I am tired...not sick and tired, but just tired. I was just thanking the universe the other day that my life had become so calm and laid back that I rarely had to put a bra or real pants on...and then BAMMMM!!! The universe was like..."challenge accepted!"
I am sure that most of you know by now, but if you are not up to date on the Shepherd Family newsletter, I have two kids with broken arms.
Kameo was playing with Hunter and LulaBelle when she dove headfirst off of her bunk-bed. I didn't think she was actually hurt because she was only saying "owie" and not crying so I shrugged it off as a bump and nothing more.
Hunter carried her out of the room and told us she had fallen off the bed, I made him set her down and that was when I saw that her arm was obviously broken. Casey was freaking out and yelling this word and that, Caleb was standing quietly in the kitchen watching, Hunter was helping me get Kameo ready for transport to the hospital and Lucas was about 2 feet away from Kameo and I bawling and gagging.
Casey drove to the hospital and carried Kameo in while I kept her misshapen arm in my hand, all the while Mimi is telling anyone who will listen that she fell off her bed and broke her arm. They get us back pretty quick, and give her a dose of what I presume was Motrin. The X-ray tech comes and get Kameo and I and it is immediately clear from the pictures that her arm was VERY broken.
The nurse comes to our room within minutes of the X-ray results and informs us that both her bones in her arm are broken and that our best option at that point was to let them sedate her and set the bones back into place, splint her arm and then we would have to follow up with Ortho to further treatment.
The contraptions that they use for setting bones looked like they were created during medieval times and very scary looking.
Dr. Smith came in , assessed the situation, informed us of the procedure, and then it was chaos (for me, not for the hospital staff). There was all of a sudden a room full of staff, some putting oxygen on her, some placing electrodes in specific places, some at the computer entering data and Casey and I were in the corner in tears...Kameo...not a single tear. Casey and I had enough time to walk through the hallway of the ER, out into the waiting room, grab a drink and sit down, and then staff was calling our names to come back to be with Kameo. It was incredibly fast.
Dr. Smith was amazing and the bones were beautifully set.
The following week Kameo was in to get her real cast and the bones had slipped slightly, so the Ortho doctor had to push her bones back into place...again...Kameo was all smiles and not a single tear was shed. Dr was amazed at how strong she was.
Today we got our pink cast off, took an x-ray and decided that it would be safer to keep a cast on for another couple of weeks to make sure that the bones are good and strong and healed...the last thing we need is for her to fall and re-break her arm.
So as if life is crazy enough with one child with an injury, lets add another.....
Caleb went to the skate park on Monday with a friend, and when he came home he informed us that he hurt his wrist bad enough that he thought he may have broken it. Into the ER I go.....again..for the 2nd time in 3 weeks. After an x-ray we were told that there were no defined breaks but it was very possible that he fractured his scaphoid, so he is splinted up and we meet with his doctor tomorrow to arrange his next x-ray.
So, as if the universe wasn't funny enough giving me two kids with broken limbs, I also have a very sick husband at home, and anyone who knows Casey knows that when he gets sick, he is gruuuuuumpy and miserable....to be around...oh I am sure he is miserable too, but probably not as miserable as the rest of us are when he gets a bug. I am seriously considering moving in with my mommy until he gets better and I can find where I misplaced my sanity.
School......or lack there of.......
I am struggling...(not sure that struggling is a strong enough word.....ugh, we'll stick with struggling I guess) to find a reason or motivation to see this class that I am taking all the way through. I think I may have touched a little bit on this in my last blog, but just a short recap....I have run out of funding for my bachelors program and therefore will be withdrawing from Colorado Technical University with only 14 classes and my Capstone left. I was devastated at first, and then I accepted it, and have moved on, kind of. I still have to take this one last class otherwise I will have to pay back what was already paid in student loans and the pell grant for this quarter. So I am faced with this class (that I have already taken for my AAS by the way) and I have to try and keep up with it for the next five weeks, all the while running kids to this doctor and that doctor and trying to get the right over the counter meds to get the husband back up and running at back to work so that I get busy on de-grossing the house of his sickness.
I just have to mention a couple of things...
1)..I LOVE the doctors that I have been dealing with
a.) Dr. Smith at Mercy Emergency Room is a rock star and he even called us to check up on Kameo and ask how she was feeling.
b.) Dr. John Roth at Umpqua Community Health Clinic in Roseburg is AMAZING and thorough and listens to a mother and her silly questions.
c.) Dr. Amelia Roth at Umpqua Community Health Clinic in Roseburg is AMAZING and thorough and listens to a mother and the child.
d.) Dr. Sexton at Mercy Orthopedics in Roseburg is nice and has my 5 year olds best interest at heart.
2) I love Lysol and how it makes me feel like I am actually getting rid of the icky's
3) I love that I have a wonderful and dear friend that I can call and ask her if our medical situations are cause enough for an emergency room trip and she tells me what to do at home to avoid sick crowds of people.
4) I love sushi lunch dates with my beautiful g-friends (and their beautiful offspring, who I am rather fond of)
5)) I love cabinets, shelving, boxes, containers, and canvas totes. I cannot explain my love for these items, but I love them. I think it's because with them, things in my house are finally finding a place where they "belong", and who doesn't love the feeling of "belonging" some place, am I right?
6) I love Zennioptical.com because without them, I would not be able to see my computer screen right now and they offer me the cutest glasses that I can actually afford.
7) Last but not least, I love Jenny Lawson. I think that everyone in the entire world should go to their local library and rent "Lets Pretend This Never Happened" BUT, it must be on AUDIO!!!
Ok, I am done blogging...forever and ever.......It's been fun, but I have run out of things to talk about and my life is too boring to even create make believe things to discuss.....so, with love, I say, Goodbye!!
