I Could Have Been an Actress, But I Wound Up Here

Saturday's alright for cleaning

2009-04-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yep... that's what is happening at the Casa de Fulton today. I am currently looking at about 5 loads of laundry to be washed and dried, and about 3 loads that need to be folded. Why do I have 8 loads of laundry to get done? Because I'm slack during the evening and refuse to do housework. This leaves all the cleaning till Saturday or Sunday. Soooooo..... after I make the meal plan for the week I'm going to get my tired, sick behind up off the chair and get to it while the Monkey's still sleeping.

I need to develop a better system. For a couple of weeks I was doing one load of laundry a night and that was really helping but the past few days I've been slack. Oh well.

Dear Allergy Season,

2009-04-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Please stop. I can't take it anymore. I can't breathe and neither can my son. Everytime it rains you make it extremely evident to me that there are gallons of pollen in the air which cause me not to be able to hear because my hears are so stopped up, not to be able to eat because I can't take taste anything, and not to be able to see because I keep rubbing my eyes and fighting through the tears that stream from them because they are so IRRITATED!!!! I'm tired of the nose bleeds and the sore throats. I'm tired of constantly flusing out my sinuses with a squirt bottle. I do believe that Zyrtec owes their entire existance to me. PLEASE go away. PLEASE leave me alone. I can't take you anymore, and neither can the skin under my eyes. In return for your prompt departure, I promise to sneeze, cough and wipe my eyes at least once everyday in homage to your greatness. I'm begging you. Please. On my knees...

And we have a first word!!

2009-04-13T14:13:00.001-07:00

It's "cra-ca". AKA "cracker" Which relates to any of the following: goldfish, pretzels, saltines, or nilla wafers. It's so cute!! He says it for pretty much everything, but who cares? My baby is learning so quickly!

Back to the Grindstone

2009-04-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

We had a good Easter. Went to my parents' for a day and got to eat with everyone last night. I'm dreading going back to work tomorrow. Would much rather stay home and play mommy. I need to start a countdown to summer vacation evidently.

So not much to report, just tired and busy getting everything ready for a normal week tomorrow.

2 months late

2009-04-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Monkey's first birthday pictures!

Cupcake on his actual birthday:

Playing ball popper with his cousin. The kid looooves his ball popper!

Monkey cake made by yours truly.

With Mr. Sarah's Parents

With my mom

I guess I don't have as many as I thought I did.

A Taste of SAHMing

2009-04-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Spring Break! WOOT WOOT!! It's here. Forget the fact that we only get Wed.-Sun. this year because we had to make up 2 snow days so instead of 10 days we only get 5. Whatev. I'm enjoying being off with the monkey today. Getting laundry done (sort of) and scrubbing my bathroom till it's sparkly (well, it will be later) and throwing out a bunch of old leftovers from the fridge (I really did do that!). Mr. Sarah is coming home for a lunch of meatloaf sandwiches and mashed potatoes and monkey is down for his daily nap. All is well with the world right now. I'd go take a nap if Mr. Sarah wasn't coming home for lunch. Oh well.
When I was on maternity leave I wanted nothing more than to be a stay at home mom. Visions of cleaning, cooking, and watching TV danced in my head, plus I'd get to be home with my kiddo and not take him to yucky daycare. The longer I was home with him the more I wanted to go back to work! Don't get me wrong, I looooooove spending time with him and chasing after him constantly, but the "me" times are few and far between. At work I an go to the bathroom when I want and watch the Today Show from start to finish. At home I have to wait until monkey's content playing with something in the floor to go pee pee. If I just leave, he'll pull the TV on his head or something. At home, I am serenaded 15 times a day by Moose from Noggin'.
This summer, I'll be able to take monkey swimming and the park and stuff, but it is currently 56 and windy so there will be no outside activities today! Maybe later we'll go to the mall and walk.
But I digress. I like to work. It stimulates me intellectually. I also like to be at home, but I don't think I could do it full time. Too much guilt from NOT doing the laundry, NOT mopping the kitchen floor, NOT changing the litter box. Since I work, I can always blame my lack of motivation on days off on how "needy" monkey was that day when Mr. Sarah gets home from work and wants to know what the heck I've been doing all day! Hmmm... does that make me a bad mom?

