A Challenge for Myself

I'm realizing that I spend a little too much time online when I'm home. If I worked or went to school, no biggie. But I don't do either of those on my computer. Therefore, I'm going to try and only be online twice a day. Once in the morning and then after Ethan's in bed. I'm really hoping I can do it. More than likely I can because we're so far away from the IQuest base or whatever, that my signal is weak...whatever. But that's my goal.

It's Official

I have to cut caffeine COMPLETELY out of my life. It's not a huge deal since I really only had coffee on the weekends. It just made me nauseous and I felt like my head weighed about 50 pounds 20 minutes after my coffee was done. I could do the decaf coffee, but we don't have any in my house. And tea isn't so bad. I've switched to Celestial Seasonings Decaf India Spice Chai Tea. It's pretty good. I LOVE it! And it works because it's something hot and sweet in the morning and doesn't make me sleepy.

Not a good idea

I should not be at work today. I feel like crap. And I just want to go home and go to bed and get some rest.

Another Chapter

In the ongoing chapter of being a Mommy, Ethan is now going to real preschool. He started last Wednesday and I couldn't help but shed a few tears as I left. He's getting to be such a big boy and not a baby anymore. He hasn't been a baby for quite some time but I still think of him like that sometimes. At least I did. He's always going to be my little angel, but my little is growing up so fast and I don't know if I'm ready for it. Guess I better start because next year, is the big deal...REAL REAL school. Now I just need to figure out where we'll live before he starts kindergarten..........

No Rain

It's been 6 weeks since I've seen any REAL rain. Rain that lasts for more than 2 minutes. It freakin' sucks. I just want it to rain for about 3 days straight and where I can ENJOY it and not be at work stuck inside wishing I could see it and letting Ethan go out and play in it if he so desires. I know these songs aren't, you know, I don't know what the hell I'm trying to say, but they have the one simple message that it needs to rain...more or less.

I Wish It Would Rain
By Phil Collins


Now I, I wish it would rain down, down on me
Yes I wish it would rain, rain down on me now


No Rain
By Blind Melon


And I don't understand why I sleep all day
AND I START TO COMPLAIN THAT THERE'S NO RAIN!!!!!

Free...Mostly

I get Woman's Day magazine. It's not for old women...it's pretty cool. Has some quick fixes, how to's and recipes in every issue. There's one issue that I loved. Simply because there was an article on free stuff (or mostly free). I don't know how great any of the other things were/are because I just found the issue again and wanted to see how one thing in particular could catch my fancy. It's a site called www.silverjewelryclub.com All one has to pay for is S&H. No catch. That's it. And when you go to checkout, they'll give a retail value (a ring I looked at earlier today was RV'd @ $60), what you pay($0), and the S&H. I LOVE jewelry. Particularly earrings and rings (even though I don't wear rings so much anymore because they kinda get in the way at work). Sterling silver jewelry with a myriad of different designs and gemstones to go with them. I'm thinking I'm going to get some blue (because it's pretty), citrine/topaz (my birthstone), and maybe some CZ if they ever have it (Ethan's birthstone). So really, go check it out. It's worth it, I think.

And it's another great gift idea for me if you want to get me something and don't know what to get. ;) (sz 5.5 or 6 ring)

Bleh

I think somewhere in the past few months I have developed migraine/tension/cluster headaches. Not fun. Sometimes I have a shooting pain on one side of my head that, well, shoots pain. Other times it's this throbbing numbing pain that somehow manages to make me want to vomit and lie down and close my eyes. Other times, it's a mix of piercing pain with nausea. This is what webMD had to say about them:

Tension Headaches
People with tension headaches commonly report these symptoms:
Episodic Tension Headaches (occurs less than 15 days per month)
Pain is mild to moderate, constant band-like pain, pressure or throbbing
Pain affects the front, top or sides of the head.
Pain usually begins gradually, and often occurs in the middle of the day
Pain may last from 30 minutes to several days


Chronic Tension Headaches (occurs more than 15 days per month)
Pain may vary in intensity throughout the day, but the pain is almost always present
Pain affects the front, top or sides of the head
Pain comes and goes over a prolonged period of time

Associated Symptoms of Tension Headache
Headache upon awakening
Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
Chronic fatigue
Irritability
Disturbed concentration
Mild sensitivity to light or noise
General muscle aching


And the Migraine List:

Migraines
The symptoms of migraine headaches can occur in various combinations and include:
Moderate to severe pain (often described as pounding, throbbing pain) that can affect whole head, or can shift from one side of the head to the other
Sensitivity to light, noise or odors
Blurred vision
Nausea or vomiting, stomach upset, abdominal pain
Loss of appetite
Sensations of being very warm or cold
Paleness
Fatigue
Dizziness
Fever (rare)
Bright flashing dots or lights, blind spots, wavy or jagged lines (aura)


And one more possibility since I seem to have more of these symptoms throughout the week:

Cluster Headaches
Intense one-sided pain described as having a burning or piercing quality that is throbbing or constant
Pain is located behind one eye or in the eye region, without changing sides
Pain lasts a short time, generally 30 to 90 minutes. But, it can last from 15 minutes to three hours. The headache will disappear only to recur later that day (most sufferers get one to three headaches per day during a cluster period).
Headaches occur very regularly, generally at the same time each day, and they often awaken the person at the same time during the night.

