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I never signed up for the drawing, no one entered my name, I wasn't aspiring to this great honor embarrassment. No, I was not even looking when I won. But I was chosen 1st out of all the entrants.
My acceptance speach will sound something like this:
I want to thank my loving Husband, and my charming children for supporting me all these years. I feel like I have accomplished so much in the almost 15 years since I married Patriot, and I could not have done it with out his help, encouragement and support. I believe that you were right on in recognizing me for the "WORST WIFE of the decade" award. I have done my part by failing to pass on phone messages, scheduling appoints and not informing Patriot. I have worked so hard at keeping a cluttered home, making dinners that taste just a little off, burning the desserts, and keeping the kids in a state of perpetual motion. But last Wednesday I think was my crowning moment in securing this much coveted award. Yes I forgot Patriot's birthday (not for the 1st time this decade). So in conclusion I would like to thank the academy for this prestigious award and I give all the credit to Patriot for enduring my bumbling and swaying thru life.
Patriot.....Honey....I do love you so, so much. I am glad that others remembered, even if they did have a reminder on facebook to help them out, at least they thought to wish you a happy day. I hope that you were able to enjoy the day anyway. Happy Birthday to you!
I am just an American Mom, asking for forgiveness and love.
In an effort to live a more healthy lifestyle I have begun to replace our mainstream, chemical laden toiletries with a more natural group of products. While on this little quest I have tried out many different products, some I have liked and some...well lets say finishing the bottle was almost torture for me.
My first adventure was to find a new deodorant that actually works. First I tried a spray on that smelled like citrus. It made my pits feel like they were burning, and I noticed that when I did anything that involved more effort than walking I started to not smell so great.....I didn't wait until this one was gone to change....I think I might have lost my job if I kept using it. I moved on to a Miracle II product called Thai Deoderant Stone, and I love it. It seems a little bit pricey at first ringing up at $12 but the first one I had lasted for 9 months, and would have lasted longer if I hadn't dropped it on the hard floor. I think each should last a year or more so that $12 doesn't seem that bad after all.
I then moved on to shampoo. I must admit that working in a natural health clinic has helped in this process. I get to hear about products that our clients are using, as well what Mrs. Boss likes. All this to say this one was an easy one. I tried the Olive Oil shampoo made by Heritage Laboratories and I am sticking with it. Since I have been using this product my hair is less oily and I can go longer between washings if I choose. (I used to wake up each morning with very oily roots and needed to wash my hair or it looked aweful. Now I can make it through a whole 2nd day if I have to, even thought I choose to wash my hair most days).
My latest transition is toothpaste. Whoa boy are there a tone of "natural" products out there in toothpaste. I have tried a few that my family immediately ruled out. The first was flavored with calendula and the boys HATE black licorice so that didn't go over well. The 2nd was mint flavored and I am trying to avoid that because it causes problems with the homeopathic remedies we use occassionally. I am currently trying a product that has "oil of theives" in it. I like it, but the guys are giving me a hard time. I might have to keep looking, but I am hoping that over time they will all decide this is the one. I can hope can't I?
This American Mom is on a quest. Next stop cleaning supplies.
Patriot and I have been struggeling lately with our debt reduction efforts. In 2008 we made good progress in dumping debt, but then at the beginning of the year his company did some reevaluating and realized they needed to down size. It involved 2 rounds of layoffs, salary reduction across the board, no overtime available AND a reduction of hours for all hourly employees. We went from a 40 hour week plus overtime to a 32 hour week. That is over a 20% reduction in Patriots's income. These policies were in place for 6 months. Since July he has had full 40 hour weeks, and some occasional overtime.
While it wasn't fun, we were able to survive the 6 months with out going further into debt.....we did make an effort to put as much cash into our savings account as possible so we would have it in case of a major emergency, and only paid the bare minimum on the debt. The long term affect of this is that we seem to have lost our traction, the drive to keep on working the debt down.
