Author: alicewgold

I would like to state that I am a brunette, but now I am a mix of grey, white, brown, and blonde. I would also like to say that I am 150 pounds, but that would be a boldfaced lie. How about I say I am work in progress because that is the truth? A beautiful work in progress. I love the sound of my fingers tapping on the keyboard and my greatest hope is that something that I write will lift someone else on their journey.

The Night Tremors

How trashed we look after a full day

This is a picture that we took of ourselves, shortly after we got the kids to sleep last night. We were so tired as you can see by how trashed we look. Raising kids is hard work. Parents really need to relax more than they do, epecially us. Someday we are going to check into a spa and stay there for a whole year to make up for all the stress we have had in the past 7+ years. I think that relaxing is impossible for us right now. We stress trying to plan time to NOT stress.

The good news was that the girls were asleep. We could then move on to our own agendas: cleaning house, doing homework, and SHOWERING for the first time in 3 days (that is when I know I have it good….when I get a shower). I got on to blog after all of that and could only do it for 10 minutes before my medicine kicked in.

Take 2

It’s me again

This picture is in response to my little punky brewster sister, Renee, who commented that my hair still looks the same as my former KD Lang cut. Hello, RUDE! With her little, “I can’t help it” response, my sister gives you a taste of why I have to have a blog all about myself. Because I grew up in a family who likes to take funny jabs at each other. Yeah, feel for me, I need this blog to boost my self-image.

The Roadtrip

Ford Pinto

Posting my family up has got me reminiscing. Here is one of the GREATEST roadtrips that I got to share with my family.

When I was 5 or 6, my parents decided to take an 8 hour roadtrip from Carlsbad to Sacramento, CA. We were going to go and visit my Grandma Dorothy (mom’s mom).

Of course we were excited. As kids we had no idea that we didn’t have a car suitable for the trip. In fact, we probably, didn’t have a car suitable to drive around town. But, we had a really GREEN Ford Pinto. You’d have to ask my dad for the year and model.

My dad (AKA MacGyver) jimmy rigged this Pinto, so that we kids could be comfortable (ha) for the trip. He got a piece of plywood and custom fitted it to the back of the Pinto. He hung it with wires across the top of the car to form a nice little bunkbed in the back of the car. Remember, this was before the seatbelt or carseat laws. (what would that be like?)

Well, us kids thought it to be the most wonderful fun idea at first. The two boys were on the bottom, the three girls were on the top, and baby David was in Mom’s lap, probably. (Renee wasn’t born yet). I am sure that it only took less than an hour into the trip for all of us to realize the HUGE discomfort that this set-up was causing us. OUCH!!!!

I don’t remember how we made it through the trip, but I do faintly remember the plywood being ceremoniously removed at some point. My oldest brother, Erick, who was probably about 12 laid long ways in the back and the rest of us younger children were to find a way to make ourselves comfortable around him. I have NO IDEA how in the world my parents survived.

Yes, this story is a family jewel, (trust me, there are many more) and I am sure that anyone in my family will have to correct me on some of the finer details. Be kind guys; I was only six; it was hard for me to grasp the details. The only thing I remember was…..SQUISH!

The Family Feud

The Wills Family 2001

This is my mom and dad and brothers and sisters along with their spouses and kids. We took this picture at a favorite beach in Carlsbad, CA, where I grew up. I had a really bad haircut just days previouslly. We called it my KD Lang cut.

Three of us were pregnant in this picture, and there have been a lot more pregnancies and births since this time.

During this same family reunion, we tried out for the family feud. We made it and returned to CA shortly after to tape the show. We were on the show during Louie’s last season. He was very nice to us. We beat the other family (I am not too sure they were really a family, because I caught a glimpse of one of the contestant’s groping his supposed cousin.)

Well, my brothers lost the money in the final round. Their answers were entertaining. One answered that he would pack a “lei” to take on his trip to Hawaii. It took a few weeks to recover from the loss. As the real family feud began before the taping when we all discussed at length who would get the money if we did win. It was somewhat of a relief when we didn’t win because then we could all go back to wishing we had more money and we didn’t have to worry who in the family deserved or needed the money more than the others. After the show, we still feuded. My very pregnant sister and I were very moody the whole 12 hr drive home and we faught with the guys, telling them that they should have let one of us sisters have a go at the final round.

All and all, we did have a great time! It is trips like this that make memories. I have to say that feuding can make a family stronger, as long as you are willing to laugh with or AT each other. This is something that everyone in my family can do well, even the in-laws. We all love to laugh! And, we always love each other and we usually make up after the feuds.

Insanity = Pillbox

These are my drugs

PRECURSOR: I AM NOT SHOWING THIS TO YOU SO THAT YOU WILL FEEL SORRY FOR ME. I HAVE JUST FOUND MY NEW MEDICATION RITUAL VERY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT THAT YOU MAY LIKE TO SEE INSIDE OF THE WORLD OF A MEDICATED BI-POLAR.

Just thought that I would show you the weekly ritual of sorting out my prescription drugs….birth control, lithium, wellbutrin and seroquel….you would think that I am a Senior Citizen, but no, I’m just a crazy girl trying to stay sane!

