Hmmmm

Hmmmm
Originally uploaded by Normalcy Overrated.

So, today is one of those days where it is hard to stay put in your seat. I would prefer to be doing just about anything but working.
Well, I guess "anything" is a somewhat ambiguous word, because I wouldn't do ANYTHING.

I do have my limits you know, as few as they are.

Old Friends

It seems like that whenever I make friends, they move away and that connection we once had, lessens or goes away.

First, there was Jenny, my very first friend in the whole world. I moved to Topeka when we were 4. We wrote each other and visted very often for so many years. She died in a car accident at age 14. I think of her really often and she visits me in my dreams at the most random of times. Just out of the blue.

Then there are the movers. I had Shanoa my sophmore year. She was really tall, like 5'7" (that is tall for me at 5'3"). She had really long blond hair and looked very much like Julia Stiles to me. All the boys loved her. We would go out and we were all about high school drama and boys and clothes and music and...you know the rest. She moved from Kansas to Texas to Idaho then to Nevada, then back to Idaho.

Then, there was Sheila. Shanoa, Sheila and I were a trio. After Shanoa left, it was just her and I and we became very close. My junior year (her senior) we both got pregnant and had baby girls (2 for me, 1 for her). After graduation, we hung out alot. She went to Cosmetology school and married her baby's father. He went into the military and they moved to Germany (she had a boy there) then eventually to Colorado Springs, CO. They are divorced and she owns a salon there. I haven't seen her in about 2 years, but we still talk and our kids still talk.

Around the same time, my baby daddy (haha) had some friends, the Schmidts, and one of them (Lisa) and I became good friends. We were both young moms. She had a sweet 3-4 year old with crazy red hair. She was such a good friend and really showed me how being a good mom was important. Then they moved to Florida. We talk ocassionally, but not enough. Her son is a teenager. That is crazy.

In college I met Jennifer. She was married and had 2 kids and was studying to become a nurse like me (only she finished). We had Anatomy with Dr. O'Conner, who was a killer teacher with a killer curriculum. We saw dead people. Her hubby was a recruiter in the military and so, I knew the moving part was inevitable. They went to California, then to Chicago. I hope to go see them some day.

After college, there was Mario from work. He was gay, and the best boyfriend I ever had. We could shop together. He moved to California.

My friend Jenny from work - moved to California, then Arizona. We still email regularly.

My friend Dani who I met through my ex, lived in Nebraska, but now lives in North Carolina.

Then there are the online friends that were in Wisconsin and moved to Nevada and the one that lives in California.

I think that is the bulk of them. The cool thing is, that no matter what section of the country I go to, there are friends to reconnect with. I just wish that connection could made more often.

A Very Weighty Issue

Ok, so I have been trying to lose weight for many years now, but one thing has really got in the way of everything. Food.

I love food more than I really want to admit. I don't emotionally eat, I eat because I am bored and want something to do while I do nothing. Eating is such an easy thing to do and you can do it anywhere. I have become so accustomed to having no energy, that all I want to do is rest, and while resting is ok after a long day of activity, it gets boring when all you have been doing is sitting all day at work.

Now, in my defense, I have sleep apnea, that until recently was untreated. This causes you to be exhausted all the time and crave quick energy like carbohydrates. It also causes your body to release cortisone into you body and makes you metabolize food differently, decreasing weight loss. Sleep deprivation is not good for you.

However, I do love food. Its sweet or salty or sour. I love those sensations. I love pudding and cheese the most. Fresh baked bread is awesome.

Today, I have officially kept off 8 pounds over the past 2 years. I was 220 lbs in April of 2004, up from 195 in 2003. Today, I am between 208-212 lbs, depending on the hormones going through my body. I am about a size 18, but today, the jeans are a little snug. After missing my workouts for 2 weeks, then eating like crazy, I really need to buckle down.

I must add, that I have successfully weight trained for an hour and have completed 30 minutes of cardio three times a week, for over a year now. So the excercising is down pat. Trainers are GOD for the unmotivated.

So today, I am kicking off the official start of my weight loss plan (again). In two weeks, I hope to be down to the 206-210 range. That is 2 lbs I need to shed. 7000 calories to cut or burn. Jeebuz thats alot. If those really huge people on those Discovery Health tv shows can lose 400 lbs (1,400,000 calories), I can lose 2 lbs and I don't have half the problems they do (kudos to them).

Kudos to all you out there that have the self-discipline to eat right and exercise. Even more props to those who "like" it. Meh.