Now that we are about 3 months back into a "regular" income level we have made little effort to get back on track. In fact, with all the house projects and the unexpected need for a new vehicle we seem to have increased out debt. To top it off, we have a trip planned for November, and with all the backwards motion I am feeling guilty about taking it. So I have been focusing my internet time on debt reduction themed blogs and sites that give pointers and encouragement from others in our situation.
It was during one of those searches that I came across this website.
I am just in love with the idea of a whole year of buying nothing new that isn't absolutely necessary. I know that it would not be easy, especially with Freedom and Justice in the house, and with the fact that Patroit and I are both spending enablers to a major degree. But I think we could do it, I know we should at least try to do it. In fact I am thinking about trying it out for the month of October, just to see if we can muster up the will power to say no. Now to convince Patriot that this will work for us.
Today I'm just an everyday American Mom drowning in my own debt.
We are in the middle of 3 big remodel projects at our house. At the end of July we decided to redecorate our kitchen. By redecorate I mean, paint the cabinets, replace the countertops, paint the windows and trim as well as the door trim, paint the walls and ceiling, and replace the flooring. About a week into this project we had a huge rain storm and our basement flooded. This prompted us to move up the complete remodel of our basement....new wall board, new carpet, and having egressed windows cut in and installed. In the mean time we realized we are probably going to need to sell this house next spring, and the outside needed a face lift really bad.
So right now I am 1/2 way done with my painting in the kitchen, the counters and floors both still need to be done in there. The exterior of the house is half painted, and the basement is almost ready for paint and trim and then carpet. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all that needs to be done.
Sunday, at church, one of my girlfriends asked me how things were going and I'll admit, I vented a little. There were about 6 of us standing there at the time, and they all commisserated with me, I recieved a few hugs, and they all shared how busy there lives were as well.
Sunday afternoon I was in the back yard painting the shutters when one of those girlfriends came around the corner of the house with all her painting stuff in hand. I don't think I can express how loved I felt at that moment. I know I will never be able to say thank you in a way that shows how much I appreciated her at that moment.
Indeed, Friends are God's special gift to this American Mom.
Yes I do. Don't get me wrong, vacation is great. Even the newly popular "staycation" is quite enjoyable. However, this time around I didn't even get to enjoy the vacation in question.
See last week Mr. Boss took a vacation, and Mrs. Boss and I stayed here and manned the office. Mrs. Boss saw clients, and I did my thing...which also included trying to catch up on accounting work for Mr. Boss that I had let fall behind. So while Mr. Boss ran across the country and back to pick up Son of Mr. and Mrs. Boss from school, I worked.
Today Mr. Boss is back in the office and WHOA BOY....do I think I need a vacation to recover from his vacation (or at least to be out of angry client range while Mr. Boss try's to return the STACK of messages I took for him last week.) He has been back in the office a whopping 4 hours and I have taken 6 messages from angry clients who haven't had a reply yet to the message they left last week.
OK PEOPLE take a breath, look at the clock, find that nerve/bone/heart string in your body that tells you to be a little bit understanding, take another breath, and realize that the man can only have one conversation at a time, those conversations usually take a little time and involve him doing some research, and possibly making a couple of phone calls to get the information he needs. IT IS GOING TO TAKE A BIT OF TIME for him to return all of his messages.
This American Mom NEEDS a vacation.
yup. Wednesday. This mid point in the week, my most crazy day. Not only is the schedule crazy, I seem to lose my marbles a little bit each wednesday.
Take today for instance.
6:00 am wake
7:20 Freedom needs to be at school
7:40 Justice needs to be at Ortho to pick up new retainer
8:00 Justice needs to be at Dr. to be checked for sugar issues.
OOOPS I am wrong and Justice needs to be at Dr. tomorrow.....get him to school
and get back to my office 40 min late....only to do it all again tomorrow.
8:40-4:00 Work, work work....
