure it's going to last.  Sigh. 

I did join the gym last night.  It doesn't offiically open until mid-April but there's another location not to far from here I can use until then.  Cost turned out to be $40 now to join; a yearly $30 fee paid April 15th and $10 a month starting in May.  I'm ok with that.  DH grumped something about making sure I went and used it for at least a year to make up the cost.  Which is kinda funny considering we've bought him more expensive stuff for this diet/lifestyle changes he's made over the last 2 years and some of it he's never used....  I didn't point that out to him but I will if he harps on it. 

Kids are still fighting sleep. Actually, Cabe is fighting it.  Keira crashed right away for DH last night.  Cabe didn't go down until 9pm.  Today is Mom's day for them and when I dropped them off, they were snuggling on her couch, with blankets and pillows.  I told her I was teaching them to "foot fight" as when they both lay on the couch at home they start kicking each other.  In a frustrated moment I told them if they were going to do that, they needed to foot fight properly.  Mom just sighed.  I'm thinking it's a good thing I didn't tell her that when Cabe growled at me the other night, I was so frustrated I growled back at him.  And he promptly burst into tears - the scared ones at that.  Sigh. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Had a good talk with Liz last night.  Got some validation, some venom I didn't realize I was harboring out, got a book/dvd recommenation for dealing with the kids (and gave her one too) and some laughter.  She thought me growling at Cabe was funny.  And supported me on giving Cabe benidryl to make him sleep.  I know I'm not supposed to do that.  And I'm not going to do it on a regular basis.  I just want the kid to get back on a decent sleep schedule.  He's so freaking overtired it's not funny.  Also Liz said she'd be tempted to knock the kids' heads together when they start fighting.  I've resisted that.  But I did buy Kid's NyQuil and gave it to both of them.  They were both out by 730.  And they are both sick.  Keira's running a fever and they're both snotty and have a bit of a cough.  So it's not THAT much of a stretch to give them meds.... 

Got a bit of laundry dealt with and played a bunch of Words with Friends.  Should have gone to bed early but well, I was enjoying no kids coming out after stalling repeatedly.  Swapped some IMs with L (BIL's wife) while we were playing.  DN is switching schools.  The old teacher refusing to follow the IEP thing did the trip.  DN starts the new school today.  I hope it works out well for them.  And selfishly, I hope it doesn't screw up our kid care arrangements.  The new school is like 3 blocks from DN's house and maybe 1/2 a mile from MIL's.  So if there's issues in getting DN to school, it's probably going to fall on MIL, who watches our kids on Thursdays and Fridays. 

I mooched dinner off my Mom last night too.  It was nice to not have to cook.  She had leftover spaghetti and this baked beans dish.  And salad.  Keira wanted salad so we made her a tiny one.    Cabe tried the cherry tomatoes and decided he didn't like them. 

[seriousthistime]

Beth, when I had toddlers and early elementary age kids, 3 of them under the age of 5, I was so dead tired with all of the bedtime routines I'm sure I growled at them.  I know I scared them enough at various times to instill real fear in them, not intentionally, but I misjudged my own scary-ness. I also had a then-DH, now XH, who was gone for work sometimes one out of three nights in a year, and who thought nothing of expecting dinner to be served AT 6:15 every night when he was in town but who also thought nothing of working late some nights with no advance warning or even a phone call to let me know.  He figured it was okay to just waltz in at 10 or 11 at night.  I learned to serve the kids at 6:30 if there was no call, and I ate my own dinner later than that for a while but eventually learned to eat with the kids.  And I stopped keeping dinner warm for him.  It was in the fridge and he could heat it himself if he cared to.  He would always leave the dishes in the sink for me though.  On the nights he was home and on time, he would eat, leave the table, and sit on the couch and watch tv, no help with the dishes or kids, baths or bedtime.  No wonder we are divorced.

