Cogs

See that cog that sits underneath all the others yet all the other cogs rotate around it?  Well, that's me. 

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed this evening.  I have some major studying to do.  I'm currently five days behind in my school work, and it's not getting any better.  I keep trying to play catch up only to fall behind again.

I woke up very tired this morning.  I didn't even go to bed late.  I got up early to take Q to take care of a friend's dog while the friends are out of town, and I took G to the eye doctor for a 7:40am appointment--at which I practically fell asleep with my head rested against the wall behind me.  I don't remember ever waking up so tired.  Strange.

With summer, I feel like all the other cogs are my kids, my husband, my expectations for myself, my calling, even the dog, and they all keep rotating off me all day long.  No one goes off to school, so they rotate around me.  I love having them here.  I love being with them, but I have to, at some point, put this school stuff first and have them rotate off each other. 

My goal is to have this class finished by August 31st.  It can be done, I just have to make the time and use it without feeling guilty about losing out on time with the kids.  Before I know it, they'll be back in school, and summer will be over.  Will I feel I used my time with them wisely? 

At that point, our cogs will still be connected but at a bit of a distance for a good part of the day.  They won't be creating more messes than any of us can handle, and I will feel more freedom to choose to use my time as I want to for at least part of the day.

Ah the continual struggle of striking a balance.

I Don't Own a Discover Card

I received a letter on Saturday saying that my credit card had been denied and thus my account was locked with the local park and recreation district. Hmm. Curious. I hadn't purchased anything through them in more than a month since T took swimming lessons.

This morning, I had a phone conversation with the park and rec accounts person. She shared with me that it was a Discover card that was charged for four of my children--Q, G, T and L, who had all gone swimming at an outdoor pool this past Wednesday. Funny! G was gone all this past week and Q doesn't drive yet, so how would they have gotten there? Not only that, but I don't even own a Discover card.

I called Discover to verify. It's true. I don't own one.

After talking to Discover, I called back to the accounts department at the park and rec and found the woman eating crow. She was so apologetic. It seems that what must have happened is that another family with the last name of Hess came in and the person at the pool just randomly chose four names. URGH!!!

Wow! Scary to think how easily that can happen.

The Songs in My Head

Sometimes I wake up in the morning with the strangest songs running through my head. Here's one.



As soon as I'd forced that one out of my brain, another took over. In order to hear it, go here, and go down the page until you get to where you can listen to samples of the music. Click on #11.

B's sitting here with me while I type. We were both beebopping as we listened that the second one.

If these songs say anything about my state of mind, I'm a bit concerned. ;o)

Not So Sweet

A friend of mine started two summer challenges.  One is a Biggest Loser kind of challenge.  The other is called the "Sugar Pot."  Yesterday was the first day.

I have about ten pounds left to lose to be back to my Weight Watchers goal weight that I was before L was born.  It's amazing.  The first time I lost weight, before I got pregnant, I was obsessed and lost it within six months.  Here L is, a year old, and I'm still trying to lose it.  I've lost my momentum, so I'm hopeful that Becky's challenge will help me get it off.  Yesterday, I paid attention to my points, but I didn't fully track them.  One of the links Becky shared was "My Net Diary."  I started using it yesterday.  I'm not sure if I'm understanding it all with all my Weight Watchers background, I'm used to paying attention to different aspects of food, but nonetheless, I'm hopeful it will help me keep track of it all, which I figure is half the battle.

The bigger of the two for me, is the sugar pot.  I've heard from all kinds of people that have lost a lot of weight just by taking themselves off of sugar.  Sugar is one of my favorite things.  I could eat it morning, noon and night.  I'm doubting myself with this one, but yesterday was a completely sugar-free day for me.  I DID IT! 

I've been warned of the "crash" that will eventually take place as the sugar is gone from my system, and to be honest, I'm not sure if I'm fully ready for that.  Considering the addict I've been, it just might be a doozy.  We'll see how this goes.  For now, I'm looking forward to Saturday--my sugar day.  For six days, I have to go without sweets, but Saturday is the one day I will be able to eat whatever I like.  I think this is brilliant!  The idea that I can train my brain to think, "I can have that, but not today," is genius.  I'm sure by Saturday I won't want it, but it's still a good tactic, in my opinion, and I'm gonna go for it.

Everything will end on August 31st.  I have a family reunion to get through in the middle of all this.  There will be sugar available quite a few forms, I'm assuming.  I will feel like a party pooper not to partake, but by the time I get there, I'm hoping I won't want it anyway.

So, wish me luck.  I'm gonna need it.

The Barometer

Our house is loud.  That's all there is to it.  You can't have seven kids and not have a loud house.  It comes with the territory.  What's interesting is that there is a constant low rumble.  We all function within that rumble.  I have found this to be true because there is only one thing that upsets L--T's yelling, which happens with increasing frequency these days--it's summer, the kids are home, and he's not getting his way as much as he'd like.  Thus the yelling.

It makes me feel good that L enjoys a relatively quiet life.  I'm happy knowing that she is still upset by the loud noises around her thus showing me that maybe life isn't as noisy as I think it is.  I'm also happy knowing that I'm not the one yelling and causing her to cry.  I'm finding that most things can be handled with choices and calm words.

By no means would anyone with a smaller family call our house quiet, but it's nice to know we could be a whole lot louder.