Hopefully, Crisis Averted

Geez, what a whirl I have had! I can't believe it's Friday already! Two weeks ago, Andy went down to Tucson to take the DOC physical training test to be on his way to be a Department of Corrections officer. Preliminary to even taking a step of the course, they did a basic physical to see if he was healthy enough to exert himself on the test and found his blood pressure was through the roof. It was 220/140! This is the first time he had ever had this turn up; his physical last year showed it slightly elevated but nothing to be alarmed about. So he went to the doctor last Friday. They were so alarmed about his blood pressure they refused to allow him to drive himself to the urgent care. I had of course just put the kids down for naps about ten minutes before he called so I had to roust the kids and pick him up. Then it was straight to the urgent care. Due to the urgent nature of his condition he was taken straightaway into a room there and he had left his cellphone in the car. I then spent the next 3 hours waiting there with the kids which was no picnic, let me tell you. By the time I finally saw him I was a frazzled nerve myself and I would have probably have failed my own blood pressure test. After giving him his phone I whisked the kids home; boy were they happy to run around some and play. But the urgent care decided Andy had to go to the emergency room anyway since they could not get his pressure down with the meds they had on hand. So back again to pick up Andy. He decided he just didn't have enough time to screw with the emergency room before work so he went there first thing after work on Saturday morning. They kept him for about 5 hours, then finally discharged him with a prescription. He again saw the doctor two days ago and he now has 3 pills to take. I am also taking his blood pressure regularly and while it is going down, it still is too high for my taste. This morning it was 150/115. I did read the medications take 2 weeks to take full affect, so we'll see. He is feeling better; he doesn't feel so angry all the time and he feels a lot more relaxed while driving so that's all good.

Now, as soon as I walked into the urgent care with the kids I had a bad feeling about exposing the kids that germ-infested environment. I did keep them in stroller the entire time I spent in the waiting room, but I did let them run around in the building lobby. Hey, it's hard for toddlers to spend so much time strapped into the stroller, but they were reasonably good for the whole ordeal. We took strolls around the building and picked a variety of the flowers the building was landscaped with. But despite my care they found a way to get sick. Tabitha developed a fever Monday morning, pretty much on cue with 48 hours after being exposed. Fortunately that was the only symptom and it never exceeded 100. It did make her cranky as hell for about 3 days though. Tommy decided Wednesday was a good time to get the same thing, but I think he caught it from Tabitha from the timing and his lasted only a day. Boy, Tabitha does not like taking medicine at all! It was even the grape flavored children's Tylenol, but she objected so much she actually made herself gag and throw up! Tommy couldn't get enough of it, he was very cooperative. Ultimately Andy had to help hold Tabitha while I gave her the medicine and I followed it up with a drink right away which helped her a great deal. As of today, they are both fine. I have to say it was a strange little sickness, the only sign was the fever and that was thankfully not terribly high or it would have been straight back to a doctor's office.

With all this going on I have had not a whit of time to work on anything; no jewelry, sewing and obviously no time to blog. I did get a nifty new sewing machine on Monday. Since Andy got himself a new laptop the day before I figured it was only fair. It's not a real fancy machine, at least compared to what I could have bought but it is the fanciest one I have ever owned. It is a Singer, with like 30 pre-programmed decorative stitches and Auto-tension. Auto-tension! I have always had a problem with the tension of the machines I have owned and a machine with such a feature seems like a dream! My last machine, a Kenmore, was a workhorse, but very basic and of course it's tension mechanism was faulty. I did have it about ten years, and retiring it is bittersweet since my mother bought it for me and she made sure I knew it was more than she would normally spend on a machine so it has all that mom-guilt with it. Since Monday my new machine has sat in it's box on the kitchen table, but I am determined tonight to take it out and explore it's wonders. I think some new catnip toys would be a great first project to get acquainted.

Where is this month going?

I mean really, this month is flying by! I guess I've been busy, but my tangible accomplishments are lacking. Housecleaning and chores have been the major bite of my time. My conjecture is that I haven't had as much free time to myself as I have been accustomed to with Andy's new hours. My time after the kids go to bed has been taken up with making supper and helping him get ready for work. By the time he walks out the door, it's about 9:30 at night and that isn't much time for doing much except some clean-up and watching one of my dvr'ed shows. I gotta get my act together and manage my time better, but that is certainly easier said than done!

