I'm Back....

So it's the middle of April and Easter has come and gone. Not that I celebrate Easter or anything but it is what it is.

Where have I been?

I've been here, busy, but here.  Let's see - the anniversary of my father's passing has come and gone and I got through it for the first time without tears. Yeah me!  And now that Spring Break is officially over for my kids, it's back to Nichole trying to get through the last 6-8 week of school. Then it's her graduation from High School.  Back to me homeschooling the boys. Keeping an eye on my mom.  Getting the last little details in place so my divorce can be final soon. Saving money left and right so I can move when I'm told to by the court. Lots and lots of other little things that seem to take up a huge amount of my time lately.

In the middle of this, I found (well, Nathan did..ahem..) a cute YouTube video. It's called Simon's Cat. Wanna see? I know you do....

Now, anyone with more than one cat can relate.  It describes my house perfectly when we brought Sheba home almost 2 years ago.  I love this!!!

Can we also mourn the loss of Davy Jones?  (insert moment of silence)

Ok, now The Monkees were HUGE in the 60's (I wasn't even a thought. hmm..) and then they came back in the 80's (high school time for me). I even went to a concert at the Marcus Amplitheater way back when.  I don't have pictures of it available. But I can stick a YouTube video in for fun.  

The ending credits....fun stuff back then.....

I hope to be back to posting soon.  I also hope my life settles down a little bit more so I can blog.

Talk to you soon

Kelly

General stuff...

So February is almost over.  Valentines Day has come and gone (not that I'm a huge believer in this holiday but still).  Kids for the most part are healthy.  Nichole is wishing that graduation would get here already. Me? Not so much, that just means she's going to leave the nest and I'm not so sure I'm ready for that one.  Mixed emotions to say the least.

We all know that Whitney Houston passed away.  I'm sad about that for the sole reason that she had a beautiful voice.  I could care LESS about her addictions, problems with her ex, etc. It's her voice that I will miss.  My whole high school years were basically based on her voice and songs.  Not that I want to go back to high school (nope - never again) but those songs were the soundtrack of those years.  

While I was digging around on YouTube - I came across this song:

 So as I go through this crappy divorce and get my life back in order - this song has been a great help.  Am I getting sappy for these kinds of songs? Maybe. But they help me. And right now I'll take any and all help I can get.


I hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis soon.  It helps me sort out emotions and junk like that.  


Enjoy the video.
Kelly

Christmas Eve 2011

So, I know I posted a downer of a blog post the other day and if you took offense to it, I'm sorry.  It's just not been a good year for me (both personally and financially).

Now, I know you guys in the South are used to having NO snow for Christmas but for us, up here, not so much.  Occasionally we will have the odd year where there is NO snow for Christmas and this is one of them.

So while we are supposed to have this stuff on the ground in December........we have this.......

Well, ok - maybe we don't have green grass but you get the general idea.  And yes, I saw a rabbit this morning.  Some of my plants (that should be dormant this time of year) are starting to peek out from the ground. 

Weird huh???  Yeah, I thought so too..

To those who read this blog, I do hope you have a nice holiday season.

Kelly

Christmas time huh?

So I've been seeing Christmas this and Christmas that since the middle of October.  And frankly I'm sick of seeing it.  This has been a very long and hellish year for me and my kids and I just want the new year to start already.

Christmas had always been my favorite holiday (besides Halloween esp. for the candy). My dad would go and get the fake tree from the attic space in the house one day and slowly over the next week or so, a Christmas tree would magically appear.  My parents and I would put up the ornaments and remember where we got them or who gave them (usually to me), etc.  I always got to open the Christmas cards that would show up in the mail, etc.  One year, my now 18 year old daughter, put the fake candy garland in her mouth.  It was funny...

I even got married right before Christmas, why? not sure..but I did. We kept on forgetting every year because of the holiday so we usually celebrated (if we did at all) in June. Do I recommend people get married RIGHT BEFORE Christmas? NO but it's really up to you.  If I had to do it over again, I would certainly pick a day in June or some NICE month. 

Over the years, babies were born, relatives passed away and so on.  My father-in-law passed away on December 15, 2002. So needless to say, that Christmas was weird.  It seemed like every Christmas season someone in the house was sick and I didn't go to the in-law Christmas. Which was fine, because I always feel out of place there. I don't know why, I just do. 

Then my dad passed away in 2003. Since then I haven't been able to fully enjoy any holiday, especially Christmas.  I don't know why I can't shake this but it is what it is.  This year is beyond strange. I filed for divorce, he's still living here, kids are confused beyond all belief, and I'm basically living in the finished basement (which I should not have to but I do)

Things just don't feel Christmas-y around here....

