I promise.. a very happy, fuzzy, reflective blog post is coming. It seems that I normally blog when I am feeling up and excited about something. Yes, it is usually something to do with my adorable and fabulous daughter (me biased? Nooo!) Well blog-world.. today is NOT an 'up' day. And since I am all out of good vino .. and {gasp} .. don't feel like sipping vino anyhow.. {double gasp!} .. I need an outlet. I am promising myself that I will end on a positive note.
WHAT A HORRID DAY WAS TODAY! Seriously.. I need a cocktail, a warm jacuzzi tub with calming aromas, and my latest amusing audiobook on my ipod. I'm into this bridget-jonesy-ish type humor lately. 'Match Me If You Can' is my current read/listen. I just finished a Sophie Kinsella, and I have about 6 more of hers on my Audible.com Wish List. Laugh-out-loud audio books definitely make my day. But I digress..
Omg - must interject - the most amazing sunset is occurring outside my office window (home office that is)!! The sun is setting behind the mountains, and the entire sky is awash in pinks, purples, blues, greens, oranges.. hold on. I must gawk for a moment, it might lift my spirits.
Ok.. wow. So back to my horrid day. Here's a hi-level synopsis: One of my two jobs that I alluded to in a previous post and did not mention - is property management. Why didn't I mention it? Oh - probably b/c I keep trying to forget that I do it. I hate it. If you have ever managed rental property, you understand. It really does lead you to question whether or not the human race is salvageable. Sound harsh? I thought so before I began that job also. I was all 'oh, the majority of people are good'. HA! Naivety. I think it all changed for me during the 4th or 5th eviction hearing that I stood up in front of a judge and listened to a tenant who had not paid rent in at least 3 months (after I tried repeatedly to help them by setting up payment plans, giving them extensions, dismissing late fees, listening sympathetically to their pathetic life stories, etcetc) tell the judge what a mean, horrible, unfair, racist, unethical, foul-mouthed, lying, {insert additional insults here}, person I am. ME!!?? siiiiiiigh.
My husband and I moved from the Midwest a couple of years ago and left behind several rental properties that I continue to manage. There are 2 larger properties that are impossible to manage from out-of-state, so they are managed by a different local company (let THEM stand before the judge and be verbally battered). Well.. one of these properties had some huge issues associated with it today.. no need for details, but these issues included law enforcement/city government..loss of tenants..and what will end up being extremely high financial repercussions for the owners.. and that would be.. us.
Doesn't sound so bad when condensed does it? Doesn't sound so bad until you think about the trickle-down effect of high financial repercussions. Especially when you are trying to adopt a child in the near future, and that process isn't inexpensive. Our lives are always high-stress, but this is ridiculous. We have this crisis going on.. we are being audited, our jobs are both stressful, my mom is sick, and we are trying to be great parents and shield Maya from all of this stress.
On top of that, my stupid left leg is having some type of crazy pain that has been going on for 6 weeks now. And my neck joined in ~3 wks ago. Driving is a major challenge b/c I have to turn my entire dam body to check the lane to the right. And my left abdomen/side joined in ~2 wks ago. I've had some type of stomach virus(?) two weekends out of the past 3.. and last weekend was so bad that I was beginning to think it was a gall bladder attack or something (vomiting on and off..mostly on.. for 9 hrs). So I'm limping around and feeling totally fatigued.. and totally like some kind of hypochondriac. My entire body is falling apart!! This is seriously resembling how I felt before my insane surgery in December.. so I hope it has nothing to do with the endo rearing it's ugly head again. My doctor is having me get an mri tomorrow, to check out my spine. If it comes back normal, I'm going to have my estrogen checked. I'm on HRT now, and I've heard that if it isn't working correctly, your entire body can crap out on you like this. Sooo.. blah.
Ok. I think that's it. I can't think of any other complaints! :) Feeling better already.. thank god for an outlet. If anyone is still reading.. don't worry, I'm really not losing it. Just needed a moment of release. I'm pretty good at handling stress as long as I can spew forth some bitching from time to time. :) I know that I have an amazingly wonderful life filled with blessings, and that my problems are teensy compared to many other people's probs, but hey - everyone deserves to whine on occasion.
So I promised myself that I would leave this post on an up-note. Let's see..
Hm.
Oh yes! Lots to look forward to this weekend (as long as DH doesn't have a stroke or coronary from his stress issues). Baptism prep class (finally!!) on Saturday. Father's Day on Sunday - Maya and I have a day of relaxation planned for Daddy! And.. big excitement.. Saturday is our first Family Day/Gotcha Day/whatever you want to call it! We met our beautiful baby girl last year on June 16th in Kolkata, India. I have her Adoption Story video all ready to watch! Makes me teary just anticipating it. :)
So watch out.. big reflective blog post coming your way!
