Archive for the ‘Paul’ Category

Where or where does the time go?  Here I thought with the kids both in school and me getting a whole 5 hours a week to myself that I would be able to get some extra stuff done.   HA!  What was I thinking?  I guess I do get some extra stuff done, but not as much as I was hoping for. 

I did get to go grocery shopping by myself today and let me say it was heavenly!  I didn’t have to worry about chasing Katie around the whole store.  If anything it’s well worth the $68 a month for her to be in preschool so I can get that alone done.  ~wink~

Of course I suppose I should be finishing my dishes instead of blogging, but since Katie is actually quiet and I can sit and think I thought now would be the best time to blog because once Paul gets home I’m sure the fighting will start and then I won’t be able to enjoy this quiet time anymore.

So what have we done this week?  Kevin had his Karate Monday night where he ended up having 2 sparring matches!  He lost the first match, but I was still proud of him because every time he has a match he has been improving.  Then the 2nd match was against the same person, but they did it free style where they don’t stop or keep score.   It was actually really nice because the kids were able to just go at it so we could actually see what they have learned since it wasn’t a constant stop and go. 

Tuesday Kevin and Katie had school, but Katie ended up staying home due to she didn’t sleep great the night before due to a cold and since she was still sleeping when it would of been time for us to leave for school I said forget it and she stayed home with Paul while I still headed to school as I was going to be going on a field trip with Kevin to Robinette’s Apple Orchard!  We had a great time there, but it was a little on the cold side.  When the sun was out and there was no wind, it felt great.  But as soon as the wind kicked up and the sun wasn’t out or we were in the shade it was quite cold and the kids were shivering.  By the time I got back from the field trip, I had to go pick up Katie at my parents.  I found out she slept until 10am when Paul called them to see if they could come pick her up and spend a few hours at their house so he could get a little more sleep, plus he had some errands to do.   I went over there and Katie was acting her normal self.   She could of went to school, but I know she needed that sleep.  Especially since she slept in till 10am!  She NEVER does that!

Yesterday Paul had a dentist appointment and then we were suppose to go to the movies to see Night of the Museum II, but he found out that one of his teeth was broken so he had to go back at 2pm to have it fixed.  So the movie ended up going out the window. :(  Oh well.. guess we will just have to rent it when it comes out now.  So I just did the normal.. played with the kids, cleaned, tried a new recipe (you can read about it next Tuesday for Tried and True Tuesday) and then had found out Paul didn’t change the filter on the furnace so I got to change that too.  All I can say is good thing Meijers had their air filters on sale awhile back and we stocked up on them.  That way I didn’t have to take the kids out to go get one.  Of course I suppose I could of just picked one up today.  One more day wouldn’t of hurt right?!?

In 45-50 minutes Kevin will be coming home from school!  Then we can quick work on his homework, make some supper and then he has Karate tonight at 7pm.  I’m hoping we can get some practice in before we go as we haven’t practice yet since class on Monday.  Oops!

Tomorrow Kevin has school (it’s his 3 day week) and I think Katie & I will be heading out shopping for new gym shoes for her.  I had just bought her new ones last spring and of course she didn’t wear them during the summer as she wore her crocs everywhere she went and now they are feeling a little snug on her.  *sigh*   I suppose that’s what happens with little kids… they outgrow their shoes before they can wear them out.  (At least if they are more of a seasonal shoe)

Well, I better sign off as Paul just got home from picking his deer meat and is now out mowing the grass.  It’s amazing how guilty I end up feeling when he’s home and I’m on the computer.  Bummer thing is he has the next 6 weeks off of work!  Hopefully he will be out hunting quite a bit or I just might never get back on here!  ~wink~

I hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for stopping by!

Thankfully I was still up reading my book, but that didn’t stop from making my heart start pounding when the phone started ringing at 1:15am, because that can only mean one thing… somethings wrong!

I answered it and it was Paul! He called to say “guess what I just did”. Here I’m thinking he got in an accident, locked his keys in the the truck.. something like that.

Nope.. he’s playing Mr. Cop tonight.

He just about got in an accident due to someone just about hitting him because they ran a red light! He said the guy was obviously drunk.. going from one line to another. Going anywhere between 35-45 so he said ya know what.. screw it and dialed 911!! Since he was following him at that point he was able to give them the license plate number, color and make of the car and which way the person was heading! The Sheriff’s department said they would send units out that way and have some by his house in case they didn’t find him. Needless to say Paul is feeling pretty good right now. Maybe if they do catch the drunk driver (I pray they do) Paul will of saved someones life tonight!

