Complications ... complications ...

I have spent entirely too much time the last two days muttering "Why can't this just be easy!?" under my breath. So I thought I would share, aren't I nice?

First thing is that I have been fighting with the computers to recognize our printer now that it is plugged into the Gaming Computer rather than the Old Computer ... Why stress about this? because I need to print out a little "Hi I'm A's Mom, here's our number please call over the summer so our kids can play together" thing for A to handout at school and tomorrow is their last day! I have no idea if it will do any good but I thought it would be worth a try. The first stumbling block to that was that I needed to buy ink for the printer as it was all out. So I did that and I put the new cartridges in this morning(and that was a bit of a fight as well) . I also got the Gaming Computer to realize it had a printer on it but couldn't find it from the New Computer. After some back and forth and a few loudly thought curse words I finally found that the dang thing had defaulted to not sharing*sigh* so I fixed it and finally got the letters printed out! Phew! Now I just have to get them to A and make sure he hands them out.

Yesterday I had another thing happen that was similar. I wanted to set up a bookmark to this site for M, I knew she would just love it. So I get on her account on the Old Computer and there's no address window. I find that and then realize the keyboard isn't working, it had come unplugged. I got it plugged in but then found the mouse wasn't working. Argh! Re-booted the computer and finally got it all set up for her*sigh* still way more aggravation than I expected!!

Yesterday evening I went out with my Mom to buy the ink for the printer and just when we were waiting for Mom to finish some stuff up and M and I were sitting in the car M told me she had to pee. Not thinking there would be bathrooms in the store we had been in I decided to run her into the mall that store is attached to. After going up two flights of stairs and along a walkway for a bit I got to the door I knew led to some washrooms to find that corridor was closed for renovations and we had to use another door nearby. Once inside we walked around to the corridor from the inside to find that the washrooms were closed for renovations as well and we had to go to an alternate bathroom(thankfully only across the hall and down another corridor). We made it in time but since I am PMSing my temper is short and since it's hot it's even shorter. I was not happy.

Today A has a class trip to a Zoo. I had to pack him a lunch, find sunscreen(and I couldn't find the one I wanted I have no idea where it went!) and find his new hat that his Dad just bought him recently. I want to say now: I Hate Looking For Things. We have a small house, I should be able to put my hand on what I want with minimal thought and effort. If I am forced to look everywhere in the house twice to find something I get very grumbley. I finally got him all screened up and the kids left for school just fine but it was still a grouchy morning.

I had a nice sleep in this morning but it's hot already and I am hoping for no more irritations today*crosses fingers*.

Cass :)

An update, because I know you all are just dieing to find out how I've been! :)

Just a general update here with a few specifics on how the new stuff is settling into the house tossed in for fun.

K is just a week or so from going with her father's(my first husband) parents down to Florida and Disney World. They come to get her July 3rd. She's excited and I am happy for her. K is getting to a scary age, for me, she'll be 12 in November and I worry about boys and sex more all the time but so far she's still a very young 11 and shows no signs of being as bad as I was at that age, yet. How my Mom handled all this I have no idea, I guess I'll have to ask her the next time I see her.

After meeting with A's teacher and principle they made it clear that A would do better being moved forward with his classmates and that if I wanted him held back I would have to go to my school board over it. We settled on a compromise(sort of - *rolls eyes* - I still feel bulldozed) of him being in a split 1/2 class so he's exposed to the grade 1 work again. I have a feeling I've covered this already. A is the same very talkative boy that draws constantly as ever, I actually went out and bought a 500 sheet package of all purpose paper for him and put it in a basket on the dining room table. I think he's about halfway through it now :) I went through the drawings the other day and pulled about 6 that were really quite good ... now I have to find them again.

M is beginning to point out letters here and there, which is cool since I really don't work with her at all ... she does spend a lot of time at www.starfall.org though. For a 3 year old she really is quite computer savvy and can wake up come downstairs and turn on her computer without even thinking about it. I haven't decided if that's sad or not yet :) M & I went to the Y yesterday and she had a good time even though she managed to walk into a pole and gave herself a nice big bruise on her forehead.

