Waking Up - Not!

Where did I leave you hanging last? Oh yeah... Julie didn't know "if" she was going to wake up on Monday morning.

Sure enough, Julie did wake up. She was taken in a slurring and over-medicated state to St. Joseph's hospital this time. (Why so many different hospitals all the time I don't know!) From there she was going to detox then try to get into Windmore rehab center in Clearwater. This is a nicer place with a $40 per day copayment, but she was hoping they'd take her and she'd just never pay the copayments and it would be added to her bad debts. No such luck... They didn't take her, so apparently she is going to go to the free one here in Tampa from St. Joseph's.

She's been calling and asking mom and myself if we are 'mad' at her... Why we don't seem more... compassionate I guess is the word. I told Julie (and I think Mom has said the same) that we are just sick and tired of her doing this to herself.

Okay, enough about Julie!

Things with the kids are going pretty well. Mornings are still hell around here. I got up this morning as usual, at 5:30 go go turn on Jonathan's bedroom light and ask him why he didn't get up with his alarm clock at 5:15 when it went off. Then I went back to bed hoping to sleep until I had to get up for work at 7:40.

Yeah.... That's never going to happen.

First there were several knocks on the bedroom door throughout the morning. Their bus comes at 6:35, and they must leave the house at 6:30 in order to make it in time. I get up and it was exactly 6:30. I open the door only to see Kayte and Jonathan still in their pajamas. Jonathan claims he has NO clothes to wear (his laundry day was Tuesday and he didn't make it to the dryer). Kayte has ROTC today and needs to put on a FULL ROTC uniform. At roughly 6:33 Kayte realizes the doesn't have any black socks to go with her uniform and needs to borrow some from Uncle Chris. STILL not dressed.

At 6:37 I hear the front door SLAM shut as Kayte runs out of it. There is now a note on the front door telling the kids to PLEASE not slam the front door in the morning. As usual... Nobody listens. And apparently nobody reads.

I can't believe she caught the bus. Either that or she walked... But she didn't come back home.

Morning are definitely a problem here at the Rhocchini house and I'm just not sure what to do about them. Actually, nights AND mornings are a problem and I am CONVINCED that they are related. The kids SWEAR it's not true.... They swear that they go to bed without issue and they get up without problems. Yet every morning it's pure CHAOS as they run around trying to rush to catch the bus.

I really hate it that I yell at night and in the morning... That the last thing they hear from me at night is my yelling and before they go to school it's yelling. I could do nothing I suppose, but it would be horrible. They would go to sleep at midnight and Chris and I would never have alone time. The mornings are just plain bad whether I'm up yelling or not. I've sat in my room before and just let them run around without pushing them, and they are just loud and running around like crazy. Either way I'm awake. I just WISH that they would try it my way... Go to bed early (which means actually sleeping) and wake up early enough to not have to run around crazy in the mornings. Coming from a person who gets up at 7:40 to be out the door at 7:45, it's not that I think they must get up early, it's that they need to be able to do their routine, whatever their individual routine may be, without running around like crazy. OIE

My sister Katie came over the other night with Tatiana and little Isabella. The kids got to see their little cousin Isabella for the first time. It was really nice of Katie to drive over and it was great spending time with them. Last night I heard that Isabella was sick and they had to bring her to the ER. I just talked to Katie and she is okay, home, and resting. Apparently it's just a cold or something. But since she is breast feeding and the baby had a fever, they wanted to check her out.

I actually asked for help the other day. A friend who always asks if we need anything called to ask, and I said "yes" this time. Food. Gift certificates for food. OIE - you have no idea how hard that was for me. It's different to put it here in the blog... I don't have to actually SAY it. I often times will say that... How if you ask me in person I'll say "things are GREAT" when sometimes they just are not.

Right now things are just difficult. My house is set at a temperature of 90 during the day and 85 at night because of a $450 electric bill. I simply can't afford that kind of electric bill every month. And frankly, I hadn't budgeted an extra $200 to apply to a ginormous electric bill. Usage went up, but not THAT much. I heard from a lot of people though that their jumped as well and I believe TECO went up in their rates. Great.... I mean, what is a family supposed to do? We can't 'shop' electric companies! Yet you can't really live without electricity. And what do I do all day? Sell parts to electric companies. Sheesh.

So, yeah, it's tight a bit right now. And the kids don't do well when there is very little food in the house. Here's a fun example of eating at my house:
The kids come home from school. Sometimes they'll eat Romain Noodles, but never just one pack, at LEAST two. Yesterday two of them eat cereal, either two bowls or one mixing bowl full. Two hours later I serve dinner: Lasagna and 16 breadsticks. Two hours later we are visiting Grandma at her chorus and they ask me multiple times on the way over if we could stop for food - then when we get there (and I of course didn't stop for food) all they can think about is what is the snack going to be? They eat ALL the time. And they are THIN as RAILS. Go figure.

I was trying to understand yesterday why I give these kids such a hard time when they ask for money. I don't really remember hammering Amanda as much as I do these kids when they ask for money for something.

What I realized is that these kids tend to take things for granted more. As if money grows on trees. Some examples:
* Leaving food out so it goes bad and needs to be thrown away. From a loaf of bread left open all day to milk sitting on the counter all night.
* Finding the bathroom garbage can FULL of wads of toilet paper. They'll take a HUGE wad of it and use it to wipe their forehead sweat. Or...
* Finding 4 big paper towels in a wad on the kitchen counter. Why? Because someone rinsed their hands in the sink, then grabbed paper towels to dry off, and used FOUR at one time. (Oh my gosh, I've turned into my parents!)
* Giving them a $20 bill at church so they can eat a bagel before church only to receive NO change from it because they ate and ate and ate.
* Washing an entire load of clean clothes.
* Can't wear a fancy dress more than once. The girls go to Quinces all the time. School dances. You wouldn't want to wear that same dress again. What would their friends say? LOL
* Cups and water jugs all over the neighborhood from the kids and their friends coming in for something to drink and taking it outside and leaving it there.
* Wasted movie money. The kids used to ask for money to go to the movies - but kids today go to the movies more to 'hang out' than to actually see a movie. I can't tell you how many times they've paid for a movie only to leave in the middle of it.

The way I view it, they have a complete disregard for money much of the time. The way they probably view me - in a word: "tight-wad". LOL I'd bet there is probably some truth in both statements.

Homecoming is coming up in October. Their Grandma Gwen sent down some money for the girls to buy dresses. The boys last night said they needed a suit or something to wear. This is when it starts to give me heart palpitations when I think about having FOUR kids in high school at the same time. Lets say they get cheap clothes to wear, say $60 each... Then the cost to get in...I'm looking at dropping nearly $400 just to get in and dressed. OMFG

Then, at what time do I buy yearbooks? I go back to look at all 3 years of my yearbooks often times. Just one year's worth of yearbooks for the kids is going to cost me - oh my goodness I can't even THINK about it right now!

This is exactly why Chris and I chose to have only TWO children and purposely spaced them apart 7 years. Ah... God's sense of humor yet again.

BE THANKFUL

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.