Just a thought...

It's been a long time..

2010-10-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I've written. It pains me to think that life has gotten in the way of my writing. But, if anything were to get in my way, I imagine that there is no better thing than life.

Toddlers..work..marriage..dinner..the treacherous bedtime

I was very lucky to be able to stay home with my littlest guy for about 2 1/2 years before I had to go back to work. It was certainly one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do, go back to work that is. I've managed to make a few friends that I would seriously consider hanging out with outside of work but otherwise, eh.

Then, I realized that there was something much harder...Juggling!!

Juggling a full time job, the raising of two very bullish little boys, maintaining a fulfilling marriage and getting to sleep at a decent hour. Oh wait, I forgot about picking up the kids from school, making dinner, homework, laundry, bath time, dishes, bedtime and then whatever I didn't finish before putting the kids to bed. Bed time for me comes much later.

I leave you with these words because I have to get the kids to bed. I will be back soon.

Some people are still clueless

2008-12-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation with the receptionist at my dentist's office and she asked if I was working.

I said, "No, not right now. I was in the mortgage business."

She asked if I had quit my job.

I said, "No. I was in the mortgage industry. It is the reason for our failed economy."

She looked at me and said, "What do you mean?"

Now, I was the confused one. I asked her if she had any idea about what had gone on with the economy and the mortgage industry taking a dive.

She said, and I quote, "No, I guess I should start watching the news or something."

My first thought was, "Is this girl an idiot? How can she have no idea? We are teetering on the edge of a depression. A million people are losing their homes and she has NO IDEA!!!!!"

My second thought was, "Wow, lucky her..She is completely unaffected by the economy. The only one!!"

I am still perplexed by how completely ignorant people can be and that it is people like her that will keep our planet on a down-slope. What do I mean? Well, if she is completely blind to the state of our nation, what else is she blind to? Global warming? The atrociously disgusting treatment of the human race in places like Darfur? The horrible effects of human waste on our only planet, our only life source?

I get increasingly worried every time I see a dead bee. Small and scary to some but detrimental to the survival of the human race on planet Earth. My 3 year old son Max points and says, "Look mama, another dead bee." about 10 times a day. This is very scary. I am concerned that we aren't seeing more coverage on TV about this issue. Only once in a while will I see a story about situations surrounding bees. Like the bee keepers that are going out of business and losing their homes because entire bee colonies are dying right under their noses and they don't know why. They called it Colony Collapse Disorder. Bees are abandoning their colonies. Now, I am not sure that this is related to the various dead bees that I see on the sidewalk but this is serious, none the less.

My only hope is that Obama really recognizes the dire situation ahead of us. I know that the environment is deep in his heart but I only hope it is not too late to fix our planet. Because when it is all said and done, those "fiscal republicans" will not have a planet to piss on and nowhere to put their money that won't matter anyway because there won't be anything to buy and no fancy dinners to feast on because there won't be any bees to polinate the produce and crops to feed the cow that will be their steak.

Where did the year go???

2008-08-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

I have decided something...

Since the years go by so quickly, it isn't really where you are going nor where you have been, but where you are right now. Of course, where I have been has built who I am today but I have the power to change that. I watch my children and so much happens right now. A smile, a giggle, the pincer grasp, new words, using the toilet and saying, "Goodbye to diapers." All of the most important things are happening right now. And every day, something important is happening.

I realize that we cannot forsee the future. We do not know where it leads. Death usually comes as a surprise so, now is really all that we've got. This means that I must keep moving right now in whatever way that makes me happy. Whether it be walking, running, weight lifting, Yoga, whatever. It's all the same. It not only keeps me healthy but balances my state of mind.

