Adventures in Laundering!

We've now made it through a full week without our washer and dryer. Last week, Anthony took some laundry to the laundromat to get us through the week, so this week I decided to do it. Anthony insisted on going too, so we packed up our laundry baskets and headed for the local laundromat. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of a laundromat, I highly recommend that you try it at least once. It was definitely an experience that made me truly appreciate having my own washer and dryer. The laundromat we chose is called BJ's and is a short 2 or 3 minute drive from our house. It sits on the corner of two busy streets, next to a gas station/convenient store/liquor store. Why is it that all laundromats are next to liquor stores? Does someone assume that the only people who need laundromats are alcoholics? When we first arrived there were no other patrons in the building. The first thing I noticed was the sign that read: 24 hour video surveillance. Which I promptly spent the next 3 hours trying to locate to no avail. Time to start washing. We got some change and began to work on the task at hand. Anthony brought in the baskets and I started the stain treating the kids' clothing and separating them into 3 individual machines: lights, darks, & whites. Anthony filled a 3 load machine with towels and then 3 more machines with dirty laundry. While we were putting our clothes in the washing machines and shifty looking young man came in and set down. No laundry, no soap, no apparent reason for being there. After a few short minutes of looking and watching he asked if we had met a man on a bike earlier. My dear husband told him no and that there had been no one around to which the young man replied, "are you sure?" Yes, we're sure...why would we lie about something like that to a complete stranger anyway? Why is it that there are so many bizarre people that hang out in laundromats? I really thought this one would be different than some of the ones that you see in the not-so nice areas of town. We're talking about a main street, lots of traffic, lots of normal people. Not to mention the fact that there were no restrooms or anything that might encourage less than desirable behaviors. Oh well, I guess I was wrong and now I completely understood why Anthony did not want me to come by myself. Anyway, back to the laundry. Now came the waiting. Thirty minutes of pure hell! Honestly, it wasn't really that bad. A couple of people came in with their laundry. The shifty little man left. We talked and paced and waited. We watched a very interesting interaction between two men that strongly resembled a drug deal that you would see in a movie, though I don't really know what was going on as I averted my eyes, afraid I might see more than I bargained for. As our clothing finished their wash cycles we put them in the dryer. When they finished drying we folded them and put them into baskets. After not quite three hours, we were ready to go home with nice, clean laundry. After all was said and done and despite the creepy people, expensive washers and dryers, and having to share the facilities with other people, I must say there are some serious advantages to washing clothes at the laundromat. 1) Getting to use someone else's PG&E. Of course because of the pricey washers and dryers that cost 25 cents for 9 minutes, it might even itself out. 2) No wear and tear on your home washer and dryer. Of course, who knows what has been in the public appliances, so not a real big pro after all. 3) If I had done the amount of laundry I did today at home, it would have taken me days! Instead I did about 10 loads in 3 hours. So what I learned is, if you want to save a little time, make that a lot of time, and you can deal with crazies, vagrants, and who knows what else, go to the laundromat. As for me, I can't wait to get my washer and dryer fixed because I'd much rather spend a week doing laundry than dealing with that mess.

Colds, Children, and Crazies.

Colds & Children
Has anyone missed me? If you have, it's because the kids and I all came down with our first cold of the season and it has been miserable. God bless my babies though. They are always such little troopers, even when they are sick. They may be a little more whiny and may sleep a little more, but overall they have been really good through the endless sneezing and coughing and snotting and nose wiping. Alexis has a tendency to lose her appetite when she's sick, though she still runs and plays until she passes out. Justin, my little walking garbage disposal, never seems to lose his appetite at all. The only time I've seen him not eat was when he had strep throat, and even then he tried to eat, but then cried when he swallowed. Night time is pretty rough, at least it is for me and Justin. (Alexis can and does sleep through anything) He's been so congested that he wakes up crying every hour or so because he can't breathe. My solution: Just let him sleep in my bed. I know, we worked so hard to get him out of our bed that it seems like such a waste to start the horrible habit all over again. Honestly, I'm just too sick and too tired to get out of bed every hour. At least if he's laying next to me, I can hug him and cuddle him and he just goes back to sleep. He slept all night last night though, so I'm thinking tonight he will go back to his own bed in his own room. Hopefully, three nights in my bed didn't ruin my good sleeper. As you might guess, I don't seem to do as well as the kids when I'm sick. While they are so full of energy, I just want to lay down and die. Was there ever a time that even being sick didn't keep me down? I can't remember. Kids must be much more resiliant than adults. I don't know how I'd get by without my mom. She has been so helpful the past week and also given me the opportunity to get some rest. Two days of antibiotics for this horrendous sinus infection, so hopefully, I'll start feeling better soon. I think Alexis and Justin are almost over it, so maybe life can go back to normal next week.

