The Force

May the force be with you! Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great day for trick-or-treating. It was a little chilly, but that is way better than what we could have had, and have had in the past! Gage and Emma are shot (and so is Mom!). Emma's day started with getting to wear her costume to school for a Halloween parade. She was quite excited about that. I couldn't believe all of the candy she got at school! She certainly did NOT need to go trick-or-treating tonight. We have enough candy to keep the dentist's bills paid for the next year that's for sure! I stayed at school to help get all of the pizza, punch and treats served. I thank God for teachers! They don't get paid enough to do what they do! Gage's school has a "No Costume Policy" so he just got to dress in orange and black. They had a good time anyway. After school we went trick-or-treating at the Ducks Unlimited office. I think the staff there would be disappointed if we didn't come to show off our costumes. Most of them had candy to hand out. After that we went to the Heritage Center to attend their Halloween celebration with Emily, Jody and the kids. From there we went home to eat supper, then out to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. Gage and Emma are very lucky kids! I told them that they should be very thankful because it's not just everyone who can go trick-or-treating and have their bags filled with Beanie Babies (thanks Juanita and Kim................the kids are currently snuggled up with their new animals as I type), or coloring books, etc. etc!! Finally we made it home a little after 7:30 and as soon as we walked in the door they both dumped their loot out onto the living room floor. Emma was "organizing" hers. Gage was just checking it all out. They had just as much fun giving candy to the couple trick-or-treaters that came to our door after we got home. Maybe we'll try that next year? NOT! I enjoy Halloween more than the kids I think? Maybe I'll find a costume for myself next year? Or, maybe I can borrow one of my Mom's as she had quite a bit of fun costume shopping for herself this year! All in all we had a pretty good day. I believe Gage and Emma were quite annoyed that no one knew who they were dressed up as. The last few houses Emma started to get a little rude when she had to tell them that she was PADME! Everyone thought they were dressed up as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. They were actually Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala (Luke and Leia's parents). Maybe next year they'll go with my idea of Shrek and Fiona? Everyone knows who they are! :-) I suppose I should get going, as I have TONS of candy to sort through before morning (just want to make sure it's all safe! :-)

Offer still stands

The offer for the free dog still stands, and personally I don't really care if it's a good home or not!!! It really bothers me that I have these negative feelings towards her. I have never disliked an animal in my life. I try and try to find things I like about Brie, it's just very difficult. Last night Scott left to go to Tuttle overnight and come back this evening. Well, in the meantime, Brie had an encounter with a skunk. YES, a skunk. UGH UGH UGH! She stinks so bad. As soon as she and Scott came in the house I smelled it. I made him put her outside. He left to take her to DU and wash her in their garage. (She had already been soaped down 4 times before she came home, so I really don't think it's going to help). She is going to have to sleep outside tonight, and I am going to stand FIRM on that one!!! I'll keep you posted.

Every Monday Gage brings home a newsletter from school telling about what they did the previous week. "A peak at last week" (Yes, I know peak is spelled wrong...........it's spelled wrong on the newsletter. I was going to point it out to his teacher after he brought the first one home, but I didn't want her to think I was a pain in the butt mom who thinks they know it all, and now I think too much time has gone by??) Anyway, as I was reading the newsletter, I got to Health. Here's what it says "In health, we completed a couple of lessons on how our bodies change as we grow. We talked about how we are special and nobody is the same as we are! In addition, we learned about our 5 senses (sight, touch, taste, hear, smell). However, one child reminded me that there is actually another sense..........and when I asked what it was, he replied, "Common Sense"! Leave it to a first grader!" Leave it to MY first grader! :-) When I read that I asked him who that was and he got a big grin on his face. He said to me, I should have also told her "sense of humor"! He certainly has one of those!!!! I thought that was pretty good and I wanted to share it with all of you! (I wish Brie had some common sense! Maybe I would like her more?)

And the winner is................

