Looking for Control Freaks & Worry Warts - Part 4!!!

[Camster0307]

Hey guys. I'm too tired to read back and see what I missed.

Kara - you're good with recaps; fill me in when you get a chance.

Did see the pix on this page - adorable outfits Tina! Your trip is soon, right?

I get to make my ADRs in about three weeks; still have no idea what I'm doing. Kara - we must talk.

So I want to fill you all in on what's going on here. I swear, there is never a dull moment..................

So the ex and new wife had their baby last Wed. - a girl. She was induced three weeks early because she found a lump in her breast in July; had surgery to remove it but the drs. still had some "treatment" that they felt was necessary so they wanted to take the baby early. She was induced last Monday but didn't deliver until Wed. by C-section (which I thought was weird). The baby developed pneumonia and was in the NICU. She's fine now but didn't get released from the hospital until today. Of course, I'm hearing all of this info from Lauren; not the ex. But still, I called him and told him not to feel obligated to take the girls. His baby is in the hospital and lord knows I know what that is like. He says thanks but it's ok; he can still take them. Fine. Until yesterday he picks up Amanda, and while packing up, tells Lauren that the wife had an MRI and is now having her breast removed on Monday and will be undergoing chemo! Jesus - Lauren tells me this after he left and I started to tear up. Lauren looked at me like I had three heads - "Are YOU crying?" LOL. WTH? My head is spinning - I've never met this woman but what I know of her, I do not like her. But this just makes me so sad. It's a mess over there. But again, I don't know how serious this all is (but it sounds serious) yet I don't feel comfortable asking my ex. I don't think I can handle seeing him upset about it. And I really don't think it's my place to comfort him at all. But my god!

What's so completely ironic - I really feel a big reason our marriage fell apart was because he didn't want to deal anymore with Amanda's stuff and hated the limitations and stress in our life. So he went out and found this other woman; they enjoyed a fun, care-free life of travelling everywhere. Now they marry and have a baby and he's thrown right back into a medical crisis. You just can't run from life.

So I sit here drinking my wine and watching Neil Diamond's concert special on tv - puts me in a better mood. It's just crazy.

So what's up with everyone else?

 

[soontobewed07]

Cammie- that's crazy. I think that you should ask him what's going on so you can be more prepared for the girls. This sounds like a time they are going to need you to explain things a bit and knowing exactly what's going on is going to be important. That poor women I know you don't like her but that baby oh my....

 

[Lovin Life]

Cammie - That's awful. No matter how much you dislike someone, you don't wish that on anyone. I'm sorry. I agree w/Jillian, and think that you should talk to him and find out what is going on. I would think it would be totally OK to ask. It may hit a nerve w/Lauren at some point, and you'd want to be prepared to talk to her about it. I don't think there would be anything wrong w/letting him know that you are concerned and that they are in your prayers.

We're home alone, w/out kids, and I am in here on the pc, and Darrin is watching a movie. Oh - just got a call from Megan to pick them up. I thought they would be later tonight, but guess not. Darrin's going. Tay's at a friend's overnight. I did get a lot of my pics organized, and I finally got pics on a digital keychain I got for Christmas!! Tay and I got her hair trimmed, had lunch, then went to her 2 hr. orientation. Uggh. It was fun to get her schedule and find her classes, but I think they talk too much.

We dropped my car off at the shop for a recall repair, so I won't get it back until about 10am, when Darrin gets home from fishing. Must do's for tomorrow - I just found out today that Megan needs khaki shorts for tomorrow night, and I have to get drinks and chips for a GS pool party for tomorrow night. I'm taking Tay there, and Darrin's taking Meg to a band pot luck and fall preview show. Our potluck contribution is going to be pizza or KFC chicken! I'm such a Martha Stewart! NOT.

I couldn't find a recent pic of my girls together. I think they are all on the memory card that is giving me an error. I hope I can retrieve them somehow. Most events I can get copies of my dad's pics, except for our New Oreans trip. I will be totally bummed if I lost those. Oh well.

This is Easter at my mom's this year:

 

[Lovin Life]

Tina - The outfits are PRECIOUS! I esp like the AK one! You are so talented!

Glad you are almost done packing! You guys pack early! We pack the night before, or a couple of nights before, if I'm well prepared! I'm going to try to be better this time. You all are inspirations to me!

 

[Camster0307]

Pam - adorable pix. Your older DD looks so much like you - from what I remember of pix of you! What are the girls names again? I can't keep it straight who is who.

