KID, HOUSE, FUNDRAISING - this is my life

COLBY:  Doing great, thank goodness. Although I must say, since turning 13 a couple of weeks ago he does seem to have a bit more P&V to his attitude. I notice more eye rolling, more disgusted-you're-such-a-dork Mom looks. He's still my sweet boy though and always will be. And that's not a typo. Colby Michael is now 13 years old! I can scarcely believe it. We didn't have a big blowout family party this year. On his actual bday we took him to see Ant Man (that's what he chose.) Week before last we took him to a play, Peter Pan. Then last week I arranged for his high school buddies to go bowling with him. I was pleasantly surprised that all 4 of them wanted to go! They are wonderful young men, very good with Colby. Every time it was Colby's turn to bowl, all 4 of them got up and helped him. It was awesome to watch for sure. Colby starts school tomorrow. Don't think he's overly thrilled about it, but that's tough crapola. We're going to try to extend his school day this year an extra 25 minutes. This will help compensate for him missing school on Tuesdays for swimming. We'll see, all we can do is try. Might be too hard on him and he might get too tired.

HOUSE:  Happy to report good forward progress on the "get us out of this stupid tiny apartment and into a beautiful new house" project! It has been a flurry of activity at the house over the last week or so. Outside work includes siding and soffits repaired, new gutters hung and most of the old ramp removed to make room for a new deck and ramp. There were only 2 of us working on the ramp demo. I don't know how much help I was, but hey I tried. We worked 3 hours and were able to get all the boards taken down and hauled in the dumpster, along with taking out 3 of the 9 posts that are set in concrete. Super hard, put your back into it, sweaty work, but well worth it. Now if we can come up with an easier way to remove those posts, we'll be in business to start work on the new deck and ramp. Inside work recently is foam insulation sprayed, fireplace installed and hopefully, fingers and toes crossed, drywall starts this week! I've also been picking out paint colors, tile colors and patterns, etc. You know, the girly fun stuff. I want the drywall started so badly I can hardly stand it. Come on fellas, let's get 'er done over there.

FUNDRAISING:  And of course we continue with our fundraising efforts to pay for this beautiful new home for Colby and me. I'm excited to be hosting a doTERRA essential oils class/fundraiser this Thursday at 7PM. This is a 1-hour class to educate you on the benefits of incorporating essential oils in your life. One hour, that's it. Show up, learn about these wonderful products, have dessert, socialize a bit. Order if you want. My BFF Christina is a doTERRA consultant and she is donating 100% of her proceeds from this class to our house fund. Very generous of her, and I appreciate it so much. If you can make it Thursday, can't wait to see you! If you can't make it but are interested in placing an order or want more information on the fantastic-ness of essential oils, let me know.

Time to take kid swimming. He didn't get to go last Tuesday because I had to work. So I know he's chomping at the bit to get in that pool. More soon. Peace out, bros.

TUESDAY'S TALK - it is Tuesday, right?!

Colby only has 8 more days until he starts back to school. What the what?! Many school systems in this area have been back for well over a week now. Those people are probably like, shut up chick, we started school in July! I feel like Colby hasn't had much of a summer. Much of it had to do with the weather. It was either pouring down rain or so humid it put his breathing in danger, so that left the walking bridge, zoo, other outdoor activites out of the equation. Plus I have worked several extra days this summer. Gotta make that money, money, baby needs a new pair of closet doors! I'm working Sun, Mon, Tues and Wed this week while my boss is frolicking on her Hawaiian vaca. But I'm not jealous or bitter or anything like that. While she's hiking, sunbathing and having dinner dates, there's nothing I'd rather be doing than an extremely mind-numbing, monotonous, pill-packing job in the basement of a hospital parking garage. Actually it hasn't been that bad. My boss also happens to be my BFF, and I'm really happy she gets this vacation. She has been working full time and going back to school full time to get her degree for the last couple of years now. She deserves this R&R. Once we get moved and settled into the house, I'm going to start saving for some type of vaca for Colby and me. Everyone needs a change in scenery sometimes.