Just kidding, did you miss me?
Ok, but seriously, I am done blogging...for the night!
I wish you all peace and blessings,
A.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
If I Step on Toes, Then Move Them While I Sweep Please
Why is being a stay at home mom so bothersome to some?
Casey and I discussed in length when we got married about me being a stay at home mom and that when I was ready and the kids were in school full time I would go out and work. Well guess what...we had Kameo and plans shifted!!
That beautiful girl is my last baby and we have another year before she goes into school and I lose that precious time with her.Soon her days of cuddling with mom will be replaced with a teacher asking her to keep her hands to herself. While her and I have our morning routine of waking up, feeding the animals, and drinking our coffee (hers is apple juice) together, she will walking in a line with other classmates to get her morning breakfast (full of nasty sugars) and preparing to learn what her teacher has prepared for the day. I will lose beautiful hours with her.
The average kid in America attends 180 days of school a year for around 6.57 hours a day. If you do the math, that is around 2,340 days of school from kindergarten to graduation and that is right around 15,373.8 hours that teachers have with our children that we don't. Damn right I am going to stay home with baby as long as I am able to.
Right now, I am a stay at home mom. My days are filled with appointments for all types of things, paying bills with my HUSBANDS money AND the money I was getting as a stipend from school. I am the primary parent, I am in charge of homework, chores, getting this kid there, that kid to that sports practice, this one to the Ortho, that one to a specialist, and the list goes on and on. I am also the the one that is the referee, the bouncer, the comforter and the one kids come to for advice. I have earned the title mom because I do it day in and day out and with no sick pay and very little vacation. I have no guilt for choosing to stay at home and not work during this time of my life. I worked for most of my life before I got married, and I worked my ass off going to school for all those years, I have not lived a life without employment and I give up things that I "want" because I feel guilty spending Casey's money, but I worked, and I work today, just not for the man, instead I work for 3 little men, a big man and a little girl.
I don't think people on the outside of a home looking in see the full picture of what a mother/father does all day if they are the stay at home parent. And frankly it isn't your place to be looking in my windows seeing what I am doing anyway. Judgment and opinions on what I should be doing have no value compared to what I am actually doing on a day to day basis for MY family.
Today, I was on the go non stop and forgot to even put food in my body until 5, and then on other days I may not leave my bedroom, but I can tell you what, I still get laundry folded and put away, the boys still get their chores done, dinner is made, and I can still manage to turn in a 10-15 page homework assignment, all while breaking up non-stop bickering between 4 strong willed and ferociously independent humans. The cliche of a mother sitting around eating Bon-bons, watching her soap operas all day is a bunch of bullshit and anyone one who would like to argue this point is welcome to come stay at my home for a week with all of my kids while I have a mini vaca!
For the next year I plan on spending my time (without having school in my way) working on the improvements on the house that I am capable of doing by myself. I am working on the bathroom right now, next is the boys rooms, and then the kitchen. I am working on designing the layout of my front yard and what I want done with it, and the beautiful garden that go in the back yard, and Kameo can help me with it. We will spend hours and hours playing in the dirt, getting potting soil under our pretty painted fingernails, and during her resting time I will read an actual book that is not a text book. I will set aside one day a week for a play date with a younger kiddo so that Kameo can learn patience (and mom gets her Jennifer time) and I will set another day a week with kiddos her own age where mom can get her social interaction with other stay at home moms. I will try new recipes, and learn how to make bread rise in my house. I will study how to can so that when my garden is ready for harvest I will be able to provide long lasting benefits for my family. I will crochet, and I will fix my sewing machine, I will paint, and I will pull weeds. I want to begin cross stitching obscene throw pillows (watch out, one of these may be your Christmas gifts). I want to figure out what to make for gifts this year and get a head start instead of waiting until the last minute. I want to spend more time with my mom and grandparents, so that means more coast trips and Myrtle Creek trips.
And none of this would be possible if I didn't 1) have the blessing of my husband to stay home, and 2) allowed peoples opinions to interject in my affairs and business.
For all of you stay at home parents, I commend you, and I appreciate you. I understand the struggles that you face and the feelings of feeling like some days you just fall short. But, and this is a big but, YOU are right where you are supposed to be, where YOU are needed and following the destined path the the universe has for YOU and YOUR FAMILY!! Hoo-Rah!!
P.S. I totally respect all of you working moms and dads too...this post is in no way shape or form made to downplay what you bring to your family as well. I love you all, I love all the parents that do what they need to do with their lives and their families to make it!!!
Peace and Blessings,
A.
Casey and I discussed in length when we got married about me being a stay at home mom and that when I was ready and the kids were in school full time I would go out and work. Well guess what...we had Kameo and plans shifted!!
That beautiful girl is my last baby and we have another year before she goes into school and I lose that precious time with her.Soon her days of cuddling with mom will be replaced with a teacher asking her to keep her hands to herself. While her and I have our morning routine of waking up, feeding the animals, and drinking our coffee (hers is apple juice) together, she will walking in a line with other classmates to get her morning breakfast (full of nasty sugars) and preparing to learn what her teacher has prepared for the day. I will lose beautiful hours with her.
The average kid in America attends 180 days of school a year for around 6.57 hours a day. If you do the math, that is around 2,340 days of school from kindergarten to graduation and that is right around 15,373.8 hours that teachers have with our children that we don't. Damn right I am going to stay home with baby as long as I am able to.