And thanks to you and Jillian. I know I'm probably going to have to ask. Lauren's not naive though. She knows cancer is not good. She's just a little unemotional about it. We've talked already and she says she certainly likes her step-mother but doesn't feel real close to her. And she's afraid if something happens, she won't be as upset as other people. She'll be sad, of course, but as she puts it, "not as upset as if it was happening to me." Oh lord.

It is just a sad situation. The woman just had a c-section last week; now she's going in to have her breast removed. They named the baby Jordin Lily, btw. Lauren wasn't crazy about the name and was pissed she was born on the fifth of the month - she and Amanda were both born on the 5th and she feels that's their "thing". But the girls are there now and Lauren has texted that things are good. She's totally infatuated with the baby and thinks she's adorable. Glad to hear that.

Since I'm home alone, I'm playing on the computer all weekend. I still want to make a photobook for Lauren from all of our JB concert pix. It's so much work! I hope to check in here more. Hope I see some of you around this weekend.

 

[Lovin Life]

Cammie - Thanks! Megan is 16 and Taylor is 11. I don't have many pictures of myself. I am always the photographer! I am going to try to post one of myself today. I could be like these kids today, and take self portraits of myself and post them. That totally cracks me up that they do that. My girls and their friends will spend time straigtening their hair and putting on makeup, take several pictures of themselves, and post them on their MySpace pages. Some of the faces they make are hysterical.

Lauren probably just feels that way because of the quality of her relationship w/her dad and her stepmom. She is still growing up and these are new things she's dealing with, and at her age, probably can't see past her feelings for these people, and feel sad about the situation -- have the empathy for them, like we would have, despite our negative feelings about them. I don't know if I am making sense, but that's my thought on it. I hope that everying is OK for their family. That's got to be awful.


I was up early, about 5:30, because Darrin is fishing this AM. It's funny how he can forget to turn off the alarm and be in the kitchen when it goes off, and I don't get upset, but if it were the other way around, he'd be a total crab about it. He gets so excited about fishing that he cannot sleep and keeps me awake most of the night. It makes me crazy. Men!

I have lots of laundry and picking up to do. I think I am going to play, and save it for when he gets home to help me.

 

[Lovin Life]

 

[CRdisMom]

Cammie- you're right karma is a b*****. I do wish them the best. Breast cancer is a horrible thing, I can't imgaine just having ababy and then having your breasts removed. Sending pixie dust to your girls.

Pam i'm with you on the photo thing. As I was putting the album together for my in-laws I realized there are very few photos of me.

Girls are in Brainerd with my parents and we are off to buy windows. Excititng huh?

 

[ShellyShellfish]

just saying a quick hello....having a garage sale today. SOOOOO not doing well...hopefully more people stop by.

Will catch up later!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi girls! I couldn't get online yesterday - GRRRR. It was nice to see everyone chatting!

Kara, I hope you get your ADR at PF changed. I am a huge fan of Mary Poppins - I guess she's everything I'm not!

Debbie, Hey! Nice to see you around, too! Yes, you roped me in to FB, and I had to do Twitter, too - hope you're happy! FB is fun, Twittr is so busy! I'm glad Mark had more work.

AS for the tickers - I'm made that they made us shorten our siggies so we couldn't just show all our flair and tickers whenever we want!


Cammie, I'm so sorry to hear about the new wife's cancer. Even though we've said mean things here, I know none of us wants anything bad to happen to her really. I feel bad for her that she couldn't just enjoy her new baby without the cloud of cancer hanging over them. I hope the girls cope well with everything, and I admire your caring attitude. You are a great mom!

TINA!!!! You are so ready to go!!! Love the AK shorts!

Pam, thanks for sharing the pics! You are all beautiful!

Laura, don't have too much fun on your window shopping date!

Shelly, how did the garage sale go?

Well, ladies, just like Debbie, I am in a much better mood if I hear from my kids!

Lindsay sent me a really cute video of the kids on the phone this morning, and one of their new blonde dacshund, Macaroni! We're going to try to call them tomorrow.

We packed all our clothes for our trip today. Now we just have bathroom stuff and all my office stuff to go. It is Summer now and will be Winter when we come back, so I had to pack for both seasons, plus business clothes and casual clothes. I'm turning into quite the Diva. My friend the Image Consultant spent the night on Thurs, and did "What not to Wear" in my closet yesterday for me. She put together some cute outfits out of what I already have, and we threw out about half my clothes, shoes and handbags, so my closet is nearly empty after packing! Now I'll really be stylin'! I wonder how long it will last - I'm pretty much a no fuss kind of girl. I had my crocs and park bag hidden - can you imagine what she would have done if she found those?

