Gonna Vent

I am now getting myself a bit worked up.  I am going to play derby, plain and simple.  I could get hurt, yes.  I could also get hurt doing many other activities that I do everyday.  Just because you play derby, does not mean you are going to suffer any serious injuries (actually, injuries are hardly ever serious).  Okay, so I did break my wrist a few months ago skating.  I was not playing derby and I did not have on any protective equipment (boy is hindsight 20/20).  I did not need hardly any help with my kids during that time.  I learned how to do everything myself with one arm.  I was on my own with the kids the day after my surgery for God's sake.  I am a tough woman, I can do it.  I was at my daughter's 6th skating birthday party the day after delivering my 11 pound son.  This is a true story.  Leave me alone and leave the judging up to God.  I am a 36 year old woman that has spent the last 7+ years either breast feeding or being pregnant.  I want to use my body for derby now, oh...and breast feeding.  Yes, my husband is going to be gone for a year.  I am well aware.  This is more reason as to WHY playing derby will be very good for me.  I am getting fit and am getting some downtime to do something I LOVE.  How bout you deal with that and maybe offer to watch my kids once in awhile instead of talking shit.  Just sayin.

Towards the end of the beginning..

Life is crazy busy here.  I am not complaining, time is flying.  I just wish that I had more time to clean, do laundry and pay bills, yet here I am blogging.  We had our 8th recruitment practice Monday.  It was fantastic!  We practiced our whips again and learned blocking basics.  We will incorporate the blocking on skates on Sunday and Monday.  I can hardly wait!  Wednesday, we get to practice with the whole league at our venue.  Our venue is pretty impressive, as far as roller derby venues go.  I have been dreaming about skating there for over a year now.  It will be surreal.

My boy seems to be getting a little better.  I think a lot of his problem is his mouth is so swollen from teething.  We are almost half way done with the antibiotics.  It is very hard to get 4 ml down a baby twice a day.  I will be so glad when that is over, it is no fun for either of us.  The rest of us seem to be staying fairly healthy.  I hate the cold and flu season.

My husband is still in the states doing his training.  It is nice that I can just call him up on his cell phone when I want.  He is the most fun to talk to about my derby obsession.  He is so supportive and excited for me.  I appreciate him putting in his 2 cents and then also keeping me grounded when necessary.  I wish he would be here to see me skate.  Hopefully at least one of our bouts will have some sort of Internet broadcasting, so he can watch from Iraq.  I am even more hopeful that maybe his deployment will be cut a little short.  Obviously, it would be fantastic to have him home but it would also be great if he could catch the end of this coming season.  In the mean time, I'll have to make sure to do well blogging about it.  :o)

All better!

I had derby practice number 7 today.  We have 3 more left before we take the minimum skills assessment.  I can't wait.  After I pass, the scrimmages and REAL derby will begin.  Today we worked on whips.  It was quite fun.  Speaking of whips, Drew Barrymore's movie "Whip It"  is pretty good.  I like Drew and I love derby though, so I may be a poor judge.

It is amazing that after all of my drama over the week, derby seems to make it all fade away.  I didn't even realize I was in such a funk until I got there.  It is so nice to be able to socialize with the ladies and blow off some steam.  I was told I am slimming down.  That makes me happy!  I hope to continue on that path.  It is the famous deployment diet.  The husband deploys and the wife tries to make his homecoming that much more fantastic.

The baby had a rough time falling asleep tonight.  I think his ears are really bothering him.  I hope he gets some good sleep and healing.  It probably doesn't help that his mouth is about to spring 4 teeth.  Poor boy.  :o(  I am going to head to bed myself, in case it is a rough night.  Hope to blog about things of more interest tomorrow.

I hate Walmart!

Can I say that and not worry about getting sued?  Lord knows I do not have the funds they do for an attorney.  I'll take my chances.  Let me start off by saying I really am a low key, low drama kind of girl.  I take charge and handle what comes my way without much ado.  Today, I feel like whining a bit.  I had to drop my big boy off at the high school today at 7:30am because he had an Acadec competition.  I had that grocery list together (actually, I forgot it but managed to remember all but the paper towels) and the baby needed a prescription filled for a respiratory/ear infection.  I thought I would go ahead and swing into town for our needs, with all 4 littles (ages 6, 4, 2 and 4 1/2 months).  We get to Walmart and I find out the pharmacy does not open until 9am.  That sucks!  I commence to shop for my list of things, taking my time, in hopes we will be finishing up as the pharmacy opens.  My 2 year old is trying to help by putting many (unwanted) things into the cart.  I am forced to push the large cart with one hand and carry the baby with the other because he is sick and fussy.  I am sure I was quite a site.  It gets close to 9 so we head to the pharmacy.   My evil one (2 year old) decides to grab an apple and take a bite out as we drive by.  Guess I'll be buying that. 