4:00 Rush home to get dinner for the family.
5:10 Leave for regular Wednight activities......try to be on time and ready when all the kiddies arrive.
8:00 Activity done.....rush home to get Justice to bed as close to 8:30 as possible...and make him get a shower in the process.
8:40 Did Freedom shower? Is he ready for bed? Did either of them have homework that didn't get done?
9:00 Settle my self into bed to watch GLEE....still trying to decide if this will be my one guilty pleasure this year.....we'll see. 10:00 lights out and sweet dreams....see ya on the brighter side.
See, all day I run run run. The bright side to this is that I know tomorrow is Thursday and the schedule on Thursday is always much better.....and then FRIDAY. FRIDAY IS ALWAYS GOOD.
This is me just trying to get to Friday as an American Mom.
A day I'd like to forget. The first day of school, the day that went way wrong.
The morning was wonderful, Patriot and I really worked as a team and got the kids off to school in professional parent fashion. I arrived at the office and the day looked bright, warm and welcoming. All it took was one little ring of the cell and over the edge I go.
The contractor we hired to do a LITTLE (big) project for us at our house called.
Contractor: "Ummm......Well.....I hit a little snag."
A.M.: "Oh Yeah? What kind of snag exactly?"
Contractor: "Well you know those little yellow flags we had put in the yard to tell us where the gas line was? Well I was digging there and thought I was being really careful, but I hit that there gas line and it broke. There was gas shooting
everywhere so I put a kink in the line to stop it and then I called 911. It is really not a big deal, the gas company is on the way to fix it right now."
A.M.: "OH MY! I'll come home right away."
Contractor: "No, you don't need to do that. It shouldn't be a big deal at all"
A.M.: " Oh, ok. Just call if I do need to be there. Let me know what the gas company says."
Contractor: "will do"
I go back to my work, and think little of it until my phone rings again a half hour later.....
Contractor: " Um, well, the gas company came and patched the line, but I cannot keep working today. The gas company wants to move the ENTIRE LINE further away from the house. They will be coming back later this week to do that and then we can get to the window installation."
Now most days this would be no biggy, but let me tell you about the state of my house. At the beginning of August we had a big rain storm and my basement was 4 inches under water. Now 4 inches doesn't seem like much, but it was a finished basement, and our master bedroom is down there. We had to rip up all the carpet and pad, tear the drywall off the walls, and move all the furniture out of the area so that we could get the windows replaced, & fix all the cracks in the foundation. So in the mean time Patriot and I have been sleeping on our mattress on the floor in the upstairs. The upstairs that is a huge mess of our clothing, paperwork that needs to be filed (in cabinets that I cannot get to right now) sewing stuff from a project that I started and haven't finished yet....I think you get the picture...but add to all that the fact that we had started redoing our kitchen right before this little flood happened and 1/2 of the cupboard doors are off, there are cans of paint all over the place, and brushes that have been washed laying on my counter.....I am drowning in my clutter. I have hit MY LAST NERVE!, and now we have another delay.
Yeah, I"M WAY OVER THE EDGE here.
I finished the day, and as I was climbing into the car to head home my phone rings again. I answer and hear Justice sobbing on the other end. My first thought is that something went horribly wrong on his 1st day of 4th grade. My heart is already breaking for him. Then he says "I broke my retainer at school today."
I should probably tell you that Patriot and I have spent the whole summer warning him about how he would need to be extra careful not to throw away his retainer with his lunch trash at school. How it is so easy to do that and that I would not be happy if he did. We told him that retainers were expensive and that He would have to help pay for a new one if he was not responsible with this one. We really laid it on THICK for the last 2 months.
