Robin's Nest

Good Morning!  This post does not have a title at this point but if it did it would probably have something to do with cleaning toilets :)  It has to be done... but do all five need to be done the same day?! Unfortunately for this week yes.  I have tried making schedules, doing 2 a day, one every other day.. nothing seems to work the same from one week to another.  Either work or kids throw a change at you that must be dealt with right then. And toilets must wait... I also need to make at least two of these today before work.  One of the QMaps is celebrating her birthday and has dinner plans.  This will be her birthday gift.  It reminds me of two years ago when I made these for all the residents at my work.. one of the little ladies started crying.  When I asked why she said she was so hurt. She had never received a bag of dirt for Christmas before.  I started laughing and she cried harder... oh no crisis intervention needed!! So I put the "bag of dirt" into the microw

Oh!  Yes! Now I remember! End of the month with all the trimmings... next month's schedule, interviews, care plan reviews, taxes...oh and I musn't forget laundry!  Happy Birthday Dear Husband! Sorry I couldn't give you the day off from kids or broken cars or broken beds from young ones jumping on them or the many tasks that must be done every day around here. Maybe tomorrow will be a day you can sleep in and not have one or two or three kiddos jumping up on the bed to wake you... you can dream any way! As the night settles in and the multitude of items on the to do list swirl around in my head, I am lifted a little by an email I noticed today :)  Thank you to the thoughtful sender it really did brighten my day! My last post I referenced new friends oh my have I met so many people over the years and to listen to the stories of their lives one could write a novel.  I am of course speaking of the dear people I see each day at work.  I miss being the pill pusher, I really did

So it is probably best to start with the delusions part of this title.  I purchased this iPad with great hopes of learning something new. And I did after 3 days of not being able to turn the thing on I texted a friend and she explained that the round circle at the bottom of the screen is not the on/off button. It is a tiny little button on the edge of the device at the opposite end of the screen from the circle. There $800 and I did learn something new :) It is true that I have not started studying much in my second job area but the first area and family have kept me busy these past few months... that and being unable to access this blog have kept me from posting too. We have had a fun month from Thanksgiving dinner to tattoo lollipops and Christmas lights around town.  It's been busy, exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. Because every one needs a hero! And if the tree topples over she can't pin it on just one of us! Holiday lights at the bird food

What a week! First wacky blood pressure readings then falls off the roof, ER visits, dishes 3 feet high and mice that just keep smiling at me.  The mice always head inside for the winter but these little guys are brazen!  Not only do they come out at night they stroll across the counter top during the day stop to look at you and mosey on their way! I am going to try to snap a picture of one since they stare at me for such a long time as they pass by they might be willing to strike a pose for the camera.   Well that didn't work but the mouse traps helped cut down on the migration from one area to the other!  But that is part of life away from the city.... at least for the country mouse any way  :)  So here it is another week ended and I am no closer from my weight or house cleaning goals.  I really think there has to be more to my dilemma than meets the eye.... But it is time to set procrastination aside and force myself to get things done. I started by tackling the dishes and s

Afternoon folks! Today I was the first one home from town. It gave me time to make an amazing steak and potato dinner for my dear husband.  Usually he is already here and I walk into a chaos of tears from the young ones wanting to know if I brought them something from town. With the help of my microwave and my nu wave oven I had two rib eye steaks and two potatoes cooked within 5 minutes of his walking through the door. Granted the corn came from a can but it still hit the spot for a guy who spends the days working on our house or one of the adult children's home, or some one elses car.  He rarely complains but he hardly ever gets a home cooked dinner on my work days.  Today I discovered that one of my retirement accounts needs to be rolled over or cashed out because the company where it was from sold us to a new company.  So this is a big decision to be made.  In the past I have just taken the money and pretty much blown it.  This time I would like to do something a little more

Good Morning! Today is a busy day for us here at the nest! First off the day started at 0500 with unlocking the front door for the youngest grandchild to arrive for her last babysitting day this week. Could have made coffee at that point or started the dishes or made the chocolate syrup that we were out of... nope I crawled back in bed only to have the cat Missy Mistletoe jump up to say fill my food dish please! I ignored her as this the first Saturday morning that I have not rushed off to work to pass meds in a long time! That lasted almost an hour, no the cat wasn't particularly happy about it neither was the 5yo who wanted chocolate milk but it is what it is :) Our schedule today includes, finishing the dishes that haunt me, going to the grocery store for just a few things, going to my grandson's birthday party, picking up the baby for the first of her 3 days of babysitting and picking up 40 pounds of chicken breasts from the Zaycon delivery point and working that same t

