Random post-Christmas thoughts

1. How do I change my lay-out without losing all the comments to previous posts?

2. I'm thankful for friends who can show up to a meal, play-date, or whatever after not seeing us for months and start off right were we left off last time.

3. Watching my mom and dad with Emily the past few evenings while they bathe her, watch a movie with her, or share a popcycle makes me grateful that they take time to make every moment count when we're together.

4. We should have brought another suitcase.

5. I'm not looking forward to getting home and taking down all the holiday decorations.

6. Emily really could care less about Santa...and the lack of his name being said this season is just fine with me.

7. New Year's Eve red-eye flights are perfect for our family. Give me a 10:50 p.m. departure with a 4 hr 18 min. direct travel time, and I will give you a family who can sleep on a plane.

8. I miss my quiet time in my recliner at home each morning.

9. Hopefully Dakota wasn't a pain to Meesh all week. I'm grateful to her for watching my pscho, but loving, dog.

10. I think I have narrowed down my favorite restaurants in CA that we don't have in SC. Here they are in no apparent order: Elephant Bar, Mauricio's, Wool Growers, Chicken Pie Shop, Di Ciccos, and any place that serves tri-tip.

11. How in the world did I stay here a week without asking my dad to bbq (or grill even) a tri-tip?

12. The boy down the street who was always the pesky little brother to our neighborhood full of girls is now engaged. I can't tell you how old that makes me feel.

13. Thank you Lord for keeping us all healthy this week when my dad came down with the flu.

14. I hate when my dad is sick. There is something just wrong and unnatural about him being ill.

15. I'm thankful to have four days home before we all return to school. And I'm thankful for my parents' washer and dryer and the clean clothes that can go straight from the suitcases to the closet when we get home.

Breakfast Monday anyone?

Scott and I will be making a quick trip up to Fresno. I wish I could say that we would love to go out tonight, but I am afraid that if we set that up I may have to un-comit by involuntarily falling asleep at 7 p.m.

So breakfast Monday morning may be a better choice. I know Emily would love to see her "treasure-hunting crew" and dance partner friends so she would appreciate a meal with whoever is available. I'm thinking 9ish?

I have no idea where the best place is to go. Possibly Chicken Pie or the Kountry Kitchen?

I have a few numbers, but not many on my cell, so respond back if you are interested.

Boy am I thankful for this guy!

Last night we both had staff Christmas parties. We only made it to one, but I felt like I could barely make it up the stairs when we got home. The last day of school before break always wears me out! This year proved no different.

Well, the plan was to come home and get some laundry on and begin packing. There was no way I could do that, so I headed straight for bed, thinking about how early I would have to get up in the morning to get it all done.

When I woke this morning, not only was nearly every load finished, but Scott had cleaned the kitchen, unloaded all the gifts and other things from my car, charged the DVD player, got out the suitcases and began packing. The fridge was cleaned out, the dishes all clean, and all I had to do was finish the bit of laundry that was left, and throw my stuff in a suitcase.

And now that we have had a semi-leisurely morning, the packing is just about done, and we are not just on time, but early. And as I type this I begin to hear the sounds of the vacuum running downstairs.

I'm a happy lady! :)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Er... actually it's not. Our high today is 78!

Huh?

And we slept with our windows open last night. In December!
What happened to the bitter cold we had just a few weeks ago?

Three more days!?!

Every school has those couple of teachers who say things like, "Is it Friday yet?" or have a "how many days until summer" count down displayed on the board by the second week in October. I find these teachers annoying.

But I must admit that this week I find myself anxiously awaiting Friday's arrival and all the freedom it brings.

I need a break. It was hard to work when I was pregnant with Emily... or more like inconvenient. But being pregnant with twins, and already having a toddler is much harder. You can't just come home and take a nap when you feel like it.

I consider my job an important one, and therefore try my best every day. But the past few weeks I have felt inadequate in more ways than one. I felt like I haven't been a good teacher, wife, or mother the past few weeks... as I have done a mediocre job in every area, but not great.

I'm sick of feeling mediocre.

Maybe it is the perfectionist in me, but I need a break from school I think mostly so that I can concentrate on being a wonderful mom and wife. Not being a teacher for a few weeks may be the way to gain back that confidence, at least in those two areas.

