Okay, I broke down and asked my boss at the daycare if she'd be willing to let me work "full time" so that I could earn the money that I'm in need of...
she was more than willing!! She's also a friend of mine, so I really didn't think that she'd tell me no. Since I don't have the state mandated 45 hour training classes done (that you need in order to work in a child-care facility) she has put me in the kitchen. I get to be the daycare cook... which is very good for the ego! Every day I am hearing "wow, this is the best hamburger I've ever eaten" or "I've never had spaghetti as good as this" and my favorite "I usually hate this stuff, but you make it taste really good". All I am doing is opening the box of hamburgers and baking them... (yum) or pouring ragu sauce over some spaghetti noodles... it's not rocket science, it's something that they could do themselves... but somehow, when I'm cooking it, it's the best, the greatest, the most wonderful tasting food they've ever had! LOL Kids are so funny!!!
Here's what I am doing: I go in at 9:30 am, 3 days of the week... and it's my job to cook lunch for the entire daycare. THEN after giving a couple of breaks to teachers in their classrooms, I head off to pick up my daughter from school. I get her home, get her homework finished and then she and I head back to the daycare to work the closing shift. She helps me do much of the end of the day cleaning and tidying up (she's a really big help! and because she does such a good job, I give her a "paycheck" also when I get mine... that's makes her super D duper happy!).
two days each week, I start at 8am (right after I drop my daughter off at school) so that I can still do the grocery shopping for both daycare centers... and after I pick my daughter up from school, we go to another grocery store (those same two days) to finish the shopping at the other grocery store we purchase from.... so on these two days we add about 3 hours onto my workday.
then after I get off of work, I get to go home and try to get dinner ready for my parents and the two of us... then it's bath, brush teeth and bedtime stories (for my daughter)... now that we are working until 6:30 (or later, occasionally) she's getting to bed later than usual. So she's been tired in the mornings... her bedtime is normally 7:30.
I'm also super tired in the mornings, even though I am actually getting more sleep now that I normally do... it's strange. I've been sleep deprived for about 5 years now and now that I'm actually getting more sleep (a bit more than usual... going to bed at 11pm rather than 2 or 3 am) I'm feeling worse than I did when I was barely getting any sleep. How is that possible? Is my body saying "ooohhh... I remember sleep, give me more of it!"
I'm hoping that eventually I will get caught up and this feeling will subside... but if it doesn't then maybe I need to try to get into bed when I put my daughter into bed... perhaps that will help.
Another added benefit to this job, is that I'm getting a pretty good workout in the afternoons when I'm there doing the cleaning. I've lost a bit of weight - this is going on 3 weeks now that I've been doing this and I'm down about 7 lbs. Sure, on it's own it doesn't seem like much - but I'm hoping that in another couple of months I can tell you it's 30 lbs or so... that WILL seem like much! :o)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Got sinus issues?? I did!
For the past month or more, I've been suffering from sinus headaches. I've taken more than my share of sinus medications, all of which give a VERY minimal relief to me. (and I mean VERY VERY minimal!)
A friend of mine told me about something called a "Netty Pot" which is a little kettle that you fill with a saline solution - which you then stick up your nose and pour the solution UP into your nose. Yeah. I had the same reaction that you just had when you read this... ICK!! NO way was I going to pour water UP MY NOSE!
I always hated when I got water in my nose when I was swimming... why would I now do it on purpose?!
Okay... after several days of a particularly bad headache, I caved and purchased one of these horrible little things. I carefully read the instructions, mixed their little solution with warm water... stuck the nozzle right up my nose, tilted my head and began pouring.
OMG!
You know that feeling... when you jump into the pool and don't breathe out... or you accidentally breathe in... the water in your nose awful feeling... I suffered through it...
after just a moment, it didn't annoy me as much...
then it started just feeling weird (and weird I can handle!)...
then it was actually kinda cool... cuz when you pour the saline solution in one nostril, it runs through your sinuses and then comes OUT the other nostril.