Welcome October and the season of Fall.  Today the girls were up at the crack of dawn.  Surprisingly, I am not as tired as I think I should be! It isn't even 0800 and the girls are out on the trampoline having a morning bounce session.  They have missed their trampoline over the last three weeks. It isn't that the trampoline has been moved or anything like that. It is a home improvement job that has kept the kids away from home and over at "auntie's" house where dad has taken on helping with a bathroom redecorating gone bad. It started out as a project to change out the sink in my daughter's house and repaint the walls...maybe add a medicine cabinet.  Once they started they began to discover that underneath the tile on the floor under the current sink there were many hidden layers of tile, chipboard and mold.  The more they moved stuff the worse the situation became until the whole room was gutted and the cleaning began. Now they are in the rebuild stage and

This has been an exceptionally weird week.  It started off okay, not too bad I did have to write up a co-worker but that didn't go too bad.  Then there were so many employees that needed the same day off that it seemed I may not be able to get it covered without over time. That of course, is frowned upon.  Everyone had very good reasons to need the time off.  Car conflicts, jail time, family issues like "hey we have a green card appointment!". The last event caused the most stress out of everything only because of the discoveries made by the person involved. Not one of us expected the revelations that came of that encounter.  Honestly after this week I am ready to throw in the towel and find a new way to make money!  It would seem that someone may have been lied to and someone did a significant amount of lying to the other person and to the INS agents. In the end my friend was able to reflect on everything that had happened to her in the last 16 months and finally have

Morning fellow webnaughts! I know that isn't a real word but this is the web I can make it up.  And since I have no followers it can be coined by someone else and I can never prove I used it first! Actually I cannot even prove that it has not been used before I just typed it.  But I digress, that is not the reason for this entry anyway. This morning came like most others.. too early, the youngest went to bed late, tossed and turned and insisted I sleep on her bed and for the sake of getting even a small amount of shut eye, I did. This turn of events usually leaves me tired and a bit cranky and it is even worse if this occurs and then I am awakened by the sound of children arguing or worse throwing last night's popcorn at each other. So began my Sunday morning, the day I would like to worship and feel like my Savior can look down and say "I am well pleased".  However, to me it feels like He would be more likely to say "what? I died for this behavior?" Let

Wow! What a day! That was unbelievable! My husband arrived home just in time for me to head out without the kids in tow but it was strictly work related. Now I am home and another load of clothes are on the line for the solar dryer!  Plus a load in the washer! Now it's time to tackle the dishes and the counters! You know you just have to love a solar dryer! Totally dependent on nature to dry your clothes and as long as the yard isn't full of sage they shouldn't smell too bad! So I totally stopped by Walgreen's on my way home today and snagged these 15" play balls for the girls for 0.70 yep! seventy cents and they love them! And it kept them busy for 45 minutes! Today the kids and grand kids are enjoying what seems to be one of the last opportunities to swim this year.  It is icy cold in that pool but they are all into it! So that gives me a few minutes to get potatoes peeled and in a pot for cheesy potato soup today. I know hot soup?! But after

Good Morning! The owls are awake this morning and talking to each other, so the chickens will stay in their area for a little longer this morning! I tried so to get a picture of the one on the roof but for some reason I cannot get our camera to respond I resorted to the phone camera but the sky is not light enough behind it to really capture the outline. I went out again as the sky is lightening up a bit but he is gone... I can still here their chatter.  These are huge owls too! Today is my first day off of the week and there are sooo many tasks that need to be addressed.  Some of them will get a simple hello because they for sure are not getting done in the time I have available today.  Plus number 5 needs a ride to pick up a rental car if his is not fixed before his work time.  I offered mine up for his use but I think he prefers to have one more at his disposal than what I can provide. To jump start the morning I did two loads of clothes last night and hung one on the line,

