White Knuckle Driving

I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Took 2 hrs today to get me and hubby to work when it should have taken 45 min. Blah, winter

Our New Office

Well after a couple weeks in our new office, I think it's safe to make some conclusions.

The first is I love the location. It's close to home and daycare and more importantly, the mall! The mall has a food court and if that's not enough, there are plenty of restaurants within blocks....Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden (of which I partook yesterday and it was a delight), Applebees, Red Robin....not to mention fast food.

One thing that surprises me is this office, just like our other one, is cold! I'm not please about that. Also, they claim that due to fire code, we HAVE to have the door to our little area closed at all times. My area has 5 offices and a small hall, then the door, which I have to go in and out of at least 20 times a day! It's driving me batty!!!!!! Think of the germs too!!!!!

Next on the list would be I can hear EVERY DAM WORD EVERYONE SAYS! Sometimes this can be fun, as I get to learn all kinds of things about coworkers. Often though, it really annoys me!!!! Plus I have to be worried about what I say that may be heard by everyone else. Think I'll be closing my office door a lot.

Being in an office bldg with 4 floors is annoying too. I have to travel 4 flights of stairs or an elevator just to mail things. Yuk.

I will trade all my bitches for the location though. Location is everything.

That about sums it up for now

Taking a Spill

Ok, just for the mere enjoyment of my readers, I will blog about the 'incident' that occured yesterday. Laugh if you want. Cry if you want. Be entertained.

So I love the cardio cinema. You get to workout while being in a movie theater. The drawback is you can't see very well, because like a movie theater, it is dark. I began my workout of the day on the eliptical machine and after about halfway, I just felt like it was one of those days I couldn't continue on that machine. I quickly got off and jotted over to the nearest treadmill to finish things out, not knowing it was broken and wouldn't turn off. I stepped on and to my shock and horror, realized it was moving! I immediately tripped, falling forward even further onto the belt, which began burning my body parts. Then the immediate trip backwards, as the belt carried my body off, throwing me into the machine behind it. I'm left with some burns, a cut on my shoulder, a bruise on my hip, and a swollen ear that is incredibly painful.

My thanks to the multiple gym-goers who immediately came to my aid. My thanks also that nobody laughed at me. Good folk, those gym-goers.

Moving sucks

My office is moving. Doesn't matter if it's home or office...moving just sucks. Yeah, just wanted to say that.

Sleep Deprivation and parenthood

I can remember being pregnant and taking naps whenever I felt like it. I told myself to enjoy these times because it wouldn't be this way after Aidan was born. Not sure I realized then just how true that was.
I can't remember when I last got a decent night's sleep. Last night Brady was fully awake from 11:30pm-3am, so currently I'm working on less than 4 hours of sleep. On any given night, one or both boys wakes up as many as 2 times, and that's just the humans bothering me. Then we've got two needy cats, who it seems crave our attention in the middle of the night, when we don't have other distractions. Mostly it's me they bother. Finally, the dog has nights where he needs to potty. All of this and perhaps ME having to get up to potty....hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up or was woken up a dozen times per night. My dream for some time now has been to have a night where someone else will be in charge and I can take an Ambien and sleep the night away. How would that be?

Self time-out

About a week ago, Brady started (what I call) squawking when something happened that he didn't like. This could be as simple as Aidan touching him. Every day the squawking became louder and more frequent. I thought a teradactyl had moved in! After several days of squawking, we finally had enough and anytime he did it, I would quickly swoop him up and put him in his crib for a time-out. So effective was this method, that after two days, this happened...sqawking occured and Drew responded with, "Do you want to go to your room?" and he actually said "Yes" and proceeded down the hall to his room. After getting over the shock, I went to rescue him. He was crying holding onto the crib as if waiting to be put in. The day after that, I just told him to go to his room when he squawked and he did. When I went to get him, I found him in his crib. Later that day after another sqawking incident, I followed him without him knowing. That kid went in his room, got on a step stool, got on the night stand by his bed, and flopped into the crib to take his time-out.

The result of all of this has been a almost squawk-free house in only about 5 days!

Utah State Fair

Drew and I took the little boys to the fair this year. Brady and Aidan loved seeing the animals and I did too since they were sparkling clean. Everything was going great until we made the mistake of letting them play in the Legos area. Note to self: Never ever, ever try to take Aidan away from Thomas the Train Lego toys before he is ready. Um, enough said there.

So the disappointing part was that I wanted to try a fried twinkie. The advertisements to the fair said they had "fried everything." So we searched and searched, but the best we could find was a stand that had a big sign advertising fried brownies and PB&J's. I took a pass on those.