Crazies
What the heck are people thinking when they decided to have a baby or "accidentally" have a baby? Don't get me wrong. I understand that "accidents" happen, but when one is in certain situations, wouldn't it makes since for them to be extra careful? Okay, so here's the situation. A(male) and A(female) have numerous issues going on in their lives. A(m) is an alcoholic. He has been in a couple of different rehabs, was arrested a couple of times, including once when he plead guilty to felony child abuse, and is having alcohol related health problems. A(f) has some severe mental health issues and was in a mental hospital where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. At one point she was asking A(m) to kill their three children in order to save them from the Catholic church. A(f) claims it was simply a nervous breakdown caused by A(m)'s alcoholism and the fact that she was having to take care of all three of their children without any help. In addition, both A(m) and A(f) are compulsive liars and master manipulators. Their marriage has been very unstable as has their living arrangements. They lived with A(f)'s sister for awhile and just recently moved into their own place. The youngest of their 3 children, D, is 6 years old and still wears a diaper. This family has some serious issues which I could write all day on and only begin to scratch the surface. Which brings us to last weekend when A(f) announced that she was pregnant? WHAT??? Are you serious? I hope she didn't expect me to congratulate her because honestly, this is crazy! She can't care for the children she already has, let alone care for a newborn. She keeps saying that this baby will change A(m) and will make him more responsible and make him want to stop drinking. She is also 100 percent positive (at 10 weeks pregnant) that she is having a boy. A(f) and A(m) have three girls, though A(m) has a son that he isn't involved with from a previous relationship. Apparently a boy baby will make everything better. I guess the children he has now just aren't enough to make him get his act together, but one more will be all of the difference. This whole situation is making me crazy. I fear for their 3 girls because now A(f) is off of her psych meds while not under the care of a physician and because I remember how moody I was when I was pregnant, and I was somewhat normal. I also wonder what will become of this baby if it isn't a boy. She is so determined that it will be a boy, will she lose it if it isnt? A(f) willing admits that they weren't really ready to have another child, but that they weren't trying to prevent it either. What on earth were they thinking? Yes, babies are cute and cuddly, but they also require a great deal of responsibility, responsibility that this family has already shown to be lacking. Come on people. If things aren't working in life, a relationship, whatever, a baby is not going to fix it. It's just gonna make things a lot more difficult and give you one more person whose life you can screw up. I just pray that God will take care of them and their children and that they will get they're act together before this child is born.

Can't I Just Get a Break???

Okay, so the stacked up laundry will have to wait. I had a blanket come apart in my washing machine and clogged up the drain. Even worse, I didn't realize what was going on until after I put the clothes in the dryer and my dryer is all clogged up with blanket pieces too! Ugh. Just when you think things are looking up. I can't get a repair guy out until next week, so looks like the laundrymat for me. GRRRR!!

So many things to do...so little time.

Wow! I am so terrible at keeping up with this blog thing. It seems that late night is my only time to myself, so I guess sleep will have to wait and I'll spend all night typing instead.

