Name::Abq MomFrom::Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Looking
If you're looking for me, I'm not here. I'm over here!
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 7/29/2008 08:12:00 AM :: 0 Comments: 
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Monday, February 05, 2007
Blog Wars
"Luke, I am your Father."
"NOOOO!!!!!!!"
"Join me on the dark side Luke. Together as Father and Son."
"No! I will never join you!"
"Oh Come on. It's really not that bad. It has all kinds of cool features not available over here. It's actually pretty fun."
"Oh. In THAT case! Sure, no problem."
You can know find me and my blog on the dark side at
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 2/05/2007 10:02:00 AM :: 3 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Friday, January 19, 2007
you're fired!
Do you think a Guardian Angel can get fired? Is there a complaint department I can write to? I can just imagine somewhere a line of Guardian Angel's waiting for their unemployment checks because they were fired from their last job for not protecting their person as well as they could be. I have a bone to pick with the person that assigns out the Guardian Angel's when the babies are born.
My daughter's Guardian Angel has a bit to be desired. I mean don't get me wrong, he's there right at the nick of time to make sure that something truly horrible doesn't happen. The injuries she's received have always been minor and I am so thankful for that, but come on, can't the guy be a little more on the ball to try to prevent some accidents from occurring at all?
I seriously believe my son's Guardian Angel is a overachiever. He's a very active boy, always running, jumping, skipping, leaping. But does he ever get hurt? NO! Seriously, a jump between the couch to the chair that could result in seriously injury he sails gracefully and lands perfectly without bouncing off. That Guardian Angel might just be a brown-noser to the Lead Guardian Angel.
My daugther's Guardian Angel I swear is a beginner, working to get his wings. Some young punk that didn't pay attention in class and copied off of his neighbor's tests in school. How this guy ever was given an assignment of watching my little girl I'll never know.
Yes. He did make sure that when she chipped her front tooth BEFORE it even cut through the gums it wasn't so serious that the tooth died, turned black and had to be pulled.
Yes. Now that she has THREE chips in her two front teeth neither of them have turned black and died.
Yes. Her gash on her chin wasn't serious enough that it required stitches. Just some glue. Thank you.
Yes. Her numerous cuts and scratchs have resulted in minimal scarring.
Yes. When her finger got smashed in the door it just got a little sore and swollen but didn't get broken. She's a very lucky girl.
And YES! Last night when she swallowed a penny, her Guardian Angel was there to make sure she didn't choke on it and that it passed her esophogus down to her stomach with minimal discomfort. But come on, couldn't he have been there just a few minutes earlier to make sure she didn't swallow it at all?
Instead I had to spend three hours in the Emergency Room with a little girl that looked like she had just won the lottery. It was a slow night, not busy and she got to be the star of the E.R. Everyone loved her and thought she was so cute. From the time we walked out the front door of the house to the time she went to bed after the E.R. visit she was as happy as a clam. Never would have thought there was anything wrong with her. We all know she's a drama queen and loves to play the victim so it wouldn't be any surprise to you that right before they called me over to view the x-ray the thought went through my mind "she better darn well have swallowed that thing and didn't just react because I THOUGHT she did!" Even though it's hard to see a foreign object show up on the x-ray of your child I kinda breathed a sigh of relief to see that she actually DID swallow a penny. Today I had to follow up with her pediatrician and another x-ray. At 1pm today the penny was still in her stomach. Sometime during this weekend a normal diaper change is going to present me with a big surprise.
You know the saying "you can't choose your Guardian Angel."? Well if you could I'd choose that my daughter had my sons. Aren't the boys the ones that are supposed to get hurt all the time? Not the precious little girl!
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 1/19/2007 03:45:00 PM :: 12 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Rose by any other name...
A few stories that only someone with the last name of:
Anderson
Brown
Johnson
Jones
or
Smith would understand.
Anyone else might get it but never understand fully unless you have a very common last name.
**********************
This a story I overheard my dad telling of something that happened to him one day at work a few months ago.
Co-worker: Oh, Cliff. I'm so sorry to hear about your dad.
