BRIANNA'S NEW ROOM

While at Sears Saturday, I came across a great deal on bedding for Brianna's room. I just loved the comforter and curtains so I got it. I have been working really hard in there the past 2 weeks trying to clean it up and make it a little bit more organized. So since we picked up new bedding, I thought that maybe we should repaint the room to match. Boy, I must have been out of my mind! For those of you that know me, you are aware that I hate, hate, hate to paint. It is just so meticulous, having to paint around the trim......UGH!!!!!! But, I tackled the project anyway. I have been wanting to paint it for awhile and decided that Sunday was the day. Brianna picked out the color and I was smart enough to get tinted primer to lessen my work load. By the time I got started it was 1:30 and I didn't finish until 5:30. And all I accomplished was priming 3 walls. I plan to finish this weekend. In the meantime, I took pictures so that you all could see what it looks like so far. I really like it and Brianna does too.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

So I woke up at 7:30 this morning. Not because I wanted to, but because that's what time Brianna got up. I thought that I would use this time to blog with ya'll for little bit to get you caught up on some things. You know I had mentioned in a previous post that we were looking for somewhere else to send Brianna for preschool. I looked at KidsWorld in Greer and in Lyman. That was a BIG NO!!!!! So I decided to call Memorial Methodist here in Greer. I had spoken to the director there months ago and at that time, she didn't have a spot for Brianna. I thought to myself, just call you never know. She got on the phone and went on and on about how much of a blessing this was for me to have called. She said that she just had a spot open up and that she had just told someone that she wished she had of gotten my number when I called months ago. She said that if it was meant to be, I would call again. So I did and it really was meant to be. I visited the school and really liked it. I took Brianna by there last Monday to see what she thought. She fell in love with the gym and was really excited to see the Science Center in her classroom. Plus we saw, Skylar, the little girl who lives across from our street there. She goes there after school. I do hope that it will work out. If it does, she can go there this summer. But we will just have to play that by ear.
So now we can get to my mother. We have been waiting for about 2 weeks to find out what is wrong with her. Her regular doctor thought that she might have Tuberculosis. As you all know, that is a contagious disease and not often heard about too much nowadays. Red flags immediately went up--- IS MY MOMMA GOING TO BE OK? DO I HAVE IT? AM I CONTAGIOUS? DOES BRIANNA HAVE IT? COULD OUR FAMILY IN NY HAVE IT? HAVE I INFECTED EVERYONE THAT I KNOW?. Things were really up in the air. She had to visit the health department for them to do some tests. They did a skin test that in 3 days didn't show up anything. They were still waiting on the results from the other test they were doing. In the meantime, we all were staying clear of my momma. That was a very hard thing to do. Here she is feeling so isolated and alone, when she needed someone the most. It really broke my heart. But I had to do what I thought was best for me and my family. Momma understood. After a week, the lady at the Health Department said that we needed to come in for a TB skin test as well. They just took a needle, pricked you just under the skin and squirted some TB under it. If you had a reaction to it, then that would mean that you have it. It was an easy test for us, but not so easy for Brianna, whom we had to hold down for them to administer the test. (I took her to Chucky Cheese to make up for it.) So anyway, we had to come back 3 days later to get the results. Our results are fine. At this time, TB is not showing up. My momma on the other hand is not so lucky. Though the doctor has gotten negative results from the 2 tests they have done, he believes that she does have TB based on her current health condition(low immune system, other problems that she is having that are consistent with TB patients), the xrays, and the catscan of her lungs. There are basically 2 types of TB. TB infection:You have only dormant TB germs in your body. This means the germs are sleeping, so they are not making you sick and cannot be passed to others. TB disease: You have active TB germs in your body that can make you and others around you very sick. At this time, it is unclear if my mom has the infection or the disease. It could take up to 12 weeks for them to know for sure, so they have put her on medicines to start clearing it up just in case. Either way, if we have come into CLOSE contact with her we have been exposed to the germ as well. We have to get another skin test done in 10 weeks, which means yet another visit to Chucky Cheese. Can't wait. In the meantime, we have been advised to continue living our lives. We don't have to isolate ourselves from momma. We can go to her house, she can come here. We are not contagious. So I don't have to worry about friends or co-workers, that sort of thing. Momma, she just can't come into contact with any new people in closed spaces and cough in their face basically. She is also going to have another catscan in February to see if the lesions on her lungs have improved. If not, she will be going to see a pulmonary specialist. So please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

A SATURDAY ON SESAME STREET

We went to watch the Sesame Street show today with Beth and her 2 sons, Brandon & Ethan. The kids had a really good time. When we came out it was snowing so hard. We immediately decided to go to Krispy Kreme for coffee and donuts. We all enjoyed the treat except for Brianna who was disappointed that she didn't get a strawberry frosted donut.
After we got home, we met Brian up at PetSmart to buy more fish. She started out with 4, all but 1 has died. We thought we would try something other than guppies. Everyone says that guppies are hard to take care of. Plus Blue, the beta fish, has fuzz growing on it and its not looking good. This whole fish thing is hard. Anyway, Brianna picked out 3 more fish and a frog. We'll see how they do.





