Squeezin it in

So I feel like the last couple of weeks have been a blur - all I've managed to post is my Marriage Mondays and a funny YouTube video. So, what's been up in the life of Crystal you might ask? Well, you might ask, but then again you might not give a crap. hehe :) But I figured I need to unload my brain now, because tomorrow is Marriage Monday and if I wait until after Monday to post this stuff, it will most likely end up being next Sunday night before I know it. Also, one of my kids has diarrhea and the other has had a 103 fever for the past two days, so who knows if/when it's going to hit me and/or the other two children. So, now for my recapitulation that I do the best via....BULLETS! But actually I think I'm going to change it up this week, and do....NUMBERS!

1. My girls' sports activities are in full swing. SAM's volleyball team won their first game a couple Saturdays ago, and then this Saturday, they lost. But honestly, for SAM never having played volleyball before in her life, I think she is doing really well - she does not get this from me. I was a dancer, who tried volleyball because her best friend was playing, and I sucked.
2. Monkey's soccer team tied their first game, and I didn't let her play yesterday because of the whole aforementioned fever thing. I'm one of those parents that actually keeps their kids away from other kids if they don't feel well...go figure. During her moments of Advil relief, we did let her play outside in our front yard though. I taught her some "soccer strategy" that I think was actually kinda cool - with kids her age (5 & 6), soccer is just a cluster of little legs all trying to kick the same ball. So, I told her that sometimes, you just have to run toward the goal WITHOUT the ball, look back at your teammates and see if one of them can kick the ball REALLY hard down to you, and then you are already that much closer to the goal, and you most likely won't have the "cluster" around you, and it will be easier to score. We did some scenarios where she and I were both trying to kick the ball, and she saw how we ended up all over the yard instead of anywhere near the goal - but that if I stopped trying to kick the ball, and just ran up toward the goal, then she could kick it hard towards me, and I could score the goal, and vice versa. I think she got it. :)
3. My projects at work have been extremely crazy, time consuming, stressful and all around yucky. Sometimes I'm not sure if my bosses remember that I'm pushing 7 months preggo here, and that they should be phasing me off of projects instead of making me the lead person on new stuff. I feel like I have a lot of burden on me right now, and I don't see it lightening up until January which is just one month before I am due. I'm kinda stressing about it, can you tell?
4. My brother-in-law is living with us...again...for the 4th time. What was supposed to be him hanging out with us on a Saturday, ended up with him sleeping on our couch for ummm....9 nights in a row now. My hubby said he told him he had 2 weeks to find a place, which would be next Saturday - but I'm having a very hard time with him here. He's 21, and has no respect for anyone or anything, he manipulates people (mostly his own mother) into giving him money or things, and will not take responsibility for anything. I'm trying very hard to have patience with the kid, but after having already offered our home to him, where he eats our food, uses our electricity/water, etc - all without paying us a single dime - it's wearing on my nerves. The first couple of times, I thought I was really getting through to him by offering him encouraging talks and showing him how he could make it on his own - but it turns out he was just sort of humoring me and all of it went in one ear and out the other. Help!
5. I miss my mom - she moved last year with my step-dad to a little podunk town in Texas called "Happy" it's about 30 minutes outside of Amarillo. My step-dad is from there, and he has brothers and sisters that all still live in town. It's definitely a lot slower than Phoenix - and I think they really like that. And they also like being able to have so much family around. But dang it, I miss my mommy.
6. I am getting freakin' HUGE! My belly is seriously gnarly - and my legs are getting fat. And that is usually the ONE place where I don't gain weight - I've always had fairly thin legs - but my thighs are rubbing together, I have cellulite, and my calves are bulking up. I have not been working out...at all...this pregnancy. My last pregnancy, I was taking my hip-hop classes at the gym all the way up until 8 months - and I was working out with a personal trainer. This time I just don't have the motivation - I really just don't. I want to, but yeah, it's not there.
7. OH...my oldest is going to be 12 on Wednesday!! Oh my freakin goodness...TWELVE!!! My baby's last year before the TEENS!! This is seriously freaking me out people. It freaked me out enough that she started junior high this year, but turning 12 seals the deal. She is a texting queen, she paints her nails, wants to wear makeup, shaves her legs, and actually has a really good fashion sense - she always looks cute. I was the one who went WAY overboard during the flourescent color stage of the early 90's - I was not cute. So, this fashion thing she also does not get from me. :)
8. I am "this" close to going public with my business - I've gotten input from a select few people and I've got my LLC paperwork done and am officially official with that. My website is done, I have business cards, car magnet thingies, and am signed up for my first expo next month. Now, I just need to tell my husband about it, and then I can tell the rest of you! heheehe! ;)
9. Speaking of my husband - he had his last race of the motocross series he's been participating in since July - and he WON! YAY!! There were 8 races in the series - and he only raced 6 of them. At each race, you receive a certain amount of points for the position you come in - for example, 1st place = 30pts, 2nd place = 27 pts, etc... ANYWHO - this guy who he has been competing against had participated in all of the races held so far, and he was ultimately going to win no matter if my husband came in 1st place this past Saturday or not - because he had accumulated more points from being in more races. I was bummed because my husband had worked so hard, and had been finishing in the top 3 positions during every race...and this other guy was like a consistent 5th, 6th, 7th place finisher. So - don't throw any stones - but I sorta said a little prayer that maybe this guy wouldn't show up to the final race because that is the only way my husband would win the series. I didn't want any harm to befall him or anything, I was just kinda hoping maybe he had a wedding to go to, or a bar mitzvah or something. hehe. So, we get to the race, and my hubby goes down to the line, and I don't see the other guy's bike - and I'm thinking "Really??? Did the guy really not show up??". And my husband took 1st in that heat (they race 2 heats)....and the second heat the guy didn't show up again, and my husband took 1st again! So, because of the points that he will get for taking 1st last night - he'll end up winning the series! I came to find out this morning that the guy DID show up last night - but that him and his buddy had spent the day rebuilding his engine on his dirtbike - and when they tested it, it was running too hot because of some "insert mechanical reason I don't understand here" - so he didn't want to run the risk of completely ruining his bike. Can you believe that???
10. And now we're at #10, and it's 10pm, and I'm exhausted. You probably are too from having to read all that. :) Remember tomorrow is Marriage Monday, and we're talking Finances (EEEEEEEEKKKKK!)