How do full time working moms do it??????

Here is the catch up.  I have been a stay at home mom for almost 7 years now.  Before staying home I was a special education teacher.  I liked teaching but not sure that is what I want to go back and do (for several reasons) that.  I have been trying to start up my Etsy shop which is going OK but not nearly enough to call it a full time job (pay wise).   So I have been on the lookout for something else.  Well I managed to find a part time gig a few weeks ago.  I am a companion or also known as a home companion.  I have a client and I help him get around to different places he needs to go, do volunteer work, and just be a well a companion.  It's been enjoyable and I like it.  But it's only 20 hours a week but for now that is OK.  Despite it only being 20 hours a week I am finding it hard to get my normal stuff done!!!!  My blog is suffering, my Etsy shop is suffering, laundry is suffering, and house work is suffering!!! I guess it doesn't help that in middle of all this we are winding down school (lots of parties and fun things I have to remember to send things in for), we have family visiting for holidays (being at the beach is fun also very busy), and saying good bye to a friend (with 2 going away functions and our last GNO together).  And as usual I had about 15 minutes to bang this out while eating lunch, during my daughter's nap.  But now I have to go get my son off the bus and start my very busy afternoon of playing, homework, laundry, dinner and what ever else needs attention in my house.....

Confessions of the Day 17

OK I am going to admit this in hopes that someone out there has either done this themselves or will do it one day when they become a parent.  Plus I am sure you will all get a laugh out of it.  My daughter who is not quite 2 1/2 uses a pacifier for nap (when she actually naps) and at night.  Well when she started getting teeth in she started chewing on the paci (as we call them) at night to help relieve the teething pain.  So they would get holes or cracks and we would have to throw them away.  We were pretty much down one.  I was thinking about just letting her go cold turkey when the last one disappeared (as they sometimes do like socks) or got a hole.  But maybe because she's my last baby or because we didn't make her brother get rid of the paci until 3,  I decided to let her keep them and my husband got 2 new ones at the store yesterday.  Well you are supposed to boil the pacifiers (or bottles/nipples etc.) for 5 mins. to sterilize them before use.  So yesterday afternoon I put a pot on to boil and threw the new pacifiers in.  Well life happens and I got busy doing something and totally forgot about them.  I was in the bathroom downstairs when all of a sudden I smell something burning.  I think to myself what is burning??  Then like lightning it strikes me.  OH GOD THE PACIFIERS!!!!!!!!  I run into the kitchen to see and smell a smoking pot on the stove.  The pacifiers are melted down to the silicone nipples.  The plastic has now burned off onto the pot and filling the air with nasty smelling thick smoke.  Yes I let the water boil completely out and then melt down the pacifiers.  Well my 6 year old son comes out from the playroom and starts going on and on about how bad it smells and how he can't see and why didn't the smoke detectors go off (which I am wondering too) and we need to check all the smoke detectors in the house etc, etc....  Meanwhile I am opening all the windows in the house running the fan over the stove and calling myself a friggin dumbass.  My daughter in all of this who already was excited about the new pacis is yelling "Pacis FIRE!"  "Pacis FIRE!" over and over and over.  The smoke is so bad I decide we need to leave and well we now need more pacifiers so we head to the store.  And yes she kept up the "Pacis FIRE!" bit all the way to the store and in the store.....

And this is for Angela over at Craving Cupcakes .  It's my Mom's Pudding recipe.  I have to say it is one of my all time favorite desserts.  Plus I love when it's still warm from the stove .... mmmm.  If I had time today I would make some.  Oh and the other nice thing is you can make more healthy by using skim milk and/or splenda instead of sugar.


Pudding

Ingredients

    2    cup    Milk
    1/2    cup    Sugar
    1/4    tsp    Salt
    3 1/2    tbsp    Corn Starch
    2    lg    Egg -- separate use yolk only
    1    tsp    Vanilla Extract
    1    tbsp    Butter

Instructions

Mix together milk, sugar, salt, corn starch and egg yolks.  Bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly.  When the mixture reaches a boil, remove it from heat and add vanilla and butter.

For CHOCOLATE add during cooking:
3 Tbsp. more sugar
2 Tbsp.  cocoa

For BUTTERSCOTCH use 1/2 cup brown sugar instead of white.

 For meringue beat 2 Tbsp. sugar for each egg.  Add 4-6 drops of vanilla per egg.  To brown meringue, bake in 350 oven for 10-12 mins.