We later found out that the stand we saw was the very stand that had my twinkie. SOOOO the next weekend we went back to the fair. I was very curious all week about the so-called smallest woman in the world stand they had a the fair. I figured it was a hoax. For $1, come see the smallest woman in the world..."she's real, she's live, she talks to you." So, when we returned to the fair, Tyler and I went in. See the picture above? See how there is a box behind the person selling tickets? Well, that folks, is where she is! She apparently sits in that thing from 10-10pm everyday! Imagine walking around to the other side of that box and "Oops, oh my, there she is..." You are so close to her and amazed and feeling awkard what you really want to do and what most people actually do is quickly look away and get out ASAP. I started to flee, but then, feeling so awkward for me AND for her, I said "Are you really the smallest woman in the world?" She kind of rolled her eyes, wiped her brow, and nodded her head. Tyler and I fled and I still can't get over the feeling of complete weirdness that the experience brought on. To all those who contemplate going to see her, I say, DON'T!

Someday I would like to go to the fair without kids and buy a beer, grab a seat and just people watch. Oh the sights we see at the State Fair. One such was a guy who worked there, apparently dumping garbage. He was probably in his 40's, sported a gray-haired ponytail, and looked like he's done way too many drugs. The fun part was that he had on a Cottonwood Football t-shirt. Maybe he played football back in the day. Maybe he was a star quarterback before all the heroin. I'm not gonna judge him.

Oh yeah, I got my fried twinkie. Yum.

Humiliated

I vow to never email a radio station again. I was compelled to email x96 dj's after months of listening to them tell us in no uncertain terms that anyone who listens to FOX news can't think for themselves and that everything Obama is doing is gospel. The particular day I emailed, they also kept saying they couldn't believe anyone was upset about Obama's speech that they had grade school students listen to. SO, I sent this email:


At the risk of being made fun of by all of you, I would like to bring a couple of things to your attention. One is that people were not worked up by Obama's speech...it was the homework assignment that was going to come after it. All of the hype about the speech came before we were actually made aware of the content of that speech. The government was asking that the kids write letters about what they can do to help the president. Whatever you think, I do not think that is appropriate and that is where I had issues.

My husband and I are in awe on a daily basis at the way that the 3 of you demand that EVERYONE who doesn't believe what you do is stupid. You ought to listen to yourselves sometime. You sound the same as the people you complain about. We love Radio from Hell, but at about 6:30 every morning, we get berated with hate towards those that don't conform to YOUR way of thinking. We have often turned off the show during that segment.
I know you don't really care what I have to say, but it feels good to me to just let you know what I think.
Thanks,
Julie (I also included my last name)

SOOOO, the next day, Bill (one of the 3 morning dj's ) reads my email (and states he will try to read it seriously and not make fun) and then says "let's open the phone lines." They spent a good 15-20 minutes of their show on this! They said my name at least half a dozen times. I was absolutely humiliated. And, of course, everyone missed the whole point of my email cause they were so stuck on the politics. The day after this nonsense, they read some other guys email in response to mine, saying that whoever wrote that email (me) probably believes that creationism and abstinence being taught in school as well. I'm like "what?"

So, take it from me, don't ever email a radio station!

Take Away my 4 day work week? Over my dead body!

Ok, first let me say that I am really upset that the government has now taken two of our governors...first Governor Leavitt becomes Secretary of Health and Human Services during Bush's term. Now they make Huntsman Ambassador to China. We're left with his dorky Lt. Governor, Herbert. So this dude doesn't like the 4 day work schedule that Huntsman started for state employees and wants to go back to 5 days. Maybe he needs to see the data...all I did was google it and this was EVERYWHERE....
After 12 months, Utah’s experiment has been deemed so successful that a new acronym could catch on: TGIT (thank God it’s Thursday). The state found that its compressed workweek resulted in a 13% reduction in energy use and estimated that employees saved as much as $6 million in gasoline costs. Altogether, the initiative will cut the state’s greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 12,000 metric tons a year. And perhaps not surprisingly, 82% of state workers say they want to keep the new schedule.
COME ON, HERBERT, GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Naptime

OMG, I have a blog?

I cannot believe I actually forgot that I have a blog! Um, so I guess I've been pretty damn busy. Would ya like to hear another story involving Maximus and diarreah? Ok, here it goes....

So it's a beautiful Saturday and Aidan is all excited to go to a birthday party. Meanwhile, we are montoring Maximus, who has had diarreah for the past week and is acting lethargic. I called the vet before I left and they said they have no appts open and he would need to go to the ER if it can't wait until Monday. I take Aidan to the party and when we get there, Drew calls to say Maximus isn't doing well and he is worried. A couple of calls later, Drew is pretty frantic, stating that Maximus needs to go to the ER. I started crying and told my friend I needed to go and asked if Aidan could stay. So I left him without another word and rushed home.

