Out of My Mind

It’s been a while again.  Too much stuff going on, most days I feel like I’m losing my mind.  Here’s what’s been happening in our household.

I almost hate to say it for the fear of jinxing myself, but Sebastian is doing really well in school so far.  Granted, this is about the time he started flipping out in both first and second grade, so I know we’re not out of the woods yet, but I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.  We keep heaping on the positive praise and reinforcement.  I was worried about him being separated from his best friend this year, but I think it has actually helped.  He’s making new friends.  Every day, he tells me what he and this person or that person did out at recess.  No more days where he spends recess by himself swinging on the swings because his friend is playing with somebody else and he can’t figure out how to get the social interaction going with someone else all on his own.  It seems small and silly when I type it out, but it really is a big deal for him.  It makes my heart happy to see him growing and maturing.

Seb and I are now yellow belts.  I tested this past Saturday and Seb tested the weekend before.  Holy crap, the test was hard.  Over two hours of just constantly kicking, punching, blocking, sparring, etc.  I was worried that they might have to call EMS for me, but I survived.  And there were others breathing just as hard as I was, too.  But I do need to start doing more (any) cardio to get my stamina up there. Whew.

School is frustating.  Actually, only one class is frustrating, the other two are fine.  But my Admin and Mgmt. class sucks big time.  We are six weeks into the class and we’ve had one lecture, the prof. never has things posted when she says she is going to and doesn’t offer any kindof explination as to why she’s not doing what needs to be done.  If I had signed up for an independent study, that would be fine, but that’s not how this class is supposed to be and I’m getting tired of it.  I’ll definitely be filling out the evaluation form at the end of the semester because this class is quickly getting ridiculous.

The hubby is in his last semester, is not loving his job and is stressed out to the max.  Yeah, he’s loads of fun to be around.  ‘Nuff said on that matter.

I’m still trying to crochet when I can, but haven’t had as much of an opportunity lately.  I’m sure I’ll be crocheting like a crazy lady once my semester is over mid-december in order to finish everything I want to do for Christmas.

There’s more, but I need to get  a move on with all the homework that I should have started yesterday, but was too lazy to do.  I’m really unmotivated this semester, which stinks.

On Saturday, Seb and I went over to my parent’s house because it was Octoberfest (in the middle of September?) in the little town where I grew up and there were to be fireworks that evening.  It was…interesting.  My dad ended up walking back home with my nephew Lucas because he was tired and crabby and not behaving well, but left the stroller so that my mom could push it home.  She likes having something to hold herself up. 

So, on the way home, she was lagging behind with my other nephew and Seb, my brother Joe, my niece and I were walking and Seb and I had the following conversation:

Seb: I thought the reason Grandma walks so slow is because she is pushing Lucas in the stroller and he makes it heavy.

Me: No, Grandma just walks slow because she is a slow walker.

Seb: Huh, I thought it was because she has kankles.

My brother and I both just stopped, looked at each other and started cracking up.  Where in the world my son heard about kankles, I don’t know.  And to be fair, my mom doesn’t even have kankles.  The first thing my brother did when we got home was relate the newest "Bubba Story" to my sister.  We were kind, though, and didn’t tell my mom that her grandson thinks she has kankles.

I dropped Bub off at my parent’s house yesterday.  It is so weird to not have him here.  Who would’ve thunk I’d actually miss the endless prattle about some detail about a dinosaur’s anatomy and what it can do, or the sound of bionocles engaged in battle or endless questions about going to the pool.  And he’s not even coming home until Saturday!

I’m not the only one missing Sebastian.  Poor Mike the cat.  He is just lost.  For as much as he likes to terrorize Seb, he is obviously missing him.  That will make Seb happy to hear that.  I’m sure the hubby misses him, too, but being a man and all, it’s not macho to talk about stuff like that.

I don’t have too much planned for while my baby is gone.  Read, work on my current crochet project (which is currently giving me fits!  I think there may be some flaws with the pattern.  Or else I just suck.), maybe try and go out to eat with the hubby at some point.  I’m actually planning on cooking a nice meal for dinner tonight.  Roasted pork tenderloin and new potatoes, probably some corn and salad, maybe some nice crusy bread.  Yum!

I’ll call Seb tonight and see how his day went.  I know they are planning to take him to the beach and to the movies while he’s there.  My brother’s kids were supposed to come this weekend, so Bub would be able to have fun with them on Friday night, but there was a change in plans and now they’re not coming.  Oh, well.  He’ll still have fun with Lucas.  I just hope he’s being good.  I’m sure he’s probably glued to the television right now.  My parents have Dish and we don’t have cable, yet.  He must be in cartoon heaven.

