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Blessed to be Me

Sometimes life just sucks. Especially in a pity party. My husband and I often joke about me being the ultimate optimist and he being the pessimist. Same thing with my bestest friend; I see the good, she sees the bad. We balance each other though.

This month so far has been more suck then not. But as I sit here this morning, I find myself looking back at this week that started off just terrible, and ended on terrible…and feel blessed at the not sucking parts.

We received terrible family news; yet it is amazing how my family will pull it together and be there for one another.

One day this week I managed to make it home before 8 pm. And I was pooped on three times by a stupid bird. And the mulberry tree attacked me. But I got to enjoy some beautiful weather, a child that wouldn’t stop talking, and an insistent dog that couldn’t understand my sole purpose outside was not to rub her head. I also had great zucchini grilled by my sweet husband.

I had an interesting fiasco that turned into a night of adventure after work, searching for a missing phone! It was past ten by the time we found it and got home…but I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time! And I have a deep abiding appreciation for a son who is patient and smart and knows how to get things done…and the “Twin” who will do anything for us without complaining, even if it means running around a school and ending up in the street to find the phone that went missing! I have an even deeper appreciation for a daughter who just hangs in there with her mom and other mom while we take her on yet another adventure that involves her watching out for us!

Friday was the suckiest of them all. I cannot express how wonderful it is to have my children at my workplace to cheer me up when I need it most during the day. And for a patient husband who puts up with my sometimes very long hours and never ever complains.

My week ended on a decent note. I got to see an old friend unexpectedly. I spent an eternity with my bestie setting up her new phone since she killed the old one. And watched a pretty good movie with the Drama Queen.

And today….well, it’s the beginning of a  week of break…one I actually intend to take! Because, my dear friends, Easter is coming! And Easter is my favorite time of the year!

It’s an April Fools Kind of Thing!

Throughout the years we’ve enjoyed playing pranks. My best ever was sewing my husbands underwear shut with tiny little stitches so he couldn’t tell! That was way back when Bboo was just a baby! As a matter of fact..it was her first April Fools!

And apparently, I’ve taught-her-well!

I manage a local charter school. One of my many job duties includes making sure we are staffed. When teachers call in sick, I arrange a sub for them thru a local sub service. If support staff is sick…we just do as best as we can to cover the shortages. Because we are a small charter school, missing anyone is tough. Missing several is …well…really tough.

Emails and text messages started coming in last night and continued early this morning. In the meantime, I only got a couple of hours of sleep because I was up half the night with a sick kid. And…I managed to get the flu myself. 🙁

By 5:30 am, I had seven people out. By the time I got to work at 6:50 am, I was up to ten people. And no subs. I was sick, I was grouchy, I was calling the sub service like crazy. I was appreciating Bboo who volunteered to make my lunch and buy me a coffee from Starbucks.

I thought perhaps someone was playing an evil April Fools Prank on me, but how could that be when a separate business was involved? Besides, other admin were just as worried as I was!

Finally, I sent  out  an email telling all staff I was quitting from the stress and this better be a bad joke.

No response.

And then, my Bboo smiled at me and said, “April Fool’s Mom. I love You!”

I wasn’t sure whether I should believer her or not…what about the subs?

Alas, my evil genius daughter had hacked my phone, (updated to correct: she did NOT hack my phone…she got the number from a fellow, now untrusted, co-worker) called the DM of our Sub Service and was in cahoots with her on this April Fool’s Day! She had arranged with her to call corporate and given them the names of the teachers who would be “calling in sick” and told them not to call for a sub.

The, “Are you the manager?” question rang back in my head. I thought it was weird that they had asked me that.

When the DM finally called me back, she was dying laughing. She applauded my extraordinary parenting skills in raising such a daughter who was willing to go to such lengths to pull off a prank on her mother. (She also now owes me a sushi lunch!)

She’s way ahead of me and my little pranks of taping poppers to the door that would explode when people opened them. She’s way past sewing underwear shut.

If I were you….I’d be very careful next April Fool’sDay if you are her friend…co-worker…family member.

And you all thought we were normal…..

Quotable Quote #22

Living with the Vivas’ is interesting to say the least. One never knows what is going to be said. For instance, when the tooth fairy didn’t show up as expected, the Princess decided to tell the Roni that the tooth fairy doesn’t really exist. In an effort to stop her, the Drama Queen blurted out that she had thrown a pickle at the tooth fairy and killed it. She felt that was better than having him believe that the tooth fairy never existed.

The Roni has been having hygiene issues lately. We have had to have the talk of the importance of wearing clean underwear every day. Last night after showering, as he went to put his dirty clothes away, I asked him where his dirty underwear was. Realizing he’d been caught again, he was quick to think up anything to keep him out of trouble.

His reply?

