All About Kimberly

Sailing Along the Life of Single Parenthood

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PR Blackout Post 3: Moving Bug

Everyone I know is moving.  Ok, well not everyone, but a lot of people.  Whether it be just moving across town (or the county) or moving across the state, it seems that I keep hearing of more of my friends and acquaintances that are moving.  I even have a friend moving across the country to San Francisco and my uncle just moved to Italy.  This seems to happen ever so often, but after talking to one of those friends as she was searching for moving companies San Francisco, I realized that I’ve been slowly getting that moving bug.  I get it every so often.  Why?  I actually love WHERE I live for the most part. Okay, not really the location, and I actually can’t stand a few of my neighbors (our only communication in the last 6 years has involved the police), but I love that I live on the same property as my grandmother, my dad, and my great  uncle.  More importantly I love that Cameron can play in the yard without me having to be outside. I love that she can jump on her 4 wheeler at pretty much anytime and ride around the property. I love that she is growing up with a bond with these three older members of our family that she wouldn’t be nearly as close to if we lived anywhere else.  I mean she’s back and forth at their houses on a DAILY basis.  When I can’t find a particular outfit or toy of hers, I know that it’s at one of their houses and send her looking.  When something goes so wrong (like the loss of our dog yesterday), I love knowing they are all right there (and that my Dad was here to bury him).  So maybe I don’t love the location so much as the bond the location allows for all 3 of us with our family.

But back to the point – OUR HOUSE IS TINY!  And I do mean tiny.  Most of you wouldn’t believe the small house that we live in.  It’s 2 bedroom and 1 bath.  The bath is just big enough to fit a bathtub, sink, and commode.  Cameron’s bedroom is the size of (or smaller) than many walkin closets I’ve seen.  Two people can’t do anything in my kitchen without being in each other’s way.  The living room can only be set up one way or there’s not enough room to play the Wii.  Becka’s room is our loft and she has to climb a ladder to get to her room.  Yea, a ladder.  A straight up and down ladder.  Oh, and there’s no laundry type room; the washer and dryer are in the shed outside! Now with all that said, I love my house.  It was a graduation/birthday/Christmas gift from my grandmother.  It looks like a doll house. It was perfect for a single girl going to college, but it’s just way too small for our family of 3.  We manage, but I dream of a 3 bedroom (big dreams huh?) house where the rooms are just a little larger.

I get this bug every couple years.  Two times that I’ve gotten this bug, I’ve actually contacted real estate agent and banks, but I just can’t seem to do it.  First there’s the moving away from our family, and I know this may sound harsh, but at 73 years old, I know that my grandmother’s years are likely numbered.  My dad started having heart problems at 40 (that’s 10 years now), and my great uncle’s health is not great either.  Ok, they may all three outlive me.  I know that in my brain, but my heart says that I need to stay close and treasure every moment.  Then there’s the fact that my house and property are PAID for, and I just can’t bring myself to making a house payment.  I like knowing that we have a place to live no matter what!  Oh, and now Becka is a senior so college is just around the corner – college and a house payment? I don’t think so.

So the moving bug has hit.  Or maybe now that I’ve typed all this, I should put that in the past tense because I’ve already talked myself into dealing with what we have and being happy.  One day I’ll just add on to this house.

Stay at Home Mom……for the Day

We woke up first thing this morning and began our morning routine as we also do on school mornings with a few exceptions.  Cameron woke up about 1:00 this morning and was sick to her stomach.  We had a little vomiting and then moaned and was sad and still feeling icky for a couple hours.  She did finally settle down though.  But when I woke her up this morning, she assured me she was ok.

We had slept in a little too late so I had her just jump in the shower with me as that keeps both of us on track, and we get in and get out.  After her hair was conditioned, she said she was getting out so I let her and continued my shower.  After finishing, I pushed back the shower curtain, and she was laying in teh bathroom floor.  I again inquired into how she felt and she assured me she was ok.  ”So why are you laying on the bathroom floor?”  ”I’m just tired.”  She gets up and gets ready for school.  I can tell she doesn’t feel herself, but she was up for 3 hours last night. She finally admits that every time she stands up, her belly hurts. “But it’s ok, Mom. I don’t stand much at school. I sit in a desk.”

I know she doesn’t need to go, but she is worried because she has 3 tests and she really wants perfect attendance.  So I cave in and write her a note letting her teacher’s know that she’s not entirely well and asking to please let her sit out during pe and recess.  I also tell her if she decides she can’t do it, to just go to the nurse and she’ll bring her over to my room.  Once we get to school, I go in and talk to our high school secretary and let her know, I’ll probably be leaving at lunch as I don’t think Cameron will make it all day.

8:45 (one hour into school) the nurse walks in my room and I just said, she already needs to go home, huh?  Of course she did.  She says Cameron is laying on a cot in her office so I tell her, I’ll be there for her as soon as they can get me a sub.  After my sub arrives, I head over to the elementary office to sign her out of school. The nurse brings her to the office, and Cameron is in tears.  She does NOT want to go home.  I have to carry her out bawling her eyes out.  Once we are out on the sidewalk, she says that she just wanted a cold washcloth from the nurse – she didn’t want to be sent home.  I assured her I understood, and I was proud of her for making school so important.

So we are now home.  I’ve done the dishes and laundry.  My baby is curled up on the couch – sound asleep, and I am on my UNFILTERED Internet for the day.  Ok.  I’m not so happy to have to be docked a day at work, but I have been coming down with the crud too so thought I’d spend the afternoon sleeping myself in hopes of sleeping off this before I get to the point that Cameron was at today.

A Multitude of Contests

I had not heard this news, but after looking over the summary at An Island Life, I was really curious. I would love to have my home phone disconnected. It costs a ridicolus amount and we very rarely use it – at all! So when I read that TMobile was going into the home telephone market, I was thrilled!  Why? Because the price is only $10 a month.  I was hoping that this would be an option for us, but alas, I live in the woods and this phone service ties into your high speed Internet connection (I’m guessing like Vonage) and my connection is simply not fast enough for this (I’ve tried Vonage before). However for many others of you out there, this may be something you want to look into, but on to the contests…

In honor of their expansion into the house market, T Mobile is having an awesome contest where two winners will receive a $300,000 house!!  Everyone could use this probably. I know that we for sure could use a new home that we acutally fit in without being on top of each other so this would be a dream come true for me.  You will either receive a check for $300,000 or a contract with KB Homes for $250,000 and $50,000 cash. But even if we aren’t lucky enough to win the $300,000, T Mobile is giving away runner up prizes including paying one month of rent/mortgage for you and $100 TMobile Gift Cards. You can go back and enter this contest every day for instant prizes also including a TMobile TShirt.

But as the title of this post suggests, there is more than the T Mobile Contest, there is also a contest being hosted by An Island Life where you can win ” T-Mobile prizes such as t-shirts, candles, blankets, coffee mugs, and many other cool items.” These are T-Mobile prizes but they are designated exclusively for An Island Life readers.