Okay, Dinner is done - Jim cooked while I rested my knee - all swelled up and killing me for no reason. Guess I'll get up now - have a great rest of the weekend!

Hi to all of you I didn't reply to - thinking of all of you!

 

[Lovin Life]

Laura - Your date nights sound like ours!!

Hi, Tammie! I hope that your knee is feeling better! I love the name Macaroni for a dog! I'm glad that your kids are making you happy. It makes me think about how we must hurt our parents' feelings. I know that we must sometimes, but I hope not often. We are just so busy, and the kids are getting older and much busier. We don't see them as much as we should...I do talk to my mom daily, but don't talk to Darrin's mom as much anymore. I know it's bad, but I tell him that he needs to call her, not me all of the time. He never picks up the phone to call MY mom. I think all of the pressure is on the wife/DIL. I do love my MIL dearly. I do need to start calling her more, and strongly encourage the kids call both her and my mom...

Shelly - Did you see the post on the double stroller? You may want to watch that. I'm sure there is one here often, but I never notice them. But, since you had asked, it caught my attention...Hope the garage sale went well. We really needed to do one this summer. I ended up giving our stuff to Goodwill. We mostly had clothes, no big items, and the clothes don't sell well. I think we'd be better off taking them to a resale shop, but I am too lazy for that!

I really need to be productive around the house today! I need to solicit the help of my other family members. Right now, everyone is still asleep, so I am enjoying MY computer time...

Have a wonderful day, all!

 

[TinaLala]

Good Morning! It's Sunday and another week is about to begin!

Had a great day yesterday with the girls and their friends. DH worked all day and night but we had some 'mom and dad' time this morning. I love Sunday mornings. DH makes a great breakfast omelet with cheese and bacon. So this is the week I'm off to Chicago fo an open enrollment meeting. Hoping to get a Chicago hot dog at O'Hare - it looks nasty, but I bet it takes great.

Cammie - I'm so sorry about the ex's wife. That's a tough thing to go through. A friend of mine passed away after her cancer spread due to her hormones after having a baby. The human body is an amazing thing. I wonder what you're ex will do if you're saying he couldn't handle Amanda's hospital issues.

Tammie - as long as you keep telling her you're there for her, sooner or late she'll come around and see you're trying to be her friend.

Shelly - how did the garage sale go?

Kara - I'm so jealous you're having a girl's weekend! I can't wait to have that with my girls when they get older. There's no way DH would let me go with out him. I hope you get the ADRs you want - it's cut throat out there.

Pam-isn't it nice to have alone time! I stayed up an extra hour last night just so I could be alone.

Jillian - how are you feeling? I have my fingers crossed for you!

Ttessa - I didn't do so good yesterday with my diet - popcorn, chips, dip, GS cookies. Well the girls came home from GS camp with 3 boxes of Thanks-a-lot cookies! Well I can't say no to a Girl Scout cookie!! I did walk my parent's dog yesterday so that counts right?? How are you doing?

Laura - girls earned another badge at camp so that just means more sewing for me - you know what I'm saying! Got the Smore News yesterday and it looks like we're doing nuts and magazines this fall. I'm going on line to check out the mystery thing they're promoting. We never do good with these products when they have them for school, so I'm not too hopeful. Have to work on my star for our banner before I leave. Have you planned your banner? You can work the first key and GS ways into your first few meetings.

OK I have to get the laundry - will post pictures of what the girls got at Justice the other day. 40% off was AWESOME!

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Cammie - That is just awful. I am not a fan of his, but I seriously wouldn't wish all that on anyone. Seriously. I don't know what to say, but I think you are such a great person to feel bad. I agree it may not be your place to be his shoulder to lean on, but then again you have to temper that with the relationship with the kids. I think you always provide HIM with an excellent example of handeling things great. I wish I had words of wisdom, but I don't. I can see where you are struggling with the whole thing and I really hope it all works out for everyone.

ADRs Booked.

I got myself out of bed at 4:45 AM to book those stupid things. What time did I get at Le Cellier? 8:10! So either I get to eat there, or miss Illuminations. ERRR. I just don't think a steak at noon is that ideal for me, so I posted a plea to trade on the ADR swap board. I'll keep checking. Acutally I just moved it from the original 8:15 pm, so here is to hoping!

