Random Things

I'm sitting here bored out of my mind, two kids watching a movie for quiet time in the living room, and I still can't come up with any given subject to blog about. So I figure it's time for a nice random blog about nothing particularly specific. It's been what? Two weeks since I blogged last? I can't even remember. Perhaps blogging was merely a fad for me. A temporary phase. I suppose when I go a month without blogging, I'll know it's officially died, right?

Tax Time: True to form, tax refund time is a time for most people to rejoice about the awesome refund of money that will temporarily flood their bank accounts. Unearned money. Isn't it wonderful? Sadly, in our house, tax refund time is a time for things to break and/or die horrible deaths. This year was the microwave first. Not overly expensive, but an annoyance. A week later came the untimely death of Josh's computer. Not a cheap replacement and every bit of annoying. And then, naturally, Josh's car broke. Literally. Smashed. One year ago, Josh smashed a deer, all but totaling his car. This week, due to what the police call 'inattentive driving', Josh rear-ended a very unhappy SUV owner at a stop-light. *sigh* All that work and money from fixing the blasted car up and we are right back there again. A smashed up car and borrowing my parent-in-law's car for the time being. Thank God for their generosity or we'd be in a pickle. That's three vehicles Josh has destroyed in four years. I'm considering sending him to a driving school for ungifted drivers. Tax time. Go figure.

Kindergarten Round-up: Alex is officially enrolled in Kindergarten. I took him to the school for round-up and he was super excited. The kid, despite his mother's inability to socialize, is quite the socialite. He loves school and making new friends. I'm still scared to death to send him away in the care of others that are, well...not me. But the people I talked to took some weight off my worries. They will let the teachers carry a hip-pack with his meds in it. They will all be trained how to use the meds and look for the signs. We live a whopping three blocks from the school so I can walk him straight to his room and pick him up every day. And to make it even nicer, I'm allowed to eat lunch with him every day. They even said that other parents do this with their allergic kids and bringing siblings to eat there as well is A-OK. I of course, realized that my baby boy will be away from me for seven hours a day. *sniff* I'm gonna have to bring a few tissues that first day of school.

Pre-school Round 2: Abby is on her way to pre-school this fall. She'll be going to the afternoon class at 12:30 so I'll be without both my babies for a three-hour block, three days a week. *double sniff* They just grow up too fast, you know? She, unlike Mr. Alex, is not excited. She doesn't want to go so this should be entertaining. Not real sure what her first few days will be like, but it's going to be good for her. (I hope.) I'm sure the guilt of prying her kung-fu grip off of my legs amongst massive tear-flow, will leave me in turmoil.

Trampoline dilemma: To get one, or not to get one? That's the question right now. I told the kiddos that I would get them a trampoline to jump on, but now that I'm at that point, I'm not entirely certain I want that giant thing in my back yard. Oh, don't get me wrong. It will get used. It will certainly become a worn out pile of old material years and years from now much like the one we had when I was younger. It's inevitable. We'll get one. So I suppose the real questions are when and how big?

Reunited: I've spent months on end without my trusty laptop. The laptop I bought over a year ago, became my good, little, electronic buddy that I used all the time. So when the screen fizzled out months ago, I was left without my electronic right hand. I had my time of mourning and tried to move on with a lap-top passed on to me from Josh's family. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same. It didn't fit my hands right. So after a visit to a really awesome small-business computer dude, I am officially reunited with my old pal. Mr. Laptop and I are back together and so my hope is that I'm off to the races again with Mr. Book. Mr. Book was put on a back burner when Mr. Laptop bit the big one. So it's back to pointlessly weaving my words into a fantasy adventure that is ultimately going to be published via the e-reading market. If every family member I know that I'm on good terms with purchases my 99cents book, I should make about...oh...say...$3.00. (before taxes). Go E-books!

Summing it all up: Beautiful weather we're having. So naturally, spider season is upon us. Black widows are waiting to rear their ugly little beady-eyed heads. So let's hear it for the bug-guy! Three cheers for bug-guy!

