conversations with invisible pigs and sheep

So, we had our first weekend with no RCIA, and to take it easy, we decided to play musical rooms. Colin got moved to the smaller room, Jim to the middle room, and me and all my stuff got moved to the big room (which Jim had). Not only did we have to take beds apart and re-assemble them, but we also had to mave all the silly wall decals that have been decorating the boys’ wall. There’s still some stuff in here of Jim’s, but it won’t take long to get it over.

The problem was that my office/guest room was being over taken by all the unfiled papers, and I had no place to store the filing cabinet — every inch of wall space was taken, and this AFTER I moved the whole sewing operation to the dining room. Now we have a guest room (with curtains, no less). I have room for all the file cabinets, there’s room to add the headboard back to the guest bed, and room on the floor for the kids to play, and room in the closet for all the fabric and yarn to be kept.

The boys’ new rooms are working very well for them. Jim has no less space, because the arrangement of his old room and bunk bed just left a lot of unusable space. Now he’s still got all his stuff and floor space. The boys need some serious improved toy storage, but I have to get to Ikea with Dad, because I can’t lift the boxes for what I want to get them (I don’t understand why. This is the first thing ever that I have wanted to get that I couldn’t lift).

Oh, and we got the exercise bike in our room. It still works, and I used it last night before bed. Yay me! Onto the second half of the cholesterol-lowering plan — exercise!

So far, at least. The biggest treat of all is that we have nowhere to go today. Baseball is on, I finally finished Jim’s sweater, the lawn is getting watered!

about pictures and things like that. I’m bogged down with a backlog of chores and “to-do’s” (like ironing, laundry and income taxes) from being sick and then being out and about most of last week with Jim’s doctor’s appointments.

Jim is very excited that tomorrow is “P” day at school. Since he’s “not a girl and doesn’t have a purple shirt”, I picked up some Rit dye at the store and dyed a white t-shirt purple (it looks funky), and threw in some undyed sockweight yarn too. They both came out funky and mottled. I told Jim he can wear a regular boy shirt over it. But the big deal is deciding which “P”okemon should come to school — “P”onyta, “P”alkia, “P”ikachu, “P”iplup, or “P”rinplup. Only Palkia and Ponyta have been ruled out — Palkia is too big for Jim’s backpack, and Ponyta is in the garage.

Colin is out daredevil boy. He’s climbed into a box with Jim, stood up in the grocery cart, and learned how to climb up onto the stool that goes with my chair. (So the boxes and stool are no longer in the family room). Two of his molars have broken through, and the other two are on their way, so hopefully we’ll both be sleeping through the night soon. We have successfully got him napping in his crib twice a day though — it helps that I’ve made an effort to be home at naptimes.

I went a little crazy last night — it was bugging me that Jim’s old clothes were unlabelled after moving, and I knew there was clothes Colin could wear now, but I couldn’t find them. So I went through about eight buckets of clothes, and sorted them by size. I know it will be a little wacky, because of how things shrink, but I found a treasure trove of 18-month pants, shorts and t-shirts. I still have two more boxes to go through — stuff from last summer, and the 4T stuff that Jim has just recently outgrew.

Also, on the gift certificates. We’ve tried them out and it’s going well. I just keep them in my wallet and spend them as I go. Shoprite is especially good because they print out a balance if you don’t use the while card, and tape it to the card when they give it back.

Last week I used an Amazon gift certificate we had from Christmas returns, and I got a mini-donut pan, rocket pop molds, and best of all, a waffle maker. We tried it out this morning, and it was good! The Joy of Cooking recipe makes 5 waffles, so we all had our share with 3/4’s of a waffle left.

Today I ordered sodium free baking powder and baking soda, so that we can have Jim-friendly pancakes and waffles whenever we want. I also got a low-sodium cookbook with a number of good recipes, so I’m looking forward to trying them.

Jim’s school has kind of hit us up left and right for a variety of annoying fundraisers, most of which I’ve promptly ignored and missed deadlines, etc. But they have one ongoing (even through the summer) which really is a good deal.

They offer about a hundred different gift cards to national stores and restaurants (and some local, too). There is no extra cost to buy the gift card. When you use it, a percentage of the amount spent goes to Jim’s school. When Jim’s fundraising goal is met, the remainder is taken off his tuition. About three kids this year had their tuition paid in full this year just by this program alone. So it does work.

So, I’m going to make a plea here, and if you’re interested, let me know. I can email the list of stores to you. I can pay for the cards with personal checks (or cash). About half the cards are available immediately, and the rest take five days to get (ordered on Monday, delivered on Friday).

going so long without posting is that things pile up and pile up, and then it’s too daunting to write about anything. So here’s a wrapup:

Easter Vigil was great, went smoothly with the boys. We all stayed up too late and had a lazy Easter Sunday. We colored eggs right before dinner.

All the activity wore me out and turned my little cold into a big illness. Colin picked it up too.

Colin’s molars are coming through. Almost all the way through on the left, and about 1/3 through on the right. Between the teeth and the cold, sleep has been fleeting.

We got rid of the Honda and Dad picked out an ‘01 Mercury Sable. No more car payment, plus less insurance even with full coverage and adding towing and rental car to the policy (cheaper than AAA).

Jim had an EEG — this time at a different hospital at his neuro’s request. We had to get him up at 3am for a 7.30 appt. It worked for all of us, although Dad had to miss work (he got up with Jim, and then watched Colin while Jim and I were gone). The results are going to help us figure out if he can go off his medication.

Jim also saw a kidney specialist to go over the plan going forward after the kidney infection last summer. He’s at risk for high blood pressure now, so now he’ll be on a low sodium diet. This is a new kind of challenge, especially since the top three high-calorie foods that we depend on don’t fit into the new diet (pizza, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese). Pizza and chicken can be homemade to fit, so that will help a lot. It’s going to be a lot of work replacing all the processed convenience foods with home made options, just to cut the salt out. But it’s not all doom and gloom. After visiting a couple different stores, I’ve found no salt potato chips, low sodium crackers, and even a string cheese that he can have. And, certain other diet staples, yogurt especially, are low in sodium.

Soon I’ll have pics up from the Easter Vigil, and upcoming will be info on some fundraising for Jim’s school.