This has been an exceedingly busy week! Bible Olympics started for the kids that are at least in first grade so again the little ones are out of luck :( So on that day my DH brings the kids to town and I meet him and pick them up (the little ones) and pick up the baby from her mom and we all hang out with friends or go home for the night.  Last week I asked my DH to take pictures of the girls in the pretty dresses in the field with different areas of the yard for a background. During this "photo" shoot little miss got bit on the eyelid by a mosquito We missed church service this morning so that Lilliput wasn't left home with just momma but then no one else wanted to go without momma...  She just didn't feel good at all.  The weather changing and the fire smoke in the air has really brought the worst in her allergies. Thus it became time to start moving things around so that DH can install the new furnace for the first floor of our house.  The old one gave o

So for a week I have intended to make notes for a post... yeah that didn't happen.  Neither did finding the key to the med cart we bought to store things in out of the reach of kids.  We had the key to begin with and only one key, it was well guarded.  Then we decided to put it on a nail on the wall up high.  It fell one day, down behind the buffet that is against the wall where the nail is that held the key. I was in a hurry so I thought we just won't lock the main cart and we could still use the lock box because it uses a separate key.  As long as the main lock was not secured then the lock box could be opened.  Life went along well for three months or so.  Every once in a while I would think I should really try to get that key. Then it happened... just last Sunday, it happened. I went into the cart to get something and for whatever reason I pushed the lock closed.  I even thought about it as I pushed.  Why? I have no idea! All week I have thought I need to start sea

A week in review is this week's post... scary! I have blown everything this week... meal planning-fast food 5 days out of 7, laundry three loads done in two weeks, grocery shopping reaped more junk than food and the chickens, school lessons have been stagnant and greenhouse have been just about abandoned! All of this because I have worked for ten days straight. During this time another nurse approached about teaching classes and yet another invited me to tour her facility and see the color of the grass there, so to speak. All of it is very tempting indeed. If I weren't so exhausted I might have jumped on at least one of the offers if not both! Each day is new and today is no different.  So I must take the sunrise by the rays and use my time more wisely. Part of that requires that I arise before the family and spend some time with in prayer with my Savior. Unfortunately that didn't happen this morning as the kids were up just in time to hang the sun and wake this tired 

Good Morning! It is a new week and there is no reason to not get started on the next adventure in life! Or at least this week's adventure or perhaps it is just a to do list, but in reality it is whatever we choose it to be. So I choose adventure! Being today is Monday and dinner is already made and in the fridge I guess the first adventure is to lay hay/straw in the hen house and get that ready for hens to go back into it.  Major renovations will have to wait until next spring.  I also need to clear the green house this week of any trash and see about finishing the additional ten feet with something. The biggest project this week is to clear the future laundry/furnace room and make the pantry presentable. This of course is in addition to regular cleaning.  Hopefully I will find treasures to list on eBay or craigslist.  It is nearly Christmas and I need to get any handmade gifts started or forget it otherwise they won't be finished in time. Do you see how easily sidetrac

It is Sunday! Almost the last day of the month and the first day of my plan to try and change our lifestyle and attack our debts with a new vengeance.  Especially since I realized this morning when I went to make my Amazon payment I was 5 days late!  So I decided pay the entire balance off while I still have my vacation pay from my previous employer.  Thus the same theory applied to my Walmart card and it will also apply to my visa that I bought my iPad on. The phones and the utility bills are all current and now I need to apply the snowball approach to our AAFES credit cards.  Those of you who don't know, when you join Uncle Sam's forces he will extend you credit to buy things you can't afford and for those who feel guilty they will re-up so they have a steady income to buy more stuff at the Bx/Px.  This little soldier loved shopping at the Exchange and online!! H ere's an update from this week, DH had his surgery on Wednesday and things went as well as they could

Here it is the last full week of July about to start and the kids are really getting into the pool a lot!  The oldest of the young ones has taught herself to swim and can swim under the surface the complete width of the pool!  The youngest still requires a life jacket no matter what as far as I am concerned.  But she also is jumping in with the rest of them.. no fear here! Of course it is not all the way full, but that has helped the two littlest ones adjust. I continue to think of ways to make extra money and someday be home with the girls full time because I can be. And as many people have said getting my own website will be essential eventually.  This week my DH has to have surgery on his back, that will set construction behind about ten weeks.  We were hoping to have the pool house covered and the roofs repaired and the downstairs furnace ready for winter.  We also had redoing the henhouse on the list but that may be next spring with the greenhouse. I will be listi