Selling the Farm

First and foremost, if you notice a strange pattern in my typing that looks like I may or may not be experiencing an overly shaky hand, then you should understand it's part of my withdrawal symptoms. Having the 'shakes' from withdrawal is perfectly normal. My addiction isn't a secret. For two years now I've been addicted to playing Farmville on Facebook. Well, that not-so-little obsession doubled when I started playing Frontierville, one of the sister games. One game took up way too much of my time so naturally two of them became a mess. I was spending more time on facebook playing games than I'd like to admit to. Well, long story short, the company that makes these games has made playing so complex and overloaded with work that the games quickly became a chore. Which, of course, naturally morphed into what felt like a job. I noticed that I wasn't really enjoying the games anymore. I just played because....well...I was addicted. For so long, it's been how my night goes. Put kids to bed, shower, play games for X amount of time. One day, in the middle of playing Frontierville, I just stopped, turned it off, and never looked back. I finally got over my post-Frontier jitters and apologized to all my stranger-friend neighbors (who totally understood). A week later, I logged on to Farmville (as I hoped one game would be better than two) and realized that I just didn't need it in my life anymore. So this weekend was the real test. We went to Josh's Grandma's 91st birthday party in Oklahoma and I...*gasp*...didn't take my computer. I'm proud to say that I didn't get on at all this weekend. I believe that I'm on the way out of my addiction to the game. I still feel the urge to play but, strangely enough, I feel healthier without logging on every day to play. The problem is that merely being on facebook makes me want to hunt through the million posts on the feed to click on things from fellow neighbors. So taking the weekend off of being on that blasted thing has helped. I fear I may relapse if I'm not careful. So here I sit, avoiding the whole world of facebook by blogging about it. Not sure this is helping my farming jitters. I'll admit I miss the cute horses and random worthless junk that I've spent years collecting and saving up to buy with my fake money. (wow. that sounded pathetic.) So ;askldjfapio;fha;...sorry...big jitter there. :) Anyhow...so wish me luck folks. I'm selling the farm. *sniff* I shall miss you tiny little avatar that looks nothing like me. It's been fun.

Billy & The Penguin

No. This is not the name of a children's book. But it sure seems like it, doesn't it? In all actuality, it's a post about imaginary friends. My kids are very creative and imaginative. I'm sure most kids who are five and almost four are. And I am definitely not one to stifle the power of the imagination. (Hi. I'm Jessica. And I'm an artist.) So when I begin to see the creativity the kiddos show, it never ceases to interest me. Putting Abby's crazy obsession with drawing aside, the biggest bout of creativity has to come from their minds. Two words: Imaginary friends. Yep. We're there. Now, in the past, Alex has had quite a few "imaginary friends". But most of them were short-lived at best. Our newest consistent house guest is a boy named Billy. I am prone to suspect that the origination of Billy comes from the introduction of The Power Rangers, as one of the rangers is named such. Alex started out by talking about Billy (his favorite power ranger) quite often. This went on for quite some time until slowly, Billy began to do things that were not even remotely close to what the Power Rangers do. Today, he talks of Billy as if he's always in the room with us. Creepy much? Just kidding. It's cute...in that uninvited, freaky invisible man in the room kind of way. He talks about Billy, plays games with him, eats his food with him. You know, the typical imaginary friend things. We were all there once upon a time. At dinner tonight, Alex was weaving quite the tale of the many adventures of Billy. Skydiving, karate, swimming with sharks, watching movies, driving monster trucks. Billy...that crazy kid. He's done it all! When I ask Alex how old Billy is, he ranges from 5 to 20. Perhaps Billy is stuck in a space-time continuum. Who knows? What I do know is that the stories that kid can come up with and the adventures they both go on, it's always a fascinating day at our house. I can also say that Billy's mom is a very lenient (and possibly crazy) woman. The only concern I have for Billy's apparent long stay is that I am not socializing Alex enough. But his preschool teacher has never mentioned anything. So for now, I'd say I'm in a safe zone. Oh well. Perhaps in my current book re-write, I'll do some tale weaving of my own and have Billy in there somewhere. Problem is...I don't know what he looks like.

So you're probably wondering right about now what the heck the Penguin has to do with this whole thing. Well, my friends, that is all Abby. She has developed her first of probably many imaginary friends. It will most likely be short-lived, but The Penguin has done a few things around here. The difference between Abby's friend and Alex's? The Penguin has a knack for getting into trouble. So far, this mysterious penguin has drawn on the walls, the stove and Josh's computer chair, unraveled quite a few rolls of toilet paper and sneaked in to eat the last of the grapes. As far as imaginary friends go, that's one Sneaky little penguin, if you ask me.

Starting Over

A few weekends ago, we traveled to see my in-laws for Superbowl. And yes, before you ask, I did actually watch the game. And yes, I did actually enjoy it. Josh, being the dedicated Patriots fan, however, was not as thrilled to have watched the game. At least not when it was over. Another Superbowl loss for his team did not make him a happy camper. I, being the ever sensitive wife that I am, enjoyed poking fun at the situation. My loving, and oh so understanding husband, has become well adjusted to my unending habitual desire to joke in nearly every life situation that arises. No matter how hard I try to hide my sarcastic and joking side, it always takes over. Unemployment? Funny. Poverty? Funny. Black widow infestation? Funny. Perhaps not always funny at the moment, but I manage to joke about it someway or another. You know what they say. If you can't laugh, then you must not have any vocal cords.