Here is how unhelpful my XH was.  One summer I went out-of-state with the three kids and the dog to go to our former house to spruce it up and sell it.  For some reason our tenants were unhelpful in that regard and the last batch moved out in May.  So I prepared for the trip, packing for any range of weather for three kids and myself, all laundry done except what we wore to bed the night before, everything neat and clean, stopped in a motel on the way out, rented a bunch of furniture to live with and stage the house, etc.  And we sold the house.  In August, when the deal was all but done and all contingencies were covered, I reversed the 1,000 mile trip.  He'd been telling me all summer that it was SO NICE to come home to a quiet house, cook what HE wanted for dinner, and keep everything neat and clean with no toys all over the place.  I had white cabinets in the kitchen and when I walked into the kitchen I was horrified that black fingerprints were all over them.  It looked like he would read the newspaper and then put those newsprint fingers all over the cabinets.  And then I went to the basket under the laundry shoot to empty the suitcases into the laundry pile, and I found that he was caught up on HIS laundry.  But the pajamas that the three kids and I had worn on our last night there in May were still in the laundry basket.  They were just sitting there by themselves as if he had studiously avoided them.  I ask you, what would possess a grown man to pick through the laundry in the basket and select all of his own clothes, and only his own clothes to do?  I would have pitched a fit then and there, but he was out of town.

And that's when I packed up the kids in the car, went to the liquor store, bought a bottle of good champagne, and after they were in bed I opened the champagne and I drank the whole bottle myself. 

So I can validate how one parent can feel when kids get sick, they put up a fuss at bedtime or about staying in bed, calling out for one more drink of water followed by umpteen trips the bathroom or bed-wetting.  And you are just so dog-tired that you can fall asleep in the school parking lot waiting for the kids when they get older. I did that, many times, and got over the embarrassment of possibly drooling with my head against the driver's side window and my mouth hanging open while I enjoyed about 10 minutes of good sleep. I had no family to help that was within an 8 hour drive, but I had a lot of good friends and that kept me sane.  

[Wisconsin Beth]

I suspect that I'd be much better organized and possibly calmer if DH wasn't around.  Because I won't be waiting for him to do stuff or to help.  IF that makes sense.  And Serious, I'm so sorry your DH was such a loser.  I hope you soaked him in the divorce.  DH DOES do stuff around the house.  I probably don't appreciate him as much as I should but then again, I'm fairly sure he doesn't appreciate me enough either...  So I guess that sort of evens it out...

Cabe fought sleep again last night.  I finally pulled him on the couch with me, wrapped a blanket on us and he crashed a few minutes later. A few minutes after that, DH came by (I'd kicked him to the bedroom to watch tv so I could crash) and made sure I could get him into bed.  We repeated this at odarkhundred with me getting him back into bed around 430 when DH got up to exercise. 

Oh, I did mention to Liz our sleeping arrangements.  And that we are making jokes about how we love and leave the room.  I think she's somewhat concerned about it but isn't pushing on it for now.  I think that fact that we're still loving and making jokes about the whole situation reassured her, slightly. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Oh, and I asked L about how DN's first day went.  Apparently her main teacher spent a lot of time texting and told one kid she'd "slap the black out of him" and a 2nd teacher told one kid to "shut the hell up"  They wanted this school because it's a neighborhood school and close to home.  I'm not sure they did any research on the teachers or school at all.  And they both teach in this same school system and have for 10 plus years.  I don't get it. 

[taz157]

Mar 14, 2013 7:56:21 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Oh, and I asked L about how DN's first day went.  Apparently her main teacher spent a lot of time texting and told one kid she'd "slap the black out of him" and a 2nd teacher told one kid to "shut the hell up" 

[taz157]

beth - I'm glad you were able to speak with Liz and she was able to validate some issues.

serious - What a prize your DH was! At least he's an X now!

If Liz is concerned about you/DH loving then leaving, she'd be real concerned about DH and I haven't done loving in a while. Mostly due to our issues with our bodies than anything.

