It appears as though I've lied

But I really didn't. I had the best intentions of posting a blog yesterday, but I ended up with a busy day.

My mother-in-law had carpal tunnel surgery on Thursday, so Ollie and I swung over there to check on her and we took Penny, her dog, to the dog groomer's. Stayed for lunch and while we did that, my father-in-law took the Santa Fe I'm buying and got a new battery installed.

Once we got home, I had to get Helena and then to Taco Bell. Helena and I then cleaned the vast majority of the house last night. She earned her allowance by helping dust, clean windows and fold laundry. By the time all of that was done, I was one tired momma.

Around 3:30 this morning, Helena came into my room, crying. She'd gotten cold in her sleep and had an accident. Unfortunately, she'd been laying with her knees locked at the edge of her bed and her arms tightly curled under her. Her legs and arms hurt and she'd been calling for me, but since I was asleep, I didn't hear her. =( Talk about feeling like a bad mom. So, once she woke me up, I got her changed and resituated in my room.

So, clearly it was a frantic day!

Today's going to be a bit better and more lowkey.

Coming soon

Yeah, here I am again. I've never been one to be on top of things, but I swear, tonight or tomorrow, a meaningful, well-thought out blog. Okay, well, maybe a rambling, less-than-thought out one, but one none the less. I'm sure you're excited and wondering how you'll manage to wait it out, but keep steady and try to not obsess, it'll be here soon enough.

Trouble sleeping

I'm having a hard time falling asleep at night. I end up hitting the snooze button repeatedly and it never fails that I get up way too late. This makes Helena late for school, which is bad, for obvious reasons.

I was concerned that this was a side effect of my anti-depressant, Celexa. However, it seems to not be. Celexa is known to make people tired, not keep them awake. I went to the doctor today and we decided to try to fix the problem without sleeping medication, because I honestly would prefer to not be medicated to sleep. I know what some people do on those medications (eat, drive with no memory of the events) and I'd really rather not have those effects.

So the plan is this: I'll start by tapering off my caffeine consumption. Once I get the caffeine out of my system by bedtime it should help. I'm also going to start a nightly bedtime routine and force myself to get up at the same time every day.

She said that the act of forcing myself awake will alter the time I get sleepy over time, which I'd read not too long ago somewhere online. So I'll start tomorrow. The big thing is no naps, which is not going to be fun because I love to nap, but I have to get up in the mornings, so I'm going to go all out for this.

I'm clumsy

I am not graceful, I've accepted it.

I frequently walk into things, bump the wall or table, fall down stairs. Usually I don't hurt myself too badly, but my stairs are brutal.

If you look at the above photo, you'll understand why I think they're out to get me. The first time I fell, I was up near the top (where Helena's foot is). The second time, I was about even with the filing cabinet.

The first time I managed to stop the fall with my legs. I also had Helena as a passenger, yes, piggybacking adventures are my speciality. The second time, well, I couldn't really stop the fall, per se. I sort of landed at the bottom on my feet.

The first time, I was pretty banged up. My left calf hit that metal tube in the center pretty hard, and my right shin ended up banging along the rail, which is also metal. The second time, I went straight on my back.

I don't think I should go up or down them anymore.

Elsewhere in the world

I'm already 30.

Imagine my joy at logging onto my last.fm account and seeing it tell me I'm 30 a day early. Technically, not seeing as it is tomorrow in England. However, that doesn't detract from the fact that it's there.

I'm weird this year. I usually really look forward to my birthday. Even if nothing happens, it's still my birthday, so it's always been a good day. I'm not looking at it with the same reverence this year is all.

30's not looking so bad, I guess.

A typical day or two

I saw a blog by a friend of mine, astonishingly located here. So, I thought I'd share my day(s).

On a typical weekday off, I will get up somewhere between 6 and 8. Yes, I'm having a lot of trouble with sleep right now. Anyway! I'll get Helena up between 7:30 and 8, if I've gotten up early, I enjoy masses of coffee. If not, I frantically set it to brew, but it's so slow that I end up not being able to enjoy any at all. (cue end of pouting now).

So, once Helena's up, the race is on. She must get dressed, brush her teeth and hair, however, she's not sleeping well, either. So, she's sort of ragdoll-ish in the mornings. We're adjusting. I help her out quite a bit, because I don't like to get all flustered before that first cup of coffee. So, once we get her assembled, we come down for breakfast. Usually it will be cereal, but some days it could be pancakes or even eggs.

We leave at 8:30 to go the 5 blocks to her school. I'd much prefer to walk, but it's been so cold that I drive every day. I can not handle the cold air lately, it chills me immediately. So, I get Helena to school in about 5 minutes and come home. Ollie's been up for a while now and has undoubetedly gotten into some sweet he shouldn't have. Ollie's the early bird, always up before the sun, then again, he falls asleep quite easily and sleeps well.

Back on topic, once I get home from dropping Helena off, I'll make Ollie something to eat, again with the same variations as above. Then, while he eats and plays for a bit, I'll go online and do stuff around my desk.

I then clean. Not only do I spend 2 hours cleaning every day, I do it so that I get exercise while I'm at it. Go me! I have these nifty spiral stairs, but they're steep. I probably take 40 trips up and down each day, I've fallen once on them and that will never be happening again.

I do a load or two of laundry and play a video game with Ollie between cleaning projects. It's invariably Lego Star Wars The Comple Saga. (He'd insist I include "The Complete Saga," it's got some prestige, I guess).

Helena's out of school at 3:05 and I'm usually early. I try to leave by 2:45, the school is close, but parking is a hassle. They have it set up ridiculously. The school is on a huge lot. There's a massive baseball/soccer field, a playground and plenty of open space. Instead of using this open space to free up the road during drop off/pick up times, everyone parks on the street and walks to the school. Not that there's an issue there, the issue is the school busses. There are three and they all let kids off at Helena's school for the latchkey program. So, chances are that you're going to have to wait at the red bus lights. One day the second bus had it's stop lights on while the third bus was parking but the third bus was trying to park with a car in it's parking spot that was blocked by me, stopped by the stop lights. Oh, the irony. And the tangent is over. =)

Alright, we come home after picking up my peanut, Helena. Then there's a snack of some sort. Cookies, crackers, pizza, fruit. Then Helena does her homework and Ollie is back to doing what Ollie does. Freaking Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga. I've taken it away, doesn't matter, he'll switch to another game. Take away the Wii and he's on to a certain movie or show. It'll never end.

After homework is Helena's free time. She gets to play with Ollie or hang out in her room, whatever as long as she's not pissing her brother off. I make dinner then, sometimes Helena will help me. After dinner I might or might not do the dishes. Sort of depends. Then it's bathtime for both kids. After baths, bedtime! Woot! Yeah, except Helena stays awake for like 2 hours. I let her read one chapter a night of Charlotte's Web and then she's to go to sleep, but she just lays awake or will come whine about some malady.

Ollie will pretty much zonk right out. He's sort of a goofy kid, we go tomorrow for his speech evaulation and he's so excited. After the kids go to bed, I clean up again a bit and then play online for a bit before I go to bed.

On the nights I work, everything is the same up to where I make dinner. I sometimes do and sometimes don't on the nights I work. Then I go fold clothes, or sort them by color and style for a certain amount of time. I also talk to people who I think are ridiculous. I set up layaways for people. I sell jewelry and thank God nightly that I'm not into gaudy jewelry. Then I come home and put the kids to bed.

The next day, repeat.