Ok, I'm back!

2009-04-07T06:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the 3 month vacation- been working on National Boards and it's kicked my butt since the beginning of the year. All packed and shipped now, though! Here's updates:

Monkey: 28 lbs.... YES 28!!! He's huge!!! Not walking yet, but taking a few steps. Doc says since he's so thick (not fat, thick!) it'll take a while longer for his leg muscles to develop so that they can support his big ole' booty! I'm not worried, though. He turned one on February 13th. We celebrated with a cupcake and had a party for him that weekend. He had a blast! He also has been diagnosed with asthma, which figures because my bro and me both have it. He had been getting albuterol treatments and steroids, but it never seemed to help, so thanks to an asthma attack last Friday (cue major freak-out on my behalf) we learned that his nebulizer wasn't working properly. So it was like he wasn't getting any medicine at all for the past few weeks! Can't begin to tell you how upset about that I was. But we got a new neb. and it's working great. Monkey's into everything and Mr. Sarah and I can barely catch up with him! Here's a recent pic:

Mr. Sarah: Work, work, work! It's killing him. They said that he'd only be in this position for about 4 months until they could train someone else to do all the parts calls, but so far they haven't started training anyone. He's doing the job of three people all by himself because one girl got fired and the other layed off. Thankfully, they need him around that place so we're fairly sure his job's not in jeopardy. His eye is doing well. He goes back to Cinci. at the end of May where hopefully the doc will release him and we can settle this dang thing! I'll be so glad when this is all over!

Moi: Finished Natty Boards and now I'm working on getting the kiddos ready for Spring Concert. We're doing a Jazz show. We're on Spring Break this week and today's a workday so my mom's keeping monkey and I'm at work for a little bit. I can't wait to spend the rest of the week with him!

And that's basically it. Time to get some work done!

Turning it all around...

2008-12-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

Miss me? No one was reading so I kind of took a blog break. But I missed it so I'm back! Now for the question of the year:

Can a person really change? I mean like, four or five aspects of their lives and be successful? That's what I'm going to find out. And you all (well, one person at least!) are going to go on this journey with me. So here's my plan:

In 2009 I will:
Give up soda completely
Make meals with healthier ingredients
Exercise at least 3 times a week, even if it's only for 20 minutes
Drink my 8 glasses of water each day
Focus on my family and my work
Go to church each Sunday we're in town and the whole family is well

Think I can do it? I know it's changing several things at once, but I've never been a "change one thing at a time" kind of girl. It's all or nothing. I'm not looking to lose 100 lbs, but I think with the small changes I'm making in my diet and exercise routine that I can make a difference in the fat that currently surrounds my stomach, ass, and thighs. I've never been "thin" In high school I would have considered myself "healthy" because I swam like crazy and had some pretty rockin' calf muscles. I want to get some of that back.

As far as focusing on my family and work, I just want to feel intellectually stimulated again. I'm working on my National Boards so I'm going to have to be creative and innovative at work. In all honestly, I've been slacking. And for my family, I just want to have as much quality time as possible with my son and my husband. In a way, Mr. Sarah and I need to reconnect as a couple since we've been going at 100 MPH since monkey was born.

And church... my relationship with God is as strong as ever, but we've been slacking on going to church each week and electing instead to stay at home and sleep. I love our church. I love going, it's the actual getting there that is the challenge!

So there you go. Maybe if I'm blogging about all these changes it'll keep me honest. So... countdown to New Year's Day begins!

Politics

2008-11-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Wow. It has been so cool to be an American these past few days. All of the election excitement has been really fun! No matter who you voted for, we experienced history in the making. When my son is my age, I'll be able to tell him about the first time a half African-American man was voted in as President. I personally am thrilled about this fact. I'm ready for a change. 8 years of Bush has really taken a toll on our country in several areas. I only hope Obama can make good on some of the campaign promises he made. I'm really excited to see what happens in the next 4 years.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider...