I realize that keeping my cool right now is important because it builds my children's characters. If I yell, so do they. If I blow off the handle, it will be all that they know. Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

My older son will be 3 and my baby will be 1. This tells me that I won't have a baby in the house any longer. This makes me a bit sad and nostalgic. No, I am not going to have another baby. As much as I love it, I am relieved that those very difficult yet beautiful moments are soon to be behind me. The sleepless nights will not be missed. The constant need for my infant's need for me. My constant worry that something horrific will happen in the middle of the night. Hmm, I am sure that that particular feeling never goes away when it comes to our children. No matter how old they are.

It is true...what really matters is right now!! Right NOW!!!

Live for now. Play with your children. Love your husband. Love your wife. Go for a ride to your favorite place. Book a trip to somewhere you've never been.

Just live!!!!

Technorati introduces Wittyd to the world.

2008-07-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Technorati Profile

Creatively working from home

2008-07-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

I decided that I am a much better employee to my children and my home than I am for anyone else; simply because I get more out of it.
I have made a few onesies, t-shirts and blankets for friends when they were having babies and each time I am told that I need to sell them because they are so beautiful and well made. So, here I go...

Here are some examples of what I have made. All hand-made.

We may be on our way to a cure...

2008-07-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

As I had mentioned, I was sick of being sick. I saw a new doctor on Friday and she was amazing. First, she tells me that my incessant cough is due to my post nasal drip and prescribed me something to make the cough reflex stop. It is miraculous. I haven't coughed since. YEEHAW!!

I mentioned to her that I had stopped the dairy as requested by my other doctor but that it wasn't necessarily helping with my other more embarrassing symptom that I don't believe that I need to mention. I'm sure you can figure it out. Anyway, after some research, it has been suggested that I discontinue all foods that have fructose in them. This is really hard since almost everything has fructose in it, even my favorites like stone fruits, etc.

Not only has that nasty little symptom stopped completely, its actually been 2 days since I've gone. Wow, I cannot believe the difference. I feel a thousand percent better and I have more energy and I'm not so tired. I have suffered for easily 3 years and finally we have figured it out.

I suppose this could mean to never give up hope on whatever ails you because it could be as simple as what you are eating. I think that most of the time it comes down to the chemicals and other crud that is being put into our foods.

I know that it can be very difficult to stop using all of those items but a good head start would be to try to purchase as many organic products as you can. Look at the labels. Read them. Get to know what you are putting in your body. After all, it is your only body. There is no lemon law in effect on the human body.

No trade-ins welcome, just repairs.

My angry 2 year old.

2008-07-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

My son is 2 going on 3 in September and we can't figure out why he is so angry. He is the angriest at me and I am his mom. He hits me, kicks me, makes a fist and threatens to punch me and screams at me. Yes, we do yell in the house when he has taken us to our very limits but who doesn't? We are not big believers in spanking, so what are we doing wrong? Not spanking him?

When I was nursing him, and I did this for 14 months, he loved me. He couldn't be without me. I couldn't leave the room without him exploding with fear and anxiety. Then, he became independent of me and moved on to a sippy cup. Suddenly, his daddy was his hero and wanted nothing to do with me. One month later, I got pregnant with our second. We kept him in the loop of his impending big brotherhood. He would kiss and hug my belly. He would tell his brother that he loved him through my belly. Before he knew it, his brother was here and there was certainly a shift in attention. The baby demanded a lot of my attention and his daddy was his primary go to parent for a little while. His anger certainly escalated at this time. He didn't like anyone but me giving his brother attention. If his daddy was holding his brother than all hell would break loose. He loves his daddy so much and he would try to pry his brother out of his daddy's arms at the expense of his brother's health and safety.

We hope that this is a phase but it worries us. It makes me especially sad when he mistreats me and wants nothing to do with me. I know....he is 2. Is this the terrible 2's or is this a prelude to something worse?

The thing is, he is a wonderful boy. He is sweet and loving and kind and plays well with others. I am the one he has set his sights on to mistreat. The minute I wake up in the morning, he is already yelling at me and telling me to go away. If I'm lucky he will hit me in the stomach or kick me. I'm not a big believer in any attention is good attention. It's not!!!!