To make things a little more fun for work, MedQuist was holding a contest for this past weekend. The goal was to increase motivation and also get the increase in backlog of reports completed before the weekend. This is the busy season for illnesses. Anyway, there were several different ways to earn points, and whoever had the most points at the end wins. We were to answer trivia questions at 2 points for each correct answer, answering the mystery call (someone from MedQuist was going to be calling everyone's home), and if you were working during the call you got 4 extra points. If you were working outside of your shift you got 3 points. For those working on Thursday they would get 5 points for every 3 hours worked. For those working on Friday, for every 3 hours worked they would get 5 points. For those working after 5pm Friday, they received 7 points and for those working from 10p-midnight Friday night would get 10 points. Okay, some of you may not know this, but I am quite competitive. I was all over the contest and having fun with it. I kept tract of my points and was anxiously awaiting the final results today after I found out later this weekend the prize was a $100 American Express gift card!!!!! When the email arrived it said "And the winner is..............STACEY STEPHENS (Okay, I forgive her for spelling my name wrong!) I yelled upstairs to tell Scott as he had just gotten home for lunch. (He wasn't too thrilled that I was doing all this extra work, as I was up well past midnight Friday night working). Anyway, while we were reading the email, she had listed the points that I received. I noticed on the email that she had given me 9 extra points that I didn't actually earn (I wasn't working when the mystery caller called, as I had just clocked out to eat lunch), and I only worked 3 1/2 hours on Thursday and she had listed that I worked 8. She also mentioned the contest was very close. Well, then I started feeling bad. I thought that it wasn't fair if I really didn't win, and it was only by mistake. Scott told me to not worry about it and just keep it, because I deserved it. Well, I didn't feel right doing it. I called 2 friends to see what they would do. One said take it, the other had the same feelings I did. I just knew I wouldn't feel right taking the prize if I really didn't win it. I was torn, because I really really really wanted the prize money, but also knew I wouldn't be happy with myself if I didn't win it fairly. If I wasn't so anal retentive and hadn't kept track of it all, I would never have known. Anyway, I decided to reply to the email and let her know that the points she had given me weren't all correct. I thought that maybe if I really didn't win, that maybe they would give me something for just being honest. I don't know what my Mom did or said when I was growing up, but I cannot tell a lie and feel good about myself. (Good job Mom!) Later when I checked my email, I noticed she had replied. My heart would race every time I would think about it, and then sink when I thought that I might not win afterall. Anyway, she said that she had given everyone the extra points with the mystery caller whether they were working or not, and she said she made a mistake in the email she sent about the number of hours worked on Thursday. She had it counted right in my score, just listed it wrong in the email. So, I WON!!!!! I WON!!!! I was soooooo excited and even MORE excited that I could feel good about it! YIPPEEEE!!!!!! I was thinking about what I was going to do with it, and I believe I'm going to use it to buy Christmas presents. (And maybe I'll buy a little something for myself too?) YEAH!

Exhausted

All I can say is that everyone is exhausted here in meltdown city! Hope this week is better.

Free to a good home!

This is a 3-year-old, pure bred, female, Black lab already spayed and up to date on her vaccinations, including rabies. She is a well-trained hunting dog. Her name is Brie (like the cheese). She is trained to ring a bell when she needs to go outside to potty. She hasn't had any accidents in quite awhile (she is being medicated for that). Brie is great with kids. She is also great with cats. She is a duck retrieving machine. She would be a great watch dog for any home. She lays at the top of our stairway, where she has a clear view of the front yard, and she will forewarn you of any window peepers or if you just have a visitor at the door. She will also let you know if your neighbors across the street have any kind of activity going on at their house. She does NOT shed.................during the subzero North Dakota winters. She is free to a good home. Just give me a call. I will deliver. There is no distance too far.

Seriously, if anyone wants a dog, she's yours. Brie apparently doesn't like living here, as she once again attempted to run away from home. I believe this is her 4th attempt at escape. On her 2nd attempt, I had a phone call from the nearby mall. It was an insurance company who was wanting to know if I had lost a dog named Branta. Well, no, I didn't lose a dog named Branta, because we had just put her to sleep a week or two prior. It was Brie. She was wearing Branta's collar. Branta's name and phone number were embroidered on the collar, so they gave me a call. This was earlier this spring, when we had one vehicle. Scott had my vehicle at work, which left me on foot. It was mid morning, around 9am. It was raining out. I was still in my pajamas and the kids were still in theirs watching cartoons. I panicked. I told the lady I would be right there. I quickly put my shoes on and a light windbreaker jacket over my pajamas. I told the kids to "stay put, do not answer the phone, do not answer the door, I will be back in a few minutes". I took off out the door. It was raining cats and dogs. I took off running down the sidewalk. I think I maybe had gone 20 yards before I decided I was out of breath, and I had no bra on. I walked as quickly as I could and found Brie right outside the insurance office with the lady that found her and called me. Brie was happier to see me than I was to see her! I hooked her up to the leash, thanked the lady and took off for home. It is now pelting rain sideways. I was soaked when I got home and I was not happy.