FOR CARSON: HERE IS A CLIP OF THE SHOW. WE WISH YOU COULD HAVE CAME.

SNOW FALLS IN GREER

Brianna enjoyed the snow today with her Daddy. She has been waiting on it for 2 days. I'm so glad that we got enough of it for her to play in. I had to work today, but Brian stayed home with her. They played and built snowmen, 5 to be precise. Maybe we'll have more before winter is over.

SNOWDAY

R.I.P "PRETTIER" AND "SUNNY"

Prettier died yesterday. Ya'll should have seen Brianna. She could have won "Best Dramatic Performance Of The Year". She calmed down. But it definitely didn't help things when we woke up this morning to another dead fish. Brianna said that her fish is now someones pet in heaven.
Brian and I cleaned out the tank and he is not going to feed them as much. Maybe the other 2 guppies will survive:)

TROUBLE FOR MYRA

My momma came over to visit with Brianna today. While here she started coughing up blood. She called her doctor and was advised to go to the emergency room, which she did. The doctor there said that she had pneumonia and the xrays showed a spot on her lung which they believe to be from the pneumonia. She has to go back to the hospital tomorrow for a cat scan to be sure. Please keep her in your prayers.

SO DISTRAUGHT

I just don't know what to do.Brianna, as you know, goes to Inman First Baptist for child care. We live in Greer. It's about 27 miles there and back. At the last minute this summer, we decided to put Brianna in a 4yr old preschool that offered late stay. We were going to NY for vacation in 2 days, and school would have been started when we came back. So we had to decide quickly where we were going to send her. Heather told us about Inman and about how much Carson enjoyed it there. I was apprehensive because it was out of the way and not very convenient. She then offered to pick Brianna up from school and watch her at her house until Brian or I came to pick her up. And she did. And I am so very grateful for her. Brianna and Carson are just like brother and sister. And I love Heather like she is my sister. But now, Heather is having to send her little baby girl to the daycare as well. It would just be too much trouble and aggravation on Heather, I feel, to ask to her to continue picking up Brianna. For the past couple months, Brian and I have been picking her up. When I pick her up, I have to go on my lunch break to get her and then bring her back to my Grandmother's where she stays until Brian comes by to pick her up. When Brian picks her up, he is leaving work and hour early which means he has been working on weekends trying to make up the time. It is really just overwhelming. I am really considering moving her to another school in the Greer area. I have been tossing that idea around for about a month now. I really think its time. You just do not know the stress and aggravation involved for me. Imagine: Getting Brianna up and out the door by 7:20. Ride to Inman, drop her off, ride back to Greer for work at 8:15. Take lunch at 2 o'clock-ride back out to inman, back to Greer, drop Brianna off and get back to work by 3 o'clock. And on Brian's side of it. He would have to be at work by 6:30 at Lockheed at the Donaldson Center in Greenville, work through his lunch hour to leave work at 3:30, to take an hour drive from Greenville to Inman to pick Brianna up, and then back home to Greer. It's just too much. I have looked into KidsWorld. They already have 2 establishments. 1 in Lyman the other in Greer. However, they have just opened up a new place past the Target in Greer. They are enrolling. Its $100 a week, and breakfast, lunch, and snack is provided. Also, when Brianna does start into kindergarten, she can be picked up by the daycare van at the school and taken back to KidsWorld. Brian is a little apprehensive, seeing how this is the middle of the year, and she would be the "odd" one out. I don't think so. For one, she is 4. Also, since the center has just opened, all the kids are new and are just starting there. Another pro is that there is a chance that some of the children in her preschool may actually be in her kindergarten class, and she will already know someone. Plus, Brianna and Brian and I will already be accustomed to Kidsworld and how they operate, so that when Brianna actually enters Kindergarten and will need after school care, we will feel comfortable in her going there. I know, I am just rambling. But this has really been playing in my mind for a long time. I had to write it out, I think, just to make since of it all. If any of you have suggestions or comments, I will greatly appreciate them.
Heather, I wanted to tell you thank you for all that you have done for us and Brianna since August. You haven't said that you couldn't pick Brianna up, and I know that you don't mind it and you say its not any trouble. It's just that you have your hands full already picking up 2 kids everyday. I really don't want to add to your aggravation making you have 3. It would be hard to carry Ella and her things, plus helping Brianna and Carson with theirs, then loading them all into your car, strapping them in, listening to Ella cry, Carson & Brianna fuss with each other, all the way back to Greer. Then unload them all and wait for Brianna to get picked up. I know that you are Supermom and everything, but come on now!!!!!!
Probably the only downside to Brianna leaving Inman First, would be missing her little boyfriend Chandler.

CHANDLER & BRIANNA SITTING IN A TREE........

