Summer is here!!!

Yay!! Summer is here!! Summer is here!!!
Wha? Whaddayamean summer is almost OVER!?!?
Today was our last day of therapy for a MONTH...our last swim class for a month and now I get to spend lazy mornings with my kids, NOT driving all over town strapping and unstrapping kids to car seats and I now feel like the summer has started...

We weren't (read: couldn't afford) going to take a vacation but we were in luck as my mother in law had two extra free holiday tickets which are provided by the government to those with a low income every other year... So for very, very, very little money (ridiculously little) we will be going away for a whole week at the end of the month.
I am really looking forward to that although I am looking at a mountain of work to finish before I am able to go away for a week.

In other news, John got a virus and on Sunday he was running a 101 fever with no other symptoms. It lasted 24hrs and it was gone... then on Tuesday some time in the am, *I* was running a 101 fever only I felt like a truck had hit me.
I was incapacitated on Wednesday (can I get a "thank God for mother in laws who live next block!?) but I feel much better today.
And tonight John rushed to the toilet right after I had given him his bath and he had blowout diarrhea all over my bathroom floor. Niiiiice.. (not!)
Then I had the same over the last couple of days so... VIRUS... AGAIN!!
Seriously!! STOP IT!!!
I hate being sick and I am too busy to be sick!! So QUIT IT ALREADY!!
Geez....

So uhm... yeah... that's pretty much it for now..
I am looking forward to a quiet weekend!!!
Until next time!
T.

Ben & Jerry's not TOM & Jerry!!!

Saturday morning is usually the day I do the main grocery shopping which includes detergents and edibles for most of the week.
I am a little geeky when it comes to meat and veggies; I want to buy them on the day or the next tops so I do a lot of meat and veggie shopping during the week. Oh! And Milk too… I get milk 2-3 times a week.
So yesterday, in the heat wave (43 Celsius! Yikes!) I was very comfy in my all new, A/C Car while I drove with John in his car seat behind me, to the super market. I found quite a few bargains including trainers for the boys (leather!!) for only 3 Euros!! Last few pieces and I managed to get a size up for each boy in hopes they will wear these in the Fall and Winter at school.
I also picked up a few accessories for the car because yes, I am THAT geeky… I got a new car and naturally I need the bells and whistles… I got a flashlight and a phone charger for my Nokia since the car comes with an outlet especially for charging your phone. Of course since I don’t smoke, the lighter in the car is useless for me so I could charge the phone there but imagine if I DID smoke… oh the horror of not having the lighter because the f’ing phone was charging! But I digress… so we got to do our shopping and just as I was dreading the mile long queue at the checkout I see it… a freezer filled with Ben and Jerry’s, with a beam of heavenly light shinning right on it and angels singing and playing their little harps. And then I heard God’s voice as he instructed me get me a tub of Chunky Monkey!
Having lived abroad I know B&J’s… my husband (and about 90% of the Greek population) have NO idea…
Which is why when I got home and told hubby: “Honey! Guess what? I got shoes for the boys for next to nothing!! They had awesome sales and Oh! I picked us up some Ben and Jerry’s!!”
And my husband naturally replied “Great honey. Just pop it in the DVD..”
I stood there and blinked a few times in confusion… then it hit me!
“No honey! Not TOM and Jerry!!” naturally my husband thought I had found a bargain Tom and Jerry DVD for the boys…
After lunch, I made ice cream cones… Hubby eyed it warily… Then took a small lick of the banana goodness and grimaced… “What IS this?” he asked smacking his lips in disbelief.
I felt hurt!!! It’s Ben and Jerry’s!!! Only THE best ice cream EVER!!!
Two minutes later and while I was preparing my own cone I heard him say… “Make me another one! This stuff is GOOD!!”
Ha! Another convert… Looking forward to the other 99 flavors to come to Greece (we are limited to 5 right now!!)

Gearing up for baby!

I want another baby... we want another baby.

The reaction to these news is usually one of eye wide disbelief...
What do you mean you want another baby? You have two of them already!
Or, you can't even handle the two you have, why would you want another?
Or, you had the pregnancy from Hell and the recovery from the Abyss, why would you go through that again?

And you are all right... it's difficult, it's painful but... my family feels incomplete. Ever since I got the boys all I could think of was how one day they will be big brothers.
I didn't feel ready before but now I do... For a long time I tried t convince myself I did not in fact want another baby... I didn't need another baby, I had enough on my plate. I am raising twins and it has been extra hard with the boys' speacial needs etc.
But I am now 100% sure I do in fact want and need just one more baby... is this greed?
When I was struggling with my infertility, I prayed and asked for ONE baby... and God being all gracious took pity on me and He gave me TWO... and now here I am again, on my knees asking for one MORE baby... and I am not sure what the answer will be :(

I do know I don't want to go through the medicated route again so I will take the "prayer and hope for the best" route... God showed me the way last time by (literally) guiding me to my RE and I prayer He will show me the way again, hopefully this time circumventing the RE ;)

So yeah... we will see. Wish us luck!!!
If it's meant to be... it will be...

The Universe is against me!

Today it was my special day!!
Today was the day when I would get to go out WITH A GIRLFRIEND, just the TWO of us, no kids, no hubbies to a MOVIE... a M O V I E!!! Just US... no.kids!!
I also had to ship a doll...
I also had to go down town in the searing heat with my sister in law to buy some supplies so we can make some favors since I am now helping her with her wedding/christening organizing/business thingie...