Dad: What do you mean?
Co-worker: Well I saw in the paper that he just passed away.
Dad: That's funny. I just talked with him on the phone last night. I know I'm good but I didn't think I had a direct line to heaven.
Co-worker: No, I saw it. It said your dad had passed away.
Dad: Was it Claude C. Jones?
Co-worker: Well, no. It was Claude R. Jones.
Dad: Ya, um, that's not my dad.
Co-worker: Oops. Sorry.
*******************
My dad was named after his dad, only the first and middle name are reversed. So you can imagine everyone's surprise when the death announcement in the paper the day after my grandpa passed away showed that MY dad had passed away and NOT my grandpa. Oops. At least they got it right in the memorial article the day before the funeral.
*******************
A few more things to complain about before I try to find the positive side of 2007:
~ Our garage door opener no longer works. We'll have to replace the opener and the garage door.
~ Got a new chip in the windshield of our car
~ The windshield wiper fluid isn't working. It may just be that the fluid is frozen. (yes it's been that cold), or it could be worse and there's a chance that the freezing fluid has made a crack in the line or the tank.
~ Our car now has 78,500 miles. Our extended warranty ran out at 75,000 miles. (yes, 2000 miles after the extended warranty ran out the bearing in the right rear tire went bad.)
*************
Things to look forward to in 2007:
~ My husband is getting Lasik Eye Surgery. We set aside the money into a medical savings account. It's been taken out of the paycheck, he can't back out now.
~ Our 7th Wedding anniversary in March.
~ The birth of our 3rd baby in July.
~ Getting a new car. (hopefully)
~Birthdays. My husband-30. My daughter-3. My son-5. Me-29.
I'm trying to think of what else we have to look forward to this year but that's all I can come up with. Any help coming up with positive things to look forward to are always welcomed.
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 1/16/2007 10:45:00 AM :: 10 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Monday, January 15, 2007
2007: You can keep it!
'Cause, Baby! I don't want it!
The over a foot of snow we received on my birthday and the day after has finally melted. It's taken three weeks but it's finally gone. It took the city and everyone here over a week just to get dug out from that storm. My birthday plans were cancelled as because the whole city was shutdown. I even had to call the babysitter and tell her we wouldn't be picking her up. We had contemplated celebrating my birthday the next day but idea of just making a quick run to the grocery store for milk was squashed. My car got stuck in the driveway! Happy 28th birthday. Snowed in.
Three weeks before christmas my brother was arrested. He sat in jail for two weeks. Back in october his roommates were arrested for drug possession and parafanelia. Because my brother's name was on the lease they came back and arrested him two months later.
I have been sick beyond belief. My husband has informed me that this will be our third and LAST baby because he can't stand seeing me so sick and he doesn't like all the extra work he's received because of it. The thought makes me sad.
I've known since May that the time would come. It was inevitable. I made the trip up to Washington with my kids in June so I could make sure to see him before it happened. No one ever thought he would make it this long but they didn't know the stubborness that resides in my grandpa and runs through my veins as well. From Christmas day on he was pretty much not conscious. He wouldn't wake up to eat or take his meds. On my birthday when my grandma called to wish me a happy birthday she told me they didn't think grandpa would make it to the New Year. Well of course he proved her wrong too. He always liked to do that. So that first week of January was tough. Every time the phone rang I dreaded answering it. If the caller ID showed up as my parents calling I had an axiety attack. I knew it was coming. I was having dreams of what I would say if I were asked to speak at his funeral. Then the call finally came. Saturday January 6th. My grandpa had finally passed away in his sleep Friday January 5th at 9:30pm. That last week he was in the hospice the nurses gave him morphine patches for the pain.
Then came the decision of figuring out what to do. Last minute plane tickets were expensive especially for a family of four. I could have flown up by myself but I knew I wouldn't be able to handle everything by myself. I needed my husband to be there. Plus throw into the mix that there would be a storm on our heels on the 20 hr drive up and another on the 20 hr drive back. Do we even go? 20 hr drive with two little kids with possible bad weather and a sick as a dog pregnant lady couldn't make for a good combination. There was the possibility of renting a minivan and riding up with my uncle and brothers but we didn't want to put them through 20 hours of listening to our kids crying.