I did get Beirgarten for lunch and I made ADRs for my birthday for breakfast at BC and lunch at Brown Derby. We are discussing the pro/con. I want to do the breakfast, she is more fond of lunch, so we will talk about it and drop one if not both.

SO... there you go. I got ADRs.

That Sunday is REALLY REALLY packed as far as ADRs. I am thinking it is because MK closes early for the MVMCP that night and people are flooding into EPCOT.

I suggested to her reworking our plans. Getting in at 1 pm and doing EPCOT from then til Close, catching illuminations, doing DTD that SUnday, and getting passes to MVMCP that night.

How long do you generally spend at DTD? Think without kids. ERR. I hate when my plans get a kink.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Laura - Your date nights sound like ours!!

Hi, Tammie! I hope that your knee is feeling better! I love the name Macaroni for a dog! I'm glad that your kids are making you happy. It makes me think about how we must hurt our parents' feelings. I know that we must sometimes, but I hope not often. We are just so busy, and the kids are getting older and much busier. We don't see them as much as we should...I do talk to my mom daily, but don't talk to Darrin's mom as much anymore. I know it's bad, but I tell him that he needs to call her, not me all of the time. He never picks up the phone to call MY mom. I think all of the pressure is on the wife/DIL. I do love my MIL dearly. I do need to start calling her more, and strongly encourage the kids call both her and my mom...

Shelly - Did you see the post on the double stroller? You may want to watch that. I'm sure there is one here often, but I never notice them. But, since you had asked, it caught my attention...Hope the garage sale went well. We really needed to do one this summer. I ended up giving our stuff to Goodwill. We mostly had clothes, no big items, and the clothes don't sell well. I think we'd be better off taking them to a resale shop, but I am too lazy for that!

I really need to be productive around the house today! I need to solicit the help of my other family members. Right now, everyone is still asleep, so I am enjoying MY computer time...

Have a wonderful day, all!

Okay I just have to plug Craigs List.

This weekend I tried it - super simpled. Sold:
Train Table $100 within an hour
Toy still in the box - within two hours $20
Small play kitchen - within four hours $25

VERY EASY.

I also did a consignment sale two weeks ago. I made 200 off that - but I got only 70% of what sold. I did sell my Joovy Sit and Stand stroller there for $110.

 

[TinaLala]

Alright here's what I have to show for my day today. All we've done is watch movies and argue so we took a few minutes to do some fabric paint which still ended in fighting. I had to make a star for our Girl Scout banner that represented me so here it is.

So the top shows the girls, peace and love. The next point going right are the things that I love - stars, the moon, panda, butterfly. The next point are outdoor things that I love - camping, flowers. The next are my hobbies - sewing, reading and music. The last is of course DISNEY - mickey, tree of life, Epcot globe, Studio Hat.

Just thought you'd like to see the fun I had today! The fighting is still going on!

 

[Debbie6221]

Hi Girls,
Busy weekend! Air & water show downtown all day yesterday and today was my cousins 30th birthday party. Now I am on the computer getting ready for tomorrows Chicago park district on-line registration which is like buying concert tickets!!!

Cammie....so sorry for the troubles with your ex. I really hope she is OK. It must all be so traumatic and I really can't imaging dealing with breast cancer with what state her hormones are already in. We all know that you never wished her ill will so all you can do is be there to help get the girls through it. Lauren is pretty smart so she will probably give you more information then anyone else! And maybe once the breast is removed that will be the end of it and she will be on her way to good health! I have heard of MANY women who have lost a breast or two and then they are OK completely!

Renee...I must do Craigslist! I have NO idea why i haven't! I probably have 5,000 worth of things to sell...no exaggerating! Congrats on the money you made!

I have been having a hard time with my Mom these days and I have only been mad at her because she keeps pointing out the truth to me but today she reminded me off how bad my flat (apartment) looks and I STILL haven't done anything about it! What is wrong with me? If someone came over they could NEVER see my place! I would die.Also, Matthew has been in rare form! He has really been giving me a run for my money. This is all well & bad but when Mark is off of work it just leaves me no patience to deal with the other parts of my life I need to fix! I'm still mad at my Mom though! She NEVER stops being my Mom.....even if she is right. I am not in the mood to hear it these days. When you are as close as we are it's actually harder because otherwise I just would ignore her! In her defense she is super compassionate about the money situation and Mark not working. It will all blow over. It always does and I will be honest I get the maddest the more right she is because then I have no defense!

Tina, Your outfits and shirts are awesome!!!! Love them!