By the time the little pot was empty - I was almost happy to start again with the other nostril...
of course, that's when the sneezing began.
okay, you've just poured over a cup of water into your nose... some of it is still running out... picture me, saline solution dripping out of my nose, sneezing like a crazy person, rushing around trying to find my tissues. Of course, they were nowhere to be found. I ended up just using toilet paper to blow my nose. WOW there was still a LOT of water still up there! ( Note to self: find tissues before using netty pot. )
Okay... after going through it the second time with the other nostril (all of it, even the running around looking for tissue part! Yeah, I'm a dope)... I can assure that it actually worked.
I've had a sinus headache for so long that I almost forgot what it felt like to NOT have one... right now, about an hour after using that silly little netty pot, my headache is completely gone.
I highly recommend this little horrifying thing to anyone who has troubles with their sinuses.
so... go buy one. If only for the experience of putting water up your nose ON PURPOSE.
Below is a recipe for the saline solution that you use in the netty pot. You can always buy the little packets that came with your netty pot, but they are quite expensive for what they really are... especially when it's very simple to make your own.
The Saline Solution Recipe:
**Carefully clean and rinse a 1-quart glass jar. Fill the clean jar with distilled water.
**Add 2 or 3 heaping teaspoons of "pickling/canning" salt. DO NOT use table salt, which has unwanted additives, nor sea salt. You can ask for pickling/canning salt at the grocery store.
**Add 1 rounded teaspoon of baking soda (pure bicarbonate).
**Stir or shake before each use. Store at roome temperature.
After a week, pour out any mixture that is left over, run the jar through the dishwasher and make a new recipe.
If the mixture seems too strong, use less salt - - try 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt. For children it is best to start with a weaker salt solution. Then gradually increase to using 2 to 3 heaping teaspoons of salt, or whatever the child will accept.
Warm in microwave to body temperature for nose wash - take a few seconds only. make sure it is not too hot!
A friend of mine told me about something called a "Netty Pot" which is a little kettle that you fill with a saline solution - which you then stick up your nose and pour the solution UP into your nose. Yeah. I had the same reaction that you just had when you read this... ICK!! NO way was I going to pour water UP MY NOSE!
I always hated when I got water in my nose when I was swimming... why would I now do it on purpose?!
Okay... after several days of a particularly bad headache, I caved and purchased one of these horrible little things. I carefully read the instructions, mixed their little solution with warm water... stuck the nozzle right up my nose, tilted my head and began pouring.
OMG!
You know that feeling... when you jump into the pool and don't breathe out... or you accidentally breathe in... the water in your nose awful feeling... I suffered through it...
after just a moment, it didn't annoy me as much...
then it started just feeling weird (and weird I can handle!)...
then it was actually kinda cool... cuz when you pour the saline solution in one nostril, it runs through your sinuses and then comes OUT the other nostril.
By the time the little pot was empty - I was almost happy to start again with the other nostril...
of course, that's when the sneezing began.
okay, you've just poured over a cup of water into your nose... some of it is still running out... picture me, saline solution dripping out of my nose, sneezing like a crazy person, rushing around trying to find my tissues. Of course, they were nowhere to be found. I ended up just using toilet paper to blow my nose. WOW there was still a LOT of water still up there! ( Note to self: find tissues before using netty pot. )
Okay... after going through it the second time with the other nostril (all of it, even the running around looking for tissue part! Yeah, I'm a dope)... I can assure that it actually worked.
I've had a sinus headache for so long that I almost forgot what it felt like to NOT have one... right now, about an hour after using that silly little netty pot, my headache is completely gone.
I highly recommend this little horrifying thing to anyone who has troubles with their sinuses.
so... go buy one. If only for the experience of putting water up your nose ON PURPOSE.
Below is a recipe for the saline solution that you use in the netty pot. You can always buy the little packets that came with your netty pot, but they are quite expensive for what they really are... especially when it's very simple to make your own.