J & I have been sleeping very well on the new bed even from the first night. The bed actually forced me into a nap yesterday afternoon after I had read a story to M on it, I just couldn't stay awake and started to doze while I was reading to her!! The combination of the firm twin beds with the 2" memory foam topper is very comfy! The bed still feels about a mile wide to me but it is very comfortable and J says he's sleeping better as well. I placed the box springs directly on the floor and the mattresses haven't shifted one bit(which was an issue with our double bed), neither has the topper(which was an issue with the featherbed on the double). With J's help bed making is way easier though, when I make the King alone I have to run around the bed a lot to get it looking the way I want. I'm not sure why I bother, the bed is always M's first stop of the day and she climbs into it and makes a bit of a mess of the bedding ... yesterday I hadn't even heard her come down and when I went to take the breakfast dishes upstairs I saw a big lump in the bed and realized it was her. *laugh*

I have settled into my computer well as well ... after some adjustment(I had to load the stuff I was used to on it and figure out how to plug the speakers in). It is very cool!!

System Specifications:
Processor: Intel® Core 2 Duo Dual-Core
Mainboard: ASUS® P5B- E intel P965 Chipset
Memory: 2 GB DDR2 667MHz Dual-Ch. Memory
Hard Disk: 250GB 7200rpm SATA 3G Drive 16MB Cache
Optical Drive: 18X MAX DVD/RW Dual Layer
Video Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8600GT 256M PCI- E Graphics
Sound Card: Six Channel High Definition Audio
Keyboard: Saitek Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Gaming Mouse
Speakers: Cdn Designed Edifer 2.1 Subwoofer Speakers
Network: 10/100/1000 Network Interface (on board)
Enclosure: Ferrari-red Case - dual 12V 430W Power
Operating Sys: Microsoft Windows XP Home
Monitor: Viewsonic 20in Widescreen LCD
Warranty: 1 Yr Parts & Labor System Warranty

Okay you computer geeks, like me, have permission to drool ... trust me I still am and it's mine!! *does a happy dance*

Thanks Mom!!!

Cass :)

Doin' a Happy Dance ... Another "Thank you" to my mom!

As if the last thing Mom did for me wasn't enough to make you all wish you could switch Moms with me *grin* this last is a doozy!!

Just 1 week ago my Mom came and told me she had won ${insert large number here} in cash from the casino ... at first I miss- heard her and then she told me again "No I said I won {insert large number here} Dollars!" I was stunned.

The next thing she said was "Now I can buy you the new bed I wanted to buy you last year but then couldn't." So on Father's Day she and I went and ordered a pair of single beds and bought a bunch of King sized bedding. *chuckle* No we weren't crazy. You see J and I sleep in the basement of our small 2 bedroom house, the bedrooms are for the kids. When we first moved down into the basement we actually had to unfasten the very basic stairs to get our double box spring down there. My Mom and I figured we could buy the two twin beds and a King topper& bedding and make it up as a King sized bed.

I encouraged her to spend some money on herself and she did, a little, and then she asked me if there was anything else I really wanted to have. So I told her I would totally love to have a new fancy top end gaming computer. We're talking wants here after all, she said she would think about it and I said I would price them up from a local store that has done repairs on my older computers in the past. She then took my Grandma out to a fancy hotel for a couple of nights(Grandma loves doing that).

When she came back on Wednesday she let me know the beds would be delivered on Friday and I told her what I had found out; figuring there was no way she would want to spend much I had managed to get a pretty good deal on a slightly downgraded top end gaming computer. We talked about it and she floored me by saying she would get me the full system with no downgrades!! *faints* So we went and ordered it.

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in a tizzy ... cleaning and re-organizing the house to make way for a new bed and a new computer system. I was very pleased with the result! The basement hasn't looked this good in a long time. I had great fun on Thursday night demolishing the double box spring(we've added stuff to the basement since then and there was no way to drop the stairs). The delivery guys took it when they came at 7am Friday morning, I just had to make sure it was in the bag they supplied when Mom paid for the beds(the mattress too although I didn't have to destroy that to get it out of the house).