I did start a "new" line of product to sell out at the farmers market. My dad brought down all of my mom's catnip toy supplies so I essentially inherited her product line. I made 20 of the cat toys last week at my dad's insistent urging. He was always going on about how mom could never make enough of them for Kathleen to sell so I made them to get him off my back about it. To my surprise, 9 of them sold just last weekend for a total of $25.00! That is equivalent to selling a necklace or a couple of pairs of earrings, so I apparently am now in the cat toy business. It seems more lucrative than the jewelry right now. Of course, I hate to buy stuff I don't have to so I have bought some catnip seeds and have started growing my own. In the meantime I will have to actually buy some until they grow enough to start harvesting.

I'm afraid that nap time is going to be a thing of the past very,very soon. Once they figure out how to escape from their cribs, life will never be the same. There is no bright side to this that I can see. The kids communication skills are getting better but it still is not a two-way street yet. Laying down the law is not yet an option either but it's not like I haven't been trying. That is still too abstract a concept for them. They are getting pretty good at problem solving, especially Tabitha. Together, they are quite the mischief dynamo. The other day, Tommy knocked down Andy's keys off the nail on the wall with my broom. Then, Tabitha took the keys and used them to open the door to the bathroom. The next thing I hear is the splashing in the toilet so I double-timed it in there and cleared them out of there pronto! I confiscated the keys from Tabitha and put them waaaay up out of their reach. She is constantly trying out objects to open the bathroom door with ever since she saw Andy use my bookmark to do it and realized if it fits in the hole, it can open the door. Gee, thanks Andy!

A Month to Go Until the Terrible Twos are Official!

Exactly one month to go until the twins 2nd birthday! They are already in the full swing of the terrible twos with the screaming and the tantrums. Terrible twos times two! I am exhausted by the time I put them to bed each night. They are great though so I'm not really complaining, but they are a handful. Tabitha's language skills are slowly improving; she is expanding her vocabulary and her non-verbal communication skills have certainly come a long way. Tommy is a little behind her on that, but he asks for less. They are still at the point and scream ah stage. Boy, will it be fun when they enter the "no" and "mine" stage. They are getting better using the spoon and fork to eat with, but they still seem to think the plate or bowl is optional.

Yesterday, me and the kids went to the at-home reception of the "unofficial" wedding of their Grandpa Cookie (hubby's dad) and Melba (life-long friend of my mother-in-law Ellie who passed in November of last year). I wasn't thrilled to go but Cookie really wanted us to be there. It's nearly an hour drive each way and we cannot really afford the gas. I also anticipated absolutely no help with the kids while I was there, and I was not disappointed. I spent a little over two hours there completely trying to keep the kids from drinking strange drinks, playing in ashtrays and playing with things they weren't supposed to like the laptop someone had set up on the table out on the back porch. There I was, surrounded by actual adults, but not one deigned to speak with me about anything other than my kids and that was pretty insipid stuff (Oh, you must be tired, Oh, you have your hands full, that sort of thing. end rant.) Cookie did have his photo op with the kids eating wedding cake so looking back it was worth it. I wish Cookie and Mel all the best. I survived, the kids survived, and lots of new family met the kids so I have to chalk that up to time well spent.

My hubby did take the job at U.S. Security Associates for $11.00 an hour. He also took a part time job with the U.S. Airways Arena security staff to fill out his schedule. He is still technically employed by P.E.S. but I am not sure if he will really do much for them anymore. His new goal is to get a job with the Department of Corrections. He passed the written test which is better than half the people who took the test did. Now he has to get in better shape to pass the physical requirements. He has the discipline, but i hope he has the energy to do it. Hopefully in a day or two when he doesn't feel like his ass is so kicked from his schedule he will get started on it. I definitely have to give him credit for getting his butt out and getting a new job when his hours were cut so much. His new job, along with the child support payments being finished (yay!) and our tax refund should be a good bump for us financially.

And now an update about my jewelry: I finished a new necklace bringing my total to 4 necklaces made from the eBay stuff I got! I made it with all green beads, and a large green pearl drop in the middle in honor of St. Patrick's Day coming up. I also put up the jewelry slide show on my blog page here so everyone can see what I've made. The slide show includes 3 of the charm necklaces I made last month. The weird thing is I had all these things in my head to do, now I feel a bit unmotivated for the next project since I finished the new necklace. I suppose if I actually sold something I would feel a bit better.