The Saline Solution Recipe:
**Carefully clean and rinse a 1-quart glass jar. Fill the clean jar with distilled water.
**Add 2 or 3 heaping teaspoons of "pickling/canning" salt. DO NOT use table salt, which has unwanted additives, nor sea salt. You can ask for pickling/canning salt at the grocery store.
**Add 1 rounded teaspoon of baking soda (pure bicarbonate).
**Stir or shake before each use. Store at roome temperature.
After a week, pour out any mixture that is left over, run the jar through the dishwasher and make a new recipe.
If the mixture seems too strong, use less salt - - try 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt. For children it is best to start with a weaker salt solution. Then gradually increase to using 2 to 3 heaping teaspoons of salt, or whatever the child will accept.
Warm in microwave to body temperature for nose wash - take a few seconds only. make sure it is not too hot!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Update on my mother
As it turns out, they've decided that she had a stroke during the procedure... she has FEELING in her right leg, but she cannot move it... she's got no control over it.
Just last night they located a spot for her to do some rehab and physical therapy, so they moved her to a new (closer) location. My daughter and I went to visit her - but of course, my daughter only wanted to play with grampa. "Hi Gramma, Grampa can we go for a walk around the hospital?" (that's pretty much how it went)
AND my daughter wrote me this cute little love letter at school today, (it's posted in a separate post) and as she was pulling it out of her backpack she said "Momma, I made you a valentine letter but I'm gonna show it to gramma" then she handed it to my mother. My mother read it and started crying... even though it very obviously wasn't for her... and my daughter even SAID just before she handed it to her that it was for me... and my mother told my father to put it in her address book because she wanted to save it.
As we were leaving, I asked my mother if I could have the letter so that I could take it home and scan it... then I'd send it back to the hospital with my dad tomorrow... she opened it up and read it again, then she handed it to me. So, luckily I at least get to have a "copy" of the letter!!
We are still enjoying the nice quiet house, now my father will be able to come home in the evenings (instead of sleeping in a chair in the hospital room) which makes us all very happy (especially my daughter!). I'm actually starting to sleep a little bit better (a little) with the house so quiet in the evenings... and no stress of worrying what's going to set off my mother "this time"
I'm still jobless... but still looking...
Just last night they located a spot for her to do some rehab and physical therapy, so they moved her to a new (closer) location. My daughter and I went to visit her - but of course, my daughter only wanted to play with grampa. "Hi Gramma, Grampa can we go for a walk around the hospital?" (that's pretty much how it went)
AND my daughter wrote me this cute little love letter at school today, (it's posted in a separate post) and as she was pulling it out of her backpack she said "Momma, I made you a valentine letter but I'm gonna show it to gramma" then she handed it to my mother. My mother read it and started crying... even though it very obviously wasn't for her... and my daughter even SAID just before she handed it to her that it was for me... and my mother told my father to put it in her address book because she wanted to save it.
As we were leaving, I asked my mother if I could have the letter so that I could take it home and scan it... then I'd send it back to the hospital with my dad tomorrow... she opened it up and read it again, then she handed it to me. So, luckily I at least get to have a "copy" of the letter!!
We are still enjoying the nice quiet house, now my father will be able to come home in the evenings (instead of sleeping in a chair in the hospital room) which makes us all very happy (especially my daughter!). I'm actually starting to sleep a little bit better (a little) with the house so quiet in the evenings... and no stress of worrying what's going to set off my mother "this time"
I'm still jobless... but still looking...
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Multimedia message
Sorry this is sideways! It's a cell phone picture...
We took a walk around the block and she started picking up the wild "potato's" that we were seeing everywhere. She got so many that she had to use her sweater to carry them. She was so proud of how many she found!! (she would have gotten even more if I hadn't told her that she had enough and wasn't allowed to pick up any more)
Friday, January 30, 2009
As many of you know, I currently work for a local daycare doing their grocery shopping for them. (I get the milk and baby food and all of the breakfast and lunch ingredients, etc) This taks all of about 4 hours each week... paychecks are a miserable amount!!