I also heard from the computer shop on Thursday afternoon that my system was ready but I decided I would pick it up on Friday evening when I was out having dinner with a friend of mine since she drives and we'd be out anyway. I was very pleased to find that the King topper and bedding fit the two single beds together perfectly and was amazed at how huge the bed was when it was all made up!

Friday evening couldn't come quickly enough for me but I kept busy and took a nap on the new bed as well. I had a lovely dinner out and then a puzzling evening putting the components of my new shiny computer together. I only just figured out how to get the speakers plugged in right this morning! Boy did I feel silly. I have it all set up now and is it ever nice!

J and I slept very well on the bed together last night ... although I am still not sure if I like having a bed that he can get away from me on *grin* it sure was a big change from sleeping on a double bed together for 9 years. The bed is super comfy not only because it is new but because of the memory foam topper on it ... sleeping on it is a dream!

A big thank you out to my Mom. I am truly blessed to not only have a wonderful man and children in my life but a fantastic Mom as well. Now go spend some of that ${insert large number here} on yourself!!!

Here's a shot of the bed, A is there to show you his toy that Nana bought and the scale of the bed:
Here's me with my new shiny computer*does a happy dance*:

General Update and A Cheer for my Mom!

Okay...news, I'm sure I have some :)

After talking with A's teacher and the principle of his school in a nice meeting on Wednesday. Well I wanted to have A held back in grade one but I was told that I would have to fight(go above the principle of my school) to have it done and in the end we decided that A will go into grade 2 but he will be in a split 1 & 2 class. I don't have the energy to fight with them and only hope that I see improvement. A's teacher feels A is beginning to learn now and is behaving better in class. A still doesn't know how to read(it's almost the end of grade 1) but I can see that he is getting flickers of what he needs to know. Hopefully if we work with him some over the summer he will also improve. I feel a touch railroaded but also agreed with their stance on why he should be promoted(friends & confidence & unspecified 'research'). I'm not totally happy with it but have taken the wait-and-see approach.

K is doing well in school and will no doubt sail into grade 7 with no trouble ... boys and dating are just around the corner ... *mutters "Go to your happy place...."*

M is starting school this fall ... yeah I know, hard to grasp but it's true and she's very excited about it!

J & I are coming up on 9 years together. I still love him very much and find it hard to come to terms with the fact we've been together for so long. We're happy but currently are struggling a little with money...I'm hoping if we continue with our supper menuing and buying groceries only once a week we can keep expenses down until we get thru this. Time will tell.

On the note of having no money(because we have to buy pesky food) I want everyone to know what a wonderful Mom I have*cues big band music*: Today my Mom took me clothes shopping and bought me 4 shirts, 3 pairs of shorts, and 2 new bras. She wouldn't take no for an answer and I feel very proud of my nice new clothes(it must have been about 1 year since I bought any new clothes for myself) and happy that I will look nicer this summer even if I am still heavy.

Thanks Mom!!
Well that's it...happy me. I'm tired and need to put kids to bed soonish but it's been a neat day!

Cass :)

Bedtime.

Another bedtime has gone horribly awry. Instead of lovingly singing my children their lullabies and laying down with my youngest and dozing off for a bit I stomped yelled and grumbled my way thru bedtime tonight :(

M is driving me up the wall...she persistently pees all over the house and no amount of anything we have done seems to improve the situation for long. Both J & I are completely fed up and I am livid about the whole situation as it causes WAY more work for me and will necessitate a complete carpet cleaning in the fall before we shut the house up for winter. My only hope, slim as it is, is that she get over this by then!!

So tonight they all got their lullabies but Mommy was not pleased, happy or nurturing about it. I am trying, really I am, but today was all about the kids and still this goes on. Also it's hot today...hot and muggy which really makes me irritable. Here's hoping tomorrow(when I get to do at least 6 loads of laundry because I didn't do any today) will be better.

Cass ]:|