Today is going to be a much better day, right? Right!

I've got my coffee and a couple of cookies <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" /> , so I'm read to start shaping the day. What kind of "rituals" or routines do you have for starting your day on the right foot?

my new morning ritual after the hustle and bustle of getting Doc and the kids off to work and school is to grab a cup of coffee and head out to the huge porch of this grand old house I now live in and sit and watch the wildlife...this morning 4 wild turkeys wandered across the horse pasture , ty for the chance to share that with someone <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

docsgirl
Glad you are well this morning.

My morning is quite busy car pool, 4 different schools, and back home with baby, get ready for a walk with sis and back home again to do a mountain of laundry, breakfast dishes.Then off to do errands and check on my mother. Then back to all the schools at three and come home... never mind, that doesnt sound like much fun does it. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />
I did call hubby in mich. this morning , he is well, and enjoying his family.
Keep watching the wild life, for me, I miss living in the country.

Sounds like a real dream, DG. At my place, you have the back patio, surrounded with lovely trees, beautiful flowers, and chirping little birds. When you hit the front porch, urban life strikes! I can stand there and listen for serenity and instead get the #15A MTS (Metro Transit System) barreling through, setting off car alarms. Gotta love it!

Good morning, Mo5! Nothing holds a candle to being a mommy...even if the laundry is mountain high. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />

Do you drink coffee?

Ohbratto

If you are snarfing up a couple a cookies at 8 O'Early, "the day" is the only thing you will be "shaping"...hahaha. For some reason, morning sweets appeal to me, too. I have been known to make myself a sundae for breakfast.

It's been raining torrential downpours and many places having flooding. I am so thankful we put in that sump pump. Our basement is dry as a bone.

I have today off and I am going to finish a couple projects around the house and run some errands to day and get something done for a change if I can tear myself from this very addicting site.

So, how are things going in sunny CA? Did they move nearby? How is it going with your son? Are you dating or doing anything exciting? You know, we haven't received an update for a very long time and I know everyone is curious. I know you work a lot so I hope you find time to get out of the house.

Bipolar is doing amazingly well. He is better than he has ever been, even before everything happened. It is like he has been transformed or had this incredible spiritual awakening and it is something to behold. I am absolutely so proud of him and his strength of character, my respect for him has been restored as is my trust in him (with slight reservations). Our journey has been an intricate and interesting one with many joys and many, many heartaches. One of mine is the existence of the OC on one hand, then a longing to see her and a slight willingness to consider contact. But, as long as Bipolar does not make this request, I do not mention it myself. She just turned three a couple days ago.

I totally realize she is much, much better off without us in their lives and I am not eager to open up communication on any level. I am grateful for the huge distance between us making travel impossible due to our less than stellar financial situation, giving me and excellent and valid excuse. Hey, I will take what I can get.

But, I worry about this kid and wonder what is best for her. I ask myself, 'is it better for her not to know us? or is it better for her to have contact once a year or every two or three years?'

With all the issues we are still dealing with, I am glad it is just the two of us again. We have become so close and so respectful and kind to one another, it is something I have always desired and dreamed of and I feel oddly so blessed. The ehaling and recovery is so special in itself and the rugged journey to get to this point is almost worth the pain...almost. Wish we could have come to this level in our marriage without this, for sure, but this really is the pony.

It's so wonderful to be lighthearted again with each other, and laugh again with each other and find that specialness that is just us again. I love to look up and see him staring at me with all that warmth in his eyes. I am feeling pretty dang special these days.

I need to ask you some very pointed questions and need your very honest opinion on a couple things in a private e-mail. I could send my address to you through Xarelel if you send her yours and we could connect. Let me know.

Catnip =^^=

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by DocsGirl:
<strong>to grab a cup of coffee and head out to the huge porch of this grand old house I now live in and sit and watch the wildlife...this morning 4 wild turkeys wandered across the horse pasture , ty for the chance to share that with someone <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Oh, DG...What an idyllic mental picture I have conjured up in my head.

There is nothing more wonderful in the world than a huge porch (preferably screened in up here in mosquito land) and to sit and watch the animals while sipping some wonderful coffee.

As a fellow java head, my personal favorite is Guatamalan by Dunn Brothers followed by Expresso Roast by Starbucks, and the stronger the better...straight up, no creme or sugar.

We have a lot of wild turkeys up here too, and they are really incredibly beautiful when the light hits them and the array of colors can be seen. We have a lot of fox and deer. One day while standing at my kitchen sink looking outside I saw this fox shoot across my back yard. I said, "Wow, I wonder what that fox is after" and then saw that he was being chased by one of the neighborhood cats. It looked so ridiculous to see a cat in hot pursuit of a fox, I wondered who would be the victor when the cat finally caught up to him.

We also have turtles who lay their eggs in our yead and Bipolar put a metal mesh basket over the nest so the fox couldn't dig them up. In the spring, the turtles hatched and made their way across the street to the lake with Bipolar right their directing traffic 6to a detour until the pilgrimage had been completed. Took a couple hours.

We have a lot of deer that think my garden is their own personal salad bar and they have absolutely tuined some important plantings. But, I love the wildlife, too and find it so serene and wonderful to take an hour to just sit and listen to the trees rustle and watch the birds and kamakaze hummingbirds begin their feeding frenzy before winter sets in. Isn't it weird how it starts so early for them? The squirrels are in a constant battle for the black walnuts with Bipolar. The competition has already begun.

It is these simple things in life that give us such richness, isn't it?

Catnip =^^=

Catnip,

I would love an e-mail from you. Here&#8217;s my e-mail address: ohbratti1@hotmail.com.