Right now, I am a stay at home mom. My days are filled with appointments for all types of things, paying bills with my HUSBANDS money AND the money I was getting as a stipend from school. I am the primary parent, I am in charge of homework, chores, getting this kid there, that kid to that sports practice, this one to the Ortho, that one to a specialist, and the list goes on and on. I am also the the one that is the referee, the bouncer, the comforter and the one kids come to for advice. I have earned the title mom because I do it day in and day out and with no sick pay and very little vacation. I have no guilt for choosing to stay at home and not work during this time of my life. I worked for most of my life before I got married, and I worked my ass off going to school for all those years, I have not lived a life without employment and I give up things that I "want" because I feel guilty spending Casey's money, but I worked, and I work today, just not for the man, instead I work for 3 little men, a big man and a little girl.
I don't think people on the outside of a home looking in see the full picture of what a mother/father does all day if they are the stay at home parent. And frankly it isn't your place to be looking in my windows seeing what I am doing anyway. Judgment and opinions on what I should be doing have no value compared to what I am actually doing on a day to day basis for MY family.
Today, I was on the go non stop and forgot to even put food in my body until 5, and then on other days I may not leave my bedroom, but I can tell you what, I still get laundry folded and put away, the boys still get their chores done, dinner is made, and I can still manage to turn in a 10-15 page homework assignment, all while breaking up non-stop bickering between 4 strong willed and ferociously independent humans. The cliche of a mother sitting around eating Bon-bons, watching her soap operas all day is a bunch of bullshit and anyone one who would like to argue this point is welcome to come stay at my home for a week with all of my kids while I have a mini vaca!
For the next year I plan on spending my time (without having school in my way) working on the improvements on the house that I am capable of doing by myself. I am working on the bathroom right now, next is the boys rooms, and then the kitchen. I am working on designing the layout of my front yard and what I want done with it, and the beautiful garden that go in the back yard, and Kameo can help me with it. We will spend hours and hours playing in the dirt, getting potting soil under our pretty painted fingernails, and during her resting time I will read an actual book that is not a text book. I will set aside one day a week for a play date with a younger kiddo so that Kameo can learn patience (and mom gets her Jennifer time) and I will set another day a week with kiddos her own age where mom can get her social interaction with other stay at home moms. I will try new recipes, and learn how to make bread rise in my house. I will study how to can so that when my garden is ready for harvest I will be able to provide long lasting benefits for my family. I will crochet, and I will fix my sewing machine, I will paint, and I will pull weeds. I want to begin cross stitching obscene throw pillows (watch out, one of these may be your Christmas gifts). I want to figure out what to make for gifts this year and get a head start instead of waiting until the last minute. I want to spend more time with my mom and grandparents, so that means more coast trips and Myrtle Creek trips.
And none of this would be possible if I didn't 1) have the blessing of my husband to stay home, and 2) allowed peoples opinions to interject in my affairs and business.
For all of you stay at home parents, I commend you, and I appreciate you. I understand the struggles that you face and the feelings of feeling like some days you just fall short. But, and this is a big but, YOU are right where you are supposed to be, where YOU are needed and following the destined path the the universe has for YOU and YOUR FAMILY!! Hoo-Rah!!
P.S. I totally respect all of you working moms and dads too...this post is in no way shape or form made to downplay what you bring to your family as well. I love you all, I love all the parents that do what they need to do with their lives and their families to make it!!!
Peace and Blessings,
A.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Depression, Loneliness and Stress...OH NO!!
I feel like the people don't talk enough about these taboo subjects, and when they do, it's in cryptic Vaguebook posts. Is it because it makes you feel uncomfortable to hear about others struggling or is it because you can relate and don't want to hear the common issues that plague your sleep too?
I have always struggled with depression, self loathing, and the dark feeling of being lonely. I remember as a kid feeling worthless and as though no one really liked me and yes, even thoughts of suicide. My first experience with a counselor was in grade school (I think it was 4th grade but I am not sure), and she was a "big-fat-liar-liar-pants-on-fire-tattle tale-snitch-bitch. She would talk to me, ask me questions, making me comfortable and safe with her, have me draw pictures and she would promise me time and time again that everything that her and I talked about would stay between us. I believed her, I trusted her, I felt safe with her...and then.....several years later when I was helping my mother pack up our house to move to Oregon I came across some drawings. Those were MY drawings, the ones I had done years ago with the school counselor, how did my mother end up with them if this lady had PROMISED me that everything we had done and talked about was kept between us? I remember at that exact moment, the feeling of betrayal, the loss of trust in people, and losing that feeling of safety. I have never truly felt safe since then.
(I know that she was probably required to tell my mother the things we had discussed)
Ever since I was young, kindergarten age, I felt like I had to try and be perfect, and in doing so, I only let myself down over and over again. If I couldn't be perfect, then maybe my surroundings could be, and this is when I discovered that organization is next to godliness and that everything in existence has its place. My obsession with having cleanliness and organization was something that I took pride in, my closet was color coordinated, my drawers where organized, my room was vacuumed a couple times a day, everything had its own place and my clean and organized environment helped my brain not stress out.
At the age of 17 I moved away from home to another state and I began dating my first real boyfriend and meth came into the picture. Meth had a magical effect on me, it allowed me to forget that I was unhappy, it gave me the energy to get my life (or the area around me) organized and more importantly, I was able to find focus and my attention could center , allowing me to complete tasks. Whoa!!!
When I was with my ex, he made me feel "safe"...from other people, he protected me from other men, and he vowed to beat an ass that tried to do me any wrong. He wasn't afraid to be mean to the person trying to take advantage of me, or threaten me. I was safe from others, but I wasn't safe from him. I just wanted someone to make me feel safe and someone to trust, someone who would love me for who I was. I lived with my ex in a bedroom at his mothers house, and even though the room was the size of a walk in closet, it was impossible to keep it clean and organized with how much of a slob my boyfriend was. Messy makes me crazy and sad.
