Seven year itch

People who resonate with number seven are scholars and poets. They are intelligent with amazingly analytical minds. Yet, their minds are usually in a dream world where they can move things and events to their liking. Although their reality in much different than other's - it is a reality of their own making. These people have the ability to bring the perfect people, places, and events in their life experience that lead them on a path of consistent revelation. 

I was trying to find something about the number 7 but I found this and liked it more. I have always had a thing for the number 7. It feels so big and important to me. Some people count my decades and I count by 7s. Not in a 7-14-21 way but a 7-17-27 way. I like to see the number 7. Maybe its because 7 ate 9. Who knows. But 7 is a big number in my mind. 

I have been looking forward to Brandon and my 7th anniversary for years. We don't do a lot for our anniversaries. Usually a movie or something (which is actually kind of a big deal for us to go to a movie without kids) But I have been planning out 7th anniversary for, very seriously, years. Its the one I was holding out for. If we made it to 7 we could make it to any number.  I had a big plan of a 7 year itch vow renewal. Lets just say it included Vegas and Elvis. Pretty much what I wanted when we got married but I got vetoed. I have been really excited about it for a long time, most everyone has heard about it at one point or another. But life gets in the way. 

Brandon sent me flowers. They are beautiful
but the card was the best part. =)

Now I am sitting here by myself on my 7th anniversary. My husband is on the other side of the country. He is working hard and being strong even though I know its hard for him to be away from his family. I'm doing a lot better with him being gone this time over last time. Not that I miss him any less, I just know whats going on this time. And I know he will be back soon and this is good. But today is hard. I miss him a lot today. I have had a stomachache for the last few days because I wasn't looking forward to being all by myself today. I was hoping to go to the hot springs today, because it would be an all day thing and we would be with friends. But it didn't work out. Ted invited  us to a movie this afternoon so we will go do that but I am going to try to find something to do until then. I don't want to sit around and wallow. I want to just go do something! 

St. Patrick's Day

Its no secret, I LOVE St. Patricks Day! It so much fun. There is so little pressure, you can make it whatever you want it to be. I think that it is fantastic. 

Zach and Chelseas trap

The leprechaun visits us every year. Every year we try to catch him and he gets away. This year the kids made the trap all on their own. At one point Zach told me, "Mom, we need to attach this watermelon to the ceiling and I need something to use as a trip wire."  Big plans. They put a bench in the trap for the leprechaun  to sit while he waited for them to come get him. And the book Zach wrote at school about last St. Patrick's Day. The outside was covered in Lucky Charms and there were some inside to get him in the box.

With their trap. 

They were pretty excited about the whole thing. They thought for sure this would be the year we got our pot of gold. 

 

Letter the leprechaun wrote. 

We didn't catch the leprechaun, obviously. He is a tricky little guy. He did leave them an awful lot of gifts for trying though. They each got a t-shirt so they wouldn't get pinched. A pad of construction paper (so they stop stealing their moms printer paper), bubbles, buttons (that they didn't want to use), green hair spray, Chels got a tiara and Zach got a clover hot wheels. Zach got a sea explorer set with a giant squid and Chelsea got a webkins cat that was covered in clovers. They also got Lucky Charms, because I bought them for a math game for Zachs class and had extras. Leprechaun was feeling really generous this year. I think maybe he knew that the kiddos are missing their dad and could use a distraction. =)

All the leprechaun leavings. 

Green cake

We went to La Daynas for dinner. I suck and took 3 pictures. All of Chelsea eating green cake. But we had fun. I miss doing things like that. And its a ton of fun to hang out with Misty, Colby, La Dayna and Andrew.

Hope you all had a fantastic GREEN day! 

Sleep or the lack of...

Sleep is so important, right? We all know it is. So why is it sooo hard to get any? I'm not the best sleeper under the best of conditions but when Brandon is gone, its nearly impossible to sleep. I don't really know why. Its not a nervous thing or anything like that. I just hate sleeping by myself. Usually its for a night or so when he is out of town and its no big deal. But now he has been gone for about 5 weeks and it is getting to me. I barely even TRY to sleep anymore. I've just given up on it. Last night it hit me, I was so very tired. I was so tired I was throwing up. (tmi I know but really it prompted the blog) I was physically ill from not sleeping. So I went to bed right after the kids did and fell to sleep right away. It was the best night sleep I have had since Brandon left. But now tonight, I can already feel that my body has no interest in sleeping. I don't want to get back to that point again but if I knew how to sleep at all I would be doing it. Most sleep medicine has an opposite affect on me. I end up wired and not sleeping for even longer. Melatonin makes me sleep, right away in fact. But I am spend the entire next day recovering from it. I get so groggy and cranky. It doesn't feel worth it unless necessary. 

