I can do this!!!!

I have been blessed with the ability to juggle the things in life that matter to me. Yes, it is possible to be a working mother, soccer mom, PTA mom, domestic housewife (yes, I clean my own house) and still have a social life. One of the things I struggle with most, is guilt. I think that having a job outside the home adds another layer to the guilt that every mom feels.
 I have really struggled with is finding a true mentor in my current work place - someone who I look at and think that I want to be exactly like her. In the field of nursing, that can be quite challenging but, at least I do know the type of woman that I want to be...she's not perfect, but she works hard. She is a good nurse, wife and mother. She honors the Lord in all she does and raises her kids with dignity and love. All of this comes with sacrifice.
I find it quite comical that people often approach me and ask me ‘how I do it all?’ I find it funny because a lot of people see the ‘calm, cool, collected’ me that has it all together when it comes to balancing motherhood and being a somewhat workaholic. How can people think that I do this so easily? Only my husband sees some of the frantic episodes that occur more frequently than you think. So I'm going to burst your bubble...I can’t always ‘do it all’, but instead I have found what works for me. Fulfilling my dreams to become a nurse came with many sacrifices. Some sacrifices were not a big deal and others were painful.
 How did I become OK with that you might ask? A lot of prayer! I am the first to admit that I can be one of the world's worst about taking things into my own hands instead of waiting for God's direction. I recently had one of these times...I leaned heavily on my own abilities and ended up frustrated. I did finally come to a point where I came on my knees to God, asking for his path for my life. I'll admit that the answer I got wasn't exactly what I expected, but God granted me with a true peace about it.
So when you see me working double shifts, getting up for boot camp at 0500am, volunteering at the kids school and rushing home to have dinner with my family…know that I am grateful for every minute of it.

Cleaning Tips You Haven't Heard Before

• The best way to dust blinds: Close them, then wipe up and down with an old dryer sheet. It'll create an antistatic barrier that helps prevent dust from building up again.Vinegar and water is a great deodorizer for a musty bathroom. Spray your shower down as you're getting out. It really absorbs the odors, and the smell of vinegar goes away in an hour.
• The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is your friend. It will cut your cleaning time in half for bathtubs, sinks, countertops, and dirty walls.
• To clean glass and mirrors, use coffee filters, not paper towels. They leave no streaks or lint — and they're cheap.
• Vacuuming bathroom mats is a nightmare. Toss them in the wash every week or two instead.
• A wet pumice stone will clean a dirty oven faster than any spray-on product.
• To damp-mop wood floors, use plain water or a water-based floor cleaner like Bona. Don't use vinegar. The acid in it will pit your polyurethane finish, can void your warranty, and may reduce shine over time.
• Seventh Generation dish liquid diluted with water is a great nontoxic all-purpose cleanser. Just put two squirts in a spray bottle and fill it with water.
• Our biggest secret weapon? A powdered product called Bar Keepers Friend. Use it on everything. Its active ingredient is rhubarb powder, which really cuts through grit and grime. It cleans glass-top stoves, counters, toilets, porcelain and more. Your sink will never be shinier.
• To clean your microwave oven, microwave a cup of water with some baking soda in it until it's boiling. That eliminates odors and makes it super easy to wipe away all that stuck-on stuff.
• Clean cobwebs with a yardstick covered by a tube sock. That also works for cleaning under stoves and refrigerators.
• Shine your bathroom tiles with lemon oil. It also helps prevent mold and mildew.
• To eliminate that ring in your toilet, drop in a bubbling denture tablet, and leave it for at least 30 minutes or overnight. The stain will come off with just a few swishes of the brush.

Sources: Torrey Shannon, former maid service owner in Westcliffe, Colorado; Lynette Haugen, owner of True Blue Maids of Pasadena; Tangela Ekhoff, a housecleaner in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Theresa Peterson, owner of Quality Cleaning "Maid to Order" in Fremont, California; Dee Strickland, owner of A Zing Zap Cleaning Service in Minneola, Florida.