All I know is it seems like we are hearing about more accidents lately where someone has died due to drinking and driving! PLEASE.. if you drink, don’t drive! Have someone be your designated driver! If you don’t have one, just call a taxi or even a loved one. I can promise you, they would rather pick you up than have someone give you the news that you got in an accident and either died or killed someone else. It’s not worth it! Please be responsible!

Has it seriously been a week since I updated my blog?  Shame on me!!  Now I have to think about what we did this past week.  Monday the kids and I went to the library to pick out some new books andmovies.  I had a friend recommendthe Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye so I checked out book number one.  Looking at it I thought do I really want to read this?  I’m not much of a book reader and this book was quick thick.   That afternoon the kids & I were reading our own books and let me say, this book sucked me in on the first page.  I ended up staying up till 3:30am reading!  Needless to say the next morning I was quite tired.  I did end up finishing the book just this afternoon and will be starting on the 2nd book tonight.

Tuesday night my friend’s daughter called (she is Katie’s age) and wondered if we wanted to come over and play.  So the kids & I quick picked up the living room and off we went.  (I knew we would be getting home late and wanted to make sure everything was picked up so they could go straight to bed)  Like usual we had a fun time over there.  Katie & O (that’s what I’ll call her) played in their swimming pool while Kevin had fun playing with their train set and I had fun being able to have adult conversation!   It’s just nice to be able to have fun/relaxing nights like that.

Wednesday, Paul andI ended up taking the kids to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  That was the first time we took the kids there and we all had a good time.  Of course Daddy takes a little to long looking at stuff (he thinks he needs to read EVERYTHING) so the kids & I went ahead and I just had fun pointing out things and seeing their minds at work.  The fun part of the day was all of us being able to ride their carousal.   Paul didn’t dare get on it thinking he might brake something, but as soon as I got on he knew it would be ok.  It was cute.. Kevin & I took some horses in front of Paul andKatie so I turned around and there was Paul and Katie holding hands the whole time.  Talk about priceless!  I’ll have to download the pictures so I can show you!  The other fun thing was we had stopped in the printing store (they have a street of what it looked like back in the day with stores that are filled with stuff back then) there was a volunteer working and printing book marks.  He was explaining the whole process of what they had to do back then, Paul was asking him questions when all of a sudden he asked the volunteer if he had taught at Hudsonville High School.   He said yes, when Paul said I thought so.. you were my teacher!  What a small world!  They have fun talking about old times and probably could of talked longer had the kids not of wanted to go check out the other “stores”.

Then last night Kevin got to start back up with his Karate.  They had the last 2 weeks off due to the instructors being gone on vacation.  I had to admit it was kind of nice not having to take him twice a week to class, but once we were back in class you should of seen Kevin.  He was so slap happy, smiling and giggling all the time.  When I asked him about it on the way home he said he was just so happy to be back there.  Everyone seemed happy to be back! 

Today I ended up running up to Meijers to get some stuff for tomorrow (we have our annual family reunion up at Big Star Lake) and I ended up finding out that Meijers started putting most of their toys on clearance!  It must be they are starting to make room for all the new toys for Christmas!  So, since there was a whole aisle that was 50% off I decided now would be a good time to get some Christmas shopping done since the kids were home with Paul!  Needless to say I know Kevin will be really excited this year.  Of course I’m not sure if what I bought will be for Christmas or his birthday which is in November.  I was able to find a couple things for Katie, but most of the stuff I saw for her was only 25% off so I thought I would wait a little longer for those things.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this week.  What have you been up to?  Anything fun?

A couple weeks ago it was a little toasty outside and the kids wanted to squirt each other with the hose so I asked Paul if he would want to wash the car with the kids.  (That way he could kill 2 birds with one stone)  

While I was inside cleaning with the windows wide open I could hear Paul reminding the kids NOT squirt him while they were giggling.  I thought I would go out to see what was going on and needless to say I came back in the house all wet.  They were having the time of their life washing the car and squirting the water all over.   I was surprised after they had it looking all spiffy the kids didn’t want to make the inside look nice with some new car accessories, but I shouldn’t complain should I?

So today was another toasty day and what did Kevin request to Paul… that they clean my car again!  I guess driving on the dirt road to pick blueberries today got it a little dusty.   I think it was more they just wanted to spray him with that cold water all over again.

Can I just say I’m getting so sick of Paul being tired all the time. Over a year ago (more like 2) I finally got him to go into the doctor to see why he was always so tired. They ended up sending him off to do a sleep study and while he has a mild case of sleep apnea they didn’t think that was what was/is causing his lack of sleep.