For fear that I might jinx things and it won’t happen.  My mom wants to take Sebastian for a few days before the summer is over.  I’m supposed to drop him off on Wednesday (and get my hair done, yay!  I’m whacking it off again.) and pick him up on Saturday.  I’ve never just shipped Bub off for a few days for no reason before.  Weddings, funerals, moving, yes, but never just because.  He’s also never been away from me for more than a night before.  And he’ll be gone for three.  He’s excited to go, though.  Plus, my brother’s three kids will be there Friday night, too, so he’s pretty geeked about that.

I’m excited to have a couple childfree days, but it will definitely be weird.  Don’t get me wrong, Seb and I really need a break from each other, so this will be good for the both of us, but I know I’m really going to miss the little monkeybutt.  Too bad we are pretty much broke from our little trip to Cedar Point last week and then to the zoo and dinner yesterday.  The hubby and I won’t even have extra money to do something fun, just the two of us. 

I realize that’s a weird thing to say about your own kid, but hell, it’s the truth.  We spent the day at Cedar Point yesterday.  All Seb could talk about was that he was going to ride the Maverick.  Had to do it right away, first thing.  I don’t know where in the world he got the idea that he just had to ride this monster, but he did.  And he insisted on riding in the first car.  What he was trying to prove, I have no idea.  I certainly didn’t go on the ride.  No way, Jose.  But Seb went on with the hubby. And how did he like it?  He didn’t.  Not. At. All.  Said he hated it and will never do it again.  But, damn, I’m proud of the kid for doing it in the first place!

To be fair, his two cousins who are both a year older than Seb went on as well and it scared the bejesus out of them, too.  They just weren’t as vocal about it.  Even the hubby said it was one of the worst (meaning scariest) rides he’s been on and he didn’t care to ever go back on it again, either. 

We had a pretty good time at Cedar Point.  We left Sunday afternoon, checked into the hotel and hung out at the pool/hot tub for most of the afternoon/evening.  Got up early Monday morning and headed over to the park, spent the entire day and headed home around 10:30.  It was around 1 am when we finally made it back here.  I have decided that the next time we go back, I want to plan for two days at the park and would like to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge.  It looks like fun!

I get to go dress shopping for a wedding I have to go to next weekend.  So not looking forward to it.  The wedding or the dress shopping.  I had hoped to be about 15-20 pounds lighter by this time, but that ain’t happening.  The wedding is going to suck.  My sister isn’t going because she doesn’t have anybody to watch Lucas.  She’s my drinking buddy at family weddings.  My older brother is bringing some "exotic dancer" as his date, my little brother plans to get drunk as a skunk and I just know I’m going to get stuck with his girlfriend, who I don’t particularly like.  My parents can barely stand to be in the same room with each other and the hubby and are in that "meh" cycle of our relationship.  Oh, the fun we are all going to have.

At least once a day, I think, damn, I should update my blog.  Then I get sucked into the homework vortex or the cat starts attacking Sebastian or the hummous in the fridge starts calling my name.  But I’m still here, somewhat sane and still kicking.  So let’s get to some updatery:

School:

I have less than a month left of this semester.  My group project is pretty much finished after much hassle, thank goodness.  I still have a buttload of stuff to do in the next few weeks, but it should be manageable.  I managed to get another class for the fall, an online one for that matter, so I will be taking 3 classes.  Should be interesting.  I’d like to see about getting some part time work in a local library once Seb is back in school in the fall, but I don’t know if I can manage it with the courseload I’ll have and the hubby’s schedule and Seb.  We’ll see.  But I need to get some experience, even if it’s just shelving books and checking out books.  I really want to get a foot in the door somewhere.

Sebastian:

He was promoted to the third grade.  Woohoo!  I wasn’t tooooo worried, because bookwise, he’s such a little smartypants, but with all the behavior issues, eh, I was a tad worried.  I’ve been talking to him a lot this summer about how he’s 8 years old now and going into the third grade.  His teacher is not going to tolerate the silliness and weirdness, so he needs to act like a big third grader.  I think having him in karate through the summer will help.  When his behavior starts to slip while we are there, I talk with him and try and get him back on track.  Big News!!!  Seb can now ride a two-wheeler!  He pretty much picked it up in one weekend.  We went two weekends ago and he was kinda getting it, but then he had a big wipeout and was done.  We went the following Saturday and he just got it!  So on Sunday, we went for a family bikeride of about 3 and half miles.  He still has some troubles starting off, especially if it’s uphill, but for the most part he’s got it.  I’m really proud of him.  Now he’s talking about getting a new bike.  Big surprise there!