FWIW, I'm not on any birth control at the moment and we really don't need any extra LOs running around so when DH came to town this past weekend, I had a feeling I was ovulating and thought it was best not to do anything for fear of having another LO in 9 months. That's my excuse for this past weekend. Beforehand, it was our body issues (e.g., unhappy with how we look ourself, etc.).

[seriousthistime]

Hey you guys, you weren't supposed to feel bad for me about XH.  I wrote it so that you would realize that parenting little kids is exhausting for everyone, and you are not alone when you feel so exhausted and frustrated all the time.  And you shouldn't feel that you are less than you should be, and your parenting skills are sub-par.  They aren't.  It's that way for everyone.

Anyway, you were supposed to laugh at the part where I got three little kids, who'd been in the car all day long for two days, back into the car so I could go to the liquor store, and then put them to bed and drank the whole bottle of champagne myself.  That was the point! 

Beth, I did not take XH to the cleaners, though he thinks I did...

[taz157]

Mar 14, 2013 18:54:53 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Hey you guys, you weren't supposed to feel bad for me about XH.  I wrote it so that you would realize that parenting little kids is exhausting for everyone, and you are not alone when you feel so exhausted and frustrated all the time.  And you shouldn't feel that you are less than you should be, and your parenting skills are sub-par.  They aren't.  It's that way for everyone.

Anyway, you were supposed to laugh at the part where I got three little kids, who'd been in the car all day long for two days, back into the car so I could go to the liquor store, and then put them to bed and drank the whole bottle of champagne myself.  That was the point! 

Beth, I did not take XH to the cleaners, though he thinks I did...

serious - I did laugh at the part in where you put the kids in the car to get the champagne.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Fear of looking/being a lush is often what keeps me from running to the liquor store with the kids.  I'm still not sure if that's good or bad... 

No problem Serious.  I feel bad for everyone with crappy spouses/exes.  Sometimes it makes me appreciate DH more.  Sometimes not. 

I think Liz's big concern is that we've been sleeping apart for 4-5 months now.  I think not sleeping with your spouse, when you're living in the same space, is generally a red flag.  As long as there aren't other issues.  In our case, there's other issues - sick and me breathing loudly/snoring due to weight gain.  Since I'm under my doctor's care for the sickness and joined a gym, I think she's tabling it for now.  If I get healthy and lose weight/stop snoring/breathing loud and we're still sleeping apart, I suspect she'll want to discuss it more.  And DH and I have/are talking about it and making jokes.  So it's not a taboo subject at home either. 

Taz, I've been there.  DH was nothing but skin and bones for a while and I was afraid I'd hurt him.  And I'm fat.  I had a couple of drinks to loosen me up some and just took DH to bed.  In the dark.  But I think I'd told him I was feeling weird about my body.  I know I told him I was afraid when he was so skinny.  Get it out in the open so you both know what the issue is. 

[taz157]

I can understand not wanting to look like a lush with the kiddos.

Like beth, I feel bad for everyone with crappy spouses/exes and I generally appreciate DH more.

I can understand Liz's concern but I think it helps that you and DH can joke about it.

For DH and I, I'm heavier than I like and I still have that mommy pouch that I don't like. DH is overweight and hates it. I also agree that we do need to get it out in the open. We've talked about it and here and there, but not much. Granted, some of it is location now with us not seeing each other everyday since he's promotion took him down south.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I like this article. 

www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/03/15/rob_portman_and_the_politics_of_narcissism.html 

I'm glad that Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio has reconsidered his view on gay marriage upon realization that his son is gay, but I also find this particular window into moderation—memorably dubbed Miss America conservatism by Mark Schmitt—to be the most annoying form.

