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so, jeff returned home Sunday night....it was very emotional for the girls having not seen their dad in over three weeks. for me, the lap top returned and thus hopefully my ability to release in the form of a blog. in the past few weeks, if by chance, being in the office i felt i could do a little writing for myself, all i could come up with was the negative (by 9pm all i felt was negative). without unleashing my poor poor me...my life can totally suck pity party, i will say it takes a lot to keep up with both girls now 11 months and 26 months plus answer the phone to which keeps the business going, oh, and all the work in the office. i really thought about running away and even began to doubt my parenting abilities.....however, my husband is home now and well, i should have a bit of a break for the next ten days until he leaves again.*
i started christmas shopping last week and in one morning completed about a 1/3 of my list. while izzy was in school annie and i made our way around the shopping center down the street from her school. i also purchased myself a christmas present (that leaves either two small ones for you husband or one big one). as for my christmas list this is what i want....1) world peace, 2) all neglected children tended too, and 3) a decision regarding the overgrown golf course behind our house. OK, for the real self deserving list...1) i really really want those new diamond earrings i have been asking for the past three years (yes, husband please ask your brother for guidance and inside knowledge to any "great" deals on a pair tiffany princess cut studs) 2) a would like to receive a day at the spa to be pampered while YOU keep up with both girls, not calling your mom over to lend a hand and finally 3) a date night for us, nothing fancy (no, i don't need dinner at my favorite restaurant lonesome dove)...just the two us...we could go to the movies and wonder around barnes and noble, just like the days before babies.
thanksgiving will be at our house this year. i had my mother talk to my aunt (only because she can talk in the evenings and well, i look at my phone ringing after 6pm and wish i had a voodoo doll to poke your eyes out with because that is my most crazy, at my wits end time of the day) and explain to her that while i could contain izzy in her house, annie is a different story. i would be "fighting" her all day and well, there would be no way to stay for game night. so, dinner is at our house this year and i am not in the least bit stressed. i plan to set the table tonight and bake anything i decide we can not live without, leaving only the turkey, smashed potatoes, dressing and brussel sprouts for tomorrow.
during my emotional i may not make it days while jeff was gone my wonderful bnl and snl had her baby and i would like to congratulate chris and krista on the birth of whitney josephine. we only wish yall were not in washington and are counting the days until we meet the newest longspaugh girl!
well, i better be off and oh, wash brussell sprouts or something.....happy thanksgiving to everyone and enjoy the time with your family and friends ( even if you need to start the day with a drink to do so...this is what i do when not preggos!) if you are crazy enough to shop on black friday..i wish you all the luck and patience in the world.
oh, if anyone is doing the turkey trot thanksgiving morning look for us...we will be the ones with the monster orange stroller, black lab and babci toting her king charles through the crowd of people. i may even make my husband a thermos of bloody mary!
*i should note that cade was extremely helpful the last week or so...picking up the living room every night, not complaining when i would beg for a five minute shower, and in general just being here to give me some support. however, i do think he was trying to make up for the phone call his math teacher made to me to let me know he eggs on the class clown and she was fed up.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
trying to visualize world peace....
so, the election results are in....i woke up (yes, woke up, i believe i feel asleep somewhere around 9pm) around 10:30ish to see mccain conceding to the race...while i truly wanted to cry all i could do was hope all you obama supporters knew something i did not. don't get me wrong i can see the plus side of the changes he has promised us as a nation, but i also am nervous about some of the other changes.... (jeff is so going to wave his finger at me for actually writing this)
1) i fear for the changes to health care...now, before you go off and judge me, please listen...as you know we own and operate a small plumbing company and if you know anything about health insurance coverage for SBO it is almost non-existent unless you are ready to pay a high premium. for example, our first insurance company did not cover anything unless you were hospitalized which sounded ok because i was most nervous about the day jeff fell off a latter or did something that required a trip to the emergency room. at the time we were both relatively healthy and pretty young. with such insurance availability to sbos maternity coverage is not an option, so we have paid out of our pockets for both girls....ob and hospital; except with annie i forgot to prepay so the hospital filled out some forms and we were given some government assistance, so around 14K for both babies...anyhoo.. we are okay with this, it is part of the choices we made, yes, it would be great if insurance coverage was more affordable, but would i have been able to use my really really incredible ob who did everything in his power to save us from a c-section (which would have been covered) with izzy. (she was upside down, twisted and entirely too large for my body)??? would we have been able to choose this high-risk specialist when it took over two years to get pregnant with izzy after two very emotional miscarriages??? so, as you can see, i don't want to lose my options in health care...i would rather carry around my kate spade, bought in an estate sale bag for a few more years than have to use a doctor unable to access my maternity needs.