Today, started out as a normal Saturday morning. I got up before Scott, so I had to do the dog duties. She is typically STARVING to death first thing in the morning. She barely takes time to actually go to the bathroom before she is right back at the door wanting in to be fed breakfast. So, not long after she ate, she needed to go out again and rang the bell hanging from the back doorknob. Scott let her out. Brie loves to be outside. She has started to just hang around outside sometimes so long that we actually forget she's out there. Sometimes she is actually playing on the swing on the swingset. Scott and Gage left for hockey practice at 9am after they raised the garage door. Scott typically forgets to close the garage door as he's driving away. Apparently Brie was still out in backyard. We go about our day as usual. Emma has dance, we eat lunch, Gage has a birthday party to attend, we have errands to run we pick Gage up from the birthday party and now it's 3:15 pm. Scott frantically runs out to ask if I had seen Brie. Nope. When was the last time you saw her? When I fed her this morning. She is gone. No where to be found. Scott takes off in his truck. I load the kids in the van and take off in the other direction. As I'm driving, I'm thinking there's no way we're going to find her. She is long gone. I ask a man who was out on a walk if he had seen a black lab running loose. Nope. I drive around several blocks as the kids fight about who's looking which way to find the dog. I drive home to find Scott. I told him to go look and I would call Animal Control. I called and asked the gal if they had found a black lab. Nope, not that she knew of. I gave her the information (and by the way, she did not have Branta's collar on this time, she was naked) and she said they would call if they had any reports of a lost dog, and I was do call them if we found her. I was off the phone with her for about 30 seconds and she called me back and told me that someone told her that they had picked up a black lab at 2024 N. 5th St. (4 blocks away). I told her I would be right down. She said be sure to bring some money, as it would cost $49 to get her out of the pound. Scott came home and we went to the police dept. to pay the boarding fees, etc. Then, we had to drive clear to the other side of town to the pound and a police officer was going to meet us there. The gal that came, happened to be the same gal who picked her up. She said that some lady was out walking her dog and Brie decided to follow them and followed them all the way home. The lady called animal control and they picked her up at 11:02 am. As the police officer and I went into the building, I told her if there was another one that I liked better, I would like to trade. As we walked in EVERY dog in the place was standing up on their hind legs scratching at the cage and barking their brains out. All of them except Brie. She was out back enjoying the beautiful weather. She had a dog door to an outside cage. The lady called her name and she came in and wagged her tail like there was no tomorrow. She was happy. I was not.

She's home, safe and sound. She is happy to be home.............I think? It was time to feed her when we got her home and she wouldn't eat. Any of you who know Brie, know that is NOT normal. There have been MANY times we've had to induce vomiting because she broke into the food container and gorged herself until she looked 9 months pregnant. Not sure what happened. Maybe she's on strike because she was found? Maybe she decided running away isn't really a good idea and she wore herself out worrying to death that she would never return home (I doubt it). I have no idea why she wouldn't eat, but I'm sure she will make up for it tomorrow morning, when she's STARVING to death once again.