Anyhow, as I was saying, we went to visit the in-laws. Now, we've become fairly comfortable (if that's possible) with our food allergic life style. Truly, it's become old hat to me when it comes to just about anything. Alex had also slipped into a dangerously comfortable place where he has become...well...far too trusting. Though I've taught him time and again to not take food unless I approve it, certain situations and people in his life he's come to trust. Turns out that this dangerous comfy place reared it's nasty head and has turned our lives upside down. Though I am ever vigilant in my label-reading and my mommy-eyes are always on alert when we leave the house, sometimes I just can't be in the right place when I need to be. Alex has certain things he knows is safe and someone just happened to offer him one of his favorite kinds of chips. The problem is that they also gave him some other chips of the same brand that were very much unsafe. I walked into the kitchen to see Alex carrying a bowl of chips. My highly trained eyes zeroed in on the bowl and his chip-stained fingers like a hawk spotting a helpless baby mouse in a field and I knew instantly what those chips were. Chili Cheese Fritos. And Alex had already eaten quite a few. I snatched the bowl away and B-lined for his medical bag. By the time I got back, he had developed hives on his face, began drooling and his ears were starting to itch. He was scared, possibly feeding off of my inevitable fear for his safety, but thankfully the medicine and my quick response reversed the effects and all was right with the world...or so I thought.

Fast-forward to present day, a few weeks later. Alex is now mortally afraid of every piece of food offered to him. Now this might not seem like a bad thing. Especially in school or other unfamiliar places. But at home, he should always...always feel safe. Home base = safety. Because of this one moment of taking the wrong food from someone he put his trust in, he has become scarred to a point that I am completely unsure how to deal with. He's struggling severely with taking food from me. He asks me with everything, "Is there cow milk or peanuts in that?" He asks with all food. Strawberries, soy-milk, bread, cereal, popcorn, etc. All the food he felt safe with, all the years I've spent making him feel safe, are now erased and I'm not sure what to do. So we are starting over. It's been the roughest few weeks I've had in a long time. At times, he becomes so afraid of what he's eating that he will induce what can only be defined as a small panic attack for fear that it has milk in it. He has even cried and curled up in fear under the table at the prospect of strawberries having milk in them. What am I supposed to do? I just don't know. I think he's finally beginning to trust me again, but I don't know how long it will take to get back to where we once were. I fear he's scarred from this, but with prayer and hope, this too shall pass. Poor kid. I feel like it's all my fault, but what more could I have done? Each day he seems to trust me just a miniscule amount more, but I fear the long road ahead will be a bumpy one. So anyone out there, pray for Alex to regain his confidence. He shouldn't have to live in fear at home. I'm praying for a healthy balance. Fear at school? Good. Fear at home? Bad. Yep...starting over can really stink.

Blah, blah, blogging

In case you haven't figured it out, I am in one of those blogging funks where blogging is simply the very last thing on my mind. Actually, I just came here to see how long ago I posted when I realized that it's been almost half of a month. Truth be told, my evenings, which used to be filled with non-stop boredom from lack of things to do (after the kids go to bed of course), has become the opposite. I've been spending 98% of my evenings/nights on the couch watching episode after episode of TV shows we have on DVD while I work on art. The art is made up of one subject matter to which one might assume I'm obsessed with if they took a look at my last four pieces in progess. The human spine. Weird, eh? Yeah. I know. But that's the thing about chiropractors, whom the art is for. They're positively obsessed with the spine and all things related. I've been working on art for my brother-in-law's soon to open chiropractic clinic. So he's keeping me busy these days. Truth is, I honestly don't have much else to be doing in the evening anymore since Farmville became too much to handle. I still play the game a bit, but it just doesn't hold that special place in my heart like it used to. Why companies have to go and ruin a good thing is beyond me. Stupid Zynga...grrr. Anyhow, so my absence in blogging is hopefully explained. Tonight I shall be finishing a whole work of art! Woo-hoo! But I will try to post something family/kid related this week. Key word here is: Try. No promises.

Germ Rules

Thanks to my cousin Shania for the inspiration for this little cartoon. She has the absolute best sense of humor! Once she found the words, I had to draw the cartoon that goes with it. I think it's an artist thing...

Because I'm such a Geek. That's why!

It's late and I want to go to bed but I had to share this with you all because I'm geeky enough to have spent the last four hours playing with my family super hero photos in my computer programs. I loved this part so much I just couldn't share with everyone. It's part of a larger project I'm working on and I giggled and smiled the whole time I was tinkering with it. Yep. It's official. I'm the biggest dork I know.