On a Good, Positive Roll

Things have been going soooo well lately, I don't know where to begin! :).

To begin with, the cruise was really, really nice! My girlfriends were absolutely crazy! We ate, and ate, and ate! We danced, and danced, and danced! We shopped, and shopped, and shopped! We went to Ensenda, Mexico. The staff were awesome. When I returned home, my grandson really gave me a hard time i.e. tantrums, throwing his toys, whinning a lot, etc. My daughter says he is upset because I left. He does this to her too. He only readjusted back to normal today. Took 3 days for him to accept his Nana back home. I felt bad for a while.

The tree was trimmed and put back in place. We will have to wait about a year to see if it survives. It may sound silly,but I talk to her and tell her I want her to grow back nice and strong. (The old saying is that we should talk to our plants so why not talk to our trees?).

The day care is flowing really well right now. The other sibling set of school kids did not come after all, but everything is working out fine.

It is getting late. I will write more details at another entry.

Positive thoughts and prayers :)

Everything

I was referred to another tree man by one of my day care parents. I spoke to him yesterday. He said, based on what I described, the tree can't be saved. So, we agreed to him removing the tree for $100. The other estimates were $400, $350 and $175. As I say, always trust your gut!

Well, I got to thinking... if they can tranfer, thus transplant large trees, why not "try" to replant this one? So, I called S. back and left another message. I figure he can replant it and just maybe it can be saved. If not, then we can go on and remove it. I really would like to save it if at all possible.

Good news for the day care :). Apparently, the girls' neighbor is in the same situation as they are in that, the grandparents also has custody of their two grandchildren. All the grandparents need is for the kids to be dropped off to school in the morning. It's a 10 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. So, that will leave me with 4 kids in the morning to drop off at school only :). Very easy and, for a small fee, I can use the extra cash. They start next tuesday.

I'm excited to say, we set sail on the cruise tomorrow evening :). Though I am excited, I am also slightly concerned about the stormy weather we've been having so much of lately. I would imagine that they take these factors into consideration for the safety of the people, however, the Titanic sunk...lol! This is only a very slight concern. Forgive me for my ignorance. It is my first cruise and I am very much afraid of water :). I will be packing my things tonight. Very exciting! I have alot of positives happening :). It is such a relief. However, I must stay alert. The sun shines for only a little while. Then it is time for some growing pains again. I know that sounds negative, but when times are difficult, that is when we learn, grow and become stronger. So, really, it's not negative. I will enjoy this season for now and reflect on how I have arrived here :).

Positive thoughts and prayers!...:)

The Tree

Well, I am disappointed to say, the tree can't be saved :(. I called a few tree service people. One told me over the phone that it sounded like it couldn't be save. I sent him a picture via email and he called me back and confirmed. Then I called another one, located close to my house. He came out and looked at it. He also said it can not be saved.

Believe it or not, it almost brought tears to my eyes! It's a tree! Why would it bring tears to my eyes? That surprised me to say the least. I am quite disappointed.

The morning went well again with the girls. Grandma told me they like me :). This is nice to hear, especially from older children. However, I am truly feeling the sleepiness this morning lol! I made a fairly strong cup of coffee, not helping :). I think where I went wrong is, I woke up coughing again so I took some cough medicine. I'm sure it plays a big part of my sleepiness. I did not think about it until after I swallowed...lol!

We are supposed to have some pretty strong storms this afternoon. I'm rather concerned because, in Orange County, we actually had a tornado. California doesn't get tornadoes. It was full blown with boats, cars and houses being blown away. Yesterday, I thought our windows were going to break. Right now, it is very calm and serene outside. Sun is trying to come out. Hmmm.... How bad is this storm going to be?

Many, many happy thoughts and prayers!

My New Enrollments

My new little girls are just adorable :). Unfortunately, they have had some significant hardships in their little lives, but their grandmother is doing very, very well in raising them.

Yes, they arrived at about 5:30am. It did get up very well. I took my bath and all the night before and did get some rest. I paid off to prepare myself. It was a busy morning with a new routine, but it worked smoothly :). Rather than taking the girls to the bus stop, I took them directly to school. I think I like taking them to school better. That way, I know they made it safely rather than leaving them outside, alone, with a group of children waiting for a bus. I didn't like doing that with my own son when he took the bus, so I took him at the very last minute. Unfortunately, I don't have that flexibility with the arrival of other kids, at differing times in the morning.

I did speak to the parents of the other 5 year old boy last night. They do still want to bring him. Mom is waiting for the start date of her new job :). That was exciting to hear.