Now Zach seems to be following in my footsteps. That is much worse for me then my own problems. I hate seeing him so tired and having bags under his eyes. When I wake him up in the mornings he tells me "I just barely fell asleep!" or "I've only been asleep for an hour! I'm so tired!" or "Mom, I haven't even slept yet!" Its so frustrating for me. I know what he is going through. I remember saying all of those things to my mom in the mornings when I was growing up. And I couldn't fix it then and I'm having the same problems now. I have set up a strict calm down time before bed to see if that helps at all. Now Zach gets home from school, watches wild kratts, has half an hour 'free time' and then he does his homework while I make dinner. After dinner its a bath and story time. Then bed. I got him a cd player and a classical music sleep cd. We are only on day 2 of this schedule but I am praying it helps him. I hate seeing him so sleepy every day. I don't want him to have this problem his whole life. 

Piper Down Night

Fanny Packin' Sister Wives! 

La Dayna and I had our fundraiser at Piper Down a few nights ago. I have been planning on blogging about it but seem to have been putting it off. I suppose I am afraid of sounding like a brat in it. So bear with me and remember thats  not my intention!

La Dayna and Andrew. On their phones...

 We have been working on this for quite awhile. I cant remember where the idea started but I am pretty sure it was La Daynas idea. I was really excited but a bit terrified of it. It was a big job. And lets be honest, we are 2 stay at home moms. We have ZERO connections. We were starting at nothing. And it was just the 2 of us. No committee. No event fund. Just 2 mom working hard. Not to mention that La Dayna has a lot of other things on her plate right now. And I am basically a single mom while Brandon is working in New Orleans. But we never even considered scrapping it. We put our hearts into it.

Awesome, supportive friends! 

We found a bar, we found a band, we found another band, we found donations for our raffle. Our goal was at least 3 prizes for each raffle. We ended up having 20 total. 10 for each raffle. And there were some amazing prizes. This was no small feat.

The day of the event we were both so excited and so nervous. We had high expectations for the night. The plan was that the bar would be charging $5 a person cover that would all go to us. I was thought this was going to be huge. I figured it would be the main fundraiser and our raffle would be basically a side thing to add on the top. My goal for the night was $1,000. And I thought it was realistic.

More awesome supportive friends!

I had a ton of fun. To be honest, I expect more people that we actually know. Everyone who came for us fit at a table. The people who came are amazing. I adore every one. I think its pretty fantastic to have such supportive people in our lives. I was feeling a little bad that a lot of the raffle names were coming from our table until I realized the reason they were coming from there was those are the people who bought the most raffle tickets!

On stage before the Folka Dots started. 

We heard two fantastic bands play. I am beyond pleased with the 2 bands who performed. They were both great and fun. If you ever get a chance to hear The Red on Black or The Folka Dots play, don't skip it!

We gave out our awesome prizes. The main event ended up being the love swing. More then one person was vying for it! They guy who one it was super adorable. I was pleased when it was him.

This dude REALLY wanted the love swing. In a big loud way. 

At the end of the night we went to collect the cover charge money. I was pretty excited about the cover. Like I said, as far as I was concerned, it WAS the fundraiser. But they didn't start the cover until 9 and everyone there had been there since before 9. We ended up getting $14 from the cover. It was a bit disheartening, to say the least.

Luckily, we did pretty well in the raffle. We ended up with a total of $449.48. I went ahead and tossed in 52 cents to make it $450. Its not a bad amount at all. Its a great start toward a fundraiser that hasn't even officially started yet. It wasn't our goal and it isn't going to get us our win on its own but its a beginning.

Now we have to come up with another fundraiser to add to this one! We are VERY open to suggestions!

$450 headed to Make-A-Wish!!

10 people, dead or alive, I would invite to dinner. With menu.

Ok, here we go! You know, I have been so excited and waiting for this one! But I haven't had a chance to get it done. Too much going on to give it the attention it deserves! 

1. Elvis - Because he is Elvis and he should be invited to everything, every time! 

2. Zooey Deschanel - When they make a movie of my life, I want her to play me. So I might as well try to get in good with her now. 