SO! I've been looking for a job for months now... with no luck. (read previous posts for THAT story!)
Well... a month or so ago one of the managers (at one of the stores I shop at for the daycare) was complaining about one of his employees. She's unreliable, lazy... hates to work, etc. I jokingly said to him "You should hire me, I'm reliable and hard-working" then he said "you already have a job" I told him about how little hours I put in for the daycare... and after a little more chit chat, he finally said "I just hired a bunch of new people, but by February most of them will have quit - they are young and don't seem very reliable"
Well, last week when I came into the store for my weekly shopping visit - he approached me in the cereal isle and asked me "Can you work weekends?" This was the first thing he said to me... didn't give me a "Hi, how are you today" or any of the usual greetings.... so I was a bit taken aback by his "Can you work weekends" question. So I asked him why and he explained about one of the girls who always had some excuse as to why she couldn't work her full shift, or couldn't come in at all... he was going to be transferring her to another store. He said that once he did, he'd have an opening for a cashier. He gave me a website to visit to do an "online" interview - which was a series of questions you had to answer... apparently if you answer them correctly, you get a call from one of the managers to come in for a face-to-face interview.
I did the thing online and a few days later went back into the store... the manager went back and pulled up my info and said he needed about a week or so... he was still working through the employee transfer.
SO! If you are a praying person, I'd appreciate some prayers thrown up for me. This job would be perfect. It's during the day (when my daughter is in school) and even though I still have to put her into the 'after-care" at school, it would only be for just over an hour. And although the job would requre that I work weekends, it's not EVERY weekend. They rotate the weekends between the three daytime cashiers. I've got quite a few people who have already volunteered to help out with my daughter on those weekends. (plus I can ask both sets of grandparents - so I'm not real worried about the weekends)
I am concerned about how my little squirt is going to react to the need for her to go into after-care in the afternoons, she's never had to do that before... hopefully it will be a smooth transition.
SO! I've been looking for a job for months now... with no luck. (read previous posts for THAT story!)
Well... a month or so ago one of the managers (at one of the stores I shop at for the daycare) was complaining about one of his employees. She's unreliable, lazy... hates to work, etc. I jokingly said to him "You should hire me, I'm reliable and hard-working" then he said "you already have a job" I told him about how little hours I put in for the daycare... and after a little more chit chat, he finally said "I just hired a bunch of new people, but by February most of them will have quit - they are young and don't seem very reliable"
Well, last week when I came into the store for my weekly shopping visit - he approached me in the cereal isle and asked me "Can you work weekends?" This was the first thing he said to me... didn't give me a "Hi, how are you today" or any of the usual greetings.... so I was a bit taken aback by his "Can you work weekends" question. So I asked him why and he explained about one of the girls who always had some excuse as to why she couldn't work her full shift, or couldn't come in at all... he was going to be transferring her to another store. He said that once he did, he'd have an opening for a cashier. He gave me a website to visit to do an "online" interview - which was a series of questions you had to answer... apparently if you answer them correctly, you get a call from one of the managers to come in for a face-to-face interview.
I did the thing online and a few days later went back into the store... the manager went back and pulled up my info and said he needed about a week or so... he was still working through the employee transfer.
SO! If you are a praying person, I'd appreciate some prayers thrown up for me. This job would be perfect. It's during the day (when my daughter is in school) and even though I still have to put her into the 'after-care" at school, it would only be for just over an hour. And although the job would requre that I work weekends, it's not EVERY weekend. They rotate the weekends between the three daytime cashiers. I've got quite a few people who have already volunteered to help out with my daughter on those weekends. (plus I can ask both sets of grandparents - so I'm not real worried about the weekends)
I am concerned about how my little squirt is going to react to the need for her to go into after-care in the afternoons, she's never had to do that before... hopefully it will be a smooth transition.
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