Stuff.....Good things....but just stuff...

Hey there!!

So in an attempt to get Sam some help for his headache and stomach issues, we went to a pediatrician instead of our family doctor.  While we love our family doctor, he was stumped as to why Sam has been suffering for so long with no obvious reasons why.  As I've said before, all his tests have come out absolutely normal.

This doctor was wonderful.  He's a very soft-spoken, understanding man who took the time to actually TALK to Sam (unlike the other insane doctor's who would just ignore him and talk to me....yeah, I'm NOT the patient, Sam is...arugh..) and he (the doctor) came to the conclusion that Sam has migraine headaches but was treated incorrectly.  While the initial medications should have helped Sam, they actually had the opposite effect on him.  Sam and I walked out of the doctor's office relieved, an actual migraine medication for Sam to try and the option of going back to this doctor or our regular doctor. 

Relief is an understatement.  Sam walked out of there happy, giggly, and actually wanting to play outside yesterday.  I asked him if it was because someone FINALLY listened to him and not told him it was all in his head, and he looked at me....smiled...and said "Yes Mom"  I could have cried..And he was happy the rest of the day...It was SO nice to see him happy, giggly, silly again.  You have NO idea how much I've missed that part of Sam. 

One more thing............

When did Nichole decide to become a Senior in High School??  When did she decide to be so damn independent??  While I TOTALLY encourage all my kids to be independent, I'm amazed as to HOW independent she is.  Yes, I totally get that she is almost 18 and all that crap that goes with it.  But over the past week or so, we (husband and I) got a little taste of life will be like when she is no longer in the house.  It was incredibly weird..I'm so used to all the silliness that Nichole brings and all the yelling at the TV downstairs while they (Sam and Nichole) are playing video games....it was unusually quiet..  So weird...

I officially registered my first child for High School for the last time.  Strange feeling to say the least.  Yes, I know I have 2 other kids to get through the school system BUT when it's your first child - it's weird.  We go and have her Senior pictures taken this weekend and that will also be weird.  Something that I will have to get used to and FAST!!!

Hope you all have a great Summer day!!

Kelly

Random happenings at home!

This is what typically happens on any given night in the Otto household.

Sam playing with the massive amount of Legos in the basement.

Birthday boy with his latest gift. An Xbox 360 gaming system.

Look!! Nichole is being a teenager!!

Do you ever.........

wonder if God is giving you more than you can handle at any given time?

This has been a very frustrating, tiring, and exhausting year for us.

First it was the whole bullying and depression issues that my middle child was experiencing resulting in counseling and removing him from school to homeschool him. It was a hard decision to homeschool him but in the long run it turned out for the best. He's learning better and faster than if he was in school. He's talking about returning to the school system next fall for high school. I hope he goes. I think it would be a good thing.

Then it was Sam and him being sick. This fall we finally got a diagnosis of Daily Chronic Headaches. Good thing right? You would think so. But Sam isn't responding to treatment so with that being said, we are going to have additional tests and possibly new medication to try.

The school is being stupid about Sam and his health situation. Now, since the school nurse and psychologist looked at his medical records, seem to think that Sam is depressed. I don't know what to think about this. His doctor has told me time and time again that Sam isn't depressed and now the school personnel think he is?? My children know about my depression as I'm very open about it and don't want them to think anything bad of me. But really, NOW they are FIRST mentioning that MAYBE Sam is depressed???

I had to temporarily drop out of school. It was a hard decision to make but a necessary one. I'm also rethinking about my major. I'm not real confident in the web design industry and don't know what the job prospects would be when I finish the school work. I don't know what I want to study now. And for now, I'm letting it go.

Then I was incredibly sick for almost 7 weeks. I had 3 rounds of antibiotics, 2 full courses of steroids, pain killers and anti-nausea medication. Also, throw in a trip to the Emergency Room for good measure and you got my life. Exciting isn't it??

There also seems to be the lack of money lately. I don't know where we went wrong or if we did, but there isn't enough money lately to make all the bills. That sucks big time. With that being said, Christmas is going to be just a regular day for us. Yes there will be something for the kids to open on the morning of and yes there will be a dinner in which my mom will come over for, but other than that, nothing is going to be different. Just not in the Christmas mood. Oh how I wish for my dad to be here to give me some words of wisdom.

With all that has/is happening in the family, do you understand the first line of this blog-post??

Kelly