• Mar. 17, 2006
Keep Staring - I Might Do A Trick =)

Our DSL has been down since last Sunday. Thank you to everyone who has visited and left comments. I hope to catch up with each one soon!

Days after I called the OB (and had given up) and begged mercy I got a call back from his nurse. She wanted to personally "review" my history. After a long question and answer session, the call dwindled off with her painful sounding "Oh My" and she said she'd let me know what decision they came to. I didn't hold out much hope, but I recieved the call yesterday that they were willing to accept me but they wanted to start aggressive monitoring RIGHT NOW. So Monday I enter back into the cycle of "high risk" pregnancy care, although there is every reason to believe that we will soon be able to return their "high risk" sticker back to their collection. Keep praying, friends!

We also finalized in the last week where we will be moving to. It's closer to our families than the alternatives had been, and I am very relieved to at last know the destination. The move itself will occur early-mid June, and it is in the last week that the reality of that has hit home. There's so much to plan, finance and figure out timewise. And don't even get me started with trying to find a decent place to live without seeing it............ But I'm ready. Our time here is drawing to a close and that is a surprisingly bittersweet realization. I despise the place, but it has been home for six years; we learned so much here, gained so much here (our son for example), and struggled through so much here..... but it's time to put our game faces on and get ready!

Off to the family rest time. We're making green jell-o, green iced brownies, and bierocks for supper tonight. Don't you just loved themed holidays? Really? I don't....

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• Mar. 11, 2006
Do It Yourself - The Dewey Decimal System At Home

Thanks to everyone on your thoughts & prayers regarding the pregnancy. I ended up in the ER last night until 4AM for a urinary tract infection (perfect end for a perfect day, eh?), however, I did get my first glimpse of baby via an ultrasound there. I hope to scan the picture and post it later....

Through December  we eliminated a great deal of our belongings, and aggressively decluttered. A great deal was learned about our spending and hoarding habits, including the need for some solutions regarding our book collection.

I've tried 3 different book organization systems since January and they have all failed miserably.

• The first was just generally arranging them about the house by topic(cookbooks in the kitchen, craft books in the craft area, etc.) which was a big flop - I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out where I had decided a particular topic belonged by room and we had no idea what books we owned.
  
• The second was cleaning out the closet's storage shelves and arranging the books by owner in their closet space (my books in my closet, girls books in their closet, etc.), again, a collossal flop - took too much needed storage space and it took a great deal of effort to try to figure out if anyone had a book on a topic (ie we had no idea what books we owned still).
  
• The third was accumulating the books in the living room and dividing them by age appropriateness into cubbies - this left too many books unclassified and created mounds of books stuffed in cubby spots and certainly didn't simplify the process of understanding what books we own.

Today I finally came to terms with the reality that we either need to grow into a mature system for our books, or eliminate them. Now eliminating books from a homeschooling household is really, in my opinion, self sabotaging. So today we are beginning the process of creating an actual home library categorized by the Dewey Decimal System. I was inspired by Carmon's library and the obvious respect and organization she put into her collection (which is truly admirable).

The first step is gaining a better understanding of how to implement the system. We are using this unit study by The Homeschool Learning Network. Next is developing a plan for keeping track of our catalog and labelling the books. Last,  is designing a space and shelving solution which will take some creativity on our part. I might consider posting some pics of the process as we go along so stay tuned...

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• Mar. 10, 2006
So Stressed. So Blessed.

My son has a book called "A Very Bad Day". I think Moms also need a book published called "A Very Bad Day" and I'm offering to both write it and illustrate it personally (think heavy handed stick people here). It would go something like this...

So we got up 15 minutes late. No big deal. until I realized I didn't have any cash for the valet at the hospital (and don't even ask me why this particular hospital has valet parking & not armed police escorts - I have never figured out)....

So, running a little late at this point, we stop by the convenience store for cash. The lady checking me out knows me, and decides I'm a generally nice person and thus the perfect opportunity to count her drawer instead of just checking me out. We are now a little (read much) later.

So, at least we're on the road. Now I'm very much a slow driver. I rolled a car when I was 16 and I never really got over that whole "bouncing out the back window, hitting a telephone pole, going through a barbed wire fence, and landing in cactus thing". But we're late. So I'm testing my limits a little. After the 12th cop, 2nd downed traffic light, and having to take detours because of accidents, I just surrender to being late. Rather late, actually.

So we arrive at the hospital, and realize that at some point the hospital had an attack of common sense (quite rare in a government run hospital, you know) and discontinued their valet parking. This was really amusing to me until I realized that I now had no idea where to park (and that I had stopped for money I didn't need and lost time I didn't have) and the blocks surrunding the hospital were wall to wall cars as far as they eye could see.

So, I parked illegally. I knew better. I shouldn't have done it but I had a lapse of courtesy & common sense... ever experienced that? Where you are totally and completely overtaken by a self pitying moment of "I deserve this"? Yeah, I so had one of those moments and took the parking spot reserved for everyone else under the sun (okay, not everyone else) except for pregnant people. No, not a handicapped spot but a Receiving Personell spot... ha, you  were almost drawing up my excommunication papers from the church. Sorry, Receiving Personell spots get a stern lecture (and towed immediately) but not excommunicated...

