eatthefrostingfirst

Wonderful husband took two days off of work, making school vacation for me a much more pleasant experience. Slept late (after battling a migraine for 6 days), lunched with a friend (after another 15 minute ride around the parking lot looking for a space) and this afternoon took a family jaunt to the wonderful world of IKEA. I know. The Stern family really does know how to spell FUN! Sadly, the boys love it there. Why? Because there is a play space that is for kids only. Did you hear me? KIDS ONLY? ! Cant beat that. For 45 minutes staff watches over your "toilet trained" children and then BUZZ you when it's time to reclaim them. Sounds like a kennel but I kid you not that they beg to go. After 25 minutes our buzzer goes off. Savior husband runs through the store figuring something must be wrong if we are being summoned 20 minutes early. I follow behind and get there a few minutes later seeing him waiting. I see my oldest happily playing and waving at me. Naturally,

Had a sitter for the afternoon so decided to relax at the Natick Mall for a few hours of ME time and shopping. Apparently everyone within a 40 mile radius also had the same idea. 20 minutes to find a parking space should have been my first clue to turn around and head home. I decided to move forward. After all, how bad could it be? 200 teenagers walked into me as they texted while walking. Every other person, man, woman and child donned a North Face or Ugg apparel. (Sadly, myself included) Found a cute shirt at J.Crew until I turned around and looked at the checkout line. Decided my $29.99 purchase wasn't worth my 29 minute wait in line. Grew thirsty so headed to Au Bon Pain for a Diet Coke. Line out the door. Intended purchase: Jeans Left: empty handed and a headache. Oh, and the desire to shelter my boys from every aging past 8 years old. Can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings me.

Every once in a while, when I cant sleep (which is often) I stay awake reliving July 28th. D-day. Surgery Day. One boob day. I'm on Day 5 of a Migraine. Stress? Hormones? Or stupidly reliving a time in my life that's over? Just when you think you have a handle on things. Nightmares occur. I was so pumped up on Morphine post surgery I only remember things like nausea, my husband sitting next to me in a chair and my Mother telling me I have clean lymph nodes. Flashes of earlier appointments are the ones that keep me awake at 2AM. My first apt was with Dr. G. A well known breast surgeon. I waited for over an hour to see her. Across from me; a woman, a bit older then me, surrounded by her husband and her mother. A colorful kerchief covered her head but her buttoned down shirt couldn't cover the port in her chest from where chemo goes in to her. My destiny was unknown at the time and I tried not to tear up. I tried not to stare at the woman who was carrying on a normal conve

In car on way to Disney on Ice 10:03AM "Mommy. What time does the show start? 11? It's 10:03. How much longer till the show starts?: 10:05 "Mommy. When will we be in Boston? Will the show be dark when we get there? Will it start without us?" 10:07 "What kind of characters will be at the show? Will Mickey be there for SURE? Who else will be there? Daddy is this Boston? I see tall buildings. Why is it grey outside and I cant see all the buildings?" 10:10 "It's 10:10" my oldest announces. Trying to get a word in. "Daddy? Is that your building? The one with the lines on it? Is that yours?" Daddy says yes to quiet the kid up "That is NOT your building. I dont see windows on it like your building has. That is NOT yours!" 10:25 "Will there be a lot of people there? Are we there now? Is that it? What are all these people doing? Why do you need to get a ticket to park the car?" 10:40 "I want popcorn. I

Does anyone even know what these words mean? Something about forgetting your nasty friends, remembering kindness and lots of alcohol. So as 2010 is upon us, the resolutions begin. Same ol' same ol'... Lose 10 lbs Exercise More -Sit on my ass less. More patience with my children. Less yelling. More Books. Less TV Live in the moment. Seize the Day. Carpe Diem So what are your REAL resolutions? Share with me.. Here are the ones you dont hear about. ~Screen your phone calls more often. This is why they invented email. So you dont need to talk to the unwanted people in your life. If it's important they will leave a message. If not, they hang up. Or email. I'm all about the Caller ID ~Lie to your children more often. It doesn't feel like bedtime yet? Well it is. Look at the clock (and then change the time) It's all about more relaxation time for you. You've had a stressful day. Milk it for what it's worth. ~More TV for the kids. It is not bad