New Life

Today is the day that my friend Heather will be induced to give birth to her daughter, Temple Pryor. I am so excited and honored that she asked me to be there to photograph her coming into the world. Photography is limited at a certain point, but I will get to witness her birth. Yeah! I told H that I would do an artist's representation like they do in courtroom trials where press is restricted, with colored pencils. I asked her what color I would need for her nether-regions. For some reason, she wasn't amused. heh heh

The last time I was in the delivery room, I was the woman on the table and I had so many drugs in me, that I only remember bits and pieces of it. Maybe that's a good thing, since I would prefer to forget the TORTURE I went through. Of course, I told Heather that we as women tend to block out the true HORROR that childbirth is and mostly remember meeting our new gooky, crying, chubby babies.

I remember that it took forever to push those two little 5 pounders out, and that we set a record at the hospital for the longest time between twins. My first daughter was born at 10:18 am, and as she entered the world, she busted my pubic symphysis and also her clavicle. She also wasn't breathing due to her umbilical cord being over her shoulder upon exit. When she took her first breath, she cried, then stopped. Her father didn't hear her cry, but when I asked if he heard her, he kindly lied through his teeth. God love him.

My second daughter apparently was enjoying the room that she now had in utero and refused to come down to join the party. Sitting high up in my belly, she was chilling out. So finally, after using the vacuum suction, and doing what I compare to a tug-of-war or pulling your boot out of the mud, she finally, unwillinging came out at 12:31 pm. She was orange. I had an orange child. Nothing that a little bit of time under the UV lamps wouldn't cure. It was however, a great way to tell the twins apart.

I was just happy that they were healthy and that I could take drinks of liquid again. Ice chips don't hold the same joy that they once had. Yogurt however, never tasted better.

So, today, hopefully if induction goes well, I will get to witness another birth and this time, I get to enjoy the sights without going through pain. Of course, after this, I told H that I will be able to proudly say that I saw my coworkers hoo-hah.

UPDATE: One whole day without much progress. Man, induction takes forever! Of course, I was on drugs back then and time went by much faster.

UPDATE: Baby girl was born on June 20, 2006. She weighed 7lbs 8 oz and was 20" long. She is healthy and beautiful. They were going to name her Temple, but they aren't so sure now. I guess we will see what Mom and Dad pick for her!

Baby Richardson
Originally uploaded by Normalcy Overrated.

Funny Family Guy

Oh, love
Originally uploaded by Normalcy Overrated.

Hello on this wonderful Thursday, whoops, I mean Tuesday morning. Wishful thinking I guess!

If you enjoy reading funny commentary about family life, hop on over to my new Blogger friend, Parrothead Dad's blog - The REAL Family Guy and have a good read and laugh.

How he does it with 6 KIDS I will never know :)


The REAL Family Guy

Oh God No. My kids are on the internet.

I guess being a parent who is technically savvy is better than being a parent who does not even know where the power button is. The thing is, that sometimes ignorance is bliss, because once you know that your kids are on the internet, then you know that they are perusing around the world in the largest community - alone.

Well, I decided that I wasn't going to let them be "alone" just yet.

One day I was at my mom's house, and as usual, the kids were on my dad's computer. They usually play internet games, so its not a big deal and I don't take much notice. Well, it was about time for us to go home, so I went to tell them to get ready, and lo-and-behold, there was my daughter typing away on a Xanga site. I casually asked her, "What site is that you are on?" She reluctantly answered, "Xanga." I didn't take it any further. I didn't want to freak her out.

So, when we got home and I snuck down to the computer and looked up Xanga. My sister has an account that I read sometimes and I tried commenting her, but it requires an account be setup. So I set up my own account to reply to her. Then, I tried searching for anything I could find related to my daughter. Absolutely nothing came up. Thats a good and a bad thing. So I had to resort to Plan B.

A while ago, I set up a yahoo email account for my daughters so they could correspond with their friends. I registered it under my email account so I could check in to make sure they were being responsible and so far so good. I logged in to their email and there it was, an email from Xanga with her Xanga member name in the title. So, I went to Xanga and typed in her member name.

A whole new world of preteens opened up to me. Once I found her name (which I didn't really care for) I was able to link to at least 12 other kids in their grade by going through the comments, including my other daughter. Some kids put barely any personal info on their site, while others posted their whole names, phone numbers, school names, and some posted some very suggestive pictures (at least for a 12 year old). Other kids had references to drugs and more than one cussed about every other word. I found a webring for students in the grade and school that my children will be attending this fall, and I was mortified. I was mortified that 13 year olds were posting pics of themselves in bikinis and other suggestive poses. My only thought was, "Where are their parents?"