So, we began rushing towards the hospital (we were still blocks away) when we got caught up behind 2 rather large girls in rather tight jeans. We tried going around politely to no avail, and didn't dare attempt to go under. I knew I didn't have the leg muscles to go over, and so we ended up following them. Unfortunately one of the girls had a large butterfly embroidered on her jeans that stretched the entire width of her behind and this fascinated my girls to no end.  Homeschooling is about experiencing life and learning from it. My girls made the decision right then and there they weren't going to put insects on the behind of their pants and if their rear was that large they certainly weren't going to attempt to draw attention to it (yes I gave the talk about being judgemental but I kept getting distracted by the butt-erfly wiggling and working it's way up the sidewalk...)

So we arrive at the hospital and manage somehow to catch the elevator and get checked in by a very angry lady who took the time to share with me how much she hated her job and it was going to be a long wait... I made it a grand total of 20 minutes, people, and then I gathered the kids up and started running for the reschedule desk as quickly as was humanly possible considering I had 3 confused girls and a very hyped up toddler boy in tow....

So we arrive at the reschedule desk and the lady just can't understand why I'm so "wound up". She very slowly begins to look for alternate appointments. This is a very nice lady, I suppose. I'm sure someone thinks she is the world's best Grandma (a plaque on her desk verified this), however, she talks like Minnie Mouse and seems to have at some point in her life completely detached herself from reality. I suppose if I worked in that place I'd detach too.... She informs me that the first appointment is only to visit with her anyway. And my mouth hit the floor. Literally. I cannot possibly fathom what this lady brings to the table of obstetrics besides some probably killer peanut butter cookies.

So we run OUT of the hospital and began the trek back to the illegally parked car sans butt-erfly girl in front of us. Unfortunately we can't see the van from our angle I decide halfway their that they had towed it - which is a rather stressful conclusion to draw. Luckily we arrive to find the van still there, but every single door open. I'm not for sure if we were totally idiotic and left the doors opened, we were actually burglarized or possibly warned that someone noticed we were parking where we weren't supposed to. It's hard to say. I can say though that we loaded up in record time and got the heck out of there.

So, we're on the road again. I'm rushing again just trying to get home and out of the public eye. 14 cops (yes I'm serious and yes it was a busy accident day here in this city), I again give up, slow down and eventually pull into Wal-Mart out of desperation. I buy the kids Subway for lunch. They actually deserved that as their behavior was impeccable and they were able to recite to me their Friday memory work wonderfully. However the guy making the sandwiches just started today and fouled them up thoroughly but no one said anything because he was so excited about his new job. =sigh=

So,  we got home and I just called my last OB, something I swore I would not do. I offered a written apology for conceiving again (look, people, I live in the city and big families are truly detested. I'm surprised they aren't trying to zone them as livestock - this is why I abhor the city), and offered up contractual agreements not to hemmorage, have an ill-placed placenta or end up crying over the cafeteria food in the hospital for months on end again if he would just see me for the few shorts months we have left here. He's deciding and he'll let me know...I'm afraid I gave him a bit of a run for the money last time around and he's rather wary.

So that's the end of the story. I could continue with the fact that I got a huge electricity bill today, not as much schoolwork got accomplished as I had hoped, and the fact that I have to pry them all out of their beds very late in the night tonight to go pick their Dad up at the airport. For good measure I could add that I absolutely have to clip the guinea pig's nails today because she is walking on curlies, my sewing machine needs rethreaded, or point out that my toddler is extraordinarily constipated and is wasting entire diapers on very smelly bunny turds about every 3 minutes or so. Instead I'm just going to point out that I am deeply, thorougly blessed to have made it home today in one piece. And that's not smart-alecky either.... I'm so deeply blessed to be home. =)

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• Mar. 9, 2006
Humor Ad Nauseum

I think life, in general, is funny. I also belive that is why I do not have any friends.

This is my fifth pregnancy and I am 2 1/2 months. I have not had one bout of morning sickness nor any fatigue. My 34DDs have set their sights quite high (we're headed into uncharted bra territory here, people), which is normal, but other than that - not a single problem. Indeed I had hestitated at sharing the news as this seemed just too easy for irony to come kick me in the butt, but I gave in this week and put it on the blog;  I also told my mother now that I think about it. Maybe it was the double up...

This morning our family was up and about at 4AM to get my husband to the airport. We dropped him off, made a quick 5AM run for dougnuts and then came home to eat breakfast and start school. I'm not for sure exactly what happened, but by 7AM I was rolling around on the floor behind the couch trying valiantly not to lose all those uber helpful doughnut nutrients.... and it visited again and again.... At first it was not very funny, but as a super huge storm rolled in and began to stress the continuity of the electricity and I realized that my husband was states away by now and would probably return to find me in that exact position with a little Froot Loop drool dripping out of my mouth it got a little funnier...

With my 4th I threw up only once and that was orange juice and chocolate chips which was a "meal" that was just begging for regurgitation anyway so I don't know if it counts. And, yes,  it was funny.