2008-11-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

visited me for Halloween!!! I have to admit he's the cutest, most cuddliest spider I've ever seen!

A Crappy Halloween

2008-10-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

Mr. Sarah came back from his eye doctor in Cincinnati today. 2 1/2 years ago he had a pump of sulphuric acid blow up in his face and it blinded him in his right eye. He had a stem cell transplant in Feb. of '07, and then a cornea transplant in June of '07. Well, the doc said today that his eye is rejecting the cornea. They think they caught it early enough and that tons of steroids will help reverse the damage, but if it doesn't work then they are going to have to do another surgery. He feels awful and I feel awful for him. We've been going through this recovery for 2 1/2 years and just when the end is in sight, this happens. So it's been a pretty awful Halloween.

We'll see. Hopefully the meds will work. He's going to the best doctor in the country (hence the flying to Cincinnati) so we trust him. He said not to be worried until we see if the meds work so I'm trying to be positive.

On a happier note, monkey was so so so cute in his itsy bitsy spider costume! I got tons of cute pics of him. I have to say he is the cutest most cuddliest spider I've ever seen in my life.

What would I be doing on a husbandless night if I were kidless?

2008-10-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

Same thing I'm doing right now. Debating whether or not I'll have enough time to get my pants dried and ironed before The Office comes on so I can watch it in bed. Wow... how interesting is my life?

Get off my cloud, Debbie Downer!

2008-10-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

There's this woman at work who always feels she needs to tell me these horrible stories about children being left in cars, being abused, neglected, etc... I can't stand to hear things like this. Being a new mommy, news stories about these topics, TV shows like CSI or Criminal Minds that center around dead children or abused children, or anything like that in general makes me so sad! It affects me so much more than it used to. I picture monkey being in that situation and I almost break down crying.

I know how the world works and I also know that some people are wicked at heart. I just don't want to hear about it! I want to continue living in my white bread world and be oblivious to all the bad things that are happening to children these days. The fact of the matter is, I can think of several of my students who have been abused sexually and physically by their good for nothing parents. I've had to testify in court because of one child, but I still want to believe that people are good at heart. I know that sounds Anne Frank-ish and naive, but I prefer to have a positive outlook on things.

Love Guru...

2008-10-19T17:34:00.001-07:00

didn't suck. I was thinking it would be stupid, and it was, but the fact that it was filled with 1,000 cameos and had Mike Myers' sense of humor made it bearable to watch. Justin Timberlake is uber-funny in it. It actually reminded me of the old SNL days (ok, my generation SNL, not the classic SNL). At least Myers is still funny. I used to love Adam Sandler, but his sense of humor is getting old. If you're bored at home or want a mindless flick to watch, I suggest it.

Content

2008-10-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally feel like I've accomplished something. The laundry is done (mostly), the dishes are washed (well, a couple of things are still drying), and the monkey is in bed sleeping and breathing that open-mouthed way that only babies and little-bitties breathe. The kind of breathing that just makes you want to hold your face as close to their mouths as possible and breathe that sweet breath like it's the last thing you'll ever do. If I'm ever put on death row or lying in a hospital bed and the end is near, I'll ask to breathe my baby's breath one last time. Nothing like it in the world.

So the house is straightened up for once and now I can play without feeling guilty. Mr. Sarah brought home a couple of movies and I've got a nice large pot of gumbo in the slow cooker just waiting to be devoured. So basically, for right now at least, life is good and I am undeniably....content.

Kids' Parentz

2008-10-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

What is up with not supporting your child and his or her education? Today was parent conference day at school and out of the 85 kids I teach 2 of my parents showed up. Granted, I teach in a low socioecomomic, low educated area in the county but I will never understand why a parent wouldn't be interested in his or her child's academic progress. How self-centered can you be? I understand that parents work or have other children to take care of and can't get to the school to speak with me, but what about a phone? And don't get me started on the parents who don't work and have drug problems and are too far gone to even realize how badly their child is doing in school.

