Monday, July 23, 2012

...and Doing it Well!

Today was day 4 of the summer holidays, and it is good.

Last summer was, to be perfectly frank, horrible. I was a big ball of stress and anger, but kept trying to make sure the kids had fun. We did lots of stuff, and I think they enjoyed it. I did not.

This summer is a whole different story. The anger has virtually disappeared, and it's making such a big difference.

We've made a list of all the things we might like to do this summer, and have divided it into a "rainy day" section and a "sunny day" section. So far, when we get up in the morning we take a look at the weather and the kids and I discuss options for a daily activity. We went to the Fun Forest on Friday, the beach on Saturday, and today we went to Water's Edge for a picnic, a walk, and a play in the park.

Will told me to stop sacrificing what I want and need for the sake of my children, because they will learn that their needs are unimportant once they've had children of their own. I've been listening to his advice. So when we went to the Fun Forest and the park, I took a book. The kids were told that we could stay and they could play, but I wanted to read my book. We all got to do what we wanted, and it was wonderful.

Got a new program at the gym, which should be fun. I met with a different personal trainer, a guy named Michael. I like him a lot, because he's totally mean. That's a great quality in a personal trainer. He's got me doing circuits for the next month, and I did my first workout this morning. OUCH!

Martin only had Sunday night off this week, and he's taking two lunchtimes off instead of a second full day. That's kind of pants for me, but it does mean an extra day for us to hang out as a family. It's kind of exciting waking up every morning to see the weather and what our options are for the day. He has tomorrow off, so we'll see what happens. I'm hoping for sun, but we've got a lot of stuff to do on the rainy day list :)


Saturday, July 14, 2012

I just saw a pig fly by...

For the first time in over two months, Edith went to bed without screaming and crying. It was a little bit surreal. She DID come out of her bedroom and give me a kiss after I'd tucked her in, but I can totally live with that.

In other news, Dylan only has 4 more days of school until the summer holidays. We have a list of things we want to do during the holidays--with a sunny side and a rainy side :) And the summer holidays can only mean one thing. It's just 5 weeks until we fly to Utah.

All friends and family who want to meet up during our visit, please let me know. Mom wants to plan her vacation days, so we need to get stuff sorted.

My lovely mental health counsellor is going to be so proud of me. We're working on my anger management issues as well as the big d-word, and I've been practising some of the strategies he's given me.

Today was a tough day. I'm coming down with Martin's cold, and I could tell I was getting snappy and in danger of losing my temper with the kids. So I contacted Emma to see if we could come up for a visit, so I could take some time for myself and talk to a grown-up. Then I didn't do the dishes straight after dinner and (shock, horror) skipped bedtime baths. We breezed through bedtime, and I didn't even have to TRY to keep it under control. I WAS control! And I felt so chilled and relaxed after they went to bed that I came downstairs straight away, cleaned the kitchen-including mopping the floor-and baked cookies for our picnic lunch after church tomorrow.

It's hard to say which is more effective--the anti-depressants or the Cognitive Behavior Therapy. I think it's probably about 50/50, especially since I'm only going to be on the Prozac for a maximum of 6 months. I don't want to rely on medication for my new found zen.

Dylan had his parent-teacher conference last week, and it was all good news. He is performing at the same level as his classmates or better in ALL areas of his development. Oh yeah, that includes socially! And for the first time, a teacher acknowledged the fact that he is the very youngest one in his class, so his educational achievements are phenomenal and his social immaturity is understandable.

I was so proud of my baby boy.

Edith had a few taster days at the school, which she loved. We may have a budding little artist in our midst. She loved the painting area, and spent a full thirty minutes there just painting away. Second favorite was definitely the glueing and sticking area. She is so excited to start school in September. And I'm excited to have 3 hours EVERY DAY to spend with my husband--no kids!

Right now, though, what I am most looking forward to is the visit to Utah. Lets plan some stuff, people :)

Sunday, July 08, 2012

More sun worshipping...

On hot summer days, Velecia, Angie and I used to lay out on the trampoline with the sprinklers on, in pursuit of the elusive "perfect" tan. We'd put Velecia's stereo in her bedroom window, speakers facing out, and listen to the week's Top 40, presented by Casey Kasem. Hours of fun! Especially when THIS song came on:



Do you remember Danny Rushton singing and dancing to that?

I remember one particular day when we were listening to the radio and tanning and a Tampax commercial came on. Wow, we were SOOOOOO embarrassed. Velecia sprinted to the house, ran to her bedroom, and turned the radio down. She was so fast that the 30 second commercial wasn't even finished yet when she got there. I'd like to think that the tampon advert dash inspired her high school track success in later years

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Social butterfly...

We have been running non-stop all week.

Last Sunday we went to Nottingham to spend time with one of our favorite families--Sally and her girls, Bethany and Fleur. We also got to meet Sally's new sweetie, Pete. It was such a lovely day, but a fairly late night.

Then on Tuesday it was Martin's parents' 36th wedding anniversary. We went bowling (Cathy won, I humiliated myself, but a good time was had by all) and out to dinner. NO KIDS! It was really nice to have a grown-up night.

I hosted book club at my house on Wednesday. "Call the Midwife," by Jennifer Wirth. Great book, great company, not-so-great screaming Edith. Still a good night, though.

Thursday was Amy's night to come over for dinner. Weekly occurrence, so nothing special. But it was still a good night.

On Friday I sneaked in an afternoon visit with Mrs. Munday. Hooray for them moving to Barton! At least, I think it was Friday :) Friday night was Cathy's "Glitzy Bitz" party, so more socializing :)

Saturday it was just me and the kids, but we had a lovely time doing portraits at the 20/21 Gallery in Scunthorpe. I did two chalk portraits--a self portrait and one of Edith. They're currently hanging up at the gallery. Nothing to brag about though, as they are hanging alongside the efforts of a lot of kids ages ranging between about 3 and 13. The kids also went to their Nanna's house for a few hours, and I cleaned the top two floors of the house. Productive day!

And today we had Nanna Sylvia's 90th birthday tea party. She's Martin's mother's Nanna. We took some 5 generation pictures, which was very groovy. We also got to see most of Martin's Priestley family, and the kids all played together. Really good afternoon!

All this social activity is really unusual for me. Man, am I ever exhausted. I haven't had a single moment to feel bored or lonely all week long. I spent Saturday night alone, and it was GREAT!

My therapist did say that I needed to get out more. I think he'll be proud of me.