For those sitting on the edge of their seat, tuning in each day to see if there has been any progress with the pooping situation, hang on tight... we have made headway. Very little. But some is better than none. It had been days since the last poop. I told him I threw away the pull ups (in actuality I threw them away to the top shelf of my closet. I needed them as a last resort) Day 4 of no poop "Mommy. I need to go poopy" "Okay lets go" "Can I go standing up and in my pull up?" "no, you either go in the potty or in your underwear" "But Im wearing my Mickey underwear today. Will you clean it after I go poop in them?" "Nope, In the garbage" "I have an idea Mommy. I'll go upstairs and change my underwear all by myself and then you can throw out my yucky underwear. Or maybe you can clean it in the washing machine." "nope" (Smiling. The kid's genius) "I can clean it myself" Smil

The weather outside is frightful. 12 inches and counting. During the Winter months I question why I live in New England. It looks pretty..from inside my warm abode. The kids had fun playing For 20 minutes. Until my four year old's mittens keep falling off and my older son's nose doesn't stop running. Fun was had by all until my husband ran over the Sunday paper with the snow blower (ahh, that's where it was hiding?!) and had to remove the arts and leisure section from the blades of the new machine. We then came in, threw our wet clothes in the dryer (okay, I threw the wet clothes in the washing machine, pushed start, and didn't realize for 20 minutes that I threw them in the wrong appliance), made Rice Krispy treats, washed youngest son's hands 4 times because he kept sticking his hands in the marshmallow before I could form a krispy treat and all fun was over by 1030AM. The snow is still piling up outside my window. Dear husband is venturing out for h

Am I the only one who has a washing machine that has a mind of it's own? Mine moves across the floor every time I do a load. I know it's a balance issue but no matter how many times I EVENLY put my dirty clothes in, it still ends up halfway across my laundry room. Uggs...I now own three pairs. Shoes, Boots and my newly purchased slippers thanks to my Mother In Law's Hanukkah gift. A MUST BUY for all. My 4 year old told me this morning he "WILLNOTPOOPONTHEPOTTY EVER" Terrific. 4 wks till PR

My husband went to Kansas City for the day. Left at 430 this morning which means I've been up since 3AM. I never sleep through the night and when I have somewhere to go the next day, I wake up even more frequently. I realize I wasn't the one doing the going this morning but I was still waking every 30 minutes in anticipation of his alarm going off and him getting up. so yes, 3AM. Then he left. I was so tired but kept hearing noises. I know. I'm 41. You would think I wouldn't be afraid to be by myself in a dark house. But I am. So I would close my eyes and open them. And then I would close them..notice the pattern? So where am I going with this? I just assumed my day would end up they way it began.. crappy. Au contraire! I woke up the boys who were perfectly happy to have Mommy wake them up for a change. (Are you all in shock that I never wake up my children? That's what happens when you have a husband who doesn't care to sleep in. Or one who is just

My boob is shifting. No lie. Apparently this can happen to implants. Thing is, this was corrected once already when I went in to get HB lifted. But, new boob decided to reshift itself. Have a consult with Doc to figure out why. It's driving me crazy. I realize I still treat this thing as if it's a foreign object (oh wait. It is a foreign object) I find myself sometimes holding onto it when I bend like it's going to fall right out of me. It's weird. Was thinking that my oncologist told me I needed to go for an MRI on HB every 6 months. I start counting thinking when six months would be. And it's now. Six months is now. I cant believe that six months ago I had surgery. It seems like forever ago. It's still pretty raw. Not the physical scars..the emotional ones. I dont cry and stuff but I sometimes lie in bed at night (annoyed at my shifting boob) and replay the whole scenario in my head. "Hi Abby. It's M"(my doc. I call her by her firs

I hate Winter. Sure the snow looks beautiful when it first falls but honestly, not a fan. It's cold and messy. I hate bundeling my kids up in 5 layers only to be told 5 minutes later that they need to pee. I dont have patience to put their hands into each finger of a glove and mittens never seem to stay on. It bares worth mentioning twice..it's cold. Needless to say that means I'm counting down the days until I lay poolside with my husband in puerto rico. Four weeks from today. School vacation is approaching. Another reason to hate Winter. School vacation is long. Too long! New study shows that Breast Cancer survivors who have a few drinks/week are more likely to see their Cancer return then non-drinkers. I admit I'm tipsy these days after a glass of wine and easily get migraines but honestly, cant anything get us through a crappy ordeal anymore? They are coming out of the woodworks saying they had an affair with Tiger Woods. It's enough already. Seri