"Where do I go from here?", I ask myself.

I am not necessarily going to ignore his actions but I am not going to put too much stock in it either. I will watch how he progresses and if it goes away, great. If not, then a visit with his pediatrician will be the way to go.

We'll see...

I am so sick of being sick!!!

2008-07-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

On July 8th, I was diagnosed with strep throat and given a pretty strong antibiotic. But to my dismay, I am STILL sick and worse for the wear. I have a cough that won't go away and an intermittent sore throat. Now, I am congested as all hell, sneezing a lot and just plain miserable.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!

An actual scream is too painful, but a virtual scream.....much easier. And, just as effective.

I have always been a big believer in a natural lifestyle. I never get sick. I have to be held down and forced to take a Tylenol if I'm in pain. My husband is a big believer in stocking the medicine cabinet chock full of everything under the sun. He takes it all and he is sick all the time. I think that if he would stop killing off his natural immunities with all that junk, he would actually be healthier. When the rest of my family is ailing, I can usually stave off anything by eating healthy, drinking fluids and taking a few natural supplements. But in the rare event that I do get sick, it's KAPLOWEE!! Down for the count... and this time is way out of control. The antibiotics that I was reluctant to take didn't even kill it. I am not happy about this.

This brings me to another wierd superbacteria. I had recently taken my 2 year old to a mommy and me swimming class at the local community aquatics center. The last day of his 2-week class was on the 3rd of July and on the 4th, he woke up with eyelids that were glued shut. It took me a good 10 - 15 minutes to slowly get his eyes cleaned up with a wet, warm washcloth. He was so patient. His eyes were really bothering him...obviously.

We made an emergency appointment with urgent care. The doctor asked me if he had been in a public pool lately. I gasped and said, "Yes, as a matter of fact, his last class was yesterday." She proceeded to explain a particular bacteria called Cryptosporidium, found in public pools brought in by infected people's stool and cannot be seen by the naked eye. This germ is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive for long periods of time and makes it resistant to chlorine disinfection found in pools. It causes gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. YUMMY!!!!

She said that he was lucky he didn't get the bloody diarrhea.

My thinking is that if we human beings stopped pumping our bodies with needless stuff (exceptions do apply) any time we get a tickle, we might not necessarily be creating these evil superbugs that are mysteriously popping up.

I know it may sound paranoid but we could find ourselves living in vacuumed-hyper chambers due to us killing off our natural abilities to cure ourselves. Could you imagine???? Our freeways loaded with families in bubbles just bouncing around. Although, the visual of an accident would be hilarious. A minor bump could send you bouncing miles off course. A domino effect. Chaos would ensue and no one would get anywhere on time.

.......Just a thought

Customer Service...where's the service?

2008-07-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Customer service seems like a dying art. Like Yiddish. No one speaks it anymore accept for the very old. I find myself most often annoyed rather than satisfied. It is either that kid that is too busy chattin' it up with his friend behind the counter with little or no acknowledgement that I have even entered the building or it's that total burnout that acts as though I should be honored that he has even shown up to work.

As for the service companies like satellite television or cable, etc. It always takes five or more phone calls to finally get that one individual that actually cares about your situation and will actually do something about it. That is of course, if you can find a way to be re-routed to America from India where your call was original retreived. On those all too frequent occasions when no one actually cares and I am forced to demand the attention of the supervisor, I realize all too well why no one cares.....because the Supervisor couldn't give a hoot either. And, if I am really lucky, he or she is incredibly rude to boot.

So, these days when I actually receive good service, I am quite taken aback. Surprised that someone out there really cares about me and the job they showed up to perform.

My most irritating experience is the employee that thinks you are a waste of time simply by how you are dressed. These people are the worst. At least the gum chewing teenager behind the counter kickin' it with his buddy is non-discriminating and treats all of his customers that way. But, the guy who assumes that you have no money simply by your appearance is the biggest loser of the bunch. What are the chances that guy is driving home in a Bentley? Or even a mercedes? NOT!!!!!!