Over the next several years I felt my depression increase and I couldn't understand why the house couldn't be cleaned up while I was at work, instead I would come home to house filled with people playing video games and lounging around leaving their trash everywhere. What was the point in cleaning in when I would just have to do this all over again and I would have just gotten home from work exhausted. I started to give up on what made me happy and gave in to the chaos that my life had become. How hard is it to put things away, everything has its place, perhaps looking back now, I didn't have a place.
On top of depression I was lonely, and being with an abuser only increased this feeling. The isolation I was in was created to convince me that no one else wanted to be in my life and to make me feel like John was always there for me, I didn't have to feel like I was alone, he would always be there even if everyone else left me. Having feelings of loneliness and abandonment are dangerous when you out there looking for love and acceptance because abusers are predators and they seek out those who are willing to love anyone who will love them. I eventually became very calloused to people, I didn't need them and I certainly wasn't about to get close to people because I knew that it wouldn't be long before John would either scare them off or they would just get sick and tired of seeing my relationship and the ups and downs and the back and forth of it. I really couldn't blame them, but I found it easier to just not let myself get invested in anything close to my heart.
(any of you reading this that were around during that time can vouch I am sure)
The only people I have ever felt like would never turn on me or come to hate me, and just accept me for exactly who I am, was my brother and my Pop, and I love that about them. Those two humans are the only ones in my entire life who make me feel safe.
I lose friends on a regular basis, and usually over stupid things like lack of communication, other people talking shit about me, or just the universe leading them in another direction. I used to get soooo upset over this, I took it so personal, I would cry and cry, fall into a deep dark hole and I would constantly play the ending events in my head over and over again trying to see where I went wrong. There were even friend break ups where I was told that I was a horrible selfish person that should kill themselves and things of that nature. Then one night it happened.....I quit....I literally quit friendship expectations. I had an epiphany and self discovery lesson...I believe I am meant to be a match-maker. Not a match maker for relationships, but just to match human to human for their needs. The universe uses me to introduce this human to that one and then after a while the two matched humans go about their lives and leave my friendship train to make room for the next match. I used to feel jealousy, but now I feel peace and understanding about it.
I realized that people will come and go, they will jump on my friend train and then it;s their turn, they will jump off of it to make room for someone else that is supposed to bring a lesson into my life. Every single person that comes into my life is meant to show/teach me something. I have no expectations of people staying in my life forever (if they do that's definitely a bonus, but it they don't its a great life lesson).
I think when someone doesn't feel safe, unable to trust people, and lonely, it begins to wear on them, It is a heavy burden to bear and it weighs you down in life, but when you have made those beautiful connections with someone or a couple of people its hard not to let down your guards and invest in them. But what happens when they leave? I am struggling with this right now.
I have so much happening in my life and so much that I need to talk about, to let out, and those that I have built this bond with are.....gone, busy, isolated, distracted. I don't feel like I have anyone, I feel alone and sad. There are days that I don't come out of my room. There are days that I just sit on my bed and cry, there are days that I miss the human interaction and I get angry, and then I get angry at myself for being so selfish, they have a right to go on and live their own lives, their's doesn't revolve around me.
My husband is so angry and resentful that we don't barely talk, and when we do it's usually him venting about everything that he hates about his life and how he is the only one that works and lets not get him started on politics. So, yeah...I don't really bring up what is bothering me because he doesn't understand and he thinks I should just get over it.
I feel like I am failing at this life (and I really didn't want to have to come back again to learn more lessons in the next one) and I can't climb my way out of it. I am exhausted trying to make peace between my middle son and the rest of the kids. It is a daily battle and I feel like I am back living with my ex, always fighting to get things done.
I am one of those terrible, horrible, mean moms that gives my children chores so that one day when they move out and into their own place they'll know how to take care of themselves. Each one of the boys have a room as their chore. Hunter cleans the living room, sweeping, straightening, cleaning out from under the couch, cleaning off surfaces...you get where I am going, and he also does laundry and one day a week cleans his room. Caleb is supposed to wash dishes, clean off the counters, wipe everything down, and sweep the floor. He is also supposed to clean up dog poop in the garage. Lucas cleans the hallway and the bathroom, and one day a week cleans his room, and he is learning to do his laundry. Sounds easy enough right? I have even made them detailed lists of how to do it to my standards.
What I get on a daily basis is this....Hunter sweeps everything into a pile, and cleans that, forgets about the couch, and the surfaces, and he piles clean and dirty laundry together in baskets in the living room...which makes my blood boil...why does my family think that laundry belongs in the living room? I have bought laundry baskets for each kid...helloooooo?
Then I get to the kitchen, and when I go to pick a dish out of the dish drain, I get gross nasty, unclean dishes...which, again, my blood boils again. I put them back in the sink and explain that he needs to wash them better and learn how to properly wash dishes, and then the fight is on. He is stomping around, throwing a fit, and my kitchen stays looking like crap.
Lucas is sneaky and he will grab the broom looking as though he is going to do something, and then I will listen and hear the distinct sound of an Xbox being played...oh hell no...so then I am the bad parent for taking away the system and then he ends up pouting in his room, and falling asleep, so the hallway and the bathroom are still dirty.
I just stay in my room so that I don't have to face the reality that my kids just don't get how crazy it makes my brain. I buy organizational tools to help out...NOPE. I just don't get it, and I can't deal with it, and the stubborn part of me refuses to go out and do their chore when they won't do it, so it really is a catch 22.