I care about each of my students' educations and do my best every single day to make sure they are receiving a quality one. I get paid next to nothing to educate our young adults. I don't do it for the money. I do it because I care about them. Why can't the parents take a couple of minutes out of their day ONE day a semester and come speak with me? Why when I call parents to communicate with them about their child's progress or behavior do I get NO support from them? My favorite response when calling about a child's misbehavior is "I just don't know what to do with him/her." What the heck? Then how do you expect his teachers to "do anything with them"? BE A PARENT, NOT A FRIEND!!!! I know people are busy, but I know I will ALWAYS put my child's education on the top of my list of things to be involved in. I will bend over backwards to help my child with school work, make sure they are involved in things after school, and support them in whatever they're interested in. That means that if my child likes football, I'll make sure he's at every practice and every game. And you better believe that I'll be at every game. If he likes drama and wants to be in plays, I'll make sure he's at every rehearsal and I'll be at every performance.

Some of my kids do things like this after school and have NO one show up to support them. Parent attendance at my concerts is ridiculous. How could you not WANT to see your child excel in sports/arts/academics? I've even have some kids whose parents don't come to their graduation. Come on, now. I would think that graduation would be something that parents would WANT to attend.

I can't help but think that this is another example of the decline of our society. I feel so badly for these kids. Don't get me wrong, some of them drive me crazy, but I still care about each of them.

If you're reading this and you are a parent, PLEASE pay attention to your child. PLEASE be involved in their education. It is SO important for them to have a high school diploma in order to be successful in life. Please show your child you love them by supporting them in all areas of their lives. They need your positive influence and most of all your love.

Sickie Poo

2008-10-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

I love fall. I mean LOVE IT!! Football, holidays approaching, I can't get enough! So why oh why does my favorite season have to include the inevitable sinus infections I get every year? At least 4 of them in one season. My doc is on speed dial and told me that if she could, she'd just have me call in to say I had a another infection and prescribe me my Z-pak. Unfortunately that's illegal or something so she can't. Damnit!! So I'm suffering through the first one of the season. I've had them mucho number of times before but it's different when you have a baby in the house. Now I'm disenfecting everything and trying not to cough or sneeze around him, plus I'm knocked out tired from all the sniffiling and coughing. It was a huge ordeal just getting him into bed. I fell asleep nursing him and Mr. Sarah came in to wake me up so I could put him down in his crib.

So I took the day off from work to recuperate. A heck of a lot of good that did because I'm just as tired and sick as I was yesterday. Maybe I need to take the rest of the week... it's glorious sleeping until 1PM without the baby monitor going full blast in my ear.

I Can't Fix it This Time

2008-10-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

I'm floored. Family problems that will change life as I know it. Please pray for my family as we are very close and have never gone through something as serious as this.

Busy Busy Busy Busy There's So Much To Do...

2008-10-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, the title of this post is quoting the lyrics to one of my son's Fisher Price Learning table songs. It pretty much sums up our existence as of late. I've got a baby shower and a pageant this weekend, and I have to get my students ready for their Mars Hill auditions on Tuesday. Friday's a workday so I can't wait to sleep in a little and take a 2 hour lunch!

So monkey's like a second from crawling. I've been trying to find good deals on baby proofing stuff but that crap's expensive! A fireplace guard is like $40! I know, better safe than sorry but $40 for a couple of pieces of rubber is crazy. Every time I pick him up at daycare the other little babies are crawling around and almost step on their fingers every single time because they get right up behind me! I guess I need to get used to looking behind me when I step back.

Other than that, casa de Sarah is buzzing. Fall is always incredibly busy. It's almost time to start thinking about my holiday baking stuff! I love this time of year leading up to the holidays.

Tirade Tuesday

2008-09-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of my favorite radio show, Matt and Ramona, I am starting tirade Tuesday.

Why would the "head" of the county choral directors even hold a stupid meeting when he's going to do things his way anyway? "T" is the biggest douchebag on the planet. He's been teaching like 67,000 years and even though he "asks" for our input (our meaning the other 7 choral directors in the county) he just does what he wants anyway. Whenever I try to put in my 2 cents he just acts like I have NO idea what I'm talking about and is very degrading. He's already had to apologize to me once because he bit my head off IN FRONT OF 175 STUDENTS. Very unprofessional and VERY uncalled for. I don't do things his way and he can't stand that. And believe me, he IS NOT the end all- be all when it comes to Choral directors. I have studied under and worked with several who are MUCH better than he is. From now on, I'm just going to shut my trap and let him do what he wants. He has made it perfectly clear to me and the other directors that he's in control of everything and that's how it's going to stay.