Okay Becky and other money savers...

I went to the grocery store Thursday morning when I was home with a sick Emily. I grabbed "just the things we needed" and checked out at just $100. Seriously!?!

Now a few months ago that would have been a typical shopping trip, but after playing the grocery game the past few months I now know how much more I could have purchased if I was smarter and used my coupons.

So this morning I clipped my coupons and plan on heading out to my three stores just after church. I intend to end up with far more bags of groceries than my Thursday trip, but far less in my total cost.

I will let you know how it goes.

Did you go yesterday, or are you going today? Let me know how you do! :)

-Malisa

Christmas

I can't wait to until we get to my parents house for Christmas. My dad just started this new schedule where he works fourteen straight days, and then gets seven days off in a row. He managed to start the fourteen so that his seven days just happen to be the week we are there. I couldn't be more thrilled! And since Mindy is a full-time nursing student, her work schedule is sporadic around her classes. She will be also be home the entire week.

But one thing that happens every year when we visit is many friends and family members (not my parents so much, but other out-layers) try to persuade us in to moving back. So this year I want to be one up on everybody and list my top five reasons why we love to call South Carolina home right now.

1. The forrest is just beyond our back fence. Deer, wild turkeys, oppossums, raccoons, and all of God's beauty we get to see every day.

2. Have I ever told anybody that I love my job? :)

3. Scott's support with professionals at his school site and the university. We couldn't have asked for anything better.

4. I'm not worried about Emily going to school and being subjected to sight sound and spelling cards as a Kindergartner. Pedagogy is everything

5. Having four definite seasons is sure nice!

6. People are kind in the South. Not that they aren't in other places in our nation. But people just care about others in a way that makes this place unique.

7. The final reason is that flying in to visit family, or having family fly in to visit us makes those visits so special. And when you look forward to seeing your loved ones as much as we do it makes every moment a blessing that isn't taken for granted.

Update

Several things to update on:

1. First of all, Emily is still sick with a high fever. That "ear infection" I was so confident about turned out to not exist. Probably some viral thing which stinks because we have to wait it out rather than medicate. And everybody knows how I feel about waiting for anything!

2. The Babies! I went to the doctor Tuesday and since she couldn't tell the difference between the two heart beats on the fetal monitor, she decided I needed an ultra-sound. Darn! :) I asked the tech if she could tell what they were, but one was literally placing the little hands over itself, and the other she thought could be a boy, but then she thought it was a girl. She finally said that it is a little more obvious if it is a boy, so that makes me think it is a girl. I would love to have one of each, for no other reason than I think it is only fair that Scott should have to take somebody to a public restroom ! Being patient about this is so hard! (see above!)

3. Since last Saturday's restaurant cuss storm we have found a better restaurant that serves my favorite craved food: Spicy chicken wings! So that is that. No more going to the cuss barn for dinner with Emily.

4. Headaches-- man do they stink! Maybe this is God trying to teach me empathy for Scott when he gets migraines. I am learning to control them better with chiropractic care, and when all else fails my doc gave me a wonderful sedative/pain reliever called fioraset. I'm not ever too keen on pills, but these are a life-saver!

5. We leave for California 12/21. We can't wait! Emily keeps talking about sitting on her Papa's lap to watch a movie and eat popcorn. Personally, I can't wait for the food! Scott and I have a mental list of all the great restaurants that we don't have here, and I can't wait to go to a few of those!

** Looks like we should make it to Fresno at least over night. We're hoping to see Paul and Mary of course, but maybe we can get together with friends too! It may be a Monday though if anybody's up to it.

Sick Day

I got a call at work this afternoon that Emily was running a fever and not feeling well. Apparently after the first hour of preschool she decided she couldn't do it any more, and sat in a corner and whimpered. She was fine this morning, but something is making her feel awful!

The funny part is that when I got her home I put her directly in bed, where she wanted to go. She laid down and said that her top was not comfy because the hood was making a "bump on her back." When I took it off I suggested she just sleep w/o a shirt. Well, that was blasphemous apparently, because Emily got really frustrated with me. She said, "Mommy, that just wouldn't be cozy!" and then she burst in to tears!