So Justice is crying and he says" "Mom, I broke my retainer at school today, and I can't afford to buy a new one....." Broke my heart right in two. I started crying, he's still crying, what a mess I created. See Justice is my stressed out child. Most people would not think so by watching him, but he gets stressed out so easily, and just keeps working himself up until he is sick. He was already stressed about school starting, and then to have his retainer break....it was just too much. I am feeling so guilty because I am not there to give him a hug, at the end of the day. I am feeling broken because I helped cause this stress for him. I just breaks my heart. After hearing the whole story, I reasssured him that he would not have to pay for the new retainer, that he was infact being very responsible and what happened was just an accident. I think he felt a ton better, and by the time I arrived home the tears were gone, and he had settled dow for a quick snack.
It just wasn't a very good day for our family. I am ready to be done with all the house projects already, but we will probably be working on them for the next three months yet. I think it will help to get the basement done....hopefully in the next three weeks.... and to get the Kitchen finished....I think we are in the home stretch on the cabinets, that will leave only the counter tops/sink, and the floor.
Here we are living the American Dream.
American Mom
it's of to school they go. Well next Tuesday that is. Yes, here in the Great Lakes State we like to wait until after Labor Day to send the kiddos back to the learning rooms. I approach this day, this 1st day of school, each year with mixed emotions. I long for the forced schedule it sets for our family, I know I will miss the lazy atmosphere that summer provides. I dread the packing of lunches, and am relieved that the boys will again be eating a more healthy variety of fruits and veggies.
I am not the only one at home who has mixed emotions about school starting. Just yesterday, Freedom said to me, "Mom, why is it I can't wait for the first day of school, but by the second day I miss summer break already?" My thoughts exactly. He misses seeing his friends every day, but he could do with out the homework that comes with school.
Well like it or not we are in the count down to the 1st day. School supplies have been purchased, Freedom has new clothes, Justice and I will go through his closet this weekend and see what he needs and then shop for him. On Monday I will make a trip to the grocer to grab some fresh foods for the lunches and off we go.
Can I really have been doing this for 9 years already? Do I really have have another 9 years of this to go? WOO HOO we hit the half way point!
I am loving the life of an American Mom.
We try to teach our children manners as we walk through each day. You know, Always say "please" and "thank you", always open the door for others, always shake hands when meeting someone new. You get the idea. So why is it so hard for Freedom to understand that it is good manners to write a Thank You note to someone when they have given you a gift.
He received some cash from the GP's for his birthday last week, he then spent the cash on a new Air Soft gun and a jug of pellets. I let him know right away that he needed to send a note saying thanks, but did he do that...... of course not, he's 14 after all. I finally had to tell him he was not allowed to use the gun again until he had written that note. It took him all of 10 minutes to get it finished, so why do I have to tell him 4 times and then take away things before he gets the job done?
I am happy to say that he did a wonderful job on the note. It was well written, he made sure to write legibly, and everything was spelled correctly. In the end I was a very proud American Mom.
Hello. I am an American Mom.
I love the written word and am looking for a creative outlet. I am looking for a place to record the daily events of my Red White and Blue experience.
As I start this blog September 2, 2009 I am a wife to J whom I will call Patriot. I am a mom to N & E who will be Freedom and Justice respectively. Freedon just turned 14 in August and Justice is 9-1/2. Patriot and I have been married for 14-1/2 interesting years. I love him more deeply now than I ever could have imagined when we were first married. He is my earthly foundation, he is my compass, always pointing me to THE ROCK on which we choose to build our lives.
I feel blessed to be living the American experience. Although I am not always pleased with the choices that are made by our government, I am aware that the government that we have is far better than that which most others live under and for that I am thankful.
I serve a living God, and have chosen to make him the Lord of my life. I yearn to have a deeper more personal relationship with him. Although in this area I feel like I am failing daily. I seem to put other things first and often do not "fit" time into my day to talk, walk, listen to, and worship my Lord. I know that this needs to be different, I want this to be different, I just need to DO this differently. Feel free to hold me accountable in this area.
I hope to post here 3 - 4 times each week, but have tried this before and have let posting slip to nothing. What can I say, I am a work in progress....
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