Kids

I know I haven't posted in a while (understatement), but "my time" has drastically decreased since taking on a full time job. However, I have to take just a minute for a "proud mom" moment.

I have 3 kids. Two boys and a girl. I know it's hard to be the only girl. I AM the only girl in my family - before my brothers got married. In fact, after I had Bree, everyone kept asking me if we were going to have another one..."after all, Bree will need a sister!!" I tried not to be bugged by this, but I was. WHY does she need a sister? I never had a sister AND I never had to share clothes, toys, make-up etc. It's not a bad thing! Anywho, back to the subject.

Since we moved to Idaho, it's been a little rough on my kids. They are making new friends, but it still takes some time to get to that "totally comfortable" friends stage. It's probably been the easiest for Ethan - there are lots of boys his age. Taylor, well, all the kids his age are girls and he still thinks that girls have cooties, which is FINE with me! Bree is completely out of the loop. A lone girl, who most of the time plays with swords, Bionicles and Lego Star Wars on the X-box. I know I have totally missed the "Bree needs a sister" boat. Even if we did decide to have another baby, it's a 50/50 and if we got lucky and had another girl, they'd still be 6 years apart and just hate each other. Needless to say, that is not the solution.

Segue to today. Ethan is at a friends house and Taylor is outside with Bree teaching her how to Rollerblade!! He is holding her hands, giving her instructions and telling her how great she's doing! He's even helping her up when she falls! What a kid! I am so proud!

I know that I am hard on my kids and some days I feel like I am on the permanent 'Black List' with the Mother of the Year people. But then there are days like today. When maybe, just maybe it seems I've done something right, somewhere, and here's the proof. I love my kids. I have great kids. And doggone it, they may just have an okay mom!

The tax man cometh

I have never in my whole tax paying life waited until the last minute to file my taxes. I guess I should say that we have filed our federal return...and we usually do our State returns at the same time that we e-file our federal. However, since we moved to Idaho last year, we need to file part-year resident forms (for both Utah & Idaho). These forms our tax software does not do, and so we could not e-file when we did our federal return. Why, you may ask am I telling you this? The answer is, I am STILL putting off doing my state taxes. I hate doing my taxes. I know it's not that big a deal, but it ranks right up there with a bikini wax. Nice when it's done and over with, but painful whilst being done.

Enough about my stupid taxes. This last week Brianna has been visiting her friend, Sydney, in Logan. She totally doesn't miss me at all. It's like salt in a wound. Allie (Syd's mom and my co-conspirator) will call me to give me periodic updates and Bree's only wanted to talk to me once! Plus, when I asked her when she wanted to come home, she replied, "next Friday." I don't know where she gets this independent streak from...you all know that I am TOTALLY co-dependant. Maybe it's a Gunnell thing. I don't know. I was talking to Katie (another co-conspirator) the other day about it and she said..."isn't it funny how we always think we want a break from our kids and then when they are gone, we totally miss them?" I completely agree. Although I do think it's some sort of cruel joke that our kids have this much power over our lives. I mean, come on!! I can take the abuse from angry people wanting to know why their health insurance doesn't cover anything that they go to see their doctor for, but if my darling daughter doesn't miss me horrendously the second she's out of my sight, I go to pieces!! ARGH. Don't misunderstand me - I love my kids and I love being a mommy more than anything else in the world. But it only makes sense that we co-dependent people should not be allowed to have independent children. Otherwise, one of us will end up needing massive amounts of therapy. Sorry Bree.

I know this is going to be a shock for all of you, but.....I love to read. The longer the book, the better. I have been reading a new series by Stephenie Meyer. The first book is called 'Twilight' and the second is 'New Moon'. I could tell you what they are about, but it would totally ruin the surprise. If you do decide to find these books (they are in the young adult section...sorry) DO NOT READ THE BACK COVER!! I can tell you that they are told from the perspective of a 17 year old girl and that it takes place in Washington State. I can also tell you that you will find out what the deal is at about page 195(ish). I loved these books. I even made Jeff read them. (The third one ('Eclipse') comes out in August.) The thing is, when Jeff reads, or watches movies or anything else that could possibly have plot twists, he will try and figure out what they are before he reads them. I have no poker face, so when he tells me his theories (and he's usually pretty close - if not right on) my face gives it away. It's so unfair. I can't ever figure anything out (don't even get me started on Sudoku). I will admit to being totally consumed with these books! Allie put me on to them, and she said that the friend who told her about them has also got around 12 other people hooked. She should start getting a commission from the publisher. The premise is a little far out there, but the way she tells the story and how she describes the characters is just cool. Check them out at your local library (that way it's free, and I won't owe you anything if you don't like them) and let me know what you think. Just a quick FYI - I love Harry Potter too. (Hi, my name is Erin and I am a book geek...)

So, I start my new job on Thursday. I don't know why I like medical billing. I guess it appeals to the O.C.D. (self-diagnosed) side of my personality. I know that for a lot of you, talking to Health Insurance companies all day would be like getting a root canal. The way I see it, it's like another language. One that I can speak. Jeff can speak Spanish - I speak IHC. Not that it would be useful on 'The Amazing Race', but it's what I do. When I was hired, they said that if I wanted to work from home, we could eventually do that. I hope 'eventually' means next week. It's a small practice, they see about 20 patients a day, which will be a massive relief from the 80 that Dr's O'Very and McKenna saw. Speaking of my past employers, I miss them. I miss the girls that I worked with. It was such a great job. I made them promise that if I ever came back to Logan, they had to give me my job back. (Sorry Gina!!) If you are ever in need of a pediatrician in Logan, look them up. They are the best.

All right - I will go and do my taxes. After I run to the Chevron and get the biggest Pepsi I can find. And after I get Taylor to Webelos. And after I go to the bank, and any other errands I can think of. HEY! I can clean out the cat boxes too!! Whoopee! Take that tax man!!

My first Blog!

Well, here I go. Entering the world of bloggers. Just so you know and we are perfectly clear on this, I have absolutely no idea how to do this. After some encouragement and realizing that since we've moved, all our friends are far away, I figure that I may as well give it a shot...after all, what have I got to lose? Other than my time. Hopefully I can upload some pictures of the fam and the new house. We'll have to see how technologically backwards I really am. Should I admit to not even knowing how to text message?? Maybe not. I can, however, take pictures on my camera phone! Maybe I'm not so backwards after all. Riiiiight.

Well, I'll see what I can do about the pictures - I promise nothing.

Cheers!