We have never used the Walmart pharmacy so the lady has to enter all our info.  She tells me it will be 15-20 minutes.  Seriously?!  We were the first in line.  Well, I take the kids to the check out. At the check out the 2 year old continues her shenanigans by rummaging through the candy.  Trying to keep her in check, unload the cart and hold a baby proves to be a bit of a challenge.  Finally, it is all done and rang up!  Time to pay.  I look in my wallet and I remember that I left my bank card in the cup holder of my van after getting gas yesterday.  I want to tell ya, it was a cold, cold windy day.  I now get to pack up all the kids to run out to get the card and run back in.  That was not much fun.  We finish paying and then I take the girls to the restroom and sit down at a chair to feed the babe.  By this time, I think we can probably pick up the prescription.  We head back to the pharmacy and the pharmacist informs me she thinks the dosage sounds too high and she wants to call the office to verify.  She waits several minutes on the phone and leaves a message with someone before she lets me know she is going to go ahead and send me on my way but will call me when she hears from the doctor's office.  Thank God.  I am now very ready to bang my head into a wall, or drink, or both.  We are now on our way.  Turns out, the prescription was okay.  No harm in checking though, to be safe.

I am happy to report that the rest of the day was fairly uneventful.  Oh, aside from the "young man" being a goof ball with his friends and getting his leg caught between a pole and the wall at school.  He was able to free himself before I got there.  Lucky for him, at that point I am sure I would have been able to yank his leg free for sure.  Why he would try and place his leg there, I do not know.  I guess his friends were kind enough to video and photograph the incident so I am sure he will be hearing more about that one on Monday.  I almost feel sorry for him.  I am now enjoying a glass of wine and am ready to start a new day tomorrow.  I am feeling confident it will be a much better one!  Honestly, I am now seeing some humor in the events.  Better that than a breakdown.  ;o)

Grocery List?

What is this grocery list you speak of?  I don't go grocery shopping often.  I do often ask my hubby to pick up a few things on his way home.  This is going to take some getting used to.  I better figure it out fast cause I need quite a few things.  Yet, I sit here typing instead of making a list.

I cannot believe how the day has flown.  At this rate, the year will be over quickly.  I have not even started full fledged derby practices yet, which will make it fly even more.  I am actually a new recruit...again.  I started out as such last year and then was surprised by a little pink line on a stick.  #5 was on the way.  I now cannot imagine my life without him.  He is precious and amazing in so many ways!  I spent last season volunteering and learning the ins and outs of the game instead.  It was a great experience and I am now ready to turn in my stats clipboard for the full derby garb.  Excited is really an understatement here.  I will fill in details as I live em.  For now, I am conditioning this body.  It hasn't done much for exercise besides screw, give birth and carry babes for about 7 years.  It should come back to me fast though.  The leagues conditioning program is a killer.  Hubby will be coming back to one hot mama!

My bed is calling me, loudly.  I look forward to crawling in.  I just wish I would have gotten the sheets washed.  I love the feeling of fresh sheets.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

He's off, for now

Well, the kids and I (all five of them) sent daddy off today.  It didn't really hit me until this morning as he was hugging me good-bye at my van door.  We sure will miss him.  It was an early morning, the baby woke up at 4am.  As you can imagine, hubby and I were up rather late.  I will spare you the details as I am sure you get the idea.  :o)   I am emotionally and physically exhausted.  I am glad that he will get to visit for a couple days over Christmas before actually leaving for Iraq.

I have been told that once your husband is deployed, that is when shit happens.  For me, it was literal.  My husband has been quite busy the last few days with his unit duties and I did not want to bother him with home drama.  A couple evenings ago, hubby thought it a great idea to join me in the whirlpool bath.  I started draining the water a little so he could hop in.  It didn't sound good, lots of gurgling and then the water was seeping into the bathroom from the adjoining utility room drain.  CRAP.  Well, not yet literally but I promise we will get there.  After a quick assessment, my husband found that the sewer pipe was clogged near the lagoon.  He did a quick fix, removing the last clean out cap so the sewer water would drain out before the lagoon.  This would get us until tomorrow to deal with the issue.

I called my friend, and her husband agreed to come to our rescue but....  WE needed to locate the end of the sewer pipe in the shit pond (lagoon).  We have a cat tail problem and he is going to eradicate that with a back hoe.  Knowing my husband was going to have limited family time, I decided I could handle the job.  I ventured out with a hoe, apple picker pole and basket and a rake.  Fine tools to clear out cat tails and locate a sewer pipe.  I found it!  I am sure there were angels there helping guide that apple picker.  ;o)  I was able to clear out some of the cat tails too.  Hubby rented the snake machine from Home Depot and cleared the drain. Today my oldest will come home from school to watch the littles and I will go out to take down the fence around the shit pond, so the back hoe can get in to finish clearing the cat tails. 

Did I mention that in the middle of that night 2 of my kids got the stomach flu.  Shit and vomit, that is apparently how I roll.  After living the crazy preceding days to the deployment, I have decided I can handle anything this world may throw at me for the next year.

I have not even begun to discuss my derby life yet but will fill in some details tomorrow.  My son will be home soon so I must prepare to tear down a fence.