Since then they have put him on every sleeping pill possible. Only one really seemed to work (Ambien CR) but once he said something to the doctor about how he was making food in the middle of the night and not remembering it, that his doctor took him off them and told him he couldn’t be on them anymore. (Guess to many people were cooking/driving while on them and getting seriously hurt) ;

It just stinks because that was the one pill that was able to shut his brain off as that’s why he doesn’t get a good nights sleep. He always has 2002 things going through his mind and he just lays there thinking about them all. Then when he does get to sleep, he can’t seem to get into a deep sleep.

I keep wondering if there is anything else that could help? I know he complains about the mattress so I wonder what if we ended up buying a sleep number bed if that would help him? I remember my old sales rep at Kent Rubber Supply had one and him and his wife swore by them, but at the time we didn’t want to spend that much money on a mattress. Now I wonder if we should of.

Of course I think sometimes he doesn’t get a good sleep is not only the hours he works (2pm-1am) but by the time he does get to bed the kids wake up a few hours later and it’s so hard to try and keep them quiet. I couldn’t tell you how many times I say “Shhh Daddy’s trying to sleep” ever morning!

If you or someone you know works 2nd shift, do you have a secret on how to get to sleep once you get home?

This weekend is going to be a busy, tiring weekend for Paul as he actually got asked to work overtime tonight and Saturday!  Working overtime tonight won’t be hard for him, but Saturday it will as he gets home from work at 1:30am Saturday morning and then has to be back in at 7:30am that same morning!  

At least it was his choice to come in early like, but sometimes it’s not the employee’s choice because his work will actually schedule guys to work nights one night, then days the next, then back to nights.  All I know is that reeks havoc on a person’s body.  No wonder why Paul has sleeping issues and has to be on sleeping pills just to be able to get to sleep when he gets home.

I would think when guys are working with hi-lo’s, car jacks and other equipment the best thing would be to have guys that are wide awake and alert, not dragging and wanting to find a place where they could just take a 15 minute cat nap.  Just a year or two ago one of Paul’s co-workers actually got pinned between a hi-low and skid full of food and got rushed to the hospital.  He ended being in there a LONG time and for awhile they didn’t know if he was going to make it or not. 

I always worry when Paul is at work if he is working with someone that is lacking sleep (or had been drinking as he said a lot of guys he works with does while they work) and might run into him.  When I was working (I worked in an office) I never thought to much of getting long term disability insurance as what would be the worse that could happen to me?   We have life insurance on Paul so if he passed away we would be ok, but what if he ended up getting hurt and was unable to work?  Then what?  Hopefully I would be able to find a job right away, but with the economy the way it is (especially here in Michigan with unemployment at 12.9%) I have no clue how long it would take me.  I bet it wouldn’t be long before our nest egg would be depleted especially since I’m sure there would be quite a few medical bills. 

Maybe that is another insurance we should consider looking into?  Do you have long term disability insurance?  If so, were you able to purchase it through your work at a discounted rate or did you shop around for it? 

The more I think about it, the more I’m thinking maybe it would be a wise idea for us to start seriously looking into it.  Especially since every once and awhile Paul does complain about his back.  (He “slings” groceries at a local warehouse… so it’s nothing to throw those heavy cases of orange juice, boxes of meat around all night long)

To the man I’l marry all over again.. 

my loving partner, my very best friend! 

I love you and Happy Anniversary!!

For the past Month, Paul had been on a voluntary lay off.  During that months time the kids got used to him being around and they really enjoyed their time with him.  (Of course most of the month we were on vacation) 

A little while ago Katie saw something out the window and wanted to tell Dad so she went screaming DAD!!  throughout the house.  Kevin told her that Dad went to work and you should of seen the look on her face.  It went from an exciting look as she wanted to tell Daddy something to heart break as she realized Daddy was around and won’t be home until tomorrow. 

She then looked out that same window and started yelling Daddy Come Back!!!   I can’t imagine how it will be tonight when it’s bedtime since for the past month he had been the one putting her to bed.    I know she will miss her story time at night with Daddy as I guess Daddy does better at that  than Mommy.   Thankfully Mommy can snuggle better than Daddy. 

I thought I figured out what Paul and the kids could get me for Christmas. I had received a free Zune (like and Ipod type thing) from Pepsi this fall and I really don’t care for the headphones as the one doesn’t seem to fit in my ear the best. So I thought maybe they could get me a new pair of headphones or better yet one of those docs you can put your Ipod/mp3 type player in that has speakers.

So I got on the treadmill this afternoon and told Paul that was what I was thinking of having them get me as I was just laying my zune down at full blast. He just looked at me and said why not plug in your computer speakers. I looked back at him with a whatever look, but thought I would try since we had an extra pair of speakers. So I go in the other room & pull them out to plug in my Zune and sure enough it worked! So now I can work out to the music I LOVE and that keeps me going without having to be wearing the headphones!

Now it’s back to the drawing board as to what to have them get me….