Ya'll know what comes next. A couple of weeks ago, I was informed that Brianna had a boyfriend. His name is Chandler Duke. When she told me, I said , "How do you know he's your boyfriend?" Brianna replied,"Cause he asked me." Chandler also confirmed this bit of information to me the next day. Well a couple days later Brianna came home and told me that Chandler had asked her for a kiss. Brianna told him,"Not till we're married!" Just this week, Brianna was getting ready for school and asked me if she could go watch Chandler's ball game. I told Mrs. Joyce, Brianna's teacher at school. She informed me that Chandler and his dad were going out to dinner the night before and Chandler had asked his daddy if they could go by and get Brianna. Uh hello, these are babies---4yr olds----I am talking about! It's really cute though. However, I don't think Brian is finding too much humour in it. Can ya'll just imagine what we are going to have to go through in Brianna's teenage years?

FINALLY GETTING SETTLED

It only took a week, but my house is finally looking like a house again, minus all the toys lying around. It's definitely an improvement from the beginning of the week. I have to make the dreaded return back to the DMV tomorrow. I have been out on vacation since December 21st, so it is definitely going to be an adjustment. Plus, they have changed our hours, making it a requirement that we are there at 8:15. Brianna has to go back to school as well. She has gotten so used to going to bed late and waking up late, I am definitely going to pay hell in the morning. Santa brought her an alarm clock, so maybe that will help get her up and going in the mornings. I'll let you know how it goes later. Ya'll have a good week.

BRIANNA & MR. PICKLES

For those of you that may not be aware, we have a cat. His name is Mr. Pickles. Brian gave him to me on our first anniversary. I just love him and he loves us too. Whenever we come back from vacation, he lays with us for days because he missed us so much. He cozied up with Brianna last night and again this morning.

13 THINGS I PLAN TO DO IN 2008

1. Get Well....I've been sick long enough:)

2. Unpack.....It's been 5 days already.

3. Turn 31....I'm not looking forward to it, but I guess it's better than the alternative.

4. Organize all my scrapbooking stuff....I keep accumulating more and more and have absolutely no where to put it.

5. Get the scrapbooks caught up....Still working on December 2006.

6. Go to Las Vegas....Planning on going in the spring hopefully.

7. Celebrate Brianna's 5th Birthday...She is growing up way too fast.

8. Celebrate Brian's 40th Birthday....I'm going to go all out for THIS party.

9. Update this blog on a regular basis...stay tuned.

10. Decorate our house....We have lived here for 8 years, it's time I start hanging stuff on the walls.

11. Consolidate bills and work really hard to get out of debt.

12. Strengthen the relationships that I have with family and friends.

13. Try to get pregnant....MAYBE!Brian and I aren't getting any younger, I guess we better start trying. Plus Brianna asks all the time for a baby sister.

NEVER GETTING UNPACKED:)

This is the mess that has been lying in my floor since Monday morning. I have just been too sick to even attempt to put up this crap. I'm beginning to feel a little bit better today, so hopefully I might get some of it put up. Wish me luck!

New Year's Resolution

"A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous."

Why is it that everyone makes these silly resolutions only to quit on them by the end of January? I think that if you are going to make one, you should stick to it. I have thought long and hard about what I feel that I should work on for 2008. There are many areas that I need to improve in; financially & professionally. However, the most important part of my life is here with my family--Brian & Brianna. It seems that often times, we just get caught up in the day to day aspects of life, forgetting about why we are here in the first place. Looking back on years past, it doesn't seem like Brian & I have been a part of each others life for almost 13 years now. But we have. Times have changed and we have changed. Especially since Brianna was born. We used to be husband and wife, now we are "Mommy" and "Daddy". It's like if we aren't talking about Brianna, we aren't talking at all. (For those of you with children, I am sure you can relate.) I love my husband, and he means everything to me. So with that, I am making this resolution:
In 2008 I plan on being a better wife to my husband. I will listen to him when he needs to talk. I will share all my thoughts and ideas with him. I will give him little pecks on his cheeks and tell him I love him everyday before he leaves to go to work. I will do things with him that he enjoys doing(NOT THAT, you dirty minded people). I will show him in all ways possible that HE is the most important person in my life, and that without him I would be lost.

SOME RESOLUTIONS ARE WORTH KEEPING.

NEW YEAR, NEW TEMPLATE

So with the holidays finally over, I thought that I would change the template on my blog. Hope ya'll like it. Just to give you guys a quick update on what we've been up to since we got back home Monday morning. We got home at 2:30 a.m. but didn't go to sleep until 4:00. Santa had visited Brianna here in SC too, so she was too excited to go to bed. Can't blame her for that. Brian and I both spent Monday sick in bed while Brianna was at MyMy's. Tuesday, I managed to get in the shower and put some clothes on. I was invited to come eat dinner up at MaMa's; they were having the customary New Years Day meal of black eyed peas and collard greens. Yeah, it's not something I want to eat everyday, but its supposed to bring you luck and money in the new year. We will just have to see I guess. I also had to venture out to go grocery shopping. There was absolutely NOTHING here in the house to eat or drink. So I'm blogging this Wednesday morning so I must be feeling a little bit better, though I made a doctor's appointment for this afternoon anyway. I have been sick for almost a week now. Enough is enough.