Here's to a happier tomorrow.
"Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce"
Peace.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Ms. Trump
This tidbit will likely be extremely amusing to those who know my husband personally..
Maya has learned to say her name in just the past couple of weeks. {With the help of Pottery Barn Kids and her personalized chair!} However, in her excitement, she often slips a little and mispronounces it.
"What is your name little girl?"
"MONEY!!!"
LOL! Maybe she is destined to be a finance guru like her daddy. {or maybe she knows how much I have invested in her shoe collection.. baaahaa!}
Monday, June 4, 2007
Busy Weekend!
{Wow - a new post, only days after the last one! I must be learning to manage my time.. ;)))}
This past weekend was a busy one. Maya and I started a Moms-n-Tots gymnastics class on Saturday morning. And, might I add, it was somewhat pathetic. .. No .. it was very pathetic.
Seriously, they should have told us that it was cancelled due to low response. When we showed up, there were 5 pre-schoolers (at least age 4) and Maya and I. Needless to say, the other kids could walk on a balance beam, stand on their heads, etc.. while we were lucky to stay in the designated area without simply wandering off. Pretend to 'make a pizza'???? We don't even know what the heck a pizza was! And name ingredients?? Oh good god. We're lucky to know our name! And this was only the first 5 minutes of the class. Can you say...
W A S T E O F M O N E Y???
Obviously they combined 2 classes due to the low turnout. OH THX! I'm so glad we paid $45 so that I could spend the entire 45 minutes trying to keep Maya from being mowed down by crazy unsupervised preschoolers who would not wait for her to clear the area before throwing themselves into out-of-control tumbles and landing on my child's head (and, btw, I was not always successful).
That reminds me.. I need to call the Rec Center and complain tomorrow. I'm thinking that getting my money back and canceling this class would be the intelligent decision. Should be interesting to see if they allow this. OH - and the class is taught by kids who can't be 14 years old. Siiiiiiigh.
Well anyhow. My rant for the day I guess.
In other news.. we spent the rest of the weekend doing fun family-type things. Our local adoption agency (Adoption Alliance) had a picnic on Saturday afternoon. Was very nice. The park where it was held had a small train ride and a petting zoo. These were both met with enthusiastic approval from our toddler. :) This was her first train ride - and since she has been looking at photos and yelling 'CHOO CHOOOOOOO' for weeks - this was good timing! The petting zoo was nice, though she kept trying to smooch the animals. Uh.. YUCK! Plus, one of the goats chewed on the sleeve of my shirt, which I didn't exactly appreciate. And - mental note for next time - do not wear sandals in the petting zoo. ick.
One fun moment was when, much to the amusement of everyone nearby, Maya took off chasing the turkey - which must have outweighed her by at least 30 lbs. He was quite cantankerous also. We grabbed her away quickly, as I think he could have given her a swift kick and knocked her into the nearby creek. I could see it in his eyes.. bad things were eminent.
We were very happy to see one family at the picnic that we had met during one of our training classes. They had fostered and then adopted a little baby girl. When we met them, she had just joined their family as a foster child. She had quite a few major medical issues and was not expected to live more than a couple of months. Needless to say, she has proven those doctors wrong! She looked amazing! She is now 2 1/2 yrs old and doing very well. She told me how old she was, and she was having a great time riding one of the playground springy-animals. Awesome!
On Sunday, we went for a hike at Castlewood Canyon. We tried out the baby-backpack that we had purchased ~ a year prior to bringing Maya home. She fit very well in it still (phew!), and she had sooooo much fun!! She was bouncing and laughing - yelling 'Hi!' and 'Hola!' to everyone we passed. So much for the tranquil setting.. haha! ;)
In other news.. my mom was recently diagnosed with metasticized breast cancer. :( It came back in her arm bone. She survived her first bout with BC 3 years ago, and we haven't been happy to see it return. She is going thru treatment and having some major bone pain. We are all praying that she is pain-free again soon and beats this beastly disease. If anyone out there would like to incorporate her in your prayers.. it would be appreciated.
And, ending this post on an up-note.. after many hours working on our yard - I have finally taken the upper hand against the onslaught of weeds that took over while we were in mexico! I know, that sounds silly.. but omg.. if you had seen the weeds.. I had no idea that anything could grow that quickly.