I am not even going to go into detail about the fights other than each has their role in them. Hunter is the peacekeeper and he tries to help Caleb NOT get into trouble by trying to tell him how to do things that way I would want, only, this has an adverse reaction, and Caleb takes it as Hunter telling him what to do and being the boss so he lashes out at Hunter and a fight then ensues. Caleb is constantly picking fights with everyone in the house and then when there is a consequence he is a victim, it wasn't his fault, he didn't do it, it was so and so's fault, and he will yell this from his room for hours and hours on end. He is starting to become aggressive and has been physical a couple of times. \
Now we have Lucas, he has made it his life's mission to try and create a unified hatred towards Caleb. He insists in telling mom and dad everything that Caleb has or hasn't done whether it directly involves him or not.
Kameo has taken up the bad habits of the brothers and rolls her eyes at me, tries to walk away when I talking to her, screams and yells at her brothers when she doesn't get her way, and threatening to beat them up. No matter how on top of all of this I believe I am , I am reminded that I have no control. I was told by my friends 5 year old that I have a mean or angry family ( I cannot remember which word she used, I was so taken aback by her statement) and it made me shrink into a hole. I have failed as a parent, I have tried to teach my children to take responsibility for their actions, to be polite, explain to them that they will be brothers for life and they should learn to love each other, and to use words instead of becoming physical. I have begged and pleaded to please go a day without fighting for my sanity...I think I have lost my mind.
I am failing at school, I am going to drop out due to having run out of funding to finish the remaining classes of my bachelors degree. I think I am at peace with this because I am failing at a future goal. I only went back to school because I wanted my Bachelors so that I could go back and work with the kids in the jail as a counselor. I don't want to do that anymore. I changed my career goal to working with domestic abuse victims but I can't even save my own friend from a dangerous relationship she's in right now, so I feel like I am failing as a friend, and she helped me write my book....I feel like I am failing as an author as well, having only sold a couple of books since its republication. Oh man, so much failing...I am winning at whining though!! A+++ for that!!
I am only publicly whining so that I can kind of explain how things can start to snowball so quickly and get away from you and out of your control and this leads to feelings of failure and depression and then when you feel like you have no one to talk to it creates a loneliness.
So, let me ask you this...did this make you uncomfortable, did it make you roll your eyes because I am just feeling sorry for myself, did it make you want to stop reading it because it just didn't feel like it was worth reading about someone else's problems that look so easily fixable?
This is what prevents people from speaking out about their struggles, this is what people feel like what other people think...no one wants to hear whats bothering me, no one wants to hear me whine, they'll think I am being ridiculous, they'll just come up with some "easy" solution, one that you have already thought of a million and a half times but they don't fully understand the whole picture. When they feel like they have no one to talk anymore they begin to isolate themselves. Even people who are so wrapped up in dealing with things falling apart and are being whiny, they often think about others more and not troubling them with their problems, keeping everything in until they just can't take it anymore.
A.
I have always struggled with depression, self loathing, and the dark feeling of being lonely. I remember as a kid feeling worthless and as though no one really liked me and yes, even thoughts of suicide. My first experience with a counselor was in grade school (I think it was 4th grade but I am not sure), and she was a "big-fat-liar-liar-pants-on-fire-tattle tale-snitch-bitch. She would talk to me, ask me questions, making me comfortable and safe with her, have me draw pictures and she would promise me time and time again that everything that her and I talked about would stay between us. I believed her, I trusted her, I felt safe with her...and then.....several years later when I was helping my mother pack up our house to move to Oregon I came across some drawings. Those were MY drawings, the ones I had done years ago with the school counselor, how did my mother end up with them if this lady had PROMISED me that everything we had done and talked about was kept between us? I remember at that exact moment, the feeling of betrayal, the loss of trust in people, and losing that feeling of safety. I have never truly felt safe since then.
(I know that she was probably required to tell my mother the things we had discussed)
Ever since I was young, kindergarten age, I felt like I had to try and be perfect, and in doing so, I only let myself down over and over again. If I couldn't be perfect, then maybe my surroundings could be, and this is when I discovered that organization is next to godliness and that everything in existence has its place. My obsession with having cleanliness and organization was something that I took pride in, my closet was color coordinated, my drawers where organized, my room was vacuumed a couple times a day, everything had its own place and my clean and organized environment helped my brain not stress out.
At the age of 17 I moved away from home to another state and I began dating my first real boyfriend and meth came into the picture. Meth had a magical effect on me, it allowed me to forget that I was unhappy, it gave me the energy to get my life (or the area around me) organized and more importantly, I was able to find focus and my attention could center , allowing me to complete tasks. Whoa!!!
When I was with my ex, he made me feel "safe"...from other people, he protected me from other men, and he vowed to beat an ass that tried to do me any wrong. He wasn't afraid to be mean to the person trying to take advantage of me, or threaten me. I was safe from others, but I wasn't safe from him. I just wanted someone to make me feel safe and someone to trust, someone who would love me for who I was. I lived with my ex in a bedroom at his mothers house, and even though the room was the size of a walk in closet, it was impossible to keep it clean and organized with how much of a slob my boyfriend was. Messy makes me crazy and sad.
Over the next several years I felt my depression increase and I couldn't understand why the house couldn't be cleaned up while I was at work, instead I would come home to house filled with people playing video games and lounging around leaving their trash everywhere. What was the point in cleaning in when I would just have to do this all over again and I would have just gotten home from work exhausted. I started to give up on what made me happy and gave in to the chaos that my life had become. How hard is it to put things away, everything has its place, perhaps looking back now, I didn't have a place.
On top of depression I was lonely, and being with an abuser only increased this feeling. The isolation I was in was created to convince me that no one else wanted to be in my life and to make me feel like John was always there for me, I didn't have to feel like I was alone, he would always be there even if everyone else left me. Having feelings of loneliness and abandonment are dangerous when you out there looking for love and acceptance because abusers are predators and they seek out those who are willing to love anyone who will love them. I eventually became very calloused to people, I didn't need them and I certainly wasn't about to get close to people because I knew that it wouldn't be long before John would either scare them off or they would just get sick and tired of seeing my relationship and the ups and downs and the back and forth of it. I really couldn't blame them, but I found it easier to just not let myself get invested in anything close to my heart.