3. Neil Patrick Harris - Because he is legan-waitforit-dary! Plus he might break out into song at any moment. 

4. Kevin James - I think he is beyond hilarious. I love everything he does, outside of King of Queens.

5. Jason Bateman - Just cant go wrong there. 

6. Phil Keoghan - Get some tips for the Amazing Race. Plus, who would have cooler stories??

7. Mitch Hedberg - If you don't know who he is, google him. He was a hilarious stand up comic.

8. Heidi Newfield - I'd love to know what she was thinking leaving Trick Pony! (sob) 

~I am trying really hard to come up with more, I don't want to wimp out and say anyone I know, I'm counting them as obviouses. I really need some more women...~

9. This guy, from the Brothers Winn I don't know anything about him but he has a whole bunch of what you ought to know videos on youtube, they are quite entertaining. 

After much (not very much) thought I have picked the lucky final guest at our awesome dinner party. I really needed another female but I wasn't sure who to include. Having youtube up made me think of someone who would probably add to the night...

10. Jenna Marbles. I cannot tell you why but for some reason I really love Jenna Marbles. She is beyond insane and she is crude, which I don't usually like. But for whatever reason, I get a kick out of her. Although, I could do without the baby talk to her dogs...

I've been figuring out who for so long that I haven't given a thought to the menu. So I'm just going to have it catered. HA!

 

Something you miss

I miss people. There are some people from my past that I really miss. They were big in my life at some point and now they are not. And while I understand it, I do miss them. Some people disappoint you greatly in life and sometimes you have to make a decision about them. Are they worth keeping in your life? Are they adding or taking away from your happiness and your well being? Sometimes its not even your choice, life takes people out of your life. Its funny, writing this I am thinking about a lot of different people but one is kinda odd. There was a girl I knew in elementary school, I couldn't tell you what grade it was. But she was my friend. She lived on my street, at the other end. And she was weird. I was weird too. And I rarely made friends but she and I became friends. I remember her taking me to church with her one day. I wish I could remember what kind of church it was but I believe that was the one and only time I was ever happy in church. She had these church dollars that she had been saving up for their church store and she bought me a toy while we were there. I cant remember her name and she only lived there for a little while but I miss her.

I also miss working. I love being a stay at home mom and I know how hard Brandon works to allow me to do that. I just also miss work. I miss having somewhere to be that isn't about my kids. And I don't mean that harshly or snotty, work was just always really my identity. Now my identity is so wrapped up in my kids that sometimes I forget who I am. 

And right now I miss Brandon. He is so far away working so hard to support our little family. He is a great man and I love him. I wish he didn't have to go do things like this but I love that he will. I know its hard on him, as well as me and the kids, but he does it for good reasons. He takes such good care of us all. 

A problem you have or have had

I am determined to finish this challenge. It has taken me much more then 30 days though. I was doing really great then we went to Mexico then Brandon left and it just seems hard to fit it in now. Dang it.

So, a problem I have. Lemme count the ways... I have it narrowed down to 2. Do I go serious or petty? Maybe I will just let you know them both. I owe you after being so bad finishing this challenge, right?

My serious one is awkwardness. I don't know what is wrong with me. I get around people and I lose brain function. I have been called shy so many times and lemme tell you, that isn't my problem. If I have something to say I will say it. (Ask the karate dad.) No issues. My problem is more that my mind will not come up with a single thing to say. I will sit there awkwardly and try to come up with something and it just doesn't happen. Then I get more awkward because I have made it awkward and I cant figure out how to fix it. Its not an intimidation thing, I'm not worried what someone is going to think about what I say. I am just missing a function that works for social situations. I can get up in front of a whole group of people and give a whole schpeel, its not a problem for me. Because you work it out ahead of time. Hell, I sold Slumber Parties and I was really good at it. I could tell you everything about every item and why you needed it and so many cool things. But I couldn't talk to you about anything normal, my idiot brain would just freeze right up. I'm awesome professionally. Personally, I suck. 

My other problem, and to me this is a HUGE problem! My stupid straight straight straight eyelashes!! UGH! I can not do ANYTHING to curl them. Makes me sick. I spend so much time with stupid eyelash curlers. They do so little but the little bit it helps actually seems worth it. I've had my eyelashes permed to try to help and it just did nothing. The night before my wedding I laid there, with this horrible awful spray on tan, and just thought I don't care what else happens, just let my eyelashes CURL! Of course it didn't happen.