We finally decided we would drive up by ourselves in our own car. There was major concern about needing tire chains. But of course I would have the car with the size tires and wheels to make it impossible to have chains. I spent the entire day last monday making phone calls looking for chains. We we got our first storm on December 19th everyone freaked out and bought out all the chains in the ENTIRE STATE! Not to mention the second storm that dumped over three feet in parts of the city on December 29th, there wasn't a single set of chains to be purchased anywhere! Finally I found someone that had a set of chains that would fit my tires back in a warehouse. I was thrilled. But 4pm on Monday I was practically in tears. I had spent more time on my cell phone in that one day that I have on a cell phone in my entire life. I was getting yelled at by total strangers JUST BECAUSE there was a cell phone up to my ear. When I bought the chains and took them out of the box to look at them I discovered that yes they would would work on my size tires but not that size tire on MY car! The tire sits in closer to the strut and with that chain on the tire the locking mechinism would rub against the strut and eventually make a hole that would leak oil and there would go my car.
We were lucky enough to have dry roads all the way up to my parents house. The last hour the kids finally fell asleep and there was silence. That's when I started noticing a weird grinding noise coming from the right rear tire. My first thought was a piece of gravel got up in the brake but that's the front wheel and the sound was coming from the back wheel. When we got to my parents house I told my dad about the noise and he took apart the wheel to discover that we had a bearing go out. If we had ignored the noise that bearing could have been thrown the entire wheel could have come off while going 80 mph down the freeway. Luckily my dad was able to fix it for the cost of parts ($50) rather than having to take it in and pay over $500.
The family joke going around while up there is that being the stubborn man my grandfather was he would wait to pass away for the coldest week. His funeral would be held on the coldest day and relatives would have to travel through treacherous weather conditions in order to get there. All of those things were true.
The evening of the day of the funeral all the extended family from my grandpa's side that made the trip up from Boise came out to my parents house for a visit. It was a great time with lots of stories, laughter, jokes and sharing. My grandpa's younger brother told some great stories about how his "love affair" with a 1937 Ford truck came to be. I will have to make sure to write that story down later on. My husband was a part of both of the musical numbers at the funeral. He accompanied my grandma's SIL while she sang and then my mom accompanied him while he played violin. Even without it being played at a solemn gathering the piece he played brings tears to the eyes of all who listen to it.
My grandparents opened their home up to make foster children adopting the first two. They opened up their home to a Native American education program and had a number of children live with them during the school year so they could receive an education. One of those children was there at the funeral and at the family gathering that night. He talked to us about many native american traditions. He is Cherokee from Montana. And that night while out at the house sang a song in honor of my grandpa while playing his drum and then another song on his indian flute. It was a long emotional week and though we were sad that grandpa was no longer with us there was peace and comfort in knowing that he is no longer suffering in a body that was failing him. He suffered for four years from Multiple Myaloma. A cancer of the white blood cells grown in the bone marrow. It hurt him just to move an elbow.
I know all of these things happen for a reason and that there is opportunites for growth and they are learning experiences but come on do they all have to happen at the same time? I haven't had the chance to get over one thing before the next thing happens. I could use a break from all these opportunites for spiritual and emotional growth.
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 1/15/2007 11:03:00 AM :: 6 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Hello Out There
I have a question. Isn't it bad enough that I'm suffering from exhaustion, low energy, nausea, and vomiting? Do I really have to have extreme heart-burn thrown into the mix? I have been fighting heart-burn since 4 O'clock this morning. Man I thought I was miserable before, this is insane! Anything I took to try to combat the heart-burn turned on the morning sickness. Now that it's late afternoon the morning sickness has settled but I still have the dang heart-burn. Nothing's working! Hot Chocolate? Nope. Ice Cream? Nope. This is really annoying.
