Winter Blahs???

I'm not sure if this minor funk that I'm in is the winter doldrums or just life getting too far ahead of me, but lately I've been feeling like work, home and parenting has been sucking the life right out of me.  Even one of my dear coworkers has picked up on it.  I've been a bit of a crankass lately.  It's pretty bad when my crankypants mood crosses over into the workplace because I am usually very good at leaving work stuff at work and home stuff at home.   I love my family more than life but I need a break!  So I've decided that Mark and I are going to get away sans kids for a weekend.  Yippee!  My mom has graciously agreed to watch the boys for me so we can do this.  We probably won't be able to do this until the beginning of March but it gives me something to look forward to during these long winter months!

Just trying to figure out how to do pictures on this...I'm, shall we say, technologically challenged.  Hence the serious lack of pictures on this blog.  But here's one of me that my Aunt Verna sent that she found from when I was 20 months old.  I was a cutie!

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out the scanner too.  Mark isn't home to help me so I'm left to my own devices.

'Tis The Season...

...to make those doctor's appointments!
I have a few to make in the next week or so...seems like time has gotten away from me what with the new kid and all (shocker!!!) soooo......here's what I have to do in no particular order.

1. Regular appointment with my PCP since I haven't had a checkup since my 6-week postnatal appointment.  Mainly so I can stay on my med and she can tell me I'm healthy in every way but I'm overweight.  Because for some darn reason I always seem to be forgetting that bit of information.
2. Eye appointment...because I'm blind as a frickin' bat and I have vision insurance and can get 1 pair of specs and an appointment each year for really cheap.  Maybe this will be the year for contacts.
3. Dental appointment...because I missed that last appointment at 7 am and didn't reschedule.  What was I thinking when I made an appointment at that time of day???
4. Mammogram...because now I have a family history.  This is really the first time I have put this out there and I have been resisting out of respect to my sister who hasn't told her friends about it and I have 2 of her friends as facebook friends but I need to get it out so here it is...my mom was diagnosed last July with breast cancer.  Every once in a while she decides to get healthy and do appointments and such so she had a mammogram.  They found something wonky on it so they sent her to get another one at a different location.  Apparently what they saw turned out to be nothing.  However, the second mammogram picked up something in the other twin in the other twin that they missed the first time around which turned out to be cancerous.  Thankfully it was found very early and was considered stage 1.  She had a lumpectomy in July, went through radiation(which kicked her ass hard) and now she's taking oral chemo which makes her sick.  But she's cancer free!  Woo hoo!  So anyway, I promised her that I'd get one this year and I'm keeping that promise.

Contrary to popular belief, people with breast cancer aren't all that interested in being reminded about it.  A few weeks after my mom's lumpectomy I read an article in a magazine about a woman going through treatment and she was basically tired of seeing the pink ribbons everywhere she turns.  I asked my mom if she feels like that and she said "Oh yeah!"  Apparently those with the disease really don't like to be reminded of it.  Now when I see all these pink products and pink ribbons and all this other stuff like putting your bra color on facebook for breast cancer awareness, I think to myself "You know, I'm really all TOO aware, thank you very much!"  I don't mean to lessen the importance of awareness or anything.  My MIL also had it and conquered it but ended up dying from the bone cancer that came up about 6 months after.  Anyway, all's I'm saying is that if you want to get something pink ribbon-y or a book for someone with this disease, reconsider. Or at least don't get a sad serious book about breast cancer.  Get Erma Bombeck or Gilda Radner.  If anything, laughter is what she needs!  And less pink.

Obligatory Post For the New Year.

Well.  Another year down the tubes.  What did I do up in 2009?  Not a whole lot...work, kids, house.  Same old same old.   Oh wait!   I had a newborn!  Now that's exciting!  Seriously though, the last year has very good to me.  Raising  Lucas and Garrett is a lot of fun.  I gotta say though, raising Lucas is definitely is not turning out to be old-hat like I thought it would be.  For one thing there is a 9 and 3/4 year age difference between the 2 boys.   That make mama a bit rusty.  And another thing(you've probably heard me say this before)...those boys are almost complete opposites.  Sure, some say they both look alike but that's where the similarity ends.  You can pretty much bank on Lucas doing the opposite thing that Garrett did at various stages of babyhood. 

But anyway enough about the kids.  What else did I do in 2009?  I "moved" from Auburn to Lewiston work-wise.  It was a very good move for me since I was spinning my wheels in Auburn because I wasn't really doing what my job description entailed and they needed someone in one of the Lewiston stores so I was asked to switch and I said "Sure, why not?"  It was supposed to be a temporary switch but it turned into a permanent one.  The best part?  The move was just across the river so I didn't have to add much of a commute.  So I guess I didn't get a whole lot accomplished but those dang kids take up a chunk of my time!
Kidding.  Sort of.  I didn't get my freezer cleaned out in 2009 but I will be doing that shortly in 1010 since it's fricking cold outside so I have a place to stash the goods while the freezer is defrosting.  I'm looking forward to the "3 guesses what this is" part.  If I can't guess it in 3 tries it goes in the trash.  This is a good segue into the second part of what I want to accomplish in the new year--more organization.  I have waaaayyyyy too much clutter in my house and playing the Where's the Remote game gets tiresome.   I'm going to put that shredder to good use!  A related plan to the organization thing...grocery lists.  I can't count the number of times I've gone into the store to "just get a couple of things" and ended up spending $100!  So I need to do the weekly menu-planning thing and shopping once a week(with coupons, natch).  This will help in the next thing...spending less $$$.  2009 found me buying lots and lots of things that I really didn't NEED but thought I did at the time.  Books? My goodness, I probably have like 20 books that I haven't read yet taking up overflow space near my bookshelf.  I work full-time and I have 2 kids.  Do I really have time to read all those?  More cans of diced tomatoes?  If I reorganized my pantry I'd probably find 20 cans.   The final thing I need to work on...using my treadmill for something besides Mark's clothesrack.  So in a nutshell what I need to do is do more with less and simplify.  Hopefully this will be my year and yours as well.  Feel free to share what you plan to do in the upcoming year.  I love hearing other people's ideas since I rarely have good ones of my own!