Maybe, when I make the time, I will put together a top 10 best and worst list. So, hope that you treat me well. I welcome my reader's comments regarding the top ten best and worst as well. Send me your stories. I might just add them to the list.

......Just a thought

Let me introduce myself...Who am I again?

2008-07-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

Who might I be? Is it wrong to still not know? I do know the facts though. I am a strong woman, one that will never be taken advantage of unless it is a matter of the heart. I seem to always give you one more chance even if I say that I won't. I am one with no regrets...sort of. I am one with great wit. I am sarcastic. I am hilarious. I am a wife, a mother..twice, a sister who doesn't really know hers, I am a daughter that tends to snap at her parents because they are no longer the people she remembers. I am a stay-at-home mom always looking for a way to work from home so that I can be with my kids.

I realized that when it comes down to it, all we really NEED is our health. Nothing else is fun without it. I see that truth in my father. He is 78. He has had a couple of strokes that have caused him to deteriorate over time. He can barely walk. He suffers from incontinence. He has lost the will to care. I think he may even be depressed. He doesn't really interact with my children which breaks my heart. I get angry at him and then realize that I just have very unrealistic expectations of my father. My husband reminds me to be patient.

My husband is kind and full of fire. He is smart. He takes much better care of me than I do. He is a wonderful father that takes great care of our children. He loves to spend time with them more than anything. He surfs well. I am terrible at it. We spend a lot of time together. We are a beautiful family.

My older son is going to be 3 and he can be funny, smart, mean, sweet, sensitive, etc. etc. etc. He goes to a very loving daycare that teaches him wonderful socializational skills. His vocabulary is amazing and surprising. We considered keeping him at home with me but realized what a disservice it would be to take him away from such an educational and loving atmosphere. He loves his daddy so much. He is his little shadow.

My little baby boy will be 1 soon and he is the happiest baby I have ever seen. He laughs all the time. He never stops smiling. He loves his mama. He is growing by leaps and bounds.

With all of these aspects, do we ever really know who we are? I am not the person I was when I was in my 20s, teaching snowboarding in Mammoth. I am not the person I was 5 years ago when I married my husband. I am who I am right now. The person that is a wife, mother of 2, sister of a woman I barely know (I'll touch on that another time.), daughter of aging parents, and so on. As each event occurs in our lives, we change who we are. We adapt. We think differently. We are somebody new every day.

Today I am a little bit new.

A bit of me..

2008-07-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

I am originally from Los Angeles but currently live in Orange County. I am married with 2 sons under 3 years old. I have traveled to interesting places and love being outside.

I love the ocean and the snow. I have been to Italy, Israel, Colombia, Mahajuitos (Eco land) in Mexico, Kauai, Oahu, and random U.S. cities that would freak you out.
You really must try floating in the Dead Sea. What an interesting and surprising experience. Don't get the water in your eyes. It's excruciating..I'm told.

I taught snowboarding in Mammoth which is where I met my husband.
We can't believe that we, the wild and crazy kids we once were are now responsible for two little humans.....

I wish I could write down your random comments

2008-07-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

" I wish I could read the mind's of small dogs."

My husband laughed and said, " I wish I could right down all of your random comments. They just crack me up."

I suppose that if he had seen what I had seen, he wouldn't have thought it to be random.

My husband and I were driving along PCH in Laguna and I saw a woman in the crosswalk clutching her small white dog in her right arm. The woman was walking briskly and it caused the dog's hair to blow in the wind. By the look on that dog's face, I'd say he was quite content, happy really. He had a bit of a regal smile that seemed as though he was feeling something equal to "King of the Road." The same way a teenager feels when they are driving their brand new jeep along the coast in the summer time in Southern California. I just wonder what he was thinking.

Was that comment really random?

Hmm. I wonder.