And for the good news!!!  I am leaving today to head to Norfolk, VA to get on a cruise ship bound for Bermuda!!!!!!!!!!  My two good friends and I are going on a scrapbooking cruise.  Not that I will be doing a ton of scrapbooking but I will do some.  And no my hubby and children are not going.  It's just a girls vacation.  I have never done a long vacation with friends so this should be fun and interesting!  So if I don't post while I am gone you know why.  I am going to try though.  But don't hold your breath!

Mini Van Mother Drivers

Mini van mother drivers is kinda like a cuss word (OK phrase if you want to get technical) for me. It started when I was in high school. As juniors and seniors we were allowed to drive off campus for lunch. One particular time when my friends and I went to the mall for lunch and were headed back to school a little late as usual if I remember right (my memories of high school are random & I most of the time I have to consult my friend Jennie to make sure I get the details right). Anyway a mini van all of sudden decided that it didn't want to be in the turn lane and came over into my lane, pretty much on top of me. I know she didn't see me. So I honked and she went back over in the lane and then got behind me. Well it was a bit scary b/c she could have hit us and almost did. So my friend Jennie took it upon herself to avenge me. She then proceeded to turn around from the passenger seat and flip this mini van driver off with both hands and made faces too (I think but I'm pretty sure she did). Well mini van mother driver did not take kindly to that and tailed us all the way back to school. Where she proceeded to turn in my licence plate number and get me detention (there is actually a whole lot more to this story and it's pretty damn funny but that's for a different time). She complained about me giving the bird (I tattled & told the vice principal it was Jennie) and that her kids were in the car blah blah blah! So in our retelling of the story she became known as the mini van mother driver or flipper (again another time).
So with contempt I have been hurling this insult at bad driving mini vans for years!!! And I gotta say mothers in general are somewhat bad drivers. And now I am one (damn when did that happen!!) a mother, a mini van owner, and occasional bad driver!!! But I now understand that stupid min van woman from high school but I would never tail a car full of high school kids and then report them for being kids when I had made the mistake (but I am cool so there you go ... but using the term cool just made me so very old & really not cool at all).

So here is my conclusion: kids make you drive badly!!!!!

Yes it is all their fault. They keep us up all night and make us tired and driving tired is just as bad a driving drunk or so they say. They also scream and cry while we are driving... and that is really distracting (almost as bad a texting and driving ha!). Then there is always the "Mommy I'm gonna throw up!" or "feel bad" followed by vomit and then the swerving of the mini van as we try to catch the vomit in our hands. And then there is just the mindless kid chatter or kids music you have listen to (which puts me into a stupor and about half way home realize I have just driven almost home with no conscious thought). So while I now understand the mini van mother driver because I will admit to being one, I have to wonder now if I will ever be a normal driver ever again so that I can then hurl the mini van mother driver insult again?????

Mommy Blogs

I read a lot of blogs. I like to read blogs and I like to blog. But here is my problem ... I can't stand the mommy blogs that tout how perfect their lives and kids and husbands are!! It's bullshit and we all know it. We all have issues about something weather it's our kids, our husbands or ourselves. And hell I have issues with all the above. It's just so annoying to read the blogs about how perfect a husband is or how wonderful their kid or kids are. And there hardly ever seems to be anything that goes wrong in their perfect world. So do they just ignore their issues and blog only good things to make themselves feel better and look better??? Or are they so delusional that they don't see the issues and they really think everything is fine??? I know my brother and sister in law think their kids are fine but in reality their oldest has problems. They are oblivious to it so I can see that it can happen. Anyway I digress. Wanna know my issues right now?? OK well my son is 5 but is going to a private Kindergarten because we are not sure he is ready for public kindergarten b/c of speech and fine motor issues. What really sucks is that it's expensive and I have to drive him everyday. My daughter is 9 months old and not crawling and not attempting to. My husband thinks I don't want to have sex with him. I do but just not as often as he wants or we want it at different times. And finally I am overweight and really need to work on it but have ZERO motivation to do so. So there you go a few real mommy issues for you.

The First

So I am a mom, a wife, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a tutor, and a few hundred other titles. This is my spot to vent uncensored & unfiltered for once in my life. I will try my hardest to put it all out there good and bad.

Like for starters my "myspace friend" who has a daughter slightly younger than mine is already crawling and she I think loves to shove it our faces that she is only 6 months old and crawling. This something I would NEVER put on my myspace blog!!! But I am being honest here and laying shit out there!