Sick....

so it's been a while - no surprise..... we've had a busy few days here at the alday/blauvelt house.  jim and i have decided that we don't want to make the same mistake we did while living in SF - we aren't going to put off doing the 'touristy' shit until people come to see us.  Not to mention there is so much more to do in NYC than in SF.....

So on saturday we hoofed it bright and early to the Museum of Natural History with Q.  He absolutely loved it - didn't care too much for the cultural peoples areas - but the dioramas of the animals and of course the dinosaurs were a huge hit.  We'll have to take him again.  I've started to compile a list of things we should do....and especially in this crappy cold weather, indoor stuff is a hit.  

Sunday we pretty much stayed in and did some house cleaning.... still more to do - i need to keep reminding myself that in a few months we are going to have a house full of people for the wedding and i need to have shit in order..... eventually. 

Monday jim had off for MLK day, so i took that opportunity to run away for the afternoon with miss anabel ( her hubby was off too!) - so we had an awesome day minus kids - it was in the 20's but we didn't care - hoofed it around the village and soho for a few hours.  Had some yummy spanish food ..... then hit the little boutiques... didn't buy anything - a $45 onsie was just enough to make me sick lol We did stop in to a few tattoo/piercing parlors to get some pricing for this saturday's mom's night out.... who knows if anyone else is going to join the needle fun, but anabel and i are determined to add some new holes to our faces lol 

this week has been slow...... the board is trucking along, and i'm happy about that.... things have slowed, giving me a chance to really work on the new stuff on the back end.. our date of feb 1st is fast approaching so i think we'll have to push it a bit further along.  The logo contest was extended again, and we have finally gotten a few submissions.... they look good....so we'll have to see what comes of that..... 

family updates.... step dad is doing much better - feeling good - goes to the doctor on friday to get his ok to return to work and to be allowed to drive again.  My dad goes in for an MRI on friday as well for his shoulder, apparently there is more damage done then they thought - well duh.... so fingers crossed that he doesn't need _another_ surgery.... and can fix this fast and easy.  

SIL is 18 weeks preggo and apparently she and my brother are coming to the east side of the country in feb.  and i'm their first stop.  would be nice if they called and informed me and not just tell my mother... guess we'll wait and see...

Karlee is doing good, not gaining enough weight apparently still.... so i have no idea what is up with that.... sid is acting out worse and worse... i guess they had to physically removed him from the classroom the other day - i have no idea how to express to my brother that this kid is crying out for help - the house life is not good for him... the constant people in and out, the new baby, then the baby's mother - maybe when i see them in march i can knock some sense into him. 

So yeah in march  - my crazy mother and joe have decided they want a house full of people there for a weekend..... lunatics lol so jim, quin and i, brian, angela, sid, karlee and maybe abe, kristen, jeremy, his son, and possibly jess and cam will be there for 2-3 days lol in case ya'll weren't counting... that is 9 adults, 1 - 8 year old, 2 - 4 year olds, a 2 year old, a 1 year old and a 4 month old...... ought to be interesting.... in a 2 bedroom condo..... we are hoping to get there earliest so that we can claim the bedroom lol 

ok well this was long enough for now.... i can feel the fever creeping back in and my voice disappearing... time to try and nap - but quin i doubt will let me...... 

snip snip

i cut quin's hair last night.... and i'm sad about it.... i need to take him to get it fixed up..... but it was so long, and it kept getting dreaded and knotty and nasty.... i couldn't get him to sit so that i could get it all out... and it just got worse and worse every day.  everyone kept saying he was a girl and getting on me about cutting it, and i caved...so now he looks more like a girl with a bob cut, because he wouldn't let me trim the front or sides - and my baby's curls are almost gone.... and he looks all grown up..... makes me sad - and ready for another one.

pics to follow

When shall the tides turn?

So i'm trying to go gung ho into the wedding planning but so much shit just keeps getting into the way.  My step father went in for his heart surgery yesterday morning.  He is having an ICD placed to help with the congestive heart failure he has been suffering for months.  With fingers and toes crossed I awaited good news.  My mother calls to inform me that they stopped the surgery.  The plastic tip to the node that attaches to the heart came off and is floating thru his circulatory system.  So they have to do cat scans to find it and pull the damn thing out before it blocks a major vessel, and then they would hopefully do the ICD surgery today.  

Well 3 cat scans later and they still didn't find the damn thing... wonderful.  And they are acting like it's no biggie, they'll find it and all will be well.... needless to say, i didn't sleep all that well last night.  When i spoke to mom this morning, she had just talked to joe and he was on his way back down - for what, he didn't know.  So another day will be spent preoccupied with thoughts of what ifs and what should i do...... I know my mom is staying strong, but she is by herself waiting and i hate that.  as much as she drives me bonkers, i don't like that she is there, not taking care of herself of course, worried and freaking out over all of this.  I'm hoping i don't have to hop on a train and go up there, but right now it is a strong possibility.... so i have the amtrak schedule up on the screen making sure i know what i need to bring and how much its going to cost us the money we don't have right now. 