The birth control is OBVIOUSLLY for no more children right now. If I had another I might be institutionalized. Good for all the women who can handle as many as they are able to produce, but those of us with mental illness sometimes have to stop procreating so that we can take care of the kids that we have. (This isn’t something that you can understand unless you are “mental”)

The lithium is my MOOD STABILIZER. It doesn’t work as well as my husband would like…poor guy. The Wellbutrin is so I won’t want to kill myself (however morbid that is….sorry) Last but not least, and certainly not the last medication I will take throughout my life, is Seroquel, the anti-psychotic.(I never was psychotic, as far as I know)The Seroquel is to help me sleep at night.

For me, the need for a sleeping agent is the worst part of my disease…I find it rather restricting because I have to take it before I can fall asleep and I have to give myself enough time to sleep or I won’t be able to wake up. This makes it hard for late night parties or early morning risings. Some nights it kicks right in and others it can take a couple of hours to work.

FUN STUFF…don’t you wish that you could be bi-polar too?

The Messes

This is the mess that the kids made this morning
while I was half asleep on the couch.

It didn’t phase me at all.
I have seen hundreds if not thousands exactly like this.

The funny twist today is this:

My husband came home for a quick lunck break this afternoon; he walked in on me when I was loudly persuading (alright…maybe, yelling)Abigail and Sophia to pick up the mess. You see, we have a problem at our house; probably the same problem in most households with children. The problem: my kids love to MAKE the MESS, but the absoultely loathe cleaning them up.

Well, we decided to try something new. We gave them a half hour to pick up the mess. We told them if they cleaned it up they would get 50 cents [that is the reason I needed that 50 cents from Wendy’s so bad…(read on if you don’t get it)] and if they didn’t, we would put their toys in a trashbag and they couldn’t have them for a whole week.

Well, you can guess how that turned out….yes, I will be the one tortured all week as they beg for their toys. LG says it will be better for me in the long run. Why is it that children can punish their mothers more than their fathers?

Nightgowns

Abigail, Bella, and Sophia
Sophia is wearing one of her new nightgowns

All little girls love nightgowns. Why didn’t I know this before I bought so many pairs of cotton pants and tops? Between my three daughters, we probably own 50 pairs of pajamas. [25 are being stored waiting for someone to fit into them] I rotate according to size and yes, the poor younger two get mostly hand-be-downs.

Well, about two months ago Sophia decided that she would wear nothing to bed but the one nightgown that she owned. After about three weeks of “Mommy torture”. Sophia would beg for her nightgown every night. I would explain it was dirty. It would have to be washed sometime. Sophia would cry and cry and sometimes throw temper tantrums (she is 3). I would try and convince her to wear one of dad’s cool T-shirts or her pretty p’j’s with the flowers or, better yet, her new ones from Christmas. Usually, nothing would work.

After dad witnessed this enough times, he gave me permission to buy her another nightgown. I was elated. We went to Wal-Mart that day to see what we could find. I tried to sell Sophia on the $5 after -Chrismas-specials, but she wanted nothing but the pretty Princess and the Pauper one. I told her that she could have the P&P nightgown or 2 TWO 2 of the other ones that were on sale. She only wanted the P&P. So, I let her get it. Well, now Abigail was jealous and she wanted a P&P. I caved and let her have one of the $5 deals, thinking I was pretty nice, since she already had three nightgowns at home and we weren’t even shopping for her.

Well, on with the saga, that night, Abigail starts having a coniption fit because she doesn’t have the nightgown. We sat her down and explained that she was lucky to have a new nightgown at all and that it was Sophia’s turn to have something new. We can’t afford to buy all the girls a nightgown. [this may sound mean, but trust me when I say that our girls have plenty]. We told Abigail that she could do extra chores around the house and buy herself a nightgown. Did she ever pick up one toy, NO! And to this day, I am still reminding her that if she will pick up some toys she could get a nightgown.

The saga continues….LG has been encouraging me for quite some time to become familiar with E-bay. He wants us to start a business there. I thought that this was a perfect oppportunity. I bought Sophia a few more gowns, and when they started coming in the mail, Abigail was crushed. Then I bought Abigail a few and when they were delivered Sophia was crushed. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I think that kids will be kids.

When it comes to nightgowns….we just can’t WIN!

The culprit

The ugly old heat thermostat

This is the reason I almost caught the house and my husband in the shower on fire. These old thermostats were uglier than one of the Three Amigos. The former owners of this house had even tried to make it prettier by wallpapering it. May the thermostat lie in peace and my we get rid of the wires that are now sticking out someday.

The Fireworks Display

This is the thermostat that sparked
like a fireworks display.

Alright, so you know how we are remodling our bathroom. Well, last night, I took a shower after getting my haircut. Then LG got in. While he was in the shower, I decided to tackle this old heating thermostat. NOT A GOOD IDEA. I figured it was all disconnected…who knows how long it has been since it has been used…..I was wrong. I got a pretty good scare, but it was quite entertaining to see LG jump out of the shower. We pulled some fuses out of our ancient fuse box and we think it isn’t getting any power for now. Cross your fingers, not your wires.

Scary

This is my haircut

I got my haircut last night. I go to Tricia at the SmartStyle in WalMart (where else would a poor girl like me go?) She did a great job, although you can’t tell from the pic. I really like my hair, but I like this clipart of the bald lady even better.