So today we added a member to our family. Meet Bella. Bella is a six week old Saint Bernard. We always knew we would get a dog eventually, but planned to wait until the kids were a little older. Well, I can be very impulsive sometimes (okay a lot of the time) and yesterday I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to get a puppy NOW! God bless my husband for putting up with me. I made an appointment with a local breeder to go check out their dogs without even asking him and he dutifully went along for the ride today. After about an hour and many questions, Anthony, Alexis, and I picked out a lovely little girl whom we immediately named Isabella; Bella for short. We promptly took her to Petco to buy all of the necessities: a collar, a name tag, food, dog bowls, and of course toys and also decided to have her groomed while we were at it. Anthony hated the little purple bow, but I thought it was pretty sweet and she didn't seem to mind that much. So far she has far exceeded my expectations. She is wonderful with Alexis and Justin. I never imagined that a puppy would be so tolerant of an excited 2 year-old and a curious 1 year-old. Nevertheless, Bella has allowed Justin to pet her and kiss her incessantly and allowed Alexis to carry her all over the place. Enjoy it now, Alexis, because before long this puppy is going to grow into an extremely large puppy and carrying her will no longer be an option, though she'll probably be able to carry you. Potty training is already going great as well. No accidents thus far (knock on wood) and I will consider myself very fortunate if tomorrow goes just as well. I've always heard that Saint Bernards are very smart dogs and as such, easy to train. We'll take it day by day and see how it goes. Tomorrow I have to call the vet to make an appointment for her shots to make sure she stays a happy, healthy puppy. The happiness and joy that I see in the faces of my babies has made me absolutely positive that I've made the right choice in getting a puppy. Though I know that it will bring a lot more work in the coming weeks, I am completely and totally satisfied as I gaze at Alexis and Bella cuddled together in Alexis's bed.

Tomorrow will be an extremely busy day. I am so far behind on laundry that my bathroom is starting to look like a laundrymat. Laundry is definitely not one of my favorite things. I don't really mind loading the washer and dryer...it's the putting it away. How on earth does my family go through so many clothes in one week? In addition to laundry and vet visits, I need to pick up the kids toys because my house looks like the toy boxes exploded in every room of the house. Oh how I wish I could afford a maid. Maybe one day after I finish grad school. One more thing to add to my to do list. I really need to get my application finished and mail out my letters of recommendations so my past professors can fill them out. If only there were 2 or 3 of me, I might be able to keep up with the many tasks in my daily life.

Well, after 2 years and 2 babies, I have finally decided it was time to take off my leftover baby weight. So far I have lost 4 pounds this week and am feeling pretty good about it. I still have a long way to go, but I have been eating so much healthier this week and actually getting some exercise as well. Not only have I lost a little weight, but I also have more energy which has been really nice. It hasn't only been good for me, but it's been good for the whole family because I'm planning our meals better and giving them healthier options as well. Wish us luck as we try to become a healthier family. Pre-pregnancy weight...HERE I COME!

The Greatest Fear of All

Many parents will tell you that their greatest fear is something happening to their child. Until today, I had no idea what that fear would actually feel like. I will never forget the feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized that Alexis was not in the house and that the front door was not closed. Words cannot explain the pain, the anguish, the helplessness, and oh yes...the fear. Not just a normal fear like the fear when one says, "I am afraid of dogs." It went much deeper and ran much colder. My head was spinning and I couldn't breath. I heard her name coming from my lips, but it was so surreal, almost like someone else's voice was coming out of my mouth. For a brief moment I experienced complete and utter despair. In that moment I imagined every horrible possible outcome and thought that I would never see her again. I don't even remember dialing 9-1-1, but I know I did. I remember telling the operator that my 2 year-old was missing and then struggling to describe her and what she was wearing. Relief came when she told me they had found my baby girl and that she was okay. It was not complete relief yet. That didn't come until the moment I saw my beloved husband coming down the street with our little girl held tight in his arms. I cannot imagine how I would have survived had God not brought her home safely to us. I am so thankful that he saw fit to return her to us. I am also thankful for our neighbors and my brother-in-law who helped us look for her and for the couple who saw our little angel 4 blocks from home and kept her safe until we could get to her. I think of the many parents who must face the reality that their children are not coming home and my heart breaks for them.

Why blog?

Sometimes life gets so busy, that we forget to enjoy the little things in life. I've decided that blogging will be a wonderful opportunity for me to stop and reflect on the daily happenings in my life as well as give me something to look back on so that I can remember what this period of my life was like and what it was like having two small children. I am not a writer and my grammar and spelling is horrible, so if you are looking for something that is witty, entertaining, and also properly written, you might want to consider looking elsewhere. However, if you are wondering who I really am and what I really think, this is the place for you.