(any of you reading this that were around during that time can vouch I am sure)
The only people I have ever felt like would never turn on me or come to hate me, and just accept me for exactly who I am, was my brother and my Pop, and I love that about them. Those two humans are the only ones in my entire life who make me feel safe.
I lose friends on a regular basis, and usually over stupid things like lack of communication, other people talking shit about me, or just the universe leading them in another direction. I used to get soooo upset over this, I took it so personal, I would cry and cry, fall into a deep dark hole and I would constantly play the ending events in my head over and over again trying to see where I went wrong. There were even friend break ups where I was told that I was a horrible selfish person that should kill themselves and things of that nature. Then one night it happened.....I quit....I literally quit friendship expectations. I had an epiphany and self discovery lesson...I believe I am meant to be a match-maker. Not a match maker for relationships, but just to match human to human for their needs. The universe uses me to introduce this human to that one and then after a while the two matched humans go about their lives and leave my friendship train to make room for the next match. I used to feel jealousy, but now I feel peace and understanding about it.
I realized that people will come and go, they will jump on my friend train and then it;s their turn, they will jump off of it to make room for someone else that is supposed to bring a lesson into my life. Every single person that comes into my life is meant to show/teach me something. I have no expectations of people staying in my life forever (if they do that's definitely a bonus, but it they don't its a great life lesson).
I think when someone doesn't feel safe, unable to trust people, and lonely, it begins to wear on them, It is a heavy burden to bear and it weighs you down in life, but when you have made those beautiful connections with someone or a couple of people its hard not to let down your guards and invest in them. But what happens when they leave? I am struggling with this right now.
I have so much happening in my life and so much that I need to talk about, to let out, and those that I have built this bond with are.....gone, busy, isolated, distracted. I don't feel like I have anyone, I feel alone and sad. There are days that I don't come out of my room. There are days that I just sit on my bed and cry, there are days that I miss the human interaction and I get angry, and then I get angry at myself for being so selfish, they have a right to go on and live their own lives, their's doesn't revolve around me.
My husband is so angry and resentful that we don't barely talk, and when we do it's usually him venting about everything that he hates about his life and how he is the only one that works and lets not get him started on politics. So, yeah...I don't really bring up what is bothering me because he doesn't understand and he thinks I should just get over it.
I feel like I am failing at this life (and I really didn't want to have to come back again to learn more lessons in the next one) and I can't climb my way out of it. I am exhausted trying to make peace between my middle son and the rest of the kids. It is a daily battle and I feel like I am back living with my ex, always fighting to get things done.
I am one of those terrible, horrible, mean moms that gives my children chores so that one day when they move out and into their own place they'll know how to take care of themselves. Each one of the boys have a room as their chore. Hunter cleans the living room, sweeping, straightening, cleaning out from under the couch, cleaning off surfaces...you get where I am going, and he also does laundry and one day a week cleans his room. Caleb is supposed to wash dishes, clean off the counters, wipe everything down, and sweep the floor. He is also supposed to clean up dog poop in the garage. Lucas cleans the hallway and the bathroom, and one day a week cleans his room, and he is learning to do his laundry. Sounds easy enough right? I have even made them detailed lists of how to do it to my standards.
What I get on a daily basis is this....Hunter sweeps everything into a pile, and cleans that, forgets about the couch, and the surfaces, and he piles clean and dirty laundry together in baskets in the living room...which makes my blood boil...why does my family think that laundry belongs in the living room? I have bought laundry baskets for each kid...helloooooo?
Then I get to the kitchen, and when I go to pick a dish out of the dish drain, I get gross nasty, unclean dishes...which, again, my blood boils again. I put them back in the sink and explain that he needs to wash them better and learn how to properly wash dishes, and then the fight is on. He is stomping around, throwing a fit, and my kitchen stays looking like crap.
Lucas is sneaky and he will grab the broom looking as though he is going to do something, and then I will listen and hear the distinct sound of an Xbox being played...oh hell no...so then I am the bad parent for taking away the system and then he ends up pouting in his room, and falling asleep, so the hallway and the bathroom are still dirty.
I just stay in my room so that I don't have to face the reality that my kids just don't get how crazy it makes my brain. I buy organizational tools to help out...NOPE. I just don't get it, and I can't deal with it, and the stubborn part of me refuses to go out and do their chore when they won't do it, so it really is a catch 22.
I am not even going to go into detail about the fights other than each has their role in them. Hunter is the peacekeeper and he tries to help Caleb NOT get into trouble by trying to tell him how to do things that way I would want, only, this has an adverse reaction, and Caleb takes it as Hunter telling him what to do and being the boss so he lashes out at Hunter and a fight then ensues. Caleb is constantly picking fights with everyone in the house and then when there is a consequence he is a victim, it wasn't his fault, he didn't do it, it was so and so's fault, and he will yell this from his room for hours and hours on end. He is starting to become aggressive and has been physical a couple of times. \
Now we have Lucas, he has made it his life's mission to try and create a unified hatred towards Caleb. He insists in telling mom and dad everything that Caleb has or hasn't done whether it directly involves him or not.
Kameo has taken up the bad habits of the brothers and rolls her eyes at me, tries to walk away when I talking to her, screams and yells at her brothers when she doesn't get her way, and threatening to beat them up. No matter how on top of all of this I believe I am , I am reminded that I have no control. I was told by my friends 5 year old that I have a mean or angry family ( I cannot remember which word she used, I was so taken aback by her statement) and it made me shrink into a hole. I have failed as a parent, I have tried to teach my children to take responsibility for their actions, to be polite, explain to them that they will be brothers for life and they should learn to love each other, and to use words instead of becoming physical. I have begged and pleaded to please go a day without fighting for my sanity...I think I have lost my mind.