Our pond is also brimming with life these days. I've seen at least one toad.. we've had a blue heron visit a couple of times.. many, many other birds.. and - yay! My fish made it through the winter. I lost a couple, but I can see several survivors. Hopefully the snakes don't get them. I haven't seen our friend 'Bob'.. but I did see a snakeskin the other day that was well over 2' long and scared the #$% outta me.
We also have a momma-bird who built her nest in the transom window above our front door. A delivery guy told us the other day that the Chinese see this as a sign of good luck. Well.. we sure could use some - so welcome to you Momma-Bird!!
Happy Monday!
This past weekend was a busy one. Maya and I started a Moms-n-Tots gymnastics class on Saturday morning. And, might I add, it was somewhat pathetic. .. No .. it was very pathetic.
Seriously, they should have told us that it was cancelled due to low response. When we showed up, there were 5 pre-schoolers (at least age 4) and Maya and I. Needless to say, the other kids could walk on a balance beam, stand on their heads, etc.. while we were lucky to stay in the designated area without simply wandering off. Pretend to 'make a pizza'???? We don't even know what the heck a pizza was! And name ingredients?? Oh good god. We're lucky to know our name! And this was only the first 5 minutes of the class. Can you say...
W A S T E O F M O N E Y???
Obviously they combined 2 classes due to the low turnout. OH THX! I'm so glad we paid $45 so that I could spend the entire 45 minutes trying to keep Maya from being mowed down by crazy unsupervised preschoolers who would not wait for her to clear the area before throwing themselves into out-of-control tumbles and landing on my child's head (and, btw, I was not always successful).
That reminds me.. I need to call the Rec Center and complain tomorrow. I'm thinking that getting my money back and canceling this class would be the intelligent decision. Should be interesting to see if they allow this. OH - and the class is taught by kids who can't be 14 years old. Siiiiiiigh.
Well anyhow. My rant for the day I guess.In other news.. we spent the rest of the weekend doing fun family-type things. Our local adoption agency (Adoption Alliance) had a picnic on Saturday afternoon. Was very nice. The park where it was held had a small train ride and a petting zoo. These were both met with enthusiastic approval from our toddler. :) This was her first train ride - and since she has been looking at photos and yelling 'CHOO CHOOOOOOO' for weeks - this was good timing! The petting zoo was nice, though she kept trying to smooch the animals. Uh.. YUCK! Plus, one of the goats chewed on the sleeve of my shirt, which I didn't exactly appreciate. And - mental note for next time - do not wear sandals in the petting zoo. ick.
One fun moment was when, much to the amusement of everyone nearby, Maya took off chasing the turkey - which must have outweighed her by at least 30 lbs. He was quite cantankerous also. We grabbed her away quickly, as I think he could have given her a swift kick and knocked her into the nearby creek. I could see it in his eyes.. bad things were eminent.
We were very happy to see one family at the picnic that we had met during one of our training classes. They had fostered and then adopted a little baby girl. When we met them, she had just joined their family as a foster child. She had quite a few major medical issues and was not expected to live more than a couple of months. Needless to say, she has proven those doctors wrong! She looked amazing! She is now 2 1/2 yrs old and doing very well. She told me how old she was, and she was having a great time riding one of the playground springy-animals. Awesome!
On Sunday, we went for a hike at Castlewood Canyon. We tried out the baby-backpack that we had purchased ~ a year prior to bringing Maya home. She fit very well in it still (phew!), and she had sooooo much fun!! She was bouncing and laughing - yelling 'Hi!' and 'Hola!' to everyone we passed. So much for the tranquil setting.. haha! ;)
In other news.. my mom was recently diagnosed with metasticized breast cancer. :( It came back in her arm bone. She survived her first bout with BC 3 years ago, and we haven't been happy to see it return. She is going thru treatment and having some major bone pain. We are all praying that she is pain-free again soon and beats this beastly disease. If anyone out there would like to incorporate her in your prayers.. it would be appreciated.
And, ending this post on an up-note.. after many hours working on our yard - I have finally taken the upper hand against the onslaught of weeds that took over while we were in mexico! I know, that sounds silly.. but omg.. if you had seen the weeds.. I had no idea that anything could grow that quickly.
Our pond is also brimming with life these days. I've seen at least one toad.. we've had a blue heron visit a couple of times.. many, many other birds.. and - yay! My fish made it through the winter. I lost a couple, but I can see several survivors. Hopefully the snakes don't get them. I haven't seen our friend 'Bob'.. but I did see a snakeskin the other day that was well over 2' long and scared the #$% outta me.
We also have a momma-bird who built her nest in the transom window above our front door. A delivery guy told us the other day that the Chinese see this as a sign of good luck. Well.. we sure could use some - so welcome to you Momma-Bird!!Happy Monday!
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