The night shift

Lots of people don't like working night shifts. It makes you nocturnal, you miss out everything because you're comatose in bed, and sometimes people mistake your pasty skin for really bad makeup. For me, it’s a love/hate relationship.

I love the night shift staff, I love the ability to sleep in until 11am and get away with it on any given day.

There are, however, some things that make me wonder if I'm a little bit jacked in the head from working all these nights. Like this morning. I came home after 2 nights in a row of night shifts (after being on days for over a year), and was seriously craving for some waffles. I was so tired and really want to go to bed...but those waffles needed to come first.

There I was, standing at the counter with my toaster oven trying to stay awake. I’m still in my scrubs, I need to shower…. I really should...I could...but I don't.

Finally, my waffles are done, I sit on the couch, put on last nights’ Real Housewives of New Jersey, and begin to chow. I don’t care that I still have my scrubs on nor do I care about what could be on them after a 12 hour shift in Labor & Delivery! I was hungry and tired.
I don’t even know at what point I fell asleep but I was awakened by the sound of the garbage trucks taking my trash.
And guess what? Yep, my lovely waffles are now stuck in my hair, on my face, and on my beautiful 12 hour worn scrubs. Somehow I managed to keep it from getting on the couch, what a relief!
It’s not until I look in the mirror and laugh, that I shrug my shoulders, throw my arms in the air and say whatever!
I'm full, ten minutes from a carb coma, gotta work again tonight, and I'm going to bed.

I love/hate night shift.

A letter for my kids: an apology

Dear Sydney, Naty, & Ethan,
Yes, I could have continued to just ‘stay at home’ but this family has one thing that many families don't: the eagerness to accomplish anything we set our minds to. When I got accepted into nursing school, love & support is the very least that I received from you all. This last year has been full of sacrifices from everyone around me, mostly you. At times I felt as though I was the only one going through the rocky times so, I just want you to know that I take full responsibility for the bumps in the road and promise to get things back t normal (if there is such a thing!)
I’m sorry for the mornings I wasn’t there to make your lunch and kiss you goodbye in front of the school. I’m sorry for the dinner plans that rotated around McDonalds or Chik-fil-a. I’m sorry for the mornings you woke me up instead of the other way around. I’m sorry for the last-minute book reports and projects that were forgotten. I’m sorry for the field trips and competitions and sports days that I wasn’t there to be a part of and to cheer you on. I’m sorry for the cupcakes I couldn’t bring, the cookies I didn’t bake and the class parties I couldn’t make. I’m sorry for the times I bought gifts to keep you busy instead of spending the time with you that I should have. I’m sorry for the times I yelled or snapped at you for minor things. I’m sorry that I projected my anger and frustration onto you way too many times. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the mother I should have been over these past months, that I had to focus so much of my attention school and exams. I hope you know that although it might have felt differently, I love you all more than anything in the world. I am thankful every day for the privilege of being your mother and I could not have gotten more perfect children. I pray that someday you will understand what happened during this time and that you will be forgiving of the many upsets and mistakes that were made. Mostly, I just pray that you always know how much you are loved.
I will make it up to you, that I can promise you.
Love,
Mommy, RN

Must Not Stress

Today I was lost in thought about the hundred little things that had to be done before Monday!

The ever-growing list of "must do items" was overwhelming.

The laundry. It looks like a small bomb went off in the laundry room. The pantry is overflowing with all of my recent coupon deals and needs some serious organization, it's Labor Day weekend and I must get a list together for a BBQ we are going to, I have items waiting for me at the dry cleaners and I have two overdue movies from blockbuster that seriously need to be returned, and don't even get me started on the garage.

This year I volunteered to help out at the kids school, made myself available to work 2 days a week, and joined a mom group. It’s crazy, every time my iPhone goes ping ping new message I jump! ughhhh

As these thoughts seemed to take over when, I told myself to consider the things that I did today that really matter.

Today, I have a son that has developed a love for sports and always keeps me on my toes, a daughter who is adjusting very well to middle school and making tons of friends, another daughter who is almost out of her braces and a great asset to her soccer team and, a hot Starbucks in my hand and a new found addiction to Twitter.

Laundry, lists, party planning, PTA, will eventually get done. It always does.