I am failing at school, I am going to drop out due to having run out of funding to finish the remaining classes of my bachelors degree. I think I am at peace with this because I am failing at a future goal. I only went back to school because I wanted my Bachelors so that I could go back and work with the kids in the jail as a counselor. I don't want to do that anymore. I changed my career goal to working with domestic abuse victims but I can't even save my own friend from a dangerous relationship she's in right now, so I feel like I am failing as a friend, and she helped me write my book....I feel like I am failing as an author as well, having only sold a couple of books since its republication. Oh man, so much failing...I am winning at whining though!! A+++ for that!!
I am only publicly whining so that I can kind of explain how things can start to snowball so quickly and get away from you and out of your control and this leads to feelings of failure and depression and then when you feel like you have no one to talk to it creates a loneliness.
So, let me ask you this...did this make you uncomfortable, did it make you roll your eyes because I am just feeling sorry for myself, did it make you want to stop reading it because it just didn't feel like it was worth reading about someone else's problems that look so easily fixable?
This is what prevents people from speaking out about their struggles, this is what people feel like what other people think...no one wants to hear whats bothering me, no one wants to hear me whine, they'll think I am being ridiculous, they'll just come up with some "easy" solution, one that you have already thought of a million and a half times but they don't fully understand the whole picture. When they feel like they have no one to talk anymore they begin to isolate themselves. Even people who are so wrapped up in dealing with things falling apart and are being whiny, they often think about others more and not troubling them with their problems, keeping everything in until they just can't take it anymore.
A.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
The Day Karma Smacked Me in the Face (or the nostrils)
I really wanted to post this blog this morning, but I thought I might save you all from embarrassing yourselves as you would most likely read this and laugh at me so hard that your coffee would come squirting out your nostrils, thus causing you to have to change your clothes again before leaving for work. I chose this evening instead so that if you are like me, you are already in your comfy leggings and in for the evening...it really doesn't matter if you squirt liquid out of you nose when you are home now does it ...you're welcome.
Ok, so before I tell you the funny story of how Karma and I danced last night, I need to take you back in time to where I first began my relationship with Karma.
If you live with an asshole that beats on you, and you know that at times you cannot physically win an altercation, you may choose to hold back your retaliation until the other person is weak or unsuspecting...like when they are sleeping! On nights where my hatred for my ex would get the best of me, I would often lay in wait until he was sleeping, and then fart and pull the covers over his head. He was completely oblivious of course and so really the revenge was celebrated alone, but I took such joy and excitement knowing that that asshole was breathing in shit particles and he had NO CLUE!!! In a way it was like my own chemical warfare. I always knew that my ornery behavior would some day catch up to me...I mean, forcing someone to breathe in your farts is kind of horrible...then again, so is beating on your girlfriend, I figured it was a way of balancing out the universe.
Present day:
I have always been a dreamer, I dream from the time I close my eyes until I open them in the mornings. Most of the time I enjoy them, and those that I don't care for are usually given to me to solve a life problem. I am not sure about how other peoples dreams are, but my dreams are incredibly vivid and detailed, I can feel, touch, taste and smell in my dreams.
Last night/this morning I am dreaming that I was out with a few mommy friends of mine and all of their offspring. At one point, one of children came running by me and I pointed out that I thought their kid smelled like a bucket of butt and needed their hiney changed. I also mentioned that I thought their poopy kid needed to lay off the broccoli because their diaper had a smell that I referred to as the "rotten broccoli poops"..yeah, I have a tendency to be a jerk in my dreams sometimes ( I wonder why that is, I should do some soul searching for the answer to that)......anywaaaaaay
As the dream went on, I found myself at the zoo with the mom group and their kiddos. I couldn't get the awful smell out of my nostrils and now I felt like I could actually taste it too, and I kept thinking to myself...did I forget to brush my teeth before this zoo outing, or maybe one of the animals just took a dump, either way it was potent to say the least.
So, I wake up to Casey throwing a fit about the bathtub not draining, and I am yelling back at him that it isn't my fault because I don't lose hair anymore, not to mention I haven't bathed in a couple of days (now, before you judge.....I don't leave my house enough to worry about offending anyone with my odor). We now have Casey yelling, I am yelling back, the kids are yelling at one another to get up and ready, and of course you have the morning fights over who's turn it is to use the throne.
I am still somewhat sleeping when I feel a familiar squirm under my covers. LulaBelle is stretching under my blanket. Lu and I have a routine, the alarm goes off, I wake up kids, Casey gets ready for work, the kids get ready for school, and I embrace Lu in a full on cuddle fest until I am fully awake and ready to begin my day. Lu roots around until I lift up the blanket, then she spins around and around until she finds a comfortable opportunity, which is usually her and I spooning with her head laying on Casey's pillow and completely covered over with my blanket.
Well, this morning was a little out of the ordinary routine as Casey and I were bickering, so when Lu stretched her overly exaggerated stretch reminding me that she needed her cuddle time, I rolled back over and grabbed her to cuddle....then it happened.....
I closed my eyes for a moment as I am still allowing my mind and body to wake fully for the day, and then I hear it.....the very distinct sound of air as it is escaping from a rear end.....and it was right next to my FACE!!! As if realizing that my dog was backwards and she had just farted in my face wasn't enough of a rude awakening, I also immediately recognized the smell....and....the...taste....of broccoli!!
My dog had been farting while I was dreaming and I was breathing in (and apparently eating) her poop particles and subconsciously blaming it on my friends kids in my dream.