Poor girl. Probably just an ear infection. Easy to fix, yet extremely painful. I'm glad we are getting this taken care of before the air plane ride to CA. Doesn't it seem like this happens every year before Christmas?

Dr. appt. at 2:30... I'll let you know what he says.

P.S. Em's pediatrician is one of her favorite people she knows. He isn't in today, and so she will have to see another doc in the practice. When I explained this to her, she was quite ticked.

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Frustration

Don't you hate it when you can't get your pajamas on?

My 3 year-old doesn't cuss, thanks!

Last Saturday night Scott and I took Emily to the Bethlehem Experience at a local church. Basically it is a drive-through of scenes from the night Jesus was born, complete with volunteers dressed up and preforming the jobs of the time. Before we went to this event, we decided to eat at a restaurant right across the street.

This restaurant is a family place, and Saturday proved no different. There were many families with children, I'm guessing many of which had the same idea about eating there before going to the church event across the street. But what also was going on this same night was the Florida vs. Alabama SEC championship game.

There is a bar in this restaurant that had many couples sitting around it watching the game. No problem, right? Well, this one drunk guy starts yelling "You suck" every time Tim Tebow is shown on the screen. (which was a lot of times, obviously.) That was annoying to me because this cute little Tebow character is such a sweet boy, or so it seems to me, and regardless of that, he obviously doesn't suck, and won the Heisman as a sophomore to prove otherwise. But whatever. Crazy Alabama fan, right? Well then it wasn't just him. Another guy who obviously was rooting for Florida began yelling things like, "get the little b*&O&rd! Rip is head off!" THen there was a "bad call," as defined by the other man who yelled, "What the F*&%!" and "Holy ____!"

So I guess we didn't know what to do. We were really annoyed at the jerks who obviously had no respect for the dozens of children in the establishment, and the manager who I felt let the "you suck" comments continue, which allowed the further cussing to escalate. But the large bar in this place with the huge TVs were obviously in place so that these guys could watch their game and drink their beer.

Well, as we walked out I just politely let the manager know that we would surely think twice about coming back on a Saturday, because we weren't sure what environment we would get... this night being so different from the other Saturday nights we had been there.

I guess what I am wondering now is if restaurants that are toted as "Family Restaurants" have different rules that apply when major games like that are on? Should we have been more aware of the situation before we went in, by connecting the large bar and TVs to potential drunk jerks with foul mouths? Or should they have been told by the management to be quiet in order to preserve the peace of the "family restaurant?"

Arkansas Trip

We drove all the way to Arkansas for Thanksgiving. My grandparents moved there from California, and we have never been there. They just finished a major re-model of their house, so we wanted to go and see their spot before the twins get here. With gas being so low, and Emily being an awesome traveler, how could we pass it up?
We stopped in Birmingham on the way there for the night, and stopped in Nashville on the way home. We took different routes so that I could see more of the country since I have never driven cross-country like Scott has.
Here are some highlights...

Emily with my grandpa in Arkansas riding on the tractor

Emily and I in front of the Mississippi

Emily at the Grand Opryland Hotel in Nashville

Scott and Emily on the river that goes through the hotel

Emily and I in front of the Smoky Mountains in N.C.

*I can't figure out how to get the pictures in order with the captions... but I bet you can figure out what goes with what! :)

Time to whine

I'm at home today from school. I have had headaches for the past week that get so bad that all I can do is lay around in bed from about six or seven on. This morning I woke up with another headache, and called in a sub so I can get some tests done at my doctor. I'm praying it isn't gestational diabetes or high blood pressure. I have tried all sorts of things, but they haven't worked. And I feel horrible for missing another day of work.

Nothing is done around the house except for what Scott has done. I feel like such a whiner, and those who know me well know that the one thing I can't stand is whining! So what does that say about me? :) I'm miserable to say the least.

I have all sorts of things that I need to catch up on at home while I wait for the appt, but there is no way they will get done. I think I am going to lay in bed and watch the Today show and hope the throbbing goes away soon.

We have some great Thanksgiving pictures but I will have to post them later.