Why oh why won't my dream job at my dream school come open? I'd be out of this county so fast it would make their heads spin if I could JUST find the right school.

Pink Eye

2008-09-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

So I go to pick the monkey up from daycare today and his teacher tells me that there's a case of pink eye going around. I don't think much of it, as I assume she just means "around the community," but then she goes on to tell me that a little girl had it at daycare today. They tried to call her mom to get her, but she wouldn't come pick her up because she's a teacher and couldn't leave. What the heck? I'm a teacher, too! If daycare called me to come get my kid I'd get someone to cover my classes and get my happy butt over there! Other kids could pick it up, not to mention the fact that my child would be miserable and need me. Evidently none of this occurred to this mother. I can't believe it! This daycare doesn't call for every little thing- only if the child has a contagious disease or has a fever of 102 or higher. I just don't understand. Maybe I'm overreacting, but if my son gets pink eye I'm going to flip. Stay tuned....

The sickies

2008-09-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

Monkey is sick. I mean, really sick. Not teething, not stomach-achey. SICK. I feel so bad for him. The poor thing won't eat any solid foods and can't sleep very well. That means that this mama isn't sleeping either. I'm so exhausted and I just know he is, too. I can't even rock him to sleep anymore. The only thing that works is if I let him cry! I know, I know- but it really is the only thing that works. So on top of that I have severe mommy guilt. Well, this too shall pass. I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

Having 22 Channels...

2008-09-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sucks. We cancelled the DVR and 250 channels so we could save some money and it totally sucks. I miss Food Network and being able to watch taped epidsodes of Scrubs all evening.

City Park

2008-09-18T10:48:00.002-07:00

Does it look like he's having fun, here?

We went to the city park and there was nothing to do. The poor thing has a better swing than this at the house.

Then, I went to Walmartz and bought him a fresh food feeder. He didn't take to it too well:

But I'm sure he'll get used to it.

FIRED from my OB!

2008-09-18T10:48:00.001-07:00

Ummmm.... let me get this straight.... you FIRED me from your office because I cancelled an appointment and then FORGOT to reschedule? Really OB? REALLY? The fact that I called and cancelled instead of just not showing up makes no difference? The fact that I EXPLAINED to the front desk staff that I had NO ONE to watch my son because YOUR OFFICE doesn't allow children in it says NOTHING? The fact that I told your front desk person I had to wait until the monkey was in daycare so I could come in and was told that would be fine makes no difference?

Yes, this is happening to me. I received a registered letter telling me that they would no long treat me because I failed to reschedule an appointment. So I called the "administrator" who honestly is younger than I, has NO social skills and between you and me had no clue what she was talking about. I asked to come back, and she said she'd have to ask the doctor if I could.

Ok, first of all I understand that they have people who might sue them for whatever reason when it's really their fault that they didn't follow doctor's orders. I understand that they're covering their butt, but I have been a MODEL patient until now. Never late, never cancelled... I just don't understand why they would fire me without giving me some type of notice.

I really liked this office and I love the doctor I normally see. They treated me really well when I was preggo with monkey and I don't want to go through the hassle of changing doctors.

Oh well... we'll see if I'm "allowed" back!

Doin' the Blog... sexy sexy

2008-09-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is time for me to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog. I'm new to the whole thing, so this is definately a learn as you go blog for a while. Basically, I hope to gain about 4 million readers in the next year, become massively famous as the best blogger ever and be able to quit my job, buy a beach house and play with my son for the rest of my life. I'll quit my job and do nothing all day but spend money.

So if I'm going to grace your eyes with my wit and witticism, then you must do your part and tell everyone you know!

Honestly, I'm happy to be here and I am looking forward to doing ONE more thing that keeps my on the Internetz BESIDES BHB (so sad it's almost gone!).