I usually try and spend some time analyzing what my dreams represent, are there any lessons to be learned from it, any wisdom that can be taken from the dream? Well, this morning I feel like Karma figured it was a perfect time for a little payback for all the times I forced my ex to breathe in my toxic fart fumes without his knowledge or consent (not that anyone would consent to breathing in a fart), and the wisdom or the lesson I took away from this experience is...
1) Revenge is not always necessary (even if it is funny as hell at the time)
2) Karma doesn't have a time limit
3) I should have more tact when I am telling my friend that their kid crapped their pants in my dreams
4) I should make a conscious effort to not lose my temper in the mornings just because Casey does
5) I should sleep with my mouth closed &
6) ALWAYS check to see what end of LulaBelle I am cuddling with!!
So there you have it.....I haven't blogged in days and when I finally do, the whole blog is about farting....I really have no life or life experiences to talk about right now...which I guess could be a good thing. I have nothing to whine about, nothing is bothering me too terribly bad, and life is smooth sailing at the moment...so fart blogs it is!!
Hopefully I will have a more interesting blog post next time....
Peace and blessings to you all,
A.
Ok, so before I tell you the funny story of how Karma and I danced last night, I need to take you back in time to where I first began my relationship with Karma.
If you live with an asshole that beats on you, and you know that at times you cannot physically win an altercation, you may choose to hold back your retaliation until the other person is weak or unsuspecting...like when they are sleeping! On nights where my hatred for my ex would get the best of me, I would often lay in wait until he was sleeping, and then fart and pull the covers over his head. He was completely oblivious of course and so really the revenge was celebrated alone, but I took such joy and excitement knowing that that asshole was breathing in shit particles and he had NO CLUE!!! In a way it was like my own chemical warfare. I always knew that my ornery behavior would some day catch up to me...I mean, forcing someone to breathe in your farts is kind of horrible...then again, so is beating on your girlfriend, I figured it was a way of balancing out the universe.
Present day:
I have always been a dreamer, I dream from the time I close my eyes until I open them in the mornings. Most of the time I enjoy them, and those that I don't care for are usually given to me to solve a life problem. I am not sure about how other peoples dreams are, but my dreams are incredibly vivid and detailed, I can feel, touch, taste and smell in my dreams.
Last night/this morning I am dreaming that I was out with a few mommy friends of mine and all of their offspring. At one point, one of children came running by me and I pointed out that I thought their kid smelled like a bucket of butt and needed their hiney changed. I also mentioned that I thought their poopy kid needed to lay off the broccoli because their diaper had a smell that I referred to as the "rotten broccoli poops"..yeah, I have a tendency to be a jerk in my dreams sometimes ( I wonder why that is, I should do some soul searching for the answer to that)......anywaaaaaay
As the dream went on, I found myself at the zoo with the mom group and their kiddos. I couldn't get the awful smell out of my nostrils and now I felt like I could actually taste it too, and I kept thinking to myself...did I forget to brush my teeth before this zoo outing, or maybe one of the animals just took a dump, either way it was potent to say the least.
So, I wake up to Casey throwing a fit about the bathtub not draining, and I am yelling back at him that it isn't my fault because I don't lose hair anymore, not to mention I haven't bathed in a couple of days (now, before you judge.....I don't leave my house enough to worry about offending anyone with my odor). We now have Casey yelling, I am yelling back, the kids are yelling at one another to get up and ready, and of course you have the morning fights over who's turn it is to use the throne.
I am still somewhat sleeping when I feel a familiar squirm under my covers. LulaBelle is stretching under my blanket. Lu and I have a routine, the alarm goes off, I wake up kids, Casey gets ready for work, the kids get ready for school, and I embrace Lu in a full on cuddle fest until I am fully awake and ready to begin my day. Lu roots around until I lift up the blanket, then she spins around and around until she finds a comfortable opportunity, which is usually her and I spooning with her head laying on Casey's pillow and completely covered over with my blanket.
Well, this morning was a little out of the ordinary routine as Casey and I were bickering, so when Lu stretched her overly exaggerated stretch reminding me that she needed her cuddle time, I rolled back over and grabbed her to cuddle....then it happened.....
I closed my eyes for a moment as I am still allowing my mind and body to wake fully for the day, and then I hear it.....the very distinct sound of air as it is escaping from a rear end.....and it was right next to my FACE!!! As if realizing that my dog was backwards and she had just farted in my face wasn't enough of a rude awakening, I also immediately recognized the smell....and....the...taste....of broccoli!!
My dog had been farting while I was dreaming and I was breathing in (and apparently eating) her poop particles and subconsciously blaming it on my friends kids in my dream.
I usually try and spend some time analyzing what my dreams represent, are there any lessons to be learned from it, any wisdom that can be taken from the dream? Well, this morning I feel like Karma figured it was a perfect time for a little payback for all the times I forced my ex to breathe in my toxic fart fumes without his knowledge or consent (not that anyone would consent to breathing in a fart), and the wisdom or the lesson I took away from this experience is...
1) Revenge is not always necessary (even if it is funny as hell at the time)
2) Karma doesn't have a time limit
3) I should have more tact when I am telling my friend that their kid crapped their pants in my dreams
4) I should make a conscious effort to not lose my temper in the mornings just because Casey does
5) I should sleep with my mouth closed &
6) ALWAYS check to see what end of LulaBelle I am cuddling with!!
So there you have it.....I haven't blogged in days and when I finally do, the whole blog is about farting....I really have no life or life experiences to talk about right now...which I guess could be a good thing. I have nothing to whine about, nothing is bothering me too terribly bad, and life is smooth sailing at the moment...so fart blogs it is!!
Hopefully I will have a more interesting blog post next time....
Peace and blessings to you all,
A.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)