2) i also know this....i have worked three jobs at once to start this business with jeff who worked 75hour weeks, i worked 40+ hours while putting myself through college, i have a hard time with government handouts....now listen, i do believe everyone needs a hand from time to time and i am so glad those programs are there, but i have a hard time knowing medicaid is covering the medical cost of a meth addict's children for five years or that a boob job came from the earned income credit. AGAIN, this is not everyone, but these are just a few of the examples i personally know.
3) i worry about the affect this election will have on our sbo taxes....we have worked really hard to get where we are today and last year lost a few options in a sbo bill congress would not renew (whatever being the technical terms). our business has always grown in numbers each year, but with that come additional cost. it would be nice to know if we do more than break even we will not be pushed into a higher tax bracket.
3) i am on board with government help, but where is the line drawn in a government that is too big....i like small government, local government, local choices given to the people of this country. i don't want someone in washington making decisions for me...a small person in the outskirts of fort worth, texas (are you supposed to put the comma there in a sentence). i want to know the officials we elect locally still have a say in the big decisions because what is good in uptown new jersey may not fit us down here in north texas.
i need to stop...because well, some of you may never read my blog again...or i may end up with lots of nasty comments about what an uncaring person i am.....i really do care, i just like to know i must take responsibility for my choices and my choices whether good or bad will effect my life to teach me a lesson. you should learn from the wrong ones and gain knowledge from the good ones to encourage you to always grow as a person. these choices are how we teach our children to be responsible adults one day....ones to strive to work hard and push for the american dream. i did and it was through a lot of hard times.....ask me sometime about why i could not get govt help to fund my college tuition and i will be glad to share my story.
have a great day, i am off to explore new orleans some more and watch the minutes fly by because i return to reality tomorrow.......
**side note** i have found better insurance coverage and the cost is half of what it was but we still do not have any maternity coverage. affordable insurance is out there...you just have to look really hard for it. we pay under $250 a month for our family of four.....and the girls have great coverage.
OBAMA NATION....I AM TRUSTING YOU
1) i fear for the changes to health care...now, before you go off and judge me, please listen...as you know we own and operate a small plumbing company and if you know anything about health insurance coverage for SBO it is almost non-existent unless you are ready to pay a high premium. for example, our first insurance company did not cover anything unless you were hospitalized which sounded ok because i was most nervous about the day jeff fell off a latter or did something that required a trip to the emergency room. at the time we were both relatively healthy and pretty young. with such insurance availability to sbos maternity coverage is not an option, so we have paid out of our pockets for both girls....ob and hospital; except with annie i forgot to prepay so the hospital filled out some forms and we were given some government assistance, so around 14K for both babies...anyhoo.. we are okay with this, it is part of the choices we made, yes, it would be great if insurance coverage was more affordable, but would i have been able to use my really really incredible ob who did everything in his power to save us from a c-section (which would have been covered) with izzy. (she was upside down, twisted and entirely too large for my body)??? would we have been able to choose this high-risk specialist when it took over two years to get pregnant with izzy after two very emotional miscarriages??? so, as you can see, i don't want to lose my options in health care...i would rather carry around my kate spade, bought in an estate sale bag for a few more years than have to use a doctor unable to access my maternity needs.
2) i also know this....i have worked three jobs at once to start this business with jeff who worked 75hour weeks, i worked 40+ hours while putting myself through college, i have a hard time with government handouts....now listen, i do believe everyone needs a hand from time to time and i am so glad those programs are there, but i have a hard time knowing medicaid is covering the medical cost of a meth addict's children for five years or that a boob job came from the earned income credit. AGAIN, this is not everyone, but these are just a few of the examples i personally know.
3) i worry about the affect this election will have on our sbo taxes....we have worked really hard to get where we are today and last year lost a few options in a sbo bill congress would not renew (whatever being the technical terms). our business has always grown in numbers each year, but with that come additional cost. it would be nice to know if we do more than break even we will not be pushed into a higher tax bracket.
3) i am on board with government help, but where is the line drawn in a government that is too big....i like small government, local government, local choices given to the people of this country. i don't want someone in washington making decisions for me...a small person in the outskirts of fort worth, texas (are you supposed to put the comma there in a sentence). i want to know the officials we elect locally still have a say in the big decisions because what is good in uptown new jersey may not fit us down here in north texas.
i need to stop...because well, some of you may never read my blog again...or i may end up with lots of nasty comments about what an uncaring person i am.....i really do care, i just like to know i must take responsibility for my choices and my choices whether good or bad will effect my life to teach me a lesson. you should learn from the wrong ones and gain knowledge from the good ones to encourage you to always grow as a person. these choices are how we teach our children to be responsible adults one day....ones to strive to work hard and push for the american dream. i did and it was through a lot of hard times.....ask me sometime about why i could not get govt help to fund my college tuition and i will be glad to share my story.
have a great day, i am off to explore new orleans some more and watch the minutes fly by because i return to reality tomorrow.......
