A Bubba by many names...

Over the past few days, my son has decided to be many different "Bubbas."

• Dr. Bubba
• Cowboy Bubba
• Super Bubba
• Mommy's Bubba

and of course:

Spiderman Bubba.

Office Desk

I moved into my current house back in August. The front room is split in two parts. 1/2 is my office and 1/2 the kids' playroom. Since moving in, the front 1/2 of the room was empty. Except at Christmas time when I put the tree in the window.


Thursday, I went to Staples to replace my wireless router and found this desk on clearance. It does not match the book shelf. But, it was $60 off the original price. It was the floor model so the sales clerk removed a couple of the screws and put it in my van. I brought it home and set up it.

It fits perfectly in this space. I may consider staining it to match the bookshelf but that will be a project later in the summer when my schedule slows down a bit.

UTTERLY RIDICULOUS

Not only is it ridiculous that I have been awake for probably 19 hours, my router decided to die in the middle of the night. I spent an hour on the phone with the Cox Communications automated system to restore Internet service to my modem.

Wednesday morning, I woke up at 3a to grade papers. I am swamped with work this month. I had two appointments, needed to take my ex-husband to the airport, had a caramel frappe, and visited a gym (I must start working out as I need energy and to be able to fit into my clothing. By the time I did all that, it was about an hour before I needed to pick up Bubba from school. Instead of going home, I sat in the car, ate my lunch and read a book. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes.

Then, I picked up NyCee, came home, cooked dinner, worked some more, had another caramel frappe from McDonald's (I rarely drink caffeinated beverages), gave the kids showers, put them to bed, worked some more, read a book, played a game on my phone and fell asleep around 1130p.

I woke up at 12:45a and am not able to sleep. So, I am working and writing a blog at 2:02a. However, I am sitting in a chair in what will be my office area with the Ethernet cord plugged into the computer to maintain the Internet connection. So in about 3 hours, I will start to prepare for the day. Cook breakfast, make lunch, wake up the kids, feed them, drop them off at school, go to an appointment, stop to buy a router and work out clothes, pick up Tyler who has a 1/2 day, take him to get a hair cut, eat dinner, work some more, complete the edits for Chapter one of my disseration, and at some point sleep.

I think I should stay clear of coffee!

NyCee Turns 6!

(This picture would not cooperate. Sorry it is sideways.) These are actually cup cakes. She wanted a My Little Pony cake today.

Her dad came to town and we went up to her school where she enjoyed cupcakes with her classmates. They sang Happy Birthday to her. (There are about 10 kids in the class whose birthdays are in March. That's a lot of cake!)




They went to Chuck e Cheese to play games. I stayed home as I had work to do. I allowed both she and Bubba to leave school early today. They had a really good time.

We went to dinner and then came home. There were a couple of cupcakes left so I put six candles on one and we sang "Happy Birthday." Bubba sang it twice by himself because he wanted to eat his cupcake. HA!

Tyler did not have a nap all day. He fell asleep in the car on the way back from dropping off Lewis as his hotel.

NyCee received a doll whose hair changes colors. Clothes, cards and money. (Her Nana Ida is highly upset that her birthday card did not arrive today. I am sure it will be here tomorrow.) Both kids were asleep before their heads hit the pillow. NyCee really enjoyed her birthday.

Girl Power

NyCee's birthday is Tuesday, March 20. To celebrate the day, I picked up two of her friends, they are sisters. Ahlayla (Brown shirt) Milayna (pink shirt). They attend our church.
The baby in the photo is Morgan. She and her mom joined us for the Scavenger Hunt. I probably drove over 100 miles yesterday. The park was ridiculously far away. The admission was only $6; however, I used more than that in gas just getting there. But they girls enjoyed themselves.
There were five different stations to the Scavenger Hunt. The kids followed the map and collected stamps as they completed stations.
Striking a pose with face paint!

All three girls hit the target. (After the young man gave them several attempts and moved them closer.)

There was an area for horseback riding. That was NyCee's first time on a horse.
This is on our way to church. They were exhausted. We had lunch and ice cream. After, we went back to our house so that I could get ready for church.

Tyler was not allowed to attend. I had a sitter for him so that NyCee could enjoy a girl day with her friends.

What I have been doing?

If you just happen to be wondering what I have been doing these past few weeks, here is the cliff notes' version of my life:

Teaching four courses between two different universities, writing chapter 1 of my dissertation, due to my leadership skills and excellent job performance, I was "selected" to participate on the student success initiative project at work, I am classified as a Subject Matter Expert at another school which requires me to re-write courses as required, it just so happens that four courses need re-writing, my kids are going on Spring break next week, NyCee's birthday is March 20, had my braces removed, losing 10 pounds, paying off debts, and somewhere in there I still manage to find time to take myself on a date every Saturday to get a break from all my responsibilities.

WHEW! How do I do it? God's grace covers me. When I learned that I had been "selected" for the Student Success committee, I literally busted out laughing. I did not ask to be on said committee. I did not apply to be on said committee. I have one better - I did not know anything about said committee. I laughed and said, "Yes, Jesus. I will serve on this committee and do it with excellence because I have room for one more green bean on my already full plate. " HA! Let us add to the joy of being on this committee, I am assigned to oversee a course that I have never taught and of which I have no knowledge. AGAIN - HA!

God gives me the grace to carry out any assigned task. That is why I spend the first hour of my morning in prayer and bible study to get the plan for the day. Every day, I complete every required task for that day. It seems overwhelming. But it's not. I have learned to stay in my lane of grace and depend totally on God's direction. Life is so much easier that way.

Commando

It is becoming increasingly more important that my instructions to my children are concise.

About two weeks ago, I told Tyler to "put on his pajamas." He did in fact follow those instructions. He was in the bed and walked out to the family room about 10 minutes later. I said, "Son, why are you out of the bed?" He replied, "Umm, mommy, I am not wearing any underwear. See my cho-cho." I busted out laughing.

Fast forward to last night: I provided the same instructions. "Go to your room and put on your pajamas." This time, I put the underwear on his bed. This morning, he woke up and proceeded to get dressed for school. He did not close his room door. I turned and saw all his nakedness. I asked why didn't he put on any underwear last night. He just busted out laughing.

Precision with instructions is critical.