The Perils of Being a Mom to Teenagers

The last couple of weeks have been so busy! I've had so many things on my mind lately that I can't keep anything straight. I guess it's good that I recognize it, though. lol Last night, a friend of Nitro's gave me a receipt and some change for me to give to Nitro when I got home. I told him to ask Nitro this Sunday if I gave it to him...I know how I am! I would likely forget.

Of course, I didn't....THIS time. lol

I've got so many things going this week that sometimes I seriously think I should probably be evaluated by a qualified psychiatrist to make sure that I truly AM sane. I plan soooooo many things for myself to do and rarely consider what level of stress that's going to create for myself.

With Christmas just around the corner next week, I've been running double time to get things done around here before we leave for Texas on Tuesday. Thankfully, I had the foresight to go ahead and ask for Monday off as well as Tuesday. It will be nice to be able to get the house cleaned and in order before we leave. (I like coming home to a clean house, don't you???)

One crimp that got thrown into our plans was that Nitro will not be travelling to TX with us this time. He has to work a paintball tournament the weekend right after and can't get out of it. He's made plans to spend Christmas Eve and Day with Shelby (his GF) and her family. I'm disappointed that he won't be with us on Christmas morning, but this is just one of the first of probably many Christmases that I'll have to live with one or both of the kids not being there. I'm thankful, though, that he'll be able to spend Christmas with good friends who are as much family to us in our hearts as our real family is to us by blood.

Another reason I'm soooooo excited to be heading to TX next week is that I will get to meet Shannon! I'm not sure of the details yet, but those will be worked out eventually...hopefully sometime this weekend. I'm just soooo excited to finally meet her...and a little nervous. (That's just me...) :o)

This past week has been crazy. At least Mon. and Tues. night, I was able to get some things done before the weekend hits. Last night, we had a Missionettes/Royal Rangers Christmas party. It was loud and crazy, but the kids had a good time playing games and having snacks.

Tonight, I have to work at Rick's. Then, I'm officially off the schedule until spring. I talked to the scheduling manager and he agreed to give me a callback sometime in April. It will be nice to not have to worry about that through the winter months.

Tomorrow is a really busy day! At noon, our dept.'s big boss is taking everyone out for lunch at the Field Club in Omaha. Very nice! But, I'm going to cut out a little bit early and head home to pick up the kids so we can make it to our afternoon dentist appts. We're just having our regular 6 month checkup and cleanings. Kind of nice timing...right before vacation. ;o) Then at 7:00, we're having our Missionette sponsors' Christmas party. I'm supposed to take care of snacks, but not sure what I'll bring or when I'll get them ready. lol I'm going to do some detective work online today for some creative and fun, but EASY ideas! :o) We don't want to have just a lot of sweets, so I need some ideas.

Aravis has to be at UNMC on Sat. morning until noon for a youth exploration program that she's involved in. Basically, the kids learn about all aspects of the different areas in the medical field. She's very interested in a becoming a surgical technician. The first Sat. she went, she LOVED it. As far as I know, the kids can repeat the sessions. And the bonus is that it's totally free! :o)

Now, outside of the regular, boring schedule stuff, here's the latest from this teen occupied household. Nitro had to have stitches in his head yesterday. At rifle team practice, they were practicing a new maneuver where one of the guys in front tosses the rifle backwards, over his shoulder (and over 2 of the guys directly behind him) to the guy in the back. That guy catches it, then tosses it back. Well, the guy caught it, but when he went to toss it back, he tossed too high, it hit the ceiling and came down barrelfirst on the back of Nitro's head. It dislodged a CHUNK *gulp* of skin and...short story....he ended up at the dr.'s office getting six stitches in his head. Sgt. was beside himself. He said they've had kids get hit in the head with the rifles before, but NEVER had anyone actually get INJURED on this level. He said from now on, they would practice without the kids in the middle. I told Nitro maybe he should suggest that they wear military helmets when they practice! lol He laughed and said that was probably a good idea. He's on a round of antibiotics, but is otherwise fine....at least I'm assuming he is. I haven't actually talked to him today yet. He was still in bed when I left for work.

And, then, Aravis is home in bed sick with a cold. I made her go to school yesterday, but should have probably let her stay home. She's not running a fever, but she said she's all achey and feels awful. I'm hoping it's not some new strain of flu. The achey part makes me wonder.

Just another day in the life of a mom to teenagers... *sigh*

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NOTE: I wanted to note here that the rifles they were tossing around in ROTC were not real rifles. They're drill team rifles. lol Guess I should've made that clear to begin with, huh, Jane??? lol Sorry.