Potty training central

     It's currently potty training central at our house. Even though HM is child #2 for me, I feel like a seriously lost mom at this point! SPF was so easy! I bought a doll that peed, we taught the doll to pee, then she peed. Easy, done in one evening. The BMs in the potty took a couple weeks (that was nasty) I got sick of cleaning and tossing panties so I finally resorted to bribery. Told her if she went "caca" in the potty she got a "caca candy" (her gummy vitamins.) Worked like a charm, never pooped in her panties again. If only boys were as easy as girls!

     I really should give him, and myself more credit. We did spend the entire weekend changing pair of underwear after pair of underwear, (reminding myself the whole time not to call them panties) cleaning up puddle after puddle. Watching him point and scream at it, I think he was rather impressed with himself actually! I knew he had the ability and the desire, but I expected it to happen quickly as it did with SPF. Well by Sunday afternoon I was ready throw in the towel.

     When I dropped him off at day care Monday morning I asked them to put him on the potty as much as possible. My goal to just keep up with what I had been attempting over the weekend. Low and behold, he peed on that potty all day! He was only wet after his nap! Such a proud mama am I!

     Now we spend our evenings with HM running around naked so he can quickly get to the potty.

     I long for the day I am free to walk out of the house without the dreaded diaper bag! But for now, I am relishing in all the little victories. Wish us luck....

Who needs a job like that anyway?

     I got laid off again. (How was that for a smooth intro?) When this happened to me in Sept. I was so shocked. It was unexpected, and I couldn't help but take it personal. Lay offs are just part of the construction industry, but going through it for the first time was no less of a slap in the face! The timing of it was perfect as far as other events in my life, but still, no income is no income no matter how you dice it up!

     This lay off was more expected, and frankly more welcome. I loved my last job, I was learning so much, working with great people, I felt good. This job was like a reunion for A-holes R us! Not that they were old, but had the male mentality of a different generation. Maybe I'm just in denial that men as a whole have even moved past that way of thinking. Mmmmm? I look at men like my father who always taught me that as a woman I can do anything I want. He is a working electrician, yet never let any of my 'I'm just a girl' excuses fly as a kid. So here I am showing up on job sites thinking that all those men would be as forward thinking as he is. YEAH RIGHT!! Well, you get the point, this job was no love lost!

     The part I am having a hard time with (besides the whole no income thing again) is the timing with my illness. BTW-much better now, thanks for asking. When I called in and reported it was flu I had, they said I needed a doctor's note. They didn't want the usual excuse from a Dr., they wanted a clearance letter as to when I could return and that I was no longer contagious. So here I am schlepping my butt to the doctor for their stupid note, just to get laid off the next day! Aah, the nerve! Oh well, that job was like a bad fitting shoe, and who needs a job like that anyway?

H1N1, my guilty little pleasure

     Last week at work, I was feeling like a salmon swimming upstream the entire week. I couldn't seem to drag myself out of bed on time, the simplest of tasks leaving my muscles aching, and sweating at the most minimal of exertion. I spend the entire week feeling like a complete failure. Wondering why it's so hard to get myself back in the grove of working again. I did it before, why not now? My complaints to my father even prompted him to suggest maybe construction work isn't for me after all. Anger aside, what gives?

     Then it hit me. Friday night the fever came, by Saturday I was over 102. The body aches, sore throat, coughing, and fatigue! Called the nurse, and yes, you guessed it...the flu. I didn't go in to be tested to find out which kind. Here they don't even want you in their office for flu symptoms unless you are having complications and headed to the hospital. I have had my seasonal flu shot, and the CDC is saying if you have the flu now, you have H1N1, AKA Swine flu. So I am assuming I am infected with H1N1, and IT SUCKS!!!

     I called my mom on Saturday and she was thankfully able to take the kids off my hands. I have spent the last 4 days sleeping day and night. Somewhere around day 2 or 3 I realised this is the first time in 8 years I have just been able to lay down and be sick. Never before have they been elsewhere while I was sick. I also realised how much I am enjoying this guilty pleasure. I miss my kids loads, but it sure is nice to be able to take the time to heal. To not worry about feeding them or changing them, just resting. The flu is bad no matter how you dice it, but it's much nicer to have it alone without having to care for others, or worry about them catching it next.