Kara...don't forget to have them credit your bill for all the time you have been without service!

Tammie...so glad things are going good with the kids and the videos and the talks and the olive branches...
Pam.. Your one daughter looks so much like you & the other looks so much like your husband! Do you hear that a lot?
Laura...taking frustartions out on the home? Hey, come by me and do work! I'll pay you with babysitting and hugs!

 

[tttessa]

Hiya all,

Tina - my diet also flew out of the window this weekend - but I figure hubby is only 40 once, so we had some celebrating to do..... We had a babysitter on his birthday and went to TGI Friday to eat, drink and be merry. Then we partied at his parents yesterday and MIL made a yummy cake.

Oh well, if it is below 3 pounds gain, I can work it off this week..... I haven't replaced the batteries in my weighing scales yet and today they are reading 120 - so I lost about 65 pounds this week.

He loved the photobook and the sweets (also DS game of Professor Laytons curious village). But he really loved the fact that the kids had (for the first time ever) spent some of their own money on a present for him - they were so proud handing over the sweets they had chosen, bought and wrapped themselves. All in all a great weekend.

Tessa

 

[ShellyShellfish]

Tammie: Hope your knee feels better soon!! It sounds like it's time to go shopping for some new clothes...I think you have a valid excuse.

Lovin Life: Gotta love when you have "me" time...I saw the stroller post, I'm going to keep my eye on it. I think we have it narrowed down, so now it's just a matter of watching the sales....c'mon Amazon (or Target).

TinaLala: Have fun in Chicago! DH had to go there for work awhile back and said the food there is amazing...I'm jealous.

UsNew2Disney2008: How exciting to have the ADR's booked...just means you're that much closer to the actual trip! Good luck getting things to work out the way you want them too...hope it all works out for you and you don't miss out on Illuminations or Le Cellier.


Garage sale ended up being a total waste of time. Made $31. Thank God we only did it 9-2pm. We had stiff competition though...a couple towns over there was a 400+ house community/neighborhood sale so we didn't get much traffic, that and the fact that my neighborhood is kind of out of the way didn't help things.

I LOVE Craigslist though, have had great luck selling/buying off of it, so I figured since I had everything all set up nice I took some pictures of the bigger items to list and try to get rid of that way. I gave myself a deadline, anything that doesn't sell in the next 2 weeks is going in the car to head to Goodwill. DH is having a temper tantrum about losing his garage.

Found out this weekend that apparently, DS can swim...we went to a family BBQ and I took him into my aunts pool with swimmies on and he was cruising all over the place by himself. Guess the water babies class paid off. Normally he's clinging on me for dear life in the class. I think the water being 87° helped too (the high school pool is always chilly). Oh and I'm officially in love with salt water in the pool instead of chlorinated water, I had no idea that existed!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them!!

 

[Debbie6221]

Happy Monday! Have a great week girls!

Shelly I love the salt water pools! It just seems so much better for our hair & skin and even better for the kids when they open their eyes under water! I guess it's cheaper too so everyone's happy!

Tessa...glad the 40th went great! Screw the diet! You have been so good you will be fine if you jump right back into it!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

HI girls! I've been going crazy most of the weekend with no internet.

I called the automated lady today - got no help, so transferred to a real person, and then all the lights on the modem came on before he even helped me - just like when you take your car to a mechanic and it won't make the "funny sound."

Debbie, I thought the guy was from Chicago with a really thick, "da bearssss" accent - turns out he was in the Phillipines!

Shelly, That's funny about DS swimming. My DS Mark did the same thing at 3. I took him to swimming lessons and he wouldn't even get his face wet through 2 sessions. Then one day we are at the pool - his swimming teacher happened to be the lifeguard - DH and I are in the shallow end by the rope with Ryan, and Mark was on the pool deck. He walked across to the deep side, and we yelled at him to get back to us. He promptly jumped in to the deep end and swam under the rope to us Scared us to death - and then we were all shocked! The life guard said, "was that Mark?"

Tina, thanks for sharing your star. Fun to see "who" you are!

Lorrie, congrats on your ADRs, and your Craig's List sales! More Disney $$ for you!

Tessa, it's okay to be "real" for a day or two - you can stay with your diet - you're doing so well!

Well, we today I have to start packing up my office and get my automated Twitters set up. Jim is off, so he's mowing the lawn, and he'll come in and start roping me in to HIS projects.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Kara and Camie, Olly Olly outs and FREE (or whatever you say)