I picked up Maximus at the house and headed out to the ER, which of course is not too far from the party I was at. Drew couldn't go because Brady was napping and also had diarreah (go figure). I called Zac on the way and asked him to meet me.

Yada, yada, yada, Zac and I are were in the exam room and Maximus was pacing. The tech was there gathering info. I finally realized after he did a quick squat, then back to pacing, that he had to go potty real bad. Being the good dog that he is, he wasn't about to go in that room. However, the tech said since he might have something contagious, they couldn't take him to the grass outside. She said he could just go on the floor and they'd have a sample. WELL, first off, I told Zac to stand clear cause Maxi could blow at any time! I felt so bad for him cause he looked like he felt the way I did on the drive back from Disneyland. ANYWAY, like 10 minutes went by and he refused to let loose so I asked the tech "Really, there's nothing we can do?" She finally decided to go ask someone and when she got back, poor Maximus was so close to exploding that he had leakage. We whisked him (actually he whisked us) outside to the grass and oh my, it was like a firehose!

In the end, we found out he had roundworm. I picked Aidan up and heard from those there that he was a perfect angel. He had a great time and I got to run around town.

I WANT TO HAVE TWO CARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in the saddle

It took me a week of staying home with the kids to start getting the hang of being a stay at home mom. At first I thought I was going to go crazy. I'm a social worker. I preach how to raise kids. I couldn't believe how I reacted at times. Not that I abused them, but certainly I had little patience when one or both was crying every couple minutes. I literally couldn't sit down for a minute without one of them calling me. Then by the 3rd day home, I started planning things...going to the playground worked wonders. 3 hr naps after. Doing stuctured activities so they wouldn't get bored. Now I think it's not so bad. If I had a car it would have been better too. Get out of the house. Not cooped up, ya know? Again, I preach these things. Easier said than done I guess. I just want to be a good mom. I want to be the type that can just roll with things. I'm working on it.

The Maximus Explosion

Imagine this....It's 101 degrees outside. You have a swamp cooler that you don't run while you're at work...you come home, open the front door, and instantly you smell it. Oh no. It's 88 degrees in the house and the smell of dog poop is rampant in the air. DAMMIT! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, that's right, ladies and gentleman. Maximus had a massive diarreah explosion in his kennel. I'm talking all over it and him! And I'm the only one there to clean up the damn mess. So, I put him in the backyard, struggle to get the huge kennel into the front yard, take the cushion out and turn on the super power hose. I spray that thing down. I power wash it, so to speak. Then I run that thing into the house quickly and stick it in the washing machine. Back to the front yard....I then power wash the kennel, take it in the house and use Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to clean it. THEN, I get the dog, put him in the tub and give him a thorough bath, including his undercarriage. (THEN when Drew got home from work, we gave him ANOTHER bath.)
Ok, here comes the best part. The culprit of this amazing display of poop was a paper towel. Indeed, Maximus probably had eaten it several days prior. He had diarreah, wasn't eating normally, and wasn't as energetic as usual. I found the paper towel, still completely intact, in the middle of his kennel. It was brown. Need I say more?

The quest and conquering of good daycare

So my quest started a couple months ago when my daycare provider decided to give me until August 20th to find someone else because she has plans to help her husband with his busnisess. If you've ever had to look for daycare, it is hellish and scary and makes you want to cry. I had many, many telephone interviews, but these are the ones I pursued:

My first find was a girl who lived rather far away, but who had good rates and currently no kids. I brought the kids to meet her and I first noticed her own daughter is a red-head. Right off, I'm like, yeah, 2 red-heads! So we chat and although she said a thing or two that may me say "hmmm", I was impressed enough to say, hey let's try this for a week and see. Well, at some point before I left her house, something in my mind told me to get the hell out of there and I ignored my gut. So, I asked her to do a background check and she agreed and said she'd contact me. I never heard from her again.

Second girl was one that my coworker/friend had found while she was searching and really liked. I happened across her ad by chance. THEN I found out that I know her mother-in-law because she works for DCFS. Bingo. I'm like, this is great! We met (again, I brought my kids) and my boys and her boy got along right away. She had a small place and was way overpriced, but I determined this was a good find. Afterall, she kept referring to the "quality of care" she gives. Well, we planned to start the following Monday, with a visit prior. I called 3 times over the next 4 days, leaving messages and never heard back. I told Aidan everyday that he would be going to her house. When Monday came, I was so angry that I HAD to call and figured I'd leave a message letting her know how I felt. SHe actually answered and her explanation for flaking out was that she was so frazzled by her son's illness (throwing up) that she forgot. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS IF YOU GET THAT FRAZZLED BY A MILD ILLNESS. I let her know how unprofessional she was and I reommended she get into another line of work if she can't think of childrens' feelings (ie the confusion she caused my son). SHe said "ok, thank you."