Mother-in-law:

She’s currently doing rehab after having her leg amputated below the knee.  We went and saw her over father’s day weekend, and she looked okay then.  I talked with my SIL the other day and they said they had removed a few stitches, but had to put her on antibiotics because there was some infection.  Not too big of a surprise with her diabetes.  There has been some talk of her coming home soon, but since they are still using the lift to get her in and out of bed and she’s not really allowed to do too much on her own, I don’t see how that’s going to happen.  And there’s no way my FIL can take care of her properly.  I hate to say it, but I have a feeling it’s going to be like Grandma Ski.  Once she’s there, she’s there to stay.  But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Weightloss:

I’ve actually gained back two stupid pounds. I recognize that I’m eating like crap, but can’t seem to stop myself.  We are going to start picking up some extra days of karate now that we pretty much have the basics down.  Not sure when we’ll get to test for our yellow belt.  Hopefully by the end of summer.  I’m tired of being a white belt!  Plus, now that Seb can ride a bike without training wheels, we can go for bikerides together, too.  I have a wedding to go to in just over three weeks and I’d like to lose 10 pounds by then, since I need to buy a new dress.  Don’t know if it’ll be possible.  I’m going to have to be a lot stricter with my diet.  It probably doesn’t help that we are leaving tomorrow to go to Gary and Sharon’s for the fourth of July weekend and I know I’ll eat too much while there.  Control, Erin.  Got to have control.

I suppose that it for right now.  I really am going to try and be better about posting…

and nowhere near enought time to get it all done.  Last night, I thought I was going to have a minor panic attack!  Everyone else was in bed and I was sitting on the couch, watching tv and thought, "Why am I just sitting here?  I have so much shit to do and I am just sitting here!!"  Actually, I am pretty much all caught up for this week, but I have so much to do in the next few weeks before the semester ends and I am starting to freak out about it all.  Assignments, group projects, interviewing librarians, finding someone to watch Sebastian so I can actually go interview said librarians, karate, art class, family junk, grocery shopping, banking, laundry…

I’m just a tad overwhelmed right now.  Can you tell?  The stress is definitely getting to me.  I find myself eating more than I should, just to try and sooth myself.  And karate class two days a week isn’t going to be able to counteract the increased amount of junk I am putting into my body.  My two greatest weaknesses?  Hummous with garlic and herb pita chips and Weight Watchers giant fudge bars.  Not together, mind you, but still.  It seems like if I’m not munching on one, then I’m shoving the other down my throat.  I think I need help.  Or more booze.

I haven’t been around much, but I’m still alive.  The last few weeks have just been incredible hectic.  I feel like I’m either doing homework or driving somewhere.  Seriously.  That’s about all I’ve done for the last two weeks.  So  a little update is in order

School, the thing that takes up most of my time.  Last week was a bitch.  I had a paper (it turned out to be 8 flippin pages! single spaced!) and a group project due for my intro to the profession class and another project for my tech class.  WHile I’m glad my group project is now done and out of the way, it was a pain in the ass.  One of our group members had to drop the class for medical reasons, so the three remaining members had to take over her area of the project.  But it’s done and over with and I won’t have to worry about it later in the semester when I’m trying to study for midterms or anything, so that’s good.  And, I had my period, on top of all that.  I honestly thought the hubby was going to pack up and leave I was being such a crazy bitch.  Sorry, honey.  Love you bunches.

The hubby’s mom is supposed to have her leg amputated today.  She was supposed to have it done last week, but there were problems with her blood, so that had to wait.  I saw her on Sunday and she looks terrible.  I hope she makes it through the surgery.  My FIL is being an idiot about the entire thing, but that’s nothing new.

Most of all, I’m just tired.  The stupid cat drives me crazy in the middle of the night.  I thought I was done with this up two, three times a night thing.  I have decided that the cat has until the end of the summer to shape up or he’s gone.  I’m so tired of the biting and the stalking and having him pounce on my head in the middle of the night because he thinks I should be up since he is.  And he just torments Bubba.  He’ll trap him in the hallway and then jump up on him and bite him when he tries to go past.  I know he’s just a kitten, but my other kitty was never like this.  Honestly, the only reason he’s still here is because we’ve already sunk so much money into the damn thing.

I know there is more, but I’m just so damn tired.  I’ll try and update more later.

Oh, I’m down 14 pounds now.  Woohoo!

That’s how many days until we leave for Disney.  We went over to the hubby’s brother and SIL’s house on Saturday and started planning things out.  It will be the hubs, Seb and I, Gary, Sharon and their two kids, our niece Laura (who is only two years younger than me!), her husband and their two kids and probably the hubby’s other sister Linda and her daughter Sam.  We are all very excited!

My BIL and SIL joined the Disney vacation club, so they are using their points to get a suite so we won’t have to pay for accomodations, which is schweet, indeed.  SIL and her two kids are flying.  Bub wants to fly and I am undecided at this point.  Everybody else is driving.  We’ll probably take Sharon’s car, which holds 7 and rent another vehicle, and split the costs between everyone who is driving to save on plane fair, which will probably be astronomical by that time.

We are all so very excited.  Sharon showed us pictures of the villas where we will be staying and it is so nice.  Did I mention it’s the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Oh, yeah.  We wouldn’t be able to afford to stay there for 10 days on our own, so I am really geeked.  And it is still a year and a half away!