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... Ever since the calendar hit 2000 though I just can't keep up. If I ever went to the doctor's office and they did a mini-mental status exam, I just might fail:"What year is it?"
"ummmm....2001?"
"What day?"
"pick any day you want...mine all pretty much run into each other anyway!"
I got a LifeDrive PDA for Christmas and I have been wasting countless, countless hours playing with it. (As in...up until 3am for the last 3 nights reprogramming the iMSN into wml format so that it is pda accessible too...eventually, I might even finish doing it..if I don't exhaust myself completely in the process! I was so exhausted today that I could hardly drag myself out of bed to get the kids up...It's just so much FUN to learn new coding stuff. I'm a woman addicted.)
It is this little toy (ummm, I mean...useful and totally necessary electronic device :> ) that has me realizing just how flippin' disorganized I really am! I literally have been flying by the seat of my pants for about...oh....10 years now
. For the first time in forever, I actually KNOW when Aidan's orthotics appointment is without 1. missing the appt. and having the office call me to reschedule and 2. without knowing it's "someday this week" and calling at 8am on Mond. morning to make sure we don't miss it. 
I have all of my appointments in there for the next 2 weeks...I can't believe it!
To top it off, I was able to download a recipe program that is unbelievable...it is exactly what I've been dreaming about, really. Some of you probably know that I have a family menu book where I have all of our recipes organized. Basically, I use the plastic drop-in sleeves and each week, I replace the recipes with the new week's recipes...and keep my recipe collection in the back of the book. It's a great way to keep me and the kids and Thomas in the know about our week. I have pics of us eating our food
and the menus themselves. (My mil thinks it's the funniest thing ever, but I love it...and so does everyone else.) Anyway, I downloaded a Recipe program that allows me to input my recipes...then I can do a one week meal planning on the pda with a special meal planner/calendar function and then...I can even add all ingredients to my shopping list for the week. I can alter the list if I already have some of the ingredients, etc. Then...I can take my pda shopping or bluetooth it to the printer. It's so...COOL.This is proably the most exciting thing to happen to me in....5 years (outside of babies and remission!)
On the family end of things, it's been quieter....but I'm really concerned about Amanda and the middle school. I just don't know what the solution is for her anymore. Basically, I drive her to school every day and pick her up so that she doesn't see our neighbor's daughter who is so mean to her. I've tried to limit any exposure to the neighbor's girls for her...and the result? The neighbor's daughter moved her table in the lunchroom to be next to Amanda's table just to give dirty looks.
Then, over the winter break, she invited one of Amanda's best friends (whom she has been friends with for 4 years) over to play. She went on and on about Amanda and how terrible she is, and so Amanda went back to school after the vacation and met her friend for lunch in the cafeteria. The friend wouldn't sit next to her and said "I'm X's friend now, not yours. I went to her house and she told me all about you. You're a brat, Amanda."Poor Amanda....before the vacation, Amanda saved up all of her allowance money and did extra chores to earn some christmas cash just to buy gifts for her 3 closest friends. This little friend was one of them. Sadly, not one of her friends had a single thing for Amanda and she was terribly disappointed. I had warned her that 5th graders dont' exchange christmas gifts, but apparently she and her friends had talked and had planned on doing so.
Amanda's little heart is broken right now about the issue with the friend.
During our Christmas vacation, Amanda was so easy-going and fun to be around...then 2 days before school started back up, she turned into a little monster...and when confronted, she wrote me a letter to tell me how unhappy she is because of all of this stress.
I don't know WHAT to do. Do I put my daughter in therapy because girls suck? Should she see a counselor to deal with the fact that we have a crazy neighbor with a crazy daughter who has made her life a living hell for the last year on top of all of the other stress.
For the whole time Amanda was home, she was kind, nurturing, loving and not moodly for a second...but as soon as school was back on agenda all bets were off.
I feel as backed into a corner as my daughter. I don't know what to do. I can't allow this to continue and yet at some level this is just the hard reality of growing up as a girl. I can't really go to the teacher about this. What is she supposed to do? I have even thought of going to the friend's parents, but...I just feel akward.
I am very seriously considering withdrawing Amanda for the year and homeschooling...The only thing holding me back is really just not knowing how to do it...and worrying that it would teach her that it is ok to run away from our problems.
Kris[/quote]