“It’s not my day to change my underwear. I only change it every other day.”

What’s Important?

2013 was a tough year for my family; a really, tough year. I spent a lot of time soul searching, crying, pleading, fighting and more. I spent even more time asking the big question, “Why, Lord?”

And we made it thru.

So what did I take away from 2013 that I can use towards 2014? What was I supposed to learn and what is important? What can I change and what can I do to work with the things I can’t change?

First, there’s the job. Not that my job comes first…it’s just that I spend the majority of my time there. Working 7 to 5, Monday-Friday tends to wear a person down. I can’t really change my job and I wouldn’t want to. I love my job and love the people I work with even more! And…I love the fact that I can see five of my children every day while I am at work. I’m figuring out that on the days I can leave, I need to get outta there! I’m also breaking up the day by taking a power walk with some awesome co-workers and NOT talking about work! And…I’m going to bed earlier. 🙂

God. Time with Him. Laugh all you want, but I love my Bible app, YouVersion. It lets me read whenever I can get a few moments in; some in the morning, some at night…and sometimes in a quiet corner just to get me thru the day! And now that my son can drive me to work, sometimes I read in the car, too! I know that we’re taught to read in the morning and then again at night and it should be for a certain length of time…but I get up at 5 am and am exhausted by 8 pm…and I am sure that God doesn’t care that I’m not following someone else’s rules for spending time with Him. The point is that I do find a way. 🙂

My family. We have seven children. Yes, seven…and a beautiful bride for our oldest as well. Between work, grocery shopping, Walmart shopping, homework, projects, and everything else….it’s hard. But, they are our most valuable treasures. So how do we fit it in? Some days it’s taking one shopping with me so we can have a quick meal or stop for a treat in between. It’s amazing the conversation you can have when it’s one on one. We alternate…we take turns taking our kids out on dates. Sometimes it’s planned…most times it’s seizing the opportunity! And my children are great! They don’t complain that we’re playing favorites because they can appreciate the quality time themselves. And nothing warms my heart more than watching them make the effort to spend quality time themselves with another sibling.

So what’s important?

All of the above. What’s important is learning balance; facing life head on and realizing that some things are necessary and others are out of your control. What’s important is realizing what you can control and making sure to live each day, each moment, to the fullest. It’s making sure that those who are special to you know it. That they are not just hearing it, but that you are showing them as well.

I’m not sure what 2014 holds for me; for us. But I do know this; my plans are to make sure that I seize the opportunities that come my way; to seize the moments that will make us laugh, cry, dance…love.

Taking the time to…

I can’t remember the last time I really took some time off of work. Coming from someone who spent 15 years as a stay-at-home-mom and then went into working a 50+hour week, life has certainly been an adjustment the past few years! Throw in adding two more children to our already large family…and well…we’re kinda busy.

Apparently God had other plans for me this holiday season It started with Thanksgiving and kidney stones that kept us from taking a trip to Colorado. Instead, my parents traveled to us with their 5th Wheel and stayed an entire month. We got to enjoy spending much needed time with them. 🙂 One of the highlights of the month was my dad spending the day with me on his birthday, which was the day after my surgery. We sat on the couch nearly the entire day and just talked and laughed. Another was shopping with my mom, just talking about random stuff, enjoying each other’s company… and not losing her in the mall!

As I recover from surgery, my body has kept me down for a lot of movies and Dragon City time! ha ha But, we also had cookie baking time, and pie baking time, and special one on one time with my kids. There’s been Sunday morning breakfasts with my oldest son.

Then there was the impromptu Christmas “party” last night. I had so much fun staying up until midnight visiting with friends that I don’t get to see enough. We played silly games, ate, and talked and laughed.

By this afternoon, I was done resting. As I sat on the couch watching the little ones spend yet another day on their tummies eating junk food and ready to watch another movie, I informed them they had five minutes to put their swimsuits on. We spent the next two hours swimming at the neighborhood pool. I actually managed to swim 500 yards and do another 150 yards of lunges and stretching in the therapy pool! I’m sure I’ll regret it tomorrow, but it felt so good to get out and do something. The Roni and I spent some time working on his swimming skills and what to do if he gets into trouble in the water. I taught him how to turn over on his back and float and use his arms to get to the side of the pool. Who knew that just a while later he’d belly flop off of the high dive and get the wind knocked out of him! I got a good scare as I watched him bobble up and down in the water, but breathed a sigh of relief as he managed to roll over on his back, float for a minute and then swim on his back over to the side of the pool.

Proud mama moment when he pulled himself up out of the water, smiled at me triumphantly without a tear and then climbed the ladder to do it again!

I’ll admit that I’m back to my pj’s on the couch and watching the Princess Diaries 2, but feeling good to just be. AND….I’ve got one more week of this!

So, what are you taking the time to do during this season?