I used to live in another world. My online world. It was a sisterhood and my biggest support system when I was going through my infertility issues. The women on my "boards" (as in message boards dealing with infertility) were the only ones who truly got it. . I didn't know any of them from my "real life" yet I knew how many IVF cycles they went through, if they were pregnant before some of their closest friends knew (and in some cases even before their spouses knew!.) We were there for each other after each failed cycle and cheered when they got the news of a BFP (big fat positive). After I became pregnant with twins, I joined another sisterhood. My trached sisterhood. Parents of children who had tracheostomies. I also got a lot of comfort from a group of preemie moms. My boards were invaluable to me. Although I do not frequent them nearly as much anymore (who has that time due to Facebook now being my biggest time suck!) but there are a few from my early

I was rummaging through old emails and came across this quote that I had sent to someone. How often we all forget to do this. It was a perfect reminder for me today as I'm, once again, feeling overwhelmed by all of the day to day issues in my life. You know, the whole stubborn 4 year old who I'm ready to send to his room until he is 20 or until he poops in the toilet- whatever comes first. The six year old who I love more than life itself yet whose life stresses me out due to his therapies and struggles. I find myself losing my cool over whining, eating struggles, speech issues, etc. I lie in bed at night when I'm much calmer and have time to be rational and think to myself what stressed me out that day. Then I laugh because I am so angry that I'm stressed over poop. I'm angry that I lose my patience with a child who cannot help his delays and feeding struggles. I'm angry that I'm angry. So when I lie in bed after a long hot bubble bath, when I try to

Meredith Baxter is Gay Tiger Woods most likely cheated on his wife. And Oprah is retiring. I cannot believe these are the headlines on CNN.com. Is it really still news that famous celebrities are gay? Didn't we get over this when Ellen came out of the closet? Although I admittingly am saddened by Tiger's actions I cannot say surprised. Although he appears to be a great wholesome guy he is also being put into situations where countless of women are throwing themselves at him. You would like to think he would go home to his equally as gorgeous wife and call it a day but apparently the guy isn't thinking with his mind. And Oprah. Sure it's an end of an era but really, the woman needs to call it quits at some point. My headlines of the day are as follows Six year old son cant get vaccinated against the H1N1 Flu due to severe egg allergy. My husband brought him in today to get the shot but when they tested him to see if he would have an allergy to it, he apparentl

We feared snow. Correction. My mother feared snow. Me; not so much. It was unbelievably cold. I believe a high of 6 degrees. But the sun was shining and it was our wedding day. And perfect. We were surrounded by family and friends at the most glorious of Boston hotels. It was my dream wedding...not only the location, the flowers, the food...but the guy standing beside me. I was marrying the man I wanted (and would) spend my forever with. We took our vows and set sail....I dont think either of us were prepared what lied ahead. We were grounded people. Our relationship was solid. We complemented each other and I knew that we were meant to be. But we went through a lot of bumps along the way.Not our marriage but things being thrown at us...more than most couples do in decades. We were tested early on ... And here we are. Nine years later. Going strong..in spite of the hurdles we faced. What have I learned? I learned ..no, I was reminded, that I married a wonderful guy. A pers

Driving home from preschool and about to turn into my driveway when I realize I can't. There are 4 wild turkeys blocking my entrance. I kid you not when I say that I could not move. I honked which only aggravated the lead turkey even more. Feathers were now standing out and they were starting to peck at my tires. Let's mention also that I have youngest son in the back seat a bit freaked out by the turkeys and focused on lunch. I start to move, only to realize there's nowhere to move to. The VP of the turkey club decides to block the other side of the road so we now have a traffic jam. There are 4 cars behind me honking (like it's my choice to be letting the turkeys take control of this situation) and the back up in the other direction is starting to get angry too. I decide to call my husband. He is laughing. Of course he is laughing. I would be too if it wasn't happening to me. Naturally though, the fact that he IS laughing angers me even more. The more