Maybe sometime soon I should go see my MD and see what he has to say about the whole thing. So now I'm going to go so I can watch my son play his pool and sprinkler...with my superb headache that I got an hour ago...bleh.

WOO-HOO!

Mom and Dad are on their way to Maine for a much anticipated anniversary stay at a B&B in Bar Harbor that the three of us saved to give them for a 30th gift last year. I think they'll be with my Uncle Geoff and Aunt Gerry on their actual anniversary so maybe they'll get lucky and have some Maine lobster for dinner...here's hoping anyway.

I plan on:
1) Having fun with Ethan
2) Getting my room finally put together and taking some stuff down to storage that doesn't fit in my room anymore
3) Not spending so much money
4) Going to the Fair once the kiddies have started school...I'm thinking Wednesday
5) Start walking and eating healthier (this was one of my resolutions and I'm pretty sure it's past time I get my butt up and out the door.)
6) Hang out with my "little sister" Samantha and my BFF Tina if I'm lucky
7) Go back to Central Library because it's a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL place to spend a couple hours.

That's my plan anyway, whether I do any of it is still pretty up in the air right now.

FINALLY!!!

I have my wireless internet back!!! A month of having only one computer in the house with internet and today my awesome Dad hooked up the wireless router so I have my computer fully functional once again!!! YAY!!! Can't wait to start downloading songs again! And letting Ethan play his games! And getting online whenever I want! OOOOO, I'M EXCITED!!!!

Vacation

Every year, at least once, Ethan and I go up to Michigan for a vacation. Usually when we go up I have something to do every day. This year, I didn't have anything planned. To start our week of vacation we went camping up at Indiana Dunes. Not at the state park because by the time we got up there, there were no campsites left. So we found a different one and it was fun. The only thing that sucked was that Randy and I had to set up our tent in the rain. We had no fire on Friday because it was rainy and wet and was rainy and wet all night. We did alright. Ethan and I woke up...well Ethan woke up because it was daylight and we just kinda laid around the tent and hung out outside the tent while Randy slept. We made campfire doughnuts (i burned them...but luckily we had more than one can of biscuits) and decided it was time to wake up Randy. He suggested we go to Chicago so that's what we did. We were only 45 minutes away so it seemed like a good idea. We played tourist...went on a double decker bus ride/tour of the city, took lots of pictures,

Trump Int'l Hotel and Tower

John Hancock Building

Sears Tower from the Bus

went to the Sears Tower Skydeck, took some more pictures,

Skydeck South View

Skydeck North View/Chicago River Y

and then hopped on the bus again and rode around to Millenium Park where we hopped off,

"Sportacus" in Millenium Park

got our free souvenir hat/visor/shirt (we got to pick) and took some pics under the bean.

Under the "bean"

Mandatory self portrait


Since it didn't rain on Saturday night we actually got to camp. We had fire, roasted hot dogs, and made s'mores. Ethan played with his pop gun that Randy got for him at Cabela's and went for a "night hike" with Daddy.

Playing with his pop gun and being like Daddy

Back from the "night hike"

Hanging out at the campsite

Ethan was pretty tired from his busy day so he ended up falling asleep in my chair.

He had a busy day

It did storm about midnightish, but when we broke down camp it was sunny. We hung out for a few more hours and then headed our seperate ways.

Monday and Tuesday we went to the beach and just played and had fun and relaxed.

Baywatch Baby

Check out those waves!

Ridin' the waves

Relaxing in the hammock

Wednesday we went to Grand Rapids to see my friend Emily. I managed to not pay attention to where I was going and missed my turn and thought I was going the right way when I figured out I hadn't gotten to my exit yet. I think I managed to get us about 15 minutes off course. But we made it so everything was fine. We went to John Ball Zoo and then Meijer Gardens. Both were fun places to go. Ethan's not one for watching things for very long. The longest we stayed anywhere at the zoo was in the frog exhibit and the petting zoo.

Poison Dart Frog

Brushing the cow

Meijer Gardens was wonderful! There's a waterfall that's just beautiful, a huge 24 foot bronze horse, and a Children's Garden. We spent about 2 hours there and we all had fun.

Waterfalls

Yep, it's pretty HUGE

Look out!

Come find me!

Emily and Me

Thursday Ethan and I went into Saugatuck, played at the park, had some ice cream and went back to the house to await the arrival of my mom and aunt. Once they got there we went out for dinner. Friday we went into Douglas and had lunch then came back and went to the beach for a little bit...at least I did because I had to come home yesterday. So here I am, once again at work during the weekend and wishing I was still in Michigan with my family. But at least my Daddy has someone to keep him company and talk to in the evenings. It was a great week and I can't wait to do it again.