It&#8217;s good to know that you and Bipolar Bear are doing so wonderfully. You and H are doing what you need to do&#8230;focus on each other. You have not set out to maliciously harm another being. You are simply dealing with the hand you were dealt. Wouldn&#8217;t it be great if life was &#8220;one size fits all&#8221;? On second thought, NO. I like the nuances of MY life that make it different from everyone else&#8217;s.

I&#8217;ll post an update&#8230;I promise. There have been a few &#8220;minor&#8221; developments that I would like to share with everyone.

OB1

nope no coffee, I have water with lemon in the morning.. But I made awesome blueberry muffins for the kids for breakfast, But I dont eat those either, NO SUGAR. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" />
ok back to work, little one is being sweet dancing to the "wiggles". I have to take advantage of the time.

I still have a few hours work on the computer.. for hubby.

Mo5, I&#8217;m jealous. I envy the time you have with your kids and am happy that you have it. I really wish I could be home more with my Little Man. I miss so much with him. He&#8217;s such a ham. When I am with him, he keeps me rolling. Then there are the times when he just wants to cuddle. I simply melt. Then I get kind of teary eyed because I think of him doing this all day with my sister. Thank God for family! I can&#8217;t imagine him being left with someone I didn&#8217;t know so well. I know my sister will love him and care for him as equally well as I do. It&#8217;s kind of rough, though, when he bypasses me and runs to her for something. But, I gotta suck it up. All things considered, I&#8217;ve got it really good&#8230;.and so does he.

ob1

That my dear is the hardest thing in this world to me, To leave my child with someone I am not so sure about. I have worked long and hard to deal with that very issue.

I have my mom and sister and a couple of girlfriends who help out when I need them to.

OB1,

Well, my morning ritual is quite simple. Like Mo5, I stay at home, but have added the older two kids at home as well, for homeschooling(which we have taken off this week). Usually, Abbi wakes me up around 6:30 to 7, and we come out to the livingroom and either watch the end of Sesame Street or I put in her favorite movie, "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". Then, she gets her "faffle" and or her "cookies"(actually fruit and cereal bites/bars", her cup of milk, and she's good for about a half an hour or so.(That's when I get most of my computer/MB time in, or when she's napping.) I then am free to make myself some coffee, and sit back and read what everyone has to say. Often, I sit with Abbi to watch her movie/show, and she cuddles up with me. It just depends on her mood when she wakes up. I'm sure all that will change when we get to our home city in Oct, and then to our ulitmate duty station in Jan, but I'm sure this topic will come up again!

Great thread!

Love,

Tigger

PS, Is it ok if I jot down and use your email addy? I'd love to send you some pics of Abbi, as I'm not that good at setting up a website for those things.

Hey Tigger!

Winnie the Pooh, huh? Wouldn't ya know it, my Little guy loves Shreck of all things! He's such a boy. You put it in and he is mesmorized. Not too long ago, I went to pick him up from my sister's home, and received a bit of a surprise. My sister had found some Shreck tattoos and bought a slew of 'em. Little Man looked like he belonged in the freak-show at the circus. I like tats, but dang. This little boy had them all over his face, his arms, his belly....EVERYWHERE. He LOVED it! He spent the rest of the night pointing to his new "body art".

Please keep my e-mail address handy. I would love pics of Abbi.

Just sent you the latest of Abbi, minus the glasses. Hope you enjoy them!

Love,
Tigger

tigger how is abbi doing with her glasses.

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

She's doing quite well, thanks for asking. It was a trial that very first day, but after I got the "sport strap" to hold the glasses in place, on her face, she has accepted them. In fact, she will play a game with me when I have on my glasses instead of contacts. She'll crawl into my lap, and lightly tap the lenses and say "gasses", to which I respond "Mommy's glasses" and she will repeat "Mommy's gasses!", and then touch her own, and say "gasses!"

I can't tell if the bifocals are helping her eye any more than the original prescription. Her next appointment isn't until the middle of Sept, so I still have about 3 weeks till we find out if they will have to start with patching! I just really hope that it's working this time! She's had the new prescription w/the bifocals for about a week now, and is getting used to holding her head at different angles for what's easier for her. That's why I'm not sure if they are working. I don't know if she's going back to her brain telling her to not use that right eye, which started this whole thing!

I had a child ask me about the glasses last night at the park behind our house. At first, she laughed said that Abbi looked silly, then asked why she was wearing the glasses. So I told her that her eyes didn't work quite right, and one of them was crossing. The glasses are helping that eye to work. The little girl then smiled and said, "Oh". I really wanted to just smack her at first, cause she was being quite rude in laughing at Abbi! But, I also realized that at 6 yrs old, she doesn't know any better, and they usually say what they want, whether it hurts others or not! I probably would have made some comment to her, about some kids needing help with some things, but it doesn't mean that they are different if she hadn't asked why Abbi needed the glasses. Her father was sitting too far away to hear what she was saying, so I just left it at that. It's kinda like when a child sees someone in a wheelchair or something like that, and is rude about that person being different!

Oh well, like I said in the original post, this is a test on my own vanity, and maybe it will also help me help other kids around Abbi to realize that just cause someone needs glasses, crutches, a wheelchair, hearing aides, whatever, that they are still people and deserve the respect that everyone else gets.

Ok, I've turned this post into a gripe, and that's not what I wanted to do. I'm sorry, but I am still going to leave it, as it was theraputic for me. I didn't realize how angry I was about it! Go figure! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />

Again, thanks for asking about how she's doing with those glasses!

Tigger