**side note** i have found better insurance coverage and the cost is half of what it was but we still do not have any maternity coverage. affordable insurance is out there...you just have to look really hard for it. we pay under $250 a month for our family of four.....and the girls have great coverage.
OBAMA NATION....I AM TRUSTING YOU
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
in new orleans and loving it!
so, here i am sitting on a hotel bed fee up, tv on election results having just spent the day riding the street car and wondering around. now don't get me wrong i do miss the girls, but having never left them i totally forgot how wonderful it feels to be me and only me....i ate when i wanted, i pee-ed when i wanted, i did not stop for naps, i did not change diapers, i just have wondered around with my own thoughts not really talking to anyone. yeah, yeah, some people can not stand to be alone or not have someone to talk to all day, but me, well, i enjoy alone time, and actually just realized how much good it does for my soul.
anyhoo, things are really different here in new orleans. being a gal from the right side of the tracks i find myself turning my ring around backwards and clinching my purse. (oh, yeah, i said purse not diaper bag) the hotel jeff is contracted with is in uptown which is near the old money area. the houses are amazing....true southern monster mansion with beautiful wrap aound porches and large greenery. the mccain support signs are in abundance....which surprised me but did put a smile on my face. the mix of people is just that a real m&m bag of cultures....though it seems to weigh on the artsy side. the clothing the locales and they stand out is very urban or very retro. i actually saw a girl with acid washed jeans that were tight rolled!
as for transportation i used my two legs to wander around with and the street car. it runs directly out front of the lobby and goes both directions. i even jumped rails and switched to another trolley line to get to the art house movie theater (tried to watch rachel get married...was kinda relieved when i had to leave early to deal with an unexpected work issue). tomorrow i will wonder down to the french quarter and french market....i heard several people asking the trolley drivers if they were headed to the market which makes me think it is probably something i should check out. i popped into harrah's and spun a few slot machines waiting for my movie to start and enjoyed the freedom of being able to hop hop hop around without two kiddos and a monster suv or stroller.
oh, and most importantly i spent an hour in the hotel gym lifting weights, doing crunches and a bit of cardio.....wow, i should vaction more often.
i have only called to check on the girls once today...i have not wanted to bug my mother or upset izzy by hearing my voice. though my mother says she is doing well....no tears only a couple of "mommy" whimpers.
well, i am going to watch the election results come in and sit on the edge of my seat hoping for a small miracle. jeff should be up soon and maybe we will head out and find some good ole cajuin food!
anyhoo, things are really different here in new orleans. being a gal from the right side of the tracks i find myself turning my ring around backwards and clinching my purse. (oh, yeah, i said purse not diaper bag) the hotel jeff is contracted with is in uptown which is near the old money area. the houses are amazing....true southern monster mansion with beautiful wrap aound porches and large greenery. the mccain support signs are in abundance....which surprised me but did put a smile on my face. the mix of people is just that a real m&m bag of cultures....though it seems to weigh on the artsy side. the clothing the locales and they stand out is very urban or very retro. i actually saw a girl with acid washed jeans that were tight rolled!
as for transportation i used my two legs to wander around with and the street car. it runs directly out front of the lobby and goes both directions. i even jumped rails and switched to another trolley line to get to the art house movie theater (tried to watch rachel get married...was kinda relieved when i had to leave early to deal with an unexpected work issue). tomorrow i will wonder down to the french quarter and french market....i heard several people asking the trolley drivers if they were headed to the market which makes me think it is probably something i should check out. i popped into harrah's and spun a few slot machines waiting for my movie to start and enjoyed the freedom of being able to hop hop hop around without two kiddos and a monster suv or stroller.
oh, and most importantly i spent an hour in the hotel gym lifting weights, doing crunches and a bit of cardio.....wow, i should vaction more often.
i have only called to check on the girls once today...i have not wanted to bug my mother or upset izzy by hearing my voice. though my mother says she is doing well....no tears only a couple of "mommy" whimpers.
well, i am going to watch the election results come in and sit on the edge of my seat hoping for a small miracle. jeff should be up soon and maybe we will head out and find some good ole cajuin food!
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