In speaking with one of my other kids' mom, they are looking to put him in preschool, which is a good thing. When they first brought him to me, I meantioned to dad that he really would be better in preschool. He was ready then and he is definitely ready now. So, I might be loosing him in the next few months. Bitter sweet. I really enjoy him. He is such a sweet boy too! But it is for the better in his regard.

Happy thoughts and prayers!

The Winds!

I know I said I love the rain, but ghee whiz! It has been really raining today with very, very high, strong winds! The wind literally blew the patio table and chairs over and blew one of the kids' basketball boards across the patio! The tree in the front yard was blown over. It is now laying on it's side! It looks kind of creepy lol!

Well, good news for the day care :). I just had a new 4 year old start last week, a beautiful, well behaved little boy. Today, I had a grandmother sign up her two granddaughters, school aged. I would receive them at 5:30am and drop them off at the bus stop at bout 6:30am. It will be good money, but that getting up so early will definitely be an adjustment! :)

My plan is to be very discipline and go to bed as early as possible! We can do this! LOL!

Postive thoughts!!

My Cousin

My cousin is doing showing improvement :). His blood pressure is now normal. He tells me this is the first time in a very long time that it is "normal". For the past few years, he has been having health problems here and there. I had encouraged him to go to the doctor, but he'd always tell me, "Oh, I'm fine. I'll be ok after I get some rest." Now, he looks back, and realizes he was actually having some symptoms that things were wrong. He has defnitely learned from his mistakes.

He still has to alter his eating habits which he has no problem doing. In fact, he wants to go vegetarian. Of course, he will follow through with the physical therapy and the surgery.

Yes, I'd feel sooo much better if I lived closer and was able to go by the house. God is good and He hears our prayers.

Thank you all for your support and concern :). Postive thoughts and prayers!

Some Bad News

Today, I received some disturbing news this afternoon, just a few hours ago.

Apparently, my great cousin, who babysat me when I was younger, had a fairly significant stroke while riding on the trolley. He had forgotten his cell phone that was at home on the charger. He figured he would be ok without it for a few days. He was on his way to a mini vacation.

He had the stroke on the trolley and was taken to the hospital for a few days. He just arrived home late yesterday evening. His left side is weak and he has a cane. He is due to begin physical therapy very soon and to have surgery in a few weeks to remove the built up plaque in the artery leading to his brain. Apparently, the artery was blocked enough to cause a delay of blood to his brain, thus causing the stroke.

I'm close to only a few family members and he is one of them. I plan to call him daily and to be there during the surgery. He lives in San Diego, an hour away from me. Needless to say, I won't be comfortable until he recovers. He is an older cousin, in his mid sixties, about 64 years old. I don't want to think about the other possibility. However, at his age, it is quite possible :(. I'm quite concerned at this point.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about my mom who passed of cancer on Dec 14th of 1999. He battled it for 12 or 13 years, if I recall correctly.

Anyway, positive thoughts and prayers.

Staying Focused

So far, so good with the start of the new year. Kids are still home for this last week. Not quite able to get the routine back in order but things are running smoothly.

Right now, my focus is making sure I don't go into an episode of pain and depression. That means going with the flow and choosing my battles. What can be handled, with in a reasonable arrangement, it gets handled. If it has to wait, then it simply has to wait. Can't make "everyone" happy "all" the time.

All comes down to "balance." I'm still making my lists of things to do, the night before. This really helps alot. My hot baths works wonders :). Once my son & daughter go back to school, I will make more of an effort to get the daycare lessons back on track. Right now, it's a day to day endeavor.

I've been looking for an expensive place to get a mammogram done. Cancer runs in my family. My mom passed due to cancer. It's been about 4 years since I've had one. So far, the place that I have found, will cost me $82. I think this to be a very good price. Besides, this is my life here. I do regular breast exams, but that's not enough.

Well, sorry my life is so boring lol! Happy thoughts and prayers :)

Back to Normal! Yay!

Though the vacation time was great, it feels good to be back to normal. I do, however, still have my upcoming cruise to look forward to. Believe it or not, it still hasn't hit me that it is a "real" vacation for me. Sad huh? lol! I don't think it will hit me until I am walking onto the ship! lol!

I haven't made any new year's resolutions. I only vow to do the best I can each and every day :). I want to appreciate each day, one at a time. The idea is to take off the pressure of any expectations. That way, I won't feel like such a failure when I don't achieve a specific goal :). Just to do my best. That's it.

Yes, the pain is gone, however, I caught a cold which, it too is almost gone. My voice is almost gone. Really rather comical! lol! Unfortunately, due to this cold, I did absolutely nothing for new year's. I laid in bed and watched the silly box!

Overall, we are off to a good start to the new year!

Happy thoughts and prayers