So, tonight I will turn my phone off, make some hot chocolate and have a game of scrabble while my Hubby's is distracted by Football. I confess it is the only way I can beat him.

I must be getting old because this kind of day, it thrills me to no end.

Back To School

I must admit I get excited about the notion of shopping for school supplies. It takes me back to the days when my mom would take us shopping in my small hometown. We’d stroll through aisles of neatly stacked workbooks and the whole place smelled of paper and pencil shavings and pristine erasers and held the promise of new beginnings, new friends to make, new things to learn, and new ways to avoid eating cafeteria food.

There was only one store we would go to but back to school shopping is just not that simple any more. Last year I hit three super stores, two pharmacies, and four office supply stores in search of every last item on the list. By the time we made it to the checkout line at each store I found myself flustered at the shortage of Fiskars scissors or 10 cent glue sticks. After getting completely burned out on shopping for school supplies last year, somehow I managed to miss the end-of-the year sign up for pre-packaged school supply packs. Seriously, is there a worse time to send out announcements than May when you’ve already OD’d on field trip forms, permission slips, and other announcements related to end of school year festivities? Besides, I really think that back to school shopping is a tradition, one that marks the end of summer and the start of new beginnings.

Take it from me, shopping for school supplies is not as memorable as you recall from your own childhood but, I still can't bring myself to buy the pre-paid packages. That takes all the fun out of this frustrating but fun shopping experience.

Just Another Manic Monday

I had everything ready for our first day back to school from winter break. The kids clothes was layed out and snacks were packed. The sound of coffee brewing was my morning sountrack. Everything went according to my plan, until it was time to head out the door. Ofcourse, at that time, I realize that someone hasn't brushed their teeth, someone could't find a shoe, and another someone couldn't find their library book.
So instead of being as organized as I so desperatley want to be, today turned out to be another normal chaotic morning.
Lately I feel like it is a crazy chaotic mess, offset by small clusters I have organized in an attempt to regain control. Like a pair of old shoes, it is scuffed. I find myself continually frustrated as I once again step on a Lego, and gather up stray shoes, cups, and make repeated pleas to the girls to pick up after themselves.
But..... it is home.
Finally I get the kids out the door being only a few minutes off schedule, and I sigh in relief.
Today was my busy, manic Monday. Yoga in the morning, followed by grocery shopping, lunch with a friend, and (hopefully) an afternoon nap. Running late was not ann option!
My life is an unpredictable series of comedies in error, incidents of unknown origin, and fly by the seat of my pants parenting.
I am slowly learning to embrace the chaos because it means I have a house full of life, love, and not to mention dirty laundry:)

Super(mom)stitions

So, it's Friday the 13th and it feels like any other day.
I laugh at the belief that Friday the 13th brings bad luck. In fact, I open umbrellas indoors, walk under ladders, and occasionally I break a mirror. See, I'm not superstitious at all!
But then I got to thinking(which usually spells trouble)and realized that if I'm brutally honest with myself, I do have some superstitions of my own.
The bed has to be made before I get in it or I won’t be able to sleep. Makes sense, right?

My kids clothes have to be put away neatly or we will run late. That’s a given. I must change the toilet paper roll or before it gets completely empty or the next person (????) will not be able to change it. And my VERY favorite.....if you ignore the problem, it will NOT go away.
Happy Friday the 13th everyone =)

Losing Time

The kids are in full swing at school and I already feel like we just re-boarded the runaway freight train we hopped off at the end of the last school year.
I usually get a week or so out of the new year before I feel like that.
What can I do to get on track again?
I think I just need to get into a routine again and out of some bad evening habits.
That routine will probably involve me actually folding and putting away laundry more than once a month.
And, dinner. Turns out the kids, indeed, require dinner every night.
Hmmm, just trying to figure out how to get on top of things before the school year gets too far underway.
It's going to take a few days of getting some things organized and a couple of evenings of making out our daily schedules, and I'll be good to go.
Hey, then I can also use that spare time to catch up on some of my favorite tv shows, organize my photos and scrapbook or just simply get some more sleep.