Exhibits A through C

What do Exhibits A, B, and C have in common? Stress relief. Just call them coping mechanisms.

A. Stress baking - go for the good stuff. Carmelitas! Think oatmeal cookie meets chocolate chip cookie and gets glued together with carmel.

B. Stress pruning - frustrated? Get giant scissors, hack at a tree leaving it essentially naked and ridiculous but ready for spring.

C. Stress GNO/Sister Therapy - Pear and Gorgonzola pizza with the most delicious Sangria I have had in a long time, followed by a walk around the nicest part of the city complete with moonlit fountains and winding up in the disturbing but humorous La Cage aux Folles. In case you did not already know - George Hamilton cannot act. More than that he cannot sing. At all. Which makes for a sad but hysterical night at the theater.

Okay so why the coping mechanism x 3?

Since approximately Thanksgiving we have had bills upon bills upon bills. Not the oh-gosh-my-electric-was-a-tad-high kind but the insurance-problems-for-past-surgery-two-visits-to-urgent-care-for-Tristan-middle-school-retreat-for-church-fees-Little-League-fees x 2-shower-leaking-through-the-wall-TWO-cars-falling-apart-simultaneously-all-around-the-holidays-and-our-anniversary-kind.

And the hospital moved, which means behavioral health is now a stand alone in the old building. So my office moved. And my coworker quit. So I am working ALOT. One week in March I actually work 12 days in a row with one off to go on a field trip with Tristan.

And its ball season. And both kids are now playing again. Long story but Tori is back in.

I have sucked at blogging but honestly by the time I get to the end of the day, I don't care. This too shall pass but I am tired.

Next post will be more positive - promise. I have pinterest projects to post, new baseball pics and some good things coming.

Squeezing In

I had this pair of jeans since right after Tristan was born and they had the hem fixed, and the pockets reattached, and the button replaced. And they were soft and they were comfy and they were just...well perfect. Except 9 years ago I weighed significantly less than I do now. But somehow I still squeezed into those jeans (they were pretty large to begin with) for years after that because I loved them.

Squeezing in is something I am getting to be an expert on.

The job I am currently working at the hospital is not my favorite - its called Utilization Review and it basically means I review each of my assigned cases with insurance companies, federal Medicare criteria and when needed the doctor to prove they are meeting standards of care to remain inpatient with us. It's good in that I have pretty steady hours, daytime hours even, and that I have learned a ton. About medications and levels of care and appropriate treatments and legalities. I am the rule girl for mental health. Oh and I am one of four (the other three being my coworkers) that the hospital makes a boat load of money off of mental health, we are the people that get the hospital paid in our department. That being said...its a tedious boring job that lacks nearly as much direct patient care as I have had in the past. And I miss it. But...the point here is that there are only four of us trained to do this. 3 full times and me who covers all the holes. But one of the full times quit and that's a big hole at the moment. Oh and the hospital had a massive move - as in everyone else moved out of the building. So our office has to move (long story) and that entails packing 7 years worth of records, office supplies, phone lines, computers, etc...through a psych ward. Awesome. I am currently working 5 days a week.

And I had an awesome photo shoot this weekend. And a dentist appointment. And 3 ball practices. And 2 youth activities for Tori. And a weekend past that gave us only a few hours at home. And a laundry stack that is nearing Everest heights.

That being said we squeezed in Valentines - between school and work and dentists and homework. We had Chili's to go, the kids got new books, we watched a silly family movie, and Todd and I just hung out last night. It was so nice.

And a good reminder that sometimes you might have to squeeze in the things you love around the things you have to do. But those moments are priceless. And like my old jeans...just perfect.

Tori

I work early. So Todd handles mornings. Tristan walks to the neighbors and they drive him to school with their daughter. Todd takes Tori to the bus stop where he waits until the bus gets there and goes to work. I get off work and pick up Tristan on my way home along with the neighbor girl. Then Tori calls me when the bus is five minutes away and I pick her up. It's a well oiled machine that runs smoothly until it doesn't.

Like today. When I am in charge and the neighbor kid is sick. And then I drop Tristan off and rather drive FOREVER around the bayou I drop Tori off at a later bus stop further up the road with her friends. This time with her this morning was PRICELESS. And I remembered some awesome things about my daughter.