Speaking of money..... this whole GED thing is driving me insane.  mitch called over 20 times this morning, starting at 745am..... 7fucking45 am..... even on a good day i'm not up that early.  I don't know if it he just doesn't get it, or its becaus ehe is older and probably wakes up a t4 am every morning, or he has no idea what it is like to have a 2 year old since he has no children, but do not call me that early unless it is an emergency.  Now i know jim and i hold this mans financial quests in our grubby techy hands right now... but calling me constantly when i told him i'd call him when i woke up is just annoying.... he has $1k in orders for us right now, and we could really use that money.... but the files are fucked up and jim needed to fix them.  then there is the printer..... we bought a new one and the damn thing got wrecked in shipping..... fucking freight company piled ( well it looks like they dropped something) on top of the damn thing.... now we finally got the guy we bought it from to send us replacement parts, which will hopefully be here tomorrow.   so now for the rest of the supplies..... $200+ worth of binders, ink, cd sleeves and paper....and i have to go get cds today..... then we figure out we need a new dvd/cd burner..... a few more hundred bucks..... still need to replace the hard drive.... at about $500....... then the recovery of this one..... almost $2k...... plus the tv in the bedroom died...... fucking great....... i just want my damn espresso machine. 

i sound so materialistic in my head, but i'm not really.  i just know i've worked hard thru my life and i want some rewards.... the espresso machine is a gift - jim's mom put money in our account for it.... but we used it on bills...... sigh.......every single time we get cash from her for gifts it goes to bills..... thats why i made sure jim got his damn xbox.... because he deserved it.... now i want to kick and yell and stomp till i get my machine too lol ....... oh well....i am a hypocrite - what else can i say. 

then there are the siblings.... its scary to think i am the 'normal and level headed' one.... 

step sister moved in with her boyfriend.... i guess that is a good thing, as she wasn't living in a good situation for herself, and maybe this is a sign that she is growing up..... but no one has met the boyfriend and her track record isn't all that great.... my mom seems excited that she might be getting engaged.... um HELLO?!?!?!?!  i'm getting married in 9 months and you hardly ever mention it to me..... i know Kristen's mother passed away and my mom is trying to fill the void... but um..... i'm your daughter and i need that attention too..... then there is brian....

karlee is doing much better - i talked to him last night..... he gave me the normal hum drum about food stamps fucking him over, having to call the food bank and convince the woman to open it up so that they can eat...... then my mom tells me he and angela are getting married..... 

he is marrying this chick, who has not a motherly bone in her body - has 2 kids not even a year apart, doesn't have custody of the first one, ignored the fact that her new born wasn't eating and thus lost almost a pound in 3 weeks time..... and she is verbally and physically abusive to brian in front of sid!  wtf is wrong with this picture? 

then there is jimmy and deanna..... that is just a whole fucked up ball of wax that i don't have the energy to touch.... i'm waiting to hear from my dad about his MRI for his shoulder..... its like everyone is falling apart around me and i don't feel like holding it together anymore.... i don't want to grow up damn it..... 

A new year, a new day

So 2008 has begun..... so much to do this year.... so much to change.....

I'm getting married in oct.... about 9 months to go and i haven't done as much as i was hoping i'd have done by now.... i need to buckle down and start making decisions.  The software has been on stand still for way too long, and the extra income we'd make is really enticing.... just not enough to get jim and i off our asses and work on it.  of course the work we already did is lost ( at least for now) with the death of our hard drive. 

i'm on the dieting wheel - and have been doing fairly good.... 32 lbs in 6 months isn't too shabby, considering i didn't really do anything except nursing.  I'm itching for another baby..... i just don't feel like our family is complete yet ...... but i'm weary about the weight gain again.  It crushed what self esteem i had......and now that i'm building it back up, i'm also gearing up to knock it down again..... sigh..... is this what i signed up for?

quin is doing amazing..... he's gaining words by the day and his newest is 'i'm sorry mom' - its so cute, and he says it at the right times.....of course this also brings on the 'no, mine' and the constant 'it's broken' in regards to anything and everything... but i can deal with that if it means he is catching up verbally to his age peers.....  he's doing pretty good in the big boy bed - i've noticed that he wakes up between 2 and 3 am every morning ( well almost every morning) - i can usually get him back to sleep - if i'm awake... if i'm asleep, he just crawls into bed with us and passes back out.  we are going to attack potty training head on this week...... ought to be fun!

the forum is doing pretty amazing..... lots of members, lots of posts..... no drama.... it's been more than i could ever ask for.... i'm working on so much bejhind the scenes, that i think i'm spreading myself too thin.... so my new years resolution for the board is to take it one thing at a time, and to dedicate at least an hour a day ( if not more) to getting my list complete.  i'm not going to get into it much because it'll just make me get all flustered and scattered again lol 

jim and i are doing great.... as the new year rolled around, and my drunken birthday, i realized that we need to better ourselves health wise - both physical and mental.  i'm cooking healthier whether he likes it or not ( and right now he is hanging in there) - and we need to start going out at least once a month alone.... his parents are always ready and willing to take the little man for the night, so we need to use and abuse it - 

ok well the boy is calling and i have some buddies to add to this new bloggity blog lol let's see if i can post at least once a week lol 

dear sweet cancer sticks......

i must say good bye..... my skin is getting wrinkley and exercising is such a bitch.  you've been with me thru thick and thin ( except when i was pregnant and nursing, you kindly stayed away) - you've been a reliever of stress, a sweet treat to accompany alcohol, a midnight snack, a way to suppress the appetite....but sweet cancer sticks.... there are 4 of you left and i shall not be purchasing your cousins....they can stay in their shiny saran wrapped box on the shelf of the bodega for another person..... 

i will be strong dear sticks of tobacco and icky chemicals.... i will miss you.... but i must say good bye as i'd like to be there for my son at his graduation - i want to not smell like a smoker, i want to brighten my smile, i want to be able to run the stairs without getting winded, i want to walk down the street without the cravings......  so dear friend, so long and good bye..... almost......