It's Snowing. Yes my friends it is snowing in the Duke City. We have a couple of inches on the ground to report of as of right now. This morning didn't look promising but now we're wondering if it's ever going to stop. Reports say it's supposed to stick around till Wednesday evening. Get a break on thursday and then start up again on Friday and Saturday. My kids are very excited. Today my son said "It's snowing! That mean's it's Christmas!" He was a little bummed when I informed him that today isn't Christmas yet. We have big plans. We're going to Provo for Christmas. The whole family is meeting there. We had originally planned to leave Friday morning early but it looks like we'll probably be leaving on Thursday instead.
I have all my Christmas shopping done. Last night was a marathon wrapping party. If you were to walk into our house right now you would 1. think a Tornado had wripped through my house, and 2. think Scrooge must live here. We have no tree. We have no Christmas decorations. We have one string of lights that runs around the top of the wall around the living room. Along with the lights we have a closet door where I hang the Christmas cards we receive. Saturday my husband did manage to put the lights up on the front of the house. I did not send out Christmas cards or my usualy small gift to close friends. I feel badly about this but I would expect that everyone would understand. It's funny. I was pregnant this same time of year three years ago but I was way more ambitious, excited and able to do things. I took pictures at a wedding a week before Christmas. My son was playing out in the yard in the snow for almost an hour today, I didn't even have the energy to pick up the camera and capture a picture of him catching snowflakes on his tongue.
My dad was here last week. It was completely unexpected but completely welcomed. He had to come down as a result of a brother-related issue (I won't be discussing it) but was able to spend all but 2 days out of his week here at my house. I say it was welcomed because we were really starting to feel like we were drowning just trying to keep up with everything. Being that I am absolutely miserable all the time a lot of things are getting left undone. My dad isn't one to just sit around and watch t.v. and for that this week I was thankful. He did my dishes, he cleaned my kitchen, he vaccuumed my house. He helped me run errands and take care of my kids, he helped my husband on a number of projects as well. They took two truck-loads of stuff to Goodwill. They rebuilt the pergola in the backyard(a spring windstorm was about to rip it down so we took it down before it could fall down) and They were able to build the outer wall of the bathroom and get drywall up. I really appreciate all the hard work my dad put in while he was here. Now that he's been gone for two days and my house looks like a disaster again I'm really missing him.
I had my first doctor's appointment a few weeks ago. I met with a nurse/mid-wife. She was really awesome, willing to listen to everything I said, wasn't in a hurry to get me out and on to the next patient. She listened to my concerns, my history from my previous two kids and when I told her I really didn't need to have the STD related tests done she didn't push it. I really liked the nurse she was kind and courteous and respectful. Overall it was a good visit. If only I didn't have to wait for nearly an hour in hopes of being able to pee in a cup. That was kind of embarrassing. There was one thing that bothered me about the appointment. It's all me though, my own attitude. I was a bit surprised when the mid-wife walked in and I think she saw it in my face. She was extremely obese. I mean, not just a little overweight but the almost not able to walk obese. I tried to quickly hide my surprise. When she asked about a history of diabetes in the family I said "Oh, yes. my paternal grandfather has diabetes but that's because he's..." That's where I stopped my self. I was about today "because he's overweight". But then realized who I was talking to and caught myself before I made a faux pas. I know it's wrong to judge someone by how they look. But I can't be the only person that does it right? I choose female doctor's over a male doctor. That's just my preference. The more I thought about it after my appointment the more I was embarrassed but more comfortable with this doctor. Yes we tend to gravitate towards good looking people but do I really want a good-looking Midwife/OBGYN? Someone that every month I go in will see me fatter than the month before? See my stretch marks, etc? I would hate to say that the good-looking Dr would be judging how I look but it isn't a far stretch of the imagination. At least with this midwife no matter how fat, how bad I get stretch marks she'll always think I'm beautiful. (I'm sorry that sounds prideful.)
It looks like tomorrow is going to be a packing day and Thursday a travel day. Please wish us luck that we can get everything to fit in our tiny car and that the roads will be good for travel. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (along with a Happy Birthday to Sariah and Me!) See you next year!
