Today I finally put the kids back in school and so far I have taken off more than I can do. Last night we started by totally attacking the house and trying to get the remnants of cat fur out of the house. I have been trying to wipe down all base boards, vacuuming, washing clothes, mopping etc. That's the main reason why the kids are in school today so I can try to get the house done, work on the site as well and the other ones we have. Tomorrow I promised the kids that I would take them to IKEA so we can see what they have and try to buy some things for them as I try to teach them at home.

Yesterday was finally my last day at Fresh & Easy. I liked working there but I wasn't paid enough to work and then deal with the stupid customers and deal with the lies of the managers and laziness of it all. I guess that's why they are working there and I am not. I was so excited when 5pm came and that day took FOREVER! I will never work there again I swear, I don't care how bad I need a job I would rather work at Walmart.

It's still a bit of a lazy day today though. Yesterday it rained all day and night and today it's starting to get sunny but it's also very cold out. I found out that my cat was adopted out yesterday. I hope that he went to a good home. I feel bad but no one was happy, we were all sick and Morris didn't get the attention that he really needed. I do miss having a cat but we can't have it all right? Right now our focus is just trying to get healthy and the then we all get to go into for our allergy tests. Now it seems like it's a lot easier because they just do a skin test and then if you have allergies then you can take drops instead of shots which it way easier with the kids.

Ok well I'm off to grab lunch, finish cleaning and then try to get more stuff done on the sites.

Don't forget about my contest I have going on.

So here we are again, still sick. Come to find out though is that I may have allergies and possibly asthma on top of that. "O" has an ear infection, "N" has a hacky cough, "The Hubby" is on meds but still has a sore throat. Luckily I had yesterday and today off and then I have two more days of work then I quit. "O" has been very sick lately and has had severe fevers so that's when I knew it was time for me to quit.

Tomorrow we are getting rid of the cat because he could be partly to blame for us being sick so often. I feel bad getting rid of him but we can't keep being sick all the time. He needs more affection than I can give to him because "The Hubby" can't stand it when I pet the cat because of the dander and irritates him. So in the end it's not fair to anyone. I have also gotten rid of my iMac computer and gone back to a Windows laptop. This is my first ever laptop that wasn't a hand me down. It's pretty cool because it's an Inspiron 1520, Pink and little. I bought a cool carrying case to go with it.

So since I have been sick, this was the worst ever. I thought for sure this was the flu but as it turned out, it wasn't. My body had been aching for two days straight. If anything at all touched my skin I thought I was going to die because of the pain. My joints ached but yet I couldn't ever get comfortable enough to sleep. I would be up all night and then tried to take hot baths and showers. I felt really bad for the kids because they haven't gone to school lately but I figured it was in their best interest to not go, plus I just really didn't want to drive.

I also found out that my girlfriend will be going to Vegas in April for a wedding and we're still talking to see if they want us to meet them up there. I guess it's only a five hour drive but now I'm concerned since the Monte Carlo caught on fire today. When "The Hubby" and I went there for our anniversary a few years ago we stayed at the New York, New York. There were rumors today that that casino and another one were also evacuated. I'd like to go but I don't think it would be fun because I'm not a big fan of my kids being around smoke and right now I'm highly sensitive to it. I'd be stuck in the room with them, like I was when I was pregnant with "O" and that's not fair. Plus the last time we stayed in a hotel, "O" became very ill.

As I said before we are a bunch of sicklies and are hoping to not be as bad when we move to Chicago, since everything dies there in the winter.

So I have today and tomorrow off which is a nice change but I am so "In the box" because I still have to start my dad's Christmas present, entertain the kids for the next couple days, work on all this site and also find time to clean. I'm also trying to do my blog tours and that's even getting hard. I thought that by now I would be on more of a consistent schedule at my work since I told her when I interviewed with her that I needed one, but no three days a week I don't get off until midnight and the other days I get off between 2-5 pm but then I have a 45 minute to a 1 hour drive to and from work. It's just getting really hard, I'm to tired when I get home to do anything and so I try to do them on my days off but then get side tracked with other stuff too.

I know the beauty of being a full time mom, work full time, and try to have a life. Once I finish up this then I'll get ready and see how the kids are and maybe take them to the Veggie Tales movie or play a game this afternoon. I know I'm a crappy mom but you do the best you can do with what you have. Yes I know that I choose to work and that I need to make a decision but I have really awesome days at work and then really crappy ones. I'll give it until mid-February and see how many good and bad days I have.

"The Hubby" asked, "So if you quit, what are you going to do?" So I thought about it and I told him, "One day a week I would need to have the house to myself just so I can clean the house with no one here, try to focus more on a few of our web sites, only put the kids in school a few days a week. I would obviously only work on the days that they are in school. But it's also nice having a steady income. I don't know we'll figure it out.

Last night around 11pm, "N" wakes us up and says he's sorry but he got sick in the bathroom. We both go upstairs and with me being so tired and without glasses I couldn't see what had happened. He threw up on the floor and I felt so bad for him. He only did a total of four times last night from 11-1 and he was done. He threw up on his bedroom floor once but luckily I got that cleaned up without too much of a smell afterward. I then gave him a few fruit loops without milk this morning and about 20 minutes later he threw up one last time. I had "The Hubby" take "O" to school and I took "N" to the doctor.

They ruled out strep and so we all just think it's some sort of bug. I actually called in last night because of him getting sick I wasn't going to make "The Hubby" take the day off. So after we got home I gave him a tablespoon of water every 15 minutes then gave him some soup an hour later and so far he's kept it down and is now taking a long needed nap. Luckily it is Friday and I don't go into work until noon tomorrow and 3pm on Sunday so we have a good part of both days to hang out. "The Hubby" made a comment to me about how since last month none of us haven't gone a day without being sick.