So she came in late... and it took us about 3 hours from the time we left until we got. During that time G called me 3 times to scream at me, because how dare I leave him for THREE HOURS with the kids?? And where was food? The kids were hungry...
I assured him I was bringing food and then hang up and cried..
My life sucks.. I can't go anywhere without the kids and when I do, my husband calls 45 times, screaming at me...

We got home, fed the family and quickly went out the door to ship my package and catch my movie...
My feet hurt so much from the trek I considered not going for a moment... but then I did go.
Of course, problems started from the get-go.
Traffic to the mall was TERRIBLE!! I barely made it in time to ship the package!
We couldn't find a place to park because of all the days, we had picked today and today was the first day of sales.. the place was packed to the brim. Who said people have no money!?!?!? All I saw was HORDES of people carrying a DOZEN bags each... Do you know what I will buy during the sales? NOTHING!! Why? Because I trully have NO money... except maybe a pair of summer sandals for John because he needs a pair...

Anyway, we managed to park and send the package, then went to buy tickets only to find the movie we wanted wasn't available until 21.15 (My Sister's Keeper).
So we saw The Proposal instead. Nice film but one you would see in a theater. Nice for pizza and pop corn at home with the girls but otherwise ... blah. Sandra Bullock, you are too old for this and we can tell ;)
(we can also tell you had "work" done) and anyway GET OFF RYAN!!! ;)

Right... but that wasn't the bad part... the bad part was that the movied ended at around 21:00 pm... when the stores were closing... and everyone wanted to leave...
And the queue to pay for the parking was 45 people long... IN EVERY TELLER...
And when MY turn almost came, the person in front of me broke the machine...and then we had to wait another 10 minutes for the fat man with the brown belt and the BLACK shoes to come fix it.. total waiting time: 30 minutes.
Then there was a queue of cars this time trying to leave the parking... another 15 minutes... and then there was a queue of cars on the street... and the highway that takes me home? PACKED!! Like... cars were STOPPED for minutes at a time... for no reason...
And I hit my toe when I was trying to get into the bathtub... and I saw my movie with my friend... but apparently my husband was sending me negative vibes all the time because did I enjoy my evening? I did not :(

I suppose in another 3.5 years when my husband keeps the boys while I go out again, I might have better luck...
I had 4 hours out to myself.. I should be grateful and I am... I am also a bit pissed because he gets 10 hrs a day to himself... and he goes out twice a week with his mates... God why did you make me a woman?

Saturday morning...

Saturday morning and I wake up from a relatively good night's sleep, to find both boys sitting on my bed, next to my head, talking about Transformers. I close my eyes, pretending to be asleep, when G's booming voice comes from the next room, ordering me up because it's 10 am (!!) and they are hungry!
God Forbid the man pours some cereal in the bowls followed by, oh the arduous task, of pouring milk on top...
I shouldn't complain really (and yes I saw the eye rolling, you!) because getting out of bed at 10am when you have two kids under the age of 12 (when I think I will be fairly ok letting them get up before me, relatively secure in my knowledge that they won't blow up the house while I catch some extra zzzzzzz's) is a very rare treat indeed and I totally let G grab my boobs while I was making breakfast more than once today, to thank him for this gift of extra sleep. (and for those new to my blog, G is my husband!!)(just in case you were wondering...)(and Yes I talk in parentheses ... I also air quote a lot when I talk..and I wave my arms.. at the same time)

So I woke up on this (hot) Saturday morning after a dream in which a) I had gotten my new car which was bigger than I remembered and everyone wanted to take it from me and b) I had somehow gotten pregnant, this time with a little girl... hmmmmmm, bizzare!

Oh and today I got the Mother Of All Migraines... and I can't get rid of it.. .and I will certainly die because OH.MY.GOSH.THE.PAIN...THE.AGONY...
Off to take my Excedrin...and crossing fingers it doesn't make me nauseous this time...
Cheers,
T.

And there we go again...and again... and yet again!

I am starting to realize I have been spoiled rotten by the hired help.. the nanny, who I couldn't afford anymore and had to let go of. I had been spoiled by opening the kids' closet and actually finding laundered and ironed clothes (and because I know you will ask, this is Greece, we iron, period ;)). I had been spoiled the luxury of working until late, yet not worrying about waking up early the next day because all I had to do was to open the door at 8am and someone else would look after the boys while I caught up on much needed sleep.
So yeah... at the end she cut corners and was way too expensive but I miss the nanny.. there, I've said it.
Somehow I suck at being a housewife/working mom. I am definitely doing something wrong because my apartment is in terrible shape, I fed the kids take out 3 times this week alone and the pile of clothes that need ironing is touching the ceiling, yet I haven't really sat down at all.
Granted I am the only one doing any kind of cooking or cleaning, G doesn't even take his dirty dish to the sink...forget loading the dish washer but still... I bow down to those women who can keep a fairly decent level of tidiness and cleanliness and still work... although the way I see it, once they are in school (away from the house 7 hrs a day) I should be able to plan/clean/work/cook with much better ease... you know... without two 3.5 year old F5 tornadoes under my feet..

Oh and yeah I did break my big toe 2 weeks ago by dropping the iron on it at 8am on a Monday morning while trying to press G's uniform...
And today I made it bleed twice once by rolling a 28lbs watermelon on it and Cody just stepped on it (and he weighs wayyyyyy more than 28lbs!) an hour ago...
Crappity, crap crap!
I am so ready for that black cloud of bad luck to leave me, I tell you!!!
Sigh...
Until next time,
T.