Sleep

I never really knew how important sleep was until Emma was born. She was a terrible sleeper and cried alot. I was put onto this book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". I swear by that book. It is the only thing that saved me (and Emma) after she was born. I remember after reading it, and doing what it said, things started to change. Everyone was happier. At Emma's well-check, Dr. Kozel had asked about how well she was sleeping. I told her about the book, and we were putting her to bed at 6:30 pm and told her about what the book had us doing. She was amazed. She had never heard of it before. EVERY time we go to see her for well-checks or whatever, she says she tells ALL of her patients' parents about what we did and how that book helped. Sleep continues to be a very important factor. I notice it mostly with Gage. He certainly is affected when he doesn't get enough sleep. My goal each night is to have them in bed by 7 pm. When I tell people that, they think I am nuts. Our days go much easier and smoother, if we reach that nightly goal. Last night at 6:30 pm, I was itching for Scott to get home from his trip so I could get the kids in bed. He has been gone alot, and I knew he wanted to see them, and they were excited to see him. That was a BIG mistake. I know better. Today when we got home from school, Gage brought another sheet of homework home. (This was the 3rd one this week) I dread homework. Gage's buddy Ben talked about how he "hated homework". Well, that comment right there, if I could delete it from Gage's memory, I would do it in a second. Gage LOVES school. Gage HATES homework. I know it's because of this comment he heard Ben make. Anyway, after school I decided we had better get started on the homework. I hate putting it off, but this is the 3rd sheet, and I had already put the first 2 off, because none are due until Oct 29 and later. These are math sheets which involve playing games. They are very easy, and fun, but due to not having enough sleep last night, and his preconceived idea about homework, we had a huge meltdown. He was whining, crying and carrying on like a 2 year old. I could hardly contain myself from yelling at him (it's a good thing I have these dumb little rubber bands holding my mouth shut). This was all due to lack of sleep. I would like to do a study on all of the misbehaved kids in the world regarding their sleep habits. I would almost guarantee that the majority of them aren't getting the sleep they need. People think that the older the child is, the less sleep they need, and typically as kids get older, they get to stay up later. This is not true. The older they get, the more sleep they need. I am living proof! My friend Emily has this same book and swears by it as well. Its fun when we're together and someone mentions they have a kid who won't sleep. That is the first thing we both mention, "Do you have the book called, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child"? Usually they respond, "I have tried EVERYTHING and NOTHING works!" I guarantee this book will work.(unless of course there are underlying medical problems.) If you truly give it a chance and do what it says, you will not be disappointed.

Since I have started this transcription job I have noticed how important sleep is for me too. When I am sleepy, it is extremely difficult to really pay CLOSE attention to what the doctors are dictating. There is a huge difference in my ability depending on how tired or alert I am. It's amazing.

Anyone having problems with their child and sleep or even school issues, I swear by this book. Mine is currently out on loan, and I hope I get it back!

Three things done!

1. My cookies are baked, thank goodness. Just that task alone has made me feel better about the many things I have left to do.

2. This morning I had a call from a wonderful lady who offered to come by and pick up my cookies to take them to the church for me. THANKS JUANITA!! I am so grateful. That little task helps me out in a BIG way!

3. Emma and I went to an appointment of mine this morning. I had to go in and have a check up at the orthodontist's office. Today was going to be the day they start moving my teeth back into their correct positions. Well, that is delayed a little bit because I apparently lost 3-mm of width after they took out the rapid palate expander. So, for the next 4 weeks, I have to wear these little tiny rubber bands that are connected to a "button" that they stuck to 2 molars on my top, that stretch down to connect to a hook on the bottom, 1 on each side. They said I could take them off to eat and to brush. What a pain! Physically and literally! This will certainly help me to lose another 5 lbs over the next 4 weeks! Not only are my teeth extremely sore, it was totally a pain in the rear getting those tiny little rubberbands back in place! There have been many times already that I have picked something up to put in my mouth, only to put it back because I don't want to have to replace those stupid little things any more than I have to! They also prevent me from having big, satisfying yawns. Scott and the kids are going to love them, as I'm sure they will affect yelling as well. Dr. Warford told me today that if I wanted to, I could have a tooth permanently placed in the huge gap between my top 2 front teeth. I'm sure I gave him a puzzled look as I thought about it for a second. I said, "Well, I am not going to spend all of this money to end up with 3 front teeth!" He said, "It was just an option!" I may think differently after the next surgery, which he said will happen probably late next spring. But, right now, I think I'd prefer to have 2 front teeth on the top instead of 3. Thanks anyway!! I'm surprised he made that offer, as I would think after all of this, he too would want it to be "perfect" when it's all over with. I'm guessing he was joking around, even though it could be an option if I wanted to go that direction. I never take the easy way out in all aspects of my life. :-)