That is a true statement and then asked me if he thinks it's because I'm now working. Don't take what was said as him wanting me to quit but asks the question if it's my work causing this. I don't know if it is because when I worked for Street of New York, I don't think I really was. If anything it's the school the kids go to. He then said maybe we should pull the kids out. I then tell him that we shouldn't because "N" starts school this year and we can't pull him out because he's sick or whatever because  then he'll be held back.

So the age old question, what do you do? If I was my boss, I would find a way to fire me because I have been there since 11/26/07 and there is is not even two months later and I have already asked for almost two weeks off because of my kids being sick. Since we are short staffed and I don't transfer to my new store for a little while I have job security but I get scared every time I call in and I think that she's thinking, my god she's unreliable. I really am not but my kids and family have been that sick and it's not like us to be this sick for this long.

I left work early on Monday so I could spend some time with "The Hubby" before he went to CES in Vegas and shortly after I get home the school called and said that "O" had a fever. I get her and a few hours later she was fine. The next day, and still till today, I have a sore throat and losing my voice. "The Hubby" went to the doctor last week and was told he had a sinus infection. "O" I think is the only healthy one at this point. Well you guys have fun and I hope that you are healthier than we are!

So "The Hubby's" in Vegas at CES this year and he's having a blast. Right now he's at a Mary J. Blige concert and is going to the after party. I'm glad that he's having fun and that his demo went well. He'll be home tomorrow night and I'm sure very tired. I go back to work on Thursday and so it'll be a nice change. I left work a little early on Monday and about 20 minutes after I walk in the door, the school called and said that "O" had a fever and that she wasn't doing well. I get her, bring her home, give her Advil and a few hours later her fever is gone. I swear that every time "The Hubby" leaves that the kids get so upset that they make themselves sick. Luckily she started acting better before he left but today she started crying for him.

Today I had the kids finish their chores up from last night and had "N" write "The Hubby" a letter. It looks awesome. He's really getting good at writing. "O" is still a little frustrating with the alphabet thing. I'm hoping she'll snap out of that soon.

So tomorrow I'm putting the kids back in school because it's my last day to myself without anyone home and so I'm cleaning all day. I didn't clean a whole lot today since the kids where here and I wanted to spend time with them instead of the house. It took all I had to not clean but I made the agreement to myself that I would clean all day Wednesday.

Do you ever feel a little lost when your spouse goes some place fun without you, has fun and you (love your kids but) wish you were there too? I feel like that every time he would go to LA, Denver, Austin, and Vegas. Oh well, such is life right? I guess with the way I feel about things at work and everything else compounded together that it just feels worse than it is. I know that makes no sense and it won't till you've been here.

Ok well I need to post a few reviews then go to bed.

This morning was an awesome morning. We all slept in, ate a healthy breakfast (for the most part) and I am now in the process of getting the kids dressed so I can then go get my stuff done and take them to where I work. They've all be to one of my stores but not to my store yet and not during the day when there's actually things going on. Last night we met one of "The Hubby's" friends for a late second dinner and the kids were very tired and they did ok. We only had one or two outbursts. When I had to run to Safeway then that was a whole other story for another day. We take the kids out but normally not to eat. They know that they only get to do the eating out thing only when they are or have been good. It's worked out quite nicely too. We've been eating awesome homemade food that for the most part the kids love.

I have never had homemade mushroom soup and so a recipe called for that and then turning it into chicken casserole. I told "The Hubby" that I would eat mushroom soup anytime he wants to make it. The kids even had the casserole.It was really cool because it gave me lunches for a few days. Last night was all leftover night and we had lamb the night before and last night it didn't taste so good so "The Hubby" and I went without while the kids had the last of the casserole. Like I said, luckily his friend called so we were able to eat again.

Things have started to calm down here and also at work. I was able to talk to them and tell them how I feel and they were really cool and understanding. We'll see how it goes tomorrow when I go back to work. I'm so behind on so many things. I have to blog about a product that I'm involved with Mom Central on and I feel bad but they were awesome too and gave me an extension till the weekend so that's yet another load off of my shoulders.

I did take a little bit of heat for my so called "Military Style Parenting". If you know me, on a good day, just kidding, you know how if you let too many things go under the rug that one day they all just come back and bite you in the butt? Well Christmas was one of those times and that was our wake up call. I'm tired of being treated like crap by my kids, it's bad enough I get it from work, so now it's turning around. What I meant by Military is that you are doing what we say when we say it. That means you wake up at the same time everyday, you do your chores, you eat what and when we tell you, you address us as Sir and Ma'am. It has nothing to do with the Military and I guess it was a bad example to use.

It's just a more strict way of running the home and a lot more structure. That's all it is and there are no need for threats whatsoever.

Ok so yet again I'm a little late, BUT I do have a cool update. Yes I still work full time at my day job, yes I till take care of the family and YES I still do work on the site. It's getting a little harder as the weeks progress and everything is feeling like it's never ending. Before New Years, "The Hubby" and I decided that we were going to go "Natural", or as natural as we can get. I started with all of my bath, lotions, toothpaste and facial things. you see, I was spending a great deal of money on things that just didn't work, so since we decided that we were going to do this "Natural" thing I have found this awesome company called Burt's Bees and as time goes on I will tell you exactly what I use and how. I will tell you this right now though, since I've been using this stuff my face and body feel and look amazing.

I can now proudly go out in public without makeup and feel confident! I use their stuff once to twice a day and I feel so amazing that I have been able to completely eliminate my liquid foundation and just go with a powder. Going natural has never felt so good. We have also bought products from Shaklee but we have yet to receive the product and I will be reviewing that as well.

I'll be doing more starting tomorrow!