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 12/19/2006 02:33:00 PM :: 7 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Laugh or Cry
I have this cd by the Indigo Girls, actually it's a 2 cd box set called 1200 curfews. Almost all the songs on these two cd's were performed while they were on a summer tour around the United States. You know how at concerts the performer always says a couple of sentances in order to introduce the next song? On these cd's there are quite a few tracks that include the intro. Some are just a description of how the song came to be or who wrote it, other's are just kinda funny. There's one that I just can't get out of my head right now.
"You have to laugh at yourself 'cause you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't!"
Actually there's more to the intro of the song Least Complicated but I didn't remember that part until I listened to the track to make sure I have the quote right.
I find myself crying a lot more than I'm laughing lately.
Here is what I depend on to make me laugh nowadays.
back to back episodes of Still Standing
back to back King of Kings
back to back Scrubs
back to back Everybody Loves Raymond
OR
back to back FRIENDS
What do you got up your sleeves to make me smile or laugh?
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 12/07/2006 10:13:00 AM :: 8 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Weather Report
"...And now to ABQ Mom with the weather..."
Thank you. Let's get right into it. There's a lot to discuss. A storm front has ripped it's way through the state of New Mexico leaving in it's wake towns digging themselves out of 1/2 inch to 2 feet of snow depending on the area. The storm made it's way out of the state and into Texas over night. This morning the city of Albuquerque woke to a slight dusting of snow. Just enough to make things look white but not enough to cause any major traffic delays or even the smallest snowball. Children everywhere were completely devastated. On the heels of this storm an artic cold and wrapped itself around the state. Last night's low was very low for the city. Dipped down to 17 degrees. Today's predicted high: a whopping 37 degrees. Welcome to winter New Mexico it's arrived!
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 11/30/2006 11:11:00 AM :: 8 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Monday, November 20, 2006
A Tale of a few Stories
Just to prepare you I'm going to write a few different stories all in one post.
* My son and I both got a stomach flu. Man I hate puking, but I hate wondering if/when I'm going to puke more!
* My husband tries so hard to take care of me and the house when I'm sick but it drives me crazy that he won't come near me with a 10 foot pole because he's worried he's gonna catch something.
*It's been 4 days now and luckily my daughter and husband didn't catch whatever it was we had.
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* Did you ever hear the one about the girl that got ice stuck to her hand? You didn't! Well let me tell you about it! The kids love the fact that our new fridge/freezer comes with an icemaker. They couldn't get enough of that thing when it was warm outside. They would be constantly in the freezer getting ice then running outside and throwing it on the patio to watch it melt. We tried not to be too upset about it, we never had to worry about getting stale ice, the kids made sure to recycle it frequently.
Now that it's getting cooler they don't get into the ice quite as often but I still catch them in there sometimes. Nowadays though it's so they can have "cold, cold, COLD water". They'll get a little plastic cup, run into our bathroom (it's the only sink in the house they can reach) fill up their cup with water then run into the kitchen to get some ice. I've gotten used to this scenario so I tried not to let it bother me. It's just water, if it spills it will dry. I was pretending not to notice what was going on when I was brought out of my reverie by my little girl crying. Not surprising when she and big brother are together she's prone to start crying, but this was a different kind of cry. Besides Big Brother wasn't even near her.
When I found her she showed me her right hand. It had ice cubes stuck to every finger and a few stuck to the palm of her hand! She tried shaking them off and they wouldn't move. She tried pulling but they were pretty stuck! I think she was crying the most because it scared her that they were stuck. I tried not to laugh in amazement at the situation and walked her into the bathroom and ran water over her hand to get the ice to come unstuck. She must have tried to get some ice out of the freezer with wet hands. It had me giggling pretty good when I told her Daddy about it later. And you know what?!? They haven't played in the ice since!
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*It's always hard to accept that we're growing up, that we're getting older, that we're no longer the full of energy youngin's we once were. But you know what is even harder to accept? Knowing that our parents are getting older too. My husband and I were shocked with this revelation a few weeks ago while talking with my Mother-in-Law on the phone.