Third lady I found by ad and she lives right by my work. I told her I'd meet her AND THEN bring my kids IF I liked her. So, we met. She brought me in the house, showed me the play room, and stood in the kitchen like I was supposed to say "OK, sign me up!" I asked if I could sit down and talk and she's said ok. Maybe I asked too many questions? I don't know. Anyway, I found out she was neighbors with a coworker of mine, so again I was thinking ok, there's a reference. I set up a time the next day for her to meet my kids. Admittedly, I had a couple of concerns but wanted to proceed because she was better than a lot of other providers I had been finding. I told her I must have a background check and she said ok. Left her a couple messages because the next day Brady was sick. I didn't ever hear back. I saw her with a revised ad the next Monday and so emailed to say "what the hell?", expecting no response. SHe came back with a lame excuse and said if I still needed care, let her know. YEAH, RIGHT.

SOOOOO, I find this new lady who is actually State Licensed. We set up to meet. I drive to her house, only a couple blocks from mine. I'm like, "OMG, this is a trailer park," and drove right past hers, heading home. Then I decided to just meet her and see and I'm glad I did. We met. She has a nice place. She has scheduled days (ie. breakfast, outside play, crafts, field trips). I brought my kids to meet her later that day. They warmed up to her within minutes. We started 3 days ago. Every morning when they arrive, Aidan says "Yay!"

PHEEWWW. I think we found a good one.

Growing up

Aidan is becoming such the little man. Maybe too much. I was changing in front of him recently and he wanted to know, "what's that?" (ponting at my breasts). I said "Boobies." Big mistake. Next time he saw them, he laughed and said "boobies!" and wanted to touch them. Haven't changed in front of him since. THEN there's his fascination with penises. Telling me he has a penis, Brady has a penis, Maximus (the dog) has a penis... "Mom, Maxis, penis!" Arent' kids the greatest?

Disneyland at it's finest

There is nothing like a trip to Disneyland with the family...sunny skies, hot (hot, hot) and humid weather, and a bit o'vomiting. Let's see if we can come up with a top 10 list:

10. Watching some girl vomit right after the evening light show, only to realize it was my niece, Ashley.
9. Saying how I couldn't believe Aidan wasn't vomiting cause he had eaten a lot....moments later watching him vomit all over the bed.
8. Taking pictures of pregnant Stephanie in a Rascal
7. Stephanie getting a Rascal at the park = no waiting in lines for any of us!!!!!!!!!
6. Watching the 'bug' spread like wildfire amongst all 17 of us.
5. Free food at the hotel Consierge lounge
4. Aidan taking it like a little man and TRYING to have a good time despite being near comatose in the stroller for a couple days.
3. Meeting Mickey Mouse literally on our way out of the park and getting a picture with him!
2. My first time on Space Mountain with Tyler as a passenger...listening to him make rooster sounds the entire ride while I laughed so hard, I cried.
1. Drew and I violently vomiting and explosive diarreah on the 1 1/2 trip home from Disneyland. 3 stops on the shoulder of the highway in rush hour traffic to do both at the same time.
Good times. Good times.

Oh shoot, I should have this on the list too.....we'll make it the P.S. or number -1:
Brady throwing up during lunch at the outdoor restaurant and Aidan taking a wet wipe and proceeding to wipe vomit off the concrete!

Is anyone out there?

I don't know if anyone is even reading this. Where are my followers? I guess I need to step up my game. Spice it up. At a little pizzazz. Maybe then I can get some followers....and THEN....I can start my own religion....and THEN I can be Julie, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, like I have always proclaimed I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAH (this is supposed to sound like an evil laugh).

What???????????????????????

Ok, so now not once, but twice, I have found a daycare provider and then they just stop contact. The first woman, I figure, was not going to clear a background check, so I wasn't upset. The second, however, was really looking good. PLUS she told me she wanted to start watching the boys and we scheduled a visit so that they could get to know her a little before we start full time. Then she called and left a message that her kid was sick, so call her to reschedule. Then nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip. 3 messages unanswered. I keep going over and over in my mind....is it something about ME? About my kids? I can't figure it out. I think she would have been a good provider. I am obsessing now. What do I do? Do I stalk her? I mean, her mother-in-law works, or used to work, in my agency. I looked her up today and it seems she may have changed to a new agency, but is still around. UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!

Good Times

In an effort to help mom teach Brady that table food is wonderful, Aidan has taken to trying to feed him. He often says, "Try it!" while sticking the item up to Brady's face. Oddly enough, he is rarely successful, but I admire his efforts.

OMG, I started a blog. I can't believe it. BUT, I figure it's a good place to tell all of the crazy things my kids do, etc. etc. Hopefully I can make this educational, entertaining, and highly amusing! Stay tuned....