Remember when Sarah Palin was running for vice president on a platform of tax cuts and reduced spending? But there was one form of domestic social spending she liked to champion? Spending on disabled children? Because she had a disabled child personally? Yet somehow her personal experience with disability didn't lead her to any conclusions about the millions of mothers simply struggling to raise children in conditions of general poorness. Rob Portman doesn't have a son with a pre-existing medical condition who's locked out of the health insurance market. Rob Portman doesn't have a son engaged in peasant agriculture whose livelihood is likely to be wiped out by climate change. Rob Portman doesn't have a son who'll be malnourished if SNAP benefits are cut. So Rob Portman doesn't care.

It's a great strength of the movement for gay political equality that lots of important and influential people happen to have gay children. That obviously does change people's thinking. And good for them.

But if Portman can turn around on one issue once he realizes how it touches his family personally, shouldn't he take some time to think about how he might feel about other issues that don't happen to touch him personally? Obviously the answers to complicated public policy questions don't just directly fall out of the emotion of compassion. But what Portman is telling us here is that on this one issue, his previous position was driven by a lack of compassion and empathy. Once he looked at the issue through his son's eyes, he realized he was wrong. Shouldn't that lead to some broader soul-searching? Is it just a coincidence that his son is gay, and also gay rights is the one issue on which a lack of empathy was leading him astray? That, it seems to me, would be a pretty remarkable coincidence. The great challenge for a senator isn't to go to Washington and represent the problems of his own family. It's to try to obtain the intellectual and moral perspective necessary to represent the problems of the people who don't have direct access to the corridors of power.

Senators basically never have poor kids. That's something members of Congress should think about. Especially members of Congress who know personally that realizing an issue affects their own children changes their thinking.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Boy, this week is a mess.  I'm behind at work, the day care schedule is screwy as the grandparents have stuff going on.  DD's off on Friday and DH said he'd try to take the day off since neither set of grandparents are free.  We've been exposed to strep.  We had DD's parent teacher conference last night.  We're supposed to close on the house refi on Wed. night.  And I MUST reschedule my next appt. with Liz as I don't have child care. 

There's no meal plans although I think tonight is leftover pizza and spaghetti. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Last night sucked on the sleep front.  Cabe was up repeatedly.  I think the 4th time (it's all blurring) I got DH up.  He bitched about his alarm clock and I got sniffly.  He did take over with Cabe though.  But I'm just beat.  Tonight is supposed to be the closing on the refi but since we've had crap communication the entire process, I'm not betting on it. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sleep front was better last night.  I should have gone to bed at 9 but well, my Kindle's a bit addictive.... 

I'm really feeling fat.  I'm going to the gym to treadmill tonight.  But I need to stop eating like I"m about to start hibernating. 

And I MUST call Liz to reschedule today.  There's no one in the office until like 11am, so I can't do it now while I'm thinking about it. 

Overall, I'm tired (and fat) but feeling better.  Not sure if it's my tea or the sunlight or what.  But I'm trying to use my energy wisely.  Last night I did pull out the 4t pjs from Cabe's dresser.  I meant to bag them up but instead they ended up in the laundry basket of clean clothes that I need to deal with.  Probably tonight's job. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sleep sucked this weekend, for just about all of us.  I stayed up too late on Sat. night and then Cabe started waking up crying just when I finally went to bed.  Spent the rest of the night getting him down, sneaking out, and then having him wake up 30 minutes later, if I'd successfully snuck out. 

My MIL's agreed to pick up Keira on Tuesday, so the appt. with Liz that I didn't cancel, I can keep after all. 

And I really owe Carl a big Thank you but there's no way I'm starting a thread  basically saying 'Carl, thanks for telling us that you and your wife never say no when one of you asks for sex.'  I changed my mind on Sat. night and had a fabulous time with DH.  This was before Cabe work up, obviously. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Cabe slept from about 845 last night to 545 this morning.  Woohoo!  I see Liz tonight, then rush to DD's school to pick up the fund raiser stuff. 

And my older brother just took 6 weeks of disability from his job and is on happy meds.  I hope he's in therapy but no confirmation on that yet.