Of course, it was only by chance that I noticed my daughter on her Xanga. I would probably have never even thought about it if I hadn't paid attention, and it would have been so easy to miss. Since then, I have told my kids this story. I also told them that I expect them to be responsible about it. I do check in every now and then, and I comment on their site about life, but I haven't revealed that I am their mom on my website. They have told some of their friends who I am, but I will leave that up to them. In the meantime, I check up on some of the girls friends and have encouraged them to not reveal personal information. I know that I can't be the internet-police-mom, but at least I can allow my kids to express themselves and learn how to keep themselves safe.

After all, isn't teaching our kids how to be adults what parenting is all about?

Someday I will get it done.

Sneeky
Originally uploaded by Normalcy Overrated.

The garage sale went down pretty good. I pocketed about $100! Of course, I still have tons of stuff to take to Goodwill. I am such a procrastinator.

Speaking of procrastinator, I just can't seem to get the laundry caught up. I swear the people in my house change their clothes at least 10 times a day. Its like they are modeling for a damn fashion show. Next up, Raine is sporting an Old Navy shirt paired with Old Navy capris and Old Navy flip flops. Good lord. We shop at Old Navy a little too much.

I stayed home yesterday from work, and I vaguely remember thinking about watering my garden. Yeah, that never happened. I even put on my shoes and ventured out there to see how much of the garden had been eaten by bugs and weeds. Well, lets just say that I was having a hard time FINDING the garden the grass was so high. I really need to get out there with a weed eater or something. haha
I can just picture myself out there with a machete, hacking away at the 65 foot grass, searching for my long lost tomatoe plants.

Yeah, maybe I will get to that stuff this weekend.

I'm Going To Put on My Shirt and Do This Thing. Do You Think I Need Pants?

Today is Friday. The day that I and all other Monday-Friday workers look forward to. Today is the last day of "paid work" and tomorrow starts the weekend of "unpaid work". Housework, garden weeding, laundry, garage sales, and home improvements all seem to be the work that piles up over the work week. Some people are super-people and do these things throughout the week - I am not one of "those people". The work is there to joyfully greet me every Friday night as I stumble into, I mean through, my front door. The next morning is when it all starts - Saturday morning.

Saturday mornings, well, there really is nothing like the smell of Pine Sol. The kids are still in bed, and most likely the boyfriend is too. I get up, ready to take the bull (my trashed house) by the horns and show it who is boss. Riiiiggghhht.

So, this particular Saturday morning I am going to complete a task that most people only dare to do once a year at the very most - I am having a garage sale. The first weekend of June is the Annual Auburn Garage Sale, and tons of deal scavengers come to our small town to see what junk they can pile into their trucks and what bargain basement prices they can pay for it. You would not believe the "folk" that come out to see our wares. I have never seen so many Rascals on one street (except for that time at the Kansas State Fair) at one time.

Having a garage sale always seems like a great idea. Sell your junk to someone else and hope you make enough to buy something cool, or at least justify the work you put into getting it ready. That brings me to my next point.

Garage sales take ALOT of work. You have to take it all out of storage (that pile in the corner of the garage) and arrange it attractively on flat surfaces (old doors on chairs), then you have to price it all with stylish price stickers (masking tape and majic marker). The one thing that I always forget is to get change. I mean, if they give you a $20 for $2 of merch then you have to give them back the $18. Its not like they are going to tell you to keep the change at a garage sale.

My entrepreneur-like brain is trying to think of other things I could sell. The kids perhaps....they are cute and smart....probably not. I think I will stick with ice, bottled water, and sodas to sell along with my "stuff". Garage salen' makes folks thirsty.

My favorite thing to do on garage sale mornings is to cook cinnamon rolls and make coffee. I can be found sitting in the shade with a cup of joe, reading a book, and waiting for customers to stream down the street. It is fairly relaxing during this phase (unless you live in Kansas and the humidity is up to 65% and even breathing makes you sweat).

Another factor in the success of a garage sale is the weather. There is NOTHING more frustrating than when you work your tail end off and get the sale organized, and along comes a happy little cloud that will drop torrential rains all morning long. Profits are greatly affected and then you are forced to have the garage sale yet another day.

The last part of the Garage Sale Debacle is when the sale is over and you have tons of junk to get rid of. More work. We usually end up loading it into the truck and visiting the depository-of-all-things-not-quite-trashworthy: the Goodwill.

The best part of a garage sale is the good feeling you have when you walk into the house afterwards, cash in your pocket, and realize that next weekend you will have approximately 30% less stuff to pick up. That is like a vacation in and of itself.

Have a great weekend everyone!