Tomorrow I am going to my first OB appointment and I am going to take all 4 of my children. There is very little that stresses out big city OBs and their nurses more than children; (Nurse: Well...what are you going to do with them? Becca: I don't know... I periodically show up and you hand me another one. I thought maybe you could tell me...) I frankly don't have a lot of options and the worst I suppose they can do is count them all and then re-evaluate how to make the print on the birth control posters bigger.

If anyone is offended by anything in the above entry, just take note of the first "paragraph" up there. I don't have a lot of friends. And, yes, I find that funny too.

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• Mar. 7, 2006
Providentially Pregnant

Yep, you guessed it........... as if the title wasn't a dead giveaway..... We're expecting! We've actually known since January, but decided to sit on it for awhile (the news not the baby). I am ending my 9th week and things seem to be well established.

I have an appt. scheduled with my OB for this Friday but looks like I'm going to have to reschedule. =sigh= The husband has a job interview in Minnesota which will require him flying out Thursday and not returning until late Friday. There is rumor that eventually at least one of the children will become so aged they are capable of temporary care of their siblings in a jam, but I don't quite know if  it is to be believed.... As a person who refuses to interact with society at all levels (I'm not an outcast - I'm socially selective), I have absolutey no friends to fall back on for help. Not a terribly big deal, though. If I had my way I'd wait until I was in labor to go to the hospital and even then would probably only make it as far as the parking lot before squatting behind a bush to deliver. My last pregnancy left me "medically exhausted" and rather wary of the concept as a whole. I'm not eager to re enter the stomping ground of medical technology. That being said...........

If everyone who wanders by here would take a moment and pray for that exact situation I would be so grateful. Please pray that they find a healthy placenta, in the right place, holding on for dear life to a phenomenally healthy baby (maybe with a little superman cape for good measure). Fact is, hospitalization this time is simply not an option. The move will be happening very soon (next couple of months) and will be cross country although we don't know where exactly. We are now homeschoooling full time and their are no "outside support" systems to take up the slack like last time. And a healthy pregnancy experience might restore my husband's faith in the whole fertility situation and avoid the awkward experience of him chasing me down the hall with scissors in an attempt to tie my tubes two minutes post delivery. We need a healthy baby, a healthy pregnancy, a non-drama delivery, and if he must have scissors they need to be Fiskars (even grown men shouldn't run with sharp scissors). ;)

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• Mar. 7, 2006
Spring Has Arrived - Smash It!

Spring is definitely en route here in the South - assuming it hasn't arrived here already. It's actually so hard to tell. This place only has 2 seasons - one being WARM and the other being DEATH BY SUNSTROKE.

As I was pouring my chocolate milk (it has to be exactly one inch under the rim and only in the fox & hound cup for it to taste right - my kids taught me that), my youngest daughter ran through the kitchen, wildly waving a flyswatter and screaming "Smash it! Oh, smash it! You MUST smash it!"

Turns out a poor little lizard found his way onto the patio during their recess time. Don't worry, she hasn't the courage to smash anything although she renews her vow to every Spring when the lizards arrive....

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• Mar. 1, 2006
My Dictionary Definition

Becca -- [noun]: A real life muppet 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

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• Feb. 28, 2006
Why Have Many Children?

Watch THIS & then come back and tell me WHY NOT? =)

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• Jan. 25, 2006
On Hiatus!

I'm on a hiatus, friends!

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• Jan. 16, 2006
Pet Rocks In The Garden Of Life

I want to apologize to everyone who links to the Abounding Joy blog or who frequents here checking for updates. I sincerely appreciate your time and effort. Heaven knows I've sent the long time readers on quite a chase across the web as I've tried out different platforms, etc.

In December, I began to have some hesitant feelings about blogging. I took the hiatus, returned shortly, and then the longer hiatus. It has been a bit of a difficult ride, trying to decipher my feelings about this subject as I have always been so attached to it as a practice. In other words, I have always enjoyed blogging, and I couldn't understand my sudden hang up.

I actually spent my time off, looking at my own archives and studying what was actually going on in the blogosphere. What was being posted? Why? To what end? What message was being communicated in totality by blogs that represented our common Christian faith? I was also surprised to see many of the blogs I "frequent" experiencing similiar thoughts, and several have disappeared altogether, embracing the fresh start of a new year.

After all this time & thought,  I just cannot justify the practice for time or purpose. Personal blogging has indeed evolved into the pet rock of the new millenium, and while I take some fun experiences and memories from it, I'm ready to put it down; it is, after all, a rock, figuratively speaking. ;)

Our homeschooling adventure is in full swing, and the move is impending. There is so much to do, to see and to learn. There are also so many ways to GROW, and I'm excited to do that. In homeschooling, in home business, and in relationships. Time is so valuable, and my blog never once told me that it 'wuved me more than soup' which even my toddler son can do.... LOL. I'm off to make that soup and then build a fort..... because I can do that sort of thing with all this new found free time....

There may indeed come a time where I "surface with a purpose" online, but until then.....
Family & friends are welcome to join us at the forum - email me for details & the URL.

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