I haven't talked much about the house lately because there hasn't been much going on. I understand why and that this is how construction works. But I'm still frustrated. I couldn't even get up there much to do anything. I recently fired a nurse, leaving many open shifts, leaving me unable to go up there. Colby can't be in the house right now. There are boards, HVAC stuff, other various construction materials lying around everywhere. And, there's a big ole fireplace sitting right in the middle of the living room floor. That fireplace does not fit in the fireplace hole the framer made. (insert pissed-off-looking emoji). The GOOD NEWS is that the insulation starts today. Hooray!! That's progress, wonderful, forward progress. After that of course we can move on to drywall. Then the house will really start taking shape, and I'll be able to chill out a bit. Kitchen cabinets and counter tops were ordered last week. We're going this week to pick out bathroom vanities. Time to get the ball rolling and get this house done so we can move ASAP.

And geez, I can't imagine why I would want to move. A few weeks ago I turned on the ceiling fan/light above the kitchen table and smoke started rolling out. Literally, it started smoking. Maintenance came and fixed that. Yesterday and today we have no hot water. Cold water, yes, hot water, none. According to the memo they sent out, there was a “boiler emergency” and they have to wait for parts. Should be fixed sometime today. Soooo, how am I supposed to get ready for work? Guess I can heat up some water and wash up in the bathroom sink. Who am I, Laura Ingalls? Where am I, Walnut Grove, Minnesota? Geez. But the best, the absolute best, was when our AC went out last month. I called them on a Tuesday. Took them 3 attempts and 6 days to get it fixed. They brought over some old, stinky window unit for us to use that weekend. It had no knobs so you had to use a pair of pliers to use the knobs. Don't get me wrong, I was thankful to have it. But it was freezing cold in Colby's room and stuffy and warm in the rest of the apartment. Yeah, I'm really going to miss this place when we move. NOT!!!!

Don't forget about our fundraisers! Basically we're doing new construction on the house and man, ain't nothing cheap! If you are interested in essential oils and how they can improve your overall health, I encourage you to contact me about the doTERRA essential oil class/fundraiser I'm having next week. My friend Christina is a doTERRA consultant and is donating 100% of the proceeds from this fundraiser to our house fund. 100%! So if you use oils and are running low, we can set you up with a reorder. If you're wondering about what all the buzz is about with the recent essential oil craze, come to this class. I love my doTERRA oils, and you will, too.

We're also having a yard sale in late September/early October. Start saving your junk, I mean treasures for us. We'll come pick up your stuff! Taking donations now! We're pricing items as they come in so we won't be so rushed and crazy right before the yard sale.

Day nurse isn't getting here until 1:00 today, so I need to start getting Colby up for the day. Happy Tuesday everyone. Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

DOING BETTER - I GOT THIS – I THINK

Yes, I've been a little down lately. Down, but NOT defeated. So how has this week been you ask? Pretty darn busy. That's how I usually say all our weeks are, but it's oh so true. Monday I worked. Tuesday we took Colby swimming. Tuesdays are bath night, too. Wednesday we took Colby to the matinee at Derby Dinner Playhouse to see Peter Pan as part of his birthday present. Neither of us had ever been. It was good, I think Colby liked the play. But man, that is a long day. We ate lunch, then there were 2 intermissions during the play. We didn't get home until 4:00. Thursday was a more laid back day, housework for me. Friday the nurse and I took Colby for a “real” hair cut at Great Clips. I mean come on, he's a teenager now and needs something better than the hack job I've been doing on his head for the last couple of years. Not much going on today. We have a new nurse here now. She's doing pretty good, but so help me, if she calls my son Cody one more time, there just might be some throat punching go down.

August is SMA Awareness Month. So, for the next 31 days I'll be sharing various crappy facts and lots of information on SMA. My family and close circle of friends have been familiarized with this sucky disorder to some extent for quite some time now. Know me, know SMA. But maybe I can teach somebody something new. Any information I share may convince someone to donate to research, which hopefully soon will lead to an effective treatment or even better, a CURE. Look at the green fact below - 1 out of 40 people carry the recessive gene that causes SMA. Think about that the next time you're at a ballgame, or church, or the movies, or anywhere there is a crowd of people. Start counting heads, and count to 40. In that group, 1 of those people has the SMA gene. Count another 40 people, again, 1 person in that group is an SMA carrier. And so on and so forth. YOU could be a carrier and not know it. I certainly didn't know I was. Colby's dad didn't know he was. He has 3 other perfectly healthy children older than Colby. Not trying to scare you - just something to think about. More fascinating SMA facts to come.