She grew up in Idaho, her father was a potato farmer, she studied horticulture in college before getting married. You might just say that there's a little dirt that runs through her veins. I've always loved going to their house in Idaho, there are so many beautiful flower beds all over their property. It's like walking through a plant catalog walking around the yard. She has worked for 15 years on those flower beds. She had a little help from her husband but mostly the help came from her two sons. My husband left and went to college, got married, moved away, she lost her most helpful assistant but she still had Sterling at home. He didn't LOVE gardening like my Mother-in-Law and my husband but he felt inclined to help. Now Sterling is away at college. My Mother-in-Law is a 4th grade teacher, working on her Master's degree and no longer has her son's around to help her with the yard. Yes, Juell, her 12 yr old daughter is still at home but isn't nearly the assistant as the boys were.
She just turned 50 this spring. Maybe that birthday made her realize she was getting older. Maybe the lack of helpful hands around the house made it frustrating. Maybe just understanding she doesn't have as much free time as she once did with teaching school and working towards her Master's pushed the decision. Whatever the reason it was a sad day when she had her husband rip out all the plants from the flower beds (except for two) and cover them over with mulch. She cried while it was being done. My husband and I practically cried when she told us about it. We're scared to go to the house and look at the yard and not see all the plants (yes even though it's dormant now). We never thought the day would come when she would think herself too old to keep up with her gardening. We definitely were shocked to learn the news.
(P.S. My husband asked me to write about this. He felt it was something important I should blog about.)
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* Wha....?!?! How did this happen? Well, ya, of course I know HOW? But How? It wasn't supposed to happen this way! We had it all planned. We had it all scheduled for when it would work the best for us and our little family. This was truly unexpected! It just goes to show you that no matter how much we think we got our lives under control, He knows what we need and when we need it more than we do!
I've gone through the full spectrum now. Having a hard time, not understanding why we weren't being blessed with something we so truly wanted and then expecting at exactly the best time for our situation. Then the getting what we wanted at exactly the time we wanted it even though it was a little close to the last one. Then this time around, where we were preventing and somehow it happened anyway.
This time around I have all the jokes running through my head:
-"You DO know how this happens, don't you?"
-"You know what causes pregnancy, right?"
-"Give me the name of a birth control and I'll give you a name of a child."
-"What did you do wash your underwear together?"
-"Did you get into the shower after him?"
And of course I have the insane thoughts too:
-"She's a walking baby factory now, isn't she?"
-"All she knows how to do is have babies huh?"
Yes I know, those are unfair, I am imagining the thoughts of other people and thinking that they're actually thinking it. Everyone knew we weren't going to have ONLY two kids. They should have expected an announcement of another pregnancy eventually. She is almost 2 1/2 now.
I just have to keep telling myself He knew better than we did. He knew another baby was supposed to come into our family NOW not a year from now. My due date is July 12th. My daughter's third birthday is July 17th.
"Every baby is a blessing."
~~~~~~~~~~
* We fly to Idaho tomorrow for the Thanksgiving holiday. My son's fourth birthday is on Wednesday. We have been counting down for literally two months now. He's so excited to fly on an airplane tomorrow and then his birthday is the day after that! I'm just excited I don't have to hear "I want that for my birthday." "I want to put that on my birthday list." Now I can look forward to hearing "I want that for Christmas." "I want to put that on my Christmas list."
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 11/20/2006 12:03:00 PM :: 6 Comments: ---------------------------------------
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Bragging Moment
Lookie, lookie what I just did! I just finished this bag! They taught us how to make them at enrichment last night. I didn't finish mine, (man I make a lot of mistakes when I'm sewing in public!) Once I started working on it today it started to make a lot more sense. But now it's finished! I bought three different fabrics, this one and one other that will go with black corduroy, then another fabric that can go with brown corduroy. I'm thinking I might make them as christmas presents. Now that I have the basic idea down I can make them smaller, more like a purse or bigger, like a bookbag.
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 11/15/2006 04:29:00 PM :: 5 Comments: ---------------------------------------