She tried on 3 outfits this morning. None of which she liked because they were all too hot and weather girl, she knows the forecast for every day, every day. She walks around in the morning spouting highs, lows, chance of precipitation. Weird but true. And today she was very upset because all of her warm weather clothes are not her "cool", not the temperature related kind of cool, clothes. I love this dichotomy in her - leveled headed research driven perfectionist mixed with this indecisive trying to figure out how I want to look and who I want to be girl. Awesome. With a little help and a necklace from my collection she felt she was presentable.

Today she is attending her first school dance. NONE of her friends wanted to go. None. But Tori thought it sounded fun. So she bought a ticket and planned to go anyway. And then she talked a friend into going. And while its not a big group she is excited. Because she wanted to do it and shes gonna. I appreciate this bullheadedness or this "I don't care what everyone else is doing" about her. Except when its directed at us of course!

And then I had to drop her off at a friends bus stop, or close to it so she could walk with them. And her friends saw her get out of the car and literally RAN complete with backpacks, trombones and lunch bags over to hug her. They were so excited she was there. My girl, she is a good friend to people. And she is funny, sometimes in a totally ridiculous way (ex: The pickle jar video. ) but she has had a spark since she was little that makes people want to be around her. I am so proud of her for that. Middle school can be a tough place without friends and I am so so thankful that God has brought these awesome girls into her life. Or that God has brought her into theirs.

Thankfulness.

My alarm is these crazy church bells. Its utterly ridiculous but when I first got my phone I could not figure out how to reset it and now that I know how I have grown to kind of like them. And sometimes, you know when it goes off at 7ish not 4:30ish, it is a good reminder...that God is in control. That I am deeply blessed. And that my day resonates with things I should be thankful for, though admittedly I am not always.

Today was one of those good days where I woke up with nothing but monotony and mundane chores on my to do list. Insurance junk, car problems, meals to make, laundry to clean...but I am so very thankful for my life. Even for the insanely annoying barking dog driving me slightly batty right now that you thankfully cannot hear!

So heres whats been happening and just a few of the things I am grateful for:

- Baseball has started. I know it's ridiculous because just weeks from now I will be complaining about the heat and the nonstop practices, etc, but for now...its like coming home. I LOVE baseball. And baseball with my cute little guy is just that much better. And my cute little guy playing at a level where its not just digging in the dirt and chasing past balls...Fantastic!! These kids are decent and eager to learn and I am excited for him!

- I have smart kids. Straight A's for both, great comments for both, Tori memorizing lines for the gifted class production of Macbeth, Tristan planning events on the student council, Tori being named 6th grade student of the month, Tristan's lexile score increase 150 points since August. Good stuff.

- My resolutions are coming along. 1) My bedroom has been painted, my jewelry armoire repainted and my cool new pinterest inspired earring frames hung. I have a new dresser and the tv in my room should be mounted by the end of the week. That and my new duvet has already transformed the room significantly but there is hope for something gorgeous after some more elbow grease and a few more dollars and cents! Progress. 2) I was running. And I still hated it. So I rejoined a gym. And now I sometimes run and sometimes go there. And that is good. 3)I am taking time to hang with my family without multitasking. This has proven to be harder than I imagined or imagine that it should be. I suck at sitting still. But its good. 4ish) Money being saved - meals being cooked - budget being kept too for the most part - check, check, check!

- My husband rocks. Seriously. I don't give him enough credit but he totally does. He has been working CRAZY amounts of time at both his real job and refurbishing computers to sell and this random website. And he still is the dad whose kids are so excited for dinner prep time because it means a crazy game of monkey in the middle while mom cooks. And he is the dad who let his tween daughter have a sleepover of FIVE, took them to a church event and brought them all home in the super cool minivan while I was out for the night! And he never fails to tell me that he loves me, or thinks I am beautiful even when I don't agree, or tries to give me the things he thinks will make me happy whether that be an afternoon at a Gasparilla event or a new dresser. Really, he rocks.

- I am employed. The new hospital officially opened yesterday. And I am kind of bummed that I don't get to move to the new hospital that is all fresh and clean and hotel like. And I am worried because due to late licensing the plans for our building are a little...um...lets just say not finished. So I feel a little bit like the chaos I work in got more chaotic...but I have a job. A flexible job. Where I have learned a lot and will continue to do so. And maybe amazing things will happen there as we make this transition. So I am thankful to be employed.