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Friday, July 22, 2011

Family Reunion

Later this afternoon my girls and I are heading to our annual family reunion.  The fella can't go because he has to work Sunday.  I am working today and I sure wish I didn't have to!  I just mapqwested the route and it is a 3 1/2 hour drive!  We probably won't get on the road until 4:00 PM and we'll have to stop for dinner.  We probably won't get in until 8:00 PM at the earliest and then I'll need to set up camp.

And to make it worse, I forgot to lay my tent out after we went camping LAST weekend and now it smells all musty.  It rained the morning we broke camp and for the next couple of days at home so by the time it had cleared up, I'd completely forgotten that my tent was all wrapped up, apparently molding away in its bag.  Crap!

I am looking forward to seeing my family though.  Most of them have been there since yesterday or even earlier so what often happens is they do all the family stuff they're going to do BEFORE we get there and half of them head home on Saturday or early Sunday.  It kind of makes me wonder why I'm spending all this energy and money to drive so far!

Anyways...it is what it is.  I'm sure we'll have fun either way. 

I've been working extra hours all week so I could cut out a little early today and then like the genius I am, I set up an appointment at 3:00 PM.  It will take 15 minutes or so and then I'll have to drive across town, get my kids and get on the road.  If I'd been more organized, I wouldn't have set anything up so late so I could be leaving work at 3:00 and on the road by 3:30.  I always do things like that.  I spread myself too thin at work and my personal life suffers.  I wish I knew how to set better boundaries.  I work with my sister and she took today off and part of yesterday to get ready.  I always work more than she does.  Her husband works full-time (my fella, Matthew has three part-time jobs, but I am the main bread winner) and it used to be that their economic situation was much better than ours, but lately they've been struggling financially.  Still, it doesn't  seem to make a difference when she decides to take time off. 

My financial situation has improved in the last few months.  I've been slowly building my savings account up a bit after Matthew was unemployed for all of 2010.  I also have money saved for Christmas, back to school shopping, my bi-annual car insurance payment, and vacation as well as the $1,000 "cushion" we're all supposed to have.  Luckily I didn't have to touch one of my CD's, my IRA or the kids college fund during Matthew's unemployment (or year's vacation as I like to call it).  Even though our income isn't huge, living frugally really pays off.  So does planning.  All together, it isn't all that much money, but as long as I don't spend any of it, we're doing okay.  Of course there's all the stupid B.S. that comes up in life.  I need to order flea stuff for my dog.  He also needs his rabies shot and license renewed.  The money I have for back to school is probably half of what I actually need.  Oh, yeah and I told my daughters we could paint their bedrooms AND I'm looking for a new (to us) bed for my oldest daughter. 

Cha-ching!

The reason my daughter needs a new bed (or new mattress) is that she has an occasional bed-wetting problem.  She's 10.  Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing?  It really, really upsets her.  I don't think it is all that big a deal, other than that it upsets her so much.  She wore pull-ups at night through most of her childhood thus far, but six months ago or so she decided not to use them anymore.  I think the reason she wets is that she sleeps really soundly.  We've tried waking her up when we go to bed, but she'll sometimes still wet in the middle of the night.  I encourage her to make herself get up whenever she wakes up a bit in the night, but I don't know if that is helpful or not.  I just figure she'll outgrow it.  Everyone seems to eventually.  I have told her I'm going to buy her a new bed when she's ready for one, not to reward or punish her behavior, but maybe to give her some incentive to work on it.  I think she is so frustrated by it that's she's convinced herself that it will never get better.  I know that oftentimes when people develop "mental blocks" to things, it makes it that-much more difficult to figure out. 

Boy I sure seem to be rambling away this morning!

Anyways...I hope you're all having a great Friday!  I know much of the country is dealing with sweltering heat.  They're calling for weather in the 90's here on Sunday, but it has been cool (low 70's) all week.  I'm actually looking forward to a little sunshine and HEAT!

9 comments:

jenfromtheburgh said...

My son has always struggled with wetting and he is now 15 years old. I took him to see a urologist and they said that his bladder/body is not developing as it should. He was placed on medication and we use some behavioral techniques so it is getting getter. Good luck to you!

Cat said...

The family camping sounds SUPER fun. I would absolutely love that as long as it weren't too humid. We used to have family trips to the lake (just a day trip, no camping) and I loved the swimming, grilling and family time. It was always so much fun.

Oh - to comment on your comment on my blog (I guess you don't have your profile setup to email replys) But yes yes, absolutely read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It's a romance novel, but it's not pirate, bare breast romance novel. It's also a time traveler. It's so awesome. Well, the first three anyway - the second part of the series is just boring to me and I really cannot stay focused so I'm taking a break again from it. I've only read the Harry Potters once, but I'm a huge fan and speculated endlessly about the series before it was finished. I also waited in line at midnight at the local bookstore when the 6th and 7th novels were released. I'm also going on vacation in Sept and we're going to Orlando for a day to go to Universal and the Harry Potter attraction. :)

Kristin said...

Hi there - GO YOU on getting the financials in order despite already being on a tight budget. I'm impressed.

I was a bedwetter until 6 or 7, and my parents finally figured out I had some kind of kidney thing. Sometimes kids go for long periods of time with undetected low-level urinary-tract infections, or kidney/bladder issues. I imagine you've talked to her pediatrician, so this probably isn't helpful.

Enjoy the family reunion!

Anonymous said...

Camping sounds adventurous. It's been years since I went.
My daughter was also a bedwetter. She often skipped sleep-overs and everything. Eventually she was given a persription for a nose pray to take at bed time and that fixed the problem for her. You should ask the doctor about it.
Enjoy your camping!

Tina said...

Hi there. I am glad things are going better for you financially even though work is crazy . I can totally help you with the bedwetting thing! As Jen said above it is a medical thing. 2 of my daughters had the problem up until they were teenagers. The doctor said that our bodies release a hormone that shuts down/reduces our urine production while we sleep. For my girls and probably yours that isn't happening as it should. They gave my daughters a nasal spray that mimics the hormone and it changed their lives. No more fears about sleep overs and saved beds for us. I was a bed wetter as was my dad and first husband. it is a very common problem and I only wish I could have had the meds when I was a kid.

I hope you have a great weekend camping!

xxxooo

Rhonda said...

I wish I had some bedwetting advice for ya, but since my kiddos are younger - I don't. I would say, and I'm sure you're already doing this, to make sure she doesn't drink after 6:30 or so and get her a mattress pad so it stays off of her actual mattress.

Blossom said...

My nephew just turned 7 and he still wets the bed...like your daughter he just is a super-sound sleeper! I'm sure she'll outgrow it although I know that doesn't make it any easier. I feel bad for them!

Dani said...

My daughter wet her bed until she was 11 years old-we also resorted to the nasal spray it is called DDAVP down here in Australia-She used it for about 1 week and it broke the pattern and habit of her wetting.She had to agree to having a blood test to get her electrolytes checked,and we both decided it was worth a try because of the stress it was causing with sleepovers and camps etc...., We also have a family history and my older son was exactly the same..

MandaPanda said...

I'm so glad the financial situation has improved. Ours still sucks but we know in 2 years, we'll be debt free and not paycheck to paycheck. As long as there's a light, right?

As for your daughter, I don't have much advice to offer. From previous comments, it sounds like medication has helped some other kids. Have you tried limiting her liquids after 6 pm? On a personal level, if I drink water after like 8 pm, I'm up all night, running to the bathroom. Just a thought.